Below is chapter one of a story I began writing for Ashleigh. I started to write the story in 2016, but I only finished five chapters before I put it aside. I returned to the story early last week and wrote chapters six and seven, and I thought maybe some of you would like to read it. All seven of the current chapters can be found under the button on the right hand side of the page above called Ashleigh's Adventures. If you would rather read the story in serial format, I will be posting the chapters once each day here until I have caught up to the current chapter. These stories got their start about 12 years ago, while we were still looking for a house in New Hampshire. During the long trips I would tell Maddie stories to keep her occupied while we were in the car. For Maddie, I told her stories about her Barbie dolls since she didn't like to be part of the adventures. Maddie had tons of dolls, and names for each of them. Unfortunately, I never wrote these stories down. They likely could have made an easy forty-chapter book. When Ashleigh heard about the stories I used to tell Maddie, she wanted me to tell her stories, as well. Ashleigh wanted to be part of the adventure, though, and she wanted me to join her in her journeys. Ashleigh's Adventures are the result. At this point, I am making the story up as we go along...similar as to what I did with Maddie. While you will see references to places you may know or heard of (The Rindge Public Library, and Middle Earth, for starters), I assure you that both the places and the characters are all a bit different than you may know in real life or fiction (For instance, who would guess that Ashleigh turns into a warrior princess? (Chapter Seven)). Looking ahead, these stories will go on until Ashleigh no longer has an interest in the stories. When that happens, we will just have to move on with our journeys in the real World. Chapter One: The Aisle Of FrightOne cold morning in February Ashleigh and Daddy decided to go to the library. Ashleigh liked the library because she always found nice books to read there. There was just one row in the library that Ashleigh was afraid of. Whenever she walked up that aisle, a cool breeze hit her, as if a ghost was embracing her heart.
"I'm going to do it this time", Ashleigh thought. I am going to walk up that aisle, and not get afraid...and I am going to find out why I get chilled whenever I go there. As soon as they got into the children's section, Daddy let go of her hand and went off to find books to use for Ashleigh's schoolwork. Ashleigh was home schooled, and all of her reading and writing assignments were based off of books that Daddy chose at the library on the weekend. Once she was alone, Ashleigh's sense of foreboding began to rise as she headed towards her aisle of fright. The aisle was dim, as usual, since there always seemed to be a bulb out somewhere along the length of the row. It seemed quieter in the aisle, too since many children seemed to avoid this part of the library. Ashleigh suspected she was not the only person who felt the cold grip of fear when they walked down that aisle. Slowly Ashleigh began to walk down the aisle. The cool breeze started about five feet from the beginning of the row. She steeled herself and kept walking. Slowly, she moved forward. By the time she reached the end of the row, she could actually feel her hair lifting on a breeze. In front of her was an old wooden bookshelf with musty looking books on it. She could feel the breeze on her face, and she started moving books on the shelf looking for where the breeze was coming from. On the fourth shelf, there was a slight hole in the back of the cabinet, and that is where the breeze was coming from. Ashleigh felt around on the back of the shelf and found a nail head that protruded from the back of the cabinet. When she pressed it, the cabinet trembled and noiselessly slid to the side exposing an inky black opening in the wall behind the cabinet.
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