"Good morning, Tum," Rocky said cheerfully, "What'cha doing there?"
"Uhh, nothing Rocky," Tum Tum replied, pulling his socks on quickly and stepping into his shoes.
"…Well, okay. Come on, breakfast is ready," Rocky said, jogging out of the room and going into the kitchen, where Colt and his mother were waiting.
Sighing, Tum Tum picked up his backpack and walked into the kitchen, still thinking about his nightmare. It seemed so real, and the cut on his toe looked like a tooth-mark from something with very sharp teeth. Tum Tum sat in his chair, Colt sat to the left of him, eating his pancakes as fast as he could, not wanting to be late for school. On the other hand, sitting to Tum Tum's right, Rocky was taking his time eating his breakfast, not showing the slightest bit of rushing. This was probably because he was wearing a watch (Colt wasn't) and knew that school did not start for another hour.
Tum Tum could not concentrate on school all day. In the middle of recess his best friend, Joey Prince, bumped into him on purpose, jarring him back to reality. Tum Tum turned around to see his friend looking at him with a big smile on his face. Joey was one of the shortest kids in school, even smaller than Tum Tum was, with big, dark eyes that reminded Tum Tum of a really cute puppy he once saw in a pet store. Joey was also one of the most energetic kids, despite his skinny frame. Lastly, Joey was the only person in school who called him Tum Tum instead of Michael.
"Hi, Tum! What's up?" Joey asked, hopping up and down.
"Nothing really, Joey," Tum Tum answered, taking a Ding-Dong out of his mouth to speak, "I just had a really weird dream last night."
"Really? Tell me about it!" Joey exclaimed, an interested gaze in his eyes.
"No, really. It's not all that important," Tum Tum replied, popping the Ding-Dong back into his mouth.
"Pleeeeeaaaaasse?" Joey pleaded, giving Tum Tum his patented 'puppy dog eyes'.
"OKAY! OKAY! I'll tell ya," Tum Tum blurted out after seeing Joey's big, sad-looking eyes, and proceeded to tell Joey about his nightmare.
"…and the weirdest part is," Tum Tum began, taking off his left shoe and sock and pointing to the toe that had been bitten in his dream, "I actually have a cut where the monster bit me!"
Joey stared at him blankly for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Hahaha! That's a cool story, Tum! You should tell it in class!"
Tum Tum shook his head as the bell for recess to end rang. Not wanting to be late, he hurried to his next class…
That night, Tum Tum had another nightmare. In this one, he was sparring with Colt at Grandpa's cabin. This time, though, Colt was being much more aggressive than normal. Then, Tum Tum was hit in the shoulder with one of Colt's strongest kicks. Looking at his badly bruised shoulder, Tum Tum called for Grandpa Mori to stop to the match. For some reason, Mori refused to stop the match, instead making Tum Tum and Colt fight over a pit of spikes, with only a flimsy wooden rail for both of them to stand on. Tum Tum was understandably terrified! When Colt jumped at him, Tum Tum did the only thing he could. He aimed a punch right at the bridge of Colt's nose…
All of a sudden, Tum Tum found himself back in his bed, with Colt jumping out of his bed and into the bathroom.
"What's wrong with Colt?" he asked Rocky.
"It's nothing, he just has a bloody nose. Go back to bed," Rocky replied, pulling his covers over his head.
As Tum Tum put his head back on his pillow, he accidentally bumped his right shoulder on the side of the bunk beds. Pain shot through Tum Tum's shoulder and into his elbow as the little ninja rubbed his shoulder to find a rather large bruise there. Touching it a little, Tum Tum noticed that it had started to form a welt… A foot-shaped welt…
Wincing in pain, Tum Tum tried his best to fall back asleep, but after this one, he wasn't sure he wanted to…
