The Wonders of Ancient Venise

"Stella!"

My mother's voice woke me up abruptly at nine sharp, like yesterday, the day before and every other day. I got up and met her downstairs, expecting pancakes or waffles on the table. But as I hopped off the last stair, she was grabbing her purse and putting on her high heel shoes, ready to blast out the door.

"Mom," I started flatly. "Why did you wake me up if you're not even staying?"

Putting her last heel on and bending over to push her foot in, she looked back at me, a smile on her face. She was wearing her usual knee-length tight black skirt, a tucked-in white blouse, and her black jacket. Her hair was rolled into a clean bun fixed with a brown pin that matched her hair almost perfectly.

"Stella," she sighed, "you can't stay in bed all day. Do something! I don't know, go biking, or take a walk! Whatever just do something other than staying in bed and watching TV all day long."

I crossed my arms over my chest, sighing. She was unfortunately right. Summer had just started and for two weeks, I didn't do a single thing. It's funny how when you're in school doing work, all you want to do is have time to just sit around in your pajamas, watch TV all day and eat cereal at 10 at night, but when you can actually do that, you're bored.

I watched my mom back out the driveway, the humming sound of the fridge filling the void of the empty house. Days felt lonely here when I wasn't concentrated on a series or a Brad Pitt movie. There was something peaceful about watching TV when you're alone. In a way, it sort of makes you feel less lonely.

I poured myself a bowl of Cheerios and sat cross-legged on the kitchen counter, just because whenever my mom was here, she would never let me do that.

I thought of things I could do. Cleaning was sadly the only one that popped up into my mind. The vacuum was passed and the floor was mopped but the attic was an utter mess. The last time anyone went up to that disgusting place was when we moved here, eight years ago. I had gone up there with my dad and walked right into a spiderweb. It had terrified me so much, I never dared to go back. Dad always said he would clean the place out and make a nice area where we could relax, but he never actually did it.

Finishing my bowl of cereal, I placed it in the dishwasher and climbed up the stairs to my room. I changed from my pajama to black jeans and a red sweatshirt, because if I was going back up to that messy place, there was no way in hell that something was touching my skin.

So, taking all my free will, I walked to my parents' room and opened their walk-in closet. God, they're so lucky. Why don't I have the walk-in closet?

I escalated onto the dresser, accidentally pushing a perfume bottle off of it. My heart jumped but fortunately, it fell right into the laundry basket. This was my lucky day.

I used the broom to push on the door to the attic and pulled myself up, tossing all the cobwebs out of my face with the broom. I swung it across the room a couple times, just to be safe. When the coast was clear, I opened the flashlight I had brought with me. The last time I was here, there was no light whatsoever, and unless someone came up here to place a useless light bulb, this chilly place was still pitch black.

The attic looked like any other attic, from my perspective. Old, a wooden floor, cracks everywhere and a large bundle of stuff lying around. I scanned the room with my flashlight and fell onto an aged bookshelf. It was pushed against the wall and books covered all five shelves of it, accompanied by a net of cobwebs. I got closer and concluded that these books were probably as old as my grandfather or even more. Sitting down on the floor, I wiped the grime off the first book I picked out. A whirlwind of dust blew right out into the air when I opened it. It was a book about cartography or something, but without enough light, I couldn't see much.

I got up to my feet and searched the room again. Across the bookshelf was a window, camouflaged by dust-covered curtains. Happily, I walked to it and opened the curtains, revealing an empty window. By empty, I mean, it had nothing on the other side.

"What the hell..." I muttered to myself.

It was a casement window and although I tried to move it, it didn't budge. It wasn't on the floor, it was really placed like a regular window. Why would someone place a window on a wall?

But there was something oddly strange about this.

I decided to open the window, maybe I could pull it off or try to move it. As I opened it, a current of air blew into my face, pushing my hair back.

Okay, what type of joke is this?

All I could see was black through the window but the fresh air was coming through. No matter how many times I tried to process this into my mind, I felt like I was going crazy.

So, to prove myself wrong, I put my hand through it. And it didn't reach the wall. It just kept going deeper and I couldn't see it anymore. I pulled away as quickly as I could, holding my hand and checking if all my fingers were there. Thank God, they were all intact.

Suddenly, I had an idea, as if a lightbulb had lit up in my mind. I grabbed the book of cartography and threw it at the black void. In it went. It didn't hit the so-called "wall" and it didn't come back to me either.

