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

Chapter 2

Rachel was fast asleep when suddenly, a loud thump woke her up. She jumped out of her bed and grabbed the baseball bat next to it. Since she put it there a few months ago, she has been waiting for the opportunity to use it.

She looked around the room, searching for whatever caused the noise. She looked at her closet. All the boxes on the top shelf, which contained her old books, fell out of it. Rachel placed the baseball bat back next to her bed, relieved that there wasn't a burglar in her room. She walked over to her closet to see what had caused the boxes to fall out. Rachel yawned. She just wanted to take a relaxing nap, and now this happens.

She picked up one box to pack them in the closet again. "What are these boxes for? Please get me out from under here. Now!" Rachel heard a voice come from underneath the boxes. She jumped back and dropped the box that was in her hand. "Ow!" The voice yelled. Rachel looked down at the mess that was on the floor. She saw an orange glow come out from under the boxes. It took her a minute to realise what it was, and then she clicked.

"Finnigan!" Rachel shouted as she started picking up the boxes. Finnigan was her imaginary friend from when she was little. This is the first time in years that he has appeared again. The black cat emerged from under the boxes. He had an orange and purple glow, mixed with lots of glitter and sparkles, around him. There were a few floating stars that surrounded him. He glowed so brightly that he lit up the whole room. "I've missed you so much!" She gave him a big hug, "But why are you here? I'm all grown up now." Rachel took a few steps back. Finnigan floated around the room, looking at how much it had changed since Rachel was little.

"This place looks so different since the last time I was here." He said.

"You were here about ten years ago. Of course, it looks different."

Rachel thought back to when Finnigan was here for the last time. She could remember everything so vividly. She had just started school. When she got home that afternoon, she could tell something was up with him. He told her to sit down on the bed. "Rachel, you knew that this day would come, eventually. You're all grown up now, so I have to go. You'll be okay by yourself. And even if it doesn't feel like it, know I am here for you." He hugged her tight, disappearing into thin air before she could say anything.

"I still remember you so well." He picked up the unfinished painting, "Since you were little, you have also had such a vivid imagination. You always enjoyed wearing neon colours and didn't like it when your mum did your hair the same way as the other kids. You have always liked to stand out from the crowd."

Rachel smiled. She has missed Finnigan a lot. "I still do." She pointed at her closet door, which she painted by herself. She painted a bunch of flowers, all bright and warm colours.

He smiled. "So, how is Margaret doing?"

"Mum is doing well. Just busy, as usual. You know she doesn't enjoy sitting around all day."

"And she still wants you to go to some big university and follow in her footsteps?"

Rachel nodded. "But I have other plans. I think I will become a writer or an artist one day, Fin." She pointed to a stack of paper on her desk. "I'm writing a novel. I think I'm doing well with it."

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Rachel! Maybe you'll become the next Vincent van Gogh or write a best-selling novel one day."

"Thanks Fin. But you still haven't answered my question. Why are you here? You're in my imagination, so I had to create you somehow, and I didn't, which means I must be crazy. You can't be here."

"Listen, Rachel. I don't want to scare you, but we must talk."

"About what? It sounds serious."

"It is. I think you should sit down."