Nightmare's Moral

 

            It was the summer of 2006 when Serena moved from Brigantine to New York City with her mother, Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Brown had gotten a new job. They moved into a neighborhood within walking distance of Central Park. After living in the area for about a month, Serena made a few friends. There was one person in particular who she considered to be her best friend. Her name was Ebony. She lived across the street from Serena. Serena was very social with her peers. She was also independent when it came to going places alone. Her mother often warned her about the dangers of being out alone at night because of where they lived. Serena was always the type of person who had a tendency of scoffing at warnings.

            There was supposed to be a party at Central Park on the Fourth of July. She was at Ebony’s house. “Serena, you wanna go to that party at Central Park?” Ebony asked.

            “Yeah,” replied Serena. “When is it?”

            “Next Friday at 8:00. And guess who’s gonna be there? Gary Moore.”

            “Really? He’s hot! I’ll be there. And trust me. I’ll have no problem getting out of the house.”

            When Serena came home from Ebony’s house, she told her mother about the party. “Can I go?” she asked.

            “As long as somebody goes with you,” Mrs. Brown answered. “I don’t want you going to Central Park by yourself at night.”

            “No problem. I’ll just get Ebony to go with me.”

            The night of the party finally arrived. Unfortunately, Ebony was not able to go because she had to work. Serena wasn’t able to find anyone else to go with her.

            “I’m sorry,” Mrs. Brown said. “You can’t go.”

            “But Mom,” Serena protested, “I have to go! Gary Moore is gonna be there!”

            “Who’s Gary Moore? Do you know him?”

            “Not really. He’s just a boy in the neighborhood I really like.”

            “Well, I’m telling you you’re not going.”

            “Why not?”

            “I told you last week that I didn’t want you going to Central Park by yourself at night. A girl was raped there a few months ago. I also don’t want you to be somewhere with some boy you don’t even know. One thing you have to remember is that New York City is a lot more dangerous than Brigantine.”

            “I’m 17 years old! I can take care of myself!”

            “Oh yeah? I’m sure that’s what the other girl thought until she got raped. It happens, Serena!”

            “Ever since we moved up here, you’ve been sucking the fun out of my life! I wanna go back to Brigantine!” With that, she stormed off to her room. She got under the covers and began to cry. Serena had stayed in bed for a while.

            “I wish I could go back to Brigantine,” she thought.

            Suddenly, she found herself back at her old house. She was lying in bed.

            “I’m in Brigantine!” Serena exclaimed after she sat up.

            She was so excited that she got out of bed and got dressed. She went to visit a friend she had known since childhood. His name was Ricky. Serena had always played with him and his older sister, Cherie, who was also at the house.

            “I can’t believe I’m back here,” she told Ricky and Cherie. “It’s so good to be out of New York City.”

            Ricky said, “I’m glad you’re back.”

            “Yeah,” Cherie added. “We missed you.”

            “I’ll say I’m glad,” said Serena. “New York City is not as safe as around here. After my mom and I moved there, she became extra strict. There was a party at Central Park on the Fourth of July. When my friend couldn’t make it, my mom wouldn’t let me go. I was so mad. Since I’m here, I can do whatever I want and go wherever I feel like going.”

            Cherie said, “Hey! Let’s take a walk on the beach.”

            Serena, Ricky, and Cherie arrived at the beach. They were there for a couple of hours. When it was sunset, they sat down to rest.

            “What in the world--?” Serena suddenly exclaimed when she saw something crawling towards her.

            “What?” cried Ricky.

            “There’s a horse-shoe crab!”

            “Let’s get outta here!” Cherie yelled.

            “I’m with you,” replied Serena.

            The three of them left the area. After they got away from the horse-shoe crab, they climbed up a sand mountain. Serena decided to jump down. When she jumped, she didn’t come down but went up instead.

            “Ricky! Cherie!” shouted Serena. “I can fly!”

            “How’d you do that?” they both exclaimed in unison.

            Serena replied, “I don’t know, but this is weird.”

            She was flying around at a very fast speed. Ricky and Cherie watched in amazement. They couldn’t believe how fast she could fly.

            “This is great, man!” exclaimed Serena. “I’m gonna fly around the world!”

            “Um, you might wanna slow down a little,” Cherie warned. “I wouldn’t fly too far too fast if I were you.”

            “Aw, what’s the worst that could possibly happen?”

            “You could end up in a warp zone flying like that.”

            “What are you talking about? That stuff only happens on TV.”

            “It’s true,” Ricky replied.

            Serena said, “You just watch. Everything will be fine.” With that, she took off with no regard for the warning.

            “Serena, wait!” Cherie called after her. “Don’t go off like that!”

            “Serena, come back!” Ricky called out.

