The Girl with the Magic Vines

It was midnight. An owl hooted, the wind blew, and thunder crackled. A storm was brewing nearby. Sage was lying on the bed. Her dirty blond hair flowed all over her pillow as her leaf green eyes drilled a hole into the ceiling. She sighed then, sitting up, surveyed the room. Sage shared her room with twelve other kids, just like they do in every orphanage. The room was dark, musty, and silent. Everyone else was asleep. Sage decided to get a fresh breath of air outside, seeing that she wasn’t going to get to sleep anytime soon. She sat on a chair on the porch in her brown tee shirt, green vest, and tan shorts. Suddenly a figure darted across the lawn. The figure was wearing all black. He disappeared out of sight, but Sage could clearly see the bear charging across the lawn, three houses down. On instinct she ran. The bear was huge and had blood-red eyes. It looked similar to a black bear, but was more of a distorted version of one. No matter how fast she ran, the bear was faster. Soon, it caught up with her in a clearing in the forest near Sage’s town of Galesboro, Mississippi. Out here, away from civilization, she didn’t have to keep her secret. Sage got a steady footing, positioned her hands in front of her, and concentrated. Vines sprouted, grew, and flowered, trapping the wild animal in the makeshift cage. Little did she know that the black-dressed figure was watching her. He sat crouched on a tree branch, eyes wide.