Yakko lay on his blue checkered quilt reading one of his favourite books: The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White. He had only begun to read it again for the 1 millionth time, it seemed, a few hours ago and he was, already, on the final chapter. As complex as the book was, for a 7-year old, Yakko was very fond of it. He felt a personal connection to the story of Arthur, as he too was preparing for the day he would surpass his father and be King. Unfortunately, however, Yakko was yet to meet such a wizard as Merlyn was. But he still remained hopeful. From his high bedroom window, Yakko could feel the warmth of the setting sun against his quilt and, with his window open, he could feel the warm summer breeze circling his room along with the sweet scent of hydrangeas. Birds sang at the top of their lungs, as if shouting farewell to the setting sun. This was what Yakko considered peaceful. That was all disturbed when his bedroom door swung open and smacked against the wall, making him jump.

There standing in the doorway was a proud looking 13-year old Warner daughter.

'Priscilla! You're going to knock a hole out of my wall opening the door like that! Is it too much to ask for you to knock first?' Yakko attempted to sound regal with this statement, obviously too infatuated in his Arthur universe.

'Oh I'm very sorry, oh almighty tha'art! Mum says it's time for bed! I'm merely passing on the message.' She boldly proclaimed taking a sarcastic bow. Yakko ignored his sister and turned around, more towards the window and the setting sun and continued reading. Frustrated, Priscilla marched over to his bedside and towered over him.

'What's this!?' She said, snatching the book from Yakko's hands.

'Oi! Give that back!' Yakko attempted to reach for his beloved book from his devilishly evil clutches of his teenage sister. 'Remember what mum said! It's not nice to take things without asking first! And snatching isn't nice either for that matter!' Priscilla mockingly pouted and began to skim through the pages.

'Oh! King Arthur! How exciting! Can I have it?'

'No! It's my book! If you had asked nicely then I may have let you borrow it!'

'Isn't this book a little too...advanced for someone of your intelligence?' Priscilla chuckled to herself, proud of her insult.

'I'll have you know I'm very intelligent! Just as much as King Arthur was!'

Priscilla nearly doubled over with laughter after hearing her little brothers remark.

'You and King Arthur have NOTHING in common! Don't kid yourself!'

'I'll be just as good as King Arthur one day! You'll see!'

'That'll be the day! The only reason you're getting to be King is because I refused to be queen!'

'Yeah you'd rather run about with a sword with all the men!'

'I am just as good, if not better, than the Royal guard with a sword! I am an asset to the Knights! That's why father is training me! He says he sees great potential AND I have not to be queen if I don't want to so that role was passed down to the 2nd best...you!'

Yakko had always been rather perplexed by his sisters decision. Being the ruler of a kingdom was a great honour and responsibility. So was being a knight of course, Yakko was not putting it down by any means. He supposed her decision worked to his advantage. Now he was to be King.

'You do realise that you will have to obey my commands if you become part of the Royal guard, don't you?' Yakko smiled at his realisation. Priscilla threw the book at her brother to retort and then stormed out. Before completely exiting the room, she turned and blew him a raspberry before slamming the door shut again.

The relationship that Yakko had with his older sister was...interesting. She was mean and harsh with her comments but he believed it was her twisted was of showing affection. She loved him really. There was a small knock at the door. Once Yakko gave the all clear with a 'come in', his mother walked in carrying a tiny Dot in one arm and, with her free arm, holding the hand of a toddling Wakko.

'You could teach Priscilla how to do that.' His mother looked confused. 'How to knock the door I mean.'

'So that's what the banging was.' She laughed. Wakko giggled and toddled over to Yakko's bedside. He clawed at the quilt and attempted to jump up onto the mattress. His tiny legs didn't get him far though. Yakko reached over and hauled him up. When he was safe on the mattress, he rolled about in delight still giggling, and occasionally blurting out 'Yak! Yak!' Yakko loved that his brother was learning how to say his name. In fact 'Yak Yak' was the first 'words' Wakko ever spoke. Dot had already snuggled into her mother's shoulder and was beginning to snooze.

'Right! Cmon into bed with you!'

'Aw but I only have 10 pages left! Pleaseeeeeeeee!?' Yakko pleaded with his mother, using his puppy dog eyes to try and sway her decision. Alas, she gave him a look that seemed to say; 'That's not going to work on me', so Yakko gave up and placed his book on the bedside table, next to a small golden key. This key was given to him as a good luck charm from his father before he charged to his previous battle with a rival kingdom, who threatened to take the kingdom's produce if they didn't surrender. His father, inevitably, won the battle and majority of the troops from the rival kingdom's fighting force moved over to Warnerstock to re-settle.

Yakko bundled under the quilt and his little brother joined him enthusiastically. Although Wakko was going to be removed within 5 minutes of him getting under there to move to his own bed, he enjoyed this time to cuddle with his big brother. He sometimes put up quite a fight when his mother attempted to remove him.

Their mother sat on the side of the bed, rubbing the back of a tiny Dot who still remained on her shoulder. She held the back of Dot's head steady and leaned in, kissing Yakko on his forehead. She smiled gently and began to sing a soft tune; the same time she sang every night to her three children.

