Rowena


Rowena looked around at the cold, mountainous landscape. What is this? She cried in fear. She turned around in slow motion, as if time were strained in her dream. Almost as if she were underwater. As she turned, she saw three shadowy figures in a dark woods. She squinted her eyes to try to make out the shapes, to try to see if she could tell if they were human or not. Suddenly, one of the shapes burst into flames, igniting the trees around it. Rowena tried to scream, but no sound came out. Help! What is this? She thought in fear. Just then, another figure slowly began to melt, and then reform, as if it was made of water. The last figure stood firm, and the earth around it began to collapse, like everything around it was quicksand. Finally, the shadow on fire began to speak. Help us, It pleaded. We can not do this alone. Join us...

"Help you with what?" Rowena asked, finally finding her voice. "I don't even know what you are..." She stopped. The shadows had stopped moving. Suddenly, she felt a gust of air that almost knocked her back. She looked around in a panic, but the shadows were gone. "Wait! Don't leave me!" She cried, trying to move toward the woods. She looked at her feet. They were not moving. It was as if she was glued to the earth. Again, she was attacked by another gust of wind. "Where is this wind coming from? Make it stop!" She pleaded. But when she looked down at her feet, they were gone. Where her legs were, there was an empty void. She couldn't make the wind stop. She WAS the wind. She tried to scream, but her voice stopped working again.

Rowena woke up in a sweat, afraid for her life. What on Earth was that? She thought, her heart pounding in her chest, a reminder that she was alive, not being sucked up by the wind. Rowena started to calm down, and when she did, she realized she was still very tired. She glanced out the window, and gasped as she saw the full moon above her home. How strange, She thought. I usually wake up later! I'd better go back to sleep... She yawned as she made herself comfortable once more and slowly drifted to sleep.

When Rowena woke up again, earlier the next morning, she was still shaken by her vision. Usually, her dreams were more, well, straightforward. This one, however, was more like a prophecy, in a way. Which was odd, because why on Earth would she be the one to get these messages? There were others that were FAR more important than her. Rowena was never talked to, unless somebody had a question. Some would ask her if she knew where their friend was, or, sometimes, if she had any friends. Every time, Rowena replied with "No, I do not have any friends." or "No, I have not seen your friend." On occasions, she had seen their friend, but still replied no, because she felt they didn't deserve any friends.

One day, at a nearby park she was visiting, Rowena saw a tall, gruff boy holding a stuffed bear above his head and a little girl, jumping in vain to reach the bear. "Give it back, that belongs to me!" The girl cried.

"Oh, does it?" The boy smirked. "Then you'll have to reach it if you want it!" He laughed. The girl, exhausted and upset, sat down and cried. The boy didn't look moved at all. In fact, he looked at the girl in triumph, as if it were an honor to make a girl cry. Rowena, who disliked bullies more than she disliked anything, decided to put an end to it.

"Excuse me, does that belong to you?" Rowena asked the boy.

"Ah, yes, it is my sisters'. I was just bringing it home." He replied.

"It does NOT belong to him! He stole it from me!" The girl shouted, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Well, If it belongs to her, I suggest you'd give it back." Rowena said calmly.

"And if I don't?" The boy smirked.

"Then, I suppose, I'll have to beat you senseless until you give it back and apologize." Rowena replied. The boy simply laughed.

"Oh, dear, I think I forgot to be scared." The boy chuckled. His triumphant smiles didn't last, because in a matter of minutes, Rowena had him dangling by one foot, upside-down. A few moments later, the boy dropped the bear, and with that, Rowena dropped the boy. Rowena picked up the bear and returned it to the girl, who was looking up at her with awe. The boy, who evidently broke his hand trying to break his fall, ran crying away from the park.

"You're amazing!" The girl said to Rowena.

"Why, thank you, but it wasn't any trouble. I absolutely HATE bullies." Rowena replied.

"I do, too. This was going to be the third stuffed animal stolen from me this week." The girl sighed. "Anyways, my name is Helga, what's yours?"

"My name is Rowena. Nice to meet you!" Rowena answered.

"I'd love to talk to you more, but it's almost lunchtime. I have to be going." Helga said.

"Okay, I'd better be going, too. Bye!" Rowena said, already walking towards her house. Something's strange about that girl, but I don't know what. She thought. Oh, well. I'm probably just imagining things.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.