This story is by Bryan Bell and was part of our 2017 Spring Writing Contest. You can find all the Spring Writing Contest stories here.
Hey.”
James set his tray on the brown table and took a seat.
“Hey.” Timothy replied from the other side of the lunch table, a look of severe boredom on his face.
” What did you get?” Asked Timothy, staring at James with his brown eyes.
” I don’t know! Some kind of taco, I think.”
” Yeah, school food sucks.” Timothy jabbed at his green peas with a spork.
” You know what we should do?” Said James, with an onery grin.
“What?”
“We should ditch the rest of school, and go try our luck at Moore’s Lake!”
“I can’t! I could get grounded, and we never catch anything anyway.” Timothy slid his tray to the side.
” Come on, don’t be such a wuss. It’s better than staying here.” James eagerly trying to change Timothy’s mind.
” I don’t know. What if we get caught?”
” So what if we get caught! It’s the last two weeks of school anyway.”
“Well. Alright fine! I’ll go!” Timothy gave into James’s badgering.
“Yeah, that’s the attitude. Let’s go.” The boys left the tray’s on the table and left the caffeteria.
” Check this out.” James grabbed his backpack from his locker. Timothy leaned over and peeked inside. A few candybars, some bottles of water,and two flashlights.
“You were planning on ditching school today!!”
“Yeah, I was.” Said James, with a smile.
“Why did you bring flashlights? You’re not planning on staying the night out there are you?”
“Na, just a precaution. It’s good to be prepared. Come on, let’s go while the teachers are occupied with lunch. ” They quickly moved down the hallway towards a side exit, avoiding the front office.
“Hurry, let’s go before someone sees us!” Said James, jumping on his bike and speeding off. Timothy climbed onto his bike and raced after him.
“Hey! Wait for me!” They pedaled their bikes as fast as they could down the sidewalk. The day was hot, sun rays bared down on them, turning their arms and faces red.
“Scrape!” They slid to a stop at the small lake’s edge.
” I think I am gonna catch a fish this time.” James said letting his bike fall to the ground.
” You’re not going to catch anything dude; I’ve never seen anyone catch a fish here. Not once!”
“There’s gotta be fish in there.” James picked up a flat rock and skipped it across the lake.
“Hey, what’s that?” Timothy pointed at something in the water.
“Some sort of whirlpool!”
Suddenly a huge funnel of water rose from the lake, rapidly swirling around, towering high above them.
” Watch out!” Yelled James. The tower of water quickly arched over and sucked them in. James awoke staring up into a green sky.
” Tim. Tim wake up.” James put his hand on Timothy’s shoulder and gave him a shake.
” Huh. What? What happened?” Timothy sat up. “Where are we?”
” I don’t know.” James looked up at the giant blue trees that surrounded them. ” Maybe we’re in a different dimension or something.”
“My parents are going to kill me.” Said Timothy, brushing dirt from his pants.
“Who goes there?”
James and Timothy both spun around to see who had spoke to them. ” Who said that?” Asked James.
” I did!” They heard the old deep voice again.
“Hey! That tree has a face on it!” Shrieked Timothy.
“Hello?” Said James.
“Hello.” The old weathered tree replied.
“What are you? And where are we?” Asked James.
“What am I? I thought that would be obvious. I’m a tree.” Replied the tree face, studying the two boys with big yellow eyes. “As for where you are. You are in Farcrown.”
“Farcrown?” James and Timothy looked at each other.
” I see you boys are not from around here.” Said the tree.
“I dont think so, we just woke up here. The last thing I remember, something came out of the lake and sucked us in. Then we woke up here.” Said James.
“Ah! That sounds most interesting.” Said the tree, but did not offer any explaination.
” How do we get home?” Asked Timothy.
” For that you will need a wizard!” Replied the blue tree.
“A wizard!.” James and Timothy exclaimed.
“Yes. A wizard. I know a powerful wizard that lives north of here. It’s not too far, but you must hurry! You must leave before the great star completes is circle over Farcrown!”
The talking tree motioned upwards at a huge orb in the sky with an orange glow. ” Or you will be stuck here, for the rest of your lives.”
“Stuck here!” Timothy shrieked. ” Our parents are really going to kill us! We better find that wizard.”
“Follow the path.” The tree pointed with a branch.
“Come on. Let’s go.” Yelled James.
“Good luck.” The tree closed his eyes and went back to sleep.
“This place sure is strange.” Said Timothy, as they walked side by side down the colorful path of stone. Strange animals, like they never seen before scurried from the path ahead of them.
“Hey look!” James motioned to the path ahead of them. “There’s someone over there.”
They hurried down the path after the person.
“Excuse me sir.” James hollared from behind the man in a purple robe.
“Oh. Why hello there.” The man stopped an turned, walking stick in hand.
“We’re looking for a wizard.” Explained Timothy.
” We were told we could find one in this direction.” James added.
“Ah, yes. There is a green wizard that lives not far from here. He is very powerful.”
“Thanks.” James and Timothy hastely continued down the path.
“Good day.” The man said as he strode down a side path.
“Hey, this must be the place.” The two boys spyed a colorful bizzare shaped house.
“Hello. Anyone home?” They both knocked on the door. ” Creak!” The door cracked open.
” Who’s there?’ Said a deepish voice .
