Part 3

Mia stared at her sandy feet and began to hyperventilate. Either Paradise really wasn't a dream, or she had sleepwalked two and a half miles down to the nearest beach (and that didn't seem very likely). She ripped the covered from her bed and threw them to the floor. On her bed where her feet had been resting was smeared lines of sand. She quickly rubbed the sand away from the bed and spread it around the floor. Hopefully her mother wouldn't see it that way. Breathing quickly, Mia left her bedroom and began pacing down the stairs, obvious to the fact that Fugly was sniffing the sand and growling viciously.

Downstairs her father was sat at the table eating a bowl of porridge and her mother was in the living room doing some early morning cleaning. Mia slumped down in the seat opposite her father and dropped her head into her hands, sighing heavily. Her father looked up from his porridge. "What's up, kiddo?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Mia huffed.

"I might do."

Mia lifted her head. "I think . . . that the dream I had last night wasn't just a dream."

Her father stared at her then began laughing so hard his orange juice began to spill. "You do crack me up, Mia."

"I told you you wouldn't believe me." she whispered.

Her mother came into the kitchen with cleaning products in both hands. She glared at her husband. "What's so funny, Donald?"

"Ask Mia. I think she's been hanging round with Jason and Lucy too much."

"It's Mason and Suzie!"

"Do I look like I care?" said her father.

"You should do. I am your only child, after all."

Donald shrugged and left the table.

Mia left the table soon after and stormed back upstairs. She stomped into her bedroom and opened the wardrobe. She chose to wear a pair of cut-off dungarees and a pink top underneath. After changing Mia rushed back downstairs and grabbed the phone from the wall. She dialled in one of the few numbers she knew and waiting. One ring. Two ring. Three ring. Four ring . . .

"Hello?" said Suzie, sounding out of breath.

"Hi, its Mia."

"Oh, hi. What you doing ringing this early?"

"I need to talk to you and Mason. Fancy meeting by the river?"

"Err, sure. Let me just get dressed."

"'Kay. I'll be over in five." Mia put the phone down before Suzie could say anything else. If her parents wouldn't believe to her about Paradise, then her best friends surely would. She hurried to the door and just managed to place her hand on the doorknob when she felt her mother standing behind her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Suzie's house." Mia said without turning around.

"You haven't even brushed your teeth. Or your hair."

Mia sighed loudly and ran back upstairs, rushed into the bathroom, roughly brushed her teeth and ripped her hairbrush through her long brown hair. She quickly plaited her hair into two messy plaits and hopped downstairs again where her mother was washing the dishes. "Can I go now?"

Her mother didn't turned to look at her. "Yes."

Mia pulled the door open and slammed it shut. She could hear her mother's muffled shouts from inside but she didn't stop to be moaned at. Suzie's house was a quick two minute walk from Mia's house, on the opposite side of the road behind the fields. Mia was halfway across the road when a lorry came shooting down the road towards her. Mia yelped and jumped backwards, landing on her backside. The driver honked his horn at Mia and zoomed past, making Mia's hair going wild in the quick breeze. That was another thing Mia hated about Bloomwood: the damned road. When they first moved there the road had been quiet, but since a new factory logging factory had been build only three miles away from the houses dozens of lorries had began zooming up and down the roads day and night. Mia had come close to getting hit many times. In fact, when she thought about it she felt lucky to still have all of her limps.

"Get out of the middle of the road, you crazy loon!" someone shouted. Mia turned and saw Mr Michael – a retired prison warden – standing in his garden and shaking his walking stick at her. She slowly stood up, wiped the dust off of her dungarees and continued walking to Suzie's house. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she walked the short distance to Suzie house and she felt a tug of relief when she finally reached the door. Suzie swung the door wide open before Mia had even knocked. "I was wondering when you'd get here." said Suzie. "I heard Mr Michael shouting at you. Lorry almost knock you over again?" she grinned.

"Almost." Mia half-smiled. "Is Mason here?"

Suzie shook her head. "His parents dragged him out to visit his grandparents. He won't be back all day."

Mia sighed. "Well, that's a bummer. Mind if I come in?"

Suzie held the door open. "Come in."

They sat in the living room on the settee. Suzie stole one of her father's cigarettes and set it alight. "You should stop. What if your Mum and Dad come down here?"

