Wild

chapter 5

Food, he needed food. Dream was currently leaning heavily on the wooden pillars lining the dark walls. He clutched his stomach as another wave of hunger hit him, where the hell was he going to get food? His supply had run out during his travels and the tunnels definitely didn't have anything, as much as he hated to admit it the only source of food was the human. Surely somewhere in that kitchen there was food laying around.

The problem was the humans were awake, he could feel the vibrations in the floor when they stepped. He wasn't sure how close to the kitchen he was, the tunnels looked identical everywhere he went. But he was sure there were two humans in the house now, the voice he could hear yelling occasionally was definitely not the human he hitched a ride with. On the bright side he had figured out the name of the human that saw him in the field, George. It was hard not to learn the name when the other human kept yelling it out.

Dream had taken to following his shoe prints back now, trying to find the kitchen entrance. But every so often he would pause as another wave of hunger washed over him. He honestly had no clue if he was making any progress at all in the endless passages, he could feel the frustration creeping up on him. Not only was he stuck in a house with a human, with no plan on where to go, but he was also starving.

Dream groaned as he came around another corner and saw the same dead cockroach laying on one side of the tunnel. This was the third time he was seeing this cockroach, which meant he was definitely going in a circle. And it wasn't a pleasant sight either, something was weird about this cockroach. It looked petrified, like it just fell over for no reason and died. Not to mention the horrible smell coming from it, it wasn't even the smell of rot though, because clearly it had died a long time ago. No, this thing had that weird sharp smell that the rest of the tunnel had, the one that stung his nose. Dream sighed and slumped back against the nearest wall, tired of the constant walking. Only to gasp when he felt the wall give way under the slight pressure, hearing the wood creak as he fell backwards. Dream landed on his back and heard a snap as the wood he fell through sealed back into place.

The borrower flinched back at the sudden onslaught of light, quickly covering his eyes. Once he started to adjust to the bright light he slowly sat up, looking at the wall he fell through. He gaped at the perfectly flat wood wall staring back at him, as if he didn't just fall through it. Dream scrambled to stand up and walk closer to the wall, looking it over for a way to open it. He gasped quietly when he noticed a near invisible notch in the wall, carefully he fit his hand into it and pulled it open. He grinned in amazement when the wood easily came loose again, showing him the tunnel it hid. Whoever made these entrances was a genius, not even he could see them. But before Dream could continue his inspection a thought occurred to him, he wasn't in the wall anymore....

As if on cue he heard slow movement above him, the slight groaning of wood and shifting of blankets. Dream quickly looked up, only to see the underside of a bed. He could see the edge of the blanket hanging off the side of the bed just a few feet to his right. It looked like this entrance opened up in the human's bedroom, directly under his bed. Dream caught movement off to his left and gasped seeing a shadow fall over the floor next to the bed.

Dream looked around, scanning for anything to hide behind. He wouldn't be able to open that entrance again, not nearly fast enough to avoid the humans' sight. The only thing nearby was a stack of blankets and a box. Dream cursed under his breath as he dove for the box, hiding behind the side opposite the human.

He held his breath as he heard more shuffling coming from above, before a small vibration went through the floor as the human stepped out of the bed. The human, George, his mind supplied, sounded closer now more ground level. He must have crouched down, which meant he definitely heard Dreams' painfully loud entrance. The borrower bit his lip to keep himself quiet in the tense silence, the human not making any noise. It was only a few more moments of silence before Dream heard the human, George; his mind persistently reminded him, slowly getting up. Dream clenched his fist tightly as he chanced a glance around the box, towards where he knew the human was.