A Crack In The World: A Crack In The World, #1

By Jessica Metzger

A fun and exciting fantasy adventure novel for kids and preteens!

Girls really can be heroes, and a little magic helps too.

Katie is a normal girl living a normal life, until she falls through a glowing crevice in the sidewalk.  She makes a note to herself to avoid glowing crevices in the future.

On the other side of the crevice lies Dreamland, a realm of fantasy and magic, a place where she can let her imagination soar and develop new powers.  Katie has no idea why she's there or what she's supposed to do, and she meets other kids also stunned to find themselves in the same realm of mystery.  When a strange woman in white appears, Katie and her friends learn that Dreamland is under a threat only they can stop, while the woman "helps" the kids with incomplete instructions and unclear advice that frustrates them enormously.

Through the confusion, Katie has the adventure of a lifetime, with magic, self-discovery, battles, and the potential collision of worlds, while she faces her worst nightmare: her annoying little brother.  Can she and her friends fight and defeat the forces of evil?  Can she figure out how to get back home?  Can she stop her brother from asking for more candy before he destroys the universe?

This fantasy adventure novel is perfect for young girls looking for fun, excitement, humor, and a little inspiration to help them develop into everything they want to be!

About the Author
Jessica Metzger is a normal 11-year-old girl who likes pizza, video games, and most of all, ANIME!  She has a passion for drawing, writing, and singing (though she will not sing if you ask her too). She has a failing YouTube channel called iDiamond and makes a few gacha videos too!  A Crack in the World is her first book! Let's hope she makes more books, drawings, and more!

Reviews
"...funny, entertaining and exciting..."
--Dave Allen / Indies Today

"Engaging story"
"Empowering for young girls"
"Great teen page-turning adventure"
"Fun"
"Captivating"
"Well written"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Metzger Publishing
• Release date: Oct 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781700099600

Book preview

A Crack

In The World

Book 1

Jessica Metzger

Special Offer: If you would like a free Kindle copy of book 2, A Glitch In The World, please e-mail the publisher at [e-mail].

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Copyright © 2019 Jessica Metzger.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Front cover art by Jessica Metzger.

Book design by Jessica Metzger.

Published by Metzger Publishing, Fairfax, Virginia, United States of America.

[e-mail]

Second printing edition 2020

To Palatin,

My best friend in the world

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1:  An Unexpected World

Chapter 2:  An Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 3:  Magic of the Elements

Chapter 4:  Nezima Vs. The Dream Team

Chapter 5:  Staying with Nezima

Chapter 6:  Facing Fears

Chapter 7:  The Arrival

Chapter 8:  Breaking In

Chapter 9:  Finders Keepers

Chapter 10:  A Detective Story

Chapter 11:  Not This Guy

Chapter 12:  The Spy

Chapter 13:  The Rip

Chapter 14:  Sky’s Trials

Chapter 15:  FIGHT OR DIE BACK

Chapter 16:  Time for a Roller Coaster  in the Sky

Chapter 17:  Destruction

Chapter 18:  This is Not a Miracle

Chapter 19:  The Animal Kingdoms

Chapter 20:  My Worst Nightmare

Chapter 21:  Maybe Ripping the World  Apart Can Be Convenient

Chapter 22:  An Almost Happy Ending

Chapter 23:  The Real Unhappy Ending

The End:  Nothing Lasts Forever

EXTRAS!!!

An Interview With the Author

Acknowledgements

Sneak Peek at Book 2:  A Glitch In The World

About the Author

Prologue

120, 121, 122….  Three minutes.  That’s how long it took for me finally to leave the room after the fight. 

I just fought with my friend Emily Jones, and it leaves me torn.  I walk out the door, hoping that a nice walk through the lovely neighborhood would help me feel better. 

I walk along the weathered sidewalk, thinking about my actions.  Did I do something wrong?  Or did she just get mad for no reason?  I keep walking, until I reach a single crack in the sidewalk.  Normally, I wouldn’t stop to look at a crack in the sidewalk, but this one is different:  Instead of a dark crevice, it’s glowing, glowing a peculiar white.  I bend down to look at it.  Big mistake.  The ground breaks beneath me, and I fall into the endless blankness.

As I fall, I make a note to myself:  The next time I see a glowing crevice, get away.

Chapter 1:

An Unexpected World

A wave of panic comes over me.  What is this place?  How will this end?  What is Emily going to think of me?  What happens when I hit the ground?  How will I fix my hair, which is now unimaginably frizzy from the fall?  I get my answer soon, because the fall stops, and miraculously I’m unharmed, except for my wind-blown hair.  I squint, trying to get used to the bright land.  Slowly, a city comes into view. 

