Read if you want to. Don't read if you don't want to.
I'm writing so much tonight but tomorrow, I'll probably go back to my lazy self :L Just to clear things up, this is going to be a fantasy story. I would say urban fantasy but I'm not even sure what that means (?). Fantasy in urban areas? Oh and I realised that I haven't even described my protagonist. Oh wells, I'll do that in the next chapter.
“Mom, I’m home!” I yelled as I opened the door to our penthouse.
“Oh thank God you’re here, honey. Nancy’s been running round the apartment in her nappy and I can’t get her to stop! Could you catch her for me?”
I laughed as I put down my violin case. My mom was a babysitter/volunteer-worker/gardener who usually bit off more than she could chew. For example, she once volunteered to look after our neighbour’s kids and then spent the whole day trying to meditate on the rooftop. Needless to say, our neighbour never asked her to babysit again.
When we finally caught Nancy (who was poking her little finger into the electric socket), we sat down to a meal of lasagne that my mom had managed to prepare.
“How was your day, hon?” she asked. “Where were you after school?”
“Oh, I was out… To the harbour and stuff.”
“Great, great. You should always remember to be around water. Water is a part of nature. And that’s something that we don’t have much of here,” grumbled my mother. “Everywhere you look there’s buildings, buildings and more buildings. I mean, how do people live here? The air is so suffocated with fumes and noise that it is nearly impossible for a person to get in touch with their inner self!”
My mom was getting worked up again. Her red face was starting to look the same shade as her dyed hair. I would’ve laughed but it seemed a bit inappropriate.
“Calm down mom. You could always go to the parks,” I said.
“I guess you’re right, Dawn. Plus, we all agreed to move here for your dad. We shouldn’t stop him rising up the career ladder.”
I nodded in agreement. My dad was a novelist. Before, he’d always written his books at home but ever since he became successful, his publisher had proposed that he move to the city to be closer to other publishing companies. I was happy for him. We now had such a nice, big apartment and I got to go to a prestigious school. It was just, sometimes, the city was too loud and busy for a girl who’d always lived near the forest.
After dinner, I tried doing some of the history homework but my mind kept turning back to Zack and the strange, searching stare he had given me. Why did he suddenly seek me out and talk to me? Something seemed off about the way no one had noticed it. And should I even go to the harbour again tomorrow? I thumped the desk in frustration, causing most of the pens to roll off and hit the floor. I sighed and closed my history book. At times like these, the only thing you could do was play.
I grabbed my violin, unlocked the bedroom window and climbed out. Outside were a flight of stairs that led to the rooftop and that was where I liked to play. Because of the height, there were no neighbours to complain about the noise and even if they did hear, they didn’t say anything. I sat on the ledge and dangled my feet over the edge. Sure it wasn’t the safest place to sit, but hey, the view was to die for. All the city lights twinkled below me, stretching out as far as the eyes could see. The sky was dark and mysterious and tonight, there was a full moon. Perfect. I think I might’ve inherited some of my mom’s hippy genes. I tucked the violin under my chin and started to play. The song I chose was an old English lullaby about the moon. It seemed to fit so I closed my eyes and let the song take me away.
Playing the violin always gave me a strong sense of peacefulness. My head cleared the more I played. There was nothing else in the world besides me, the instrument and the notes that floated away on the breeze. Some people thought it was weird that music could make you feel so many things but they were the blind, sceptical ones who didn’t know anything. Music was a sanctuary, an escape from the world. Time could pass so fast and you wouldn’t even notice because you were so caught up in it. When I was like this, my parents would say that “Dawn’s in her impenetrable bubble”. (LOL)
When I lowered my bow, I finally felt clear-headed for the first time that day. I knew what I was going to do. Tomorrow, I was going back to the harbour to find Zack.
