Alana opened her eyes. She was woken by a thin stream of light coming through the gap between the blinds. She rolled out of bed and onto the cold floor wishing that she had had a few more hours of sleep. “Come on Al, time to begin the day~” Her recorded voice reminded her. Reluctantly, she dragged herself across the wooden floor boards lazily towards the bathroom, too scared of what she might face in the mirror. Successfully avoiding her reflection, she went to the toilet just as her phone started to ring. The annoying high pitched chime taunted her as she struggled to pull her pants up and reach the phone in time. “What do you want Sailor?” Alana growled.

“That’s no way to talk to your sister!” Sailor whined jokingly.

“Sorry, I’ve had a bad morning.”

“That’s every morning!”

“Tell me about it.” Alana said as she held the phone between her shoulder and head so she could wash her hands.

“Why are you calling me this early?”

“I’m on my way to school and I feel lonely. I wish I could be in Korea with you.”

Alana had left Australia because of her family. They made her feel like she was suffocating in her own home. Not Sailor though. She was different. She was only fifteen but she had the maturity of someone who was hundreds of years old. To be honest, Alana was jealous of her younger sister, Sailor was always so positive. Their mum said that Alana and Sailor were polar opposites, which was their mum’s indirect way of saying “Why can’t you be more like Sailor?” Alana hated being compared to her younger sister.

“… Alan, are you listening to me?”

“Of course I am.”

“What did I just say?” Sailor retorted. Damn.

“You love KPOP?” Alana guessed.  It’s because of Sailor’s obsession with KPOP that Alana came to Korea; it’s basically all Sailor ever talked about back in Australia that eventually the other girl started to like it too.

“So you were listening?” Sailor laughed, knowing that Alana had taken a wild guess.

 “Since you’re in Korea, can you buy me some more CD’s?”

“Fine, but you’ll have to pay me back.”

“What? I can’t hear you!” Sailor pretended that the phone was breaking up. “Hey, I’m at school. I’ll call you later!”

Alana looked at her watch, “I’m late!”

Alana tied her long blonde hair up quickly and ran out of her apartment towards the grocery store. She liked getting there first thing in the morning to avoid the rush of people, but once again, sleep seemed more important while rolling out of bed. She walked past the fruit and vegetable aisle and went straight for the pre-cooked foods. She was in the mood for cup noodles, once again. It seemed that since she got to Korea, she never needed to cook because it was all there for her. On the way out of the store a packet of Korean biscuits caught her eye; impulsively she bought them and started eating them on the way out.

She found a bench and started eating my cold cup noodles, having already finished her biscuits. Suddenly, she felt someone staring at her. She turned her head to the right, towards an alley way. It was a man, around her age of twenty, smiling happily and waving excitably. Alana looked behind her, towards the rest of the shops to see if he was waving at her. There was no one behind her, so she assumed he was waving at her. But why, she didn’t know, she had never seen this man before. When she looked back at where the man was standing, he was no longer there, just an empty, dark alley way with a black cat walking stealthily across the shadows. Alana shook my head and threw the leftovers from her breakfast into a nearby rubbish bin like she was shooting into a basketball hoop. Triumphantly, she left the bench and headed towards home.

Alana didn’t get very far though; she was only a few steps away from the bench, when she started to feel dizzy. She rubbed her temples slowly, sensing a migraine coming on. Unexpectedly, Alana fell to the floor, unable to lift her slender legs from the floor. She looked around for help but no one else was in the street, which was weird for a summer morning. Slowly but suddenly a cream coloured fog covered the street. It looked like it had glitter in it, which Alana had never seen before. Was it normal for Korea to have glittery fog covering some streets during the middle of summer? She didn’t think it was. The fog engulfed her and she could no longer see the street. The only thing she could see was the man who was in the alley, he looked blurry but she could tell he was moving. Not moving, Alana corrected herself, laughing. Why was he laughing at her? You’re still dreaming, she told herself. The man was the last thing she saw before I closed my eyes and a feeling weightlessness takes over. When I open my eyes she was surrounded by white. She was no longer stuck to the floor, but able to move in the air. That feeling didn’t last long though, before gravity took place and she plunged towards the darkness. Alana attempted to scream but no sound came out.