<u>Prologue:<u>
“Night Poppy! See you in school tomorrow,” The girl called into the phone, snuggling under the duvet.
“Night Ash!” A voice crackled over the receiver, “See ya!” A long beeb swiftly followed the end of the conversation, signaling that Poppy had hung up. Ashlee placed her phone on her bedside table, and turned the light out. Soon, she was off in the far away world of dreams.
* * * *
As the moon reached the center of the night sky, an orange light started to flicker in the window of number forty-two Parking street. As the rest of the country slept, the house was awakening.
A shrill siren ripped through the silence of the street. Two people, a man and a woman, jumped out of their bed and hurried out of their room. While the woman ran down the stairs, the man headed down the corridor frantically. A burst of flame erupted from the door of the room he was heading to, causing him to halt suddenly, almost falling over in the process. A crash sounded from just ahead of him.
Knowing he could no longer do anything, he took one last regretful look at the room, spun on his heel and bolted out of the house.
The loud wailing of the fire-engine combined with the noise of the ambulance, was enough to wake a whole neighbourhood, and that night was no exception. The whole of Parking Street was there to witness last hopes of a mother fading, and the once grand home of a happy family becoming a pile of rubble.
* * * *
Dragged from her dream, Ashlee rubbed her eyes wearily, wondering what all the noise was about. When the cogs in her mind finally started to work again, she pieced together her surroundings. She realised that the loud siren was in fact the fire alarm, and that the orange colouring of her walls was the reflection of the orange flames dancing around her room.
Suddenly, everything clicked in her head. Oh my goodness! she thought, The house is on fire! Throwing her covers off, she leapt up from the bed and blindly searched for the bag she always kept under her desk incase of emergencies. Her hands landed on a rough material, and she hoisted it over her shoulder.
The room was like a furnace. The heat was rapidly rising, and the smoke was quickly smothering the room in a blanket of grey. An eruption of flames from the direction of the door caused Ashlee to stumble backwards into the wall. Looking around herself the best she could, it dawned on her that the only way out was through the window, and it was about seven metres to the ground.
She was about three feet from the window when the bookshelf toppled over with a mighty crash, blocking her only escape. Feeling the urge to scream, but not having enough breath to let it go, she sunk to the ground giving up hope. This is it, she thought, my last few minutes on Earth. All those thing I wanted to do! Tears streaked down Ashlee’s cheeks, her face illuminated by the orange light. I never got to say goodbye either! Not to Mum or Dad! I hope they’re okay! They say that your life flashes before your eyes when you are about to pass away. That isn’t what happened to Ashlee. All that flooded her mind were regrets and thoughts of what could have been.
In the swirl of grey and orange, something strange started to happen. On the wall next to Ashlee, a white light appeared. The light spread until it was around the size and shape of a small door. One short moment later, she was staring straight at, well, a door. Wishing to come out alive, Ashlee cautiously opened it, wincing as a flame burnt her arm. She slid through quickly, avoiding being burnt again.
She shut the door behind her and it disappeared as soon as she had her back to it. Ashlee froze as she surveyed the sight in front of her. The sky was a deep grey, and was swirling around a central point. Rain was pelting the ground like bullets, and thunder seemed to shake the whole world. Looking behind herself, Ashlee knew that there was no way back once she had seen the rough rock-face urging her forward. She took a small step forward as she realised that the stone was actually moving. It was coming forwards like a tortoise: slow and steady, with no hope of stopping.
As Ashlee started to listen to her surroundings, she heard the distant crash of waves, and the screeches of the wind. She focused ahead of her properly for the first time and gasped as she saw the sheer drop to the ocean only about a metre from her. She panicked as she realised her choice was jump, or be forced over the edge by the ever-nearing cliff.
Taking a deep breath, she weighed up her options. Jump and die quickly, or wait for the cliff to force me of the edge. Either way I will most likely die. Knowing instantly what the logical way was, she leaped off the edge and hurtled towards the sea.
Cold engulfed her as she hit the water. She couldn’t tell up from down, and was finding it increasingly difficult to move. She felt something tug on her, and she was pulled deeper. Struggling, she forced herself to kick in what she thought was up to no avail. She soon gave up, unable to do any more.
Blackness soon took over.
* * * *
So, this is the begginning of an idea for a story. Not sure if I should continue it, and if I do it'll be on my normal writing account (NutellaEater). It is about a girl going back in time to the legendary King Arthur's reign. It might include myths and legends or not; I'm not too sure of the plot line yet :/ But please let me know what you think and if you think I should continue!!! :D
Anony-moose x
