looking

[Siberian]

[Siberian]

Amy

I was lying in the warm grass in our front yard. It was unusually warm for Spring break, living in Oregon and everything. The clouds were moving slowly across the light blue sky. It seemed like a perfect day. It was Sixty-five degrees! Which may seem cold to some people, but in Oregon, It was awesome weather. The air held the strong sent of freshly mowed grass and warm dirt. For the moment….life was good.
A shadow suddenly loomed over me, strands of brown reached down close to my face, and two brown eyes stared down at my head, ready to strike. I grinned, and it grinned back.
“Wanna play?”
It was Gina, my neighbor, friend, the sister I always wanted. She stood up strait and brushed her medium-long strait brown hair to the sides of her head. Gina was still smiling as I sat up.
Yes, we were twelve and thirteen, and we still used the word ‘play. ‘Other people may use ‘hang out,’ or ‘chill,’ or some other word, but play worked for us. Also, we did play. I didn’t think we needed to act all grown up or stuff like that, and we enjoyed each others company.
“Sure,” I said, standing up. “want to climb a tree, or go to the school?”
Gina thought for a moment, and then spoke “How about both?” I nodded, and we both headed for Gina’s yard.
Are neighborhood, isn’t really a neighborhood. It consisted of four houses, my house was the one most visible from the road. To the right of my house, there was a rental house, which the current neighbors I had no idea who they were. But there were some trees along the road that pretty much blocked that one from view. Behind that house was Gina’s house. It was the largest of the four, and was the only one with more than one story. It had three stories and a basement, so it could be said to have four stories. Lastly, on the left of Gina’s house, or right behind mine, was Barb and Don’s house. They were an elderly couple, in their 80’s, I think. We don’t see them much any more, but they are nice people.

[Siberian]

Gina


We both entered my yard, where my tree was sitting. It was probably the best climbing tree in the neighborhood. I walked to it first, I stepped on the blue crate, and hoisted myself up onto the tree branch. Amy came up behind me, and sat on the opposite branch.
Amy looked at me with a grin. “You know…I still think this would be a great tree for a tree house…”
“No.” I said back sternly. I told her before, this tree was not for houses.
Amy grinned and sat back against the moss of the tree. “Just a thought.” The branches of the tree were great for sitting, but they were low to the ground. The branches we were sitting on were about four or five feet from the ground, but that was fine with us.
“…so…Gina….are you, free….tomorrow?” Amy glanced at me.
I smiled back. “Yeah….it might work.” We knew what each other were thinking without even saying it. sleep over. “yeah, we’ll check that later.” I jumped off the tree and on to the bark below. Amy followed me, and we both started heading down the driveway to the school.
The convenience of our neighborhood is that it is right next to the school. From my tree, we were looking at the school yard. It’s a very small school for a middle school, and half of the school is rented to an elementary school, and we are not allowed to have contact with them. Are school used to be 5-8th grade, but changed to 6-8th, like normal schools.
We entered the school yard, and started to walk to the swings.
“Hey Gina… had any weird dreams lately?” Amy looked at me as we walked.
“Sorta. Why?”
“I don’t know….I’ve been having funny medieval dreams lately, about like a great war, and swords, and dark lords and stuff.”
I stopped and stared at Amy “…me too, almost just like that.”
Amy tilted her head. “Weird. I just thought I should say something, you know? I don’t have dreams like that often, but their becoming more vivid.”
I nodded, and we continued to walk down the sidewalk path that lead to the swing. She was right, it was strange. Especially now that she knew they were having the same dream. It was just all too weird…


