Miylani’s Adventure: “The Light of Treemont”

By Salina Johnson

Miylani, a young mermaid whose imagination is her only friend, dislikes her boring life and the isolated and gloomy sea in which she lives. She looks different than the other mermians swimming around her in Treemont, a large community hidden beneath the floor of the Platoonic Sea. All the other mermen and mermaids call Miylani mysterious, and she has no idea why.

Eager for excitement, one day, she disobeys her father’s orders and follows her twin brothers through the seaweeds into forbidden waters. After she learns her brothers are there to retrieve a lost sword, they swim behind a stone that quickly closes before Miylani can catch up. When she decides to wait for them to re-emerge and becomes entangled in the seaweeds, Miylani begins to experience strange happenings that eventually lead her to discover her magical abilities and surprising secrets with the power to alter her life and the entire sea world.

In this exciting tale, a mysterious young mermaid enters forbidden waters where she unearths her magical powers and secrets of the sea.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jul 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665722339

Salina Johnson

Salina Johnson was born in Chicago, where she presently resides. She’s the only daughter of four children and mother of three young adults. Salina, an entrepreneur, is the author of Miylani’s Adventure: “The Light of Treemont.” Since her early adolescent years, she has been an imaginative storyteller, creating fairy-tale worlds and extraordinary characters. Salina’s talent for storytelling and twenty years of experience working with children inspired her to share her voice with young readers. As a first-time author, she writes children’s fantasy fiction stories that center on family, unity, accepting differences, and courage—pleasurable tales full of mystery and excitement with a touch of humor, keeping readers in suspense. With honors and a Presidential Scholar Award, Salina achieved an Associate in Arts (studies in child development) from Malcolm X College and completed a course of study in Writing Storybooks for Children. Courses in taxation and administrative support are also additions to her education. During her professional career, Salina has worked in industries such as community service, education, performing arts, finance, and e-commerce and held several responsible positions: program and case manager, office assistant, tax preparer, parent liaison, and instructor. Along with writing, Salina takes pleasure in dancing, crafting, and mentoring. Her journey with children began over thirty years ago as a dance instructor—adding mentoring and coaching life skills to guide kids on the path of success. But her work and love for children didn’t stop there. Throughout the years, she has combined her passion for helping others with her artistry skills to develop and teach influential programs to children and teens. Continuing her calling, she now captivates young readers’ senses through her imagination and creative writing. When she’s not writing, Salina is designing jewelry or managing her virtual jewelry business: SJ Starzz by X’pectationz (www.sjstarzz.com) Salina can be reached at [e-mail]

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Copyright © 2022 Salina Johnson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Artatrana Pradhan

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2232-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2233-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022907847

Archway Publishing rev. date: 6/21/2022

Table of Contents

Book Description

Acknowledgements

Words of Encouragement

Author’s Note

1 Mysterious Miylani

2 Blind Trail

3 Secret Passageway

4 Sharkston

5 Truth Revealed

6 The Black Hole

7 Family Visit

8 The Gathering

9 Platoonic Sea: Divided Waters

10 Secret of Treemont

11 Taken

12 Help!

13 The-Sea-Beneath-The-Sea

14 Surprise Journey

15 Unknown

16 Broken Promise

17 Found Friends

18 Weird Sightings

19 Eavesdropping

20 String of Clues

21 Hiding in Plain Sight

22 Daydreaming

23 Wondering Mind

24 Asleep or Awake?

25 Suspicious Happenings

26 The Search

27 Out of Sight

28 It’s Me!

29 Rescue Meachy

30 Mistaken Identity

31 Zanzor’s Mission

32 Brother’s Help

33 Alive!

34 Running Out of Time

35 Explosion

36 Prepare for Battle

37 Reunited

38 Hero in Action

39 Delay after Delay

40 Who Is She?

41 Frozen

42 The Light of Treemont

43 Better Than Ever!

About the Author

Book Description

Miylani’s Adventure: The Light of Treemont captivates readers’ senses and takes them on a thrilling adventure that unleashes a mixture of excitement, suspense, and surprising events. It’s a fascinating children’s tale full of nonstop mystery to keep readers of all ages involved. The story takes place in the Platoonic Sea, a hidden underwater world populated with stunning aquatic species.

Miylani, a mysterious, ten-year-old mermaid whose imagination is her only friend, is bored with her life and dislikes the isolated and gloomy sea in which she lives. She has never seen other sea inhabitants, nor has she ever experienced life outside of her home, Treemont. The closest Miylani has ever been to other waters was through her imagination and Aunt Nevorah’s storytelling.

Every day, Miylani sits in her clam chair daydreaming, wishing for something exciting to happen. And one day, it happened! While spying on her twin brothers, Zanzor and Jaharr, she follows them to Sharkston: the forbidden upper sea. She sneaks a peek. Amazed by its beautiful scenery, she enters to get a better view.

