The following creative thesis includes the first 100 pages of a young adult fantasy novel, in which the child protagonist uses a creative outlet as means of coping with the challenges of reality. This thesis is divided into six sections with three different points of view as well as embedded textuality as characters communicate with one another through various modes of writing. Thirteen-year-old Melody Jones is a mystery-loving writer and storyteller. After her father vanishes in the middle of the night, Melody’s life is uprooted as her mother moves the family to their grandmother’s vacant log house. As Melody adjusts to a new ‘normal’ without her father, she is presented with many challenges in her new home and new town. The backyard of the house is a beautiful, mystical garden that slowly unravels the dark secrets of the town. As Melody pieces together the mystery of her father’s disappearance, she fights with her mother about the hidden family secrets within the enchanted house. Her writing becomes her only escape, and she shares her stories with her younger sisters, Angie and Rosalie. They meet Jonathan, a nearby neighbor with a questionable past, who tells Melody that her writings are more than just stories on a page. They’re real. Together, the sisters follow Jonathan into the world of Melody’s stories to find their father and bring him home without erasing the rest of reality.