Daring to Dream

Chapter One

"Please let it not be 5," I groaned under my blankets as my alarm clock blared. Definitely not in a mood to go to school today.

It wasn't that I hated school, or I was a slacker. I loved school. It always was for me my second home, with my friends and teachers and amazing life. I also had full attendance, but I was in a celebratory mode due to my final exams having ended just yesterday. Going to the last day of high school made no sense at all to me. I might as well begin celebrating my holidays from today.

There also was one very special reason why I didn't want to go to school today. My mom was coming to fetch me, and I'm going to spend the summer in a place of my wonders!

I was going back to my beauty sleep under the blankets when a familiar sound of footsteps emerged. The curtains were pulled and rays of sunlight flooded my room.

A weight I knew all too well sat by my bedside, pulled my covers slightly and rushed fingers through my hair, just the way I loved it.

"You are my sunshine,

My only sunshine."

Our song. I rolled over to face my father and hugged him while I sang along,

"You make me happy,

When skies are grey,

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you,

Please don't take my sunshine away."

Dad kissed me on the forehead. "Good morning my little love. Wake up."

You might be wondering why is it my dad who came to wake me up. Generally, it is what moms do. But, my mom hasn't been here all the time.

She was in my life for the first two years of my life, after which she began to be absent for long intervals and then appear all of a sudden for a few days, completing my vision of a happy family, only to vanish again. Since the past five years, she hadn't even paid us a visit, but three years ago my father told me one of the greatest secrets he ever entrusted me with. My mother was a Jedi Knight, the peacekeepers of the galaxy, and the galaxy was much, much wider than I imagined it to be.

Ever since then, my mom began calling me, and we would have holographic conversations once in a month. As much as I wanted to bond with her, it was quite difficult when the person isn't around. I always asked her to take me with her, but she said no, it wasn't safe for me, and I can't bail my school for it. But this year, before my finals began, my mom promised me a trip to Coruscant City, the city where she lived in.

It had always been my father and me. He was very busy with his work as a major in the army, but somehow he managed to make me never feel alone. Him taking me on trips, buying me the latest LEGOs, going to bookstores just for me, taking me to Starbucks every Saturday, him helping with my homework, our late-night video game sessions, him being my greatest secret keeper, and my therapist when I was emotionally burdened, helping me make friends and taking me to explore our newest postings, teaching me my way around wires and machinery. I was emotionally devastated when I would scream for my mom but found no reply, so Dad had to take over and he succeeded on making me stable again. I never wanted anything more. Who ever would, with a father like mine?

My father had never criticized my mom. Even when my aunts used to hurl insults at her, saying she didn't deserve to be my mom, Dad always was quick to defend her, and on nights when I used to be angry at mom for never being there for me, Dad would always have something good to say about her. Another thing I loved about him.

"Dad, I don't want to go today," I mumbled. "I wanna stay home and pack."

"How about I pick you up at half time, and we can have a sundae on our way back? I have a day off today," Dad raised his hand towards a groggy me.