• Chapter 1- Annabelle
    I know I got everything I wanted but at what cost. Never seeing my father, my mother being killed for a diamond. A stupid diamond Ring. This was low, even for my father, bribing a school to send me an invitation. Especially one that doesn’t exist! How could he! My own father, my flesh and blood. It made my skin crawl. The second I got the letter I was so excited. Now I know the truth. The truth about everything.
    On October the 14 I got a letter that said that the Young Woman’s Academy of Mythology. I thought that it might be a prank at first but then I got a call three weeks later. “Annabelle Geraldini?” the phone barked at me. I nodded thinking they might see me. I felt insane as soon as I tried it. “Annabelle?” The phone asked more calmly. “Yes?” I managed to mutter. “Is this Annabelle Geraldini, this is the Young Woman’s Academy of Power Enhancement Council President.”
    “I am Annabelle.”

    “No,” the woman said “you have been invited to our school but we haven’t heard back from you, The council was wondering if you had received the letter.”

    “I am so sorry! I would have called back but many people play pranks as this one seemed to be one.”
    “Are you calling this school a joke?”
    “Oh no! Of course not! I am so sorry,” I said embarrassed
    “Well then just give us a call back after you have talked to your father, okay?”
    “Thank you, Miss… um,”
    “Miss Evergreen.” She said then hung up. Wow.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    That evening at dinner my father sat at the far end of the never ending table. In between us a feast fit for a king. The steam rose quickly and filled the room with the fresh aroma of dinner. We said grace and ate until we were full.
    Just before my father stood up I called Becky, the house maid, to bring us our deserts. After desert was served I asked my father about Young Woman’s Academy of Power Enhancment and naturally he was very quiet. He only said “Really?” and “Okay you can go.” The same kind of thing happens every time he bribes someone for me. I guess I was kind of exited to be going to a school in North Carolina.






    Demytrylynn-
    As the fire crackled I unpacked today’s findings from my bag. A couple of herbs tied in my leather thong, three eggs wrapped in a cloth, a dozen raspberries, and some seeds to plant in the field. They would soon blossom into a blueberry bush.
    While the fire warmed my hut up, I walked over to my small bed that was really a spot of the hard dirt floor with some hay, a small pillow, and a deer skin, and changed the hay… to make it fresher.
    After that, I went over to the small kitchen where my mother was cooking soup in a cauldron over a flame, Then I brought the herbs over to the self, unwrapped them, and set them carefully in my mother’s box. “Onion Soup, today,” my mother said without looking my way. She picked up a small bottle of herbs and added a pinch. “Thyme for flavor, thyme to make the broth have flavor,” my mom said. I gave her the raspberries and eggs.
    “Thank you, Demytrylynn.”
    “Mother?”
    “Yes?” she said as she stirred the soup with a long wooden spoon.
    “Have you ever wondered… wondered what it would be like, to have… more? More than this?”
    “Yes, at one time, I had a home. This home was amazing. But now, I realize I would rather be with you than live in a home with a electric stove.”
    Cooking dinner passed without another word.
    After dinner was finished my Mother pulled out a crude ladle made of wood. I recognized this very greatly. When I was young I made this ladle out of a stick I found.
    My mom dipped the ladle in the cauldron and pored us each a half a coconut.
    “Yum!” I said looking at the steaming bowl of hot soup.
    I tasted the soup. And it was pure magic. My mother had the power of food. She could make anything taste like a meal fit for the king. She had been taught not to use her powers but she had broken the laws.

    She was sent away from her home into the proclaimed dangerous Shadow Lands. So many people have been sent there. They say wild beasts live there and vines of thorn wrap up everything. They gave her a week to persuade anyone to come with her or take her things to be alone. She tried to persuade my father but he told her, “Felicia, my love, if I go with you, you may never leave.” But my mother still begged and pleaded. She said, “I would rather take a part of you with me than leave without any of you at all.” Then my mother became pregnant and I was her pride and joy. The High Council approved an extra month for her child to be safe in its beginning.

    Eventually my Mother was sent away to The Shadow Land. She tried her best to build a hut and a crib. She was allowed one backpack with whatever she could fit into it. She packed two small blankets, a pillow, a pot, a bucket of water, some rope, a survival knife, flint and, a couple of carrots. My mother prayed to the gods every day for me to have the gift of growth this way we could survive until my father had approached The High Council to plead them to allow my mother back home.

    When I was born, my mother touched my hand to the earth and up sprouted a Strawberry Bush. My mother believed that the gods listened to her prayers and that she had been gifted. So from then on I have been growing plants in the garden and making trees to cut down to make our hut bigger and more protected from the savages. I have the gift of earth.

    After dinner I went outside into the murky air and walked over to my garden. I opened the crude gate and to my surprise a very tall woman with caramel skin stood with her back to me with her hands outstretched letting a small sprinkle of water fall around the plants and they instantly perked up. She giggled and put her arms down. “Is that better?” She asked kneeling down next to a small orange tree. I stood tall trying to be brave and picked up a small rock with my mind and dropped it in front the strange woman.


    “Hello, Demytrylynn,” and She said without turning“Yes, I can sense you. I have the affinity for water. The soil beneath your feet is damp and I can sense you. ”
    I was silent not knowing what else to say. The woman turned around to face me and said,
    "Demytrylynn, you have been invited to the Institute of Power Inhancement."