Chapter One

 

Chapter One

 

 

The library was dark and quiet. Arwan sat so entranced in his book he had not noticed that it was closing time.

            “Goodnight Charlotte.”  The sound made him jump and break his death grip on the book.  “Don’t forget to check the vault before you leave.”

            “Alright, but I am not going in there!” a young voice protested.

“Just make sure nothing is out of place and lock it up” the voice trailed off as the woman left the library.

            Arwan perked up at the mention of a vault.  He had been coming to the library since he and his mother moved to Boston when he was eight; five years and he never heard a whisper of it.  His imagination let loose a series of fantastic things that could be inside of that secret vault.  Arwan’s curiosity and excitement grabbed him by his stomach as he shuffled through his mental layout of the library.  So that’s where those stairs in the back lead.  He had always wondered about them but a chain blocked the way and a sign stating employees only was enough to keep him away; that is until he heard what they may lead to.

            Arwan made his way through the dark library slipping in and out of aisles to avoid detection.  When he reached the stairs he hesitated and felt a wave of goose bumps ripple through his body and tickle his scalp.  Making sure no one was looking; he slipped under the chain and descended into the dark unknown.  A thick metal door with a keypad just under the brushed silver handle was slightly open and a musty smell began to mix with the strange air making Arwan pause and question his curiosity.

            But his curiosity quickly won out and he slipped cautiously inside the vault, which was cold and dark and smelled like an old attic.  The room was filled with old furniture, stacks of dust laden books, and old trinkets and treasures.  This was a place for things either too old or too rare to be handled by the public.  Arwan began to sift through the unfamiliar books and examine the odd furniture but suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a glass case imprisoning a very large, old book.

            He wondered what the book was capable of to get locked away and decided he would free it from its coffin and let it feel human hands once again.  Opening the glass case, he rubbed his hand across the soft, beautiful, leather cover staring at it with awe.  It was tattered and worn and was adorned with a silver, circular emblem that resembled a tree.  Arwan’s eyes grew wide and his breath was short from his excitement.  Opening the book slowly, his heart pounded frantically in his chest, and the book began to pulse when he laid it open as if it were alive.

            Arwan eagerly read the first passage and the words seemed magical as they leapt from the page and into his mind.  But they began to blur and fade, Arwan began to see colors and outlines replace their dull, black shapes.  The whole page became a window to the world inside the book; the description he was reading had become real.  He saw A majestic mountain peak that tore into an orange and purple sky.  He felt compelled to touch it and as he reached out for the page his hand never met by resistance.  He leaned in further and to soak up more of the incredible landscape, but as he did so he felt himself being drawn into the window.

“Whoa…” his voice caught as he began to fall into the window and into the sky.  A burn began to rip through his stomach as he panicked from his free fall.  What had he done?

 

*******

 

Charlotte walked into the vault and shuttered as she pulled her shawl tighter. “Who in the world opened this old thing,” she said to herself as she closed the old book and locked it back in its case. She looked around for all of two seconds and hurried out, locking the thick door behind her. 

 

*******

 

When Arwan woke, he was laying in a grassy field. He must have passed out while he was falling but for some reason he had landed without any major injuries. He sat up and rubbed his hand gently across the back of his neck letting out a pained groan. He felt like he had been hit by a train. Looking up at the sky, the only thing he saw was a large cloud that was swirling and spitting sparks of lightning. It slowly faded and all was calm and eerily quiet.  

Arwan stood and slowly spun, taking in the incredible grandeur of the place he was in. The sky seemed as if it were painted in place by a masterful artist. The huge purple mountain peak crashed against the orange sky and the green grass danced about his feet to the sweetest kisses of a constant breeze. Trees stood in the distance, silhouetted by the setting sun, as if they were an army of the proud giants basking in the glory of the red sun. A warm, red tint was cast over everything that the sun’s light touched. As he stood in amazement a loud, shrill wail jerked Arwan from his trance and he swung around just in time to see what looked like a herd of buffalo coming right at him. 

