A short Dutch girl with long hair that fell in curls upon her shoulders was pumping her bike pedals with a burning pain as she mounted a hill on her way to school. She was late for class again because her mom didn't wake her up on time and her hair just wouldn't go right and her mascara kept smudging. As the girl crest the hill her front tire hit a rut and the bike fell over, tossing the girl into the ditch. Her open knapsack spilled all her belonging out of the bag. She let out a scream of frustration and quickly began to put all of her stuff back into her bag. As she went to grab the last textbook out of the grass, she noticed something under the bush beside her. She grabbed the strange object and threw it in her pack and set off to school again. As the day passed, she quickly forgot about the object.
That night as she was in bed about to go to bed she went to grab her book out of her schoolbag and accidentally grabbed the object instead. It was a light object wrapped in a ragged cloth, originally white but browned with age. She sat on her bed and began to unwrap the mysterious cloth to see what was kept inside. As she peeled the last layer of cloth off, she found herself holding a tiny book with a plain brown leather cover and a red ribbon with a clasp at the end the could keep the book closed. She eagerly pulled off the clasp to see what was inside. As soon as the clasp separated and the book fell open the room filled with an eerie glow. Golden rays shot out of the book as well as beams of what appeared to be black light. The clouds suddenly thickened over the house and the girl stood transfixed with the book upon her lap. She looked down and saw that the book only had two pages. One page was a plain golden color and had a small brown cross in the very center of the page. The other page was filled with all forms of strange depictions all black on top of a dark grey background. In the center of that page was what appeared to be the number 6 stacked on top of itself three times, colored red. The girl slowly reached down and touched the small cross design on the first page. Suddenly a quiet hum filled the air and a silver mist surrounded the girl. She felt like she was floating inside of a cloud for a moment. She looked down and suddenly the fog began to lessen.
She could see the ground again and then saw a strange glow on it. She reached down and picked up a little golden stone that looked like a marble. She rolled it in her fingers amazed at the beauty. When she looked up again her heart stopped beating for a few seconds. She stood in complete amazement not flinching a bit for at least a minute. Then she finally released a breath after realizing she had been holding it for over a minute. That strange stone she held was not the only glowing, golden object. The girl found herself in the middle of a room with a floor made of golden bricks and walls of pure glistening bronze. Hanging from the ceiling was a large chandelier of crystals casting a glow that filled the room. The walls were studded with enormous rubies and each corner of the room had a small statue of a maned lion with an emerald in its mouth, made of solid gold. But the girl didn’t even notice these details. All she saw was a giant throne on a small stage at the front of a small stage. The throne also was plated in pure gold with ornamental arm rests. Sapphires that seemed to be filled with unending depths of water studded the whole front of the throne. A long rod of silver lay against the throne’s right arm rest. The rod curved around on itself at the end and half covered another sapphire molded into the end. Peacocks walked around the front of the throne not seeming to notice the girl at all. A silver dish sat upon the seat, filled with pomegranates and figs. The girl stood in complete awe not even knowing how much time was passing.
“WAKE UP!” With a groan the Dutch girl opened her eyes and groaned. Back to school again. She quickly got ready for school, grabbed her lunch from her mother and set off on her bike to school again. As she began to climb up a hill she stopped and parked her bike. She began to remember a strange dream she had last night. It seemed strange to her because it was so life-like. It seemed more like a memory, because it was so clear and detailed. Yet, it was to strange to ever be true. She continued on her way to school and tried to forget about her dream. Yet, it plagued her all day and she could not concentrate on her school work at all.
That night while she was sitting on her bed and thinking about last night’s strange dream, something from deep inside told her to look under her bed. She reached down and pulled out that small brown book, clasped shut. It wasn’t a dream. She hesitated but for a moment and unbound the clasp. The book fell open. Her eyes rested upon the small cross again and she began to lower her finger to touch the cross again and then she stopped. A thought, like a small worm entered into her brain. She wanted to go to that glorious place again but that thought, a thought of curiosity, made her turn to the other second page. She already knew what the other page held and she began to wonder would new impossibilities and adventures the other page could hold. She instinctively touched the red sixes. That same familiar feeling filled her and she found herself surrounded by a fog again. This time the fog was darker, and thicker, and colder. As soon as the fog began to surround her she began to wish she never chose to explore the dark depths of the second page. A numbing fear filled her and she began to shiver. The dark fog half cleared, just enough so she could see her new surrounding. She was standing on a cold platform of black jade. It was just wide enough for her to stand on. The smell of sulfur filled the air. Waves of midnight water flowed around her. Rumbling noises echoed from all sides. Across the water she could see an area of molten lava forming an island that rose out of the dark waters. Black spirals rose out from the land high into the black, thundering skies above. A light rain fell but when it hit her she didn’t know if she was really feeling anything at all. Occasional high-pitched screams filled the air. The island was half covered in a forest of solid black trees that held no leaves. Ravens flew overhead. She shifted uncomfortably and shivered, not entirely out of cold. She just wanted to leave and be back in her bedroom, but she couldn’t get off the small platform. Smoke curled out from the island and the edges of the island glowed a dull orange from lava that oozed out into the cold waters, casting a black steam. The platform began to crack and dark, scaly snakes poured out around her legs. They looked up at her with eyes burning with an intense red. She screamed as they coiled around her. The water beside her stirred and all she could see was a long body of scales. Red and yellow eyes began to appear from the edges of the forest. The ravens began to circle. She screamed and suddenly she was back in bed, blankets hugged close and shivering. She was sweating and panting. She flicked the light switch and peered under the bed. Nothing was there. She went back to sleep and tried to forget about her horrible nightmare but couldn’t sleep.
As she left to school the following morning, she was confused about her strange dreams. She decided to block them out of her mind. They never happened.
While she was at school her mother cleaned out her room. She threw out a small brown book and some old ratty cloths that she found on her daughters floor. She kept the small clasp and ribbon.
The book was thrown out, opened to a page without the clasp to keep it shut.