The sun slowly creeped over the horizon on the western coast of the United States. Willow stretched out on a sunning rock. Her black feathers absorbed the early morning light. It
was the year 4105, 2,000 years since humans had left Earth. However, they had returned 1,300 years earlier.
Willow looked out upon the town that had been there ever since she arrived 500 years before. It was a small town not far from the coast that had a small hotel, several homes,
fields, a school that taught preschool through 12th grade, a general store, and a playground. The inhabitants were surprised when she first came. They asked her many questions,
but, for some reason, she never heard their questions about where she came from or how old she was or even what she was.
Willow watched as farmers and their children came out of their houses to work in the fields. She spotted her best friend, Katie, a 10-year-old intelligent and strong girl with black hair,
brown eyes, and a light tan. Willow often felt sorry for Katie, for her personality greatly conflicted with her parents' high expectations. Katie always did what they wanted her to do,
but she was always very unhappy. More than once she had told Willow that she wanted to get away, but she never would because there was nowhere she could go. She had gone
so far as to make Willow promise that if she ever went very far away, that she would take Katie with her. Willow had said that she doubted that the opportunity would ever come,
but she promised nonetheless.
After a few hours, other children came out to play on the local playground. They didn't have to worry about school, for it was early summer vacation.
A maintenance worker passed Willow. It was a man named John, whom Willow knew quite well.
John said, "Hey Willow. How ya' doin'?"
"I am very well." She spoke in a creepily monotonous voice.
"You always talk in a monotonous voice, you know that?"
"You have told me that almost every time I speak to you."
"I know. Anyway, I'm goin' to check the power lines. It's important we keep the lights goin'!"
"Indeed it is."
John went off to do his job. Before he left, he said, "Y'know Willow, sometimes I think you're in some kinda trance."
Willow stayed on the rock for a while, thinking about what John had said.
Am I in a trance? Is that why I can't remember anything before I first came here?
The moment she thought that, John's words were erased from her memory. Because Willow had nothing else to do, she stayed on her sunning rock.
At 3:00 PM, the air became humid and heavy and dark clouds were coming from the Pacific Ocean. Upon seeing the clouds, everybody ran to the hotel. It was where they always
went when a storm approached. There they could safely socialize with the other townspeople. Usually, Willow would rush there as soon as there were signs of a storm. This time,
however, by the time she was in the hotel, it was raining.
John said, "Was somethin' goin' on, Willow? Ya' don't usually wait this long."
"There is something about that storm…it calls out to me…it calls out my name…I cannot resist any longer."
With that, she ran out of the hotel and into the middle of a field. John and the 5th grade schoolteacher, Ms. Ronan, called out to her in an attempt to get her to come back, but it was
no use.
Willow stared up into the storm, mesmerized. She was completely oblivious to everything except the falling raindrops. Suddenly, a flash of lightning came out of nowhere and struck
Willow.
John and Ms. Ronan were horrified. But their horror quickly turned to shock as they saw what had happened to Willow.
Willow's feathers were no longer black, but were now pure white. She was also glowing…literally. Willow was panting. When she looked up, John and Ms. Ronan could clearly see the
horror in her eyes. She rushed up to them. She looked squarely into Ms. Ronan's eyes and said, "Which city is the Axiom in?" Everyone that heard her was surprised. She was no
longer speaking in her usual monotonous voice.
Willow repeated her question. "The Axiom. Which city is it in?"
Ms. Ronan quickly led her to the map in the hotel lobby. Everyone in the lobby stared in surprise at Willow.
"It's in the capital of the country, Gallicus," Ms. Ronan said, pointing to a dot labeled Gallicus that was halfway between the middle of the country and the east side of it.
Willow said, "Where are we?"
Ms. Ronan pointed to a dot labeled Transin on the absolute west side of the country.
Willow said, "That's gonna be a long travel."
Everyone stared at her. Ms. Ronan said, "You're not planning on going there, are you?"
"I am. And there's nothing any of you can do to stop me."
John looked at her and said, "What's goin' on, Willow?"
Willow looked at him and said, "You were right, John. I WAS in a trance. A trance that took me away from my mother and my friends 500 years ago. A trance that wiped my memory.
What made me go into it, I don't know, but I MUST go back to my friends. I came from Gallicus. That's why I want to go there. And my name isn't Willow. It's Andrentureasu."
One of the kids said, "Hey look, everyone! It stopped raining!"
Everybody except Andrentureasu left the hotel. Before leaving, Katie tried to look at Andrentureasu one last time, but her parents were quick to usher her out. Nobody saw
Andrentureasu for the rest of the day. Everyone assumed that she had left.
That night, Katie lay awake in her bed, sore that she felt that she had missed her only chance to get away from her repressive parents. Suddenly, there was something tapping on
her window. It was Andrentureasu. Katie quickly got out of bed and opened the window.
Andrentureasu said, "I didn't forget my promise."
Katie gratefully climbed out the window and onto Andrentureasu's back. She ran away from the town, heading towards Gallicus.
Katie took one last look towards the town, knowing that she would never be back. When the town was completely out of sight, she looked forward. The full moon lit their path, as if
it wanted to help them. Both Katie and Andrentureasu had determined looks on their faces. They had a long journey ahead of them.