Dare To Daydream

    “Shhh. We have to be quiet.” I whispered, my voice shaking as I spoke. I looked at my team, panicking and waiting for me to come up with a plan. The growls and footsteps of the beast echoed through the dark forest. I racked my brain about what to do, desperately trying to come up with a plan to get us out of this. But all I could think was how did I get into this mess? Of course, I knew how.  

    My father was the hero of our kingdom. As the head knight of the king’s guard, he saved many lives and defeated many foes. Unfortunately on his last mission he never returned. Everyone believed he had been killed by the very best that I was about to face. When our prince was taken by the beast I knew it was up to me to rescue him. But now, alongside my best friend Peter and the small team I built on my journey it looked like I was about the meet the same fate. But I was not ready to die. Not without a fight. I took one last look at my friends in case I did not return. 

“Cassie no!” Peter shrieked trying to pull me back. But I slipped from his grasp, and with my father’s sword in hand, I stood and prepared to face the beast. 

“Cassie” Peter’s voice echoed, “Cassie”.

“Cassie!” my teacher’s voice shook me from my daydream. 

I was confused for a second. But as soon as I saw Miss. Foster standing over me, I realized what had happened. The dark enchanted woods had turned back into room 213 at Willow High. I looked around the room. It was completely empty. This was strange considering the last I remembered, it was filled with my classmates all finishing their test. 

“Umm…when did class end?” I asked awkwardly. 

“About five minutes ago”.

“Sorry Miss Foster,” I said, grabbing my bag to leave the room.

“Well, at least you finished your test first. You don’t do that while I’m teaching, do you?” 

I chuckled. “Nope, your class is way too interesting.”

Miss Foster smiled and waved me out the door. I know what you are thinking. I just lied to cover up that I daydream in class. But I really don’t. I definitely have a tendency to get lost in my imagination but I am a good student. I pay attention when I have to. And I do find Miss Foster’s class interesting. History is not my favorite subject but learning about different time periods usually fuels my stories. Although, I usually default back to that dark forest. It is my favorite one so I typically lose myself in it. Of course, the dark forest is not the only setting in this story. Most occur in the kingdom of Sura. It’s a small kingdom with a large castle in the center and a small town surrounding it. The dark forest is on the edge and a range of mountains is on the other. Beyond these mountains is the kingdom of Tharsis which is ruled by a dark witch named Lyra Wood. The evil sister of Queen Brina of Sura. Alongside her rules king Halvar and their son prince Alec. Yup, very easy for me to get distracted when thinking about princess Alec. He has light brown hair and glowing blue eyes. He's a typical perfect prince. I couldn’t help but smile thinking about Him. 

    Anyway, back to reality. I rushed down the hallway to my last class of the day, which I was already late for. And this was the worst class to be late for. English with Mr Robbinson. I rushed as fast as I could and quickly pulled open the door. Everyone looked at me as I entered. Including Mr Robbinson. 

“Sorry everyone” I said awkwardly as I tried to get to my seat quickly. 

“Welcome Cassie. Since you’re standing, why don’t you give your report next?”

I stopped in my tracks. Awkwardly turning I headed back up to the front. I put my bag on the floor and pulled out my book report on Great Expectations. I’ll spare you my five minute presentation but let's just say when I finished I felt really good about it. That was until I looked at Mr Robbinson’s face. He looked disappointed. 

“Thank you Cassie. You can take your seat.”

    I sat down completely disappointed and confused. I decided I had to talk to him. I needed to know what was wrong with my report. I worked really hard on it. After everyone finished their reports and the bell rang I made a b line for his desk. 

    “Can I help you Cassie?”

    “Yes. I was wondering what you thought of my report?”

Mr Robbinson took off his glasses and looked up at me. “You had a lot of details from the book and made some excellent observations. 

    I knew I was gonna regret asking this, “But?”

    “But I would have liked to see a little more of you in your report.”

    “What do you mean?”

    He stood and walked around to the front of the desk. “Cassie, you are a wonderful reader. But your writing is a little bland.”

    “But it was a book report. How interesting could it be?”

    He chuckled. “Well that’s true. But it's not just your reports. Your poems, short stories, almost all of your assignments are missing that extra little piece of creativity.”

    I found this surprising. I was also careful to follow all the prompts and instructions. What was I doing wrong?

    “So what should I do?”

    He smiled. “Cassie, Miss Foster was telling me you have a tendency to daydream when you get free time in class?”

    I nodded, “But I always pay attention.”

    “Oh I know. Tell me what do you daydream about.”

    I paused for a second. I have never told anyone what I liked to daydream about before. I decided to give him at least the bare minimum. 

    “You know the usual. Kings and Queens. Knights and witches stuff like that.”

    Mr Robbinson straighten up, “That’s what you need to right about.”

    Again I was confused. I love my daydreams but would they really be interesting to other people?

    “Cassie, I'd like you to do something for me.”

    “Ok? I said.

    Mr Robbinson walked back behind his desk and pulled out a flyer from the top draw. 

    “There is a writing contest coming up. Submissions are due by the end of the month. I’d like you to enter a short story based on your day dreams.”

    Ok now I was sure he was kidding. I laughed but the serious look on his face stopped me quickly. I looked at the flyer. The prize was a $1000 scholarship. That definitely made this more appealing. But still, sharing my daydreams? I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. 

    “I’m…uh… not sure I’d be any good at that.”

    “I’ll tell you what. Try, show it to me, and I’ll tell you if it's any good.” He must have seen the concern on my face because he added, “You don’t have to. But I think it would be good for you.”

    I spent the rest of the ride home thinking about the contest. I have never shared my day dreams with anyone. They were special and who knows if anyone else will like them. I was still lost in my thoughts as I walked in my house. My mom tapping my shoulder shook me out of my head.

    “Daydreaming again?” She asked.

    “No, just thinking.”

    “About what?” She asked, looking concerned. 

    There’s this writing contest at school. My English teacher want me to enter a story about my day dreams.”

    She smiled, “I think that’s a fun idea.”

    I frowned, still unsure. My mom noticed

    “What’s wrong?”

    “I don’t know. It’s just my day dreams have always just been for me. I’ve never shared them.”

    “Honey”, she said, placing her hands on my shoulders, “just because you share them doesn’t mean they won’t be special. In fact they might feel even more special.”

    I hadn’t thought of that. “But how would I start?”

    She laughed, “Daydream.”

    I smiled and headed to my room. I pulled out my laptop and opened a blank document. I closed my eyes and headed back to Sura. But this time I started at the beginning. 

    As the head knight of the king of Sura’s guard, my father has saved many lives and defeated many foes. Unfortunately on his last mission he never returned. Everyone believed he had been killed by the very best that I was about to face. The same beast that had been tormenting our village ever since his disappearance. Many knights had been lost trying to defeat the beast. With few soldiers left, the beast managed to breach the castle and take the prince. With my father gone I knew it was time for me to do something…