He dove to the ground to get out of the way and winced as the air was driven from his lungs. The animals crashed by, wailing and calling, paying the boy very little attention. They looked like buffalo but much smaller and skinnier, like the size of a small deer. The odd thing though was how the herd was almost silent. Their hooves made no noise as they tramped, in fact the only sound he could hear were the cries they made. When the stampede was over and the strange buffalo were fading in the distance, Arwan stood and wondered where he was and how the heck he was going to get back home.

Looking at the direction from where the herd had went, he saw a plume of smoke swirling into the sky and decided that maybe he would find somebody who could help him out. So catching his breath and dusting himself off, he headed out in search of help. As Arwan was walking and thinking of how to explain his situation to anyone he met, he began to notice small shapes starting to stand out against the horizon and grow larger as he kept up his steady pace. The shapes began to look more like buildings, lots of buildings, but the smoke was not coming from any of them. As he got closer he began to hear muffled noises that grew into a symphony of chatter and sounds. “A town!” Arwan exclaimed to himself.  He knew that he could find somebody there to help.  He began to run towards the chaos of the busy town.

Reaching the edge of the town, he stepped into the dirt path that lead past the building and peeked around the corner to see a mingle of people performing their daily acts for each other; it was a market. Arwan went around the small building and into a frantic circle that was stuffed to its edges with people, chickens, and booths upon booths that held everything from food to jewelry. A smell of fish lingered in the air and the noise was almost deafening.

“Look at you boy! You look as if you’ve been dressed by a pair of blind monkeys!” a loud voice shouted.

Arwan looked up to see a slender man dressed in a silk outfit holding a bright yellow shirt up to him trying to eyeball his size. Then a booming shout came from behind him making him spin around and flinch.

“Sack of bones, put some meat on them things son! Only one silver for one fish head, but I believe you are in need of a whole chicken! And that meal fit for kings is yours for just a fivepiece!” The fat, greasy man was dangling the raw meats in his face.

“Trying to get yourself killed?!” hissed a sharp voice to his left. “Walking around without a proper blade is just plain foolishness! A man as tiny as yourself especially! Take a look at these fine knives and pick out your favorite.” Arwan looked to see a dark man who was dressed in black and had a nasty scar than ran from his the top of his menacing brow to the corner of his sneering smile; the man had a crazed look in his eyes.

Arwan turned and ran to the edge of the circle and out of the market. He didn’t look back to see if the man was still watching him, he just needed to get away. Breaking through the crowd he saw a warm looking maroon building with a wooden welcome sign on the front door and wasted no time slipping inside to hide from the obnoxious, pushy merchants.

He closed the door and looked out of its small window sighing in relief as he could see merchants seemed to have already forgotten about him. Turning around he saw small tables scattered about in a haphazard fashion, and at each one sat someone with a drink and either a cigar or a hand of cards, and some with both. The room was dark, warm and smoky and the smell of fried food and spices mixed with tobacco smoke dancing in rhythm to the sound of an old guitar. In the far corner was a very small stage which was the source of that guitar.  An older, dark man sat with his eyes closed and his dark freckled face contorting as he made his old guitar sing. Not far from the stage was a bar which still had a few empty seats, and a very pretty blonde bar maid rushing back and forth filling drinks with a very bright and almost painfully big smile. 

Arwan decided to head for the bar as the man on stage ended his song and bowed to the few whistles from those who were listening. Approaching the bar, he eased down on an empty stool and gave a shy smile to the beautiful lady who gave him a wink and a sincere chuckle.

“And how may I help a handsome, young traveler such as yourself?” she said with a surprisingly hypnotic voice.

He looked up, slightly blushing from her compliment and couldn’t help but to return a smile saying, “I am trying to figure out where I am.”

Before the lady could speak, he heard an answer come from his left. “This is Candie’s tavern which is located in the trading town of Shari. But I am sure you already knew that much,” said the voice.  Looking over he realized it was the man who had been playing the guitar. He had sat down beside Arwan while he was distracted by the smiling blonde.

