“Raaaaaaaaaain!”

Jessica Halloran thought she had experienced the worst storms before, but they were nothing compared to this. She and her friends ran with their arms over their heads towards a gloomy-looking wood shack. It was the closest shelter from the wind and the downpour. They all crowded inside and pulled the rickety door closed behind them. Gusts and blasts of rain rattled the flimsy wood.

“I told you not to touch it!” Shannon shouted, wringing rainwater out of her long dark hair.

“How was I supposed to know it would light up like that?” Ranko snapped.

“I knew it was magic,” Jessica said, turning the ring over and over on her finger.

“Where did you get that?” Alanna asked. Talitha was sitting in the corner cradling an enormous book in her arms. The lenses of her glasses were covered with water droplets and her soaked brown bangs were stuck to the rims.

“From the library.”

“What library?” Cecilia asked. “I didn’t see a library. We were at Doubler’s and then we were here!”

“I was in a library–” Talitha said almost too quietly for anyone to hear. She blushed and lifted the book to cover her face.

“Well, there you have it,” Ranko said, gesturing with one hand while brushing the water out of her short red hair with the other. “She was in a library. We’re in a shack. What’s so strange about that?”

“I’m cold,” Cici said.

“Will someone please tell me what is going on?” Shannon asked in an annoyed tone. “Five seconds ago we were all sitting at a table at Doubler’s and now we’re in a big wooden box with a door and no furniture.”

“And a book,” Jessica said.

“Oh my goodness,” Talitha said quietly, her face still hidden.

“Whatever.” Shannon folded her arms and sat in the corner with a stubborn look on her face.

“I didn’t get to finish my pizza,” Cici said. “Or my strawberry soda!”

“Okay, either this is the greatest prank of all time or we are a long way from home,” Ranko said, looking out the smudged rectangular window next to the door. The other girls crowded around. Cici stood on her toes to see. The shack was situated on the edge of an enormous green field. Far in the distance, they could all see the flat horizon of what looked like an ocean. Jessica worked to get the dampness out of her blond hair.

“What kind of plants are those?” Shannon asked.

“Barley,” Alanna replied quietly.

“Yeah?” Ranko asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alanna nodded. “That’s a barley crop. This must be a farm,” Alanna concluded. “And the closest farm to where we live is about a hundred miles.”

“Like I said,” Ranko replied.

“We’re a lot further than a hundred miles, I think,” Jessica said. “I never saw that map before. Or that weird symbol. I think it was even different from the one in my fireplace.”

“There was a map in your fireplace?” Cici asked.

“None of us ever saw anything like that before!” Shannon exclaimed. “Now we’re inside the map because Ranko just had to touch it!”

“I just wanted to see if it was solid or not!”

“Well, what difference does it make now!? We’re lost in some weird farm! How do we get back home!?”

“We can use the same map, right?” Alanna asked. She shook her head and then brushed her slightly drier short white hair back down with her fingers.

“Yeah! Except it didn’t have any dots for where we live,” Jessica replied.

“Terrific!” Shannon gestured with both hands, then she slumped back into the corner and sat with an annoyed look on her face. She looked over at Talitha, who was already on page five of the enormous book and twirling her still-soaked hair around one finger. Shannon rolled her eyes and folded her arms again.

Ranko leaned over to Jessica. “Is she going to be like that all night?” Jessica shrugged.

All six girls were startled by the sound of a rattling knock at the door.


Buy | Contents | Continue
Brought to you by
Shane Lochlann Black
Copyright © 1995 - 2023 Palace in the Sky Productions | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use