"Susan?"

Susan stirred and turned over in bed at the small voice in the dark.

"What's wrong, Lu?" she mumbled. "Nightmare?"

"Yes, it was horrid."

"Come up here then." Susan half sat up and waited as Lucy clambered under the covers and snuggled against her. "Tell me about it."

"I don't want to."

"But talking about it will make it seem less bad, you know. You'll notice all the silly things that happened, that couldn't possibly happen in real life."

"Well," Lucy hesitated. "In the dream there was a lion. He was … golden and shiny even though it was dark. And he was walking and he came to this place where there were lots of nasty things like hags and ogres, and a witch tied him up and," she stifled a sob. "and she killed him. Killed him dead, Susan!"

She began to cry and held the blanket against her mouth to stifle the sound.

"Oh, Lucy, you know it was just a dream. It's all right." She put her arms tighter around her sister and kissed the top of her head.

"But it didn't feel like a dream. I felt like I was watching it all happen for real."

"But that's how a lot of dreams are when you're in them."

"This one was different." Lucy sniffled loudly and wiped her nose on the blankets. "I've seen the lion before, in my other dreams. They were all nice dreams, though. Sometimes he chases us, and we chase him, and when the game is over we fall down laughing. When he tosses me up in the air, he always catches me and I never get hurt. Sometimes in the dream I'm older, but it's still me; and we walk down the beach or through the woods. He's a good lion, Susan."

"You never told me about those dreams, Lu," Susan said. "How long have you been having them?"

"Always, as long as I can remember." She started to cry again, softly. "What if I don't have anymore now … now that she's killed him? It was a horrid dream. I'm afraid to go back to sleep now."

"There, there," whispered Susan, caressing Lucy's head. "I'll sing to you, if you want."

Lucy nodded and Susan began an old lullaby. Just before Lucy drifted to sleep, she murmured,

"He'll be back. I know he will."

"Of course he will," murmured Susan. "Good night, Lu."

When Susan woke up the next morning, she saw that Lucy slept on soundly with a smile on her face.

Finis