Chapter 1:
Alex was over it. Over all the hours spent on pointless homework. Over all the judgemental and criticizing students of grade 12. Over all the two-faced, rotten mouthed, lying, brainless boyfriends that had come and gone. She didn't want another minute of it. All Alex wanted was for year 12 to disappear and for her to leave behind the painful, stress filled life she was living. She just wanted to fall asleep and to never wake up. But that was a fairy-tale and fairy-tales don't exist.
"I'm going to bed now mum."
Alex's mum didn't look up from her iPad. "Alright, goodnight sweetie."
After brushing her hair and teeth she stomped up the stairs to the attic and closed her door.
Alex's room wasn't very large. She sat on the edge of the bed, boxes were piled up in the corner and scattered all over the room. It had only been three nights since the move, they had been forced to leave her childhood home because her mum's new workplace was too far away. At least she didn't have to change schools. That could have been hard. The attic had a small window above her bed. From it she could hear the sounds of cars driving, horns blaring and the classical music playing at the restaurant down the road.
Tomorrow was a new day and a new week she had to get some rest. Her eyes suddenly felt droopy and as she tried to stand up to get undressed her legs collapsed beneath her and she felt back onto her pillow. Her eyes closed and her mind relaxed.
Alex awoke the next morning to the sound of a sweet bird song and the wind in the trees above her. Her eyes adjusted and she sat up. Her back was covered in loose soil and grass stains. It took a minute before she realised where she was. Moss covered the bases of the weeping willow trees surrounding her. The warm sun had risen and her hair was being blown by a cool breeze. A leaf was released from the tree above her and it floated down to land in her lap. Alex raised the leaf in her hand and studied it as if it might hold the clue to how she got there.
Somewhere nearby she heard it. A faint song floating on the breeze. The song of a young girl.
"The early sun rises with the maid
The stars begin to fade.
Hello my world Hello please stay
I am here for one more day."
Alex tried her best to follow the voice, dodging in and out of trees, jumping over the large roots. As she parted the foliage of a weeping willow hope filled her soul. There, smack bang in the middle of the forest, was a tall stone tower.