*danelody*

Hey! Let me go ahead and tell you that I stink at introductions. I wish I could just skip all this chit chat and get to the important stuff, but… I can’t. Why? Well, that’s just that way it works. I couldn’t just start without you being completely informed. I mean, please! And, before I forget, let me just tell you that this is me draining myself onto the paper. It’s not going to be proper or whatever, it’s just me. Oh, and by the way, I hope you like sarcasm…just for future notice. Let’s see. First things first, my name is Melody Campbell. I’m fourteen years old and I live in New York City, New York. I’m supposed to live in an apartment with my mom, but I usually have to stay with my grandma because my mom likes going on trips a lot. For instance, she’s in Las Vegas now. Her latest boyfriend, Jared, just broke up with her, so she left. That’s pretty much what she does. But, she’ll be back soon- with a new boy. My mom is like thirty three years old. She was born in California like forever ago. When she was young, her father died of a heart attack and her family moved to New York to be with relatives. She married my dad, Matt, when she was eighteen and then I was born a little bit later. My mom works as a waitress at a restaurant around the corner. We live in a two bedroom apartment on the edge a busy street. It’s pretty cool to live in the middle of a never stopping city. I mean it has its ups and downs, but it’s not too bad at all. Anyway, back to the story. My parents got divorced when I was maybe five or six.

Their separation wasn’t very bad at all for me because my dad used to work all night and I never really saw him. The devastating part, however, was my separation from Dani. Dani was my dad’s daughter from another marriage. You see, my mom was way younger than my dad when she married him. He was like eleven years older than her. So, yeah, he’d already been there and done that. Well, when they got a divorce, my dad just left us with my mom. And the worst thing my mom ever did to me, happened that year. She put Dani, my half sister and best friend ever, up for foster care. Now she’s somewhere in Florida living with people she didn’t even know at the time. Dani stayed strong. She’s not the kind of person who really cries. She’s the cool, popular kind that is funny and sociable, even today she’s always looking at the bright side. Yep, she’s the same old Dani. Unless she’s being sarcastic, which she does a lot! So, I just told you that Dani was I Florida, but then I told you that she’s the same as she used to be. How would I know? I haven’t seen her, right? Ah, peoples now were getting somewhere. Okay, now you are going to have to do your part here. Listen and try to stay with me. Dani and I see each other practically every night. Yeah, she flies on a magical cloud from Florida and crawls into my room. Then, whenever she has to leave she closes her eyes and clicks her heels together. Isn’t that cool? I know what you’re thinking-

What the heck? This is so stupid! Why are you lying? Well, I’m not lying. I’m just being sarcastic. Ha! Gotcha! But, in a way, you could say that I was getting you prepared for the truth. Cause I’m telling you, it’s not any more realistic. Okay, here I go. At night, when we fall asleep, Dani and I enter a new world. Together. And that’s

I know, I know. The suspense is killing you. Or scaring you, one of those two things. I’m sorry if the chapter title gave too much away for a percent of you, but not for all. For those of you who are clueless, I guess I am going to have to explain. Again, keep up. Dani and I still see each other. Frequently, actually. All we have to do is fall asleep. You see, we live in a world together- a dream world. Literally. All we would have ever wished for exists in this place. It is like we really are sisters and we really do have normal, caring parents that don’t smoke or party everyday or are criminals. It’s perfect, most of the time. So, I really have a double life. And this story is about me, right? My settings will change often. Anytime I put the label RW, I am in the real world. Anytime I am dreaming, I’ll simply put DW. Get it? There is still A LOT to be explained, but I think now would be a good time to take a break. Things will make more sense later, I promise. I promise.

Chapter 4- Piggy Eaters I still couldn’t get over how perfect and simple *Danelody* was. *Danelody* was the name that Dani and I had given to the dream world the first time we had come here together. We we’re only seven years old. I remember it all; from finding new parents to having anything we wanted by thinking about it. Oh, and one of the most remarkable things was looking in the mirror. That day, Dani had gotten a huge scar on her forehead, from skateboarding. Yet, when she looked in the mirror, it was gone. Her hair was done in a pretty twist and her face was flawless. Mine was the same. We looked just the way we wanted to. Today, Jean, our dream mom, was making pancakes in the kitchen. (We call our dream parents by their real names, so that we aren’t confused with reality.) She was a master at cooking. She could make anything you could find in any cookbook from scratch, that’s how good she was. Of course, we were dreaming, so anything she wanted would magically appear. Still, her imagination gave her the ability to… think up…awesome food. Tony was reading the newspaper and sipping coffee like any normal father. He gave me a comforting smile and a wink when Dani and I walked in. “Good morning girls,” Tony said. “Hey, what’s the latest?” Dani asked, peeking over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the articles. He frowned and abruptly

