Starlit

Chapter 1

  There I was, in some beautiful land. There was excitement, adventure, everything I have ever wanted. Then I saw him. He came up to me just like he always does; like he is almighty, like everyone looks up to him, like we all bask in his glory, like, like, well, you get the idea. I hate that about him. Why does he have to always follow me everywhere? I know why, he likes me, and one of these days he's gonna pull a ring with my birthstone, and propose. And y' know what? I'm gonna take it and run. Then, I'm gonna give it to my brother and make him propose to the girl he loves! Yeah, but anyway, this arrogant runner walked up to me and then it happened, yup that's right, he showed me a ring with an aquamarine stone. I grabbed it and ran, but the next moment I was at the church, and I was getting married to this jerk! 

I woke up, relieved that it was only a nightmare. I saw my brother, Christian, who seemed excited. Today's his birthday (February 8th) and he pulled me outside and showed me that Mom and Dad have fixed up our grandparents' old house. I'm happy for Chris, of course, but hoping when I'm twenty-one I won't get the same gift. Chris is as much of a part of this land as the soil, but I am freer from it than the snowflakes in the breeze. I am going to leave one day, and with each sunrise I'm itching to go even more. I'm not only leaving the farm, but Whisper Hollow in general.

"Derek, Caroline!"

Caroline shut the diary and shoved it into her pillow case. The eight-year-old quickly brushed her curly brown, but slightly orange, hair. She put the brush back on the nightstand and jumped out of bed to quickly throw her clothes on. She was wearing a yellow tee-shirt and overalls. She slipped into her shoes and tied them, then went out of her room and towards the bathroom. Her older brother, Derek, was leaving the bathroom. As he did so he nudged his sister.

"I'm gettin' presents an' all the cake I want!" He gloated, "An' I don't have to do chores today!"
Caroline nudged him back, "Only 'cause its your birthday today. But on my birthday you'll have to be my servant an' that'll show you!" 

Derek shook his head, but before he could reply their mother called again, "Derek, Caroline!"
Instead of replying to Caroline's comment he said, "You better hurry or Mom's gonna be really angry." He pushed his sister towards the bathroom and ran down the stairs, "Comin' Mom, but Caroline's lollygaggin'!"

Caroline quickly brushed her teeth and then ran down the stairs.  

"You're going to change into nicer clothes when you go meet your grandparents at the dock, right?" Their mother, a hazel-eyed woman with shoulder-length orange-brown hair that flipped up at the ends, said. 

"Nah," Derek, who was currently wearing a red tee shirt and jeans that were torn in one knee, replied, but when his mother gave him one of those looks he changed his answer, "I mean, yeah."

"Jake, what time will your family get here?" their mother asked their father.

Their dark brown-haired, brown-eyed father, Jake, thought for a moment, "Oh, I don't know Eva, noon maybe?"

"Why are Grandma and Grandpa coming at noon?" Caroline asked. 

"Because they live on Sundance Island," Eva, their mother, explained, "and it takes a couple hours to get from Sundance to Spring Mist." 

"Duh," Derek said, "Everyone knows that!"

Caroline hit her brother. Then their mother separated them and patted down Derek's dark brown hair.

Jake took over, "And living on Spring Mist makes it harder to get here. The only way to get to an island, or island to island in this case, is by boat. It can take a while especially if there are waves pushing you around."