15 Years and 11 Months Later

"Will you dance with me?" The handsome young man held out his hand.

"I can't, you're a stranger." Rose replied shyly.

The man laughed, "No I'm not, we've met before."

"When?" Rose asked.

He smiled, "Once upon a dream." Without waiting for an answer he pulled her into his arms and the two began to dance around the room to a familiar tune.

The song slowed down and Rose lifted her face to her partner, staring into his deep brown eyes, he started to lean down, his lips just slightly parted, and then, her alarm went off.

Rose rolled over and slapped the snooze button, glaring at the offending object. "You couldn't have waited just a few minutes? As close as I'll probably ever get to my first kiss and you just had to go and ruin it."

Pulling herself to a sitting position she grabbed her pen and her songbook, ever since she'd first had the dream a few weeks ago she'd started keeping her special notebook right next to her bed, she always seemed to feel inspired after the dream. She scribbled three words at the top of the paper, Once Upon a Dream, his words (well, since it was her dream she supposed they were really her words) were exactly what she had needed to tie the song together. Now all she needed to do was set them to music. Hopefully she would get a chance to sneak off with her guitar and work on that.

"Rose, breakfast is ready." Aunt Fauna called up the stairs.

"All right, I'll be down as soon as I'm dressed." Rose quickly slipped into her favorite outfit; a white long-sleeve shirt with a black corset style vest, and a pleated gray skirt. Sliding her black headband into her golden curls and throwing a purple scarf around her neck she gave herself a cursory glance in the mirror over her dresser. Satisfied with her appearance she hurried downstairs.

When she came down Aunt Fauna was putting breakfast on the table, pancakes. Hmmm… that was odd. None of her aunts could cook very well; she usually just ate cereal and fruit for breakfast, today must be special for them to put in the effort to make a real meal. Off to the side her other two aunts, Merryweather and Flora, were bickering quietly. Rose smiled; there was nothing unusual about that.

The moment Rose came into view Merryweather and Flora stopped arguing and hid something behind their backs, both of them pasted on 'innocent' smiles. "Good morning dear, happy birthday!" Aunt Fauna threw her bony arms around Rose in a tight hug. "My birthday, of course." Rose thought, she had been so caught up in her dream that she had completely forgotten.

"Our little Briar Rose, sixteen already, seems like just yesterday we brought you here." Merryweather sighed then held out her arms for a hug.

Rose leaned down and wrapped her arms around as much of her aunt's stocky frame as she could. She squeezed tightly then straightened and turned to Flora without waiting for an invitation. Flora pulled her close and held her tight a moment longer than normal, finally she released Rose and held her at arm's length. "We have loved taking care of you dear, and we love you so much, you know that right?"

Rose pulled back slightly for a moment, why were her aunts acting so strange? "Of course I do," she finally said, "and I hope you know I love you all too. Now, shall we eat?" She slid onto the wooden bench of their large kitchen table and waited for her aunts to join her.

After breakfast Rose started to gather up the dishes but Flora stopped her, "We'll take care of this dear, why don't you go out to the forest and pick some berries?"

"But I just picked berries yesterday, do we need more already?" Rose questioned

"Oh yes, we need lots and lots of berries." Fauna answered quickly.

"Well, alright." She set her plate back on the table and ran upstairs for her guitar, grabbing a basket from the pantry on her way out.

All three of her aunts waved to her from the front door, "Be careful dear!" "Remember, don't talk to strangers!" "Don't come back too soon!" Their familiar calls blended together as she left their cottage for the meadow where the blackberry bushes were. She would fill up her basket then sit by the river and work on her song for a while. She knew her aunts well enough to see that they were working on some sort of surprise for her birthday and wanted her out of the house.

Rose took her time picking berries, humming one of her old songs as she went. The bushes were packed full with berries so it didn't take long for her to fill her basket. She went to the river and laid down on her stomach, running her fingers through the slow moving water. A small sparrow came and perched on the ground beside her, pecking at seemingly invisible bugs. Rose turned her head to look at the sparrow, "Why do they still treat me like a child?" The bird cocked its head at her and Rose decided to take that as a signal to continue. "They never want me to meet anyone, they won't even let me use the internet or a phone," Rose gave a conspiratorial grin, "But I've fooled them, I have met someone. He's tall and handsome, and so romantic. We dance and we sing, and then, just as we're finishing he'll take me in his arms and then," Rose sighed sadly, "and then I wake up." The moment she had said the words the sparrow spread its wings and took off.

Rose sighed again, it really was pathetic, even a bird thought so. Finally she shook off her depressing thoughts and pulled her guitar and notebook from her case and settled in to work on her song. She strummed a few chords, experimenting until she had found a combination she liked, "I know you," she sang softly then grimaced, that wasn't quite right. She moved her fingers up the fret slightly and tried again, "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream." She giggled in delight, all sadness forgotten, it was perfect.

It took less than an hour for her to finish the score, after singing the final note she let out a squeal, startling a few birds and squirrels that had stopped to listen. Replacing her guitar in its case she jumped up, her excitement suddenly overwhelming. "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." She danced circles around the glade, imitating the dance she recalled from her dream.

Not Far Away

Phillip pulled back on the reins, bringing his horse, Samson, to a stop at the edge of the rocky outcropping. He stared out at the expansive forest with a wistful smile. His parents had allowed him this short vacation, here in the English countryside he knew and loved, before their journey to America, where they expected him to stay for at least a year. All because of this Aurora girl he'd always heard so much about. He wasn't sure where people came up with things to talk about, nobody had seen her since she was a month old, at least not that they would say, something about some sort of murder attempt.

