(Excerpt from Cities of Ink - Independent Novel)

The attic was much like many others; boxes stacked on furniture next to yesterday's memories stacked with more boxes.  But if you crawled under the table, went between two towering stacks, and crawled between the wall and an antique mirror in the right corner laid the nook.  (I’m thinking of the fort in Robin Williams Hook movie before they get taken to Neverland.  The window will definitely be round) With a waist high bookshelf of her favorite novels and a clear view of a gorgeous rounded window, it was Anna’s secret refuge from the world.  All her favorite and secret things were kept here as well as all the artwork she liked to create; for like most children, Anna loved to draw.  But perhaps the most interesting thing about it was it included a vent shaft that was used to heat the whole building from the furnace in the basement.  Not only did it keep her nice and warm, but It also allowed her to hear conversations, faint conversations, from almost any of the rooms below.  

Now Anna wasn’t necessarily a sneaky child, but like all children (and definitely most adults) having secret knowledge was all but irresistible.  But all wise folk know that secrets are dangerous things and have more power for harm than good. Earlier the previous day, Anna had been trying to lose herself in some silly story she’d found about bears and foxes and had overheard a secret from her uncle’s office.  Her parents were selling the bookstore.  It had never made a real profit and would be a more a burden on the family than anything else.  They knew it would break her heart, but they’d find a way to tell her after the funeral. As if waiting would make destroying her world any easier.  

Refusing to acknowledge reality has always had a certain appeal, (especially when one is upon the precipice) so Anna choked down her sorrow and opened up the book. Rifling through the pages she realized it wasn’t complete, in fact a little less than a third was finished.  Going to the last written page she noticed there was a blot of ink at the bottom.  Shaped like a lumpy version of the continent Australia, it had a glossy shine like it was still wet.  Upon inspection with her finger, she realized that although it didn’t feel wet, a spot of it had come off on her finger.  Even stranger the spot had seemed to ripple when she touched it and now Australia had gotten a little bigger and looked more like a lumpy tortoise than anything else.  The next time she poked the tortoise her finger went through it, as if her hand had impossibly gone through the book.  So, like any curious or foolish child (take your pick), Anna stuck her other hand in to see what would happen.

I don’t want to say “Of course it went through '' but it did! A million thoughts raced through Anna’s head and it seemed as if the room was spinning and the lights were flickering.  But if they were or not, Anna would not have noticed because wherever her hands had gone through the book, the book didn’t want to give them back.  In fact it seemed like her hands weren’t enough for the darn thing because she could feel a weird pull, and it wasn’t very long before she was up to her shoulders in the book desperately trying to keep her face from touching that wretched growing blackness.  

As soon as her face touched the dark spot, Anna felt a brief moment of disorientation like the world had sucked itself inside out.  Then with a weird, yet gentle, plop!  Anna felt herself land.  And with a second gentle plop, the book landed beside her, as if it had somehow impossibly sucked itself up as well.  As confusing as this was, it was nowhere near as confusing as where she was.  Anna had seemed to have landed nowhere.  A sea of white everywhere she looked, but up above her were large menacing black shapes.  Too black to be clouds and too symmetrical to be random, Anna was thoroughly perplexed.

Upon further inspection, it seemed as though the black shapes above were coming closer while impossibly staying where they were and it felt as if they were giving off waves of a dark and ominous pressure.  Gathering up her wits, and (after a thought) warily picking up the book, she made the decision to leave where she had landed.  Although there didn’t seem to be anything anywhere, anywhere seemed better than where she was, so with a quick spin, she started walking forward.  

It wasn’t long before Anna saw a dark spot in the distance.  Looking back into the sea of white she realized she was getting farther away from the looming shapes above her, and as the only thing in sight, she hurried forward.  It wasn’t long after that the shapes grew into trees and Anna realized she was heading towards what looked like a densely wooded forest. Upon closer inspection it seemed there was an opening in front of her, where the trees curved into an oval shaped path and having nowhere else to go, that’s where she went.  

From side to side this was hands down the most interesting forest Anna had ever seen.  It was as if everything was drawn in black ink! The texture of things felt so real, and yet somehow not at all.  Picking up a flower from a bush on the side of the path she noted that it felt normal to the touch.  It also smelled as lovely as it should, so she decided to stick it behind her ear.  “What a curious place,” she thought to herself as she continued down the path.  

