It is great to dream. I don't know if I'm the only one who thinks that,"Damn! I wish I never woke up! Then I wouldn't have to stop dreaming!" If you and I are alike,then you need to change that habit! Why you ask? Well first,dreams can make you forget reality. Dreams keep you wishing for what can never be. Dreams give you a false sense of belonging. Take this from me because I learnt it the hard way and I'm gonna tell you how.
I come from a small town. Small wouldn't be the perfect word though because its not small enough to allow everyone to know anyone. On the contrary,you only knew someone if maybe you share places of work,school and church for those who went. Not forgetting people from a common neighbourhood who knew way more than should be known by some random person living next door.
Unlike everyone else,I had the hardest time fitting in. In most if not all cases I felt misplaced. I either didn't know how to speak to people,or,I knew but couldn't because they just didn't find me interesting enough. To avoid feeling like shit because I made an attempt to make a friend,I decided to use my imagination and create something beautiful for myself. But it was all in my head. None of what I imagines happening to me would ever happen. Unless I made a wish to a shooting star. Which would be no good since its almost impossible to see shooting stars here. Which also meant that all my dreams were almost impossible to come true.
As silent and self reserved as I was,my teenage hormones didn't get absorbed in all that. Instead,they shot up and instantly allowed me to actually fall in love. In real life,I did a terrible job. In my dreams though,I was the ideal girl. The kind that you see on TV with their superstar boyfriends,doing what lovers do. I had it going so good for me in there that all I ever did was repeat one routine for all my nights so that when I slept,I'd dream of what I dreamt of the night before,continuing from where I left off.
Today,being a very cold Tuesday night,I'm seated at the roof of our house. It's freezing but I had to come outside and watch the neighbours,just as I always did. It's not too late as some of our neighbours are just arriving from work.
I could see Mrs Hopps through her open kitchen window,treating herself to a jar of peanut butter. Seems like her husband isn't around because if he were,I don't think he would be too impressed by this. Mrs Hopps has a nut allergy but refuses to give up nuts at all costs. She finds herself with either a satchel of nuts of a hidden jar of peanut butter. Later,she swallows a pill that contained her face and body from blowing up and went on with her duties. Weird,I know! But wait till you hear about the Lincoln family! Big family of seven,which should be eight but one of the kids eloped with a foreign lover,where the children work to feed the family,contrary to what happens in other families,as parents sit at home,play games,wat and sleep.
I take my eyes to the biggest house belonging to the richest family in our estate;The Richards. Small family consisting of a father,Mr Paul Richard, a grandmother,Nana Julia, a son, Nico Richards and a daughter, Nina Richards. The mother is unknown to most of us in the neighbourhood but from what went round,she is presumed to have moved to a different country for work. If I were asked though I'd say she probably died because I've seen Mr Richards cry while holding a wedding photo of theirs more than once. Why would he cry if his wife was a ticket or two away? But who am I to say anything?!
My attention is further captured by the newest member of the family who I am just seeing now. His face is new. Never had u ever seen him around this area. He seems older,kinda like my age or perhaps a year or two older than me. He seemed,different. In a good way. In a way so good he had me falling off the roof when his eyes met mine. He caught me staring but before he had time to squint his eyes and get a good look at little Miss Stalker,I was down.
"Lucky save!"I said as I landed on the trampoline. Had it not been there,I'd probably be missing a tooth or two. I ran into our house as fast as I could and went straight into my room. Pretty sure I heard my mother talking to me but I didn't stay long enough to listen to her.
I lay in bed,face sunk in my pillow. I was beyond embarrassed. Nobody,aside from maybe my little brother,knew my business upnthe roof. But now,I had been compromised! There was no way u was going back up there! Maybe this was my sign to start minding my own business.
I took my head out of the pillow and decided to brush away the thought. "I'm probably just over thinking! Besides,so what if he saw me?! That means that he too wasn't minding his own business. So that makes us equal!"I thought. Having convinced myself enough,I got out of bed and went back to the living room.
"Is everything okay honey?"my mother asked as soon as I took my sit in my usual spot.
"Yeah mom,everything's great!"I assured.
"The way you ran in chose to say otherwise,"my father added.
"I was running from the cold,"I lied.
"Was it chasing you? Because you'd been outside for way too long only for you to storm in like someone's chasing after you,"my father continued.
"Observant much?!"I mumbled,soft enough for it to be heard by just me.
"Speak up,child. I couldn't hear you!"my father said,drawing his attention from the game he was watching to me.
"I said,I saw no point in having to put up with the cold yet my bed was warm inside waiting for me,"I said,hoping that this would keep him from going on with this conversation any longer.
He was about to add something when mum jumped in with a save,"Hey Jimmy,did you call the pizza delivery guy or are we gonna have to sleep hungry on pizza night?"
Jimmy was dad. And he hadn't called the pizza guy.
He reached out for his phone and dialed the number. When he was done with the call he said,"Christmas came early family! Our pizza is on its way!" He stretched his arms out waiting for us to give him high fives because he had 'saved the day.' My mom and I ignored him and laughed at how silly he way. My small brother though,he jumped as Hugh as he could and gave his old man a high five.
Cute,I know.
Those two were always like that. My dad was Aiden's superhero and Aiden was my dad's little side kick. When Aiden was born,my dad found himself a best friend. And once Aiden learnt how to speak, 'Dada' was his first word.
I admired them. My mom and I had nothing compared to that. We had the usual mother daughter bond but not the kind that we can trust each other with secrets and stuff. Mom's always busy with work. And if she's not working,she's probably visiting a friend or planning some neighbourhood event. We didn't spent a lot of time together. Me with school and her with work left no time for bonding. What we had was enough though,I couldn't even complain.id rather have her out of my business rather than have her watching my every move,counting my steps and worst of all,smothering me!
A few minutes later,we had our doorbell ring.
"Pizza's here!"Aiden spoke excitedly.
"Race you to the door,"I challenged him.
We ran towards the door,him ahead of me of course. I love seeing him happy,and winning makes him just that. So I let him win every time.
"He opened the door,received the box of pizza and ran back to the living room. I gave the pizza guy money then went back to join my family.