It turned out we couldn’t have a sleep over. Amy was having bible study that night, and she forgot about it. So she had to stay, and I was left with watching a bunch of movies. Which, overall, wasn’t so bad.
I was in the middle of watching Daniel Boone, when the TV suddenly flicked off. I threw the striped blanket off of my lap, and tumbled over the couch to the remote. I clicked the power button. Nothing!
I went over to the light switch, and tried to turn it on. It didn’t work. The power must be out! Dang. I went up the second flight of stairs, because I was already on the second floor. On the third floor, my dad was sound asleep in front of the TV in his bedroom. I sighed. My mom wouldn’t be home for at least another hour, so I would have to take care of this myself.
I trudged down to the first floor, and grabbed a flashlight in the kitchen. Turning on the beam of light, I could see clearly. But it ended when I heard a loud Boom, Crack!
The flashlight dropped from my hand and onto the floor, turning the world black again. Lightning! No wonder the power was out! I bent over and grabbed the flashlight. I walked over into the downstairs living room, where Arty the Antelope’s head hung to the wall, my dad shot him last year.
I was startled to see movement outside the window. what the….? I thought as I pointed the light to the window, and there was….Mist! My black and white mini Auzi! What was she doing out there in the front yard?…The lightning! It must have scared her over the fence.
I went through the garage to where Mist was in front of the window. “Mist…come.”
That seemed to do the exact opposite to her. Mist took off running down the driveway, which was very abnormal for her.
“MIST!!” I yelled as I ran after her. She never ran away from me before, so why now? It was still dark and thunderesk, so who knows what could happen.
Mist ran up to the street, and turned left toward the school. Mist ran still, with me tailing behind. I can’t believe Mist would do something like this! No more agility for her!
Running still, she went clear past the school and turned a sharp left, she was now in the tree farm. I sure was glad that I got good mile times in PE. I couldn’t believe Mist would run away like this! She never did anything like this before…..so why now? We were running along the fence that bordered the tree farm from the school. Mist made it passed the school fence, which lead into an open field with the occasional pile of random wood. Mist stopped for a moment, and barked while she wagged her butt around.
I stopped, panting. Thunder boomed over head. “Mist…come here…” I said as nicely as I could. I took a few steps toward her, and the mini Auzi bolted for the trees.
“MIST!!” I yelled as I continued after her. The trees were thin and dark, and there wasn’t that many of them. Amy always called it a forest, and said someday she would go exploring in there. I had always told her it wasn’t a forest, but she didn’t care. Exploring was fun, anyway, but it’s funner in an actual forest.
Mist disappeared into the trees. She seemed to have completely vanished from sight. I entered the trees, and froze. From the outside, it looked like a thin bunch of trees, but from the inside, it was a forest.
I stared at all the trees, stretching for miles, it seemed. But that was impossible, because from my house you can see where it ends, and it doesn’t go far. Taking a deep breath, and holding the flashlight in front of me, I entered.
In Oregon, most of the trees have pine needles, so they are green all year round. Here there was kind of a mix, mostly ones with leaves were in this forest. The buds were just starting to open, so they looked bare, giving the dark forest an evil look.
Maybe I should turn back…give Amy a call…we could look for Mist together. I was about to do so, when Mist ran under my legs, making me fall over on my back. Mist yipped and continued forward, mocking me as she went. “Oh, no you don’t!” I got up and ran deeper.
Mist ran slower here, for the ground was wet and made it hard to run in. I caught up to her quickly. We entered a clearing, and I grabbed hold of Mist’s collar.
“Ha! Gotcha!” I got down on my knees and looked at Mist sternly. To my surprise…Mist seemed confused. She glanced around and sniffed the air. She gave me a look that said ‘how did I get here?’
Suddenly a bright light flashed from the earth in front of me. I gasped and fell backward again, onto the wet muddy grass. The light grew taller, and the section of ground seemed to rise, growing ten feet tall. Roots dangled from the pile of dirt, grass and moss stuck on the top. The pile opened up like a cat opening it’s mouth. I was so bewildered, I was almost blinded by the light, until it died down. I rubbed my eyes to clear my vision. Glancing around, I saw Mist had gone…it must have scared her off. The pile was only a few feet wide, and the opening was the size of a door. I still just laid there, wondering what in the world to do next. The opening stared into blank darkness.
Clunk, clunk, clunk, I heard footsteps. Out of the hole came two people, a man and a woman. Both were wearing a long dark brown cloak that had the appearance of dirt, it covered their feet, and a hood was pulled over their eyes. They looked about the same age, and the only way I could tell the difference between the two was that one had a mustache and the other had long hair draping onto her shoulders.
