The Magic Stone

EEK! EEK! On the beach, the seagulls were crowing, demanding that they wanted to join in the fun; the hundreds of people gathered on the shore and in the water, splashing and laughing at each other. Nobody noticed a young girl with flaming red hair creeping onto the cliff that towered over the beach. Mindy leaned against the caves entrance, located on top of the cliff. She watched the beach with the hundreds of people for a second, then turned her back to them and headed into the cave. Inside, it was cold and eerie, a contrast to the over crowded beach that made Mindy’s throat tighten and her ears throb. Suddenly, a muffled shaking and tapping bounced off the walls of the cave but Mindy brushed it off, reassuring herself it was only a mouse. As she did so, she forgot to look where she was walking and tripped over something. The something was limp and cold, about Mindy’s size. Her heart beating, she flipped the something over with her toe and found herself looking at two clouded, lifeless eyes. Mindy’s heart nearly stopped. She was looking at a body. Her eyes scanned the dead body, from her slit throat to her bloody hands, holding a glimmering purplish-blue stone. Almost immediately, the stone shined, letting loose a radiant blue light that made Mindy’s eyes hurt looking at it. Following her instinct, Mindy reached for it, although, looking back, it wasn’t such a wise decision. When Mindy’s hand had clasped over it, the stone made a strange noise like it was propelling itself forward and she found herself flying upward, even higher than the clouds yet never touching the cave’s ceiling and never being short of breath. Soon, she found herself out of the cave and seeing a sort of beige-colored kingdom, like a sand castle. There appeared to be nobody inhabiting this kingdom but when Mindy looked closely, she found shadows crawling each and every way, raising their heads at her. The stone parked her in front of the castle, in front of the great, stunning doors as they slowly opened…