~ Moonfly ~

(This is a story that will be published. DO NOT STEAL!!)
Author's note: I will provide you with the story as I edit it on a separate document. This is a real novel that will be published, so please do not steal my ideas. This story means the world to me. Thank you, and I hope you like it!
== Prologue ==
A little five year old girl widened her brown eyes in alarm as flashing lights and a windstorm of voices surrounded her from all sides. She looked down at the necklace and then buried her head in her arms, so that only the reporters could see her brown hair that looked gold now from all the lights from the white and silver flashes that shone onto it.
The woman that was grasping her gently in her arms was trying desperately to answer all of the questions that the reporters flew at her.
“What will you do with the child, Mrs. Anderson?” One asked while holding out his microphone until it was almost nudging the woman’s face. Mrs. Anderson opened her mouth to answer when three more questions came. “When did you find out she was on your doorstep?” “Has the girl spoken to you yet?” “Have you any idea where she came from?” 
After the third question, everyone quieted. That was the main thing that they wanted to find out. Cameras were poised and microphones were shuffling around, trying to find room. 
Mrs. Anderson looked down with somber eyes at the innocent overwhelmed five year old child that had her head buried in her arms. The woman let out a soft sigh and her expression flashed from desperate to understanding and sympathetic. 
After a moment she answered, “No… I don’t.” With those words, another storm of questions came from the reporters and Mrs. Anderson thought of going inside and slamming the door on all of their faces. I guess none of them had any empathy for this child who clearly needed to be cared for! And yes, Mrs. Anderson had the intention of taking the child as her own until something could be done about this. 
“Where did the girl get the necklace?” Everyone quieted again and it was Mrs. Anderson’s turn to look surprised and baffled for about the millionth time today. “What…?” She set the little girl down on the doorstep and that was when she noticed it- the beautiful dark blue and black amulet hanging from her neck. The woman could have sworn that wasn’t there before. 
Mrs. Anderson gently lifted it over the girl’s head and examined it, then willingly showed it to the reporters. “It looks like an amulet,” she said, and glanced back at the girl who was staring at her with wide brown eyes, “It was the only thing I found besides the girl and her rags for clothes.” At that moment the little girl narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists like she was angry. Mrs. Anderson was sure she saw the girl’s eyes flash white and then back to their original brown color. Mrs. Anderson frowned, dumbfounded and wondering if she was going crazy.
The girl’s brown gaze traveled to the amulet, and suddenly, Mrs. Anderson’s hands began to burn with intense heat. The reporters gasped in usion. The woman jerked her head back to her hands and her jaw dropped. From what it looked like, the amulet was glowing a light blue, and the heat radiating from the amulet was becoming more intense. “What the- 
Mrs. Anderson dropped the amulet and the girl snatched it up and slid it back over her head before anyone could move. Everyone widened their eyes. More questions and an even greater number of bright camaras began to click as fast as a machine gun and more flashes of light nearly blinded the girl and Mrs. Anderson.
“Aurora.” The girl whispered. Dead silence fell over the crowd. “What was that, sweetie?” Mrs. Anderson asked, and crouched beside her. The reporters listened intently. “My name is Aurora."
== Chapter One: This Confounding World! ==
The world around me is dark and peaceful. There is nothing to wake me up, nothing to stop me from sleeping all day because I want to and that’s what you’re supposed to do on the weekend: sleep in.
Suddenly there’s a soft thud from outside my closed eyelids. Oh darn. Sorry brain! I guess sleeping just wasn’t meant to be this time! I let out a low groan, then I stretched my arms and blink open my eyes. All was peaceful for a moment while my eyes were adjusting to the daylight pouring in from the windows. 
Then I realized that someone was staring at me, nearly two inches away from my face and frozen in that posture with a wide grin. “Hi.” Shun Kin giggled. I scream in surprise, then immediately scowl in chagrin at her freckle-covered face and joyful and rascally bright brown eyes. 
