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Summer Memories: Chapter 1- Sundial in the Shade
"Wow, the breeze feels great! The air smells so fresh!" It was true. After living in the city since I was born, going out to wide open countary can do your lungs good. The air didn't smell like tar and the winds were cool and fresh. "The air isn't the only thing wonderful. Look at the sky, I've never seen it so blue," my friend,Laura, exclaimed. " And I've never seen so much colors in my life! Look, so many greens, purples, pink, blues-it looks like the paintings we saw at the museum!" It was better. It was real and we're here to enjoy it. How could a painter get the right color of the floweres dotting the green field? How could he make the clouds so fluffy and white? What kind of paintbrush would he use to create the fine lines of grass, or the rough bark of trees? He can't paint what I'm seeing now. No perfume or soap can make the smell I'm smelling now. "It's so nice of you to let us stay, Natalie!" I said gratefully. "Yeah...sure. Do you guys...like it?" Natalie asked. She was red with embrassment. "You don't have to be shy about it! You saved us from summer camp," Laura said happily. "So, are you going to show us where we'll stay?"
~*~
Okay, so let me back up a little bit. My name is Jane. I'm staying at my friend's, Natalie, mansion for the summer. It would be just the three of us: me, Natalie and Laura (and maybe even some adults to check up on us.) Natalie invited us to her great-grandmother's mansion. It's near the shore so we could swim and tan, but,of course, there's a pool to do that. Don't get the wrong idea. Sure Natalie's parents and family are rich, but she isn't stuck up. She's very shy and donates money to shelters. We're in the eighth grade and we're in the same classes. We'll be in high school next year. We're all fourteen and we just love to hang out and do fun things. Enough about me, though. The story you're about to hear is about my experience in Blue Stone Mansion. Sound boring? Then put the book down. But I'm serious about this, if you don't read this, you'll be missing out on history. History that was erased,forgotten and hidden. Make the choice: drop the book, or keep reading.
~*~
If you're reading this, then you must of made the choice of reading this. If you chose that, read this to the end. You made the choice. You keep reading. Listen now, remember each detail. What started out a a normal vacation changed into rewriting history... to change the future.
"Oh,my god," Laura said in a short,hushed voice. We were at the main hall and the site was breathtaking. Never in my life have I seen so many colums in one place. Pictures hanged on the walls. The floor shined like sunlight hitting clear water. It looked like a place for a god or goddess. In the middle of it all, there was a wide staircase leading to probably another breathtaking site. Natalie lead us upstairs to our rooms. We were to choose our own rooms so each time Natalie opened a door, we experienced the same moment we experienced when we first saw the mansion. "I like this one!" Laura said childishly. She chose a cream-colored room with a large glass door leading to a deck outside. "Yeah, this room is called the Cream Room. A very creative name,right?" Natalie said jokingly. I liked it,too. All the furnitures matched, there was a desk with a laptop, a table for meals-it was like my dream room. I got a pale, green room with a glass door leading outside, too. All the rooms had that. The room was called Rest in the Forest. All the rooms had corny names-Banana Sun Room, Lavender Field Room, Sea of Blue, you get it. Natalie chose the Rose Bush Room. Life was good. Natalie show us everywhere: the gardens, the pool, the island in the middle of a lake- she had everything that only I thought only existed in my fanasty. Her place was a mystery to me. But there was one thing that kept me tossing and turning at night when I slept. One day, we were taking a hike inside the forest near the mansion. Natalie noticed an arch, made by the trees, leading inside the walls of trees. Laura, who had a spirit of an adventurer, ran inside the wall of trees. Inside a forest near Blue Stone Mansion, there was a sun dial. I never really understood them. What really bugged me was why it was deep inside the forest- the part where no light ever really got through. I may not know a lot of sun dial but I do know they need light to tell time. So why was it in the forest? I doubt the trees surrounding it grew over time. They were probably there before the sun dial was. I tried not to think about it, but someting was telling me Natalie and Laura thought about it, too. Laura brought up the topic one night while we were having dinner. "Hey, want to go visit the sun dial after dinner?" Natalie drop her fork; I stopped chewwing. I could feel the tension build up in the silence. Noticing that she had said something weird, she quickly said, "We don't have to go. Just making a suggestion." Laura began to et again, except it looked like she was swallowing the food and choking. No one said anything after that. We didn't even say good-night to each other. Since Laura's room was on the way to my room, and Natalie's was on the otherside of the hall, I gave her a warning. "Laura," I said in sharp, whispers,"this is for your own good. You know what curiousity did to the cat! Don't go near the sundial." Laura looked as if she knew I was going to give her the warning. She give me a reasuring smile and whispered," It's okay. I won't metion it again. That sundial isn't going to ruin our vacation. I won't go near it, I promise." And she walked down the hall, disappearing into her own room without looking back. I stayed in the hall, staring at her door. Somehow, that smile wasn't so reasuring.
~*~
Something was wrong. Something was going to happen. The night air was thick with music, the wind, howls, and crickets. But there was something else in the air, too. Something like...magic? Yeah, call me crazy. Anyway, I was looking through the night,on my patio, and staring at the forest. I could faintly make out the arch. Lighting bugs were gathered outside the arch. I could have easily mistaken them for a lamp, the way they were all grouped. They hestitated at the entrance of the arch. Suddenly, as a decsion was made, the lighting bugs all went inside, like a lamp.
~*~
"She's not in her room!" Natalie yelled in the Cream Room, Laura's room. "She's not in the kitchen, either! Where could Laura be?" I yelled back. I was panicing. My veins felt cold, my breath was fast and unsteady. Laura was missing, without no note, without a trace. Natalie and I were running in the halls, kicking rooms open, just to see if Laura was playing a cruel trick, or had slept-walked. We ran outside to check the patios, the pool, the garden. She could be getting some fresh air, I thought. Possibilities ran in my head on where she could be and I looked where the thoughts took me. One possibilty showed up in my mind more than the rest. She was out in the forest, my mind said. Like a lamp... It was a hot summer night, yet why do I feel cold? Is this the feeling you get when you lose a friend? No, she's not lost, I thought. I wanted to go to the sundial, but what will Natalie think? After she said no... But this is your friend. Would you want something to happen to your friend? Go after Laura. A friend is a friend. I was having an arguement with my brain,common sense, and heart, feelings. Jeez! What should I do? "Jane? Jane! Hey, wake-up! Come back to Earth, our friend is missing!" Natalie yelled, shaking me. She continued. "I have a feeling, but I don't think you'll like it...um...." "Natalie! Spit it out. If any thoughts come up in your head that might save Laura, spit it out." "Uh...." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she openned her eyes again, she had a look of confidence. "Laura, having an adventurous but stupid spirit, might, no, has definitly gone to the sundial." Well, duh! We ran down the hill, into the forest, and left our cozy place and rushed to reality...sort of.
x-SincerelyAtlas · Tue Feb 17, 2009 @ 06:38pm · 5 Comments |
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