Look to the left.

Look to the right.

Everything is back to normal

Must've been dreaming.

I wish

That it

Were real.

"Aluma?" Mom is calling from downstairs. "You awake?"

"Yeah!" I call, with a voice still groggy from lack of sleep. Kaynin probably heard I was awake, in which case, he came running into my room, squeezed me around my waist, said "G'morning Luma!" and sped off to play outside. In the hurry to rush out of my room, he had left Charlie behind. The stuffed jackalope looked up at me with shiny black eyes. 

"Kaynin, you left Charlie in my room!" But he already left.

I took the fuzzy brown toy, and placed it carefully in my cross-body purse. I took the bag, slung it over one shoulder, and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning Aluma," says Mom from behind a cauldron. From the looks of it, the bubbling contents of the big brass pot appeared to be some sort of oatmeal, or grits.

"What is that?" I ask, wrinkling my nose up at the lumpy, white... uh... stuff.

"Oatmeal and Zyphyl eggs." An image of the snakelike creature popped up in my head. I remembered that Zyphyls were reptilian creatures, with multicolored scales that can blend in with it's surroundings. From what I recall from science class, Zyphyl egg yolks have a very distinct flavor, like basil, tomatoes, and a hint of cilantro. 

Besides the strong stench, the Zyphyl eggs tasted pretty good in the oatmeal.

"Jeez, what's got into Kaynin? He's never been so excited to play with the neighbors before." Pondering this thought for a while, I walked over towards the front door to check up on the little speedster. For a split second, I didn't see him anywhere. Then, a blurry mass came rocketing towards the house. Towards me.

"Kaynin!!!!" The force of impact was enough to knock me down the basement stairs.

Round and round went the life as I knew it. And came to an abrupt THUD.

"Oh, oh... gaaaah..."It felt bad, so I went to the mirror in the bathroom to check it out. There was a swollen bump on my head, purple and aching.

"Nnnnnnngh!" I groaned, biting my lip. Strange thing was though, Mom had not bothered to come see if I was okay. There I stood, confused, and dizzy, and aching. And then distracted.

There was a glimmer of something shiny, reflecting light off of the only window in the basement. Thinking it was just my imagination, I ignored it. Yet somehow it called to me, no, begged me to come.

I suppose I hit my head harder than I had thought.

The shining object begged again, asking for me to "come closer"

Slowly, cautiously, I inched forward.

The closer I got, the more detail I could see. I could see a necklace, with a pendant. The pendant was spherical, in the shape of the sun, and had hues of yellow, orange, pink, and a hint of purple. More examination, and I realized, concealed inside the round charm, was a tiny glowing orb, the size of a small blueberry.

Beside it, lay a tattered, yellowed scrap of paper. Scrawled on it looked like some sort of poem.

By looking at the title, already I could tell this paper was important.

After all, it did say:

Prophecy of Light