Yes, there's more.

Today was my Great Aunt Helen's funeral. It was very interesting, since it was at a catholic church, and I considered it almost educational :). I didn't know Aunt Helen too terribly well. We spent Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving together, but other than that, I didn't see her much. Witnessing funerals always makes me wish I knew the person better.

Afterwards, we drove to Washington and that's where the burial was. Then, we went out for lunch, and I ate lots of good food. I just finished some left over mashed potatoes :).

I got to see several cousins today, including Erica and Caroline. I met Caroline for the first time today. She's two years older than me, and she was very sweet! :) And Erica, who's my age, is awesome :). It was nice to see them.

Anyway, I started yet another story. See how easily I get bored of one story line? It's actually rather ridiculous. But I'm really excited about this one. This is what I have so far.


The worst day of my life began the moment my bike died.
I was pedaling along, doing nothing wrong, when the wheel popped from under me. This happened at the exact moment that a rock decided to place itself in the middle of the sidewalk, causing the bike to flip over and me to fly straight off in a northern direction. If this was any normal day, I would have dramatically injured myself and had to go straight the hospital. Perhaps some stitches, or a cast or two. But this was not a normal day.
I flew from my bike and, miraculously, managed to shakily stand, unscathed.
“What the…” I began, with no apparent ending to this sentence in mind.
I brushed myself off and retrieved my bike from the side of the walk. I tried to get back on it, but it refused to cooperate and I was unable to ride it. Swearing under my breath, I started towards school, walking alongside my potentially dead bicycle.
I knew this was going to be the worst day of my life for several reasons other than the bike incident. First of all, I’d woken up twenty-six minutes after my alarm was supposed to go off. That left me a mere nineteen minutes to brush my hair and teeth, throw on some clothes, prepare and consume my breakfast, and finish that outline I was supposed to write on Walt Disney’s early life. I went downstairs, burned my eggs, and realized we didn’t have any paper for me to print my outline on. On top of all that, I was having a terrible hair-day.
Not that that bothered me so much. If my hair was messy, no one I cared about would care, and those who would care aren’t worth enough to care for.
For most girls, a mere nineteen minutes to get ready is an impossible feat. They would call in sick rather than come to school looking less than attractive.
But not me. I didn’t even bother putting on make-up in the morning. The whole thing is pointless. Sure, you need to take care of yourself of course, but if people don’t like the way you look, than what’s the point of being friends with them? Don’t worry, I’m not gross. I take a shower every night, and put on this lotion called Love Haze that smells like heaven itself. Don’t you dare tell anyone I said that, or you’ll be looking less than attractive for a month.
Anyway, my day started out worse than average, and I knew it wouldn’t be getting any better. But I think it really hit me when my bike broke. I realized, without a doubt, that this was going to be the worst day of my life, whether I like it or not. Plus, why hadn’t I gotten hurt? I could have gone to the hospital and skipped school! Why is it that when any unlucky thing happens, it isn’t unlucky enough to make a difference that favored you?
I checked my watch. I was already four minutes late for my first class. Mentally cursing everything in my line of vision, I decided to ditch the bike and sprint the rest of the way there. Which was alright with me. I loved to run.
Running makes me feel alive. It makes me feel almost like I’m a part of the wind. I move with just as much grace and unpredictability, and I feel like nothing on God’s green earth can stop me.
My feet barely felt as if they were touching the ground.
Next thing I knew, my school was looming in front of me, and a bell was ringing shrilly in my ears. I sprinted towards the office.
As soon as I barged in, I looked around, hoping to find… Yes, there he was! Mr. Ponyo, my social studies teacher. He’s rather old, and completely bald, but he has a thing for me. I give him any wild excuse in the world, and he’d believe it.
“Mr. Ponyo!” I gasped, out of breath. He looked up, his mind slowly clearing. He does that sometimes; randomly stops what he’s doing and closes his eyes, like he’s meditating or something.
