Summer glanced at the photo in her hand. There she was, shyly looking at the camera,

wearing her favorite pink sweater and green hair bows. Summer was only seven years old

then, Keira, only a baby. However, she vividly remembered the night the picture was

taken. Summer had decided she wanted to see the world outside of the community she'd

lived in. The community had lost contact with other towns several years ago. It didn't

even have a name, no point in needing one. Summer had bid farewell to Nanny, her

guardian, and baby Keira, and set off to explore the world. It didn't take long for her to

realize how stupid her decision was. Nanny had repeatedly told her that everyone who

ever left the community never came back. By then, she was far from home. Summer, who

had lost all hope of ever coming back, began to cry. That's when she noticed the giant

thing buried in the ground.

It looked like an emerald, bigger than the palm of her hand. Summer picked it up, and

held it close to her. She couldn't help but notice, that her tears did not run down the

emerald-thing. Instead, they had fallen off them, very much as raindrops did when they

hit the ground. A small glow luminated from the emerald-thing, as each tear plinked onto

it. That's when things began to get weird.

Summer watched as she began to run. At first, it was at a slow pace. Then, she began to

accelerate. Summer went faster, and faster, until she couldn't see her legs. She tried her

best to stop running, only to realize she had no control over her new-found speed.

Summer had then dropped the emerald-thing, not knowing where it landed. She abruptly

screeched to a halt. Unfortunately, Summer had slammed into an oak tree. She felt the

sting of a wound on her hand, that she'd made while bumping into the tree. Summer

wiped of the blood from the cut, wishing she'd brought bandages. When she looked at the

back of her hand, the cut had vanished.

Summer, by now, was thinking that this was a nightmare, one she couldn't wake up from.

She felt a bump in her sweater pocket, finding the emerald-thing. All she wanted now

was to go home. Suddenly she found herself floating above the ground. With a smile on

her face, Summer proceeded to go higher, and higher, until she was above the clouds, and

among the stars. She was completely at peace, knowing she was having a wonderful

dream. She didn't remember what happened next, because the next thing she knew, she

was in her nice, comfy bed at home. Nanny had entered her room to wake her up.

"Hello there, love." Nanny had cheerfully greeted. "Goodness, gracious! I thought you

were gone for good! You're a very lucky girl, you know that?"

"Nanny." Summer added. "I had a dream last. I found a big thingy in the forest. I was

running, and then a ran into a tree, and then I got a cut, and then it got better, and then I

flied! I swear, it was so.."

"Real?" Nanny interrupted. "Yes, dreams are always like that. You have a very bright

imagination, love. Come along, time for breakfast."

Summer had tumbled out of bed, heading to the kitchen for some oatmeal. Since that

night, she had never really forgotten the "dream". For the next eight years, she'd

pondered over the events of her dream. For some reason, something in the back of her

head was telling her it wasn't a dream at all. However, she had ignored the voice, over

and over again. She'd come to discover that the voice inside her head was right all along.

The thing, called a Chaos Emerald, was all-too real, the tears truly existed, and all

her powers were really there.

Summer sat on a chair, in her new room, at Freedom HQ. She silently laughed at herself,

for she realized that she, all along, had been a very special person. She just didn't notice

know until know.