––––––––
It didn't register right away, because we had a talking dog and a magical world and all that, but we were different too.
Madelynne had wings... and a sword! She looked life a fairy.
Bella had pointy ears and could make fire from her hands and feet.
Wow! I looked down at myself and laughed out loud. I looked like me, but not. More like a superhero version of myself, with swirly rainbows coming out of my hands. Cool!
We didn't know what we were supposed to do, so we just explored. There were things I already knew about but loved seeing for real—like the crazy flowers. Then there were things I didn't think I could've imagined if I'd tried—like the red, flying spider-like thingies. They creeped me out! One almost landed in my hair, and I screamed louder than I'd ever screamed before.
But even magical worlds got super boring when you'd been walking for what felt like forever! The world looked the same, no matter where we went.
"I'm tired. Can we stop? I need food and something to drink."
Madelynne plopped onto the grass. "Me too."
Bella looked ready to travel the whole gigantic planet... by foot, without a break! She sighed. "Okay, we can rest. But we should get going again soon."
"Why? Where are we even going?" I asked.
They all looked at me.
TayTay laid his head on Madelynne's lap. "This is your world, kiddo. Only you know that."
What? How was I supposed to know where we were going? I was only 5 years old. This was so unfair!
I lay down on the grass, closed my eyes, and wished hard for water and food. Something yummy, like Mommy's gluten-free pancakes or Daddy's chicken stir-fry.
I must have fallen asleep, because big fat raindrops landing on my face woke me up. "Great, it's raining now. And I don't even have a coat!"
My sisters and TayTay woke from their naps and looked around.
I stood up and stretched like Daddy showed me. "We should find somewhere to hide, like a cave or something."
Bella smiled. "That's a good idea! Let's go."
They all started following me, which freaked me out. I remember Mommy teaching us meditation and stuff, so I tried to meditate. I made my mind relax and tried not to think about my hungry belly, or how scared I was, or how much I missed my house. I made my mind empty, and I made my muscles stop being so tense and shaky.
Okay, weird world, which way do we go?
Something pulled at me, but it didn’t hurt. It was like when my best friend at school pulled on my hand to lead me to the playground to play at recess. So I followed that tug.
As we walked, things started to change. Dead flowers and trash covered patches of the grass. It made me sad to see, but I kept following the tug until we heard the trickling of water.
Then we saw it—a beautiful apple tree with bright purple—purple?—apples standing next to a stream with fresh clear water. But that wasn’t even the most amazing thing.
Drinking out of the stream was a real, live Unicorn!
TayTay walked up to the Unicorn and bowed his head. The Unicorn leaned down to TayTay and touched him with its glowing white horn. TayTay glowed white for a second, then looked normal again. We all stood there stunned.
"Don’t be afraid," the Unicorn said. "Come closer." Her voice sounded like bells splashing in waves.
We shuffled closer.
"My name is Rosabel. You must be Lexie, Bella and Madelynne."
I looked into her large, violet eyes. She was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. "How did you know our names?" I couldn’t believe I was even able to talk!
"Your friend has shown me the truth of you," she said, indicating TayTay. "You are here from another world, seeking lessons only this world can provide."
"We are?" Bella asked.
Rosabel nodded. "Especially you, young one." She looked straight into me. "You, who discovered our magical world. You have been brought here for a reason. But only you can discover what that reason is."
My legs trembled. "But... I’m only five. I'm too little to do all that."
"You are not defined by just your age. You are so much more than that, Lexie. And you won't be alone. I shall be your guide. But first, rest, eat and drink."
That sounded like a great plan. We each took turns slurping up as much water as we could. It was the cleanest, coldest, yummiest water I'd ever had.
Then we picked apples from the tree. "I've never seen purple apples before. Are they safe?"
Rosabel smiled. "Yes, quite safe. And quite delicious. Try them."
I took a tiny bite of my strange apple, to test it. It was the sweetest, crunchiest, yummiest apple ever! Each bite exploded in my mouth and made my tongue do wiggly happy dances.
After filling my tummy, I looked at our new friend, who was also resting on the grass. "Rosabel?"
"Yes, young one?"
"What happened to the flowers and the rest of the earth on the way here? There was trash everywhere and things were dying."
Her eyes got really sad. "The Garbage Goblins have started taking over this world. They leave their messes everywhere, and with no one to clean it up, it chokes the life right out of the earth—all the plants and flowers."
Tears streamed down my face, but this time I wasn't crying for me. I was crying for the flowers and trees and plants that the Garbage Goblins were killing.
I had to do something to save Lexie World!
Then I knew. Real suddenly. "This is what I'm supposed to do while I'm here. This is what we're supposed to do. We have to stop the Garbage Goblins and clean up this world."