“Auri!” He exclaimed. Please, don’t ask about my name. It’s completely random, I know. People always spell it “Ari”, because that’s how it sounds, and it used to really bother me. But I don’t care as much any more. “Whatever is the matter?”
“I… was just wondering… if you could write me up… a pass?” I asked, catching my breath. “I fell off my bike, and it broke so I couldn’t ride it here…”
“You fell off your bike? What happened?” This was another annoying trait of Mr. Ponyo. He was ridiculously protective of me. This one time, just this past semester, this jerk named Butch Schmidt (no lie) was giving me a hard time. We were in the hallway, and I barely touched him as I walked past, and he slapped me across the face. Mr. Ponyo appeared out of thin air and got the kid suspended. All Butch does to me now is send me dirty looks from across the classroom.
“Yeah, I just wasn’t being careful. The tire died or something, and there was a rock on the sidewalk, and so my bike kind of flipped over.”
“Flipped over!? But why aren’t you hurt?”
I shrugged. “No idea. I was totally airborne for five seconds minimum. But anyway, Mrs. Walker is going to kill me if I walk in now without an excuse note.”
He blinked several times before muttering, “Yes, of course, excuse note…”
He went over to the nearby secretary’s desk and looked through some drawers before finding a stack of those yellow squares of paper.
“Here you are…” he said, obviously distracted. He handed the pass to me, an unclear, distant look in his eyes.
“Um, Mr. Ponyo? My name is Auri, not Ariu.”
He quickly corrected it then gave it back.
“Sir… are you okay?”
“Yes, of course Auri. You better be getting to that class. You are already eleven minutes late.”
I nodded and turned to go.
“Oh, and Auri?”
“Yes?”
“Meet me in the parking lot at lunch period.”
It wasn’t a request; it was a command. A little tickle in my chest told me I was not comfortable hanging out with Mr. Ponyo in the school parking lot, but another part of me said there was no reason not to trust this guy. He was just one of those people that you could tell was a good guy.
“Alright,” I said after a moment’s hesitation.
He nodded once and I left the office.
I swung my backpack over my shoulder and took my time getting to first period. Mrs. Walker’s Spanish class wasn’t my favorite place to be.
I found my classroom and opened the door, fearless. Mrs. Walker couldn’t do anything to me with Mr. Ponyo’s note in hand.
She was in the middle of a lecture. She opened her mouth, probably to yell at me, but I held up the yellow pass and waved it in the air before she could say anything. I slapped it onto her desk and waited for her to nod, stiffly. I turned towards the class, where I saw my friend Carla waving to me. Carla always saved me a spot, because Carla always got to class before me. It’s not that I’m always late; it’s just that she’s always early.
I sat beside her, sighing in my chair. Carla gave me a questioning look and I mouthed, I’ll tell you later. She nodded and turned her head back to chalkboard.
Carla’s a good friend and all, but she isn’t my best friend. I don’t have any best friends, really. Carla is the closest thing I have to a best friend. See, I’m not good with making friends. It’s a miracle I ever got to know Carla so well in the first place. I prefer to be alone a lot of the time, and no one understands why. Even Carla struggles with it. But she isn’t too insisting or too curious, and that’s what I like about her.
I watched Mrs. Walker’s thin lips recite the Spanish alphabet, not actually comprehending what she was talking about. My mind was too caught up in what Mr. Ponyo wanted with me.
I told Carla about it in between classes. She suspected foul play, but I denied it. Still, she made sure I had my cell phone before she let me walk on over to the front parking lot where Mr. Ponyo was waiting.
I’d forgotten my lunch that day, and any money as well, so I had nothing but my backpack as I strode toward Mr. Ponyo’s car. A silver convertible. Nice.
I waved as I neared him. “Hey Mr. P.”
He waved, feebly, back. “Hello, Auri. I suppose you’re wondering why you’re here.”
