Rosalyn lay back and let the tall grass fold her into its embrace. Her strawberry blonde hair tangled wit the tall stalks and formed a halo around her face. She sighed. A little black and white kitten crawled towards the seven year old girl. A soft mew came from the cat as it crawled across her dress and towards her hand.

“Chess, that tickles!” exclaimed Rosa as she began laughing at the feel of the kittens light footfalls. She reached a hand towards it and petted the soft fur as the kitten began purring loudly. Everything was perfect. Kind, caring parents, loyal friends, a beautiful home, a beautiful world, and perfect weather. But time goes on and we all grow up.

Rosa pulled herself out of bed and cheerily slid out of her nightgown into a blue and white checkered dress. She walked down the steps to her breakfast. Eggs and bacon sat on a plate with fresh milk beside it. Chess sat lapping at a bowl of cream and cast a glance at his 14 year old mistress.

Her hair lay in a double braid and her skin was fair and unblemished. Everything about her seemed to shine. She stood and picked up her school books.

“Goodbye Mother, breakfast was grand. Goodbye Father.” She kissed them both on the cheek, bent down and scratched Chess on the head, and left. happily she walked down the road where her friend Eliza was waiting. Eliza’s blonde hair was also in a double braid and her dress was the same but for being red. The two walked to school, laughing and talking.

The school house was a one room building that was painted red with a large copper bell on top. The bell rang out loud and clear over the morning as the children rushed inside to begin class.

Rosa and Eliza sat down next to each other and waited for the teacher to hand them their test. Rosa bent over the paper and began writing the answers down furiously. She finished and ripped the paper out from under her arm. The paper cut across her arm and left a line of blood. A tear rose to her eye and slid down her cheek. Suddenly the school house changed and was suddenly nothing but an empty black. Then it was back to normal. She laid a hand over the cut and turned in the paper. When she looked down, it had stopped the bleeding, the tiny bit it had, and was just a streak of red. Maybe the day wasn’t as perfect as usual.

PERFECT was written across the test. She rushed home to show her parents. They put it on the counter and gazed proudly at it. “That’s the fifth this week, good job!” they said, smiling widely.

“Remember, you are going riding with Jonathan later,” reminded her mother. She nodded and went to change into her riding suit. Brown riding pants and a red shirt. She left the house and walked towards the edge of town where a large riding ring was. Jonathan was waiting when she arrived. His brown hair was kept neat with not a hair out of place. He smiled and helped her onto the chocolate mare she would be riding. He mounted his bay stallion with practiced ease and they rode off. They chatted. How school was, how nice the weather was, the nice gait of the horses. Everything was going fine. Everything was Perfect.

A snake slid out onto the path. The stallion reared back and threw Jonathan to the ground. The horse bolted and Rosa’s mare tried to, but she reined it in. She got off and walked to Jonathan. He wasn’t moving.

She bent down and felt for a pulse. Nothing. He wasn’t breathing and he was bleeding. His head was lying on a rock coated in his own blood. She could feel tears rising. This wasn’t supposed to happen, everything was perfect. She stood and ran, leaving Jonathan and the horse on the path.

Briars tugged at her shirt and scratched her face. He was dead. She had liked, and maybe even loved, Jonathan. Now he was dead. No he couldn’t be. But he wasn’t breathing. She ran and no longer noticed her surroundings. Mist entwined around the trees and turned them into spectral sentinels. The ground seemed to be fading, as did everything else. Soon, she was surrounded by black nothing. Her tears had stopped for the moment as she looked around her. It was the same everywhere. Nothing.

Slowly, her feet walked forward or what she supposed was forward. Something was in the distance. She ran and eventually came to a wall. It as dark glass. Her hand brushed it and she drew back quickly. It was freezing, but at the same time, scalding hot.

now I'm lost, she thought. I’m lost and Jonathan is...dead. This started a fresh bout of tears. But before they had barely begun, something happened. The tears rolled down her face, and most fell to her shirt or pants. But one missed and fell towards the ‘ground’. Her eyes seemed glued to it. Following its descent. It fell to the ground, and continued on. It never grew smaller, but still was going down. She didn’t know how she knew, only that it was. A wall like what was in front of her seemed to head towards it. The drop glimmered in a light of its own, spiraling down. It touched the glass and time seemed to slow as she saw it shatter into many pieces of crystal. Then, the wall before and below her shattered. All around her, glass was flying. It rained down from above, it shot up from below, it stabbed at her from each side. She covered her eyes and waited for it to end. It stopped almost as soon as it had began and now instead of a wall she was facing the world. The real world. Once again, she didn't know how she knew, only that it was true. She took a deep breath and then stepped out of the shards of glass. She was standing in the new world. Trees surrounding her, standing in the midst of tall, waving grasses. She looked behind her. The black and shining pieces of glass disappeared behind her slowly. Fading. Then they were gone. And the tears stopped. And the memories faded.

Rosalyn lay back and let the tall grass fold her into its embrace. Her strawberry blonde hair tangled wit the tall stalks and formed a halo around her face. She sighed. A little black and white kitten crawled towards the fourteen year old girl...