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It had been a long day of adventures. Exploring mountains, solving mysteries, fighting monsters, all the usual feats of a young Jade Harley, princess crime-fighting superhero extraordinaire. You step onto the white stone doorstep, kicking off your muddy sneakers onto the worn “wipe your paws!” rug, and open the door. You yawn and skip over to a fluffy and faded blue throw that lies in the center of the hallway for your convenience. You push your too-long dark hair over your shoulder, swearing that you must do something with the dreaded mop before it becomes longer than you!
“Bec! Come ‘ere buddy!” you smile, beckoning your friend and partner in crime inside. He trots in, and looks you up and down. He’s an odd dog you guess, not like most of the others you see in movies and videos. He seems… stronger! Like he has an air of power and knowledge. He always seemed to leave a strange air to the room, not unlike a sharp smell, or a cold chill. But you’re used to that! He’s just normal sweet old Bec. You pat his wide and fluffy shoulders as he rolls over next to you, his tail slightly wagging and ears drooping. “Today sure was fun, Bec! I bet grandpa would’ve loved that story. Maybe I should write it down!” you laugh. Most of your games are simply the adventures in stories you read about, carried out and made possible by an overenthusiastic seven year old and a teleporting dog with a strange green aura. You have entire rooms of books, about all sorts of things! You like to think you are practically an expert at everything, but you know you have a ton more to learn.
You climb up from your seat on the blue carpet, and scramble to the staircase. Grabbing hold of the thick woven railway, you swing yourself around to the other side of the winding stairs. There lies one of the many metal platforms, a feature neatly placed on each floor of your large home to make navigation a tad bit easier. You hop on, mumble a swift “meetyouatthetop!” to Bec, and disappear.
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You climb into bed, your wardrobifier doing its job and instantly changing your simple SN t-shirt and shorts into an old, white, sleeping gown. You stretch your arms out behind your head and grab one of your favorite stuffed squiddles, holding it tight and wedging it between your cheek and arm. The orange sunset lit your side of the island, the outline of the volcano casting a reddish shadow across your bedroom. The colorful clouds you always thought were so beautiful filled the horizon, somehow completing the picturesque landscape before you. You blink once, twice, and a soft darkness blankets your mind.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
You wake with a start.
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Pinks and yellows fill you vision. At first everything is a blur, swirls of warmth and a sweet scent draping over your senses. You lift your hand to block the bright rays of light that come from seemingly every direction. You jolt up when you realize: This is not your bedroom!
As your vision clears, you shake your head and try to erase the dizziness. It feels like you’ve been asleep for years, your muscles soft and tired. You scan the room, like one of your grandpa’s favorite undercover agents, looking for clues. Where are you exactly anyway?
The room is swathed with orange, pink, and gold. Under closer inspection, you find that it is actually pretty close to your own room! Pots of flowers hang from the ceiling, your wardrobifier sits against the wall the same as always. And your window… your window! You turn and slide out of the silky covers, your toes carefully settling on the strangely warm stone floors. Your pajamas changed too, you’re dressed in a long and flowing gown that is the same shade of gold as the accents decorating the walls. The sleeves are trimmed with pearly lace, defined with the same luminescent fabric in the shape of a moon on your chest.
Cursing your eyesight for the millionth time, you reach towards your nightstand to find your glasses, the same place they always are. Once you have assured that everything is in place in your sylladex, you take a cautious step forward.
Good! No traps, no wild animal attacks or anything. It seems safe! A few more steps forward and you’re at your windowsill. As you set your glasses on the bridge of your nose, the sights before you begin to take shape.
A gold city. You nearly have to take a step back just to shield your sleep-sensitive eyes. It was an entire city, unlike anything you’d seen on your computer, or read about in books. There are streets and roads in every direction, huge golden towers with pearly sparkling trim lining the corners and windows. The roads are paved with glowing brick, lined with sidewalks and shops bustling with people. The noise of civilization beckoned you down, something you had never heard or felt before. A smile lights your face, and you can feel it all the way to your eyes. It’s amazing, it’s beautiful!
