The Great Dream Guardian

It wasn't long before they arrived at their own apartment building and rode the elevator to the fifth floor. Sheila went straight to number 505 and knocked while C.K. carried Lettie and all the rest of her presents under her arms. Mrs. Robins answered the door with her familiar grace, hugging her friend Miss. Barnes and then looking toward C.K. with an eye full of care and wisdom. She ushered them into her living room, and sat them both on her very comfortable sofa. It was a familiar routine to C.K., and Libby seemed to be very interested in everything she and her mother had to tell about the week's events: C.K.'s basketball game, the birthday party and the fun that everyone had; it all seemed of importance to her. As the three friends finally came to the unveiling of C.K.'s big present, Libby Robins lent a curious eye toward the pea-green peculiarity sitting on her cherry-wood floor next to the beaming ten-year-old. "I suppose that this fellow here is a wholly-new tale unto himself," Libby said. "Where ever did it come from?" After Shelia had told the story of how she'd found Lettie and C.K.'s reaction to his unwrapping, the old woman started to look the toy over with an investigative air, with her glasses held at the end of her nose. She felt the fur and patted down the mein thoroughly. "Interesting," she considered. "Yes, he is quite unique to me, dear. I've certainly never seen any object the like of this before now. A most peculiar breed, I must say. Not that peculiar is anything bad, of course," she added, giving a sideways glance at C.K., who had made a slight face at the perceived criticism. "Still, I see many of the best qualities of the larger feline species represented here, several, in fact." "Yeah, he's great," C.K. said, somewhat defensively. "And he's got real cat's eyes, not doll's eyes. See?" The girl pointed them out to the old historian, and she indeed made quite a show of examining the eyes of the stuffed cat, even lifting it slightly to look directly into the glass and plastic sky-blue slits that peered back. They almost seemed to shine a little in the lamp-light of the small living-room as Libby turned back to C.K., apparently satisfied. "Yes, indeed," Libby stated, "as true to form as could be, dear. Quite an excellent find." "Yeah," was all C.K. could find to say. "Of course, I suspect there's more here than meets the eye...or eyes, if you'll permit me," she said with a slight chuckle. C.K. was apprehensive again. "What do you mean, Mrs. Robins?" "Simply this, C.K. Have you stopped to wonder why anyone would create a stuffed animal with every single attribute given to the real beasts of the wild?" C.K. didn't have an answer. "Look here," Libby continued. "The mein indicates this is a male, of course." "Of course," C.K. repeated. "Yes, but you notice the rest of the frame. Facial features that recall the noble lion; the powerful flanks and hips of the stalking leopard; the camouflage of the stealthy Bangle cat; the muscled abdomen of the mighty panther, the legs and paws of the nimble cheetah; and possibly even the razor-sharp jaws of the rugged cougar." Libby built up Lettie's good points, while C.K. listened in amazement for what Libby was leading up to with all this. "And if you add to that perfect combination of speed and power this short-cropped mane for a perfect 180-degree field of vision; plus two eyes that can cut through any darkness? Tell me, dear, what would you have?" C.K. shook her head in reply, dumb-founded. "In short, C.K., you have the ultimate hunter. And though I've never seen one constructed in this particular form, I believe those clues lead us to only one conclusion as to why your Lessie..." "Lettie," C.K. interrupted. "He's a leopard, tiger, lion thingy. Lettie." "Oh, of course, I beg your pardon," Libby went on. "Your Lettie can be only one thing." C.K. held her breath. Libby drew herself up. "This, my girl, is a dream-warden: a protecting spirit that watches over its owner in the night, sheltering them from unfriendly eyes. In short, the perfect nightmare-hunter."