A tale of two Sarahs

My name is Sarah Swanson and I'm Eleven and a half years old. I'm laying in my bed, laptop in my hands. My mom and dad are downstairs having an argument over something probably not worth arguing about anyway.

"Do you think I make a million dollars at my desk job!?!? I don't make enough to afford that museum field trip for Sarah!!"

That's my dad, Mike. He's always complaining about his job at the office, and he talks about how everything my mom and me want to spend money on means "one more day that he has to work a job he hates", but he thinks spending his paychecks on beer and cigarettes is perfectly reasonable.

Right now I'm writing a story in my diary about the family I wish I had right now.

Now I think I'll get to writing...

"Once upon a time in a magical kingdom called the Glade, a knight named Randorn lived peacefully with his wife, Claire and daughter, Sarah. Unfortunately for the family, the kingdom known as the Glade was west of a range of mountains inhabited by a scary Dragon. The citizens were worried that one day, the Dragon would raze the kingdom to the ground."

I heard a knock on my door. I answered it, and it was my mom at the door.

"Sarah, honey, your dad went to the bar, we're going out for dinner."

"That's fine, Mom." I said.

It really wasn't fine with me, I wish that he wouldn't drown his frustration in Alcohol, but I didn't want to say that, or else I might make mom upset, so I played along.

I brought my laptop to the burger joint where Mom took me for dinner and took advantage of the free wifi there.

"That evening, Randorn helped his wife cook up a nice supper of Roast Duck, and the family dined together at the dinner table, happy to be in one another's company. But then..."

But then what? What should I write next? Maybe I should check my messages on Log Book until something comes to my mind. I typed the URL for my Log Book News Feed into the search engine.

Kenny went to see "Killer Street Mimes from Outer Space", and says it "SUCKED."... Alissa made the spirit squad...Isaac got a job at the Gas-N-Go...I saw a post that said that Stoney asked Beth to the dance instead of me. We've known each other since his family first moved to this town in middle school. He and I are good friends. He had to have had SOME IDEA that I liked him!

At that point, a waitress walked up to our table with our food on a platter, distracting me.

"Alright, so who ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwich?" She asked.

I raised my hand, and she passed the sandwich to me.

"And you must have ordered the plain Cheeseburger!" The waitress said to my mom.

As my mom and I ate, a feeling that things might get worse instead of better formed in the back of my mind. A Karen throwing a fit about getting a Hamburger when she ordered a "Cheeseburger with no Cheese", helped me to forget all about it, though...

After eating my Chicken Sandwich and fries, I tried to think of an idea on how to advance her story, then I decided on what to write.

"That evening, Sarah went to the knights training grounds and asked Lance, the squire in training that she had a crush on, if he would attend the may pole dance with her. Lance told Sarah that he was going to ask Esther to the May Pole dance with him instead. Lance and Sarah had known each other since they were babes. Sarah liked to believe that they were best friends. How could he betray her? Heartbroken, Sarah went to the willow tree by the lake in her family's backyard that she would sit under whenever she was upset."

I heard the door open from the couch, and sat up to see my dad enter. My dad was tripping on his own feet, and his breath smelled like gasoline.

"Welcome home, Dad! Should I heat you up a frozen pizza?" I asked.

"Shut up!!! It's all your fault I'm stuck in my shit job!!!" He yelled.

Those words did sting a little, but not as much as they should have, because this was NOT the first time dad told me that something wrong with his life was somehow my fault, so I'm used to it.

"Mike, honey, please relax. You don't want to throw up, do you?" My mom said.

"Don't tell me what to do!! I never wanted a kid in the first place!!" My dad yelled.

Those words cut through me. He had never said THAT in front of me, before.

"Mike, you don't mean that! Now PLEASE apologize to Sarah!!" My mom said harshly, for what good it would do her.

"You know what??? FUCK THIS!! I'm outta here! I'm fucking OUTTA HERE!!!" My dad yelled. He marched right out the door, and slammed the door shut. I didn't want to see him right now, anyway, or ever again, for that matter.

I went up to my room. Too upset to sleep, and yet, also too upset to go out if my room for literally anything, I browsed the web on my laptop, until inspiration for my story came to me.

"Randorn had been drafted by royal decree from the king to dispatch the Dragon in the mountains. Randorn left his family cottage that night at dusk, promising that he would return upon slaying the Dragon. Days passed, then the passing days turned to passing weeks, and the passing weeks turned to passing months, but despite waiting for him every day, Sarah's father never returned. One night, Sarah couldn't bear to wait at home any longer, so she set out in the dark of night to find out where her father was. Sarah wandered through the land, searching high and low for her father and the Dragon. She traveled until..."

Okay, now I'm too tired to even think anymore. I'll come back to this in the morning.

The next morning, I ate pop tarts on the bus to school, laptop in my backpack. It was same old, same old at school. That afternoon after school, I walked with Alissa and Hayley to the arcade. They wanted to take me to help me blow off some steam. After whacking some moles, driving a virtual racing car and shooting virtual zombies for an hour and a half, the three of us walked home. On our way back, we saw my dad through the window at a fancy restaurant with another woman. I tried to shrug it off, but the more I thought about it, the more it upset me. Mom made frozen pizza for dinner. No big deal, I like frozen pizza. After dinner, I decided to write.

"Sarah traveled until she found a cave in the mountains before her. Desperate for answers, she entered the cave, and found a large Dragon perched in front of a crystal ball inside.

"I know why you have come here, Sarah..." the Dragon said.

"How do you know my name??" Gasped the girl.

"My crystal ball allows me to see all that happens around me as it happens. I know why you're here." Answered the Dragon.

"I'm here to kill you for killing my father!" Sarah declared.

"Your father is very much alive and well!" The dragon replied.

"What did you say???" The girl gasped.

The Dragon activated the Crystal Ball's power, and the object showed the girl a vision. In the vision, Randorn was smiling and laughing, hugging a woman that Sarah had never seen before and a baby in an unfamiliar city. Sarah was shocked and appalled.

How could her father abandon her?

"Your father lives with his new wife and son in a city state southeast of here. I am sorry you had to find out the truth that way, girl..." the Dragon said, pity in it's eyes.

"My father MUST be punished for this." Sarah declared. "I have a proposal, Dragon..."

"I'm listening..."

"Take me to the city state southeast of here, so I may punish my father, and in exchange, you can have the city all to yourself!" Sarah offered.

"I accept your deal."

The Dragon flew Sarah to the city. Sarah and the Dragon took the city by surprise, devastating their defenses. Sarah ran through the city as the Dragon killed the city guards. Sarah found her father with his new wife and son, and a hot rage filled her.

Sarah beheaded her father, drove her sword into his wife's chest, and took the baby with her. The Dragon declared the city his territory, and took Sarah back to the foot if his mountain range. Sarah walked back to her village. That night, Sarah left the baby at the steps of her parents house, and set off into the unknown, never to be seen by her family again."

After I finished it, I Emailed it to my friends except Stoney, and they all loved it. Some of my friends suggested I publish it, so I submitted it to a publishing company called Pendleton Publishing. A few days later, I checked my inbox and got an Email saying that Pendleton Publishing wants to publish it.

I cried happy tears.