Chapter One
I sat up and warned; stretching my arms out as sleeping on straw is not that comfortable. I look over at my four sleeping siblings and my poor frail mother all tried and bothered. I rose from my bed of straw and walked outside trying not to wake my family. The beautiful sun rise shone on my fair skin and the breeze rustled the grass under my bare feet as the morning stared in the Kingdom of Roseopia. “Amber what are you doing?” I turn around quickly to find my youngest sister Willow standing in the door way of the house with her teddy bear being squeezed tightly in her arms. “Come on in side it chilly out here” as I pick her up and carried her inside. Once my father die in the war my mother went into morn, she does not get up of her straw bed she sits up sometimes to eat but the she lies back down. Ever since I have had to take control and look after my family, do what grownups at supposed to do. We go inside and see what we can eat. Once everyone is awake we have so Katniss and a piece of bread but my mother just refuses the food as usual. The horn rings to signal that it is time for work. You start working in the fields at the age of 11. Only Prim and I work in the fields to try and get enough money to support the family and try and pay out debt of. The boys start training for battle at the age of 10 only if they are picked by the knights. Josh has already left as they can’t be late. Prim and I take Spring and Willow to school and then head for the fields. We have to go to the registration Booth to sign in and find what field we are work on today. Jim works at the booth and I one of the nicest people that works for the castle. Once we sign in we are given a stamp on our hand that tells us what field we are on. “Field 4, what about you Amber?” I look at my hand, “Field 2, after work we meet at – I know that tree of wishes” I smile, Prim gives me a hug and heads if for the field. Once at field 2 I show my stamp to the guard and get to work. At about 12:00 o’clock we head for the lunch room. Today is sloppy mince. Once I have gotten my mince I head for my normal stop, once I arrive everyone else is there. My friends Annie, Nina, Peeta and River are all sitting at the long table eating their sloppy mince. I take my seat next to Nina. Nina has only 2 sisters and on mother and her father is in the war with Deepwind but she has pulled through and is caring for her younger sisters. We have been friends ever since the first day of school. We eat our sloppy mice while having a conversation about mice after Peeta to use a story that his Dad said about a mouse that went up his trousers. After lunch it is back to work on the fields till 4:00 o’clock. I walk to the tree of wishes and meet Prim and we go and get Spring and willow. Once we get home I cook dinner and wash Joshes under garments from his armour that are covered in blood. When dinner is ready Josh comes home from a hard day work of training and we all sit around an old table to eat rat and some carrots. My mother still won’t eat anything or get up to wash herself. I take Willow and Spring to wash down at the lake and Prim tags along. When we get back I braid Willow’s hair and we all go to bed. I stay awake rubbing the purple stone on my necklace. The third time I rub it glows. This never happened before. That night images of a great old wise tree, a sword and another world all appear in my dreams. I ignore it and go back to sleep.
Chapter Two
The next day Prim and I take the girls to school and Josh goes off for training, we get stamped and head off for our field. I was assigned field 8 which is the field that the old woman of wisdom always works at. Rumour has it that she knows everything and about very one, about their past and future but I just ignore and say “what nonsense!” Once I reach the field I get to work making it look like I am really busy as I can see the old woman out of the corner of my eye, she does not say anything just pulls out carrots and occasionally looks up.” You are the daughter of Jacob are you not?” I hear the old lady say. ”no, yes maybe- I mean yes” I say stuttering. “That necklace you are wearing, it is very powerful you know.” “Holds the power into another world that only the person that is wearing the necklace came enter”. I purse,” my father gave me this necklace to me before he went to war.” I stop working and look at it. The necklace is a deep purple that is shaped like a tear drop being held by a piece of black leather to tie around your neck.” Where is this other world that you speak of?”” Over crystal bridge, down the lake to rose beach, through the never ending forest and once you are out of the forest you will come across an old, and there the tree itself is the portal to the other world.” The lunch horn rings before I can ask any more questions. At lunch I don’t say much just think about what the old woman said.” Hey Amber are you ok?” Annie asks “Yer I’m fine just tired that’s all”, but she knows I’m lying, she knows me too well. After work I run to the tree of wishes and Prim and I go and get the girls. Mother does not eat again tonight even though it’s her favourite Katniss with rabbit. We wash at the lake and even Josh comes but does not get in. Josh doesn’t like water as when he was little he was walking too far to the deep part of the lake and almost drowned. Sometimes I take a bucket of water and scrub him down but presides that he never goes down near the lake. At home I braid Willow’s hair, “Amber at school Mr Harvey said that we have been at war with Deepwind for two years over a piece of land!”,” yes that is right but the more land you have the more people you rule.” Once I finish her hair we all go to get. I go over to mother and ask her “Mother my necklace that father gave me do you know anything about it?” she sits up for the first time in ages, “On the other side there are riches beyond your dreams but your father never wanted that he was happy and poor.” She lies back down and rolls on her side to face the wall. I go to by straw bed; I lie on my back looking through the holes in the roof and watch the stars thinking about what has happened over these two days. Why me I say over and over in my head, why give me the necklace why not Josh or Prim. They were still quite young when he left so they would not understand. In my dreams that night the old tree comes again but it seems that she is trying to say something. I try to make out what she is trying to get across to me but all I can make out is “Come my dear Amber.”
