In all her twenty-one years of life, Alana Walters had one philosophy that stuck with her constantly, "When life throws curve balls at you, rise and keep going." And life had thrown her so many curve balls, she wondered how she was able to still stand on her own two feet until now.

From the moment she was born she was doomed to be alone. Whoever had given birth to her, abandoned her to a nearby fire station, leaving a note that only said, "I named her Alana and she was born on September 18." That was all that bound her to this mysterious woman that was her birth mother. Could Alana blame her? Of course, she couldn't.

Twenty-one years in, she was learning to forgive the mother that didn't want her. Who knew what her circumstance were then, and besides the woman seemed to have cared enough to give her a name and tell those who'd taken care of her, the date of her birth.

The first four years of her life, she had lived in all three countries: Wales, England and Scotland in Britain. She was fostered by different families, learning all their different cultures within their communities. It wasn't until she was adopted by a selfless loving couple, Margret and John Walters, that she finally learned what a true family was.

John and Margret had a little cottage house right by the sea in the neighbouring island called Isle of Mann. For the next five years, Alana had lived with them, receiving all their love and kindness as their only child. That was until life threw a curve ball in a form of tragedy.

Alana watched as heartbreakingly, the only father she'd ever known succumb to pancreatic cancer at just fifty years. The death of her husband took a great toll on Margret. Alana had to start growing up, so she could take care of the only mother she had ever known.

Fortunately for them, they had a great support system in the form of Margret's childhood best friend, Mary whom lived three houses down from them. Mary, was also widowed and knew exactly how to comfort the heartbroken Margret. For years she became a source of encouragement and strength for Margret. Mary also had a daughter named, Karla, whom was a year older than Alana. Growing up with Karla was one of Alana most treasured moments.

Karla was her only best friend and they did virtually everything together, exploring all parts the isle of Mann's could offer. As they grew up, they shared a same dream and that was to move to London and live together. Although Alana had been everywhere in that great big island of Britain when she was younger, she couldn't remember the families that had took care of her during that time and the places she had been to.

Although Alana grew up being loved and cherished in the Isle of Mann, she had always dealt with that feeling of not belonging with them. She had always felt she was different compared to her small family. And though she tried to bury these feelings, they always surfaced at odd moments during her life and haunted her most in her dreams.

Alana had terrible nightmares of being left alone, of the people around her leaving her one by one and ultimately abandoning her. These nightmares had manifested terribly when she was seventeen years old.

The biggest curve ball of them all.

In the month of May of 2014, Margret followed her husband to the grave after being diagnosed with breast cancer. It had been too late to treat it as it had metastasised to her vital organs. Alana had only a month with her before her final moments. The worse month of her life to date. The trauma was still ingrained deep in her, the toll of losing both parents so suddenly barely in the course of ten years had thrown Alana out of track.

"You're the only daughter, I ever had, Alana, and for letting me be your mother, I wholeheartedly thank you. I love you so much. Don't forget that. Even if I'm gone, I'll always love you. Always remember that even when life seems to be punching you in the face, don't give up, keep fighting on." These were the last heart-breaking words her mother parted her with.

Alana took those words to heart and promised herself to remember them whenever nothing seemed to be going her way.

It was fortunate her final secondary education had finished that month, she had the free time to be with her mother during her final moments. Margret and John left her their mortgaged cottage house and five thousand pounds for her to survive on until she decided on her next course of action.

Because her best friend, Karla had left initially a year before to London to start her business courses in Cambridge University, she had flown back to Mann to support Alana during her darkest time. Karla had brought her boyfriend, Finn from Holland to meet her. According to Karla they met at campus and hit it off instantly. Since they stayed at the same complex, they basically lived together. They had planned to officially move in together by August and Karla was adamant on bringing Alana along.

Young, naive, heartbroken and with nothing else to lose, Alana had sold off her parent's cottage house to the highest bidder. Since the cottage house was located on the rare part of the island. It was most wanted by a Travel agency that wanted to make it into a holiday spot. They had paid her a substantial amount of money in which she put into savings account for rainy days.

Alana had applied for art courses in any University in London that could take her. Since she could remember, she always had a knack for vivid imaginations accentuated by her vivid dreams. Her dream university, the Royal College of Art offered a place for her study and paint to her heart's desire.

By July of 2014, she had packed and stored away her parent's furniture and appliances, in case she needed these items again. Her clothes and materials amounted to two big suitcases in which she took to London with her.

