As Haylee lay in bed, she thought hard. She thought about her mother, about her father, her sisters, her friends at school, and most of all, her adventure.

The adventure Haylee was thinking about hadn't happened yet. It was a work of fiction that she only could hope would happen. Her life so far had, after all, been either boring or depressing. There wasn't much else she could say about it.

What Haylee really wanted was to be forced into a dangerous situation. Not naturally dangerous, but something that could only happen in books. She wanted to ride a dragon, fight off a knight with just her sword, brave the seas with pirates. She wanted to get over all her silly fears and actually do something. She wanted to feel brave.

Brave was a foreign word in Haylee's world. In fact, she was anything but. She feared heights, spiders, ice, falling, water, snakes, bees, the dark, commitment. She really, for once, just wanted to get out of her shell.

But she knew she wouldn't do it unless she had to. She wanted to be forced to become strong. Sure, she was strong mentally, but physically she was not.

Something she was? Alone. All alone in her life, without anyone to lean on. And even though so many people were where she was, she still felt singled out. Hollow. Empty.

She knew, though, that some day her adventure would come. Some day, she would not just be Haylee Carter. She would be Haylee, Knight! Or Haylee, Dragon Rider! Or Haylee Almighty, goddess of thunder! Some day, she thought. Some day.