Hot. Thirsty. Water. Hot. Thirsty. Water. These words kept repeating in Ann Smith's head as she lay on her bed, sweaty and hot. It was in the middle of a blistering-hot summer day in Northern Michigan, of all places. Her parents were on some business trip that they weren't allowed to talk about and her sister, Hannah, was visiting a pen-pal in Ohio. They didn't have an air-conditioner and their swamp cooler wasn't working. In Northern Michigan there's no point in owning an air-conditioner, because you usually get only a month or so of summer days, so what's the point? In Northern Michigan it's freezing from October to April, sometimes May. Today, however, was an exception.

"This heat is killing me. Why can't today be normal? I don't even know where my parents are and what they do for a job. Hmm. Maybe they're spies? Maybe I should do a little spy work in their room. Why the heck am I talking to myself?"

Ding-Dong.

"Just ignore the door bell, Ann. Whoever it is, they'll go away if you don't answer." Ann told herself. Guess what? It didn't work. The door bell rang again, and again, and again, and again until Ann couldn't take it anymore.

"SHUT UP ALREADY! I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT MY PARENTS DO FOR A JOB! BUT YOUR RINGING IS MAKING IT DIFFICULT! GO JUMP IN A LAKE!"

Ding-Dong.

"Ann jumped off her bed, shuffled through her door way, stomped down the stairs, marched to the front door, took a deep breath, opened the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "GOOOOOOOOO AAAAAAAAAWWWWWAAAAAYYYYYY!"

When Ann opened her eyes, panting from anger and screaming, she saw no one at the door. Just a brown paper package tied up with a string.

"Oh, boy. One of my favorite things." Ann said sarcastically. "Let's see. It's from a Mr... Anonymous. That's just great." Ann took the package inside and upstairs to her room. "Well, it's definitely a box. Gosh, why is it so heavy?" Ann set the package down on her bed and started untying the string.

Suddenly, her hands started shaking. She wasn't nervous or anything, they just started doing that. She set the string aside and started to open the paper from where it had been folded. Her hands started shaking even harder. That's when her heart started beating even harder and harder, until she pulled the paper away. With the paper completely off the object, the feelings stopped. No warning. No slowing down. The shaking stopped. Her heart beat returned to normal.

What Ann found wasn't what she expected. The object was a silver treasure chest no bigger than a small crate with a purple music note of crystal on the top. On the front of the chest, just below the lock, was a small painting of a white pearl.

"What the heck is this? A jewelery box?" Ann wondered out loud. Ann didn't know anyone that would send her this. There wasn't even an address on the paper from where the chest came from. It smelled of roses and rain. Ann wondered why it smelled like perfume.

"I wonder if there's anything inside." Ann moved her hand to the lock and tried opening it. It wouldn't budge. She tried pulling as hard as she could, but the lock didn't open.

"Ah! My lock picking set!" She ran to her closet, nearly falling along the way, and rummaged around her drawers. She took out a small, black box that she always kept at the back of her bottom drawer. She ran back to her bed, this time actually falling with a loud "oof!", and sat on her bed. She took out one of the lock picks and was just about to put it through the key hole when the door bell rang.

Ann nearly screamed at the top of her lungs, but resisted. She calmely put the pick down and walked through her door way, swiftly stepped down the stairs, walked to the front door, took a deep breath and opened the door. There was no one there. Nothing. Ann could hear the music of the song birds and the humming of the cicadas. It really was summer.

Ann stood on the porch for a minute and took it all in. It might have been extremely hot outside, but it was better than the freezing winters they would get there. She slowly stepped back inside, still looking through the window. Ann made her way up the stairs and walked back into her room. She sat down on her bed and picked up the silver chest. What she noticed on the front, below the painting of the pearl, shocked her.


Hi! Sorry this first chapter was so short. I just wanted to leave you on a cliff-hanger! Pleeeeeaaaaaassseeee review, but go easy. This is my first story. By the way, you can call me Ally or Ann. Zai jian!