” James and Timothy. A tree told us you could help us get home, before we get stuck here.” Explained James.
The door swung all the way open.
“Ah, yes. I see. You boys aren’t from around here, are you?” Said the wizard, grooming his long green beard.
” No. We just got here.” Timothy said. “Can you help us get home?”
“Hmm. That kind of travel requires much magic , but I may be able to help.”
” That would be great Mr. Wizard !” Said James.
“But first, you must get me something. A flower.” said the wizard.
” A flower?” asked Timothy.
” Yes, a flower with golden petals. They hold much magic in them.”
“Where do we find this golden flower?” Asked James.
” The flowers grow only in the fields of Lorkon, around the water hole of life. Follow the red path to the red fields.” the wizard motioned with his hand.
“We better go get those flowers.” Said James. The two boys sped down the path.
“Wait, there is one other thing.” the wizard said, standing in the doorway in a green robe. “The flowers are guarded by a huge troll. He is very dangerous, but he can not leave the red fields.”
“A troll!” Shrieked Timothy.
“Hurry! You don’t have much time.”
“Come on. Let’s go.” James hollared at Timothy.
“How are we going to get past the troll?” Asked Timothy, trying to put on a brave face.
“I don’t know, but we have to try.”
“We’re here.” They finally reached the edge of the Lorkon fields.
” So now what? Where’s the flowers?” Said Timothy.
” There!” James pointed to a pond in the middle of the massive field.
” Man, that sure is way out there. I don’t see any troll though.” Said Timothy.
” Come on. We’ll just sneak out there and get them.” They quickly and quietly slipped acrossed the red field.
” I hope these are the right one’s!” Wispered James, grabbing a handful of the golden flowers.
“James it’s the troll!” Timothy’s eye’s widened looking over James’s shoulder. James turned to see a large red lump that blended in with the grass. “He’s sleeping.” Said Timothy, in a low voice.
“Let’s just back away nice and easy. We just have to get to the edge of the field.” Said James.
“Grr!” The troll groaned and rolled over. James and Timothy froze in place. The ugly red troll began snoring loudly. James gave Timothy a let’s go motion with his hand and moved toward the tree line. “Crunch!” Timothy stepped on something in the grass. “GRR!” The troll woke and sprung to his smelly feet, big spiked club in hand.
“Run!” James and Timothy , both with a handful of flowers, ran for their lives for the field’s end. The troll, right on their heels, towered over them, taking long slow steps.
” Watch out!” yelled Timothy, as the angry troll swung his club at them.
“Ahh.” They shrieked, ducking the long spiked club.
” He’s gaining on us!” Yelled Timothy, looking back at the huge troll.
” Just keep running! We’re almost there!”
” Rahh!” The troll growled and snarled, showing his big jagged teeth.
“Smack!” The red club hit the ground hard, nearly hitting James.
” Almost there!”
The troll took one last swing at James and Timothy, just as they dove over the field’s edge and into the blue trees.
” Hey, we made it! Man that was a close one!” Said Timothy, breathing hard. The troll stared at them with angry red eye’s. He snarled and smacked the ground with his club.
” He sure is mad !” Said Timothy, climbing to his feet.
“Come on. We have to hurry!” Said James. They sped down the wide path through the tall blue tree’s, that shot high into the green sky. Strange gigantic birds flew high overhead.
” Hey, we’re back.” Said Timothy. As they hurried to the wizard’s strange house.
“Ah, you boys made it, and with the flowers. Excellent. Come, come. We haven’t much time.” The wizard led the boys to a round metal pot.
“Do you think this is gonna work?” Asked James.
“Well, I’m not certain, but if you can be brought here, I suppose you can be sent back.” The green wizard plucked the gold petals from the flower’s and dropped them into the pot.
” Makes sense to me.” Timothy added.
“It’s time!” Said the wizard, raising his staff high above his head to the sky. “Ancient spirits of Farcrown! I call to thee! Lend me your magic, so that I might send these boys home!” A green orb lit up brightly on the end of the staff.
” Boom!” the wizard slammed the staff to the ground hard, the noise echoed through the sky. The pot suddenly filled with bright, swirling magic that put off a great wind. “You must think now of where you want to go! Both of you must concentrate hard!” Yelled the wizard. The magic swirled faster and brighter.
“Thanks for helping us Mr. wizard.” Said James.
“Yeah, thanks.” Said Timothy.
” Farewell boys and good luck.” The wizard raised his staff and dropped it once more. James and Timothy abruptly vanished before the wizards eyes as the swirling pot sucked them in.
“Ah!” Timothy woke with a startle. “Hey, we’re back!” Timothy gave James a nudge with his hand. “James! We made it back!”
What?” Said James, just waking up.
“We’re back!” Said Timothy.
“Hey, we are back.” James sat up, realizing he was back at moore’s lake. ” It worked.”
Timothy slipped on his backpack an stood up his bike.
” We should probably get out of here, before we get taken somewhere else!” Said Timothy.
” Yeah, good idea. Let’s get out of here.” agreed James. The two boys jumped on their bikes and headed for home.
” Do you think our parents will ever believe us?” Timothy asked James.
“Na. I doubt it.” James answered. “Adults are clueless. They never know what is going on.”
Leave a Reply