Author's note: Apparently this got posted while I was busy typing my post. And this is a bit better in my opinion that what I put up. Just ignore that other one. However, I will put a portion of my post in this post.
------------------------------------------------------
Once father and daughter were done eating, Melissa went upstairs to work on some homework for class before going to bed. Once she was in bed, she fell asleep pretty quickly. It was then that Melissa started to dream.
Melissa noticed that she was in a white room with all sorts of costumes around her hanging on racks. She saw her mirror self pulling costumes off of the racks and placing it in front of herself. She turned around to see herself approaching. "Oh, hello there," her reflection self said as she took a few more costumes off of the racks. "Glad to see you here. I need an opinion on something."
"Um, sure?" Melissa asked as this was a very strange situation for her.
Her reflection self smiled and said, "Oh, don't worry. You're in a dream trying to sort things out."
"Right," Melissa said. Why did her reflection self sound so much like her mother? "So, what are you trying to do?"
"Well," Melissa's reflection started as she turned back to the costumes, "I'm trying to figure out which costume that I should wear. I looked at this wolf costume, but it's way too furry for me. Plus, I see people wearing this one all the time. Then there's this tiger costume, but the stripes make my butt look fat."
Melissa rolled her eyes as she heard this. Was she really this shallow? But then again, this might be code for what she really thinks.
"Now," Melissa's reflection continued, "there are two costumes that I'm looking at. One costume is this cow costume. At first, it really wasn't something I was thinking about going with. But now that I've taken a closer look at it, it isn't that bad. Has lots of support and padding that really adds to the charm. On the plus side, it fits me better than I thought, and a good friend of mine is wearing the same costume."
"I see," Melissa said thoughtfully, "And the other costume?"
"Well, that's this fox costume. I really like this fox costume. It fits really well, and while it doesn't have as much padding as the cow costume, it's so elegant. I really see myself being happy about this costume."
"Okay," Melissa said, "And what's important to you?"
Melissa's reflection smiled and said, "Now THAT is the question, now isn't it? You see, on one hand, the cow costume requires a bit of fitting, but a good friend of mine is wearing it, and the other costume is a really good fit, and I almost fell in love with it when I first saw it. That, and I don't mind how it looks on me. The cow costume would take some getting used to, but I could easily grow into it. So, the question for me is do I wear the costume that my heart wants, or the costume that my brain wants?" Melissa's reflection then winked at Melissa as she said, "Of course, the most important part, the person wearing the costume, is not going to change no matter which one I choose."
Melissa smiled and nodded. She then walked up to her reflection and asked, "Mind if I take a look at the costumes?" She then took the costumes, and placed the fox costume in front of her body. She noted how well it fit and how elegant it looked on her. She then took the cow costume and placed it front of her. While it was a bit big for her, she noted the amount of padding. However, it felt so warm and inviting, and she couldn't help but feel that she really wanted to wear this costume, despite the ill fit compared to the fox costume. She sighed as this was a tough choice. She looked at one costume and then at the other before putting one of them back on the rack and holding the other one. "I think I'll go with this one."
"Are you sure?" Melissa's reflection asked.
Melissa smiled and nodded, "I'm sure."
With that, Melissa woke up from her dream. She knew what her decision was and what she wanted to do.
--------------------------------------------------
Meanwhile, in the waking world, Harold checked on her daughter to see her asleep in her bed. He quietly walked in and watched her sleep for a little bit. He quietly brushed her red hair away from her face while smiling softly. Melissa reminded him so much of his wife, although he thinks that she got the smarts from her dad. He tucked her in bed and then walked quietly out and downstairs.
In his new living room/study, he did the one thing that brought him comfort whenever something troubled him. He took a book out of his rather large collection and started to read. It wasn't long before he fell asleep while reading in his recliner.