Chapter five of my new book

Chapter five

In the spot where the portal had been, now stood what appeared to be a tree, but unlike any tree I had ever seen. It stood amongst the destroyed buildings ruble, towering over us by at least thirty feet, its branches spread out twenty feet in every direction. It was thin, without any leaves. What was odd about the tree was that it was made of beautiful red stone. Another odd thing about the tree was that it moved. The branches swayed back and forth, like it was trying to wiggle its way out of the ground.

“What is it?” Dart asked. “It’s really pretty.”

“I don’t know, but it’s weird.” I said, unsure of what to do. Sarah seemed transfixed on the tree, unable to look away. She slowly stepped closer, holding out her hand to the tree.

“What are you doing?!” Dart shouted completely afraid.

“I just want to touch it.” She said smiling. The tree seemed to be able to see her, and pulled its branches away from her hand.

“I don’t think it likes you.” I said, almost the same pink color as Dart. Grrrrrrr… MilkChip growled and showed her teeth to the tree, like it was an enemy. “Come on Sarah. Get back here.” I sounded like an afraid and wimpy kid, but MilkChip didn’t like the tree, so neither did I.

Sarah reached up on her tippy toes, extending her fingers out to one of the branches only inches away. Then before Sarah could react, the branch slammed down just in front of her, shaking the ground so hard she fell on her butt.

Dart turned yellow and MilkChip almost jumped five feet in the air she was so startled. I ran to Sarah and pulled her to her feet. She didn’t need any help from there. She was easily out of the branches reach in seconds, I was just behind her.

The branch lifted up and returned to its wiggling. One of its roots pulled itself out of the ground, followed by several others. It was slowly pulling itself up and out of the ground. In about a minute, all of its roots were free of the ground and it was slowly walking away towards the fields. Everyone in town was watching, completely in shock, even Dr. Emberstone, who had a backpack on and a rope over his shoulder now.

“That is one weird tree.” Dart said, now light blue.

“I agree.” Sarah said. “Thanks.” She said to me with a smile.

“No problem.” I said breathing heavy. The tree was slowly making its way out of sight, crawling off into the fields towards Clarafade.

“Three portals in one day, our universe is on a role!” Dart said.

“It’s weird, there’s never been more than two in one week.” Sarah said. “I feel sorry for whoever lived in that building.” She pointed at the ruble covering the ground.

“Yeah, there are a lot of weird things happening today. I mean what’s with the red clouds?” I said.

“Yeah that is weird.” Sarah said. “Well, what do you want to do?”

“I have some left over onyx sleets from my Mom. We can go get some Sweet Goo and Tolly Pops.” Tolly Pops are candy that look like jagged rocks. When you lick them, it sends a tingling shock through your tongue. It’s really cool and a lot of fun.

“Yeah sure, let’s go to the Fizzy Fart.” The Fizzy Fart is like our candy shop. It has pretty much every kind of candy or junk food a kid could ever want. It’s owned by Riley Potterput. He’s a Shorkle. He’s pretty much a short, fat, pig with a blonde tuft of hair on his head. Put him in a grey suit jacket and a blue bow tie, and stand him up on his back two feet. That’s what Riley Potterput looks like. He’s got a gruffly voice, and sounds like a girl in high heels when he walks because his two hooves tap the wood floor in his shop.

As we were on our way to the Fizzy Fart, Dr. Emberstone ran up to us. He was carrying a lot of supplies for his trip up Clarafade. “Do you know where I could buy a horse or an animal that I could ride? I’m not exactly in the best shape of my life, and the path to my lab isn’t an easy hike to make.” He asked.

“Well, Dolly Dorty sells Ule, and you could probably get a horse from Jeff Kertson.” Two horses had been sucked up through a portal a few years before I came to Craz-Tow, ever since we’ve had a good amount of them around town, pretty helpful animals.

“But Jeff Kertson left town a few days ago to pick his crops. He’ll be back tomorrow though, if you can wait.” Sarah said.

“No I can’t wait, and a Ule won’t do.” He said quite disappointed.

“Well you’re going to have to compromise on something.” Dart said. MilkChip rubbed against Dr. Emberstone’s leg and sniffed his leg. She though he smelled like lemons and dust.

