The pen froze.The light faded.The tip toppled in Nora’s palm, lifeless once more.

  She bit her thumbnail, eyes locked on the fox-shaped sigil on the paper, whispering the line scrawled on it again and again:"We will all disappear, and it will be reborn…"

  Tension gripped the room.Alex furrowed her brow. “What does that even mean?”

  Lucas jumped in. “It means we need to find that fox—now. We need to figure out what’s really going on.”

  Jake gaped at them like they’d gone mad. “Wait, hold up. You guys are basing this off a piece of paper? Are you serious? This has prank written all over it.”

  Nora took a deep breath, her voice steady. “Alex and I got the exact same note. Word for word.”

  Silence.The four of them exchanged glances, each face laced with a storm of unease.

  Alex finally broke the hush. “Maybe… maybe someone’s just messing with us? I mean, our textbooks are in the classroom all day. Anyone could’ve slipped something in.”

  “But I found mine in my mom’s room,” Nora said. Her voice was calm, but every word hit like a weight. “This isn’t just a prank. There’s something out there—something watching us. And me especially… weird things have been happening for a while now. This isn’t the first time.”

  She paused, looking each of them in the eye. Her voice dropped. “I don’t want to disappear. I don’t want any of you to disappear either.”

  Lucas nodded, his expression sharpening. “I believe Nora. Something real is happening, and we’re in the middle of it. You all saw what just happened—that pen moved on its own. That wasn’t normal.”

  Jake scratched his head. “This is insane… what, are we all gonna jump into Nora’s dream now?”

  Alex inhaled deeply. “Yes. We have to find the fox. If we just sit here and let this happen, that’s scarier than doing anything.”

  Jake hopped onto a desk, arms crossed. “So what exactly are we supposed to do?”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Nora pointed at the fox symbol on the page. “It’s a ritual mark. We sit around it, all four of us. Hold hands. We enter the dream together—that’s how we find the fox.”

  The air grew taut with tension.

  Jake jumped down from the desk, backing away. “No way. I’m not doing this. Lucas—you seriously going along with this madness?”

  Alex snapped. “Jake! If you don’t join, we can’t go through with it. Don’t you care what happens to you?”

  Jake kept retreating, his eyes flickering between their faces.He remembered that camping trip in elementary school—how he fell off a hillside trying to impress a group of kids.He shook his head, muttered something under his breath, and turned.Then he walked out.

  Lucas watched him leave, silent.The others didn’t speak.

  Alex gently touched Nora’s shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll figure something else out.”

  None of them noticed the faint flicker of fox-like eyes blinking once on the classroom wall.

  That evening, everyone went their separate ways.Nora walked home with Jake’s rejection still echoing in her mind. Without him, would they really be able to pull this off?

  At HomeShe pushed open the door.The clatter of pots and pans came from the kitchen.Her mother’s silhouette moved calmly beneath the warm yellow light.

  Nora stood still, just watching for a moment.Something about the scene struck her—familiar, yet oddly distant.She loved her mother.But she feared her too.

  Elaine turned at the sound of the door. Her face carried a subtle sadness.“What’s wrong? Did you not do well today? You need to start preparing for next month’s exams.”

  Her tone was gentle, as if the fight from a few days ago had never happened.If she’d asked about Nora’s feelings or health, maybe Nora would’ve responded.But all she heard was the same: grades, exams, expectations.

  “Mm.” Nora mumbled, brushing past her and heading straight for her room.

  She thought briefly of the dream version of her mother—the warm, accepting one.A mother who perhaps didn’t exist.A version she no longer believed she deserved.

  There was no comfort here.Not in the living room thick with unspoken tension.Her only escape was behind her bedroom door.

  Just before she stepped in, she glanced at her mom’s room.Still locked.No light beneath the door.Like it had never opened at all.

  The Next MorningSummer sunlight poured through the bathroom window.Lucas stood shirtless before the mirror, electric razor buzzing softly as he trimmed his stubble.

  His mind wandered.Should he ask Nora to the movies again?Would it be awkward?Maybe if Alex came too, it’d seem more casual...

  He exhaled, checking the clock.There was still time.But his hands were trembling slightly—and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the razor…or something deeper brewing beneath the surface.

  Thank you for reading.

  The full novel version of Dream of the Night Fox is now available as paperback and ebook on Amazon.

  If the story touches you, your support there would mean the world