“Shun. Seriously? Get off me.” I grumble with a frown. The joyful girl smiled in easily-gained triumph and leapt off of my bed, one of her rather large feet clumsily bumping my side as she landed gracelessly onto the carpet. I gritted my teeth and sat up, rubbing a sore spot that erupted near my stomach.
“Finally you decide to wake up! I thought you were dead, or something!” Shun exclaimed, plopping down onto her sleeping bag in her polka-dotted pajamas and tossing her black colored hair back from her eyes. “Wow, like I’m not surprised.” I grumbled, rolling my eyes at Shun and letting out an impressively large yawn to emphasize my point.
“Lighten up, Aurora! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that we’re going to the art club today. You know I’ve been talking about it for like, forever!” I had to smile after she told me that, for once I could agree with Shun. “After all this time those judges have been deciding… oh… I wonder who finally won the contest!” She exclaimed with a dramatic flail of her arms. Quite an actor she could be some day, I thought, a smug expression on my face.
Shun snatched her old navy blue duffle bag and without waiting for me to reply, she ran into the bathroom to get changed for the “big day.” I sighed.
My name is Aurora Anderson. I was adopted when I was five years old, having been left on my adopted mother’s front step, at the time having no memory of anything but my first name. I couldn’t and still can’t remember my real last name or what had happened before that somber time. 
Sometimes, I find myself wondering and daydreaming about what my real last name is, and if my blood parents are still alive. Why did they abandon me? How come I don’t know who I really am? All those questions arising in my head would never go away, and it felt like I had to live with them my whole life because I would never find the answers. I think it was driving me crazy. But… I knew I could keep control. I had to. It was the only way that my questions could ever be answered someday.
Anyways, Shun had stayed over at my house this Saturday because her mom had to travel for work for only a couple of days (too long for me), and Shun’s father was overseas fighting a war as a soldier.
Today was Shun’s last day staying with the Anderson family. I’m not that ashamed to say that I’m kind of content that she’s going to leave soon. That girl is WAY too frisky for my type of normal, calm, quiet person, I thought. Shun was giving me a headache already by all of the daily talking and rambling she does. I was in for a serious buran today.
My adopted mother and Mrs. Kin were really great friends at the moment, so that was the reason for Shun to stay over at my house instead of any other (oh how convenient). 
Apparently, Mrs. Kin met my mom at the store, then they talked, and there you have it. This… friendship. I was never good at making friends, so I only have… none. I am usually the shy, mysterious, and quiet kid at Silver Eagle Middle School. Although, I did know of one boy in my English class that might like me. His name was Jacob. He had handsome dirty blond hair with beautiful shocking icy blue eyes. Whenever he looks at me, I always find that my cheeks begin to turn a cherry pink from embarrassment. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way before, and it drives me from my usual sometimes logical, sarcastic emotions that are much more familiar.
On a different subject, Shun and I are somewhat good friends. Although, we have our ups and downs like all friends do (I think).
To be honest, I am kind of excited to see who won the art contest. I knew it was going to be hard seeing who would top the other: Shun, or Randy Wen, who was the boy who sat next to me in Science class nearly all the time.
Randy didn’t talk much, but sometimes I could just catch a glimpse of him drawing in his small pocket sketchbook while Mr. Marco was busy rambling about the solar system up in front of the room. Randy’s drawings were really good. I knew that because they were better than mine, and people called me an A1 artist.
Just some of the many things he would draw were different types of creatures from his imagination like detailed dragons, eight-legged horses with wide colorful eyes, beautiful wolves with three eyes, or some things that I just had no idea what they were.
Although, there was one picture that he had drawn that seemed to be embedded into my mind. It was a carefully detailed sketch of a girl that looked like me. She was looking out into the gray nothingness while a black wolf was standing by her side; its head lifted in plain elegance. 
The girl had a cloak of a sorcerer, and an obsidian-colored wand rested in her hand by her side. There was something too familiar about the wolf… the wand… the girl...
