Young Writers Society

I spun around to face the piano as the note cut through the air.

The fairy had plopped herself down on one of the piano's keys. I still wasn't entirely sure how to react to a fairy, so I turned away almost as quickly as I had turned to face her in the first place.

I crossed my arms and eyed the rest of the library.

Nothing really jumped out at me. I wasn't sure if I had expected that something would. There had always been more of an emphasis on the people when I ended up in other worlds. The place was just an afterthought.

Time to look at the other people, then.

Try as I might, I couldn't find any connection between them. The guy was wearing an older style of clothes. Me and the two human girls were all wearing regular old clothing, and the fairy was wearing what I'd expect a fairy to wear.

I couldn't find any connection.

I joined Esther by the window and tried my hand at pushing back the curtain.

Nothing happened.

...That was weird.

"I don't think we're stuck," I said, crossing my arms again. "I've gotten out of things like this before. But we might have been kidnapped."

"A bit presumptuous of you," Carter retorted, as the word 'kidnapped' hovered over the room alone with a lone note of the piano. His eyes flickered over to the teenaged boy and the bug responsible. Kidnapped seemed like too kind, and perhaps even juvenile of a word for whatever this was. It was more than just being taken from your home to a strange place. For all he knew, this library wasn't even in his world and probably wasn't. That was far more unsettling than any typical kidnapping, which he would've preferred to this.

Kidnapping meant ransom, or torture, or attempted murder. Those he could anticipate and handle. But this was entirely foreign and he hated it. Vehemently.

"I wasn't calling you weak," he added. "I was only curious. It seems the others can't move it either. I doubt it will be any different for me. But if whatever brought us here doesn't want us to be able to escape, I doubt you'll have any luck picking the door."

He glanced back at the window again. He really wanted it to be as easy as picking a lock, but he doubted it would be.

"Of course, were you not attempting to, I'm sure one of us would have at some point."

The mechanism of the lock was odd. The pins wouldn't budge, if there were there at all. It was like the inside of the lock was just a rough-hewn hole with no actual mechanism to speak of.

She sat back on her heels with a frustrated sigh and stared down the offending lock. The last time she'd failed to pick something as simple as that lock she was eight years old with a broken wrist. Nearly ten years ago. This had to be a trick.

She stood, tucking the makeshift lockpicks away. She had a theory about what this was, a couple of theories, actually, and all of them were their own kind of thrilling. She still had her weapons, so this wasn't a run-of-the-mill kidnapping like the ones she usually had to sit through. That meant it was something else. There had to be cameras in the room, somewhere, hidden. Someone wanted to see what she, they, all of them, would do.

Who that 'someone' was was to be determined.

It could easily be her father. This didn't quite feel like him, but he wasn't exactly what one would call 'predictable'.

That settled it. So long as the possibility was there, she'd be treating this like one of her father's tests.

She'd have to find out who the others were, why they were here with her, in order to truly figure this place out, though. Or, that was her unenthusiastic guess.

"By the legal definition, this is a kidnapping. Unless you people signed consent forms or something to be locked in here." The smile she donned was charming, sweet. "This could all be one big prank. Did anyone check for cameras?" It was definitely not any kind of prank.

Esther took a deep breath, the reality of their situation sinking in. Queenie's idea was a good one. Still, Esther looked around and she saw none in sight.

"I don't see any..." she said. The music changed. This time, it was When You Wish Upon A Star. Another old song. Briefly, Esther realized everything in the room was from Victorian times, and considered the possibility that they'd all travelled back in time. But the music was from World War II. Maybe they'd gone back to the 1940s? She shook her head, the possibility being too out there. But then again, there was a fairy in the room.

The question was, why were they all here? Esther took a deep breath, and grabbed a random book off the shelf. She wasn't intending on reading it, but it gave her something to do. She opened it, and noticed something very strange.

The book was blank. She turned page after page. There was nothing in the book whatsoever. Nothing on the cover or the spine. She was just about to ask the others to check the other books, to see if they were all like that, but before she could, everything went white.