Hello? I call, hoping someone would hear me.  And someone does.  A white figure comes into view.  What is this white thing?  I realize it’s a woman, and suddenly everything around me is white.  I may be disoriented from falling into who knows where, but come on, get a splash of color! 

The whiteness blinds my eyes, and all I can see is a small outline of a city and a few trees. Or is it a town?

Hello, she says. 

Who are you?  Where am I?  Why is everything white? I ask impatiently.  The lady just chuckles. 

You just need to imagine, she says.  This wonderful, white world is Dreamland.  Imagine.  Try it.  Imagine this place has color.

I close my eyes, and I try as hard as I can to imagine that there is color.  I slowly open my eyes again.  What I am gazing at is paradise.  Pegasi fly in the bright blue sky, and elves and fairies are laughing near the brightly colored houses.  Rainbows are shining, and lakes are sparkling blue.  I feel something weird on my back and realize that I have wings.  I open my mouth to talk.

Excuse me lady, but how did this happen?  I don’t see her, but I hear her soft voice. 

This is your paradise.  You created it with your imagination.

I immediately consider how lucky I am to be using my creativity instead of my Dad’s; the whole world would have been blue rectangles if he had his way.

The lady continues.  But it will not be like this for long if no one does something about Nezima.  I hear the lady sigh.  This section of the dreamland is yours, Katie.  Other kids were not so lucky.  Nezima is turning children’s dreams to nightmares.  Beautiful seas turned black, sea monsters lurk in the sad waters, grass turned brown, and fairies are not able to flutter their wings.  The worst part is that Nezima is claiming the nightmares as her own. 

I feel horrified by many things now, but I’m also confused.  So what? I ask.  Why are you telling this to me?  I mean, I’m a kid she just met and I have terrible algebra scores.  The woman answers.

The Dreamland Council has chosen a small group of children to stop Nezima.  They will come to your land first, she says in a dreamy way.  I suppose a dreamy way is the only way a dream woman and a Dreamland Council could talk in Dreamland.

Then I wonder how kids can save the world.  I don’t even know where I am or who anyone is.  I haven’t even mastered algebra, yet, which my teacher assures me is the most important thing in the world.  But even if I know how to solve for x, how is this going to help me stop Nezima, stop nightmares, or even help me in everyday life?

I also have a sneaking feeling that I was chosen by the Council.  Am I part of the children’s group? I ask.  The white lady smiles.  Yes. 

Oh no.  OH NO.  OH NO!!

WHY ME?! I shout.  The woman puts a finger to her lips. 

Nezima could be listening right now.  She looks around.  We need to wait... oh, there they are! 

I face the direction she looks.  A group of very different kids are running up the hill to where we are, having a good time.  A girl with midnight blue hair and glitter makeup comes up to me. Her dress is covered with sparkles and is galaxy colored. 

Hello! she says.  My name is Aurora, but call me Annie, please.  Aurora is like that princess from the Disney movie.  I’d feel like a baby if I were called Aurora.

I was about to say that she looks like the Disney princess Aurora, but then I reconsider before I say anything.

Instead, I smile.  This might be the only friendly face I see. 

Well, hello Annie. 

Annie looks at my wings and says, Wow, you chose wings?  They look beautiful.  I chose this hair.  It took me a while to decide what color I liked best, but I’m pretty happy with this.  I also think we might have magical powers.  I’m trying to work on a magical power to straighten my hair, but it’s not fully working yet.  Your power is the most obvious though!  I can already tell this girl will be the biggest chatterbox on the trip.

The next person I meet is a boy with glasses and no change of appearance whatsoever.  I mean, he is just wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans.  Get better fashion sense!  He looks grumpy too, which does not help improve his look at all.

Hi, he says with almost no spirit.  Why do I have to get stuck in a group of girls in a quest?  Ugh.  His dark hair is arranged in some weird hairstyle.  I can’t even explain it.  He walks past me and sits down next to Annie. 

Seeing these people, it makes me wonder how I look.  I take a glimpse of myself in one of the shiny crystals.  I still have brownish reddish hair -- but now I have deep brown eyes.  At least I kept my tan skin.

My wings look like fragile crystals, too fragile to touch. I’m wearing a cute, bubbly outfit. A purple and blue striped shirt with a cute pink jacket.  I have pink denim pants, and I have beautiful fuzzy boots.

I look at my hair style -- a whole new topic. My short hair is just below the shoulder and is curled at the ends, with a few crystals added in for decoration.  It looks like I’m wearing crystals everywhere.

But right then and there -- I have to stop admiring myself in the crystal.  Not that I was admiring myself of course.  That