I gazed dreamily at the pictures and sketches taped to the wall beside my bed, which ranged from drawings when I was young, to how my skills had improved in the present time. 
My most recent drawing was a sketch of a winged cat staring off towards the setting sun; a certain calmness about it made me sigh in contentment. 
It was certainly not as grand as one Randy would’ve drawn. He did sketches, like me, and didn’t use color. That was another thing Randy and I had in common. I despise color when it comes to my art and other things that have to do with the color wheel. 
When you put color onto your paper, there’s no taking it back; similar to the words you say and you wish you could have stopped your mouth from saying them. I’ve learned to enjoy the wonderful black and bare lines of sketches. Besides, black is my favorite color anyways. It’s really grown on me.
“Okay, I’m done! Your turn, Aurora!” Shun called from the hallway, jerking me out from my daydreaming thoughts. I could tell she was in a hurry to get downstairs as she thumped through the hallway like a herd of buffalo. I cringed.
Oh, don’t break the ceiling, Shun. You’ll have to pay for it. I thought sarcastically. I guess all this talk about those darn colors had really made me grumpy. Becoming unhappy because of color was ridiculous for some people- that I knew for certain. But I wasn’t like most people. 
I knew I would feel better after having some of my mom’s yummy pancakes, though. Their buttery taste was finer than anything I’d ever tasted before. That was a fact. Just thinking about them made me drool and a content smile spread across my face. The faster I moved, the sooner I could get my pancakes.
I hurried over to the bathroom after snatching my clothes from my dresser. I slipped on a violet purple silk dress and a sea-blue belt that went with it. They were brighter colors, but not ones that made my eyes bleed. I brushed my pixie-cut brown hair out of my eyes and styled it in the usual way. The way I did it made me look edgy, but I didn’t mind of course. I liked it.
When walking back into the room to put my books away, I stepped on something sharp and an agonizing pain shot through my foot. I gasped and looked down to see several sharpened pencils accompanying several pieces of paper that Shun had drawn on. Well that definitely woke me up all the way, I thought begrudgingly. I picked up her things and placed them in her sleeping bag, away from anyone’s innocent toes.
With a halfhearted sigh, I walked out of my room and closed my door behind me, gazing happily at the picture of a breathtaking picture of the galaxy taped onto the white-painted wood of my door.
Space and astounding sights like this always captured my imagination. I found myself wondering often if I could ever travel to the stars one day. It was a possibility after all… one that took lots of research and learning. Something I didn’t fancy that much in doing. But who knew, after all? What would the future bring?
With one last glance, I dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen. I was almost to the counter and the yummy pancakes when I saw the mess before my eyes: Shun was happily picking up her pancake from the pan which was dripping with syrup and splattering onto the floor. Her goofy grin told me that she still didn’t realize how much of a mess she was making right now. 
“Hey Shun, aren’t you supposed to put the syrup on your pancake after putting it onto your plate?” I was on the verge of giggling in amusement at the mess when Mom walked over, her eyes wide and hands on hips. I covered my mouth and pretended to cough at the not-so-amusing-sight-to-certain-people. It came out as a disturbing snort.
Shun looked over at me, confusion clearly shown upon her face. “What do you mean? It’s what I’ve always done…” Her voice drifted off as her gaze floated to the floor and the sticky mess. “Oh NO!” She exclaimed, and put her plate on the counter, then began to look around wildly for paper towels.
“Shun…” Mom walked over to her and frowned. Shun looked down in shame. All the while, I almost couldn’t hold back a giggle. “I-I’m sorry Mrs. Anderson! I can fix all of this!-” Mom laid a hand on Shun’s shoulder and sighed deeply. “I think what you should do is sit down on the couch while I clean up.” I slowly walked over behind mom when she wasn’t looking and stretched my arm out to snatch up a pancake. Shun caught a glimpse of my catch but didn’t say anything. I triumphantly hid the warm pancake behind my back and snuck away around the counter.
