Dreams

• Helen Read, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2018

What are dreams? Are they created from something we desire? Something we hope for? Something we wish to do or see? Are they figments of our imagination? Or perhaps, they’re there to distract us from our harsh reality? Dreams allow us to escape reality, to become whatever we want, to create things that cannot be created, to do things that cannot be done. They are what give us hope, what give us meaning. But sometimes, we dream to escape from the cruel world and travel into a better one.

A young girl sat on a frozen bench in the middle of a dark, snow-covered park. Her bare, little hands clasped tightly over a red covered book as she raises her head to admire the stars. Her pale eyes dart from each speck of light slowly before she flinches suddenly when a snowflake lands on her cold, red nose.

“Snow,” She says softly a cloud of white air following.

She unclasps one of her hands from the book and reaches out to let some of the snowflakes gather on her palm. She withdraws her hand and wraps her jumper tighter around her frail, shivering body. Falling to her side, she curls up on the bench, pressing the book closer to her.
“Goodnight mum and dad.” She whispers to the book as a tear slips down her frozen cheek and she closes her eyes, drifting off into a peaceful slumber under the snow. She dreams.

Her eyes flutter open to the soft glow of the fireplace. Sitting up, she looks around her old living room. Her eyes land on her parents sitting on the couch, huddled up around her little brother. In between them, they share an opened book, identical to the one she held before her sleep. Her mother looks up from the book to look at her.

“Honey, would you like to listen to the story too?” She asks in a loving voice.

Nodding her head, she climbs up onto her mother’s lap as her mother wraps her arms around her. Her father began reading the story,
“Once upon a time, there lived a young princess who dreamed of going on an adventure. Her family disapproved of the idea and sent her away to live in a cottage with two fairies, who were told to raise the girl to become a proper princess.”
Her father’s voice vanishes as she turns her head towards what was once the fire place but was now replaced with a long tunnel. Crawling out of her mother’s lap, she walks towards it, everything around her disappearing. Looking inside, she sees a bright white light at the end of the tunnel, beckoning her to come. Climbing inside, she crawls towards the light, her body feeling lighter and lighter the closer she gets. Once she’s close enough, she reaches her hand out and touches it. The light engulfs her, and her body and soul disappears, never to be seen again.