Through a Window by Emma Palmer
There are many Portals to other worlds; I know that now. I think they come to you when you need them most, when you need to escape into another world.
It was windows for me, I didn't always see what was supposed to be on the other side of them, sometimes there was a view that I had never seen before and might never see again, for these views were showing me portals to other places, places I had never seen or ever been to.
When my emotions were as frayed and raw as they could be, when I really needed to get away, they, the portals seemed to beckon to me, to call me to them, enticing me to find a way out of my own world, to forget my troubles, and adventure to far away lands, lands where magic and dreams were the stuff of reality, an everyday way of life.
It all started after my Grandad died, the thought of him never ever being there anymore was more painful than any physical injury I could have ever had, this is when I began to long to get away from here, to find a world where life could be eternal, and indeed it can be if you have the right potions and elixirs, but I will tell you more about that later, first I must begin at the beginning and start my tale.
Our front door has a small window in it, the glass is not smooth, it is ridged and distorts the view of the street outside, in the centre of this window there are two circles moulded into the glass, through the smallest circle right at the very centre I saw something quite unlike the rest of the view, not the distorted greens and browns of the front garden, nor was it the red, silver, blue or grey of the cars and the road beyond the front garden. Nothing could have prepared me for this spectacular view; through this tiny circle at the centre of the window I saw a cobblestone path winding away from the door down past a vast lake and forest, on the edge of the forest in the distance I could see little huts, smoke billowing through their little chimneys, not like the usual chimneys you see on houses, these were strange twisting chimneys awkwardly ascending to the sky, but then again these were not huts like I'd ever seen before, they were like nothing I'd ever seen in this world.
Before I had time to think about what I was doing I found myself running my finger around the edge of the outer circle and then around the tiny circle that held this amazing scene. No sooner had my finger left the glass when the window and then the whole front door seemed to be getting blurred, I rubbed my eyes to see if it was just me, but the door faded away to nothing and in it's place was the cobblestone path winding away past the vast lake and forest, I could now smell the billowing smoke drifting away from the twisting chimneys and their little huts, a fresh breeze washed over me seemingly accentuating every one of my senses, a strange airy sound floated whisperingly on the breeze, this was not a world I was in any way accustomed to.
It seemed like hours before I could actually move my body but surely it could not have been, I took a step forward, my hall was no longer at my sides the front door no longer halting my advance, they were behind me, as if floating in thin air, quite out of place in this magical landscape. I peered through the glass, there was the hall as I had left it, but I didn't want to go back to that now, surely a little look around first wouldn't hurt.
As I took my first step on the cobblestone path the whispering breeze sung louder beckoning me on. This was definitely no world I had ever seen before.
I wandered on, eager to take in more of this spectacular world; it wasn't long before I had reached one of the small huts.
"Good gracious!" I heard from behind me in a somewhat excited voice. I spun around to find the source of the voice. At first I did not see him, then I looked down, there no higher than one foot tall stood a little man, or what seemed to be a man.
"A human, I haven't seen one of your kind here for quite some time. A girl I presume?" said the little man almost jumping on the spot now.
I was quite taken aback, "yes, I am a girl, what do you mean one my kind? Is this not England…or Earth?
"Earth, oh no, not that I know what that is but I have heard you humans on about it quite a bit, no this is Chinga Genga", said the little man in a very proud voice.
"Oh, I see, I think I must be quite some way from home then, I am from England on Earth, I got here through my front door, although I'm not quite sure how." I was somewhat puzzled by now, and a bit worried that I might not see home again, but I was soon distracted by the little man.
"Front door? Is that a part of Earth?" The little man had a puzzled face as he spoke.
"No, it's part of my house, it's what you go through to come out of the house." Front doors seemed normal to me, but they weren't known as that in Chinga Genga.
"I have come from a Diljum, come with me and I'll show you, there's much to show you, so much for you to do, where's my manners, allow me to introduce myself I am Fragbet." Said the little man.
I soon found out that a Diljum was actually a little hut, but it's what the little people call them in Chinga Genga.
