• In a far off countryside, there was a town named Thistleyard which was known for their excellent morgue and funeral services. Whenever one needs preparations for somebody’s funeral, Thistleyard was always the place to go. But the town was not only known for their perfect services. There was a rumor among them that they believed so whole-heartedly that it makes them terrified and unavailable for contact whenever nightfall arrives. The mere thought of the strange tale terrifies them. Women and nannies would anxiously coax their children to sleep and only a few men would dare stay up late to drink.

    “Stray Cat walks the streets each night, collecting and luring children and men who are not asleep at nightfall.” The villagers would answer whenever some foreigners or clients would come to ask. “He lures them to a yard of thistle and stones and there, he sings them to sleep.”

    “What then?” The foreigner would ask.

    The villager would shiver or gulp in fear. “The prey of the night would be his dinner.”

    “How dreadfully savage!”

    “Ask no more, sir!” The villager would plead. “Ask no more!”

    The night was now approaching and the mothers and nannies now started to become anxious as usual. Windows and doors were hurriedly closed shut; the sound of the windows shutting and the door swinging resounded one after the other. However, only one household wasn’t at all bothered by the tension at nighttime. The Wonderfender family was the only one stubborn enough to reject the existence of such a tale. They were an odd and proud sort of people and saw the tale as nonsense. Besides, there wasn’t any concrete proof that the story was indeed true. No one even knows whoever started the tale.

    “It’s a ridiculous idea to scare my little boy to sleep!” Mother Queenie, the head of the household, reacted to the rumor. “And besides, a tale as terrifying as that could give him nightmares!” She wasn’t bothered, not even the slightest about putting her youngest son, Obscura, to sleep at 9 o’clock evening.

    The clock finally struck at that hour and it was now Obscura’s bedtime. Since he was an obedient and conscientious little boy, he put and tidied away all the books and toys he had played with and immediately climbed to bed. “Goodnight. Sleep tight.” His mother pecked a good night kiss on his cheek. “Don’t let the dark birds bite.”

    “Goodnight, Mama.” He bid with a kiss. “See you tomorrow.”

    There was nothing irritable or out-of-place to complain about but there was only one problem: He could not sleep. He stayed in bed without a drowsy wink and the night was already getting late. He had tried closing his eyes long enough to make himself sleep, but he still remained wide awake.

    So, he tiptoed out of bed to go to his uncle’s room. “What should I do to fall asleep?” He asked his uncle who was busy counting his stamp collection. “I can’t sleep.”

    Uncle Bunny stopped his work. “Count as many sheep and carrots as you can.” He suggested as he escorted the boy back to his room. “I will count with you until you fall asleep!”

    They then started counting sheep and carrots together. “One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four sheep…” Each sheep had a carrot from a field before they would hop over a fence. “Five sheep, six sheep…”

    As the sixty-third sheep hopped over the imaginary fence, Uncle Bunny started to feel sleepy. When the sixty-fourth sheep hopped over, he fell asleep completely and snored peacefully away. Obscura however, still remained awake and continued counting until he had reached his sixty-sixth sheep. Upon realizing that his uncle had fallen asleep and not him, he figured that counting sheep won’t make him sleep. “Maybe Auntie can help me.”

    So, he carefully climbed out of bed (after pushing his uncle aside, thus leaving him to sleep on the floor) to go ask Aunt Duchess for help. He went down to the kitchen where she was busy cutting up meat and tugged at her dress to get her attention. “Auntie, I can’t sleep. Uncle Bunny made me count sheep but he fell asleep instead.”

    With a concerned smile, she immediately left her work to make a mug of warm milk with honey for him to drink. “Here, drink this.” She said after she had finished mixing the drink. “It’ll help you sleep.”

    He drank the warm, sweet drink down to the last drop and immediately went up back to his bedroom. But after an hour, he still cannot sleep. “Maybe my big brother can help me…”

    His big brother, the Mad Hatter, came to his room with a storybook under his arm as soon as he had heard his problem from his aunt. “I’ll read you a bedtime story!” Hatter said cheerfully and began to recite stories of ravens that tear people apart whenever they get mad. Obscura became so anxious and the thought of going to sleep after his brother’s last story terrified him enough to think of ravens devouring him while he’s asleep.

    “And your soul will be yours, nevermore!” Hatter said the final line and checked on his little brother to see if he was asleep. He sighed hopelessly upon seeing him widely awake with a fearful expression.

    “Is the Raven real?” Obscura asked. “Is my soul mine?”

    “Just lie down and close your eyes.” Hatter advised and closed the book. “You’ll fall asleep eventually.”

    “What if the Raven eats me up?”

    “Everything from this book is all made up.” Hatter said. “And you’re supposed to be asleep by now!”

    “I can’t sleep.”

    “Bad Obscura.” Hatter grinned as he scolded him. “Stray Cat will come and eat you~” He said in a sing-song voice. Obscura then lied back down to bed and closed his eyes, praying that he would fall asleep.

    “That’s it.” Hatter praised him. “Goodnight. Don’t let the Raven bite~” He teased before going to leave the room.

    “Goodnight to you too, big brother. I’ll try to sleep.”

    The clock chimed at 12 o’ clock midnight and the moon was very high up into the sky. He still remained restless and fearful that the Raven will eat him if he ever went to sleep. So he went out of bed to put on his stockings and shoes and a black cloak. “Maybe a good stroll outside will do me good.” He muttered as he went downstairs.

    “Where are you going?” General Cypris grimly asked before he went out to the door leading to the outside of the house.

    “I’m going for a night stroll.” Obscura answered. “It might clear my mind to sleep.”

