'Help! Help!' Came the terrified screams from the bedroom. Within seconds, Mother Chicken had woken up from her slumber, had jumped from her chair and had hurried towards the bedroom.

'What's wrong?' She drowsily asked as she entered the room.
'It's Charlie, he has had a nightmare,' came the sleepy chorus.

On hearing this, Mother Chicken walked over to the bed occupied by Charlie. As she did this, she gestured to the others that they should get back to sleep.

'What is wrong?' The upright, sweaty and shaking Charlie was questioned.
'I just had an awful dream.' Came the tired, trembling response. 'It was just…just…' As his speech trailed off Mother Chicken moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to her frightened son. She even tried to comfort him by stroking his head with her wing, but Charlie didn't like this idea, so stopped her by using his wing as an obstruction. Mother Chicken gave up on this. Instead she insisted that Charlie explain to her what had happened in his nightmare.

'Well, what happened was…' started off Charlie, before pausing to remember what had occurred, and the order that it had taken place in. After looking up and squinting hard to make sure that his thoughts were correctly arranged Charlie continued with his description.

'We were all in the forest, playing chase, which was great fun. But then, I ran off too far and got lost and couldn't see anyone.' Charlie sighed heavily. He then took some deep breaths to steady himself before carrying on, 'so I was searching and shouting trying to find you all, but there was nothing. I kept on trying to find my way back to where we had started our game from. Finally, after lots of wandering and yelling I spotted you all, you were walking off in the opposite direction. I raced to you all, shouting all the time to get your attention, but even as I got closer and louder you didn't hear me, you didn't even turn around. Then, just as I leapt over a large fallen tree trunk to get to you, I fell down into a deep, dark hole that was right after it.'

Mother Chicken mopped Charlie's sweaty brow as the young chick recalled images of the terrifying hole. 'A hole that was so deep that it was pitch black at the bottom. I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't reach the top. I jumped once, twice, more and more, but I wasn't able to grab hold of the edge, I was just too small. In the end I gave up, because every time I leapt up I knocked even more of the soil down on top of me, I was being suffocated. Even when I gasped for air the falling soil filled my mouth. I remember trying to shout 'Please keep me alive! Please keep me alive!'

But, no one came, not even you. After a while I gave up shouting because it was only making me weaker. I sat down exhausted, shaking and alone, I had to get out, but I didn't know how. I remember heaving myself up for one more try, one last effort. Firstly, I tried another jump, but my legs couldn't push hard enough. Then, I tried to climb, but my feet trembled too much to dig in. I even tried to stretch my way out, but my wings were too weary to grab hold of anything. As I screamed one final time the walls of soil shook and shuddered around me. I desperately tried to push them back in to place, to steady them, to smooth them, to stop the leaks, to anything…but it was no use, the walls were falling and falling fast. I slumped back to the ground and watched as a gigantic heap of soil tumbled down…I woke up just as the collapsing pile reached me.' Charlie shivered as he finished off his story with 'I was so scared in that cold, dark dungeon.'

As Mother Chicken wrapped her wings around her baby, she struggled to hold back her tears, especially as Charlie's were falling next to her heart. After a while, the tears slowed and a sleepy Charlie lay down to look up at his smiling mother who caressed his forehead with her left wing. This time he didn't lift his wing in protest, it was too comforting and soothing to argue.

The silence was only broken when Mother Chicken softly whispered 'Remember this, in dreams and in life you are always going to be safe because I am here to protect you.' She then steadily took hold of the covers that Charlie had thrown to the foot of his bed and placed them over her sleepy son.

'Always keep in mind,' she continued 'that if you are ever lost, I will be listening until I find you. If you fall I will be there to lift you up. If you cannot see, then I will be there to guide you. And if you are cold and in need of comfort, my hugs and cuddles will be ready to supply you with all the warmth and support that you could ever want.'

Mother Chicken gazed down at her smiling son, softly kissed him on the cheek, and then quietly crept out of the room, allowing him time to drift off into the most peaceful sleep of his life.