• She lay on her bed, thinking about everything as she always did. Next door, she heard her father and mother shouting at each other in a drunken rage. She blocked it out, she always managed to. But even though she could keep herself from hearing it, she couldn't keep herself from feeling it. A tear slid down her cheek, and she sobbed. She did so quietly though, so as not to have her parents hear. She always hated this. The fighting, her parents, the world in general. And the fact that her little sister, who she heard crying from the opposite wall, had to grow up in it. God knew the small child didn't deserve it, even if there was something her older sister had done to deserve it. This wasn't the only troubles she wept for. All her friends were disappearing in the night. Every night brought on another one missing. Though, she wasn't just crying for the fact that they were gone, but at the fact that they left her behind. She knew that wherever they had gone off to was much better than where she was now. Pretty soon, she would be the only one left in her custom made hell. She closed her eyes as she laid there, letting the tears well and fall from them. She began to think of another place; Her happy place, if you will. It was a happier place, a peaceful place. This is what she did before she slept, because when she did, she would dream of this place. Then, in a way, she could live there, until the sun brought its rude awakenings. She breathed slowly, and fell into the rhythm of sleep........
    .....She opened her eyes again. She was on a beach, with the purest white sand, and the water the most deepest of blues. The night sky overhead was a dark indigo, with millions of twinkling stars above. The moon, light up the sky and everything on the beach in a soft silver glow. She sat up, knowing her dream world. She took off her shoes and stepped into the water. It felt so real. A tear fell from her eyes. But...she never cried in her dreams. And this, it was too real. She bent down, feeling the water, the sand. Too real. But this was only one of her dreams, one of the new dream places. She dreamt a new place every time. She had never dreamed of a beach before though. She walked farther into the water, ignoring her wet nightgown, for it was just a dream, after all. She went to step farther into the water, and stepped on the broken fragment of a pink tinged seashell. Pain shot up through her bare foot, and a small drop of blood stained the perfect blue water. Wait, she had felt pain. She never felt pain in her dreams. She fell back, landing in the water with a splash. She looked about her, sitting in the water, at everything, the sparkling night sky, the calm waves of the water and the pristine sands that seemed to stretch forever, to the large green hills that rolled beyond the sand. This was more magnificent than any dream she had ever had. Because it wasn't her dream. She stood again, shaking. But it wasn't from the cold, or fear. It was wonder. She stumbled backwards until she felt the soft, dry sand beneath her toes. She fell to her knees. And began to cry, harder than she thought she ever had before. But she wasn't crying out of sadness, or fright, but happiness. A happiness that she had never felt before. She smiled and laughed, though the tears still gushed from her eyes. The happiness was warm, and seemed to fill her whole body, making everything even more beautiful, if it ever were possible, than it had before. Her heart felt as if it were breaking from the joy, and at the same time, it felt as if it were healed of all wounds. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a dream. As she repeated it, she cried harder, laughed harder. One would have almost thought she had gone insane. This, this iis what she had always wanted. And it was so beautiful. It was far, far away from where anyone, even her parent could get her. She could have drifted away forever, laid down in the sand and never gotten up again. For she was happier than she had ever been before, and was sure that if she died right there, it would be best, so storm clouds couldn't take her happiness from her. She laid back and curled up in the soft sand, being lulled to sleep by the calm noises of the waves, and the glowing light of the moon. If this truly were just a dream, she never wanted to wake up. And if it were real, then if there was any form of a god, or any goodness anywhere, she begged it to let her stay.