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 forward, like whispers from my conscience. My feet crunched gently along the grass. My sword felt even heavier in my palms. The castle was so close, so close. If only I could walk faster, run maybe, sprint to her aid. That gentle breeze was deceiving.

“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 seem. “Those belong to us.” Cyrus twirled his wand in his fingers, nodding to some of his other men. “Wouldn’t you rather give them to us then have your brother get killed?” My sister looked at me, fear in her eyes. I shit her a small smile. They would never be able to hurt me. “The Titan Crystals are ours,” I told the Lord. “If you want them, go dig them up from hell like we had to.” The only way out of this situation was to jump off the cliff. I just hoped my sister trusted me enough to do the feat. “I don’t fancy that,” Cyrus touched the silver circlet on his head and closed his eyes like he was reliving memories. I turned to my sister while he was distracted. I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the cliffs edge with me. She nodded slowly in my direction. Then we jump.

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 their hood back and smiled at me. “Dad?!” “Lynn, help me!” It was Harry’s voice, my little brother. When I turned, he wasn’t there. Instead I was met with a very nervous looking David. “Lynn… will you be my girlfriend?” Before I could say anything, his face morphed into Annie’s. “Please, Lynn. Please help me,” her voice was pained like she knew that I couldn’t. “Stop it,” I muttered, turning around in a circle. No matter where I looked, someone was yelling for my help. “Stop it!” A choir of ‘helps’ rang out like a song and I didn’t know who to help, what to do. The more screams there were, the more overwhelmed I got. “ENOUGH!” I yelled, clutching my head in my hands. “Jeez, Lynn,” just like that I was back in the science classroom with an annoyed looking Ryan. “If you didn’t like my ideas for the science project, you could’ve just told me.”

“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 sticking out. My legs and torso were covered by some thick fabric that I could only wish existed back home. The color of my eyes was the weirdest though. Instead of their usual black color, they were white with little brown droplets inside. What had happened to me? I turned away from the reflection tablet, unable to look at whatever this monstrosity I had been turned into. Back home, it was rumored that walking around in a way called “pacing” would help you get your thoughts together. I tried it. As I walked, I was approached by this little green colored man in a box. “Hello,” I bowed politely as that was always what you were supposed to do when you met a new person. “I’m looking for my way back home… could you be of assistance?” The man didn’t answer but instead morphed into a hand that glowed a bright red color. “I guess that’s a no in this place,” I muttered to myself. “Thank you anyway for your help, sir.” Shrugging, I charged ahead onto the tar-like ground. My feet hurt from all the small pebbles. Suddenly, a noise I had never heard before rang in my ears. Almost like the warning bells the people of my tribe would play when danger was coming. I whipped around to see the large fireflies in bricks shining in my face.

“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 thinking the same thing as me. Hiding there would be too obvious but maybe being obvious was a good thing. They wouldn’t look for me there if they think everyone is hiding somewhere else. Then again… they’ll know I was thinking to go obvious and check the tree so hiding somewhere else is the best option. “Tag! I got you!” Darn it, why did I hesitate?!

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 stop this. “That was… just leave me alone, dork.” I want to say the right thing. “Hey! I said leave me alone!” Please don’t leave. Please stay with me. “Just… go.”

Hey! “Hey, dork. What do you want?” Can you give me a hug? “Get your hand off my shoulder.” I really like you. “I hate you.” See you later. “Later, dork face.”

What?! “You want to got to the dance… with me?” No, no, no, no. “Sure. Can’t hurt can it?” This can’t be happening. I can’t dance! “See you there, dork.”

Wow, you look beautiful. “Huh, you don’t look so bad.” May I have this dance? “So are we gonna dance or…”

Hey, can I ask you something? “Hey, can I ask you something?” Will you be my girlfriend? “Will you be my girlfriend?” I love you. “I love you, dork.”

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 here are the same. Usually, people from parallel universes don’t talk to each other. The truth is… I need your help. A boy you may know very well has turned and I can’t stop him alone. Please help—

Dear Avery, It’s your friend Alison only from an alternate universe. You got captured by your boyfriend Austin in this world and that letter I have attached to this one is the last thing she wrote before she was kidnapped. We are trapped in the middle of this war and desperately need your help to save Avery and bring peace to this world. Please consider. Your friend, Alison

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 eyes from the mirror and gazed around at my surroundings. I was back in the forest that I had previously rushed into. My skin was still the bloody color. My eyes were drawn back to the mirror. The hell-ish landscape was back, making me queasy. No. This wasn’t me. That… thing wasn’t me. I am beautiful. I am strong. And that is not me. I took a deep, reassuring breath. When I’d opened my eyes, the mirror was gone and I was back in the forest next to the river.

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 or discovery. Like what if unicorns were real? If unicorns are real then dragons and mermaids are real too. Pirates! Yes, pirates are very good. I mean, bad. I mean, good for writing material but bad in general. You know what I’m saying right? Right. Ok back to writing.