Nightmare's Moral Beginning

           There was a girl named Serena who lived with her mother, Mrs. Brown. Mrs. Brown and her husband had been separated because of financial issues since Serena was five years old. Serena is now twelve and in the sixth grade. The family had lived in the same house since the day she was born. They lived two blocks down from Mrs. Harris, Ricky and Cherie’s mother. Mrs. Harris had left her abusive husband a year ago. Her two children are near Serena’s age. Ricky is eleven and Cherie is fourteen. It was the 2000-2001 school year and the Christmas break had come to an end. January had arrived and the children were back in school. Ricky attended Brigantine Elementary School. Serena and Cherie attended the middle school.

            One day, Serena’s English teacher, Ms. Baxter, announced that there was going to be a spelling test at the end of the week. “Okay, class,” she said. “Don’t forget to study for Friday’s test.”

            Most of the students in the class studied for spelling tests. Serena, on the other hand, thought that spelling was such an easy subject she didn’t have to study. But her grades usually said otherwise as a result. She would misspell a good amount of words on any given test. It was Wednesday and Ms. Baxter confronted Serena after class.

            “Well, Serena,” she said, tartly. “Your spelling tests have been nothing but D’s since the beginning of the year. I don’t know how many times I’ve told you to study. It’s like it goes in one ear and out the other.”

            Serena replied, “But at least a D is passing. Right?”

            “You think this is a joke, don’t you? Let me tell you something. Your test grades better start improving or I’m gonna start giving you a detention for every score that’s lower than a C. Is that clear?”

            “Yes, Ms. Baxter.”

            Ms. Baxter sent a note home to Serena’s mother discussing Serena’s test grades in spelling and the course of action that would be taken if she didn’t pull up her grades. However, this was not the first note that had been sent home.

            When Serena came home from school, she thought she would keep the note hidden from her mother. Mrs. Brown didn’t get off work until five o’ clock in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Serena had started watching Sailor Moon Super S at that time. During the movie, Mrs. Brown came home and asked her about school. “So how was your day?” she asked.

            “It was pretty good,” replied Serena.

            “Really. That’s not what I heard from your teacher. She also told me that she sent another note home regarding your spelling test grades. Would you care to show me?”

            “Huh?”

            “Yeah. Your teacher called me at work today. Now I advise you to turn off the TV and go get that note.”

            “Can I get it after the movie? It’s almost over.” But the movie was nowhere near over.

            “Absolutely not,” Mrs. Brown said in a stern voice. “Now turn it off and give me that note!”

            “But Mom--” Serena started to protest.

            “O-F-F! Off! And go study for your spelling test!” Mrs. Brown turned off the television.

            “Mom, I’ll miss the movie!” Serena cried.

            Mrs. Brown said, “Well, too bad. You need to stop watching cartoons and learn to study.”

            “But the words for this week are easy to remember. Besides, it’s Wednesday and I have tomorrow to study, too.”

            “That’s your problem, Serena. You say that every week. Then you don’t study and you end up getting D’s on all your tests. Now let’s see that note.”

            Serena sighed and went to go get the note out of her book bag. When her mother saw the note, she said, “If you get a D on the next test, not only will you get detention, but you’ll also be grounded for a week. That means you’ll be in this house with no TV.”

            “I promise I’ll get a better grade on the test,” replied Serena.

            “You better.”

            By the time Thursday rolled by, Serena ended up with a ton of homework from her other classes. She got a late start on her work as usual because she was watching television. It was around midnight when she finished everything. But there was one thing that crossed Serena’s mind. “Oh, no! I forgot to study for the test!”

            She took out the list of spelling words. There were twenty words she had to memorize how to spell. Serena already knew how to spell a few of them, but there were a lot that she didn’t know how to spell. Because she was so exhausted, she didn’t get very far down the list before she started dozing off. “Gotta study, gotta study,” she muttered over and over to herself.

            The next thing she knew, she was in a make-believe world called the Rainbow Dimension. It was a place filled with rainbows. The rainbows were all over the place to the point where one could walk through them, or even go through them while in the air. The clouds were walking ground, and the sky had color swirls of blue and purple. Serena was in the Rainbow Dimension with Ricky and Cherie. The three of them were walking around, exploring the place.

            “I’ve never seen any place like this!” exclaimed Serena.

            “Yeah,” Cherie added. “I just don’t understand how we got here.”

