• “Now, now Carlos, you’ll never learn to read if you keep setting your book to flames. Here, have my copy.” ]A happy woman figure stood in front of me with warm consuming eyes and a peaceful fulfilling smile. By burning the books, I felt more peaceful minded for she would come to me and make me feel like mistakes would never have a consequence. I was five once more, in first grade.
    Once again, I stared down at the book, set it in flames and waited for her to come. I waited, and waited, and waited. I spent hours waiting for her. Suddenly, I looked around and everyone was gone. Everyone except one little girl in the other side of the room with the same book I had burned in her hands. Out side looked dark, it looked as if it were to rain soon. She was reading it and flipping pages every so often. I walked up to her and stared and her. She looked up at me with tears. Her face looked so familiar, yet no name seemed to fit it.
    “So now you notice me?” She slowly said in a hurt tone. “Can you help me?” She continued repeatedly, she disappeared, and everyone was back in the classroom.
    “Carlos!” an irritated voice called out to me. “Get back to your desk; this is not the time to be playing games!” I turned around to notice the wonderful woman I have always been waiting for became horrifying. Mrs. Valance. She was always nicer to everyone, but me. I have wondered what I have done to get her angry.
    “No,” I said in an older tone. “I will not listen to an immature old woman that can never seem to look young, no mater how many face aging creams she practically drowns her face in.” Suddenly, I was seventeen and so was everyone else. I turned back around and saw Kiara in the desk where the little girl was. She was face down in the desk.
    “Kiara, Kiara?” I asked her in a whisper, “Hey girl, can you get up? Hey, woman, get up!” I asked her again. Her body was lifeless. “Kiara?” I asked in a tone that even scared me. “What did you do?” I peered over my shoulder to look at the people, however, they had disappeared, and that startled me. “Wait… If they’re gone… then that must mean…” I shot around to see…

    “Kiara!” I had been sleeping, except the last part of my dream came out of my mouth. Oops. I looked around the room to find Kiara sitting in a chair across from my bed, wide-eyed staring at me with an old, partially burned book in her hand that I assume that she had been reading.
    “Carlos? Are you alright?” She asked with confusion all around her tone. I placed my hand on my head and I started to chuckle a little bit to myself. With my attempt to get up, I had found out that there were tubes and wires all around me. In confusion, I just pointed at them and stared at Kiara. “Oh, they where testing on you while you where sleeping. Your heart practically went on a roller coaster while you where dreaming.”

    “Oh,” I ripped off all of the tubes and wires off me. I got out of the bed and walked over to her casually. I sat in the chair next to her and put my arm around her, it was more-so around the chair than her. As I did that, she picked up my hand and placed it on my lap. I looked down at her with pout on my face and plucked her book from her soft hands.

    “What book were you reading?” I asked in a whatever attitude. She smiled a sugar sweet smile with a dash of attitude, the same attitude I keep seeing from people around here and snatched the book from me.