Somehow before I even opened my eyes I knew I was in the Silver Lake Woodlands. I could tell from the crisp smell of the air and the cool breeze that stung my face. I could feel the grainy texture of dirt under my body and heard a bold waterfall far off in the distance. 
When I opened my eyes everything seemed to glow slightly with white light. The Silver Lake Woodlands were everything I had imagined and more. I felt as if I had stepped into a magical world, which I had. 
I had read stories about princes journeying to the Silver Lakes to bring forth water to the future queens to prove their worth. I had read about fairies granting mortals eternal youth but with the price of never leaving the Silver Lakes. Staying here was a gift as much as a prison. 
And somehow I, who was no princess nor fairy, but a mere mortal, had ended up in the Silver Lake Woodlands. But why? 
I stood up and felt as if the trees were watching me, their leaves watching down on me with watchful eyes. I knew these woods were dangerous for a mortal like me. Only fairytale creatures roamed these woods. Though I had yet to see one I knew they were lurking in the shadows waiting for me. 
Birds flew past my head singing beautiful harmonies and flowers bloomed everywhere. The sun was almost set but the strong white glow of the full moon gave me enough light to see my surroundings. 
That's when I noticed a faint red glow coming from my chest. I looked down and saw the pendant my mother had given me before she died was glowing red. I clutched it in my hand wishing somehow she was here with me. She would know what to do. 
I was young when she died. Only five. One day without warning I woke up and she was gone. Just like that. My dad said had gone swimming in the ocean and had drowned. They never found her body. She was in a better place said, my dad. I had no choice but to believe him. And for fourteen years I have lived with the knowledge that one day somebody who loves you more than anything else in the world can leave you in the blink of an eye. 
She used to read me stories about the Silver Lake Woodlands before she died. 
And now here I was, in the fairytale world my mom read to me as a child that I never thought was real. Where was I supposed to go? As I clutched the pendant, still glowing a faint red in my hand, I took a step forward and the pendant got brighter. Was it leading me somewhere? 
Was that even possible? A nagging part of my brain said. But I had no other ideas and afterall I was in a fairytale world, anything was possible.
I followed the pendant as it glowed brighter every step. I might have walked for hours or days, it was hard to tell time in the Silver Lakes. Time didn’t matter to creatures here. Time was for mortals because it was limited for them. Here in the Silver Lakes creatures lived forever. It drove most mortals who journeyed here mad. 
Finally after my legs had turned numb and so had my heart I reached an expansive castle. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, built with stone bricks with vines curling on the sides. They seemed to sparkle a million different colors in the vivid moonlight. 
As I approached it one figure was standing outside the gates. As I drew closer, I saw her beauty with long brown hair woven with small flowers in the shape of a crown. She seemed to scream royalty. 
I stopped right in front of her. There was something about her teal eyes that called to me. I’ve seen her before but where? The pendant on my chest started glowing a beautiful teal color showing the tears running down the womens high cheekbones and running onto her rosy pink lips. 
The same tears that were running down my high cheekbones and rosy lips.
“Mom.” I said, not a question but a statement. 
“Welcome home daughter, welcome home.”