The sun hadn’t begun to rise, and stars were still scattered across the moonlit sky. The moon’s gentle gaze settled over a small camp in the woods with only four tents.  Two of the tents were large enough for at least eight people to occupy each, the others could tightly squeeze in five people. Dwelling in one of the smaller tents was a five-person family, so it was very cramped. The Cobell family had three children, Samuel, Keelia, and Mabel.  At first glance, the middle daughter, Keelia, would appear to be from a completely different family. She had golden brown hair with natural light brown and ice blue highlights and pale blue eyes. She was quiet and kept to herself, and she would never show any expression on her face or with her body. In other words, nobody knew what she was thinking or feeling at any time. Her voice was soft and tender, and she was often bullied at her school for being a weirdo and having blue highlights which she couldn’t do anything about.

                Keelia awoke early that moonlit morning and walked over to the tent entrance. Mabel, her youngest sibling, was snoring like a lion, so Keelia turned away from the entrance to pack her things. She didn’t have much, they hadn’t been away from their home for long. They lived on a small farm near the heart of Tennessee. They had a couple cows wandering in a tiny pasture along with some chickens and sheep dogs (even though they had no sheep). They had cats and dogs roaming around the place, stopping here or there to sniff at a mouse hole, or to chase one another across the barn.  Keelia was sad to be going home. Sure, her house was great, and she loved the animals, but it wasn’t anything compared to the crisp forest air and starry nights. It was her birthday that crisp morning in September, and unfortunately, she would be stuck in a car for the rest of the day. They were camping in the mountains of Colorado, and their vacation ended the next day, and then school would begin. School… she sighed to herself as she zipped her pack up and walked outside. She had brought her flute with her, and she took out her case and held it up. It was a shimmering silver, and it was calling to her.

                Keelia’s favorite thing to do in the whole world was to play music. Ever since she was a little girl, her parents had introduced her to it. She was unnaturally good, according to her teacher, but she didn’t like all the praise. Playing music felt natural to her, nothing special, just natural. She walked onto the trail leading away from her tent. Her entire family was still sleeping, so it was just her. Peace settled into her body like a gentle wave sweeping her thoughts away. She held the flute to her lips and played softly.

                The beauty of the sound flooded from the open end of the flute. Her fingers felt as though they moved on their own. The tune was soothing, and it calmed her emotions. She opened her eyes to look at the colors that were flooding from the music. They were warm colors, reds, oranges, deep magentas, and yellows. They were shaped as music notes themselves, floating higher and higher into the sky and then departing from her sight. She sat down at the foot of a small aspen tree and looked out over the trees below her, their colors glowing in the rising sun. It seemed to Keelia that the colors coming out of her flute were somehow floating toward the rising sun with its glowing colors and disappearing. Without warning, a branch snapped behind her. She stopped her music abruptly and spun around. A boy about her age, probably a little older, hid quickly behind a large oak tree. She heard a loud whistle blow loudly and sharply and a few colors floated away, dark blue colors along with a certain color she couldn’t quite describe. She sprinted to where she had seen the colors appear from, but nobody was there. She hesitantly raised her flute and played a quick, sharp, high note. Nothing happened. She walked briskly toward the camp. Her parents would be up by now and would be wondering where she was. But she didn’t want to be followed by a mysterious person in the woods. 

                “Keelia, where have you been?” her mother said sharply. She was bent over a tea kettle over a warm fire and stood up straight when she saw her daughter.  “You were supposed to help with the coffee and tea this morning!” She noticed the flute in Keelia’s pale hands, and she shook her head. “I’m getting tired of your music obsession! It needs to stop. One of these days I won’t- Oh I need to stop talking or else everything gets too confusing.” Keelia’s mother burst into tears and Keelia ran to her, playing a quiet, sweet tune, her mother’s favorite tune.

                “I’m sorry mom. I’m fine, and I won’t do it again, I promise,” she responded in a hushed voice.

                “Thank you darling, you always come up with the right tune, I don’t know how you do it. Go, put away your flute and come out for breakfast. I see that you already have your things packed and I thank you for doing that before Mabel woke up. It’s chaos in there.”  The Cobells never celebrated birthdays in the way most families did. It was a quick “Happy Birthday” in the morning and evening and that was it. No presents, no cake or special dinner, and Keelia loved it. No one was fussing around her and making her stressed, and most of all, no presents meant the house was tidy and not cramped. Speaking of cramped, it was almost time to drive home. Cars were the worst part of the entire vacation. It always felt cramped and Keelia always ended up feeling claustrophobic. Mabel’s candy bar wrappers strewn everywhere, some from the previous drive, some from the present, made it even worse. But she entertained her troublesome nine-year-old sibling by playing one of her small Irish flutes for a few hours until Samuel begged her to cease. She rolled down her window and looked out at the open fields. They were beautiful, and there were many daisies of various colors as far as her eyes could see. It amazed Keelia how fast the forests where she was camping could change so rapidly into open fields full of wildflowers

