Prolouge
My name is Cassie Ericson and I live in a world of destruction. Earth is falling apart because of crazy people. Their tearing my community down and flooding houses. Fires are being made and nobody stops it because their scared, but I’m not. I’m ready to put a stop to this.


Chapter 1
My brother, Henry, and I sat beside the cold glass window in our house, having nothing to do. I stared watching the rain fall down against the window, pounding. I watched the buildings crash down on the earth as if as light as a feather.
Henry’s hand patted my shoulder and his green pleading eyes, told me to go with him. I knew we had to go outside to go into the tent as usual. He tugged on my arm towards the outside where everybody was lined up, waiting for a warm place.
Tents stood up outside because all the houses were burned down except ours. The yellow tent was up outside and Erica was trotting inside. Erica was the leader of some of the groups. She would give great advice and would help you with your problems. I opened the door slowly to hear a loud creak. We stepped out and followed villagers into the tent.
The rain gave me a bad headache as it scattered on my head and all down my clothes. The orange trees swayed in the wind. It’s light colorful leaves flooded the ground. I still held onto Henry’s hand as we walked down the steps and into the yellow tent.
The smell of weeds and saltwater filled the tent. The smell was almost too horrible to bear! I pinched my nose and sat down by a group of foreigners, one was from Russia, another was a smelly Dutch man, and the last one was an ugly woman from China.
The lady had bright pink lipstick on her face with glowing red eyeshadow covering the top of her eyes. Her face was wrinkly and pale and she had bulging brown eyes. She was pretty ugly.
Henry glared at her; not paying attention to Erica. I pushed his face over to Erica to make him pay attention. His face flushed a certain pink and then his eyes locked with Erica’s. He liked her. I could see it in his bright green eyes.
Erica turned to look at us then went on with her boring talk about our world crumpling to the ground. It was annoying to hear her voice over and over again. “You two need to pay attention to me because there is something very important in this lesson,” we shrugged and kept on looking away.
“We all know that our world is falling apart and we need to put a stop to it. We need brave people to go on a quest to retrieve the Stone of Peace, we all know we learned this in Kindergarten. It’s real and I have proof. You need to understand that this is serious buisness”- she glared at us-“all focus,”
I have picked Cassie and Henry to be the ones to grab the treasure and bring it here for the world. Good luck and I wish you well.”
My jaw dropped and Henry’s did too. I scampered out of the tent and slammed the door behind me when I got into the house. How could Erica make us go on such a dangerous trip? It wasn’t fair. I’m only thirteen years old and I don’t need to go on a long trip through magical lands and such.
I climbed onto my parents old bed and snuggled with the pillow. I wanted to leave this place forever. Never to come back again, just to go across the country and stay there for ages.
My eyes were puffy and red from my crying when Henry came in. He said he was sorry and got out the chocolate icecream from the fridge. I made a bowl and stuffed my face in, having no manners. That’s one good thing about not having parents. Henry got out three bacpacks and started stuffing food and water inside for the trip. I knew I had to help so I started grabbing apples from the big wooden basket in the pantry.
Oranges, apples, mangos, and peaches were filling the bags and then Henry threw some candy bars in for energy. The next bag was full of sleeping bags and pillows. Then Henry got to himself and started throwing some science stuff in there. He loves science objects, even bugs from our outside forest.
Henry would go hunting for frogs, beetles, spiders, and much more crazy things. He used to always follow mom and dad outside and make them go into the woods with him to find bugs and rotted wood.
He stuffed science magazines and lots of books about Einstein, Ronald Reagon, Lewis and Clark, and Paranormal books. He was full of nonsense thinking ghosts really roamed the Earth. When I say ghosts, he tells me not to call them that; he wants me to call them spirits but I don’t pay attention to him.
Someone was at the door. It was probably Erica. She rang the doorbell then entered the room without someone telling her she could. She looked completely filled with guilt. A trail of tears hung on her face.
“What are you doing here, Erica?” I demanded, my eyebrows tightly pulling together. “Umm…Well I just wanted to tell you sorry that I embarrased you and I know this is a hard decision but think of it for our community. We could make this a great place again!” I just rolled my eyes and pushed her out then shut the door in her face.
