Shadow World
Naira ran down the sidewalk as the bullies from her school chased her. She stopped when she saw another boy from her school appear around the corner in front of her. She was ambushed. With no other choice left, she ran into the park on her right. Pigeons scattered in the air as she ran over the grass. She could hear the bullies shouting names behind her, their voices growing louder. They were catching up to her. She ran into a cluster of trees.
“She’s in there!” Come on!” one of them shouted behind her. Frightened, she ran faster. If only she could get away from there. Someplace far away.
Suddenly she fell. She stood up at once to run again. She froze. She was not in the park anymore. In fact, she was in a place she had never been in before.
All around her were towering grey pillars encased in patches of dense foliage. She was standing on one such structure, with grass at her feet and a small copse of trees behind her. Inching towards the edge, Naira looked down and was confronted by a six hundred foot drop. Her knees were suddenly weak. She sank down in the grass and stared at the alien mountains before her. She had seen a picture of them in her friend’s cellphone. They were the mysterious sandstone mountains of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. She was in China.
Her mind raced. She tried to remember exactly what happened, searching for clues to explain how she appeared here. She was running away from the bullies. While desperately running through the park, she was wishing she could go someplace far away. Had her wish come true? Was it possible for another wish to come true? She closed her eyes and wished she was back home. She opened her eyes. She was still on the strange mountain.
Suddenly the wind howled, its sheer force nearly pushing her over the edge. She scrambled towards the trees for cover; her hair whipping across her face, nearly blinding her. The sun retreated behind gloomy clouds. Thick mist swirled into view, drowning the surrounding pillar-mountains in its grey waves. The temperature dropped drastically, Naira was shivering within minutes. It was unnatural. Weather was never supposed to change so rapidly.
A shadow flew by. Was it a branch? Or an entire tree? Another shadow zoomed by. Naira squinted hard. Numerous shadows were flying around her. One missed her by inches. She gasped. She had seen dark, gnarly, decaying fingers reach out to her. These shadows were no trees.
The phantoms were encircling her, drawing nearer and nearer. Frightened, Naira backed against a tree trunk and her hand found a sharp rock. She clasped it and squinted at a phantom diving towards her.
“Go away!” she shouted. Suddenly she felt heat sear her forehead. The phantom stopped and she could see rays of cerulean light flash out of its eyes. The phantom pushed forward and Naira felt as though an invisible wall was forcing her back against the tree. She wished she could strike the phantom away.
“Leave me alone!” she yelled. The weight subsided slightly and the phantom receded. Naira willed for the phantom to leave. The weight was lifting. She felt as though she was physically pushing it away. The phantom was now retreating.
Finally it turned and withdrew into the mist. Naira felt the heat disappear from her forehead. The other phantoms darted by. But their numbers were dwindling. The wind was slowing and the fog began to melt away as the sun spilt its light over the mountains. A heartbeat later, all was warm and silent.
Relief flooding in her, Naira stood up, closed her eyes and turned her face upwards; enjoying the sun’s warmth. Moments later she heard a rustle that drew her attention. She was startled to see a boy and a girl standing before her. They were both around her age, dressed in casual clothing and wearing cheerful expressions, especially the girl.
“Hi!” she said. “I guess you’re worried being here all alone. Don’t worry, you’re safe now. We’ll help you out. I’m Sara by the way. We are in Shadow World, which looks exactly like our world, but it’s empty and only a few people have the power to come here, people like you and me. In fact, we can show you around right now.”
“Wait, but what about those strange creatures?” Naira asked. “What if they come back?”
“Which creatures?” the boy said.
Naira told them about her encounter with the phantoms.
“Wow!” Sara said after Naira finished. “You’re very powerful. You defeated a swarm of phantoms on your first day here! Yes, that’s what those creatures are. They exist in Shadow World but sometimes they can spread their dark power into our world, they cause fear and destruction among our people. That’s why we come to Shadow World to fight them. We’re Phantom Hunters and it’s our job to protect our world. You should meet all the other Phantom Hunters. And train to use you powers more efficiently, although you’re pretty good already. So what do say? Ready to join us Phantom Hunters and save our world from phantoms?”
Despite the information overload, Naira smiled.
“Let’s do this.”