I suppose it was a fantasy that started the way all fantasies start.

A castle.

An open field.

A princess to save.

If only the land was not a beautiful as it was. If only the grass wasn’t as green or the trees less red. Maybe then the inevitable danger the castle presented would be more obvious. Maybe then I would have known what I was getting myself into.

The milky white birds urged me forwar...

“Give us the crystals or else!” Lord Cyrus pointed his wand at my sister and I. Cyrus and his goons had been after us for weeks, trying to steal the Titan Crystals from us. Today they’d cornered us on this cliff with no escape.

“We’re not giving you anything!” My sister clutched her leather pouch in her hand. That’s were we “had put the crystals” or at least that’s how we were trying to make it s...

I walked closer, taking in the scene in front of me. Annie on the ground, holding someone in her arms, and sobbing. I tried to yell at her, tried to tell her I was ok. The person she was holding was… me. My face was bloody and bruised like I’d lost a battle and my eyes were closed.

“Lynn?” I whipped around to see a cloaked figure, their face hidden by the hood. They lifted their hands to throw th...

“Where am I?” I said aloud, looking around this new place. The ground reminded me of tar and large fireflies attached more bricks zipped past. Even larger bricks reached up into the sky with defective surfaces glued onto them.

My reflection scared me. My antlers had disappeared and my ears were tiny on the sides of my head. My hair was almost exactly the same only there were less twigs and leaves...

“Your time is up. Better start running.”

And I do. I run for my life and don’t look back even for a second. I don’t know where my friends have gone but I really hope they haven’t been captured.

There is only one place to hide in this field and it’s in the old tree. I’m smart though. Everyone will be hiding by that tree and I’ll be the only one hiding somewhere else.

Then again… everyone will be...

Hi.

“What do you want?”

Wait! Don’t leave. I want to talk to you.

“Leave me alone, you dork.”

Whoa, that is amazing!

“What is that? It looks so stupid.”

What am I saying?

“Yeah, that’s right. Cry to your friend for help.”

Your glasses are so cool.

“Are you blind without these?”

Stop it! Stop doing that!

“Good luck getting them back.”

Thank you.

“Why’d you do that?”

Please help me s...

Dear Self,

I don’t want to scare you. Heck, you probably don’t remember writing this damn letter. That’s because you didn’t. I did.

Now, I understand you don’t know who I am and that’s fine. My name is the same as yours. I look the same as you. We talk the same. No, I’m not your clone. I’m from a parallel universe. This universe is much different from yours in many, many ways but the people he...

What had happened to me?

Was that really what I looked like? Is that really how people saw me? A monster?

The horns on my head where as black as ash. My eyes had turned a glowing yellow color and my skin was a blood red.

My blue dress was gone, along with my long brown hair and blue eyes.

Was I in hell?

That would explain a lot. Especially the twisty devil horns. And the fire.

I ripped my ey...

Happy

Joyful

Your fourth birthday party

Graduation night

Winning the game

Winning the tournament

Drawing a picture

Making an animation

Cosplay

Becoming a movie star

First date

Getting married

Climbing a tree

Climbing a mountain

Going to school

Going home

It’s hard to realize the difference

But when you know,

You know....

Once upon a time…

No, that’s not the right way to start. But then what is the right way? Maybe something big like:

It had never been the same since she died.

Then again that doesn’t work. Maybe something that grabs the readers attention like:

Hey, reader! Guess what? I just got your attention.

You know… that actually works. I need something for the middle. Something that is a huge improvement ...