Hope looked out of the window of her Aunt Cassie's beat up red BMW. The view of the forest zooming by her. They were heading to their new home. A house that was near a suburb near Beach City. Aunt Cassie was going to work in a bakery and a library in order to make money. They only had enough money for travel but it was enough.

"Look at that," Aunt Cassie said. "We're almost to our new place. I can see a few houses! This is going to be great." Aunt Cassie adjusted her wavy red hair and red-rimmed sunglasses. She was quite good looking for a woman in her late 30's. She took Hope with her when she was six years old and did everything she could to support both herself and her charge.

Hope looked forward at the town. Her grey-blue eyes barely held any excitement and only felt a deep pit in her stomach. She's been through this cycle so many times. Aunt Cassie would get her all excited about moving to a new home. New home meant new friends that she could play with or hang out with. Instead, it only ends with getting in a fight or two and having to move due to money problems. To Hope, this is just a sad joke that has been played on her one too many times. "Aunt Cassie, that's what you said about our last home in Knoxtown. We got robbed blind and I still couldn't get a job. We're just lucky to have some insurance."

"They threw a party." Aunt Cassie said.

"Yeah, because they were happy to see us leave. Face it. You're better off without me."

"Don't say that. Besides, I looked closely at this place. They're some rumors that some of the people down there have jewels on their bodies just like yours. Plus our home has a great view of the forest and the ocean! Just as you've always wanted."

After an hour of silence, they turned on the street which would lead them straight to their new house. Aunt Cassie smiled. "Here we are! At our brand new-" She stopped when she got to the driveway.

The house had two floors as originally mentioned in the real estate. However, the house was a different story. The white paint was chipped and the shutters were ready to fall off the windows. The door had a rusted door knob as they walked up the porch steps. The moment Aunt Cassie touched it, it crumbled and the door instantly opened.

"Yep. It's our new home alright." Hope grumbled. She rolled her eyes and face-palmed. She figured her aunt might end up getting scammed.

"This can't be right." Aunt Cassie spoke. She pulled out her flip phone and began dialing. "Let me call the realtors." She walked down the porch. She was soon waving her hands at whoever was at the other end of the line.

Hope decided to explore the house since she had spent hours in a car. The foyer wasn't much to look at. It was nearly empty. No decorations nor furniture. Just an empty space that echoed the loneliness in Hope's heart. She noticed the staircase that led upstairs. With every creak, Hope had to pray that the steps wouldn't cave under her weight. She breathed a sigh of relief when she was finally able to reach the top. There were four additional rooms. One was a bathroom that made a gas station look nicer. The other two were bedrooms. Surprisingly, the beds were in better shape than the house itself aside from the thick blanket of dust. Finally, an art studio since there were a few blank canvases lying on one side of a wall.

She looked through the window and only found that two of the upper windows show views of the forest, but doesn't show the ocean. Well at least they weren't totally lying. She thought. She peered through the window when Aunt Cassie walked up the steps. "Apparently no one wanted this house but us! It's no wonder it's in bad shape! It's been neglected for years!" Aunt Cassie huffed in frustration. "Well, let's unpack and we can do a little cleaning."

Night fell on Beach City when Hope and Aunt Cassie finished doing what they could for the house. They had packed a few clean supplies but only took care of the bathroom and bedrooms. By the time they were done, they didn't have enough time to get something to eat. Aunt Cassie collapsed onto her dusted bed and fell asleep. Hope sat up on her bed in her bunny print pajamas and ignored the hunger that gnawed on her stomach.

Hope opened her sketchbook, which was the only thing that kept her sane during her time with her aunt. She had a diary of course but it was always filled with negative things most of the time. She felt her pencil glide as she drew another dragon-like creature. It was bluish grey with a rainbow underneath the belly. The horns were straight with a bit of a curve. The wings were feathery which can be easily mistaken for a swan at times. The face strongly resembled that of a rabbit. Long ears flopped against her head. Hope sighed. She wished she could've been like the creatures in her dreams. Flying under a clear blue sky. Eating some rainbow apples. Rolling around in a strange fluffy grass. Instead, she's stuck in a small town where she is supposed to meet people that were like her. She undid her aquamarine scarf to reveal a jewel that was unlike anything that anyone had seen. It was shaped like a lotus flower and glittered with several different colors. In some instances, it would somehow show a smaller night sky inside.

This jewel was the exact reason Hope never had any friends. They would always scream and run away. Girls would whisper how gross she is and boys would scream "Witch!" throwing rocks at her. To this day, Hope never took off her scarf until she was home. Aunt Cassie was the only one who didn't reject her. Hope would like to run away but where would she go. It would only mean that she had no option to live like this for the rest of her life. Beach City was no different from any place she's been.

Hope laid down on the bed. She held her toy bunny close to her. "Well, Hope," she said as she began to fall asleep. "Welcome to Beach City."