The Story Begins (3 page)

Cupped within the hands of the child lay a dark orb; peering into it, he sifted through what seemed like near countless, beautifully crafted, bright and colorful celestial formations; though he knew not when or where he had seen it before, the particular formation he now focused upon looked familiar. It was the Milky Way.

“Peer deeper within,” said the diaphanous child with him.

He did and recognized a world within it. “Where are we?” asked the little boy.

“Close to home,” answered the little girl. “Not the one that lies within thy grasp, but rather the one from which you descended.

Jaden didn’t know why but somehow what he was just told made perfect sense to him, and just as he was about to ask her another question, he heard a familiar voice.

“Good morning, sweetheart. It’s time to wake up, sweetie,” called his mother.

“That’s my mommy!” he said as the globes all around them began to vanish.

“Time to get you ready for school, dear,” his mother said as she walked over to the window and drew back the curtains.

“I’m awake, Mommy!” he said, flying towards her voice.

“Poor sweetie, you must be really tired… just one more day and you can sleep in tomorrow, okay,” he heard her say.

He wondered why she spoke as though he were still in bed.

“That’s because your mommy sees you in your bed,” his new friend explained to the confounded child. Before he had a chance to ask what she meant or how she knew what he was thinking, he found himself back in his bed just as his mom started to gently pull the covers off him. Startling his mom as he did so, he jumped out of bed, looking wildly around him as though disoriented.

“Honey, is everything all right?” she asked, alarmed by his behavior.

He was oblivious. He looked all about his room, obviously searching for something. “Where is she, Mommy?”

“Where’s who, sweetie?”

“The girl I was just flying around with.”

“There’s no one here, honey. It was just a dream, sweetie,” she assured him then kissed him. And by the looks of it, quite a vivid one, she thought, noticing that he still seemed not to be sure of what was around him.

AT
the breakfast table Jaden was quite absent-minded. He loved scrambled eggs but when his mother set his plate before him, he seemed to be far away in some daydream.

“Honey, are you still thinking about your dream?” she asked.

“Yeah. That was the best dream that I’ve ever had. It felt so real.”

“I’ll say!” said his dad. “You can never get enough of your mom’s scrambled eggs but this morning you haven’t even touched them…” He paused. “Is it okay if I eat your plate, little dude?” he asked, his face betraying that he was praying to every divine being that Jaden would say yes.

“No, no, no,” his mom chided her husband. “If you had picked up some eggs like I asked you to yesterday, you could have had additional helpings. Sweetie, eat your food. That’s how you’ll grow to be big and strong, okay, honey.”

“Okay, Mommy.”

His father was near devastated. He loved her scrambled eggs as well. He could have had them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, even for in-between meal snacking.

“So, are you going to tell us about your totally cool dream, little dude?” his father asked, still very much eyeing his son’s plate.

Jaden recounted the tale between mouthfuls. Each time he gobbled up some more eggs, his dad’s heart sank lower. When it was obvious that the child was actually quite famished and would not be leaving any scraps, his stomach cried out in the form of a pained groan.

“I’m sure you dreamt you were with a schoolmate, or perhaps someone at the playground,” his mom said after he had finished telling of his adventure.

“No, she isn’t. I’ve never seen her before… but she’s really cool.”

“Yeah, that was an awesome dream. I wish I could fly around too,” his dad said.

“That was a really nice dream, sweetie, but remember, it was just a dream, okay. Some dreams do feel very real; however, as vivid as they may feel, or seem, they are still just dreams. While asleep under the comfort of your covers, your imagination wanders off to a land of fantasy where all kinds of magical things are possible, things just like what happened in your dream. And you know what’s nice about dreaming?” his mom asked.

“What, Mommy?” he inquired.

“The land of fantasy is always there to return to as often as you’d like,” she said.

“All right, little dude, it’s about that time,” his dad said as he got up. “We don’t want to miss the school bus.”

Though the little girl was with him no more and he neither flew nor glowed, he still very much believed that the whole experience was as real as anything else was when he was awake.

