Kingdom Hearts: Dream Team

Chapter 1: Fifteen birthdays 💜

I think it's only right if I introduce myself, since this is my story. My name is Aislynn. I live in the south-eastern part of the state of Ohio in the country of the USA... and I'm at the heart at it all. The town of Jackson is bustling with activity despite the fact that it doesn't appear on any maps of the whole country. The residential area is just like any other suburb, only with a lot more trees and differing topography. Beyond that is downtown and East Main Street, a street with one section of unpaved brick as old as the town itself. That street is lined with several local businesses, a welcome relief from all of the commercialism of uptown. But I live in Jackson County, not Jackson Town.

My family lives in one of the many townships in the county. For those of you from other countries where that word bares a different meaning, a township here in the U.S. is any area of land outside of a city that isn't considered urban... and boy does my home fit that description. If it wasn't for the few houses scattered about, the whole place would look like a huge forest. Not that that bothers me. The tranquility of nature is enough to soothe anyone who has entered her embrace.

I guess the story really started when I woke up that morning. What made today so special... how about the fact that it was my birthday. Yes, the tenth of June in the year 2014. The year everything changed for me. I was fifteen, but didn't feel like I was, just as most kids do on their birthday. Yup, I'm just like everyone else in that area... which people would know if they noticed me. Other than the fact that I'm a bit of a gamer/Otaku, I'm invisible to the world, even though one would think my name would make me feel seen.

My name means "dream" in Gaelic. The blood of the Emerald Isles flows thick on both sides of my family tree and my parents wanted to give me a Gaelic name that reflected where my ancestors came from. Though they were unsure of what it would be, all doubts faded with one dream that came to my dad; a premonition of me as a small girl (a strange ability that I myself inherited). Trust me, though, despite my name, I don't look like I'm special. I'm just a regular girl.

One could practically see my bones with my slim physique and height-wise, I tower over girls shorter than me but also feel like a mouse compared to girls of average height or above. Though I may be slim, my figure is almost a perfect hourglass (thank goodness, I don't have a flat chest). Glass is what my skin would look like if I was any paler; light bouncing off of me at all angles. If you were looking up plain people on the internet - ones that wouldn't stand out in a crowd - I'd be the first picture on the search bar. Well, at least the amount of sleep I've been getting recently has really reduced the dark circles around my eyes.

So there I was, sawing logs. I could've slept in if I wanted to (it was my birthday, after all), but nope. Have you ever heard of a circadian rhythm? That's the rhythm inside every living thing that keeps track of when all their biological processes happen (eat, sleep, etcetera). Well, mine makes me get up early. The blinding light of the sun doesn't help either. In the summer months, Mr. Sun loves coming up before six AM, making my sensitive eyes go nuts. Whether I like it or not, I had to get up.

My slipper socks muffled the sound of feet coming into contact with the floor as I made my way to my parent's bathroom, ready to start my morning routine. The feel of the brush going across all of my teeth was a welcome relief from the discomfort of morning breath. A sense of feeling awake and refreshed filled my body as my face was cleansed and the vitamins slid down my the dark cavern that is my throat.
Now, all that was left was to make sure I could get out as quietly as possible without the sound arousing my sleeping parents.

Unfortunately for me, my plan hadn't worked as well as I'd hoped. The sound of a meow echoed from the other side of the bedroom door; I let a cat in without my knowledge. Aw perfect, I thought to myself. Just so you know, my family has four cats, all of them little devils. The moment I opened the door, he came running out... with nothing pursuing him. There were still two lumps under the covers from where my parents still slept. I could now proceed with the rest of my morning routine uninterrupted.