Finding Home

Nightmares

I was sitting at the dinner table, my mom on the other side. Normally there are three people at the table, but tonight there are only two. I picked at the food in front of me, but I was too nervous to try and eat it. I looked up at my mom, her head buried in her hands, a freshly made plate of food sitting in front of her.

"Mommy," I started. My mom looked up at me, tears daring to fall. "Mommy, where's daddy?" As I started to ask my mom the one question that I had been asking myself, she started to cry.

"I...I don't...I don't know, baby." I, in my four year old mind, started to think back to this afternoon. Mommy and daddy were acting wierd. They weren't talking very much, and when they did, I had to cover my ears...it was really loud. Then mommy said we needed food from the store, but daddy didn't want to come. But that's okay. Daddy said that shopping was just for girls and that boys fix things. So me and mommy went to the store and bought stuff. She even bought me a new teddy bear. I named him Teddy.

When we got home, daddy was waiting outside of his truck. I ran to him and showed him Teddy. He smiled and talked to Teddy like he was a person. It was funny.

Then daddy opened his door and I climbed in. I love daddy's truck, it's big and it has a special seat just for me. Daddy calls it my throne because I'm his princess. I climbed in and put on my royal sash. Daddy doesn't want me to fall off of my throne. Then daddy climbed in too and put on his sash. He calls himself the king. I had teddy on the seat next to me, he's the royal teddy bear. Now we only need mommy. She's the queen. But she walked to daddy's side and told me to get out. I had to stay at home with her. But daddy told me to stay. Daddy took off his sash and got out of the truck. That's when mommy and daddy started acting wierd again. I covered my ears and daddy closed the door, mommy looked really mad. The way she looks when I do a bad thing. And daddy looked really sad. Then daddy opened the door and told me to get out of my princess seat because I had to stay with mommy.

Then he gave me the biggest hug in the world and he started crying. He was getting my hair all wet. When he let me go, I started laughing. "Daddy, I'm all wet now!" I cried out, throwing my hands in the air. Daddy laughed a little and said he was sorry. But I told him it was okay and used my hands to wipe his face.

"You;re silly daddy! You don't have to cry. I will still be here when you get back! And then we can watch a princess movie together!!!" Daddy started laughing and gave me another big hug.

"I love you, my little princess!" He said as he stood and started to climb back into his truck.

"I love you more daddy! To the moon and back!" I smiled and waved as me and mommy went back in the house and watched out the window as daddy left.

And now, me and mommy are here...having a quiet dinner.

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I woke up, hot tears streaming down my face, drenching my pillow. I flipped it over, trying to ignore the fact that, once again, I had had a bad dream.

I looked around the giant room, searching for anyone who could have seen me crying again. But I found no one. No one in the "public" bathroom area. No one in the bunk beds lining the room... no one in sight.

I wiped my eyes and ran my hands through my messy brown hair. I walked to the vanity and tried to fix my hair before someone saw, but when I looked in the mirror, I froze. I was wrong...someone had already seen me. There on the top bunk of bed four, was a girl, at first, concealed by blankets and pillows. I already know a little bit about her. Her name is Kaitlyn and she has been here for about 6 years now.

"Are you okay?" She asked, putting down her Nicholas Sparks' romance novel.

"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine." I lied. I tried to fix my hair again, but still coming up unsuccessful.