Young Writers Society

This is my third edit of this Prologue. Understand that I've been in a hurry the past few days, and therefore some of the drafts I have had up have not been so great. Here it is, Enjoy!:

Prologue

Have you ever felt the feeling of pure perfection? Standing on this beach, I could feel it. Happiness, perfection; a feeling like no other.

The salty ocean air filled my body. I could hear the sounds of birds, chirping in the distance, and the close ocean breeze, which felt as though it had crept up on me, sending chills down my spine. I wiggled my toes in the sand, and shivered when the freezing cold tide reached my ankles. I looked up and saw an island in the distance, covered entirely with wild jungle. I turned around to see a grand castle made for a princess.

But, my story starts when I was much younger. On the same beach, walked three women. Each woman was strong and powerful, but no one woman the same. Notably, each woman had a different hair color. Of the women, there was one brunette, one blonde, and one red head. The three best friends were spending their morning walking along the beach. And at their feet, was me. I couldn’t have been more than two years old. I twisted and tumbled as my feet tried to balance my tiny body on the unstable sand. I fell a couple of times, but as usual one of them was always there to help me back up.

I always wanted to be like them. They had a poise and elegance that my little body lacked. I would watch them walk, and I would try my hardest to imitate them, but I always fell and they always helped me back up. That’s why I always tried again.

The three friends were laughing and talking, as all best friends do. The further we walked, the higher the sun rose. It was almost too perfect.

The swiftly rising tide touched my small ankles, and the cold water made me jump. My mother picked me up and swung me into her arms.

“Is it cold?” she asked me sweetly.

“Yes, it’s really cold” I answered. My adorable baby voice, cute short brown hair, and big blue unforgettable eyes made my mom giggle my response.

“Why don’t we head on home and you can play with the animals out in the barn?” my mom suggested.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” I exclaimed. I began to bounce in my mother’s arms with excitement.

“I should probably give the horses a good brushing anyway” my mom said, putting me down on the floor.

“We’ll see you tonight, right? Out on the island to celebrate the big day?” the brunette asked.

“Of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world” my mother answered.

“Goodbye Selena” the red head said.

“Bye bye!” I replied, waving and smiling back at her.

“Goodbye guys” the brunette said.

“Bye” my mom and I both said. I waved goodbye with one hand as my mom took the other. The other girls waved goodbye to us as we started heading towards our home. After leaving the beach, we entered a village that you’ve all seen before, and yet, no one from your world has ever been to.

“Mommy, I love you. You’re the best mommy ever”

“Why thank you sweet heart. And you’re the best daughter ever!” my mom exclaimed.

“Isn’t that cute?” a ragged old voice said. My mom jumped and out from behind one of the buildings came an old woman, whom I did not recognize.

“What are you doing here?” my mom asked, grasping my hand tighter.

“Oh darling, we both know why I’m here, don’t we?”

“No, now will you please leave us alone?” my mother demanded, trying to walk past the old woman.

“I don’t think so darling” she said, putting herself in front of me and my mother.

“Now, hand over the girl” the woman demanded.

“Never!” my mom replied, picking me up and holding me close to her chest.

“What makes you think you can raise a child properly? You’re too busy. Hand over the girl!”

“No! I’m her mother. I don’t know what you’re after, I don’t know what you want, but no matter what you are not getting my daughter!” she exclaimed once again.

“Dearie look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. That child is one more soul against us, and I will not let you out number us”

“We already do. You’ll never win. And you don’t need to take my daughter only to later realize that I am right. You’d need some type of evil miracle for you to beat us, ever!” my mom said.

“Give me the child. I won’t harm her. I will just put her in her rightful place, away from here!” The old woman reached her hand out and touched my skin. Chills shot up my spine, and my mom smacked her hand.

“Leave her alone!” she screamed.

“Give me the child!” the woman demanded, reaching both hands out now. Before she could even touch me, my mother took off down the streets.

“Come back here” the woman said, following my mom. Oh, but my mom was too quick for that old hag. She was out of breath when my mom was just getting started. She ran down, past all the homes and shops that covered the village streets, all the way down to the far end of the beach.

“Oh, that wretched old woman. She just can’t leave us alone can she?” my mom asked, sitting down on the sand, with me in her lap.

“Mommy, I’m scared” I said, hugging onto my mom.

“Oh honey, I know, I know” she said, hugging me tightly.

“You won’t let the bad lady get me, will you mommy?” I asked, with my scared little face shoved into her chest.

“Oh no, no, no” my mom said, picking me up, “Of course not.” She began rocking me in her arms and singing me a lullaby. My mom and I both dozed off, on the no longer beautiful beach. What had started out as a beautiful sunny day had turned into a dark, cloudy, stormy sky.

When my mom and I woke up, there was not one, not two, not even three, but four women standing in front of us. And none of them were on our side. One woman was the old woman who was after us before, but now there stood a smoker, what looked to be a green witch of some sort, and another crazy old hag, who before my eyes changed into a beautiful queen. They didn’t even ask my mom this time. They merely grabbed me. My mom grabbed my little hand, screaming at the evil women to give me back.

“You don’t understand, I need her! Please give her back to me, please! I’ll do anything, just please, please give her back!” She yelled, holding a firm grip on my wrist and trying to reach her arms out to the rest of my small body.

“We win… say goodbye to your precious sweetheart!” the beautiful queen said, grabbing onto my mother’s weak wrist.

The evil green witch began to chant some kind of a spell, and in a mere second my mother was fast asleep.

“Mommy! Mommy!” I screamed. I reached my hand out to her, but she didn’t reach back.

When my mother woke up, I was gone. She searched days, weeks, and months- oh how she lost track of the time! She searched all over the kingdom for me, but those evil women and I were never found.

When my mother finally did find me, many, many years later, she told me this story. At the young age of 2 or so, I could not take this much in. When I questioned my mother's rememberance of the tale ,she told me that she would lie in bed at night, the memory playing in her mind over and over again, and she wished that their evil chants would stop and that I would be able to come home to her. And after so long, her prayers were finally answered.

Though there is only one real story to be told here. It is not so much what happened to me or my mother after our separation. It is rather the story of how we came to meet again after all these years. The series of bizarre events, that neither of us had expected, well, that is the real story here. So let’s travel to a time and place that you may know better. Many years later, in a place known as Chicago, Illinois.