He knew his parents would never explicitly state their expectations, for him to marry, or at the very least date, Aurora, but it was obvious all the same. They were going to America to meet Aurora, but they claimed they wanted him to stay to 'experience another culture'. He laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea, American culture was certainly different, and decidedly odd by his way of thinking, it wasn't exactly a night and day difference.

A voice pulled him from his thoughts, making him instantly alert. Someone else was out there, singing, and whoever it was had the most beautiful voice he had ever heard, and he had heard some of the best. "What do you say Samson, why don't we go and check it out?" He knew he was actually talking to himself, but he felt less foolish addressing the horse, at least a little less.

Samson turned his head back to look at Phillip, and if he didn't know better he would have said the horse was glaring at him. He laughed and patted the horse's head, "Come on boy, it can't be that far, I'll even throw in some extra oats when we get back, maybe even a couple carrots."

The horse perked up at once, apparently recognizing the name of his favorite snack. Phillip laughed again and gave Samson another pat then gently tugged on the rains, turning Samson towards the path leading into the valley.

Once they were on flatter ground Phillip nudged Samson to a faster pace. Just as they reached the river a squirrel ran out in front of them. The stallion shied away and bucked, tossing his rider into the water. Samson quickly calmed then turned himself around, apparently just noticing that he had lost his master. He stepped up to the river and gave Phillip a penitent look.

Phillip flipped a piece of wet hair from his eyes then glared at his mount, "No carrots."

Even Closer Now

Rose stopped her singing and dancing and watched in confusion at the odd thing moving towards her. It looked like a large piece of flying, yet how could that be possible? When it grew close enough for her to see what it was she burst out laughing. A large bird was flying towards her, a man's shirt gripped in his claws.

The bird landed on a tree limb near Rose. She inched forward holding out a hand carefully, to her surprise the bird let her take the shirt without so much as a flutter of his wings. As soon as she had it in her hands she realized the shirt was dripping wet.

She laid it over a branch to let it dry and started to walk away, it would be better if she wasn't here if and when its owner showed up. She started to walk away but stopped and smiled as a silly thought came to her mind. She turned around and sauntered up to the soggy piece of clothing. "You know, I'm not supposed to speak to strangers, but then we've met before haven't we?"

She took the shirt by the sleeves and held it up in front of her, as if she was holding a man's hands. Humming softly she began dancing the shirt around the meadow, it wasn't long before she was singing at the top of her lungs, "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream….."

Now back to Phillip

Phillip had just finished wringing out his socks when he heard the voice again. Jumping to his feet he reached for his shirt, which he'd hung on a tree branch in hope that it would dry at least a little. It wasn't there, and he didn't see it on the ground either. The singing grew louder and he forgot all about his shirt, dropping his socks and abandoning his shoes he took off at a run, trying to follow the voice.

He skidded to a stop at the edge of a clearing, there she was, without a doubt the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he had dated models. She had beautiful blond hair, a natural golden blond, not the fake bleached blond so many of the girls he knew sported, and full lips that seemed to be naturally red. She was tall and very skinny, but she still looked healthy and fit. Her gray skirt flew and her golden curls bounced as she spun around in a simple waltz.

Phillip listened to her song, it wasn't one he had ever heard before and he wondered if she had made it up herself, either way it was beautiful. It was a simple song and it was only seconds before he had memorized all the lyrics. Suddenly he couldn't take it any longer, he stepped up behind her and caught her hands in his, joining in with her song and dance.

She stopped singing at once, but she kept dancing for a moment, following his lead, but after a far shorter time than Phillip would have liked she tried to jerk away. He caught one of her wrists gently, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

The girl tried to pull from his grip again but he caught her other hand, "Oh, um, it's not really that, it's just that you're, well, you're a stranger."

Phillip laughed, "No I'm not, we've met before."

She pulled back slightly, but left her hand in his, and gave him an incredulous look. "We have? when?"

He smiled, "You said it yourself, once upon a dream." She pulled her hand from his and started to walk away.

Phillip wracked his brain for a way to make her stay; he knew if he grabbed her hand again he would only terrify her. Only one thing came to mind, "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream,"

She slowed, and Phillip took that opportunity to move forward, she moved away again, but not very far this time. He moved forward again, singing all the while. She finally stopped moving and turned back to him with a shy smile. Phillip didn't waste a second, he stepped forward and caught her hand in his then pulled her into the same simple waltz she had done earlier. At first she was hesitant, but before long she had relaxed into his arms and began to sing again.

They danced for what felt like hours and seconds all at the same time, before finally stopping and settling down on a hollow log to watch the river go by, their hands intertwined.

Rose sighed deeply and rested her head on the young man's shoulder, she had just met him, yet she felt as comfortable with him as if she had known him her entire life. She knew she was a bit naïve, all of her worldly knowledge came from books and movies, but she had a feeling deep down that she was already in love with this man.

"Who are you? What's your name?" He spoke softly, his mouth just a few inches from her ear.

"I'm" Rose started to answer, then quickly cut herself off and pulled away from him, suddenly recalling what her aunts had been teaching her throughout her life. "I can't, I'm so sorry." She took off at a run, grabbing her guitar case and basket.

"Wait, when can I see you again?" He called after her.

"Never!" She called back without stopping.

"Never?" His voice sounded sad now, and it tore at Rose's heart so that she stopped running and turned back for a moment, "This evening, meet me right here."

Without waiting for a reply she took off as fast as she could, leaving behind her handsome stranger.