“Actually I don’t know anything about this place; one minute I was reading this book and then it… came to life or something and sucked me in and…” Arwan said, but was interrupted by the man as he looked up from his drink and began laughing.

“That’s quite a story you got there. Sure you weren’t hanging out with some of them foolish Thompson boys and accidentally fall victim to one of their experiments?”

Arwan gave him a confused look as the man laughed and winked at him. The man stood up and began to walk towards the back of the room and stopped to look back at Arwan.

 “Well you’re going to have to learn to keep up if you want to get to where you’re going. You won’t get far just slouching around like the rest of these lumps.” The man said. Arwan jumped up to follow the old man and turned to say goodbye to the lady but she was already rushing and tending to other customers. He spun back around and quickly caught up to the man who was already to a door at the back of the tavern. 

Arwan took a seat at the table in the small back room and waited as the man lit a cigar and made himself comfortable in the chair opposite of him. “My name is Charles Blue but most of the people here just call me Charlie.” The man said as he extended his arm and shook Arwan’s hand. 

“My name is Arwan Flick, nice to meet you, I think.”

Charlie laughed and set his cigar down. “A word of advice, I wouldn’t go around telling people you were sucked into some sort of magical, living book. I don’t think you’ll get much friendly help from these folks saying things like that.”

Arwan looked at the old man saying “But I’m not lying… I just don’t know what to do… or where to go. When I woke up after I fell in, I was lying in a big field and I almost got trampled by some weird buffalo. After that I saw some smoke and headed here.”

Charlie looked at him with deep concentration on his face. “So you ran into some buffalopes or rather they almost ran into you.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled as he said it. “That smoke comes from the Whispering Wood, not sure what it’s from or what it is about the smoke, but every time they spring up the animals, heck even the people start acting a little strange. Well, stranger than usual anyway. I’m not sure if I can help you Arwan but I do know someone you might want to talk to. If you’re in any kind of trouble, he is the man you want on your side. Good old Leroy Slim.” He got a distant look in his eyes and smiled as he shook his head. “If you’ve got any kind of outrageous story or dangerous trip planned, that old knucklehead will perk up like a little boy at a magic show. You can find him in the skiff yard; just tell him Charlie sent you.” 

Arwan stood up and let out a sigh, he could see out the window that the sun had almost set and a blanket of dark was steadily creeping in. “I don’t suppose you have a flashlight, err, lamp or something do you?”

Charlie looked at him surprised, “Leaving already? Thought maybe we could share some dinner and talk a bit more. If Slim is going to take you where I think he is, you’re going to need to know a few things. Come on Arwan, we will get Miss Lucinda to fix us a big helping of dumplings, her specialty. When we finish I will convince Candie to open one of her small guest rooms for you upstairs, no sense in heading out tonight.”

Arwan did not argue, because he was very hungry and wanted to get any info he could on how to get back home. They went out into the main room again which had filled up a lot more since he had first arrived. Charlie found them an empty table in the corner and told him that Lucinda would be bringing the dumplings soon; he was a regular and apparently so was his order. Neither spoke as they waited, Arwan looked about the room trying to study the crowd and Charlie just sat back in his chair puffing on his cigar and humming. Arwan jumped a little as a bowl was sat in front of him and he turned from the crowd to see that the blonde from earlier was standing there with her over-the-top smile. 

“Hello again handsome,” she said as she winked. “My name is Lucinda if Charlie hasn’t already told you. Don’t worry cutie, Charlie is a good man and you are in good hands.” She looked at Arwan with soft eyes and he felt safe. Charlie laughed as Lucinda left and looked at Arwan.

“Quite a lady isn’t she? Can’t tell you how many of these drunkards fall head-over-heels every night.” Charlie let out a loud laugh as he sat back again and shook his head. 

