can't stop cuddling her! We can't leave them together, though, that could be dangerous as she could smother herself, right, honey?"
"No, sweetie, she'll be okay. She doesn't have the strength yet to move her and she is going to be sleeping snuggled into that new 'snuggleby pillow.' Let's leave her alone. We can listen in through the monitor."
They left me in the crib lying down next to Ashleigh. As she snored in her sleep, she would make little grumbling noises and her hand would move a little. She ended up touching my arm again and the warmth and love just washed over me. There was nothing better and I could have luxuriated in that feeling for the rest of my life.
Too soon morning came and Ashleigh called her mother for feeding. The day seemed to fly by and then it was evening again and then I was so warm, so cuddled and so loved. Those are amazing feelings. I knew I never wanted to leave this feeling for the rest of my life. Everything was right.
We carried on like this for weeks. Ashleigh grew and I luxuriated in her perfection.
Then something changed. I woke up and the lights were off and Ashleigh was sleeping snug in her one-piece sleeper. Human cubs are very strange. The nightlight was on and the baby monitor was glowing with its one red eye at me.
Something was wrong. There was something in the room and I could feel it. I could almost smell it. It was like bad cub milk and it felt sickly. I was not sure where this was coming from, but I felt threatened. From my chest I could feel a rumbling and I realized that I was growling.
Ashleigh made some smacking noises and settled back down to sleep with one tiny paw on her chest opening and closing. The smell was stronger.
Bears have a much better sense of smell than humans. I looked around and could not see anything. Ashleigh was sleeping and the light was dim but I could see around me and all over the floor. There was nothing wrong with the walls or the ceiling.
What could it be?
Then I heard it. A scratching noise on the floor. The floors in the room are wood with a nice, thick carpet covering most of the floor so that if Ashleigh fell she would have padding. The only place where there was no carpet was along the wall and under the bed. All the furniture was on this one wall and the carpet was not big enough to cover the whole floor. I could not see anything by the nightlight around the edges of the room. I could not see under the bed while on it.
So there was a smell and a scratching noise coming from under the bed.
It was scary-sounding, but if it kept going it would wake Ashleigh up and she needed her sleep to grow (all the humans said so). So I knew should go and see what it was. I could always run and get back on the bed with Ashleigh if it was scary scary.
I had made up my mind and I found myself at the bars already. It is great being a bear. Those bars do not stop us at all.
I slipped through and carefully climbed down the dust ruffle, letting go and settling to the floor with not even a whisper of a sound. I could hear Ashleigh breathing gently above me. I could even hear her hand opening and closing.
The scratching sound was gone, but I was sure it came from under the bed. It is so dark under there and that dust ruffle hangs down, so there is only a bit of space between it and the floor. The smell was very strong now. I leaned forward to look as Ashleigh is not on the bottle yet; I thought maybe there was some sort of spill during feeding or one of those spit-up towels had dropped on the floor.
I moved the ruffle to find whatever stunk. The curdled milk smell hit me, and then SMACK! A shapeless black blob making squishy noises hit me!
I was lying on my back and this thing was lying on top of me. It was oozing over me. It was kind of like a large, black, shapeless stinky breast.
Ucchhhh! It felt like it was rotting over me! Thicker than water, it oozed over me and if it kept going I was going to be breathing in this stinky, black blob!
I could sort of hear Ashleigh making gobbling hungry noises. I was struggling to push the goo off of myself and it was not working. I was starting to get angry. Very angry. This stinky, black blob of goo smelled bad and was going to somehow hurt my cub, I knew it!
I felt a rushing and then everything was spinning around me. I was fighting back against the blob. Then everything vanished into a red glare.
I blinked and I was standing in the same spot. I was hunched over with my arms out as if I had been wrestling with someone. There was a black mark on the carpet and it was everywhere. As I looked at it, it was fading away to nothing. There was also just a hint of that rotting milk smell that was getting fainter.