I’m going crazy. I thought to myself. Then the man spoke “Are you Maiden Gina of the Wolves?” he said bluntly, but with a kind and sharp tint in it. Just by his voice you could tell he was complicated and impatient.
Yep. I’m really going now…I’m going mad with crazy hallucinations. “Are you Maiden Gina of the Wolves?” the man said again, less impatient than before.
Yep. I’m gone. “HELLO?” the man scowled. I jumped to my feet. I really wasn’t listening before, it was a bit too much….
“Huh? Err…I’m Gina, but I know nothing about me being a maiden or having anything to do with wolves…dogs maybe, but not wolves.” I said a bit shakily. This must be a dream…a very weird dream…I must have socked out on the couch…
“This is no dream, Gina of the Wolves…” the woman spoke, her voice was kind and gentle, but with a slight, almost unnoticeable twinge of impenitentness in it. She seems nice…but- wait! Did she read my mind…? I looked at her surprised and shocked.
“Yes, Gina of the Wolves…The Great Jewliana blessed me with such a power…and you will get one, maybe similar…” The woman looked at me with curiosity, as if already trying to see what powers I wielded. The name Jewliana rang in my ears, and wouldn’t go away. An image flashed in my mind, it was quick, but I could see every detail of it.
It had been a beautiful girl, with long mostly strait brown hair, kind of like mine. She had one deep brown eye, and another grass green eye. Two different colors…The girl also had dark eyebrows, and wore some kind of armor on her body, but I couldn’t really tell what it looked like. But what stood out even more, was the sword that she held.
It looked like the blade was made from a silver mirror, it was that shiny. It glistened in the sun and the light bounced off the grass, lighting everything up. It was long, and had a slight curve near the edge of the blade. A light blue stripe slid down one side of the blade, but it was small and only touched the sharp part. On the other side the sharp part was light green, like healthy grass. The hilt was engraved from some precious stone, and had beautiful swirling carvings all over it.
The image swept by so fast, I was surprised that I saw so much. I looked from the boy to the girl “who are you guys?” I asked out of the blue.
The girl’s eyes swept over to the man for a second, her head never turned. The boy did the same, it seemed as if they were having some sort of conversation with their minds. Another advantage to having mind reading powers, no doubt.
“I am Gregory of Stone, a royal guard of the Temple of the Earth, third descendent of Jewliana.” the man spoke first. He took a small bow, but didn’t remove his hood or do anything else. He just stood back up and liked his arms, the sleeves overlapping each other.
Then the woman spoke “I am Jill of the Rivers. Also a royal guard of the Temple of the Earth, and third descendent of Jewliana.”
I seriously had no idea what they were talking about. A Temple? Descendents? And that name Jewliana again. It was bugging me. “Um…what does all that stuff even mean?”
“We shall explain later, but right now, all you need to know is that you are leaving your household and your world, and coming to Forothia and are going to live and train in the Temple of the Earth.” Gregory said.
“Say WHAT?!” my eyes widened and I stared at them. “Leave? Train? Other worlds? I’m sorry, but you guys are crazy, and-”
Jill suddenly snapped something on my wrist, cutting me off. It was an arm band, it was pale and had elaborate carvings al the way around it. It fit perfectly on my wrist, and it stung a little.
“Hey! What the heck?” I said, and I tried to take it off. But I couldn’t find the opening to where I could pull it off, and actually…It started to feel warm. I stopped tugging at it, and the buzzy feeling left, replacing it with a warm cozy feel.
“This, is your proof. Any normal being would be electrocuted immediately until death. This proves that you are among the line of Jewliana.” Jill told me. I felt calm, and peaceful with it on. I looked at it, and the carvings seemed to glow slightly against the night. “You have until tomorrow, then you will meet us back here. In that time you must find a way to tell your loved ones about your leaving without telling them about us, meeting us in the forest, or anything that we have told you. If you do not meet us, be warned, Gina of the Wolves, if the bracelet does not come to our world sometime tomorrow, it will begin to melt. It will take your whole body with you.”
I gulped and looked at the wrist band. I guess I had no choice…but there is so much I would leave behind…my dogs, my parents, my friends, my things, all of Oregon…all of the world. And how would I tell my parents? I would have to figure something out…
Jill looked to Gregory, and they both nodded. The took a step back, with their cloaks hardly swaying as they stepped back through the dirt door. A pile of dirt filled the black opening once they were in, and the tower slowly fell back into the earth, and it looked as if almost nothing was there. The last thing I saw was the glowing eyes of Gregory and Jill.