            But Serena didn’t listen to Cherie or Ricky and just kept going. At this point, the sun had already gone down but there was still a little daylight. The sky was midnight blue. Serena had been flying so fast that the atmosphere around her began to change. The sky turned orange. While she was flying, she realized that something was terribly wrong. She stopped short.

            “Where am I?” she cried. “This isn’t right!” Serena’s voice echoed back. She began flying around to look for Ricky and Cherie.

            “Ricky! Cherie!” She called their names several times, but there was no answer. When she looked around, she realized that she was no longer in Brigantine. Serena flew back up into the sky. Not knowing where she was going to go, she just continued to fly.

            “Oh, why didn’t I listen to Ricky and Cherie?”

            As she flew further ahead, she saw a big, red dragon down below. He had seven horns on his head and a pair of wings. He was surrounded by flames and darkness. Serena stopped and gasped at the sight of the dragon. She knew she was in serious trouble. As she tried to go back the other way, she realized she couldn’t move. There had been a strong force of gravity holding her back.

            Suddenly, Serena started to go down. She could no longer fly. It wasn’t long before she began to plunge. She went down, screaming.

            She landed in the dragon’s lair. Then she got up and started looking for a way out. Serena jumped up and tried to fly, but it was no use. She was grounded.

            “I gotta get outta here before--”

            “Before it’s too late?” came the dragon’s booming voice from behind. “It already is!” He laughed an evil, thunderous laugh.

            “Ricky! Cherie!” Serena yelled. “Where are you?”

            But the dragon only said, “No one’s here to save you! You’re mine forever!”

            Then he took her and sat her against a boulder. Suddenly, thick vines broke out from inside the boulder and wrapped around her. Serena struggled to get free.

            “It’s no use trying to struggle!” the dragon growled. “You will never escape!”

            Afterwards, the terrible creature walked away. It wasn’t long before he fell asleep. Some time after that, Serena heard two familiar voices calling her. It was Ricky and Cherie.

            “Ricky! Cherie!” Serena exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re here! There’s a big dragon, but he’s in another part of the lair.”

            Ricky said, “We’ll get you outta here before he comes back.”

            Ricky and Cherie found long, sharp pieces of rock to cut the vines. Serena was finally free.

            “Thank you,” she said.

            Cherie replied, “You’re welcome.”

            “No problem,” Ricky added.

            All of a sudden, Ricky’s eyes met Serena’s. “Ricky, you’re my hero,” she said dreamily.

            They were just about to kiss when Cherie suddenly screamed, “Look out!”

            The dragon had awakened and was heading toward them. He let out a ferocious growl.

            “We gotta fly outta here before that dragon gets a hold of us!” Cherie exclaimed.

            “I got you, Serena!” said Ricky.

            Ricky took Serena in his arms. Then he and Cherie took off. They were flying up and the dragon was chasing after them at a fierce speed.

            “Ricky! The dragon’s gaining on us!” Serena screamed.

            The dragon sped up behind them and opened his mouth wide. Just as he was about to devour them, Serena was beginning to wake up.

            “Ricky! The dragon’s gaining on us!” she screamed in her sleep.

            When she was fully awake, she was in a cold sweat, gasping. She had been sleeping for a few hours. It was now midnight. Serena got out of bed and went into the living room. Mrs. Brown had been sitting on the couch, watching television.

            “Serena, I’m glad you’re up,” she said.

            Serena had a terrified look on her face.

            “What’s the matter?” asked Mrs. Brown. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

            “I had the worst nightmare,” Serena replied, “although it didn’t start out that way.”

            She told her mother about the nightmare. “After I woke up, I started doing some thinking. This nightmare has made me realize that it’s very important not to ignore a warning.”

            Mrs. Brown said, “You got that right. I was watching the eleven ‘o clock news, and I happened to see some live coverage of Central Park. A fight broke out and two people were killed.”

            “What happened?” asked Serena.

            “There were two men. One of them was selling drugs. The other man didn’t pay him the money he owed. The drug dealer got mad and pulled out a gun. He started shooting and missed his target. The two innocent bystanders were then killed by the stray bullets. The drug dealer was arrested shortly after. And by the way, Gary Moore was also arrested for selling drugs. Now aren’t you glad I didn’t let you go to that party?”

            “I guess you’re right. Mom, I’m sorry about what I said earlier.”

            Mrs. Brown gave her daughter a hug.

            “I have some good news,” she said. “Ricky and Cherie are coming up to visit us tomorrow. Ricky said he wants to take you to the movies.”

            “Wow! This is great!” Serena exclaimed. “Ricky is the sweetest person in the world!”

            The next day, Ricky and Cherie arrived. Everybody greeted one another. Later on, Ricky took Serena to the movies. Serena was glad she had learned a valuable lesson the night before and had a great time with Ricky.

 

END

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[Mari-Sweet]

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[mystearica]

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