And then he saw it too: Arthur standing tall, holding in his hand the great sword of ages.

    He forgot Saladin and his horsemen, still as statues on the meadow. He forgot the blood that was pouring from his own neck, and the useless objects that had once been his hands, and the pain that burned through his body like a living thing. He forgot that he was about to die.

    "My king,'' he whispered.

    For a moment the field was utterly silent. Not a whisper of the breeze, not the chirping of a single insect. It was the silence of time turning backward.  And then, ringing across the rolling hills came Arthur's command, rough with tears and pain and loss:

    "To arms! Your king calls you to arms!''

    The sound lingered in the air, echoing, echoing…Then, faintly, it was joined by another sound, the surging thunder of hoofbeats, as before them all a great castle of stone began to materialize out of the air.

    Camelot was being reborn.

    "What a loser, you're reading on a Friday night. Thank god you're only my stepsister and I can say I'm not related to you.'' Said, as you might have figured out by now, my stepbrother Sam.

    Looking up from my book to where he stood in the doorway, I said, "Please leave your comments or complaints with the secretary two doors down. Thank-you.''

    He just stood there staring down at me, on my bed, before he left with a look of disgust on his face.

    I should explain that one of his best friends asked me out tonight but was turned down. I think that might be why he has so much hostility towards me at the moment. But who cares, definitely not me. I mean his friend is hot but sadly I think he has the intelligence of a five year old. I would like to be in a relationship were the guy can at least spell intelligence.

    Sighing I put the book I had been reading down. It is one of my favorites, 'The Forever King.' It's my favorite king Arthur story, because in it, well to begin with, he doesn't cheat on Guenevere and have a kid named Mordred, he doesn't have any kids at all. I hate Guenevere! Unsolved issues of jealousy, she was married to one of the greatest kings and what does she do, she cheats on him with Launcelot! Back to the point or points. This story is about him being reincarnated to our time in the world.

    Most of the time I can't stand watching or reading anything about King Arthur. I just hate how everything ends up. Maybe it's because of the fact that he always seems to die in the end.

    Putting those thoughts out of my head I made my way downstairs to get a glass of water.

    But sadly I bumped into my mother in the kitchen. You may be thinking what's wrong with that? I'll tell you what's wrong with that. First of all she remarries and the first time I see this guy is at the wedding, nice of her hum? Then she says we have to move in with him. O.k. that is normal, except for the fact that he lives in a whole different state. In the end meaning that I have to leave all my friends and move out into unknown territory. Then only after all this has happened does she ask are you happy dear? Which I answer with a firm no, leading her to harass me every waking hour about my happiness. So here we go.

    "Oh dear there you are. Sam wanted me to talk to you about reconsidering his friend's offer. He is so handsome I'm sure you would have a great time.'' Looking up at me she started to get all teary eyed, "You know I only want you to be happy. We have been here three weeks and you haven't made a friend yet. I know we're in summer but that doesn't really mater. Sam has been nice introducing you to all his friends and there jocks too. When I was your age I went out with them, I was very popular. All I'm trying to say is that I want you to be too-''

    "You know what mom? I don't want to go out with Sam's friend, I don't care if I'm popular our not. All I really want is a glass of water and peace and quiet.''

    Sidestepping my mom I went into the kitchen. To my disappointment so did she.

    "That's it missy, I have had it with you. Tomorrow we are going shopping with Sam and his friends and you'll make some too, even if it kills you.'' With that she stomped out of the kitchen.

    Shaking my head I went to a cabinet and pulled down a glass. Filling it with water I thought about how different my mom and I were.

    For starters she had always been miss. Popularity and queen of this and that. I forget which is surprising actually because every time she lectures me she brings it up. Go figure. So clearly she had a date every Friday night, which I think me not having one freaks her out. It's not because I'm some kind of horribly deformed creature or anything. On the contrary I inherited her good look genes.

    I have long brown hair that comes down to my waist. I'm sort of tall, not as tall as I'd like to be, but still kind of tall. I'm not bulimic thin, like most girls seem to be but still kind of thin. My eyes are a goldish kind of color; they are my favorite thing about my appearance. So as you see it's not that I'm ugly, I just tend to be a little antisocial.

    I also tend to wear a lot of black, which drives my mom crazy. I could make a whole list of things that drive my mom crazy like my combat boots, my music choices, my need to make fun of cheerleaders. Between you and me they're just so perky.

    So friends huh. I can make friends. Hobos are always a good choice they have interesting stories and plus you always know where to find them. But then again this town is so clean I doubt I'll find one. Damn. All well tomorrows not today.

    After I downed my glass of water I put it in the sink and went back to my room to read.

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    "Wake up Serena. Come on I said were going shopping today and I meant it, were leaving in an hour so get ready.''

    My reply to all this was to moan and turn over.

    "I mean it young lady. If your not ready in an hour your going how your dressed.'' With that my mom yanked on my blanket so that I was left on my bed with nothing to cover myself with.

