Geranium

A sacred flower that will grow anywhere.

A flower that gives hope with its meaning.

Determination

Preface

I was born on a snowy December night when the full moon was high in the sky. I was visited by an Allucinatori just four hours after my birth. A creature that is as old as Mother Earth herself, and it was on that night when my own mother abandoned me because of an old superstition.

That Allucinatori told my parents a divination. And granted me a gift; a gift which allows me to communicate in a very unique way. Through dreams. My mother viewed this as not a gift but as a curse. She comes from a long line of people that are overly superstitious, that believed the Allucinatories were demons from Hell itself. Satan's personal servants of evil. And so she left me and my father all because of a prophecy and a gift. But this isn't where I want to begin my story. My story, my adventure began on my eighteenth birthday. When the full moon was a brilliant beacon in the night.

Chapter 1: Luna

"Aww. Come on dad! Can't I just take one tiny peek?" He flashes a smile, showing off his white, straight teeth. He refused to give in to my puppy dog eyes, or to my pouting.

"You know the rules Luna. No looking OR unwrapping presents until after we eat cake." He peels another potato, washes it, and then cuts it into tiny edible pieces. I make a humph sound and lay my head on the cool white counter.

"But I don't want to wait that long. You cook too slow." I move my head to the side to see him stick out his tongue. He won't let me win. No he refuses to let me win. He never has over these past eighteen years. I have to wait for two long, excruciating hours before I got to see what was beneath that silver wrapping paper. Who knew that such a tiny, innocent, box would make someone, like me, irritated to the core. My leg started twitching just thinking about that box.

I jump off my stool and walk into the living room. I plop onto the couch and turn the TV on. I start flipping through the channels, already bored to death. Don't people use their imaginations anymore to entertain themselves? I sigh as I turn the TV back off and get up. Two hours…What in the world am I supposed to do for that long?

As if sensing my irritation, my father pipes up. Probably annoyed that I was walking around doing nothing. "Before you make me want to shoot myself, why don't you-,"

"Already done with homework." He remains silent and I stop walking in random circles.

"What about-?"

"Done with those long before you got home." He mumbles something as I slip on my sandals. I look up to find him staring off into space. His face was blank and his bright gray eyes were looking at the ceiling. He was thinking. If there is one thing about my father you should know, is that you should never ever bother him when he is staring off into space. After about a minute he started peeling potatoes again.

"I'll be outside if you need me." He turned around to put the diced potatoes in the boiling pot. He waved his hand, indicating that he had heard me loud and clear. I smiled and opened the sliding glass door that lead to our huge backyard. Let's just say that our backyard is pretty unique compared to others in the suburbs. It's our personal sanctuary, where we go if anyone of us were bothered by a problem or simply wish to be away from life in general. Even if it was for a few minutes or to a few hours.

We planted willow trees around the edge of the fence to give us privacy, then built a pond that sits directly in the middle with a metal bench near the edge. Its shadow reflecting in the clear water. In the pond we stuck different kinds of Koi fish. Including my two favorites, a black Koi and a white Koi. I chose those two due to the fact that they symbolized peace, balance, and tranquility.

After the fish, we planted every flower known to mankind. Personally, I love this place. It was so majestic and magical at the same time. It made me forget that outside of these wooden walls, there was a cruel and ruthless world waiting to pounce if it was given the chance. If you let your guard down for too long.

As I pushed back the willows' branches the smell of the flowers hit me. It wasn't an awful smell; each flower's fragrance balanced the others out. The stony path was soon revealed to me and I followed it to the middle of the sanctuary and to the bench. As I sat down on the bench I started to relax. My problems became blurry and foreign as the sun's gentle rays hit my back and neck. My eyes started to feel heavy and slowly shut themselves. I needed to stay awake, but sleeps temptation was too powerful and it overtook me, and soon I was out like a light. I felt something cold on my head and realized it was the bench's metal frame.

I move my arm underneath my head making a makeshift pillow as I fell into a deep sleep. It was dark for quite a while before an image made its way into my mind. It was an image of a young man who looked to be in his early twenties. He was beautiful. His jet black hair shined in the light. A single blue streak adorned the middle of his bangs. But what caught my eye was not his hair, but he's bright green eyes. They seemed to see deep into my soul. I felt as if he was staring right through me. I couldn't help but stare back.

His mouth started moving, his lips shaping the words, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. When he realized that I couldn't understand him, he walked closer. My breath caught in my throat, I couldn't make my arms and legs move. He held out his hand and smiled a mesmerizing smile. A little hesitant, I carefully put my hand in his. Curious to see what he was going to do, and afraid at the same time. This was something I was not familiar with. But then his smile faltered and turned into a frown. I felt confusion and pain, as if his emotions were filling my bones. And within a second he was gone. My own confusion entered my mind. I felt something touch my forehead and in annoyance I swatted the problem away.

My hand connected with something and I heard a series of foul words as I awoke from my dream. Groggy and irritation don't mix very well if you ask me. I sat up and looked around to find the source that had touched me. And believe it or not, there was my dad standing next to me rubbing his hand.

"What happened? How long was I out?" I asked rubbing the soreness out of my neck.

"As for your first question, you slapped my hand a little bit too hard. As for your second question you've been asleep for almost an hour and a half." My eyes widened in shock. Two hours!

"That long?" Great…I still needed to get ready for tonight, AND still eat some dinner before my friends arrived. I wanted to kick myself for snoozing. But yet again that was a nice dream I had.

"As they always say 'ya snooze, ya lose'." Change that. I think my dad needs the kick more than I right now. I got off the bench and stretched, causing my neck and back to pop all at once. My dad gritted his teeth and shook his head. It drives him up the wall when he hears that sound.

"Sorry." I started for the house. "Do we still have time to eat?" I looked up at him. He shrugged and looked away.

"I don't think you can eat fast enough. It talks you forever to eat everything off your plate." He smiled a wise-crack smile, and looked back down at me. His gray eyes gleaming with humor.

I folded my arms and stuck out my bottom lip. "Hey! That's not true at all!" I poked him in the side all he did was laugh at me. He poked me back in the same spot and a funny noise made its way out of my mouth. My hand covered my mouth and I glared at him. "That's not funny!" I yelled pointing at him, as he fell to the ground laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He replied, holding his stomach and wiping away a few happy tears. "I couldn't help it."

I turned around and stomped back to the house. "Are you done now? I'm starving and need to get ready before my friends come over for the party." He nodded still wearing that stupid smile on his face as he opened the sliding glass door for me. I walked in and he shut it behind him.

"I'll set up the plates while you go get changed. Sound good to you?" I grinned and ran upstairs to get ready for tonight's fun. I heard clinging of plates as my dad set up the table. I looked to my left and opened my closet doors. Hmmm…What should I wear tonight? I skirt? Heck no. I don't feel like making myself uncomfortable tonight. Capris? No, too casual. Ah Ha. I picked up my jeans and threw them on the bed. Next came finding the right shirt. Now that shouldn't be much of a challenge.