Last night I had a crazy dream

A wish was granted just for me

It could be for anything

I didn't ask for money

Or a mansion in Malibu

I simply wished, for one more day with you

She came awake instantly, but she didn't move. Her last memory, dream?, was of some tall, bald man with freaky tattoos glowing this bluish color and coming towards her. Her palms slid across the surface under her. She's on a bed and the comforter is so very soft under her finger tips. A gentle, cool breeze wafted across the room and lightly caressed her skin, making goosebumps erupt over her light tan skin. Carried along in the draft, was the scent of something sweet and sour. A smile came over her lips as she recognized that scent and her eyes fluttered open to see where she was.

The room she was in, seemed like a typical bedroom. A cherry oak dresser was placed in the right corner of the room, right next to a door, she assumed was the bathroom. A vanity table was sitting next it and crammed with all kinds of hair care products and make-up. She rose from the bed and noticed the window was open, the lavender curtains blowing gently with the breeze. A pot of daffodils were placed right on the eves of her window and this was where the smell was coming from.

Had it all been some crazy dream? Did it never happen? Her grandmother wasn't dying in a hospital, that she was really alive? There was only one way to find out, so she slid her legs over the side of the bed. She noticed a pink silk robe was lying across the foot of her bed and as she slid it over her body, she opened the door.

With cat-like grace, Lana quietly moved down the hallway, her fingers tracing a path along the wallpaper. She stopped for a second to admire the design, roses. Her Nana loved roses and was known to have the best garden in Kansas, heck maybe the entire country.

It was a place that Lana had called home. When she was just a little girl, her mother was tragically killed in a car accident. A drunk driver had been behind the wheel and she was killed instantly. Which Lana thought was good, at least she hadn't suffered. The man had been charged with manslaughter and thrown into the slammer. As far as Lana knew, he was still there.

She could have gone to her father, if she even knew who he was. From what she pieced together, he left when he found out about the pregnancy. He just disappeared off the face of the earth, so the state found one more relative that Lana could live with.

Is was then that she had come to live with Sophia, her maternal grandmother. Up until that time, Lana had little contact with Sophia. She would get a birth card every year and tucked inside was a check. Each year the amounts got more insane, the last one in the thousands.

Sophia and Lana had a very rocky relationship at first, Lana being very distant and cold. But when Lana started to blossom into a beautiful young woman, Sophia began to see her granddaughter into a different light. Lana even reminded Sophia of herself at that age and couldn't help but bond with her.

As Lana walked down the steps, she knew which ones to avoid. Third one from the top, Lana over stepped it, her hand on the banister. She ducked behind the beam and noticed a woman standing in the kitchen, her back towards her. She was very thin and had on a pair of tailored made pant and white blouse. Her ashy blonde hair was pulled up into a simple bun. She was at the stove and she could hear the pop and hiss of something frying in the pan. From the delicious smells, it was bacon. OK, so this wasn't a dream. She could smell it cooking, she could smell the coffee as it brewed and she could feel the coldness on her feet. This was real.

As she watched her Nana cook, Lana struggled to remember what the dream had been about, it was starting to get a little fuzzy. "N..Nana?" Lana's voice was a whisper but it seemed so loud in the quiet of the kitchen.

The woman turned around and Lana was able to see how truly stunning this woman was. Her facial features were small, her nose small with a slight upturn of the tip. Her cheekbones were well defined and her mouth was shaped into a bow with red ruby lips. Her navy blue eyes twinkled as her mouth twisted on her mouth, making the lines around her eyes crinkle.

"Well good morning, Alana." Nana was the only person in the entire world that addressed her as her birth name. But to Lana, it sounded to vanilla. "Are you feeling OK dear, you look a little pale."

Lana slid out the chair and sat down with a huff. She reached for a piece of fruit that was in front of her. She selected a cantaloupe and answered around the bite. "Yeah. Just a weird dream." Lana concentrated on the yellow melon in her hand, trying to recall the dream. It was right there, just within grasps. But her mind wasn't letting her get the details.

"What time are you heading into the diner?"

The diner?" Lana scrunched her eyebrows together as she looked at her Nana in confusion.

Sophia let out a sigh and clucked her tongue at her granddaughter. "Honestly Lana. If you're going to stay out all night, how are you going to have a proper day?" She poured some orange juice into a glass and handed it to Lana.

As Lana siped on her orange juice, her mind opened up and she was flooded with all these memories. "I..I work at your diner?"

"Yes," Sophia shooed her away from the table. "And you're going to be late!"

Lana jumped up from the table and grabbed a piece of toast, tucked it in her mouth and fished for her keys in her purse. As she walked out of the kitchen, she stopped, turned around and smiled at her Nana. In two quick steps, she slid her arms around the older woman's neck.

Sophia stood there with her arms to her side, stiff, not sure what to do. This was the first time that Lana had shown any kind of affection for her. "Alana, what has gotten into you child?"

