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He was consumed by a sense of dread and fear. He was running, but he couldn’t tell what he was running from or where he was running too. He felt a hand gripped tightly in his own. Who was holding his hand so tightly? He couldn’t tell, but he didn’t want to let go. There was a scream, a flash of blond hair, and the sound of an explosion. Shadow could no longer feel the hand he didn’t want to let go of anymore.
Shadow awoke with a start, gasping from the nightmare that had gripped him. He took slow breaths and attempted to calm his racing heart. Shadow tried to recall why the dream had affected him so but, the vividness of the nightmare was already starting to leave him, only leaving behind a lingering sense of unease. Shadow looked over to the clock, it was five a.m. Too early for breakfast, but too late to go back to sleep. Besides, he had no real desire to sleep and risk returning to that unsettling nightmare. His mind made up, Shadow got out of his bed and decided to head to the kitchen for his comfort food, coffee beans. It had only been a few days since he had first woken up in the crab mech and he was craving for some more of the heavenly, crunchy snack.
With practiced ease, Shadow scooted a bar stool over to the counter, climbed up the chair, and then onto the counter to reach the coffee bean jar. It really was so inconvenient being so small, why was nothing ever within reach? Well, the crab mech was clearly made with humans in mind and not being like him. Shadow wondered if all humans were as tall as Stone. He would have to ask Stone when he got up. As the days past with only Stone as his companion, Shadow had started to become more and more curious about the world outside of the crab mech. At first, Stone had directed him to several nature documentaries to satiate his desire to know more about Earth. And though Shadow loved these documentaries that were filled with many amazing creatures and places, he actually wanted to experience these things himself. He wanted to go outside and feel the breeze flow through his spines. He wanted to see the beauty of flowers in person and know how it feels to run through a field of tall grass. He wanted to see a bird as it flew through the sky and a butterfly as it glided gracefully through the air. But, he couldn’t. Stone had said that it wasn’t safe to go outside because humans weren’t used to seeing beings like him, so they had to be careful when they went out.
Shadow wondered if that was the only reason or if there was something more that Stone wasn’t telling him about. He hoped that whatever it was that he was hiding wasn’t serious because Shadow was actually starting to like the guy. His cooked food for him all the time and it was always delicious. He spent time watching nature documentaries with him and even cleaned out a whole storage room so Shadow could have a room to himself and wouldn’t have to sleep in the infirmary. He respected Shadows boundaries and he gave great hugs. To Shadow, Stone had become someone he could rely on and trust. Maybe Stone was just being tight lipped about boring adult stuff. He did say that he was trying to find them a more permanent place to stay. Although Shadow couldn’t see what was wrong with the crab mech. When he asked, Stone had only muttered about giant robots not being the best place to raise children.
Shadow munched on his handful of coffee beans as he contemplated these things, lost in thought. He jumped when the door to the kitchen opened, startling him out of his thoughts.