Once upon a time, there was a girl who fell through a portal to another world. You’re probably thinking, yeah, heard that one a million times. Fair enough, but this story isn’t about that girl.

  It’s about me. That girl was my mother.

  Now her tale could have been a tragic one, but the world that she fell into was full of magic—the kind that inspired half the fairy tales back here. Of course, that meant there were monsters and things to go along with all the wonderful and miraculous ones, but my Mom’s resourceful. She survived.

  She went on a quest to find her way back home. It was a dazzling adventure: dragons, mystery, the works. In the end, her quest succeeded, only she wasn't so sure she wanted to go home anymore. You see, while I say ‘girl,’ she was almost seventeen, a teenager really. And during this quest, she fell in love with a strapping young adventurer who had joined her along the way. Who wouldn't, right? It was a classic adventure romance.

  But the girl also missed her family and her friends. So, the girl figured, why not have it both ways? Their quest had led them to a permanent portal between our two worlds. All you needed was the key to open it.

  She had the key. It’s sort of a creepy one, but we’ll get to that later. She returned to her world, and her adventurer came with her. Then after a time they returned to his. It was sort of like a custody battle between worlds. Anyway, eventually, they were married. Things were just lovely. Then the girl, a full grown woman now, became pregnant. This is where I come into the story. Yay, right? We’re finally getting somewhere.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I was born, and we were just a happy world-blended family for a while. We settled in Kirath, my father’s world and would often visit my mother’s family through the portal.

  And then it all started to fall apart, for you see, strapping young adventurers do exactly that: adventure.

  Now, I love my father, don’t get me wrong, but he has definitely made some mistakes. He was just gone a lot at first, but eventually it became more. One day, my mother got a letter from an enchantress my father was traveling with, informing her that my father had decided to have an adventure romantically.

  That was the last straw for my mother. She said if she was going to be raising a child practically alone, then she would rather do it in her own world, so we left. We went home, well, her home anyway, and so I grew up mostly in sunny San Diego, California.

  I visited Dad sometimes. I usually lived in Kirath in the summer. At first, Mom came with me. I think she sort of missed Kirath. Also, she didn’t want me to get eaten by a dragon or something. She didn’t particularly trust my father to be a responsible parent. Later, I would go on my own. And so, I grew up in two different worlds.

  It's not as cool as it sounds. If you feel like you don’t belong in one, imagine feeling like you don’t belong in two. Lovely, right? But that’s life. That’s me. That’s how this story starts.

  Really, it starts with me quitting my job, and ends with me at the beach with a magical civil servant. But let’s just get into the nitty-gritty, shall we?