[Siberian]

Amy


Bible study went over well, despite the thunder and the rain. The bible study took place at our house, and was always a joy, for all the people there are my cousins. Well, most of them. A few are friends. There were eleven of us total, and afterwards, I was exhausted.
Even then I didn’t go to sleep. At eight I watched a movie called Silver Streak, it was a movie my mom and dad watched when they were younger, and my gosh, was it hilarious. It had been officially labeled one of my number one favorites.
It was almost ten, and my parents went to bed as me and my brother went to the computers. My brother usually stays on twenty-four seven, so it’s not a big deal for him. But I get my chance at games, face book, and all the other things I like to do. It was Twelve-thirty when I decided I should go to bed. Falling asleep wasn’t any trouble at all, usually. But sometimes it can be hard for me to sleep. Tonight wasn’t one of those nights.
I was having one of those really vivid dreams again. There was a war, and these people won, and then the dark lord came, he destroyed much of the army, and the king and queen ordered some weapon that could defeat the man…but my dreams always became hazy after that. I caught flashes and images, but not always a lot of it. This time my dream was a bit different.
In my dream where it usually gets hazy, I found my field of vision going upward, out of the castle, and into the sky. I watched as my vision moved over the landscape like they do in those movies, and I found a place I was unaware of.
It looked like some kind of cliff terrain, where random rocks jutted sixty feet in the air, or cliffs off of mountains jutted out like grassy plains you would see somewhere far below. There were so many of the cliffs, it almost started to look as if people could live in such cliffy places. I felt right at home.
The sky always seemed to be light gray, with kind of a sunset feature off somewhere. But the whole cliff world stretched for miles, giving you the thrill of distance. Out of many of the cliffs there seemed to be large fossils the size of elephants or buildings, and others had mass carvings in them. I couldn’t tell what they were, but gosh it was beautiful.
I soon felt that I could actually control where I was looking, and I could see my body in the dream. So it was one of those kinds of dreams. It was so realistic, I started to feel I was really there. I stretched my arms up to full length, and could feel the cool air run through my fingers. The air tickled my skin, and made me feel great.
But suddenly something in my dream changed. The hazy-unclear feel of a dream vanished, and now I could see everything. I stopped floating in the air, and I was still, just hanging there. I felt panic rise inside me, like real life.
“Dang.”
That was all it took to make me fall. I fell out of the air as if a puppet master had cut my strings. I flailed throughout the air, coming down, down, down, upon the hard fossil cliffs below.
I landed with a splat, flat on my face. For thirty seconds I lay there, feeling dead. Lifting my head up, I realized that this was still a dream. I was unhurt, but had a big shock throughout my body. Other than that, I was just dirty.
Standing up felt like lifting an anvil. I shook for a brief moment, and then caught my balance. My whole front side was plastered with dirt and dust, and I let out a harsh cough with dust spewing out of my mouth. Looking around, I saw that I had landed on one of the cliffs, and it wasn’t one of the grassy ones. It looked about twenty by twenty feet wide, and was not connected to any other cliffs.
As I looked to the ground, I found the whole cliff was covered with elaborate carvings all over it, and I had landed in the middle of a glowing circle carving.
“Ah, there you are!” I heard a male voice behind me. I didn’t have enough time to turn before two large muscular arms wrapped themselves around my neck. I gasped immensely, slipped under the arms, and flipped around, seeing who had attacked me.
The man had long golden brown hair, and had whiskers on his face, but no official mustache or beard. His eyes were sea foam blue, and he was tall with a muscular build. He looked about twenty three, and wore a tank-top and long leather pants.
He looked through his arms with surprise, and then saw I was far over here. “Ah, slippery one, are you?” he grinned and put his arms down. That’s when I realized he hadn’t attacked me, he had given me a hug.
I brushed some more dirt off my face. “…do I know you?”
He thought for a moment. “No, not yet, I guess. But I’m surely glad to meet you! We have been waiting for hundreds of years to meet the next line of Alexian!”
Alexian? That name was very interesting…I feel like I had heard it before, but in another time. It almost felt as if someone was calling my name.