Not black.

White.

When Esther came too, the first thing she noticed was the heat. It was brutally hot. And her clothes had... changed. She was wearing torn jean shorts and a crocheted sheer white top.

The others were there with her, all wearing different clothes. She heard birds chirping and realized they were all lying close to each other somewhere in the forest. All lying in the dirt. Esther stood up, desperately brushing it off of her.

God, it was hot. She stood up. "Where are we?" She asked. The others seemed just has confused.

At that moment, Esther swore a heard voice, singing softly to herself.

There is a rose in Spanish Harlem
A red rose up in Spanish Harlem....
It is a special one,
It's never seen the sun...

Esther would know that voice anywhere. And the song.

It couldn't be...

But the clothes... the voice, the song.... the forest....

Esther felt a ten ton weight in her stomach as she tried to speak. "Wait," she said in a hushed voice. "I think I know why I'm here, but I don't know why all of you are."

She took a deep breath as she made her way towards the clearing. Esther's heart was pounding as she got a good look at the woman, who still couldn't see her.

No, it couldn't be... there was no way...

It was. They had the same face, but her hair was long and blonde. Everyone had always said they had the same face. She was hanging laundry out to dry on a makeshift clothesline. And she was pregnant.

Esther used all of her might to put one foot in front of the other. Still, Alex must have heard the leaves rustle and saw her before she was ready.

"Hi," Esther said, surprised she remembered how to speak the English language.

"Hi," Alex responded.

"I'm Esther," she replied.

"Esther," Alex said. "I've always liked that name. I'm Alex."

Esther laughed nervously, trying to think of how to respond. What would make sense. "Listen, um, my friends and I, we're... on the road. You know what I mean? Left behind possessions and all that material stuff a long time ago. But we've all been really tripping bad... and I'm afraid, we don't know where we are."

Alex stared at her for a long time, and Esther's heart pounded as she waited for her mother to respond.

"Well, we can help you. Um, my friends are out right now. I'm keeping watch until they come back."

"Where are we, exactly?" Esther asked. She knew they'd been many places before Eagle Rock but wanted to get a sense of when they'd landed.

"Um, Utah, I think? I don't really know," Alex replied. So they were in the Utah years.

"How are far along are you?" Esther asked, gesturing to her pregnant belly. If she asked that, she could figure out when they were without coming across as a lunatic.

"About three months, I think," Alex said. "Or four." So it was either July or August 1969.

"Your friends... left you all alone like this?"

"They'll be back soon," Alex said nonchalantly. Then, she smiled. "Jay's going to love you."

Jay. Make that a twenty ton weight.

"What about my friends?" Esther asked.

"Go get them. They're all welcome."

"Okay... I'll just... be right back."

Esther darted back into the woods, where everyone else was staring at her. "Listen," she said, sure to keep her voice hushed. "I know this is crazy. But that blonde girl, that's my mom. And um, there's so much I don't even know where to begin. But we have to play along, okay?"

Esther's mind was racing a million miles a minute. She was talking to her mother. Her pregnant mother. She'd opened the blank book and all of this had happened. Were they really there, or was this is just all a trick?

"The book brought us here. It had to be for a reason."

When I came to, I was laying on the dirt.

Which, I had recently decided, was one of my least favorite ways to wake up. It was only slightly better than waking up half dead in an alleyway - I could speak from experience on that way.

Before I could even really register what had just happened - or why my clothes were suddenly different - Esther had gone running off.

So I followed her, even when she said to wait.

I didn't make a big deal of it. I didn't even mention where I was going to the others. I just slipped off into the trees and lingered in the shadows as Esther talked to the woman.

Even before she returned to our group, I knew that Esther had a very good idea of who she was. The lie just came too smoothly for her not to have. Something about it put me on edge, but I couldn't figure out what.

Still, I took my cue when I saw it. I slipped back before Esther could return and realize I'd ever been gone. By the time she got back - just moments before I did - I was looking my clothes over with a look of disgust.

