As she watches the landscape pass by

All she could think of is why

As she felt the breeze across her face

All she could think of is goodbye

The mind is racing with images

She sees herself so free

The heart is racing with excitement 

She wonders if it could really be 

As she’s watching it all come to a end

She holds on very tight

As the night settles in

She knows she’ll win the fight.  

As she took a moment to catch her breath after a long workday, she looked outside through the open garage door at the brick wall and black mailbox next to it. This mailbox would only receive work mail of course, but she noticed it seemed that the cover was waving in the wind. It looked as though someone was on the inside slightly pushing the mailbox open. The boss was still unloading the truck and normally she’d just ignore it and continue with work, but something felt strange this time. Suddenly she saw a sparkle from the inside, like when the moon touches ice on a cold winter night. The cover was still moving as though someone was controlling it but there was no one in sight. Now she couldn’t resist, she had to see what was happening. She quickly ran over to the mailbox and was surprised to see a piece of paper inside. It was a small note with her name on it, her nickname…”Ace…” She grabbed it up quickly, closed the mailbox and hoped nothing was seen on the outside cameras. She was not a manager and was not the one to check the incoming mail. Why and how is there a note in her work mailbox with her nickname, only 2 people including herself knew this nickname. All that was written inside was one word, Hope. Hope? Hope for something? Hope for someone? What did Hope mean.

As she sat outside snuggled in her favorite blanket she hope so much for the owls to chat again. It’s was so comforting, helping her not to worry and imagine life could get better. The moon was so bright, it lite up the whole backyard and all was clear in the sky. She thought, maybe they were trying to talk with her. Maybe she was a special person that would find herself on an adventure somewhere. The real world,this world had been so cruel lately and she just wanted to find a way to make it right. She felt she had lost control of herself,her home,family and friends. And she knew she was smarter than that. Why let someone or something blind you so much that you lose yourself..?

As she listened to them, it brought back so many thoughts. Just laying in bed reading a book then a ‘who who’ like it was right outside her bedroom window. Suddenly another ‘who who who’ but from another part of the yard. She couldn’t believe it, not just 1 but 2 owls chatting with one another in her backyard. She put her book down almost forgetting to save the page and ran outside. “Where do you think you’re going?”, asked her brother looking up from the tv for a moment. “I’ve got to get outside and see the owls!” She didn’t even grab a jacket and being a cold fall night that would of been a good idea. She opened the back door leading to the porch and opened that back door and just sat at the top of the stairs. Again, “who who” came across the yard and sounded so much closer now. How wonderful when she was already trying to escape reality that some owls would come by.

Ever since her middle school, outdoor school trip to camp she just fell in love with owls. Any kind were fine but the barn owl was definitely her favorite. One evening during outdoor school the class took a small walk in the woods and ended up in a clearing on a small hill. The teachers had brought recordings of owls to play in hopes to get real responses. It was just as chilly that night as this one. It took about a half hour but finally at camp she heard a real owl for the first time. It was like classical music to her ears. Never really sure why but they just brought her peace somehow. Something about them felt magical. Listening to the “who’s” and imagining what they were saying to one another just beautiful. The teachers told us what they believe some patterns of who’s meant but Ariel didn’t listen to that, just the owls. She heard them another time at her grandmothers but this time it was so real and so close. She wondered if her mom remembered her love for owls and maybe sent them to let her know things are ok. She missed her mom so much, but started to come to gripes with the fact that it would be awhile till she’s see her once more.

It would always start off so still. It could be a bright day, than suddenly get dark and you could smell the storm. The air would stop moving, it might be warm or cold and than the sky just lit up. Thunderstorms; they were and still are my favorite form of nature. Slow coming in, wind blows in the trees like a melody being played and heavy rain just all of it sounding so poetic. There had been times I’d imagine the winds were the trees talking to each other passing along a message. I would hope it was a message for me. Every storm you’d see the sky light up but not always hear the thunder. I remember sitting in the car once with my mom and brother during a sever thunderstorm. Lighting so bright, as if someone was turning lights on and off. Next was the loud claps of thunder, so loud you could also feel it. My mom said it was God bowling, and he was having a good game that day. I’d always felt nature was so beautiful because it was so unpredictable, it was free. Free from all the rules we had to live by, it was free to do as it pleased and no one could stop it. I remember after the storm that day in the car, the clouds rolled by and a rainbow appeared. “Always a rainbow after the dark.”, mom would say.

I still felt I was waiting for my rainbow. Times were tough and dad did the best he could to keep us happy, but nothing compares to those mom moments. She just knew what was happening by looking at you. Always knew the right thing to say, the right hug to give. I grew up with animated fantasy movies, and feel in love with the idea of another world. Or that tornado that safety took Dorothy to OZ. I always hoped to find a key, a spot, somewhere that could take me far away from the bad. Somewhere to go where I was safe and could just be me!

Ariel was such a easy going baby, even though her dad almost left her on the roof of a car before leaving the hospital. Always smiling, playing but cried very little. At least this is what I was told when I became older. Hi my name is Ariel and I have had some adventures of some lifetimes. I want to share these stories with you and let you know, all of stories are real. How is this possible you may ask, well throughout some tales I will explain.

