All was quiet in the house. It might have seemed as if the whole place had drifted into a peaceful slumber. However, there was one room where a little girl was tossing and turning. The poor soul thrashed her little body about, for she was having another nightmare. They had been coming more frequently after the unfortunate passing of her pet fish. It came as quite a shock for the little one.

 

 

“Poopers, come back,” she cried in her sleep. She had named the fish that because for some reason it always had a trail of poo hanging behind it. Poopers wasn’t the brightest fish either. It kept running into the glass bowl. Nevertheless, the girl loved that fish. Tears were falling down the girl’s eyes as she thrashed about. Little did she know, something was watching her.

 

“We have to do something.”

 

“But what can we do?”

 

“The little one is suffering so much.”

 

“We must wake her up!”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Taeyeon, Taeyeon, please wake up,” the little girl heard in a whisper. Slowly, she was awakening from another nightmare. As she returned to the living world, she glanced around to see who could have been calling her. Not seeing anyone in the room, she sat up and wiped the tears off of her face. Taeyeon removed her blanket and headed out of her room to get a cup of milk.

 

“What do we do?”

 

“We should speak to her right?”

 

“We need to be there for the little one.”

 

“Do you think she’ll be afraid of us?”

 

“We don’t think so.”

 

“She has a kind heart.”

 

“She will understand.”

 

“I know I hear voices now,” Taeyeon thought as she stood outside of her door. She peeked inside and saw the most fascinating thing. Her peas in the pod, Dukong, were talking. She couldn’t quite understand them but they didn’t have their usual smiles on their faces. So concerned was the girl, that she rushed to her dresser and picked them up. “What’s wrong Dukong? Are you sick?”

 

“No, no little one.”

 

“We are not sick.”

 

“We were worried about you.”

 

With a look of surprise the little girl asked,”You were worried? Why is that Dukong?”

 

“You haven’t been sleeping too well have you?”

 

Looking down the girl shook her head and replied, “No. I see Poopers in my dreams but then…then…” Tears threaten to spill out again as she recalled her nightmares.

 

“It’s okay to cry.”

 

“We know it hurts.”

 

Taeyeon let the tears spill out for the first time since she found out Poopers was dead. Between sobs she said, “I miss Poopers so much.”

 

“Give us a hug Taeyeon.”

 

“We don’t mind.”

 

The little girl brought Dukong to her tiny chest and held on with all her might. After time the once flowing tears began to subside. After what seemed like forever, Taeyeon finally found calm in the night. How long she had been suffering alone, no one knew.

 

“Feeling better now little one?”

 

 

“Yep, I am Dukong,” Taeyeon said with a small smile.

 

“That’s good.”

 

“You should go back to bed.”

 

“You can take us with you.”

 

“That way you won’t be alone.”

 

With a nod, Taeyeon gathered herself and Dukong into bed. She placed the covers over them both and let out a sigh of relief. The little girl then cuddled Dukong closer to herself. Before she drifted off to sleep she whispered, “I love you Dukong.”

 

“We love you too.”

 

“Sweet dreams.”

 

“Goodnight.”