Hey all! No, I'm not dead. Wait...yeah, I'm not dead. Okay, so, I had already published this story, but there were literally MILLIONS of mistakes, so I just fixed 'em. And if you are discovering this for the first time, enjoy!

Diego's Nightmare

It was a beautiful, cool, spring night. Brilliantly lit stars sparkled in the deep purple-blue sky while the crickets chirped their lovely songs, filling what would be absolute silence with their beautiful music. The cool breeze swayed grass and leaves gently, bringing a comfortable wind to the sleeping animals that lived in the valley. Among those animals was a herd of unorthodox mammals consisting of three mammoths, one sloth, two possums, and one sabre-toothed cat. They resided in a large clearing in the middle of the forest, and in that clearing they slept in a large den, big enough to fit everyone comfortably.

This particular night was like any other- -Manny, Ellie, and Peaches, the mammoths, were all sleeping next to each other, shoulder to shoulder. Sid the sloth was lying on his back on his favorite rock while the two possums, Crash and Eddie, were sleeping upside down, hanging from a vine at the top of the ceiling by their tails. Diego, the sabre-toothed tiger, was sleeping soundly on his side near the entrance of the den. He liked sleeping there so it would be easier to hear any potential dangers. His unofficial duty was to keep his herd safe from intruders, even at night; but as tough as he was, he still had some fears. Well, one fear in particular: water. Sure, he had jumped into a raging flood once, but he only did that to save his friends; he was honestly still terrified of it.

As the night went on, Diego went into a deeper and deeper sleep; and soon, he started to dream...

~It was a bright and sunny day. Diego stood alone inside of the 'bowl' he, Manny, and Sid had lived in before the flood. No other animals were around. The sabre thought that was a little odd, but for some reason, didn't care. Bored and tired, he lay down on the ground, resting his head on his paws, and shortly thereafter, fell asleep.

As the sabre slept, the ice making up the wall of the bowl started to crack. A little bit of water from the other side of the ice seeped through. Diego's ear shifted its direction, picking up the sound of the water rushing and the ice cracking. He immediately woke up. Just then, the crack exploded, endless water bursting its way through. It all happened so fast, Diego didn't know what to do; he was trapped. Standing up, he faced the water and watched it as its towering waves devoured the land.

It didn't take long for the water to reach Diego; and when it did, it hit him with such a tremendous force that it knocked him off his feet. He didn't know what was going on; all he could see was blackness and all he could breathe was water. He opened his eyes with a jolt, and saw that he was tens of feet under the surface of the raging flood. His head ached and his vision steadily blurred.

In reality, Diego began grunting uncomfortably in his sleep. He started tossing and turning as little beads of sweat slowly trickled down his face.

~In no time at all, the bowl had filled up. Up to the brim. Diego's ears and nose and mouth and eyes were filled with water, and suddenly, he realized what had happened and where he was. In a panic, the tiger swam up to the surface by using the Claw, Kick technique Sid had taught him. Once his head broke the surface, he gasped for air and coughed uncontrollably. It was a struggle to stay there for very long, though. More rushing waves washed over Diego's head, once again shoving him underwater.

After a whole agonizing minute of holding his breath, the cat popped back up again. He was terrified; he wasn't the best swimmer, and it was a real struggle for him to keep his head above the surface. Again, he went back under.~

In his mind, as he lived out the horrible experience, Diego began reciting Sid's lesson. "Claw, kick," he said weakly in his sleep. "Claw, kick." He repeated those two words, slightly moving his front paws every time he said "claw" and moving his hind legs every time he said "kick."

~"Claw, kick," he said, motivating himself in his dreams. "Claw, kick." The sabre was able to keep his head above the surface for about a minute before being forced underwater again. He weakly swam back up to the surface. Once his head broke through, he realized he couldn't keep this up for much longer; he was exhausted. Panicked, he frantically looked around for anything he could use to keep himself afloat.~

From across the den, Manny the mammoth slept soundly, dreaming of his daughter Peaches happily romping around in a field of daisies. In his dream, while Peaches was sniffing one of the flowers, he heard someone say "claw, kick". Was he just dreaming, or had he actually heard someone say that? His eyes opened. Since Diego was right across from him, he was the first thing the mammoth saw. The tiger was lying on his side, grunting, moving his legs, and was reciting "claw, kick" over and over again. His facial expressions were also changing; the looks he made made himself appear as if he were terrified and panicked.

