She was nine years old when she stumbled upon it. She didn’t know what it meant or what it did. But it fell out of the sky. It was a beautiful day in Cynopia, and the little girl was playing kickball with her friend. The school bell was going to ring in 10 minutes, and she was losing the game. She hated losing. To her, losing was worse than being grounded. But unlike many nine year olds, the little girl accepted it; she wasn’t one who liked to complain to people. She stepped back a couple of feet, and prepared to kick the ball as far as she could. The farthest she had ever kicked the ball was over the school fence and into the frog pond right outside the school boundary. Then, out of nowhere it fell, right into her palm!
It was a small, transparent, crystal. She looked at it for a moment confused and then lifted it to the sunlight, smiling as she watched the different colors appear and disappear before her eyes. The kickball rolled past her. Her friend Cathy called out to her, but the little girl felt as though she was in another world. Cathy came running to her, “What’s that?” she asked. Mira shrugged and said, still smiling, still holding the crystal to the sky, “It fell outta the sky! It’s so pretty!” Cathy looked up at the sky, and covered her eyes with her hand to shade them from the bright sun overhead. Then she looked around her, passing over the school house, the prairie, the church, the grocery store, and then her restless eyes finally settled back on Mira. Mira was still holding up the crystal to the sunlight, watching the colors. “Mira?” Cathy asked after moment of silence, but Mira didn’t answer.
Cathy waved her hand in front of her face, but Mira was motionless. Cathy looked closer and noticed that she wasn’t blinking or breathing. “Mira?” she tried again. The ground shook, and Cathy noticed the crystal in her friends' hand was gone, “Mira?” she shook her friend. Mira fell to the ground, her eyes still open. “Help! Help!” Cathy screamed, running inside the school house, “Helpppp!”
Lightening illuminated the sky, and the sky quickly turned from sparkling blue to a murky gray. Cathy ran back to Mira with her teacher. The teacher picked Mira up and ran with Cathy back inside! “Everyone! Get back to your classroom. Get under your desk. There’s a tornado warning for our area!” the principal bellowed over the speakers. Mira was still not breathing, still not blinking, and still not moving. She was just there, as though her soul had left her body.
Mira let out a deafening scream as she traveled through the long, winding tunnel of a blinding, vivid white light. She had been floating for God knows how long, and she didn’t seem to be slowing down. She felt her stomach drop and looked frantically around her. She saw little openings in the tunnel pass by her quickly, and she realized she was speeding through the air, except no wind hit her face, and her scream echoed through the tunnel. Mira held her breath, expecting to be dropped down soon, but nothing happened. She was still up in the air. As soon as she let her breath out, though, she fell down. Mira took her time getting back up; she didn’t know where she was. She took in her surroundings, the sand, the palm trees, the blue ocean, the palace, and stared ominously at the dark clouds coming closer. She scratched her upper arm, a habit she did when she was nervous and took shelter under the nearest tree she found.
She sat there, silently listening to the rain hit the leaves. The rock underneath her was rugged and jagged, but Mira couldn’t feel a thing. Or she did, and just ignored it. She was too frightened to do anything but sit there and continually scratch her upper arm, where a series of scratches were already appearing. She was seconds away from breaking her skin and letting a rush of fresh, warm blood seep out. Mira heard a branch snap and jumped up. She quickly scanned the surrounding bushes and held her breath. After a moment, she let out a sigh of relief and began pacing. “Okay Mira, calm down,” she told herself. Another branch snapped and Mira backed up against the giant birch tree and began scratching her arm, again. She yelped out in pain as her nail broke the surface of her skin. Mira stopped scratching and began to rub her arm in a circular soothing motion, something her psychiatrist had suggested to her in an attempt to stop her self-harming habit. Mira stopped pacing and took a deep breath, “It's okay!” She took another one, “I’ll be fine!” She took one more, and closed her twitchy eyes. She felt her stomach drop once again, but thought nothing of it and smiled to herself as she opened her eyes.
“Woah…” Mira exclaimed to herself. She was no longer standing under the giant birch tree getting rained on. She was inside the palace she had seen earlier. Everything around her was a glimmering shade of ocean blue. The blue tinted glass windows overlooked the ocean and the rose garden. Mira ran over to one of the windows and laughed to herself as she looked below, letting the wind hit her face and hearing the wave’s crash on shore. “That’s odd…” she thought, “How could I feel wind when the windows are shut?” Mira stopped laughing and started scratching her arm again. She did a 180 degree turn and continued looking around the palace. She walked past pillars and paintings and pictures and stopped at one. It was of a man and woman. The man had beady eyes that glinted with delight and was wearing a black suit with a silver bow tie. The woman next to him was laughing when the picture was taken. She had on a twinkling silver gown. The woman looked like she could be Mira's mother. She had the same crooked smile, the same grass green eyes and the same wavy brown hair. Mira saw the caption underneath and read the cursive script, “Mister and Mrs. Allan Beoul of Psycolops Isle. January 8th 1999.” That couldn’t have been Mira’s mother. She was back in Cynopia probably still at her office downtown. Mira began walking down the hallway again, when she heard a voice, “Who are you?” the voice asked. Mira slowly turned around, searching for the nearest exit. “My name is Miranda Hernan,” she said quietly. “Speak up dear child. My ears are not as good as they used to be...” the voice said again, closer this time. Mira still could not see anyone, “My name is Miranda Hernan,” she said again, louder this time. “Mira?” the voice said slowly.