“I am Aaron of Sunlight. It is good to meet you, Amy!” his eyes, much like mine, showed with pure delight and humor. Which, usually felt like my thing.
“How…do you know my name? Boy, this is a strange dream…”
“Oh, my dear Amy! This is no dream…well, actually it is, I guess. We are speaking to you through a dream. It is the only way we can meet until we can see you in person.”
This was a bit difficult to understand, I did, and yet I didn’t. Dream walking was all a bit confusing. Then I realized something he said that seemed out of place. “What do you mean- OH MY GOSH!!”
I jumped back as I saw the girl sitting on the rock. She was the same age as Aaron, but she looked so. Much. Like. Me. It was almost creepy the resemblance. Giving Aaron a closer look, he also looked a lot like me, but more of a boy version.
The girl jumped down from the rock, her quiver of arrows jingling and her bow shining in the dim sunlight. “Sorry to surprise you, but descendents of Alexian look very similar. I am Ally of the Rain, third descendent of the line of Alexian, royal guard and protector.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah, I’m those things too. Third descendant, blah blah blah.”
I looked at them both in amazement. I seemed to strangely understand what they were speaking of. But then another name danced in my mind…one I had not thought of till now.
“Alexian seems to be popular…Is there a girl named Jewliana?”
Ooop. I must have hit a hard spot. The smile immediately melted off of Aaron’s face, and Ally flinched. They stood quiet for many seconds.
“J…err, she, is the line of the sworn enemy of Alexian. You must never speak of her, EVER.” Aaron suddenly felt threatening, so I listened and listened good.
“Well, uh…then…oh! Why did you bring me here, then?” I said as I found a way to change the subject.
Their eyes lightened, and Ally stepped forward. “You are a descendent of the great Alexian, so we have come to tell you it is time to come with us. We will lead you here, you will train in the Sky Temple, and will become one with the stars. You will have to leave your family, but here we will become your new family, and you will train and get your full title.”
I think I knew what she meant by ‘full title,’ like maybe when Aaron said ‘Aaron of Sunlight,’ and Ally was ‘Ally of the Rain.’ Right now I was just Amy, so maybe I would get a title later.
I was starting to doubt if this was real or not. It felt real, but it didn’t possibly seem that it could be that way. But if this was real, then the only problem I saw was leaving my family.
I lived in a family of five, my mom, dad, big brother, and little sister. I was the middle child. How could I leave them behind! I loved them too much for that! Besides, I worry a lot when I miss things at school and stuff…
Aaron saw that I was thinking about my family, and bent down on one knee and put his hand on my shoulder. “Hey, we all had to leave our homes and past lives. But trust me, It’s all worth it. And haven’t you always wanted to go on an adventure?” His eyes twinkled.
I stared up with amazement. He knew. I have always wanted an adventure, and I just felt like I could trust him. I smiled, any my eyes felt moist. I would do it. Yes, I could do it. I felt confidence flow through me, like I was a new person.
“Okay, I can do that.”
“Good.” Ally said, walking up to us, and helping Aaron stand up. “If you want to get to us, tomorrow you will need to go out on the full moon, and you must say these words….” Ally’s eyes glowed silver. “Moon light, capture me. Moon light, come to me. Pick me up, take me passed Utopia, take to the great cliff land of Forothia!” Ally’s eyes faded and turned normal again, she blinked.
Aaron took the pole “you must do that tomorrow night, or else it will not work. We will be waiting for you here, on the dream cliff.” He gestured to the slightly glowing carvings on the ground.
“Oh, so that’s what this is.”
“-AND ANOTHER THING!” Ally broke in quickly. “You have to tell your family you are leaving, but not tell them why, how, or where.” her eyes blazed through my body, soul, and spirit. I felt the jitters.
“Err… okay. So, how do I get back then? It doesn’t feel like I can wake up…” Aaron grabbed my hand, and whispered some words. Transparent fiery words slipped from his mouth, and fell into my hand. A black symbol appeared in my hand, it looked like a star, or the sun, or both.
“Just in case, if you wake up and think this is all a dream…This will still be there.” he looked at me with concern. Then he smiled and stood up. “Ready to wake up?”
I stood tall. “Yep. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow…” I began, but then Aaron placed a glowing finger on my forehead, and my whole vision became a pale white light, glittering like I had looked strait into the sun. I felt my body dissolve, and I was gone.

