Galaxy of Phoenix
Book 1: Ontoo Neida Division Seventeen
Authored and Illustrated by YIN TANG

Chapter One

A story has to be told. In the expanse of the Universe, there are many individuals who are worthy of receiving honor. It is only a few of thse whose existence has brought a shining truth into the everylasting question of "why?" The souls in this story have been wrought with controversy, mystery, glory, and intrigue. Some regard them as heroes, while others believe them to be a plague brought upon them from a divine figure. Let me tell you the story and you can decide for yourself.

Rose Tian came over to America at the age of three. There was just her and her older sister, Sarah. Her brother Joel had disappeared. She doesn't remember much about him. One day he was just gone, like their cat who had run away.

Sarah was six at the time and she knew better. Rosi always listened to Sarah. Sara told Rosi that Joel was gone and no one knew where to find him. She also explained that daddy was afraid to have his daughters disappear and that was why they went to America. Mom and dad never spoke to Rosi about Joel. Sarahalways told her things though, even when she wasn't supposed to. Joel was supposed to be five years old when he disappeared. Rosi did the math, she was three then, so he would be two years older. He was one year younger than Sarah. Rosi was proud that she could do math on her own.

She didn't understand why everyone was so worried. Nothing bad ever happened in life. Joel was probably just at the park, even if it had been for months. Maybe he had found a cave or something and was living at the park. It sounded like fun, Rosi even wanted to join him. She would bring her little lantern and they could eat whatever sweet berries they could find. Sarah could come to visit them too, and bring toys with her.

One day when Rosi was five years old, she came home to an empty house. That was strange. Sarah always go home a few minutes early. She was actually supposed to be at the bus top to pick her up.

"Hello?" Rosi called upstairs. She waited, when there was no answer she slowly started to crawl up the stairs. Despite the sunny day outside, Rosi was scared. She had never been at home all by herself before. What if the monsters in the towel close got out? Cautiously, she leaned over the top stair. She peeped around the corner. The closet door was closed. She gave a little sigh of relief and crawled into the hallway. She stayed close to the wall. The closet was at the far end of the hall adjacent to the bathroom. Rosi's room was on the left, two doors before it. As quietly as possible, she slipped into her room and locked it. Her parents didn't like it when she locked her doors. They were always afraid that something would happen. They had said in an example that if Rosi broke her leg and the door was locked, they wouldn't be able to help her. Rosi didn't care right then and there. She just didn't want the closet monsters to get her. She had seen them a total of four times when nobody else was around. They looked like people, but they wore funny clothes and were mean to her. They had pale unnaturally pink skin and spoke a funny language.

It was then that she remembered the note that was slid under the bathroom door a few days ago. Rosi was playing with her rubber ducky and didn't notice it at first. When she finally picked it up, she thought maybe Sarah had put it there. She had then taken the note to Sarah , thre were too many big words on there that she didn't understand. Sarah looked at the note and didn't say anything. Rosi didn't think it was very important so she had forgotten about it. Where was Sarah now?

Then a thought struck her, what if Sarah had broken her leg in her room? That's not possible though, wouldn't she have heard when Rosi called out and answered? Bravely, Rosi put her book bag down and took a deep breath. There was only one way to find out.

She moved very slowly and quietly unlocked her door. She turned the knob very very slowly hopeing that if there was someone on the other side, they wouldn't notice. When the knob wouldn't turn any further, she hesitated to gather her courage. Afraid to even breathe, she pulled the door open just a crack. She strained to see down the hallway. There was nothing there. The air was still and warm with the afternoon sunline slanting in through the sunroof. She opened the door wide enough so she could slip through. Gently and as silently as possible, she let go of the doorknob. Again, she went down on her hands and knees and crawled towards Sarah's room. She never took her eyes off of the closet door's knob.

It seemed to have taken ages to reach Sarah's door. When she finally did, she hesitated again. Should she knock or call out? No! That would be a bad idea if the monsters were in the closet again. Without another moment's hesistation, Rosi reached out and grabbed Sarah's doorknob. With a hard turn, she threw her weight against it and feel in. She quickly got back to her feet and slammed the door shut.

Rosi twisted the lock in place. When Rosi turned around, she choked on the sigh she was letting out. What was this? Where was Sarah's bed? Where were her stuffed animals? The walls were still powder blue, but none of Sarah's things were there. Instead, there was a desk, her father's computer, and a filing cabinet. Sarha's plain brown bookshelf was filled with thick heavy hardbound books that looked like something her mom or dad would read. There were things from the den and her mom and dad's room, but nothing that belonged to Sarah. Did they move her downstairs? Why didn't anyone say anything at breakfast? Why didn't Sarah tell her? It was not like they were running late that morning. Rosi began to feel panic close about her throat. The closet monsters had something to do with this, didn't they? Rosi wanted to cry, and her breath was coming out in short gasps.

