Mikael's Umbrella: Chapter 7

In the late evening sun, two figures were illuminated, so that only the silhouettes were visible. There was a shorter one, probably a girl, with long hair down to her waist. The other was tall, muscular, and much thicker, most likely a man. The two were surrounded by leaves on three of the sides, as if the figures were in a picture and the leaves were the border.
"Come on, hurry," said the smaller of the two to the larger without looking at him.
That was apparently the wrong thing to say. The larger grabbed the smaller by the shoulders and shook her. "We don't have to hurry!" he said, or rather, growled. There was a static noise here, blocking out some of his next phrase, and then... "... don't have to hurry!"
"Oh, well," said the smaller, and turned to what seemed to be dust, that blew away in the wind.

*  *  *

The hologram shattered like glass.

Mikael had been watching this. It had projected from the disk, and it all seemed very strange. But even so, Mikael realized three things.

One: The place pictured in the hologram was Kittero Park.

Two: The sky was orange in the hologram, which meant...what?

Three: The people in the hologram looked a whole lot like Mr. Leiber and Kallia.
But just as he thought that, he ran out of air.

*  *  *

El Paros was right next door to the hotel. Mariah knew she had to go there, she just knew it.

"Mom, let's go to El Paros for dinner," Mariah suggested.

"Okay, but you go alone, and it's up to you to get the reservation," Mariah's mom said.

Mariah was still sopping wet. She took her potion and tucked into her coat. Then she headed to her fancy bathroom to take a shower. She was off with a hotel bunch of towels tied neatly in a pink ribbon when a strange thing happened.
A slat opened in the ceiling above, and out dropped a disk. It was a clunky flat disk, clunky in the way of an old laptop. As Mariah threw on some clothes, she accidentally touched the disk, and then bad things started to happen to her.

Mikael's Umbrella: Chapter 1

The rain was pouring on the dark London street. People with umbrellas hoisted over their heads splashed around, eager to get to their next location. Cars had their blinding headlights on. Mikael stared dismally out from under his own umbrella and wrapped his light sweater around his shivering body. He peered around the rainy city square. No one else seemed to be having the same temperature problem. But then again, no one else had worn only a light sweater, T-shirt, and shorts.
Mikael passed by Amete Filming Studio. He usually liked to sneak a look in the window, to see what movie was currently being filmed.Today was different. It was as cold as being stuck in the freezer, Mikael thought, taking a quick look in the restaurant next door.
The noise of pop music magnified 100 times awakened him to his senses. A sleek panther-black limousine was cruising by, stop-sign-sized speakers pumping out rhythms. It stopped right in front of Amete Filming Studio. Curious, Mikael joined the queue of people crowding around the sparkling doors. "Back, back," he heard someone say, and then the doors opened.

The Life of Corinne P.: Chapter 15

The rock loomed up in front of Lisa, Kenna, Mira, and Corinne, giving it the appearance and shadow of a large creature. Corinne let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding. Everyone else did the same.
Lisa took out a flashlight and flipped it on. "Look, there's an inscription on this rock," she said.
Everyone leaned closer, too curious to ask what an inscription was.
The inscription said:

You have made it this far.

Push this rock aside to enter.

Enter what?

You should know.

The problem was that the rock was very big and heavy for one person to push.

"I'll do it," each person offered, and failed. Finally, an idea popped into Corinne's head. It was so ridiculously simple that she was surprised that no one had thought of it yet.

"Let's push together," she said.

It worked! The enormous rock tipped over and landed with a mighty crash. Exhausted from the effort, the four of them almost collapsed. But at last, they worked up the strength to take a few steps into the new world.

Notice-- The Corinne P. Series will temporarily be put on hold, and another series will start up. Then there will be a series incorperating both of the previous series.

The Life of Corinne P. :Chapter 14

Kenna was falling.
Corinne knew what was happening. The paper had fallen with much too loud a clunk. The floorboards of the cabin  had split, revealing a gaping hole beneath.
Kenna had fallen in.
Mira and Corinne looked at each other. Mira had a very confused look on her face. Corinne imagined that her own face was the same.
Lisa was the first to speak. She too had a look of confusion and worry. "We should go down," she said. "All of us, together."
Mira nodded, and then Corinne. Mira prepared to jump. At the last moment, she grabbed her camp bag and clutched it tightly in her right hand. "You too, " she instructed Lisa and Corinne. Then she jumped.
Corinne grabbed her own camp bag. "I hope this turns out well," she said to herself. She jumped.
It was a long way down.Surprisingly, though, Corinne landed gently. She saw Mira sitting cross-legged beside her and Kenna a short distance away. Soon, Lisa joined them. She was carrying two camp bags. One had Kenna's name on it. The other was quite obviously hers.
"I thought we might stay here for a while," she explained.
None of them were prepared to see a giant shadow rising in front of them.

The Life of Corinne P. : Chapter 13

The next day, Corinne received a letter from her friend, Abigail:

                      Dear Corinne,
  I'm having fun! I went to Rose's party. Rose was mean. She wouldn't let ANYONE touch her presents. But I still like her.
                                                                                    From, Abigail

Corinne sighed. She disliked Rose, Abigail's best friend--other than herself. Abigail refused to see the meanness and the cruelty in Rose.
Kenna leaned over. She scanned the note. "Oh, it's a quicknote," she said. In Kenna's school, quicknotes were a kind of fashion. "Let me write one back."
"No, me!" Corinne grabbed her paper before Kenna could reach it.
But Kenna was strong. She grabbed the paper...
And doubled up with laughter.
Corinne laughed too. Soon Mira joined in, and then Lisa.
It was Kenna who started IIIIIITTTTTT.