I gasped and sat strait up in my bed. Cold sweat dripped from my brow, and the world was still white and blurry. I wiped my eyes, and gazed around. I was still in my room, my disaster of a room, I should say. My little sister slept soundly in her bunk bed, I sighed. It had all been a dream…a really, really really vivid dream. I sank back down against my pillow. I was safe…I was sound….
I smiled and looked at my hands. They were also sweaty, heck, my whole body felt like it was dripping with cold sweat. I flipped my hands over, and almost screamed. The sun-like mark was still there.

[Siberian]

Chapter 2


Gina

The previous night I had walked back home, and found that Mist had regained position at my side, showing no intention of running off again. It took only about two minutes to get back home, so it wasn’t a huge walk. But it had started pouring rain, so both me and Mist were soaked.
My eyes stared blankly at the ground in front of me, like a light bulb that just died. Leave everything behind…for what? They said I was important, a descendent of Jewliana…but it didn’t really make sense.
On the way back, I kept trying to think of a way out of this mess. But whenever I thought of a good one, I remembered the arm band, and the words that Jill told me: “ …If you do not meet us, be warned, Gina of the Wolves, if the bracelet does not come to our world sometime tomorrow, it will begin to melt. It will take your whole body with you.”
When I got to my house, my dad was still asleep, and my mom still wasn’t home yet. Mist looked up at me with eyes full of wonder. She seemed…calmer…than usual.
Once in the garage, I knelt down and stroked Mist behind the ear. She licked my fingers and whined. I gave her a small smile, put her in the back yard, and went inside.
I gazed at the arm band for a long time. I guess I would have to go. Yes, I would go to the world of Forothia, I would live and train in the Temple of the Earth, and I was bringing Mist with me.

The next day, I knew I had to tell my parents. I had too….but how? If I told them strait forward, they would ground me or something. Then I would die of my melting armband. If I just ran off, my parents might get worried and call the police or something.
I don’t know…it was all hard. For a long while I just ran my fingers up and down my colorful spotted bedspread. Just waiting for some inspiration to occur… Then I thought of something. It wasn’t a good idea, but hey, it was an idea.
I jumped down a flight of stairs and went into the kitchen. It was now Friday, so neither of my parents would be home for over six hours. Good thing it was spring break.
I then took out my cell phone, I was next to our home phone, but it was part of my plan. I would leave a message…my last message, for a while….hopefully not my last. So using my cell, I called our house. The phone rang, and I waited for the beep so I could leave a message. I was kind of thinking on the spot, so I hoped I would put it right.
*beep* “Um…hey, mom and dad, uh…I just wanted to let you know…I was…going on that agility retreat!”
Oh…man. I was really blowing it now. There was no such thing! But I was taking Mist with me, so I would need to be convincing. I would work on details later.
“…anyway, I guess you guys forgot, but, no worries! I got Amy’s mom to drive me, and their going to take us! I forget how long It’s going to be, but I’ll call you when I’m coming home. Bye, love you!”
I hung up on my cell phone and sank down to the floor. I was doomed. How could I make this more convincing? They would figure it out right away. If I was gone for more than a few days to a week, ugh, this wasn’t going to be good. But if I was in Forothia, I would be fine, they wouldn’t know where I was.
Just in case, I zipped over to the calendar that hung on the side of our kitchen cabinets. We always had trips and holidays marked on our calendar, so I could make this slightly more believable. I took a Sharpie, wrote ’Agility Retreat’ on today, and made a line that stretched from there through two more weeks. Hopefully, I would be back before then.
I knew I wouldn’t. By the way Gregory and Jill talked, I would be there much longer.

