It was the beginning of summer when Kaelynn arrived at her new apartment in the remote town of Blue Valley, two hours out of the major metropolitan area, away from all of her connections. She was moving in order to take a brand new job as a high school science teacher, only the second biology teacher in the history of the school. She was excited and hopeful for her new life and the chance to make connections in her new small town.
At twenty-four years old, she was still figuring out who she was and how to build a meaningful and fulfilling life. She was always a quiet student, never raising her hand in class, and getting straight A's. Her teachers thought she didn't have much to contribute and encouraged her to let her peers do the talking. She was always shy back then too, but her shyness grew into a crippling social anxiety disorder which made her worried about the thought of walking into a room and being judged.
In fact, if the words "conversation," "confrontation," and "judgment" were more than one syllable in length, she would usually avoid that situation or be totally incapable of generating a response. She attended community college for a short time, but dropped out after one semester. The workload was too heavy for her and she felt overwhelmed by it all.
Ironically, when she first moved to Blue Valley, she was afraid of the town. Its small population and vast rural presence led her to believe it would be a small and quiet place. She worried that she wouldn't be able to live a fulfilling and meaningful life there.
When she moved in, though, this was not the case at all. Blue Valley, population one thousand, was a laid back and friendly town with some of the nicest people you could ever meet. The new and fast-growing town was not a big city and was not as busy as larger towns. People were more laid back and friendly and life was slower. While she enjoyed the small town feel, the magic which she had acquired when she moved made it much easier to get to know the folks around town.
One day, she was walking through the local farm town center and froze at the sight of a man sitting in the only bar she had ever known to exist in the entire town. She was frozen to the spot by dizziness and a strange feeling of anticipation.
The man was tall, with sandy blond hair and a build that filled out his grey button-up shirt and dark blue jeans. His eyes were deep blue and his face was handsome, unshaven and full of character. The bar was just opening and she was his only audience.
"I'm here now," the man said, looking around the room, his deep voice growing louder and more resonant.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I'm here now," he said again.
“Who are you?" she asked.
"Chance," he said, standing up to meet her.
“Chance what?” she asked.
"Chance. It's all I can say," he said. "Use your imagination."
"You sip from the tree of knowledge of good and evil," she said.
"Hmmm, okay," he said, smirking.
"Blessed are the meek," she said, still confused by the magical feeling. "Blessed are the pure in heart…"
"You don't need my blessings," he said, laughing slightly. "You have them. You’re just new to the magic."
"I'm not," she said. "It just seems strange, like something from a dream. I didn't think it was real!"
"It's real. You know where you are now?" he asked.
"One hundred percent real," she said.
"You can do what you want, here and now, in this moment. Welcome me to your new home. This is your home now, you know all its secrets," he said. "I brought you here to show you something."
He walked out of the bar, leaving her alone inside it. His intense blue eyes continued to search the room before he walked through the front door. She followed.
The moment she stepped into the cold, bright morning, she couldn't believe what she saw. Standing in front of her was what appeared to be a very old medieval castle and an army of soldiers that filled the bridge over a deep, misty swamp.
"Where is all of this?" she asked.
"It's all around you. Just look," he said.
She turned in every direction and she could see the castle, the army, and the swamp, as clear as day.
"It's beautiful!" she said, running toward the castle and the army.
"It is," she heard behind her. It was Chance's voice. He was standing very close to her. "It's also very relevant," he said. "The mist is of a swamp is seeping into your psyche. I had to protect you from it. There has been an evil there for a very long time."
Kaelynn looked around again, then looked in Chance's blue eyes. His face was close to hers, but he didn't move any closer.
"I didn't realize," she said.
"You don't need to fix any of it," he said. "What could be experienced here, in this moment, is reality as you feel it. If you want to stop it, do it now."
"I don't know what to do," she said.
"Do what you would do to stop some overwhelming evil in your current life," he said.
"Okay," she said. She froze for a moment.
"If you're going to try this, stand your ground," he said. "Watch." He walked a few steps toward the castle.
The look in his eyes changed. He looked murderous, then terrified. He jumped back from the castle with a panicked expression and fell to the ground before Kaelynn. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be in pain.
"Oh my God," she said, reaching out to him. She went to touch his shoulder, but she froze in mid-air. She could not move her body.
He opened his eyes and looked at her with an intense expression. The pain seemed to go away.