Imagination's last hope: The quest to save the unseen world

Chapter 1

My life sucks, Rachel thought as she threw her school bag onto the floor. She fell onto her bed. Not that her life was terrible; it's just that it always felt so ordinary. Her day was always the same; she had to go to school each morning and then come home afterwards and do tons of homework. She wasn't one of the top students in her class, but she wasn't one of the failing ones. She wasn't popular, but neither was she unpopular. Rachel always seemed to be in the middle. It was just so boring.

Everyone always tells her she has the perfect life since her parents both have successful careers and make lots of money. That would seem like every person's dream, but not to Rachel.

She didn't like school at all. She didn't get the point of it. It was just sitting in class the whole day and trying not to fall asleep. The children who want to go to university and study for some job with a complicated name to make a lot of money each month really like school, probably because they have a reason to go to school each day. Rachel didn't have any plans as crazy as theirs.

Her parents have been nagging her to follow in their footsteps and get some fancy job one day, but she has other plans. Her parents are always too busy with work to do anything fun. They always went on unforgettable holidays and saw the most beautiful places in the world, but now they go nowhere. It's a miracle if they take a weekend off.

And worst of all, her parents don't allow her to have a pet. She once convinced her parents to get her a goldfish, but they didn't like the fish. She's still convinced that her mum flushed it down the toilet.

Rachel didn't like maths and science at all. They were subjects where she had to think a lot. They made her brain physically hurt. Sometimes, she tried studying hard for her tests, but it was useless; she still failed most of them.

English and art classes were her favourites. She always does well in those subjects, even when she doesn't study for them. She could let her creative juices flow and create anything she could imagine. Since childhood, she has always been obsessed with daydreaming and making up stories. When she learned to read and draw, it just got better since she could put her thoughts onto paper. She always got in trouble at school for drawing and daydreaming in class, but that didn't bother her. There was no way that they could stop her imagination. It was like a runaway train. Her ideas just always kept coming.

Rachel yawned. She was super tired. She spent most of the night working on one of her paintings and got little sleep. Trying to focus on class was a nightmare for her today. Usually, she can't concentrate on class, but today was much worse. She couldn't wait to get back home after school and continue painting. It was a really simple painting of a bird. There was nothing unique about it, and it had no bold colours. It was just plain. That's what bothered Rachel so much about it. Her paintings had something weird and crazy about them, but not this one. She spent the whole day trying to figure out a way to make it more exciting. But she couldn't think of anything. It was as if her creative juices had dried up.

Rachel looked at her painting. She wanted to paint further, but she was too tired. They got a lot of homework today, but she didn't care. She always left it until the last minute and then had to rush to finish it on time. She had two options: take a quick power nap or complete all her homework. It was obvious what she would pick.

Rachel tried to fall asleep, but her younger brother was shouting in his room next to hers. Caleb was your typical thirteen-year-old boy. He hates school, plays games all day, and rarely leaves his room. They didn't get along too well. Rachel believed the games were making his brain rot. They only talk to each other when he leaves his dark and smelly cave to get food and when they drive to school together.

She pulled her pillow over her head to drown out the noise. Luckily, she was tired enough to fall asleep quickly.