Part 1

"My dearest Julli,

You are destined to do great things, I know you will. It breaks my heart to-"

We are going to stop right there. That part was meant for later in the book. Welcome to the 1st part of "To the Great Beyond", before you know what changed her life forever, you must first know the past...

Once upon a time there was a girl named Julli, who has been living on an island with her mother for the past 18 years. When she was 2 years old, a ship she was on had wrecked. She only knew one thing, the ship wreck had to do with her father. She often found her mother crying on the beach, but was too afraid to ask.

One day, Julli was walking along the beach when all of a sudden, a shadowy figure showed in the ocean fog. As it came closer and closer, it looked more like a ship coming straight for their island. Julli ran to go tell her mother, but before she could say anything, she heard, "LAND HO!" Julli and her mother ran straight toward the ship to get a better look. As the pirates started to get off the ship, both Julli and her mother could tell something was off. The pirates… weren't pirates, they were more like… mountains, monsters, creatures of something told from a fairytale. Soon the clouds started to get big and dark, which was quite confusing since it was a clear sky. The clouds started to circle above the island and a tsunami began to form. Julli had thoughts running through her head, "is this happening because of me? Is a wave forming because I'm unsettled?" For as long as she could remember, Julli has always had a strong feeling when she is near water and even when storm clouds appear.

Soon enough, the so-called pirates left with terror-filled eyes, but a thought repeated itself for Julli, " Who were they… and why were they here?

…

That night, while Julli was watching the waves, another ship showed in the moonlight. Julli didn't have time to grab her mother so she hid behind a bush, and watched. The ship was anchored and had, what looked like, a party happening above deck. Julli wasn't unsettled, she was… curious… She wanted a closer look, but the thought of leaving her mother stopped her. Finally, people were coming off the boat, but each of them were going in different directions. One came back with fire wood, another came back with some fruit, but the last one was… staring in Julli's direction...