The Island
The poor children now were very disappointed. They tried to play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard rocks. They tried playing on patches of grass, but it was dry and muddy. Not only that, but they even tried indoors, but their parents weren’t happy. They were planning to give up when Cynthia had a marvellous idea, “There’s a small island off the west coast of Manera, called Gemstone, here.” She pointed to a spot on the map,
“It’s only a 5-minute swim. Easy!”
Florence looked awkwardly down at the floor and mumbled, “Um... I can’t... I-I can’t swim.”
“Oh... that’s ok. We’ll help you. My mom has a collection of life jackets in the basement. I’ll tell her we’re going swimming, and you need one.” Sydney said, radiating a bubbly emotion.
“Thanks, Syd!” Florence replied.
“Wait a minute. There’s just one thing that you’re missing: our parents don’t trust us enough to go swimming on an abandoned island by ourselves. And if one of our siblings comes along, then you can say goodbye to our play place because every kid in the city will play there!” said grumpy Graham.
“Graham! Don’t be a sour spot! And who said we are going to tell them? We all have phones, don’t we? They’ll call us if they need anything, and we can just sneak off.” Lora said.
So the children went home and went to bed, excited about their discovery. The island, however, is a very magical place and children are the most magical creatures on the earth.
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The next morning the children woke up early, bubbling with emotion. Sydney grabbed a life jacket for Florence, Graham packed all essentials, while grumbling, Lora packed her phone and a ziplock bag and Cynthia, a very exhilarated Cynthia, gathered everything she used for exploring a flashlight, a camera, a chart, and others. By 9:30 they were ready to swim to Gemstone Island.
“Is everyone ready?” Cynthia asked
“Yep!” They all said in unison. They went on swimming, or for Florence, trying to stay afloat. They finally got there, and it mesmerized them. The beautiful, soft sand between their toes, the pleasant sound of the ocean, the sparkling seashells all around were nothing compared to the small forest in front of them.
“We should go explore the forest!” Cynthia exclaimed.
“No! Are you crazy? We can’t go in there! We might get lost!” Graham complained.
“No, we won’t, I brought twelve balls of yarn. I’ll tie it around this rock,” she goes to the rock nearby and does a full Windsor knot,
“And let it loose as we explore so that in case we get lost, we can follow the trail back!”
“That’s a great idea! Now we won’t get lost!” Lora exclaimed. No matter what the child pointed out a problem, there was always a solution. Soon, they were on their way through the forest. About 10 minutes later, they had come to a cave.
“Oh no, I’m not going in there. There are sharp rocks that could cut the yarn into pieces.” Graham said.
“Please Graham, we can’t go without you,” Sydney said.
“Yes, we can. Leave him, he’s going to stay in a strange place all by himself.” Florence argued.
“Florence!” Lora yelled.
“No, he’s right. Let Graham stay here on his own. Let’s go!” Cynthia said. As they went on, Florence changed his mind and tagged along.
They came to a strange pool in the middle of an opening. It was shimmering in the sunlight, but it looked like more than sunlight on reflection, it was magical. Lora was the first one to put her bags down,
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going in for a swim,” Lora said. Cynthia was close behind her. Then Sydney, then Florence, then after contemplating the pros and cons, Graham set down his bags and took off his clothes, so that he was only in his swimming trunks. They looked at each other and Sydney said,
“Three... two... 1... cannonball!”
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The first thing they noticed when they came for air was that they were no longer in a rocky cave. They were in a fountain. The beautiful atmosphere around them was more captivating than the Island, not that they were on the Island anymore.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Hey Austin, We have fountain trespassers!” The strange man exclaimed. Before they could even grasp what was happening, they were being hauled out of the water and dragged to a castle. Soon they arrived and a lovely woman was standing in front of them saying,
“Hello! Are you visitors? Visitors aren’t allowed in the sacred fountain. Where are your parents?”
None of them spoke. They didn’t know what to tell the woman. She knelt and said,
“My name is Miracle. You are in my kingdom, Pearlheart. I won’t hurt you, I would never. Do you know where your parents are?”
Cynthia was the first one to speak up,
“My name is Cynthia. My friends and I were exploring Gemstone Island and found a cave with a pool. We all jumped in and ended up in your fountain. We didn’t mean to! Our parents don’t know we are here, we didn’t tell them we were going exploring.”
The woman stopped cold.
“You found the pool? I thought it was hidden... Ordina! Get over here!”
Another woman came running out.
“Yes, princess, what could be the problem now? Are the trespassers in jail-”
She stopped when she saw the children,
“These are the trespassers? They are just mere children! Anyway, what did you call me for?”
“These trespassers found the night pool and ended up in the fountain.”
Ordina looked pale,
“They found the night pool? How? No one has found it in over 10 years! How did mere children find it?!”
“Don’t get mad yet, Ordina, they were also just exploring.”
“Exploring! They were exploring!”
Their conversation went on like that for a while. The children all thought the same thing: What had they done? At last, Ordina said,
“What are your names?”
“My name is Lora. That is Florence, Graham, Sydney and Cynthia. Can someone explain to us what is happening?” Lora asked
Ordina was too lost in thought, so Miracle said,
“You are in the kingdom of PearlHeart. Years ago, a legendary light wizard created a portal. That portal was to only a safe zone from evil if it had come to where it was dangerous to wander the streets. Long story short, the wizard died, and his ghost still roamed and the portal had to be kept hidden, so no humans could come into this world.”
“Wait, what are you?” Cynthia asked.
“We are merpeople and angels. We live inland, in the air and water. We each have our power or powers. My ancestors had the most powers, therefore they were chosen as rulers of Pearl Heart. I am too young to be a queen, but for now, I am a princess.”
Graham was the only one who didn’t believe it,
“If you are angels, then where are your wings?”
Miracle took a deep breath and blew a gentle, warm breeze. As she blew out, her wings sprang. And oh, how beautiful they were. They were as white as snow and as shiny as pearls, and as pure as a baby’s soul. Graham still had another question,
“If you didn’t want humans to find it, then why not destroy it?”
Ordina glared at him and said,
“Destroying, it will only wreak havoc! If any dark wizards even hear that the safe portal is closed, they’ll attack us without a hint of hesitation. If we destroy it, we will have no safe zone from evil. Miracle and all other royalties will be targeted, and if they kill them, then they will rule this place!”
Graham asked no more questions. Sydney finally spoke and said,
“Since we are innocent, can you take these binds off us, they are hurting.”
“You heard the lady! Take them off!” shouted the princess.
“We thank you for not throwing us in jail, but we must get going. Our parents will probably wonder where we are.” Cynthia said, feeling a little nostalgic.
“HA! That’s the thing. The last time humans came through the portal, our parents figured out how to get them back. They didn’t tell us anything before they-”
She stopped, unable to continue.
“What Ordina means is, our best bet to figuring out how to get you home is by the walking spirit of Aegeus the light wizard. And don’t worry about the time, it stopped as soon as you entered the portal.” Miracle said, trying to talk in a reassuring voice.
“I know what we can do to kill time, I’ll tell you all about the history of this world!”
The girls were quite excited to learn the history behind the magical place they were in. The boys, not as much. Miracle was delighted to share her history with the children,
“The first thing you should know about is what other kingdoms in this magical world. There are 9 including Pearl Heart, Diamond Show, Emerald City, Goldenville, Heart Space, Sapphire City, Jade Stone, Amber Love and Ruby Eye. Are there any questions?”
Cynthia spoke up first,
“Can you tell us the story of the legendary light wizard?”