When Rosi's parents came home that evening, they found their little daughter in the study upstairs. Her eyes stared blankly ahead and she kept muttering things they couldn't decipher, something about towels and a sister. When they asked her what was wrong, she kept blurting out, "Where's Sarah!"

"Honey, you're an only child," they would reply. She was very pale and would not leave her mother's arms.

"It's the monsters wasn't it? They took her didn't they? Why don't you remember?" Rosi screamed. Her parents exchanged distressed looks. What on earth was Rosi talking about? Was it the stress of moving to a new country? Her mother was crying, what happened to their daughter? They had the police search the house and discover that it had not been broken into. The doctors looked at Rosi and declared that there was no sign of abuse. Who was this Sarah she kept talking about? Was she the culprit?

There was never anything in the news. Rosi's friends claimed to have never remembered Sarah. Even Sarah's friends started being mean to her like all the other big kids. Worst of all, mommy and daddy kept telling her that she's been an only child. Rosi couldn't help but blow up at her parents one night, "What do you mean no Sarah? Is it the same thing with Joel?" Her parents looked at each other, "How do you know about Joel. You were too young."

"Sarah told me," Rosi replied defiantly, "Sarah loves me enough to tell the truth, but you don't."

Broken heartedly, her paretnts sent her to a children's mental institution for a little while, praying for hope that her 'condition' would improve. Rosi hated it there and whe resented her parents. No one there cared for what she had to say. They just wanted her to believe what they told her. It didn't matter that she was telling the truth about seeing the closet monsters or tht she really did have a big sister. She was a kid and she was living in a grownup's world. Grownups made the rules and they had all the power.

Rosi grew tired. She finally accepted that Sarah was gone, and just wanted to go home. She didn't understand why everyone was so bent on telling her Sarah was her imaginary friend. It was as if they were playing a strange game of hide and go seek. She eventyually learned to agree with what the elders said. Yet, she was extremely disappointed . Why wouldn't anyone listen to the truth? Sarah did exist. How come there was no trace of her? Sarah's things were gone, even people's memories of her.

"But how come I remember?" Rosi asked herself. No answers came. She didn't know what was going on, but she did know that her voice was too little to make a difference. She sat helplessly and alone as the world around her turned without her control. Rosi's life was dark as she mourned for her sister. She agreed to say that Sarah was just a dream, and learned that if she kept quiet, she could function in society.

That was also when she learned to disassociate with people who tried to tell her what she had to believe. She put her faith firmly into the idea that there is something bigger than the picture she was allowed to see. Maybe the grownups were really the kids, and they were being lied into believing something that was not real. In turn, they lie to kids because were still learning and they would listen most of the time. Except when sometimes something strange would happen. Like Sarah missing. There was no way Sarah was just a dream. Rosi couldn't explain it, and it caused her a lot of anxiety. Nevertheless, she lied and said Sarah was not real. That way, at least, she could go home.

A year passed and Rosi readjusted to life back at home with her mother and father. Rosi' mother had an old friend from college come visit her. Her name was Natasha and even though she was not Chinese, she could still speak the language. Natasha stayed for a weekend. She became close friends with Rosi's mother again after they did a lot of catching up.

Natasha took a particular interest in Rosi. She wasn't married but she loved chidlren and would one day like to settle down and have some of her own. She was in her late twenties. Or, at least, she appeared to be. Somehow when Rosi looked into her eyes, she could fathom seeing the light from all the stars of the galaxy all at once. It was as if the woman had been to all of them and deep in her soul she had captured their essence. Rosi also saw that Natasha ahd a lot of pain like how she herself felt about Sarah. But ther was something else too, something Rosi could not yet describe in her early years.

Summer rolled around. Rosi didn't have anything planned so she was absolutely thrilled when Natasha called and offered to take her to a summer camp in California. Her parents were doubtful at first and hard to convince. They could not help but remember Joel being missing, and the overprotective parental nature kicked in. In the end, Natasha was ble to convince them that Rosi would be well supervised. Though still reluctant, Rosi's parents gave their consent.

