Jumping In

They woke up early most days, when the world was quiet. There was something about the warm summer breeze that embraced you.

Dale sat just close enough so the water could tickle her toes. Daydreaming about the sand that lovingly clung to her toes, wishing she was in Fiji.

Bill sat writing feverishly in her little black book. An extension of herself, it seemed. Poems, soliloquies, love letters? A mystery only her eyes knew.

"The view is here, not in there." Dale said, gesturing to the sun as it's glow began to break the waters surface.

The sunrise was always the best part of their mornings. It was once the sun had found its place, far above their heads that they were stuck facing reality.

They worked, a lot. The sisters didn't have time to do much but take odds and end jobs to pay the bills their mother left behind. They desperately needed to make a payment on the house before the bank seized it and they had nothing left of their mother.

Dale woke up in a sticky sweat, gasping for air in inky darkness. Blinking away the clouds in her eyes, she walked to the kitchen and splashed cold water on her face.

4:45am

Dale turned and caught sight of Bills little black book on the table. An invitation? She didn't want to invade Bill's privacy but admitted she was curious to know what it was about the book that was so captivating?

The slightest tinge of pastels could be seen in the sky from the window. Tiptoeing across the floor, she slinked into her faded hoodie and worn jeans before tossing her hair in a bun, tucking the notebook in her pocket.

Just a short walk to the beach. Only the trees are awake with birdsong.

Once Dale reached the beach, she flicked her slides into the sand. Finding the perfect spot near a piece of driftwood, Dale took out the notebook and opened its pages.

"What are you doing!" Bill yells as she races down the beach to Dale.

"I was curious!" Dale says, exasperated.

"That's private, give it back!" Bill says, putting her hand up to reach for it.

As she does, Dale trips, the little black book falls to the ground, opening to one of the many filled pages. Bill & Dale fall into each other as the reach out, tripping and crash into the ground.

"What is wrong with you?" Bill says, looking at Dale accusingly.

Dale just a step away, is frozen in place.

"Hello?" Bill says waving arms frantically in Dales face.

"Wh- where are we?" Dale sputters.

Bill rolls her eyes, laughing "very funn-" turning around, noticing they are no longer at the beach.

"What happened?" Bill whispers.

Trying to make sense of it, she turns to take in the landscape. Lush greenery, a pond and a castle.

Bill furrows her brow, trying to make sense out of this. "Does this place seem familiar to you?"

"WHERE ARE WE, BILL!" Dale yells in frustration.

A look of realization falls over Bills face. She turns to Dale, wincing. "I wrote this."

"Excuse me?" Dale spits.

"I wrote this! It's one of the worlds I made up" she exclaims, realizing they are in one of her creations.

"What? That doesn't make any sense" Dale torts.

To make sure they weren't concussed, Bill walks over to a thicket of ivy and pulls it away to expose a gate that leads to the castle.

It was from an old story Bill wrote about two lovers running from home to live in the countryside. They left their noble lives for life on the English countryside.

"Ok, how do we get back?" Dale whines.

"Let's explore the castle!" Bill says as she pushes through the gate, skipping toward the castle doors.

"Get back here! I want to go home" Dale says but Bill made up her mind. Defeated, she heads for the large oak doors just past the lilac bushes.

Like walking into a dream, they enter a foyer with 15ft embellished ceilings and dazzling chandeliers. It was breathtaking.

They explored several rooms, each one more beautiful than the next.

"It's quiet. Where do you think those nobles are you wrote about?" Dale whispered while closing the vanity.

Bill shrugs, slinking into another room. They continue to explore the castle, finding it filled with the most lavish treasures. Gold plated jewels, fist sized rubies and lush fabrics.

Dale and Bill couldn't resist trying on the jewels, imagining their lives in this castle.

While they took turns in the mirror, chortling in delight they almost didn't hear the voices in the hall.

The nobles!

"What do we do!" Dale croaks.

Looking around the room, Bill settles on a large wardrobe. She pushes Dale in before tucking herself between the discarded fashions.

"What a beautiful day, darling" the female can be heard singing.

"Absolutely, my turtle dove" the male replies.

Dale stifles laughter as Bill peers through the keyhole. "Shut up!" Bill whispers. "This is what you write about?" Dale says through giggles.

"Yes, than-" Bill stops and stares. "Where's my notebook?"

Dale stops giggling and takes a moment to ponder. "I haven't seen it since we ended up here" Dale whispers.

"We need to find it, that has to be our way back" Bill says.

As the sweat drips down their backs and they strain to hear anything, they finally decided to make a run for it. There was a window in the room but it was above the pond. Should they risk the halls?

They decide to take their chances getting wet. Bill slinks out of the window effortlessly. As Dale swings her foot out of the window, she slips, cannonballing into the pond. Soaked and surely alerting the nobles, they start to run.

As they pass the entrance, they hear shouts behind them. "Who goes there!" "Come back here!" They move their soaked frames as fast as they can towards the gate. The sun is setting and they’re losing precious light to find their way home. They hope.

"THERE!" Bill screams, pointing at a rose bush just a distance away. The little black notebook lays partially opened among the thorns.

"What are we going to do?" Dale exclaims.

"Get back here!" What do you want?" the nobleman yells, he’s getting closer.

"Jump!" Bill yells and grabs Dales arm, forcing them to fall into the rose bush.

Screaming, with their arms covering their eyes, they wait for the thorns to retaliate.

"Are you ok?" they hear a voice.

Reluctantly, they peel their arms away from their eyes and are face to face with a child, wearing a bathing suit, holding a yellow pail.

They turn to the East and see the lake with the sun dancing on its surface. They were back home!

Dale grabbed Bill in an embrace and they start laughing. Happy to be back home. As Bill pulls away, a glimmer of red dances across Dales face.

"What’s that?" Dale says.

Bill grabs Dales hands. They look down in unison, blinded by the gems on their fingers.

"That's the $20,000 we need to keep our house!"