"Katie, dinner time!" Mrs Stewart called.

"Coming Mum!"

But Katie had some business to finish first. Some purple spots here, a blue sky there, and a big pineapple pizza later, and she had finished her latest masterpiece. She rushed down the stairs, carefully of course, and burst into the kitchen, clutching her picture.

"Look Mum, I finished it! I've been working on it for two days! It's my best picture, I think." Katie held her newest creation up with pride.

"I told you to come down ten minutes ago, Katie. Your dinner is almost cold!" Mrs Stewart, Katie's mum scolded.

"But I had to finish it, Fred would've gotten sad if I hadn't given him any food."

"Who's Fred? Never mind, I don't care who he is or if he goes hungry. I've heated your pasta up again, now sit down. You need to get your head out of the clouds!"

Katie slumped into the chair and started eating her mac and cheese. Normally it was her favourite, but it seemed chewy and bland now. Her picture didn't even seem that good anymore.

The picture showed Fred the 'invisible' T-Rex. Outlined with a dashed line and mostly white with purple spots, he stood in a green field with blue sky while staring at the delicious pineapple pizza beside him. Katie was glad she'd finally given Fred a good place to live and adequate food.

"When's Dad coming home?"

"I don't know, he hasn't answered my texts for several days. Hopefully soon."

"He will come home, he always does," muttered Katie. After finishing her tea, she went back up to her room and got out her pink notebook. It held her prized sticker collection, and Katie didn't know what she'd do if she lost it.

It had been a while since she had last gone through her collection. Flipping to the front page, she went on a nostalgic journey through the notebook.

Third of March, 2015. Her dad had brought home the first sticker on her birthday. A bottle labelled 'Unicorn Magic'.

''I was four then,' she said to herself. 'But I'm seven now. A big girl.''

Turning the pages slowly, like a detective handling a piece of evidence, Katie relieved some great moments. The unicorn fan club sticker had been her reward for getting nine out of ten on a spelling test. She had gotten the dabbing unicorn from her dad when he heard how hard Katie was trying in school. Katie missed her dad. He understood her, her love for unicorns, her imagination, her struggle to concentrate in class and not daydream. She put away the notebook with a sigh. He will be home soon.

As if on cue, the front door opened.

"Gillian, Katie, I'm home!"

"Dad!" Katie squealed. She bolted down the stairs and into her dad's open arms. "You're home!"

"Yes sweetheart, I am."

"Rodger, it's so good to have you home," Gillian said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "How's the art coming along?" Rodger worked as a concept artist for a film company overseas, and could only return home every two weeks.

"It's coming along fine, thanks. Except my coworkers are annoying and haven't gotten a spark of imagination or creativity in them."

"Do you not like your job, Dad?" Katie asked.

Rodger gave her a kiss. "Of course I do. It's fun work, but I just don't like the people there. I'd rather work by myself."

"Just like me!"

"Yes," Rodger laughed. Turning to Gillian, he asked her about dinner.

"It's in the fridge. Put it into the microwave for two minutes."

While her parents had dinner, Katie got changed into her pyjamas and climbed into bed. Her bedroom was small and cramped, with ugly olive green walls and a small window that wouldn't close properly. But to Katie, it was her artist's studio. Pens and paper all over the floor, her best drawings covering some of the walls' distasteful colouring. Instead of the wet and dreary view of the town outside the window, Katie saw a medieval village. If she really tried, she could almost hear the clamour of the blacksmith's anvil and the bustle of a market.

Once under her duvet, Katie whispered to her drawing of Fred.

"We'll show the world how friendly you are someday. I'll free you from the pages, and you can come to school with me and see the treehouse! It's not really a treehouse, but it could be and it's almost as good. Night night, Fred."

Katie drifted off into her land of dreams. That night, she was riding a unicorn amongst the stars.

A/N Did you like the first chapter? I had a lot of fun writing it.