Gale Aldrich Eden wasn’t a bad person. On the contrary, he was actually quite pleasant. He laughed when it was appropriate, he comforted in the unfortunate times where it was necessary. He was his parents’ pride and joy, he had a tight-knit circle of friends. He was “normal”. He was “good”. 

Today, he was walking home from book club, coat slung lazily over his shoulder. They were preparing for yet another fundraiser, and Gale had been tasked with the effort of compiling the presentation. It was packed nearly to the brim with the smiling faces of the children affected, the tearful statements of their parents. He was quite proud of his work, really. It was hardly his magnum opus by any means, but it did its job well enough. He unlocked the door to his house- a nice little two story thing in the suburbs- and knocked on the doorframe before sauntering inside.

[color=#FCDFFF]“Mom? Dad? I’m home.”[/color] He smiled at the sight of his father’s head peeking out from the couch, and, moving forward, his mother snuggled into her husband’s side. They were watching some sort of B flick that Gale held no interest in, the sort that was so bad it was good. 

His mother lifted her head a little, returning Gale’s smile. [b]“Oh, good. Was wondering if we should call you. How was book club?”[/b]


[color=#FCDFFF]“It was fine. Made a lot of progress on the thing.”[/color]

[b]“You’ll have to show it to us once you’re done with it.”[/b] It was his father, now, idly rubbing his nose with his sleeve. “Might have to pass it to the folks back at the office.”

Almost immediately, Gale shook his head, nose wrinkling. [color=#FCDFFF]“Okay, no. I’ll show it to you, but that’s it. Final.”[/color]

They talked for a bit. It was mostly the sort of casual chitchat he had expected, which went by without any trouble. He ate the dinner that had been stored away for him, watched some of the B flick, then excused himself to go to bed. All his homework had been taken care of at the school itself, so Gale had little else to do but brush his teeth and bury himself deep under the covers.

The day had gone as usual.

His dream, however, did not.

[hr]

Gale’s mind was blurry. He had gone to sleep, and had dreamt of a mirror- none of which explained why his head was now resting somewhat awkwardly on a pile of soil. He pushed himself into a sitting position, squinting a little as he picked leaves from his hair.

Had he been kidnapped?

The thought made him jolt to his feet. It seemed near impossible- they lived in a good neighborhood, and he doubted that anyone would be able to get past his parents- but everything was far too vivid to be excused as a dream. A quick glance at his hands, which were completely unchanged, only served to reinforce the notion in his mind that he was wide awake. Before Gale could get too far into his musings on what could’ve happened, the faint sound of voices had caught his attention. Eyes widened, Gale slipped behind one of the nearest trees before anyone could catch sight of him.

There was...a rabbit. A [i]talking[/i] rabbit. There were other, regular people around, many in various states of shock or panic, but there was still a [i]talking rabbit[/i] chattering on. Gale watched the little beast with a sort of minute interest for a while, before lifting his gaze just in time to see a strange, vaguely humanoid shaped figure emerge.

Some started running.

Gale didn’t need to know what was happening or where he was to tell that was his cue to flee, as well. Turning on his heel, he made for the same direction that the others were heading in, keeping to the sanctuary of the grove. 

He could find out what was happening when the risk of danger wasn’t hanging over his head.