Once, there was a girl. She was alone in the world, her parents abandoned her, her siblings turned their backs and those things called friends. She could only imagine them. The people were cold and cruel, rarely giving her a second look and always shouting obscenities. This was how she lived her life. Day to day it was torture, but she did not dare to frown. She couldn't let 'them' know how much was getting to her, how much pain she felt. She went through each day with a smile plastered on her face. Her dull brown bangs hiding the hurt that loomed in her eyes. Always doing her best. Always making the most of what was offered to her. But she couldn't deny that even being surrounded by seven billion people, she was lonely, and that loneliness had become her prison.

Every night, the girl would reach out to the stars, grasping for them. It was just them and her in the world. She whispered secrets, told them as much as she could. The stars constantly watched over her in the dark, and the sun had become her guardian. One night, a shooting star whisked by. She closed her eyes and made a wish. A wish for the world to become less cruel, for the opportunity to make a friend, then she collapsed.

When the girl woke up, the world looked the same. Her hazel eyes gleamed over looking for some kind of change, but not a single thing was different from the day before. She hid her disappointment, her will slowly breaking. After all, it was just a silly wish. Nothing like that could ever really happen. The early noises of honking and pigeons cooing bombarded her thoughts. For this, she was grateful as it kept her from overthinking. She marched to school with heavy, yet silent footsteps. As she made her way through the crowded streets, she ran into a monster. A monster covered in shadows and darkness. He was wild and vicious, but most of all he was free. Despite the hidden sorrows blocked by the dark muck that covered him, he chose not to be weighed down by it. He carried it with pride. That's when the girl realized, the world had changed, just not to the world she wished. She watched him fearfully, realizing that no one else, but her could see him as the people around her kept going on as if nothing was there. Nothing was there. The girl pinched herself closing her eyes convincing herself that she was still in a dream. When she opened her eyes, the monster was staring at her with dark soulless eyes. Something was there. He gave a fierce roar and snarled his teeth. Frightened and terrified, the girl ran.

She ran as fast as her feet could carry her, pushing past the people on the street. She was too scared to think, too horrified to turn back. She raced to her home hoping to find safety and comfort. However, the moment she reached the small broken shack that she stayed in, it was gone and in its place was a dark blue door with shifting star patterns.

"Don't go," An eerie voice spoke to her.

She stopped. Her body tensed up. Frozen in place, she turns her head slightly to see the monster. Her fear rose to its limit and she rushes for the door. She pushes through the door and falls into a deep, dark void.

When the girl came to, she was in a world like no other.  She stood upon a starry sky, the ground hung above her as if everything were switched upside down. The vegetation was thick and dense and tall trees like something out of a Dr. Seuss book reached downward to the sky. The flowers were large and bright with stripes and polka dots, they grew among the trees and sprouted among the ground.

"Why did you run?" Came a voice. It was crass and deep, judging her for the actions that she took.

The girl abruptly turned around to see a slick black cat laying across from her. Its sharp green eyes gazing at her with interest and she couldn't help but feel that the animal was looking down at her. She stared back at the cat wondering if it had been there this entire time and how long had it been there; then continued to search for the owner of the voice, turning her back to the creature, "H-hello?" She asked shakily, now feeling uneasy.

"Right here, idiot," The voice said again. She turned to the cat once more, this time sure the voice came from the direction. Seeing no one but the cat, she stared at the green-eyed feline. "Is it so hard to believe a cat can talk?"  She watched the cat's mouth move, sound coming out of it but all she could do was stare back dumbfounded and confused.

"I don't have to get into detail, so if you would answer my question. Why did you run?" The cat sat upon its hind paws waiting for an answer

"Because," She paused pressing her chapped lips together. "There was a monster. It was chasing me." The girl became nervous as the cat's large green eyes bore into her becoming just as judging as the tone of his voice. She took a step back only for the cat to come forward.

"A monster? Was that all you saw," The cat began to strut around her, its tail held high in the stars flicking them around. The girl stayed silent, not knowing how to respond. "Well, I guess I can't blame you, humans are taught to judge one another then blame it on their nature."

The girl continued to stare in confusion, thinking that it was a bit hypocritical of the cat to denounce her quick judgment when he was sitting here judging her. Her mind was confused, unable to grasp the situation, any of it. She had to be dreaming. It would make sense that way. It was all just some jumbled, convoluted dream. It was the only explanation for the turn of events leading up until now. Everything was too befuddling for her to react properly.

The cat began to walk off, "Hurry and follow me, Cynthia. I'll be taking you to your new home."

Cynthia completely froze. She couldn't remember the last time someone called her name. Even worse, she couldn't even remember having a name.

The cat mewled grabbing her attention as her head snapped back to him.

"New home?" the words felt a tad off as she spoke them.

"Don't just stand there!" The cat hissed marching off once more, "You don't want to get left behind."

Cynthia shivered at his last statement. For some reason it sent chills down her spine and quickly stumbled after the cat, trailing behind him.

The world began to change and morph around, the colors mixing and swirling. She looked in awe as the whirlwind of colors began to circle around the two. A gateway formed in front of them and the cat sat to the side staring at the girl, "A little warning, once you enter you can never return to the world you came from. The choice is yours, make sure it's not one you regret." With that final word, the cat disappeared.

Cynthia stared at the gateway as the words the cat spoke echoed through her mind. She moved forward, without a hint of hesitation in her step. There was nothing left for her back in that world, no family, no friends, no home, but as soon as she neared the gateway she stopped. The voice of the monster echoed in her mind

"Don't go."
Why she remembered those words, she didn't know, but they kept echoing and she started to second guess if this was the right action for her to take. This had to be the right choice. It was her only choice. What else did she have. The world she was born into held nothing for her. Yet, what if this new home was worse than the one before. She wouldn't be able to bare that. However, before she could make up her mind, the girl was pushed into the gateway and the world dissolved into nothing. Just as the cat warned there was no way for her to return and now she was worried that her wish might have been a mistake.