Henry peeped through the door hole and saw a frail Erica crying. I didn’t care but I think Henry did, he flashed an angry look into my eyes and slapped my arm. “Leave me alone Henry!” I tried to pass by him but he tugged me back strongly.
“You have no right to slam the door in her face, Cassie!”
“Yes I do and stop trying to treat me like I’m a baby!”
“Well your sure acting like one, you little brat!”
“Just shutup, Henry! SHUTUP!!!”
I slapped him on the face and left him sitting there like a dummy. He was one. I turned to see his angry face but he was actually throwing magazines into the bag. He also slipped a picture of mom and dad at there honeymoon.
I knew Henry would get over it but he didn’t look like this one was going to fly. I sighed and wished he would act normally and stop treating me like I was a baby. I stared out the window and saw the cloudless sky. It was a pretty baby blue. Nothing about it was ugly, the sky looked as if it were magically painted and all the birds moved so swiftly, you would have thought this was a movie.
Henry and I made up later on and tried to forget about the whole darn thing. “Henry, do you think we’ll ever see mom and dad again?” I asked, looking glum. “I think we’ll see them in thirty years or so. Cassise, stop worrying, things will get better and you won’t even think about them.” He smiled and spread the peanut butter on his slice of bread.
He was almost in tears when I had mentioned mom and dad and I felt sorry for him. I didn’t mean to make him cry, I was just asking a simple question. I forgot about it later and walked out with Henry by my side and the bags flung over our shoulders.
We saw Erica walking into the woods, but we stopped her. “Erica!” I called, she turned around and saw us but she kept on walking shaking her head with no appreciation. “Let’s just keep going, Henry. I’ll take the map and you wait out here.” He just nodded and sat guard, his shoes lined up perfectly.
I didn’t like the fact that I was stealing but we needed it. The tent was the same except nobody was in sight. The tan map sat out on the desk, it had a small marking like an ‘X’ on the front where the landing was. Erica’s handwriting was scribbled on the page. It read, This is for your journey and I hope you use this well, this will lead you towards the Stone of Peace. X marks the spot where the stone is. If you reach the ending, come home safely. I hope the best for both of you and be careful of any dangerous creature along the way. Keep safe!
Love,
Erica Reynolds
I stared at the writing but then Henry called to me and I had to leave. I showed Henry the note on the map. “It’s advice,” He was using his sarcasm voice. He smiled and hugged me as if we were going apart.
We walked for about three miles and I was tired, my legs felt like jelly and my face felt like a hot tamale. My lips burned and my throat was as dry as the desert. I needed water VERY badly. I nagged Henry about it the whole way.
“Stop complaining, Cassie. It won’t do you any good,” Henry had said, his face was covered in sweat and his lips were very chapped. He constantly moved his hair from his forehead from the sweat plastering his hair down. Behind us was a young couple bragging about how better they were at golf than a couple by the name of George and Gwen Harper. I tried to ignore them but they were so loud, I bet China could hear them. Luckily they sat down together on a rusty bench, laughing and talking about Gwen’s stuttering problem.
I checked the neighborhood sign and saw that we were already in Treeville Sight which was miles down from Huck Finn Road which was where we lived. Treeville Sight was a wreck too. Buildings were crashed to the ground and steet lamps were being knocked down. I couldn’t tell why the couple was laughing when the world was crumbling to pieces.
A small dog ambled towards us, his long pink tongue flopped around out of his mouth and his paws hit the earth in silence. His fur was silvery gray and fluffy and he had one blue eye one green. I could tell he was a mutt. He lapped at a puddle of murky water and came over to Henry and I for us to stoke him. “Can we keep him, Henry?” I asked weakly, he smiled and kept rubbing the dog’s tummy.
“Maybe.”

Chapter 2
The dog trailed behind us for the long way, then out of the daylight a tall chubby man walked out with a long stick in his left hand. He rubbed it softly and then turned to us and saw the dog. He frowned more and came towards us.
Henry grabbed my hand as we stood there in shock, the man waited for us to speak. “Why are you two kids goin’ aroun’ stealin’ peoples dogs?!” He pulled out a cigar from his torn up jean pocket and lit it with his blue lighter in his back pocket.
He smelled of grime and rust and his face was full of gunk and mud. He looked related to a pig. “My name is Mr. Rogers and I’m livin’ across the street and that my dog you kids have,” We looked without words. My mind was blank and I held onto the dogs collar, knowing this man was bad.