'Sleep, sleep gentle child,

Though you are so small and mild.

Now you shall rest 'til morning breaks, Dream until your weary eyes wake.

There I will be, to hold you dear,

My tender grasp shall draw you near.

I will love you near or far,

You are my brightest shining star.'

Whilst the song was being sung, Wakko had dozed off and was beginning to snore. Lightly removing the quilt, his mother scooped him up in her free arm and rose from the bed. She then made her way towards the door.

'Goodnight, Yakko.' She whispered, gently closing the door with her ankle.

'Goodnight, Mum.' Yakko whispered back and nuzzled into his pillow. By this point the sun has set and a quiet stillness had fell over Warnerstock. The birds had stopped and the wind had ceased it's whistling. In a way, it was an unsettling quietness. Feeling uncomfortable, Yakko threw the quilt off and went to close the window. That way he felt safer. No monster could sneak into his room from the eerie silence outside.

He didn't have much difficulty going to sleep. Within minutes, his eyes were so heavy that they closed and his mind lead him away to far off places full of magic and adventure. A few times, he had met Merlyn the wizard in his dream travels. This man had a long white beard that reached his knees and wore a navy blue dress-type outfit that sparkled like the stars in the night sky. He spoke in a raspy old man's voice and he coughed a lot. These were a lot of random details that, for some reason, Yakko could remember. Perhaps it was because, in his eyes, he was meeting one of his idols and was adamant that he would not ever forget the experience. There were also a few occasions where Yakko met the legendary, King Arthur; and nearly dream fainted. The man was so regal and…perfect in every way. He reminded Yakko greatly of his father, which fed his admiration.

Yakko's dream was interrupted by the sound of clattering coming from somewhere downstairs. Ignoring it, thinking it was one of the maids dropping a pile of dishes, Yakko turned onto his other side and looked at this bedside cabinet. The small clock glowed, disturbing his vision slightly, but he could tell that it read that it said 0335. It was so early in the morning. Why were the maids hauling about dishes at this time? And why were they being so reckless about it? Burying himself into his quilt, Yakko attempted to fall asleep again.

CLATTER. SMASH. THUD.

This time the loud noises shot Yakko up from his lying position, clutching at his quilt. He had a really bad feeling about this. Something in the air was off. It wasn't as light and homely as it had been a few hours ago. Now it was claustrophobic, stuffy and…warm. Increasingly warm. Yakko went to open his window to let some air into his room. Perhaps that would cool down the air, he thought. Gripping the wooden latch of the window, Yakko pushed using the usual strength he always did open his window.

However, this time, I didn't budge.

Yakko pushed harder and harder but to no avail. It was then that he noticed that his view was gone as well. He could no longer see the long rows and winding roads of houses and tree fields. Nor could he see his mother's flower gardens or the vegetable patch. They were all gone. It was as if a great darkness had engulfed the whole of the outside world, removing all signs of colour or life. Then something clicked. Could it be that the windows were…boarded shut?

Yakko rushed to the other window in his room and hoped that it wouldn't be the same. Alas, it was. He found himself staring into nothing but darkness. Despite this, Yakko tried yet again to open the window. Nothing. It wouldn't budge, even the slightest bit. His breathing quickened in a panic.

Why were they stuck? Were the really boarded shut? Who boarded them? Why did they board them? What would he do?

The room became progressively warmer, causing Yakko to sweat. The only other method of exiting was via the bedroom door. Surely, that was not going to be boarded up as well. As Yakko made his way to the door, the floor beneath his feet began to heat up as well, causing his stride to change from small haste strolls to quick paces.

Yakko reached to turn the brass knob of his bedroom door but as soon as his hand made contact it quickly retracted in pain. The brass knob was scolding. There was no way that Yakko could turn it, even with his hands gloved.

He was trapped.

There was no way out and the room was heating up fast. It was now clear to Yakko what was going on. His home was on fire. And he was trapped in his room with no way to escape. Just then, Yakko began to hear screaming coming from the dark abyss that was his bedroom window. It was coming from outside. Screams. Both young and old. Not just terrified screams but screams of agony. It was as if the whole kingdom whole kingdom was under attack. Rushing back to the window, Yakko had to do the only thing he could think of. Scream with them. He battered the window as hard as he could, sending vibrations down his small arms.

'HELP! SOMEBODY! PLEASE! I'M TRAPPED! ANYBODY!'

It was clear that no one would be able to hear him over the screams. He wasn't even sure if there was anyone out there that could help anymore. As the screaming became louder and more agonising, Yakko covered his ears tightly attempting to drown them out.

'This h-has to be a n-nightmare...this h-has to be...' He muttered as he staggered back to his bed. Grabbing his quilt and his lucky golden key, he retreated to the corner of the room as far away from the overheating bedroom door. He quickly put the key in his trouser pocket and wrapped himself into a burrito. Just then, thick grey smog began to enter through the gap under his bedroom door.