Dreaming in Reality
Chapter 1
I woke with a start. It was a fire alarm! Fire! In the house! I've gotta get up, gotta get out… I thought. But as I struggled to sit up in my bed, I realized that it was no fire alarm that had so suddenly woken me up. It was only my alarm clock, telling me to get up and to get ready for school. I rubbed my face tiredly, reached over to my alarm clock which was flashing green '6:00 a.m.', and smacked the snooze button. Then I slunk back under the soft, warm covers.
Just five more minutes, then I'll get up and get ready…
Thirty minutes later I heard my alarm again.
"Oh, dang it! How can I be this tired?" I mumbled angrily at myself.
I jumped out of my bed and raced to the closet. There, I picked out a pair of blue jeans, a plain white tee shirt, and a navy blue sweatshirt. Then I ran, as fast as I could make my tired self go, to the bathroom. I jumped through the shower real quick, got dressed, and brushed my teeth. As I looked into the mirror to fix my hair, I saw the same old thing: the thin face of a 13-year-old girl with long, dark hair.
I threw my still-damp hair up into a quick ponytail, just like every day, and checked my watch. The getting-ready-for-school process usually took about a half an hour, so I guessed it would be about seven o'clock. Yep, so now I've got five minutes to get to the bus stop. I hastily wrote a note to my older brother, Shawn:
I forgot to tell you yesterday: my bus is picking me up fifteen minutes earlier now. We were just getting to school way too late everyday. See you later!
Kiera
I put it on the fridge where he would find it when he woke up. Then, checking to be sure the cats and dog were outside real fast, I opened our apartment door quietly so as not to wake Shawn, and shut it in the same manner. Looking down at my watch, my eyes widened. Only two minutes to get to the bus stop! I ran the whole two blocks and got there just in time to see the bus's doors close.
"Wait!" I yelled, waving my arms.
I saw the bus driver roll her eyes as she opened the doors again.
"That's the third time in a row. I getting sick of this, you get here on time!" She scolded strictly. The bus driver's name was Vicky. She was in her late 50s, and really lived up to her name. Our bus, 26, was the only that didn't allow anyone to talk. Of course, people whispered to each other, anyway. But if Vicky caught you, you'd better brace yourself triple time! She would yell and give you a write-up, but the worst part was that she would make up stories to tell to the principle of the school. She was truly awful.
"It won't happen again," I said.
"You said that yesterday, now sit down!" Vicky replied angrily.
I obeyed. I sat in the vacant seat in row 11, on the driver's side. The bus had started moving before I sat down. I put my backpack by my side and searched the side pocket for my MP3 player. When I found it, I took it out of its case, unraveled the headphones, stuck the ear buds in my ear, and hit play.
My friends always made fun of me for liking the bus ride. But the only reason I do is because it's so peaceful for me. I get to listen to my music, sit back, and think about anything I want. Sometimes I'll stress about school, with questions like: Did I get all my homework done? Did I practice my violin enough? Did I forget to get anything signed? Usually, I'd realize I had nothing to worry about, so then I would move onto another subject. Most times, that new subject will be daydreaming. My daydreams can be about anything; ranging from dragons and knights to robots and hover cars.
This morning, I started to dream about a battle between Vicky and I. Vicky would be in the form of a fat, giant, evil robot. She would look kind of like a giant ape, only made of metal, with huge glowing red eyes. I would be a kind of sorceress; dressed in long, black robes, with a crooked, white, wizard's hat.
Vicky yelled and pounded her huge, metal monkey fists on the ground, shaking the whole Earth. I fell backwards from the shock waves, but got up quickly. Then, I started muttering spells. Soon, I began to hover above the ground so as to not be affected by Evil Vicky's artificial earthquakes. Muttering more spells, I put my hands together. After my last enchantment, I was holding a long sword. It was invincible, as long as I could keep chanting my sacred curse continuously. But that's like having to tell yourself to breathe every time you need to! So, of coarse, every few minutes or so, I forgot to chant the spell. Luckily, Vicky's blows weren't accurate enough to destroy my sword. As I go in for my attack, I start chanting again. My blow isn't fatal, but it's strong. Vicky rubbed her head where she was hit. I took this distraction to my advantage and hovered around her. There it was, on her right shoulder blade: the off switch! I grinned, and moved in for the shutting down of the Evil Vicky. I'll be a hero! I thought. Just as I reached out for the huge lever, Vicky realized what I was doing, and turned around to smack me to the ground. I got up dazed. She was a blur through my eyes, but I could still see the outline of her ape-like hand reaching for me. Shaking my head, I swiftly recited my hover-spell and nearly escaped her clutches. I flew around her to take another shot at shutting her down. Again, she was quick to react and turned around to let out a great ape-like howl. I was blown back by the wind of her scream, and I tried to gain control again. As soon as I did, I thought, Alright, I need a plan B. Then I remembered a certain curse. So I murmured under my breath, "cindrilio desendico!" Suddenly a huge cinderblock came down out of nowhere and hit Vicky square in the head. She wobbled around, stunned for a while, and then fell over with a great CRASH!
"HA HAA! I have defeated the Great Vicky! Or should I just call you Cinderblock?" I shouted of my victory and then –
"KIERA NELSON!!!" someone screamed, jerking me out of my fantasy world.
"Huh- wha-?" I said, sitting up. I looked around. It had been Vicky, in bus driver form, who had yelled my name. As I looked around even more, I found that I was the only one on the bus. Looking out the window, I saw the school…
Oh… I thought.
"GET OFF THE BUS!" Vicky screamed again.
I got up clumsily and tripped a little going up the rows. I still wasn't fully back into consciousness. As I passed the bus driver, she squinted her eyes at me evilly. I remembered my daydream, and, smiling and laughing quietly to myself, I ran to catch up to everybody else, and follow the crowd into the school.