"Mom, do I have to go to school today?" I groaned. "Can you hear how windy it is out there?"

"You still have to go," my mother replied. "And yes, I know it's windy." Another groan escapes my mouth. "Just this once, please?" I beg. "What if Elphaba gets scared of the storm?"

I turn to look at my Elphaba doll on my pillow. Despite that the real Elphaba didn't have purple, button eyes or short green hair; I loved that doll like the real thing. Closing my eyes for just a second, I envisioned what the witch would look like in real life: her verdant skin, her black dress, cape and hat…and her lovely eyes. If I wasn't in an argument with Mom right now, I'd be in a mad debate whether her eyes were greenish-hazel or just plain hazel.

"Kate, it's not like she's human or anything," said Mom. "Now come on, or we'll be late." As my mother leaves the room, I pick up my doll and hug her. "Don't worry, Elphie," I tell her. "I'm always here with you, even if I'm away. Plus, you got Fiyero." I gave a wink toward my scarecrow doll with the silver button eyes. Putting my Elphaba doll back on my bed, I added, "If it's me you're worried about, don't be. I'll be at school, and then I'll be at my grandparents' house."

With my backpack half hanging off me, I ran out my bedroom, kissed Dad good-bye, and darted down the stairs and out the door.

On the way to school, I thought about Elphaba. If she did get scared of the storm, it wasn't because she was a wimp. It was because her little sister, Nessarose (Nessa for short), was crushed by a house that was picked up by a cyclone. After that, whenever there was a storm, she got really, really nervous. She even cried a fair few times. I guess the howling winds just remind her of the cyclone that caused her sister to leave her forever that day.

School that day was the way it always was: crowded and exhausting. My homeroom teacher, Mrs. Ginger, and a bunch of other teachers in the seventh grade wing saw how crowded it was while we tried to get to our lockers. They came up with the stupidest idea ever: for students to go to their lockers after lunch instead of before. This was a HUGE problem, especially because my class after lunch is right near the cafeteria; I had to walk to my locker and then come all the way back to Mrs. Lawrence's class.

As for the exhausting part… well, middle school is always exhausting; the walking, the writing, the pressing little tiny buttons on a calculator. Lugging a huge backpack around all day doesn't really do your back any favors, either. That's why I was so excited to finally get to my grandparents', and to get home.

That's when my life changed forever.

I had just climbed into bed and began to doze off. About maybe 5 hours later, at 2:00 in the morning, I was awakened by the shrieking wind. "Shut up, will you?" I mumbled tiredly. Listening to the wind out there soon became unbearable. Why? I'll tell you why; the gusts sounded like someone screaming in agony, and when I made that comparison, I thought about Elphaba screaming for her sister. And then the weird part came: faintly but surely, I could hear screaming… not of the wind, but of a human. Could this be so?

Letting the curiosity and, perhaps, stupidity get the best of me, I tiptoed out of my bedroom, quickly slipped on my coat and sneakers, and grabbed a flashlight. I just had to know what was out there.