The Forgotten Locket: Chapter One

Chapter one of The Forgotten Locket.

CHAPTER ONE

A flurry of thousands and thousands of rainbow wings fluttered above my eyes. Each wing was beating and pulsing like a little heartbeat. I could feel my smile grow from ear-to-ear as I reached my hand up into the ocean of pulsing color and felt the ebb of every little wing beating against my fingers; the cloud of flutters rose into the blue sky and floated away from me.

“Anita-chan, Anita-chan!” cried a little boy’s voice from behind me. I turned and saw him, a boy about the age of three, his golden eyes shining with courageous curiosity. He ran up with his hands cupped around something and knelt down beside me on the hill.

“Look what I caught for you, Anita-chan. Look,” he said, opening his hands and showing me a little creature that had wings just like the ones in the fluttering cloud that had passed me. “It’s a butterfly.”

I looked up at him and stared at his smile, then back down at the little butterfly. I reached out my hand to gently feel its wings, but it suddenly fluttered and hopped out of his grasp into the breeze.

“Hey!” the boy called as it flew away towards the cloud of others, far down the valley. “Aw, your present got away.”

He sat down cross-legged and frowned as he watched it flow with the breeze, farther and farther from the hill we sat on. I watched it, too, wishing that I could’ve felt its little wings before it flew away.

“Nii-chan,” I squeaked, my voice, for some reason, not quite in full process. “Nii-chan.”

The boy sprang up from where he sat, his eyes widened in amazement.

“Anita! You said a word! Your first word!” he exclaimed. He grabbed my hand into his and pulled me down the hill to a little house in the distance; I tried to keep up, but my legs felt weak and scrawny.

“Mommy! Mommy! Anita said her first word!” he cried, pulling open the door. “Mommy!”

There was nobody in the kitchen, and the whole house echoed nothing but silence. The boy held my hand as we stood in the kitchen.

“Mommy?” he said, his voice becoming a little bit quieter. “Mommy, where are you?”

The boy let go of my hand, told me to wait right there, and ran up the stairs of the house. I just waited and listened. There was nothing I could hear.

Suddenly, from behind me, I felt someone touch my shoulder and I...

 

 

“Hey, miss, wake up,” came a loud, unpleasant voice. “The plane has landed and you need to get off.”

“Wha...?” I groaned, blinking the sand out of my eyes and stretching my arms. A man in a flight attendant’s uniform was gently shaking my shoulder and didn’t look very happy.

“Oh, sorry,” I muttered. He just grumbled and continued down the hallway.

I guess I slept through the whole flight, I thought. At least that’s better than being bored the entire time.

I didn’t even bother to bring a carry-on, so I just got up, brushed myself off, and walked off of the plane. All I had to do now was get my luggage and find a lady who would be introducing me to Amestris. Her name was Kimi, I think.

My stomach growled madly as I walked past the mobs of people with my hands shoved into my pockets. My mind began to wander and I sat down on a bench. I tried to spot my luggage that was rotating on the baggage claim rack. There were kids running all around me with delicious-looking sweets and candies. I hoped that Kimi would buy me dinner once I found her.

 

 

“Anita Romano?” called a young woman, who looked about the age of nineteen or twenty. I nodded as she held out her arm and shook my hand. “My name is Kimi Fujimoto. I’ll be showing you to your new house and getting you started here in Amestris.”

“Thanks,” I said. “What time is it here?”

“It’s an eight hour difference from Italy, so it’s around 11 PM here. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually get completely over the jet lag after a few weeks,” Kimi mused. My stomach growled fiercely.

I’ll get something to eat in a minute! I thought. Kimi looked at her watch quickly and told me that we should be hurrying to my new house so I could settle in and get something to eat.

“That’d be wonderful, but I don’t have anything in my fridge to eat. I’ve never even been to this house yet,” I said, picking up my suitcases.

“I took care of that; I’ve already stocked it and mostly furnished the house to save you the trouble,” Kimi said as we headed to the parking ramp. “Maybe it’s because your grandma might have paid me extra, but who’s keeping track of that stuff?”

At least this lady isn’t a complete jerk. Maybe it was a good choice to come to Amestris, I thought. It seems like it’s all working out so far...

 

 

I scarfed down the pastries that Kimi had left me in plastic wrap on the top shelf of my new fridge. My new two-level house had a quaint little kitchen, two bathrooms, a big bedroom with an office desk and a balcony, and a guest room. It was even better than I had expected.

It’s lucky that Nana had that huge fund saved up for me, I thought. But I wonder how she came into all that money in the first place.

I swallowed the last of the treats and put the dirty plate in my new sink. It looked so out of place to have a dirty dish in the middle of my clean, brand-new house, so I gave in and washed it right away. Afterward, I put the plate back with the china set that had already been in the cupboard. What else could Kimi have already put into this house?

It seems like there’d already been someone living here, seeing as it’s already fully-stocked with furniture and things. Is the bedroom even ready?

I looked at the wall clock, which read 12:07 AM. I knew that I should have been going to bed soon, but I wasn’t even tired yet. Maybe I’d take some sleeping pills and try to get used to the new time schedule. But it was still the weekend...

 

 

“Wow, it’s so big!” I thought out loud, standing in the middle of my new bedroom. It was huge, complete with a queen-sized bed with a floral pattern quilt and spread, a big open balcony with two lounge chairs, a walk-in closet, an antique dresser, and even a desk. It was so much bigger than my room back at home. I looked all around the room, which was lit by a few candles, and I even saw a telephone on my wall. It was way too good to be true.

This is so cool, I thought, collapsing onto my new bed in my nightgown. I can’t wait to unpack and explore this whole town.

Through my excitement, I had that nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew that there was something missing. Something huge.

Reviews

[lynne]

I loved the dream, because it was so intense and well written. Wonderful work ^^

[Keevan]

OMG CHILD ABDUCTION!

And I think big brother is "Onii-san" or "Nii-san". "Onee-chan" or "Nee-chan" is big sister lol.