Chronicles of the Story-Keeper: Book 1 Chapter 4
By: jungleboy69
Chapter 4: Enter The Land of Stories!
Soren had been acting strange all week. His friends had noticed right away, because he wasn't as attentive as outgoing, he usually was. Instead, he was very quiet and looked like he was in a deep state of confusion.
For the past few days, they had noticed that bags were under his eyes and his hair was getting messy. He seemed to only keep to himself and whenever he spoke, his voice sounded croaky and swollen. Mrs Johnson noticed it too. Soren was one of her best students and when he arrived at school with an even more ragged expression on his face one day, she grew more concerned.
"Soren, are you alright?" She asked in concern. "Urgh..." Soren groaned, rubbing his swollen eyes. "Sorry, Mrs. Johnson." He replied. "I've been having trouble, falling asleep for the past few days..." "All because of that humming..." He grumbled.
"Humming?" Mrs. Johnson asked. "Yeah," Soren explained. "There're been strange noises in my house and it's been keeping me up all night." "No matter how hard I try, I couldn't find out where it's coming from." He added. "The strangest part is that it randomly stops and starts for no reason at all."
"Looks like teacher's pet is getting a big dose of reality..." Will scoffed, getting some students to snicker and laugh but a stern look from Mrs. Johnson silenced them. "Why don't you head to the nurse's office?" She asked.
"No, I'll be fine." He replied. "Maybe, a quick face wash will snap me out of it." "May I use the restroom?" He asked. "Of course, you may," she replied. In a split second, Soren already shot out of h seat, and headed out the door like something was chasing him.
"What's gotten into Soren?" James asked Zoe. "I don't know." Zoe replied, frowning in concern. "Maybe, his daddy's ghost must be haunting him from the grave!" Bruce suggested, getting some laughs from the other students. "Why don't you butt out, Bruce?!" Zoe shot back.
"Or what, little miss gloom and doom!?" Bruce taunted. "Trying to protect your boyfriend?" Zoe's face turned red with anger/embarrassment. "Why you!" "Enough!" Mrs. Johnson declared out loud, making everyone quiet. "There will be no arguing in class!" "Now, take out your history books..."
Meanwhile, Soren burst into the boys' restroom. He quickly looked underneath all the stalls to make sure he was alone. She zipped open her school bag that he took from his locker, hid inside one stall, sat on the toliet, . pulled out The Land of Stories, and set it on top his lap; it was glowing and humming more than ever.
"No, no, no, no!" Soren begged, grabbing hold of the book "Please turn off! Please turn off!" "I'm at school! I can't get caught with you here!" He added. "If the others find you hear, I'm dead!"
The sound and shine slowly faded, and The Land of Stories returned to being just a normal book. Soren sighed with relief but grew worried once more. Ever since he discovered the book was glowing, he had been trying his best to discover what was going on.
So far, nothing came up and poor Soren seemed to be losing his mind. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, or he was having an allergic reaction to something his Grandmother made him for dinner. However, the more the book hummed, the more he was convinced that he was not dreaming.
"What's wrong with me?" He thought. "Why is this happening to me?" He stared at the book. "Are you trying to tell me?" He asked, stroking the cover gently. Suddenly, the humming started again and to Soren's shock, it was glowing.
Using one finger, he flicked the book open, and the entire restroom was illuminated. All the illustrations and writing had disappeared, and the pages seemed to be made out of pure light. Soren couldn't believe his own eyes. As he leaned closer, he could have sworn he heard the songs of birds and tree blowing in the breeze echoing off the tiles and porcelain of the restroom.
"What's going on?" He muttered to himself. Placing the book on the floor and kneeling down in front of it, he reached into his school bag and pulled out a pencil from his pencil case. Carefully, he placed it on the open book. Sure enough, it quickly sank into the glowing page and disappeared.
He rubbed his eyes and blinked stupidly at the book. This has happened before; pencils, books, dirty socks, and anything else he could find disappeared into the book when he placed on them. He leaned down even closer to the book, his noses almost touching it. He had to squint because it was so bright.
*TWEET!*
Suddenly, a bright red bird flew out of the book. "Arrgh!" Soren screamed and fell back on his butt, bumping his back against the toilet as the bird zoomed above him; just as shocked as he was.
