Authors Note: This is my first attempt at FanFiction, aside from my poem Pale Man. All reviews are extremely welcome, including any questions, suggestions or advice. I'll try to update as often as possible. I really hope you enjoy my story. Please note: spellings are in British English.
I'm sitting at a table in Ten-Forward, with my feet tucked to my right-hand side and my left elbow leaning on the table top. Four of my companions are laughing – some with big, head-thrown-back belly laughs and others with quiet giggles. Data quirks his eyebrows in recognition of my ironic pun, and the corner of his mouth lifts ever so slightly. Will reaches for a nearby tissue box and wipes his trickling eyes.
''Oh Willow, you are going to be the death of me! I've no idea how you weren't famous at the Academy; you could easily be on stage.''
Deanna gives me her trademark encouraging smile. ''You have settled in remarkably well. I don't think anybody has ever become friends with most of the senior staff so quickly!''
''It's just my natural charm'' I tease. ''And I haven't managed to make Worf or the Captain laugh yet… but I'll try to by the end of the month. The Captain's spending his shore leave on the ship, isn't he? I'll get him when his guard is down.''
''Good luck with that'' Geordi deadpans. ''It takes him a long time to relax around somebody new, and I don't think I've ever heard Worf laugh.''
''Picard to Riker.'' The Captain's voice comes out of the First Officer's combadge. ''May I see you in my ready room?''
''Speak of the devil!'' I quip, and almost everyone has to cover their mouth to stop him hearing their laughter.
''I'm on my way, sir.'' Will stands up, swinging his leg over his chair rather than doing it properly. ''Doctor, won't you be needed in Sickbay?''
''Yes'' Doctor Crusher sighs, standing up in the conventional way. ''I'll see you all at twenty hundred hours, for poker. You are coming, aren't you, Willow?''
My eyes twinkle as I smile at my wonderful friends. ''I wouldn't miss it for the universe.''
Snap out of it! My mind screamed at me. You're supposed to be sleeping, not conjuring up ridiculous fantasies in your head.
I try to hold on to my imaginary world, but it's gone. Reality is back once again, along with all the sadness, boredom and worry that comes with it. My fantasy life is so much better than my real one, so I escape whenever I can… even though I know it's destroying me.
Turning over, I try to get comfortable. However tired I may be, insomnia dictates that I won't get to sleep until at least one o'clock, and that's if I'm lucky. Giving it up as a bad job, I slip out from under my duvet to kneel up with my elbows digging into my window ledge.
Why? That's the question. Why can't I sleep anymore? Why do I live in my head when I have a perfectly good reality? Why am I always so depressed for no apparent reason? Star Trek is what I cling on to… and just like that I'm back inside myself, wearing a command uniform and standing on the bridge with Worf. ''You are honourable, Ensign Cooper. I will be recommending you for promotion to Junior Lieutenant when this mission is complete.''
Yeah right! As if you'd make it in Starfleet, even if it was real. It's cling on, not Klingon, saddo. My green eyes focus on the garden before me for the first time. Bushes and flowers in a riot of colours work their way up the emerald grass, culminating in my namesake at the top of the private space. The willow tree has stood for over fifty years, standing proud long before my house was built. The trunk is thick and sturdy at the bottom, slowly thinning out into delicate branches that hold the fragile tendrils that seem to glitter in the moonlight. If you stand in the shadow of the tree and reach upwards, you can almost brush the tips of the leaves hanging above you.
Above that tree, way up high, the stars seem to look down at me in peaceful serenity. In that moment, I realise the thing I want the most in the world is to be dancing among them, exploring strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilisations. To boldly go where no one has gone before. I'll never be content to do the same dull, menial tasks day after day, never feeling like I've achieved anything in my life. A change of scene is what I need to shake me out of this rut, the one I've been stuck in for the past couple of years. And what better backdrop than the stars? For the millionth time, I wish Star Trek was real!
A flash. A flicker. A beam of light.
It's gone so quickly I barely saw it at all. Just for a moment, by the base of the willow tree, a figure seemed to appear in a blue haze. As I was looking upwards, towards the stars, only my peripheral vision caught it… and my mind is filling in the blanks. Except those blanks look remarkably like transporter light.
No way. That's only because you've got a one-trek mind. Your brain fills in the image with what's in your memory and what you were thinking about at the time. It was probably just a flicker from a streetlight, or a sudden movement by a small animal.
I know that… logically. But I can't help but think…. What if? What if it was the real thing, and I'm about to throw away an amazing opportunity like so many main characters in books and films? So close, and yet so far… There are so many worlds out there, and it's highly unlikely that we're the only ones. They could be scouting for new intelligent lifeforms to join a real Federation. If I just looked…
Pinch. A good hard one on my hand. Shaking my head – physically and mentally – I discard the idea and crawl back into bed. School tomorrow… followed by more homework… more school…
Back to my real life.