You have a sudden urge to try something a little crazy. You grab ahold of the window’s edge, and sling your feet over the side. You carefully lower yourself down, so your feet are dangling out of the side of your tower. Following the same urge (rather blindly you admit!), you continue to scoot forward until… you’re falling.
The warm wind blows your hair back, and you spread your arms out freely. Hm, what if you just sort of…
You close your eyes and the wind stops with a halt.
Suddenly all eyes are on you. There were people of all sizes around you doing a variation of things, all with the same glass-like white exterior. They had visible joints, like dolls, and little eyes all paired with a surprised expression. You turn a little, in midair, and give a short wave to the silent crowd.
“She’s awake!” You hear a shout from somewhere in the crowd. Almost instantly, there are whoops and cheers of joy, fists in the air and hugs all around. You think you’re going to like this place, wherever it is.
“Jade Harley, the Witch, is awake!” someone in the distance announces. Frankly this seems like a little too big of a deal they’re making, but you won’t complain.
Slowly and carefully, you lower yourself onto the gold-paved street. Everyone is so much taller than you! They range in size from slightly taller to way taller than your meager (still growing! >:O) four-foot-seven. They close their eyes and bow, wait a few seconds, and resume the previous positions. Then, as if nothing had happened, they go right back to bustling around the streets! Some of them turn to you to shake your hand, and you do so enthusiastically with pleasure. The thrill of attention had come and gone too fast, but all is well. Exploring time!
The city streets are bound by large buildings, with statues and pastel flags lining the outsides, fabric and odd symbols strung from one side to another. You smile as you skip down the sidewalk, nodding at each of the pale figures that greet you by name. The sparkling and well lit streets contrast oddly with the dark night sky, and you can see stars twinkling brightly. Not as many stars as you could see from your island, and different ones at that, but still stars. There is something else in the sky too; you squint, and can just barely make out what looks like a cloud. It is mostly covered by one of the tall buildings, but you can see a few more through the cracks between the towers.
You bet you could see them from up high! You turn around again, now on the outskirts of what seemed to be a neighborhood of apartments. You rise up again above the city, and scan the horizon for your familiar tower. It sticks just slightly above the rest, and you float in its direction with your back to the ground. The clouds began to float into view, followed by what looked to be a huge, checkerboard planet.
That wasn’t the only odd thing though. As the planet floated closer (taking what felt like ages while you drifted over the city), the clouds began to shift colors. From white to blue to red to purple, sometimes flashing lime green in between. They’re still so far away that you can’t tell exactly what they depict, but the clouds sometimes look like images, blipping back and forth.
While they float closer, you decide to kill a little time and make your way back to your window. You reach out, grabbing hold of the wall, and peer inside. Wait a minute; this isn’t the same room you were in earlier. The tower looks the same, but it’s entirely different on the inside! You hop in to get a better look around.
The wallpaper is light blue, and the room is smaller, with a nightstand, chest of drawers, desk, and… a bed! It looks like there is someone sleeping in it. You step over, as lightly and quietly as possible so as not to wake them up. Once you have a better look, hm. He looks sort of like you! The same dark hair and lashes, tan skin tone and similar protruding teeth. He even has a pair of square glasses sitting on his nightstand! You kneel down next to his bed to get a better look. You’ve never seen another human near your age before, at least not in person.
He turns over in his slumber, and you fall back a bit, fearing you had woken him up. Luckily, he turns right back over. You don’t wish to linger here, you have a feeling he’s not getting up soon, judging by the tired, young look on his face. The light cast on the floor begins to change colors you notice, and suddenly the clouds are brought back to your attention. You take a few steps back, returning to the window.
The huge blue planet is filling up the dark sky. The clouds, whose strange colors you had noticed, began to form shapes. The colors swirled into images and patterns, some of which seemed familiar and some of which looked new and odd. You stand up carefully and lean against the window sill. One cloud seems the largest, floating a bit closer than the rest. You squint as swirls of blue float through the white, until something begins to take shape.
They’re words.
