Once Upon a Dream
I know you
I walked with you once upon a dream.
I know you
The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
Yes, I know it's true
that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
the way you did once upon a dream
For as long as I can remember he has haunted my dreams. He was tall and well built. Extremely well built. He could have easily snapped me in two with just a twitch of his pinky finger. His hair was dark and formed into two points at the top of his head. Weird, yes, but I came to love them. He had these mutton chop sideburns that I would normally hate but for some reason they seemed to work for him.
When I looked into his eyes I could see deep into the past. He gave the look that told me he had experienced more than his age let on. He was battle scarred, that was sure. His clothing never seemed to change much. He was always wearing jeans with a huge belt buckle, a white tank top covered by a flannel shirt with the top buttons undone, and a leather jacket. The look fit him. He never spoke to me, just simply looked at me.
Stared at me.
At first I was frightened by him but as time passed I came to think of him as my protector. The thought of him would drive my fears away. For instance, my school went into lockdown my sophomore year. It was terrifying. My classmates and I were huddled in a corner of our English class, not really knowing if this was simply a drill or if something was actually wrong. Yet, my protector crept into my thoughts and I immediately felt safe. When he was with me I felt more secure and confident with myself.
I most certainly was not one of the popular people in school. I wasn't even listed as a geek or a loner. I was just there. There was nothing special about me. I was five feet four inches, like so many others in my class, a size seven in jeans as well as shoes, just like everyone else. My lanky brown hair hung just past my shoulders. It frizzed in the front and hung wavy in the back no matter what I did with it. I finally gave up and kept it in a bun wherever I went. My hazel green eyes were hidden by the glasses I have had to wear for as long as I can remember.
I was self conscious and lacked any sort of beauty. I was just…there. I had friends, yes, but none that I could count as a true friend. They were just people I sat by in class, ate lunch with, and occasionally, very occasionally at that, hung out with. My books, movies, and my own imagination were my best friends.
Whereas I was boring my cousin was eccentric. Faye was everything I was not. Popular, beautiful, good with guys, friends with everyone. She was everything I wanted to be, yet she held a secret that no one knew of. Well except for her parents and myself. Faye was a mutant.
Yes, the smart, head cheerleader, dating the quarterback, had a special power. I envied her. Faye could control the plants around her, making them do her will. I had discovered Faye's powers by accident.
We were spending the summer at my grandmother's house and Faye was in the backyard when Grams asked me to go get her for dinner. Me being the smart one that I am decided to sneak up on her. There she was standing amidst the shrubbery, coaxing a vine to climb a tree. I freaked and screamed which startled Faye causing her to scream, making the vine tighten around the tree and the tree to fall over. Needless to say we had no story to tell my grandmother who ran outside to see both of us screaming and a fully grown tree with a vine wrapped around it broken at the middle. Faye swore me to secrecy that day and ever since we've had this unspoken bound.
We had always been close but with the secret between us, we were even closer. Faye was excellent at keeping her gift a secret. No one even suspected her. That is, until the day her powers simply exploded.
It was the end of our junior year and the two of us were helping an elderly lady with her garden. Suddenly Faye was doubled over grasping her head. The plants around us started going crazy. Vines come from out of no where and made a cocoon around her. I got her home as fast as I could. A day later she was contacted by one Professor Charles Xavier. Soon her things were packed and she was leaving our little town in Texas, headed for New York and I was left alone.
No matter how popular she was, Faye never left me in the dust. She was always there for me and now, my senior year when I needed her the most, she was gone. We exchanged letters every week but I was lonely.
It wasn't until two weeks before Christmas vacation that I received a letter from Faye telling me that I had permission from the Professor to stay in New York for Christmas. Included was a plane ticket. The next two weeks passed excruciatingly slow but I was finally on a plane headed to Faye and I couldn't have been happier. Little did I know that at Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, I would meet my protector.
My name is Sydney Reba Woods and this is my story.