Page 38 of Barbie: Dreamscape

The same pride fills me as the sensation I felt when I got on Sandy in Summerland. I was scared… but I took a deep breath. I took a risk.

I was afraid. I did it anyway.

And sure, maybe I didn’t receive a Fate; maybe I could tell myself that all those classes, all that studying, were all for nothing. But the skills I learned—discipline, focus, practice, consistency—those aren’t a waste. I’m using them now as I climb higher and higher into the sky. I don’t look down. I just keep my eyes trained forward. I just keep stepping upward, from sheep to sheep, the hope within me surging the closer I get.

Until I’m almost there. The charms on my necklaces float upward, emitting their pink glow, reaching toward the bell. The key tilts toward me, as if sensing the charms’ magic.

I reach forward. It’s nearly in my grip.

But the moment my fingers brush the bell, the sheep turn back into clouds.

And I’m falling.

I scream as my body drops, as my stomach flips. My back hits a rainbow—that becomes a slide, glimmering beneath me in every hue imaginable, and I try to stop myself, try to claw my way back up, but it’s no use. It arcs down, toward a trench as dark as night. I slide right into it, all the way toward its depths. Not even to the ground, but far lower. A hole I can’t possibly climb out of. The darkest pit I can imagine.

When the slide finally ends, I’m spit out onto cold, jagged rock. The necklaces around my neck have gone dark. I roll, bones aching, until I hit a wall.

There’s a sign there, in bold letters.

It says ROCK BOTTOM.

Rock Bottom

My charms remain inactive, no matter how hard I grip them and try to awaken the magic.

Nothing works.

No. This can’t be happening. I was—

I was so close.

Just when I thought I was finally getting the hang of this land and its rules, just when my confidence emerged, it was all just snuffed out.

It’s as though this world is mocking me—letting me get close to what I need, then ripping it away.

And now, I’ve been swallowed up by it. I’m at the bottom of a ditch so far down the sky is just a smear overhead.

In a rush of desperation, I jump to my feet and yell as loudly as I can. “Help!! Help!!!”

But my voice is absorbed by the distance.

“Okay, stay calm,” I say to myself, even as my heart rattles my ribs. I try to find that positivity I used to hold so tightly. “This isn’t so bad.”

It’s worse. It’s so much worse than any other obstacle I’ve faced on this journey, I think, as I look at the walls on either side, both miles high.

Miles. How am I possibly going to get back out?

I don’t know… but I have to try. Summoning my confidence with a shaky inhale, I turn toward one of the walls and start to climb, dirt coating my new pink clothing. I pull myself up, inch by inch, arms trembling. I bite my lip with focus. I narrow my eyes, gaze trained on the bright stroke of blue sky above. My hands, slick with sweat, grip a ledge—

The rock crumbles beneath my fingertips, and I slide all the way back down.

I land on my back with a thud.

Ow. So much for that.

Yeah, I should give up now, I think. Stay here. Make a life at Rock Bottom. Maybe make friends with the rocks, and start to talk to them, and give them personalities and adventures and—

My eyes narrow. I bare my teeth.