It seemed to take forever to get ready. Mom helped Rosi pack and repack her things. She also made a checklist and made Rosi promise to go over it twice before the trip home. Finally, when Natasha rang the doorbell, it was time to go. Rosi's parents smiled and peppered her with kisses. She climbed into the taxi with Natasha, and Mom and Dad stood back to wave goodbye. Rosi waved from the taxi's window. She was going to have a great adventure. She could feel it.

Rosi was quiet as she stared out the window. She was suddenly missing Sarah terribly. She wished that her sister cold be there to share the adventure. Natasha would have offered to take both of them, Rosi was almost sure of it. Natasha like children. She would have had fun riding the airplane with Sarah. They would have madea lot of new friends and there would be big kids who weren't mean to her like the ones back home. Rosi sighed shakily as tears threatened her eyes. No one even knew about Sarah. Not even her parents.

"You miss Sarah, don't you?" Rosi swung her face around in shock. Natasha was giving her a compassionate look. Rosi opened her mouth to say something, anything. Nothing came to mind so nothing came out. Rosi felt like a fish staring blankly at Natasha. She looked away in embarrassment. She probably just heard Natasha wrong anyway.

"Its alright, I know about Sarah," Natasha continued in a soft voice. Rosi looked at her meekly. So she didn't hear wrong.

"How?" Rosi stuttered finally.

"I know a lot that most people don't," Natasha replied. All of a sudden, a knot released in Rsoi and she buried her face against Natasha. She was bawling her eyes out.

"They thought I was crazy but I just missed her! Where did she go? Did the same people who took Joel take her away too," Rosi asked in between sobs. All the anguish poured out right then as if she were a baby again. Rosi was tired of trying to act like a "big girl" and she wasn't ashamed of herself one bit.

"Sh-sh, it'll be alright."

"Then how come mom and dad don't remember her?"

"Because they weren't allowed to." Rosi didn't quite understand Natasha's last statement, but it felt too good to have someone who knew about Sarah.

She had fallen asleep against Natasha and didn't wake up until the taxi stopped at the airport. It was hot and sticky outside, and Rosi's eyes were puffy. As the driver unloaded their baggage, Natasha wiped away her dried tears with a moist toilette. Afterwards, Natasha paid the driver and tipped him handsomely. He gave her a big smile and drove off. Rosi waited patiently, but Natasha made no move to go inside. They stood there like the other people who were waiting to get picked up. Rosi looked up at her questioningly. Natasha smiled warmly and a little apologetically, "We're not going to California."

A pang of fear shot through Rosi. She stared straight forward, afraid to look anywhere else. Was Natasha a bad person? Was she taking her away like Joel and Sarah? Rosi started to panic. Was she shaking? Natasha must be taking her away. How else could she have known about Sarah? What if her parents were in on it too? They didn't know about Sarah, or did they just pretend to not know? She wanted to run, but she didn't know where to go. She didn't know what it was, but something was holding her back. Maybe it had to do with the way Natasha told her they weren't going to California. Natasha didn't squeeze her hand. It was loose around Rosi's. Natasha had trusted Rosi not to be afraid. So then, why was she?

At that moment, a gray sedan pulled up in front of them. Natasha stepped down and opened the back door. She looked at Rosi patiently. The little girl swallowed. She looked from Natasha to the backseat. She could feel the cool air rushing out at her. There were leather seats, too. Before she could let herself change her mind, Rosi climbed in out of the heat.

Rosi sat in the back by herself. Natasha had introduced the man driving as Marcuno. He didn't talk very much. He had acknowledged Rosi when she climbed in. Natasha threw everyting into the trunk and climbed in up front. Rosi silently like a good little girl. No one said anything.

"Natasha? Where are we really going?" Rosi asked when she could not bite back her curiosity any longer. Natasha turned and smiled, "Don't worry -- by the end of summer, you'll be back safe and sound in your mother's arms." That made Rosi feel a little bit better. Maybe they were just going to a different summer camp and she was safe after all.

All of a sudden, the car accelerated so fast Rosi was thrown backward.

"Brace yourself," Marcuno called out a little too late. Rosi grabbed the seat's edge. They were moving too fast. This wasn't normal.

A control panel flipped from the dashboard and Marcuno pushed a few buttons. All around them, the shape of the car was changing. Rosi shut her eyes. The ride was very bumpy. When it went smooth, she bravely opened one eye. She peered meekly at the window and looked outside. All she saw was the Earth shrinking. She let out a gasp as the spacecraft eased off the burners. Rosi was speechless. Natasha and Marcuno were conversing, passing commands back and forth. The little girl in the back too no notice. She was absolutely dumbfounded.

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