"Ellie," Manny whispered, tapping the caramel-colored mammoth on her shoulder with his trunk.

Ellie sleepily opened her eyes and looked at her husband. "What is it?" She asked drowsily. Manny answered her question by turning his head and looking at Diego. Ellie followed his gaze, and saw the sabre squirming and saying weird things from across the den. The two mammoths sat there and stared at their friend, silently thinking Diego was nuts inside their heads.

~As more and more water piled into the bowl, Diego was becoming weaker and weaker from treading water so much for so long. For once, he wasn't calm; he was moving his legs faster and faster and trying his best to stay afloat; however, this weakened him, and it made itself obvious that it wasn't the best battle strategy. Diego was certain he was going to meet a watery grave.

He scanned the surface of the water, desperately searching for a piece of debris or something else he could use to cling onto. He couldn't see anything...he was almost assuredly going to die. But then, he just happened to glance over to his left. There, he spotted a log. His spirits lifted upon seeing the buoyant piece of wood, and he uneasily yet joyfully swam over to it. He was forced underwater several times on the way, but eventually made it to the log. He gratefully grabbed it, panting, his legs all numb from exhaustion. A huge weight lifted off his shoulders. But he wasn't out of danger yet; water was raging all around him, threatening to force him off of the log and to the ground underwater at any moment. The terrified and exhausted tiger clung to the log for dear life as the rushing aqua menacingly threw him and the log this way and that.~

As Diego lay on the ground clawing, kicking, and grunting; and while Manny and Ellie stared at him blankly; the rest of the herd woke up one by one, each just standing there, staring at the tiger. Everyone's mouth was agape, their eyes wide, and their bodies still. The same thought ran through their minds: What is wrong with this guy?

~Waves violently crashed over Diego and the log while the rampaging water threw them around mercilessly. It was proving difficult just to hang onto the log, and it almost escaped his grasp several times. He tried to hang on as best as he could, but the water was just too much. One giant wave formed over Diego and towered above him, crashing down on him with so much force that it knocked him off of the log, even when he had it death-gripped. The log was carried far away from the sabre by the rushing water, and once again, Diego found himself forced under the surface.~

In reality, as the herd watched their deluded friend, Diego's facial expression changed in his sleep from panicked to superpanicked. His legs kicked and clawed frantically, and his ears lowered with nervousness. "No," he said faintly.

~Diego sunk to the ground, bubbles of air escaping his nose and mouth. He couldn't swim back up to the surface; he was too tired, too weak.~

"No," he said a bit louder in real-life.

~His chest felt as if it was burning. He was just about out of air. He was exhausted. The sabre closed his eyes for the last time as he slowly sunk towards his grave...~

"NOOO!..." Diego screamed frantically, suddenly waking up. He stopped himself dead in his tracks as he noticed everyone staring at him. The herd had their eyeballs glued to him, not one even blinking. Diego, greatly embarrassed, was frozen, staring at his herd the same way they were staring at him with his mouth agape as well. Everything was quiet; not even the crickets were chirping.

"Uh..." Sid said finally, breaking the silence.

"What...was...that about...?" Ellie asked. Sid was the only one who knew of Diego's fear of water, and he didn't want anyone else knowing about it. He didn't want anyone else thinking he was a wuss.

"Uh...I just had a nightmare where I...uh...got...crushed...by a big...tree..." he said hesitatingly as he thought of an excuse for his weird behavior.

Ellie and Manny looked at each other, as did Peaches at Sid, and Crash at Eddie. After a few moments, they all shrugged it off.

"Well, uh...goodnight, then," Manny concluded. Manny, Ellie, Peaches, Crash, Eddie, and Sid all settled down again and went back to sleep. Diego breathed a sigh of relief, glad he was still alive. He rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes, sleeping the rest of the night away nightmare-free.

(FYI: I was about to re-title this "Wet Dreams", but then I saw my mistake...)

Like it? (Still any errors?) Please review! You won't review? Ugh, fine...but if you review(like an ACTUAL review), AND you give me all the correct answers to the problems below, you will be recognized as AWESOME!...Stop groaning, I'm a fun person. :D

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