Prologue

I died on my fourteenth birthday. Everything around me stopped. I didn’t know why. My party was a disaster…or it was to me. Almost no one was there. Everyone I invited had more important things to do…or just didn’t show up Of course, all of my father’s guests were there. My father kept trying to cheer me up. That’s when I got frustrated and wanted the party to be over. That’s when everything around me stopped. Either I died, or everything else did. I walked around, everyone was frozen stiff. Soon, I got nervous and wanted everyone back. Music started playing and everyone moved like nothing happened. Then my father saw me.

“Wow, Aurora,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder, the other holding a beer, “How’d you move over here so fast?”

“I’m a fast person,” I replied.

It was even worse later that night. My first night being fourteen and I wanted to disappear…well…I got that wish. This glowing blue oval shaped hole appeared under me, and I fell in it. I landed on the ground, outside. But towering over me was a huge dragon. It had olive green scales, bright yellow eyes, two big horns, and it growled at me. I got up and ran off. Just in time, too, because fire came bursting out of the dragon’s mouth and scorched the Earth where I was standing before. Fear hit me like a slap on the face when the dragon growled again.

I wanted to go home so bad and crawl in bed. The blue hole appeared again and I jumped in it. This time I was in water, and I immediately went under. I swam back to the surface just to get hit by a wave and dragged back under. I tried swimming back up. As soon as my head broke the surface of the water, I saw this huge ship. A huge anchor dropped down next to me. As another wave came, I grabbed on to the anchor. The metal chain was wet and slippery, but I tried climbing up it anyway. For once I was glad my father and grandmother made me take gymnastics. I needed the upper arm strength and balance to stay on the chain and get up it. I did slip a few times, but caught myself before I fell.

Right before I made it to the top, I fell. Of course with my luck, I’d fall right before getting on the ship. I screamed as I fell, waiting to hit the water. I glanced back and noticed the blue hole under me. I screamed as I fell in, and as I fell out on my bed. My bed. Lying on my bed, I screamed bloody murder. No one came to check on me. Not a soul. I knew my father was drunk and didn’t care, but deep down, I wanted him to care and open my door…