"Hey, little one!" Soren called out, as he came out of the stall and raised his hands to try and pacify the frightened bird. "It's alright, it's okay; I'm not going to hurt you..." The bird stared at him, flapping in midair. Soren made small whistling sounds and raised his index finger towards it. "It's alright...come here little one." He cooed softly.
The bird slowly descended and perched on his finger. "There... you see..." Soren added, stroking the little creature on its breast. "I'm not going to hurt you..." The bird chirped softly and nuzzled its head close to Soren.
Soren smiled. He always had a special way with animals, something that he inherited from his father. Quietly, he opened the bathroom door and the bird flew out of the room and into the world.
For a while, Soren stared at the bird as it flew off into the big, blue sky. He didn't know that things could come out of it, this was the first time it happened. He looked at the book again, which slowly dimmed and returned to normal.
Soren's head was spinning. He couldn't believe all the things he had just witnessed. Was he starting to lose it? Had the days of mourning his father finally taking a toll on him? But first things first, what was he going to do with the book?
At first, he thought of getting rid of it, but instantly shot that down. This was his Grandma's book; it had been in his family forever and now, it was entrusted it to him. Still, he couldn't deny something strange was going on with that book.
He went into the sink and splashed some water on his face, it refreshed him a bit but it didn't calm his nerves. He knew he had to find out what was going on when he reached home but for now, he had to get back to class. He closed the book, put it back in his school bag, and walked out of the restroom.
(Later...)
"Soren, are you sure you're alright?" James asked as he and his friends were in the school hallway, as school ended for the day. "Yeah, I'm fine." Soren replied. "Maybe, that strange humming will stop tonight."
"So, do you want hang out in my house and play some video games?" He suggested. Soren shook his head. "Thanks, but you know I don't like playing video games." He replied. Zoe chuckled. "You know," she pointed out. "you're one of the few boys in this school who doesn't like playing video games."
"Well, maybe we can help you with this strange noise." Lina offered. Soren grew a bit nervous. "Yeah...it's not as simple as you think." He explained "Aww... no need to worry your pants on." Liam replied. "My uncle's an exterminator, he'll get rid of any nasty critter making that buzz."
"Well, well, well..." A sardonic voice called out, making Soren and his friends turn to see the A-Listers approaching them, with Will leading the way much to their displeasure. "If it isn't the Loser Squad..."
"What do you want, Will?" Zoe snapped back. "Nothing..." Star replied, flipping her long blond hair. "Just wanna let you know that I'm gonna to have a party at Will's house and I'm going to invite everyone in the school." "Everyone, but you that is!" She finished, before laughing.
The A-Listers laughed while the Loser Squad glared at them. "Hey, Lina!" Will exclaimed. "I thought I told you that I don't want you hanging out with these losers, especially Richards." "And I told you," Lina shot back. "that I don't take orders from you!"
"Come on, Lina." Liz scoffed. "Why hang out with these losers?" "You could have joined us and be a part of the cool kids." "If being cool means acting snobbish like you and your friends," Lina argued. "that I rather be a loser like Soren!"
Will growled. "So, you rather prefer a worthless book worm like him over your own brother?!" He demanded, stomping forward. "Hey, back off!" Liam argued, stepping forward and defending his friend. "Or what, farm boy!?" Will taunted. "Why don't you go milk a cow or something?!"
With that, he shoved Liam to the ground, making him land on his butt. "Liam!" His friends exclaimed in shock. Soren ran over and helped him up. "You okay?" He asked. "Yeah...I'm good." Liam groaned, rubbing his backside.
"What is going on here?!" A voice called out. Everyone turned to see Principal William coming over. He was a man in his early 50's with white hair and a white mustache. "Will Davis, causing trouble again?" He chided sternly. "I should have known..."
"Don't blame me, sir!" Will argued. "Blame Richards!" "He's the reason for this trouble!" "He's nothing but a pampered teacher's pet!" He added. "He doesn't deserve to be in this school!" "If you ask me, Mr William..." Bruce spoke. "you should have moved him to another class or have him transferred." "This school has no need for teacher's pets like him." He taunted.
"Enough!" Principal William exclaimed. "You have no right to demand such things, Will Davis!" "Mr Richards is a student in my school and I will not remove a student from my school over some petty jealously!"
