The Dream Catcher

Twenty-two hours. That's how long it took to go from Chicago to Sydney. Twenty-two hours. Ruby was done. Exhausted, bored, and extremely excited to make it to her grandmother's house. Currently, she was in New Zealand and waiting for her next flight. Sydney. The stopover was short and she only had less than twenty minutes before she had to board the flight.

She was looking around and she found a half-decent convenience store. She walked inside already knowing her mother is questioning her whereabouts. She pulled out her phone and called her mother telling her she was alright. While on call, she looked at the magazines, the sorts of candy they didn't have in Chicago and something, odd.

Ruby had never seen anything like it before. It was a small sort of net. It was round and it had a bunch of feathers on it. And in the middle of this net, was a stone. It was red. Like a ruby.

Ruby? Are you still there? Her mother on the phone asked. She must have been off in space, daydreaming because she didn't hear her mother talk to her at all.

"Yeah, I'm still here mom." Luckily, she had a five-dollar bill in her pocket. She went to the cashier and placed both items on the desk. The lady behind the desk didn't disturb Ruby, conscious of her call which Ruby respected. When the kind lady passed the feathery thing back to her, Ruby whispered 'thanks' to her and left the store.

A few feet away, a tiny shop with all kinds of different foods that Ruby had never seen before in the United States. She bought some snacks for the flight and walked back to her seat with her mother.

"Hey, do you know what that is?" Ruby's mother asked.

"…No." She responded in shame, aware that buying something without even knowing what it is, isn't exactly the smart move to do.

"It's a dream catcher." Ruby gave a soft little smile and looked down at her hand. It was… pretty. Ruby searched up the meaning behind a dream catcher and what it does. It was supposed to help you have good dreams. Ruby thought that this would help her sleep better because of the time difference between there and Chicago.

* * *

Two hours later, Ruby was at her grandmother's house and getting sorted into her mother's childhood bedroom. She decided to put a thumbtack into the wall like it was a daily activity and hung her dream catcher next to her bed.

Nine o'clock, she went to bed early and tried her best to sleep.

* * *

Ruby was in a classroom. All was going well until all of a sudden, the students around her faced in her direction. They all started pointing fingers at her and laughed. She wondered if she did something wrong. What though? She just got here and sat and listened to the teacher. She looked around at the students, trying to find answers on why they were laughing. She crossed her arms and then she realized. It was that kind of dream. Although more like a nightmare. She was scared. Her skin was burning up in embarrassment.

* * *

Ruby woke early. Incredibly early. Specifically at two in the morning.

'That dream catcher did not work.' Ruby thought. 'Why would it not work?'

"Hey sweetheart. Have a nice sleep?" It was her grandmother. She was so nice to Ruby. And it was quite funny because not only is Ruby's mother called Ruby, but her grandmother was also. So, she was the third in the family called Ruby.

"I had a really good sleep, grandmama!" She didn't want to tell her that she didn't sleep well otherwise she might have her feelings hurt. She didn't want to do that to her on the first night.

"Hi there." All three of them got to the kitchen and had some breakfast. They decided to go out to the beach and have an enjoyable day there. All day long, Ruby was searching up why the dream catcher didn't work.

At the end of the day, Ruby figured out why. She had not hung the pretty little item correctly in her room. Not only had it been just in her room, but it needed to be above where she slept.

Ruby took her shoes off when she got through the door and ran up the stairs in her wet swimsuit.

"Ruby?!? Don't you want dinner?" Ruby's grandmother called.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Ruby ran to her room and thought of a new place to put her dream catcher. Directly above her bed? Near the side of the bed? Then she researched a bit more and found out that it would be helpful to put it in sunlight. Then she figured out the most perfect spot. She had a window right near the head of the bed so it would be perfect.

Ruby smelt salmon. Her favorite dish. She walked down the stairs with her eyes closed for a moment like a cartoon character floating in the air when they had smelt fresh pie in the air.

When she reached the bottom, Ruby got to the back porch where her mother and grandmother were there, eating while watching the sunset just by the mountains. She sat down quietly and started to eat her meal. And was it delicious.

* * *

It was time for bed, so Ruby started to brush her teeth. She hopped into bed after the two-minute timer ended and snuggled with her favorite stuffed animal. Ruby had a memory of when she was back in Chicago. Ruby was about a few months over thirteen, and her mother said that she had too many toys. She had to pack all stuffed animals that she didn't use and all kind of kiddie toys. When she had told some of her classmates, they felt sorry for her knowing that she only had seven stuffed animals left. Ruby just believed it was called "growing up."

"Hey sweetheart. How was your day?" Ruby looked at the door to see her mother standing there, ready to say goodnight to Ruby.

"Pretty good. Tired though."

Ruby's mother walked over to tuck her into her bed and said goodnight.

* * *

Chicago, Illinois. Ruby was in her bedroom and was packing for her next vacation. Canada. It was December and she was going on a trip with her best friend and her family to Canada in December and was overjoyed. Then, suddenly, she found her old childhood stuffed animal. How did this end up in here?!? Ruby didn't recall putting this in her suitcase. She remembered placing this in one of the full bags along with the other six.

This stuffed animal… it was… home. She remembered the bright red bow on the worn-down teddy bear she used to drag along as a kid. She got this when she was just a baby.

Seeing this teddy bear, it made Ruby wonder. Why did she have to leave all that behind?

Ruby didn't want to grow up. Growing up was the worst.

Ruby placed the teddy bear back in her suitcase and zipped it up.

* * *

Ruby awoke to the sun shining on her face. It was such a nice night. She looked at the stuffed animal she held all night. She didn't want to let go. Not yet at least.