3000

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry honey, life is not easy. It's going to be okay though. I think you will love Wisconsin! There are pretty forests everywhere, there are theme parks, and it is absolutely beautiful!" said my mom.

"I don't know mom...I am going to miss Illinois," I said.

"I know you will honey but daddy and I can't live together anymore...I know this is hard for you to understand and I don't expect you to understand everything. You're only ten..." my mom said droning on.

"Will Wisconsin have a Pegasus?" I asked hoping for a yes.

"A pegasus? It's Wisconsin honey. Not the future," she said laughing. We exchanged glances for a short moment and then I looked at her with sorrowful eyes.

"Why did you and dad always have to fight?" I asked looking up at her. A tear rolled down her cheek and she tried to look away but knew she couldn't.

"Sometimes honey...people think they love each other but they just aren't meant to be. Daddy just wasn't the right one I guess..." she said with a sorrowful look on her face.

"Then why did you marry him?" my younger self asked curiously.

"I don't know...I was stupid. I'm sorry baby. I love you more than anything. You know that right?" she said with a smile.

"I know mommy. I love you too," I replied.

The rest of the car ride was fairly silent. It was about a 4-hour drive and I remember sleeping most of the way. I was really going to miss Illinois and my dad and I didn't understand why we had to move so far away.

My mom's red Dodge slowly pulled in and the rattling of the tires against the rocky driveway woke me up. I got out of the car and it was actually quite beautiful. There was a nice yard, the house was huge, and all around me was the wonderful chirping sound of birds nearby that seemed to be greeting and inviting me to my new home.

"Well, what do you think?" my mom asked.

"I love it! Can I go inside mom!? Can I? Can I? Can I?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes, of course you can. Just don't get too dirty and be careful," she said pointing her finger at me with a smile.

I ran inside as quickly as I could. The living room was huge and had a nice fireplace with a television above it. To the left of the living room, was a spacious kitchen with everything you could possibly think of. Lastly, to the very right of the house, was a wooden spiral staircase. I ran to the staircase and went up the stairs as fast as I could. Once I reached the top of the stairs I began to look around and noticed there were two bedrooms and one bathroom. I immediately went to the bigger bedroom and began to explore it. It had a nice big bed and a window looking outside. It was a nice room and I claimed it as mine. I ran back down the stairs and excitedly told my mom that I had already chosen my new bedroom.

"Mom! Mom! I already picked my bedroom! It is big and has a really nice bed!" I said panting out of breath. My mother laughed and looked down at me with a smile.

"Good, I am glad you are happy son. I love you and you can have whatever room you want," she said.

"Dinner will be ready shortly. We are having hot dogs so I hope you are hungry," she said as she headed to the kitchen.

"Okay mommy! I will be downstairs in a bit!" I said running back up the stairs to my new room. Little did I know, it was gonna be longer than just a bit.

