Chell woke up shaking. The dream again? The memory of it was already leaving, but she remained terrified. She forced her eyes to stay wide. If she blinked, she might fall asleep. And if she fell asleep, she might have the dream again. It was normal for an eight year old to be scared about nightmares, but Chell hated to admit fear. And discomfort. And defeat. So she pulled herself together and sat up, her eyes still wide. She remained rigid, despite her strongest attempts to calm herself down.

She stood up and staggered into the kitchen. It was very dark. She hated the dark, but that was another thing she wanted to fix. Not that it was easy. It never is easy to get over fear for children, or anyone for that matter. Chell was no exception. She decided to go about her morning as normally as possible. She wasn't exactly short for her age, but she still had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the cabinet. She could just reach the edge of the box with her fingertips. She tried to coax it into her hands, but it wasn't easy. She kept telling dad to put it on a lower shelf.

The lights suddenly came on. Chell squealed with fright and the cereal box fell off the shelf and fell on top of her, the cereal exploding out and spilling everywhere. Dad was standing in the doorway in his pyjamas and dressing gown, arms crossed.

"Sweetie. It's ten to three." he said.

Chell stood up and whipped her head around, trying to get the corn flakes out of her hair.

"Not my fault." she grumbled "I had that stupid dream again."

She had been having the dream for over a month now. The same each time. She had been with dad, and something bad was happening. She didn't know what it was, and she had tried to tell dad, but he didn't understand. He just told her to be quiet. Then there had been… green?

"It's alright, sweetheart. Remember, it's only a dream. It can't hurt you." said dad, with a smile and a ruffle of her hair.

Humph thought Chell Like it's that easy, that you just say something and it's all fine.

Chell didn't talk much. She had been taught that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. She followed that rule very strictly. So she said nothing now. She just picked the box back up and poured herself the cereal. Her dad got the milk out of the fridge for her and poured it onto her cereal. Chell wanted to eat her breakfast alone, but dad sat down beside her and smiled.

"So, sweetie, you excited about tomorrow?"

Tomorrow was the first annual Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. Chell's dad worked at a science company called Aperture Science. Chell had never been there, but she didn't want to go. She hated it, mostly due to the Big Surprise. Chell had spent her entire life so far being rated second and the Big Surprise coming first. Chell's solitary nature may have been due to the fact that her dad spent any spare time he ever got working on the big surprise instead of raising his only child. Apparently the Big Surprise was all finished now. From what she had been told, it was going to make all their lives better. She wasn't so sure, though.

"Well? Are you excited?"

Chell followed her rule and stayed silent. Her dad got the message.

"Hm. Well, why don't you just go get dressed, and then you can just go back to sleep until school starts." said dad, but Chell immediately shook her head.

"I hate sleeping" she said "I don't know what's happening in the world when I'm asleep."

"Sweetheart, you NEED your sleep–"

"I'm not going back to sleep," Chell interrupted "I'm not tired."

Her father sighed.

"Fine, you can go into the living room and watch television." he said.

Chell smiled and carried her cereal bowl into the living room. She went about settling herself comfortably on the couch, her feet not even reaching the edge of the cushion. She reached for the remote and turned the TV on.

It's time to play the music; it's time to light the lights…

Chell's smile broadened into a wide grin as the Muppet Show began. Her dad shuffled back to his room.

It's time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight!