The sky was starry. Emma lay in her nightdress, in her bed by the window. She loved sleeping here. Today was special, because the moon was full.
And today was even more special because Miss Ellen had loved her drawing. It was a blue ferris wheel, looking over a colourful carnival. She had even stuck the biggest smiley sticker she had on Emma’s drawing.
Slowly, the light dimmed and Emma’s mind wandered.
The ferris wheel had blue cars. Emma was in one of them with a fat boy busy eating a lollipop. She didn’t know him, and when she said hi, he didn’t reply, so she shrugged and looked out.
The wheel was rotating now. There was a funny feeling in her body, like her stomach was bouncing up and down. She didn’t find it ticklish, but the rude fat boy next to her was already laughing.
Now they were on the top, and the wheel had stopped. Anxious, she looked out, but she somehow slipped. She was going to fall, and perhaps die!
She screamed, the air was too cold, and she had grabbed the side bar of her car. It was so cold, but no one had noticed. Just then, the rude fat boy stood up, and offered her his lollipop. It was mango, because it was yellow. So rude, Emma thought. She was going to die, but the rude fat boy just didn’t care!
Suddenly, the yellow lollipop was getting bigger and bigger…
Emma woke up. Her room was full of sunlight. The sun was shining bright. It had woken her up. “Papa,” she called out, but it came out like a croak. A croak, a noise by a frog, she had learned in school. Her throat felt scratchy, and she felt very hot.
Emma realised that she had been sweating. Her nightdress clung to her, and she was trying to breathe.
It was very uncomfortable.
Tears swelled up in her eyes, when her papa, wearing an apron dusted with flour, entered the room.
“Oh dear,” he hugged Emma. He patted her back, and hugged her tight. “Let’s get you out of this mess, and then you can tell me what happened, ‘kay sunshine?”
“I hate sunshine,” whispered Emma, because she knew she didn’t.
After Emma got cleaned up, they sat down for breakfast. It was her favourite, pancakes.
“So Emma, did you have a nightmare?”
“Papa, what is a nightmare?”
“Hmm. Did you see a bad dream?”
“What is a dream, papa?” Emma wondered. She had never seen a dream.
This was difficult to explain, but papa knew magic. So he brilliantly explained to Emma. “Did you visit another place, another world after you slept and before you woke up?”
Emma thought. She couldn’t remember much, but she knew that she was falling off a big ferris wheel.
“I was in a ferris wheel, papa” said Emma, but then added quickly. ‘But I didn’t really go anywhere.”
“So then you have seen a dream. What happened then, why did you shout?
“Well, I was falling off the wheel, it was so scary, and then this lollipop hit me in the face!” She said it a little loudly, to make her papa believe that it was indeed very scary.
“So it was a bad dream. That is a nightmare.”
“I hate dreems! I hate nightmears!” said Emma, eager to use the new word.
“You shouldn’t hate dreams, dear.”
The next night, the moon was slightly chipped. And today was special, because papa was going to read her a story.
When papa entered, Emma asked him, “Papa, did someone cut off the
moon? But then, it grows out again.” She added brightly, “Like a starfish.”
Papa chuckled. “No dear, it is just hidden. But of course, the moon is magical.”
“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a girl loved to dream. She would dream about visiting places, climbing mountains, singing with angels. She would dream about diving underwater, flying, digging holes with a big squirrel.
But when she woke up, she realised all she could do was go to school…”
Emma drifted to sleep, but papa didn’t realise.
Darkness.
Emma was on the ferris wheel again. The wind was warm, and her car was cosy. There was no rude fat
boy next to her, but instead, it was her best friend, Leah. She had some chocolates. “We can share!” She shouted over the wind.
And Emma was glad. The ferris wheel was so much fun! They would go up slowly, where her stomach
felt funny, and come down so quickly, that Emma shut her eyes.
Emma woke up. This time, she was
wrapped in a blanket. The sun was shining, and she wasn’t cold. She wore her slippers and ran to her papa, who was baking in the kitchen.
“Papa, I saw a dreem!
And it wasn’t a nightmear!”