I had a long dream.

And when I woke up,

I was back to where I started.

STAGE ONE: An Unfamiliar World

"Wake up! Wake up its six thirty! You'll be late for school!"

Little by little, she opened her round light eyes, almost golden with sunlight. Tears rolling down her pale cheeks, she looked around and found herself in her bedroom. Posters, books, her clothes drawer, her mirror, her bed… everything was exactly where she's expecting them to be, yet, it felt different. Not minding the nagging outside, she forced herself to stand, palms on her face. She wept, non-stop, crying her heart out. For what reason? She can't remember. But she is sure she had a very, very sad dream.

~ o 0 o ~

The school bell rang and rang. While others rushed to beat the timer, she calmly walked to her classroom wearing her usual white blouse, checkered-maroon skirt, a matching necktie and her shoulder length jet black hair tied in a high-ponytail. Blowing her straight bangs hanging over her forehead like a daily ritual, she walked inside the classroom. There, the furious teacher scolded the blank-faced girl first thing.

"You are late again!" Completely ignoring the teacher, she sat on her seat without batting an eyelash. Her poker face always irritated the teachers and classmates alike. But she never cared.

Class, as usual, went as if in slow motion. The whole time, her eyes were at the window, blankly staring at the big tree outside. She's been intensely interested in it for some reason. The thick branches seemed to be telling her something. Did she forget anything? What's in a tree? But the harder she tried to think about it, the worse her headache became. So she stopped.

"Hey there!"

A group of schoolboys, a year ahead of her blocked her path while she walked on the hallway. She has always been aloof and strange and uncaring, it irritated almost everyone around her. All at once, they charged at her, held her hands and feet.

Something sparked in her. A memory. A hazy one. Sweat rolled down her forehead as she tried to remember, but she couldn't. It was so frustrating, she trembled.

The boys were surprised. For the first time, she looked bothered. Thinking they won, they pinned her against a wall. "Let go." She ordered. They refused.

She took a deep breath and lightning fast, she kicked one of them on the groin. As soon as her hands were freed, she threw a couple of punches aimed at their torsos and faces. She twisted their wrists, and knocked them aside. It happened all so fast that they just found themselves trembling in fear while staring at the girl. They knew she's stronger than your average girl, but this time, she seemed too strong. To them, she's possessed. She's a different person overnight.

"Get in my way again, and I'll kill you." She glared, before heading to the library like nothing happened. In truth, even she, was surprised with what she did. It all felt so natural, her body reacted on its own. She's getting more and more certain that something did happen.

Even inside the library, she couldn't concentrate on the book she's reading. Noticing she's been staring on the same page for almost half an hour, the buff boy sitting across her called her attention.

"HEY!"

The voice of her classmate, Ash, surprised her. He is tall and muscular, almost twice her height.

"You look weird since this morning. Something happened?" He asked while shooting glances at the science book she's reading. She sighed.

"Dude, I travelled to a parallel universe and I left something undone." She explained with a serious face.

"…"

The two of them stared at each other, one in complete seriousness and the other in disbelief. "Dude, you're not sick, are you?"

All of a sudden, she burst into laughter, leaving Ash more confused than before. Closing the book, she smiled. "Yeah, maybe I'm just feeling a bit sick." She returned the book to the shelf and went ahead. "See yah."

As she walked home from school, the familiar surroundings she's been seeing everyday suddenly felt different. The street food stands, she just bought some of her favorite fried squid rings yesterday, but looking at it now felt as if she's living in a distant memory.

As she walked back home, all of a sudden, the familiar world around her looked like a completely different, unfamiliar world.

~ o 0 o ~