Kingdom of Fantasy: The Legacy of Chaos

Chapter 2 - The Wardrobe

It felt like an hour, or maybe more, driving to the old store. Geronimo was feeling groggy after the long trip to the other side of the town. When Aunt Sweetfur stopped and parked the vehicle, Geronimo and his sister, Thea, felt more awake. The old vehicle was parked in a miniature parking lot that was located beside the antique store. The parking lot was so small that it seemed that it would only fit up to six cars at once. However, the sides were blanketed with mounds of fresh snow, which made the area appear smaller. Luckily, the vehicle was parked in the center of the parking lot, which did not seem to collect as much snow on the sides. As soon as the old car stopped to a complete halt, the vibrating sensation inside the vehicle tapered, and the car did not make anymore noise as soon as Sweetfur pulled the key out of the slot in which either activated or deactivated the automobile. When the car stopped, Sweetfur took her hand off the steering wheel and reached it out to push a button on the door beside the driver’s seat, which made a distinguishable click and unlocked all doors of the vehicle. Geronimo drowsily lifted himself from his nap and opened his eyes, allowing himself to reach for the switch that took off his seatbelt.

“We’re here, guys!” Aunt Sweetfur announced gently, with a warm smile on her face. “Oh! How I miss this place. I haven’t been here since I was five years younger.”

Geronimo looked outside his foggy window again to see the destination, but with roofs that were blanketed by thick snow. By the look of the outside view of the old shop, Aunt Sweetfur may have been right. The building was small like those miniature village shacks he had seen in his previous adventures in the Kingdom of Fantasy. The rectangular shop had clear glass windows that were able to display the contents inside. One of the windows even held a red electronic sign that said ‘OPEN’. Geronimo then heard a thud, which distracted him. The driver’s door was open, and Sweetfur walked out of the car. Thea came out of her seat next, leaving her brother to be the last mouse to steadily walk out of the car. The trio of mice then began to step towards the store. The cold winter’s air fogged up Geronimo’s round glasses, clouding his view. As they opened the entrance door to the antique store, a sound of a welcoming bell chimed behind the door. Sweetfur walked into the warm building first, followed by Geronimo and Thea. The smell of old wood and faint perfume filled the interior of the building. There was no other mouse in the store, which slightly worried the orange mouse. Thea walked next to Geronimo and began to speak.

“Look over there, Gerry.” Thea said, pointing at an object in the distance. Geronimo then looked in the direction she was pointing. The object was a rectangular wooden wardrobe that appeared like it has not been polished in years. The old wooden structure had round door knobs that were made of what seemed to be solid gold.

“I’ll look later.” Geronimo replied to Thea, looking into her violet eyes, then back at the decorations the mouse seemed to be fascinated with.

“Okey-Dokey! Just let me know when you’re ready.” Thea answered back.

Geronimo then switched his attention to the objects on a shelf. There were some glass and ceramic vases that had all kinds of fantastic designs, ranging from blue snaking rivers with portraits of princesses to dragons that glittered like silver and gold. The orange mouse then reached out one of his paws to grab a metallic grey box. It was a music box, and it was ornamented with jewels of various colors, but some parts of the box were blackened by tarnish and age. This evoked the memory of Geronimo’s first adventure in the Kingdom of Fantasy. A flashback then flew into his mind, making him daydream of meeting the literary Scribblehopper, the regal Queen Blossom, and the heroic Dragon of the Sky and Rainbows. His vision also depicted Queen Cackle and her black knights. These visions were then snapped out of his mind when Geronimo opened the box, which did not produce any music. It probably needed to be winded up again. However, he tried to look for the key on the bottom of the box, but it did not seem to work, once Geronimo began to turn the key. The key felt very loose, which made Geronimo assume that the old metal box had a malfunction. Since the box was upside down, the loose hinges opened the top of the music box, making the lid appear as if it was hanging. Then, a pair of small, flat, rectangular objects fluttered down the box and into the ground. Geronimo then put the box away, kneeled down, and reached out one of his paws to scoop up the objects. They were as light as a feather, and had a familiar pattern. One of the objects displayed a pattern of six black clubs, while the other object showed three red diamonds.

Playing cards. Geronimo thought in his mind. What would playing cards be doing here? I bet they were scattered all over this place.

Thea then returned to Geronimo with more playing cards in her hands. 

“Hey, Geronimo.” Thea called, fidgeting with the papers in her hands, “I picked up some playing cards that were left on the ground. This is kinda strange, isn’t it? I wonder who did it.”

“Hmmm…” Geronimo silently whispered, “You’re right. Why would a deck of cards be scattered all over here?” A thought began to flutter into his mind.

Oh, no. I think I might be called again to the Kingdom of Fantasy. He imagined, trying to conceal his expression from Thea, preventing him from embarrassing himself. My sister wouldn’t believe me if I decided to tell her about the Kingdom of Fantasy.

Thea then directed Geronimo closer to the old wardrobe.

“Most of the cards were found around this thing.” she continued. She then reached out her pale grey fuzzy paws to twist the knobs, opening both of the doors of the ancient wardrobe. As the doors opened, an eerie creak was produced. Then, the wardrobe revealed its black, hollow interior, with more cards on the bottom. There were probably enough playing cards to make a full deck. Thea then decided to reach out one of her feet to take a step inside the wardrobe. It felt like there was no wall or border; it seemed endless. She looked back at Geronimo and spoke.

“Hey, are you coming or not?” Thea asked jokingly.

Geronimo forced a fake smile at Thea, trying to hide his feelings of fright. He looked at her grey hair, and then focused his eyes into the black empty void inside the wooden structure. He saw his sister walk further into the void. Since he wanted to not be embarrassed or feel like he was going to hurt her feelings, he ventured into the void with Thea. He stepped into the wardrobe, feeling the slippery cards below him. He followed Thea until the door could be seen from about a yard away.

“Woah!” Thea exclaimed, astonished by the infinite blackness surrounding the duo.

“Thea, maybe we should go back,” Geronimo warned her, looking back towards the exit. “Wouldn’t Sweetfur be concerned about us? How would she feel about this?”

After Geronimo finished his sentence, the doors suddenly slammed shut, blocking out the light from the exit. The chamber was filled with blackness, and the mice were surrounded by the darkness, preventing them from seeing a single object.

“Hey!!! Let us outta here!” Thea angrily hollered with shock and panic filling her head. “This better be a joke!”

Geronimo stayed in place and remained silent, for he had nothing to say about the mystery of this ancient wardrobe. Then, he heard rustling that grew more distinguishable in sound. Then, a glowing pattern of red and white began to form from the ground and swirl in the air. Red hearts and diamonds, and white clubs and spades began to fly and revolve around the duo of mice.

“Thea! Thea! Can you see that?” Geronimo called to her. “The cards and the wardrobe must have some magic in them!”

“Wait! What-” She answered, feeling slightly panicked. She was then interrupted by the sudden vanishing of the floor, and both mice fell down, while the flashing patterns were swiftly rising above them. Both Geronimo and Thea howled in fear as they were quickly descending in the darkness. At any moment, their destination could be within… The Kingdom of Fantasy.