Chapter 2- One Fateful Birthday Party
Gregor awoke the next morning to an excited voice and a pair of hands attempting to yank him up. "Gregor! Come on, get up, its my birthday!" He chuckled and allowed Lizzie to pull him up, knowing she'd never be able to do it herself.
He had grown a lot since his last trip to the Underland and he was almost 13.
"Someone's certainly excited." She eagerly led him through the hallways until they reached the kitchen. There, Mom was busy preparing pancakes, a treat they never usually got to have. Boots was already in the kitchen, sitting next to Dad and she greeted them cheerfully with her hands held high.
"Hi, Hi you!" His mom looked cheerfully towards Lizzie. "And how's my birthday girl? Come, sit down and eat."
The next few hours passed by in a haze of happiness. Lizzie's friends began to arrive, one by one, all bearing gifts and smiles. Their house was decorated with balloons, banners and all sorts of party supplies. Lizzie introduce them to her closest friend, a small, quiet boy named Jason whom she told us was an excellent artist. He blushed and insisted it wasn't true until she showed me one of his drawings. He really was a fantastic artist, it was a picture of a sunset, captured almost perfectly in the moment. The day was spent with party games, gossiping, dancing and music. Gregor found himself having a good time as well, as most of her friends were rather nice.
As the day began to wind down, the sun began to set, and most of the people left, Gregor found himself alone with his family and Jason. His mom suddenly had an idea, and she whipped out her camera. "Why don't we have a nice picture to remember the day. Gregor, Lizzie, Boots, Jason, why don't you walk out into the grain field? It would make a nice themed picture." "Okay, Mom." Gregor answered, thinking it was a good idea as well.
As they walked out into a neighboring field, he lifted Boots into his arms. When they got far enough for his mom, she told them to stop and say cheese. As they all arranged themselves and smiled, it happened. The ground beneath their feet gave way and they fell, swallowed by the earth. It happened so suddenly, none of them even had a chance to make a sound. One minute they were in the grain field, the next minute they were falling, deep into the Earth's crust.
It was there again, that feeling he got whenever he fell. Opening his eyes, which he had closed tightly at first, he saw they were falling down an incredibly deep tunnel, with rocky walls on all sides. Looking closer, he noticed he could see misty currents, and he knew where he had seen those before. A thrill ran through his body, despite the circumstances. He was falling to the Underland, the place he so desperately wanted to be. When he caught sight of Jason, he immediately felt bad for not realizing how scared he was. The boy was looked like he was about to bawl any minute, and Gregor managed to make it towards him, through some impressive feat of movement. "It's ok, you'll be ok."
He whispered softly, holding onto the boy. He lifted his head, and saw Boots and Lizzie above him. Lizzie looked like she was panicking but Boots seemed just fine. "Whee! Me! Me!" He recognized that as the phrase she used when she wanted a bat to catch her. With a start of terror, he realized that if a bat wasn't there to catch them, it wasn't going to be pretty when they hit the ground. "Gregor, what's happening, where are we falling?" Lizzie's voice was a high shriek, and he could hear the panic in her voice. "We're falling to the Underland." Right as he said it, the world went dark, he felt an intense pressure on the back of his head, and he blacked out.
He awoke, a group of concerned faces around him. Lizzie looked scared with Boots in her arms and Jason just looked plain terrified. "You hit your head on a rock. We were afraid you were dead." Lizzie told her with tears in her eyes. He rubbed his head tenderly, it really did hurt a lot. At least I'm alive he thought, as he stood up. He marveled at the fact that they all weren't dead from the fall, but he soon realized why they were safe.
The ground was soft, it was almost like a giant sponge. Looking up, he could see the giant tunnel that they had fallen down, and he shuddered, realizing that they really had fallen down that. As he drew before to ask everyone if they were ok, a sinuous voice echoed from the opening of a tunnel, a different one on ground level this time. "Well, well, if it isn't our fearsome warrior and company! Welcome back to the Underland."