This is a rewrite of chapter 1. Hopefully, this is a better version than the first one was.
Note: This takes place after the fire had disappeared from the valley and when the green food returned. The asterisks are used in place of italics for flashbacks and nightmares.
One night in the Great Valley, Topsy appeared to be sleeping uneasily. It has been months since the green food had come back after the fire had disappeared. However, Topsy’s stunt with leading Cera directly into the fire, albeit unintentionally, still haunted his mind.
*Topsy’s Nightmare*
*Topsy and Cera were surrounded by burning logs and all the flames; they had nowhere to go. Suddenly, Topsy looked over at the still form of Cera; he rushed over and tried to wake her up. However, it was no use; Cera had died due to an excessive amount of smoke in her lungs. Just when Topsy was about to collapse, he woke up panting.*
*End dream*
Topsy sat up suddenly and looked over at Cera, who was sleeping soundly. He heaved a sigh of relief and went back into an uneasy sleep.
A few hours later, he and Cera appeared at the Feeding Grounds for breakast. However, since Topsy barely slept a wink, he was tired and grumpy. Although, that didn’t stop him from going on about his day. He started eating some sweet bubbles from a bush and then rammed some treestars down from a tall tree and ate them. Grandpa has been watching him from a distance and noticed that something seemed off about him; though, he decided not to pester him about it.
“Hmm,” Grandpa muttered.
“What is it, dear?” Grandma wondered.
“It seems our threehorn friend appears to be troubled; ever since the fire, he’s really been on edge,” Grandpa explained.
Grandma sighed. She couldn’t deny how much she cared about Topsy’s wellbeing.
“I wouldn’t bother him with so many questions; let him come to you, or me or anyone else who’s willing to let him express his emotions,” Grandma assured her mate.
“You’re right; but, once again, my parental instincts have kicked in, even if Topsy isn’t an offspring of ours; I still care about him; why do you think I saved him and Cera? I didn’t want them to die in the fire,” Grandpa told her.
Grandma nodded.
Later in the day, Topsy was walking around; it seemed as if he saw fire and flames everywhere he went. However, he shook it off, and just kept it to himself.
*Flashback*
*”Daddy, I’m scared!” Cera exclaimed.
*”A real threehorn never gets scared in the face of danger,” Topsy told her.
*They were soon surrounded by some flames that had knocked a tree down and blocked their path. Both of them panted from exhaustion…*
*Flashback end*
Topsy shook his head in order to clear his mind of the thought.
“That was scary,” Topsy told himself.
After that, he continued his solitary walk. In the back of his mind, he hoped that the nightmares would stop soon since he really needed some sleep. However, he would have to confide in someone he could trust with his life to keep the matter to him/herself.
Over the next few days, Topsy has been getting the same nightmare; even during the day when he decides to take an afternoon nap underneath the bright circle. Various herd members were getting worried about him since he seems to be more irritable than normal. Even Kosh has expressed how worried he was even if Topsy isn’t one of his best friends.
“I assure you guys; I’m fine,” Topsy told them.
“Then why are you so grumpy, hmm?” Kosh retorted.
“You’re annoying me with your questions, now just leave me alone for a while,” Topsy snapped.
Kosh sighed and wandered away with some of the herd members following behind him.
“Humph!” Topsy snorted and walked away in the opposite direction.
He then decided to lie down for another nap, hoping that this time, he won’t have the recurring nightmare. He got himself comfortable on the ground underneath a big tree and rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes.
Meanwhile, Littlefoot and his friends were out playing with Hyp, Mutt and Nod. The eight of them were having fun tossing the pinecone around. However, Hyp’s team was winning; and it was on a team that Cera wasn’t on. She really wanted to be on the winning team; however, she was told that games were meant for having fun, not just winning. Hyp kicked the pinecone over to Littlefoot; however, Nod, being on Cera’s team had caught it in his mouth and it landed in the goal for Hyp’s team.
“D’oh, me no like losing,” Petrie muttered.
“Ha ha ha, the score is tied; the next one to score is the winner,” Cera stated.
“And that’s gonna be me, girly,” Hyp sneered.
Once the game had restarted, Hyp managed to score on Cera’s team. Although their team had won, Littlefoot, Spike, Mutt and Hyp were nice about it and offered to do a rematch.
“Good game, guys,” Cera commented.
Spike murmured in agreement.
“Uh, yeah; it was fun,” Mutt agreed.
Back at the Tall Trees, Topsy once again had woken up from his recurring nightmare. Much to his horror, he was confronted by Grandpa Longneck.
“Are you all right? I heard you yelling in your sleep,” Grandpa commented.
Topsy stood up and shook himself.
“I’ll be fine; Kosh and a few others asked me the same thing and I told them that I was fine,” Topsy said.
“All right; but, I have noticed that you’ve been having nightmares; if you ever feel the need to talk, I’m ready to listen,” Grandpa told him.
“Like I said before, I’m fine,” Topsy stated.
“All right; I’ll drop it; but, remember that it’s not healthy to keep things bottled up,” Grandpa claimed.
Topsy nodded and wandered away.
“That threehorn is gonna snap one day,” Grandpa muttered to himself.
Once Topsy had gotten to a more secluded area, he found himself getting a headache.
“Maybe the longneck is right…no, no; a threehorn never shows weakness to anybody, especially a longneck,” Topsy told himself.
He was soon fighting a battle within himself; his conscience was telling him that opening up about his nightmares to someone is a good way of making sure he won’t get them anymore. However, another part of him made him keep the negative feelings to himself since he was taught that emotions were for the weak.
“Hmmm, maybe a drink of water will get rid of this headache,” Topsy said.
Upon reaching a watering hole, he lowered his head to the water and began to drink. After quenching his thirst, his headache had gone away. However, he felt a sharp pain in his chest; since it was minor, he shook it off and kept on walking.
Unbeknownst to him, various herd members were keeping a close watch on him since there might be one day when he’d snap.