Imagine — Anne M. Angell

He ran his hand across the page, and then bent a page outward and rubbed it between his fingers. After releasing the page, he looked closely at his fingers, expecting to see lotion spread across them. The texture felt creamy, smooth and silky to the touch.
The light from the flashlight began to dim, so Devon whacked it against his hand. “Don't die on me now,” he ordered as he wiggled it in the air.
The light grew brighter and bounced off a gold-threaded, embroidered bookmarker. He lifted his gaze toward it.
With a heave, and taking in a deep breath, he pushed a handful of pages toward the front cover. The book rocked as it settled into place. He lifted four more pages and moved them toward the front cover. A thin gold bookmark with almost a three-D picture of a waterfall scene and birds flying overhead lay across the middle of the right page. Devon's hand almost seemed like it went right through it as he moved it aside and tucked it into the crease of the book. Holding the light toward the page, he scrunched his nose and furrowed his brows. “This ain't -- isn't,” he corrected as the voice of his mother came to his mind repeatedly telling him he wasn't a heathen, but a proper-young man, “like anything I'd ever seen before.”
A swirling cloud of mixed colors of blue, purple, and reds moved across the page. It was mesmerizing. Devon's eyes fixated on the phenomenon and for a moment, its hypnotic beauty grabbed his attention, until a flash of gold light shot out from the center of the page, like a Fourth-of-July roman candle. He jumped and felt around his body to see if he had a burn. “Cool,” he said after feeling no signs of injury.
Devon was no longer bored, far from it. His curiosity was piqued. He had to touch this strange cloud of colors. “Okay”�'Devon put out a shaky hand�'“you can do this.” With his head turned away from it, one eye open and the other closed, he thrust his hand into the cloud. His hand disappeared. “Ahh -- !” he screamed, then jerked his hand back quickly. He looked at his hand for any signs of missing appendages. Whatever happened, it didn't hurt. His hands were clammy and he wiped a lone bead of sweat off his brow with the upper part of his arm. A bit shaken, he knelt on the floor.
For a brief moment, he stared blankly at the page. It was as if the page was daring him to venture further. He took the challenge. He tucked the end of the flashlight into his side pocket and secured it into place. He leaned in toward the book. After he planted his hands down upon the floor securely, he stuck his head through the middle of the page to get a quick look at whatever was on the other side -- if there was another side -- he wasn't sure. Without warning, he lost his balance and fell forward.
“Ah -- help!” he screamed as he landed on his belly on a solid surface.
Where did Devon end up, after disappearing through the pages of the book?
The Angel Series was written for children ages eight to twelve.