Chapter One
Coraline Stone
Coraline Stone comes from a very wealthy family of three and lives in Seattle, Washington. She is a high-spirited young girl who wanted nothing more than to become not only a costume designer, but to become an actress just like her mother. She had many auditions on stage and she was not afraid of showing her skill to anyone on the stage. Because her popularity grew to the point where everyone loved her, she had many true friends, and all of them loved to hear her perform on stage as the lead role. Unfortunately, she lost her mother to a horrible illness, and because of this, he married another woman, who was just as kind-hearted as her, but was also very playful around everyone. Her name was Hilda Albert and she was an actress just like her mother. She and Coraline got along so well that Hilda often taught the ways of acting out in a crowd and how to play the character properly. But there were also some troubling conflicts as well. Coraline's Aunt Francine didn't like the idea of her becoming an actress. She often tried to interrupt voice-acting lessons with her stepmother to teach her the mathematics and puzzles, which she is good at neither. Eversince their first encounter with each other, they would have an argument over Coraline's future, making her very upset. Hilda even pulled the rug from under Francine's feet one time, causing her to fall. Coraline, who witnessed this at the time, couldn't help but giggle both inside and out. Eversince that day, Hilda vowed not only to be the best stepmother in the world, but also Coraline's bodyguard.
One sunny afternoon, Coraline was in line for an audition for a new movie called Sweet Dreams. She was very excited to go in and perform for the judges. As soon as everyone had done his or her part, Coraline was next in line. She went onto very gallantly, and began to read the lines for her preferred role:
"My guardian spirit is my only companion of this world. She is the only one whom I can trust with all my heart. If you dare try to intervene with our friendship, I will banish you from this realm forever.
"Tibolt, do not be afraid. For I am your guardian, the one who gave you the power needed to save your world and our own from this horrid evil. You are only hope in defeating the forces of darkness.
"The most evilest of all in this world is none other than-"
"What on earth are you doing?" said a cold, adult female voice. Her Aunt Francine, who had somehow found her in the studio, suddenly interrupted her. She was glaring with hatred in her eyes. The judges murmured to each other, confused. Aunt Francine walked up to her, saying, "And why are you here? There is some mathematic work that needs to be worked and I cannot allow you go onto the stage performing these stupid little movies and television shows!"
"Aunt Francine!" said Coraline, angrily. "This is more than a hobby! It's my life!"
"And it's less than homework!" Aunt Francine shot back. "What about your responsibility? What about your future? When you grow up, you will know that adults are a lot smarter than children." She took Coraline's hand and was about to drag her out of the studio, when her stepmother, Hilda, stormed in and grabbed Coraline away from her.
"How dare you ruin my stepdaughter's career as an actress?" she said, angrily. "You know darn well that Coraline isn't interested in this sort of business that you try to pull her into."
"Well, if she thinks that she can act out on stage," said Aunt Francine, pushing her glasses onto her nose, "then I will not tolerate it."
"You are insane!" said Hilda. She than pulled the rug underneath Francine's feet, which caused her to fall. This made Coraline laugh a little bit. She and her stepmother then run away from Francine, who was still very angry with the two for doing this, childish move. Right after they got away, Hilda and Coraline stopped to take a breath.
"Phew!" said Hilda. "Glad we got you away from that ol' business woman. No way is she making my stepdaughter a boring ol' accountant. Huh, sweetie?" Coraline then screamed a little bit at her stepmother's hands. Hilda notices this, and then realizes that she is turning into sand. She screamed in horror and panic, as she was blown away into a vortex, shouting, "Coraline!" As her stepmother disappeared into the vortex and it disappears, she looks behind her, only to find a bunch of dark-colored bats coming after her. She screamed in panic, and as the bats came near her, she ran away. She was screaming in fear and horror as she ran, even tripping over her own foot. One of the bats landed right next to her shoulder, and she screamed as she saw it. She got up and went into a different direction, running as fast she could to get away from them. The chase continued as the world around her turned into nothing but darkness. Suddenly, a bright light had shown in front of Coraline. In that light was a jester-like shadow with only a pair of beautiful, violet, cat-like eyes peeking from this form. She reached out to the shadow, thinking that he or she is her savior. The shadow grabbed her arm, and pulled her to safety from the nightmarish bats. As she held on tight to her rescuer in fear, the light surrounds the two, and the bats recoil from the light in fear. The jester-like being is taking the frightened child to another world.
To be continued…
