Prologue
On the morning of my sixteenth birthday my older sister, Madison, ran away. She had written a note and left my present in my bedroom for me to find. Madison would never forget my birthday. I had awoken to my mother’s screams and had immediately known that something was wrong. I had jumped out of bed, swung open my bedroom door and walked out in such haste that I didn’t see the present resting on top of my dresser in plain sight.
Recently Madison had taken a great interest in memorizing all of the little things about me that no one seemed to remember, like what my favorite movie was or why I liked the moon and the stars so much. I had never known that all this time she had been gathering this information so she could remember me when she left.
I remember coming downstairs to hear my mother sob as my father read the letter Madison had written them. She had written me a letter too, but had hidden it. She had tucked it inside the middle of the book, The Great Gatsby, because she knew that was the last place anyone would look for it. Madison had always been good at keeping secrets from me.
‘Dear Mom and Dad,
I’ll probably already be gone by the time you find this. I want you to know that I’m not alone though because I’m with Jesse. I would have told you both, but I know how much you both loathe him already and I didn’t want you talking me out of leaving. We’re going to go backpacking across Europe the entire summer and live in his mini-van. I’m going to go to University there. There is no use in trying to contact me on my phone because it has been disconnected. I’ll come back home when I’m ready. I love you both. Give Gracie a hug for me.
Sincerely,
Madison xoxo’
When my dad had finished reading the letter there were tears in his eyes which he quickly wiped away. My father knew that he had to be the levelheaded one here in this issue. Although my mother had wrote reports on people running away she had never imagined her own child doing the same. Although Madison had always been a bit more on the wild side my parents never imagined her troubled daughter to be a ‘runaway’. Though it wasn’t really running away because Madison was eighteen and considered an adult by the law.
At the time I didn’t have a clue what I should have done so I got out my mother’s favorite mug out and made her a cup of coffee. I added a heap of sugar and cream for energy because I knew that I crying had tired her out. As my mother took the coffee from me and smiled I knew that she had realized that she wasn’t alone in this.
Bridgette and Marcian Miller had come over when they had heard the news of Madison’s leaving. They had been our neighbors and my parents’ best friends before Madison and I had been born. They were like a cool aunt and uncle you always wanted. Bridgette and Marcian used to be hippies and complete polar opposites of my parents. Marcian taught philosophy at a local community college and Bridgette was an artist and sculptor. Many of her paintings were featured in art shows all over the country.
Bridgette had come straight into our kitchen kissed my forehead wishing me a happy birthday and going straight to my mother to comfort her. Marcian had done the same as his wife and went to check on my father to see how he was holding up. It was that day that I realized underneath my father’s tough exterior he had feelings and was just as vulnerable as I was although he would never admit.
I snuck up to my bedroom as my mom and Bridgette sipped coffee and chatted. That’s when I finally noticed the present wrapped in teal gift wrapper and tied neatly with a tan ribbon. I had immediately un-wrapped the gift and my eyes widened in surprise. The gift was a small black diary with a lock and key. My name had been written in cursive on the front. I unlocked the diary and a note fell out.
‘When I was your age mom bought me a journal to help me express myself. It helped me with a lot of my problems. To this day I still write in it. Use this diary to help you with your own problems while I’m not here. See you in Dreamland.
~ Madison xoxo’
Dreamland was a place that our mother told Madison and I about when we were younger. She would kiss us goodnight and whisper in our ears ever so softly ‘See you in Dreamland’. It was a place you went while you were asleep. I smiled and held the diary close to my heart as I whispered to myself, “See you in Dreamland Madison.”
