A/N: Hey guys, this is the edited version of the first chapter. It's been a while since we first started this story, so I updated my chapters.
Leave some critique, for God's sake, I'm not made of glass!
P.S. Little Anna's quite the drama-queen, eh?
-Sae

Anna looked up, squinting against the light that filtered through the trees. She sighed. It had been almost and hour, and she still hadn't managed to find anything worth giving Cassidy for her birthday.
It would have to be a perfect present for a perfect friend, she surmised. Nothing short of exceptional. Cassidy had been her companion since second grade. Anna closed her eyes, thinking back to when they met.
Anna ran around on the playground, squawking and flapping her wings like a bird. The wind blasted back her hair, and if she concentrated long enough, she could imagine pretty blue feathers sprouting out of her arms. Or maybe red, like her hair?
Anna squeaked as her foot caught on something, sending a jolt through her body as she felt.
She sat in shock, blinking, but then as the pain caught up with her, tears welled in her eyes.
Anna burst into tears, clutching her skinned knee with aching hands. I'm gonna die! She thought. I'm gonna have stitches and I'll never be able to walk again and I'm going to need crutches-
"Are you okay?" Someone asked sweetly, their voice tinged by a Southern lilt. Anna looked up, her vision blurred by tears. A girl with soft black hair looked down at her, her blue eyes concenred. "Are you okay?" She repeated. Anna whimpered and shook her head. The girl frowned, bending down to look at her knee. Anna closed her eyes against the intense- no, AGONIZING pain as she waited for her death sentence.
"I'll help ya to the teacher," The girl said, holding out a hand. Sniffing loudly, Anna let her pull her up, and together they limped over to the teacher on duty.
After Anna got her bandaid, Cassidy sat down beside her on a bench and shared some of her left over sweet-potato logs from lunch.
Anna grinned slightly at the memory as she trekked down the scant trail. Pine needles carpeted the forest floor, muting her footsteps to a soft whisper. A cool breeze drifted across her face, playing with her red hair and rustling the treetops. The earthy smell of wet dirt drifted from the forest floor.
She scrabbled over a fallen log, and continued downhill, towards a little dip in the ground where she knew a creek to be. Maybe I can get her some kind of river pebble, Anna thought. She kicked up leaves and pine needles, the momentum dragging her eagerly down the hill. Soon, she heard the burbling of water. Jackpot. Anna perched herself on a rock slick with water and moss. A cool mist wet her face and dampened her jeans. She stripped off her socks and shoes, rolled up her pants, and stepped into the creek bed.
The pebbles were mostly smooth from the water, so she had no trouble walking. It had took some practice to avoid sharp sticks, though. She bent over, sifting through the silt and mud, picking up the occasional pebble. A green one. She tossed it aside. A greyish one, the color of slate. She dropped it back in the water. A silvery one, then one that looked remarkably like a blob of earwax, and then a fiery orange one. None of them were right. They all seemed mediocre. Plus, she was sure Cassidy had like a whole bag of rocks collecting dust in the back of her closet. She needed to get her something new.
Anna glared, and waded to the edge of the creek, thinking she would have to settle for a store-bought present. A jolt raced through her foot as something sharp jabbed the skin.
"Ouch!" She yelped, yanking her foot up. She braced herself against a large rock, and inspected her heel. A trail of blood oozed lazily from the cut. She gingerly set it down, and found the source of the cut. Something blue shimmered in the water. Anna brushed aside a few rocks and pulled it out of the water, her eyes wide in wonder.
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It was a shard of something electric blue that seemed to glow when the light hit it. Everything that reflected off of its multiple facets was strangely distorted. When her fingers closed around it, a chill ran up her arm, making her skin break out in gooseflesh.
It felt alive.
"You re beautiful." Anna murmured, brushing aside some gritty silt on the surface. She smiled. It was the perfect gift for Cassidy. Pocketing the shard, she trudged out of the woods, mud caking her shoes. She now had what she was sure was the best birthday present in the history of ever.
Period.