He appeared out of thin air, right in front of Mira. Mira screamed, but her feet would not move. Mira crouched down and sobbed to herself. “Mira, darling… do not be afraid. My name is Allan Beoul. I will not harm you,” the man said. Mira looked up to him, and he helped her stand up. His hands felt soft and feathery. Mira nodded. “You, my dear, are finally home!” “What?” Mira asked, confused. The man looked at Mira and smiled, “You don’t remember, do you?” He took her right arm and slipped his through and began walking toward the giant door. “Miranda, you are my daughter. I sent you away 8 years ago when this island was being attacked. You are Miranda Beoul, Princess of Psycolops Isle.” He pointed his strong hand from the ocean to the beach to the mountains and finally back to the castle. “You are finally home!” Mira took her arm back and shook her head, “This isn’t my home. My home is in Cynopia, I already have a father and a mother!” Allan looked shocked. “Miranda, your ‘family’ back in Cynopia is actually my two best messengers, Desi and Mark. I sent them with you! They were to protect you and care for you until you were old enough to come home!” Mira turned her watery eyes towards the man, “Prove it.” Part of her wanted it to be true, to be a princess of such an extraordinary place. But part of her didn’t. She was satisfied with the way her life was now. She enjoyed going to schoo. She enjoyed helping her ‘mother’ prepare her BBQ ribs for the Monthly Community Barbecue.
With a whish of his hand, Allan created somewhat of a magic window. It floated four feet off the ground and hovered closer to them. Mira looked inside, and Allen said, “This is called La Ventana Pasada. It shows the past…” An image of a younger version of Allan and his wife appeared faintly at first. Then the image became more vivid as Mira looked on. She saw Allan and his wife running, carrying a small child in their arms. About 30 people were running with them, screaming and crying out in pain as arrows hit them. A small boy to the right of Allan fell down, being hit through the head. Allan, his wife and two others ducked into a cave. The wife handed the small child to the lady and man who were with them and began to weep quietly. Allan moved his arm up and down in a circular motion, and a door magically appeared. He ushered the man and women through it and kissed the baby on its head. Mira touched her forehead and held her hand there for a few seconds. She turned her attention back to the mirror, slowly putting her hand back down. Mira now saw a little girl who she realized was her. Little Mira was playing tag with the neighbors' dog and running around the backyard squealing with joy. Mira couldn’t tear her eyes away from the window. It was true. It was all true. Allan was really her father. Mira’s eyes began to water when she felt something in her pocket.
She reached in and pulled out the crystal; Mira was no longer mesmerized by its beauty because everything around her was equally as beautiful. “I guess this belongs to you?” she asked uncertainly. “No, Miranda' that is yours. That’s a crystal from your crown.” He said, “It was time for you to come home, so the crystal transported you back.” Mira held the crystal, moving it from her left hand to her right hand. Allan hugged her and said into her mess of brown hair,” I have missed you so much!” Mira was silent, “So what do I do now?” she asked. Allan gestured to the whole island, “You have a whole island to play with. Your mother will be coming back soon; she went into the village to pick up some apples.” Mira wiped her tears from her eyes and said, “Can I go say goodbye to Cathy? She’s my best friend!” Allan nodded and said, “Sure, I’ll give you a couple of days. When you come back, Desi and Mark will join us as well.” Mira smiled on the outside, but on the inside she was thinking of a way to stay in Cynopia with the ones whom she knew and loved. But she still hugged him, “Thank you Allan.” Allan smiled brightly back, waved his hand and said, “Until next time, my daughter.”
Mira was back in the white tunnel. She didn’t scream this time. She actually laughed. She closed her eyes and took 3 deep breaths. When she opened them again she was back in Cynopia, in her classroom under a desk. “Cathy!” she screamed excitedly. But as she got up, her mouth dropped. The classroom was torn apart. There was no roof, and half the walls were torn down. Paper and books were thrown everywhere, and there was no one around. She didn’t even have to go through a door to get outside. There was a giant hole in the wall. Cars were upside down on top of the swing set, and trees were broken in half with telephone poles through them. The tornado had hit, and it had hit hard. Mira cried as she walked through the decimated town. She walked over to Cathy’s house to find that it was hit also. No one was there. She continued walking towards her house and was surprised to see that it was the only one standing in her neighborhood.
Back in Psycolops Isle, Allan was watching her, laughing wickedly. “Now she has to come back… Princess Miranda will never leave Psycolops Isle ever again after she returns.” Allan looked over his shoulder at the real Allan Beoul and his wife behind the cold metal bars and said heartily, “Your daughter will be visiting you soon. Princess Miranda got away when I attacked the island before, but I’ve got her now. And then I, Eric von Schissuer, will be able to rule as King of Psycolops Isle.”