Well, this is my first fan fiction ever. If you're reading this, thanks! Enjoy

Suburbia, a forest of middle-class houses and wide, even streets, rested silently beneath the heavy, darkening sky. The day had been unbearably hot, the yards and streets filled with capering, screaming children and moody, lovestruck teenagers. Housewives wearing unbearably bright colors and strange hairstyles gathered on the corner to trade gossip both malicious and meaningless. Serious men in suits and ties drove pretentious, expensive-looking cars down the streets, hoping to impress the neighbors.

But as the sun began to set, the clouds had swept in, accompanied by a chilly wind. Flashes of lightning along the horizon and distant rumblings of thunder were an omen of an unexpected summer thunderstorm. The gossiping housewives immediately began to comment on the outright inadequacy of the local weatherman (who had predicted clear skies all that weekend) while casting uneasy glances up at the sky.

The residents of Suburbia had fled for the shelter of their neat and tidy homes when the first raindrops had begun to fall. The tall, green trees that lined the streets creaked and swayed as the wind began to howl. The sun broke through the gathering clouds in several places creating slanted golden bars of light to shine down on the deserted streets. The odd light illuminated the fading pastel-colored houses and made them look quite bizarre.

Several people looked out at this strange and slightly unsettling weather and pulled the shades over the windows.

"Unnatural," they muttered and turned their back on the golden phenomenon. "Weird."

But this behavior was only to be expected, as the majority of those living in Suburbia were angered by (but mostly afraid of) anything remotely unusual or different. It was always better (and safer) to be normal.

But not everyone was taking refuge indoors. A lone being walked resolutely down the middle of a wide street. It wasn't particularly tall, but it wasn't short either. It wore faded jeans and a bright blue windbreaker which contrasted fiercely with its surroundings. The figure jumped over a puddle and pulled a black backpack closer to its body. Wet leaves stuck to its black boots. A powerful gust of wind blew down the street and caused the anonymous stranger's bright red hat to fly off revealing long, dark brown hair.

The girl, for a girl it was, spun around and looked frantically for her hat, nearly dropping the rectangular, black case she carried in her right hand. Thankfully, the hat had gotten caught on a clean, white picket fence and she sprinted to it before the wind could carry it away again. The wind at her back nearly caused her to run headlong into the fence but she managed to skid to a halt on the wet sidewalk. She arranged the knit cap over her tangled hair once more and resumed her journey, but not before casting several furtive glances around the deserted street.

While most of the humanity in the area shied away from the curious sky, this girl was fascinated by it. Too fascinated, as it was, for as she stared at the sunset breaking through the clouds she tripped over a fallen branch and went sprawling onto the wet concrete, hitting her elbow and dropping the black case. She quickly got to her feet, blushing at her carelessness. She winced and rubbed her elbow, sure that there would be a bruise tomorrow.

The nameless girl's destination was the large, somewhat sinister mansion at the end of Suburbia. It looked marvelously odd as it jutted up into the curious sky. As she neared the large gates, thunder crashed quite suddenly and was followed immediately by a white flash of lightning.

Inside the hundreds of well-kept houses, both children and housewives shrieked at the violent-sounding, yet completely common, weather and clutched at their fathers and husbands in terror.

But the girl standing by the wrought iron gates looked up to the murky sky and smiled pleasantly, revealing white, even teeth. She wasn't frightened at all (not of anything so tame as thunderstorms, at least). She adored the freezing rain and the dark clouds.

She took one last look at the fading rays of sunlight piercing the clouds and turned her attention to the gates. As tall and intimidating as they were, they swung open easily and silently when she pushed. She stepped through cautiously and they swung shut behind her. The cold iron stung as she pressed a hand against the bars and gazed out at the strange, yet familiar, land she had traversed. The cozy, neat houses with the yellow light spilling from the windows looked very inviting and warm. But deep down, she knew that she wouldn't be welcome there.

Another clap of thunder and the rain began to come down harder. A gust of wind threatened to snatch the black case from her hand and she gripped it tighter, dimly registering that she was cold. The girl pulled the hood of her blue windbreaker over her head, not realizing that it had filled up with cold rainwater. Sputtering and cursing good-naturedly, she began stumbling towards the mansion.

Her chagrin at inadvertently pouring cold water over her head disappeared as she walked quietly up the path to the door. She gasped and came to an ungraceful halt, trying to keep her balance on the wet terrace. Tall, elaborate figures towered over the grounds left and right. There were graceful ballerinas, clowns, animals, and many others that were obscured by rain and distance. She realized that they were plants. Hedges, maybe.

"Beautiful," she said in a hoarse whisper and raised a pale hand to her soggy hat. Two odd thoughts struck her at the same time. The first was that she couldn't remember the last time she had spoken aloud. It shouldn't have been surprising to her, considering that she traveled alone, but it was.

The second was that someone must live here, or else these fantastic shapes would have fallen into disrepair. She swallowed hard and looked around the deserted courtyard.

"Well, you've come this far. Might as well see if anyone's home," she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she walked slowly up to the dark, iron door, trying and failing to tell herself that she shouldn't be afraid.