The Bluebird Of Adelion

Chapter 1- The Wakeup Call

Fast heartbeat. Sweat. Twisting and turning. I opened my eyes to see the empty, grey walls of my bedroom.

It was chilly in the October dawn and my window was covered in dewdrops. I had to sit up to calm down after that dream, or rather nightmare. Honestly I didn't know what to call it. All I had was this feeling, like I had to go, I had to go now. And I had this whispering voice in my head which I thought was saying: "It's time. Come".

It was almost sunrise. I could see the sunrays peeking up at the horizon so it must have been around 6am. Nobody was up. Of course not, it was Saturday.

 My room was cold and gloomy and the whole house was silent. Cardboard boxes filled with my things covered the floor from my bed to the door. I hadn't unpacked yet since my family and me moved here on Friday. When the Quinns' latest member, little Maddox,  joined the family a month ago there was no longer enough room in our old apartment in Sioux Falls. My parents decided it was time for a change of scenery so we headed North to Minnesota.

   I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to wake myself up completely. My heart had slowed down but still this feeling wouldn't let me relax so I got out of my bed and headed to the bathroom. After brushing my teeth and washing my face I pulled my chestnut hair back in a ponytail, still trying to shake the feeling. 

I stood there on the cold bathroom floor for what felt like half an hour but it could only have been a few minutes. It was like the complete silence slowed time. 

Then I couldn't take it anymore and gave in to the sudden desire to leave the  house. I rushed back to my room to throw some clothes on; a pair of jeans, a black T-shirt and an army green jacket. I grabbed my scetchbook which lay on my desk and threw it in my shoulderbag. I liked having it with me so I could draw something whenever I decided to. Then I snuck out, quietly. 

Of course, then I did not know I would never return.

I walked down the street past dozens of houses that all looked the same, surrounded by white picket fences. I didn't hate this new place but the suburbs were different since I had grown up in a city. Guess I would get used to it. The thing I was most worried about was the new school. I was no good at making new friends and I was in my last weekend of fall break which had been mostly used to move to the new place.

 The postman, Jeremy, walked towards me with the paper filled baggage as I strolled down the street. He was dressed in a red uniform and had a black beanie on which mostly covered his blonde hair, smiling as always. I had only seen him a couple of times but he had already learned my name.

"Avery!" he called out to me when he had almost reached me. "What are you doing out this early?" 

His smile reached his blue eyes and it made me blush. I couldn't help smiling back at him. He couldn't have been more than 18, a year older than me, and one of the friendliest people I had ever met. I had to say I had developed a small crush on him.

"Oh, I'm just... um, I just went out for a walk," I said looking down so he wouldn't notice my rosy cheeks, which he probably did.

"Well, I would join you but I got work to do right now," he said as he gestured towards today's papers.

"Oh yes of course you do. I'll see you later, Jeremy." I replied as we parted ways. 

The cold air cooled my cheeks and relaxed me. The street was covered in tiny, delicate frost roses and my feet crushed the brown leaves on the ground.

When I reached the end of the street I could either head right towards downtown or left, where Ryland Forest was. I decided on the latter. 

After about a quarter of a mile the cement road ended and the natural pathway of mud and tree bark took over the way. Along with the mud road the birch trees started growing closer together forming Ryland Woods, until I found myself in a thick forest.

The green leaves of the trees had faded to warm colors of yellow and amber as the frost crept up the branches and the air smelled of rain. I loved these things about fall. 

When I had gotten deeper inside the woods I stopped. 'What are you doing here, Avery?' I thought. I probably shouldn't go any further, what if I got lost? But I didn't want to go back home just yet so I sat down on a big rock with moss growing up it from the moist ground, in the middle of a small clearing.

 There was a big oak in front of me that looked as old as time. It's roots twisted themselves up the trunk, forming a small hole at the base of the tree so it looked hollow. Something about it was a bit.. otherwordly. The way it stood there, seperated from the rest of the trees, and it's leaves; they were still green. The oak caught my attention so I reached in my bag and got my scetchbook out and a small pencil box that came with it.

 I started scetching out my drawing, first lightly, then I started shading the bark and the leaves, looking up and down, from my picture to the oak, to get the best reseblance. When my drawing was almost finished I looked up at the tree again and what I saw made the blood in my veins freeze.

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I know this wasn't a that exciting chapter but the real story begins in chapter two!