(Part One)

Anya looked up. Small, white clouds sailed over the blue sky. A straw of grass tickled her neck and she couldn't help smiling. Trees and bushes grew all around her, almost like a wall. It was her own place and no one knew it existed. The only way to get there was by magic. In her room she had a secret door. She opened it by placing her palm on the mark of a hand. Then she said the word Casmendra and the wall would swing aside. She could then walk into her magic room. There were several doors in there, but she only used one. The one which took her to the glade surrounded by a wall of trees and bushes. She didn't know where she would end up if she chose another door.
Now, she slowly rose up and walked into the magical room. She closed the door behind her and sat down by the desk. From one of the drawers she pulled out a book. It was called The Book of Questions. In her mind she would ask a question, and when she opened the book the answer was written in it, together with all her previous questions and answers. This time she asked what had happened to her parents. They had been missing since the day she was born. It was the first time she had dared to ask that question. Was she afraid of the answer? She didn't know. Slowly she opened the book to a new page, and text appeared on the blank paper. They live behind one of the doors. Behind one of the doors. One of the unknown doors. Would she dare to open one? Just to see what was behind it. Directly she knew the answer. She would. If it could lead to her finding her parents there was no doubt about it. It was the moment she had waited 16 years for. Slowly she walked up in front one of the doors. It felt like she had butterflies inside as she slowly reached out her hand and put it into the middle of the door. The hand shivered. She took a deep breath.
“Casmendra,” she said with a slight tremble in the voice. The door swung open. There was a forest outside of it. She took a step out onto the green, soft and moist moss outside. And once she was through the door it slammed shut behind her. She pushed the handle, but it wouldn’t open.
The air was so still but with the tenseness as if on the verge of a storm. Heavy rain clouds were covering the sky and a sudden wind blew in her face. She had no idea of what to do and where to go. To the left of her the trees were growing so close together she couldn’t possibly get through there. And to the right there was a swamp, so the only option was straight ahead. Because behind the door there was a mountain, high and steep, with no way to get up to the top. However, the forest in front of her was bright and looked very welcoming. The trees grew high, almost touching the clouds. All of a sudden there was a lightning, then some thunder and then came the rain. It poured down and she got soaked in no time. By the time she got underneath a tree to get cover, she really didn’t need it. The rain had gone down to a drizzle and as she was already so wet there wasn’t much reason to take cover. Instead she started walking down an almost invisible path.
Bushes and green plants grew all over the ground. She sensed a brief smell of summer. For hours she walked, and walked. Nothing seemed to change in the surroundings. Until, when she pushed a branch away to the side. She came to another glade. The sun shone down between the treetops. She hadn’t realised it was sunny until now. The trees had grown so close together, and hadn’t let in much light. A shiver flew down her spine, something wasn’t right here. And then she saw it the big troll emerging from the forest. But he stood in the shadow and didn’t step out into the glade. It gazed down upon her with its tiny, greenish eyes. The size of it was 3 times as big as her. The troll had an evil grin upon his lips and its hair was dark brown and a real mess. Anya slowly started going backwards to try to go into the forest. Then she remembered what she had read in a book. Trolls can’t stand sunlight. So that’s why it wasn’t going into the glade. But how would she be able to get it out? She knew she had to; otherwise she wouldn’t stand a chance.