Page 157 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

maybe you’re awake – maybe this is really happening! You argue with yourself – no, it’s only a dream – I’ll wake up!
Or so you hope!
That’s how Clara felt when she awoke with a start from her hiding place by the stairs. She couldn’t move. Of course, this was because her legs and arms had fallen asleep from being hunkered down, hiding behind the stair rails. But she didn’t realize that. All she knew was that she was paralyzed, and the thing she feared most in her dream was still happening. The door to the clock was opening!
The sight really and truly left her speechless! There was the dark void! And the eyes! And the ugly yellow sneers! But this time, she didn’t wake up, and the sneers kept coming. Closer and closer. Clara struggled to wake up. Closed her eyes and then just as quickly opened them again – but the eyes were still coming.
Worse still, the eyes were attached to giant mice, and they flooded into her house and down the stairs toward the cabinet where her mother had locked up the Nutcracker!
Clara told herself she was dreaming, felt the fear of not being able to wake up from her dream, and panicked and hyperventilated a little bit. This made her dizzy and she felt faint, which made her very angry – and it’s the anger that saved her. Clara sprang to her feet. Franz was in trouble and she was going to save him!
Or so she hoped.
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