4 Not a dream

The sight of one of them grabbing and pulling her outside the car was the last thing that she saw before oblivion took over her and everything else turned dark again.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself back at the safety of their home. To be precise, she was seated on their sofa, with her mom and dad seated and laughing at her both sides.

Her parents were both busy watching the late-night news on their 42' inch TV, while one of her dad's hands was wrapped around her to help her sleep comfortably.

Out of the blue, she straightened her back and looked at her parents.

"Our princess is finally awake."

Her dad commented with a smile as he tussled Cassie's hair, in an affectionate manner.

Cassie, on the other hand, did not say a word. Instead, she just stared at them and wondered to herself,

'How could they be so fine after the accident?'

But then when realization dawned at her, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. It was just a dream."

She muttered under her breath.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

Her mom asked her with concern in her eyes as soon as she heard her said that. But Cassie only shook her head and told the other party not to worry.

"Nothing, mom. I'm okay."

She replied simply, then she flashed her a simpered smile.

"I love you, Mommy."

For some reason, Cassie felt the need to say that. But even after expressing her love, she still did not feel reassured enough so she proceeded to hug the other party.

"Look at this child. What has gotten into you?"

Her mom commented but she could hardly hide the delight from her tone of voice.

"You too, Dad. I also love you. I love both of you, so much!"

Cassie declared as she hugged her dad as well, as tightly as her small arms could possibly do.

"Your mom and I also love you more than words can say."

The other party replied as he kissed Cassie on her forehead.

"By any chance, did you have a bad dream?"

Perhaps caught off guard by how Cassie was acting, her dad asked her that question before he could even stop himself.

"I don't even want to think about it."

Cassie replied with a pout.

At that point, she was starting to believe that everything she saw was just part of her dreams. But then when she saw the familiar box at their coffee table, that was when she started to have second thoughts.

Albeit still a child, Cassie was still wise for her age, and she quickly realized that something was wrong.

'If it was all but a dream, then there is no way I should have this music box with me.'

She thought to herself as she took the music box and observed it closely. It was the same music box that she received from her parents before the 'accident'.

The child looked at her parents again and wondered why they were acting as if nothing happened.

Moreover, they were laughing while watching the news as though they were delighted to hear about it; when the report was in fact reporting about the death toll and casualties of a recent house fire that broke out.

After watching how weird her parents were acting, Cassie looked back at the music box; the only thing that proved to her that everything that she remembered was not just a dream.

The sound of her parent's laughter in the background started to get under her nerves and as time continued to drag on, Cassie became more suspicious.

She deliberately looked closely at the music box again and upon closer look, she noticed some trail of blood on it.

When she saw that, her entire body tensed up and a cold shiver started to run down her spine. Then she recalled how out of nowhere, two people that looked exactly like her parents appeared and rescue her and pulled her out of the car.

At that point, she was more certain than ever that everything that happened was not just all inside her head. They were real!