Maggie's Adventure in Dreamland

Chapter 1: Prologue

Maggie was walking along the riverside, it was in the evening, the sunset colored the sky and clouds in vibrant warm colors with a purple tint, there was a lush forest and green grass everywhere, Then, she saw a man with graying red hair sitting at the bench reading a book by the river.

"Dad, is that you?" Maggie got confused but she was relieved when she recognized him. She rushed to the man in tears, "Dad!"

Desmond stood up from the bench, he smiled kindly when he saw her running over to him,"Maggie", he said as he spread his arms out

Maggie lept into her father's embrace,"Oh, Daddy, I missed you so much", she tearfully said as she hugged him

"I missed you too, sweetheart", he gently stroked her curly hair,

"Come, sit down by me", he guided his daughter to the bench to set her down, he sat down beside her, she wiped her tears away and stared at the sunset behind the trees, the clouds were orangish with a mix of purplish-pink

"Wow, It's so beautiful, It's like a painting".

Desmond chuckled warmly,"Yes, It sure is"

Maggie looked over at her father in wonder and surprise,"How is this possible?. You...you died when I was a little girl"

He stared at her sadly,"I'm so sorry, Maggie. This is only a dream"

She shook her head in disbelief,"No...this had to be real. I'm not dreaming"

"I wished this was real, I would be with you and your mother", he looked at his opened book.

Maggie widened her eyes in shock when she noticed the pages were filled with garbled up words, she abruptly looked around everywhere, the surroundings started to fade, she stared back at Desmond to see that his face begins to blur

"I'm sorry, you need to wake up now. I may not be here but I'll always be...there for you", he said in an echoey voice

"No, daddy!. Please!. I want to stay with you!", she collapses onto his lap and begins sobbing.

"No!", Maggie cried out as she abruptly wakes up, she breathed heavily and calms down then sits up on her bed and wiped her tears away, she looks around her bedroom, the morning sunlight streamed through the closed purple curtains

"It was only a dream", she thought to herself then sighed sadly as she got off the bed.

Maggie walked over to her mirrored closet and looked at her reflection, she was wearing her matching pastel green pajamas and her curly hair was messy

"MARGARET!. Hurry down here and eat!. You'll be late for school!", Her mother's voice yelled from downstairs

"I'm coming, mom!", she yelled back then quickly made her bed and got dressed.

Maggie went downstairs to the kitchen to see her mother, Liliane, sitting at the dining table drinking coffee

"What took you so long to get down here?", Liliane asked

"Sorry, mom", she quietly said as she walked over to the covered to take out a blue shallow bowl, she made the cereal then sat down at the table

"I dreamed about dad last night"

Liliane paused right before she was about to take a sip from her mug as she stared icily at her daughter then she put it back down on the table,

"Margaret, you need to stop sharing your nonsensical, meaningless images from inside your head while you were sleeping. Stop thinking about him, get over it. Now, eat your cereal and don't waste our time, we're going to be late"