Moving Day

Note: this chapter is primarily from Karen's point of view. The others will alternate between various characters.

A white dragon was flying in formation with three more dragons: a large gold, large bronze, and small blue. Each had their own packs of belongings clutched in their claws. They flew far, with the bronze and gold switching lead position every now and again, until they reached a new cave. A large brown landed with other things behind them and they chose to rest before unpacking their things. After a conversation, they unpacked. By nightfall, the white dragon stood in a small cave that was its room. It looked about, wondering if it would ever be able to call this cave "home."

I opened my eyes with a sigh. I didn't really want my dream to end, but I've had enough dreams like this to know that they always ended with the white dragon falling asleep. Well, actually, a few times the dream was longer, but that had been when my little brother Mark was born, and I was warned of being unable to sleep for it. Boy, was I happy when those dreams ended!

I looked around her empty room as I got dressed in very casual clothes. My stuff was all packed up and in the moving van. I had opted to spend the night in a sleeping bag, for my bed was already with the rest of my stuff. I threw my long white hair over my shoulder. Because my eyes are a snappy green, that hair's a curiosity to all my family, although it does make identifying where I am in my dreams very easy.

A knock sounded on her door. "Karen? Are you up?" It was Mom.

"Yes, Mom. Do I have to brush my hair before we go?"

"Um…it would be nice, but you don't have to. We'll be going nonstop."

Nonstop. Yes, that did fit my dream. I grabbed my bag of things to do in the car and came out. "I know," I said.

Mom's eyebrows went up. She asked, "Did you dream about it, Karen?"

"Mo-om," I answered, feeling a little irritated, "I have future dreams every night, why should this one be any different?"

Mom sighed. "I suppose not. Well, I hope you don't mind having cereal for breakfast."

All I did was laugh. However, even I know that my humor was forced. After all, I knew that the day was going to be extremely boring.

We drove for hours, only stopping for a few minutes, until nightfall when we reached their destination: a two-story house that needed very little fixing up, if any.

"Here we are," Dad called proudly, "our new home."

I cocked my head, looking at the house. It definitely could be the cave in my dreams. That cave had been a hollowed out hill, and I'd had to "fly" to my new room… "Can I have an upstairs room, Dad?"

Dad laughed until Mom reminded him of my dreams in a whisper. Then he said, "I don't see why not, but you haven't even seen the inside yet. Did your dream tell you about that?"

"Naw. I'll still be surprised about that. I only know generally where my room is."

"Well, then you can show the movers where to put your bed and dresser. Just leave your things there for now, because your mom and I have something to tell you."

Well, that got my eyebrows up. My dream did have all the dragons save the blue in the same room talking about something, but words were never conveyed in the dreams. At times like this I wish they were. "O…kay."

Dad laughed. "You're so understanding, sweetheart."

I took my bag and walked in front of the movers who were carrying my furniture. I confess I walked like someone in a trance until I stopped by the room that somehow I just knew was mine. I allowed them in and directed the placement of my bed and dresser, feeling a little like a queen. Once everything was in order, they left.

I dragged my suitcase in front of the dresser and threw my bag onto the bed. Then I went downstairs again to find out what my parents wanted.

They were talking, sitting on the sofa, which had just been brought in, but they stopped as soon as they saw me in the doorway. "Come sit down, Snowflake." Dad patted the sofa next to him.

I made a face – "Snowflake" is not my favorite pet name – and sat on the arm of the sofa. "What is it? And I probably already know, but where's Mark?"

Mom laughed. "He's off trying to choose his room. He wants the biggest room possible."

"As for what is it…" Dad sighed, causing me to cock my head again; the tone was one I don't hear often, the tone of someone resigned to what had to happen.

"Dad? What's going on?" I was starting to get a little nervous.

Mom rescued Dad by answering, "Well, we've decided to send you to a dorm at your new school."

All I could do was sit and stare at my parents. We had barely arrived here and already I was going to be moving again! Finally, I got my voice to work. "A dorm?"

Dad regained confidence and added, "Yes, at Kadic. There will most certainly be comfortable rooms there."

I just looked at him. There was something else that he wasn't telling me. "Dad. What else is it that makes you want to put me in a dorm?"

"Well…there's no easy way to say this. But we – your mother and I – remembered how you had no friends back at our old neighborhood, so we were hoping you would get more friends by having to live amongst your fellow students."

"What?" I felt like panicking, though I knew that they couldn't possibly understand why I had no friends back there. The reason I had no friends at my old home was because I'm terribly shy. If I liked a boy, I can't tell him about it; if I thought a girl's outfit was pretty, I can't tell her about it. And above all, I don't want anyone to find out about my dreams.

But on the other hand, if I accepted this, then I wouldn't have to worry about Mark anymore. That would be a plus.

"Okay. I accept living in a dorm. Now I know why you didn't want me to unpack right away. I'd better go through my things to see what I want to take with me."

"That's my girl. We will go to Kadic first thing tomorrow morning to enroll you."

I dashed up the stairs again and started going through my stuff. What did I want to bring with me? A dorm wouldn't have much room for a lot of stuff, so I would have to choose carefully. Clothes, shoes, hairbrush, etc., all of those were essentials. As for anything else, things to do in my spare time… I could bring my sheaves of drawing paper, homemade blank flipbooks and colored pencils, definitely. I really liked using those flipbooks to mark out my dreams. Maybe one day I could start a business and sell those little things. After all, I'm an excellent artist – concerning dragons, that is.

I decided to leave it at that. I stood in the middle of my room and looked around. Until summer comes and I have time to really design my room, I would have a very hard time calling this room "home."

I let out a sigh of resignation, got into my PJs, and climbed into bed. Tomorrow would be very stressful unless my dreams say otherwise.