• I woke-up; I was lying on a floor that was slightly warm. I stood up carefully and inspected myself. My right arm had the number 6021 printed on it in clack ink. I looked around and saw an unflattering white robe hanging on a hook. I slipped into it quickly and as I pulled it tight the world around me changed. Suddenly I was surrounded by mirrors. I looked into the mirror straight ahead of me and saw my reflection. I was thin and slender. I had long legs that seemed to go on for miles. My skin was white as ivory and my eyes were and electric green. My hair was black as pitch and in loose ringlets. My hair went down to my shapely hips and trailed over my large breasts. The contrast between my dark hair and my light skin almost made me look sickly. As I inspected myself closer I saw that my cheeks were a continuously a shade of light pink and that my lips stayed red as rose petals. I licked my lips to see if the color would fade and tasted raspberries but the color didn’t change. I looked down and inspected my hands to see long slender fingers that seemed meant to play and instrument. I inspected my right arm again to see the number 6021 again. I rubbed my thumb against the number to see if it would fade or smudge but it didn’t change. Once I had decided I liked the way I looked a hallway appeared with two white doors at the end. As I walked closer to the doors they began to open. When I reached the end of the hall I flung open the doors. Inside the doors were rows and rows of clothes. I walked through the rows of clothes and found a white long sleeved shirt that fit my body well. I draped the shirt over my arm and began looking for bottoms. I found a loose skirt that would spin out widely if I twirled in a circle. I let the robe drop to the floor and put my new clothes on over my under-clothes. When I was dressed the world changed again and now I was surrounded my other people. An old man approached me, “Good you’re dressed and ready. Show me your arms.” I held out my arms obediently; first he took my left arm and flipped it quickly rolling up my sleeve as he did. After looking at it quickly he pulled down my sleeve and checked my right arm. “You’re off to the stars my dear. You should be very happy. You’re one of the lucky few who get to dwell among the stars.” I smiled at the thought of stars. They seemed to have a strange appeal. “What does the number on my right arm mean?” I asked. “Some one who enters or is in this realm will have the same number on their arm as you. They will be your soul mate. Now if you’ll excuse me I must go attend to more pressing matters.” And with that the old man left. I started walking forward slowly and the world around me began to change at the speed I moved. Soon I was running as fast as I could and I was surrounded by stars. And, though I knew I was where I was supposed to be I felt the need to keep running. People flew by me as I kept my body moving. Soon I no longer saw anyone and the stretch of stars seemed to go on to no end. I was running gout of energy quickly but I had the urge to keep running. Soon I was so exhausted I fell to the floor of stars panting. I kept the side of my face pressed to the floor. I closed my eyes and felt a cal spread through my body.
    I opened my eyes slowly and a small bright light was coming from a glowing circle that seemed to be a hole in the stars. I crawled closer to the hole and looked through it. I saw a small, young, blonde haired, blue eyed boy. He was crying for his mother and it was dark around him. The boy was sitting in front of a tree that almost seemed to be glowing. Hours passed by and the boy cried harder as it got darker and the wild animals started prowling toward him. He was now screaming and still his mother hadn’t found him. I suddenly felt and urge to save this young beautiful boy. I longed for this boy’s mother to find him and save him from the beasts of the wild. Almost as if by magic a woman burst through the brush surrounding him and pulled the crying boy into her arms, “Oh James! I’m so glad I finally found you.” The woman cried. “I wanted to see our tree Mommy” James said to her. “You should have asked me to go with you honey” the woman crooned to James. “You were fighting with daddy” James mumbled. The woman’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Let’s go home honey. Daddy and I will clear out the brush around our tree tomorrow. That way you won’t get confused. Okay honey?” the woman said to James. He nodded and the woman carried James out of my view. I pulled away from the glowing hole and as I took a step back the small amount of energy I had was taken and I fell back to the floor.
    I was groggy when I woke up again. The hole wasn’t glowing as brightly as it had been before and it seemed to be a little larger. I looked through the hole and saw only the glowing tree. It had grown at least a foot higher and was covered in green leaves. I took a step back and felt a little tired but nothing I couldn’t handle. I reached out to touch the hole and my finger reached through. I pulled back my hand immediately and inspected my hand. It seemed not to have changed but it felt warmer. I reached my hand out to the hole again and put my arm through as far as it would go. I could fit my arm up to my shoulder into the hole and I still had a little more room. It seemed as though the hole was draining my energy and I slowly pulled my arm out. I lay on my back wondering what the realm through this hole was like other than the small area I could see. Suddenly the hole started glowing more brightly. I stood up and looked through the hole to see the child James standing under the tree holding a bottle of clear liquid.