Parallel by Shana Chartier Page A

because of the effort it was taking to catch Mason.
    “Mason, please!” she shouted, still paddling. Mason glanced back. Wisps of gold danced around inside his eyes like tiny snakes. Ava bit back a scream.
    “Come and get me,” he said. The double voice Ava had heard earlier had taken over. It was deep and gravelly, not Mason at all. His kayak bolted toward the bridge. Ava realized with horror that he was no longer paddling. The paddle stroked a frantic rhythm all its own. Finally, he thundered through the bridge’s circle. As he went through, a blaze of blue light like a million fireworks flashed, blinding Ava. When the flash evaporated, her vision was full of black floating spots. She rubbed them frantically as she tried to see clearly once again.
    She realized she wasn’t paddling either, yet her kayak was drawn like a magnet to the bridge. She grasped onto her paddle and tried to pull it back. The boat moved forcefully forward, the bridge looming overhead. Bright light filled her vision once more. Ava screamed as her kayak sailed under the bridge into a raging river in broad daylight.
    Sunlight burned her skin as Ava clung to her paddle, which was dangling from her limp hand along the side of her no longer possessed kayak. The kayak dropped into white water rapids, forcing her to avoid rocks and boulders as water splashed mercilessly into her eyes. Wiping her face, Ava manipulated her paddle to keep her boat from slamming into rocks. She looked up and saw the river’s end.
    Ava screamed as she plummeted down a waterfall, her kayak pulling away from her body as she fell endlessly. Some part of her brain still functioned, directing her body to go feet first to lessen the blow of the waters below. Ava crashed down, her nose filled with water and her body aching from the impact. Above her the water from the falls churned underwater, and Ava blew air out of her nostrils as she instinctively began to swim away from the chaos. Sunlight beamed through crystal clear water, and as Ava burst to the surface she took a gasping breath. The piercing ache in her lungs eased slightly as she stroked her way to a forested shore, where she collapsed on her back, breathing heavily.
    Pressing her palms into green grass, Ava managed to sit upright and glance around. Her kayak was nowhere to be seen. A clear pool of water reflected the crisp green leaves of the surrounding forest, a peaceful contradiction to the violent crashing of the falls. She had to crane her neck and lift her hand to block the sun just to see the top of the waterfall, and her stomach twisted at the sight. Had she really fallen that far? A bout of dizziness overtook her, and Ava fell back to the ground, her vision turning black.
    Mason. That was the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness.
    ***
    MUFFLED VOICES.
    Dim lights flickered outside of her eyelids.
    So tired…
    Ava stretched, flinching at sore limbs. Eyes still closed, she felt warm and cozy under a fluffy blanket. I must have eaten something really weird to have such a dream.
    “What are you going to do with her?” someone asked. Ava frowned. It wasn’t her father’s voice. It wasn’t Mason’s.
    “I don’t know. We’ll have to figure out where to find another portal and get her back where she came from, I guess,” a female voice said. This one was familiar. Like, really familiar. Unsettlingly familiar. Against her better judgment, Ava opened an eye.
    “She’s stirring,” the man said. “I’ll leave you to it.”
    A wooden chair scraped against the floor as a burly figure rose and exited through a brightly lit door. Ava opened her other eye and allowed her gaze to dart around the room. She appeared to be sleeping in a storybook cottage. The ceiling looked like it was made of thick hay. A small kitchen housed dried herbs and copper cooking supplies dangling from the walls and ceiling. The smell of roasting meat and pastries permeated the air. Ava’s stomach rumbled. Her bed was