For two months she enjoyed the slightly stuffier air compared to the free ocean breeze of the island, and the busyness of London. Although it made her anxious to see such a great movement, she started settling in with the help of Karla and her slightly odd boyfriend.

However, since life really liked chunking curve balls at her, as if saying you can never settle and be happy. Her only friend, the true friend she had ever made, decided to follow her boyfriend back to Holland to live with him instead.

"It's love, Alana. Oh, how I wish you knew that feeling. It controls you, takes over you and you want nothing more than to give your all to that person, to follow him even if it's to the ends of the world." These were words her best friend had parted her with. That childhood dream of living and enjoying life together, all but forgotten.

***

***

For four whole years after the only thing left of family abandoned her. Alana had navigated this new city and world on her own. She took the course, the Royal College of Arts had in place for her and it was very fortunate, that she had an artistic talent and eye. Promising herself to keep fighting on, she mastered her skills enough to receive her degree earlier than warranted.

At only twenty years of age, she had become the most sought-after artist. She became famously known for the eccentric way she presented and painted objects, people and animals. However, it was her "other worldly beings" project pieces that became her best sellers.

Buyers and collectors from around the world sought her gift of depicting beings from her imagination. The humanised fairy people she always dreamt of, with their magnanimous coloured wings matching their eyes and souls. These were her brightest of paintings. She guessed buyers liked these because of the colours she tried to convey into paint. In her dreams, however, these fairies had other colours that were not visible on earth.

With the brightest of paintings also unearthed her darkest of paintings. The nightmarish monsters she saw compared to the fairies. Buyers loved these more, especially the different breeds of the ugliest demons, ghouls and goblins. It had been most difficult to unearth these because these monster's many layers of colours that didn't exist in earth. No matter how much she mixed, she could only showcase an imitation of her dream.

Alana always wondered why she could see those colours in her dreams and not when she woke up. She deemed it being her artistic eye of seeing colourful pictures in the mundane dreary life.

These paintings were what almost got her famous. Had it not been for her quick thinking of remaining anonymous, she would be subject to media play. She found it odd seeing her paintings on her tv being hailed so highly. Even movie directors and animation studios sought her out for her eccentric depictions.

Alana, however, refused to venture toward that path, it was during her finally year in the Royal College of Arts until, almost two years ago that she decided on the career path of a curator instead.

She felt most comfortable in art galleries than out there to the world of the unknown. For a year, she has worked hard at cataloguing, assembling, managing and displaying different types of arts and photography for different clients. She was successful in this and although her talent was remarkable, she was still after all a rookie.

It was during one of her commissions, that she partnered up with university mates, Jacob Bright and Pamela Brown to create their small running business, that offered themselves for clients to be used in many projects as curators.

*

It was the evening of June 8th, a heat wave had struck London and although this was a good thing, since this country was plagued with constant dark clouds and rain. The heat wave was nothing they had bargained for. Alana guessed wishing for it to be warm again during the chilly winter finally paid off. Only the weather overpaid since the sun was basically scalding.

She was in the stock room of the biggest gallery in London she was privileged to be curating. The owner of the gallery wanted her team to showcase underground young talents' art pieces in one side of the gallery, in the first floor, where viewers could buy these artworks. At the top floor of the gallery they wanted to showcase their collection that weren't being sold.

It was during the process of learning this arrangement and going through the artwork to be presented that Alana discovered one of the art pieces she had painted almost two years ago from her "other worldly beings" collection. It was such an honour to see that the owner of this biggest gallery had bought her piece and liked it so much they were showcasing it in their precious collection, not to be sold.

"We have star in our midst." Was what her partners, Jake and Pam praised as they saw her old piece.

Alana had felt odd seeing the painting she'd long forgotten about. She still remembered being reluctant to sell it in the first place, since it was a personal piece. Although the art subject was of a ethereal woman she'd only seen once in her dreams, this woman had left a huge impression. There had been something familiar about her, something extra special.

In the dream, Alana had seen the woman twice:

The first time, she was in field of snow with the woman's back to her. She followed the woman for a long time, there was something heartbreaking about the way she walked on the frosty ground. As if she was lost in bloom of snow flakes on the ground. Alana called out to her but the woman didn't seem to hear her. The cold had sipped unto her bones, as the woman squatted on the ground, her attention drawn to something. When Alana looked she saw that it was a blooming pink flower, defying odds as it blossomed against the cold. Alana couldn't tell what expression—whether she was sad or happy—was on on the woman. However, there was a bittersweet feeling in her heart when she watched her.

