Daughter’s Dream was inspired by a very true personal experience. I wanted to write something my six year old daughter could enjoy and relate to, while giving it a more adult undertone. This was a complicated feat. Hopefully you find the deepness in its simplicity, and the hidden truths behind the interwoven subtext.
Daughter’s Dream
by Jonas Hyde
Hear this song for it once rang true,
of a young girl named Anya and her kitty too.
It started one night long ago,
when the moon was full and the land was covered with snow.
The little girl thought she’d awoke from a bad dream,
but when she did, life around her was not as it should seem.
For the wind was quiet and the air was still,
and through her bones ran a cold chill.
A long while passed as she wept and stared,
at the darkness around her until someone heard or cared.
But time went and no one came,
save for her kitty, who was called Gus by name.
“Cry not my human, my friend,”
Gus told the little girl in a way only she could comprehend.
“You speak,” the girl said in reply,
then adding in wonder, “Oh me, oh my!”
“Yes, of course I do, awkward that’s true,
but we must hurry now ‘fore his time is through.”
“Whose time of which do you speak, I do not understand?”
little girl Anya questioned with voice and hand.
“Your father, lost is he,
traveling this world of dreams, unable to see.”
“My daddy is lost you say,
do you jest, do you play?”
“I do not,” Gus answered as he jumped off the bed,
“Hurry now or the worst will happen I dread!”
Anya took a moment to hear the words,
spoken by her cat friend Gus, usually the hunter of birds.
How is it that he spoke,
was this all but a dream, but a joke?
So playing along, off the bed she too went,
following her kitty to see what he meant.
Stepping outside she entered a world of darkness and fear,
expecting this not, as her dreams were usually full of happiness and cheer.
“Come this way now,” Gus added as he ran,
and with a trot, Anya too began.
Looking around a cold chill ran down her spine,
for in the darkness, of her Dad there was no sign.
She looked and she looked, twirling her head all around,
but gloom and shadows were all she found.
“I’m scared, I’m scared,” she pleaded to Gus,
“Fear not,” he replied, “the darkness can not hurt us.
“For in you is a light so pure,
the evil cannot pierce, of that I’m sure.
“And that is why you are your Dad’s only hope,
but of this land, not even I know of its true scope.”
So in silence they moved, continuing on,
and Anya wondered, wondered where her Dad had gone.
For you see, in the land of moon and sun,
where stars shine and adults race and run,
Father lost his way, weighted down by life,
as so often happens when one is alone to deal with the world’s strife.
So here he was now, lost in this world,
blinded by the darkness that swirled.
A long while Anya and Gus traveled,
and around them the mysteries of this world unraveled.
Understanding many things they did not,
and saw things they did that someday should be forgot.
But brave little Anya, the shadows did not deter,
as the world around her started to blur.
For her mind was singular on the thought,
of finding her father who was surely lost in this land, lost and distraught.
T’was then they came upon a castle, rising high from the sand,
and Anya quickly realized that this would be harder than planned.
“For he is trapped in there,” Gus whispered low,
“and in there we shalln’t find a friend, only those who would be called our foe.”
So with step brave but unsure,
Anya and Gus approached the castle that looked strong and secure.
The walls were tall and the door was locked,
and by a deep, cold moat the castle was blocked.
But Gus scampered and led the way,
to a hidden entrance, travel did they.
And reach it they did without being caught,
to an underground tunnel seemingly forgot.
So with love in their hearts and bravery in their souls,
the two entered the darkness, unsure of their roles.
For a long while they walked,
as the shadows around them suffocated and stalked.
But love for daddy dear,
held the fears of child behind a single tear.
Eventually through the tunnels they passed,
reaching a fiery gate swift and fast.
With hound of heads three blocking the way,
Gus knew he alone must enter this fray.
“Anya love, the time is now,
and to you this I vow,
“I shall keep this beast at bay,
and you must run without delay,
“For your daddy needs you more than I,
and tho’ the path is lonely and scary you must try.”
“But I can’t Gus, I can’t do it alone,
I’m scared of it all, afraid of the unknown.”
Gus gave her a final hug as he looked at her one last time,
unsure of his own fate, of the reason for life and its lack of rhyme.
“When the grim and gloom is thick as stones,
and you feel the chill of sorrow to the core of your bones,
“Your light will shine and brighten the path,
out of the darkness and away from the wrath,
“To lasting salvation,
saving Daddy from death’s temptation.”
And before Anya could respond with a cry of protest,
Gus leapt toward the angry beast’s chest.
“Now go!” he screamed as pain started to flow,
and without looking back, Anya ran with tears of woe.
She ran and she ran, for far and long,
as if strengthened in spirit by the proverbial Seraph’s Song.
Eventually she stopped as she was guided by love,
to the dungeon’s doorstep that no one ever spoke of.
For in there she knew her father was trapped,
trapped within his life of pain, unable to adapt.
From the sky to the ground he fell,
hurt and betrayed by those he loved most well.
All in all, save for one,
daughter dear who now was here to finish what she had begun.
Father’s salvation and rebirth,
rekindled life and self-worth,
Angel true in the guise of this little girl,
who was the love of his life, his brilliant pearl.
So turn the knob she did,
brave and strong, tho’ only a kid.
And inside the darkened room her father lay,
cold and hurt, an image painful still to this day.
Here he was at his worst,
unable to see before him due to things other than hunger and thirst.
“Daddy, oh daddy,” Anya cried,
afraid of thoughts bad, afraid her father had died.
For here they were, lost in his head,
in a world of darkness and dread.
Tho’ all was near lost,
Anya was willing to pay any cost.
For in that love, hope came to be,
in the form of a child’s light which would set them free.
And as she grabbed daddy in her arms,
deliverance came by her affection and charms.
The brilliant radiance of love’s light,
broke through the darkened pains of night.
With eyes closed and a grip so tight,
the black walls of the dungeon around them turned to white.
And when Anya finally looked once more,
her heart began to flutter and soar.
For there was Daddy and even kitty to boot,
and all her fears were now mute.
Filled instead by the song her father sings,
that even in her old age comforts as it rings.
Of the night a daughter saved her dad,
giving him a life he ne’er before could have had.
The End
