Sweet Dreams | Teen Ink

Sweet Dreams MAG

March 19, 2009
By Molly Pelavin SILVER, New York City, New York
Molly Pelavin SILVER, New York City, New York
9 articles 4 photos 1 comment

At the delicate age of four, I discovered that death was permanent. Thanks to the song “Puff the Magic Dragon,” I learned that “a dragon lives forever, but not so little boys.” At the time, I didn't realize that the little boy in the song didn't die – he simply grew up. I was deeply disturbed. For several nights I was unable to sleep, bombarded by thoughts of all the things I would miss if I died. Number one was George, my stuffed monkey and best friend. I assumed that stuffed animals, like dragons, lived forever, even when their human friends died. The thought of George alone in the world upset me enormously.

A few years later, death became more than just a childish fear. On the night of Nov. 20, 1999, I lay on my living room floor doing my third-grade homework. My dad went into the bedroom to check on my mom and discovered she was not breathing. She was dead.

For five years, she had battled breast cancer. Her death had been imminent, a fact I knew but was never fully prepared for. I didn't scream or cry, only stared in shock at myself in the mirror and thought, You have no mother. A feeling of anguish rushed through my blood.

Then I realized that I hadn't given my mom her Christmas present. It was a small bottle of lotion I had made by combining all of the other lotions in the house. I had labeled it “Sweet Dreams.” Now she would never see it. My dad dressed her in new pajamas and placed the gift in her hands.

I was numb for months before I really cried. It was years before I ceased to imagine that she would walk through the door every time I heard the key in the lock. In this fantasy, she was never thin or pale or walked with a cane. She would glide back into my life with shiny hair and a wide smile. Inside, I never stopped missing her. I was without my favorite dinner companion; my best, fresh-laundry-smelling hugger; my safest, opal-ring-wearing hand to hold. But on the outside I carried on normally, even robotically.

In eighth grade, I became the valedictorian of my class. One day, my dad stopped by to watch the graduation rehearsal. As I stood at the podium and read my speech, I looked out into the audience. Among my classmates, I saw my dad smiling. I could have sworn there were tears in his eyes. When I finished and turned to go offstage, I looked again but he had disappeared. He told me later that he was so proud but heartbroken that my mother couldn't be there.

Dad always said how badly my mom had wanted to watch my sister and me grow up. He would say that she was watching over us in heaven, but I wasn't sure if he believed in such a place, or if I did. Still, I like to imagine that my mom can see these moments of my life by some supernatural expedient. With every move I make, I wonder if she would approve.

When I enter college next fall, it will have been 10 years since my mom died. I still think of her daily but no longer daydream about her magical resurrection, and my dad has stopped talking about her in heaven. Instead, he observes that I have her smile, her artistic abilities, and her independent streak. It is then that I realize that she isn't completely gone, because my sister and I are her daughters. My mom may not be in the auditorium when I graduate high school, but her intelligence and fortitude will bring me there.

My future awaits, and I will dive into it like my mother and father always wanted. I will devour books on jellyfish and constellations. I will make underwater films on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. I will understand the concept of daylight saving time. I'll fall in love.

There is a galaxy of places to visit, billions of people to meet, and an infinite number of ice cream flavors to try. The memory of my mother, my past, and my fears will not haunt me but inspire me to live.



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This article has 9 comments.


on Jul. 9 2012 at 12:19 pm
i_am_so_very_large_and_towering SILVER, Mililani, Hawaii
5 articles 1 photo 114 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops?"

this was such a great piece, i really loved it! i wish i could have gotten to read your original version though.

bigdecisions said...
on Nov. 6 2011 at 3:46 pm
I think you know you have a winner when you make your reader cry in less than a page long paper. Great job!

Writer4eva said...
on May. 14 2011 at 10:53 pm
This story strongly touched me. Everything about it was genius. It made me feel like I was a ghost, standing and watching all of those events unfold. Amazing.

friend-less said...
on Aug. 12 2010 at 3:46 pm
friend-less, Natick, Massachusetts
0 articles 0 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

that was awesome. great writing.  really sorry about your mother though.

on Jun. 10 2010 at 8:18 pm
kriley8404 BRONZE, Simpsonville, South Carolina
4 articles 8 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
"jesus is love, love is real"

I love that it's not long & descriptive, but more to the point with a few colorful words.

on Nov. 7 2009 at 12:46 pm
Very touching, and well written. :)

on Sep. 18 2009 at 9:23 am
Molly Pelavin SILVER, New York City, New York
9 articles 4 photos 1 comment
thank you for the feedback. i just wanted to point out that teen ink edited my essay down a lot, so this isn't exactly my voice... but i guess that's how it works..

on Sep. 17 2009 at 9:51 pm
Dokidoki-rin GOLD, Clarence, New York
14 articles 6 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
Whattaya gonna do, ya know?

Wow.. the end there is so uplifting and full of hope. There is indeed a galaxy of experiences to be had- great writing!

Becca SILVER said...
on May. 1 2009 at 5:09 pm
Becca SILVER, Auburndale, Florida
9 articles 32 photos 65 comments
Wow truly amazing. I love how easily it flows. Keep writing =]