shut it. “Geez,” She said while she took a seat at the table. Tony sighed. “Sorry, Dee. I just like to read in private.” Dani and I exchanged glances and started laughing to the point of purple-face-ness. “Reading in private? Tony, come on now. That’s not you,” I said, my face fading from lavender to a pale red color. Jean gave us a disapproving look as she placed the hot pancakes in front of us. “Sorry,” we said in harmony as we stuffed them into our mouths. Dani closed her eyes and thought a minute until syrup appeared on the table. I did the same thing and strawberries coated my plate. After a couple of minutes, we were staring at a table filled with delicious, junky pancake toppings. Tony and Jean stared at us with huge eyes. “I sure hope you girls don’t eat like that when you’re actually conscious, especially you Melody. I mean, come on, you’re eating like you’ve never seen food before!” Jean said with a smile. “I know, it’s great. I can eat all the food I want without my hips growing bigger than my head,” I said, laughing. “And it tastes so good! When I wake up, I am craving them so badly that I just want to go to sleep again!” Dani said, holding a can of spray whipped cream over her mouth. “Danielle, stop! That is not proper for a young lady to do!” Jean tried to make us “proper” and “elegant”, but it was no use. We were two teens that loved the extra freedom. Dani stopped in the middle of spraying the whipped cream into her mouth and swallowed before replying, “Sorry. It wouldn’t stop,” with a shrug and a frown. Jean sighed. “If you were my real kids…” she began and

then turned away to clean her dish. Of course, she could have just wished it clean, but she liked to do things the “old fashioned way”, as she called it. Just then a loud screech called my name. “Oh! Great!” I said right before I was woke up and all the details of the real world fell into place. Chapter 5- The Call “MELODY!” The sound came again. It was a man’s voice, someone familiar, but who? “MELODY! WHERE ARE YOU?” The voice came yet again. I pulled off my covers to discover that they were soaking wet. The fire sprinklers had been set off. I immediately hopped out of bed and ran. I ran into every room, checking for my mom and the man. When I got to the kitchen, I saw Jim folding my mom in her arms, was she okay? A fierce fire was spreading quickly behind them. “Melody, the exit is blocked. Do you have a fire hydrant?” Jim said in a stern, but panicked voice. “My mom, is she okay?” I asked, coughing in the smoke. “Just…do you or do you not?” Jim said, yelling. No, that was the answer. We didn’t have a first aid kit for the time that a vase fell of my feet. We didn’t have a safety bag for the tornado incident. We didn’t have a smoke alarm for the situation right now, which could have ended up saving our butts right now. So, no. No we didn’t. “Kid, do you?” Jim screamed. “No! I’ll just…um…call 911.” I said, leaping for the phone. “Hurry!” Jim said, shifting away from the fire, swat dripping off his face. Hello. 911. What’s your emergency?

RW

Um…a fire…a big one. My mom’s unconscious. Okay, is any one else hurt? Um, no. Not yet. Remain calm, honey. What is your address? 3640 Sillian Dr. - 3rd story with the window open And you are here in Atlanta, right? Correct. We are sending services now. STAY CALM. Thanks. Now, Jim was coughing frantically. He laid my mom on the ground away from the fire and broke down. He was coughing and sweating and just about gone. Luckily, the fire station was only about five blocks away. They should be here any second. But seconds go by slowly. Anything can happen in only a few seconds. I stared at the clock and I started feeling nauseous. One, Two, Three. And the rest of the world slowly drifted away. Peacefully. Death was so easy. Chapter 6- What? ? Everything was blank. All I could see was darkness. Distant voices, also. Shuffling, rattling- it was so close, but it seemed far away. Darkness in supposed to be the best place in the world. Why isn’t it, now? I could only make out little sentence fragments. “She’s still” and “HELP ME!” and “Oh my” and screaming. I felt a tug on my arm. “Dear! Are you alright?” An unfamiliar voice was taunting my brain. A cold liquid splashed me in the face. My eyes slowly

