Stories of Daisy’s Dreaming Garden: The Awakening (Chapter 2 of 7)
by Christopher Sopher
℗ Published by Christopher Sopher Media, LLC © 2011–2025
Valley of the Sun Press — Crazy Daisy the Pug© Series
Part of Stories of Daisy’s Dreaming Garden
November 28, 2025
Chapter 2: The Awakening
As Daisy drifted deeper into sleep, her tiny paws twitched, her legs kicking in invisible sprints. A soft yipe escaped her, a sound so small, yet full of purpose. Something was happening behind those closed eyes.
And then—
The world tipped.
The sun stretched wider, spilling gold in slow, rippling waves. Colors sharpened, too vivid to be real, too perfect to belong anywhere but a dream. The air was thick with scent—sweet, crisp, untouched—nothing like the dry whisper of the desert. Here, the earth breathed in full bellows, its lungs made of emerald grass, thick and endless, rolling like a sea frozen in place. It was the green she had always longed for, the softness beneath her paws that never bit back.
Daisy ran, and it felt different. Lighter. She wasn’t panting, wasn’t pulling against heat or exhaustion. She could run forever here, faster than she ever had before. With each leap, the earth seemed to catch her gently and push her forward, as if it, too, wanted her to fly.
This was hers.
A world carved from the quiet corners of her heart, where time curled up in sunbeams and let her be young again. A place where no leash could reach, where no walls could hold her back.
She slowed her sprint, her paws padding softly along a narrow dirt path lined with wildflowers, their petals swaying like tiny dancers greeting her in silent celebration. The air was alive with birdsong, trilling notes that only she could understand. The trees whispered as she passed, their branches bending slightly as if bowing in reverence to the small, royal creature walking among them.
And then—water.
A silver shimmer ahead, glinting like a secret waiting to be found.
She approached the spring, a perfect little pool cradled by smooth stones, its water so still it could have been glass. The scent of it reached her before she even bent down—pure, untouched, kissed only by the wind. She stepped closer, and the cool ground met her paws, seeping up between her toes like a whispered promise. The damp earth held no heat, no trace of desert dryness. Just comfort. Just home.
She leaned in, lowering her face toward the water.
Then—she saw it.
Her own reflection, staring back at her, wide-eyed and golden in the rippling light. She blinked. It blinked.
How had she never seen herself this way before?
She wasn’t just Daisy. She was something more—something woven from stardust and soft snorts, something meant to be both fierce and gentle, both playful and wise. The water held the truth of her in its surface, letting her see what the world could not.
She took a slow, deep drink, and the coolness traveled through her, sinking into her bones, into the very heart of her being. It wasn’t just water. It was energy. It was knowing. It was everything.
She lingered, savoring the moment, her paws pressing into the damp earth as if trying to hold onto it forever.
And then—
A flicker.
A movement at the edge of her vision.
Not a hummingbird. Not a dragonfly.
Something else.
It danced in the air, weightless, shimmering in a way that didn’t belong to any creature she had ever known. It hovered just outside her focus, teasing the edges of her sight.
And Daisy—who had seen many things in her small but boundless world—felt something she had never felt before.
Curiosity.
Not of food. Not of toys. Not of squirrels darting past the fence.
But of something more.
Something just beyond the veil of knowing, just outside the grasp of waking life.
She took a step forward, eyes locked on the unseen marvel waiting in the air.
And so, the journey began.
Next > Chapter 3: Daisy Meets Luna
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Dream
Chapter 2: The Awakening
Chapter 3: Daisy Meets Luna
Chapter 4: The Watchful Guardian
Chapter 5: Puck the Golden
Chapter 6: Daisy’s Secret World
Chapter 7: The Journey Home
