Luana Wu (9) | STAFF REPORTER
Winter was such a beautiful place, especially on Earth. With the beautiful snowflakes floating down and the trees full of snow… oh, I was obsessed. I wished it was the same in my world. Unfortunately, my world was cursed a thousand years ago by a witch to never be beautiful again. Our winters were cold, dreary, and grey.
It was a torture that I knew I wasn’t going to survive. I cherished the moments when it snowed, but when it rained, it just felt awful. The only way I got to experience beautiful winters was when looking at Earth.
There was one place that anyone could visit and peer down into Earth, the World Below. The same witch who cursed us created a glass ball that showed what it was like there. It was a reminder that we would never know what it was like to see something beautiful ever again. That was what spurred my desire to visit Earth. I would give anything to escape my world, even if it meant leaving my old life here and starting a new one.
There was only one person who could grant my wish: the witch. She was dead, of course, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t summon her spirit. There was a spell to summon the dead, but it was forbidden because power made people greedy. But I wasn’t going to use the spell more than I had to.
Luckily, my mom worked for the government and had access to the spell required. I told no one my plan, so when my mom was away for the day at a friend’s party, I grabbed her card and ID to access the “forbidden” building (as I liked to call it).
Another secret that I had: I was a shapeshifter. Taking my mom’s form wasn’t so bad, only that it made me feel slightly nauseous, a side effect of shifting. Nevertheless, my plan went beautifully. I snuck in, pretended that I was supposed to be here, said that the party was canceled, and nobody questioned me.
The forbidden section was at the top of the North Tower. There were two hundred steps going up, which I painfully climbed. I swiped my mom’s card on the scanner and headed inside. That was when the room faded away into darkness. I spun in a circle. What was going on? I wondered.
Just then, a small white sphere appeared in front of my face. I blinked, saying, “Hello?” No answer. I wasn’t surprised. The sphere hovered there for a moment before vanishing. Frowning, I reached my hand out to ensure that the ball was gone. My hand made contact with something solid.
There was a click. The floor cracked, sending me plummeting. I screamed. How did this happen? Was this a defense mechanism for someone trying to sneak into the forbidden section? Maybe it was. Or maybe this was a hallucination.
I finally landed hard, my back screaming in agony. “Who’s there? What’s happening?” I said, standing. “Hello? Where am I?”
“Greetings.” The voice scared me. It sounded eerily familiar. It sounded like… my mom. I was so confused. What was going on right now? Was I going crazy?
“Hello,” they said. Their voice seemed to echo all around. “Welcome, Nyx, to your fears.”
