Dreamland (working title)

A girl by the name of Abigail was constantly yelled at for living in
her own little world. Her mother was the one who yelled at her the
most, every time she would notice that blank dreamy look in her
daughter's eyes.

Abigail didn't mean to do it, it just kind of happens. She would just
look at something, and a story would come into her mind. She would let
the story weave itself, through her everyday and ordinary thoughts
like; who the president was, what she had for breakfast, until soon the
story suffocated the other thoughts. When this would happen, she
couldn't think of anything but the story.

Her Mother warned her time and time again that if she did it too often
she would end up stuck wherever she goes. Abigail would just laugh
because she knew her mother was just joking. At least she hoped she was
just joking. It was just a joke wasn't it?

One morning at school while she was putting away her lunch and coat
into her cubbyhole she found a rusty key lying there. She picked it up
and traced its shape with her finger. It was delicate, yet sturdy. The
end of the handle looked like it was made out of metallic lace.

"Abigail, would care to join the rest of us now?" Ms. Frank
scolded.

Abigail placed the key in her little pouch, that contained all of the
other treasures she happened to collect throughout her life. There were
lucky pennies, a thimble, a half of a locket, even a feather of an
eagle. She carried the pouch wherever she went. She never showed anyone
what was inside it was her secret.

Abigail sat at her desk and attempted to pay attention to Ms. Frank.
She even took some notes, until the words started to swirl in front of
her then around her and she found herself in a long dark
corridor.

The corridor was long and black, with a faint light at the end that
seemed to shine on a door at the end of it. The door was ornate, and
heavily carved, the carving on it resembled the lacework on the key.
She took out the key and noticed that it was no longer rusty but a
beautiful gold. She started to run down the hall toward the door, after
about five minutes of running she stopped and doubled over panting
heavily. She looked at the door, it was still the same distance away
when she started. She went to lean against the wall to catch her
breath, but instead of a solid wall it seemed to melt as soon as her
body made contact with it and she began to fall.

She screamed out, and flailed her arms but she kept falling. Soon, the
sensation of falling went away but her feet were still not touching
ground and she couldn't even see the ground it seemed as though she
were floating in the sky. Surrounded by blue, a bird flew past her. It
honked loudly as if Abigail could do something about this situation.
She started a swimming motion and she slowly began to move.

After a while a man came in a rowboat and rowed next to her, he clicked
his tongue in disgust and shook his head. "New to the land? Don't you
know this is a no swimming area?"

"I'm sorry, I don't even know where I am. I was at school just a
moment, I found this key and in the next moment I was in a long
corridor running toward a door at the end of it, but I couldn't get any
closer. I then leaned against the wall and it melted and now I'm here,"
she explained showing the man her key.

"That is a very important key, my dear. You must go and Emperor at
once."

"And how do I do that, because as you can see I'm just kind of stuck
floating here."

"Just hop on in, and we'll get down in a jiffy."

So Abigail did what the man said and the instant she was in the boat
they were on the ground. She was surrounded by pink; it took over her
field of vision. When she looked closer she noticed that it was many
different flowers. There were tulips, roses, peonies, all sorts of
flowers all the perfect shade of pink. She closed her eyes for a second
and when she opened them, the flowers turned to a brilliant crimson
red. She tried to pick one of the tulips, and it just evaporated. She
was in awe, and stood there with her mouth open. She closed her eyes
again, and the field turned a pale purple.

"Come on, don't dawdle," the man grabbed her hand and immediately she
was standing in front of a giant golden face that was surrounded by
several bursts of colorful light. It was so dazzling and bright that
Abigail had to shield her eyes.

"Show him the key."

"Who?" She asked looking at the man puzzled.

"Him," he said pointing to the face.
Abigail once again pulled out the key and the eyes in the face opened
slowly to reveal beautiful emeralds.

"Come closer," a young voice called, the eyes blinked and they were now
amethysts.
Abigail stepped closer so close that she was immersed in the light. It
was like a physical barrier, it made the air thick and heavy. In
certain spots the air was thin, she felt like she was swimming.

"Do you see the key hole?"

She searched the wall with her hands, and right below the face was a
keyhole surrounded by the same lacework as the mysterious door in the
corridor and the key.

"Found it."

"Put the key in and turn it."

She did just that and the colors seemed to intensify into a blinding
light. The air thickened at Abigail fought to breathe. Her knees
buckled and the light around her went black.

When the light returned she was lying on a pile of pillows on the
floor. There were people standing all around her, some whispering
softly others were talking in normal tones. Closest to her was a boy
her age kneeling next to her wearing blue, she closed her eyes a second
and his outfit was green. The boy lent out a hand to help her up. He
then hugged her tightly.

"Thank you!"

"For what?"

"For freeing me."

"I did what?"

"I have been trapped in that wall for around ten years by an evil
sorceress. The key was thrown out and everyone in our land searched
high and low for it for years with no luck, until now. You found it and
saved me. How can I repay you? You must be my Empress; it took a lot of
courage to come as far as you have.

" What!" Abigail's eyes got big and round. "All I want is to go
home."

"You can never go back," the boy bellowed loudly.

"I cannot stay here."

"And you cannot go home."

Abigail not sure of what else to do, kicked the boy in the shin and ran
as fast as she could. She ran through the corridors of the castle,
going left, then right, going up and down stairs. Pretty soon she found
herself in a dead end, she went to turn around but there was only a
window on the other side of the hallway.

When she reached the window she realized it was looking into her
classroom from the perspective of the chalkboard. So it looked as
though there was a window where the chalkboard was. She could see
herself staring blankly out into space. She began to wave her arms, but
realized that wouldn't work. She then banged on the window, and yelled,
but to no avail. She banged so hard that she thought that the window
was going to shatter into a million pieces. While she was banging she
saw a hole near the top of the window. She looked more carefully and
realized it was a keyhole. She took a chance and took out the key and
put it in the door and turned it. She found herself back in class and
she breathed an audible sigh of relief.

"Well, welcome back Abigail," Ms. Frank said.

Abigail smiled and immediately started to write in her small tablet
that she always carried and began to write her experience. She knew she
would never be able to stop going into her own little world, but she
now knew that she could control it. As soon as she was done with her
story she put her little tablet in her pouch and she felt the key and
noticed something new. She emptied her pouch, and found a small rainbow
jewel about the size of her pinky, she laughed to herself and put the
jewel back in her pouch. Did it happen? Was her mother right? Or did
she truly find a new land? This was something that Abigail would
certainly have to think about.

The End??