Madeline

Madeline was a normal 13 year old girl, trying to find her place in this messed up world. She sat along in bed every night, waiting for she screams and shouting to let up so she could hopefully get some sleep to concentrate in school the next day.

As much as she hated her nightly routine of locking her bedroom doors and hoping for peace, falling asleep - being asleep was her favorite part.

She dreamt of fictional characters from her books whole she considered friends, as she didn’t have many in the real world. She dreamt of loving parents and soft voices, loving advise and morning hugs. But when she woke those things were far from reality.

Madeline often spoke to me of her dreams and how much they meant to her. She mostly talked of an older woman named Ruth. Ruth was kind and gentle, exactly the person Maddie hoped she would find. In these dreams Ruth always had with her a little black notebook. It was small and leather, but bound together with three tiny locks.

The notebook was part of Ruth, but Madeline could never convince Ruth to reveal what was inside.

Madeline dreamt of Ruth throughout her teenage years. In real life, when everything seemed to get worse, Ruth was the living arms Madeline needed to cry on.

One particular day during her senior year of high school, after an awful day enduring the bullies and popular kids. Madeline went straight to her room and cried and cried until she eventually fell asleep. She dreamt of being in Ruth’s kitchen as always, except Ruth wasn’t there. The little black notebook however, lay wide open on her kitchen table, the locks were gone.

Madeline reached for the notebook and was overwhelmed with excitement, she had wondered about what was in that book for years now. As soon as she began reading the words, paralyzing screams woke her up. She ran out of her room to find her parents fighting again, this time just seemed to be worse. She couldn’t wait to finally be 18 and get away, only one more month.

She returned to her room and slammed the door, trying to make a point. She sat on her bed and what was beside her? Ruth’s notebook. She couldn’t believe it! She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself to make sure it wasn’t a dream.

She opened the notebook, but after the first page it was hollowed out. How could there be no words after all this time.

In the hollowed out hole, she found one single key and a note with an address way out of town. She took the key and waited at the bus stop to make her way to this address.

She finally arrived. She was practically in the middle of nowhere, only the river and a little house in sight. She walked up to the house and used the key to get in. It seemed oddly familiar. As she entered she noticed how similar this place was to the one in her dreams. She walked into the kitchen and on the table sat an envelope. The envelope had a check and $25,000 cash!

The letter read:

Dear Madeline,

Welcome home. Welcome to your fresh start. You will make it! You will be happy and loved.

Madeline stayed in the house for the rest of her life and thought of that day often. She was finally at peace and had found her happiness in solidarity. The only thing she had to hope for now, was her real life Ruth