Arwan smiled realizing he too had grown quite fond of her already. He wasted no time digging into the food she had brought. The two sat and laughed back and forth and Charlie ordered a few refills of dumplings and told stories of how far some hopeless guys have gone to try and win Lucinda’s heart, and from time to time he would call her over to confirm some details which made her blush a little and give him a gentle whip with her towel which only made them laugh harder. When Charlie had finally had enough to eat, he looked at Arwan and lit up another cigar. The room had cleared out almost entirely; only a few still hung around either playing cards or drinking ale. 

“Alright Arwan,” Charlie said. “Now to more serious business. You have a pretty big journey ahead of you if you’re to make it to the writer.” 

Arwan gave him a confused look. “The writer? Who is the writer?”

“Not here Arwan, I will leave that one to Slim. But you will need to have a decent set of clothes, if you walk around dressed like that you are just asking for trouble to notice you. I will have some things ready for you in the morning, but just know that it’s not going to be easy. There are those who would kill to get their hands on you if they knew you were here and that is why you must blend in.”

Arwan was a bit lost. “But why… who would want me? What could be so bad about being here? I don’t understand.”

“It’s not the fact that someone is here, but where that someone has come from. You have more power than you may know Arwan and I have a bad feeling you won’t go unnoticed.”

“Power, what the heck are you talking about? I don’t have any power; I am just a thirteen year old kid from Boston!” Charlie jumped up and grabbed Arwan by the arm leading him upstairs and through one of the six doors that lined the hallway and slammed it shut.

“What is the matter with you, were you not listening to anything I said?! I am trying to tell you that it is imperative that you blend in and here you are shouting about being from somewhere that doesn’t even exist!” Charlie let Arwan go and sat down in an old rickety wooden chair. “I am sorry Arwan, I didn’t mean to react so harshly but you cannot tell anyone how you got here or where you came from. If anyone asks you are going to Waterdale to visit your family.” Charlie let out a sigh and tried to give a sincere smile. “Get some sleep kid, I will tell you where to find Slim in the morning.”

Arwan flopped down in the chair when Charlie left. The room was very small; it had one tiny window, the chair he was in, a small bed that looked no more than a short table with a very thin mattress, and a dresser that was missing two of its bottom drawers. Arwan laid down in the bed and tried to quiet his busy mind. Within a few minutes he was asleep, tossing and turning the entire night.

When he woke up he saw some neatly folded clothes on the chair and he sat up very stiff from the rough night. He put on the clothes, a dingy, white hand-sewn shirt with a dark green, almost brown jacket to go overtop, and a pair of dark brown deerskin pants and a pair of hand-made shoes that looked like a pair of Indian moccasins he had seen once on a field trip back at school. It reminded him of how badly he wanted to get back home. Charlie was waiting outside his door.

“Finally up, eh? Let’s get some breakfast before you head out.” 

The two went downstairs and had some eggs, but the meal wasn’t as entertaining as the on they had last night and when they finished, Charlie walked him out to the back door. The door opened into an alley away from the main market and Charlie put his hand on Arwan’s shoulder. “Just keep straight Arwan, head down this alley until you get to the skiff yard at the edge of town and ask for Slim when you get there. And Arwan… good luck son.”

Charlie gave him another strained smile and closed the door leaving him by himself. The alley was narrow and dirty, the ground was damp, and pieces of rotted vegetables and garbage were scattered here and there. The alley was pretty straight but there were even more narrow passages between each small stone building. He decided to keep to the alley like Charlie had said so he could avoid the merchants who lined the streets hoping to coax their next sale out of anyone who passed by. And so he started down the alleyway still not knowing how he was going to get back home.

Author's Note

Let me know what you think of Chapter One!

Reviews

[Jacquelene Vanessa More..]

this is great! i loved your imagery. the suttlety you gave to the character's to explain their personalities off the bat. very I can't help but picture the reading rainbow. I looooved that show! you got plenty of IMAGINATION!!! Which set's you free like the song by tamia in the 90's . :o)

[navah74]

Strong 1st chapter I thought the story was compelling and. Good character development. I would suggest paying close attention to the descriptive language it doesn't always come off as natural as the rest of the story.