Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN MAY BIRD OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS, ALL RIGHTS GO TO JODI LYNN ANDERSON
Plot: (Takes place after the first few chapters of book 3, basically an alternative book 3) Three years ago, a ten year old girl named May Bird went to the land of the dead, but came back alive. Now, she's a much different girl. She hasn't thought much about the Ever After in the last three years, until she's summoned back.
Edit: Completely revised, I posted this up a while ago and it was chopped full of grammar mistakes. I fixed most of them, but I might have missed a few.
I'm standing on my roof, the snow whizzing around, landing in my long, black hair. I've let it grow out, I'm not really entirely sure why. My brown eyes scan the horizon and I look out to the woods, where I would play as a child.
I smile, remembering those fond memories of running through the woods as a warrior princess, getting entirely lost in my own little world. I also emerged from those woods three years ago, returning from the land of the dead: The Ever After. Of course, no one believes I really went there. . . but I know I did.
My mind begins to wander to thoughts of the Ever After. What about my friends? I left them behind. Are they OK?
Somber Kitty rubs his bald head against my jean clad legs. I shake my head and sigh. I hadn't given much thought to the Ever After in a while, until earlier tonight.
"We need you..." That mysterious phone call, the voice sounded exactly like Pumpkin. I hug the death shroud tighter around my shoulders. I hold Somber Kitty in my arms, who was also wearing his shroud. He nuzzles into my chest.
I stare up at the clouds, the wind blowing my tears across my face. I unconsciously take a step forward, only to slip and fall off the roof. I don't feel anything as I land on the ground, so I must not be hurt.
I sit up, rubbing the back of my head.
"Meow" Kitty must be lost in the snow.
I scoot on my knees to look for him, only to realize there is no snow. My head snaps up.
There is no front lawn. There is no White Moss Manor.
Where am I? I peer around, we're in the woods. I can see the clearing where the lake used to be. . . where the lake is.
I stand up, looking for Kitty. Only to find him standing by an open door-way that stood in the middle of thin air. He is floating, eerily translucent. His death shroud was working. I look down and notice mine is as well.
We aren't in the woods behind my house... we are in in the woods on the other side.
Could this be real? I walk towards the door that is open by just a crack. I turn and look back at the lake, remembering the water demon lurking in it's depths. But now nothing stirred.
Looking back at the door, which used to be locked and could only be opened by a secret knock, I bite my thumbnail.
I pick kitty up in my arms and make my way towards the door. I remember the old movie theater that showed an old video explaining what was happening, welcoming spirits to the Ever After.
To my shock, all the seats are empty, the whole place is abandoned looking (more than before, at least). There is a poster plastered across the old movie screen.
"Welcome to The Ever After," I read breathlessly, "where everything is organized, and you never have to worry about anything, because nothing means very much."
I hesitate for a moment, then go farther down the hall, a sickly feeling in my stomach. The immense beach is the same as I remember; an endless stretch of sandy shore, with rowboats docked along it's edges waiting to take the newly deceased to far-off destinations all over the realm.
But the beaches no longer bustled with thousands of newly dead souls, in fact, I'm the only one here. The shore is deserted.
I turn to look back at where I came from, but now there is only a brick wall where the exit had been, marked with big red letters reading "You'll never get out again, have a nice day. BO CLEEVIL IS NUMBER ONE!"
I know from experience there was no going backward. But now, without Pumpkin here to guide me like before, I don't know how to go forward.