“Are you sure this Jeff Kertson will arrive tomorrow?” Dr. Emberstone said and Sarah nodded. “Alright, then I will remain here tonight and leave first thing in the morning. Would you point me in the direction of the Inn?”

“It’s over there.” Dart said and suddenly the ground light up with flashing arrows all in a line pointing towards the Forth Leg.

“Thank you, your help is much appreciated.” Dr. Emberstone said and followed the arrows.

“He’s an odd fellow.” Dart said and we nodded in agreement with him.

The Fizzy Fart smelled like strawberries and chocolate and vanilla, which isn’t what you’d expect when you hear the name. The walls were covered in shelves and filled with hundreds of different candies of all colors. The entire room was filled with tables and boxes full of everything we could ever eat.

Riley greeted us as we came in and offered us each a complimentary berry bean. Glogger, Riley’s pig, which was lime green with hunter green lines and red ears, waddled over to MilkChip and they began taking turns sniffing each other. Riley bought Glogger a few years ago so he could eat all of the candy kids dropped on the floor. It always seemed odd to me that he owned a pig as a pet, but odd seems to be our thing here in Craz-Tow.

“What are you looking for today?” Riley asked. “I just got a new box of Torguf balls and grump tongue glue.”

“We need three glasses of Sweet Goo and three Tolly Pops.” I said pulling out two onyx sleets to pay for the order.

“What colors would you like those Tolly Pops to be?” Riley asked. Sarah asked for a red one which is Gilber berry flavored, Dart asked for a purple one which is Waterflow flavored, and I asked for a dark blue one which is Doofly flavored. “That will be two onyx sleets.” Riley said and poured three glasses of Sweet Goo and handed them over to us. It took him a bit longer to get the Tolly Pops. He had to carry a ladder across the room and climb it all the way to the top. When he climbed back down, he was carrying three Tolly Pops.

“Thanks.” Sarah said as Riley handed them over. Dart immediately shoved his into his mouth and started smiling as it delightfully shocked his tongue. I licked mine a few times and gulped down my glass of Sweet Goo. MilkChip barked and wagged her tail, hoping to get a treat of her own.

“Here you go MilkChip, on the house.” Riley threw a small chew bone at MilkChip that she caught in the air. She immediately devoured it, and then turned her attention to her squeak toy.

After we were all done with our Sweet Goo, we said good bye to Riley and headed out, our tongues tingling with shock.

“Thanks Damian.” Sarah said and patted me on the back.

“Yeah, thanks Damian.” Dart said with his mouth full, he was a swirling mixture of blue, pink, green, and yellow. “Well, I should be going. Bye guys!” Dart said and headed back home.

“Yeah, I should get going too. See you later Damian.” Sarah said. I waved her goodbye and turned and ran towards my house. There were some things I really wanted to tell my Mom that I knew she would be interested in.

That night, after we had all gone home, out in the fields, a white light appeared. It began to grow and continued to grow far past all of the others. It grew wide and long and covered almost a third of the entire field. The sound of gusting wind was almost deafening. Then there was a sound of clashing thundered that shook the sky and the light disappeared, leaving in its place an entire army, and a Queen.

Chapter four of my new book

Chapter four

After I left the Fourth Leg, I began to notice something odd. The sky was covered in a thin layer of red and black clouds, with flashes of lightning far off in the distance. In all my years here in Craz-Tow, I have never seen red clouds. But no one worried, it may not have been unusual to see red clouds, but it was usual to see unusual things.

“Damian! Damian! Help me!” I turned around to see Dart running towards me. Dart was another one of my best friends. He’s little unusual, and hard to describe. Have you ever eaten Jello? Well he is Jello, but like a clear watery Jello. He’s only a little bit bigger than your hand, has two small eyes, two short arms, and no legs. He just glides around almost like a slug. He’s very colorful though, literally. He has the ability to control light and color, so his body is constantly changing color or colors. He could be six different colors all mixed up at once. But like I was saying before, he has the ability to control light and color, which means he can do almost anything with light and color. He can flash so bright it would blind you, or shoot little arrows of color at you, though they can’t hurt you, their just color. He can throw color behind you or in front of you and anywhere else. It’s a pretty cool ability.

