dot.

45: 2:05AM

  Felix pushed off and down the slope, rain soaking through the soil and turning it into the muddiest slip-n-slide in existence.

  Dot braced himself for what he was about to do and tentatively pulled himself onto the steeper part of the slope, having to retouch the ground a few times to make himself go faster so that he could catch up with Felix.

  But once he finally got going, it was incredible.

  He zoomed past the trees and the clouds and the stinging drizzle, slipping past all the mud and the grass and a few poor earthworms the got in the way of his gleeful escape down, down and away from everything else he had ever known.

  The ride had a few bumps along the way, he'd have to admit; the rocks threw him off course and he even bashed into Felix's sled one time and had to do some tricky manoeuvring to get back on track.

  For all its faults the ride down the hill was immensely fun- the most fun Dot had had in his whole life. In fact, when they did eventually reach the bottom he jumped up at Felix and gestured towards the summit, begging him to let them do it again only to be denied the pleasure when Felix said that he would "rather die than walk up there again.".

  He watched as Felix took the sledges back into the treeline, hoping against hope that he'd be able to use them once more.

  "Alright," The older man returned and wiped his hands down on his mud-covered, rain-soaked trousers before picking Dot up and preparing to finally make the last part of the journey. "Let's go meet my parents."

...

  Knock, knock, knock.

  "Nsia, wake up." The man gently tried to shake his wife awake, checking the time as he did so.

  2:05AM, it read. Why on earth was someone knocking on their door at this time?

  "Go away James." His wife replied, and turned so that he was facing her back so she could go back to sleep.

  "No, seriously-" He whispered, "There's someone at the door?"

  "There is?" She sat up and rubbed her eyes, groggily making the vague shape of her husband out in the feeble moonlight. "Who is it?"

  "Well I dunno, do I? Do you want to come and check with me?" James pushed the duvet off of them both, making Nsia groan at the sudden loss of warmth.

  "You coming?" He asked as he stepped out of the bed and made towards the door.

  "Yeah, yeah, just wait a second." She sighed and rubbed her eyes again before sitting up and following her husband, not particularly wanting to be there but knowing James was too much of a baby to go and check on a mysterious nightly visitor by himself.

  "Should you open it, or should I?" James asked, only for Nsia to storm past and launch the door open without hesitation.

  "What business do you have to be knocking on someone's door at this ti- Felix?"

  She stopped in her tracks, saying her son's name with what was probably the worst voice crack in history as she failed to comprehend what she was seeing.

  Wasn't he dead? She had been to his funeral. He was dead. A ghost?

  He offered her a crooked smile with the same wonky teeth she had always known, making her leap forward to embrace him as her husband followed suit and they all joined in a tearful group hug.

  "What- a- how?" She managed to stutter out once the embrace had been broken by a crowded Felix.

  "Well, uh, you know that weird social experiment thing I went to? They kind of. Kept me there. I didn't say they could, but they're not exactly the best at listening to what people want." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

  "But you're not..." James stared at him with eyes lined in tears, not quite sure how to respond. "You're not alive."

  "What?" Felix seemed taken aback, only to morph his face to a frown as it all started to make sense. "Bloody Nimue." He muttered darkly, and went forward to hug his parents again.

  "I don't care what they told you. None of it's true. I promise I'll explain, but before I do that there's someone I want you to meet."

  He waved his arm towards a younger boy behind him, except he wasn't... a boy. His arms, not quite arms; and his legs, barely legs at all. He was squatted down on the pavement behind Felix with a very anxious expression, as if he was almost scared of them.

  "What's that?" James asked, which made whatever it was flinch a little.

  "He is called Dot. And it's not his fault that he doesn't look normal." Felix exaggerated the pronoun, making it clear that the creature didn't like the implication that he was an 'it'.

  "Uh... right." James took hold of Felix's hand and tugged him towards the doorway, eager to get back inside. "I'm going to need you to explain yourself," he uttered under his breath, "thoroughly."

  "I will, but please be kind to Dot. Treat him like a grandson, okay?" Felix spoke back to his dad, making sure Dot couldn't hear them. The poor boy was already nervous enough as it was, the slightest sign of hostility and he looked like he'd fall apart completely.

  "Come in, please come in." Nsia seemed desperate to have them all inside again, and could hardly keep her hands to herself as her eyes swelled with tears at the good news.

  For James, however, the fact that his son was alive and had a weird not-quite-human friend hadn't quite sunk in yet.

  It had all been so convincing. The funeral had been closed casket, yes, but only because his body had been too mutilated to look at and that lady from the testing facility thought it would be kinder, right?

  And yet, Felix was. In the flesh, completely healthy.

  Wait.

  Alive, healthy, happy.

  With a tail?