Mr.Rogers hair was black from grime and it stuck up like spikes. His bulging brown eyes pierced right through me and his evil grin scared me. He yanked the dogs collar from my grip and spat in Henry’s face, “Don’t spit on my brother!” I yelled slapping his face.
He turned to look at me and let go of the dog who came rushing behind Henry, his tail in between his legs. Poor dog. Mr. Rogers grabbed my arm and strangled me to the ground. I felt the air leaving my lungs and I begged to breath. I tried to call Henry’s name but all was a blur and my throat was jammed.
Henry pulled the man off me and kept punching his face. Henry fell to the ground while the man puched Henry’s face with his yucky fist. I reached and tugged on the man’s black hair. He pushed my face away and gave me a chance to run away with the dog while Henry soon would follow.
I grabbed the dog’s collar and looked back at Henry who was bleeding. The blood dripping from his lip and a giant purple bruise covering his right eye. Henry nodded for me to go and I went, giving him a forgiving glance.
I hid behind a giant oak tree and panted, my breath was scarce. I decided to name the dog Spike from his owners hair. Spike seemed to fit him well. He smiled and licked my hand as if thanking me. I scratched behind his ears and hugged him, thanking him for coming to us.
After several minutes Henry found us and came towards us. He was in very bad shape, his face stained with blood. I squeezed him tightly and stared at his messed up face. “I’m fine, Cassie, really.” He winked and walked with me for a long time.
Spike still walked along, his loud panting was annoying but he was a dog and I couldn’t blame him for that. “Henry, we need to take a break, plus it’s getting dark and we need a dry place to rest so if it rains, we’ll be covered.” We walked around and found no shelter to rest in. Then Henry spotted a mass of rock like a cave and we settled there.
We found an old plastic bowl in the dumpster and decided to use that as Spike’s water and food bowl. We poured fresh cold water for Spike and watched him drink the whole thing.
Henry ate a sandwhich but I had lost my appetite looking at Henry’s bloody face. We gave Spike a ham sandwhich and watched him eat since no excitement was happening. We layed out our pillows and sleeping bags and layed down. When my head hit the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.

. . .
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and tried to introduce my eyes to the bright ray of sunlight coming through. Spike was cuddled up against Henry, his nose reaching Henry’s chin. I smiled and tapped Henry on his shoulder. His green eyes slighlty opened.
I grabbed a sandwhich and walked out of the cave, I found a bench and sat down, watching the birds fly. “Wake up!” I told Henry as I started packing up the sleeping bags and food. Spike needed water and food so I pulled his bowl out and fed him.
I felt the hard breeze blow my straight blond hair in front of my face. It stung my eyes and made my lips more chapped than normal. I looked beyond Treevill Sight and saw some buildings flop down. The windows crashed and glass fell to the ground and scattered everywhere.
Spike started leading the way once Henry awoke. After miles and miles, we found a crack in the earth. It divided two lands apart. One half was destruction and the other was beautiful. The cool side was full of flowers and colorful trees. Butterflies circled the area and rocks weren’t jagged.
Henry and I almost fainted when we remembered the sight of earth when it wasn’t bad. The flowers circling us and the trees blowing in the soft breeze. I remembered seeing mom’s face next to mine. Her perfectly soft brown hair all over my face and her blazing indigo eyes facing mine. Then all was a blur and the memory faded. One question ran through my mind, how were we supposed to cross the big gap in the earth? There were no bridges or ziplines so we had no possible way to cross without jumping.
If only we had long rope! Henry looked frightened, his eyes were blank and his face turned whiter. His mouth was agape only for a minute, then he reached into his backpack and pulled out a musty long rope with a metal spikey object attached to the end.
“Henry…You don’t expect us to go across with that, do you?” He merely smiled and flung the rope across the gap. Was he really serious??? I noticed another meatal object at the other end, he slowly attached it to a tree stump and grabbed the rope with his bare hands. He started to fling himself forward and go across like the monkey bars on the small playground.
I was sweating, it dripped down all over me. I tried to calm down but watching Henry almost kill himself made me want to scream. I then felt releived when he landed on the other side, “COME ON, CASSIE, YOUR TURN!” he screamed as he cupped his hands around his mouth.
