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16-year-old Zelinda Seacrest is a vegetable, stuck in a coma for 11 years and counting. Her mother Zentroz is worried about the health of her daughter, hoping every day that she would awaken from her endless sleep. But unbeknownst to her mother, Zelinda's dreams have served as a wondrous, attractive, and nearly permanent destination since they began 11 years ago. A magical kingdom paradise born from her imagination, with Zelinda princess over it all. And with an imagination that has grown beyond her wildest dreams, Zelinda ventures to the surface of her subconscious, bringing her overactive imagination with her. Meanwhile, Zentroz grows restless with her husband Jonathan as they receive news of the moment that they were waiting for. A care-free Zelinda finally awakens, ready to experience the strange new world that awaits her. And with the kingdom in her mind, she slowly introduces it to her parents, before gradually growing homesick of her dream world again. The thought of the mysterious dream world that her daughter describes begins to worry Zentroz. And her daughter's growing attachment to it worries her even more. And as the days and weeks go by with Zelinda's numerous revisits to the land of her imagination, her daughter begins to change more and more. What was this mysterious land that she spent so much time in? Why does Zelinda keep becoming more and more different? Before any of Zentroz's questions could even be answered, Zelinda becomes as mysterious as the dream world that she first experienced in her coma and her parents begin to find themselves right in the middle of their daughter's fantasy world. Welcome to the kingdom born from imagination. Welcome to Zelinda's Garden. I. The Planting Chapter 1: Nowhere Zelinda Seacrest’s eyes looked so empty that you would believe that there’s nothing inside her. Her eyes never changed or moved. If you were to try to talk to her, you would clearly get no answer. All you would get is a glance of her dazed stupor. A robotic glance devoid of any real intelligence. Her hazel hair flowed down to her shoulders. Her face was lightly freckled with a couple areas of acne starting to form. Her left bra strap sagged over the v-neck of her sky-blue dress. Lacking any awareness, Zelinda continued to stare into nothing. While her own heartbeat proved that she was alive, Zelinda was nowhere to be found. She was sitting on a soft tan couch, with her neck hunched over. Her parents sat beside her, impatiently looking at their phones for the time. “When is he coming?” Jonathan said, staring up from his phone screen. “It’s three minutes after four! The doctor is three minutes late!” “Calm down, dear.” Zentroz said, patting her hand on his right shoulder. “Maybe she’s with another patient.” Zentroz gazed over at her teenage daughter and tucked the bra strap back into her dress. “There honey. I fixed it.” But Zelinda didn’t respond. She maintained her same blank stare as usual. “Why do you talk to her?” Jonathan said, sighing. “She is not even there!” “How do you know?” Zentroz asked him. “There might be something going on inside her. You don’t know!” “Do you still think that? She’s been like this for 11 years!” Zentroz took the defensive. “Maybe so, but she’s still my daughter and I want to talk to her. Isn’t that right, Zelinda dear?” She waved her hands up and down over Zelinda’s eyes, which remained still. Zentroz could remember the last time that her daughter was normal. It was just a few days after Zelinda’s fifth birthday, in the year 2043. Zentroz was putting her daughter to bed. “No mommy!” she cried. “Tell me more of the story!” Zentroz held the book shut and smiled. “Don’t want to ruin the surprise, dear. You’ll hear some more tomorrow night, okay?” She leaned over her daughter’s bed and nuzzled her nose over her daughter’s face. “I love you, dear.” Zelinda gave her mother a look of curiosity. “Mommy?” “Yes dear?” she asked, staring into her eyes. “Am I a princess, like the story you told me?” Zentroz waved her hand on her daughter’s face like a magic wand. “You are, dear. You’re a beautiful princess.” Zelinda’s face lit up and she began to smile. “Look at me, mommy! I’m a princess!” Zentroz nodded, giving her daughter a very excited face. “You are! Good night, dear!” She kissed her daughter goodnight and left the room. During that night, something strange started to happen. Zelinda quickly fell asleep and was filled with the dreams from all the stories that her mother told her. Stories about beautiful princesses and heroic princes to rescue them. Fond memories of all the playtime that she had during that day. Then it happened. In the morning, Zelinda stopped. Her face gave a blank stare, which has remained unchanged to this day. Wherever Zelinda went that one night, she never wanted to come back. The doctor finally came in and shook both Zentroz’s and Jonathan’s hand. Dr. Julia Prost greeted her patient with a warm smile. “How’s Zelinda today?” Zelinda gave her usual response, giving her a blank and emotionless stare. Dr. Prost nodded. “Fine as usual, I would guess?” She adjusted her glasses and gave Zentroz a serious stare. “I know that you want to see your daughter back in the right mind. Do you mind if we run some more tests on her again?” Jonathan sighed. “What difference would that make? You have done this every month for years!” Dr. Prost gave Jonathan a sharp stare. “Yes, I know. But what else can we do? There might be something else that we can find out about her. Something that might get you your daughter back.” Zentroz elbowed Jonathan and smiled at the doctor. “Oh, we would love that! Wouldn’t you want that, honey?” Jonathan nodded. “Yes, I would, but we’ve been down this road for about 11 years now. Do you really