...towards something I'd never know what it was. At that moment I quickly snapped awake, sitting up in bed. I looked around my room, finding it was about five in the morning. I yawned, and sat up, but it was only when I tried to scratch my nose did I remember I was still stuck in my Umbreon costume. I stood up, running over to turn on the light and look in the mirror. Maybe something had loosened during the night? Try as I might, though, the zipper was still stuck in place and not going anywhere. I tried to pull the mask off through the hood of the costume, but the tight velcro fastenings in the back made it so the mask wouldn't even budge. I sighed dejectedly.
I went back over to my bed, flopping down. I looked at my giant stuffed Umbreon, its friendly smile that usually made me grin as well doing nothing to comfort me. At least one of us could be happy being an Umbreon. But you're supposed to be, I thought to myself as I frowned at him. I picked him up, and tossed him aside at the wall in the corner. As I did, though, I gasped and practically jumped off the bed, landing next to him on all fours in the corner. "I'm sorry," I said to him with a whine as I nuzzled him softly, "I'm just frustrated. I didn't mean to take it out on you." I was about to pick him up in my mouth to put him back on the bed, when I thought about what I was doing. I instead stood up, picking my Umbreon up and placing him back on the bed.
The next three hours was an exercise in futility as I attempted everything I could think of to unzip that zipper. I tried everything in the house I could find that might work. Hangers, tweezers, silverware, pliers; anything I could get my paws on I tried. To my frustration, my biggest problem was my inability to use anything with the paws the way they were. I finally went in search of one of my last resorts -- a pair of scissors. I hated to mess up the beautiful costume, but I had to do what I had to do. Upon finding a pair, though, I quickly found I was unable to use them. At least I wouldn't have to destroy the costume, I thought to myself.
I only had one option left. I had to call for help. I picked up the telephone, and carefully dialed the number of a friend that lived nearby. I was a bit of a loner, and the neighborhood where I lived was pretty far out in the middle of nowhere. He was the only friend I could think of that lived within a half hour's drive. I groaned as I got his answering machine, though. I left a message anyway, begging him to call me back as soon as he could. As I hung up the phone, I sighed again. On my way back to flop into bed and sulk, I looked out my window. It was now late in the morning, and it was a beautiful day outside. At that moment, the strangest urge to go outside came over me, so I figured why not? I grabbed my stuffed Umbreon and ran out the door.
It was as beautiful a day as it looked. The sun was shining, and there was a nice strong breeze. I wasn't really worried about being seen, as my yard had pretty high side fences. Even though the front fence was just chain link, very few people went down my street anyway. I looked around and set my stuffed Umbreon down on my top step, grinning as I dropped to all fours, bounding around the yard. My worries began to melt away, just like in my dream. Soon, before I even knew what I was doing, I was chasing butterflies, exploring bushes, rolling in the grass, and just lying on the ground enjoying the warmth of the sun. It was kind of selfish of me to be having so much fun on my own, so I went up, grabbing my Umbreon plushie in my mouth, and carried him back out to a nice shady spot in the yard. I set him down and curled up around him for a nap.
Even for just a simple nap, my dreams were busy ones. I awoke in a field like the one from my dream the night before, next to another, real live Umbreon. Though neither of us could talk, we bonded instantly and began to live like Umbreons should. We played together, ate together, slept together, and were the best of friends. We explored forests, caves, fields...
...but my good times quickly came to an end as I awoke to someone shaking me. I opened my eyes and looked up. There was a person there, talking incoherently. I blinked, trying to focus my eyes, to find someone I vaguely remembered as the friend I'd called earlier, shaking me and trying to wake me up. I yawned and stretched as he stepped back and stopped talking for a moment. He began to talk to me again, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying. I tilted my head in confusion, and tried to tell him to speak more clearly, but both of us became silent as an unmistakable "yip!" came out of my mouth. I pulled my ears back in alarm, trying desperately to talk. But all that came out of my mouth was a series of yips and howls.
Then it happened. He approached me and tried to reach for my back. Before I knew what was going on, I'd bitten his hand. He screamed, and before he could react any further I grabbed my Umbreon friend by the nape of his neck in my mouth and high-tailed it out of there, still on all fours. I ran and ran, down the road, through a small park, and into some dense foliage like a small forest nearby. I dropped my friend and began to pant, falling to the ground. I was confused and exhausted, my head spinning slightly. What just happened? Why was that stranger trying to touch me? He wanted to hurt me, I told myself. You were just protecting the two of us. If he hurt me, he'd hurt you too, I thought as I nuzzled my friend. I did it for us. He didn't say anything in return -- he never did -- but he just continued to smile at me as he always had.