Emerald Moon
By Amy

People have heard of fantasy before. Fantasy is imagination combined with human experiences and beliefs. And sometimes in this world, a fantasy can become a reality, but what would happen if a reality becomes a fantasy…?

Chapter One: Modern Fairy Tale
The wind brushed through my hair and I smelled the fresh, clean air. I closed my eyes and started dreaming again. This morning was just like any other, where I would be walking to school on this quiet street. Sometimes, I just don’t want to do anything but think. Think about how my life could be different from the way it is now, like maybe an alternate reality, or maybe a fantasy. My friends often tell me that I’m too much of a dreamer. “What’s wrong with dreaming?” I would always ask myself. Sure, most of the time my mind’s somewhere else besides reality, but what’s wrong with that? You don’t have to be a kid to read fairy tales, right?
“Anna! Wait up!” I heard Shelby’s voice call from a distance. Now broken out of my daydream, I turned around and greeted her. With her short, dark hair whisking through the breeze, Shelby smiled widely and asked “Hey, Anna. Have you read Emerald Moon yet?” After hearing the words ‘Emerald’ and ‘Moon’ my mind flickered.
“No, I haven’t! I heard that it was really, really good! I’m saving up my money to buy a copy. I want to read it so badly…”
“Oh, really? It is a great book! Here, you can borrow my copy.” Shelby dug into her bag and pulled out a thick hard cover book.
“S-seriously? Are you sure?” I was already reaching out for the book.
“Yeah of course! Anyways, my friend, Kevin is going to take me to go see the movie this weekend.”
As I clutched the book, I was humming to myself happily. For I have just received the fairy tale that I, a fantasy fan, was looking forward to reading ever since it was published. “Thank you, Shelby! You’re my best friend!” I cried.
“Ha, ha. Well that’s nice to know, but it’s no big deal. Keep it in tell you’re done with it.” I grinned. I’m lucky to have such a generous friend like Shelby.
I arrived at school and went straight to my classroom, eager to read the book. I quickly took a seat in my desk and pulled it out. I flipped through to see how big the text was printed. It surprised me that it was printed fairly large. The book was thick, but the story was short. Then as I turned some more pages, something baffled me even more. There were colorful, vivid illustrations in some parts of the book. This story must’ve really of been written for kids, but I could care less. Being a middle school student doesn’t mean that I’m too old to read this kind of stuff. I examined one of the pictures closely. A round, yellow creature with long arms twice its size was what I saw. “Mr. Toko…” I read the label quietly out loud. It looked strange, but I thought that it was cute. I glanced up and saw Mr. Hobart entering the classroom. I quickly slipped the book back into my bag, fearing that he would confiscated it if seen…
As Mr. Hobart was going through the daily math lesson, I stared out at the window next to me, daydreaming once again. I observed the trees with their thin braches flowing in the wind. I saw some students playing soccer in the field for gym class. It was cloudy, so today the sun hid behind the clouds, making the world dimmer. Then all of a sudden, something flew by. My eyes widened. A round, yellow creature with long arms was staring at me behind the glass. It smiled and waved at me. I stared for a bit. Blinked a couple of times. It was still there, smiling. “Oh… oh my god!!” I screamed.
“A-Anna! What’s wrong?!” stuttered Mr. Hobart.
I flew out of my desk and whisked my arm at the window. “Th-there’s a flying egg!! What’s his name?! Mr. To…ki…?” I turned at the window. Nothing was there. I could feel my face warming up. Then I looked at Mr. Hobart with his hands on his hips. “Um, wait… I, uh…” What was I supposed to say in that situation?
I could hear giggles and laughing around me as I walked home. I just made a total idiot of myself. Well, people were already making fun of me before that, but I still felt so embarrassed. I must’ve been hallucinating or something. There’s no way that this ‘Mr. Toko’ character could be real…
I plopped onto my bed when I got home. I stared up at the ceiling. I wanted to forget everything that happened today and just daydream. I closed my eyes. It’s not that I’m unhappy with my life right now. I just don’t know what to do with myself.
I heard something tap against my window. My eyes flipped open and I jumped up. I turned to the window and brushed the blue curtain aside. My eyes widened. Floating there was the yellow creature, Mr. Toko. I frantically hustled around my room, looking for my cell phone. “Where is it?!” I dug through the clothes lying on my floor. I felt something hard in one of the pant pockets. “Found it!” I quickly set the phone into camera mode and aimed at the window. With my trembling hands, I clicked the shutter button. In an instant, he disappeared into then air. I checked the results of my photo. The image came out all blurry due to the shaking of my hands. I paused for a bit and peeked out my window. I didn’t see anything… was I hallucinating again? Have I gone nuts? I started to regret borrowing this Emerald Moon book from Shelby. I think it’s driving me insane.
I still felt like something wasn’t right. I checked the window again to make sure that there weren’t anymore crazy egg-shaped devils. Fortunately, I didn’t see any. I just saw tress, people, and houses. That’s how it’s supposed to be. I took a deep breath and prayed that I wouldn’t see anymore wacky hallucinations. But I should’ve known better. For I have always had bad luck; my prayers were never answered. I looked over to my left and saw the bizarre creature once again.
“Out! Get out! Get out!!” I screamed and threw a pillow at him. He swiftly dodged my cushion and smiled brightly. Before I could even think, he briskly floated over and licked my face. I gave out a bloody screamed and punched him. The egg-shaped creature gently patted his head and grinned, not seeming to mind my anger and confusion.
“I’m Mr. Toko! It’s nice to meet you, Princess.” His appearance was adorable, but he was terrifying. He was in my room, he was talking to me, … and he was real.
“Now if you don’t mind, I will now be kidnapping you.”
I panicked. “H-hey! Wait!! But I do mind!”
“Hmm, then that’s too bad.” His long arm stroked the ground and little ripples came into the floor. My feet then started to sink into the ground. It was almost like quicksand.
“You stupid egg!! Let me go!”
“Sorry, but no can do.”
My head sunk under the floor and a clear open area surrounded me. Still panicking, I looked around the forlorn area. I noticed that I was floating, but then I started to drop downwards slowly. Suddenly, I wasn’t floating anymore and I was falling, plunging down into the empty dimension…
I wasn’t sure of how long I was falling, but my surroundings were changing. I started to see walls, like the inside a house. I was knocked out of my musing state when I unexpectedly fell straight into a sofa. I promptly sat up and my eyes flew all over. I was in a room, a very cluttered room that is. There was an old wooden table kneeling beside me, and a couple of glasses filled with what looked like beverages; one drink was tipped over and staining the carpet. There were random miscellaneous items everywhere. And to think my mother told me that my room was messy. Mr. Toko, who was floating above, gave a sigh.
“Aww, Victor’s not here yet. Oh well, looks like we’re just going to have to wait for him. Hey, I know! Let’s play a rhyming game!”
I tilted my head up. “No! Where am I? What is this place? Take me back home!!”
Completely ignoring my rant, he said, “I’ll start! Let’s see… okay! Sock!”
“I’m not playing your stupid game! Take me back!”
“Hurry up! Your time’s running out!” He snapped back “5…4…3…”
“What? I’m being timed? You never told me that!”
“2…1…”
I finally gave in. “Block!!”

Chapter One End