At the moment, Dart was flashing yellow and yelling my name. He was being chased by Jed, Fred, and Ped, who had unfortunately figured out that if they hit Dart he would change color. So they often resorted to throwing him back and forth and bouncing him on the ground like a ball.

Dart slid up my leg, around my back, over my shoulder, along my arm, and in my hand. Now he was a bright red color with an angry look on his face.

“Their trying to make me change colors again Damian!” Dart said very upset.

“Hand him over Damian.” Jed demanded.

“Yeah, hand him over and we won’t pound in your face!” Fred said smacking a fist into his hand.

“Go dunk your head in Ule poop. Dart isn’t a toy, so leave him alone.” I said.

“Yeah! Leave me alone you big bullies!” Dart said and shot a red arrow of color at each one of them. They flinched for a second, then stepped forward and reached for Dart. Luckily MilkChip dropped her squeak toy and stepped in at that moment with a deep growl that scared them into stepping back.

“Put a leash on your dog Damian!” Ped said a little frightened.

“Maybe we should put a leash on each of you and tie you to a tree near the river and leave you there all night.” Sarah said stepping beside me.

“Hi Sarah, how are you?” Jed, Fred, and Ped all spoke at the same time. Each of them secretly had a crush on Sarah.

“I’ll be better when you stop messing with Dart.” She said forcefully. Jed, Fred, and Ped were also a little afraid of her, seeing that she was twice as strong as them and now knew how to use a bow with deadly accuracy.

“We were just leaving.” Jed said and slowly stepped back. Fred and Ped both nodded in agreement and then ran off out of sight.

“Thanks Sarah.” Dart said, now suddenly blue.

“No problem Dart.” She said with a smile. “Hey, who is that?” She pointed to a man walking around in a white lab coat and glasses. He was wearing pointy black leather shoes with double knotted laces, and a brown button up shirt. He had messy black hair that stuck out in almost every direction, a thin pointy nose, and a large mouth. He looked to be an older man, like he was in his forties or fifties. His skin was starting to wrinkle and grey hairs were beginning to outnumber his black ones.

“I don’t know. He must be new.” Dart said.

“That’s weird. I met another new guy just a little while ago.” I said.

“Two new guys in one day, that is weird.” Sarah said.

“I wonder where he’s from.” Dart said.

“We should go say hello.” Sarah said and we all walked over to him.

“Hi there, welcome. I know this is all confusing, but you’re in a town call Craz-Tow.” Sarah said.

“Yes, I know where I am. It’s changed a lot since the last time I was here, but it’s still the same Craz-Tow I left so long ago.” His voice was strong and rugged, but filled with knowledge and a little rushed, like he was in a hurry.

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” I asked confused.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have much time. I’m kind of in a hurry. My name is Dr. Emberstone, and I used to live here twenty three years ago. That is, before my machine teleported me into another universe. Do you know where I can find some supplies? I need to get to the top of Clarafade Mountain.” He sounded very rushed.

“What are you talking about? What is a machine? And how did it teleport you into another universe?” I said, overwhelmingly confused.

“I’m sorry I can’t explain more to you, but if I don’t get to my lab in Clarafade Mountain, this universe is going to come to an end!” Dr. Emberstone looked really serious, which frightened us.

“The Floppy Flat market should have everything you’ll need.” Dart said, now a purple color, and slightly shivering.

“Where is it?” We all pointed in the direction of the Floppy Flat market. Dr. Emberstone immediately bolted off into that direction, his white lab coat flapping in the air behind him.

“Wow, he seemed pretty serious.” Sarah said. “What did he mean by the universe would come to an end?”

“I don’t know. I hope he’s wrong though, and if he’s right, I hope he gets to his lab in Clarafade Mountain.” I said, Sarah and Dart both nodding in agreement.

BOOM! Boom! BOOM! Garroth pounded the ground as he landed just behind them, sending gusts of air rushing past us with his wings. Dart turned bright pink he was so frightened.

Garroth tucked his wings against his body and lifted his tail high above the ground, so he wouldn’t accidently hit it against anything. He learned his lesson after he destroyed our town hall with one swipe of his tail.

We gave Garroth a wave, he replied with a loud grunt, then turned and headed towards the fields.

“So, what do you want to do?” Sarah asked.

