Whisked Away
Audrey | Balwyn North Primary School |
Primary English | Term 1 2024
CRACK! A branch broke nearby. I looked around nervously, shivering in the cold as the wind bit through my clothes. I swore I saw a shadow move beyond the branches. “Couldn’t this end sooner.” Fearfully, I made my way forward. Suddenly I gasped, straight of me there was a light. “This better be it.” I thought. Running forward as fast as I could, I didn’t see the metal ring that poked up from the ground. I didn’t see it until it was way too late……. _________________________________________________________________________
I woke up with a sharp pain in my head and the world spinning circles around me. Slowly as my vision cleared, I noticed that the light had disappeared and there was a giant, gaping hole in front of me. Crawling to my feet, I winced at the pain in my ankle. Painfully I made my way over, I peered into the hole’s seeming fathomless depths. A strange feeling gripped me. It was as if a chunk of the world had been ripped out of the universe itself. It seemed wrong but the curious side of myself took over. Carefully lowering my body over the edge, I bit my lip nervously. “Maybe something I find down here will help me navigate my way back” I thought. With an awful, sickening feeling, the realization that I was slipping made me come back to the present. I flailed in the air hopelessly which just made matters worse. Sliding into the gloom, I drifted down slowly, my head swirling with questions and darkness crept from the corners of my vision, eating everything away until it was pitch black and I fell into a deep sleep.
When I finally woke up, brightness overwhelmed me, making my eyes water. Blinking away the grit in my eyes, the dust around me cleared and I gasped. Around me, everything glowed brightly, and I could see a sparkling city shrouded by mist. Stumbling to my feet, entranced by the beautiful city in front of me. My gaze glued to it; I walked forward until I came to a tunnel. The tunnel was wide and quite big as it towered over me. I walked into the tunnel and suddenly everything went dark. There was a thump as a bag dropped over me and I was hoisted up into the air. Bumping along the way, the bag I was in finally stopped and there was a painful slam against my head and my world went reeling. I managed to stay hold of my consciousness and then I was rolled out onto the hard stone floor. I realized I was in a cell as a metal door clanged shut behind me. Suddenly there was a tapping noise at the window. I looked up to see a raven tapping at the bars with its beak. Slowly, I stood up. Walking over to the bars I peeked out. Down below a small girl looked up at me. She beckoned me and I pushed my head out the bars. “You can fit.” She whispered to me, gesturing to the bars. Doubtfully I turned my shoulders, so I could fit them through the bars. Squeezing through the bars, I got through, staring in disbelief behind me, I asked her, “How did you know?” Instead of answering, she turned to me and said, “Come, I need to show you something.” Following her, I wondered what she was talking about. In the streets I noticed that the whole city was a ruin. “How could this be so, when the city was so beautiful from the outside” I thought to myself. It seemed as if some sort of terrible magic had done this. I shuddered and looked away.
After a while, we found ourselves in a small, dimly lit room with a fireplace. “This is my house.” the girl stated. Then she pointed to the fireplace, and I noticed there was a chair in front of it. Seated on that chair was an elderly man. He didn’t move even when I came around to stand in front of him. At last, he finally said in a deep throaty voice, “What brings you here to the City of the Lost?”
“I honestly don’t know,” I told him. “I just fell through a hole and ended up here.
It seemed like a very pathetic reason, but it was true, I had no idea how I had gotten here. Suddenly I had a horrible thought; “What if I never got back!”
As if he was reading my mind the elderly man smiled. “We will find you a way back” he whispered softly. “Now all you must do is save the city. Then the City of the Lost will be no more, and the evil will retreat, and the city will be glorious and look like it does from the outside as well as the inside. It will all be back like it was before the time of evil.
It seemed like a big responsibility to take, but I had to do it to save the city and get back home.
The elderly man, who I had now worked out as his granddaughter, gave me a map of where to go to destroy the base of whatever source that was poisoning the city.
I set off on my journey at the crack of dawn. Wrapping the thin robe the girl had given me around myself, I felt strangely more comforted. I left the city and turned to see the city framed by the sunrise. Now that I looked closer, the city seemed too pretty to be actually real. Slowly but steadily, I journeyed on. Chilly nights and scorching hot days, it was a wonder that the temperature could change so much. It took thirteen long days to get there and when I did, I was exhausted.
After walking in a forest for days, still following the map that the girl and her grandfather had given me. I finally found a cave. The previous night’s activity caught up with me and I fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up, my eyes blurry with sleep. Suddenly, I gave a start. This wasn’t where I had been when I had fallen asleep! Looking around I realised that I couldn’t even see a sliver of daylight where before I had been right next to the mouth of the cave. My heart beating wildly in my chest, I stood up. A giant dark shape was curled up around me. With a slight yawn the creature stretched itself opening its jaws, breathing a plume of fire. It was a dragon! Fangs glistening in the fire that was crackling, the dragon yawned again and began to study me up and down. My whole body shaking with fear, I eyed the dragon as I backed away into the corner of the cave. Pulling me closer with its tail, the dragon growled and scrawled in messy jagged strokes on the floor of the cave.
What are you doing here?
“I’m going on a quest to find the source of the thing that is poisoning the City of the Lost.
The dragon tilted its head at me.
And if I am doing the same?
Nervously, I said. “Then I am hoping you would join me.” Nodding its head the dragon led me to the mouth of the cave. I showed it the map and the dragon lay down, as if inviting me to climb on to its back. I climbed on and the dragon took off, the wind whipping my hair around as we launched into the sky.
After a couple minutes we landed down at a crevice in the rocky formation below us. The crevice seemed to radiate evil itself. My heart lurched, a sickening feeling swept over me. I touched the dragon and we descended down into the hole. I found a small dragonet down there. It had a huge gash in its side and it was rasping heavily. We both knew there the baby dragon had no time left. Suddenly the dragon turned to me, its eyes flashing.
That was my dragonet.
Its pain, sorrow, and anger filled me and I frowned, stepping forward and going on to find this evil thing. Suddenly the map dissolved, I remembered that the grandfather had told me that the map would dissolve when I was standing over the source. I looked down. To my horror, it was the baby dragon that was infested with the evil power. Without thinking, I grabbed a sharp stick nearby and plunged it down into the dragonet. The adult dragon turned on me, roaring its anger. In a flash its talons came at me along with its breath. Flames burned around me and the dragon came in for the kill. “Stop, you must understand!” I cried. The dragon’s talons lifted me up and brought me close to its snout. It snarled menacingly as if questioning my claim. “The evil thing had infested your dragonet, it was inside it! I had to do it, the evil was eating the dragon from the inside.” I pleaded, “It had to be stopped. Even though your dragonet is dead, it is in much less pain than it was in before! Please, forgive me. It was a dumb act! I should have consulted you first. I’m sorry.” The dragon set me down at its feet. I could tell the truth had dawned on it. Then slowly, it gently lifted me up onto its back and glanced backward despairingly at its child. It turned around and dug a shallow hole in the earth beside it. Then lifted the dragonet and carefully placed it down inside. Stroking the dragonet mournfully, it covered the hole back up and flew away.
A few weeks later I was back in the city and it was thriving once more. The girl and her grandfather showed me to a portal in the forest: the old way people used to go to the otherworld and connect. They told me that I could come and visit the world anytime I liked. “You are a hero.” they said and gave me a badge to wear proudly. Stepping through the portal, I felt a rush of happiness and gratitude. Then I melted away, back home – away in the other world.
The portal was located on the side of my bedroom wall and I always visited as much as I could.
THE END
Audrey | Balwyn North Primary School
