The Other Side

One chilly night, Anna and James were preparing to go to bed. Their bedroom door was ajar and they heard a sound outside. Anna pulled James out of bed and they both peeked their heads out of the room. It was just their mom. But what was she doing awake in the middle of the night? They watched her curiously as she took a set of multi-coloured keys from the tall shelf.

Then she walked to the closet door and put the key into the keyhole, turned the doorknob. Instead of dusty brooms and unused buckets, inside was like a tunnel to another world, green and grassy with some animals running along. Anna and James’s mum stepped into the grassy fields and the doorway disappeared.

Anna and James stood at the doorway bewildered. Did their mum just vanish into thin air? James trotted out of the bedroom into the dark hallway. He opened the closet door, nothing happened. Anna joined him and noticed the multi-coloured key was on the shelf again.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, but they had to get that key.

The shelf was very tall compared to two little children at the age 10. They gathered a stack of storybooks from their bedroom and stood on top of it. Even with a pile of books they were not tall enough, so Anna decided to stand on James’s shoulders to reach the set of keys.

Anna slowly climbed onto James’s shoulders. Once she was on top, James swayed side to side under the weight of Anna. Anna focused on the keys and made a grab for it. As soon as Anna grabbed hold of the keys, James’s hands gave away and they both fell to the ground.

Anna pulled James to his feet and jiggled the keys in front of him. Then, they dragged their feet to the closet door and stuck the key into the keyhole. Anna cautiously turned the key and opened the door. Inside a marvellous green field laid upon them. Anna threw caution to the winds and jumped into the doorway, James followed. The doorway sealed behind them.

Around them the world was bizarre. Big, green trees were planted everywhere and all types of flowers grew in this magical place. They stopped by the berry bushes and picked some fresh berries. They were as sweet as honey.

Out of the corner of James’s eyes, he saw a huge creature in the air and it was about to land on them. Anna and James scrambled to get out of the way.

Soon, the majestic beast landed and they caught a glimpse of the creature. It was a dragon! With sharp talons and pointy teeth, it tilted its head towards them. Both children stepped back, terrified, as the dragon came forward.

It picked them up and asked in a soft voice “What are you doing here, in The Other Side?” “The Other Side?” Anna asked. “A place where magical creatures roam the land.” replied the dragon. “This place is not safe. You must get out of here immediately.” the dragon said. “But how?” James asked, puzzled. “To get out of here you must enter the Dungeon of the Goblins and find the Golden Door. Then, head into the Forest of Forgotten and pass the Riddle Bridge. You will have to enter the Mysterious Garden and jump into the fountain in the middle to go home.” the dragon instructed.

“Thanks for all your help,” Anna said as they waved goodbye to the dragon. The dragon looked at them for a moment then flapped its wings and took off. Anna and James headed to the direction the dragon pointed out and reached their destination– the Dungeon of the Goblins.

There, Anna and James stood at the entrance of the Dungeon of the Goblins, it was dark and unwelcoming. They pushed the big door together and entered a dark cavern. The only source of light was from the gushing waterfalls of lava.

They walked on longer into the darkness, and across a very steep and narrow bridge. Small pebbles fell over the sides of the bridges. They edged on carefully over the bridge. It felt as if it could break any second.

Anna, who was concentrating on the lava pit below, tripped on a rock and fell to the edge of the bridge. James kept his calm and reached out his hand to help Anna up. Anna clung onto James’s hand as she dangled over the molten lava. James used all the strength he could muster and managed to pull Anna back up.

Anna and James were panting on the end of the bridge and fought hard to catch their breath. After that, they continued their adventure. Anna and James finally reached the thing they were seeking for, the Golden Door. It shone brightly and glowed in front of their faces.

Before even being able to take a step forward, a large group of goblins appeared. The goblins surround the two of them. They were trapped.

The goblins held their spears tightly in their hands as they examined the two strange creatures. They had not seen such creatures before. They spoke in their weird language that Anna and James couldn’t understand. After negotiating, the goblins poked their spears menacingly at Anna and James. The goblins brought them to another pitch-black cavern although this one stunk more.

They walked past many goblins, which stared at them whenever they walked by. Soon it was obvious where they were going and it didn’t seem good, at all.

“Oh no, they're going to take us to see their leader!” exclaimed James. “This was not good.” Anna thought. The goblins marched them up into a dimly lit room. In the middle, stood a throne made from human bones and on it sat a fat goblin picking its tooth with the end of a bone.

“Your highness.” the other goblins chanted. The fat goblin looked up, rather dully. “What have you brought me today?” he asked, with a hint of impatience in his voice. “Your highness, today we have caught two unknown creatures trespassing in our territory.” a taller goblin huffed up his chest and spoke.

The king goblin’s beady eyes darted from Anna to James. Then, he slumped back into his chair and said” Just throw them into the dungeon. I’ll deal with them later.” and he fell asleep. The goblins did as they were told and brought Anna and James to a dungeon. It was empty. The goblins pushed them into a cell which stunk very badly and all left.

Anna and James looked out of their cell into the darkness. “We need to escape.” James said. He looked at the rusty lock of their cell, they had to break that open. James took a step forward and stepped on a bone, he looked at it, an idea struck him.