Miylani finds something that she’s never had: friendship. But wait! That’s not all. She encounters unexpected escapades that reveal suspicious happenings—discovering her magical powers and secrets of the sea that alter her life and the entire sea world. Not enough? While battling the roaring sea, she races against time to save her loved ones; but the waters of Sharkston force her to Sea-Hunters’ Sands (Upper Waters), where she comes face-to-face with her never-before-seen nemesis.

The lovely water of Sharkston isn’t all it appears to be!

Acknowledgements

To my daughter, Wendasha Norwood, I appreciate the support and assistance you provided me throughout the development and completion of my novella. Because of you, my workload became lighter, and nights were shorter. I thank you for being my second set of eyes, even when yours were too tired to see—reading every sentence and paragraph and giving your honest feedback. Over and over, your fingers played the computer keyboard as if it were a piano, ensuring that my voice was on paper. Most of the time, I asked for your aid during the strangest hours. Yet, you still managed to find the strength to help me. So, thank you for allowing me to come between you and your precious sleep. I’m grateful for every minute of all the hours you devoted your time.

To Ronquell and Ronzell Cole, my sons, I thank you both for taking the time to review different aspects of my project and sharing your perspectives whenever I asked for them.

Artatrana Pradhan, the illustrator of Miylani’s Adventure: The Light of Treemont, I’m indebted to you for the dedication and hard work you put into making my book come to life. We liaised from two different countries—messaging only. Sometimes our messages got crossed, but that never interfered with your work. You remained professional during the entire course. Moreover, you created every character and scenery exactly how I asked and did as many revisions as needed to please my liking. I’m thankful for the eye-catching book cover you designed, implementing my vision with a touch of your magic. Your talent and skills are greatly appreciated! Please know, I value all the long nights and early mornings you spent collaborating with me to make sure my project was accurate and complete. Most importantly, I want to thank you for being so pleasant and patient, even when times were rough for both of us. Thank you for being you. Never change!

Words of Encouragement

Words are powerful! Sometimes, they can have a positive effect on a person’s life. Encouraging words inspired me to unleash my talent for writing and motivated me to continue writing. For this reason, I’m sharing some inspirational quotes that I have written to encourage readers to pursue their dreams. Always remember—it’s never too late!

Dreamer

Many people dream, but only a few explore. Don’t be a dreamer—take as many baby steps as you need to fulfill your dream before turning your walk into a run from life.

— Salina Johnson

Different

Different is a taste of experience—sometimes it’s bitter, and other times, it’s sweet. If it isn’t sour, let ‘different’ become a taste in your life.

— Salina Johnson

The Alternate Road

When your path has ended or been destroyed, never come to a complete stop. Make a detour and search for an alternate road. The road may be hard to find and difficult to travel, but once you reach the end of the road, you have accomplished your journey.

The alternate road is sometimes the path to success.

— Salina Johnson

The Message

Stop being a dreamer and experience something different; if it doesn’t work out, find and travel "the alternate road."

— Salina Johnson

Author’s Note

Ever since I could remember, I’ve always played around with pencil and paper or anything that I could write with or on. I used to find myself writing, erasing, scratching out, and sometimes sketching—trying to come up with perfect. I lived in my own world, letting my mind roam free as I imagined stories or events taking place. Well, those days were the beginning. That’s when I found writing, although I didn’t realize it then.

I decided to take on writing after reading to an audience a mini-tale that I’d written. While in college, my final assignment was to write and create a short story book for one of my classes, Child Development - Creative Arts, and read it to classmates. I remembered looking at the faces in the audience after I’d finished reading my story; practically, everyone’s expressions were blank. For a moment, I thought my story was a flop. But, as I walked back to my chair, I was loudly applauded. Afterward, my instructor and many schoolmates told me that my story was good, and I should consider publishing it and writing more. I’ve always been told that I’m a good storyteller but never a good writer until that day. Maybe it was because I’d never shared my writing with anyone before then. To know that my story had captured an audience’s attention encouraged me to share my voice. So, it wasn’t until that moment I decided to write. Of course, my many years of experience working with children also motivated me.

As for the characters, Miylani was the only one based upon a real person. She was somewhat like me: a daydreamer and a loner, curious about everything and trying to save everyone. The concept of twin mermen, Jaharr and Zanzor, came from my twin sons; but their personalities are entirely different from my actual children. Jaharr and Zanzor’s traits, as well as the remaining characters and their personalities, were fabrications of my imagination. As far as names go, the creation of Miylani’s parents’ names (Queen Rubellya and King Eddonnis) derived from the first part of my parents’ given names. The rest of the characters’ names came from my mind’s eye and a lot of brainstorming. And all the places and events were fiction as well.

Now, my project, which I’m very proud of, is the start of a new ME. It’s a part of me that rose to the surface and something I love sharing. I’ve read this book many times, and each time I was excited and amused and became curious, as though I didn’t