I could hear Ashleigh starting to fuss. I quickly climbed up to the bed again and snuggled up to her. She did not settle but instead let off that hiccupping cry which was her way of saying, "Hungry!"
It was just seconds until her human mother came to take care of her. I was left behind in the crib and I felt drained and as if I could sleep forever. I drifted off.
Deep inside I still cherished the warm feeling that I always got from Ashleigh's cuddles and I could feel it. But I was cold and the heat was low. I felt almost like when I had been at the shop before they took me to this, our home.
What was wrong?
Morning came and they all left. As I was sitting on the bed I struggled to stay awake and aware. It was getting harder by the moment. Then there was a quiet rushing of blackness as I fell sideways and everything went away for awhile.
I opened my eyes. It was dark and still I felt warm.
I don't want to be here. I do not belong here. I am small and cute and cuddly. This is where bad things happen, I thought.
Why am I here? How did I get here?
I remembered.
After the monster came and ... it left ... my little one rolled around and gurgled. Then the parents came and fed her and then they all left. I slept so deeply then. My vision came back, sort of, and from the edge of the bed was a glimmer of light and when I looked there was a door and another bear standing in it. He waved at me and called, "Come, little one, you have met a Night Terror. You have to come and learn what it was so that if more come, you can keep your cuddler safe."
I had balked. I did not know this bear. I did not want to leave the bed of my little one. While the monster bits were gone, there was still a hint of the smell and he said there could be more.
"Come along, little one, we do not have long and we cannot leave your little one unguarded for long. We need to keep them all safe, and we can't do that now if you are just going to sit there staring at me. Come on! Jump!"
So I did. I am not sure why, but I knew my little one was safe while out with the parents and I could check out what the door was and where it led. The other bear took my paw and we stepped through the door.
Then I was here.
A large rolling field that was bright everywhere. But it was not glaringly bright. I could see stands of trees everywhere and bushes, but there were no shadows. It was a warm and beautiful place, but it was not home. Why was I here?
"Hello, young one, are you all right?"
I turned and saw a larger bear standing with a smile on his face. He was wearing a helmet on his head, a small shield on his arm and he had a sword slung on his back. He was the very image of bear aggression and strength. I felt tiny next to him. I was tiny.
"Why am I here? What is going on? What was that blob and what did it want? Who are you?" I stopped and looked at the other bear.
He started chuckling, a deep rumbling from his chest. "Good questions, little one. You are here because of what you saw, what you fought. Those are Night Terrors and you saw and defeated one of the first, the "bad milk terror" - that is one of the first terrors that any little one can have. It is not well formed; it is just a subconscious, barely formed fear of not having food or of it not being good. It wanted your cuddler. The warmth that we gain from the cuddler that truly brings us to life is what they want. The Night Terrors do not feel the warmth the same way we do. It cannot be, as they are fear. They want what we have and they can never really have. If they were to touch yo
ur young cub, they would scratch and claw it to get to the warmth."
He stopped and looked away from me for a moment. "Any little one who is actually touched by the Terrors will lose some of that warmth. Even one scratch is too much. But if they are scratched enough, they will eventually lose all of their warmth and become cold shells of who they were. When they grow up they too will become a human form of Night Terror."
He paused again and turned so he was fully facing me. I felt that he was not talking to me as much as to himself and possibly to someone else.
"When they become human Night Terrors, it is always worse. So we stand guard on the cuddlers and stop those Night Terrors, sometimes at the cost of severe wounds. But it is all worth it, as no matter how bad your injury is, your cuddler will love you and the cuddles you get will warm you through any minor physical pain. You are here, little one, to learn to fight the Terrors so that you can protect your cub and keep her safe from the bad things that want what she is: warmth, innocence, love. I am here to teach you and make sure you can protect her and keep her safe."
I shook my head. "I do not belong here. I am small cute and cuddly and I do not fight. I want my Ashleigh."
He smiled at me. "You want your Ashleigh, and they want your Ashleigh as well. Only one of you can have the cuddler. We are Bears, little one; it is in our body through and through that we will protect, care for and nurture those who are