Anna looked at James with wide eyes, he had just picked up a broken bone and was trying to pry the lock with it. James continued working until the lock finally broke. They crept out of the cell in silence. The place was pitch-black.

They felt around for the light switch. Anna’s hand fell on a heavy switch, thinking it was the light switch, she flicked it. Suddenly, alarms started to go off around them. Traps like arrows were all activated. They dodged the traps narrowly and ran out of the dungeon doors.

Outside was a rusty old minecart, without any hesitation the two children jumped into the minecart. James tugged hard on the lever and the minecart started moving. A group of angry goblins burst in, followed by the king goblin. He shouted, “Don’t let them escape!” But too late, the minecart was already gone from sight.

The minecart ride was just like a roller coaster ride but ten times scarier. The rail tracks kept twisting and bending around and sent them spinning in circles. After the spine-chilling ride, Anna and James looking very sick. They recovered quickly and raced to the Golden Door.

James tore open the door and they left the gloomy dungeon. They could still hear the shrieks and shouts from the goblins just as they made to leave.

They walked on and on until they reached a fork in their path, they was a sign there. Anna read the sign “This way to the Forgotten Forest. Turn back before it’s too late.” Anna and James exchanged looks of fear, but they knew they had to get past the forest to go home.

They stepped into the unsettling forest and walked along its paved path. There were many animals in these woods and not the good kind. Anna and James walked for ages, occasionally hearing the sounds of hooting owls or howling wolves.

Soon, they were both tired and frustrated as they had walked for hours in this forest. They found two trees and rested on them. Out of the blue, thick vines appeared and grabbed Anna. James noticed this and leapt up from his tree, just in time! Anna struggled in the vines, but it just held her tighter. James tried to save her by pulling her down. He wrapped his hands around her legs in an attempt to save her.

Instead, the tree overpowered him, and he rose along with Anna, the thick vines now advancing towards him. The vines made quick work of James and he was also in the tangled mass. All of a sudden, a face emerged on the surface of the wood. It smiled and laughed at them. Then, it said in a thundering voice “The wolves will have a feast tonight.” The face chuckled once more and slowly vanishing in the air.

It was getting dark and they were running out of time. Anna spotted an eerie glow of light in a far distance. She informed James and both of them looked at the direction of the light. It was a charming unicorn with a glowing horn. It galloped towards the two children. Anna and James looked at it with huge curiosity. The unicorn aimed its horn at the vines and destroyed them with one blast.

Anna and James fell into a heap on the ground. They could hear the howling of the wolves get louder. The unicorn urged them to get on. Anna and James climbed on the unicorn as fast as they could and they took off at top speed. Behind them a pack of wolves followed closely, baring their sharp teeth at them.

The unicorn galloped faster and faster and it took off into the air. The wolves howled at them from down below and left. Anna and James admired the beautiful view of the forest, maybe it wasn’t as scary after all. They landed minutes later in front of the Riddle Bridge. They bid goodbye to the kind unicorn and turned their heads to face the Riddle Bridge.

A massive statue sat in the middle of the bridge and it seemed that you could only cross this bridge by climbing over it. But it was an eight-foot-tall statue, so that was out of the question. At that moment, a voice rang through their mist “I am the Statue of Riddles, answer my riddle and I will let you pass, but if not, you will die.” It bellowed. Anna and James readily accepted.

“The more of this there is, the less you see it.” The statue spoke loudly, its voice echoing throughout the forest. Upon hearing these words, Anna and James’s brain set to work. The statue held out an hourglass and said, “Two minutes left.” Anna and James racked their brains frantically as the time was running out. “STOP!” the statue shouted. Anna and James looked at the statue white-faced. Anna stepped forward “Its…its….” She mumbled. “Its… the answer is…. Darkness.” She finished.

She and James looked up hopefully at the giant statue. The statue looked at them, then said “You are correct. You may pass this bridge.” After that, he came to life and moved to the other side of the bridge to letting them pass. Anna and James inhaled a deep breath as relief fell over their entire body.

On their way to the mysterious garden, James asked Anna how she thought of the answer. “Well, I just thought of it at the last second.” She answered blushing thoroughly. “C’mon let’s get moving.” She spoke.

Finally, they reached the mysterious garden. At the entrance, there was a finely carved stone block with words engraved on it. “Enter at your own risk, but beware there are many mysteries lying inside.” Anna and James ignored the warning and proceeded into the garden.

Inside the mysteries garden, there was shapes of unicorns, dragons and other fantastic beast made out of grass. James looked to his left; a statue of a mermaid was spitting water out of its mouth into a pond full of white pearly fish.

Anna and James spotted the entrance to a maze and a signboard hung above them. “Finish this maze and you will find your greatest desire, the Fountain of Hope is just beyond these walls.”

“Are you ready?” James asked Anna. “Of course.” But, before they could take another step, the ground started to tremble. Then, several pixies sprang from underground with big butterfly nets. The pixies were super energetic and leapt up and down trying to catch Anna and James. Anna and James split up into the two different directions of the maze. The pixies immediately spread into two groups and followed their footsteps.

