I awoke in someone's arms, I couldn't tell who, my eyelids were heavy and my throat was dry. At least I felt safe and the embrace seemed familiar to me. I feel so dizzy... It's like the whole world is spinning around, and around, and around, round, round...

I felt something hot starting in my stomach and traveling up to my throat. My eyes shot open as the last bit of food I had eaten spewed from my mouth, which wasn't very much. A loud, non-stop, hack escaped from my mouth. My throat stung from the acidic vomit and tickled from my continuous coughing.

A cool, soaked hand was now on my forehead and a cold glass was put to my lips. I still couldn't make anything out, my vision was too blurred.

The hand moved from my forehead to my hair after I had sipped the contents out of the glass. "Rest," a calming, familiar voice said softly into my ear. Their fingers stroked my fine hair as I felt myself drifting back to sleep in the warm embrace.

~~

That night, I had a strange dream. The two ladies from before were there, the tall one and the short one. "You must be careful who you trust..." the tall one said.

"Life is full of surprises and curveballs, just stick to the path," said the short one.

I stared at the two women for a minute. "Who are you...?" I asked.

"No one of importance," they replied in unison.

"You can't trust everyone you meet, be careful, make good decisions that aren't too irrational," the short one advised.

"Listen to your head and heart, pay attention to the world around you," the tall one added.

Then the dream started to fade as I awoke.

~~

The next day, I believe it was, I awoke in my own bed at home, my throat was no longer dry. "What happened...?" I asked myself, rubbing my eyes.

Charlie poked his little head through my slightly ajar door, when he saw that I was awake, he leaped onto my bed. He pressed his wet nose against my forehead and sniffed my hair.

I giggled and stroked his back. "Ok, let me get up," I told him as I pushed him off of me. My hand instantly covered my mouth as I yawned. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, almost falling over when I stood up. "Woah!" I exclaimed. I caught myself and walked over to my dresser to look at my reflection. I looked horrid, my hair was all over the place and my clothes disheveled.

I yawned again and changed into some clean clothes. I took out my comb and did my best to untangle the rat's nest, but it wasn't easy.

Once I was looking decent, I walked downstairs, my mother wasn't awake yet and I didn't want to bother her. I grabbed an apple and walked back upstairs to grab something to read. On the top of my bookshelf was a book I didn't recognize, it had a silver cover that looked a little dusty.

I stood on my toes and plucked from the shelf. There were no words on the cover, but on the first page when I opened it up was a small message, To Zena, my delicate little flower. It was quite obviously given to my mother from my grandmother.

In the top corner of each page was a date, it seemed to have been my mother's journal. I sat down on my bed and read the first entry. The first entry spoke of a young boy, Vyras, my father.

September 1

Today I met a wonderful boy at the park today, his name is Vyras. He is very kind and quite handsome, I can't stop thinking about him, I really want to see him again. I don't think what I feel is love, but I do really like being in his company.

I found the entry to be quite sweet, it's very similar to how I would write about Nawe in a private journal of mine. "Maybe  I can write one too," I muttered to myself. As I read a few more pages, there was a knock at my door. I closed the book, "Come in."

The door opened and my mother stepped inside, holding two things in one of her beautifully shaped hands. The two items were inside boxes and I was unable to tell what they were, but one was very long and slender, the other quite small.

"I see you're reading my journal from when I was around your age," my mother said with a smile.

"Yeah, I never really realized how much you love dad," I replied.

"Yes, I do love him very much, and I miss him every second of everyday that he's away."

I smiled brightly. "What're you holding?"

"You'll have to find out," a small smirk was on her face. "But this one is from my sister, I'm not sure what it is, she never told me," gestured to the long, slender box.

"Tell her I said thanks," I told my mother as I grabbed the smaller box and opened it up. Inside was a leather book with blank lined paper inside. "Wow mom, thanks!"

I opened the next gift. It was absolutely beautiful. The long golden staff sported a light pink orb on top, golden vines spiraled up the handle, little pink roses sprouting from the vines. "It's beautiful... Where did aunt Geraldine get this...? She isn't even a Mage!"

My mother was staring at it. "I'm not sure, could've been her mother-in-law's."

I nodded and gently set the staff back into the box. "Thank you very much for these gifts, I truly appreciate it." I glanced out the window. "Nawe invited me to hang out with him tomorrow, can I go?"

Mother nodded with a small smile. "Sure, why not?"

I smiled back and she left my room.