Introduction

Annabella sat at her desk, tapping a pencil gently against her Algebra 1 worksheet. It was Friday night, yet she had nowhere to go, nothing to do – except homework.

Annabella smoothed back her yellow blonde hair, tucking locks away from her ocean blue eyes. She reread the problem:

A lamp costs $12.99. It has a 35 discount and a 15 tax. If you were to buy it, how much would it cost?

Annabella did not care how much the lamp cost. If she was ever going to buy a lamp that cost almost thirteen bucks, she would just slap down a twenty and take the change. However, her math book did care, so she was to figure out how much this stupid lamp cost.

Annabella scrambled for her calculator and flipped to a page in her math book, rereading the directions for how to do this sort of stuff. Multiply the price by the percent...Oh, whatever, it did not really matter.

After punching a couple numbers into her calculator, she came up with the results, which she jotted down onto her paper: $7.17

She folded up the math sheets and stuck them in her Algebra 1 textbook, rubbing her temples as a headache blossomed. She rose from her desk chair and pushed her way about her cramped bedroom until she approached a small TV set up in front of her bed. The fourteen-year-old girl pressed a button on the television and let her hand drape down to a purple cube, where she expertly found the POWER button and clicked it. She drew a controller up towards her bedspread and got comfortable, swinging her feet gently back and forth in the air.

Gentle music played, and a landscape became distinct on the screen. Hooves softly pounded the grass, and a young lad riding a rust colored mare became apparent. The music reached a high pitch and the camera swung around so that you could briefly see the lad's green eyes beneath his blonde hair. His eyes matched his outfit.

Annabella punched the Start button with her thumb and a melodious tune tinkled to signify that the action was comprehended by the game system. She pressed the "A" button and another tune sounded to signify that she had pressed this file and it was loading.

Annabella had been many things during her life – a nerd, a prep, a no-style chick, a jock, a girl that many guys dreamed of – but the one thing that remained the same for her entire life was that she was a Legend of Zelda fanatic.

Now, I say fanatic, and I MEAN fanatic. Annabella bought every game system that a Zelda game could be played on and she didn't stop playing the game until she beat it. She had written down an order in which the games went in, chronologically; she wrote fanfics; she Googled names to see origins of names for species; she wrote many walk-throughs for One might back away from her when they saw the piles of papers scattered throughout the room, each labeled as something different, but Annabella was proud of it. It made her different, and she liked it.

The project that Annabella was currently working on was figuring out how to translate ocarina songs in normal ocarina notes, and then into normal notes, for the piano or guitar or drums.

Annabella played her game deep into the night. She felt frustrated at herself for being unable to receive any love back from Link, or Zelda, or anyone else. She adored Hyrule and its inhabitants, she felt a swelling, triumphant pride whenever she helped Link clear a dungeon – but she could not been given those feelings back in return. She knew it was just a game, but she loved it.

A clock in Annabella's house gave one chime. She waited for more, but none came. Just a single chime. One o'clock am. Annabella had been playing for hours.

The TV screen slid in and out of focus as Annabella grew more and more exhausted. Link took several blows that rocked the controller, but Annabella did not notice. Link stood still, sword at his side, the L-target being released. The vicious enemy ripped at him, claws and teeth, but Link did not do anything except give moans of pain and stand there.

Annabella had fallen asleep. As the clock chimed one-thirty am, a screen came up announcing that Annabella had died and asking her if she wanted to save and continue.

However, Annabella was lost in her sleep, dreaming of Link. Rain lightly fell and thunder rumbled, but the blonde beauty slept on.

In Annabella's dream, she held the Ocarina of Time in her sweaty palm, and Link was trapped, bound by thick ropes. Link was shouting something that Annabella could not hear. However…a song that Annabella did not recognized played through her head, and she gently put the ocarina to her lips and played. The music was unfamiliar, but it stuck with Annabella.

Craackk! Annabella awoke with a start, the dream still vivid in her mind, especially the song. Annabella hummed it under her breath and gazed at the TV. She ignored the message and picked up her own replica of the Ocarina of Time, thinking of the music. She grabbed a sheet of paper and a stubby pencil, scrawling ocarina notes all over, until she figured it was about right. She picked up her Ocarina of Time replica, touched it to her lips, and took in a breath. She never felt silly playing her beloved ocarina. In fact, she felt as though peace reigned when she played it, in her white spaghetti-strap t-shirt and black pajama pants. She gazed at the notes as her fingers flew, covering and uncovering holes as the music burst forth. The song was beautiful, yet it was nothing that she had heard before in the game.

A strange sensation happened to Annabella as she played this song. Mist clouded her vision, but she didn't stop playing the song. She continued, letting the music wrap around her, the mist getting thicker and thicker, until she could see nothing. She closed her eyes and felt herself leave her desk chair, rising up in the air, but this did not bother her. She played the song over and over until she felt her bare feet graze dewy grass. She let out the last note and opened her beautiful eyes to an astonishing sight.