pried open. Blurry. Two adults were leaning over me with worried expression. The lady closed her eyes and thought real hard, I could tell. Then, a plush pillow propped my head up. The man started fiercely screaming. “Melody! Are you all right? What was happening that has caused you so much distress?” Melody? Who was Melody? Where am I? Why am I with these people? It made my head hurt. Come to think of it, so did the light. “I need rest,” I said. “Of course.” The lady carried me to my room and laid my down on my comfy bed. She walked out. I was going to go to sleep soon, but I had to listen a minute. What was happening to me? I listened to them carefully to try to get some info. “I don’t know. Babe, I swear. It makes no sense! I mean, come on, she’s sleeping in her dreams!” The woman said. “Well, where’s Dani? Maybe she can comfort her?” He asked, trying to comfort her at the same time. “She’s still awake and in reality.” She sounded stressed. . “Oh, right. It’s only the afternoon in her world! Shoot!” In whose world? Dani? The name sounded familiar, but…Ugh! Frustration filled my body. I wanted to scream and yell and kick a fit, but…I…was…so…tir… ed. Chapter 7- Therapy A sudden chill woke me up. I yawned and propped myself to a sitting position. Great! Where was I now? I stood up and looked around. Oh…my… gosh! I screamed, freaking out. Below me, was the world, looking as small as a penny. And me, I was on

?

a cloud; a nice, big cloud it was. I immediately sat down. It felt as it all the blood was rushing to my head and delaying my think system. Next thing I knew, I was in a movie theatre, staring at a screen filled with my face. It seemed to be shaking up and down. My head started spinning. Relax, a voice came. Was it my conscience? It sounded mellow and beautiful. Then a shadow formed behind me. My chair spun around to see a tall, handsome boy standing at my side. He held out his hand. “I’m Jay,” he said. “I’m sorry is this is causing you distress. I’ll stop the pain, do you trust me?” he asked. I nodded. How could I not? His smile was so inviting. Then both of our heads turned to the door. Footsteps? He looked at me and winked right before he snapped his fingers and my vision swirled away. The pain was gone, but the footsteps kept coming. I was in a new place- a white room with a TV and a bed only. The footsteps came to a halt and a door opened behind me. I shut my eyes. I didn’t want anymore interaction with people today. The person walked toward me and then a hand shook my shoulder. “Wake up, honey,” a masculine voice said. I hesitantly sat up. A doctor was standing in front of me with a clipboard in his hand. “Where am I?” I asked. “You’re in the hospital. You fainted during the fire and hurt your head,” he said while he took notes. “Fire? What fire?” I asked, confused.

His mouth opened into an O shape and he stared at me. “You don’t remember do you?” he asked, pacing frantically. “No,” I said truthfully. He placed his hand on my head and mumbled to himself, probably unaware that I could hear him. “I guess she can’t go home now. She must have developed amnesia.” Amnesia? What? “Do you have any pain?” he asked. “It did, but now it’s gone,” I replied, remembering the dream and Jay. “I’m going to take you down to Dr. Kim. I’m Dr. Robert, by the way.” He pushed my uneven bed down the hall and stopped outside of room 187. I read the tag. Therapy. Great! He opened the door and rolled me in. He mumbled something into someone’s ear and walked out. She propped my bed up and shook my hand. “I’m Dr. Kim, how are you?” She asked softly. “Good, I think.” I replied. “Wait a minute; I’ll be right with you.” She stepped out. I examined her room. She had pictures of her…family…I guess and certificates posted on the walls. The door creaked open and Dr. Kim took a seat at her desk again. “I’m going to show you some pictures. Tell me if you remember, okay?” She asked and then pulled something out of a yellow folder. I nodded. She held up the first picture and I zoomed in on it with my eyes. It was me...and…who else? Think, Melody. Jay’s voice told me. And I thought. I thought real hard. Memory flushed through my mind. It was me, at my sixth birthday party, to be precise. Dani was at my side smiling her all-star smile. Two more people, adults. Who?

