1 A Dream

I stared out the window, watching the rain fall. I heard the drizzle of the rain, the wind howling, and an annoying pest.

"Eva, come out. It's not healthy to stay cooped up in your room and our mom is worried about you."

The annoying pest that is speaking is my "kind" younger twin sister. Her name is Elena Rose Solis. She's the type to pretend to be kind, but look for opportunities to snatch what's rightfully mine. She is my mom's pride and joy.

She inherited the looks of our handsome dad unlike me, who inherited the looks of my maternal grandmother. Elena had blond hair and blue eyes. Actually, you could say that I was quite pretty with my light brown hair and green eyes, however, my mom, who hated her mother, hated me who looked exactly like her. My grandparents were the only ones who treated me kindly, but they passed away when I was seven. It now has been six years since then.

I glared at the door and said, "Shut up. Go away."

"Sister, what's wrong with you? You used to be so... so kind." Elena started to sob. Of course, she was just faking it. As Elena sobbed, I heard footsteps approaching.

"Eva Rose Solis! How could you treat your younger sister so harshly?! You're older than her, so you should take care of her!" my mom shouted.

I rolled my eyes. Were my sister and I not separated by a matter of a few minutes?

"Yes, Mrs. Solis."

"You! YOU! How dare you speak to me this way?! Just starve in your room! See if I care!" my mom exclaimed. She stormed away with heavy footsteps with light footsteps following.

Ah... finally some peace and quiet. As I was quite hungry, I decided to go out through the window of my room. I changed into some clothes that were easy to move in and wore a raincoat.

Since I had practiced escaping through my window many times, I was quite good at it. I landed in the backyard with a soft thud and dashed to my small cottage in the woods.

The cottage was something like my secret hideout and my grandparents had helped me in creating it. Perhaps they knew that I would need it some day.

Surrounding my cottage was a fence, a well, an ice house and a garden that contained vegetables as well as some fruit. Inside the cottage was a small closet, a gas-powered stove, a fireplace, cabinets, a bed, and a bath. Of course, entrance required a security scan of my face and my fingerprints. If there was some problem with the scan, it would require a drop of my blood, but it was slightly painful, so I wanted to avoid that.

Now that I think about it, why would a hideout need so many things? It's as if my grandparents meant for me to live here from the very beginning.

I decided to stop thinking about it and prepare some food using the vegetables from the garden. It was quite delicious. I sat on the bed, satisfied.

Maybe I should just live here. Away from my exhausting family, away from all my troubles. As such thoughts dominated my mind, I drifted to sleep.

•••

In front of me was my grandparents. Huh? Weren't they dead already?

They were saying something, but I couldn't hear them. I read their lips. "Look... at... the... bottom... of... the... closet?"

They nodded their heads and faded away. "Wait! What do you mean by that?!" They smiled and waved goodbye.

•••

I woke up. "A dream, huh? Or was it real?"

It was useless just thinking about it, so decided to go to the closet. There was a small ledge in the bottom of the closet which you wouldn't notice unless you looked really hard. I opened it to find a stash of money and a letter sitting on top of it. I opened it and read it.

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To our beloved granddaughter Eva,

If you are reading this, then that means that you have fulfilled the conditions to access the dream which are to be over the age of twelve and sleep on the bed. The stash below this letter is our secret money stash that we kept hidden from our daughter, your mother. You can use this as you wish, but we suggest that you save up because you will need it in the near future.

We have deemed our daughter, and your mother to be not worthy enough to know our secret. We wished for our daughter to be able inherit our legacy, so we were strict in her upbringing, however, she abandoned everything for a handsome man who she did not even love. We judged her to be immature, however, we didn't know just how immature she really was Due to your appearance which looked nearly identical to your grandmother's, she didn't love you as much as your twin sister.

We were horrified when we found out and decided to take it upon ourselves to bring you up with love. You were an exceedingly bright child, so we decided for you to inherit our legacy. You took on every task we gave to you and exceeded our expectations. Remember, you are beautiful, talented, and smart, unlike your sister who only knows how to be petty. Your only flaw is your self-confidence, but we think that going to a world called Darena will help with that.

Darena is a place where power will be gained through doing what you love which is why we assigned so many tasks. They were all for the purpose of finding what you love doing. To access the world, there's a secret code for the closet which is the nursery rhyme that we taught you. Remember to bring camping equipment, food, and water as well as the small book that we gave you when you were younger. Ask this question to yourself: What do you love doing the most?

Love,

Your grandparents

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