                Finally, the Cobell family made their way home!  When they arrived at the small farm, there was a stack of three neatly wrapped boxes at the table.  “Mom, why are there presents on the table?” Mabel asked. Keelia hadn’t seen a wrapped gift for a while, because the Cobell family hadn’t often gotten presents. Mrs. Cobell’s eyes began to water as she peered over her shoulder to look at the presents. Keelia couldn’t hold her questions back any longer, but her dad spoke first.

                “Mabel, I want you to go upstairs please. We’ll explain later when we come up.”

                “What’s going on? You, Samuel, and Dad are acting weird. I mean, you never cry, Mom,” Keelia asked as Mabel walked with confusion up the small flight of stairs. Mabel was probably just as confused as she was, in fact, Mabel was quite possibly more confused. Keelia didn’t let her emotions show easily.

“Keelia, those are for you,” her dad said shakily. Double weird, now her dad was crying. She sat down and opened the largest parcel. Inside was a new backpack. Confused, she opened the next. Samuel, who had stayed downstairs, dashed upstairs before she could ask him anything. Laying neatly inside the longer parcel was a light gray water bottle. Still confused, she took the last present into her hands. It was most definitely some sort of book or notebook. It was an old- looking journal.

                “Why?” she questioned. Keelia looked at her parents with a perplexed face.

                “Mom?” Keelia said quietly.

                “You’re not our biological daughter. This was with you when we found you on our doorstep.” Keelia’s dad handed her a small piece of paper tied to a string. She took the paper with shaking hands. It read:

            Greetings-    It is with a heavy heart that I chose you to take this young child into your care. Mary and Asher, I know you weren’t expecting this to happen, and that you weren’t wanting another child, but this girl needs your love and care. This is a child who will be different, as she will see and hear things that most people can’t. I ask you to help her through her life, and to do it out of love, for you will love her. Her name is Keelia Adene. Her parents are unknown even to me, but I am going to find out who they are. Please take care of her until a few weeks after her sixteenth birthday. I will come to bring her to our world then. There wasn’t anybody here who would take her until she was older, so I brought her to you. Please make sure she has a musical instrument.

            Thank you. 

            P.S: I am NOT lying about coming to get her. 

                Keelia was stunned, but she wouldn’t allow her emotions to show. Her mind went blank, her face was blank, her skin was pale, and her voice was quiet.

                “I’m going to go talk to Samuel,” she said quietly.  Her mind and heart were troubled. She wasn’t related to her family? It seemed too much like books she had read, about children getting letters from mysterious people, and then getting whisked away to an unfamiliar place. It made her wonder, were those stories actually true? Were there people who could control water and ice? Wind and storms, fire, and technology? She and her siblings were super close, and though they did get in arguments sometimes, they always resolved it and were friendly. If this letter were really true, Keelia would miss Samuel the most. He was the one who would always back her up when other kids made fun of her for her blue highlights or call her dumb. He was the only one in her family who appreciated music. Well, except for when he got agitated in the car, but that made sense now, because he was sad. He was the one who had bought Keelia her small multi-colored Irish flutes. Now she would have to say goodbye. Keelia wasn’t sure exactly when she would be leaving, but she would definitely be going soon.

                She opened her older brother’s door. He was sitting in his desk chair, staring at photos of the family from years ago. The pictures were from before Mabel had even been born, and they were taken in the mountains. The mountains were the same mountains that they had visited over the summer. “This was the first place we went on vacation when you were first brought to us. It was also the last place we took you.” He said, crying a bit. Samuel wasn’t a huge crier, but his tousled black hair and his teary brown eyes gave him away. “I had forgotten about the note until a few weeks ago when we were packing for our big trip to the mountains, and I saw it lying slightly under Mom’s pillow. Then I realized it was our last trip together, and I wanted it to be the best.” Keelia walked over to where he was sitting and stood beside him.

                “I wish I didn’t have to leave. I love you guys, and I don’t see why I have to go. Can’t whoever sent me that letter see that I’m happy right here, where I am already?” she muttered. Samuel took her arm and looked up at her.

                “I have to force myself to assume that we are doing the right thing, that this man knows what he’s doing. We must believe that this is happening for our own good. I know you’re frightened, and I am too. Do you think that I want to let you go? I love you, too, I really do,” he said and walked downstairs after giving her a long hug. Keelia’s mind was determined. She would do it. But if she didn’t like it, she would run away and come back to her house. And her ‘family’.