    “Very well. But beware of the Stray Cat.” The general frowned. “You know the story from the commoners: Stray Cat walks the streets each night, collecting children as he walks to and fro… ”

    “… And leads them to a yard of stone and thistle to put them to sleep and eat them.” The boy impatiently interrupted and frowned. “I know that story.”

    “Yes and the story isn’t even true. But I’m warning you to be careful. I hope you would remember my warnings, lad.” The general shook his head opened the door for him. “… And don’t let strangers take you to places…”

    “Don’t worry. I will be careful. And I’m not even a child to be scared of anything like that anyway.”

    “Goodnight…”

    Obscura stopped before he had stepped a foot outside. “Goodnight and goodbye…”

    The road of the town was, as expected, empty. Every household had their windows and doors closed shut and not a single person was in sight. “It would be boring if I walk that way.” He thought. “Might as well go towards the forest instead. At least there would be fewer things blocking the wind.” So saying, he started walking.

    The moon and stars vibrantly shone like little lamps against the black, cloudy, endless sky. The cool wind that stroked his body made him feel calm as he walked. He felt that there was definitely nothing to fear at this time of night though he suddenly felt bored being all alone.

    “Good evening.” A man in a black hat and cloak greeted him; blocking his way. “Why are you out so late?”

    “I can’t sleep.” Obscura replied without the slightest doubt.

    “Why?”

    “The Raven might come and get me. I’m scared.”

    “Shouldn’t you be home then?”

    “I’m more scared at home…”

    The two stared at each other.

    “Is that so?” The man purred and took his hand. “Come with me. I have a present for you that might help.”

    “Where to?”

    “To a lovely garden.” The man said. “And I advise you to keep silent and don’t ask too much questions. It might spoil your surprise.”

    “Ok.”

    The man took him into the forest. Obscura had trouble walking because the forest ground was so full of sharp stones and thistles. But he didn’t complain because the man had told him to keep silent. He tried his best to keep up with the man’s pace until they reached a clearing of roses, dead trees and white, neatly cut and shaped stones. Much to the boy’s fear, there were flocks of ravens perching and crowing by the trees. There were bats darting off squeaking as they flew all over the sky. The howl of the dogs resounded from a distance; perhaps the hounds were singing in honor of the moon.

    “Here we are.” The man cheerfully said as he led him to the clearing. He made the boy sit on a neatly chiseled, bed-like stone. “Now, for the present…”

    “What’s my present?” Obscura excitedly asked. “Will it keep away the Raven as well?”

    “Oh, here you go, lad.” The man gave in to the boy’s curiosity. “This music box will play you a bedtime lullaby. Just wind the box with that key and the lullaby will play.” He pulled out a blue box out of his hat and handed the gift to the boy.

    “Will it help me sleep?”

    “Oh, it surely will. And it will keep off your thoughts about the Raven as well.” The man grinned. “Won’t you give it a try?”

    The boy took the music box and looked at the man’s appearance now that he had taken his hat off. He was a man with long, soot-gray hair; pale and thin-faced with mischievous glowing yellow eyes, cat’s ears and a grin that showed most of his fangs.

    “Is there anything wrong?” The man purred.

    “You look like a cat.” Obscura giggled.

    “I am a cat.”

    Silence.

    “Are you Stray Cat, then?” Obscura asked.

    “Of course I am.” Stray Cat swished his tail happily. “Is that a problem?”

    “Do you eat people?”

    “Of course not!” Stray Cat looked offended. His ears went drooped down and his tail stopped flicking lively. “I-it’s those rumors is it? Well I can’t blame you for that. It’s hard to keep rumors from spreading once it starts.”

    Obscura felt very sorry for him. Also, he felt annoyed and angry about the villagers for spreading that terrible lie about him. “I don’t believe that you eat people.” He said. “They just misunderstood your intention of helping people to sleep.”

    “If only I didn’t look so scary then…”

    “Appearances don’t matter.” Obscura said. “Anyway, I don’t see you around anytime. You should come to the village often.”

    “I-I’ll try…”

    “Thank you for this by the way.” Obscura smiled at him and started winding up the box. “I hate them for telling all those mean things about you. You’re not as bad as they say you are.”

    “People tend to judge others before they’d even get to know them.” Stray Cat smiled. “I’m glad that you didn’t. I feel very happy…”

    “I’m glad that I’ve managed to make you happy.”

    The music box began to tinkle sweet music and the boy found himself yawning and feeling drowsy. “I might not be able to go home feeling like this…” He fought to stay awake to continue talking to the Cat. “Will you please stay by my side while I sleep?”

    “Won’t you allow me to take you home?”

    “No.” Obscura shook his head. “I want to prove everybody that they’re wrong about you! You’re a nice and kind Stray Cat and you don’t eat people at night. I’ll sleep here.”

    “Oh, okay.” The Cat nodded. “I’ll keep you safe from the Raven if ever, then.”

    Obscura yawned as he laid his head down on the grave. “Goodnight…”

    “… And don’t let the dark birds bite.” The Cat finished his bid and watched him sleep. “Sweet dreams, Obscura.”

    The c**k began to crow as the sun was starting to peep up above the sky. It was now 6 o’clock morning and it was time for everybody to wake up. The people of Thistleyard woke up happily and full of hope; free from the terror of the night. They got ready to arrange their morgue parlors, make flower arrangements, make clothes for the dead and put on a welcoming and comfortable face. “Welcome to Thistleyard!”

    … However, only one remained asleep no matter how loudly the c**k crowed; still lost, perhaps, in his sweet dreams of leaping sheep and carrots and Mother Queenie’s kisses to know Stray Cat’s sharp knife glistening in the morning sunlight.

    “Obscura goes beddy-bye~” The Cat said softly and slashed away…

    Moral: Listen to warnings.