Yarnia (Anomaly Saga #1)

Chapter One

When I woke up, all I could see was yellow. I wasn't sure where I was, but I soon came to recognize that that yellow was the sun in my eyes. I winced and looked away. I realized I was in a cool helicopter in the sky. I looked around and found a bag of potatoes. I grabbed the bag, ripped it open, and started eating its contents. The potatoes tasted amazing. Unfortunately, It was then that realized I was the one who was supposed to be piloting the helicopter.

My stomach dropped as the vehicle plunged downward, right into the water below.

I struggled for breath, reaching for something, anything to use to escape. All I grabbed was a potato.

I closed my eyes and gave up.

And then I fell out of the water, somehow landing on grass below. I looked up. The water was suspended in midair above me.

I could see a small village ahead. There was strange flute music coming from one of the several huts. I trudged closer to the village. Maybe, I thought, this village could have some food or drink.

I safely made it to the village. It turned out, the inhabitants of the village were sentient scarecrows. One scarecrow wearing a blue scarf began talking.

"Do we have a use for this flesh sack?"

"E-excuse me?" I stuttered. I was quite flustered by the talking scarecrows for one thing, but they seemed really quite rude and unwelcoming, which, to say the least, I was a bit unappreciative of.

The scarecrow with the blue scarf shook its head. "I was asking you, are you useful? Because if not, our yarn sharks could use some food. We sewed a few new ones to life the other day, and now they're just begging for sustenance all the time. It's very annoying."

I looked the scarecrow in the eye. "Of course I'm useful," I said. "I'm . . . I'm a pilot. Who are you, anyway?"

The scarecrow adjusted its wide-brimmed hat. "My name is Bramble. What are pilots?"

I was flabbergasted. "I'm a pilot. I fly planes. Do you know what a plane is?" I asked.

"What is a plane?" Bramble asked.

"It's a flying machine with, um, two wings . . . ," I began.

"Not very useful," said Bramble.

Bramble started dragging me away and I saw other scarecrows. One with sunglasses, and one smoking a yarn cigar.

"We are gonna put you in yarn prison. Outsiders are very dangerous. Especially flesh sacks. You could be filled with explosive powder or gasoline!" Bramble said as he threw me in a yarn prison.

"I assure you, I don't think any creature on Earth is filled with . . . explosion powder or gasoline . . ." I angrily shook the bars of the yarn prison. "Hey! You can't do this! You have no right to just . . . imprison me like this!"

"Unfortunately, they do," said a sad old lady from the corner of my cell. "They put me in here for sewing without a permit. And they fed all of the old village constables to the yarn sharks."

"Wow," I said. "They sound pretty bad."

"Hey!" shouted the scarecrow with the yarn cigar, spitting yarn smoke. "Stop speaking in such treason-worthy dialogue. If you do not cease talking, you may be executed by yarn lava, which is the punishment one step above yarn sharks!"

The scarecrow walked away.

I turned my attention back to the old lady. "Tell me everything you know about this place."

"Well, my plane crashed here when I was a lowly pilot-," the old lady began.

"A pilot?" I asked. "That's what I am!"

The old lady smiled. It was a gentle smile that made her whole face wrinkle up. "I have a feeling we may be good friends. Anyway, I don't know a ton of things about this place, considering I've been locked up here the whole time, but I can tell you that it's an unruly society, which you can sort of expect from a village full of people made of yarn. Their whole life revolves around what might be 'useful' or not. Do something that's deemed not useful and they discard you. They haven't acknowledged my existence in years. I'm lucky I have this yarn and sewing needles to make yarn food and yarn water, or I might not have survived."

I knelt down next to the old lady. "Let's get out of here together," I said. "My name's Leo. What's yours?"

"Ruth," she replied.

I smiled. "Well, Ruth, let's do this. Do you think you could make yarn metal cutters?"

She took a brick out of the cell wall, revealing a hidden compartment inside full of yarn and sewing materials. "Of course," she said.

I stood up. "Good. I'll distract the guards."