THINK! THINK! THINK! I forced myself to remember. Oh, yeah. On my left was my dad, Matt Campbell, a year before his arrest. Tattoos ran down his muscled arm and he was frowning. Of course, he never smiled. His arm was around a lady and she was looking up at him and smiling. It was my mom. She was 22 at the time. She had a cigarette in her hand. A small light was burning at the bottom. Cigarette? Fire? The fire! It all came back! I had fainted in the middle. And that was all. “Melody?” Dr. Kim said impatiently, disturbing my thoughts. “Yes! I remember! I survived the fire!” I shouted gleefully. But, wait! My mom! Jim? “Where is my mother?” I asked. “Um…I’ll take you to see her.” Dr. Kim said, astonished at my remembering, I suppose. She reached over to push me in my bed, but I jumped up. “I’ll walk, if you please.” I said, following her out the door. Her expression was worried, but full of confidence. “I’ve done it again,” she said, her head shaking. Heh, she must be full of herself. RW Chapter 8- Frozen Yogurt “At the rate that you are remembering things, it seems as if you’ve faked the amnesia, dear,” Dr. Kim said disapprovingly. “Huh,” I said. I didn’t need to prove anything. We climbed up the concrete stairs to the eighth floor. By the time we were at the top, I was panting and exhausted. Dr. Kim’s walkie- talkie came on and mumbled some static gibberish. “Your mom’s room is down the hall, room 345, to your left,” she said as she walked away.

I walked carefully, step by step. I was afraid by how much damage had been done to her. After all, she was my mother. Plus, she had decided to keep me, unlike Dani. I read the labels; 343, 344,345. I slowly opened the door and walked in. “Mom?” I asked. Sure enough, my mother was in there. She was frowning at the nurse. I repeated my ‘momming’ and she coked her head my way. “What, Melody?” she asked impatiently. That’s my mother for ya! “Oh, I was just coming to check on you. Are you alright?” I asked, waling toward her. “God, I’m fine. Stop worrying so much!” She rolled her eyes. Then her attention went back to the nurse. “Listen, I need a smoke. If you don’t let me, I hope you will enjoy walking around headless!” My mother screamed. “Ma’am, can I get you something?” the poor nurse asked, trying to be kind. “A smoke!” my mom yelled again. “What about ice cream?” the nurse was smiling and trying not to loose her patience. My mom developed an envious smile. Oh, great! I knew what was coming next. “I like mine vanilla with chocolate swirls. Orange zest on top, with chocolate covered grapes, too. Plus, I expect an edible spoon. Am I understood?” my mother said. A layer of sweat was forming on the nurse’s face. “Oh, and one more thing. It has to be pistachio frozen yogurt. If something is wrong, I’ll have you reported. You do want to keep your job, right?” My mother was to the point of laughter watching the nurse fret about. I hated this. Luckily, I had written down all of her orders on a sheet of paper. I slipped it to her along with ten bucks. She

needed it. She passed me a grateful smile and left. Evidently, my mom had seen. “Geez, child! Can you have no fun!?” My mom rolled her eyes and frowned. “You should go see Jim, you owe him an apology.” Me? Owe Jim? I saved his life! “Where is he?” I asked. “Next door,” she said, sneaking a cigarette out of her pocket and lighting it. “Go,” she shooed me off. Go see him later, Jay’s voice calmed my stress, you need your rest. So, I followed his orders. I went down to the lobby and relaxed in a chair.

DW Chapter 9- Urgent “MELS!” Dani shouted with a relieved tone to her voice. “Oh, thank god! Darling, are you okay?” Jean said, running to my side and picking up my hand. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I confirmed. “There was so much commotion earlier! I mean you couldn’t even remember us or Dani. Plus, you were sleeping in your dream world,” Tony said as if he were recapping all of the events from this afternoon to Dani. A tear rolled down her cheek and she grasped me in a huge hug. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there, let me repay you,” Dani mumbled. I was about to tell her that she didn’t need to, that we could just forget it all, but her eyes were already squinted into the wishing mode. Moments passed and her forehead began to crease up. “Dani?” I asked. “OW!” She screeched, her eyes popping open and her face reddening. “I…can’t…”Dani gasped. “Oh my gosh! I can’t wish!” She was referring

to our ability to make things appear with our minds in *Danelody*. Jean and Tony exchanged glances. The next thing I knew, we were all trying to wish for things. Minutes passed and nothing popped up. “Oh my! Oh my!” Jean paced around frantically. “What’s going on lately?” Tony questioned. Yeah, right. As if we knew at all. Hopefully, it would be over, done with, soon. Make that very soon. “You two just go on and play. We have some work to do,” the adults exclaimed. That was fine with us. “So, what exactly happened?” Dani asked as soon as we were alone. “Okay, I was in a house fire. My mom was probably smoking and…yeah. No big deal,” I replied, staring at the floor. “Is everyone okay?” It was just like Dani to ask that. “Yes. Chill. Everything is OKAY!” I yelled. Dani’s cheeks reddened and her breath became fast. “Sorry. You know that I just like to get over things. Do you forgive me?” She nodded. “Thanks.”