A Journey To The Clouds, A Fantastical Prophecy - Book One - ✓

Chapter One

*ring ring*

I sit bolt upright and look around wildly for what is ringing. Then I see it. My phone. I stumble out of bed to my desk and check the caller ID. I recognize the number. It's Dad. I press the answer button, my hands already shaking with excitement.

"Hello? " I ask. Even though excitement is bursting out of me, I can tell the grogginess still shows.

"Hey, kiddo! Sorry for calling so early. I forget the time difference. You guys already moved into the house you were looking at, right?" he rambles cheerfully.

My parents are divorced just so you know, some and my mom lives here in New York where she grew up and my dad is all the way across the ocean in London where he grew up. Their divorce has brought lots of pain to me. It is no surprise. Any divorce can do this to the kids. I love both of my parents to the moon and back, but I would have never expected it to happen.

I was only eleven on that fateful day my parents told me they would separate. My mom's eyes were filled with tears. My dads, however, had a mix of sadness, and to my surprise, relief, like he was glad they were getting a divorce.

I didn't understand what they were telling me. I didn't want it to be real. Honestly, I thought we were living in a fairy-tale, and they were just messing with me. When I found out the truth though, I refused to believe it. I thought everything was fine. Once they told me, I started not eating, and I would camp out in my room for days on end. I lost so much weight. I wasn't even plump originally.

Once I got the news I and mom were moving to New York which was a few weeks after they told me they would get a divorce, everything started to crumble beneath me. We all used to live as a happy family in Arizona. We used to go to the Grand Canyon every year. We would get pizza at the local pizzeria every Friday, eat it on park benches, and tell jokes.

My mom and dad had a good relationship, or so I thought. Then, my father had to say that he didn't think she was the right fit even after fifteen years of marriage. I mean, fifteen whole years! Come on! I heard them one night. The pouring rain that night had already set the mood. I remember going into the foyer, a little frightened by rumbling thunder. I heard them before I had made it into their bedroom, talking with a tone no kid should ever hear. Having a conversation that no kid wants to listen to.

"Alice, I know you can't and won't believe it has come to this. But you know what I have to say next." My father said.

"I know, I know. It's just, after fifteen years of being together, Adam. Could we just try to be husband and wife? You don't even have to do it for me! Just do it for Ally. I know we're running out of money with Ally's dance classes but we need to get better jobs. Maybe Ally can get a job somewhere... " my mother begged desperately.

My father shook his head. "Absolutely not, and no. No, we can't."

"But-Ally, Adam. Think about Ally." She said. Her voice broke and tears started pouring out of her eyes. Their door was cracked.

"I know, but Alice, we can't be good parents to her if our relationship is rocky. Do you understand? I mean, think how much it would hurt our daughter!" He asks, putting his hand on hers.

My mother understood through her heartbreak. "How will we tell her then, Adam?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe-" My father had replied. I didn't hear the rest. I didn't want to hear the rest. The only other thing I remember doing is going back to bed and crying myself to sleep.

For many, that is a celebrated milestone. Not for my parents though. He just didn't love her enough anymore. My mother was heartbroken of course. He was her true love.