The moment when everything changes in itself, wrapping over again and again, is uncommonly found and even more uncommonly seen. The few seconds are there, filling up the entire universive and then dissapearing into nothingness, evaporating until they are stuck, flowing one after another, falling, rising and eventually; running away until they jump into the darkest black. Those moments rarely happen, but when they do, they are monumental and change one's life forever. 

And yes, that happened to me. 

 

Moment One:

 

Rain pelted down on the roof of my small house. I was sprawled across my twin bed, maybe a little bit smaller than average size. My sister, Marissa, was on a bed across from me. She was sound asleep, her brown hair cascading over her slim shoulders. I pushed the faded grey wool blanket off of me and sat up. My short hair swished across my face, landing across my eyes. I was so used to having long, reddish brown hair but then I had got it caught in a mess of spider eggs and webs going into the crawl space to fetch our winter clothes last week. Momma had cut my hair with her old garden shears, and the style was uneven and unbecoming. 

Marissa rolled over, turning to look at me. "What are you doing?" 

"I thought you were asleep," I replied sheepishly. 

"You woke me." Marissa yawned. 

"I'm sorry..." 

"Girls?" A hushed voice whispered from the darkness of the doorway. There was a small "swish" sound, and then mother's face was illuminated by the flame on a candle wick. She held a small pack of matches in her other hand. 

"Sorry ma'am," Marissa began, breaking the silence. "We couldn't sleep." 

Mother's face softened. "I couldn't either." She paused before walking in, sitting on the edge of Marissa's bed. "The rain keeps me up." 

"Us too," I whispered, careful to control the volume of my voice. 

"Well, get to sleep...when you can. Goodnight Marissa...Mady..." Mother smiled my favorite crooked smile. 

I rolled over, pulling the blanket along with me. There was some shuffling, and then quiet. Soon, Marissa's snores could be heard. I would have to be silent this time. I didn't want to wake her again. 

I struggled to see, but I couldn't. A curtain was pulled in front of our only window, letting a steady glow of late moonlight in. I closed my eyes and snuggled deeper under my warmth. The bed tonight was hard. I sunk to the very base of the roughly-made bed, hitting the ceader boards. Papa had made the beds when he was still here. But not long after that, he had left. We moved from the big house on main street to the small shack we survived in now. Momma had me and Marissa, our four brothers, Lenny, Joseph, Sammy, and Nicky, our baby sister, Leah Ann, and our older sister, Sarah, to take care of. The four boys shared a room and so did Leah Ann and Sarah. Momma slept on the old couch stuffed with yellowed cotton. Next to the living room, with the aged radio and papa's big, faded, lazy chair, was the kitchen. It had possibly the oldest, most outdated, problamatic stove ever. We had a kitchen table that was close to falling apart too. 

I remebered the day papa had left vividly. It left burns in my mind, and each time I saw one of those burns, I remebered everything. The way my knees shook, the way I was staring at the ceiling without knowing I had fallen, the way my heart pounded, making me feel sick. The way everything had stopped completely. 

Marissa moaned in her sleep. I turned to look at my beloved sister. A deep sweat coated her forehead, which meant she was having a struggling dream again. She had described these dreams in detail to me. They weren't exactly nightmares, she had said, but in each dream she was stuck in a situation that depeneded on someone's life, and maybe it was something as dire as having to escape a tiger's cage, and sometimes as simple as having to take a step off dirt onto grass, but she must figure out the plan and then be free in order to save us. She herself was never in any danger in such dreams. 

I closed my eyes, feeling a heavy slumber creeping along. The slumber slowly crept it's way up my body, touching my toes, my knees, my waist, my stomach, my neck, my head, until it circled around my face and fell over my eyes, going down my arms. With one final shudder, sleep touched my fingertips, and everything was replaced by something empty. 

 

Warmth circled me as the morning sun dawned bright. At first, I was still lost in my dream, unsure of where I was. But my fingers felt the sheets and coverlet on my bed, and my eyes opened to the welcoming familiar royal blue and gold colors in the bed clothes, and all at once I was sure of my position. 

I sat up and streatched, the lavender silk night gown I wore trembling slightly with every move I made. My blond hair fell down my back, curling at the edges, and my slim fingers clasped the pearl suspended from a delicate golden chain resting on my throat. I didn't feel hungry at dawn, but I was beginning to get cool, and only a cup of hot morning tea would warm me. Plus, the fire in the hearth was dying, the red in the coals fading from existance. 

I rang the servent bell suspended from a rope over my head. All at once, the french doors leading into my bedroom were thrown open, and my maid, Loretta, stood there, holding a tray filled with my breakfast. 

"Good morning, Miss," she said, shuffling in. She set the tray down at my feet, and swiftly opened the curtains, letting the last bit of sunlight in. "I see your fire is dying down. I'll have Alexander take care of that right away. You see, he's tending to the castle fires today."

I waved my hand dismissevly. "It's fine, Loretta, whenever he gets the chance. Please, do not rush him."

"But we do not want her higness to be cold!" Loretta protested, fright wild in her eyes. 

My blue eyes twinkled mischeviously. "Loretta, that is an order!" 

She paused, and then we both burst out laughing, our stomachs heaving. 

"What a charade you put on!" I gasped, trying to get a breath. "We're best friends, yet you still call me miss and worry about me when you know I'm okay."

Loretta grinned. "What am I supossed to do, Lizzie? The king would have my head if he found our of our comradeiere."

