Chapter 1

Introduction

Bella Straffer is a 9 year old girl living in New York City, also known as the Big Apple. She lives with her parents Jane and Steve, on the Upper East Side on the 8th floor of a large apartment building. The apartment is very modern and Bella has her own room with windows that look out at beautiful views of the city.  Bella is a happy little girl who loves life and has big dreams for her future. She has many friends and loves school. Sports and art play a big role in Bella’s life. 

She plays soccer and is involved in both the theater and photography programs at her school.  Bella’s parents always tell her that she is their greatest joy in life.  Her mother, Jane, is a preschool teacher at a private school on the Upper West Side. Her father, Steve, is a lawyer and works for a law firm on the Upper East Side. Bella’s family is very special to her.  She resembles her mom with her big smile and long brown hair that is sun streaked in the summer. She has her dad’s big blue eyes and dark eyebrows. 

    The Straffer family loves to travel during Bella’s school vacations but they never travel too far from New York City.  In fact they have never traveled outside of the United States. They have been to Florida, South Carolina, California, Texas and a number of other states. Bella is grateful for her travel experiences but with her big imagination she wants to explore the world! In fact traveling the world is all that Bella can think about these days and soon it’s all that Bella can dream about too!

July 12th was the first night that Bella had a dream that she couldn’t forget! It started as just your average summer day. Bella woke up and had breakfast with her parents. Her mom cooked her favorite breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. After breakfast Bella and her dad went to the park a few blocks away from their apartment and Bella played for a few hours in the hot sun with her friends from school.  Her dad had packed snacks and sandwiches from home and they ate these for lunch at the park before they went home. When Bella was done playing at the park her and her dad went back to their apartment to wash-up before going out for a family dinner.

They got all dressed up and headed to a nice Italian restaurant called Carmines. Bella ordered plain pasta and Jane and Steve ordered two pizzas, one plain for the whole family and one with vegetables just for Steve. After dinner they went back to their apartment to watch some T.V. before going to bed. It had been a long day and Bella put her head on her pillow and fell into a deep sleep. 

Greece 

Chapter 2

Bella opened her eyes and her clock said it was midnight.  But Bella wasn’t in her bed, she wasn’t even in her room or in her apartment.  Bella was in Greece! She was walking on a beach in the Greek town of Lindos in the crazy hot heat in her bright pink one piece bathing suit.  The beach is called Saint Paul’s Bay. She walked up and down the beach feeling the hot sand between her toes. 

 She floated in the cool clear water and thought about all the times she had dreamed of traveling to Greece. And this was a dream too right?  She was dreaming about this trip.  She wasn’t actually on the beach in Greece was she?  When Bella was done at the beach she headed to dinner. She put on her white jeans and a pink shirt from Brandy Melville.

She had to have a quick dinner at a restaurant called Stagnecosa because she had a flight to catch her next destination. The restaurant was great, fresh Greek food with an amazing view of the water. Bella’s next destination is Athens. She has always dreamed of seeing the Acropolis of Athens. Bella's parents have lots of travel guides and she often looks at them. The Acropolis has always caught her attention.

Bella flew to Athens and went straight to Acropolis by Taxi to meet her tour guide Natalie.  Bella met Natalie at the Maine entrance.  Natalie has short Blonde hair and she is wearing tan pants and a blue shirt with her tour guide badge around her neck. Since Natalie is a tour guide she is able to cut to the front of the long line for the Acropolis so Bella has time to visit all of the sights including the Parthenon.

  Bella also saw the Temple of Athena Nike, which is the smallest temple on the Acropolis.  The word Nike is very important in Greek because it means victory.

After visiting the Acropolis Bella was hungry and went looking for a snack.  She decided to try a Greek dessert called loukoumades which are soft, warm greek doughnuts topped with ice cream or different sauces or syrups. Bella sat outside at a table as her warm delicious dessert was delivered to her. It was late at night in Athens and Bella was getting tired but there were still crowds of people roaming around the cobblestone streets.  

A loud ringing noise woke Bella up.  She hit her alarm clock to turn it off.  Her head was pounding and she felt confused. Why was she feeling this way? Then Bella remembered the crazy dream she had. It was so realistic.  It was like she really had visited Greece and seen all of the sights that she had hoped to see. 

She got out of bed and reached for her water bottle on her nightstand.  She noticed something there next to her water bottle. It was a tiny bottle of olive oil with a picture of the Greek flag on it. What a weird thing to be on her nightstand. Bella quickly grabbed an empty shoe box and carefully placed the small bottle of olive oil inside.  She closed the box and wrote DREAMS on the top in big black letters and then hid it under her bed. 

    Bella went about the day as usual without thinking of her dream again. She had her friend Abby’s birthday party today so after breakfast she got dressed in her Lululemon black shorts and blue tank top, brushed her hair and was ready to head out for the day. The birthday party is a painting party at an art studio for kids.  Bella is very excited for this party.  She has such a good imagination and is very creative.

While Bella and her dad were in the car on the way to the party he asked her what she was going to paint. Bella was unsure but told him maybe a beach.  At the party Bella kept thinking of different things she could paint and her mind kept going back to the Acropolis.  She wasn’t a very good artist but she tried to paint what it looked like to her.  Most of her friends were trying to paint trees or dogs or other animals.

 As they peaked over Bella’s shoulder they asked her what she had painted and said they loved it. When the party was over Bella’s father picked her up and they headed home for dinner.  He asked about her painting and she told him that she had tried to paint the Acropolis of Athens.  “Wow!” He said.  For dinner they had steak with a Greek salad on the side.  It wasn’t as good as the Greek salad she had in her dream last night!  

London 

Chapter 3

Bella got washed up for bed and put her cozy pajamas on. They were purple, her favorite color!  She was watching TV on her iPad as she started to fall asleep. What would she dream about tonight?  Or more importantly WHERE would she dream about tonight?  Just like the night before, Bella opened her eyes at exactly midnight and she was standing right in front of Big Ben, one of London’s most famous sights.

  She was wearing a fancy long tan wool coat with a grey sweater underneath, black jeans and cute black boots.  She felt so stylish! She had always dreamed of going to London and dressing up for tea or a visit to Buckingham Palace! Even though it’s summer in New York it’s cold in London which is why she has on a coat! Bella walked over to the famous London Bridge and stared out into the water.

As she walked over the bridge, she found a map of London in the back pocket of her jeans. She pulled it out and decided to walk over to the London Eye.  She bought a ticket and took a ride on the huge ferris wheel.  From the London Eye Bella could see Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, some of the most iconic landmarks in London.