When the Past Becomes the Present

My breath was taken away, and I was at loss of words. Astrid sat in front of me but I could tell by the way she sat that she too was at a loss. “It’s a hidden dragon world.” I breathed. Never before had I seen anything this magnificent.

We continued on slowly, Stormfly being amazed by what she’d lead us to. I could only imagine how she was reacting. This was her world, after all. She, as a dragon, belonged here. Astrid and I were strangers among this place. No Viking, no human, had ever set foot into the Hidden World. We were the first.

As we continued on-

RING! RING! RING!

Sanna jumped from her place on the bed at the disruptive sound of the landline going off. Huffing in agitation, she set her book down, open face first, and ran down out of her room, down the narrow hall, and to the kitchen. Sliding up to the counter, she picked up the phone and held it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Is this Sanna Eckstrom?” An unfamiliar voice on the other end asked.

She furrowed her brows in suspicion. “Who is this?” She demanded slowly.

Silence.

“Miss Eckstrom, I’m Dr. Wilson. I’m sorry to tell you that your parents were in an accident at 9:30 this morning. Neither made it.” Silence again. “I am so sorry. I’ll send someone to bring you here.”

That call changed Sanna’s life forever. For ten years, she’d lived in her beloved home country of Sweden. Only several months ago, her parents told her they were moving to America. She was ten years old, struggling to fit in to not just a new school, but a new country altogether, and now she was an orphan. She had no other family to turn to. Both of her parents came from a long line of single children.

She didn’t know anyone, or have any friends in school. In fact, she was looked to as the school joke all because of her stand-out accent. Not to mention her strange hair color of red and brown. Her hair flew wildly, remaining uncontrollable. Unfortunately, she had inherited her mother’s maiden Haddock gene.

Her mother. She loved her mother more than anything. From the time she was little her mother had told her of the Old Norse tales regarding dragons and Vikings. Her favorite one had been of her ancestral grandfather, chief Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III the Dragon Master. The book she was reading had been a translation of a journal he wrote in Norse, which she had as well as the translation. The translated version had been written by his granddaughter, Runa Haddock. Both versions had been passed down in her family for generations, and she and her mother both spoke fluent Norse; as well as sharing the belief that dragons still existed.

Legend had it, her grandfather and grandmother found the hidden land of the dragons, which he had recorded in his journal. It was also said that he later moved his tribe to the Hidden World; that left both her and her mother confused. Because if he had moved his family and tribe down to the Hidden World, why wasn’t her family there anymore? That was the one question she wanted an answer to more than anything. Her mother shared her passion in finding answers.

And now she was gone.

Her beloved mother was gone. Her one outlet for discussing her troubles, fears and passions was gone. Her father as well. She was alone now. All alone. She broke down as the phone slid out of her hand and hit the counter. Her knees gave out and she collapsed on the floor. Her knees gave a bang, but she didn’t care. Nothing could be more painful than how she felt inside. Her parents were gone.

She didn’t think it would get worse, but indeed it did. Seeing her dead parents made her throw up over the hospital floor. They were mangled and bloodied, having not been cleaned yet. And as she looked at them, it was like she could see the accident in her head. All she wanted was to get out of her head and prevent herself from bringing up that image.

It all escalated from there, continuing to get worse. Being as she had no other relatives that were alive, or that wanted her, it was decided by the court that she would be taken into foster care. And that’s where things got really bad.

In the next five years, all the homes she lived in were either abusive, overworked the other foster children, or didn’t give a damn about what any of them did. In one of her foster homes a girl got pregnant and the foster parents didn’t even seem to notice.

Many of the homes had also been with men that would molest the girls of the house. Sanna had been subjected to that plenty of times. And with all of that, combined with the fact that at thirteen she’d been diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety, she was left a void and unhappy child. Her night terrors of seeing her parents’ accident, and men molesting her haunted her with every new home she was taken to. Until the one when she was fifteen.

Matthew and Denise Johnson were just driving by an alley, when they heard Sanna screaming. Her foster father of the time was beating her, trying to undress her. By sheer luck, Matthew barged in before the man got any farther with her. And just like that, court papers were signed and Matthew and Denise were her new foster parents.

It was a hard time for her. She’d never been to counseling; but almost immediately, the loving couple took her in to a psychologist. And over the next few months she began the process of healing that she hadn’t been given in any of her many foster homes. She started to feel like she had a family again, a place she belonged. And the couple became like parents to her.

And then HE showed up.

Sanna knew that the Johnsons had an older son that was in college. He’d moved out only weeks before she arrived. But in the first year of her being with the Johnsons, she’d never once seen let alone met him. Until summer came around.

He was well into nineteen, where she was a fresh sixteen. Tall, lean and dark, he wasn’t bad on the eyes. His black hair was clean and cut, and his face was clear of any stubble. His brown eyes were glossy and deep, and his features, while not sharp, were perfect in her eyes. He was like the definition of handsome.

And then there was his charm. Oh, when she met him, he was beyond taken with her. He’d look her way and wink. His lips would twitch ever so slightly, as if trying to hide an amused smile when she did something he deemed humorous. She knew it was ridiculous, but everything about him was so…intoxicating.

Cole Johnson was his name. And he took her on the most amazing journey she felt since the death of her parents; the journey of love. Finally, she felt complete, when they made it official. She had a new family that showed utter love and adoration for her. And she fell in love in the most unexpected way. Her life was on the mend, and it would only continue to get better.

:::

So IDK if it’s caught on yet what my theme for this story is. I hope so. IDK where I got the inspiration for this story, to be honest. I’ve seen stories somewhat similar to this one, but I can’t say I’ve seen one exactly like how I’m planning this story to pan out. But I spend a lot of time in my own mind. I’m Aquarius, and it suits me well as I tend to overthink, and am easily bored; so I begin to think, almost too much. After all, I thought of this crazy spinoff. This is NOT a time travel book, it is one that is solely based on Hiccup’s descendant granddaughter, Sanna.