Dreams Come True

by Angela Wallace

It is a cloudy day when we first meet Karen Jones, a 36 year old first grade teacher who hates her life. As much as Karen loves teaching first graders math and reading if she has to do one more parent teacher conference she will pull her hair out. She feels like she is on a never-ending treadmill of grading papers, teaching children and wiping snotty noses. She loves her students and never wants to take her frustrations out on them. Today her favorite student Cassidy made her a colorful friendship bracelet.

When she gets home from work she feels like she is opening the door to her second job. Her house is a mess. Dirty dishes are all over and clean folded laundry is on the sofa with dog hair all over the house. She mutters to herself, "where to start, where to start" as she grabs a thin mint cookie from her secret stash of girl scout cookies. She starts to pickup the dirty dishes and bring them into the kitchen when she realizes that she had forgotten to empty the dishwasher, again. Suddenly a black cloud slams open the door, and rushes in. It is her 15 year old daughter Samantha dressed all in black, with the book "Knitting for Dummies" under her arm. She mumbles as she grabs an apple and storms out of the kitchen. "Sam, you need to walk Charlie." "Have JJ do it." As much as she understands first graders, high schoolers are a mystery and her daughter is the biggest mystery of all.

Suddenly the dog starts barking, as her 12 year old son enters the room. "Mom can we go to the carnival, tonight, they have an awesome roller coaster." "Joseph Jones Jr. walk Charlie and we'll see what your dad says when he gets home."

Two hours later Joe drives up in his old reliable blue Honda Civic. He looks exhausted and worn out, not like the guy she dated in college. When she tells him about the carnival he readily agrees to go. Joe is a cheerful, friendly guy and a great father but frankly after 16 years of marriage she finds their married life boring and vanilla.

After dinner they are about to head to the carnival, when Karen realizes that no one has walked Charlie. Joe silently grabs Charlie's leash and takes him on his walk. While Joe walks Charlie, Karen realizes she doesn't really want to go to the carnival with all its noises, smells, and crowds. She just wants to stay home, kick off her shoes and crochet.

As soon as they get to the carnival the family immediately splits up. Sam meets up with some friends, and Joe and JJ leave to ride the roller coaster. Karen begins to wander around the carnival taking in all the sights, sounds, and noises but feeling apart from everyone. Suddenly Karen spots a colorful building with a neon sign "Dreams Come True." As she approaches the booth she realizes she doesn't have any cash in her purse. The ticket taker says "Karen you don't need money for this booth, we take tokens of love. Your colorful bracelet will work." Karen reluctantly removes Cassidy's bracelet and hands it to the ticket taker as she steps into the booth. "Welcome Karen. We've been looking forward to your visit."

She walks into the building and does a double take. The building's interior looks like her house but it is so much neater. No muddy dog prints on the floor. No clean laundry on the couch. No dirty dishes. She says "Alexa, where am I?" "You are home." Karen wanders into Sam's room expecting to see black clothes all over the room, instead she sees a neat craft room with the comfy chair she likes to crochet in. Her yarn is expertly arranged by color instead of being in a trash bag next to the chair in the basement. The built in bookcase is filled with books — a series of books by Candy Kane. That was the pen name she gave herself in college. She blushes when she thinks about the sexy BDSM stories she was writing then. The first story was Goody Goody Two Shoes about a woman who was a teacher by day and a dominatrix by night. As she glances at the bookshelf her eyes fell on the book "Goody Goody Two Shoes" by Candy Kane. It looks exactly how she always thought it would with its red cover and black stilettos in the corner. As she starts to pick up the other books she can see there is a whole series of Goody Goody books.

She decided to leave this room and go to JJ's room. Instead of Superhero posters and video games on the floor she sees her Peleton (which is usually in the basement and covered with clothes) and a 65 inch TV on the wall. The back wall has floor to ceiling mirrors and a ballet bar. As she looks in the mirror she sees a trim woman with stylishly coifed hair and perfect nails.

She goes downstairs to get a snack but she can't find her secret stash of girl scout cookies. Instead she grabs a fresh apple and heads back to Sam's room.

The yarn is calling her like a siren from Greek mythology. She spots a shimmering soft colorful yarn she doesn't recognize. She gets her crochet hook and starts making her favorite project, a hex cardigan. Before she knows it the time is 4 AM and the sweater is finished.

As she opens her bedroom door, the bedroom looks the same but there are no clothes on the floor and there is a tiny snow globe that looks like her house. She shakes the snow globe but nothing happens.

The next morning Karen wakes up relaxed and refreshed and she wonders why she never bought 800 count Egyptian sheets before. At breakfast Karen asks Alexa about her schedule expecting to hear about baseball games and chauffeuring a gaggle of teenagers to the mall and instead she hears "you have a book signing at 11:00 am at the Barnes and Noble and a meeting with your accountant here at 4:00 pm. Candy's wig is on the top shelf of your closet."

Getting ready for the book signing she puts on Candy's long curly red wig as well as her new cardigan.

Arriving at the bookstore she sees piles of books entitled "Goody Goody and the President." She starts to panic until she realizes this was the story she was writing when she found out she was pregnant with Sam. She had traded her writing dreams for marriage and motherhood. She gets through the book signing with confidence.

When she gets back to the house Karen asks Alexa about the rest of today's agenda. "You have a meeting with your accountant at 4:00." "Alexa what is the name of my accountant?" "Joseph Jones." "Alexa, what is on my schedule after the accountant." "Nothing. You never schedule anything after your accounting meetings."

While going over her accounts Karen is impressed at how good an accountant Joe is. It is one of the things Karen never noticed. Suddenly Joe says work is over and now it's time for play. He says "Get Candy's red wig." "How long have we been playing?" "Since your first book. I'm the only one who truly knows who you are." When she meets Joe in the playroom, it is a room that would make Goody proud. After many hours of play Joe goes home and Karen goes to bed.

That night Karen is restless. She dreams that she has to wear Candy's red wig for the rest of her life. The next morning instead of waking up rested Karen wakes up angry. Angry at being alone, angry at not having Joe totally in her life and missing her kids. She picks up the snow globe and throws it across the room smashing it into tiny pieces. As soon as the snow globe is smashed Karen is back outside Dreams Come True.

She rushes to find her husband and children and hugs them and says I miss you so much. JJ says "Mom you've only been gone five minutes. Where were you?" She tells them that she was at the Dreams Come True building but they go searching for it but can't find it or the ticket taker.

Sam says "what are you wearing" in equal tones of admiration and distaste. "My new sweater, do you like it?"

That night Joe and Karen spend hours having the most intimate and open conversation they have ever had in the last sixteen years.

Three years later while waiting for Sam's graduation to start Karen is lost in reminiscing. She can't believe how much has changed since the night at the carnival. Joe worked out a financial plan that allowed her to retire from teaching. She starts writing every day with Charlie snoring lightly while sleeping under her desk and she has more time to spend with her children. She and JJ start walking Charlie every day. JJ eventually takes an interest in Charlie and dog agility training. He is no longer stuck in video games but in living his life.

Karen and Sam bond over a shared love of the fiber arts. Karen continues to crochet and Samantha knits. The white dress Sam is wearing is one she knitted herself. As for her and Joe she will never call their life boring again. As she reaches into her pocket for a handkerchief she feels Cassidy's friendship bracelet in her cardigan pocket. At that moment she realizes she is the happiest she has ever been in her life.

Epilogue: "Welcome to Dreams Come True: Earth. And it is our 9980th episode! Today we meet Karen Jones, a 36 year old first grade teacher who hates her life. Let the Betting Begin: Utopia or Reality?"