I decided to take one last look at my house. I went through every room and tried to memorize every detail, so that if I ever forgot…maybe I could get a small flash of it back. Lastly, I went to my pets. Thumper, my grey flop-eared bunny, put his face to the cage as I got close. I opened the cage and petted his soft fur. I gave him some extra food, and planted a small kiss on his forehead. In the back yard, I had to say goodbye to our golden retriever Shasta, she was old, but loyal and a real lover. Nick, our yellow lab, he was almost pure white, and he was crazy over food. I made sure I fed the two before I would leave.
I walked back into the garage, with Mist at my heels. I was glad at least one small piece of home would be coming with me. Her brown eyes seemed to dance with unknown excitement, for anything that lay ahead.
I stroked her ears. “Well, Mist. Ready to go?” Mist jumped and wagged her butt again, the closest thing she had for a tail. I smiled, and we both left the garage door, knowing I wouldn’t be back for a long time. Also, I might even be an entirely new person. That was one of the things that I dreaded.

[Siberian]

Amy


The day was going by so fast, I was afraid of night fall, but at the same time, I was excited. It was like one of those love-hate relationships, but it didn’t involve a person. As the day went quickly onward, I felt worries consume me. My mom asked me if I was sick, and I told her I was fine.
I had to hide the marking on my hand, I knew if they saw it I was a goner. Most likely, anyways. So all through the day I either kept my hand closed, or wore something over it. A few times I tried to wash it off, but it never left me. I was stuck with it.
That night my parents went to bed at nine as they usually do, my dad has to work six days a week, which includes Saturday, and my mom wakes up at four-thirty with him every morning, so I was a little glad that night.
Once they were off to bed, and my brother distracted by pointless You Tube videos, I could work on my letter. Since last night I had decided I was going to write them a letter telling them I was going, for one thing, I wrote them little reminder notes all the time, like one would say “Hey mom! Make sure I’m awake by 5:30 I have to leave to school extra early!” Or “Dear mom, remind me that I have early band practice this morning!”
Something along those lines.
I took out a pen and some blank printer paper, and began to write:

Dear Mom and Dad,

I love you guys very much. You know that. But I need to tell you something very important…I’m leaving. I’m not running away, or being forced to go somewhere. Mom, remember those adventure books we read all the time? Well now it is time for mine. I am not crazy, but I am just letting you know I wont be back for…a very long time, probably. Please tell the school that I am really sick or got in an accident, or something. I don’t want to be accused for skipping school. The room is still mine, so don’t bother to give anything away while I’m gone. Don’t tell my siblings that I am going on an adventure, just tell them I’m at a school thing or something. PLEASE KEEP THIS A SECRET. I don’t want the FBI or anything coming after me. They wont be able to find me, anyway. Not where I’m going. I love you guys, and I’ll be back/ contact you as soon as I can.

With all my love,

DD, aka, Amy.

I set down the pen and looked it over. It was good, I don’t think I could say it any other way. My name had nothing to do with the letter ‘D,’ but it was kind of a nickname my parents gave me. They called me their ‘Darling Daughter,’ so I shortened it to DD when I write things like this.
I gazed around the kitchen, the dining room…all so familiar, I wonder what I am getting myself into. Will the adventure I always wanted turn out to be this one? I don’t think I’ll be able to tell until it’s over…If it ever is.
I set the paper on the counter, where I always put my letters, and headed for the back sliding glass door. It was the only quiet exit, and the front door was super creaky. My brother didn’t even notice me as I opened the door, his eyes were fixed on the screen, and his headphones were probably turned up way to loud.
“Bye…”I whispered, as I slowly closed the door, and headed into my yard.