Lana laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you this afternoon."

The diner in question was a hopping little dive just on the outskirts of town. The breakfast shift turned out to be the busiest and Lana had a hard time keeping up. She got orders wrong, she was slow getting checks to the custmores and she had Mike, the cook yelling at her.

"What did you get kidnap by aliens or something honey?" The raspy voice of the other waitress greeted Lana by the coffee station. The owner of the voice was no surprise. She was a plump older lady, hair bleached some much it was white and frizzy. Martha Jones took a plump hand and smoothed a strand over her forehead. "You OK?"

"I'm fine," Lana let out a huff.

"OH..my god..you have to check out newbie at table one," a young girl with red hair smiled as she ducked into the coffee station, gathering Lana and Martha to her side. "No..don't look!"

Lana was just in the process of looking at table one, when Kandi Miller scolded her. "Kandi, how in the hell am I supposed to check him out then?"

Kandi laughed and slid her ticket book into the front pocket of Lana's. "I'm on break, so, he's all yours."

Lana let out a sigh as she took the pot and walked around the bar and straight up to table number one. It was just like her co-workers to try and set her up with every new meat that walked through that door. But, today was different. Instead of the local cowboy, macho wanna be, little men, sat a very ruggedly handsome man.

He was looking out the window, his eyebrows were knitted togther and his finger slowly moved back and forth on his finger. He looked as if he was trying to solve the world's toughest problem.

"Coffee?"

He turned his head from teh window and looked at the waitress that was standing before him. A slow smile spread across his face making his green eyes shine. "Well..I sure hope so." He reached for his cup and turned it over and watched as she poured the hot liquid to the brim. "Thank you."

"So, handsome," Lana winked at him as she slid out the ticket book from her apron. "What can I get you?"

He picked up the cup and smiled. Man, did he have a sexy ass smile...and those eyes. Lana cleared her throat as she concentrated on the pad "Just coffee."

"You sir, are my easiest customer of the day. If you chance your mind, just holler."

"I sure will..uh.." His eyes slowly left hers and traveled to the front of her shirt where her name tag was located. She wasn't sure, but she was pretty there was a look of confusion in those green eyes of his. "Lana."

"Hey sweetheart!" A nasally voice called from the booth and Lana turned to see the man. She frowned. He had been a thorn in her ass all morning and it was apparent he wasn't happy again. "Are ya just standing there looking pretty, or you working?"

Lana rolled her eyes and walked up to the counter where the man slid his plate towards her. "What can I do for you sir?"

"Let me ask you a question and I'm gonna ask it real slow, so you get my meaning. You do know the difference between real eggs and powdered ones, right?"

"I want you to know that I did three weeks in a Korean POW camp and they fed us better than this crap."

Lana sighed and took the plate from him and glared at the man. He was a disgusting pig of a man. His three chins and his neck seemed to merge into one huge bubble and she wondered when the last time he turned down a good meal. "I'm sorry sir."

He turned and pointed a sausage of a finger in her face, toast dribbled on his chin as he talked. "Next time, don't get smart with me , sweetheart. Your brains aren't your best feature."

Smack!

Lana jumped when she felt the smack on her ass and she just stood there, in shock. She dipped her head and disappearance into the ktichen.

The man chuckled to himself as he took a bloated hand and lifted the coffee cup to his lips, but stopped when he felt something sharp prick his side.

"I understand you're not happy with your meal?" A husky voice breathed into his ear.\

The fat man struggled to turn and face who was attacking him, but winced when he felt the prick again. "You work here?"

"No..and just so we are clear, this is pressed into your brachiael artery. It may be dull, but I'm determined."The man turned his face to see the younger man. The one that had been in the corner booth as he waddled into the diner. "Keep smiling. Once you start to bleed you will loose consciousness in about 15 seconds."

"Hey, it was just a joke, I meant her no harm."

"I want you to take out that wallet of yours, open it up and leave a nice fat tip for that pretty lady. The one you've been stepping all over this morning. And you will never step foot into this diner again, got it?"

"Y..yes," the man stammered feeling sweat pop up along his forehead. He reached into his back pocket as he felt the knife leave his upper arm. He placed several $20s on the table and stumbled out of the bar stool.

Lana stood in disbelief as the handsome young man walked back to his table and sat down, pick up his coffee and continued to drink it. She turned to the cooler behind her, grabbed a plate and fork and walked up to his table.

"You earned this." She let out a breath as she plopped the pie down onto the table.

"Well, hey, can't say no to a free pie, now can I?" He smiled at her as he stabbed his fork into the pastry goodness and stuffed it in his mouth. "That...Lana.." He sighed around the bites, "Is a damn good pie."

Lana smiled and leaned in and whispered. "Don t' tell Martha over there, but it's on the house."

He looked behind her at the plump woman who was watching them. He raised his fork and smiled. "Your secret's safe with me."