I would have to carry Spike in my backpack so he could cut across with me. I tucked him inside and let him lick my face like Manny used to. Manny was our old mutt who usually stayed by dad’s side. I let out a big breath and inhaled carefully, I gripped the rope as hard as I could and jumped off the edge, clamping my fingers together.
I felt as if the wind was pulling me down. My strength was running out and I needed to hurry. I moved very slowly and listened to the birds squaking at me. “Come on!” Henry yelled, rolling his eyes in exhaustment. My heart was hammering in my chest and I could hear the blood pounding in my ears.
I was at the middle and I wanted Henry to help me. Then I heard a clang and I looked forward instead of down, hoping it wasn’t what I thought it was. I saw the metal starting to fall and I held on tighter. It fell and I heard Henry scream. I screamed to and felt my heart hammering even harder.
I struggled to breath as I fell backwards. Spike was yelping and I turned my body because if I wouldn’t, Spike would hit his back on the rock wall very hard. When I finally landed, I stuck my feet out to protect my stomach. I layed my side on the wall and started rubbing behind Spike’s ears.

Chapter 3
Henry tried to find something to do to help me. He turned in circles and threw stones at boulders. “HENRY!!! HELP ME!!!” I screamed, the metal was breaking on the other side. Henry looked over and saw that I was crying, the tears were hot on my face and more sweat dribbled down my face. I wiped it off and kept sobbing harshly.
Henry looked around and found a long rope that looked like a 100 years old. He threw it as hard as he could and it landed almost right by me. I stretched my hand out farther and heard the metal clanging again, “HURRY!!!” I screamed, he threw it again and it landed by me again.
One more try and if I didn’t get it, I would die. He threw it farther this time and in the nick of time. I grabbed it and felt the other rope release and fall to the pit of the earth. Henry could barely hold me up, but he managed. I climbed higher until I felt a warm hand collide with mine and pull me up.
Spike wiggled his way through the bag and greeted Henry with a thousand kisses. I layed there silently and panted. I had almost died and managed my way up, I wondered what would have happened to me. and thanked him for saving my life. He really was a good brother no matter how annoying and crazy he was.
The sky was cloudless and the trees were blocked by the fog. I looked around and saw the magical things surrond me. Fairies landed on blooming flowers and ponds of clear water circled us. I kneeled down and touched a pair of fairies wings. They were indigo blue and so was the fairies skin. “Oww, those wings are very fragile!” it turned and faced me, I jumped back and stared in amazement.
“What, you never seen a fairy before?” She put her hands on her hips and waited for my reply, “N-n-n-o,” I stuttered. “Well, I guess you two are new to this land, let me show you around. My name is Florence by the way.” We followed her while she chatted with some friends and showed us the special landmarks of this place such as, Big
Ben where the fairies stay and eat, Gorgeous Luxury a hotel, Daniels Ferris Wheel, a small place where a fairy named Daniel turned to dust and the dust magiclly turned into a mini ferris wheel.
“Do you have a place where humans can stay, Florence?”
“No, but you can stay in that cave over there,” her small blue finger pointed to a boulder fit for at least four people. It was gray with carvings inside from maybe cavemen. We looked inside and saw a drawing of a horse engraved in the stone. We also pointed out warriors and fairies.
Florence came inside and sat with us while we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwhich’s. Henry was stuffing his face with food and slurped a large can of Dr. Pepper. “Eww, you humans are quite gross!” “That’s not me that’s Henry,” I exclaimed, pointing at him while he was chewing.
“Do you know anything about the Stone of Peace, Florence?” she looked shocked and covered her mouth with her hand. “I do.” She whispered uncovering it. “It’s said that it will bring happiness and peace to all humans who believe in it. My parents used to read me the tale of the Stone of Peace all the time!”
“When I was a small fairy, daddy would bring out my favorite book, Stone of Peace Tale and he would read it to me every night after supper. He told me the story wasn’t true but I believed anyway. The Stone of Peace can take control of anyone who lays there eyes on it for too long. It can posses you. You may turn evil so be careful and don’t look at it for a long time!”
Henry and I couldn’t believe what we were hearing! We had no clue that it could take control over you. We sat there very still and waited for Florence to say something. “Florence…Have you ever seen the Stone of Peace before?” I asked pointing to one of the carvings in the wall. It looked like the Stone of Peace so I expected it to be. “No, but I have seen pictures.”