"You're not going in there, you're not going in there, you are so not going in there..." I told myself. But then another part of me, the "see what happens" part was saying, "You wanted something to do, right?"

And that part won me over. Like always. So, taking all my courage, I went through.

The first thing I saw was a tall clock tower. It was rusted and antique, but it was magnificent either way. What was weird about it though was the clock. Its hands turned counterclockwise. But I didn't pay much attention to that, because the sun had taken all my attention. Its rays were lilac, but only a very light shade of it. It was calming in some way if you didn't pay attention to the fact that it was also very alarming. I then looked at my surroundings. I was laying on the pebbled ground and I instantly looked behind me, a wave of relief washing over me as I saw the window and the cartography book opened beside me.

It seemed as though I was in an ancient village. The road was only made of pebbles and dirt. In the far distance, I could see two imposing mountains, towering over the village. Okay, so I was in a valley.

The houses were small, squared and made with brick. They all looked the same and they were so close together I wondered how these people didn't feel a little claustrophobic.

There was a loud chatter that filled the atmosphere. Joyous people chattering and laughing all over the street I had landed in. Looking around suddenly made me cheerful. These people, with their bliss and profound well-being, were so wholesome. Their mood influenced everyone around as if they were all collecting each other's gaiety and passing it on. This was was a rainbows-and-lollipops type of village. Where there is not one problem in the world that can't be overcome and where you feel with certainty that, indeed, everything was really going to be okay. That's how I felt, right there. I had no idea where I was, or if I was going crazy and hallucinating, but deep down in my gut, I knew that I was going to be okay. This village was infiltrated with lightheartedness.

I finally got up and decided to walk and follow the road. I could see it turning in the far end, but I knew I wasn't going to go all the way because as adventurous as I could be, I was still cautious.

"Young lady!" called a man near me.

I looked over at him. He looked near his 70s, but he seemed very healthy. He was wearing ragged clothes with stains of flour sprinkled here and there. He was standing behind a wooden table, where bread, muffins, pies, and fruits were displayed.

"Come get a piece of bread," he ordered. His voice was raspy but instilled some serenity when he spoke.

I trotted to his small market and took the piece of bread he was offering me. "Thank you." I nodded and smiled.

"Good day to you!" He professed behind me as I continued my walk.

Numerous markets like his crowded the small road and children were running everywhere. I took a piece of bread. The taste was so complete, like nothing was missing. It tasted like Christmas and Thanksgiving mixed together. I would have eaten all his bread if I could have because that was by far the best bread I had ever eaten in my 15 years of age. I presumed it was homemade because nothing chemical would taste this perfect.

I continued my walk through the village with the constant wonder of where I was lingering in the back of my mind. Finally, I stopped a small, round, rosy-cheeked lady carrying a wooden fruit basket.

"Yes?" she inquired, putting on a sweet smile. It was the type of smile that made you feel welcomed instantly and brought you some security. It calmed my wrecking nerves immediately. The lady had short, curly white hair and beady blue eyes, surrounded by small wrinkles on each side.

"Hi, uh, I'm a little lost," I began. "I was just wondering, where am I?"

She laughed whole-heartedly. "Oh, dear!" She looked me up and down, "Yes, you really seem to have come from far! This is the Realm of Faircrest, the seventh Realm of King Christopher Shirbalt, established in-"

I stopped her mid-sentence, "Uh, yes, yes, thank you so much."

"Always a pleasure," she retorted in a perky voice.

Before walking away, I questioned her one last time. "Do you know in what country, or city, this is?"

Her face lit up and she smiled a radiant smile. "Yes, this is Venise."

I tried my hardest to keep it all together. "Thank you," I muttered before turning my back away from her. Oh my God. This is very far from Canada. I ran my fingers through my hair, taking a deep breath. I inhaled and exhaled deeply, tightening my fists, seconds close from completely panicking and freaking out.

Out of a sudden, a bell rang so loud I felt it in my throat. Like that feeling when you're close to a loudspeaker and you can feel the sound vibrate in your body? That was exactly how I felt.

Without thinking for a split second - because in all the books I had read, and all the movies I had watched a bell ringing was never a good sign - I ran. I bolted straight to the window faster than I ever thought I could. I grabbed the cartography book in my hand and jumped right through the window.

I landed face on the hard book cover on the ground, exhausted.

The attic seemed to be filled with more light than earlier, and as I raised my head and looked down at the book cover, my eyes stopped dead at the title: "The Wonders of Ancient Venise."