The second time, she'd seen the same woman lying in a round bed inside a huge glass-like box. She had looked surreal and utterly breath-taking, with long flowing silver hair against her shimmering dark brown skin. Alana had watched the woman for a long time until she had realised, this woman wasn't waking up anytime soon. She did everything, trying to break the glass so she could get to the woman. However, the glass didn't budge, as if it was made of the hardest uncrackable material— a glass force field that ricocheted everything she had thrown at.

Alana had woken up from that dream, in sweats and panic. More panicked than when she had woken from her nightmares. She had quickly picked up her paintbrushes and began painting the woman while the dream was still fresh in her memory.

It had taken the whole morning to finish painting the two pieces. Her first and second dream. And although Alana had tried her best to bring the subject alive through paint, when she had looked at the finished product of the second, she felt dissatisfied with it.

It hadn't been until Pam saw her painting and pointed out how that woman bore a striking resemblance to Alana, that she finally figured out why she had felt odd.

"It's so weird cos you're pale skinned and she's dark skinned, your hair is pitch black and hers is silver white, and yet... there's a resemblance between you two...Did you do that thing where you forgot what you were painting and ended putting yourself as the subject?" Was what Pam had asked her.

Alana had sighed in response and wanted to destroy the painting right then and there. If it hadn't been for Pam persuading her otherwise, she would have lost something important. She stored away the painting of her second dream and sold the painting of her first dream. That first was more colourful. A buyer had bought it for a ridiculous amount of money. This money she had used to start up the partnership company she was now working at.

Because of the heatwave, it was very hot this evening. The stock room had no air-condition and because of this, she had hurried in finishing her task of returning the failed piece, the owner of the gallery didn't want to use. After labelling them accordingly, she placed them at a vantage point where the deliver could see to return them to their owners.

Since her company was an informal business, where one didn't need to wear office suits and heels. Alana had worn a white tank top, jean shorts and Vans and covered herself with a long light-weight cardigan.

She was returning to the main office of the building when she heard the conversation her fellow partners were having. The event was about to start and buzzing voices could be heard in the main hall of the event. She wondered why Jake and Pam weren't inside already, starting their work for tonight.

"...Bloody good looking, so he was...his voice too..." Pam spoke.

"Pam, you were busy trying to undress him with your eyes to really hear what he was saying—well, what his assistant was saying." Jake admonished her.

"Hmmm... somehow, she looked familiar, was it only me?" She frowned.

"Familiar how? You have never met her before..." Jake stated.

"No, there was wee bit of something about her that seemed familiar, as if I've known her a long time." Pam was determined to figure it out.

"Are you sure it wasn't you in drool-land over the guy, to mistake his secretary for someone you know."

Pam was about to smack Jake shoulder when Alana entered their main office.

"Whose secretary?" Alana asked in amusement, staring at them both.

Pamela was in swoon-land while Jake was studying Alana up and down with bulging eyes.

"Alana, you're still in your work uniform?" He reminded her.

By "work uniform", he actually meant her casual attire. It was an inside joke of them, the fact that for their work they were free to dress as they wished, compared to those whom had to dress in work suites for their 9 to 5 jobs.

"I texted Pam earlier, telling her that the workload here took all day long, I didn't have time to go back and change for this evening. I thought—"

"I've got your dress with me here, love..." Pam interjected her. "...I only came to bring you this, Jake followed me after I had stopped to admire that yummy guy in Armani." Pam then handed Alana the garment cover that had the dress Alana had purchased earlier for this event.

"Ah, you're a life-saver, Pam," Alana instantly hugged the cover to her chest.

Although, she now considered herself to be well off for a twenty-one-year old, when it came to money, she was still frugal. Their business did okay however, sometimes for months on end there were rainy moments without clients. It was this reason alone, that the partners were considering relocating to somewhere like Italy where art was very much appreciated.

"Anyway, I need to hurry...aren't people already coming in for the event?"

"Yeah a few, but, the owner said right now is just reception, we aren't needed until ..." Jake checked the time and frowned. "...Nine-thirty."

There was thirty minutes until nine-thirty, Alana sighed in relief realising there will be enough time to use the staff bathroom toilet to get ready.

"Pam, you brought your make-up bag, right?" Alana asked her friend/business partner.

"Ready and equipped."

Alana smiled, nodding in appreciation. She ruffled the garment cover she was holding and said to them, "So what will it be? Going back at reception to mingle and drink? Or Coming with me to help me get ready?"

Pam wiggled her eyebrows and Alana instantly knew she had chosen the latter.