A hideous, deafening screech pierced the eerie silence of the gloomy cavern. An enraged monster stood with his horde of underling minions before him. Horrible, indescribable animal- and human-like creatures his brutes were. They drew back in terror as the monster lashed out in fury that seemed to fill the chamber.

From the being came a piercing, raspy voice, "Find the human! You must find the human!"

He raised his scaly hand into the air. From his hand came a great sphere of red-hot flames. The hand cast the fireball forth, causing the brutes to scatter. The fireball struck the ground, and the chamber shook. The brutes poured out of the chamber into the outer cavern.

"Find the human or you shall feel my wrath!" screeched the voice.

The creatures scrambled across the cavern and emerged up into the sunlight of the world. So, they continued their vicious search.

…

Keira awoke and glanced around her. A particularly bright moonlight shone through the windows. Muffled, rhythmic beeps sounded from the alarm clock beneath her pillow. She reached under the pillow and silenced the alarm. As quietly as she could, she pushed off the covers, stepped onto the cold, wood floor, and passed two other beds in the room. Each held the dimly lit figure of a sleeping child.

When Keira reached the door, she turned the handle slowly and pushed. A shrill creak made her freeze. She glanced behind her. No one stirred. So, she pushed the door open a little more, stepped out, and closed it again. Cautiously, she moved down the staircase one gentle step at a time, testing each stair so as not to make it creak.

The floorboards let her pass in silence. Keira stopped by the front door and listened for a moment. Only the soft sounds of night could be heard in the house. No one would know she had been out, and she would be back before they could miss her.

Keira slipped out onto the front steps. As she closed the door, it was nearly noiseless. She patted it with her fingertips and thanked it with a smile. At least the house was kind to her. She couldn't say the same of those who lived there.

With nothing to hinder it's light, the moon shined radiantly over the yard, illuminating the grass, bushes, and garden flowers. Keira looked up to see the glowing white orb floating in the sky. She headed down the long, gloomy streets. They wouldn't be gloomy much longer.

As she walked, her eyes stared at the sidewalk. She wondered if anyone would care that she was gone even if they did notice. It seemed she was invisible to everyone in that house. They might throw a "guh' morning" or a "guh' night" her way. When she sat at the table with them, they used to push a sandwich or a bowl of cereal toward her. But they didn't do that anymore. Mostly, she had to fend for herself at mealtimes.

Her life was like that a lot of the places she went. She was ignored – invisible. Sometimes, someone would care enough to call her by her name. But usually, her name was "the girl." She was starting to get used to that name. She was just "the girl" - just another kid being shuffled from foster home to foster home.

Keira's vision became blurry. She blinked and wiped away a tear. Then something caught Keira's eye and she stopped. A hint of bright white seemed to shine against the dark sidewalk. She knelt down and looked closer. A delicate white flower had grown through a crack in the sidewalk. Gingerly, she touched the little petals. She glanced around, but saw no other flowers like it.

How did it get here? she wondered. It's a shame it had to grow in this crack. It must have been hard for the little thing. But it's so beautiful.

She knelt there a little longer, admiring the little flower. Then, she stood and continued on. She reached the edge of the town. A thin sliver of reddish pink light peaked over the horizon. As Keira continued on, the grass beneath her feet gave way to smooth, white sand. She came to a bank and stood at the top of a long wooden stairway. There, stretched out before her, was a beautiful sea of undulating waters.

Keira smiled, and she descended the stairs to the sandy shore. She pulled off her shoes and socks and left them beneath the stairs. As she crossed the beach, the sound of the rolling waves and the gentle wind gliding across her skin soothed her. The sun was slowly rising behind the undulating waters, casting pink sunbeams across the dark sky.

Keira reached the edge of the beach. Slow, graceful waves rolled up and kissed her toes with a gentle welcome. She walked deeper into the water, and let the waves flow over her ankles. The sun continued to rise, chasing away the darkness of night and illuminating the clouds with brilliant pink light. (To Keira, it looked much like a sea of cotton candy).

The wind picked up. Keira threw her head back and let the wind toss her hair as a symphony of rolling waves sang a melody over her. Breathing deeply, Keira felt the cool morning air fill her lungs and chase away all her cares.

Then, Keira felt something brushing against her ankle. She looked down, but saw nothing – only her bare feet in the water.

But something was there. It was wrapping around her foot. Keira strained her eyes, but still couldn't see anything in the water. The girl felt uneasy and tried to step back, but she felt the grip tighten, and she couldn't pull away. The thing, whatever it was, began curling up her leg. Keira tried to pull her leg back, but the thing only tightened more. It was as if something had reached out of the water and taken hold of her leg.

Keira felt fear rising in her chest. What is this thing?! She jerked backward, trying to wrench herself from its grasp. Her leg seemed to be hanging in midair. Frantically, Keira began slapping and pushing at the thing on her leg. Her hands felt nothing, but her leg felt the ever-tightening grip.

Kicking and flapping her leg, she desperately tried to tear herself free. Suddenly, the thing jerked her off the ground and into the air. Before she could scream, she was submerged in water. Keira thrashed and flailed. Her screams reverberated through the water. The thing was dragging her down, down, down. Her lungs ached for air. Her hands clutched at the water above her as if trying to grasp the air she needed.

Still, Keira was dragged down. She felt the thing on her leg climbing up her torso and wrapping around her neck. A pain bloomed in her chest that spread and grew until her chest felt as though it would burst. She opened her mouth to scream again, but she made no sound. She couldn't cry out. She couldn't pull away. She couldn't do anything. She was utterly helpless.

Then, she suddenly became aware of a light from someplace below her. She did not see it, but felt it. It warmed her weary body and grew warmer as it grew brighter. But it wasn't growing brighter. She was being drawn into it. She could feel the intensifying presence of the light as she was drawn nearer, nearer. Then, she was within it. And it was within her – surging through her. It seemed to probe her being as if it were searching for something. It found what it was looking for.

The grip on Keira's body released her. Suddenly, Keira was spinning, rolling, churning, reeling. She was tossed this way and that and spun head over heels. The light vanished.

Keira felt something gently pushing her. Was she being pushed her up or down? She couldn't tell. But she chose a direction, ready to swim with all her might hoping she would reach the surface. But before she could, surprisingly, her head bobbed out of the water. She felt sand under her feet. She was shocked to find that she wasn't out of breath, and her chest no longer ached. Looking up, she saw the shore.

Not knowing or caring how her predicament had changed, Keira scrambled out of the water and stumbled up the beach and across the grass. She fell to the ground and lay there until her mind cleared. Closing her eyes, she said to herself, It's alright. You're alright. The air was quiet. Laying still, Keira let the sound of the wind in the trees calm her.

Trees? There aren't any trees near the beach. Sitting up, Keira saw tall, looming trees forming a thin canopy over her. Quickly, she stood and saw the edge of the grove of trees. She hurried to the edge and looked in the direction of the town, but she didn't see any houses. She didn't see any of the worn paths that lead to the beach either. Turning around and around, Keira realized that nothing around her looked familiar.

She thought she must have been dragged down the shoreline. She looked up the beach and saw that it sloped up into a hill. She scrambled up the hill hoping she would be able to see the town from there. When she reached the top, she beheld a mighty forest. Her eyes grew wide. She had never seen trees like that before. Everything looked strange. Bushes and flowers she couldn't recognize were scattered over the ground.

Then, looking up, she saw the sun sitting high in the bright blue sky. How could it be so late in the day? It was barely morning only a little while ago!

Keira felt fear rising in her chest again.

Where am I?