The Kingdom of Orenda

Chapter 1: The Whirlpool Lake

Tucked away on a large branch of a tree, one of her many reading spots, Lidya was watching the clouds move slowly across the summer sky. Her lightly tanned face had a calm- dreamlike expression on as she stared upwards.

To the extent of her aunt Nora's knowledge, she was completing her summer reading. But the truth of the matter was that she had been done with said reading the first month she was out of school, for the books she was assigned were fairly short. Just much more interestingly worded than a usual middle school assignment.

She used this as an excuse to get away from her typical day-to-day life and get lost in a fictional world of magic and adventure, which was a stark contrast to her life on her Aunt and Uncle's farm in rural Riverbend kentucky. Not that she was ungrateful for her Aunt or Uncle, or the home they provided, it was just that undying wanderlust she inherited from her parents.

In her lap were two books, one was a book she had read many times before, and the spine had been worn and stressed from so many readings and re-readings. The other was in much better condition, but was much older and had been read many more times.

Said book was that of her mothers, a journal filled with heartfelt handwritten stories, poems, and letters. As well as a detailed entry for every birthday of Lidya's life her parents had lived through.

Unfortunately, those entries only went up to her 12th birthday.

Lidya's finger subconsciously traced the etched image of a butterfly on the cover of her mothers journal as her mind wandered over to her impending fate of returning to school.

'And highschool nonetheless.' she thought, and shuddered. 'Oh I hope I don't have to share a class with Kevin again... or Tina for that matter.' she sighed in discontent at the memory of her least favorite classmates. The former was the reason she had decided to get her dirty blond hair cut into the short bob it now resided in just above her shoulders, as he had cut a large portion of her hair off back in the spring.

Her aunt had been furious to a point Lidya had never seen before, It scared both her and the teachers. Yet, somehow, that didn't motivate Kevin to leave her alone.

"Let's see... it's July 10th right now, August is next month and we're going back on the 21st. Which means I'm only 5 to 6 weeks away from starting highschool..." She closed her eyes, processing how close school actually was.

"Hey Lidya!" a young boy called from the trunk of the tree, Lidya looked down and smiled at her younger cousin, Kaleb.

"Hey Kaleb. Is your mom looking for me?" she asked him as he began climbing up to her.

"No, I just wanted to see what you were doing. Still doing your summer reading?"

"You know I finished that months ago."

"Right, it's not fair you get to spend time doing nothing so much you know."

"I wasn't doing nothing. I was daydreaming."

"That might as well be nothing."

"To you." Lidya laughed. She knew that neither her Aunt or Uncle had the same imagination as her, Kaleb came close but- he didnt see what she saw some times. She was used to being told she had the strangest imagination anyone had heard of, and was proud of it. Just as her parents would be proud of her for it.

"Do you think they'll have a gymnastics team available when I go back to school?" Kaleb asked, turning around and hanging upside down by his knees.

"You'll be in 4th grade Kaleb, I'm sure they will." she told him.

"I sure hope so." he paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, then he swung himself upright and looked at the books in his cousin's lap. "Have you read all of Aunt Madea's book yet?" he asked with earnest curiosity.