“I’m not sure.” I said and took a deep breath. MilkChip rubbed against Sarah’s leg and looked up at her with whimpering eyes. She wanted to be pet badly. Sarah smiled and scratched MilkChip behind her ear.

It was then that I noticed a small marble sized white light hovering above the ground a few feet away near a building. The light was slowly getting larger, and there was a whistling sound of wind. In a few seconds the white light was as big as me and we were all watching it, the sound of whistling wind growing into the sound of strong gusts.

“It’s a portal!” Dart yelled as we started to feel the white light pulling us in. “Run!” We turned and bolted away as fast as we could. The building near the portal was beginning to crack, and then suddenly it crumbled down and was sucked into the portal along with everything that was inside. Then with a loud smashing sound, the portal flashed bright white and then disappeared along with the building.

Everything was silent, all of the people in the town starring in awe at what was now in the spot where the portal had been.

Chapter three of my new book

Chapter three

I forgot to tell you, but I have a dog named MilkChip. She’s an Arctic Wolf with solid white fur and light violet eyes. She’s as big as I am, and twice as sweet, though she can’t talk like some animals in our universe. She is my second best friend, and when I woke up this morning she was sleeping beside me in bed, slowly nudging me further and further to the edge of the bed so she could have the middle. I gave her a quick shove to push her back onto her side, but she was too heavy for my weak arms to move. She just lifted her head and gave me a confused look, then lifted my nose, leaving saliva in my nostrils.

“Ewww! Stop that!” I shouted and leaned back away from her tongue, which was a mistake because I fell off the bed and hit the floor with a thud. MilkChip crawled to the edge of the bed and looked down at me with her head sideways and her ears straight up, almost like she wanted to laugh at me. “Fine, have the bed, I’m awake now anyway.”

I slowly dressed up in a light pink shirt and brown trousers. The pink shirt was MilkChip’s idea. She dragged it out of my closet and held it up to me, leaving a mouthful of slobber on the right arm sleeve. “Pink? Really?” I asked skeptically. MilkChip gave an enthusiastic nod and what appeared to be a smile. “Alright, whatever you say.” I put on the shirt, and of course the arms were too long again so I rolled them up to my elbows. Most of my clothes were from other children in Craz-Tow and some are even my Dads from when he was young, so most don’t fit me.

MilkChip gave a pleased bark and then headed into the kitchen. I followed once I pulled on my sandals. Mom and Dad were both sitting down at the table eating eggs and toast with a glass of Ule milk. Mom was sitting on an extra tall chair so she could see over the table that had to be big enough for Dad.

“Morning son, how did you sleep?” My Dad asked as he finished his cup of milk.

“Morning Dad, I slept well.” I said and sat down in front of a plate full of eggs and two pieces of toast. MilkChip sat beside me. She was almost tall enough to see over the table. I held out one of the pieces of toast to her and she devoured it.

“Eat up. You had a long day yesterday.” My Mom said gesturing to my food.

“He had a long night too, and with that pretty Elf Sarah.” My Dad said with a smile and then nudged me with his elbow. My Dad had the weird notion that Sarah and I were the perfect match for each other. He thought that we spent all of our time together kissing and talking about our feelings for each other, instead of what we actually did which is just have fun and be kids.

“Dad!” I said disgusted. “I’ve told you a million times; Sarah and I are just friends!”

“Alright, whatever you say.” Dad said with a wink. “Well, I have to go. I have a long day ahead of me.” He said and gave my Mom a quick kiss on the cheek. “Have a good day Damian.” He said and gave MilkChip a pat on her head before heading out the front door.

I quickly ate down all of my eggs and toast, and then drank my milk. Mom gave MilkChip a bowl of food and then began working on the dishes. “What do you have planned for today honey?” She asked.

“Nothing, why?” I asked.

“Well, I could use some things from the store. You could get them for me if you want.” She asked.

“Yeah sure, why not.”

“Oh good, the list of things I need and some onyx sleets are on the counter. Hurry back.” I picked up the list and scanned over it. It was full of pretty basic house items for my Mom like soaps and cleaners and some fruits and vegetables, and then there were some items for my Dad like hardened Ule leather and heat resistance leather gloves. Items he used for his job, and couldn’t go without.