The first group of pixies chased Anna down the tall hedges and met a fork on their way. They choose the left path and stoke off. Anna giggled at the pixies as they disappeared in sight. She had not chosen a path but had hidden in a nearby hedge for cover.

Meanwhile, James was in hot pursuit with the pixies. Several times James tried to lose them in the maze but failed. The pixies were getting closer and closer. James stopped dead in his tracks, he had hit a dead end.

His back was pressed against the tall hedge and the shrieks and shouts of the pixies grew louder. He had to get out of there quick. But there was only one way to escape, it was to climb over the hedge. He looked up at the menacing hedge, he sighed, this was his only way out.

James started climbing the hedge. He held on to the rough edges of it and started to ascend up. The pixies arrived just as James climbed over the hedge, they looked up with their tiny eyeballs and scanned the area. After looking around for any sign of James, they wandered off to another path with more shrill shrieks and shouts.

Over the hedge, James had slid down to a sitting position and was panting all over. He waited for any sign of the deadly pixies then walked away to find Anna.

Anna walked around the maze looking for James. Many thoughts were swirling in her head. “Had James been caught? Have the pixies eaten him? Will I ever get out of this maze?” She shook her head, it hurt.

On the other hand, James was starting to get nervous. He searched frantically for Anna but to no avail. He also hadn’t made his way to the middle of the maze, which seemed bigger in the inside than the outside. James heard some movement nearby, he hid behind the hedge, thinking it was the pixies.

But now he heard loud voices, which belonged to a human being. He wondered who it could be? He peered slightly over the hedge, he saw a troop of knights marching down the pavement. Then, in the centre was a beautifully decorated carriage.

A highly polished boot stepped out from within, and a man stepped out of the carriage. He pulled a smaller hand out of the carriage and a beautiful woman stepped out. She had a spectacular crown on her head and many pieces of jewellery too. James was stunned. How could this be, he thought.

At the same moment, the woman in the fancy gown looked towards the direction which James was and saw him. The woman’s face immediately lit with expression of surprise. The woman ran towards James at lightning speed and hugged him.

Her eyes were filled with happy tears, she said to James “I always knew you would learn my secret, but I didn’t know when.” She hugged him tightly. Then, she released him. “Mom, how did you become the queen?” “I found this magical place and continued to build and make this place better. Then, the creatures all agreed that I should be the ruler of this land. So, I come back here every night to look after my kingdom.” “I was so scared when a friendly dragon told me you were here.” She smiled at James.

“Well, let’s find your sister.” She continued. “This is maze huge?” James asked curiously. “I may have something to help us out.” she took a piece of musty paper out of her pocket and looked at it. “This is what is going to help us find Anna.” “A piece of paper?” James said sceptically. “No, not a piece of paper but an enchanted map.” “Show me, where is Anna.” She bellowed to the map.

The paper lit up into action and a map of the maze appeared all in a sudden. They gazed down on the magical map. The map shone for a second, then a small figure of Anna appeared on the parchment. The figure of Anna was the exact version of her, but smaller. The detail work on the figure was extraordinary and it showed ever little smudge of dirt or so.

According to the map, Anna was close by, though still out of sight. James’s mother ordered her guards search the area and bring back Anna, unharmed.

Anna strolled all alone in the maze. She could hear strange voices far way and she turned to walk away from them. She stopped, she could walk no longer, her legs were getting tired. She slid down onto a nearby hedge, she had not found James yet in this dreadful maze. She also had another problem, she was sure that if she couldn’t find her way out by tomorrow, she would sure starve to death or get caught. She was so scared right now, she was on the edge of tears. She wondered if she would see her family ever again.

Then, Anna heard it. The sound of footsteps, but she couldn’t hide or run. She was spent and exhausted. In her head, she thought sadly “This is the end for me.” A group of men approached her, picked her up and put her into a fancy carriage.

The carriage started moving up a hill. Anna sat quietly in the carriage without looking at the men. She silently scanned her surroundings and her alert seemed to rise. They seemed to be taking her to a castle. Anna wondered if she could just open the doors and jump out to safety, she laughed at herself, she was thinking irrationally.

Anna arrived at the castle and entered into the throne room. A woman was sitting on the throne, smiling at her. Anna suddenly realized who she was and ran into her hands. They hugged immensely, it had been a long time since she had seen her mother. James silently walked in and joined the group hug. Their family was finally united again.

Anna and James were exhausted. Their arms throbbed, legs hurt and were equally tired. Luckily, their mother had it all prepared. They arrived together in front of the dazzling waters of the fountain. Its water was clean and uncontaminated. “Well, this is it, jump in.” came their mother’s voice.

Anna and James put their hands on their nose and jumped into the icy cold water. First thing they felt was the wet surface, then the other one was dry. Anna and James looked on at each other, they were standing in front of their closet door. Their mother arrived a few moments later, out from the closet door.

“Had a nice trip? Well, off to bed now.” Their mother ushered. They didn’t need to be told twice, they barged into their bedroom and jumped into their beds. They pulled on their covers and fell into deep sleep. The next day, they couldn’t help recalling some moments of their adventures and couldn’t wait for the next one.