Oftentimes people forget that the difference between having an adventure and being lost is just a state of mind.  So as Anna wandered through this bizarre yet beautiful forest, it never occurred to her that she really didn’t know where she was going. But more often than not, Anna had found that going forward is much better than going backwards, and with so much more to see, she moved forward through the forest, enjoying the strange and eerie sounds of life you only notice when no one else is around.  A rumble in her stomach reminded her of all the food she didn’t eat during the party and a lone apple tree on top of a beautiful little hill in the near distance seemed the perfect resting spot.  So there she went.

Sitting in the shade of the tree having finished her second apple, she took in the spectacular view before her.  There were jagged mountains in the distance and a great valley covering the skyline obscuring a further view and as she gazed upon them she somehow knew that she would find out what was beyond.  In front of her she could see a clearing and not too far from that she could see what looked like a little village.  Being the first sign of civilization, it seemed the obvious place to find some answers to her surreal situation. Sticking a few apples in her pockets and gathering up the book she started back down the hill. 

But right before she started her descent, she noticed an odd shape scurrying across the open field in front of her.  Upon closer inspection she realized it was a fox with a small barrel strapped to his back running through the middle of the clearing.  If this didn’t seem at all odd, after he had gotten a third of the way across the field he stood up on his hind legs, wiped his brow, looked back where he came from, readjusted the barrel with both his front paws, and started running again upright like a human.  

There was no other option but a thorough investigation at this point, so Anna found herself sprinting as fast as she could down the hill after the fox.  Running through dense forest is no picnic at all mind you, but a scratched, bumped and bruised Anna stayed on his trail.  Eventually the Fox broke through the forest and landed in the middle of a fork in the dirt road and Anna swore she could hear him utter a curse.  But instead of going down one of the roads, he crawled into a large bush.  

Sitting in the bush parallel across the road, Anna was conflicted.  She had waited more than a few moments to see if he would move, but it hadn’t seemed like he had.  Knowing that curiosity killed the cat, and also knowing that jumping into a bush with a strange Fox was probably not a good idea, she was still curious.  

“Curiosity killed the cat for a reason” Anna thought firmly as she slowly crept across the road. Tentatively approaching the Fox bush, Anna took a deep breath and entered only to find herself face to face with the Fox.

He smelled sweet, like a mixture of honey and roses, which was actually quite delicious smelling, Anna thought to herself through the shock and consternation one feels when they come face to face with a Fox for the first time in the wild.  They were so close in fact, had they been a centimeter closer, their noses would have been touching. And if that had surprised her enough, she was over surprised when he whispered directly into her face - 

“I do hate being rude, especially to the young, but this is my bush.  I was clearly here first and as the forest is full of multiple bushes of every size imaginable, it would be quite easy for you to find one of your own.  Now on your way please,” and with a slight pause, I’m clearly a very busy Fox.”

“You talk!” Anna exclaimed, and even to her it sounded louder than she hadn’t intended.  

“SHHHHHH” exclaimed the Fox looking wildly around. “Listen if you really want this bush so bad, I’ll just” But he was cut off by the heavy pounding of paws on dirt.

Peeking through the bush Anna saw three enormous Bears barreling down the road.  Turning back to the Fox she saw a look of pure terror across his face. Feeling suddenly more uneasy than she had before, she turned away from the Fox and her shoulder brushed on the branches of the bush causing the slightest rustle of the leaves.

“There he is!” Boomed an enormous deep voice that could only come from a Bear.  

Taking a deep breath while making a big decision, Anna stepped out of the bush.  Not a moment too soon I might add, as the bears had to skid to a halt to avoid crashing into Anna.  Standing on their hind legs they towered over Anna like a house does a person. 

“Who are you? What are you doing skulking in the bushes like a thief or bandit?”  Demanded the largest Bear standing in the middle.  

“Well I was hiding sir” Anna began before the Bear cut her off.  

“Hiding from what?” He growled 

“Well sir, I met a very rude, unpleasant Fox on this road not long ago and when I heard you coming I thought maybe it was some of his friends and I was..”

“Fox??? Which way did he go?” Interrupted the Bear again putting his snout closer to Anna’s face than she was to the Fox in the bush.  Their noses were definitely touching.  

“That way” Said a trembling Anna pointing in the direction she had come.

“He must have doubled back.  After him! If he gets away again Baron will have us on beekeeping duty for the rest of the season.  MOVE IT!”  Cried the lead bear as he threw himself in the direction Anna was pointing. And just that quickly, the bears were gone.

After a moment's pause, Anna said “ I think it’s safe to come out now.”  And a moment later, a meek looking Fox crawled out from the bush.