The clock downstair had just struck midnight, when it happened. The stone resting on Jon's dresser began to glow a brilliant white, when suddenly it flashed a bright yellow four times...
--
39 year old, Linda Madison, was sleeping peacefully in her bed, her long brown and grey streaked hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. She was dreaming of the time she and her ex-husband had taken the kids to the park, 12 year old Jon was throwing the football with his dad, 9 year old Zoe - not a Goth yet - was helping her mother with the picnic blanket, and 5 year old Mikey was playing with his plastic soldiers he had brought. They had had such a good time that day and it was nice to remember the good times, even if they were in dreams.
She and Zoe had just called the boys over to eat lunch and, after a while, the boys went back to what they were doing and Zoe pulled her coloring book and crayons out. Linda was reaching for the magazine that she was reading...
FLASH
... Linda shook her head, wondering what that flash was, but then shrugged it off with a giggle and went back to the book she was reading. She had just turned the page to begin the third chapter...
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BE-
14 year old Linda Madison grumbled tiredly to herself as she smacked her hand down on the alarm's snooze button and was just about to get out of bed when she paused. "Its only 6:00,' she thought to herself, 'Why did I set my alarm so early?'
Linda shrugged and laid back down, trying to get back into the dream of when she was 10 and her family had a picnic, but for some reason she couldn't find it. after a while of tossing and turning, Linda finally feel back asleep and started dreaming of a boy she liked at school...
--
14 year old Zoe Madison thought she was having a nightmare. She was dreaming of herself when she was 9 and her parents were still together. They were having a picnic in the park that was just down the street from their house. Her older brother, Jon, was throwing the football to their dad and her younger brother, Mikey, was busy acting out a battle with his plastic soldiers and was just tossing an acorn toward the tan line, knocking over four of the plastic figures. And she... her younger self was coloring a picture of a princess and a unicorn in her coloring book. She hated princesses, she hated unicorns, she was a Goth, dang it! She wanted to scream when she felt her mouth pull into a silly-giggly-smile, she wanted to barf when she colored the princesses dress pink, she loathed pink. She wanted...
FLASH
... to play with her doll's yellow braids. Zoe giggled as she hugged the toy to her chest, she had just gotten it on her 4th birthday and she wanted to play with it all day. Little Zoe was pulling on one of the pink ribbons, when something fell on her hand. She looked down and when she saw the big black spider...
"Ahhh!" 7 year old Zoe screamed as she sat up in bed, panting. Her fear overwhelming her, Zoe scrambled out of her bed, grabbing her pink blanket as she did so, and left her room, searching for her usual source of comfort...
--
Mikey was having fun. He watched as four tan soldiers were knocked over by the acorn he'd just thrown, making an explosion sound with his mouth. He then hopped over to the tan side, tossed another acorn, and made an even bigger sound when the acorn hit a a barricade of twigs, knocking over the five green soldiers behind it. The tan army was in the lead. Mikey then reached for the tan tank beside him and, with a rumbling sound, moved the tank into a position to defend the leader of the tan army. He hopped back over to the green side and just started to throw another acorn...
FLASH
... her tiny fist smacked into something soft, but she couldn't see what it was, everything was dark and warm. A sudden shift of her body made her kick out, she wasn't feeling so comfortable anymore. Then, there was a sliver of light and a bit of cold air, she could feel something pushing her, moving her toward the light. Then her head popped out into a world that was too bright and loud, she scruched up her face and let out a wail...
Little 3 year old Michelle whimpered as she jolted awake from her dream. She could feel the tears burning in her eyes, when she felt an arm wrap around her her small body and was pulled against a chest. A pair of lips kissed her forehead and a low, but gentle voice spoke up in the dark.
"Shhh, its okay, Michelle," the soothing tone calmed her, "It was just a dream, go back to sleep. I'm here."
"P-pwomise?" Michelle asked.
"Promise."
Michelle snuggled up to the bigger body laying in the bed beside her and was just about to go back to sleep when the bedroom door creaked open. She felt the bed shift as the other person in the bed turned toward the door...
--
Jon didn't know why, but for some reason, he just couldn't sleep. He just couldn't stop thinking about the wish. After a while he finally got into a comfortable position and fell asleep.
Jon found himself dreaming of the time when his family went on a picnic. He was throwing the football with his dad, when his mom called everyone to lunch. After finishing his sandwich, chips and half a bottle of water, he picked up the ball and ran back to the field, with his dad laughing as he followed behind. Jon had just turned to face his dad, pulling his arm back to throw the football...
FLASH
... a whimper woke him up.
He lifted his head from the pillow and he looked down at the tiny body of his 3 year old sister, Michelle, through sleep filled eyes. He immediately comforted her, pulling her into a comforting embrace against his chest - which, for some reason, felt strange - and was just about to go back to sleep, when the bedroom door opened with a creak. He shifted his head toward the door and watched as a little girl shuffled her way into the room and crawled onto the other side of the bed. Another small body snuggled against his side.
"Zoe?" he asked, his voice sounding different, but he shrugged it off.
He felt a little head nod against his side, a small fist latched ahold of his shirt. He let out another tired sigh, ran a hand through his long hair, feeling his nails grazing against his scalp. He then wrapped his right arm around Zoe and his left around Michelle, pulling both of his younger sisters to his chest, again he felt the strange weight hanging on his chest, but shrugged it off and went back to sleep...
--
At 12:01AM the moonlight shined down through the window and landed on the three figures sleeping on the bed; the oldest figure looked at least 20 years old and the other two about 7 and 3. The two little girls snuggled deeper into the warmth of their eldest sister's embrace. It also shone down on the figure of a 14 year old girl as she fantasized about her High School crush. The glow then faded from the stone. The wish had been granted.
