It's Time to Wake Up by Tilly Knight

When I first got to Keenerville nothing felt like home. The people were strangers from other states, I could no longer hear the morning call of the hummingbirds and black capped chickadees, and I loaded all of the clothes I would be wearing for the next three weeks into a dusty little house with tubs of forgotten Nutella and stale bread lying around. Or sometimes I could even find small traces of the previous owner. Like maybe a small piece of hair sticking to the peeling floor. However one element of Keenerville from day one did bring me to the comfort of my real home, and it happened each morning at 7:45 on the dot. A door slams and rattles my bed frame. With each rock, my mind slowly dismissed my dream allowing it to fade. Heavy footsteps thump on the fake tile floor, allowing a soft echo to float steadily into my bedroom door. Then suddenly they stop. I without opening my eyes I can feel the shadow of her feet creeping ever so slightly beneath the crack under the door. No! I think. Not yet. Not yet! My dream hadn’t finished! But before I fall into the fantasy land of dragons and princesses a high pitched voice seeps into my ears like water. “Good morning Tilly!” I hear Becka, my Keener mom yell. I grunt something back, attempting to say the words, but all that comes out is a “goo” and “ma.” “Good morning!” Becka says again. And after I gather up all my strength, I say it back. Now I am awake.