Face The Music

Chapter Seven: Dream

Dream stared down, absentmindedly at his kitchen table. In front of him was a single paper plate with a piece of cold pizza sitting in the middle that was left over from the night before.

Patches sat patiently at his feet, waiting for a sliver of pepperoni and waving her tail back and forth.

Dream gave in and peeled a slice of meat of off his pizza before tossing it onto the floor. The cat opened her mouth to catch it in the air but instead the pepperoni hit the top of her nose and fell onto the ground.

Thunder crashed outside of Dream's window and the palm trees in his yard bent as the wind rustled the leaves. He hated thunderstorms but living in Florida meant that he experienced a lot of them.

Lightning flashed in the sky, making Patches jump backwards and away from the pepperoni she was eating in small bites off the floor. After making sure it was safe she crept forward and continued munching on the piece of meat.

Dream took a bite of his pizza, shoving half of the slice in his mouth before chewing it with his mouth open. Living alone meant he didn't have to worry about table manners and Patches was the only one there that could judge him for it.

As he crammed the rest of the food into his mouth, Dream listened to the television that was broadcasting the local news and delivering a weather report.

"Heavy rain and hurricane like conditions are expected for county's in central Florida." Dream listened closely to the weather man's words. "Expect winds up to 95 miles per hour and stay away from windows and doors."

"Looks like I get hang out with you tonight, Patches." Dream patted the cats head as she purred softly.

He hadn't gone for a drive in a while and was expecting to leave for an hour or so to go for a much needed outing but the weather had other plans.

Minutes turned into hours and as the night grew darker, the storm grew more intense. Raindrops pounded against his window like bullets and Dream could hear the wind whistling from inside the house.

He was elbow deep in a bag of Doritos when Dream heard a loud crash come from outside. Patches jumped out of Dreams lap and scurried underneath the couch to hide.

"Don't worry, Patchy I'll check it out." Dream chuckled.

He grunted as he stood up from the couch and stretched his legs. Dream strolled over to his window that was covered with light gray curtains and peeked through the glass.

His eyebrows raised in horror at what he saw. The power lines that ran along the side of the road in front of Dream's house were now laying in his front yard. The wooden pillar that was holding them up was split across the middle and leaning on a nearby palm tree.

"Oh shit." Dream mumbled under his breathe, still in shock.

As if right on que, everything went dark and the T.V. shut off.

The power was out.

Dream turned around and quickly began fumbling through the dark. Feeling around for his couch so he could soothe Patches who was crying out in fear.

He dropped to his hands and knees in front of the sofa and reached out for Patches, stroking her back and making little kissing noises to calm her down.

"Shh," Dream comforted the cat, "I'm right here Patches. Don't be afraid."

Dream could feel Patches's breathing slow down as he kept his hand on top of her. Although Patches was an average sized cat, Dream's hand covered most of her back and acted as a blanket.

His cat was relaxed but Dream was still shaking in fear. The only thing that could calm him down was music but with no power he wasn't able to listen to his songs and he wouldn't want to wake up George by playing music from his phone.

Dream's eyes widened as he came to a realization. No power meant he had no way of communicating with George.

The darkness engulfed Dream and he could barely see a foot in front of him. He stumbled as he stood up, grabbing onto the couch for support and standing in the never ending blackness.

He barely knew George but the thought of not being able to talk to him made Dream sick. Their connection seemed to be growing by the day and the conversations he had with George only made it stronger. For some reason that brought Dream comfort.

Now he stood empty and alone in the dark with no way of talking to the person it seemed like he needed the most.

Dream listened as Patches shuffled out from under the couch. Her claws tapped gently against the floor as she walked closer to Dream and began rubbing against his leg, almost as if she was thanking him for comforting her.

Patches was all the company Dream had without his friends and now that he was without power his computer was useless. Just taking up space on his already cluttered desk.

The storm showed no signs of coming to a stop so Dream staggered his way back to the couch, tripping over a cat toy that was laying on the floor. Patches followed behind him, navigating through the dark with ease.

Dream made himself comfortable on the sofa with a blanket and propped his feet up on the ottoman in front of him. The only sounds were Patches soft breathes and the wind outside Dreams window.

With nothing else to entertain him, Dream turned on his phone and stared at his lock screen.

'10% battery remaining' stared back at him.

"Oh come on." Dream mumbled to himself, shutting off his phone and tossing it on the cushion next to him.

He didn't want to waste his battery on entertainment just in case there was an emergency so instead, Dream positioned himself horizontally on the couch. He rested his head on the arm of the sofa and pulled his blanket up to his chin but his body was too long to be completely covered so his feet poked out the end of the blanket.

Patches crawled up his leg and onto Dreams chest where she curled up and began to doze off. The cats warmth relaxed Dream and before long he was fast asleep.