My mouth twitched. I didn’t need to reply.
He continued, “I wanted to test something, very quickly. Don’t worry, you won’t have to try very hard. Just tell me if you feel anything right now. I mean, is there any wind blowing?”
I stared at him, blinking. “Um… well, yeah. It’s a soft breeze.”
He pursed his lips. “I see. And, if you don’t mind… may I see your arm?”
This was pushing it on the weirdness level, but I held out my arm anyway.
I was wearing a short-sleeve shirt that read, LAX, on the front.
“And… if I may?” He gestured towards my right sleeve, lightly gripping my wrist.
Thinking the worst, I nodded ever so slightly.
He rolled up the sleeve to reveal my right shoulder.
He took in a short breath, reaching towards the birthmark that was placed just above my shoulder blade.
“Whoa there, Ponyo,” I said, scrambling away from his grasp.
“Forgive me, Auri. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
“You didn’t frighten me,” I said stubbornly. “You’re just being weird, that’s all, and you won’t tell me what you’re doing… with the highest respect.” I added lamely.
He cocked his head. “Yes, yes, I apologize. There isn’t much time… but I suppose I must explain.
The mark on your shoulder. Have you ever noticed its peculiar shape?”
“Of course I have, it’s on my shoulder isn’t it?” I said, regretting it as soon as it left my lips. “It… it’s in a sort of swirly shape, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Indeed. And… have you ever noticed a certain peculiarity about your person, Auri? Or rather, have you ever felt a certain connection with the wind?”
I raised an eyebrow. Yes, obviously there was an enormous peculiarity about my person. Though, I'd never thought of it in such nice terms before. And yes, I had always felt a certain connection with the wind, now that I thought about it. How had he known?
“How…?” I began, searching for the right words.
He waved his hand. “Come. Do you have your books?”
I nodded. For some reason, I had thought it best to bring them along.
“Alright. Auri, would you like to go for a drive?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it. “If I say yes to that question… there’s not going back, is there?”
Mr. Ponyo looked mildly surprised as he replied simply, “That is correct.”
Always the teacher, I thought, almost rolling my eyes.
I didn’t have to think very hard before I answered, “Yes. Let’s go for a drive.”

Before I knew what was happening, we were driving through my neighborhood.
“Mr. Ponyo… why are we…?”
“I need you to pack some of your most valuable possessions. There is no need for any clothes or food. Can you do that for me?”
“I… yes.”
He pulled up into the parking lot of my apartment. I jumped out of the car and sprinted up the stairs; speed was suddenly my sole thought.
I flew to my room and instantly starting throwing things into my backpack. A spiral shell I’d gotten from the Outer Banks, a mini wind chime I’d made when I was eight, my favorite shirt that said Rolling Stones (not that I actually knew who they were… I just liked the shirt), and my stack of postcards. These postcards were sent from random people all over the world; but we’ll get into that later. I grabbed several more things, and then pranced back down the hallway to the front door. I was almost out when I heard, “Auri?” from the kitchen.
I stopped and softly closed the door. “Auri?” I heard again.
“Mom?” I replied as I walked into the kitchen.
“Auri! What in heaven’s name are you doing out of school?” My mother, Lucy, scolded.
“Mom- I’m so, so sorry, but I can’t explain. I really have to go now…” I turned to go.
“Hold on a second… would this have anything to do with… with Mr. Ponyo?”
I stopped dead in my tracks.
“How did you know…”
My mother looked as if she were going to faint. The blood had drained from her face, and she clutched her glass of orange juice tightly.
“I thought this day would never come… he told us it would, I just never expected…”
She set down her glass and held me in a tight embrace. I hugged back; my sixth sense told me I wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.
“Mom… how did you know about Mr. Ponyo? What is going on?”
She sighed. “I honestly don’t know, Auri. You can ask Mr. Ponyo. He knows everything. For now, I’m sure you are in a hurry.”