"I've tried." said Suzie, blowing a ring of smoke from her mouth. "And they ain't here. They've gone shopping or something so I'm all alone 'til they come back." She blew another ring. "What did you want to talk about, anyway?"

"Well . . . Umm."

"Spit it out, woman."

"Last night, I had this dream that I woke up on an island. I thought I was alone there but some people starting calling out to me and dragged me off to their Leader–"

"Cool dream, sounds exciting." Suzie scoffed.

Mia ignored her. "He told me that I wasn't dreaming. That my mind had sent me to this island, Paradise, because I wasn't happy with my life."

"I'm not happy with my life, either. Why ain't I dreaming of some dream island?" asked Suzie.

"I don't know, Paradise seems a strange place. Maybe you're not as unhappy as I am."

"But you're not unhappy, are you?"

Mia looked down and continued explaining about Paradise. "I left the Leader and went to the beach. The Leader told me that if I fell asleep in Paradise then I would wake up back in my own bed. As I was trying to sleep some boy came over to me and told me that Paradise is a dangerous place and I should try to become happy quickly so I wouldn't come back. Then I fell asleep and woke up in my own bed, just like the Leader said."

Suzie stared at Mia. "And you came all the way over here and almost got hit by a lorry, just to tell me that?"

"Well, I thought it was all just some messed up dream, but when I woke up this morning my feet were covered in sand and so was my bed."

"Oh." Suzie pulled a face. "You sure you haven't been sleepwalking or something?"

"I thought that. But its two and a hlaf miles to the beach, Suzie."

"True, but do you really think that your mind sent you to some magically island just because you're unhappy? Please, Mia, don't tell me you actually believe that?"

"But the sand!"

"I don't know where the sand came from. Maybe Fugly sneaked into the Irwin's house and dug up their cat litter box. The sand could have been cat litter."

Mia sighed. The sand could have been cat litter. After all, Fugly did have a dog flap leading into the garden. And Suzie's idea defiantly seemed more possible that Mia's idea of being transported to Paradise in her sleep. Mia suddenly burst out laughing. Suzie glared at her. "What's so funny?"

"I think you might be right, Suzie. Ha, I actually believed for a crazy moment that I really did get transported to a place called Paradise."

Suzie laughed too. "Suzie Meyer, here to keep her best friend Mia O'Shay from going insane."

The two laughed over Mia's crazy dream until there were both crying with laughter. How could Mia had been so silly? It was only a dream. That was all.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mia went home at seven o'clock to find a note from her mother stuck to the fridge.

Gone to the furniture shop to buy a new cooker. Won't be home for dinner, be back at eleven-ish. You'll find some macaroni and cheese in the microwave. Love you, sweetie. P.S what is that gritty stuff on your floor?

Mia groaned. "I hate macaroni and cheese!" she said to herself. But her stomach rumbled angrily and there was nothing in the fridge that Mia could cook herself without burning the house down, so she stuck with the macaroni and cheese. After heating it in the microwave she scooped it onto a place and set it down on the table. The first mouthful scalded her mouth and throat but she kept eating away at it, trying her hardest to ignore the sickly cheesy taste. She finished only half of the meal before emptying the rest into Fugly's food bowl. He looked into his bowl and happily ate away. Mia slowly washed up her plate and cutlery before heading upstairs and changing into her pyjamas. She was herself slowing too before crawling into bed. Her eyelids felt heavy and sore. It was a relief when she finally shut them and allowed herself some decent sleep. She felt Fugly jump up onto her bed and snuggle up to her feet. Mia smiled. "No sneaking to cat litter boxes tonight, okay?" she yawned. Even if Fugly did reply with a whine Mia didn't hear it; she had already drifted off into a deep sleep. And once again she heard the calm noise of sea against sand.

XXXXXXXXXX

Mia walked slowly against the beach whilst whimpering to herself. She was dreaming of Paradise again. This was not good. She didn't dare go back to the village in case the crazy Leader was there or that mystified Elle girl.

"I knew you'd be back!" said a girl.

Mia groaned. She turned to see Elle standing there in her pyjamas – a light pink vest and a pair of darker pink baggy cotton bottom. Her long silver hair shone extremely brightly in the sun. Another thing Mia found weird about Paradise was that even though the sun was shining it wasn't hot there, but it wasn't either. It seemed tat Paradise didn't even have a prober temperature. "How did you know I'd come back?" asked Mia.

"Oh, people always come back here after their first visit." Elle said sweetly.