    "Fine, fine, fine. I'm getting up. You know mom you could be compared to the wicked which of the west.'' I said as I sat up in my bed.

    "I don't care what I can be compared to, just get up and get ready. And wear something nice.'' She said as she walked out of the door and slammed it shut.

    Grumbling I went around my room and grabbed various pieces of clothing. I don't really know what it was; all I saw is that I had some reds and blacks in my pile so something had to match. Clothes covered I went to my private restroom, another bribe to keep me happy, and turned on the water for a shower.

    As you could probably tell by now I am not a morning person.

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    "Oh Serena this will look perfect on you! Don't you think it would look nice on her Adam?'' My mom said in a totally fake gushy voice.

    Adam, Sam's friend, looked over at me and with a lazy smile said, "I think it would look great on her.''

    Guys are such pigs! There is no way I'm going to wear that.

    "Here Serena go try it on and come out so we can see how it looks on you.'' Said my mom as she handed me the bikini.

    "Mom I don't need this, besides there is no way that I would ever be caught wearing something like that. There is hardly anything there. I might as well not wear anything at all.'' I said with a look of disgust.

    "I wouldn't mind seeing that at all.'' Said Adam with a leer in his eyes.

    "You sick baster-'' I was interrupted by my mom.

    "Isn't Adam so funny?'' with a little laugh at the end my mother pushed me in the direction of the dressing rooms.

    What kind of mother do I have? This is just sick. I'm not doing this!

    Looking around the store quickly I scanned the area to make sure no one was watching me. When I was sure no one was looking I dropped the bikini and made a run for the entrance.

    When I was sure that no one was going to come after me I stopped and slipped into the nearest store. Which happened to be a bookstore.

    Yess! Score!

    Making my way further into the store I began to look at the shelves. I guess it must have been a used bookstore because most of the books were old and dusty. That was o.k. because then you could get them at a cheaper price. Nothing wrong with that.

    For about fifteen minutes I just looked around then decided that I wanted a king Arthur book. As I told you before I hate them but I mean there has to be more then one book that doesn't have him die a cheating bastard. So I walked over to the guy who was at the front of the store reading. Being the only other person in the store I decided that he must be the owner.

    "Excuse me sir? I was wondering if you had any King Arthur books.''

    The guy turned around very fast and studied me up and down. So I decided to do the same to him too.

    He was an old man maybe around sixty or something. He had a long white beard that went down to his stomach. His hair was sort of long too. He was also wearing funny black robes. So in conclusion the guy looked weird, but then to each his own right?

    Besides I might wear stuff like that if my mom let me. Maybe.

    "Nice clothes.'' I said.

    A smile spread over his face and he nodded.

    "So you want a king Arthur story? Have you read Mist of Avalon?''

    "Yes I have and I hated it. I was wondering if you had something else.'' I said the first half of this in a disgusted way.

    "Why? I understand it is a very popular book for people who like Arthur.''

    "First of all he does it with his step sister, then he dies. It was just wrong.''  I said almost yelling. So sue me I get defensive.

    The old man was now smiling for all that he was worth. It looked like he had solved all the worlds' problems and was made world ruler because of it.

    "I think I have the very book your looking for young lady.''

    Walking behind the counter he pulled out what looked to be a very old ragtag book, and held it out for me.

    Taking it I felt a tingle run up my arm. The cover was made out of beaten leather and had a sun like star carved into the front.

    "Wow. I've never seen this before. How much do you want for it?''

    The old man smiled at me and said, "You can have it for free, as long as you promise to read the first sentence out loud.''

    "Free are you serious? A book this old has to be-'' before I could finish I was interrupted by my mothers shrill yell.

    "There you are! Do you know how long we have been waiting? No. You just decided that it would be a great joke. Well I have news for you young lady, you better start walking home because your not getting a ride from us!'' With that she turned and walked away, followed by everybody. Sam through a superior look in my direction before turning and walking away.

    My life.

    Sighing I turned around to face the old man again, but to my surprise he was gone. After looking through the dusty store and not finding him I just decided to leave. He did say that I could have the book for free.

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    Thank bob that this town was sort of a forest because otherwise I would have fried in the sun with what I was wearing. I had on a red, long sleeved shirt that stopped a little before my belly button and black hip hugger pants. Oh and my combat boots, can't forget those.

    I have no idea why I dressed like it was winter when it clearly wasn't. My only defense is that I'm not a morning person. So hot and annoyed I decided what was the rush to get home? Why not sit down in the shade and start reading the book?

    Looking for a good place to sit I began to walk further into the trees. After about a minuet I found a nice shady place. Sitting down with my back against a tree I opened the book and placed it on my lap.

    Turning to the first page I remembered that I was supposed to read the first sentence out loud. Looking down at it I realized that the first sentence wasn't in English, the others were just not the first.

    Forgetting about everything I just tried to see if I could pronounce the words.

    When I got through it I was about to start it again to say it faster, but I suddenly felt a jolt. The kind you feel when you're at the top of a roller coaster and you fall into what seems to be nothing.