OK, so I was watching an episode of Extreme Home Makeover and saw this poor little girl with this disease. And as soon as I heard the symptoms, I went all crazy fangirl and thought, 'what if Bella had this disease?' And so, this story started forming in my head. I don't have a real plot at the moment, but I'm working on it, so please stay with me.

This is going to be my first relatively serious story, so if you guys have any suggestions or anything that you think might help me, please feel free to PM me or leave a review. Anyway, here's the prologue. :D

I hate being a freak.

I hate not being able to spend time outside with my friends, the few that I have. I hate how I'm treated like glass; as if one touch or one word would make me crack and shatter into a million pieces. I hate people that say I look fine when in actuality, there's nothing right about me. I hate that everyone looks at me with pity rooted deep in their eyes. I hate that I haven't had human contact that lasted for more than a few brief seconds in thirteen years. I hate that the best friends I have reside in books. I hate all the hospital visits, all the tubes tangled around me, all the doctors and nurses whispering about me and my 'special condition.' I hate that the only normal life I know is from TV shows.

I guess you could say that I have a lot of problems.

Well, before I unburden myself anymore, I suppose I should let you know about me.

My name is Isabella Marie Swan, but everyone calls me Bella. I have pale ivory skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes. To look at me, I seem like a normal seventeen-year old girl. But on a biological level, I'm as different from most people as air is from water.

You see, I was diagnosed with Hereditary Sensory Autonomic Neuropathy (HSAN) when I was four years old. You've probably never heard of it. In fact, only 25 people in the world currently have it.

It's a disease that deadens your nerves so you basically don't feel any pain. It also makes your temperature fluctuate much easier than most peoples. In other words, I can't be in a room above 62 degrees or my body would get overheated and my internal organs wouldn't know what to do, so they'd seize up and I could potentially die.

Just think of all the things that you do outside in the sun: tanning, going to the beach, riding your bike, playing sports, riding on a boat, walking outside to get the mail, sleeping next to someone with their warm arms wrapped around you, riding in a car without a bucket of ready to use icepacks. I've never done any of these things, and I never will.

Please don't misunderstand my intentions. I don't want your pity. Believe me; I have enough of that already. And I love my family more than anything. They've supported me and helped me through everything and I couldn't ask for a better one. But, they don't understand how much I keep bottled up inside me.

I know that all my hate is unnecessary. There isn't anything I can do about my predicament, but I can't help it. Sometimes, on particularly long days at the hospital, or when no ones in the house and I allow my loneliness to overwhelm me, I feel like screaming for something, anything, to help me.

But I've long given up on God. If He was even there, then wouldn't answer me? Couldn't he, at the very least, give me a sign that he was there, watching over me? All those times that I accidentally sliced my arm or leg and didn't notice it until hours later when I was weak from the blood-loss, where was he? Well, I had made up my mind a long time ago that he wasn't there at all, because you can't be there if you don't exist.

Fortunately though, a big change is about to occur in my life. For all of my life, I've lived in Florida with Renee and Charlie, my parents. Finally though, after thirteen years of saving money, and careful planning we're moving to Washington, one of the dreariest, wettest and, most importantly, coldest places in the US.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. After spending years of my life inside my house, being homeschooled by Renee, I'll finally be able to do some things on my own. I'll be able to walk outside without an icepack-jacket strapped to me. I'll be able to drive on my own, without worrying about carrying ice with me.

I'll be able to have a whole new life.

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent"
— Victor Hugo

Soooooo, there's the prologue. I really, really, really hope that you guys like it. Although I usually enjoy writing funnier stuff, I think that this might challenge me and push my writing to new limits, so please tell me what you think about it.

Oh, and that's one of my favorite quotes. It doesn't exactly relate to the story, but I just felt like putting it up there :)

Again, read and review! :D

P.S. I don't really like the title, so if anyone has any suggestions, please tell me. Thanks! :D