ABOUT THE DROUGHT 3

The days after Olly's mama passed on were hard. His father looked like a man who had lost all hope and the desire to hope.
The farm was soon overtaken by the drought and they had nothing to fall back on.
There was an overbearing gloom in the house and it all fell on Olly. He was too young to understand that his mama had gone on a trip that she would never return. So, on some occasions,  he found himself calling out to her  around the house. 

One cold night,  Olly was wrapped up in a night mare. It was so scary and Olly wanted above all things to wake up but he felt withered tendrils hold him down. It was dark in this dream such that he couldn't see his own hands. When he struggled and failed he screamed till he woke up. He quickly ran to his parent's bed chamber to be held by his mama but when he got there,  there was no one. He ran around the dark house in fear,  calling out for his mama but there was no answer. He was scared now more than ever. When he recalled that they put mama in the ground, his throat went dry. He began to hear all the sounds that weren't and saw all that wasn't. He crawled to a hidden spot in the house and sobbed. There was no mama to hold him, to sing him to sleep or to assure him that everything would be fine. He was all alone. When he closed his eyes,  all he could see were the withered tendrils trying to lay hold on him. He was afraid to sleep but he was more afraid to open his eyes to the very dark house. He didn't know when he dozed off.