I know I should be doing my work and also working on Prophecy but I've had this idea for awhile and it just wouldn't leave me alone... Besides, procrastination is so much fun and sleep is overrated...
Basically, this story is about young Becky discovering her super powers. The reason her name is in parenthesis in the title is because I'm think about writing another prequel about the character I created in Prophecy with the same title/premise.
Anyway, I'll try not to give anything from Prophecy away in this but we'll see where it goes.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: A normal day
"Becky! Come on! You don't want to be late for your first day of school!"
The musical voice of her mother floated up the stairs jolting Becky out of the book she was buried in. "Five minutes until the bus! That means you too mister."
Her brother TJ's voice sounded from the other side of her bedroom wall. "Aww mom… do I hav'ta go to kandergarden?" Becky winced at the mispronunciations. She didn't know why, but it always bothered her when people (especially her brother) mispronounced easy words. She knew he was only 4 but come on. When she was that age she could pronounce "hullabaloo", "guarantee" and even "persnickety". She stared at her ceiling. Well, maybe I'm just better with words than TJ is…
"Becky! Did you hear me? Two minutes!"
Seven-year-old Becky Botsford sighed and slowly closed The Princess Triana Saga Book 1: Princess Triana and the The Magic Wish. "I'm coming mom!" Before she got up, she gave the book a slight caress on its spine, dreaming of lying there all day, lost in a world of magic wizards and beautiful princesses, reading all those beautiful words…..
"BECKY! I think I hear the school bus!" Her father was calling now. And he was never mistaken about what he heard. She glanced at the unicorn clock next to her bed: 8:44 am slowly changed to 8:45. "BECKY! The bus is HERE!" She quickly grabbed her new backpack and rushed out of her bedroom, now frantic. I am NOT going to be late on my first day of 2nd grade!
As she raced out her bedroom door, something happened. Everything around her became blurry and indistinct… she felt like she was moving… but her feet didn't seem to be touching the ground... Suddenly, she found herself standing next to her father downstairs, vision back to normal, hair slightly windswept, as if she had been running at full speed. Her father had only just closed his mouth from yelling. He jumped when he realized she was next to him. "Wow! That was fast!..." He patted her affectionately on the head. "I bet you'll be quite the track star in high school.. Just like you're old man!" He walked around the kitchen island, leaving Becky blinking in the hallway, heart racing, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The clock in the kitchen was just changing to 8:45. But it's the same as mine…. How did I get down here so fast?
She had no time to ponder the question. "Becky! Go!" Assistant District Attorney Sally Botsford had the door open and was brandishing a brown paper bag at her daughter. Outside, a huge yellow bus honked its horn impatiently and began to rev its engine. Becky walked as quickly as she could to her mother, afraid to run in case the blur happened again. Her mom thrust the bag into her hands, planted a wet kiss on her cheek than pushed her out the door. "I love you honey! Have a good day!" Becky nodded, still thinking about the blur and began to walk towards the bus. "Becky!" her mother hissed at her loudly. "Run or you'll miss it!" Startled, Becky broke into a flat out run. Halfway across the yard she realized two things: one, she was running again and two, there was no blur. She was so stunned she stopped short. What is going on with me…?
A honk from the driver reminded her why she had been running and she hurried to the bus doors. A kind- faced blonde woman in thick glasses smiled at her. "Sorry kid, but I don't want to be late." She closed the doors behind Becky. "Find a seat." She said gesturing to the rest of the bus. Becky peered down the bus aisle, feeling anxious. The back seemed like a long way away. Along that endless corridor, all she could see were many high seats and a few stubby heads of other kids poking out from some of them. The bus was crowded and raucous; backpacks spilling into the aisle and kids leaning across seats, talking and shouting. Becky swallowed a nervous lump in her throat. There didn't seem to be anywhere she could sit, nor anyone she knew to sit with. She turned back to ask the bus driver where she should go and to her enormous relief, saw an unoccupied seat right next to her. She hurried to sit down heart slowly settling back to normal. Once she was settled, she felt good enough to be cordial.
"What's your name?" she asked the bus driver shyly.
The driver signaled and revved the engine again. "My name's Leslie." She said as she pulled away from the curb. Leslie turned to ask the girl her name but realized she wasn't listening, she was watching her house disappear as the bus moved. Leslie shrugged and mumbled to herself in an irritated monotone: "Why do I bother being nice? None of these kids ever listens to me…"
Becky watched her house moving away, trying to see her mom in the doorway one last time before she left. A small movement caught her eye. There was something in the tree next to her bedroom window. She peered out the bus window, trying to get a better look but whatever it was moved out of sight suddenly. She turned her head to look for the thing, but the bus made a sharp turn and she was thrown back against the seat. By the time she was able to look out the window again, her house had disappeared from sight and there was no sign of the thing.
The bus quickly left the suburban streets behind and entered the city. Having no one to talk to, Becky found herself staring out of the bus window a lot, watching the people and the buildings pass by. To pass the time, she indulged in her favorite hobby (after reading): imagining she was flying. In her imagination, she rose from her seat and burst out the bus door, taking to the skies with ease… leaving behind all her troubles and thoughts…. she then raced the bus down the road, zooming gracefully over rooftops and diving down the sides of buildings, feeling the wind whip her hair every which way, feeling truly free! Swooping up into the great sky to dance with the clouds….! Becky sniffed quietly and let her fantasy fade until she was back on the bus seat. Thinking of flying always brought tears to her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of these other people for any reason. It would be so wonderful if I could fly for real…
Becky stared pointedly out the window after that, resisting the urge to "fly" again. A couple of times, she caught a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, like something was following the bus. But every time she tried to get a good look, the bus would turn, blocking her view or, when she did get a good look, nothing would be there. Eventually, she gave up and sat back against the seat as the bus bumped and jerked its way down the city streets. Becky stared at her hands as she pondered what a strange morning it had been. First the blur, then this thing….. what could it be? Maybe it was like the blur; just a one time, unexplainable phenomenon. Why would anything follow her?
The bus pulled into the long parking lot of Woodview Elementary. The bus driver named Leslie put on the brake and cracked the doors open. Becky took a deep breath. Here goes…
I promise this story will be shorter than Prophecy! Speaking of which... I should go work on that...
Let me know your thoughts on this and the other planned prequel.
