Dare to Dream

Chapter 1

I woke up to the loud sound of birds chirping near my window, the way I wake up almost everyday. I guess I shouldn't complain, without the birds serving as my alarm clock I would most certainly be late to school everyday. The thought of school made me want to lay in my bed and never leave its embrace. "Elise, get up! You'll be late for school!", my mother yelled from downstairs. I stood up with a grunt and started getting ready for school. It was fall, so I decided to wear my black jeans, converse, my favorite maroon blouse, and topped it all of with a black scarf. I left my hair in its natural long waves and stopped at my mirror. I looked at my reflection and immediately looked at my eyes, the feature I loved the most about myself. They weren't completely grey, they had a tiny bit of brown in them and my mascara made them appear a bit more darker and harsher then what they really were. "Elise! Get down here and eat your breakfast before your field trip!". I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bag from my desk chair and headed my way downstairs.

    "Honey, hurry and eat your breakfast so your father can drive you to school," my mother said as I walked towards the kitchen counter. I wasn't really hungry so I simply grabbed the toast off my plate and spread Nutella over it. "Are you excited?" my mother exclaimed, "you'll be seeing artifacts from the past and I even heard they'll be doing dream simulations on you guys." Of course I had heard about the simulations, it was all my classmates seemed to be talking about and I was simply tired of it all. You see, my parents are very important scientist that work for the U.S. government and for the last three years they have been assigned to create a dreaming serum that will allow humans to dream again. No one is really sure how we all stopped dreaming, not even my parents, but some people like to think we evolved so much over the past decades that the ability to dream just, vanished. I, however don't understand why so many people want to dream again. My parents have tried to explain it to me but I still believe that if we evolved so much and have succeeded in things the people of the past never could, why would we want something we grew out of? Not to mention that having uncontrollable images in your sleep that could sometimes wake you up in a cold sweat seems bizarre and just weird to me and although many people would argue with me, I knew there were some that agreed. "You ready to go kiddo", my dad asked me just as I was taking the last bite out of my toast. "Yup", I said a little too happy. I kissed my mom goodbye and saw her head to the basement where my parents work on their serums. My dad opened the door for me and the cool Chicago wind brushed my face the second he opened it. I got into the passenger seat of our black Volvo and buckled my seatbelt while my father did the same. "So you're visiting the Museum of a Science and History? I hope you really give the dream simulation a try, maybe it'll change the way you think and you'll see how amazing dreaming really is.", my father requested, although it sounded more like a demand. "Yeah, maybe I will.", was all I could think to say.
       We spent the rest of the car ride in silence after that. My parents were well aware of my thoughts about dreaming
but I always tried to say whatever I could to make it sound like I cared or would reconsider my beliefs. After all, my parents were the people trying to bring dreaming back but no one but me knew that, and the government of course; and for that reason, I was essentially a loner. I didn't really have friends. I mean, I talked to people and they talked to me but all everyone ever talks about is dreaming so I just stick to reading books. My father pulled up next to the curb in front of my high school, I grabbed my backpack from the seat behind him and started opening the door to get out. "Bye Da-", I was cut off by my father before I could finish my sentence. "Just give it a try Elise, you won't be disappointed", he said. "Okay Dad." I was about to shut the door before he said, "Promise me." I was a little caught of guard, my parents never tried to force me to try anything I didn't want to. Without giving much thought about it anymore I said, "I promise." Those two words put a smile on my fathers face I hadn't seen in a long time. Little did I know those two words would change my life forever.