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"Take this." The old woman showed her a small box. 

Britney was caught by surprise. She turned left and right to see where the woman directed her words at. She was looking at her. Definitely, she was talking to her and she didn't know why.

Britney tried to recall who the old woman was. She had no idea. Like magic, the old lady just appeared out of nowhere.

"Yes, you!" The old woman repeated. She looked like the older version of Esmeralda from the Disney's animated movie Hunchback of Notre Dame. She wore a gypsy dress. It was shining, shimmering, splendid! 

Britney liked her fashion sense though. Instantly, she envisioned herself wearing the costume as her "outfit of the day." She would surely get a like, wow, and love reaction from her Facebook followers she thought excitedly.

Looking around, Britney realized she was in the middle of a forest. She was a dwarf compared to the enormous trees surrounding her. She could hear different sounds of animals coming from the forest. The sounds , either near or far, wherever they were. There were birds chirping. There were wolves howling. Scared? She didn't show it. She was shaking. Inside.

"It will give you the power to attract whoever your heart desires," the old woman continued. She handed the box to Britney. It almost fell from the young girl's grip so she caught it with her two hands. Her mom taught her not to talk to or accept anything from strangers, so this was an exception. As they say, curiosity kills the cat, she would be dead by now if true. 

Britney carefully checked the box, there was nothing special about it except it was red and had some indecipherable inscriptions on the lid. She lifted the box cover and saw a gold necklace. The necklace had a pendant in the shape of a heart. The pendant was studded with zircon diamonds and rubies. It was beautiful.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Britney asked curiously. Why a stranger would give something like that was beyond her. Of all people, why choose her to be the recipient of such an expensive-looking jewelry? Why did this old woman appear so suddenly and give away a necklace as if she won the lottery?

She moved an inch closer to Britney. She should run, Britney thought, but the woman, although old, possessed a face of an angel. That fact alone made her less uncomfortable. "Happiness will be upon you, my dear. This necklace has unimaginable powers." There was something about the way the stranger said things that made them sound cryptic. 

"Just beware..." she continued and then stopped. Then she coughed incessantly. How could she cough at a moment like this when she wanted to hear the rest of her sentence? How could she cough without covering her mouth? A virus could be airborne, right? 

"Beware of what?" Britney's curiosity got the better of her despite the fear of a virus. She held the box and hugged it as if someone would take it away from her at any moment. As if her life depended on it.

"Beware of a false knight who is only after your heart..." Then she coughed again, nonstop. 

Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!

The bird chirped outside Britney's bedroom window. It twittered louder than her cellphone's alarm clock, she could neither snooze nor turn it off. "Oh, it was just a dream!" She woke up with disappointment. She thought it was real. She shrugged.

"Morning sunshine," she greeted herself in a zombie-like manner. She glanced at the window and saw the sun shining brightly. Its brightness was luring Britney to get up, get busy, and get a life.  So get up she did. Slowly she walked towards the window and opened it to let some fresh air come in. She smiled at the sight of their minuscule garden that actually consisted of three flower pots she named Tres Marias. Her mom watered them everyday. It was amazing to see a bird or two rendezvoused there each morning. She suddenly felt closer to nature despite the fact that she lived in the metro. Still, it was a lovely morning, after all.

Britney yawned, sleep beckoned her to bed anew. She felt her eyes shutting down again. She returned to bed and lied down. She would have gone back to sleep if only it was not the first day of school. But it was the first day of school. She needed to be there on time. 

Britney wanted to start her senior high school life right. She desired to meet new friends aside from her old friends: Tom and Sasha. They have been classmates since kindergarten.  Tom was a smart boy, he helped them with their homework in Mathematics. Sasha was the charming one, who loved joining beauty pageants. In fact, she was a yearly sight in their school's beauty contests. Unfortunately, the crown was elusive for Sasha. She never won even a single title ever since.

Going back to her dream. Britney thought that it felt real. It felt crazy. Old Esmeralda, the name she gave her, could have given her all the details about the false knight but her persistent cough made it impossible. What the hell was she talking about? A knight? What was I, a princess? Whatever. She just smiled at the thought.

"Britney." She heard her mom calling. This disrupted her thoughts about the strange dream. She forced a smile. Mom, since dad passed away, worked hard as a call center agent in Makati City, a central business district here in the Philippines. She was gone most nights so Britney was left with mom's sister, Aunt Mary, most of the time. 

Britney was an only child. She wished she could have a sister or a brother to stop her mom, especially Aunt Mary, from being overprotective. 

"Britney!" Her mom called again. She crawled out of bed as she heard her mom tap at the door. She had to get up before mom gave her some lessons about responsibility, marriage, and what have you when she only meant to say get up out of bed.

"I'm coming, mom!" Britney yelled. She looked at the mirror and smiled. At 16, she was just a simple teenager. A little on the pimply side, still a pretty face, and a shy one. She got the looks if only they knew where to find it. She gave a short laugh, proud of her sense of humor despite her timidity.

Mom prepared some sliced bread and sunny side up eggs for breakfast. A glass of milk with a pinch of coffee awaited her at the table. 

Her appetite got the better of her. Britney prepared to attack the sumptuous food before her. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all. Thus, she would give her mom's effort justice by tasting everything set on the table. Not a picky eater, she ate them all.