There was a flash. That was all that seemed out of the ordinary. Something felt out of place. The room was dark, too dark to see anything yet. It just felt out of place. Could he be dreaming? But if he was, why would he dream about waking up? A familiar scent hung in the air. A perfumed scent that brought back memories of the past. What was that scent he thought to himself. His lungs breathed in deeply to get a better smell of it. Being a canid with good sense of smell did have its benefits. The fox could pick out the sweet and pleasant notes of the fragrance. It reminded him of childhood. That was all that he could think of for the familiarity.

Raven began to stretch out as he started to feel as though he was awake when his arm brushed up against something. He stopped stretching and felt whatever it was on the edge of the bed. It was wooden, he could tell that, but it went up higher than he could reach from his position while laying down. Why was there a piece of wooden hanging off the side of his bed he thought to himself. His other paw went over to feel this strange item when it too brushed against a piece of wood. He took that paw and moved it from by his waist all the way to his face at arms length. Click! Click! Click! went his claws as they traced across the objects that he now realized were wooden slats. But why would there be wooden slats attached to his bed? And when did they get there? The last thing Raven remembered was going to bed and then that flash before he awoke.

Or was he awake? Was this just part of a dream still? If it was a dream then how could he feel the wooden slats? As he thought about it, he felt something all over his body. He was wearing some garment that covered him from his feetpaws all the way up to his neck and arms. He reached down and felt the fabric. It was very soft but warm. If he didn't know any better, it almost felt like fleece. But he didn't own anything like this. When did he get into this or more importantly, if it wasn't him, how did he get into it? And how could he get out of it? There was no zipper on the front? Nor were there any buttons either.

This had to be a dream right? There was no other explanation for it. "I'll just close my eyes and go back to sleep in my dream and wake up in my own bed." he thought to himself. Raven closed his eyes and rolled onto his side as the mattress crinkled loudly underneath him. "Nope, I didn't hear that, its just a dream." "There is no reason I am laying in a crib in some sort of cub garment other than this being a dream." raven said out loud, not really hearing the high pitched sound of his own voice, nor the fact that he didn't say anything but gibberish. He just closed his eyes and soon after was back asleep.

Thump! Thump! Thump! the sounds of footsteps caused the fox's ears to twitch and then his eyes shot open to the darkness once again. There was someone else in the house! Raven lived by himself so hearing anyone else walking around was certainly room for alarm. "Just stay quiet for now and listen." Raven thought. Maybe his imagination was playing tricks on him. But the footsteps kept going, they in fact seemed to be getting louder and closer! They stopped right outside his room. The door knob was being turned?! Raven always kept his door locked at night! "Wake up from this dream Raven!" he thought to himself as the door opened. He could see it open, there was a small light outside the door, a figure was silhouetted in the light. They were coming towards him. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to not move and stay as quiet as possible. Raven could smell their scent now, it was a pleasant scent, but it was...female?! Raven let out a yip of surprise as he felt himself being lifted up by this person.

He squirmed about in their arms until he was pulled in close and placed against their shoulder, with soft comforting sounds being spoken into his ears. Raven began to calm down as he was held. What other choice did he have? It wasn't like they were showing any threat right now and this was still a dream anyway! After all he was being held like a little kit. He was a grownup fox! As Raven calmed down he began to hear what was being said in his ear. It all sounded like gibberish to him. But it was calm and soothing nonetheless. Whoever was holding him was clearly a female from their sound and scent, but other than that he couldn't see, his head being on her shoulder.

Raven felt himself being carried across the darkened room and then felt himself being lowered as his captor sat down, still holding him on her shoulder. He was then shifted so that he was held in her arms, cradled up against her. As Raven looked up, he caught a glimpse of whoever was holding him. She was a canid, that much was certain. The ears didn't look pointy enough to be another fox. She might be a wolf or a husky Raven thought as he saw her muzzle's shape. Raven was quickly brought out of his gaze upon her when he felt something rubbery pressed against his muzzle. He was about to ask what it was but before he could utter a sound, the nipple of a baby bottle was placed inside his maw. The bottle was being held in such a way that some liquid was being forced out and he had no choice but to swallow, starting to suckle by reflex. Raven wanted to stop but for some reason his mouth wouldn't allow him to. The warm fluid began to settle into his tummy as the woman rocked in the chair. A short time into the feeding Raven closed his eyes and fell asleep.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! The jarring sound of the alarm clock startled Raven awake. He was in his bed, his real bed. The one he fell asleep in last night. He looked around, the sunlight was streaming through the windows, it was morning. There was no sign of any wooden bars on his bed. He couldn't smell anything like a female in the room nor the sweet scent that he remembered from the start. "Was that really a dream?" he said out loud to himself. It seemed so very real. He remembered the scents and the sense of touch, of feel. The last thing he remembered was being fed a bottle and going to sleep. He looked around his room, door was still locked like it should have been. Nothing to show that anything had happened during the night out of the ordinary.

As he got up and headed to the bathroom for his morning shower he thought once more out loud. "If that wasn't a dream, then what was it?"

To be continued...