Louane and the Portal of Dreams

Every night Louane heard scratching beneath her bed. On Halloween she decided that a witch costume was as good a suit of armour as any. She leaned over the mattress, lifted the hanging blanket and looked directly into two glowing eyes.

The creature was smaller than she expected and far more frightened than she was. It darted through a shimmering doorway under the bed. Louane followed and landed in a world where staircases floated in the sky and clouds carried sleeping memories like lanterns.

The creature explained that the Portal of Dreams had been damaged. Nightmares were escaping into bedrooms, and dream creatures were becoming trapped in the human world. The scratching Louane heard had been an attempt to repair the doorway from the wrong side.

To close the gap, Louane had to find three lost dream sparks. One hid inside a forest of whispering trees, another inside a house that rearranged its rooms, and the last inside a giant shadow made from her own fears.

She realized the shadow grew whenever she ran away. Louane stood still, named everything she was afraid of and watched the monster shrink until it fit in her palm. The final spark appeared inside it.

The portal repaired itself in a burst of violet light. Louane woke in her own bed with the sun rising. Beneath her pillow was a tiny silver key, and from under the bed came one soft, friendly knock.