I sat there on my bed as I thought about Illinois and my dad. I missed them both so much and even though my mom and dad didn't love each other anymore, I still wished that things could remain the same as they once were. It was then that I heard a faint creaking noise. It seemed to be coming from underneath my bed. Curiously, I listened. I heard it one more time but then it died off. It was very quiet and you really had to listen to be able to hear it. I slowly got up off my bed and kneeled down so that I could look underneath it. I silently prayed that it wasn't a monster waiting to eat me. To my surprise there was a small hatch underneath. I carefully pulled up on it and it swung up and opened. I then quietly moved my bed aside so that I could access it easier. Once my bed was out of the way, I was able to open up the hatch the rest of the way and I discovered that inside was wooden stairs leading down to somewhere. I ran to my bedroom door to make sure my mom was still in the kitchen cooking and then once the coast was clear, I started to head down the stairs and into the hatch. I walked down the old, creaky wooden stairs and was led into a scary, small dark room. The only light in the room was coming from the slightly cracked hatch door that I had left open just in case I needed to get back out. The room was so small that I barely had elbow room and in front of me was a rustic wooden door. On the door, there was a symbol printed and I couldn't tell what it meant. I shrugged it off, hoped for the best, and turned the doorknob. Once I was inside, the door shut loudly behind me and I jumped up a foot in the air. I started to walk down a long narrow hallway that somehow seemed to get more and more narrow as I continued walking. At the end of it, I could see another door and I began to wonder just how many doors I was going to have to open. My walking turned into running and I sprinted towards the door hoping that it would be the last one I would have to endure. I finally reached it and frantically opened the door. It swung open and I suddenly rammed into something that felt soft like fabric. The fabric swept across my face and I felt something poke my ear. The small, cramped space smelled of must, linen, and dust. I could barely breathe and the space I was trapped in was even smaller than the first room I had entered after walking down the stairs. I put my hands out in front of me and felt the outline of what seemed to be two small doors without any knobs. I pushed my hands toward them and out in front of me and they both opened and I fell out of the room. As I attempted to get back up, I pulled some clothes off of me. They were really nice clothes but were covered in dust and must have been untouched for years. I turned around and noticed that I had fallen out of a wooden storage closet. I started to examine the new room I was in and what I saw was amazing. This room was much bigger than the others and everywhere I looked, I saw wonderful things that I could tell hadn't been touched in ages, just like the clothes. There was flat screen TV's, laptops, smart phones, DVD players, thousands of books, and many more. It was all so beautiful and I wanted it all. My tiny, child brain was unable to comprehend how none of it was being used. I didn't understand what it was doing all tucked away in storage. Why? That wasn't the only question I had either. Where was I? Where did I walk to? I slowly walked back up to the closet and looked inside of it. I gently grabbed the hangers that were hanging up and slid them down all to one side of the closet. I tried to find the door that I came out of but it was nowhere to be found. I got inside the closet and knocked on the wood but it was just a solid wooden panel and there didn't seem to be anything on the other side. I started to freak out and the realization that I was stuck there with no way home was a bit frightening. I quickly shut the wooden doors and started to scream:

"Go home! Abracadabra! Home now!"

With every ounce of hope in me, I opened the doors to the closet but I hadn't gone anywhere and I was still in the same room. I started to look around the room a little more. There had to be some way to escape. I didn't even want to imagine how worried my mom was about me right now. At the end of the room, I found a panel similar to the one that I had found underneath my bed. I pulled up on it and unfortunately, what I didn't realize was that the panel goes down towards the ground, not up. So, as I pulled it, instead of using the ladder to climb down it, I fell 10 feet to the ground. I landed with a thud and my shoulder was hurting a little.

"Are you okay?" asked a voice.

"Yeah...I'm okay," I said as the person helped me up.

He was a big, plump man and he was dressed in strange clothes. He was wearing pink pants, a bright green shirt with a yellow blazer, big red shoes, and a sparkly blue top hat.

"Why are you dressed like a clown?" I said laughing.

"Are you making fun of me little boy?" said the man frowning.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I'll go now," I said walking off.

It was then that I realized where I was at. I was in a giant glass building. It was probably the size of a football stadium and I had never seen anything like it before. It was truly beautiful. On all 4 corners there was white marble columns and in the center of the building was a large fountain with a big Pegasus in the middle. The whole room was covered in beautiful green plants and it seemed that the building functioned almost similar to a greenhouse which explained the glass. Suddenly, water started to mist down from the ceiling as if it was raining. The water poured down on the plants for a couple of minutes and then it shut off and stopped. I was amazed at what I had just seen considering the fact that I was used to watering them with a hose. I looked around hoping to locate the entrance of the building and found it towards the fountain at the end of the greenhouse. I ran down to the large double doors leading outside curious to see what I would find next. I reached the large double doors at the end and as I approached them I saw that they stood at least 4 feet taller than me. I went to push them open but I didn't even have to because when I got close to them, they opened on their own.

"Thank you for visiting the greenhouse. I hope to see you back here soon. Have a wonderful day!" said a robotic voice.

What I saw next was truly unbelievable.