It felt like it took an eternity for school to finish. By the end of the day, Antoinette had gone over her plan at least a dozen times.

The school bus dropped her and the twins off at her home. She took a moment to study her house. Last time she was in it a terrible storm had hit. The plants and shrubs around her house had been uprooted and sent flying…or at least that’s what she thought. The house looked completely normal now. If there was a storm, it did not do any damage at all.

But she did not dwell on the fact for too long. She grabbed the arms of her friends and dragged them to the front step, pulling out her house key from her pocket and then unlocked the door. Inside, the house looked just as normal as it did on the outside. The paintings and decorations on the walls and shelves were in their usual place.

Strange.

But once again Antoinette ignored it and headed towards the basement.

“This way,” she called back over her shoulder to the twins who were still standing by the front entrance.

Skyliene glanced at her brother. Skylar just shrugged and followed Antoinette to the basement door.

In the basement, Antoinette flipped a switch and the light bulb in the center of the room came to life.

“I know it’s here somewhere,” Antoinette mumbled as she searched the middle wall for a keyhole. “There you are,” she said then pulled out the key Elliot had given her earlier.

She inserted the key and then turned it.

Nothing happened.

Antoinette tried again. Still nothing happen. Puzzled, she took out the key, inspected it for a second, then returned it into the keyhole and turned. Nothing.

Behind Antoinette, Skylar cleared his throat. “So, uh, what was it that you wanted to show us?”

“Give me a second. I am trying to open up the tunnel,” Antoinette said as she turned the key again then grunted in frustration when still nothing happened.

“Antoinette,” it was Skyliene this time. “Perhaps you dreamed it all up,” she said gently.

“No!” Antoinette suddenly turned around and looked both twins in the eyes.

Skyliene took a step back.

“It is real. I saw it all with my own eyes!” Antoinette turned back around and tried opening the tunnel entrance again. The keyhole being there was proof enough for Antoinette. “Why would there be a keyhole down here in the basement if it did not unlock something?”

“Maybe it was a structural error,” Skylar spoke up. “Maybe it was going to lead somewhere then the builders decided against it. Who knows? It’s certainly is not opening up to anything right now.”

Antoinette pulled out the key and stared at the wall in front of her. There was no way that she could make up a place like Sekai. Something so vast and complex could not be a simple dream constructed by her subconscious. Could it?

Antoinette shook her head vigorously. No! There is no way I could have made it all up, she screamed in her head. My parents have read me stories from The Zone for years and I spent three days living it. That’s it! The book! Maybe that will answer some questions.

Antoinette swirled around and headed for the stairs.

“Where are you going?” asked Skylar.

“To get the book,” Antoinette replied quickly as she began to ascend the steps.

“What book?”

“You’ll see!”

The twins rushed up the stairs after Antoinette.

Antoinette headed straight to her room. By the time the twins caught up with her, Antoinette had just about turned her room upside down. Papers, books, pencils, blankets, pillows, and other things were scattered in various places.

“Where is it?” Antoinette was talking to herself. “Where is it?” She stumbled around her room for a few more minutes, now looking under the bed before she suddenly straightened up. “The couch!” she exclaimed, remembering her mom holding the book right before the storm hit. She ran outside her room and shot straight for the living room.

The twins followed her. When they reached the living room, they saw Antoinette staring at the couch. It was empty, save for a couple of overstuffed pillows.

“Hmm,” Antoinette was thinking again. “Maybe she took it with her to the basement.”

Antoinette was just about to run to the basement door again when Skylar suddenly stepped in front of her.

She bumped into him heavily and nearly fell down as a result. She straightened herself. “Sorry, I did not see you there,” she apologized before stepping around him.

He grabbed Antoinette’s shoulder. “That’s enough Antoinette. There is no book.”

“What are you talking about Skylar?” Antoinette asked as she tried to break out of the boy’s grip. “There is a book. My mom and dad use to read it to me every day when I was little.”

Skylar’s grip tightened. “Antoinette, look at me,” he said.

Antoinette was still staring hungrily at the basement door.

“Look at me,” he repeated.

Antoinette finally complied.

“There is no book,” he repeated.

Antoinette opened her mouth to argue before Skyliene cut her off. “Antoinette. Skylar is right. There is no book.”

Antoinette stared at her friends in disbelief.

“And even if there was, it would just further prove that you imagined all of this nonsense about Sekai. You said that your parents read the book to you every night when you were little, so you were bound to have a dream about it eventually. Didn’t you use to dream about riding a dragon into the sunset or something?”

Antoinette froze. Yes, that was her favorite dream. She shared it with Skyliene once.

Skylar released his grip on Antoinette. “Mason has been harassing you more than usual lately,” he offered. “Maybe the stress of it has gotten to you.”

Antoinette stared at her feet. Had she dreamed it all up? Was that even possible?

I guess it is. I have listened to the stories for so long now…

She thought about it for a few moments. Then she remembered something. “What about Sekai?” she asked. “Sekai is not mentioned in the book at all.”

The twins exchanged glances.

“You probably imagined that too. It’s not impossible. You don’t have to read a book to dream.” It was Skylar who said that.

Antoinette shook her head in disbelief. She thought about her mother. “What about my mom? I haven’t seen her in three days.”

“You talked about your mom just yesterday remember? She was upset about something and you felt like it was your fault,” Skyliene pointed out. “Three days hasn’t passed since then. She is probably at work right now.”

“But the portals between the two worlds warp time in such a way so that when I was in The Zone, only a few hours passed by here,” Antoinette said.

“No,” Skylar responded. “That was just probably your subconscious trying to explain a scientific concept. Dreams usually don’t last more than a minute, though they feel much longer when we are actually dreaming them.”

Suddenly Antoinette felt very stupid standing there in the middle of her living room, trying to prove to her best friends the existence of some fantasy world.

The condition of the house flashed into her mind. The monstrous storm that she claimed hit her home left no evidence. There had been no storm.

Sometime during her guilt trip Antoinette dimly remembered the watch that Elliot gave her to transform her into her Sekai uniform, but she could not bear the humiliation of being wrong again.

“Sorry guys,” she finally said, “for bringing you here. You probably have other things to do today, and I just wasted your time.”

“That’s alright Antoinette,” Skyliene said placing a comforting hand on Antoinette’s back. “We have all the time in the world for you.”

“Yeah,” Skylar piped up. “It’s not like we actually do our homework.” He gave a wide toothy grin.

Antoinette could not help but to smile back. “Thanks guys,” she hugged her friends, “for everything.”

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 About the Author
I was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in the fine city of Montgomery, Alabama. All I knew was that I had a ridiculously wild imagination, and that preserving some of my fantasy adventures on paper would help let them last longer. Sadly, my first attempt at this ended in an unfinished work. The Legend of the Con: The Untold Truth never passed the first chapter. I was in the sixth grade at the time and so lacked the patience to sit down and write a full-length novel. Fast forward a few years and the inspiration to write entered my life once more. This time, I had friends who also loved books to keep me motivated. Thus, The Zone was born.