A CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE

All I could hear as I ran along was the beating of my heart, the harshness of my breath and the thump of my feet as they hit the pavement.

All I could think about was how bad my life was. How my father had left before I was born. How my mother was always out and when she was home how she was always cruel to me.

All I could see was the never-ending bridge being swallowed by blackness. The only source of light was coming from the lonely streetlights I sometimes passed. I hated my life and there was only one way out. I couldn't swim so I had chosen this bridge. It stretched out over the Warragong River. This wasn't a very famous river so I had decided to give it some fame. Unfortunately I wouldn't know how famous it would become if someone found the still, dead body of a young girl. This is what I felt until I reached the end. I grabbed hold of the rail and stepped up. I put one foot over the top rail, then the other. I was on the other side of the rail. One false move and I was gone forever, which was the plan. I looked below me at the still, murky water.

I got ready to let go but before I did, I wanted to say goodbye to the world. "This place has been cruel to me. Goodbye". I let go and suddenly I was falling, falling. It was still a long way down. I knew and I didn't want to look. But I did. I looked and saw the water screaming up towards me. I closed my eyes, braced myself and prepared to hit the water. But I didn't. I opened my eyes and saw a strange sight. It didn't look like I was under water at all. In fact, it seemed as though I was in a jungle or something, I don't know. It was a very exotic place. Everything you'd expect to be in a jungle or whatever it was, was there. Trees, flowers, fruit, waterfalls, birds, animals, little creatures with fishtails, green skin and human bodies. Wait a minute. What were the creatures? I looked again just to make sure they were still there. They were. As they came towards me I could hear them speaking. "It is here. It is here". At first it was a little difficult to make out the words but then when I did understand what they were saying. It sounded like a chant. I listened again and realised the creatures weren't saying, "It is here. It is here". They were saying, "Itusheir. Itusheir". Itus must be their leader, I thought and that must mean I'm its heir. I'm their leader's heir and they're taking me to it. As it happened, I was right.

The creatures led and I followed. As I walked, I noticed the scenery properly. It didn't look as normal as it had when I first got here. Now as I looked more closely, I could see plants that I'd never seen before. Trees with sparkly blue leaves didn't exist in my world but they existed here. Flowers that looked like they'd come out of a children's drawing littered the ground, and they were of every single colour.

The fruit looked delicious. I almost reached out to grab what looked like an apple, but decided against it. After all, this wasn't my country and it would be disrespectful to eat the fruit when I wasn't invited to. It could also be toxic to humans.

We walked for about ten more minutes, when I saw a blinding light. It was a temple. This temple was made out of pure gold. Pure, 24 carat gold. The temple shone brighter than the sun itself. Even inside, I thought as we went in, was bright.

When I stopped looking at the walls, I noticed we were standing in front of a throne and sitting on it was their leader. Their Itus. Their king. Suddenly he spoke. "Come forth girl and let me look at you?"

"Yes Sir," I replied. I stepped forward, bowed, then stood up straight.

"Do you know why I brought you here?" he questioned.

"No, your Majesty", I answered truthfully.

"I brought you here because there have been murders. We want you to find out where the murderer lives and how the murders are being done. We already have a slight description. He has a purple face with green hair."

"That should be easy", I commented.

"You may go now", the King said.

As I turned to go, one of the creatures nearest to me dropped to the ground. Dead.

If I were going to solve this, I was going to have to solve it fast.

I ran out of the Temple and started looking around. Fairly soon I found a small village and started asking questions. Each time I got the same answer. No.

Eventually I came to a small hut. It belonged to an old hag. I knocked on the door and heard a quiet, husky voice say, "Come in. I have been expecting you."

I walked in and saw a huddle figure sitting at a table. Her gnarled old hands clutched a mug of something. I guess it was like tea or coffee. "I know why you are here", she whispered. "You are here to ask me if I know anything about the mysterious deaths."

"Yes, Ma'am. Have you seen the suspected murderer around here?" I asked.

"As a matter of fact, I have dear. He lives in a cave not far from here," she said, "My folk have heard strange noises coming from there. They've seen mysterious glowing lights. They are convinced it's a ghost but I know. I know."

"The cave is to the north of here and the entrance is hidden by bushes."

"Thank you," I said but the old hag and her hut were gone.

I walked to the north and soon found the cave. The entrance was, as the hag had said, hidden by bushes.

I went in and found a whole lot of machinery and radioactive equipment. So that's what the glowing and the noises were from.

Standing in front of the machinery, with his back to me was the culprit.

I crept forward and grabbed him from behind. He cried out, turned his head, saw me and started to struggle. He was very short which made it quite easy for me but, for a little guy, he was strong.

We fought and fought until he hit his head against the cave wall and fell unconscious.

I was standing in front of the king. He wanted to know how I'd stopped the malicious evildoer from killing off the whole tribe. "Well, your Majesty, he had a machine that ran off anything radioactive. He typed the name of his victim into the computer in the machine and it would send radioactive waves into that person's mind and eventually kill them. I found his cave and wrestled him to the floor where he hit his head and fell unconscious."

The King thanked me and said, "Is there anything you want in return?"

"I want to go back home to a happy life with my mother." I paused then continued "and father."

"Very well," said the King. He snapped his fingers and I felt a weird sensation. I opened my eyes and found myself spinning around.

Suddenly the spinning stopped and I was standing next to the railing on the bridge where this whole story started. I turned away and walked home. When I got home I was greeted by a strange sight. Standing at the door to my house stood my Mother and .. my Father.

"Where have you been darling? We were so worried!, my mother cried. Worried! Mum. Usually she couldn't care less!

She wrapped her arms around me and my father said, in jest "Come in. We've been expecting you."

I'd come home to a better world. I'd had a change of life style.