In a stormy, gloomy, forest sits a castle. Inside castle, of warmth and brightness, sits a girl on a windowsill. Hair as golden as the sun, a mind brighter than any other, she sits reading a book and wishing to dive so deep into the story that her world will be replaced with fiction. This girl's name is Annalise. She sits in the library by the warm, crackling, fire surrounded by worlds of books. Her only friend, the only other person she knows her mother  One day, Barrel, a lovely gray little cat, had wandered into her castle and never left. He sits by her feet enjoying the smell of the fire as it dies down and the sun begins to set. Her eyes droop until they close, and her body sinks into the window sill. The cool, damp window presses against her skin. Barrel plops on her lap to sleep. 

The next morning, she awakens with many things to do. Her mother is insistent, but Annalise does not want to do any of the things she needs to do. All she wants is to dive deeper and deeper into her book until it becomes her reality. She rises from the windowsill and wanders down the long, creaky, hallway to the grand kitchen. Pots and pans hang from a shiny, metal rack, clinking softly. The pitter-patter of Barrel’s paws follows behind as she approaches the fridge.  

Opening the door, Annalise grabs an egg. Crack goes the egg, splashing into the pan. She bends down to pet Barrel as the crackle of the egg cooking continues. Oh look! It is almost time for her daily chores. She throws some toast into the toaster, pushing down hard on the lever, waiting for the familiar click! A few moments later, a perceptible pop! reminds her to take her egg off of the stove and the toast out of the toaster. Placing them both on a plate, she heads back to the fridge for the blueberries her mother had picked fresh from the garden that morning.

  Before she can sit to enjoy her meal, she hears a sound from the ballroom. Click! Clang! Boom! Annalise stares down at Barrel. 

“What do you think that was?”

 The cat weaves in and out between her legs before she heads out to investigate the sounds. The doors slowly creak open.The large doors to the ballroom have clearly not been used in some time, and the dust flies up in the air, making Barrel run and Annalisa sneeze. 

She glimpses something near the window through the settling dust. The something is coming in through the window! Something turns out to be a boy, a boy she has never seen before. In fact, she has never seen another person besides her mother, but she does know that there is a town not far from where her castle sits. Without thinking, she calls out to the boy, “What are you doing here?” 

The boy scurries behind a pillar and races to the kitchen. She races after the boy and sees him snag a piece of her bread from the kitchen on his way out the door. He bolts from the grand doors of her castle down the hill, slipping on the soggy leaves. Annalise freezes at the door, wanting to chase after the boy to at least know what he wants but unable to move as she has never left the confines of her castle before.

 Heading back to the library where she fell asleep the night before, she sits and ponders the events of the morning while gazing out the window. She is too distracted to even read her book. Barrel, as usual, curls up beside her, and Annalise grabs a blanket to encompass them. Before she settles into place, the same boy out the window, but now it has grown dark outside! 

She springs up from the window and runs to the ballroom, but this time, he knocks right on the grand doors of the castle. Annalise, in her long, purple nightgown with eyes a seasick blue, opens the door to meet a skinny boy with green eyes and shaggy brown hair. He tentatively greets her with a timid,  “Hello, Miss.”

 She stammers, “What were you doing in my castle earlier today?” 

He stands still, giving no response. Finally, he stammers, “May I come in, Madam?” 

She doesn’t know what to say, so she stands aside and leads him to the library.As Annalise leads the boy through,The castle's eerie quiet is interrupted only by the faint hum of the wind outside and the creaking of the floor beneath their feet. Barrel trails behind, curiously eyeing their strange guest. The boy remains silent, his eyes darting around the grand hallway, filled with faded  portraits and dusty tapestries. Annalise guides him into the library where the warmth of the fireplace softens the cold air of the gloomy night.

They  sit across from one another. She  goes to open her mouth to ask again why he came, but before she cant he boy suddenly stands up. His eyes widen with emotion she can't quite place.

“I’m sorry,” he finally says, his voice trembling “I didn’t mean to–”

But before he can finish, the library begins to change.The walls seem to rippleThe bookshelves bend and twist, and the crackling fire fades away. Annalise looks around in confusion as the once-cozy room starts to dissolve, and the boy fades with it, his form blurring as though he were never really there. She blinks trying to hold on to the scene but everything slips through like water.

With a sudden jolt, she opens her eyes.

She’s back in the windowsill, Barrel nestled in her lap, the early morning rays casting a soft glow through the foggy forest.The is still,the fire long dead, and the book rests beside her. She realizes it was all a dream.  A long vivid dream.

Rubbing her eyes, Annalise stands and stretches. Her mother’s voice calls faintly from the kitchen, reminding her of her daily chores. But as she listens to the familiar sounds of the castle waking up, she can't help but feel a lingering wonder from her dream. For a brief moment, she finally wasn't totally alone.

 She smiled softly,even though it was all a dream,for one day it may come true .As the barrel jumps down from the sill, Annalise picks up her book once more. Perhaps one day, she thinks, she will find herself a real adventure, but for now, the world within books is enough.

kyra haas