"Yeah right!" Will scoffed. "That's not true; the only reason you let Soren enroll here because you owed his dad!" "In fact, he should have been the one to get burned to death!" His last statement, made everyone gasp in absolute shock. Even the other A-Listers were stunned by his declaration. However, no one was more shocked, more horrified or more heartbroken than Soren Richards himself.
"MR DAVIS!" Principal William roared. "In my office, NOW!" Will growled before he followed him to the office, not before giving a final glare at Soren's direction. "Gosh, what an a**hole..." Zoe muttered. "Soren, are you..." She stopped when she saw the look on Soren's face. His eyes were shadowed by his auburn hair and he was biting down on his lip.
"Soren...?" She asked worriedly. Soren's response was to turn around and run out of the school. "Soren, wait!" his friends called out, but he was already far gone.
Soren didn't know what time it was when he returned to his house. His mother was still at work so he was all alone. The first thing he did was ran straight into his room and slam the door behind him.
Once inside, tears welled up in his eyes as he leaned against the door and slid down. He had often been the subject of bullying from the A-Listers, but this time, they had crossed a line. Soren always turned the other cheek, but now he felt his emotions boiling over.
"It's not fair..." He thought as he sobbed quietly. "Why am I always the weak one...?" "Why can't I be as brave as a Story-Keeper." To him, Will always found an excuse to make fun of him, his weak stature, his bright golden eyes and his love of fairy tales.
How he wished his father would be here...how he missed his warm smile and friendly laugh, how he missed the days where they went hiking, fishing and swimming together. But, most of all, he missed the days where his father told him stories.
Just as he wiped away the last of his tears, the faint humming sound was heard and Soren snapped out of his despair. Quickly, he unhooked his school back and took the Land of Stories out. Sure enough, it was acting up again.
He placed the book on his bedroom floor and opened the covers. Instantly, his whole room was lit up in its golden glow. Soren took out another pencil from his pencil case and placed on top of the book. Like the others, it slowly sank into the storybook.
Soren just stared at the book, all his troubles in school quickly forgotten. He wondered where did all his stuff went. Where were all these things going? Was it transporting them to another part of the world? Would he find a pile of his school supplies in India or China?
Or did the book send the items someplace else entirely? Was it possible they were going to another world? Was it the world that Soren secretly hoped for? Was it the world of fairy tales and magic that his father always talked about? There was only one way to find out.
It was an idea he had managed to suppress all week. What if he went into the book? No, he couldn't possibly do such a stupid thing. What if he never came out? Even so, he had to get prepared if it is a portal to another world.
Quickly, Soren took a small backpack from his closet and began to pack some essentials; a compass, a water bottle, a notebook, his cap and the golden pendant that Lena gave him. Inside it, he had placed pictures of his father and mother.
Next, he went into the kitchen and made himself some of PB&J sandwiches, took three apples and a box of chocolate cookies his grandmother had baked a few days ago. He packed them into a lunchbox and took them to his room. The Land of Stories was still glowing, as bright as ever.
As Soren had finished packing his bag, he noticed the white feathered quill beside his bed. He picked it up and looked at it. His grandmother told him that it was his dad's prized possession and he never left anywhere without it. For some reason, he decided to take it with him. After all, he would need to write to his mother if he was going away.
Placing the quill in his backpack and zipping it up, he strapped it to his back and kneeled in front of the glowing book. Was this really a good idea? Going into a strange new world? What about his mother and his friends? "Maybe, I shouldn't." He thought, swallowing nervously. "Who knows what's in there?"
Eventually, his curiosity overruled his caution and he bend over to the book. Soren started with just her fingertips. To his surprise, there was no pain; only a warm, tingly sensation. He reached farther and was now wrist deep, and still nothing happened. He went farther; the book was up to his elbow. If the book hadn't been there, his hand would surely be sticking through the ceiling downstairs.
Soren chuckled. "This could be a good magic act." He thought as he leaned forward even farther, almost shoulder deep into the book. He even moved hisarm around, seeing if there was anything to grab on to inside it.
"What is this?" He wondered. "Did Grandma or Dad know about." Suddenly, his other arm slipped and he lost his balance. "Woah! Woah!" Soren exclaimed, but it was too late. The boy fell-headfirst into the book!
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Soren's screamed echoed as he fell inside the Land of Stories.