Crouching cautiously, I stepped up onto my windowsill. My heart was beating so heavily it sounded like a bass drum and the sound rang in my ears, making me feel lightheaded. One slip, one step, one wrong movement was all it would take to lose my balance fall hard to the ground two stories below.
     
     Bright-eyed, I looked out to the tree barely a metre from my bedroom window. Then I jumped. Each millisecond seemed to stretch into an hour as I closed the gap between myself and the tree, feeling as though I was floating through the thick, foggy air. I landed on the branch with a loud thump and then edged along it, until I felt safe in hauling myself against the trunk. Then I slid my down the mossy tree trunk with ease, despite the fact that I almost ended up with moss from the top of my head to in my trainers.

     After reaching the ground, I pegged it towards the old iron gate which separated me from the outside world. Of course it was locked, so I used the bottom bars of the gate as a foothold and then, using all the strength in my upper body, slowly hoisted myself up the old, worn and black iron bars.
     
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     That place was my home. It had always been my home. Ever since the day my mother brought me home from the hospital as a newborn. My parents were so overprotective of me they vowed to keep me behind walls until I had turned 21 at least. And I had not left that place ever since then. I was raised in that place. I was taught by private tutors, and had learnt 6 languages by the age of 12. I had my own private doctor to come out on house calls. I had a very large allowance, to save up. I had the perfect life.

     But I hate perfect.

     I didn’t have any friends. I was never rewarded for hard work. I had no use for languages in this cage of a home. I hated being cooped up in my room while I was ill. I had nothing to save for. My life was pointless. Then I looked out to the city one night. It was no different than another night, apart from the fact that it was my thirteenth birthday. The city was only a mile away, yet to me it seemed so far. So far away... yet so beautiful. It fascinated me. And soon curiosity took over me completely. I had to see the city, even if it was just for one night, I had to see it.
     
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     I slid down the other side of the gate, making sure I had a good foothold before making each downwards movement. I was halfway down when a spark of light caught my attention. The second-floor bedroom. My parents’ bedroom. Crap. I was running out of time. Sharply, I pushed myself off the gate and twisted as I fell to the ground, luckily landing on my feet. Then I ran. I ran as fast as my unexercised legs could carry me. As I ran I came across a bus that was headed for the city. I waved my arms violently and luckily it slowed and stopped in front of me. By then I could hear vicious barking. They’d sent the guard dogs after me.
     
     But I wasn’t going to give up then. I hopped onto the bus as quickly as I could and paid the fare (I had taken a lot of money and my mum’s debit card with me), then sank into a seat as far as I could without falling off the edge. I was safe, at least for now.
     
     The stop I got off at was at the very heart of the city. Bright lights shining. Crowds moving rapidly. Car engines growling. Everything was a blur to me, as I had never come across a place like this is my life. It was absolutely beautiful. And then my empty stomach ruined the amazing moment.

     I sighed heavily as hunger dragged me back to reality. After having a moment of silence for the death of my fantasy world, I launched myself towards the windows of a nearby building. The sign read ‘McDonalds’ and people were eating inside, which was always a good sign. And then there was the SMELL. It was so savoury-sweet, so meaty yet so fresh-baked, it made my mouth water so much I nearly caused a small lake to form out of my drool.

     I pushed the door open and walked inside, hopping to the end of the queue. I’d learnt a lot about courtesy when I was younger so I didn’t mind waiting. I was called to the cash register then. I decided to be spontaneous with my choice. I picked out a double cheeseburger, large fries and a McFlurry (some form of ice cream) to top it off with. As soon as my order had been put together I wandered for half a minute before sitting as a small table in one corner. I then unwrapped my cheeseburger and prodded it repeatedly before shrugging to myself and deciding to take a bite of the odd-looking food.

     It was THE best thing I had ever tasted. The meat wasn’t very sophisticated but it was savoury and slightly sweet. The finely chopped onion added bursts of flavour to every bite, and the slices of pickled gherkin added a sharp and bitter edge to it. The cheese was smooth and mellow, while the tomato sauce topped it off with a wonderful bitter sweetness. It was pure heaven.

     As soon as I had polished off my wonderful meal, I decided to take a wander around the city to walk off some of the calories. I had been floating around for a while when I saw one shop in particular that drew my attention. It had several books neatly displayed in the windows and a sign with a large W printed on it. The shop’s name was shown in White lettering above the door. Waterstones. It was such an intriguing name, and curiosity got the best of me. I pushed lightly on the darkly-painted door and stepped in. What I saw was expected, but not to this level. Around me I saw thousands upon thousands of books in neat rows, all arranged by genre. The library back at the mansion was large, but this place took the cake and ate it. It wasn’t long though before I spotted a small set of stairs.
     
     ‘More books?’ I asked myself as I hopped up the stairs two at a time. I reached the top and my eyes practically sparkled. It wasn’t just books. There was a café there as well. Wow. I started to have wished I had escaped sooner, then I could’ve come here and bought some books I would actually like reading. When my thoughts returned to the present I strolled around the shelves, running my fingers along the spines of the books. Now THIS was my idea of heaven.
     
     Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bright spark of light flying down to the earth. A shooting star, something I had never seen before, but read about countless times. As I watched the star fall with incredible grace and beauty, I wished with all my might. I wished that I could be free of my parents and their tightly-set boundaries forever...
     
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     I got my wish. When I finally arrived home there was no home, only a huge crater with a rock the size of a large car in the middle. This was where the star had landed. My parents were dead, this I was sure of, but I climbed down to the bottom of the crater anyway. All I found was a smaller rock. It didn’t hold any interest until I caught something glinting from inside it. I launched it against the side of the crater. It cracked in half, and to my surprise I found a necklace inside. The necklace looked like white gold. The pendant was shaped like a butterfly, and the stone it was made of was almost clear yet shined with all the colours of the rainbow. It was absolutely beautiful. I slipped it in my pocket. I would wear it later.
     
     It was indeed beautiful, but little did I know that this necklace held more power than I could ever imagine...