I nodded. “Tell Dad I love him.”
I could tell my mom was trying to hold back tears. This wasn’t that big of a deal… right?
“I will, honey.”
“Okay. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you too, sweetheart.”
I looked at her one last time before I ran from the room and out the door.
I sprang down the many stairs until I came to the ground floor, where Mr. Ponyo was waiting in his car. I slid inside, and before I could buckle my seat belt, Mr. Ponyo had floored the gas and we were gone.
I looked back and realized with a lurch that I may not be coming home for a while. Little did I know I wouldn’t see that little fifth-story apartment ever again.

We drove for hours. The sky started to darken. I decided to break the silence with questions. There were so many thousands of them, I didn’t know where to start.
“How do you know my mother?”
Mr. Ponyo replied, “I don’t know her, exactly. When your mother and father took you in, I talked to them about your assumed situation.”
“Wait… what do you mean, ‘when they took you in’?”
“Ah. Auri, I don’t mean for this to come as a shock, but you are adopted.”I opened my mouth and then closed it again. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t much of a shock. Both my parents had blond hair and hazel eyes; I had brownish hair and my eyes were the lightest, most electric blue you’d ever see. They were almost grey, except for the blue in them was so striking.
“I… see. And what was my assumed situation?”
This time, it was Mr. Ponyo’s turn to hesitate.
“This whole thing is very complicated, Auri. Perhaps we shall wait for a full explanation when we get there.”
“Where is there?”
“We are going to Dryad’s Circle, where we will be transported directly to Elmenia.”
“How will be transported? By train, or something?”
“No,” he answered vaguely.
We were silent for a moment. I looked at the world outside as it sped by, attempting to gather my thoughts. We were in the country, and the sun had almost set; it was still possible for me to make out the shapes of hills and mountains on either side of us.
“Where… or I guess, what is Elmenia?”
“Elmenia is many different things. It is the place where I am taking you, and where you will be safe. It is a headquarters for many people like us. And it is the place where you, and others, will be trained.”
This brought up yet another thousand questions.
“’Safe’? Am I not safe now? And what’s all this ‘people like us’? How are you and I any different from anyone else? And… trained? In what? For what?”
Mr. Ponyo held up his hand to silence me. “I know you must have thousands of questions, Auri. But I should not be the one to answer them. There is too much too explain.”
He fell silent, his eyes on the road. I held in my indignation towards him until I could hold it no longer.
“Mr. Ponyo, why do you refuse-“
“Please, just ‘Ponyo’ is sufficient,” he interrupted.
Seething, I continued, “Ponyo. Why do you refuse to tell me anything about what’s happening? Why are you taking me to this Elmenia place?”
“You are being ignorant, Auri. I have told you much.”
“Whatever. Not enough to satisfy me! How do I know you’re telling the truth, anyway? You could be leading me to a cliff top to push me off into a river, whence I will fall to my watery death!”
“Auri,” he paused, looking straight at me. “Really?”
I firmly shut my mouth and spoke little for the rest of the ride. Of course I didn’t actually believe that. I was too hyperactive to be afraid. In fact, excitement was gripping me so hard, I was in danger of suffocating.
Occasionally, a random question would pop into my head and I would speak it aloud without remembering to stay silent.
“Where are we?”
“Southern Canada. We will reach Dryad’s Circle soon.”
“You said that an hour ago,” I grumbled.
He smiled. “This time I mean it. We will be there within the hour.”
“Why do we have to go to this Dryad’s Circle place to ‘transport’ ourselves there?”
“It is a particularly magical spot.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah okay. Is it really pretty in the moonlight or something?”
“No. I mean what I say.”
I asked no more questions. Ponyo was just getting weird. Not that he wasn’t in the first place.
Soon enough, Ponyo drove the car off the main road onto a semi-visible dirt path. This wound around the base of a small but abrupt hill, and we began our ascent.
