• One winter afternoon, Ruby was walking a long the over-snowed sidewalk. She trudged up a steep hill that her house stood on. She hated climbing up a hill everyday after school, especially when it was snowing outside, because the hill always became icy and hard to walk on.
    On this particular day, it was snowing more then usual, which made Ruby even more grumpy. She had nothing but a gray button-down sweater protecting her from the air's chilly gusts of wind. She was wearing pink converse on her feet.
    "I wish I would've listened to my mom. Why didn't i wear those boots, or that ugly puffy coat she got for me last winter?" Ruby asked herself as she zipped up her jacket. That ugly puffy coat she got last winter had been from her mother, who didn't have a particularly good taste in fashion. Ruby wished she would've been at the store with her mom to pick out a winter coat, but she was at school and didn't know her mom was going to do that.
    The wind blew and even colder gust at Ruby, and she put her hood on to protect her more. Though, it didn't really help that much.
    "I just wish I could get out of this place!" Ruby whispered to herself. Her fingers were turning a slight pale blue from the cold. She shoved her hands in her small pockets on the side of her jacket.
    Suddenly, out of no where, Ruby felt as though she had just walked into a wall of rubbery yogurt.
    "What was that? Wait, nothing...I mean...I didn't see anything in front of me! What did I just walk into?" Ruby wondered aloud. There was nothing more strange then what she had just felt. And, to make things even stranger, things looked different then they had going up the hill.
    The sky was dark blue, and snow covered the ground. There was no sidewalk, road, dirt, or grass to be seen. The trees were blanketed in snow, too, and icicles hung from their branches. Strangely, there was nobody in this foreign town. No people, no houses, no anything except buildings, plants, and little igloos, big enough to fit penguins or other small animals in it.
    "If those can only fit small animals in it, per say, then...oh my. There are only animals here? Living here? No...there couldn't be! There is no such thing as talking animals. Is there?" Ruby mumbled to herself. Quickly shaking the thought of there being talking animals out of her head, she roamed around the peculiar town, looking for any form of human life.
    "Is there anyone here? At all?" Ruby pleaded. Her breath splashed onto the freezing air. It was colder then her hometown, and Ruby didn't like that at all. She much preferred summer, mainly because it was warm and you didn't have to wear bundles of thick clothing. That's why she never wore big coats, mittens, or hats outside, as well as winter boots. She just hated the thought of dressing up specially just for something she didn't like. And, she tried to keep summer with her wherever she went.
    "Hello? Please, someone, tell me that you're here! Give me a sign, or...something like that." Ruby yelled into the vast whiteness of the area.
    "Um...hello." a small voice echoed to her. It sounded like a small child's voice, new and unused.
    "Who's there? Show yourself!" Ruby demanded, looking around her for any movement.
    "It's just me." a small penguin-like figure moved out of its hiding spot and closer to where Ruby was standing. "The name's Pip."
    "What? No. This can't be. You can't be a talking penguin! There is no such thing." Ruby said angrily, crossing her arms.
    "Well, I guess penguins can talk, because I'm doing it. Anyway, what brings you here?" Pip asked, as he tapped one foot. Ruby had forgotten about her journey to another land because of all the commotion. How am I supposed to get back? What do I do? Mom will be expecting me soon for dinner. Will she be worried? Ruby questioned herself. More thoughts similar to that buzzed around in her head.
    "Um...I don't know. What is this place? I need to get home, and soon. How do I do that?" Ruby asked Pip after a few minutes.
    "Unfortunately, I don't know if it's possible to get back or not." Pip said nervously.
    "What do you mean, I can't get back? This is outrageous!" Ruby hollered, throwing her hands up in the air.
    "I said, I don't know how if it's possible to get back or not. I never said anything about you not getting back. Maybe the Master Sage will know. Hm...I wonder. Yes yes. Follow me." Pip said. He turned around and started walking towards an igloo that was bigger then all the rest of them. Ruby did as she was told, and followed him.
    "Master Sage?" Pip asked as he walked into the large igloo. Ruby wasn't sure if she should go in there, but she did anyway.
    "Yes, Pipleo?" Master Sage asked. Pip walked closer to Master Sage, and Ruby followed nervously.
    "I have a question. An important one, if I may ask it, sir." Pip said, rubbing his fingers together.
    "Yes, you may ask the important question. Go on." Master Sage said as he poured some tea into a brown mug.
    "Well...you see sir, this girl right here needs to get back home. She's new. She traveled here from..uh..." Pip stopped talking and looked at Ruby.
    "From Magnolia Road, in Washington? Yes well, I traveled to this place from there, and I'm not sure how to get back. I don't even know how I got here, really. It felt as though I walked through some rubbery wall, though. Boy was that weird!" Ruby babbled.
