Skipper and Dusty's Father-Son Relationship Stories (All Humanized)

Chapter 8: Solitary Flyer Part 5

    As promised, the police arrived back at Propwash that evening, and Dusty was forced to tell them the whole story, starting with Ripslinger almost coming close to kill him. Rip, Ned, and Zed were all banded from ever going near the town as near a 5 mile distance. After a few days, everything went back to normal at the town. Well, aside from a few things...
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    Skipper was exausted. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep for days; he was totally sleep deprived. He was just about to drop off to sleep again when the heard a familiar scream. By now, he was used to Dusty's night terrors. Wondering what frightened him this time, he went over to the bedroom where he was resting.

    Dusty screamed as he woke up and jumped out of bed. He backed up until he hit the wall as someone came towards him. He was so scared in fact, he ended up not looking where he was going, triped on his air goggles, and fell to the ground with a thump. Not knowing what else to do, he just curled up into a ball on the floor in fright. Then, he was aware of someone touching his shoulder and speaking to him gently. "It's alright, Dusty. It's just me?" Skipper tried to assure him.

    He was used to it; he knew that the only thing he could do was sit there and wait until the young man pulled himself together. "S-Skipper?" he whimpered.

    "It's alright, kid. Just another nightmare," Skipper said as gently and soothingly as he could, pulling him into his arms.

    "I can't do this anymore, Skip," Dusty sobbed as tears streamed down his face. "I just want to sleep..."

    "Shh, shh, shh," Skipper said gently, kissing his young charge on the forehead.

    Dusty looked terrible, sad, and sleep deprived as well. His blue eyes were no longer shining like they used to, and his happy attitude was pratically nonexistent. Skipper pressed the young man close to him in a comforting hug in a desprate attempt to calm the distressed racer. Eventually, Dusty's cries subsided as he fell into another restless slumber. Skipper remained awake, thinking of a solution. He was going to have to talk to Dottie about it tomorrow.
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    The next day, Skipper and Dusty went to Dottie's medical shed. Dusty stayed more quiet than usual, which bothered Dottie more than she would like to admit. "I don't know, Skipper," she said with a sigh. "We could give him a sleeping drug, but it's not a long-term solution."

    Skipper sighed as well. He didn't want to drug the kid more than Dottie would, but if it meant giving Dusty a full night's rest, than that would have to do. Just as he was about to ask Dottie for the perscribed drug, Chug snuck in, followed by Sparky. "We may have found a solution to Dusty's sleeping problems," he said. "Sparky..."

    "Ta da!" Sparky exclaimed holding up a folded up fabric.

    "What were you 2 up to?" Dottie asked with a smile.

    "We made a new blanket for Dusty!" Sparky beamed. Chug nodded with ethusiasum.

    Thanking them, Skipper took the blanket and went over to Dusty, who was sitting in a chair in a light sleep as his friends talked around him. He jumped as Skipper threw the blusher over him, straightening it up. "Maybe this'll help you, Dusty. Chug and Sparky made it for you."

    Dusty sighed happily as he felt the weight of the blanket add it made him feel secure. He thanked his friends as he slowly closed his eyes. And for the first time all week, Dusty managed to get 8 hours of undisturbed sleep. And so did Skipper.