"Lori," I paused. "My great great great grandfather was the last to seriously have a head. My father would do no such thing. He'd have to go through me, first!" 

"I doubt he would do so to our future queen!" Loretta poked me playfully. 

I laughed, throwing my head back. "Yes, quite certain you are! But, seriously, please share my breakfast. I see you made enough for two!" 

Loretta blushed. "Well, I was mighty hungry, and I thought we could eat together. It is always fun to do that." 

"Yes," I agreed. "It is."

 

Leah Ann tugged at one of Marissa's braids angirly. 

"Stop!" Marissa scolded her, setting the one year old down. Sarah was trying to wrestle Nicky into appropriate winter clothes, but he wanted to wear his summer shorts. The brown haired boy frowned meanceingly, as meanceingly as a four year old could. 

Sammy and Joeseph were playing with their old trucks, wheeling them across the floor, while Lenny was begging Momma for another slice of breakfast ham, when she still had Sarah to feed, who had been busy all morning. I was already hungry for more food. The two slices of meat we were given on the morning usually didn't fill my appetite, but momma only had that much to feed us. 

"Lenny!" I called, picking Leah Ann up and motioning for Marissa to relieve Sarah of her duties with Nicky. "Lenny, c'mere!"

The only boy with black hair in the family, seven year old Lenny skipped over to me with his expectant brown eyes. 

"What? Do you have food?"

I leaned down and whispered jokingly into his ear. "How about you ask momma for a peice of bread." 

"But we don't have any butter!" He protested.

"I know, but I have a better idea." 

Lenny looked as if he didn't trust me, but he finally gave up and shrugged his wiry shoulders. "If you say so." 

I shifted Leah Ann to my other hip and jogged forward. Quickly whispereing my idea into momma's ear, she gave a surprised nod and took the baby from me. 

"Kay, boys," I said loudly. All four trouble-makers instantly stopped what they were doing and rushed over to hear what I had to say. 

Marissa paused, hands on hip. Sarah left the room behind, momma though, because they needed to get Leah Ann down for her nap, and that usually took two people. 

"I think we should take bread, and made a buffet!" I said excitedly.

"What's a buff a?" Joseph asked innocently, tilting his head to the side.

"It's what a horse does to you," Nicky interjected, smiling proudly. "He throws you off and you say, aaaaaaaeeeee!" 

"That's called bucking you dummy!" Lenny said rudely.

Nicky's lower lip trembled. Sammy gave him a comforting pat on his shoulder. 

"Lenny," Marissa warned, her voice low. "That's rude. Apologize. Now."

Sarah stuck her head in. "Mady, mother says to get on with it."

I rolled my eyes but listened. "No more talking if you want to eat!" 

Those were the magic words. The sweet melody of silence returned my threat. 

"Thank you! Now, a buffet is like a whole bunch a food you can pick from. But this time," I paused, letting anticipation sink in. "We're going to..." 

"To what?" Marissa demanded. "Tell us!"

I giggled. "We're going to put a bunch of stuff out we can put on a thick slice of bread!" 

Lenny started jumping up and down. "What? What?"

"We have banannas," Nicky said. "Can we put banannas?"

"Sure," I replied. "Why not!"

"And we can put tomatoes!" Sammy cried. "I love tomatoes!" 

"I want honey!" Joesph cried.

Lenny was silent. I turned to him, ready for an arguement. He smiled at me. 

"How about...ALL THREE!" 

I grinned. 

 

I grimaced at the row of unappealing dresses before me. Loretta cast me a sympathetic glance, but the tailor, Mrs. Flushington, was here, so we couldn't giggle or act like what we were-best friends! 

"How about the rose blush silk?" Mrs. Flushington suggested. "Or the silvery turquoise?"

"Nah," I rejected. "I don't like either of them." 

"We can make alterations!"

"No thanks!" 

Mrs. Flushington's face grew red. "Well...I'll say! You have not picked one dress out from your wardrobe, and you have over fifty seven dresses, plus I'm sending for more since your highness can't seem to appreciate fine beauty!" With that, she stomped out the door. 

"If fine beauty is a skirt that billows out past a double doorframe," I mumbled, "then no, I can't appreciate it." 

Loretta burst out laughing. "Oh, Lizzie! You should have seen old Flush's face! It was as red as a cherry tomato!" 

I snickered. "She going to explode by the time she's done with me!" I paused. "Anyway, why can't I pick out a regular dress like I always do?" 

Loretta's face reddended. "Well...uh..." 

I stepped forward. "What is it? Tell me!" 

"Well...you see...you kind of are going to meet some suitors today." 

"SUITORS!!!!" 

"Yes..." Loretta took a step back. 

"How long have you known?" 

Loretta looked uncomfortable. "A-a few weeks." 

"WEEKS!!" 

"Yeah...I-I'm sorry, Lizzie, it's just...he asked me not to tell you?" 

"Who?" 

"The king of course!" Loretta bit her lip. "Please, don't be mad at me." 

"I'm not mad at you," I said, my tone softening. "It's the king I'm mad at. I"m seventeen and he expects me to be married. I need to talk to him." 

Loretta paused uncertainly. "Well..." 

"What?" I began walking forward. 

Loretta hurried to catch up with me and linked her arm through mine. "We'll go together." 

I nodded. "Lori and Lizzie..."

"BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!" We chimed in unison. 

And we were off, ready to argue with the most important ruler in the world. 

My father.