Whatever power that had brought us here had the genius idea to get rid of my beloved leather jacket and the rest of the outfit I had carefully put together. Now I was stuck wearing a denim jacket instead of my leather one, and a shirt that felt as stifling as anything that Natty boy wore on a regular basis.

(Plus, it was ridiculously hot.)

I crossed my arms.

"Why should we play along?" I asked. "This might be a figment of your imagination, but isn't there a whole time travel paradox thing to worry about?"

I didn't know much about it - I just heard Cubbins mention it offhand to Lockwood before when I was stuck in the kitchen. It wasn't really Cubbins' cup of tea, so it had never been more than just a quick little mention.

The world around me is turning white. I'm not sure where I am, even what I am. For a moment, I wonder if Esther accidentally unleashed a killing curse when opening that back.

Then, the white fades and I find myself in a forest. My first thought is that I'm back home, but...Titania help me, it's so hot. The heat clings to my skin like memories I can't shed, and everything is sticky and stifling. My clothes have also changed. My nightie has become a shapeless dress the hue of moss and my shoes are stiff and uncomfortable. It's human clothing.

I'm not at home. As much as I despise admitting, I really know nothing. I am so, so small and unnoticed, so helpless and ignorant.

But Esther seems to know something. She's no fool - and only a fool would sprint off in an unfamiliar forest. Skull speeds up after her and I follow him at a slower pace, trying to beat my wings faster in this humid forest.

I manage to catch Skull's attention when we both return to the clearing. I nod clearly at him, and when Esther returns, look up.

I listen to both Esther and Skull, pulling at my curls as I try to shape my confusion into questions. But when I speak, the only words that come out are "Where are we?"

Carter had only just gotten used to the library before they were thrust into another world with a flash of white. The heat clung to his skin as he woke up, lying in the dirt, staring up at a rose-tinted sky.

He was wearing glasses? He ripped off the circular, red-colored bifocals as he sat up, watching the teenaged girl and boy run off with what he now realized was a very, very small winged person. Evidently, small people existed in some world or another. But he held back, choosing not to rush into the unknown world with no idea where they were or who was around. Instead, he looked down at himself, trying to mask his great disgust and bewilderment at his former clothes being stolen from him and replaced with whatever the hell this was.

A wood-beaded necklace with some kind of sun pendant hung around his neck on his exposed chest. He was wearing a patterned vest, but it was a far cry from anything decent or modest, and good Svida above, worlds away from being professional. This was worse than being in his normal clothes. They might as well have stripped him naked. None of this would protect him from any kind of attack.

And his pants - jean material - were practically worn thin! There were gaping holes in the knees and several spots where they were fraying. The only thing that bore some semblance of normalcy were his sandals, which lacked any kind of support around his ankles, being secured solely in the nook of his big toe.

He wished he could just disappear, but apparently, he had to go along with this. If this was anything like the testing of his latest nightmare, it wasn't optional. So when Esther came running back and said they had to "play along" he resolved in his mind to begrudgingly oblige. For now, anyway. Not that he knew anything about how to blend into this absurd environment.

"If we're playing along, then we ought at least to know each other's names," he added to the chaotic exchange. "Time paradox or not, we were brought here by some kind of divine power, and it seems we don't have much a choice in it anyway. Her idea seems the most sound." He gestured to the girl who was hardly wearing anything - pants with the legs entirely ripped off. Half a shirt. Not that she had any choice in her outfit either, he presumed.

With introductions in mind, he considered the context. Maybe it was better that they didn't know much about him. They were in Esther's world, and her mother was there. They didn't need to know where he was from, at least, not now. That would only complicate things.

"I'm Carter," he offered.

He did have a point, even if I didn't want to outwardly admit it.

"I'm Skull," I offered. Whatever had brought us here could change my appearance, but it wasn't going to make me give another name. Besides, I had already given my name back in the library - it wasn't my fault that no one had been listening to it then.

