Land of Ice

Chapter 3

Becky helped me pack everything I could possibly need for a weekend of camping, possibly a little more. She definitely takes preparation to a whole different level than the average person.

My parents agreed with her staying the night tonight so we could leave bright and early tomorrow morning for our trip.

As we sat in my room, Becky was braiding my hair. She always had a knack for taming my wild hair into the most beautiful of braids. My long hair flows down to my hips and is slightly wavy. It’s stayed this snowy shade of white my whole life. My eyes kept their unique shade of purple and only seemed to get brighter as I got older.

“How did you ever end up with such long, white hair? Your mom is brunette and your dad has the darkest hair I’ve ever seen.” She asked.

I thought for a second before responding, “You know, they don’t talk about it much, but I think I was adopted. I never really got the full story, but it just seems to be the truth from what I can gather. I mean, look at April! She looks sooo much like my mom, but has dad’s dark hair and his eyes too. It just doesn’t feel as though that would be realistic. I don’t look like most of the family really.”

“Wow, what if your real parents had some crazy back story? Like some closet romance type stuff or something?” She says.

I roll my eyes at this and laugh a bit. “Becky, you have to have the best imagination I’ve ever got the pleasure to meet. That and you are completely far too stuck in your romance novels!”

She laughs and says, “You’re probably right. I’m sure it’s something completely normal..but, what if? There are so many possibilities!”

I look at her reflection in the mirror and take a moment to appreciate my best friend. She has curly black hair and eyes as green as an emerald. She’s a few inches shorter than me and her hair reaches just to the middle of her back. I always loved how ridiculously optimistic she was. It never mattered what the situation was; she’d find the bright side of it.

I, on the other hand, considered myself to be realistically optimistic. It really was a good balance for our friendship.

We continue our night gossiping away and getting excited for our camping trip.

“I think Jack and Danielle are actually going to become a thing finally. They’ve totally got eyes for each other.” She says.

“Well, yeah. They’ve been staring at each other with those cute eyes for like two years now. It’s about damn time!” I laugh.

We both yawn at the same time and realize we should go to bed before it gets too late.

I climb into bed and quickly drift off, knowing that I’ll be seeing him soon.

My dream begins a bit differently for the first time. The sun is shining bright and white dreamlike clouds dot the sky. I look around and see green hills as far as I can possibly look. There is a forest to my right, shadows and sunlight playing on the grassy floor. To my left, I can see huge mountains, their caps covered in snow.

Everything is breathtakingly beautiful. I can hear birds chirping around me, singing tunes to match the weather. I breathe in the aromatic scents of nature and the flowers surrounding me.

As I look around, I notice I’m not wearing my normal clothes. Instead, I’m wearing a dress that matches my snowflake necklace perfectly. It’s a shimmery blue, with a glimmering purple hue to it.

It looks as though it were made for me. It fits my frame perfectly, hugging every curve. It has sheer long sleeves with a piece that goes over the back of my hands and loops around my middle fingers. I don’t think I have ever worn anything this flattering.

As I gaze at my newfound dress in awe, I notice a shadow fly over me. Fear sets in and I begin running from the unknown.

I only make it a few feet before the shadowed figure lands ten feet ahead of me. I gasp as I take in the huge form.

A gorgeous bird, with shades of blue, purple, and white to match myself comes into view. It’s huge form towers over me, but I lose any sense of fear I had before.

I don’t know how or why, but I’m not afraid of it. I look and realize that I know that this bird is a female. She has a name, but I can’t remember it.

As she looks at me, I feel a slight tingle in my head and then a voice filters through.

“Avaline, is that truly you? I’ve been waiting for you to return home.”

I know in that moment that this giant bird is the one speaking in my mind.

“Who are you? What are you?” I ask as curiosity rushes through my veins.

“I am Azaria and I’m a snow Phoenix. More specifically, I am your Phoenix. I was born to be by your side through everything, but I was unable to follow you to the land of Earth unfortunately. I’m told that this land you spent time in isn’t flourishing with magic as Terre de Glace is.”

I hear her words flow through and my natural instinct is to deny this, but I can feel the truth in her words. It makes sense somehow.

Before I can respond, I hear her calming voice again, “Avaline, we don’t have much time left in this dream of yours. I will see you soon when you truly return home.”

I gasp as I feel myself being pulled back.

“Wait!” I shout, but it’s too late.

I feel my eyelids flutter as the dream comes to an end and I return to reality.