Displayed on the screen was paradise.

Watercolor clouds hung over an array of violet mountains, veiling them in pastel sunset shades; between them were blossoming valleys; rich with spring flowers and rambling, crystal brooks; sparkling brilliantly as if their waters had been replaced with polished diamonds.  Through the spiderweb cracks of her phone screen, Heather watched herself dance in the dewy grass, her skirts billowing out, her slight smile rosy and genuine, and gasped.

This was an excellent dream.

It had only been three nights since she’d downloaded Dreamwalker, the latest trending iPhone app, but already, she couldn’t imagine how she’d ever survived without it.  Admittedly, she’d had her doubts at first.  A camera app that recorded dreams?  It sounded fantastical, like something out of a sci-fi movie.  Yet, now, as she watched her dreams play out in perfect, high-resolution video, those thoughts seemed silly.  What she saw through Dreamwalker was _real_.

As she continued to scroll through last night’s video gallery, she discovered scene after scene, each one even more magical than the last.  She saw herself winning the lottery, walking along the beach, flying over vibrant cities bustling with energy.  These were all secret lives she’d formed in her head, hidden from herself for far too long.  Now that she could see them, she wanted to breathe them, to become them, to live in them forever—they felt so much more comfortable than her waking life.  All day, she was pushed around by never-ending assignments, expectations, social rules, but in the dreams she played back, none of those seemed to be an issue.

“Heather, you need to get off your phone!” yelled her mom, poking her head through a crack in her bedroom door.  “You’re going to miss your bus!” 

Heather groaned, slowly setting her phone down with a sigh.  She didn’t want to ride the bus, she didn’t want to go to school, she didn’t want to focus on anything else but her Dreamwalker world.  

After all, why should she care about her monochrome life when dreamland existed in technicolor?