Rachel drove at a large house on the corner of a small row of houses. "Here we are Poppy. Let's get inside, it's almost 1am." Poppy stared up at the large house before her. It was the only detached house in the row. There was a bay window on the front of the house and a little brown fence and gate stopped any unwanted passing dogs getting in the garden. Rachel walked through the gate and down a stone path towards the front door with Poppy following behind.
"Olivia? Lauren? Madi? I'm home," Rachel called as she opened the door. She heard the three girls laughing upstairs.
"Okay, Mum" Olivia called down. Rachel hung her coat on the coat rack behind the door and led Poppy into the living room. "Just stay here, Poppy. I'll be with you in a minute. I need to speak to Olivia."
Poppy cast her eyes over the living room. Pastel yellow walls gave the room a warm feeling. A large mirror hung above a white, Victorian style fireplace. Pictures in frames were placed long the mantel piece and standing lamps were placed in the corners. She sat down on one of the sofas in the room, but she was aware of her eyes slowly starting to shut.
Rachel made her way upstairs and gently tapped on Olivia's bedroom door. "Olivia? Can I come in?" she asked.
"Yes Mum" Olivia replied.
Rachel opened the door to see that her daughter's bedroom had been transformed into a nail salon at 1 in the morning. "Wow girls! You've made a mess in here, haven't you!"
"How was the party?" Olivia asked, trying to change the subject.
"It was okay. There was some good entertainment…" Rachel continued to describe the first part of the evening. "There was also an accident…"
"What do you mean, 'an accident'?" Olivia asked. All three of the girls were staring at Rachel, listening to her story.
"You know Mr Mead?" Rachel asked. The three girls nodded. "His wife, Jessica, collapsed this evening. She was unconscious when the ambulance took her away."
"Oh my…" Lauren said.
"Is she going to be okay?" Olivia and Madi asked.
"I don't know. But do you know Poppy Brown?" The girls shook their heads. "Sometimes she sits in Mr Mead's lessons. She's his adopted daughter."
"Oh, Poppy! I know her, Mr Mead always talks about her and Sophie." Madi answered.
"Poppy is downstairs at the moment. I've brought her home while Mr Mead is with his wife at the hospital. Is that okay?"
"Yes Mum. Is she okay?" Olivia said.
"That's good. She's very worried and a little shaken up at the moment. I'm sure she'll be alright soon."
"Okay. We're going to head to sleep now. Goodnight!" Olivia said.
"Goodnight girls," Rachel said as she left the room and returned downstairs.
Rachel entered the living room to see that Poppy had fallen asleep on the sofa. She looked so peaceful and pretty, no one would have guessed about the incident that she'd been involved with just hours beforehand. Rachel found a warm, fluffy blanket of the back of her sofa and pulled it over Poppy before heading off to bed herself.
Poppy was dreaming about her life. The good things, the bad things. She saw her friends from her old school, her teachers from her old school, Katie and Mark, Chris and Jessica. She saw the faces of the staff at Waterloo Road before she sang, and she heard the applause from afterwards. She heard the ambulance siren and then she saw new people that she'd never met. Katie and Mark were still in her dream, but where were Chris and Jessica. Why had they disappeared?