Hey, everyone! I am so sorry that I haven't been on to publish any stories here in quite some time. I just have been busy with school and my senior year of high school. Yeah, I know. I'm old. XD

Okay, I am publishing this story based from a book called, "The Beach" by Alex Garland. There is also a 2000 film with the same name starring Leonardo DiCaprio. (Such a talented guy, he is.)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Richard, he solely belongs to Alex Garland. Kimba, solely belongs to my closest and dearest friend. I only own the parents and the idea.

Anyway, here is the story...

Parallel Universe

"My name is Richard. So what else do you need to know? Stuff about my family, or where I'm from? None of that matters. Not once you cross the ocean and cut yourself loose, looking for something more beautiful, something more exciting and yes, I admit, something more dangerous. So after eighteen hours in the back of an airplane, three dumb movies, two plastic meals, six beers and absolutely no sleep, I finally touched down; in Bangkok."

Actually, that is the very thing that you are going to find out. I'm sure all of you have heard or read of an urban myth dealing with a paradise of a beach. This is not my brother's story. This is his sister's story.

It had started on a good, normal day for the Fischer family. With our mother getting ready to do the bills that were beginning to overload the table. Our father getting ready for work on that seemigly perfect day. Which, in all honesty, was a rarity in the household. My brother was the troublemaker of the two of us children. Always high when he got home. In other cases, he was drunk. From going to a party or hanging out with his friends. Except, the bad thing was that he hadn't been home in many. many months. More like six or seven months. To be truthful, she had missed his outbursts with their parents. She missed seeing his smile and the twinkle in his eyes when he was really excited about something. Preferably, his love for video games and her. She knew that he was super overprotective of her. She sighed as she stood up and went to look at one of his pictures on the wall, it was when he had graduated from high school. Smiling like the little idiot he could be, sometimes. Just then, the doorbell rang. That was the moment everything changed.

Our mother shook her head and stood up. Opening the door to reveal...A man in a uniform. No, it wasn't anything like the military. It was our local New York City police officer. "The Fischer family?" He asked as he fingered through his papers. Our parents stood there, speechless. So, with me being the only one that wasn't in total shock, words tumbled out of my mouth. "That's us. Is everything alright?" The officer just sighed and said, "We can't seem to find your son and brother. It just seems as if he just disappeared off the grid. Though, we pulled up his passport. It shows that he was in Bangkok, Thailand. Do you have any reason why he might of gone there?" Our mother got out of her trance then said, "I don't know. He really...He really wasn't close to me. He was close to our daughter, his sister." Of course, now the officer was facing me. I had no idea what to tell this man. That my brother just wanted to get away for awhile? Kimba sighed then replied, "Well, um, he had told me that he needed a break. A breather from having to go back to college for his sophomore year.." The officer sighed as he wrote it down. "Alright, we'll keep in touch as we look for him. He's out there. Somewhere."

Except, it had been a few weeks since the officer had come to talk to them. There was a knock on the door. Now, it was different. On a Sunday. When both our parents were home and relaxing. Our parents ran down the stairs and I ran to the door. Opening it as our parents stood with me. Emerged the police officer. He gave a tired smile as we let him come inside the house, sitting in the living room. "We got some news from the Thailand authorities. Richard had called on a payphone, mere hours ago. To one of his friends, I suppose." He said as he looked at our parents. "That makes our job easier. We can find him now." He rubbed his temples as if a headache was beginning to form.

"We know one thing." The officer said looking at the three of us. That was when my voice came to me, surprising myself as I asked, "What's that?" The officer gave a small smile. "He's alive..."

Alright. Here is the start of this story. The character Kimba is a character that my dearest and closest friend had created with her brilliant mind. :) This story means a lot to me.

I dedicate this story to you, Emmy! Hope I got your character right.

Please review with very constructive criticism. It is vital that I hear what you all have to say about my writing. It'll help me as both a person and writer.