The Crystal Keepers Book One: Divine Fire

Chapter Nine: Too Much Confusion

   Himara sped downstairs to the kitchen in search of her aunt and uncle. She found them sitting in their usual spots at the wooden table with worried looks on their faces.

   "Hi Auntie and Unc!!!" Himara said pleasantly, happy that they were back.

   "H-hi Himara...how was your first day in Alte- er... the alternate dimension?" Himara's aunt asked anxiously.

   "It was...hold on. What were you about to say? Alte-what? And why weren't you her after school?" Himara pressed, her azure blue eyes fixed on her aunt's smoke gray eyes.

   "Nothing...and we were gone umm...shopping."

   "Why would you go shopping when I was gonna leave? And I know you were gonna say something! And I'd also like to know why the other day you wanted me gone so badly!" Himara's voice started to raise in confusion and frustration.

   "W-we umm..," her aunt stammered.

   "Oh just tell her, Mae..," Himara's uncle gave in.

   "Oh, alright...I'll tell you... First of all, the reason why we tried to make you leave fast yesterday was because your parents had a similar thing happen to them. Both of them began to have a strange dream a couple of weeks before they died. I didn't want to make it seem like it was happening to you so...We tried to make you leave quickly.

   "And the reason why we weren't here was not because we were shopping, sorry... It was because a glowing white orb appeared in this room. We touched it, and we were transported somewhere all black. A voice spoke to us and it said, "That girl will die unless you stop her from entering Altemia!" and then we were transported back, and it was past four o'clock. We think Altemia is the alternate dimension. So, that's why," Himara's aunt explained with a shaky voice.

   "I wouldn't worry about what happened to you guys, I can handle it if anything tries to kill me but...sorry I was getting so mad, it's just because I've had a confusing day that I don't wanna get into explaining...but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I just have so many questions..," Himara told her aunt and uncle with a tired sigh.

   "We believe in you, Himara, but you should get some rest for tomorrow," her uncle recommended with concern.

   "Yeah..." her stomach grumbled loudly.

   "Sounds like someone's hungry!" her aunt pointed out with a smile. "Here, I made some spaghetti and meatballs."

   "Thanks, I'm starved!!!" Himara cheered.

                                                                             --

   Himara arrived back in her room one hour later. She had eaten a delicious dinner, had a refreshing shower and had changed into her regular pajamas, but still wearing her crystal like she was told. Yet something didn't seem right...

   Himara gasped. "Agh!!! I forgot about my homework!!!" she yelled to herself.

   She yanked her fiery red backpack onto her bed, zipped open the main pocket and dumped everything out. She let out a sigh of complete relief when she noticed she only had a few math questions to do. She cracked open her textbook, opened her notebook and started working on them.

   The questions took a lot longer than Himara planned, but she managed to get them finished. She shoved it all back in her bag and threw it across her room out of extreme fatigue. It landed a few inches from her door and her books peeked out of the top. She had forgotten to zip it back up. But she cared the least bit about it. All she wanted to do was sleep after her long, eventful day.