Chapter one- (written by Kristen )
A very long, stressful, depressing day at school was finally over. It started off bad when I woke up at five to take my shower before classes and my internship to find my hot water decided to go on vacation (in a manner of speaking). Not fun at five in the morning.
After that lovely awakening, my first class went normally. However, during my second class of the day, one of the jerks who holds a grudge against me - because I won't go out with him - decided to slip one of the baby pigs we were dissecting into my bag when I wasn't looking. How great was my surprise to discover a cut open pig in my bag, ruining some of my books and papers after my third class. ((Very much desired to kill someone))
Third class, turns out there was an important quiz the teacher neglected to tell us about and wouldn't postpone. Needless to say, I was not prepared and inevitably failed. During the debate, I was constantly made a fool of by a group of Valley Girl-tan, blonde airheads. In spite of the fact that I was right, not just saying that because I'm pig-headed, but it's true. It was directly from the textbook, lecture material, and medical proof. "Meh"
After classes I had to go to my internship at the hospital. I only work in the reception booth, so I'm not supposed to deal with the actual patients. But today, during the slowest time of the afternoon, everyone else decided to go on a break while I kept watch. While I was all alone, some crazed man who had chopped his hand off in a freak accident stumbled into the reception area, about to pass out. Normally, he should go to the ER, but instead ended up on my side (on the opposite side of the building from the ER). So, I called for help, but no one came. It was left up to me to make the decision: desert my post to take this dying man to the ER, or let the guy bleed to death on the reception floor.
Obviously chose number one. The man ended up passing out on the way there, leaving me to carry him, and bleeding all over me. When I finally got to the ER and left the man in their care, received their praise and thanks, I wandered back to my reception booth covered in blood to find my boss furious that I hadn't called her (which, I in fact did do). I explained the situation to her, but someone was PMSing and wouldn't listen. In the end, she had me cover someone else's evening shift so I wasn't able to meet with a group of my friends.
That was the final straw of the evening. I had really been looking forward to the outing with Natasha, Jess, Maria, and Ash but noo! Had to stay at the hospital, covered in some guy's blood, sitting behind a reception booth.
So when I finally got home, exhausted, dirty, my bag and school books stinking and destroyed, and my fun evening with friends ruined, I was thoroughly depressed and convinced that my life sucked.
After all of this, you probably wonder who could have such a terrible day? Well, my name's Kristen. I'm eighteen and studying to become a nurse. My height is 5'10", my long hair is dirty blond and either curly or straight. Fit, but not very strong, though I like to think I am.
I went straight to my computer as soon as I got home. Normally I would feed and play with my cat for a bit, but I was really not in the mood. For some odd reason, as soon as I opened Internet Explorer to check my mail a pop up appeared on screen.
"Oh come on! This is what pop-up blockers are for!" I gestured in frustration at the computer. "Stupid… good for nothing…" muttering under my breath, I pressed the shortcut on my keyboard to avoid downloading a virus by "Xing" the window. To my surprise, the screen didn't close and I looked closer at the invasive article.
"Your life sucks!" I read the words aloud, slowly, as grew even more confused. "Career a failure, school a frustration, and social life a disappointment? Heck yes… okay this is freaky." I continued to read as the advertisement basically described my current feelings about my circumstances. "Not to worry! The perfect solution is simply a click away. Escape to new horizons, begin anew, and find a new focus in your life! CLICK HERE."
I stared at the box, indecisively for a moment, then made my decision. Why not? After all, I had just backed up my computer so if it died everything would be fine. I clicked on the small icon along the bottom of the screen.
At first, it was only a faint shimmering around the edges of the image. Then the light grew rapidly in volume until I threw my hands in front of my face to protect my eyes from the blinding light. A faint rustling of wind blew stray wisps of hair against my face, then a strong blast shot directly into my face along with the ray of light.
I stumbled back, away from the computer screen and stumbled over what I assumed was my chair. Landing hard on the ground, I kept my arms raised in front of my face. The light was not as direct or bright, but now it surrounded me. It was warm, and a breeze smelling of a farm and woods filled the air. Cautiously, I opened my eyes as little flashes of light danced across my vision. I blinked a few times to clear my sight, and looked around.
The first thing I realized was that what had once been the hardwood floor of my room was now fine dirt. I was sitting in the center of a tall, rough wooden fence in the shape of a circle, similar to a horse coral and a few yards in front of me stood the strangest ostrich I had ever seen.
For a few seconds we stared at each other, immobile. Then the creature lowered its long neck menacingly and made a threatening sound deep in its throat. It hunched down, as if preparing to lunge at me and I let out a small yelp as I scrambled to my feet just in time to avoid being pecked by the thick beak. I barely dodged another jab of the sharp beak and vaulted over the fence to safety. I rested on my knees, breathing heavily, confusion seeping in.
This is all wrong… There's a strange ostrich and pen where my computer was just a SPLIT second ago!
"Hey! Taeia, child, are you alright?"
I turned my head swiftly to look in the direction of the worried voice. A very tubby old man with a long, silver beard was moving quickly toward me from the direction of a small wooden house.
"Excuse me?"
"What have I told you about that bird! He's dangerous! I haven't broken him in yet!"
"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. I'm Kristen… where am I? I really think I'm lost, but I don't know how."
The elderly man slowed to a stop a short distance from me, a hurt and confused look on his face. "Don't you know me?"
I looked him over carefully, taking in every detail but nothing came to mind. "I'm sorry, no. Should I?"
His face drooped noticeably, sadness and worry evident. "I'm your Uncle. I'm Gannu."
"UNCLE!"