Florence sighed and flew off, her head sagging and her shoulders slumped. “Henry, I think we made her think about her father which made her upset,” I closed my eyes and layed my head on the cold hard rock.
“It might be better if you had a pillow under your head!” Henry snorted, I chuckled and grabbed them out of the bag. I looked around and didn’t see Spike anywhere. Where is he? I thought. “Henry, where’s Spike?” I shook him and looked wary. “I don’t know.” He pushed me away and layed down. I could understand that Henry had a long and horrible day.
It was dark so I took a mustard yellow flashlight and tucked it into my palm. I flipped the switch and it blinked on then off. “UGH!!!” I slapped the flashlight and hit it again. Nothing. “What a waste!” I threw it into the walls of the cave and watched it shatter.
I peeped out of the cave and saw a grayish figure walking by the creek. It then flopped in and I panicked, I saw it stick his head up then back down, then bubbles crowded the water. I raced out and jumped in the water. It was cold as ice and my face was stinging and burning. I wanted to scream but I had to look for Spike. I saw what looked like gray seaweed, flowing in the waters current. I grabbed it and yanked upwards, lifting my body.
I inhaled air and tugged on Spike’s fur upward onto the creek bank. I spit up some water and leaned over poor Spike’s body. I rubbed his face and watched him choke on some water, I helped and then dragged him into the cave. I fell onto the ground and saw Spike lift his head up and start to crawl to Henry’s feet.
I wrapped Spike’s body with a blanket and saw him look into my eyes. He lapped at my face and dropped his head on my lap. I shook Henry up and dripped some water onto his face. “Oww, Cassie! W-w-what are you doing?” He wiped his face and stared at me expressionless. “It’s just water, calm down!” I said, slapping his arm in playment.
“GO AWAY!” Henry screamed in my face, I backed away, “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” I screamed back, my face was red hot and my pulse raced through my veins. I panted and waited for his reply. “Leave me alone, gosh. Do you have any respect you brat! You care only about your yourself and don’t pay attention to anyone!” I was shocked, Henry never spoke to me like this, “Fine, I wish you weren’t my brother! I also wish that you never came with me in the first place! You can go by yourself, because I’m LEAVING!!!” His face was red with madness and his voice quivered. He shook his head and rubbed his face. His hair stuck up in spikes and sweat drizzled down his face.
I grabbed the bags and walked off, leaving Spike and Henry behind. I needed them and I knew it for sure but I needed time to be alone. I washed away all the bad memories and tried to focus on the good things but my mind kept going back and replaying the moment I saw Henry’s angry face.
I only left Henry the sleeping bag and pillow and then when I was sure he was asleep, I came back and dropped off a few apples and a bottle of water. I smiled and walked off.

Chapter 4
Dawn was approaching and I had to get into a warm place to stay. Flowers were growing wildly and branches of trees surronded the circle. The flowers were pink, purple, yellow, and red, there sparkling pedals glowed and the flower grew about 10 feet. Literally.
I gulped down a bottle of water and sat down on a nearby rock, thinking about Henry and his safety. I started feeling a little queezy, my legs felt like they were falling and my brain rattled. I looked at the rock and saw that it was breaking. I was so startled that I had no time to leave the rock when it broke.
I grabbed a flower and held on as tight as I could. The stem started tearing and I tried to hurl myself up. I was too far down when I noticed that I could rockclimb up. My feet touched the rock gently and I crawled up slowly. The stem was tearing more and I crawled faster. When it finally broke and fell into the pit, I was already up onto the rock.
There was a very tall mountian in the distance, the plants and trees covered some of it and moss traveled on the rock. It must have been very old. I knew right then that the rock held the Stone of Peace. I remembered movies about journeys like that. My bags were slipping behind me and I turned around and barely caught one, falling down. I bent over and grabbed it.
The zipper was open and mom and dad’s honeymoon picture was sliding down. NO! I thought, I tried to grab it but it slipped right through my greasy fingers. I watched mom and dad fall down into the ground, there faces disapperaring downwards. “No,” I whispered, my eyes were filling with tears. I heard a small clang and knew the picture had hit the ground with a thump.
