She awoke from a deep sleep and reached for her journal. For a brief moment, she stared at the blank page smiling as if something amused her. She carefully sketched something into the first page and, with that, fell asleep as though she had been sleeping the entire time. Upon the paper was written the delicately crafted letter: I.

Emily’s alarm clock blared at exactly 5 am the next morning. She sighed and slipped out of bed. The floor was icy cold against her feet. She slowly moved toward the bathroom and closed the door. Once inside, she reached under the sink and pulled out a small notepad. She scribbled another word down and made her way into her room to get ready for school. Upon the notepad was the word: Chose.

She walked into her math class, brown hair flowing out behind her. She took her seat in the second to last row and place her homework on the desk. As Mr. Fierst came around to check it for completion, he noticed that she hadn’t bothered to do it. In large letters across her paper, he scribbled “Not done.” Emily circled the word ‘not’.

In English, the last class of the day, she heard her teacher say, “He learned to live and love and laugh.” Emily looked down and in blue ink, wrote two words on her hand. She wrote the words; to live.

As she walked through the door, she sighed. Another boring day had come and gone. She paused for a moment as a great realization struck her. Quickly, she gathered her journal, notepad, and homework. She arranged them side by side, placing her hand at the end next to her homework. Together, they read,” I chose not to live.” Emily smiled and sent two final words into the air. She whispered, “In reality,” and with that she began to write about honor, romance, adventure and every unrealistic thing that she could think of.