“But I want to help!-” “It’s fine, Shun. Go sit down.” With her head hung in despair, Shun shuffled over and threw herself down on the brown leather couch. Wordlessly, I followed, keeping the pancake out of sight from mom, and sat next to her, staring at Shun with a bewildered expression.
“Did you do that on purpose?” I asked under my breath, so that only she could hear me. “No, of course not! That was certainly not intentional.” She whispered back, her narrowed gaze was hard and serious, unlike the normal annoying Shun. The answer was very clear. Even if you really didn’t, it was still hilarious. I thought, holding myself back from saying that outloud. It would be rude.
It was then that I finally took notice of Shun’s new eye-scorching outfit even for someone that didn’t mind colors: she was wearing a purple t-shirt that had a neon yellow smiley emoji on the front of it and under the emoji in fancy lettering: Happy Today. She was also wearing red shorts that looked like they were slightly too big for her, along with yellow and blue socks that didn’t match. Quite a rainbow, if you asked me. I despised it.
Shun still sat quietly, moping in silence. Feeling a little sorry for her, I ripped my pancake in half and gave her one of the pieces. “Here. You can have this.” I said. It took a lot to sacrifice one half of a pancake, but I knew that more pancakes were coming and Shun needed it more than I did. She glanced over at me, a hidden smile in her eyes. “Thanks.” She whispered.
Breakfast had gone by quietly, barely any talking had occurred. Somehow I could sense that it wasn’t that tense, so I relaxed. How could I sense it? I couldn’t explain, really. Which was really strange.
Right before I walked outside to join Shun and my mom in the car, I glanced down at my chest. Something was digging into the back of my neck and bothering me quite a fair bit. Hanging there was a darker shade of ebony, marbled jewel. It was hung by a Maya blue tightly braided strand around my neck.
The amulet was shockingly beautiful, and it almost drew my gaze to it without me knowing. Weird...
But I knew that I certainly hadn’t put it on this morning. I took it off and ran upstairs, into my mother’s room, and rested it on her jewelry box.
“Aurora! Where did you run off to, sweetie? We have to leave!” Mom shouted from the front door. It closed behind her with a thump. I hurried downstairs and wrestled with my old pair of church boots. They were black, with fringe coming off the sides. Old, but not obsolete.
Quickly, I grabbed my dappled indigo book bag, (which had a bottle of water, my book- Star Trek, Captain’s Glory - and a fancy bookmark that had a small painting of a howling wolf on it) and ran out the door.
The car was already started up, and the front door was open, waiting for me. I hopped into the passenger seat- next to Mom- and clicked the seatbelt across my waist in a hurry. I set my stuff down on the floor and looked out the window, impatiently waiting for the car to start driving down the driveway. 
“Shun, do you have your seatbelt on?” Mom asked, looking in the rearview mirror. “Yes.” Shun mumbled. 
She had her fingers intertwined and she was looking down at her lap in disappointment. I thought she would be over that by now. I thought with a small sigh. “Hey, cheer up, honey. It wasn’t your fault.” Mom tried to comfort her. Shun managed a gloomy smile and looked up. “That’s better, now let’s get going!” Finally we left the house.
On the trip there, Shun was obviously back to her normal self, chattering away. I could tell Mom had put the incident behind her, and so had Shun. The sticky mess had been cleaned up, no harm done. I decided to rid the thought myself. Although, like I said before: Shun is way too active for me, so I picked my book up and started reading from the 11th chapter.
I really liked Star Trek. Now, hold on, that alone is a major understatement. Star Trek is basically my life dream now; and I am determined to make it come true. I wanted something as simple as being a part of NASA or going to space and exploring the final frontier. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I was in for something that surpassed the boundaries of going to space. But… that comes later.
(More coming soon)
Category:Nightjay's Work
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)
Category:Stories
Category:Fantasy
Category:Fiction