I started sobbing, I wiped my nose with my sleeve and then noticed I hadn’t showered in days. I walked away and headed forward but then I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I turned around in adrenaline and saw a happy Henry staring at me with Spike by his legs. “I knew I couldn’t leave you so I raced up to you and found you here. Don’t worry I saw what happened to the picture but it’s ok.” I wrapped my arms around Henry and held him into a bone-breaking hug.
“Let’s get going,” I followed his lead. The wind started blowing very hard and my hair blew into my mouth and over my eyes. My eyes started to sting and my lips started to become chapped. I held Henry’s hand as we had to push forward through the thrashing wind.
We walked through thorn bushes and mazes and tried to keep up with mountian. Each step we took felt like a weight was pulling harder on my chest. I tried to go through the pain but I had to much. I fell to the ground and started to pant harder than usual.
Spike started barking wildly so Henry went over to make sure that everything was okay. “Cassie, we have to hide somewhere safe! Now!” “Henry, w-wha-t” “Just do it okay!” I looked worried but I did what he said. We hid behind a gray boulder and watched, “Henry, grab Spike,” I whispered in his ear. He nodded and ran over to pull on Spike’s fur. I saw a huge tiger approach Henry and Spike. Spike growled deeply and lunged at the tigers face.
“Hey, get off of my face!” the tiger pushed Spike down and sat down and stared at us. I thought Henry may have been playing with me but Henry was white as a ghost and he began to shake uncontrollably. “What are you staring at me for?” he said again, he raised his paw and spoke again with his british accent,
“The names Ty. What’s yours?” “Umm…I-i-I’m Henry a-a-and thi-s-s-s is m-m-my s-s-sister Cassie,” Henry stammered. Ty looked agravated, “Won’t you stop stuttering! Haven’t you seen a talking tiger?” “No, actually we live in California.”
“Well, you have come into a magical world that only you can see. It’s called Fharis. It sounds like Narnia by C.S. Lewis but it’s not. Those books are very interesting actually.”

“How can you read?”
“This is a magical land, what do you expect!”
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Man, you humans are rubbish!”
“Were not rubbish!”
“Suit yourself!” Ty started to walk off but I stopped him, “Ty, do you know anything about the Stone of Peace? Were off to gather it but we just wanted to know if you could maybe lead us or something.” He looked startled and surprised, “Well, I know what it is but I cannot lead you to it, young one’s”
“You can stay with us right?” I asked as I stroked his back, “Of course, my dear.” I smiled and hugged Ty even though I had only known him for a short time. Ty, Henry, Spike, and I traveled up a mountian, ziplined through a rainforest and fell down a couple of times. We slept for days and started becoming weaker through the weeks.
I could finally see the mountian clearly and rubbed Ty’s belly. “Your very kind, child. I wish I had an owner like you.” I hugged his belly and exhaled cooly. “Where is your parents, Ty.” I asked, he frowned and looked sad and depressed. “It’s a very long story.” “Please, tell me,” “Ohh, alright.”
“It all started when I was a young one, I was walking along the cliff when I saw my mum and dad running towards me! I was startled but they protected me from Khan, a giant mean tiger who threatened to kill me. He killed my parents and treated me badly. I stayed with him for 3 years and then I finally escaped. I wanted to kill him afterwards but I knew I was too small and too weak to even hurt him. I never saw him again after the day I escaped.”
I felt very sorry for Ty so I leaned in towards him to comfort him. I scratched behind his ears and got up to look for Henry. I found Henry at the edge of a pond, throwing bread to the fish. The fish were bright orange and bright red and had spots of gold and silver markings on there back.
“Ty’s parents are dead, Henry. He’s like us.” I whispered towards him, he stared into my deep blue eyes and whispered back, “I feel sorry for that big guy. He’s pretty tough you know.” I merely smiled and ambled my way up the mountian where the Stone of Peace lay.
My legs felt like jelly and my arms were as loose as spaghetti. My head felt like it was going to burst. I heard a voice at the bottom and saw Henry usher me to come down. Good thing I wasn’t very far. I crawled back down and he hooked me up as if I was rock climbing at the Y.M.C.A.
Henry attached the hook to a tree at the top of the mountian so I could climb up safely. Henry was also attached to one so we were going to be climbing up together. I told myself not to be afraid of heights like I was on the Ferris Wheel last year at Newberry Ferry Park. I had gone on the Ferris Wheel and threw up over the side I was so scared.