When I was little, I loved to be on a swing. Like other kids I loved riding bikes and hanging out with friends till the street light came on. I’d go home and sleep, wake up doing it all again the next day. My dad worked full time, and mom stayed at home making sure my brother and I had lots of snacks and were always taken care of. She was so pretty from what I remember. Long brown hair, brown eyes and just very very caring heart. I remember her watching TV shows or movies, and she seem so sad, as if something bad had happened. I asked her once, why she seemed so sad, and she said she could relate to the characters and what they were feeling. Of course being little I still didn’t quite understand but her being able to relate to just characters was something I definitely got from her.

I remember it all starting a few months after the accident. Mom and dad were coming home late, a bad storm and got hit from behind. Unfortunately mom didn’t take it too well, there was a coma for a few weeks, and than we had to say goodbye. I still to this day feel like I am in denial. I remember her telling us stories and singing songs and her hugs. Those were probably the best hugs ever, but most mom hugs are! I became the homemaker you could say, making sure my brother would get school work done cooking up meals from time to time and doing the kid thing would became less.

I was playing outside in the backyard of our apartment and noticed the lights you could say. It was a big yard maybe half a acre, with a small sidewalk going up to the back driveway. On the left side a clothes line. One of those things, you would of hung wet clothes on to dry back in the day. There are still rare to see but I remember the downstairs lady used them all the time. And the smell of clean, drying sheets; there really is nothing like it. There was also a chain link fence that ran all the way to that driveway to separate our yard with the neighbors. Between that fence and the neighbors were pine trees, good climbing trees and a climbing I would do. If caught of course I’d try to make a excuse as to why I went over, we lost a ball or something but I loved that tree. I could climb up the fence, grab a branch, pull myself up than sit in for hours. Just imagine I was far away in another land just over the fence and chat with what I was told were imaginary friends, but they may be more in the end.

I remember going out one day when mom had been gone for awhile. I climbed up in the tree and just sat. Wondering why and how things would play out now that she was gone. It was chilly that fall day and I watched as leaves were blowing in the wind and noticed it was like they were painting. One after another would fall slowly and if they had a paint brush a beautiful canvas it be. “It’s pretty isn’t it..?”….a small girls voice I suddenly heard. “Yes it is. Who are you and where are you?”…I asked. “It’s ok, you cannot see me just yet but know I will help keep you safe.”…The voice said. “Now if I can’t see you, you can’t see me so how do you keep me safe?”…I was intrigued . Being a kid, I would of thought; I can’t see you how can you see me. Had I been caught climbing in the tree again, maybe this was the neighbor? I suddenly got scared, and slowly hopped down out of the tree. Still not without scraping my knee (which happened a lot on the fence). “So what about my knee, thought you keep me safe?”…I asked the voice. “Who you talking to?”, my brother suddenly asked coming out of the house. “ I don’t know if it’s the neighbor or my mind but some girl? She said she keep me safe, but look at my knee.” He just looked at me like I was nuts. “Let’s just go in, dad’s got his famous beans and weeniers ready.” Oh yummy I liked dad’s dinners, always different but so yummy.

So off I went with my brother inside but glanced behind me once more and noticed a spark near my tree. Reminded me of tinker bell, but fairies and my Disney movies aren’t real; are they…?

This place can seem so dark
You fear there is no light
This place can seem so cold
You fear you’ll lose the fight

This place can seem so hard
You fear moving the stones
This place can seem so mean
You fear you’ve never known

Than the stars start to shine
You began to feel the strength
The weather starts to change
You began to walk the length

You see the blue skies
You start to feel secure
You see with your eyes
You start down the detour

It’s the small things you recall
That always keep you from the fall
It’s the beauty left behind
That will always calm your mind.

Ever since she was a little girl, she always hoped this life was a little more. Watching fantasy movies, cartoons and reading books real life just seemed a mess. She’d go to school like all the other kids, do homework, chores and play in the evenings. Could there be more, just once could she wake up in oz, wonderland or just another land. There was so much to discover with life, people would say but she was hoping for more. Even with friends in school and her parents loving her, giving her all she could ask for it just didn’t seem right. She’d get lost in her imagination so many nights. Thinking of another land, where she could talk to anyone, not be afraid to try new things and maybe just get away. Things seemed good first few years, but than life took a sharp turn when her mom was gone. There had been a accident and unfortunately her mom didn’t make it. She was only 6 was this happened so there weren’t a lot of memories, but she always felt she could feel her love still. This is also when it started. At the time she didn’t understand, but eventually all came clear. This is when that other land she’d hoped for started to show itself. With her mom gone, a call had been heard. And now a search had begun for the rightful author.

Have you ever wondered where all the stories we love came from or where they go?  How do people come up with such clever and adventurous ideas? Are they really just the thoughts that come to our minds in a shower or while spending a day at the beach?  Or actually events that someone has experienced or just random ideas? Could there be more to these ideas and how we get them? More to the plots, characters and story outlines? Do they live on once the book is forgotten?  These questions and more shall be answered in the tales to come. 

      

 She doesn’t want to be here anymore. It hurts so much to see everyone else happy. Everyone else has someone to hold, to love, to depend on and be with.  Why did her comfort have to leave ? Why did it leave and go so so far away and leave her all alone?  Once she got to the other place, it all made sesnse.  But while she was in it, the pain was just so deep and hurt so bad.  Like someone had a held of her heart and squeezed harder and harder never letting her breath.  She’d just cry and cry no one to see the tears. But she need to go numb to survive the other realm.