[ WP ] At night , you dream of a wonderful person you have never met before . You wake up to find them sitting on your bed looking at you curiously ...

It was a gas station. I'd had this dream before, and I knew it was a dream. Sometimes I'd use this to change it. But I did that too often; tonight I'd relive the true story. 
 
 It was a warm summer day. Mom and dad were inside the store, getting snacks. I was in the car, reading my book for school, when mom screamed and started yelling at dad. I looked up. She was pushing him around the parking lot, as another woman tried to stop her. The owner came, and mom slapped dad and walked away. Dad got into the car, and tried to act cheery as he started to drive away. 
 
 My dream skipped like a record player, and I found myself in a courtroom, wearing an uncomfortable suit. Mom was divorcing dad, and they were fighting tooth and nail over who would have me. I stayed at my friend Robby's house, because his mom and dad were neutral in the whole affair and did n't mind letting me stay until the issue was sorted out. 
 
 The dream skipped as I asked Robby, `` Hey, what's a boy's favorite doll?'' I was in my room, writing a report for my history class, when mom came in, teary-eyed. 
 
 `` Theresa, we need to talk.'' 
 
 She went on to tell me that she'd bribed Robby's parents to lie about what dad used to call me when picking me up from their house. I was shocked, and silent. I loved mom, but dad was n't a person to me, but a treasure. He knew me like nobody else, and every time he tried could guess my emotions and thoughts perfectly. My mother had paid a woman and her husband fifty dollars to take him away from me for seven long years. 
 
 Normally I'd wake up, but this time, to my surprise, the door opened. Dad walked in, wearing that dorky backpack he carried around, with a bottle of wine in one hand and a huge bag of candies in the other. He handed mom the wine and said, 
 
 `` Say, kiddo, how about we share these on the back porch?'' 
 
 I woke up to the beeping alarm. I showered and dressed, finished up my chemistry homework, and brought my stuff downstairs. I smelled bacon cooking on the stove, and stealthily ripped a piece off the longest strip. As my hand went to my mouth, somebody else's hand slapped the bacon out of mine. It landed in the frying pan and sizzled, back with its bacon friends. I turned around to face dad. `` Do n't eat those yet, Theresa, they're raw and you'll get sick. Be quiet, your mother's still asleep and I told her last night I'd take you to school.'' 
 
 `` When are you leaving, dad?'' He hesitated for a moment, unsure. He pulled out a small box from his pocket, and showed me its cargo. It was a diamond ring with a silver band, the one he'd bought mom for their wedding. He looked me in the eye, tearing up a bit. 
 
 `` Never.''