We were almost there when Henry and I heard a cracking sound above us. We looked at the oak tree and saw that it was going to crash down. With us attached! Henry unlatched his hook and held onto the rock. Mine was stuck and I couldn’t get it open. “Henry,” my voice quivered as I tried harder, “what?” “My hook is stuck!” I yelled as I pressured myself.
The rust wiped off on my hands as I still tried to unlatch it. “Hurry!” I screamed, the tree was breaking even more, the sound made a chill run down my spine. I finally got the metal unhooked right when the oak was falling in between us. The wind knocked me down a little but I kept reaching up, telling myself that I could make it.
I counted the seconds as we passed stones and rocks and clumps of mud on the mountian, we finally made it to the top! I bent down and hovered together, my arms clutching my scrawny legs.
Henry grasped my hand and pulled me up. The walls of a small building were covered in spikey vines and moss. Seaweed covered the door and a horrible stinge of saltwater and dirt filled my nostrils. Henry pushed the door open. The hinges squeeked and it opened very slowly. Light poured out from the room as the door opened, I knew it was the Stone of Peace glowing in the mist.
“Wow,” Henry cocked his head upward at the ceiling as I stared agape into the open room. The Stone of Peace was covered by silky glass that was filled with green moss. “Let’s just grab it and go, Henry.” I demanded, breaking the glass with my fist.
The glass shattered and broken pieces landed on my feet, my hand was bloody and bruised but I didn’t mind too much.


Chapter 5
It felt like we stayed in the room for 10 years! I kept having to tell Henry that we had to go but he wanted to study the old walls. The room looked 200 years old but I wasn’t sure, it had a brown wooden table holding the glass box with the stone inside. The walls were circling the area like a huge dome.
I tucked the stone in my hand very tightly. I stared at the stone fixed in my hand and turned it around several times. It was a perfect soft purple with fractured edges. It was the size of a 10 year old’s hand.
“Come on, Henry!” I said sarcasticly, he payed no attention to me so I walked away, starting to rock climb down the mountian with the stone in my pocket. Henry looked down and shouted to me, “Hey, you didn’t wait for me!” “Well, you didn’t come when I asked you to!” I shouted back, grinning. We finally made it down safely and returned to the place where we were staying.
Ty seemed to be waiting for us as we approached him in the fog. The trees started bleeding out leaves of all colors. “You made it back!” Ty exclaimed, staring up at us, his orange fur rippled in the wind. “You’ll come with us, to are land, won’t you Ty?” I asked, squeezing him into a hug. “I promise.” He said.


. . .
After weeks we made it back to Huck Finn Road, seeing are friends again. When we saw the yellow tents swaying, we knew this was the place. Home. Erica was outside, tending to a fire made by thick blocks of wood. “Erica!” I called, waving towards her. She looked behind her and noticed us. Erica laughed and came running to us, she had her arms stretched out, waiting for a hug.
She crashed into me and crushed my bones with a huge hug. “I’m so glad to see you!!!” she nuzzled her face into me and let me go. Henry walked by and Erica came running towards him, his face lit up as her crazy brown hair flew in all different dierections. He hugged her and picked her up for a second then set her down gently. They walked off and talked for a while.
Spike stuck his head up high and waited for the attention, Ty followed behind him and ran to my side, just like Spike. I rubbed Spike’s belly and remembered the stone. I retrieved it from my pocket and ran to Erica. I thrust my hand out which was holding the purple stone. She glared and picked it up, her fingers twirling around it. “You got it,” she whispered, still playing with the stone.
She hugged me again and told be to break it open so that all the peace could be let out. I lifted the stone from her hands and brought it over to a nearby rock covered in dirt and mud. I placed it down carefully and brought out a sharp silver ax. I lifted the ax up and then smashed it down on the stone.
The stone broke in two pieces and then light flooded out and the sky grew lighter, the ground grew firm, the tents turned to fine houses, the rags of clothes turned into nice fresh ones, the starving animals grew stuffed with food, the nasty food turned to fresh, the brown grass turned green, the buildings turned into new office’s, the kids old toys turned to new ones, and the stop signs turned up.
The road was new and everything looked they way it should have. The world was finally brought to peace and no more destruction went on from that single day. And you will never believe what happened. The power brought back mom and dads picture.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 26.11.2010

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