“YOU know, kiddo,” his father said as they sauntered to the bus stop, “sometimes what appears real is actually the dream and that which you believe to be a dream the reality. Special people have special dreams, and you’re the most special person ever,” his father said lovingly.

“Am I really special, Daddy?” he asked excitedly.

“If only you knew just how special!” exclaimed his father.

“Does that mean that my friend is real too?”

“I don’t know but she could be.”

“It would be sooo cool if she is.”

“Yes, that would be very nice,” agreed his father.

Jaden certainly did hope that she was as real as he, and that he would meet her again soon.

SLOUCHING
in his seat while the bus drove its route, Jaden was very much absorbed by his adventure. It had felt so real. He was altogether unmindful of the other children.

“Heeeeeeellooooooo!” said a familiar voice.

Jaden straightened up. There could be no mistaking it; he was utterly certain of what he had just heard, and he was very much awake; he lay not in his bed but rather was seated in a school bus on his way to school. Attending school of his own accord was one venture he was certain he’d never have dreamt of so this couldn’t be anything other than real. Nonetheless, to be absolutely sure, he pinched and pulled on his cheek for affirmation. Inadvertently he had pinched himself a little too harshly and found himself struggling to stifle a scream.

“Heeeeeeellooooooo!” she said again.

Where was she, he wondered. Looking about but not seeing her from where he sat, he stood up, hoping that he’d see her then. No luck. As he sat down, bewildered, he noticed through his peripheral vision that the inner seat beside him, which had been formerly vacant, was now occupied.

“Heeeeeeellooooooo!” said the child next to him.

“You’re back!” he exclaimed, hugging her. “My daddy was right. Some dreams are real.”

She smiled at him lovingly. “Oh, you silly boy, of course I am real.”

“I know because I think I might have a bruise on my cheek to prove it.” He touched his cheek. “Ouch!” He realized that he had hurt himself a little more than he had initially thought. The painful sensation was quickly forgotten though. It occurred to him that he hadn’t seen her get on the bus. His was always the very first stop the bus made so it stood to reason that she must have boarded the vehicle at a subsequent stop. But how could that have occurred without him having noticed her get on? His being the first stop, he did not believe that he had missed any of the other children boarding the bus. Even had she gotten on without him having noticed it, how did she get into the inner seat without him noticing
that
?

“When did you get on the bus?” he asked, perplexity written all over his face.

“Just now,” she answered, still smiling.

“But Randy’s stop was the last one and the driver hasn’t stopped since,” he said. “How did you do that?”

She answered with a question of her own. “How did we fly?”

“I don’t know… but it was fun,” he said, thinking back to his overnight adventure.

“Me too, I dunno,” she said sweetly, almost singing the words.

“I’ve never seen you at school before.”

“I’m here to be with you,” she explained.

“Would you like to meet my friends?” he asked.

“No!” she said sharply then frowned and pouted. She was not pleased by the invitation.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, unsure of what to make of her reaction.

“You’re the only friend that I want. I do not want other friends. Why am I not your only friend?” she demanded. “That’s not nice of you,” she complained, all with the innocence that only a child can have.

The verbal onslaught caught Jaden off guard. “Don’t be mad,” he pleaded with her. Being the precocious child that he was, he decided to reason with her. “You know what?” he asked.

“What?” she asked grudgingly.

“Whenever we’re together, I’ll play only with you. Also, you won’t just be my friend but you’ll be my best friend in the whole wide world.”

“No! I’ll be your best friend ever in the entirety of existence!” she demanded.

Jaden could not even begin to fathom the extent of the world let alone the sum total of existence, and though it sounded impossibly grand, starting to see things differently, he gladly obliged. Now he thought that he, too, wouldn’t want to share such a special person with anyone else. He would keep her all to himself. “Okay,” he agreed to the demand.

At that she brightened up, literally becoming radiant.

He was too mesmerized and having too much fun to notice that everyone else was oblivious to the fact that this was not a typical school-bus ride.

