From the Mists

Chapter 01: The Blue Mists

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CHAPTER 01 : The Blue Mists

Golden sunlight painted the skies on that crisp, early summer morning. Cool breezes hung in the air, the winds gently caressing the trees as the heavy scent of the pines wafted throughout the forest. Birds sang a merry tune from above, while below, squirrels scurried about in search of a meal. A calm silence befell the air, one which can only be found throughout the likes of mother nature itself. Meanwhile, gentle waves lapped up against the shore of one of the many thousand lakes which bore into the geography of Minnesota. And at the edge of one of these lakes there was a small beach, where upon it lied a girl aged no more than fifteen. Young Annabelle Sommers was her name, and upon this very shore, she was enjoying one of her favorite past times: becoming one with the serenity of nature.

She could feel the sting of the sun caressing her skin. With a deep, elongated breath, she listened intently while the birds continued to sing, and she felt a peace here unlike that which she had experienced anywhere else. This was her happy place: The place where she knew she was the safest, and the most in tune with not only nature, but with herself.

But of course, it wasn't to last long, for moments after she had finally shut her eyes, ready to take a brief, cozy nap in the sand, she was brought to her senses by the sound of footsteps. Immediately, she sat upright, sand falling from her bushy brown hair. Who could have disturbed her, she wondered? Turning her head, she was annoyed, but not at all surprised, to find her twin sister approaching her: Isabelle.

"Thought I'd find you here," Isabelle said, her voice laden with the familiar condescending tone which Annabelle had grown used to hearing from her over the years. "It's time to head back. Mom says breakfast is nearly ready."

"But what if I'm not ready to head back yet?" Annabelle then retorted. She had the sneaking suspicion that her sister had only approached her now because she knew it would annoy her the most. Isabelle knew exactly where her sister would be, after all, as the two girls had become more than familiar with this particular beach over the years. "How do I know you're not lying like you always do?"

"That's for you to decide, sis," she then replied. "Just know that grandma is the one doing the cooking today. And she's making her homemade biscuits. You wouldn't want to miss that now, would you?"

Annabelle's stomach gave a growl... the idea of missing out on her grandmother's cooking was not one she was fond of. Despite this, she knew deep down that there was no way that breakfast could be ready yet - she'd barely been outside for twenty minutes. Unless...

"Isabelle, what time is it exactly?" she then asked, trying to see if her suspicions were true or not.

"Nine-forty five," she replied, without missing a beat. But Annabelle wasn't fooled... Isabelle wasn't wearing her watch, nor did she have any device on her to check the time in the moment.

Trivial as this all may seem, this wasn't out of the ordinary for the two girls, as Isabelle had a bad habit of trying to rob Annabelle of her alone time wherever possible, even if just to annoy her. It was a mean quirk of hers, and she knew well that Annabelle was very fond of this time, as she wasn't a very social or interactive person. Unlike Isabelle herself, Annabelle preferred to keep to her solitude, hence why her favorite past time was just simply to be alone. Isabelle was the exact opposite, as she much preferred being surrounded by her clique of friends, those of which who often teased Annabelle for not being very outgoing. Many times, Annabelle had begged her sister to back off or lighten up, but she rarely did, much to her misfortune.