I was six when I started hearing things. There was strange whispers and scratches that would keep me awake at night. However, no one else seemed to hear them. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t make myself believe that they were just inside my head. A couple times, I could’ve sworn I saw a fairy when others saw a bee. I would see a centaur when others saw a horse. I haven’t told anyone about this because they’d think that I’m going crazy and send me to a mental hospital. I don’t really have to worry about it anymore because I haven’t seen or heard anything out of the ordinary for years.
Other than that, I live a perfectly normal life. For the most part, at least. While most teenagers prefer video games and TV, most of my time is spent reading and playing musical instruments. No, I don’t have much of a life. I’m also adopted, which is pretty obvious. My mother is Chinese and my father is and my father is African American. I’m about as white as they come. My hair is light blonde and my skin is extremely pale.
On the morning of December 22, it’s the first day of winter break. I snap awake at 6:14 and groan. There’s no way I can fall back asleep now. I roll out of bed and pull on some clothes. I quietly walk down the stairs to the kitchen. I gather the ingredients for hot chocolate, eggs, and toast. In about 20 minutes, they’re done. Glancing out the window, I see several inches of snow on the ground. The forest looks beautiful with the trees coated in snow. Normally, I would’ve preferred to stay inside and read, but I had some weird desire to explore the small forest behind our house.
I go back up the stairs and into my parent’s room. Turning on the lights, I say, “I made breakfast.”
My mom opens her eyes and smiles. “Okay, I’ll be down in a second.”
My dad simply grunts in reply. My mom and I laugh. He’s never been a morning person. I walk back downstairs and set the table. After a couple minutes, they walk down the stairs, my dad towering almost a foot above my mom. He looks like he’s trying to stay awake. They come to the table and we eat our food.
Once we’re finished, I say, “Hey, do you think I can go into the forest today?”
My mom replies, “Sure, what for?”
“I just feel like exploring today, I guess.”
“Okay, don’t get lost though.”
“Don’t worry,” I say, “I won’t.”
I rush up the stairs and pull on my coat, strangely anxious to get outside. I trudge across the yard to the forest. Nothing seems out of the ordinary for the first couple of steps. Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement. I do a double-take when I see a centaur. He glances over and sees me looking at him and gallops into the thick trees. That couldn’t have possibly been a hallucination. A couple fairies fly in front of my face. I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Sure enough, it hurts.
I continue to walk deeper into the forest. The trees start to thin out and I think the forest is coming to an end when it opens up into a large area filled with creatures. Basically all of the creatures in the books that I had read were there. A couple looked more menacing than friendly, though. I play with some of the nicer looking creatures which consisted of centaurs, satyrs, fairies, and some that I didn’t even know the name of. A certain satisfaction comes with knowing that I wasn’t hearing and seeing things this whole time.
It was then that I finally became aware that I had probably been here for several hours. I look at my watch. It reads 3:45 p.m. My parents are probably worried sick. I run back towards my house. A centaur blocks me with a long stick.
He says in a deep voice, “By law of The Magical Community, all humans who have seen magical creatures must have all memories of magic erased.”
I open my mouth, then shut it. Two more centaurs approach with a silvery liquid in a vial.
“Wait!” I say quickly, “Can you at least tell me why I can see you in the first place? No one else can.”
One of them raises an eyebrow. “Someone in your family might have been magical. Now stop asking questions. Let’s get this over with.”
The two centaurs grab my arms and tip back my head. They pour the liquid into my mouth. The magical land begins to swim and slowly go black.

***

I wake up to snowflakes landing on my face. What was I doing outside? I run up the stairs into my house. My parents jump when I open the door.
“What took you so long?” they ask in unison.
“I’m not sure,” I say. “Can you make me some hot chocolate? I’m freezing.”
My mom slowly nods. I stare at my feet and try to think, but my memory seems blocked. After what feels like a few seconds, she’s handing a warm mug into my hands. I drink it quickly, savoring the warmth.
“Would you mind if I go to sleep and we talk about this in the morning? My brain is really fuzzy right now.”
They agree that would probably be best. I hug and kiss them good-night and walk up the stairs to my room. I slip on my coziest pair of pajamas and look out the window at the forest. I feel like there’s something important I should remember about it. I slip into my bed. I hear tiny whispers in the walls as I drift off into a deep sleep.