            Ricky said, “Well, one thing I can say is that I’m glad to be away from school.”

            “Aren’t we all?” Serena added.

            At that moment, they all started floating.

            “Hey! Why are we floating?” Cherie exclaimed.

            “I have no idea,” replied Ricky.

            Serena said, “Gravity around here must be different, which gives me an idea. Why don’t we all fly around?”

            Ricky and Cherie agreed to the idea. All three of them were flying through the rainbows and the blue and purple swirly sky.

            “This is paradise, man!” exclaimed Serena. “It’s so good to be away from those stupid spelling words!”

            While they were flying, Serena heard a harsh voice say, “You forgot to study for your spelling test, didn’t you?”

            “What?” she gasped. “Don’t tell me Ms. Baxter followed us here!”

            She turned around and to her horror, Ricky and Cherie were gone! “Guys!”

            Serena was flying around in a panic, looking for them. She called their names several times but there was no answer.

            “Noooo!”

            She began to cry, for she knew that she was alone and that her friends were nowhere to be found. Serena was still up in the air. After a while, she started to take off again. She hadn’t gotten very far when she suddenly heard that same voice say, “Not so fast! You have a spelling test to take!”

            Serena turned around and gasped but she didn’t see anyone. “How is this happening? I’m not even in school! I gotta get outta here! It’s a good thing I can fly.” As soon as she tried to fly away, she suddenly began to fall out of the sky. “What’s happening?” she screamed, while she was falling.

            Serena continued to plunge until she landed inside of a classroom. But instead of it being lit up like a normal classroom, it was dark and dreary. There was a lot of hammering and drilling going on outside because some men were doing construction work. On top of that, the windows were broken. Serena was lying on the floor.

            “How did I get here?” she wondered as she stood up. When she looked around, she noticed a woman with statue-like features. She was white as snow and wasn’t human, but she was an evil being. This being was the one with the harsh voice that taunted Serena about the spelling test.

            “So,” she sneered, “you thought you weren’t in school. Well, now you are so sit down! You have a test to take, missy!” Her laugh was a terrible screech.

            Serena cried, “You’re not my teacher! You can’t tell me what to do! Who are you, anyway?”

            “I’m glad you asked. I am Mistress Doom, ruler of the Rainbow Dimension. I take pleasure in taunting people in a false paradise.” She laughed an evil laugh.

            “I’m not taking your stupid spelling test!” Serena retorted.

            Mistress Doom said, “You will if you wanna save your friends.”

            “What are you talking about?”

            “Look out the window.” When Serena looked, she saw that Ricky and Cherie were dangling head first from a beam. Mistress Doom had tied a rope around their feet and then tied it around the beam.

            “Get them down now!” shouted Serena.

            “Not until you take that test!” Mistress Doom snapped.

            “No! I’m gonna fly outta here and save Ricky and Cherie myself!”

            “Oh, I highly doubt that.”

            Serena jumped up and tried to fly. She was up in the air for about a few seconds, but then she crashed right to the floor. “I can’t fly anymore!” she cried.

            “That’s right,” Mistress Doom said with an evil glee. “Gravity in this part of the dimension is normal, which means there’s no escape for you. I’m gonna get a class vote for how many words I should give you for the test.”

            Suddenly, Serena noticed a group of students sitting at the desks. They didn’t look very friendly at all. They all had blank expressions on their faces.

            “Class,” said Mistress Doom, “how many words should I give Serena?”

            “One hundred words,” the students all replied in a robotic voice.

            “But my teacher never gives that many words!” Serena protested.

            “Like you said, I’m not your teacher, so you have to spell as many words as I tell you to spell!” Mistress Doom said in an icy tone. “Here’s a sheet of paper with the words on it. Study them well.”

            Serena looked at the words and tried to memorize them, but she couldn’t focus with all the noise outside. It wasn’t long before Mistress Doom snatched the paper from her. “Time’s up,” she said.

            “But I didn’t see all the words yet!” Serena cried.

            “Since you think spelling words are so stupid, let’s test your skills. Here’s a sheet of paper and a pen. Begin.” Mistress Doom gave Serena the spelling test.

            After the test was over, she graded Serena’s paper. “Well, Serena. You just got yourself an F.”

            Mistress Doom held up Serena’s paper so everyone could see it. “Class, can you tell me what this is?”

            “Serena’s spelling test,” the students answered in unison.

            “What observation can you make by looking at her grade?”