[Siberian]

Gina


Together me and Mist headed back behind the school back to the forest. This time when we went there, it wasn’t as big as it was yesterday, probably the storm last night messed with my mind and made me think it was bigger. But today when I entered it, it was much thinner, and the trees and bushes more scraggly. Mist’s brown eyes gazed up at me with complete trust. We entered the forest, under the bright full moon surrounded by a purple fog.

[Siberian]

Amy


I went around front to the front yard. From there I gazed beyond the horizon covered by black trees silhouetted by the bright moon. A light fog was rising up in the distance. It was a really beautiful sight, but I was still full of jitters from the thought of leaving and going to another world.
In my pocket was a small piece of paper, with the words that Ally had told me to say tonight. I took a deep breath, and took out the paper.

[Siberian]

[center] Gina


Mist and I had been walking through the foggy forest for only a short while, when we reached the clearing I had met Gregory and Jill in yesterday. The arm band was feeling warm, and beginning to get hot. The good feelings it gave me were starting to wear off, being replaced with fear of melting.
Mist suddenly turned her head to the trees in front of us. She was hearing something I didn’t. Slowly two figures emerged from the shadows. Both wore muddy brown cloaks that dripped down below their feet. Their noses and chins were the only parts of skin shown. Gregory and Jill were here.
Greg spoke first “Gina of the Wolves, are you prepared to go to Forothia-” he stopped as Mist barked at him. Gregory looked to Jill.
“…Maiden Gina, we…do not recall applying that you could bring a pet…” Jill looked at me hard.
“Look, either we both go, or neither of us do.” I told them firmly. The arm band began feeling very hot, maybe even streaming a bit.
Gregory sighed with the usual impatience. “Fine…Gina of the Wolves…for some reason, you seem very important to Joncé. But be warned…this pet is your responsibility. We have pets back at the Temple, but we care for them alone. Do you understand-”
“Yes!” I cut in quickly. I already knew I was going to have to care for her, but the arm band was getting really hot now. “…and…If I’m going to go to Forothia…I don’t want to be there as a puddle.”
Jill saw my urgency and took it off quickly. I gasped and rubbed my arm. It had turned red and had begun to make black marks on my skin.
“If you are ready, then, right this way.” Gregory and Jill both stepped to opposite sides so I could walk in between them. With as much courage as I could bring up, I walked ahead. Behind the bushes there was another dirt door like I saw Jill and Greg come out before. I took one last look at my world, and stepped through the door.

[Siberian]

Amy


I took out the paper and took a long look at it. The words were sticking in my head like glue. The moon had risen almost to it’s full height. I took a deep breath. I guess it was about time to go. I seriously had no Idea what would happen next.
I lifted my head and looked strait at the moon, and began to recite Ally’s words: “Moon light, capture me. Moon light, come to me. Pick me up, take me passed Utopia, take to the great cliff land of Forothia!”
I said it slowly, just as Ally had done. My eyes turned silver as I spoke. I felt myself grow lighter, until I felt like a feather. As I continued, a white swirling pattern grew from the fog around me, gathering like a bunch of foreign words. Thick wavy lines grew around me like slow growing trees, until a lacy sphere of white light was around me.
Once I finished the last words, my body grew lighter, I was dissolving into the white sphere. My body soon grew transparent, and the rest of me dissolved into little white balls of light, and I entered the larger white sphere around me. The glowing ball lifted into the sky, shrank to about the size of a basketball, and went up even higher.
It is hard to explain the feeling I felt. It was kind of a weightless feeling, but felt like you also had long blowy scarves attached to your arms and legs. I felt at peace, and completely relaxed. But it wasn’t just that, it was so much more…there are no earthly words to describe it other than that.