"My name's Iris," I say and look at each carefully. Carter is the bearded man. Skull already introduced himself earlier, he's the dark-headed one. There's Esther. And there's one more girl, but she hasn't spoken yet.

It's best to get to know each other, I realize, when it seems there's no else to trust.

Queenie hardly noticed when the world went white. When it faded back this time, however, something was so very, very wrong.

Heat, the stifling summer heat that weighed down your lungs and made the whole world feel sluggish, surrounded her, forced her down, or maybe that was the pain. She was still seeing white, but the others, who she vaguely noticed all around her, didn't seem to have that problem. Slowly, without moving her hands, she checked for her weapons. Missing. All of them were missing.

She took a shaky breath. Then a steady one.

Painting on a smile, she got to her feet and dusted herself off. All was well. All was fine. Her clothes were changed, too. A dark, knee-length dress over a long-sleeved mint-green shirt with a white collar and a pair of knee-high socks with the most uncomfortable pair of shoes she'd ever worn.

She took a quick head-count of who was in the clearing. Missing only goth-kid and the cute girl with the rebellious preacher's kid look.

A moment later, goth-kid, probably thinking he was being awfully sneaky, slipped back into the clearing. He was quiet about it, despite the ground being coated in fallen leaves and twigs, but he was in the corner of her eye.

Then the preacher's kid returned bearing a plan, and Queenie didn't have the mind to argue.

She refreshed her smile when the introductions started. She almost didn't notice them. Briar had to have drugged her. There was no way the pain was fogging her mind this much.

"Elizabeth," Queenie gave her middle name, "It's nice to formally meet you all." Of course the goth kid's name was Skull. What kind of middle-school nonsense was that? He wasn't looking so goth now, but Queenie wasn't wearing her body armor, so obviously none of them had had a say in their wardrobe for this particular scene.

"We're in Utah. It's 1969. Either July or August," Esther told Iris. Then, she turned to Skull. "You should play along because... what choice do you have? I know a little bit about this place."

She felt a lump in her throat, wanting to explain everything, but that would have taken hours. It was better that they just saw.

She turned back to the fairy, wondering for a second how they were going to explain. Then she remembered. Her mother and and the others were superstitious. If they had a fairy with them, that could give them major cred...

"Listen," she told Iris. "You're going to be like our, spiritual advisor, okay?"

Esther turned around before she could see her reaction. "Follow me," she instructed the group. Then she came out of the brush, and saw Alex was still hanging out laundry to dry.

"Hey," Alex said.

"Hey," Esther replied, still in disbelief that this was actually happening. "Can I help you with that?"

"Sure," Alex replied. As they did, Esther turned back, expecting the others to come any minute. "So, Esther, what kind of music do you like?"

Esther hesitated, knowing she was going to have to not say anything from after 1969, which proved to be hard. "The Grateful Dead. Um, Jefferson Airplane. I really like Donovan too. I mean, he's so sexy and Scottish..."

Alex started to blush.

"What?" Esther asked.

In response, Alex started to sing. "Been looking for a good girl...

Esther immediately joined in on the song. "But it's taking time."

They sang together. "A-been a-lookin' for a good girl, A-one to please my mind as well as my time."

Just then, she heard laughing and saw the figures of four girls approach them. Four girls she would also recognize anywhere. A girl with big blue eyes and light brown hair. Debbie. The one with auburn hair and a Californian lilt to her voice who was nothing short of beautiful was Helen. The redhead with a British accent was Claire. The dark haired girl with long bangs and a Nancy Spungen like attitude was Sasha. Esther felt her heart pounding, knowing she was going to have to pretend she had no idea who any of these girls were.

Where was Jay?

"Hey Skull!" Esther shouted. "Elizabeth, Carter. Don't be rude!" There was no way she was going to be able to manage this alone.

Esther was probably onto something about us not having a choice, but it didn't mean I had to blindly follow her lead.

