Chapter One

A dream is one thing. Brush it aside once you awaken from it. But a reoccurring, detailed dream of the life of a girl you've never laid eyes on before, is something completely different.

    Today is nicer than usual. The sun seems to be set higher in the sky and hotter on Aubrey’s pale cheeks. She sits, with her mind a million miles away, on the rock in her solace. Her obvious beauty (that she is completely oblivious of) is tainted while surrounded by such gorgeous majesty that is her solace. A place about a half mile into the woods behind her house. Her Uncle Chet’s house that is.

    Aubrey doesn’t look at the place she lives as her house. Why should she? It’s certainly not her home. She has no privileges that someone who has a house would have. She finds more comfort in the woods. But that would be a universal statement if only everyone knew about her solace.

    It was always the most flawless, most beautiful place. Aubrey thought of it as being invincible. It had suffered many hurricanes and storms yet still went untouched. Untouched by everything but God that is. The place was amazing. If only that artist, starving for inspiration, would come across it. Aubrey mused that it would give enough inspiration to last them an eternity.
   
    The lush greenery would pounce posthaste upon up any negativity swimming in your veins and swallow it all with one gulp of ravenous hunger. The delicately lovely, resplendent purple flowers blossoming below the endlessly tall trees would bestow unto you a most cherished spark of hope that you may, one day, do as they do. Bloom. After hearing the music of the singing brook, you would swear there were the most exquisite and soothing lyrics one has ever written within the melody of flowing water. Only, you just forgot the words. That’s all. They were there though. Of course!  And the occasional butterfly that would land on your nose a you sit on the (seemed to be) strategically placed rock would just send you over the edge of relaxation as you emit a sigh of ease into the lightly breezy, sweet smelling air. All your worries, all your problems, everything, would instantly devolve into the stunning beauty of Aubrey’s solace.
   
    This is why Aubrey enjoyed her solace so much. It was her only proof that there was a god. A god watching over her. Caring for her. Loving her. A god unlike anyone in this cruel world. A god that gave her but one think to be thankful for. Her solace.
   
    After a good hour and a half of relaxing (meditating really), Aubrey pulled the bulk out of the pocket of her jeans. It wasn’t the best camera now, but at the time when her school awarded it to her for her excellent grades (highest in the school), it was. She hesitated before poking the small green button at the top of the camera to turn it on. She was visualizing what she was going see on the screen of her Canon after she took the picture. She then pressed the “on” button and moved to get the perfect angle. The sun in the picture she took just barely seeped through the full trees above her and reflected on the brook that would sing her lullabies for all her life if she asked sweetly. It came out beautifully. She managed to capture a large measure of her solace’s glory in one shot. Aubrey was so obviously talented (so obviously beautiful as well, but that’s off topic) in what she did. Take pictures. She loved it too. Obviously as well. It almost seemed that if it weren’t for her camera and solace, she would be dead. That’s how she acted when she wasn’t snapping shots or in her solace at least.

    Aubrey’s memory card for her camera was very small. It would only hold ten pictures and sadly, she could not afford a better one (couldn't afford anything for that matter). She had to make the most out of those ten pictures and she did. She would take the ten most stunning photographs and upload them onto a computer in her school’s library and then put them on her -thankfully- decent sized flash drive. Pictures on her flash drive were as old as two years and as young as one day. Some were taken in bright places, some in dark, some in her solace (her favorite ones), but they all had one thing in common. They were all magnificent.

    Aubrey lived for those pictures. Her pictures were her proof that she is alive. That she really is living and breathing enough to take stunning photos. Proof that something did come out of her life. Proof that good did come out of her decision to stay on this earth. The only thing holding back from grasping that certainty was him. Her Uncle Chet.

    All of this, the girl, her solace, her uncle, her life, is what I dream of. 

    Every night.

Author's Note

Please Review! I'll return the favor =]

Reviews

[Mr. Lopez]

There are lots of different styles of writtng that i've seen on this sight . When doing reviews , I try to take into consideration the age and possible experience of these writters. I feel that as a young writer , you have great potential to be a novelist. You are obviuosly very talented. You have aroused my desire to read more of your story and isn't that what good writers do? Great work !!

Mr. Lopez

[Mick Parsons]

I'm more interested in Aubrey... getting a glimpse of where she retreats to, I'd like to know what it is that she is retreating from; after all, these two things are always related, and make for interesting stories.