VOICE OF POWER Juliet sighed as she drove home from school one day. Because Juliet had heard of adventure--the exhilaration and thrill of not knowing what the next day would bring. She had read it in lots of books, yet in the twenty-first century, the world was too modern for adventures. You couldn't go traipsing through the woods, seeking to travel to some unknown place when people would just call you crazy, and tell you to go on a plane. This is why each day Juliet would drive home from school with a heavy heart. Juliet's high school wasn't much of a break from the sorrows of life, for the same exact thing happened every single day. Once she had arrived at her house, Juliet went to her room and read. When she was reading, it was as if she escaped to another world. Her mind would paint a vivid picture of the scene, and sometimes it felt to her as if she was actually there. At the moment, Juliet was reading Shakespeare's novel, Romeo and Juliet. Except, that day when Juliet picked up the book and started reading it, something felt different. It felt more intimate, more personal. Almost as if she could feel the character Juliet's woes and sorrows as her life fell to pieces. Juliet stood up, horrified by her strange emotions. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes again everything was different. All around her buzzed with activity, and she saw a cobblestone path underneath her feet. Juliet looked around and gathered that she was in a market square. All of the ladies wore long dresses, and Juliet fit in perfectly because when she had teleported, she found herself in a dress of a similar manner. She couldn't believe it, she had teleported! Such a thing was unheard of, even in Juliet's vivid imagination. She felt a tap on her shoulder and was swung into a side alley. Juliet was startled, swinging her arm to punch whoever it was. Her wrist was caught, and she looked up to see a young man holding it. "Juliet, it's me." "I see that it is you." Juliet responded, adding in her head 'And I have no idea who you are, or how you know me.' "Has your father told you his decision about whether you will be married to that other guy?" The man asked. Juliet's eyes widened fractionally when she realized she knew what he was talking about. Surely, this man standing in front of her had to be Romeo! Juliet felt foolish for not noticing it all sooner. She decided that she would answer according to where she had left off in the book. "Yes. He's going to try to make me marry him, but don't worry, I have a plane. Besides, I would rather die than marry him." This was true because at that moment Juliet had guiltily forgotten this guy's name that her "father" wanted her to marry. Faintly Juliet could hear someone calling her name. Romeo's brow furrowed as a Lady with a frilly dress covered in jewels came into view. If Juliet was being honest, she looked like a downright pompous Karen. "That would be your mother, I should probably get going." Juliet's eyes widened. "Wow. Yes. That is my mother." She laughed. "Don't worry, you're right—it is my mother. Romeo looked at her strangely. “Are you alright Juliet?” Juliet pasted on a fake smile. “Of course I am! I’m in the same world as I was last night, aren’t I?” “Uh, yeah I guess.” Only once Romeo had left did Juliet heave out a sigh that carried the weight of the world on it. She didn’t know how to get out of this strange land where she was impersonation a fictional character. And she knew how this story went, and she didn’t like how things were looking. Juliet decided that she would just not follow the storyline because she knew that she wasn’t going to drink something that made her look dead, and she definitely wasn’t going to kill herself. Juliet walked home with her “mother” and found that her calculation was correct. She was very much of a pompous Karen. ***
That night Juliet sat on her four-poster bed and stared at the ground. Tomorrow she was going to get married to a fictional character if she couldn’t do anything about it. She glanced at a vial of brown liquid that sat on her bedside table. The clock struck eleven o’clock and something strange happened. Juliet didn’t know what was happening, but she felt her arm moving—against her will—towards the vile. As much as Juliet struggled she couldn’t help herself. Juliet started crying as her fingers automatically uncorked the bottle, and was poured down her throat. “Somebody, help me!” She cried, but no words came out of her throat as she felt darkness fill her senses. The last thing Juliet heard was the vial shattering as it hit the ground. With the only strength Juliet has left, she kicked it under the bed. And then… Everything went black. *** Juliet felt dreary when she woke up. Everything felt groggy as she came to. She has lots of questions but dared not ask them. Where was she? Who was that she heard talking? Juliet concentrated on trying to hear the conversation around her. “No, she can’t be! She was such a bright child, she would never kill herself!” A shrill voice that she suspected came from Juliet’s mother exclaimed. A man’s voice cut her off. “I think you are in quite a shock, maybe you should get some fresh air.” Once they left the room, Juliet cracked one of her eyes open to make sure she was still alone and saw that she was. Good. She slowly slid out of her bed and climbed onto her balcony. Her room was on the second floor, but she could easily jump down from her balcony without hurting herself. She did so, although instead of landing on her two feet she went head over heels, tumbling through the lush grass. She finally came to a stop and rubbed her shoulder bone. Begrudgingly admitting to herself that she would have quite a few bruises. She went toward a warehouse that she somehow knew Romeo would be at. She arrived and stood in front of the doors, her hand on the handle. Juliet was afraid of what she would find inside, but she decided that she would brave it. When Juliet walked inside, she saw what she had feared. Romeo lay on the ground, his fave deadly pale and a glass vial next to him. She hurried over and felt for his pulse but didn’t expect much. She sighed when she couldn’t find it. Well, she supposed everything was just going as she had known it would. Except…her. Juliet started panicking as she felt her arm moving against her will toward Romeo’s dagger. She struggled with all her might, but she couldn’t help it as she felt herself taking it from its scabbard and raising it in the air. Her voice trembled, but she couldn’t just do nothing about it. “No! I won’t let this happen! I know that my whole life I’ve strived for adventure, but I still love life! I can not, no matter what, let this happen! Even if this is an adventure, normal life is an adventure of its own. The struggles you have to face, are all natural. I will not let myself die, with my memory nothing but a book and a few plays. Because I am more than a book and a few plays. I am Juliet, and I am strong!” Juliet felt her arm go limp, falling to her side and out of the grasp of whatever had held it. She scraped her leg with the dagger drawing a little blood, but it was fine. Much better than being dead, anyway. Juliet blinked and she was back in her room.
