The Emerald Heart

A New Realm- Zoe

It's a cold foggy morning when my family decides to go into hiding.

The palace is silent. A heavy saddness  set over everyone- the quiet guards, my mourning family. I have lived here my whole life. So many memories happened here, so many things that I will never forget. Precious memories flash through my mind. The first time I brought a dragon home- just a baby one- and my mother completely freaked out. Or  when I helped my brother Luke try to hide Mr.White's dead cat. Luke had shot the cat with his bow on accident, and we had to hide it before Mr White, being the short-tempered centaur that he is, found out.

Our palace is active with plant life, populated by joyful citizens, with wild dragons flying over the towers every hour. Just yesterday it was safe. But now we have to leave, all because of all the death threats. All because of the many times my family has been so close to death. All because my father is the heir to be the King of the Elves. After my father almost got killed by one of his most trusted guards, he decided that we had to leave and go hide in the Scraper Realm, where all the creatures of our realm are forbidden to go.

I can hear the guards close the palace doors. The echoing creak of it behind me triggers tears in my eyes. Life changes so quickly.

We leave and pile into our carriage. We are taken deep into the forest. I can't keep track of time, but it seems we've been travelling for hours. Maybe minutes. Maybe days. The forest does things to your mind. I have no idea where we are. The carriage stops abruptly, at a dead end. A huge wall that is taller than most of the trees around us. In the wall was a huge crack in the middle. My family files out of the carriage- Mother, Father, James, Luke, and I. I clutch my sack of belongings to bring to the Scraper Realm. When we are all out my family walks to the crack. We all watch as Mother squeezes herself inside of the rigid crack in the rock wall. She inches her way in to the center of it, further in.

One by one we each push our way in. As I squeeze in, the bumpy walls seem to slowly press on me. I felt like I just couldn't go on any more. But I break free, into a cave with flickering lights on the walls. There is a hole in the side of the room- a waterfall that is glowing and seems to have rays of light coming through, shimmering on the ceiling, as if I was underwater. We all gathered around Mother and Father, who were gatherings close to the waterfall.

"Now listen up," my mother says. "This is the fastest way to get to the Scraper Realm, " Mother places both her hands on the water fall, streaks of water streaming over her arms. She pushes through and is instantly engulfed into the waterfall, as if something dragged her in. I let out a small yelp, seeing as my mother just vanished through a wall.

Father smiles kindly at us. "It's all right, it's all right. Mother just got to the other realm. Now I want you to do the same thing she did; place both your hands on the water and push," My father does just as Mother did, and vanishes through the falls. Trusting our parents, we do it one by one. James, then Luke. And now it's my turn. I place both my hands one the wet surface. I take a deep breath. And push.