Chapter 1 - All Grown Up

Behind my home is a large forest that stretches way beyond where my little eyes can see. There are many massive trees that can hide a person from view and are so tall that when looking up, all you can see are leaves.

Many animals live there in the forest. I made friends with some of them, who usually come to me for food and pets. My best friend is Coco the rabbit. He is grey in colour, fat and fluffy like a teddy bear with a little pink button nose.

I sat at the trunk of the tree with two large roots on either side of me like I’m sitting on a large chair. I was dressed in my white and green floral dress I loved so much, whilst petting Coco on my lap. I dreamt of what I would look like when I grew up. I want to look just like my mother, for she was beautiful standing at five foot two with her long golden hair, smooth and clear skin and a very kind heart.

Unfortunately I was born with long black hair like my late grandmother's. I also had pimples and freckles on my face that made me look like a ten year old dork, all I missed to complete that look was a pair of specs. My dark brown eyes I'm guessing, must have come from someone in the family, of whom I haven't met them yet.

My family was never one to go on house visits and stuff like that so knowing other family members were slim, unless they visited us.

In the middle of my day dreaming, I saw a faint blue, almost white light straight ahead of me about ten feet away. I stared at it for a while, not sure what to do. Eventually I followed it.

It was as though it was calling to me. Coming face to face with the light, my hands automatically stretched out to touch this strange light that felt warm. I tripped on something. Bracing myself for the brute force of the ground, I closed my eyes.

However when my face met with the ground it was unexpectedly soft, and it groaned...

Opening my eyes and scrambling to get up as fast as I could, I stumbled backwards falling hard on my bottom. My golden haired older brother was sprawled out on the hard ground face down.

When I looked around, I found myself in a cleared area with a lake at the center. I’ve been in the forest all my life and never have I seen this place before.

It was beautiful and strangely peaceful.

Before my mind could process anything, the blue light that was hovering over my brother dived at him and engulfed his body. It was like it shielded him. Without thinking my hands stretched out to touch it once more. 

A little blop of the light stretched out and caressed my palm. Before I knew it my palm was faced up and the light made a little bunny that danced on my hand.

"Lia..." I heard someone say. "Lia, wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" 

Oh it's my little brat of a sister, Aaliyah. 

"Five more minutes." I groaned.

"Oh, oh, he's coming," she said, chuckling.

'SPLASH!' a very cold liquid had been splashed over me.

"You son of a witch!" I flew up yelling.

"Morning sunshine" my older brother, Bruce, said with a smirk on his face. 

"I'll kill you! You - You aarrrgh!" I spat out infuriated. 

"Love you too sis" all the while my sister had been rolling on my bedroom floor laughing. 

"Come on, you'll be late for your last day of school. You don't want to miss your own graduation now would you?" Sometimes I hate his guts, he's so annoying but usually he’s right. 

"Get out, both of you, let me change." I scoffed, rolling my eyes and was very annoyed because of my drenched condition. 

"That sounds more like it, see you in ten. Oh and you might want to put that to get some sun" he said pointing to my now fully soaked bed. 

"Arss" I called him by his new name that I’ve been calling him for months now. It’s as though he’s growing into a bigger one as the days go by.

"Hey it worked didn't it?" he said with a little chuckle. "Whatever" I grimaced, throwing my pillow at him as he and my sister laughed on their way out of my room.

After I was dressed and hauled my mattress outside to be sun dried, I went to the kitchen for breakfast. My mother, Alyssa always greeted me with a warm smile, but this morning her smile looked a bit forced.

"Good morning my dear" she greeted me while turning some deliciously smelling concoction on the stove top. 

"Morning mom, is everything okay? You look stressed." She turned her back to me, putting scrambled eggs in the frying pan.

"I'm fine, just a bit excited that my baby is graduating, but sad you're all grown up," she sighed. "Hey, I'll always be your little girl mom" I went around the island to give her a hug.

"I know, it's just that things are changing so fast." She sniffled. I was at a loss for words because things have changed drastically in the last eight years of my life. 

"In two days you'll be eighteen." She hiccuped with tears in her eyes. 

"Hey don't cry it's not like I'm getting married and leaving to go halfway across the world or something, I'll still be here. Come on, you know I don't like to see you cry, mom I'll be late if you do this." I tickled her a bit to make her laugh while hugging her. 

"Okay come on, take your breakfast and get out of my house before you're really late. We'll see you there. I love you honey." She said pushing me out the front door.

"I love you too mom." I said then gave her a kiss before I left to meet my brother, who was giving me a ride to school in his brand new Audi.

"Shit Bruce I'm fricking graduating! I'm freaking out. Was it like this for you? - what the hell, stop laughing. I'm serious here. Bruce!" I tapped him on the back of his head.

"Hey! Okay, okay, yeah it was. Mom dropped the 'you're all grown up' stunt didn't she?" He said, shaking his head. 

"Yeah and she cried too." I looked at him with a pained expression across my face 

"Oh yeahhh you're screwed” he chuckled,

"You are no help whatsoever!"

I slumped into the seat with a frown on my face.

A few hours later, I finally got through graduation with my friend Becca. We both ended up in tears and we clung to each other like glue the whole time. 

"Hey pumpkin." A man with sun kissed hair that has a resemblance to my brother but older, called out to me. 

"Daddy! you're here!" My father, Bryan Valentina, was supposed to be at a very important meeting at this moment.

"You don't think I was going to miss one of my favourite girls' big day did you?" I ran into his open arms. 

"Oh daddy, thank you, but you're - " he cut me off with a motion of his hand.

"I finished early so I came straight here just in time to see you up there." Okay that was all it took for the dam in me to burst, I tried so hard not to cry all day but this, this ruined me.