13-year-old Amanda Hamilton just rolled out of bed expecting a normal pizza place birthday, but all that changes with only one simple letter, and little does she know, that it will change her life forever.
Tricked into going to the place called He...
Mom gave the package to me and sat beside me. On my other side were my two aunts, while in front of me was my grandma. "Open it" Mom said.
I started to open the box, but soon discovered there was another box inside. I kept opening the boxes, until finally, there were no more boxes inside, but instead there was an envelope, embedded with gold.
I gave a nervous glance to my mom, who nodded and said, "Open it. Don't worry, nothing will come out and bite you." She said with a teasing smile. Which I returned with a small smile of my own.
I ripped open the letter and, and as I was going to reach for the thing inside, my hands touched something smooth with a metal surface. "What the-" But before I could finish and find out what it was, it popped out of the envelope and started scanning my face, lighting up the room with a bluish light. And that was when my mind exploded with questions.
But instead of asking questions like ,"What is happening? Why is there a floating tablet in my room? Why is it lighting up the room like that? Am I hallucinating? Why is it scanning my face?"And most importantly the question, "WHAT. IS. HAPPENING? !", I just sat there and stared at the tablet with a look that read Unbelievable! And let only one word escaped from my mouth, "Wow!"
"Face recognised, Amanda Hamilton. Please read this invitation, and hope to see you there". The tablet said in a robotic voice, and shut down. What did it mean by "Hope to see you there"? And where is "There"?
"Mom, what is-" I didn't get to complete my sentence because Mom held up a finger telling me to wait. "Give it a second. .."
Suddenly, the robot turned on, but this time the robot's voice wasn't what greeted us, but instead, on the screen of the tablet, it said, Please look into the letter now. Thank you for your time and cooperation. Hope to see you there Amanda Hamilton.
A few seconds after I finished reading the words from the tablet screen, they disappeared, as I wondered where there is?!
I curiously went to the letter to see what was inside, saving my questions for later. I took the invitation out of the envelope, and to my surprise, it was the prettiest thing that I have ever seen! It was embroidered with gold and silver, with a black and grey mask decorated with beads and feathers laid on top of the invitation.
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"Oh my, this time the invitation is way more fancier than last time!" Aunt Meghan blurted out, immediately covering her mouth, than she mouthed the words sorry to my grandma, mom, and aunt Reesa.
I couldn't handle this much secrets anymore, so I literally exploded with questions, "What do you mean this time?! What about last time?! And what is going on here?! Why is this invitation only for me?! Invitation to the palace?! Is this some kind of trick?! Who is Prince Josef the Third anyway?! And where is Que-"
"Amanda please calm down. We will explain everything once you do." Mom said.
I really wanted to know, so I took a few deep breaths and than let them out. This was all really sudden and new. We live in a very small neighbourhood in Canada, and we never really get any packages or visitors, ever, expect for that one time with Florence. Which got me thinking, was I going to that same "Relative's house" as Florence? Or is that "Relative's house" somewhere really different? And why? But than why is this invitation to the palace? I guess I'll have to wait to find out.
"Amanda, I am afraid we can't tell you much, but we can tell you that you will meet your sister there, and when you get to that place, than please don't be afraid, it will be alright." Mom said
I ignored the news about meeting my sister there, even though I was really exited, but right now there was a more to worry about. "Mom, what place?" I asked, and when my Mom gave a nervous smile and didn't answer back, I looked around to my grandma and aunts, but nobody offered me an answer.
"Oh, this is one of the things that you guys can't tell me." I said quietly when I realised why they weren't answering.
"Yeah" Mom answered.
"Will I at least come back?" I asked nervously, afraid of the answer I might get.
But this time my grandma answered sweetly, "Not all the time, sweetie, but don't worry, you'll see us at your summer breaks, and probably if you don't pass the exam, or when you graduate this place, than you get to choose if you want to come back or stay. " I dropped my gaze, suddenly finding a lot of interest in the design of my shirt, and secretly trying to keep from crying, but I burst out in tears anyway.
Everybody tried to cheer me up, as I tried to sink all of this in, I even tried to pinch myself to make myself wake up and realise it was all just a bad dream, it wasn't that I am sad to finally meet my sister, after all these years, that was great! But this, is way too much, and all too real.
I scanned the letter and envelope with blurry eyes full of tears, to make sure this was not for another Amanda Hamilton, somewhere else, but the box in which it came in, had our address on it. As I scanned the letter one more time, I saw something that I didn't see before, there was something yellow sticking out from under the mask.
I reached for the mask and turned it over, I was right, it was yellow, but what I didn't realise than, and I realise now, is that it was a note. And it had my name on it.
