Ordinary

Chapter 1

So here's the thing. I'm average. Not even in a modest way. I'm one of the most painfully average people that exist. I'm not beautiful, but I have nice enough features that I'm not ugly. I make an occasional witty joke, but no one would describe me as funny. I got accepted to a few universities around the state, but no impressive scholarships. I was good enough at sports to make the teams, but I never scored.

I'm average.

I had a decent life. Loving parents, modest house, some average boys were interested in me. There was nothing wrong with my life. And looking in to my future, it seemed it would always stay that way. My husband and I would make decent salaries, own a decent home, and have a few kids we would take care of after we got off work.

It would be a good life.

But not for me. I always wanted more. More adventure, more surprises. I wanted to be impulsive, and do dangerous but fun things. I wanted to be beautiful, and funny, and spontaneous. I wanted to be noticed, and do things that matter.

But that just wasn't who I was.

That's why I loved to read. Because for a few hours, I could escape my ordinary life, and I could be anything but that. I could picture myself as a beautiful girl who had men fawning over her, or be a soldier that helped defend our country, or a girl with magical powers who used them to save the world.

I would never admit this out loud, but I always dreamed that one of the hundreds of books I read would come true. That a cute guy from another world would find me, asking for help that only I could give. That I would be taken to another world, with magic and villains I would defeat, and children I would protect.

I wanted to be important. I wanted to matter.

I had always hoped for my dreams to come true, but I was still very surprised when it actually did.

Well half of it did at least.

I'll never forget the day that my life changed forever. It started out exactly like every other ordinary day of my life. Breakfast with my parents. Cereal and orange juice, like always. They chatted about the news, something about an eclipse that night, but it was just noise. 

I didn't hear a word they said, I was so intrigued by my new book. A dystopian post-apocalyptic novel. A girl described as ordinary somehow manages to save the world. I'd read so many books like it, but they never lost their charm, no matter how similar. There was something appealing about anyone discovering a hidden talent and using it to save the world. I was hunched over my book, eyes scanning as quickly as I could make them go when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I jumped. "Dad!"

He chuckled. "If I would have known that book would make you late for school, I wouldn't have bought it for you."

I looked at the clock. I'd have to run to make it to school on time. Jumping up from my seat and shoving my book into my bag, I exclaimed, "I'm leaving, don't worry!" I chugged my juice and gave my mom and dad a sticky kiss. "I'm hanging out with Elizabeth after school, but I'll be back for dinner."

As I sprinted out the door, my mother called after me. "Don't forget, we're having rice and beans tonight!" I sighed. We'd had rice and beans every Wednesday for as long as I could remember.

The run to school was brutal, but I made it in time. Panting, I sat down in homeroom next to my best friend, Elizabeth. She chuckled when I sat next to her, still out of breath. "Ran to school again?" I nodded and she laughed. She plucked my book from my purse and flipped through the pages. "You could never be one of the girls from these books, you know."

Snatching the book out of her hands, I asked "What do you mean?"

Motioning to my still flushed cheeks, she laughed "You're too out of shape to save the world!" We both chuckled. "Speaking of, we're still going for a run today right? We've got the big race coming up!"

I groaned. "Do we have to?"

She jokingly glared. "Yes. You can't just read all day everyday."

"You're wrong," I retorted, opening my book. She joking pushed me, and our teacher starts calling roll. My book was getting really interesting, but I couldn't focus completely. I steal a glance at Elizabeth and internally sigh. 

Not in a jealous way—I don't think—but in a wistful way. Her striking hair shone in the sunlight sneaking through the window. Her eyes had a twinkle that always made you feel like you made her day. And even though she didn't show it off, her lean and tone physique was obvious. But the most beautiful thing about her was the confidence she had in herself. No matter what she looked like, with confidence like that, you could trick anyone into thinking you were the most beautiful person in the world. Not that she had to trick anyone though.

When the teacher called her name, it was hard to notice that every guys' head turned to her, and stayed that way for a second longer than they needed to.

Okay, maybe I was a little jealous. She's the kind of person people would want to read about in a book.

The school day passed quickly, I spent most of it reading. I had almost finished the book by the time I had to meet Elizabeth for our run.

When I got to the track, she had just crossed the finish line. She smiled when she saw me. "Hey Sam!"

I gave her a confused look. "Did you already run?" I asked.

She wiped a glimmer of sweat off her brow. "Yeah! Just a couple mile warm up." I smiled and rolled my eyes. She was barely sweating. "Do you want to run the trail today?"

I groaned, but I knew I needed to. I hated running hills, but I could use the practice. We ran for a while. Liz was nice and slowed to my pace for a while, but about a mile in I had to take a break. She tried to stay with me but I told her to go on. She eventually complied, and I watched her run off with perfect form.

After a couple of minutes, I started jogging again. The jog was painful, but I pushed through for a while. When I had about two miles left, I took another break. I sat on a log not far from the trail and took a sip of my water. I had sat on that same log hundreds of times throughout my years of running, but something felt different this time. It was getting dark, fast. The rustling of the leaves sounded more like hushed whispers than the wind. I stood up, uneasy. I didn't think I was alone anymore.

Nervous, I chuckled to myself. The heroine in my novel would never get scared so easily. I started running again, but this time faster than before. The wind blew more harshly, and the whispers grew louder. I broke into a sprint.

I was so focused on getting out of the forest that I didn't notice the terrain turning rough. I tripped over a tree root and landed hard on the cold forest floor. All the air was knocked out of me. I sat up and rubbed the dirt off of me. Right behind me, I heard a twig snap. When I turned around, I saw I was alone, but the uneasy feeling didn't leave me. I started walking again.

When I heard another twig snap behind me, I whipped my head around and gasped. There was a tree in the trail where I had been standing no more than two seconds before. It was long and thin, its branches resembling appendages. I tried to come up with an explanation to how it got there, but when it started moving toward me, all sanity left me. The roots left the soil, almost looking like legs. 

I screamed and took off sprinting toward the end of the path. I had never run so hard in my life. Pushing through the pain, I ran. I could see the opening of the trail that would lead back to the school. I was almost there when another tree moved appeared directly in the middle of the path. Its branches twisted out like arms and grabbed me. The bark on the trunk contorted into what looked like a face.

I was frozen in fear. I thought my day couldn't get any weirder, but then the tree spoke to me. "Come with me, Sam," it whispered. "You're the only one who can save us."

I collapsed onto the cold forest floor.