I slid the list in my pocket and then grabbed a small leather sack of onyx sleets. Onyx sleets are our form of money. There thin stone grey pieces of shiny rock from the Clarafade Mountain. My Dad earns about thirty onyx sleets a week, which is pretty good in Craz-Tow.

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.” I said and whistled to MilkChip to follow me outside. It was another beautiful day in Craz-Tow, and MilkChip and I were feeling good. The Floppy Flat market wasn’t far. I always enjoyed shopping there. The Floppy Flat is run by Sherri Gutto, who is an Elemental. An Elemental is basically a human covered in brown bark and the occasional patch of green moss. Instead of hair she has leaves on her head and her eyes are golden. She looks like a tree.

When MilkChip and I arrived at the Floppy Flat market, there were four of five people walking around taking things off the shelves. Sherri greeted us as with a friendly smile and a doggy treat for MilkChip.

“Welcome to the Floppy Flat market Damian and MilkChip.” She said with another smile. “What are you looking for today?”

“Just some stuff for my Mom and Dad.” I said.

“Oh, well if you need any help just ask.” I nodded and started my hunt through the store with MilkChip. I started with the food on the list, Quak, Troppy, and Potatoes. Yeah, we have potatoes too. Once I scratched off all of the food on the list I moved on to the cleaners my Mom needed. Just simple things like brushes and bath soap. O, and a perfume my Mom likes to wear when my Dad takes her out on dates. It smells like warm apple pie, my Dad loves it! After twenty minutes of shopping there were only two items left on the list, my Dads hardened leather and gloves. I found them at the back of the store and piled them up in my arms with everything else.

“Did you find everything that you needed?” Sherri asked as I approached the checkout counter.

“Yes I did. I’ll take all of this.” I replied and piled everything onto the counter. SQUEAK! MilkChip jumped her two front legs up onto the counter and dropped a drool covered squeak toy next to everything else. “And that toy.” I said patting MilkChip on the head.

Sherri scanned over all of the items, and then piled them into a large paper bag. “That will be sixteen onyx sleets Damian.” I opened the leather sack and counted out sixteen sleets and handed them over. “Thank you Damian. You business is much appreciated.” Sherri said with a smile and handed over the bag.

MilkChip immediately started barking, she wanted her toy. I reached into the bag and shuffled through the items and pulled out her squeak toy. Her tail wagged excitedly. For the next five minutes, all I heard was SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK! The toy was completely covered in drool.

Everyone in town was out and doing their usual routines all except one. It was someone I had never seen before, someone new. He was huge! He had to be at least nine feet tall, and three feet wide. He was wearing evil looking black armor and a black helmet over his head. The armor had spikes and odd symbols and weird lines all through it. On his back, there was a big broad sword in a leather sheath. It looked very dangerous, and he looked pretty much as evil as it comes.

No one seemed to notice the man, they were all too busy to stop and say hello. So MilkChip and I walked over to greet him. “Hi, I’m Damian and this is MilkChip. I’m guessing you’re new around here, right?” The man silently looked at me and MilkChip. “What’s your name?” He didn’t answer. “You do have a name, don’t you?” He still didn’t answer. He just continued to stare at me. “Alright, well, I’ll just call you Bob. I think it suites you.”

Bob looked around, like he was confused and in a dream he couldn’t wake up and get out of. “I know this is all a little confusing, but you’ve just been sucked up out of your universe and brought here to ours. You can never go back to where you’re from, but you can live here with us. This is our town, Craz-Tow. If you want, I can bring you to Mead, he’ll give you a room to stay in and some food until you get a job and can support yourself.” Bob looked at me with a sideways head, like he couldn’t understand a word of what I had just said, or he thought I was some crazy boy his dream had conjured up to annoy him.

“Well…” I said once I was sure he wasn’t going to respond. “Just follow me. I have to drop off this stuff at my house, but my house is on the way to the Fourth Leg.” MilkChip squeaked her toy a few times before turning and following me to the house. At first Bob didn’t move. He looked at me confused, then at all of the strange things around him. I think he decided he would take his chances with me over the Goblins, Ogres, and Garroth, who were all starring at him now.

Bob ran to my side and seemed rather nervous for a person of his size and strength. He could easily take down anyone in Craz-Tow. Well all except for Garroth, but even he would have some trouble with Bob, especially with the sword he carried around. MilkChip seemed to like him though. She repeatedly tried to get him to take her toy and throw it. She would squeak it three or four times and then drop it in front of him. Bob always walked right past it though, so I picked it up and threw it for her.