THE
school now lay in sight. “We’re almost there,” Jaden said, looking down as he reached between his feet for his backpack. “School is so, so boring.”

She didn’t answer.

He looked up. She was gone. He turned back to ask the girl sitting behind him if she had seen where his friend had gone; however, whenever he tried to open his mouth, he couldn’t quite get his thoughts together. Every time he tried, he’d forget what exactly he wanted to ask. He’d, however, remember as soon as he turned back around to face forward but would again forget the instant he turned back yet again to ask.

“Are you okay, Jaden?” Kimberly asked, after he had turned to her at least a half dozen times without saying a word.

“Yeah, I just can’t remember what I want to ask you.” He looked away then remembered it again. A thought struck him; if his new friend could simply appear out of nowhere, it only made sense that she could just as easily vanish as well.

Even though she had sat beside him making as much noise as any other child and making fun out of nothing at all as children can, what was unbeknownst to Jaden was that only he could see her. Had anyone looked to where he had sat busy at play with his friend, all they would have seen was a child slouched in his seat, his dislike for school all too evident in his demeanor.

SCHOOL
was more of a bore than usual that day for Jaden. Even recess, a favorite time of the school day for many children, was barely bearable. He did play with his friends and do all the things he normally did but everything just seemed so meaningless without his new playmate. Though he had known her for only a short while, he was inexplicably attached to her. In her absence he felt as though a part of him were missing, almost as though he were missing a very close friend who had moved off to a very distant place.

While in class, rather than pay attention, he wondered where his new friend attended school. He decided that once he found out where that was, he’d go there as well. Certain that he had never seen her anywhere near home or in any of the playgrounds around his neighborhood, still he did believe that she couldn’t have lived far away. After all she was on the bus with him.

Unbeknownst to the child, however, his new best friend lived a bit farther than he could have imagined, a bit farther indeed.

“HI
Mommy, I’m home,” he called out as he placed his backpack on the kitchen table.

“Hi, sweetie,” said his mom, pulling off her gloves while walking in from the garden out back. “How was school, sweetheart?” she asked, leaning forward to kiss him.

“It was boring. Recess was no fun today,” he complained.

“Oh dear! I’m sorry, sweetie. Why don’t you tell Mommy all about it while I get lunch ready, okay?” As she rose, she noticed that his cheek was sore. “What happened here, dear?” she asked, touching it ever so lightly.

“I pinched myself!”

“Why would you do a thing like that?” she asked, mystified by his action.

“I saw my friend again today… on the bus, and I wanted to be sure that she was real.”

A curious thing happened then. His mom simply stood up and went about preparing his lunch as though she hadn’t heard him say anything, seemingly having forgotten about his bruised cheek.

“Mommy?” he called out, wondering why she’d just get up and carry on as though all was well and not tend to his injury.

“Yes, love,” she said affectionately.

“Aren’t you going to fix my booboo?” he asked, nursing his cheek.

“Oh my goodness!” she said, rushing back to him. “Does my little prince have a booboo? Where, sweetie? Show me!”

“But you were just looking at it… see, right here on my cheek,” he said, pointing to his right cheek.

“There’s nothing there, honey. It looks perfectly fine to me, dear,” she said.

That’s impossible, he thought. He felt his cheek again. To his sheer amazement, his mother was right. He felt absolutely nothing by way of a bruised cheek.

“Did you hurt yourself at school today?” she asked, very concerned about her little boy.

“It was nothing, really. I’ll be right back.” He ran upstairs to the bathroom to observe himself in the mirror. Once in, unwittingly, he shut the door behind him. To his complete astonishment, his cheek bore no signs of ever having been injured. As he stood there stupefied, out of nowhere came the greeting.

“Heeeeeeellooooooo!”

“You’re back!” he shouted cheerfully.

“Honey, is everything all right?” his mom called out.

He opened the door, told his mom that all was well, closed the door again and then turned his attention back to his friend.

“I missed you!” he said. This made her brighten the bathroom, forcing him to cover his eyes.