Alessandra (#1, Omega Beginnings Miniseries) Read Online Free

hadn’t
brought down any other stuffies aside from Mrs. Nettles. They were
my favorite to play with, my only friends.
    After an afternoon nap and two more Disney
movies, I was bored. I dumped my emergency backpack onto the bed to
see its contents. Sorting food from toys and the phone, I smiled as
I saw the card my mama had included. She hadn’t written anything
except for a heart on the inside.
    Pulling out my notebook and crayons, I
practiced drawing hearts. I was learning to write but wasn’t very
good at it.
    I wasn’t very good at anything in school,
even arts and crafts. My teacher said I’d grow out of my temper and
impatience and not to worry, because one day, I’d catch up to the
others. Until then, I was special in my own way.
    “What do you think, Mrs. Nettles?” I asked
and pointed to the heart that took me a long time to complete. “It
almost looks like Mama’s.”
    Mrs. Nettles shook her head.
    “Okay. I’ll keep trying.” I scribbled over
it.
    Mrs. Nettles picked up a crayon and drew a
diamond. She tapped it.
    “What?” I asked, gazing at it.
    She drew the moon, a bird, a house …
    “Oh!” I sat up quickly. “Mismatch’s
gift!”
    She nodded.
    “But Mama said …” I drifted off, beginning
to panic about the gift I’d left upstairs. What if it was swept
away in a storm? It was so beautiful, and it was from my gargoyle.
“Mrs. Nettles! Mismatch is supposed to be here tonight! I can’t
tell him I lost it.”
    My mind decided, I put on my shoes and tied
my hair into a sloppy ponytail. Mrs. Nettles appeared to be trying
to tell me something, but I swept her up in my arms and dashed to
the ladder. She squirmed.
    “Stop, Mrs. Nettles. We have to be quiet, in
case they’re planning,” I reminded her.
    She went still. I climbed the ladder slowly
and reached the top. Placing my hand against the pad in front of
me, I waited while the door overhead opened.
    There was no sound of rain
or a storm, and I finished my climb in excitement, now firmly
convinced my parents had asked me to hide so they could plan my
party. It didn’t matter that it was happening the day after my
birthday. It was going to be my first birthday party ever that I
could remember. We’d always had quiet, family gatherings. I didn’t
have any friends at school, but I had cousins who lived out of town
who were my age. I went to their parties. Maybe they were finally coming to
mine.
    I closed the entrance to the shelter behind
me the way I had been taught before setting down Mrs. Nettles.
Blinking in the dark basement, I experienced a strange sense, one I
had never felt before.
    It was the fear from a nightmare, but I was
awake. I would later learn to identify the uncomfortable instinct
as one of danger. Soft ribbons outlined my surroundings. None of
them were out of place, even if I couldn’t see the objects they
floated around in the darkness.
    I went up the wooden stairs to the door
leading into the house and pushed it open.
    The ribbons in the kitchen were out of
place. It was chaotic, as if there really had been a storm, and it
blew over everything inside the kitchen. Pacing to the living room,
I was upset to see it in the same condition. In fact, everything on
the ground floor was in a similar state of disarray and none of the
lights worked.
    My hope about having a birthday party began
to fade at the damage done to the first floor. I hurried upstairs,
to my room, and was pleased to find all the ribbons where they were
supposed to be. Except …
    “Thor?” I called quietly. “Are you
here?”
    Everything in my room gave off two ribbons –
inanimate objects. I had left Thor out and alive. He should have
stood out easily with his three ribbons. But he didn’t.
    “Mrs. Nettles, can you find him?” I called
behind me. I went to the bottom drawer of the dresser where I had
hidden the jewel Mismatch gave me and other treasures. Relieved to
find it safe, I slid the glowing gem into my pocket. Mama and Daddy
had made me