Submission (#3247) Approved

Dawn woke up that morning from a strange dream. The dream felt almost real, and she would have confused it with a memory had she not woken up snug and warm in her bed. It took her a few moments to recall everything, but when everything came flooding back to her it brought with it a strong desire to make the dream a reality. Dawn got up out of bed and began getting ready to head out for the day. She would need her bag, her book, and for this special occasion - her fishing rod and a pair of waterproof boots. After all, she couldn’t look for fish if she didn’t have those two important things! When everything was together the kittom headed out the front door and down the path in front of her house.

Like it was when she fell asleep, there was no sun in the Silveil sky above her. Instead, there was endless darkness with waves of purple and blue. Sparkled above were glittering stars mixed within the deep purples and blues, as if the purple and blue were an ocean and the stars were riding on the waves. The sky reminded her of the colors of her fur and the color of her eyes. While beautiful, it wasn’t the stars that helped guide the kittom to her destination. Instead, living the dirt path were a variety of glowing mushrooms. The light they gave off wasn’t anything like the sun or a lantern, but the gentle hues of green and pink were enough for Dawn to stay on the path and head down the hill towards the wooded area.

It didn’t take long for Dawn to reach her destination. Sitting before her was a grand lake. With how dark it was, the surface of a regular lake would look like a sheet of obsidian, a dark void stretching down into infinity. Instead, just like how Dawn had imagined it in her dream, this lake was full of life. Or light, at least. Even if the surface sat undisturbed, she could see gentle movement underneath in the water. Specks of blue and purple light gently moved, dipping into the waters to disappear before reappearing a few inches away. The light wasn’t enough to light up the area, but it was enough light for Dawn to make her way along the edge of the water to find a good spot to set up her fishing gear and get to work.

As she walked along the edge of the lake, she saw she wasn’t alone. Not too far away was her neighbor, Shika. It was hard not to notice the white of her long hair in the darkness around them. As well, the markings on Shika’s pelt held a gentle blue glow, reminding Dawn of the waves on the lake. The older Elnin was holding a book with one paw and writing something down on a page. Shika stopped when she realized she was no longer alone and watched Dawn approach, a gentle smile appearing on her face.

“Hello, neighbor. You’re out and about early. What brings you to the lake at this time of day? Have you eaten breakfast yet?”

So many questions at once, which was expected with Shika. Before Dawn could answer her stomach answered for her, letting out a soft grumble. Shika chuckled softly and reached into the bag sitting next to her to pull out an apple. She handed the apple to Dawn before pulling another apple out of her bag, and the two sat side-by-side eating their apples and explaining why they were at the lake together. Shika was there to study the wild life of the lake and found that the activity levels were high during this time as other elnin were still asleep or doing their morning tasks before coming out here. Dawn explained that she was here because of a dream she had, so the trip out here was a bit spontaneous. She had dreamed of the lake, and that she had managed to catch and pull out a fish that was twice her size. Dawn wasn’t sure if a fish like that existed, but she sure wanted to try and find out! Shika nodded softly and explained that while she hadn’t seen a fish like that before in the lake, perhaps it was best for Dawn to try and see if one existed. Dawn was thankful that Shika didn’t immediately laugh at or brush off her dream of a giant fish ( because it was a little silly to get so worked up about something she had dreamed of, but now she had to know if it was real! She had to! )

After they were done eating their apples, Shika went back to writing in her book as Dawn put some bait on her fishing line and casted it out into the lake. She knew that fishing took patience, so she quietly sat and waited for what felt like hours. She had no idea how long had passed, but Shika stayed by her side the entire time. 

Eventually Shika closed her book and pulled out more food from her bag. Dawn reluctantly reeled in her line and joined Shika for lunch. As the two enjoyed their meal, Dawn saw something move in the water. It was different from the glowing specks she had grown used to seeing in the water, but something big. Maybe even as big as her! She almost dropped the sandwich she was holding as she stepped closer to the water to get a better look. Upon closer inspection it wasn’t actually as big as a kittom, but she wasn’t looking at just one creature. Dawn watched as several swam up to the surface of the water and floated aimlessly. Shika pulled out her book and flipped through the pages.

“Ah, those are called sea star rabbits. See how their tails light up? And they have little ‘ears’ like rabbits.”

While they weren’t a fish twice her size like she had seen in her dream, Dawn was delighted to see them nonetheless. Part of her wanted to try and catch one to take it home, the other part of ehr knew that it would live a happier life in the lake. Dawn did her best to put away her fishing gear slowly so as to not scare the sea star rabbits, and then spent the rest of the day watching them swim around before they disappeared back into the water. As Dawn watched the sea stars, Shika transcribed her page of information containing sea star rabbits onto a blank page and tore the page out of the book to give to Dawn.

If seeing something this exciting came from a dream she had, she wondered what other amazing things she could discover from having a wonderful dream. The kittom was ready to head back home and curl up in bed to find out.