I Wish...

3

"-lin', wake up," someone said. I opened my eyes. We had arrived at a two story house. The truck was parked in the garage and my door was open. My memories were a bit hazy from waking up. There was a man there where the open door was.

"Who-... oh," I said finally remembering what had happened. "Come on, lass," my dad said with his arms outstretched. I leant forward slightly and winced. His eyes widened in realization. He picked me up princess style and placed me in my wheelchair.

As he pushed me towards the house, I noticed it looked like we were in the middle of nowhere. The grass seemed so green here. The air was fresher, and it was easier to breathe.

A few seconds went by and we stopped to the porch steps. Poppa grabbed a plank of wood from beside the steps and placed it over them. "Hold on," he warned as he pushed me up the steep incline.

Once on the porch, I saw it was practically a garden, or a jungle, or a mystical forest. There were all sorts of flowers and plants. Some looked stranger than others, but all looked absolutely mystifying. One caught my attention though, it seemed droopy, sad even.

Before I could ask about it though, the door swung open and my momma ushered us in. "Are you still tired, hun'?" she asked me. "Yes, mommy," I replied while yawning. She glanced at my dad and said, "Won't you be a dear and carry our princess up the stairs and into her bed, Noel?"

"I thought I already was your dear, Jessica," he answered before giving her a quick kiss. "Oh, Noel," she replied with a teasing smile on her face while slapping his arm gently. I giggled slightly because if this was how it would be everyday, I already loved it. They continued talking to one another with smiles on their faces.

Although, I was still sleepy, and I was determined to get my sleep. How do I ask though? Would I be a nuisance? What if I ask them and they don't want me anymore? My eyes widened, I didn't want that to happen.

I tugged on my poppa's sleeve tentatively. He looked down with a questioning look on his face, "Yeah, darlin'?" "I'm really sleepy," I said nervously. He nodded and excused himself before taking me out of my wheelchair and carrying me up the stairs.

We went down a hall and he opened a door to a room larger than the ones at the orphanage. The left wall was white and the rest had sunflowers painted on them.

A queen-sized bed was squeezed in the right corner of the room facing the door with a chest at the foot of the bed. A nightstand was next to the bed and a rug covered some of the dark hardwood floor. There were two dressers with blue flowers painted on the sides in the bottom right corner.

There was one singular large window in front of us, it was close to the floor. It had pillows around the base of it and it looked like a second bed or a large chair.

My poppa set me down on the bed and pulled the covers over me, "Are you comfortable enough?" I nodded, my eyes closing without my consent. "Alright, goodnight," he said and kissed my forehead, his stubble scratching me slightly. I murmured something resembling a goodnight.

My dream was strange. It was many mixed colors and voices. The voices like echoes, the colors looked like I was seeing them for the first time. They swirled and unfurled. "...seems like... make it... whoa... where...". A male voice, he was panicked. "J... no... -re ok?...pl-ease..." a female voice. "RUBICEA!!!"

I jolt awake, which proves to be a bad idea due to the fact that my ribs were still healing. It was midnight. I sigh and look at the night sky through the windows. A star seems to run across the sky. A shooting star, a wish.

What is there to wish if I already have a family? I think for a second as thoughts raced past my grasp.

Hero.

A hero. I like that. I open my eyes again. The night sky is pretty, I would love to soar through it. To soar through the night sky as a hero. I sigh in content. I wish to be a hero that soars through the night sky and saves those that think all hope is lost.

I smile, close my eyes, and fall asleep again. There is no dream this time. There is only a nightmare, or a memory.

Maric is there again. He's hurting me. He's laughing at me. He's talking, but I can't hear him. He's there pushing me down and kicking me. I wake again, but it's still dark.

My breathing is ragged and I'm panicked. I call for my parents.