The Other Realm

Prologue

When I was younger, there was a door in my bedroom that no one else could see. I discovered it one night after my mother had closed my door while whispering her standard, "Good night my Sleeping Beauty, sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite." I was doing my nightly "mommy's-gone-now-I-can-do-what-I-want" routine, which included me lining up my stuffed animals and dolls along my bed (I swear, I had more toys on that bed than the bed could fit) in a random order, of course, so no one doll would feel left out and be mad at me, then telling each and every creature on my bed and in my room "Goodnight!"

That night, I found it harder to sleep than usual. I tried all my usual tricks - counting sheep, slow breaths - but none of them worked. It felt like there was energy pulsing around me keeping me awake. Then the glowing started.

It wasn't very bright, my mom definitely wouldn't be able to see it should she look at my closed bedroom door, but it was bright enough to get me interested in it. I carefully crawled out from under the covers my mom had meticulously tucked around me just minutes earlier and tried my hardest to not the disturb my dolls. When I got out of bed I noticed where exactly the glow was coming from, under me. I slowly lifted my bed's pink, flowery skirt half-terrified that there would be a monster under the bed waiting for me, but there wasn't. All there was, was a single door.

The door didn't look like much. It wasn't very large, big enough for someone my height, which was smaller than average. It wasn't rectangular like most doors though, but arch-shaped. It was wooden and painted white and had a single crystal doorknob attached to it.

I pinched myself, positive that I was dreaming because there was no way that that door had been there before. I was awake though and the door had certainly only just appeared. I then wondered how the door was able to appear and leave no mark that it ever existed. I had gone under my bed many times in daylight to grab a doll that had fallen through the crack between my small, twin bed and the wall. Magic. That that was the only explanation.

I believed in magic, what seven-year-old didn't? The tooth fairy, Santa, the Easter Bunny, there was magic everywhere in a seven-year-old's life. But to actually see it, to be a part of it, that was new.

I closed my eyes and turned the doorknob, opening the door slowly. There was a creak, so I paused. The walls of my house were very thin and one wrong noise would lead to my mom running in to make sure I was alright and that no one and nothing was there to hurt me. I was positive that my mom would come into my room and find me lying under my bed on my stomach opening a magical door, I'd be grounded for sure. But that never happened.

The door opened and I looked into the room. It wasn't very tall, it was tall enough to allow me to stand up, barely, but I knew that if any grown-up came into the room, they wouldn't fit. The room was very big though, it seemed to stretch out for forever before coming to a door identical to the one I just went through on the other side.

Inside the room held a computer, a tv, a couch, a bed, a fridge, and a white wicker vanity with a matching armchair. It held anything a young girl could ever want. I could have lived there forever if I wanted to.

I walked over to a closet in one section of the room and opened it. There were dresses and crowns and shoes, what seemed like an endless supply of them. I looked through them before settling on a pink dress that seemed to sparkle. The moment I went to grab it off of the hanger it disappeared. I felt disappointed until I moved, I could feel the dress swishing as I walked. The skirt of the dress poofed out like I had a hoop on under it. I then went to look at the shoes, that was an easy choice, a matching pair of pink, small, child heels. My head felt heavy so I turned towards the vanity. I had a golden circlet on, settled perfectly in my golden ringlets. I smiled, I looked like a princess. I never wanted this night to end, ever.

I watched tv, danced, and played with dolls for what seemed like an eternity when I heard a faint beeping, my dad's alarm. Panicking I ran for the door to my room. I opened it, but what I saw wasn't my room but a giant hall. There were portraits of people in between thousands of doors. Some, the older looking ones, with heavy looking crowns on their heads others, the newer ones, with thin golden circlets, the women's with diamonds and amethysts, while the men's were only a plain, solid circle.

I turned around and ran back into the room and towards the other door. Before I went through, I noticed a small table with a pendant on it. It was the same amethyst color as the jewels on the circlet and had a small diamond above the jewel. "Wear this" was written on a single note card next to the necklace. I unclasped the back and put it on over my dress.

I closed my eyes and went through the door. I looked down at my dress and shoes as they rippled slightly before turning into my nightgown and bare feet like Cinderella at midnight. The necklace stayed where it was and I vowed to never take it off.

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Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for choosing to read my book! I'm posting the prologue as a preview to the book. I'll be posting the rest of it once I've finished writing it. If you see any grammar or spelling mistakes, please let me know. I know for a fact that commas are a weak spot for me (I blame my fourth-grade teacher for telling me to put a comma when you would need to take a breath if reading the sentence. This is a problem for me because I talk really fast and hardly breathe when I speak). I hope you all enjoy my book as much as I have enjoyed writing it!