The Gift Swap (DISCONTINUED)

🦋One🦋

Mirabel's eyes snapped open, pulling her straight from a good night's sleep to a harsh reality. But was it reality? She sat up, breathing heavily, unable to process what was happening.

Her own panicked hyperventilating was deafening. She could hear her heartbeat going a mile a minute, pounding in her ears, and every time she moved, the rustling of her blankets was enough to make her cover her ears, gasping.

What was happening to her? Was she dreaming? She pinched her arm and yelped, but winced as the sound sent a splitting headache along her skull. Nope. Definitely awake.

It was too much. The snoring of her own relatives in their respective rooms was too much to bear. Outside, children were beginning to play, laughing loudly. Why did they have to be so loud?

She grasped blindly to her bedside table, still smashing one hand against her ear, and pushed her glasses onto her face. Once she could see, she blinked in bewilderment. "What...?"

The nursery walls, usually patterned with butterflies, was now covered in squiggly sound waves not unlike the patterns on her cousin Dolores' outfit. Curious, Mirabel glanced to the side and was shocked to see that the nursery now had long extended hallways, which oddly reminded her of an ear canal.

Even more bewildered, Mirabel stepped out of bed and walked through the high-ceilinged hallway. There were many different paths to it, and she looked around in wonder. Even in the room, she could hear strange voices muttering in her head, overlapping each other and sounding like a running river.

As Mirabel walked, the voices dimmed, and she found herself in a large concert hall with hundreds of seats and instruments. There were no people in the hall, but as soon as Mirabel stepped further inside, the instruments began to play.

She recognized the song at once—a quick, upbeat melody that made her want to dance. It was one of her favorites.

Entranced, she sat down in the front row, letting the instruments play, and it seemed as if her hearing had gone back to normal. It was just her and the music.

That is, until she heard an earsplitting shriek that made her jump up. The music stopped immediately, and Mirabel could hear everything again, much to her dismay.

The screaming continued, and Mirabel's blood ran cold. She ran from the giant hall, into the main nursery room, and threw open her door, running as fast as she could.

The scream belonged to her sister, Isabela.