Struggling against the beating heat and the handicap littering my own feet, I prayed to whatever gods may exist to give me strength. "God, why me? I'm only thirteen!" I cursed to the sky. "Why did my own mother force me into this?"
Suddenly, I felt the very Earth slip out from under me. In a most embarrassing fashion, I fell to the scorching white asphalt, a pebble ripping a small section of my face open.
Alone and bleeding, I looked up to the mystical, cyan sky. I could hear footsteps approaching. "Who's there?!" I shouted. "Please, help me, whoever you may be! I can feel my very soul slipping into darkness..."
"Oh stop it, Madisyn. You're so overly-dramatic!"
"Well sorry, mom," I said sarcastically, "but if I can't use words dramatically, I won't be able to be a good writer or actor."
"Suuure Madisyn. But you only fell while rollerblading," my mom just rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand. "Now come on. I'll help you up."
I grabbed her hand and tried to pull myself up with those stupid roller blades still on my feet, only to fall flat on my bottom again.
"I think you might need to bring out a chair or something."
"Or maybe you could just take your roller blades off."
I blushed, annoyed she was right. Again. "Yeah, I could do that too." I started to take off those annoying things on my feet.
While ridding myself of the annoyance on my feet, i started to feel the blood from my cut reach my lips. It was a small cut, but I can't stand blood. "Hey Mom, can you get me-" I looked up to see my mom was gone. Was I really that tied up in getting off those roller blades? I got up, glad I could stand without feeling like my life was on the line. She probably went inside to get a band-aid.
I walked into the house and to the bathroom, where we kept the band-aids. sure enough, she was there rummaging through the cabinet, murmuring "Now where did it go?"
"Mom," I sauntered over to the cabinet, pulling out the unnecessarily pack we have, "they're right here."
She pretended she knew they were there all along. "Oh, yeah, they are right there. Thanks anyway though."
***
“Come on, Tiger!” My silly brown-and-white tabby cat walked around my room like he’d never stepped paw in there before. Once he was sure he had looked over and checked everything in sight, from my bookshelf filled with adventure novels to my TV-stand littered with Nintendo games, he carefully walked over to my bed and hopped onto my soft cyan blanket, which I was already under.
“Are you finally done? You've been sauntering around for three minutes, silly cat!” I playfully scolded him, even though I was completely aware that he has no idea what I was saying.
My mom entered my room to tuck me in and say goodnight. “Come on Madisyn,” she said, “don’t pick on kitty for being slow. Even if it does take a while for him to get into your bed.”
I ignored her chastisement and went to another subject. “Why do I have to go to bed so early Mom? It’s only nine o’clock! I should at least be able to stay up ‘till ten.”
She stared into my big hazel eyes with a stern look. “Madisyn, you’re only thirteen. You need your sleep!”
“That’s exactly my point. I’m a teenager now and I should be able to stay up at least thirty minutes longe-”
She put her finger on my lips. “No, Madi. You need sleep for school. It’s the end of the school year anyways. You can stay up all night in the summer, but as long as you still have school, you need to go to bed at nine o’clock.”
My mom turned off the light and gave me a good-night-kiss. “Good night Madisyn. Sweet dreams.”
“G’night mom.”
I usually have very vivid dreams, and that night was no exception. I was walking through a dark forest filled with trees with strange dark blue-green leaves. I had no choice but to walk forward on the path, for the road behind and beside me was shrouded with bushes and trees. It seemed like I was walking through the ominous woods forever, until I heard faint laughter from all around me. But it didn’t sound like regular, ha-ha-good-joke kind of laughter. It sounded more like sinister, you’re-walking-into-my-trap kind of laughter.
I kept walking, but at a slower, more cautious pace. After more lonely trudging, I saw a tall figure in the distance, standing in a clearing. “Hello?” I yelled to get their attention. I walked towards the figure to see it was a white stone statue of some sort of creature. Well, at least a few creatures put together. It had a deer’s antler and a goat horn, a lion paw and a bird’s claw as front legs, a lizard claw and horse hoof as back legs, and a snake’s tail with a tuft of fur on the end. “What is that?” I said in confusion, but then thought, well, not like it’s going to answer me.
But my thought was soon proven wrong when there was a startling flash of lightning near behind me. It was so close I could feel the static on my neck. I quickly turned around to make sure there was no fire, but mostly I was just scared. There wasn't a mark on the ground that the lightning strike would have left, and no clouds in the sky that would have caused the lightning. Still a little frazzled, I turned back around to face the odd statue. But the only problem was, the statue wasn't there.
I stood there in disbelief, straining my mind to fathom why a nine-foot-tall statue would just disappear. Confused, I cautiously walked toward the small white column that the statue was previosly standing on. I put my hand on the cool stone, still pondering how the tall object could have just vanished. Suddenly, I felt a rush of wind behind me. That same cackle vibrated through the air. I turned in all directions, afraid that something would come out of the trees and abduct me, or worse. I stared into the forest, my back to the short pillar. I walked a step forward, expecting something, when I felt a strong, looming presence behind me. Slowly, I turned around to confront what was sure to be a vicious beast from the woods. But the creature I saw was scarier than that. It was the statue.
At least, it was as if the statue had come to life. The once silvery stone figure was now very much alive, and in full color. I struggled to make words come out. “Wh-What are- Wh-Who-"
The odd animal put its paw up, as if telling me to stop. “Please, allow me to introduce myself. Have you ever heard of the word ‘discord’?”
Before I could answer, or even snap out of my shock, the strange animal said, “That would be me. I am Discord.”
I broke out of my state of confusion and stuttered, “I-I’m...”
“Yes, Madisyn. Caring, funny, and adventurous are all traits that match you well.”
“H-How did you...?”
The creature named Discord suddenly disappeared in a white flash and appeared behind me, hovering in mid-air. I spun around, wondering how the heck he could do that. “You see, I’ve been observing you for a while, as I feel you would make a good fit for my plot. Being good instead of evil can be quite boring, you know, especially if you’re an all-powerful being.”
I just stood there, staring at Discord, as if it was my turn to be the statue. I felt a strange mixture of feeling, but one thing I wasn’t feeling was fear. I strangely enjoyed the being’s presence, and wanted to know more. “To clear up the confusion, what do you want me to do? I’m just a thirteen year old girl. I can barely take a horror movie, and gave up after the first temple in Twilight Princess.”
Discord seemed to pause for a second at the words "Twilight Princess", but ignored everything else like he didn’t hear a thing. “Oh don’t worry young one. You’ll know what to do soon enough. In time the truth will all be revealed. But do not tell anyone of this vision." He put his claw in the air for emphasis. "Everything must be kept secret from anyone you know. Do you understand?”
“I don’t know what else to say but yes,” I promised Discord. “I won’t tell anyone anything.”
“Good. Now just wait, and soon your questions will be answered. After all, good thing come to those who wait. The thing I want you to do is strengthen yourself for the challenges ahead. There will be difficult tasks and choices in the future, so you must be prepared." Everything started to fade, and Discord's voice gained an echo effect. "Good luck Madisyn. Good luck!”
The dream faded, and I was back in my bed at home. I looked around to see if everything was still the same. I checked my digital clock. Nothing was different except for the time, ten minutes before the usual time I would have to wake up for school, so I just started getting ready. Throughout the entire morning, and the entire day, I couldn't help but remember Discord’s words. “In time the truth will be revealed.” I wanted to know if it was just a dream, or a real vision of something. I suppose I will just have to wait.