PERFECTLY IMPERFECT - YOU MADE IT REAL!

Chapter 1 * A dream is a wish your heart makes...

It's still two in the afternoon.

My days have been passing the same way for a long time, but today I had some news - which made me a little happier. I need to tell mom soon and then tackle the complicated part: my dad. Oh, and what do I need to tell? Well, my cousin finally confirmed to me that she is financially prepared for our long-awaited trip to England. But until then, that wasn't the main obstacle. To start with, my dad is one of those overprotective and strict types, and my mom fully supports him in any decision! That alone is enough to understand how difficult it has been to get permission to travel abroad. Even though I am of legal age, there was the fact that I still didn't have a job that earned me good money. I did take a few beauty courses and worked in some salons in my city, but none of that lasted more than three months. So, I didn't have money and would depend entirely on him. Oh, and he hates airplanes, has a certain type of panic. Once he had to travel to São Paulo for a course for his company, and he only let me buy the ticket because he had had a few beers. Even so, when it was time to board, he almost cried. Actually, he did cry. I swear I saw a tear in his eyes right after he lowered his sunglasses, thinking that would solve something.

My mom, my brother, and I had never been on that flying thing before (airplane), and it was also part of one of my dreams: to ride the huge thing that flies and would take me to a completely different world.

To continue introducing myself, I am like this: a bit depressive, a bit frustrated, a bit talented, and VERY dreamy. I am always doing crazy research about countries I want to visit. For example: London, France, Japan... In general I'm just completely fascinated by the world. And my aunt Paola Eastwood lives in the county of Hampshire, city: Basingstoke which is an hour away from central London, not counting the traffic. She married a man who is half British and half Brazilian. They lived here for a while and then moved to the first world country for good, with no return tickets. Their life seemed perfect and had everything to be, until she got pregnant. Unfortunately, her baby was born with cancer, and it was only diagnosed at six months old, the name of my little cousin is Natalie Eastwood. Being so far from them made me increasingly sad, as she was there alone, on the other side of the world, with a daughter who now needed a lot of attention and care.

Paola has always been like a sister to me. Since we grew up together and have only a nine-year age difference, I became very attached to her. We did everything we could to go there for a while. I was younger at the time and still studying, but my father never allowed either me or my mother to go, thinking it was too dangerous to put our family at risk in such a delicate situation. My aunt was in very bad shape, taking controlled medication and sometimes having emotional crises. For a good part of the time, they practically lived in the hospital all week, running from one place to another in search of alternative treatments, unable to even consider coming to Brazil due to the tumour and the severity of the situation. And of course, to make matters worse, our healthcare system is terrible. Even understanding my father's concern for us, it made me hate him for a while. My mother, Adriana, was the one my aunt wanted there the most, as our grandparents have poor health. Now the situation is balanced, the end of chemotherapy is approaching, and if all goes well, she will be cured. And then finally they will be able to reconnect with the family and Brazil.

I looked at the clock again: six in the evening. I loved spending time watching MTV and keeping up with all the new music videos. Speaking of which, Chandler Malik's new haircut left me speechless.

The intercom rang and, finally, it was my parents. I went to the living room to meet them. My mom greeted me with a tight hug, something she had been doing frequently lately.

- Hi, sweetie, how are you feeling today? - that was an terrible question for today.

- I'm feeling okay, still a bit lost, but it will pass...