Chapter 1:
"Hilda, wake up!"Johanna repeated, "We're going to be late for the picnic."
"Mum?" Hilda stretched her arms with a massive yawn. She sat up and saw her mother sitting at the edge of her bed, her pet deerfox (his name was Twig) curled up next to her, Alfur eagerly writing up a new report on her bedside table, and messy books and clothes strewn around the place.
It was just a dream.
Just a dream.
Just
But it hadn't felt like 'just'. It had felt so real - the insanely gorgeous yet somewhat overwhelming glow of the multicoloured leaves, the burning, fiery feel of the pinkish reddish orb when she touched it, the intense feeling of falling and falling and falling until she hit the floor and…and…and it was all just a dream after that. Hilda shook her head and jumped out of bed.
"Now then, I've packed cucumber sandwiches. Hilda? Hilda, are you listening to me? Get changed. Did you fall asleep in your day clothes again? Ok, let's go!"
Hilda quickly slipped her feet into her boots and yanked her hat onto her head. Johanna rushed her out and slammed the door in her hurry, tugging Hilda along to the car.
"Alfur! Mum, we forgot Alfur!"Hilda realised
"Hilda, there's no time to go back for him."
"But we can't leave him all alone at home!"
"Alfur is a completely capable young adult. I'm sure he can cope for one morning."
"But mum, it's not fair!"Hilda complained.
Johanna exhaled.
"Fine. You can go and get Alfur. But come straight back, don't go wandering off to some weird portal to another universe"
That sounded exactly like the sort of thing Hilda would do, her Mum thought with a grin. She was so proud of her for staying true to who she was despite all the new people in Trollberg, even if that meant she was a little stubborn.
Hilda leaped up the stairs to get back to their apartment, but then heard a voice.
It was the voice from her dream.
"Hilda Hilda Hilda Hilda" The voice echoed, fading out.
Hilda saw the fiery orb in front of her once more. She reached out to touch it again and quickly jolted her hand away before it made contact, remembering its painful burn. The orb then quickly vanished and left a reddish pink-ish smoke that billowed up and through the air vents.
"Huh, that was weird. Don't you think?" She turned to her shoulder before remembering that Alfur was still in her room. She hurriedly bounded up the stairs, slammed the door open and grabbed Alfur. On the way back to the car, she told Alfur about her dream.
"Well, this will certainly make for an interesting report on the dream patterns of humans! I'm sure Adelaide would be overjoyed to co-author it again!"was Alfur's exuberant reply. Hilda had recently come to realise that to elves, co-authoring a report was the equivalent of singing a duet in a Disney movie.
"We're here!"Johanna exclaimed, surprised they had made it on time.
"What's the rush anyway Mum?"
"Well, Hilda, do you remember when I was working in the supermarket?"
"Ye-s mum, what's that got to do with it?"
"I met a lady called Abigail there and she has two children your age! And I thought it would be lovely for you to make some new friends. You know, after what happened with David and Frida"
Hilda frowned.
"Mum! I don't need any friends!"She protested.
"Hilda, it's been seven months now, you can't keep on going like this."
Hilda rolled her eyes. Her Mum had been trying to convince her to make new friends for ages.
"Listen, I get it, I really do, but-"
"BUT WHAT?"Hilda yelled "I DON'T NEED ANY NEW FRIENDS! Unlike you."
"Hilda!"
She stormed out of the car, slamming the door and running into the forest area.
"It's not fair"She muttered to herself, kicking a pebble that bounced and landed at the foot of an oak tree. The oak tree looked like … no, it couldn't be. All oak trees looked the same. It was probably just a normal boring tree. But he felt an urge to touch it like the one in the dream. But just as she was about to put her hand to it, something (or should I say someone?) took her by surprise.
"The name's Nimona"