            “Lack of preparation equals failure.”

            “That’s right!” Mistress Doom sneered. “You failed to study!”

            “But you snatched the paper from me!” Serena protested.

            “Your performance on the test was awful!”

            “But I couldn’t concentrate with all the noise outside!”

            “Your spelling skills are atrocious!”

            “But you gave me too many words!”

            “And because you failed the spelling test, Ricky and Cherie will be thrown into the Rainbow Dungeon. You will be joining them but I have something else in store for you as well.”

            Mistress Doom got a big net and a laser. She shot the rope and Serena’s friends fell into the net she held. This was done from the classroom window. When Serena saw that Ricky and Cherie were in the net, she tried to rescue them but two of the students grabbed her before she could. “Get off of me!” she shouted.

            “You got it all wrong if you think that you and your friends are getting away!” said Mistress Doom, harshly.

            She carried Ricky and Cherie to the dungeon, while the two students took Serena. The dungeon was located in the school hallway. Mistress Doom and the students tossed the prisoners in and went inside as well.

            “Let us outta here!” Ricky cried.

            “Sure, but under one condition,” Mistress Doom said in a sinister voice. “Serena has to spell a certain word correctly.”

            “Not another spelling word!” Serena complained.

            “There are two secret doors and each one has a rainbow slide behind it. The door on the right has a colorful rainbow slide. This slide is called the Rainbow of Bliss, which leads to a beautiful forest filled with sweets. The door on the left has a dark rainbow slide. This slide is called the Rainbow of Doom, which leads to a barren and gloomy land. There is also a death dome that mimics a black hole in space, trapping its victims forever. In order to avoid this place, you have to spell ‘Wednesday.’ If you spell it correctly, you and your friends will get to go through the door on the right. If you spell it wrong, your friends stay here with me and you will slide to your doom.”

            “Hey! You’re not being fair!” Cherie protested. “It’s not right to use someone’s weakness against them!”

            “Fair?” Mistress Doom sneered. “Who said I was fair? I’m a villain!” She laughed an evil laugh and said, “Spell the word, Serena!”

            “Umm,” Serena said, nervously. “W-E-N-S-D-A-Y?”

            Mistress Doom laughed with a sinister cackle. “You couldn’t be more incorrect!” she taunted. “Your friends were counting on you and you let them down. Most of all, you just earned yourself a ride down the Rainbow of Doom. Here, let me open the door for you.”

            When Mistress Doom opened the door, Serena saw that the rainbow slide was various shades of black and gray with a white stripe down the middle. A strong force of gravity pulled her down the slide.

            “Serena!” Ricky and Cherie called out.

            Serena screamed as she slid all the way down. The place she landed in was a dark wasteland with a full moon being its only source of light. It was almost pitch black. She was frightened and all alone. Suddenly, she heard something that sounded like a tornado. She looked behind her and saw a huge, black ball coming towards her from up in the sky. “Oh, no! That must be the death dome Mistress Doom was talking about!”

            Serena ran as fast as she could, jumped up, and started flying. She was flying through the sky trying to escape, but the gravity force of the death dome was too strong. She was being sucked into the death dome. As it started to swallow her up, she woke up screaming. It was four o’ clock in the morning, and it was still dark outside so she went back to sleep.

            The next thing she knew, it was eight thirty when she woke up again. Homeroom started at 8:45 and her English class was at nine o’ clock. Serena looked at the time and realized that she had overslept. “Noooo!” she yelled. Mrs. Brown was on her way out the door to go to work, but she came in Serena’s room when she heard her scream.

            “Mom, why didn’t you wake me up?” Serena whined.

            “Oh, spare me!” Mrs. Brown retorted. “I called you a few times and you were dead to the world. Stop complaining and get ready for school. You have a spelling test today.”

            “Don’t remind me. I just had a nightmare about that.”

            “Well, you can tell me all about it later, honey. I have to go to work now. Bye. Good luck on your…..well, you know.”

            “Okay, Mom.”

            After Mrs. Brown left, Serena got ready for school. She left the house at around nine and arrived at 9:15. Because she would have gotten detention for being late if she went through the main entrance, she snuck in through a side door where there was a staircase that took her straight to her class. She walked in the door at 9:20.

            “Well, Serena,” Ms. Baxter said in a sarcastic tone. “How nice of you to join us! You’re just in time for the test but you’re late.”

            Serena said, “Sorry for being late Ms. Baxter, but I had a terrible nightmare and I overslept.”

