Prologue

“Emily!” I hear yelled from the other side of the plane. “Emily! It’s Frank! It’s so great to see you after all these years!” I look around and notice the man yelling seems to be making eye contact with me. I walk, or it seems, float, over to him. “It’s Frank, don’t you remember me Emily?” “It’s Elly!” I reply, very annoyed that this man who supposedly knows me whom I’ve never seen before can’t remember my name. He suddenly gets a very distant look in his eyes. He seems to be staring right through me. He gets farther and farther away the louder I yell my name. Everything starts to disappear. I scream louder and louder until I can’t take it anymore. Everything’s a blur. I curl up in a ball on what seems to be the floor and close my eyes. The second I open them, I feel the ocean waves splashing against my feet. The sun is so bright it’s unbearable, yet the water is cold. I get the coldest, darkest feeling. It feels like the ocean is going to devour me alive. I quickly crawl out of the water’s reach through the warm sand. I can hardly see anything; the sun is so bright it’s blinding. But what I can see is a feminine figure, some distance down the beach. Everything is very blurry, but I can tell it’s a young girl with long dark black hair. She’s walking into the terrifying ocean. She doesn’t stop. She keeps going and going. Then, a man appears. I think it’s the same man from the plane. He runs and grabs her wrist, pulling her frantically away from the ocean. The waves keep getting higher and higher. He yells to me, “Emily, you have to come with us! You have to hurry! You can’t let it take you under!” He seems concerned, but does not even slow down. The girl looks back at me with her dark, piercing eyes, and this weird feeling shoot s down my spine. Soon, they disappear out of sight. I crawl farther back to stay out of the reach of the ever growing waves, but do not get up. The warm sand and the sun on my face feels so good…I almost want the ocean to capture me; pull me under with all its power. I lay back and close my eyes. “My name is Elly…” I whisper to no one but myself, “Elly.”

The sound of my alarm clock buzzing rips me painfully out of my dream. I wish, as weird as it was, that it was real. Now that I know it’s not, I’m slightly disappointed. I’m…awake. It’s morning, the worst part of the day… It’s time to go back to the real world. Go back to my unexciting, unsuccessful life. I wish I could just stay here all day. I would just lay here alone and live in my fantasies. They’re so much better than reality…