When we arrived back at my house, my Mom was sitting at the kitchen table knitting a scarf. It was three colors, red, green, and blue. She mixed the colors in strips and circles. She was just finishing it when we arrived.

“Hey Mom I’m back, and I got all of the things on the list.” I said and placed the bag onto the table. MilkChip jumped up and let her toy roll out of her mouth and onto the table.

“And some things that weren’t on the list I see.” My Mom said with a laugh and picked up MilkChip’s drool covered toy and threw it. MilkChip chased after it. “And who is this?” She asked as Bob stepped into the kitchen. He had to hunch down and in order to fit through the doorway, which was odd to see because the doorway had been built to fit my Dad, who was one of the largest people in town.

“This is Bob, he’s new here. I’m bringing him to Mead, but I thought I would stop here first.”

“Oh, Well it’s nice to meat you Bob. I’m sorry you were taken from your universe, but I hope you come to like it here. Craz-Tow is a really nice place.” My Mom sat up from the table and handed him her scarf. “Here, take this. I want you to have it.” Bob looked at the scarf puzzled, like he was unsure of what to do. “Here, let me.” My Mom grabbed his hand and pulled him until he knelt down on one knee. He still towered over her by three feet, so I gave her a chair to stand on. She was just barely tall enough with the chair to be able to wrap the scarf around his neck.

“There, it looks great.” She said with a smile. “Do you like it?”

“He’s not much of a talker Mom. Actually, he hasn’t said a word since I met him.” I said and helped her down from the chair. Bob looked at the scarf in astonishment. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he kind of liked it.

“Oh, well that is to be expected. He’ll come around to it in his own time.” She said. “Well, have a nice day. Don’t worry, Mead is a wonderful person. You’ll like him.” She started unpacking the bag and putting things in drawers and shelves around the kitchen.

“Alright Mom, I’ll be back later.” I said looking at Bob. He wasn’t looking as fierce with the scarf around his neck.

“Okay honey, you have fun.” MilkChip came running to my side as we left the house, still chewing on her squeak toy. Bob was starring at the scarf, running into things as he did. He still seemed fixated on the scarf, like it was the only thing anyone had ever given him, or the first scarf he had ever seen.

When we arrived at the Fourth Leg, Mead was standing behind the counter filling up a mug with cool Sweet Goo, and his wife Heely was sweeping the floor. Mead looked at me as he handed the mug to someone sitting by the counter.

“Welcome Damian! MilkChip! And the newcomer!” Mead’s voice was deep and almost always loud. “Who is this Damian?” He as he studied Bob, not sure what to make of him.

“This is Bob. It’s his first day here.” I said sitting down on a stool by the counter. MilkChip jumped up on the stool beside me and dropped her toy on the counter. Bob stood in the doorway, studying the people in the room.

“Well, you’re an odd fellow, but all are welcome here at the Fourth Leg. All except Wood Nikks! Darned things ate straight through my floor. I’m still fixing the hole.” Mead grabbed two mugs and a bowl and filled them up with Sweet Goo. He handed me one and placed the bowl in front of MilkChip. Mead held out the second mug out to Bob, who slowly stepped into the room. Bob starred at the Sweet Goo and grabbed the mug. He brought the mug to his helmet like he was smelling it, then he poured it through slits over his mouth. He seemed to like it.

“So you have a room for him?” I asked taking large gulps of Sweet Goo.

“Of course I do, he can stay as long as he needs.” Mead said with a smile.

“Who is this honey?” Heely asked.

“His name is Bob, he’ll be staying here with us for a little while.” Mead said while whipping down the counter.

“Well isn’t that nice. I’m Heely. It’s nice to meet you.” Heely’s voice was soft and sweet.

“He’s not much of a talker.” I said.

“Well that’s fine. I’ll show him to his room.” Heely grabbed his hand and began walking him away.

“Bye Bob, I’ll see you around.” Bob turned and gave a small wave before disappearing out of sight. “Well Mead, I’ll see you around too.”

“You have a good day now.”

MilkChip grabbed her toy off the counter, jumped down off the stool and followed me outside.