"WHOOPEE!!! Uh-huh, uh-huh, we can GO!!!" Tria bounded across the wooden floor. Her sister, Allison, was watching. "Come on, don't be so cheery. We're not leaving yet; we have to wait for Grandma and Grandpa to get ready." Tria got up hanging her head down. "Darn it."

"You wanna go watch something?"

"Ok."

Allison turned on the TV. There was this woman singing opera in a very high pitched voice. "She sounds like a hovering disk!" Tria laughed. She did sound like a hovering disk. She sang and sang and sang until Tria couldn't take it anymore. "CHANGE THE CHANNEL!!" the nine-year-old hollered. Quickly, her sister changed the channel a few times and landed on a cooking channel. The cook was cooking chocolate cakes with apricot sauce poured over, marinated salmon with some hand-made sauce, and salad with chicken liver and onions on top. Yuck.

"Ok children, time to go!" Grandma was in her best dress holding her leather purse. "Let's not be late." Grandpa got his cap on and zipped up his coat. "Come on kids, your Grandma's right." Allison and Tria turned off the TV, left their places, and went outside. Both children hopped into the white, gleaming car ready for the ride to their uncle's house for a party.

Grandpa started the engine and drove out of the driveway. Allison and Tria were so excited, that they felt as if they could fly! But their excitement slowed down their patience a little. "Are we there yet?" Tria moaned. "No." her sister replied.

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"Ugh, Tria, would you stop bugging me!?"

"Sorry," Tria apologized. "I'm just bored." Grandma turned back to face them with her gentle look. "Why don't you go to sleep? It'll make things seem faster." Tria and Allison looked at each other. "Good idea," they said at the same time. Then they both closed their eyes….

"Tria? What are you doing in my dream?"

"Then what are YOU doing in MY dream!?"

Both sisters looked around. They were in darkness and all they could hear was a faint music box noise. "Where's that coming from?" Tria asked.

"I don't know!" replied her sister in fear.

"Let's go see!" the little nine-year-old ran from her sister into the blackness. "Hey, I can't see a thing! Allison, where are you!?"

"Over here!" Anh called out. "I can't see you!" her younger sister yelled.

"Well I can't see you either!"

"Follow my voice!"

"If only you never ran away from me…"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!?!?!"

"Uh, nothing! Good idea, I'll follow your voice!"

Allison made her way through the darkness but it was hard to move in as if she were in water… "Tria! Could you please yell again?"

"Ok! HEY ANH, I'M OVER HERE!"

"Not so loud!"

"Fine! I'm over here!" Tria whispered.

"Ugh, never mind!"

Suddenly Allison bumped into something like a huge lump that also fell down. "Hey, Tria, can you yell again? I bumped into something."

"THAT SOMETHING WAS ME!!!"

"Oh….oops…."

The two sisters finally got a hold of each other. "That took a long time!" the little girl complained. "Well sorry!" her big sister yelled. "It's been really dark so don't blame me." Suddenly, a blue light was cast in front of them. "What is that?" Tria asked curiously. She walked toward it a little until her sister caught hold of her. "We don't know what it is, and we don't know what it will do! Just let me handle it ok?" Allison cautiously walked toward the light and touched it. It did nothing but play a little music box tune.

"Well?" Tien asked. "What is it?"

"I don't know. It plays music though…"

"Maybe it's a radio!"

"What kind of a light is a radio?"

"Right. It's not a radio."

The light dimmed a little and out of the light was a blue crystal. "Oh, so it's a crystal!" Tria yelled. "But what kind is it?" Then, out of the blue, the crystal spoke! "I am not just a crystal child, I am a star."

"You don't look like a star," Allison protested. "You look like a gem."

"Ah, stars always start like this child. Then they change shape and they grow until they're so big, they form a world."

"So you mean you can form a world?" Tria asked excitedly.

"Yes child, I can. But I'm still too small to be one yet. The world that I'm going to create is invisible for now. You're in what's going to be an ocean my dears, yes, in what's going to be an ocean."

Allison and Tria looked excitedly at each other.

"But my dears, carry me out so that I can show you the land," the star spoke. "and how empty it is before a star is fully grown." The two nodded and took the star into their hands. Surprisingly, the star lifted them out of the ocean and on to dry land. "There's nothing here," Tria whined. "That's because the world's not formed yet. It's really dark and the only light is me," the star replied. Then it sighed. "I should be back in the ocean now." Allison nodded and the star sank the land down into the water. "Goodbye, children," it said as it floated away.

Then the light faded, leaving Allison and Tria back into the darkness. "What now?" Tria asked. "I'm not sure," her big sister replied. "but we're stuck here until we wake up." Then suddenly, the light came back only stronger then faded and came back stronger than ever. "What's happening?!" Allison yelled. The light was growing so intense that both sisters had to look away. Then it grew so huge that there was a quick flash and both sisters felt something different…

They both looked around but saw nothing but blue. Then something was coming towards them…no, swimming towards them….it came closer….it obviously had a tail….with….flowing green hair? It seemed curious and came closer to see what was in the distance. When it came close enough, it turned out to be a…mermaid! The mermaid had a green tail and long green hair. It cocked its head to the left then to the right. Then it reached with its hand and touched Tria's shirt, grabbed it, but then let go in fear.