There are many Portals to other worlds; I know that now. I think they come to you when you need them most, when you need to escape into another world.
It was windows for me, I didn't always see what was supposed to be on the other side of them, sometimes there was a view that I had never seen before and might never see again, for these views were showing me portals to other places, places I had never seen or ever been to.
When my emotions were as frayed and raw as they could be, when I really needed to get away, they, the portals seemed to beckon to me, to call me to them, enticing me to find a way out of my own world, to forget my troubles, and adventure to far away lands, lands where magic and dreams were the stuff of reality, an everyday way of life.
It all started after my Grandad died, the thought of him never ever being there anymore was more painful than any physical injury I could have ever had, this is when I began to long to get away from here, to find a world where life could be eternal, and indeed it can be if you have the right potions and elixirs, but I will tell you more about that later, first I must begin at the beginning and start my tale.
Our front door has a small window in it, the glass is not smooth, it is ridged and distorts the view of the street outside, in the centre of this window there are two circles moulded into the glass, through the smallest circle right at the very centre I saw something quite unlike the rest of the view, not the distorted greens and browns of the front garden, nor was it the red, silver, blue or grey of the cars and the road beyond the front garden. Nothing could have prepared me for this spectacular view; through this tiny circle at the centre of the window I saw a cobblestone path winding away from the door down past a vast lake and forest, on the edge of the forest in the distance I could see little huts, smoke billowing through their little chimneys, not like the usual chimneys you see on houses, these were strange twisting chimneys awkwardly ascending to the sky, but then again these were not huts like I'd ever seen before, they were like nothing I'd ever seen in this world.
Before I had time to think about what I was doing I found myself running my finger around the edge of the outer circle and then around the tiny circle that held this amazing scene. No sooner had my finger left the glass when the window and then the whole front door seemed to be getting blurred, I rubbed my eyes to see if it was just me, but the door faded away to nothing and in it's place was the cobblestone path winding away past the vast lake and forest, I could now smell the billowing smoke drifting away from the twisting chimneys and their little huts, a fresh breeze washed over me seemingly accentuating every one of my senses, a strange airy sound floated whisperingly on the breeze, this was not a world I was in any way accustomed to.
It seemed like hours before I could actually move my body but surely it could not have been, I took a step forward, my hall was no longer at my sides the front door no longer halting my advance, they were behind me, as if floating in thin air, quite out of place in this magical landscape. I peered through the glass, there was the hall as I had left it, but I didn't want to go back to that now, surely a little look around first wouldn't hurt.
As I took my first step on the cobblestone path the whispering breeze sung louder beckoning me on. This was definitely no world I had ever seen before.
I wandered on, eager to take in more of this spectacular world; it wasn't long before I had reached one of the small huts.
"Good gracious!" I heard from behind me in a somewhat excited voice. I spun around to find the source of the voice. At first I did not see him, then I looked down, there no higher than one foot tall stood a little man, or what seemed to be a man.
"A human, I haven't seen one of your kind here for quite some time. A girl I presume?" said the little man almost jumping on the spot now.
I was quite taken aback, "yes, I am a girl, what do you mean one my kind? Is this not England…or Earth?
"Earth, oh no, not that I know what that is but I have heard you humans on about it quite a bit, no this is Chinga Genga", said the little man in a very proud voice.
"Oh, I see, I think I must be quite some way from home then, I am from England on Earth, I got here through my front door, although I'm not quite sure how." I was somewhat puzzled by now, and a bit worried that I might not see home again, but I was soon distracted by the little man.
"Front door? Is that a part of Earth?" The little man had a puzzled face as he spoke.
"No, it's part of my house, it's what you go through to come out of the house." Front doors seemed normal to me, but they weren't known as that in Chinga Genga.
"I have come from a Diljum, come with me and I'll show you, there's much to show you, so much for you to do, where's my manners, allow me to introduce myself I am Fragbet." Said the little man.
I soon found out that a Diljum was actually a little hut, but it's what the little people call them in Chinga Genga.