“Aileen, what are you doing?”
 

“Watching the sunset, daddy,” replied the young, farm girl.  She smiled, daydreaming of adventures as she stared out into the grassy distance from her bedroom window.  The sky was a blend of ascending orange and engulfing lavender. The wind blew against her face, cool and invigorating as the day quickly merged into night.

 
“Well, be sure to rest up for tomorrow, honey.  You will be traveling to Treno and you will need the energy.”

 
“Alright, have a good night, daddy.”

 
Quietly, the door shut behind her.  Sure that her father has left her alone, Aileen quickly turned around and jumped on her bed, scaring the sleeping puppy on her soft bed as the springs launched the puppy about two feet in the air before it landed back on the bed.

 
“He-llo Mr. Rover!  Are you sleepy already?”

 
Mr. Rover, for a moment, watched Aileen with his large puppy eyes, but simply went back to sleep, knowing she meant no harm.  To see in the fading light, she reached over to the nightstand beside her bed and lit a candle.  Now with a little more visibility, Aileen searched under her bed and pulled out a small book.  There was a pencil in the spiral binding and the front cover was striped red and green.  She flipped through the pages, turning to an empty page and taking the pencil out of the spiral binding.

 
“Dear, diary...” she spoke as she wrote, “Tomorrow, I am, going, to Treno.  It is, the time, of the year, that, I, sell, flo…” Childishly, she spelled out each letter as she sounded out the word.  “Flowers, to, help, daddy.”  She closed her diary and put it away, feeling accomplished for successfully add another entry to her journal.  With no desire to sleep, the young girl decided to talk to Mr. Rover, her beloved companion.

 
“Mr. Rover, ready to go tomorrow?”
 

Carelessly, the dog rocked his head back and forth in his sleep, eyelids still shut.  Aileen picked him up and raised him above her, startling the poor canine.

 
“At least pretend to be interested!  If mommy was still here, she would take me there, buy me candy, take me around the city, and show me so many super-duper awesome things!”

 
At this point, Mr. Rover was wide awake, staring face to face with Aileen.  He gave a small yelp, sounding a little confused.

 
“Oh, you don’t know mommy, do you?  I love mommy, but when she passed away, daddy was really sad, and that made me really sad.  She would hold me when I cried, and sing songs to put me to sleep.  Sometimes, she would sit by my bed and tell me stories, but I did not understand too well since I was still too young.  One time, she told me about the nymphs who lived in the forest, and they sang songs to travelers who were truly kind at heart.  Also, every day, mommy would take me outside and show me the sunset.  My dad thinks I got that from my mom,” Aileen whispered to Mr. Rover as though not to let anyone eavesdropping hear.

 
Mr. Rover struggled out of her hands and licked her in her face.  She was surprised, flinching and struggling.
 

“Alright, enough, Mr. Rover!  I see you want to sleep.  Wake up bright and early tomorrow!”
 

Aileen blew out the candle on the nightstand, although taking couple of tries to accomplish her goal, and slipped back into bed.  Mr. Rover readjusted himself at the edge of the bed, drifting back to sleep beside his young mistress.  Slowly, the young farm girl followed suit as her eyelids grew heavy and her mind submerged into a heavenly dream, regardless of the anxiousness of tomorrow’s adventures.

© Vinson Tran