SHORT STORY
Beck Castro never planned to be separated from the love of his life Quinn Castro. When things take a turn, he's stuck with no memory of how he got to a new, mysterious world. All he knows is he has to get back to his wife, no matter how...
____________________ ________________ There's always a price. ________________ ____________________
A wave of panic hit me as I jumped out of bed, noticing a change of scenery outside.
Heavy gusts of wind blew extremely huge dandelions back and fourth.
"Where the hell am I?" Just as I questioned that a startling voice came from behind me.
"You're somewhere where your childhood took you." I whipped my head around to see no one there.
"Who said that?" I asked in pure panic.
"I'm down here, just chilling out." I looked down at my feet to see the colorful lamp I picked up at the flee market.
As it started to rumble, a big force spit straight out of it. A figure, about six feet tall stood in front of me.
"I'm Israel, genie of portal jumping." He exclaimed.
"What?" I rubbed my head.
"You're in a different world, my friend. A place of talking animals, little children, and bright colored roads." I thought back to what he said about this being something from my childhood.
"Am I in Dora's world?"
"No, no! Look over there." He pointed to the balcony and I looked below to see blue, yellow and pink roads.
"Dr. Seuss." I whispered.
"There you go, my friend. You finally got it." I had a million questions, and spit them all out at once.
"Why am I here? Is Quinn safe? How far is my home? Can I go home?"
"Quinn is fine, and you're here on a journey. Home is far, and you'll need to travel a long distance to get there, but there's a way to get home." I perked up at the last sentence.
"Well tell me, I need to see my wife!"
"You have to solve a riddle for me, there's always a price." My heart melted when I heard those last four words.
There'salways a price.
"What did I do to deserve this? What's going on?" I begged and begged, starting to shed some tears.
"You'll find out soon enough. Now, I suggest you listen to my riddle:
Far beyond the shore I seek, covering mountains with a thin sheet. This place you will find, can get you out with the right man in mind."
I spent the rest of the day questioning what he said.
I never read about any mountains in Dr. Seuss. Yet again, I did skip a few books.
Travelling around town, I dodged little children who were playing four square and looked at my surroundings.
"Are you lost?" I looked down at a blonde haired girl tugging at my pants. Suddenly, the riddle clicked.
"Hi, I need your help. Do you know where The Cat in The Hat is?" I saw heads turn at me when I said his name. It was as if I was saying something forbidden. I love Satan in church, or you're ugly at a beauty contest. It was clear that the people weren't happy about what I said.
"Right here, let's all cheer." He stated. The kids all joyously jumped and he headed towards me.
So many things were off about him. For starters, his cat hairs were getting grey, and he used a bright blue colored cane to help walk around. Not only that, but his voice sounded tired, almost as if he was ready to drop in the next few days.
"Hi, do you have a moment?" I asked.
"Follow me." He laughed and gestured to a blue and yellow mansion off in the distance. As we got closer, I could now see how curved everything was. The windows were circles, a door that curved like a rainbow on top, and each step had wavy edges.
"Welcome my friend, to the mansion that has no end." A grin appeared on his wrinkly face.
"Will you ever stop rhyming?" My hand flew to my mouth. "I'm so sorry that sounded so rude."
"Phew thank goodness. I'm so sorry you had to hear all that rhyming. It makes the kids still hopeful." Looking at him in confusion, I could only ask one question.
"Why? Are they losing hope?"
"No, but I'm getting older. Let's take a walk." I followed him into the giant home, and the inside was breathtaking. Instead of curvy balconys and steps with no definite edge, it was an elegant design on the inside.
A large chandelier hung from the ceiling with thousands of diamonds hanging below.
He guided me down a hallway with glass walls that wrapped around a large garden.
"You see, once Dr. Seuss died, I started to age. I'm now getting really old, and it's hard to enjoy life everyday. The kids don't know, and I'd like to keep it that way. It's just getting hard to function lately." He looked deep into the garden, lost in thought. "I'm sorry, I seem to daydream a lot. I guess it helps me escape from this nightmare. What was it that you needed?"
"You see, I'm not from here. I'm from a small town in Florida, and I woke up then suddenly I was here. I don't know how, but I did pick up a genies lamp at the flee market. I think that brought me here. I just want to get home to my wife, but this genie is making me go through some kind of test I guess? Can you help me solve this riddle?" I handed him a crumpled up paper with swirly writing.
"I know this writing. Israel gave you this quest. There's a lot in store for you my friend. Now, let me see if I can help you." He examined the paper, and something clicked in his head.
"I know what you have to do."
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\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/\_/ Hello people!! I know, I know, author's notes are annoying but I wanted to let you know that for now I don't have a schedule for when I'll be updating but spring break is coming up soon so I'll have time to write then. Yay!!
