She tried.She really did.

  After nearly an hour of hugging her tails, burying her face in them, brushing them against her cheeks just to feel the softness again — she finally flopped onto her pillow and attempted to sleep.

  Except…

  Wag. Wag. Wagwagwagwagwag—

  Her ten tails had zero interest in being calm. They swished and curled and puffed up every time she so much as thought about being happy — which was basically every second.

  “Why won’t you rex…?” she whispered, voice light and feminine and so sweet it made her kick her legs in giddy embarrassment.

  Her tails wagged harder.

  Fwoomf fwoomf fwoomf

  “Stop—! I mean—don’t stop— I don’t know!” she squeaked, burying her crimson face into her pillow as her tails swirled around her like a fluffy whirlpool.

  Her ears flicked every time she brushed against the sheets. How could something as simple as ears feel so nice? Every little brush sent tiny sparks down her spine.

  Her body felt unfamiliar, complicated in a way she had secretly longed for but never expected to live in. Her curves pressed against the bnket oddly, her chest rose differently with each breath, and her thighs felt… closer together. Softer. She wriggled uncomfortably — then happily — then embarrassedly.

  “How do girls sleep like this…?” she mumbled.

  Her voice.A gentle, airy whisper.Still shocking every time she heard it.

  She curled up, hugging one of her tails like a giant plush toy. Instinctively, her other nine wrapped around her like a feather-soft cocoon.

  It should’ve been soothing.Warm.Safe.

  And it was — but she was too thrilled to use it properly.

  Every time she closed her eyes, her mind screamed:

  I’m me. I’m actually me.

  Then she’d giggle and kick the bnkets again and her tails would wag so fast they tied themselves in a knot.

  At one point she tried ying on her stomach, but her chest made that… complicated, and her tails puffed up like marshmallows.

  On her back?Immediately smothered in fluff.

  On her side?Her tails wrapped around her own legs and squeezed like affectionate furry snakes.

  She stared at the ceiling, panting from excitement alone.“This is impossible… I can’t sleep like this…!”

  But not once did she stop smiling.

  Not once.

  Even when she finally sat up, hair messy, ears drooping slightly from sensory overload, she looked like the happiest chaos creature alive.

  She took a long breath. Her tails swayed slowly now, hypnotic, like silver-white silk ribbons floating in water.

  “…I don’t want this to be a dream,” she murmured.

  A tail gently brushed her cheek in response — her own tail, yet it felt like it was reassuring her.

  Her chest tightened. Tears pricked her eyes. She hugged herself, letting her ears lower, letting the moment be soft.

  “I waited so long to feel right,” she whispered, voice trembling.

  She sat there a while, just breathing, touching her cheeks, her ears, twirling one tail around her fingers.

  Then another burst of happiness hit her — as if her body couldn’t handle being still — and she squealed, falling backward into her fluff pile again.

  Her tails wagged wildly.

  She didn’t sleep.

  Not for even a single minute.

  But for the first time in her life…

  She didn’t mind being awake.

  Because she wasn’t wishing for a dream anymore.

  She was the dream.