***
Cassie went to her room to wrap the gifts she bought and was very pleased with herself. She finally put on the last bow and decided to lie down on her bed for a few minutes. It wasn’t long before she was sound asleep, drifting onto a cloud, and began to hear someone calling.
“Edith? Edith, dear, it’s time to get up! You don’t want to sleep the whole day away . . . do you?
Cassie frowned in her sleep and murmured, “Whose Edith?” Then she shook her head. “I don’t want to get up.” She opened her eyes for a moment, rolled over, and fell back into her dream; finding herself hovering over a teenage girl’s bed.
“I’m up, Mother, gees! You’ve just ruined a perfectly good dream, for heaven’s sake.”
Edith ‘Cookie’ Morgan sat up in bed and yawned.
“Another morning and another boring day in Parkerville,” she said, as she slipped out of bed. She stumbled toward the full-length mirror, as she made her way to the bathroom.
Cassie floated after her.
“Oh, Edith, what a beauty you are! Lifeless hair, freckles covering nearly your whole body, and still no bosoms. I blame you, Mother!” She shouted the last part over her shoulder.
Suddenly, Cookie was gone, but Cassie could still hear talking in the distance and followed the sound. She saw Cookie speaking to an older woman.
“Did you sleep well, darling?” The older woman asked, being a little facetious.
“Mother, you know there’s nothing to do until after 11 o’clock. Why shouldn’t I lounge awhile in bed on my day off?”
“Makes no difference to me, dear; I just thought we could chat awhile.
Cookie glanced at the clock and flopped down on one of the side chairs. “Well, I’m all yours for the next half hour.”
“Oh, lucky me,” her mother replied, as she pulled out a golden bracelet from her pocket. “I suspect this is yours.”
Cookie glanced at the bracelet and immediately looked out the window.
“Do you have any idea where I found this?”
“Haven’t the foggiest, Mother. Was it in the dust bin?”
“Edith, we will not have this conversation again. You will wear the bracelet or you will stay in the house. It’s your choice. Have I made myself clear enough for you?”
Cookie rolled her eyes and took the loathsome piece of jewelry from her mother. “I’ll wear it, I promise, but it won’t stay on most of the time. It may need a bit of glue.”
Cassie sighed and rolled over again, slipping deeper into her dream. She was now hovering over the gazebo, in the town park, watching as Cookie and some other teenage girls gathered around a table, trying to have some sort of meeting.
“Girls, would you please all sit still and stop chattering. We need to discuss that ridiculous notice on the school bulletin board. I’m sure you’ve all seen it and we need a plan to do something about it!”
“Oh, Marion, you’re always so serious. There’s not much any of us can do about it now. It’s a done thing,” one of the girls pointed out.
“Au, contraire, Mon petite, we can do anything we set our minds to do.”
Cassie floated down closer, as she suddenly recognized her mother.
“Helene, your French is getting a bit tiresome. It’s so, bourgeoisie. Besides, the senior class can’t block us from the dance. They can’t leave us out! We should just crash their silly old dance. That’s it! Wouldn’t that be swell?” Cookie yelled triumphantly.
Marion got up from her seat and walked behind Cookie. She put both hands on her shoulders and said softly, “No, we certainly will not crash the dance. I don’t go anywhere I’m not invited.”
“Says you,” Cookie laughed defiantly.
“Oh, for pity sake, Cookie just let Marion talk.”
Now Cassie floated toward the other teen, who just spoke up, and recognized Todd’s mother, Margie, who was getting a little annoyed.
Marion continued, “We simply need to take our grievance to our principle and demand that everyone is welcome at the Winter Dance. It’s a crime . . . and they shouldn’t get away with it!”
“Fine, but for now, wouldn’t it be more fun to go dancing in the field? I want to feel free!” Cookie got up and began dancing in circles around the gazebo.
“Cookie, would you please come down to earth? This is important. We need to word our letter in a professional manner. We are intelligent juniors, with a perfectly legitimate grievance against the seniors.” With that Marion calmly sat back down and opened her notebook.
“Okay, let’s just get it done,” Cookie said, begrudgingly taking her place.
Cassie floated down to see what Marion was writing, when Cookie stood up and let out a scream, sending Cassie to fly up to the roof of the gazebo.
Cookie ran out of the meeting, whirling around in the field. The girls all got up and yelled for her to come back, but then they laughed and followed suit.
Marion sighed and finally gave in, as they all danced and whirled about under the crisp autumn sun. They all soon collapsed on the ground, laughing and clutching their stomachs, gasping for breath.
“Now, this is the place for a meeting . . . don’t ya think?” Cookie said with a smile, as she turned over on her stomach, searching through the grass for 4-leaf clovers.
Suddenly, a strong wind came up and they heard the alarm. They looked at each other in a panic and noticed some farm boys running toward them from across the field.
“Run for the gazebo,” one girl yelled, as the others ran for safety.
The girls were laughing and catching their breath as they found safety under the gazebo, but someone was missing.
“Where’s Cookie?” Margie asked, turning around.
The girls stood silent and breathless. The moment was too much for one of the girls, as she fainted dead away.
Helene became hysterical and started to cry.
“Its okay, Helene . . . hush,” Marion whispered, as her own tears streaked down her face. “There’s nothing anyone can do.”
All of a sudden, the dream was shattered and Cassie woke up not understanding what just happened.
“What was that?” she said out loud, as she sat up in bed.
***