Dream 4
Lyle is small, only six or seven years old, and he’s sitting up awake in his bed in the middle of the night. It’s a typical child’s room, with toys and clothes all over the floor, Lyle’s bed in the corner and in the corner is the bed where his twin is curled up fast asleep. Lyle rubs at his eyes and yawns, staring at Neil’s form before scooting over to the edge of his bed and sliding down to the floor.
He quietly moves across the room, making sure not to step on any toys, and ends up at Neil’s bedside. He reaches out a small hand to tug on his brother’s sleeve. “Neil,” he whispers, “Neil wake up.” He smiles slightly as his twin groans and blinks awake, feeling better already.
“Lyle,” Neil mumbles to him, “What’s wrong? You never wake up at night.” Neil suddenly sits up urgently and stares down at Lyle. “You aren’t sick, are you?” Lyle blinks as his brother moved to put a hand on his forehead just like mum did, but then he moves it away.
“Not sick, had a nightmare.” Lyle looks down at the ground, feeling slightly childish. But Neil only responds with relief.
“But if you don’t go to bed soon, you will get sick, come here.” He takes Lyle’s hand and helps him crawl into the bed. Lyle quickly curls up beside his brother as Neil lies back down. He’s starting to feel sleepy already but Neil rolls over to look at him. “What did you dream about?”
Lyle looks down at the sheets, “…You guys left me. You, mum, dad, ‘n Amy all left me behind when you left somewhere. I looked forever but couldn’t find you.” He bites his lip and trails off, the dream had definitely left him feeling discontented.
“You don’t worry, little brother, I’ll make sure that never happens. So go to bed and we all be here in the morning, promise,” Neil gave that grin that always made Lyle believe what he was saying, no matter what it was.
“’Kay, nightnight Neil,” he curled up closer to his brother and closed his eyes, quickly fell back asleep.
[...Lyle shifts, unable to sleep in the middle of the night]