Dreaming of Mommy and Daddy

It was her first night at Miss Priscilla's and Marty lay in bed silently crying. More than ever, she wanted her Mommy and Daddy. This place ... this place was AWFUL! Miss Priscilla hated her; Rebecca and Hannah hated her. Why didn't anyone like her?

"Mommy and Daddy like me," Marty was thinking with a wounded heart.

They had to like her ... but IF they liked her, why had they left her? Why had they left her with mean Aunt Kiki? Now she was stuck here at this place, and they made her clean out chamber pots and chicken coops! She tossed in her bed as she tried to get comfortable, muffling her sobs in her pillow.

"Marty," Megan whispered softly.

Marty didn't answer. It wasn't that she didn't like Megan. She did like Megan. She was her only friend. She just didn't like this place. She wanted to go outside. She wanted to play in the sunshine and get an education. School was supposed to be a place where you learned, right?

"Good night, Marty," Megan said sadly.

Marty buried her face deeper into her pillow. Soon she had cried herself to sleep, her face cushioned by a pillow that wasn't even all that soft.

That night Marty dreamed of her parents and all the fun times they once had. She dreamed she was sitting at her piano, playing a hymn for them. The notes and the melody of the piece were so beautiful. Her heart automatically felt light and full of happiness again. Mommy was there to caress her hair, lightly stroking her soft golden curls while Daddy showed Marty how to play all of the notes.

"Just like that, Sweetie," Daddy said.

"That's my girl," he said as he lovingly kissed her little cheek.

But then Mommy and Daddy were standing in the shadows. They were fading away. Marty was all alone, and she didn't even have Sara Beth. Hot tears were falling down her cheeks. She didn't want her Mommy and Daddy to leave.

"Mommy and Daddy, please come back. Don't leave me here all alone!" Marty begged and cried. "Don't leave me here with Aunt Kiki. Don't leave me with Miss Priscilla! Don't LEAVE ME!"

Marty woke up sobbing, saying, "Don't leave me..." over and over again. Megan ran to her side and tried to comfort her in the near-darkness, but Rebecca and Hannah made fun of her, calling her a little bawl-baby.

"What's the matter, Marty? Did you wet the bed?" Hannah mocked.

Rebecca laughed hysterically as Megan tenderly wiped away Marty's tears. "It's okay, Marty. It was just a dream. Go back to sleep," Megan whispered.

"It wasn't just a dream. My mommy and daddy did leave me... forever," Marty said sadly.

"Go to sleep!" Rebecca warned. "Before I come over there and give you something to REALLY cry about."

"I'm sorry about your parents," Megan whispered in the smallest, lowest voice she could manage, so that her words didn't carry over to Rebecca and Hannah. "Please try to get some sleep for now. We will try to have fun tomorrow."