"Is that so? Where's Flynn?"

"Flynn? Oh, I'm not sure. He'll be back soon, though."

"I hope so. He said he would talk to me about this place."

"What?" Elle shrieked. She sounded alarmed.

"Nothing."

Elle stared blankly at Mia for what seemed like forever. Then she suddenly smiled brightly and held out her hand. "Come. You must visit our Waterfall of Memories. Its amazing."

"Waterfall of what?"

Elle grabbed Mia's hand and stayed silent. She pulled Mia past the village and through the thick jungle. They climbed over tree roots and avoided gorgeous plants. Mia wasn't sure if she had ever seen a nicer looking part of pathway. She felt a little sad when they left the path, but all her emotions except the good ones seemed to drain out of her when she stepping into the clearing.

It was a large clearing that was close to the mountain. Large amounts of water ran off one of the mountain's edges and formed a waterfall. The water dripped into a large pool that shimmered in the sun. "Isn't it lovely?" said Elle dreamily.

Mia nodded. "Yep. Its beautiful."

"Look into the actual waterfall." Elle pointed to the running water.

"Why?"

"Just look. You'll see."

Mia looked away from Elle and stared deep into the waterfall. At first all her could see was running water, but after a short while it seemed that a glistening sheet of sparkling lights formed over the water. Mia went to look back at Elle but something about the water kept her looking. The lights began to play something that looked like a film. It showed Mia when her father had first taught her how to ride a bike. The younger Mia looked up into Mia's eyes and giggled. Young Mia then looked back at her father as he began pushing the bike. "Go on, Mia, peddle!" he said excitedly. The scene changed then from Mia riding a bike to her, Mason, Suzie and all their old friends sitting by the river fishing. They all looked out into Mia's eyes and waved. Caught anything yet, guys?" Mia heard her mother's voice say loudly. She realised what she was watching then: it was all of the old home video tapes her mother and father had filmed together while Mia was still young. Mia hadn't watched the tapes for years but it touched a nerve as she watched all her old memories playing out in front of her. She looked away from the screen and turned to Elle, who was staring at the screen with wide eyes. "You were so cute when you were younger!" Elle laughed. "Don't you just love watching all your old memories?"

"This is . . . impossible." Mia gasped.

"No. Not in Paradise it isn't."

"Well, I think this place is amazing!"

Elle laughed again. "There's still loads to see. But it's almost night-time here, so you've got to get back to Earth."

Mia sighed. "Night-time here in Paradise when it's daytime on Earth, then?"

Elle nodded. "Now go. And don't forget to come back tomorrow, Mia!"

Mia stood up and began walking down the path. She got halfway when she heard a twig snap behind her. She quickly span around. "Hello?"

Someone chuckled and came out from the trees. "I knew you would be back."

Mia smiled. "Flynn."

I see Elle took you to the Waterfall of Memories. Did you like it?"

"It was amazing!" she gasped.

Flynn's smiled dropped. "I feared this."

"Feared what?"

"They're making you happy here. You'll keep coming back here."

Mia frowned. "Don't you want me here?" she snapped.

"That's not it. I told you yesterday that this place is dangerous."

"And you also said that if I was unhappy with Bloomwood then I would keep coming back here!"

"I did say that, didn't I?" Flynn smiled. "But, honestly, you shouldn't come back."

"I can't help it!"

"I know, I know." Flynn looked down, his lips in a thin line. "Maybe if I tell you some more about this place you won't keep coming back . . ."

"It's fine with me." Mia said quickly.

"This place, you would think its so amazing, wouldn't you? But it isn't. This place had secret. A dark one." He didn't say anything else.

Mia raised her hands. "Is that it? You're not going to tell me anymore?"

"I can't, for reasons that can't be explained yet. But when a certain thing happens, and I hope it won't, I promise to tell you more about Paradise. I promise."

Mia began to lay down. "Fine. Fine. If this place really is no bad and you think something terrible is going to happen to me then why not tell me more?"

"Because I can't. Not yet, anyway."

Mia huffed. "I'm leaving now. I sun is started to set and I've got to be awake early for housework."

Flynn nodded. "Goodbye, Mia."

"Goodbye." she snapped. She closed her eyes and began to drift off again. Drift off back home.

I would like to thank kittyz and rainbowz for her review :) first review I've had and it made me glad that someone is actually reading this and they like it.