First Battle. 
Chapter one 

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In a small village nearby Tripoli, Libya, in Northern Africa, 
a young girl named Tanya Cambridge is happily celebrating her 
fifteenth birthday given to her by her father and friends. 
On this festive occasion, Tanya receives gifts, songs, dancing, 
and quality time spent with her often absent father, Rev. Peter 
Cambridge. Little does she know, that this night was to be the 
beginning of her greatest destiny. 

October 21 

************* 

"Oh thank you SO much Ronnie, for all these great gifts and 
party!!" exclaimed Tanya, as she hugged her best friend and 
god sister, Veronica. 

"Hey, It's no problem! You deserve the very best." said the 
light skinned girl from Nigeria as she hugged Tanya back, and 
kissed her on the cheek. "It is just a way of thanking you for 
being my closest friend, and sister in spirit." 

Tanya blushed, and playfully punched Veronica on her shoulder, 
"AWWW!! You don't HAVE to be mushy like that!! Just a simple 
"you're welcome" would have done it!" 

The rest of the party guest in the large two story house the party 

was being held in snickered behind there hand, knowing that was the 
typical "Tanya" comment. The party was in beginning to end, as it was 
late, and people had places to go in the morning. Tanya went up to 
the guests, and thanked them for their gifts, and for coming to the 
party. Tanya's father, who was outside talking to leaving guests, came 
back inside and quietly walked up to her, "O.K. sweetheart. It's time 
to leave. We gotta get going." 

"Sure, Dad. I'll be right there." said Tanya, "I just want to talk to 
Veronica for a moment." She grabbed Veronica by the arm and pulled her 
to the into the kitchen, away from prying ears. 

Once inside the kitchen, Veronica gave her a concerned look. "What's 
wrong Tanya. You look a little worried." 

"I am. That's why I waited until the end of the party to talk to you. 
I had one of those strange dreams again last night." Tanya replied, 
holding the girl's hand. 

"Oh no, not that dream about that strange blue skinned lady with the 
red hair, and you dying! I thought you was over that. What brought it 
on this time?" said the sixteen year old girl, pulling Tanya close, 
and laying Tanya's head on her shoulder. 

"I don't know. But this time it was ....different, somehow. Now I see 
a dog of some sort, and the strange thing was, he was trying to talk 
to me somehow, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I think it was 
a warning. What am I going to do?" said Tanya in a shaky voice. She 
looked up in the girl's face, "Do you think I should talk to my dad 
about this?" 

"Of course! Maybe he can help you. Even though I am into interpreting 
dreams and such, I'm afraid even this has boggled me." replied the 
young girl. She then sighed sadly. "But just in case, I will try to 
speak to the spirits tonight about this when I communicate with them 
through the fires." 

A jeep's horn was suddenly beeping outside, and Tanya gave her god 
sister one last hug, "Thanks for everything!! I knew I can talk to 
you about this. I'll call you later, if I can sneak past Dad, O.K.?" 
she smiled. 

"Sure thing." Veronica laughed, "Get going before your dad gets a fit !!" 

********* 

On the way home in the jeep, Tanya was unusually quiet as she took in 
the night's events, and she contemplated on how she was going to tell 
her father about her strange dreams. Peter looked over at his daughter, 
and saw how her mood had change, and decided to try and get her to talk 
about her feelings. 

"Did you like the party tonight Honey?" he asked as he drove. "Hmmm? 
Sure Dad! It was great! The best night of my life!" replied back Tanya, 
smiling up at her father. 

Somehow, Peter knew that the smile did not really reach her eyes. "You 
know Tanya, if there is anything you want to talk about, you know I am 
always here for you. Are you...were you...thinking about your mother?" 
he asked in a concerned voice. 

"Part of it." she muttered to herself. She looked up at her father, 
"I wish she could have been here with us, to enjoy tonight. I miss her 
so much!" she said, sadness slipping into her voice. 

"I know, Little Star. So do I. Very much" Peter said, smiling to himself 
as the memories washed over him. 

Tanya always loved when he called her that, but she had no explanation 
why. For a few moments, Tanya remained silent as she put in the new CD 
she received for her birthday, and listened to the music of BOYZ II 
MEN's song called, "A Song for Momma" 

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Tanya saw the jeep lights shined 
on something on the road as they passed it. To Tanya, it looked like a 
streak of blond hair, like someone was laying on the side of the road 
hurt. 

"Dad wait!! Stop the car!!" shouted Tanya, and her father slammed on 
the brakes quickly, causing them to buck forward. 

"What is it? What's the matter?" Peter called to his daughter as she 
opened the door and ran out of the jeep. 

"Oh look!! It's a hurt doggy!" said Tanya as she knelt down to look at 
the somewhat thin Golden Retriever dog laying down on his side. He looked 
up with pleading eyes. 

"It looks like his side is hurt! Can we please pick him up and try to 
help him? PLEASE!!" pleaded Tanya, while stroking his head. 

"Now Tanya, you know we can't just pick up stray animals! We have no idea 
where he has been, or he could even belong to someone." said her father, 
walking out of the jeep up to her. "Now come along, I have a very important 
meeting in the morning" 

"But Dad, he'ss not a stray! Look, he's all clean, and he even has this 
cute funny little white star on his forehead. He has no collar either, 
so he must have ran away from the pound or something. Please let me take 
him. It would be the most wonderful birthday present EVER!!! Tanya pleaded. 
She was now hugging her father, and giving him one of those "puppy dog" 
looks. 

Finally, her father blew out an exhausted breath. "Alright, Alright!! He 
can stay for the night, and YOU can see if you can bandage him up. But 
in the morning, I'll see, O.K.?" 

"O.K.!!" sang out Tanya, and they both loaded the sleepy dog into the back 
of the jeep. On the way home, Tanya tried to comfort the dog by stroking it, 
and singing to it. Suddenly she stopped. Somehow, singing and stroking the 
dog seemed...familiar...somehow, and she didn't know why. Tanya never had 
a pet in her life. Then she had a thought. What if this dog was like the 
one she dreamt about last night? Could this be a sign? Tanya shrugged, 
and quickly put the thought out of her mind. 

When she got home to Tripoli, and to her spacious two story house, Tanya 
spent the night trying to mend the dog's wound, and giving him medicine 
and feeding it. When she thought that she did enough for him, she 
finally went to bed. 

Morning came, and Tanya bounded joyfully into the den where the dog slept, 
carrying dog food. "Hiya pooch! And how is my patient this morning!!" 

"Very well thank you. And please do NOT call me "pooch" " said the dog 
sleepily, lifting up his head and turning to her. 

Tanya could only stare for a second, blinking her eyes, until the incident 
finally registered in her mind. When it did, she did the only thing she 
could do in such a situation: 

"EEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!" Tanya screamed, dropping the bowl of food, "OH MY GOD, 
OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!!! Y....YOU'RE TALKING! This can't be!!" 

The dog sighed, then fixed mischievious eyes on Tanya. "I think we need 
to have a LONG talk." said the dog, doing a doggy style of smile. 

To be continued 

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