The Lost Boy (Sequel to The Lost Realm)

Chapter Twenty-four

My favorite memory of my sisters' and I's time with Ms. Jo occurred when I was eight.

Ms. Jo always took a trip into town once a week to buy groceries. Typically she went alone, unless it was to bring us into town for training purposes, but on a hot July afternoon she decided to take me along with her.

I still the remember the warm breeze in my hair as we drove along the dirt road, the windows of our vehicle wide open, and my head sticking out. I remember the excitement that rushed through me when the town came insight, as I had only been in a shopping center a couple of times.

When the car was parked, the two of us headed into the grocery store. It was a standard Walmart, and on that day it was unusually crowded, I remember from the surge of thoughts I felt as we stepped inside. My head began to hurt, so she let me sit inside the cart.

As I rested my head against the cool, hard metal, my eyes scanned the shelves of endless products. We went from aisle to aisle, until Ms.Jo made the mistake of going down the toy section as a short cut. I let my mind move past the barbies until my gaze rested on the board games ahead.

"Can I have a game?" I asked her.

Our family game night was always my favorite. We only had Parcheesi and Sorry, but the amount of joy contained in the hour of playing outdid any of the bores of repetition.

The cart stopped in front of the selection, "Alright, pick one."

In front of me rested a variety of colorful options, immediately my eyes went to Monopoly, but as I was about to tell her my choice, another game came to my attention.

It had a bold, action filled cartoon on the cover, with the word "Risk" across the top.

"I'll take that one," I said pointing to it.

She gave me a curious expression, "What is it?"

"I have no idea," I answered back.

When we arrived back home, we put the groceries away and set up the new game.
Turns out, what I had purchased was a complete strategy game.

At first, none of us knew what were doing, but two hours in things got intense. My sisters and I were young, but we understood the game, and were each determined to lead our imaginary army to victory.

Eventually, the game ended in a stalemate due to bedtime. But there were many more games to be played, and so they were.

The memory of it never faded, and it was coming in handy for my current situation.

Sylvia had created an elaborate-and wonderfully digital- map of the realm from Peter's observations.

There was the eerie creek to the East, the fiery mountains-no, not volcanos, I asked-to the West, the castle to the north, and the plains to the south.

The plan currently being discussed was that we start an attack from the fiery mountains using our fire proof fairies, then continue the offensive with a simultaneous attack from the East using our water fairies. Everyone not in the two previously mentioned parties will come from the south just a bit later, while Peter, my father, Graham, a troop of fairies, and I all head straight for the castle. My mother, Hook, and Sylvia would stay in Floristian, in the off chance that the action came home.

"What army does Rumpel have anyways? Or is it just him?" Graham asks, his eyes locked in concentration.

"He has these....creatures. They're barely physical beings, they appear shadow like and aren't huge, but damn are they plentiful," Peter's eyes slightly gloss with fear, as if he is seeing the terrifying creatures for the first time.

"What's the plan when we get to the castle?" Graham chimes in.

"If I know my father well enough he'll be waiting for us, most likely with Samantha and Anastasia. I can't tell what the situation will be, or what he has planned, but he'll be surprised that Arabella can use her powers and that should throw him off."

The room is quiet, the plan had been in debate for a long enough-it was time for action.

"That's get everyone ready, we move at dawn," My mother demands, in every regard she's as badass of a commander as Dad.

Everyone begins to shuffle out, while Peter and I stay behind.

"Do you know a good place to train?" He asks me.

I give him a smile as the image of the evergreen trees come into my mind, "I know a place."

He and I move from the room, my hand locked in his. We swiftly move through the castle and the chaos within it. People rush all around, lost boys stop to hug Peter, fairies flutter about while villagers aide as best they can. Eventually we make it out into the night. The sky was lighter, and the sun's essence was slowly starting to seep into the sky.

I lead the way, we divert from the main road onto a small path. The scenery of the town slowly transitions into a dark but majestic forest. 

Soon, we arrive at the statue.

"Is this-" His voice drops as he looks at the stone version of himself.

"I used to go hunting in these woods everyday, trying to get the thoughts of you out of my head. It never worked," I walk closer to the stone and gently place a hand on it.

"I love you. So damn much," he says.

I turn to face him and see a tear has trickled down the side of his face.

This moment would have been perfect. We could have been two individuals helplessly in love under the blanket of night, reminiscing upon tragedy turned into fantasy. But it was all stolen by a mad man, and I was going to get it back, whatever the cost.