As a child I had few possessions because we didn’t have a lot of money. But my parents owned our home, so that made us rich. And my mother had things. Important things like china and silver and a fur coat.
Long before I was five I could properly set a table with two forks, two spoons, a knife, a water goblet, a bread and butter plate, and a napkin I could fold in special ways.
I slept with my hair tightly pin curled on the nights before special occasions.
At Christmas there was always a new nightie, and a special dress because my mother was a talented seamstress. And there was at least one special gift under the tree for each of us. Plus a few other things like doll clothes and socks.
I was well fed (in spite of hating vegetables). Had a roof over my head, a bedroom of my own once I turned nine, and a big yard to play in. I considered the dog mine, and spent a great deal of time with her when she wasn’t wandering off to visit the neighbors.
I was a bright child who never had a problem with school, and played well alone or with others, but most of all I loved to escape into books.
I never spoke to an adult unless spoken too, my manners were impeccable, and I don’t recall misbehaving, although I must have selective memory because I do remember getting spanked with some frequency and crying like my heart had been broken.
And I had terrible nightmares. I thought all children had nightmares. Many, many, years later I learned otherwise…
…to be continued…
Dusty, from Into the Sunrise, had nightmares too. And she didn’t know her childhood was any different from the other children in her school. 
She was well off, her father told her so, and she had a bedroom of her own, and horses to ride. And she secretly sat out on the porch sometimes at night where she could hold the nightmares at bay while she listened to the sounds of creatures rustling in the long grass…
How about you? Did you have nightmares as a kid?
FlooF Art 