Towards the top of the hill, the car stopped at some trees. Ponyo stopped the car, and we both climbed out.
“We’ll walk the rest of the way. It isn’t far at all.”
He was right. We walked only several paces before we entered a circle of trees that appeared to wrap around the top of the hill.
As soon as we stepped inside, I felt something surround me. It was some kind of aura, some blanket of invisible power. I felt a cool wind brush my cheek, and lightening bugs were found, popping out of nowhere, throughout the clearing. Maybe this place is magical… I thought to myself.
I looked up and around. Then, I gasped. We weren’t the only ones in the ring of trees.
Four other people stood square in the middle of the circle. Two were younger, perhaps around fifteen, like me. Then two were older, around my parents age. None were as old as Ponyo. The four of them seemed to be arguing.
I heard Ponyo sigh beside me. “Aqua and Flame… never could get along, could they?” he muttered to himself. We strode towards them.
“…And you know that Horatio! You know it’s me!” Said one of the elder persons. She was average height, with dark hair and a murderous look in her eye. “There’s no way I could be some sort of imposter in disguise-“
“Ha!” The man she was arguing with, Horatio, exclaimed. He had black, wavy hair, pointed features, and his hands were clenched at his sides. “That’s exactly what I thought you may be! You must be an imposter!”
Ponyo interrupted their quarreling with his approach.
“Greetings, Daina, Horatio.”
They both muttered a greeting, obviously slightly disgruntled at Ponyo’s sudden appearance.
“What is this all about?”
“Horatio is being an ars, that’s what!” The woman named Daina said exasperatedly, waving her arms wildly. “He won’t believe that it’s actually me, and I gave him the password and everything!”
Horatio was studying the ground. Ponyo stared at him for a moment before saying, “Well, Horatio? She gave you the password, did she not?”
Horatio nodded reluctantly, straightening up. “It is understandable to be cautious, Ponyo. You must know that.”
“Yes indeed. I suppose you’d like the password from me, it’s ‘fantasia’.”
The two adults nodded in acknowledgement. They started conversation about the weather with Ponyo, and so I decided it was time to study my peers.
One was so striking, I had to stare. She had the brightest, bushiest red hair I had ever seen. It was curly and full, but it looked gorgeous on her freckled face. She had clear, blue eyes and a perfect, pointed nose. She was taller than me, but not by much, and she had her arms crossed across her chest and a scowl on her face.
The other specimen was a boy who looked younger than us two girls. He might have still been in junior high. He had messily-cut black hair, and hazel eyes. He was small and slightly peaky, but the look on his face was of pure astonishment and excitement. He stared up at the woman, Daina, as if she were a goddess.
I returned back to the conversation of the three adults.
“…Dark times are brewing, I feel it,” Horatio was saying grimly.
“Yes, as do I.” Ponyo agreed. “There’s no telling where this is going to lead.”
The others nodded darkly. The ominous feeling of fear was taking hold of my body, and I turned away. I then noticed two more figures issuing out of the gloom and walking towards the center of the circle. I grabbed Ponyo’s sleeve in warning. He looked up, and then a smile broke over his face.
“Ah! Terra!”
A woman and girl were shuffling over to wear the six of us stood. They were both somewhat petite, though not overly short or skinny. They came forward, the woman cheerful and smiling, the girl looking scared out of her wits.
“Ponyo! Horatio, Daina! What a pleasure it is!” The woman called Terra exclaimed. Her eyes were a deep, deep brown, and they shone as bright as the stars.
“I see you all come on similar business to my own,” she continued, gesturing to the girl who was trailing behind her, and putting a warm arm around her. I noticed, now that Terra was closer, that her brown hair was streaked with grey.
“Yes indeed,” Ponyo answered. “Everyone, this is Auri.”
At the mention of my name, the other three adults started in surprise, but quickly covered their expressions with a smile.
Daina then introduced the boy, Derek, and Horatio told us the girl’s name was Amber.
