Peppa
“Mommy, Jamaya is making the sad puppy sound again,” Alicia whispered. Her face, illuminated by the full moonlight, shone in the dark room as her eyes gleamed with tears.
“She's having that dream again, I guess,” she added as she walked behind her mother to their bedroom.
Jamaya, a brown-skinned toddler with long, wavy ebony hair, lay curled up in her bunk, whining and uttering words that couldn't be comprehended by her mom or her nine-year-old sister, Alicia.
“It's okay, Maya, mommy's here now,” Katherine said as she picked up her daughter from the bed and placed her on her lap, gently stroking her hair and muttering comforting words while rocking her from side to side.
“I saw Daddy. I wanted him to carry me, but he said no and turned his back to me,” she babbled, gripping her mother's clothes tightly. “Was it the same dream you had yesterday?” Alicia asked, and Maya nodded.
“Let's go sleep in my room,” Katherine said. It was the only way to make her kids less frightened.
Their dad had passed away just a few months after Jamaya turned two. She was a daddy's girl but it's been a year already and it was freaking Katherine out that Jamaya was the only one having those dreams.
The next day, Katherine was up early to get Alicia ready for school, and when she was gone, she took Jamaya with her to see her best friend, Alice, to discuss her concerns about Jamaya's recurring dreams.
She rang the doorbell, and in a few heartbeats the door swung open.
“Katherine!” Alice called out with excitement as she picked up Jamaya from the carrier. “Why are you wearing a long face?” There was concern in Alice's tone as she stepped aside for Katherine to walk in before shutting the door behind her.
Taking a deep breath, Katherine sank onto the couch. She was puffy-eyed. Jamaya was asleep when Alice took her out of her carrier, so Alice hurriedly laid her down in her room before coming out to find out what was wrong with Katherine.
“I know everything is not okay, so spill,” she ordered as she took a seat next to Katherine.
“Maya's still having dreams about her late father, and it's making me sick. She's suffering, Alice.” She paused for a while to draw in breath. “Alicia is suffering too because every time Maya whines and screams, Alicia jerks up and tries to calm her down. But when it proves futile, she comes running to me. It's now a recurring thing, Alice. The sad part is they're becoming leery of their room.” Tears glided down her cheeks, and her lips quivered as Alice pulled her in for a hug.
After releasing her, Alice pulled out a tissue and handed it to her. “Wipe your tears.” There was a moment of silence in the room until Alice broke it. “There's a Korean store downtown that sells dreamcatchers. Let's check it out before picking up Alicia from school.”
“You sure it'll work?” Curiosity shone in Katherine's eyes. “Don't doubt it yet, Kate. We'll give it a try. People say it works.” Katherine pulled out another tissue and snorted into it as she nodded in agreement.
An hour before Alicia's pickup time, the three were in Katherine's car driving to the store. “Where are we going, mommy?” Jamaya queried as she looked curiously out the window. “We're going to get you a dreamcatcher.”
“What's a dreamcatcher, mommy?” Katherine gave Alice a knowing look, and Alice couldn't help but laugh. “Darling, it's a beautiful toy that'll help trap those nightmares and stop them from frightening you,” Alice explained.
“Thank you, mommy. Thank you, Auntie Alice.” “Aww, you're very welcome, baby,” the duo responded as the car came to a stop in front of the store. The name of the store was written in Korean alphabets, so it was difficult for Katherine to read.
Inside the store, there were various dreamcatchers, some meant to be hung above the child's bed and others designed like teddy bears to be held by the child while sleeping.
Jamaya picked a pink one that she could snuggle with at night. It was big, cozy and had cute charms dangling from its ears.
“Alicia, look, a dreamcatcher!” Jamaya exclaimed as her sister approached the car. “Aww, it's beautiful, Maya. What will you call it?” Alicia asked as she opened the door and hopped in. “Can you help me with a name, please?” With a smile, Alicia nodded. She kept tapping her index finger on her forehead with her head tilted upwards while Jamaya stared at her excitedly, waiting to hear what name she would come up with.
“We'll call it Peppa. You love Peppa from your favorite series Peppa Pig right?” "But it's not a pig" she disagreed. "It's pink Maya, just like Peppa." Alicia added. “I love you, Peppa,” Jamaya said and sat straight in her car seat.
“We'll drop off Auntie Alice before heading home,” Katherine announced. “Okay, mommy,” Alicia responded, and Jamaya followed suit with a giggle.
“You've raised your daughters well, Kate. I'm so proud of you,” Alice complimented before getting out of the car. “Now you're making me emotional. Thank you.” “Have a lovely weekend, girls,” Alice said, and the girls screamed back, “You too, Auntie Alice.”
It was the weekend, and surprisingly, Katherine had fallen asleep, forgetting to check on her daughters. As the sun filtered through the drapes, illuminating her bedroom, she rubbed her eyes and opened them. Looking at the time, she jumped out of bed, walking on her toes to her girls' room.
It was a few minutes past 7AM, and the girls appeared sound asleep. But before she could shut the door and walk away, Jamaya woke up. “Good morning, mommy.” Katherine smiled and walked back inside the room to hug her daughter who had stretched out her arms for a hug. “I didn't have any nightmares, mommy.” “Aww, I guess Peppa really loves you too,” Katherine added.
“Let's go out to the kitchen and make breakfast so we don't wake your big sister up, okay?” “Yayyy!” Jamaya exclaimed. “I love making breakfast.”
A very tender story, I liked the part where the dreamcatcher becomes something very close to the girl and helps her have pleasant dreams. A beautiful narrative that captivates.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Happy new week.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you reading my work. 💜
Glad Katherine got the dreamcatcher for Maya. Children easily stick images to their brain and perhaps that of her late father lingered than usual. Good script here
Thank you so much.
You're welcome
Katherine is a such a good mother, nightmares are not good at all. They happen, but when they become consistent, it calls for concern. All thanks to Alice who brought the idea of a dreamcatcher, obviously peppa loves jamaya too. And as long as it abides with her, those dreams ain't coming back
Indeed, when nightmares becomes consistent it calls for concern especially in children. Thank you so much for stopping by. I really appreciate.
Hi @teknon. Before we can curate your story, you need to fix the link to your second image. Thank you.
My apologies. It's been fixed.
Thank you for fixing your image link. We neglected to come back to your story. It's very sweet. Children's nightmares are so challenging, both for the child and the parents. It was nice that the dreamcatcher fixed the problem.