Chapter 1: The Mysterious Letter

Naomi sighed. It was a typical September Saturday morning, and she was waiting for the rest of the family to get up. She was standing next to a window that looked towards the front yard of her house. Suddenly, she saw a flash of white against the gray sidewalk through the window. Since there was nothing else to do, she decided to go and check it out.

Stepping outside, Naomi felt a cool wave. She loved the way that fall knew just the right temperature to make it, and that it was never cold, nor hot, in fall; only the wonderful fall weather.

Getting serious, she snooped around the front yard, searching for the source of the flash of white. All at once, she found it!

"Eureka!" She yelled, holding up her prize for all to see. Then she realized it was only a measly piece of notebook paper. Her excitement started to die down, until she studied the paper more closely. There was faint writing on it! It read:

Dear Naomi,

Hurry. Find your guide and follow. There is not much time. You are the one.

There was a signature at the bottom, but it was blurred and unfortunately, Naomi couldn't read it. She read the letter over and over again until she had memorized it, then stopped to think about the meaning.

Hurry? Hurry to do what? Find what guide? There is not much time to do what? I am the one of what? Naomi thought, questions running through her mind. Should she show Angela? Adriane? Would they be hurt because they weren't the 'chosen one?'

"NAOMI! BREAKFAST! I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE!" Mrs. McKenna called from inside the house.

Yikes! Naomi started running inside.

***************

Naomi paced the floor. What should she do? She knew she should be asleep, but she couldn't help that now. Who would blame her; how could she sleep if she had so many things on her mind? She was surprised that Angela wasn't awake. Should she wake her up- No, she wouldn't like that.

Today had started a typical Saturday morning- all thoughts of school far away in some unlucky place. Actually, that place may not be so unlucky. Naomi thought. At least there you would know what you were supposed to do.

But today was not what Naomi would call 'typical', not at all. What happened today- she didn't want anyone to find out. She couldn't risk writing it in her journal; what if the journal was stolen? She couldn't write it in an email; what if someone found out her email password? Naomi knew these thoughts might have been silly, but she wanted to be prepared. How could she tell anyone? She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but she also wanted to know what the letter was about.

Suddenly, Naomi heart nearing footsteps. She scampered up her bed, heart pounding, and pretended to sleep.

"Girls?" Mrs. McKenna whispered, cautiously stepping into the room.

Naomi waited for what her mother's next approach would be.

Mrs. McKenna continued, "Are you awake?"

"Should I be?" Naomi thought aloud.

"No!" Mrs. McKenna answered. "Naomi, it's ten o'clock. Why are you still up?"

"I was just….thinking about stuff." Naomi answered vaguely.

"Can you explain this?" Much to Naomi's dismay, Mrs. McKenna pulled out…..the letter!

"Um, well, yeah," Naomi sputtered. "It was part of…..a game Angela and I were playing. Don't worry; I'll take care of it~ just leave it on my desk."

"Alright." Mrs. McKenna gently placed the letter on the desk, then quietly closed the door.

That was a close one. Naomi thought worriedly. I wonder if that is a good thing or a bad thing…..oh, c'mon, Naomi, you know you need to go to sleep! Alright, alright, I'm trying……

Naomi didn't realize that the frantic conversation that was going on inside her head was actually starting to tire her. In fact, she was asleep within fifteen minutes.