“This is Brynn, everyone,” Terra explained. Brynn looked somewhat similar to the woman beside her, except her eyes were green; so green, they seemd to glow in the dark. Her eyes were very slightly almond-shaped, and her hair was dark and long. She looked timid and slightly frightened, but she smiled sheepishly as we greeted her.
“Well! Shall we get going then?” said Horatio. “It’ll be eight’ o’clock within the minute.”
“Ah yes,” Ponyo said, gathering himself together. “In a circle would be best.”
All that time, I had been expecting some strange sort of transportation, like an air balloon or buggy of some sort. But nothing would have prepared me for what happened next.
We formed a circle, holding hands. I held Ponyo’s hand, along with the red-head, Amber. She frowned at me, then whispered, “What’ve you got?”
I stared at her blankly. “Got what?”
She shook her head. “Never mind.”
I shrugged internally and watched Ponyo for instructions. He was doing his weird meditating thing, closing his eyes and muttering under his breath. We waited several minutes. Suddenly, his eyes flashed open, and said, “Now.”
His hand tightened, fiercely, on my own. I decided to grip Amber’s hand tighter too. I didn’t know what was happening, but it seemed that if I followed Ponyo’s lead, I’d be ay-okay.
Something seemed to be pulling me. I realized I had subconsciously closed my eyes, and I reopened them. The clearing around us was no longer calm. The trees were thrashing, the wind was whooshing, the ground, shaking. It seemed as if something was dragging me, pulling me off my feet. I looked at Ponyo, who had closed his eyes again and was in deep concentration. The other three adults were closing their eyes as well. But no one seemed to be pulling me. Suddenly, the pull got astonishingly more intense, and my feet were literally lifted off the ground. But not only was I, and the others, drifting in midair; we were also no longer in the clearing. We were now in some whirling, twisting mass. Images flashed before my eyes; images of places, people, things I’d never seen before. I couldn’t breathe, my vision was blurring; all I knew was Ponyo and Amber’s hands, and I held on to them for dear life. And then, next thing I knew, my feet had touched firm ground. For some reason, I was able to stay on my own two feet, though the other three kids had fallen flat on their faces or backs. The four adults were brushing themselves off.
“Ah! Marvelous. Well done, Ponyo,” said Horatio.
“Thank you, thank you,” Ponyo replied happily.
“What the heck just happened?” I shrieked. I wasn’t the only one freaking out; Brynn and Derek looked quite shaken. Amber was blinking rapidly.
“Auri, please, don’t be alarmed-“
“Oh I’m not alarmed,” I said, waving my hands wildly, “Not alarmed that we just warped through space and time to a completely different section of the earth! No, not ‘alarmed’ at all.”
“Auri. Look around you.”
Scowling, I scrutinized by surroundings. The scenery had changed completely. Instead of a dark, chilly night, it was early morning. We were on a beach; hills surrounded us, with an enormous stretch of ocean in our direct line of vision. Dew glistened on the grass nearby, and the sun shone as if it had just awoken from a deep slumber. But the most striking thing about our new situation was the building built into the rock on my right. The building was placed on top of the hill, but it’s lower stories were built directly into it. I could only imagine how many caves and corridors were within the rocks. Many different towers with round tops and sections of the immense structure jutted out, though it wasn’t a particularly tall building. It was made of different kinds of stone, all of which were a shade of white. It looked golden in the light of the new rising sun.
“It’s beautiful,” I breathed.


Take note, this is the rough draft. I haven't perfected it yet, of course. But I'm excited. Of course, you have no idea what it's about, and who she is yet and all this stuff, but maybe you can guess :) there are lots of clues, of course. Anyway. I don't mind posting this, mostly because I know nobody will read it. Heh ;). I've never shown anyone my stuff before, and posting this on the internet is pretty adventurous, not gonna lie ;) Today was a long day. But good :).