One miserable day, when the rain poured thunderously outside, I sat in my new house in my new room. I missed the old place in the city, where my friends were, where we had so much fun, even though it had only been one day since we moved. I lay in bed, waiting in the darkness, dreading for the morning to come. I was anxious and just wanted to go back to my old friends! It was no use now. It was too late. My parents had to move for work. I yawned and stretched as I yanked my duvet back over my body. Gradually, I drifted into a deep sleep. 

In this deep sleep, I found myself in an ominous and dark woods. It was nothing like home, not even the new one. I was scared stiff. The cold penetrated my silky skin sinisterly. The hooting owls spoke hauntingly in the distance. The dewy grass squelched and the minuscule rocks crumbled underneath my boots. There were no leaves on the trees, no animals scurrying around. It was uninhabited and lonely, not a living creature was in sight. I deduced I was in an uncharted territory. Being only twelve meant I was still afraid of the dark, so I trod carefully. I gathered the strength and the audacity to venture into the unknown. It was all very strange to me as I was used to the bustling crowds of central London, not the isolated land of the unknown or whatever this place was called. I continued on the muddy and grave path not knowing where it would lead me. A murder of crows flew overhead. At least now I knew there was life here. The crows seemed to call for me. They screeched and Ka-kawed whilst circling my head as if I were one of them. Then, they dispersed. Suddenly, as I planted my left foot in the soil, it fell right through. I screamed as I stumbled and plummeted into the depths below. 

“Ahh!” I gasped as I awoke (or thought I did) on what was meant to be Monday morning. First day of school... But still, something seemed off… “Another nightmare…” I muttered to myself. 

I found myself suddenly outside on my way to school, it seemed like a peaceful day with the sun hugging me from afar, stretching its crimson arms towards me. However, this morning, I had felt a tingling sensation across my back, and now, in the sun’s warmth, it grew within me. At once, two things, twisted and gnarled, poked out of my frail back, one on each side. I heard a snap and crackle as bones connected and something slithered under my arm, but then the pain ceded. I touched my feathery yet strong wings that now drooped from my back.

I heard the crows, from my previous nightmare, in my head again, summoning me. Effortlessly, I soared into the sky, the roseate sun peering at me to say a last melancholic goodbye as it set. I swam through the lucid air. I dashed and swivelled around mountains and treetops. I pranced through clouds cleaner than quartz. In the distance, I saw a second moon. I was alone. Had I flown too far? Suddenly, I had a jolt of reality: I smelt, felt and tasted fear as I fell through the sky. My heart skipped several beats as I screamed “HELP!” at the top of my voice. Again, I was falling. Far away, I heard my parent’s voices and…

Morning came. This time for real. I sensed that these nightmares might well be a harbinger of things to come. As such, I pleaded with my parents not to make me go to the new school but to no avail. When we arrived at my new school, I shivered as I gulped for reassurance. As slow as a snail, I entered, and everyone stared at me. I was flustered as I heard people muttering and whispering around the great hall. Suddenly, a cruel, colossal and crushing woman stomped over to me hastily. She was steely and loomed over me ominously and greeted me quite unpleasantly. “Sit down child and be quiet!” she said in an abrasive voice.  I was not befriended or asked to participate in games. On my first day at school, it seemed like the nightmares of loneliness which I had dreamt of had all come true. 

As the days went on, I had a feeling I was in danger of being trapped in a downward spiral of solitude at night in bed and during the day at school. One evening, in desperate hope for some salvation, I looked up to take in the beauty of the night sky. It was so different from the usually bustling, cloud-covered night sky in the city that I used to see. It was love at first sight. I recalled the nightmare I had not long ago when I looked up in the sky and there was not a cloud in sight. The difference was that those crows that haunted me… they were gone. In their place were sparkling stars showing me a new path.

Perhaps I had been too quick to judge my new town in this faraway countryside and as a consequence my anxieties had manifested themselves as nightmares and I saw negativity everywhere.  I realised there are always times when bad situations can overwhelm you. However, if you change your view-point a little, there will always be a place where you can find happiness. The evocative night scene made me feel like The Little Prince from the story my grandmother used to read to me at bedtime. The Prince was saddened to lose his love, the rose and despite being lonely he went on a magical journey in space to find new friendships. With this new purpose and perspective, I now was emboldened to face school and the new town and to find new friends.