Random Original Stories and Stuff

What Do I Title This???

1. Mr. Linden's Library. Warned her about the book. Too late. Gloves. Book. Plant. Secret library. Magical world. Hallucinations.
8. The Harp. So it's true, he thought. It's really true. Harp. Beautiful forest river. Boy with dog. Ripple under rock with harp.
10. The Third Floor Bed-Room. Dove and vine wallpaper. One dove lifts off of wall. Open window. Imagination.
12. Captain Tory. Lantern swinging three times leads to pirate ship appearing.
13. Another Place, Another Time. If there was an answer, he'd find it there. Four people on train tracks heading to castle over water with sail. Storm brewing.
14. The House on Maple Street. House liftoff. Perfect liftoff. 60s car.

/So it's true/, he thought. /It's really true./
The boy stared across the peaceful forest river at the golden harp sitting peacefully on a smooth, round boulder. With excitement growing, the boy dashed across the stones that led to the other side, his dog trailing behind. Finally he reached it. The golden harp softly playing its melody. Although it had taken him all day to follow the music, he knew that the song was for him. It called him.
The boy crouched on the boulder, beside the harp, staring intently into the strings being plucked by an invisible hand. Then his dog began barking, pulling him out of the trance the harp bestowed on him. Annoyed, the boy snapped at the beagle, "Royal! What're you–" Then he saw exactly what Royal barked at. Right below the boulder, a ripple disrupted the flowing river.
The boy peered closer, trying to see the riverbed below, only to find that the ripple seemed to be nothing but blue underneath. No matter how he tried, the boy couldn't see past the ripples. Inches away from the stream, the boy ignored his dog barking behind him again. With his distraction, the boy didn't notice the golden harp begin to levitate in the air. The boy continued to fixate on the river, giving the harp the chance to slam into the back of his head. The boy fell face first into the rippling river, disappearing into the water with half of a scream. Then the harp shoved the barking dog in after him.
The boy screamed as he fell. Immediately he knew that he didn't fall into the river. His clothes weren't wet, he was still breathing air, and he was still falling. There wasn't a splashing sound, his body just kept spiraling through blue and black swirling space. Then his dog rammed into him, knocking his breath out of his lungs. Not long after, the boy spotted the golden harp flashing by. Confusion and fear swept through him. He kept screaming. /How did my day turn into this?/

"Michael! Can you come here please?" The woman stood at the end of the hallway, just outside the kitchen, staring patiently down at the door of her son's room. After a minute, she called him again, "Michael? Michael!" Still no answer.
She groaned in annoyance and put down the dish towel she was using to dry her hands. Then she made her way to the back of the house, looking for her son. She got to his door and knocked, waiting for his permission to come in. No response. She knocked louder and longer. When he still didn't answer, she yelled through the door, "Michael, I'm coming in," before turning the knob and pushing through into his room.
The woman saw exactly what she expected; her son, Michael, lying on his bed with his laptop open and his earbuds in. At her intrusion, the boy sat up and yanked out the headphones, saying innocently, "Yeah mom? What's up?" Ms. Walters sighed, looking at the state of the room. Clothes strewn across the floor, dirty cups and plates stacked on the dresser, and schoolwork ignored on the desk. Without realizing it, the woman began to collect the dishes in her son's room and straighten up his desk. As she worked she said, "I was calling you, Michael. But I know you couldn't have heard me with your music in, so I'll move on from that for now. Your dad called. He says you're staying at his place this weekend."
"I thought he didn't have time for me?"
"Yes, well, plans changed. Turns out, he's off work for Memorial Day, so you'll at least see him then. Now, be grateful and pack up something. You can tell me how Royal is getting along when you get back on Monday."
The boy sighed but didn't protest. As his mom left the room, he packed a bag for the weekend, put on his shoes and jacket, and grabbed his keys. Stuffing them in his pocket, he made his way out of the house and into the cool, summer air of a Friday evening.

On the way to his father's house, Michael took in the fresh air and enjoyed the serenity a brisk walk could bring him. After all, Michael had a lot on his plate. As always, school was a pain, but now Mom needed his help around the house more, since his dad was permanently gone, and she kept passive aggressively pressuring him to find a job, now that he was sixteen. Michael couldn't help but think that none of this would really be a problem if his dad hasn't left. If he'd stuck around and not bailed on his family.
Sure, he wasn't on the best terms with his dad, what with all of his divorce attorneys taking his mother's livelihood away and him never bothering to make time for his only son, his only child, claiming "work" wouldn't let him off. Nonetheless, Michael still loved his dad. On some level. His dad was the one to buy him cool gifts when he couldn't make it to birthday parties and graduations, and he was the one to get him his dog, Royal, when Michael was ten, and he was the one who took care of Royal when Michael lived with his mom.
Life wasn't all bad, but Michael still wished it was different.
Wrapped up in his own thoughts, Michael bumped shoulders with someone walking the opposite way on the sidewalk. Thrown slightly off balance, the teenager sidestepped and spun around to see who he ran into. A girl carrying a stack of books hurried past, barely glancing back at the person she'd jostled, throwing a half apologetic, "Sorry," over her shoulder. Michael stared after her swaying, dirty blonde ponytail for a moment, then shook his head and continued walking to his father's house.

Located near the outside of town, on a grassy hill with the forest for a backyard, the modern style glass and steel house looked out of place. Floor to ceiling windows expanded the east and west walls, a long, winding concrete driveway led to