Dreams (Patreon)

“Alex! Alex! Alex!” the people were chanting her name and stomping their feet on the ground. Alex could feel them stomping, 50,000 people in a stadium doing so at the same time was something different. The sounds of people shouting and screaming your name because they wanted to see and hear you was also something different. It made Alex’s heart thud like it was about to burst out of her chest. 

“Alex! Alex! Alex!” the crowd just outside the stage curtains continued to scream, Alex’s excitement mixed in with her nervousness made her shaky here and there, and it also had her chewing on her bottom lip as she stared at the closed stage curtains. She was due to step out and on stage any minute now. Her tail curled nervously around her leg as she waited. 

“Relax, this is like what, you trillionth show?” said a soft voice from behind the tigress, causing her to jump slightly. Alex turned around to face her. It was Ara, her producer, her rock, her friend, and sometimes more. Alex purred when she saw her and immediately flung herself at her. Arms over her shoulders, face against her neck, and torso-to-torso hug. 

“I’m so scared I’ll disappoint them,” Alex mumbled into the nape of Ara’s neck. 

“Who?” Ara raised her brows, concerned. 

“Them,” Alex floppily gestured her arms out towards the closed black curtain. “I don’t deserve all that.” She let out a heavy sigh.

Ara chuckled and squeezed Alex. “Yes, you do,” She turned her head to the side to plant a smooch on the tiger’s cheek. “You deserve all the love in the world.” Ara then broke their little embrace by putting her hands on Alex’s shoulder and pushing her away softly. Alex grumbled grumpily. Ara brought one hand up to brush Alex’s hair from covering her face. 

Alex smiled softly at Ara. 

“Now, go knock em’ dead.” Ara cooed, curling her fluffy tail around Alex encouragingly before nudging her shoulders softly to push her towards those big black curtains. 

Alex closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. 

Inhale. 

Exhale. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said the hype man, in typical hype man fashion and tone. “Please give a warm welcome to, Alex Marx the Spot!!!!!!” 

Then there was silence. The sound of the crowd cheering for her faded away, replaced with a soft whir and the sound of wind blowing against her face. 

She opened her eyes. 

The curtains were gone and Alex was staring up at a white ceiling, a slightly off-white ceiling fan that was spinning, and rays of light that slipped through the gaps in her blinds and drew lines all over the place.

Alex was in bed, head sunken deep into her pillow, and arms spewed out to the sides of her head. She groaned, rolled over, and pulled the blanket over her face in an attempt to go back to sleep, back to that dream. 

She groaned and flung her arms down against her sides, pulling the blanket off half of her body. She let out a sigh and turned to look at the clock at her nightstand. It was just a little bit after 9 AM. She sighed again and lazily rolled out of bed. The blanket fell partially to the floor as the tigress stepped away from the bed. She stretched and yawned, pulling her see-through silk tank top up and showing a bit of underboob. The fur on her back and tail stood up as she stretched and slowly fell back down a few seconds after she was done with her stretches. 

Smacking her lips, Alex dragged her feet to the bathroom, switching on the lights as she went through the doorframe and closed the door behind her. Alex wasn’t ready for the blindingly bright white lights of the bathroom that were amplified by the light blue tiles on the floor and walls. The feline squinted her eyes as she walked her way towards the sink. Once her eyes adjusted to the lights, she leaned against the sink and looked at herself in the mirror. Surprisingly, her hair wasn’t a mess. She smiled at herself in the mirror and reached for her toothbrush, but she stopped halfway when she realized something. 

She raised a brow at her reflection in the mirror as if she was trying to tell herself something, then she chuckled, sighed, and shook her head. 

“Hey Siri,” she said, “Play ‘Don’t Start Now’ from my ‘Demos’ playlist.” 

Then there was silence for a few seconds. Alex waited for the voice assistant to answer. There was no answer. 

“Hey Siri,” she rolled her eyes and repeated, “Play ‘Don’t Start Now’ from my ‘Demos’ playlist.” 

“OK, playing ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen,” the song started to play throughout her apartment. 

“No, no, no!” Alex chuckled, “Hey Siri! Play ‘Don’t Start Now’ from my ‘Demos’ playlist.” The song was cut short as the assistant listened to her request.

There was a wait again, but then music started to play from the speakers, the correct music this time. 

The song started with piano, then there was a beat, slow and mellow. Alex waited for a second before she grabbed a nearby bottle from the sink and pulled it to her mouth. 

“Did a full 180, crazy
Thinking 'bout the way I was
Did the heartbreak change me? Maybe
But look at where I ended up
I'm all good already
So moved on, it's scary
I'm not where you left me at all, so.”

Alex walked back and forth in front of the sink and mirror, slowly singing the song she recorded with her own equipment. The song was a demo, but it sounded good thanks to the help of her friend and music producer, Ara. 

She belted, stage presence and all,

“If you don't wanna see me dancing with somebody
If you wanna believe that anything could stop me”

The next part of the song picked up the pace a little, causing Alex to pick up her strutting pace, too. Her feet moving faster, her top jolting around and her tail flowing behind her like a flag blowing gently in the wind. 

“Don't show up, don't come out
Don't start caring about me now
Walk away, you know how
Don't start caring about me now”

Alex smiled and turned towards the mirror slightly, closed her eyes and sang out the last lines of her song. 

“If you wanna believe that anything could stop me
Don't show up, don't come out
Don't start caring about me now
Walk away, you know how
Don't start caring about me now”

The song slowly faded over the speakers and Alex pulled the bottle of shampoo away from her mouth. She let out a sigh, opened up her eyes, winked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled wide.

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Art by xngfng95 

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