    "I'm sorry. I don't know how you're going to get back. Now, is that all, Pipleo?" Master Sage wondered, stroking his chin.
    "That's all we wanted, sir." Pip agreed.
    "No, that's not all we wanted! Absolutely not! I need to get home, is that such a problem? Now open that stupid rubber thing of yours, and let me out!" Ruby demanded, slamming her fist on a wooden table near by. Pip looked shocked; frozen. Master Sage just sat there with no expression on his face.
    "There will be no going home." Master Sage replied with a sly smile on his face.
    "But Master Sage, she needs to get home! We opened the gate for that other girl that came here, why not her?" Pip asked.
    "I said no that's why. She's a stupid greedy girl. Teach her, Pip. Make her work to get out of here. Then at least she can learn some manners!" Master Sage said sternly. "No go." he pointed to the wooden door on the igloo.
    Pip bowed to Master Sage, and motioned for Ruby to do the same. She did, but carelessly. Then, the two left the room.
    "I can't believe you talked like that to him. So, for work, you have to polish the icicles, gather food from the Winter Brush, and collect wood for fire every night." Pip said.
    "What? Every night? How long will I be here?" Ruby asked worriedly.
    "I'm not sure. How ever long it takes you to do your chores. And trust me, it'll take a while. I live right over there in that blue house with the dark blue shingles. Bring the food and firewood there. You can stay with me." Pip said. He left in a hurry, and Ruby didn't know where he was going. She didn't know where she was going to go, either, because Pip hadn't even given her directions to the Winter Brush. She started crying because she was so confused.
    "What's the matter?" another small penguin asked.
    "I don't know what to do! I need to get firewood and collect food from the Winter Brush, but I don't even know what that is! I need to do it as soon as possible, too!" Ruby sobbed.
    The kind penguin then led Ruby to the Winter Brush, and to the place where they collected firewood. Ruby thanked the penguin, and ran off to Pip's house to drop the food and wood off.
    "Pip, I have all of this food." Ruby said, dumping it on the table. "And this firewood." she dumped that near the stone fireplace.
    "This isn't good enough. We need more!" Pip said. Ruby angrily stomped out of the small house and gathered more of what Pip wanted. Day after day, night after night she did this. It soon got tiring, and she decided to take a quick trip to the clear gate.
    "Why can't I just pass through you?" Ruby whispered sadly. Suddenly, the floor began to shake like an earthquake was about to happen. Ruby looked down at her feet, and extended her arms in a position to help her keep her balance. The clear gate doors creaked open, and a strong breeze greeted Ruby. A strong breeze from Washington.
    "Oh my God! The doors are open! They're finally open! After all of these days, I'm free to go!" Ruby exclaimed. She jumped around in the snow and laughed. She was finally free.
    "Yes, you are free. But you learned a valuable lesson, did you not? Always be kind. Don't talk back." Master Sage said. He hobbled over to Ruby and patted her on the back. "You're free. Go to your own world, that's where you belong."
    And with that, Ruby ran out of the strange, more-snowy-then-usual town, and into her own world where there were no talking penguins and regular people. She rushed to her small, cramped house at the top of the icy hill, and ran inside where her mother was sitting at the table. She was reading a newspaper, her glasses at the edge of her nose.
    "Mom I'm here! I'm finally here! Did you miss me? Did you call the police?" Ruby asked. Her nose was red from the cold, and her cheeks burned from running.
    "Are you trying to be funny? I didn't call the police. Thirty minutes is nothing. I just figured it had taken you some time to get up the hill." her mom said. Her voice was crisp.
    "Oh. But...I was gone for a week! Didn't you miss me? What's going on?" Ruby asked, taking off her jacket and hanging it on the coat rack.
    "I don't know what your talking about. But take off your shoes, I don't want snow in the house." her mom said strictly.
    "But mom...I was gone for so long. Wait, maybe the days and hours and weeks and stuff are different over there! But why didn't Pip tell me that? Or Master Sage? Maybe they were just punishing me more!" Ruby explained to herself.
    "What are you talking about? Goodness Ruby, sometimes I think you're going insane. Dinner is ready if you want some, it's on the stove." her mom said.
    Ruby went to get the dinner. While eating it, she thought about her long day, and how it wasn't actually long in real life. She remembered what Master Sage had said, too, that she needed more manners, more niceness about her.
    And after that, Ruby tried to be as nice and as mannered as she could. She also tried to find the strange world again, but she couldn't. All she found was a dark purple berry right outside the place she had entered the world. And she knew that berry had been from a Winter Brush bush. So maybe, just maybe, that world was still out there somewhere. And Ruby new that all she had to do was look for it.