Little Did She Know…
Mary stared at her present, confused and slightly weirded out. What the hell… it was odd, to say the least. It's not every day you get given a jar full of lollies and a mango, plus some cheap necklaces and a bookmark made of safety pins. One of the necklaces had a dollar price tag on it still…
Little did she know that this necklace was actually the key to wisdom, happiness and success, and that people had spent years trying to figure out how it worked.
Later that night, Mary lay in bed, surrounded by gifts, thinking about her awesome party, and wonderful presents. Her mind drifted to the strange things Matilda had given her, and the really odd card that had come with it. She scoffed quietly. It couldn't be true, she thought, it's just some story she made up to make the present seem a bit better. Slowly, her mind turned from the odd present to her favourite stories. New Moon was out and she was looking forward to watching it again. Mary drifted in and out of sleep, dreaming of the beautifully written characters and worlds which she could never visit. Next to her, the red plastic began to glow.
'Wake up! Everyone up now!' A sharp English accent cut through the air as a tired Mary rolled over in bed, using the pillow to cover her ears.
'I said up!' The doona was rudely tugged off Mary by a tall, wrinkled old woman dressed in green with a pointy hat. Mary sat up and looked around through sleep filled eyes.
'You're late Mary.' She looked at the woman closely then, mind racing with disbelief.
'Professor?'
'You're going to need this.' A tall dark haired boy stepped forward from the corner, his hand clasped tightly around the red necklace. Mary looked even more confused.
'You're not in Harry Potter.' She stated bluntly. She was in no mood for jokes, and this certainly didn't feel like a dream. The boy chuckled a little, his curly hair falling onto his face.
'No, I'm not. Come on Mary, we need to go.' Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement.
'Time to go I'm afraid.' Mary slid out of bed and took the boy's outstretched hand. As she looked down, she realised she was still in her pyjamas.
'Shouldn't I-' she began, but it was too late, they were no longer in her room. Instead, she and the dark haired boy were in the middle of a forest. 'Get changed?'
'Right now, the only thing you should be doing,' replied the boy, looking afraid and watching each of the trees as if they were going to leap out and eat him at and second. 'Is running.' With that Mary found herself being pulled along at almost superhuman speed. The trees flew past at an astounding rate and before Mary could breathe properly they'd stopped again.
'Aidaniel.' The voice had come from no distinct spot, rather it sounded as though it was the wind itself commanding the boy's name. The dark haired boy looked around again, his green eyes flashing with even more fear.
'Oops.' He turned to Mary and whispered in her ear. 'When I say run, run.' She nodded silently, trying to remember why this place looked so familiar. Before she had time to voice her opinions, Aidaniel yelled RUN, and they were off again, into the unknown world that had seemed so impossible just ten minutes surfaces under their feet changed so quickly Mary wasn't surprised when she looked down to see them running over the ocean.
'Erm, where exactly are we going?' In answer, Aidaniel sped up. On the horizon there was a large island, covered in palm trees and oconuts. Suddenly, the sand was beneath their feet and they weren't moving anymore. Sand swirled around them, making Mary cough and rub her eyes. Aidaniel sat down.
'We'll be alright here, hopefully.' Mary sat down next to him and stared out to sea. A drunken singing started up behind them.
'What do we do with a drunken sailor, what do we do with a-' as the source of the singing came into view, Mary let out a gasp.
'Who, are you?' The man asked in a burp. He went to draw his sword but before he could do so, he fell over.
'Jack Sparrow?!' Mary laughed.
'The one and only.' Jack bowed from his place in the sand before picking up a bottle and shaking it. 'All gone!' With that he passed out. Aidaniel looked at him, and then at Mary, and then over Mary's shoulder.
'Who's that?' Mary spun around to see a girl of about her age darting towards them, a pistol in her hand and a fierce expression on her face.
'What did you do to him? How did you get here? Who are you? Go away!' All of this was covered in a splattering of swear words and slang that neither Aidaniel nor Mary understood.
'Well, I'm waiting!' The girl looked at then impatiently.
'I'm Aidaniel, this is Mary.' Aidaniel said warily. Mary couldn't withhold her questions any longer.
'Are you his daughter? Or is he just in cahoots with children these days?' The girl looked horrified.
'I'm his sister! Natalie Sparrow, at your service.' She sheathed her sword and bowed slightly. Mary looked back at the unconscious Jack, realising he seemed younger than in the films.
'How old are you two?'
'12 and 20. You?' Natalie had clearly decided that the two of them were harmless, as she was now sitting down next to Aidaniel emptying the sand from her boots.
'14 and 16.' Aidaniel cut across Mary before she could begin. 'We got a little, erm, lost.'
'We did? Wait, what? First of all, where are we? And who are you? Why was the Professor in my room? And why is Captain Jack Sparrow drunk at our feet!?' Mary felt like she'd just jolted back to her senses, she needed to get home. Maybe it was a dream. Aidaniel coughed and she looked down to see the red plastic in her hand glowing.