            “Cut the excuses and take your seat! The test is about to begin!”

            As Serena walked to her seat, there were a few snickers and whispers from some of the students because they thought she made a fool of herself.

            “Excuse me!” Ms. Baxter snapped. “I want everyone quiet! All right, now put everything away and take out a sheet of paper and a pen.” She started the test.

            “Oh, great,” Serena mumbled under her breath. “My nightmare comes to life.”

            “Miss Brown, do you have something to share with the class?” Ms. Baxter asked.

            “Uh, no m’am,” replied Serena.

            “You know the rules. No talking during the test or I’ll give you a zero.”

            Some of the students gave Serena dirty looks and the test continued. After the test was over, Ms. Baxter collected the papers. Serena had a rough morning because of her nightmare, but the rest of the day went by uneventful.

            On Monday morning, Ms. Baxter returned everyone’s spelling tests. When Serena got her test back, she saw that she had gotten another D. “See me after class,” Ms. Baxter told her.

            After the bell rang, she talked to Serena about her test. “You didn’t study, did you?” she retorted.

            “I was trying to study but then I fell asleep,” said Serena.

            “Well, this must be your first time studying at all. So what’s your excuse for this D?”

            “I had a ton of homework the night before, and I didn’t finish until late. That’s why I didn’t get much of a chance to study before I dozed off and had that nightmare.”

            “What does the nightmare have to do with anything? In fact, you can tell me all about it in detention. I already told you what was gonna happen if you didn’t get a better grade. You had all week to study like you do every week, so don’t tell me about a ton of homework the night before. I’ll see you after school.”

            At the end of the day, Serena showed up for detention. “Since you don’t seem to like studying for spelling tests, I have an assignment for you to do while you’re here,” said Ms. Baxter. “You have to write one hundred times ‘I will study for spelling tests at all times.’ At least you didn’t have to study these words.”

            It took Serena the whole detention period to finish writing. Ms. Baxter said, “Take it home and have your mother sign it. Bring it back to me tomorrow.”

            “But if she finds out I had detention, I’ll be grounded for a week!” Serena protested.

            “Well, tough. If you can’t face the consequences, don’t do the action. You better bring it back tomorrow with your mother’s signature or I’ll give you another detention.”

            Serena came home from school, and Mrs. Brown came home some time after. “So how did the test go?” she asked Serena.

            Serena was afraid to answer. She went to her book bag and got the spelling test out along with the assignment she had to do in detention. When Mrs. Brown saw Serena’s grade, she was very unhappy with her. “Easy to remember, huh?” she retorted. “I bet they were. If the words are so easy to remember, why do you get D’s on all your tests?”

            “I tried to study on Thursday but then I fell asleep,” replied Serena.

            “You know, Serena. If you would stop watching so much TV and waiting till the last minute, you would get a lot more studying done.”

            Serena told her mother about how Ms. Baxter gave her detention and made her write that sentence one hundred times. “The teacher wants you to sign it, and I have to bring it back tomorrow.”

            “So you got a D on your test and had to serve detention,” Mrs. Brown said. “You’re grounded for a week. No TV and you’re not to go anywhere. Maybe you’ll learn to study for spelling tests at the beginning of the week, instead of the night before the test.”

            Five minutes later, the phone rang and it was Mrs. Harris. Mrs. Brown answered it “Hello?” she said.

            “Hi,” said Mrs. Harris. “I was calling to tell you that Cherie’s having a sleepover on Friday. She wants to invite Serena. Will she be available?”

            “She won’t be able to make it. She got a D on her spelling test and had to serve detention so she’s grounded.”

            “Sorry to hear that.”

            Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Harris said good-bye to each other and hung up. “See what you miss out on when you don’t do what you’re supposed to?” Mrs. Brown said. “Mrs. Harris just called to say that Cherie invited you to a sleepover she’s having on Friday. But you can’t go since you’re grounded. One thing you can do is start studying for this week’s spelling test.”

            Serena groaned. She knew that since she couldn’t watch television, she had no choice but to study the subject she hated most. Of course, she was disappointed that she couldn’t go to Cherie’s sleepover. “Spelling seems to follow me wherever I go,” she sighed. “It’s like I have to deal with it in the real world and in my dreams. When does it stop?”

 

 

END

Author's Note

This story was written the month I got my bachelor's degree in creative writing. See where the story began. (12/13/09)