Excerpt 1 From Chapter 1
Tap-tap-tap.
The pen hitting the top of the computer desk kept the rhythm of impatience as fourteen-year-old Wil Johnson stared at his nearly completed essay. He glanced over his shoulder; the clock on his nightstand read With a sigh, he glanced out the window. The morning sun peeked in at him, warm with the promise of spring. The tapping stopped as an idea hit him. He quickly wrote the sentences as his mom called upstairs,
“Wil, Scott’s here! Hurry, or you’ll be late!”
“Coming!” He finished the essay and slipped the paper into his notebook. Then he slipped on his baseball cap and scooped up his books.
Downstairs, he found his best friend Scott Jenkins sitting on a bar stool, scarfing down a plate of French toast.
“Hey, bud,” Scott greeted him; his green eyes twinkled mischievously. “It’s good.”
“Great,” Wil moaned playfully. “Did you save me any, Mom?”
Nora Johnson smiled at her son. “Of course. Hat.” She pointed to her own head. Wil quickly removed the cap, sheepishly running his hand through his brown hair. It fell boyishly across his forehead.
He took the plate she handed him and poured syrup on his toast. As he began eating, Scott turned to him.
“You do know the only reason I’m your friends is because of your mom’s cooking. Otherwise, you have nothing to offer me.”
“Jerk,” Wil muttered so his mom wouldn’t hear. His brown eyes danced merrily, though, in his boyish face that was neither round nor square. A slight dimple made itself at home in his chin.
“Mom, make Scott leave a tip,” he suggested out loud.
“What? My charming company isn’t enough?” Scott looked wounded.
“Don’t you worry, Scott,” Nora replied, running her fingers through her short, wavy hair. She tied a scarf around her neck. “I’ll always have a place for you at my table.”
“You are the best, Mrs. J.” He winked flirtatiously at her. Wil made a gagging sound.
“Scott,” Nora leaned against the counter and sipped at her tea, “I wish you’d call me Nora. You’re practically family.”
“Great, Mom,” Wil complained. “Now we’ll never get rid of him.”
She smiled. “You two had better be off, or you’ll miss the bus.”
Wil swallowed his juice in one gulp and slid off the stool. “Bye, Mom. See you this afternoon.”
“Later, Mrs. J!” Scott scooped up his catcher’s mitt and trotted after Wil. Outside, the morning sun smiled down at them, her rays warming their skin and highlighting the flaxen in Scott’s sandy blond hair as they walked to the bus stop.
“Hooray! Sunshine at last!” Scott cheered. “Now it feels like baseball season!”
Excerpt 2 From Chapter 1
Wil shook his head. His attention was drawn towards the knock at the door. Wil was aware of the absolute stillness of the room when she walked in. He felt his mouth fall open in amazement. Never mind the fact that the new girl standing beside Ms. Frank had the smoothest skin he’d ever seen on a teenager, pearly white, like thick cream; never mind the silkiness of her honey blond hair wrapped in a white chord; never mind the sheer innocence of her smile. None of that caught his attention at first. His disbelief stemmed from three things: first, the white robe she wore; second, the crystal topaz of her eyes; third and most importantly, she glowed. A radiant light seemed to permeate from the top of her head to the tips of her naked feet.
“Wow.” Scott’s whisper came very close to Wil’s ear, and he realized his friend had leaned over for a better look.
Wil turned stunned eyes towards him. “Do you see her?” he asked in disbelief.
“What? Do you think I’m blind? Of course I see her. She is . . . wow.”
Wil shook his head, puzzled. He wanted to press the issue, but at that moment, he became aware that every boy in class was fixated on the new girl.
Wil glanced around. The girls waited politely for Ms. Frank to introduce the newest member of the female clan; the boys ogled.
All, except one. In the back corner of the room, his desk set apart from everyone else’s, sat a boy with shaggy black hair and deep black eyes. His second-hand black jacket gave him a thuggish look, as did his dirty, chewed-up fingernails and furrowed brows. His expression was almost a glare. After a moment, the boy realized Wil was looking at him. He slouched down in his chair and scowled fiercely at Wil, a threatening look.
“Class, this is Cassia Cloud,” Ms. Frank announced. “She’ll be joining our little learning group. Cassia, you may take that empty seat there.” She pointed at the empty desk next to Wil.
He froze as Cassia moved to sit beside him; it almost seemed as if she floated to the desk.
Wil rubbed his eyes and looked at her again. His eyes widened even further in disbelief, for now she sat in a long blue skirt and white blouse. Her hair was pulled up in a pony tail. The glow was gone.
Excerpt 3 From Chapter 2
Cassia stood and glanced meaningfully at Wil before sailing out of the room. Wil was certain her feet had not touched the floor, but he didn’t hesitate to ponder it. He scooped all of his books into his bag and bolted from the room.
Straining to see over the tops of his peers’ heads, he spotted her several paces ahead of him. It wasn’t too difficult to see her; she glowed with an ethereal light that was lovely against the stark plainness of the walls and lockers.
Wil followed her outside and down to the football stadium. He longed to ask her a zillion questions, but her silence told him to be patient. Only once they were safely hidden underneath the bleachers did she speak.
“Greetings, Wil Johnson.”
“Cassia.” He tested the name out loud. She smiled and tilted her head in a small bow. “Wow. You are really real. I wasn’t sure. I mean,” he rambled on, unable to stop himself, “I had this dream and you were in it, only I thought it was just a dream. But it wasn’t. It was real.”
“Yes.”
Wil inhaled sharply. “Then that means the unicorn . . . there was one in my dream. That was real, too, right?”
She smiled. “He’s as real as you need him to be.”
Wil puzzled over her response, but a thousand other questions assailed his mind. “What does this mean? How is it I know you? How is it you know me? What are you? Where did you come from?”
She found his enthusiasm amusing. “I come from a realm far above your earth.”
“But you’re not an angel.”
“No. Heaven is that realm which exists far above us. We exist on a sphere separating Heaven from Earth.”
“We? So there’re more of you?”
“Oh, yes. We exist among those.” She pointed to the blue sky; singular clouds drifted lazily in an array of patterns.
“Clouds?” Wil stared incredulously at her. “You’re a what? Cloud person?”