Stars in the Sky (Book 2 of the Real World Chronicles)

Foreword

Credit goes to the original photographer of this image.

Alright, before we get into our story, I have to tell you this...

Oh! Pardon for no introductions, heheh... I'm Willow Thistle, in case you're wondering.

Anyway...

PREVIOUSLY IN MY CRAZY WEIRD LIFE...

A shy yet adventurous thirteen-year-old girl, who strangely had naturally mint green hair, was on a summer's end trip with her family to visit her grandparents in California. She ended up getting separated in the rush of getting to their designated plane and wound up on a flight to Montana, instead.

Yep. I was that girl.

I met a sheriff by the name of Tom Wachowski who let me stay at his hometown of Green Hills so I could figure out my plan of getting back to my family. While I was there, I ended up encountering a blue alien hedgehog, who I found out later was named Sonic, at a baseball field. And... let's just say he had a "mini" temper tantrum that practically knocked me out and fried the Pacific Northwest power grid temporarily.

Tom and I found him in Tom's garage the next morning (Tom accidentally shot him with a tranquilizer), but someone else was looking for Sonic as well: the psycho Dr. Robotnik, a roboticist sent by the U.S. government. We barely escaped him and hit the road on the run to San Francisco; Sonic had lost a bag of magical rings he would use to travel to other places through a portal that led there, and Tom was supposed to be moving there, anyway. I needed to get to my family on the way there, but due to what would've been fatal circumstances, something deep in my heart told me to stay with Sonic until his mission was complete.

And so off to San Francisco I went. I met Tom's wife, Maddie (along with his crazy sister-in-law, Rachel, who had some sort of grudge against him, and his niece, Jojo). And together, Tom, Maddie, Sonic and I found Sonic's rings on top of the Transamerica Pyramid. (Fun fact, by the way; did you know that the Transamerica Pyramid used to be the eighth tallest building in the world? Crazy, huh?)

Robotnik reappeared in person for the second time and went on with Sonic how he was going to capture him and Sonic was all, "Oh no, you're not! EV-ER!". Sonic then shoved Tom and Maddie off the roof and barely missed me (another gut feeling that told me to stay with him that I couldn't explain). He sent the Wachowskis through a portal to Green Hills to stay safe, while he and I were chased all over the world by Robotnik(LITERALLY!).

We finally ended up back at Green Hills, but not before Sonic was gravelly injured. I have to admit, standing up and protecting him from Robotnik (even if it meant dying) was one of the boldest things I'd ever done.

You know that words have power, right? Well, just as Tom and Maddie came to help, the sheriff and I both admitted our newly-formed friendship with Sonic. The hedgehog heeded our words and fully regained the power to defeat Robotnik, then allowed us to banish the evil doctor through a portal to a planet of giant mushrooms (This planet was actually supposed to be a backup sanctuary for Sonic if he was ever discovered on Earth).

After the whole ordeal, Tom and Maddie decided to let Sonic live with them in their home and created a new bedroom for him in their attic (It looked SO COOL!). We were rewarded for our efforts of keeping quiet about the past events by the government; they even invited me and Sonic to have a "brunch chat" with the president! I kindly turned down both offers because A) I don't take those kinds of rewards for my good works, and B) part of me speculated that it was a bait trap so they could get their hands on me and Sonic for experimentation.

Why me, you might ask? Well, Robotnik apparently found a sample of my DNA who-knows-where and uncovered some overlooked "abnormalities"; he thinks that I might actually have superpowers. Guess the government wanted to find out for themselves. It feels so unnerving that the world is getting on my personal life. I mean, my whole life, a part of me had been having a feeling that I actually do have superpowers, but I never expected that my wish would possibly be coming true before my very eyes.

As all (or maybe some) adventures come to a close, there was a little tearful goodbye when the Wachowskis took me to the airport. Before I left, I made sure to give Sonic my contacts so we could still chat while I was back home in Seattle, as well as a drawing and a picture we took together to commemorate our adventure. Then, I flew down to Sacramento where I was reunited with my family and lived —

Hold on. You didn't really think that this was the end, right? You kidding? Sonic and I had become the best of friends that I have ever had in a long time in a short two to three days! Our little adventure was only the beginning!

And our story shall continue off, exactly nine months later...