August 28, 1998
Appaloosa Plains
I swung the door open to my new bedroom. There was pink. Pink everywhere. Obviously Matthew thought every little girl craved a girlie pink bedroom. Well I don't. Suppressing my anger I kicked the door shut behind me and stalked over to the bed. The bedspread was scratchy and new, they must have been planning this for a while. I lay down and closed my eyes, wishing this whole thing away.
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I opened my eyes, expecting to see the brown ceiling of my new room. Instead I saw stars twinkling through the tops of trees. Sitting up I took in my surroundings; the grass was bright green, purple and orange flowers bloomed all around, but I couldn't see anything past the clearing I was in.
"Hello?" I called. My feet, I noticed, were bare and I was wearing a dull blue dress. My flyaway hair brushed and pinned back. The area was very quiet, very real. A gentle breeze flowed into the clearing, rustling the trees. A sudden sharp scream pierced the air. Without hesitating I took off in the direction of the noise.
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"Mona! What's wrong?!" My sister urged, shaking my shoulders.
"No,no,no not here again!" I cried. I'd been here before, this same dress, same clearing, different companion. Kari shook me again.
"Are we dreaming?" She asked. Before I could answer a girl burst through the bushes.
She froze, a strand of brown hair drifting in front of her blue eyes.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her voice soft. I pushed my twin away and stood up, dusting grass off of me.
"Yes. Who-who are you?"
"My name's Anna. Who are you?" The girl said.
"I'm Kari, this is my sister Mona." Kari informed her nervously. Kari's normally orderly gold hair was fluttering around her should.
"Where are we-" Anna began to say but another cry caught our attention. A boy's voice.
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Light and colors exploded in front of me. I screamed and threw my arms over my face. My arms. I could see my arms. Slowly I lowered them. A small gasp leaked out of my mouth, there were so many colors and textures. Rustling of bushes caught my attention and I turned to see three girls about my age burst out.
"Bloody hell..." I said quietly, moving closer.
"Geez have you never seen a girl before?" The short-haired blond murmured. I shook my head, red brown strands of hair drifting in front of my eyes.
"This is amazing!" I exclaimed. The three girls shared a bewildered look.
"Do you have a name mystery boy?" The same girl asked.
"Max. And you would be?"
"I'm Mona, this is Kari and Anna." She said, indicating the other two girls.
"So are we actually here? Or are you all just my imagination?" I asked.
"I think we are all dreaming at the same time." Anna inferred. "I mean, we all seem pretty conscious of what's happening."
A shout from a few yards away caught our attention.
"For God's sake, who else is here?" Mona groaned.
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"Wow! Th-this is a-amazing!" I exclaimed. I glanced up as a group of kids raced into the clearing. They were an odd group, two blondes who looked like complete opposites, another girl who looked quite shy, and a boy covered in freckles with white eyes.
"Hey. We heard you shout." The more feminine blond said.
"Oh. So why are you all here?" I asked.
"We were kind of wondering if you knew the answer to that." The boy noted, he had an accent; kind of British, kind of Irish.
The brunette introduced everyone and explained how they all found each other.
"Maybe we're supposed to do something." Anna said. "Like a mission."
"Yes, we're supposed to go off and save the world." Max snorted, earning him a slap on the arm.
"It's possible." I replied.
"I mean, why else would we all be here."