think that this would make any difference?” “Yes!” she sharply responded. “I think that it would make a lot of difference! Let’s just do what the doctor says. Okay?” She looked back at the doctor and nodded. “Go ahead and take her. If you have any questions regarding her, they’re all going to be the same as last time. Just to save you the time.” Dr. Prost nodded. “That’s fine. And that’s also why we would like to run some more tests on her. Just asking the same questions and trying all the same things as before isn’t going to change anything. All we can do is run some more tests. Maybe we can reach her this time.” “I hope!” Zentroz said with a smile. Dr. Prost held Zelinda by the hand and led her outside the room to the lobby with Zentroz and Jonathan following. Some other specialists were standing there, ready to take Zelinda. Zentroz’s smile faded when she saw the specialists guiding Zelinda down the hallway. “Leave her to us.” Dr. Prost said, giving her a reassuring smile. I’ve trained the new staff so they’ll know what to do with her. I’ll keep a good eye on her, okay?” Zentroz nodded. “Okay. Let’s go home, honey!” Zentroz and Jonathan left, leaving Zelinda to the doctors. The doctors ran all the usual tests on Zelinda, but the results were the same as last time. By that time, it was evening, so they placed her in one of the hospital beds. Zelinda’s blank stare retired for the day. Her eyelids drooped shut and she fell asleep. *** Zelinda watched as her mother tucked her in. That was a wonderful story. She wanted to hear more and how it turned out. Where did the princess go? What land did she travel to next? Maybe she’ll tell me more if I ask her… But the mother closed the book. Zelinda, now crushed, started to cry. “No mommy!” she whined. “Tell me more of the story!” But the mother just stood there, holding the book in her hands. Zelinda glanced at the book and frowned. If only I could get that book! Maybe mommy tell me just a little more…” “Don’t want to ruin the surprise, dear,” she told her. Zelinda’s tears were erased when she heard the word “surprise”. What? Surprise? Where? Zelinda glanced around, trying to find where the surprise was. “You’ll hear some more tomorrow night, okay?” Zelinda glanced at the book that was out of her grasp. Tomorrow? I can’t wait until tomorrow! Please let it be soon! Pleeeease? She felt the nuzzling of her mother’s nose against hers. Oh, I love it when mommy does that! I hope that she kisses me too! “I love you, dear,” the mother warmly told her. Zelinda then thought of the story that she just heard again. That princess in that story…Is that me? Maybe mommy knows! Mommy knows everything… “Mommy?” she said with great eagerness. The mother stared deeply into Zelinda’s eyes. “Yes dear?” Zelinda began to smile even more. “Am I a princess, like the story you told me?” She watched her mother wave her hand on her face. It’s a magic wand! She’s turning me into a princess! “You are, dear.” The mother told Zelinda. “You’re a beautiful princess.” Zelinda smiled very brightly. She closed her eyes, imagining her beauty. She then opened her eyes. “Look at me, mommy! I’m a princess!” The mother nodded and smiled widely at Zelinda. “You are! Good night, dear!” Zelinda glanced at her mother, who gave her a very nice kiss on the cheek. There we go! She didn’t forget! Yay! After the mother left the room, Zelinda’s eyes became heavy. When she opened her eyes, she was in a magical land. She got out of her royal bed and glanced out of the window. She was in a beautiful castle on top of a very high hill. When she saw the view, her royal chamber, and her royal princess gown, she sighed with ecstasy. “Wow!” she squealed. “I really am a beautiful princess! “I never want to leave this kingdom! Ever!” And that is just what happened. Since the night she dreamt that dream, she has remained princess of her very own kingdom. All while her body continued to age day by day from the outside. While her mother was worrying about her vegetative state, she was having the time of her life, living every one of her days as a beautiful princess in a land of her very own. *** Eleven years has passed since Zelinda began the wonderful journey to her very own kingdom. Every day played out exactly as the day before. Her mother the queen would tell her that one day, the land would be hers. Everything that she could see outside the window of her castle would belong to her. Zelinda, still five years old, squealed as she played with her royal blocks. She stacked the blocks to make a royal castle of her own. Looking out of the castle, she frowned. “Mommy, can we make the castle bigger?” Right after she said that, the castle grew to exactly the size that she wanted. “Yay!” She got to her feet and ran around all the new rooms that she made in her now bigger castle. When she entered the throne room, she went and sat on the throne. “Mommy?” she asked. The queen immediately appeared. “Yes dear?” “Can I be ruler now?” she asked her. Right after she asked her, a crown appeared on her head. “You are, dear!” she told Zelinda. “You rule everything!” Zelinda smiled. “I do!” All of a sudden, Zelinda suddenly remembered the story that her mother promised that she would tell her. She glanced at the queen. “Can you tell me the story now?” The queen looked at her in confusion. “What story do you want me to tell you?” Zelinda smiled. “You know! The princess story!” The queen nodded and smiled. “You’re already a princess. What story do you want to hear?” Zelinda frowned and began to pout. “You don’t know the story. I wanna hear the story!” A portal appeared and Zelinda saw it. Wow! A flashing thing! If I go through it, will mommy tell me the story? Zelinda ran eagerly through the portal and went through it, her very own kingdom vanishing behind her…