Kansas wasn't a place I had heard of before, but Esther and Alex were both American - it was probably some random place there that was supposed to mean something to any regular person but didn't to me.

Eh, I could handle it.

What I couldn't handle was the sneaking suspicion that something was going on here that Esther hadn't mentioned. I couldn't figure out what that something was, but I decided I'd still play things safe.

(For once in my very long life.)

"Rudeness is what I strive for," I said, joining her and the quickly growing group. Anyone who had spent more than five minutes talking to me knew that.

They all looked so young. They were at least Lucy's age, but none were even in their thirties. Maybe kids that age just liked to hang out. I didn't know. It wasn't like I had ever had a normal childhood, no matter what world or time's standards you compared it to.

There weren't any agencies here. America didn't have the Problem, and I doubted Esther's world even had their equivalent. Nikko's hadn't, after all. So what was a group of girls doing out here in the middle of this "Kansas" place, and why wasn't Esther giving more of an explanation?

Queenie came out of the woods and took in the scene before her. The urge to keel over and not get back up was a little weaker with the distraction.

Esther, the preacher's kid, had said it was nineteen sixty-nine. How she knew that, Queenie had missed. Gods, could you be more off your game? She shook her head. The voice in her head was teasing, playful, and entirely unwelcome.

Esther was in a clearing now, helping a pregnant woman hang laundry and singing like this situation was entirely natural, and Skull had joined them. Skull definitely wasn't his real name.

Queenie joined them, or tried to. By the time she reached Skull, the ground beneath her feet was tilting too badly for her to keep even footing. To keep from falling, she put a hand on Skull's shoulder. She quickly shot him a shut-the-hell-up look before turning back to the ladies. There were quite a few young women here, now, and Queenie gave them all a little wave. She might have blushed if she had the blood to spare.

I am not a spiritual advisor. The highly esteemed Elder Birchleaf is. But not me. I'm too young, too flighty, I'm told. Though it seems I have no choice at all but to pretend - the only path I have is to follow along with Esther's plan. Oh, Queen Mab, forgive me.

I hover in the air and watch Esther at a distance of twenty wingspans. She's singing along with another woman - who I assume is Esther's mom. The resemblance is clear.

Elizabeth, Carter, and Skull also show up at Esther's call. I can tell from the slight stumble in her step that Elizabeth's dizzy, or in pain, or possibly both, though she's hiding it well. I reach instinctively toward my purse. It's not there, I realize with a stab of regret. Of course.

I wonder when I should show up. I wonder if my appearance would alarm people, like the occasional drunken farmer who manages to stumble through our woods startles us. I wonder if there are fairies there, and if there are, if they'd help us.

Carter followed the others, keeping his genuine reactions inward. There was Esther, hanging laundry with who he presumed was her mother, who was also with child. Her mother looked far too young to have had Esther already, so he assumed that it had to be Esther (or a sibling) in her mother's belly. That would mean there were somewhere in Esther's past, right? That would explain why Esther seemed so flustered and shaken.

But then again, those were only educated guesses. He couldn't be sure of anything just yet. He was just taking it all in, observing.

Elizabeth was quiet, and Skull had an attitude befitting to his unusual name. Nothing remarkable to note about them. Then there was a group of young women approaching, none of them beyond their early 20's, and all of them clearly friends with one another.

Had they stepped into some kind of commune? He didn't know how much Esther's world resembled his own in culture, geography, or anything, really. Was this normal, for a bunch of women to be living out in the wilds of wherever Kansas was?

He looked down at the glasses in his hands. If they were part of his outfit and the culture, they were probably meant to help sell the appearance of fitting in. He slid them back on, though he felt stupid doing so.

But wait, where was the small, winged woman? Probably hiding, if she had her wits about her, but he couldn't imagine her staying hidden forever in a situation like this.

He glanced back into the trees, trying to place her, subtly gesturing down to his vest pocket to offer it as a hiding place if she wanted a view of everything but wanted to keep out of sight.