The Necklace
By Gracie Lindquist
“Lily, I’m worried about you.” Mae told her step-sister, moonlight glimmering in her sapphire eyes.
“Mae, I’ll be fine. I told you already. College is very difficult, and I have a lot of homework.” Lily replied. Mae let out a sigh of disbelief.
“Come back up here again when you want to tell me the truth.” She hopped off of the evergreen tree and slowly walked inside of her sister’s house. I hope her sleeping problem isn’t too severe. She’s already slept so much that she can’t even sleep at night, Mae thought as she stepped into her room and threw herself on her bed. It was hard for her to sleep, she couldn’t stop thinking about Lily’s problem.
Mae’s alarm went off, but unlike other days, she got up right away. Mae knew that pressing snooze wouldn’t help her get much more sleep. She got up, sleepily, heading straight to her closet. It took her long to get into her school uniform, leaving her ten minutes to get ready. Noticing the mistake, Mae ran down stairs and ate her breakfast as quickly as possible. As she headed out to the bus stop, she wondered if anything different would happen that day. Mae felt like everyday had been so similar. Yet she didn’t bother to try something different, because she always lost hope.
Same boring hallway. Same class doors. Same walk to class. But today Mae saw a short girl with orange hair dash up to her.
“Hi Senshi.” Mae said to her best friend. Senshi gave her a smile.
“Hello Mae!” Senshi replied cheerfully. “You seem a little down. What’s up?” She asked.
“Just really bored today. I feel like everyday is the same.” Mae explained.
“Yeah, I get it. School is so boring! It’s always the same stuff.” Senshi said while giving and understanding smile. They were silent the whole way to class.
Mae knew her class would still be the same. Just a few math pages and lessons. She still wanted to get good grades, so she focused. But she still hated doing it. Just a few more years of this same thing, Mae promised herself in her thoughts. Just then the bell rang to dismiss students to lunch. Mae grabbed her lunch bag and walked to the door to the outdoor lunch room, waiting for Senshi. Just when she got there, Senshi dashed up the hallway to Mae.
“Slow as ever, huh?” Mae teased. She knew that Senshi was the fastest girl in the school, so she liked to joke like she wasn’t.
“Pfft, you know I’m faster than that!” Senshi giggled back, accepting the joke. They both skipped outside and found a seat together, where the view of the trees were nice. They started a nice conversation, but eventually Mae zoned out and started thinking about Lily’s problem.
“Mae? Wake up!” Senshi called, elbowing her arm. Mae looked back at her, tearing up. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Senshi nervously asked Mae.
“Don’t worry about it.” Mae replied.
It was the end of another school day. Senshi had already taken the bus, so Mae had to walk in the cold breeze of the eerie autumn day. She slowly stepped down the path, her headphones playing piano music. The closer Mae got to the gates, it got foggy. It was hard to see, but she noticed a strange orange kitten running up to her. Shocked, Mae sped up, and ran to it. The kitten sped up as well, and caught up to her.
“Hello there, kitty. What are you doing on school grounds?” Mae shyly said to the kit while she picked it up.
“Hello! I am Mango! See this necklace on my neck? I have to deliver it to the new warrior of the Era of Dreams!”
“You can talk?! Am I okay?” Mae exclaimed, confused.
“Of course! Hmm… you look in need of a change. You must be the new warrior! Mrow-ow!” Mango replied. “Take me home, Warrior. I will take you to my world!” Not thinking straight, Mae told Mango her name and headed home. As they walked, Mango’s fluffy mango-colored fur comforted Mae as he told her about the Era of Dreams.
Mae placed Mango on her bedside table when they got home.
“Alright, Mae! All you have to do is sleep with this necklace on!” Mango told her. “Oh, I forgot to give it to you! Here you go!” He rambled on as he handed it to her. Mae hesitated quite long before taking it.
“This looks like Lily’s pink necklace, but this one’s orange.” She recalled.
“Oh, you know a Lily too? Ha! That’s cool!” Mango rambled, again. “She also has a pink necklace like this!”
“You mean, this whole time Lily was sleeping, she was going to another world?!” A shiver of shock went through Mae’s spine. Mango nodded, confirming Lily was lying.
“Well,” Mae said as she put on the necklace, with a smile on her face, “This will be interesting!”