I run through the fields and forests, chasing butterflies and riding with white knights to my heart’s content. I ride my own shining unicorn and dance with my fairy friends under the looming canopy. The pirates always ruin everything, but I walk to the end of the plank anyway. I give them a little curtsy before I hop off the edge and soar through cloud upon cloud only to find myself floating through the black void that is space. I bounce off Mars and spin through Saturn’s never-ending rings. As the Sun rises, however, it is time to roll out of my princess bed and reenact my dreams with jealous friends at play-time.

Mr. Shakespeare is stumped. Should both lovers die? I suggest that instead he makes them fight for their love and survive the feuding families. I call it a “Happily Ever After” ending. I stand while Queen Elizabeth gives our show a standing ovation. I weave my way through the crowd only to wind up on the African plains. The wild holds a lot to discover. The lions invite us to do ballet with them. I put on my purple tutu and try to match their large graceful steps across the savanna and into consciousness. As the Sun rises, I grumble as I reach for the snooze button, but the dream is gone and so are the Swan Lake lions. I have a creative writing seminar at ten o’clock anyway, it may come in handy.

She refuses to smile and Leonardo is steaming bullets. I pull my best funny face and Mona Lisa laughs. Her smile brings back Mt. Everest, which is not as cold as everyone says. The only thing is the gate going ever higher into the sky towards Olympus. The golden bars rival the Sun in beauty and luminosity. In side I spy Athena showing off her medals and Aphrodite checking and rechecking her reflecting in the water. As the Sun rises, I conjure my coffee and overlook my own children perform their dreams of mansions and deep sea adventures.

I look into the mirror and the wrinkles have vanished. I smile as I see myself going to my first recital, Senior Prom, Graduation, discovering college, getting my first job, meeting my husband. I ride the wind across the vast fields leading to the horizon and beyond. There are colors I have never held before blending together with what I know. The lap the shore and make “whooshing” sounds as they hit the sand. I watch from my hammock between the giant palms. My pirates are waiting on the waves for me, but I don’t go. Not this time. William decided the lovers needed to die for a “tragic climax”. Olympus stays young and fresh and those who occupy it stay vain. Fairies flit about trying to get me to play and the lions give me my very own tutu made with colors from the rainbow.

As the Sun rises, I do not rise with it. I get to stay with my dreams and the friends I’ve made in them. It is my time to rest as the Sun rises.