A to Z Challenge 2020 – A Birthday Present (unabridged)

A to Z Challenge 2020 –

A Birthday Present

B is for Birthday

It was Barry’s birthday. He was turning 13. He was ready for all the new things he would be allowed to do. But first, there was the birthday party that he knew was coming. His parents tried to hide it from him, but he knew they had something planned. Thirteen is a big milestone. His friends were good at keeping secrets too, so no one let slip a word that there was going to a surprise party. But Barry knew. What else could it be?

It was late in the day, the sun had set, and the street lights had just turned on as he headed home from his friend’s house. As he reached his doorway he could see his house was brightly lit from the inside. He put his key in the lock to get into the house and all of a sudden his house blackened. Every light went off.

“This is it”, he thought, “time to pretend I’m surprised.”

He opened the door and… nothing happened. There was not a sound; there was no movement; there was no one there at all. All he could see was a large illuminated box sitting in the middle of his living room. On examination, he noticed a card taped to the box. It read, “Happy Birthday, Barry.  Enjoy your present. All you need to do is open this box and build.” It was signed, “Love, Us”

Barry was very confused. Where was everyone? What was in the box? He hoped it wasn’t some furniture from IKEA. He never was successful in putting those things together. And who did “Us” include, family, friends, strangers? There was only one way to find out. He opened the box. 

Inside the box were 6 pieces of wood and a door. Four of the pieces slotted together to form the frame for the door. The other two pieces slotted into the bottom of the frame to make it stand up. There was no way to connect the door to the frame, but it looked like it fit perfectly. He lifted the door and put it into place, wondering how he was going to attach it… when there was a flash of light and the door attached itself. 

That was interesting, but he still couldn’t figure out what was the big deal in assembling a door. That was until he opened the door. 

He assumed that he was going to see the other side of the room. What he saw was a field of luminescent green grass. In the distance, he could see a forest. Not being the shy type, Barry stepped through the doorway to examine what was there. As soon as he stepped through, the door closed and disappeared. He was now in the middle of the field. 

to be continued in F is for Follow

F is for Follow

Barry looked around trying to figure out what to do. The decision was made for him when he realized why the grass was luminescent. The glowing grass changed from green to yellow and blazed up into fiery red as the field erupted in fire. Barry could feel the heat rise up around him. Walls of flame covered the field on all sides except for a path directly in front of him, that maintained the grassy ground cover, seemingly unaffected by the fire. That path led straight ahead to the forest in the distance. 

Barry moved forward on the path. With each step, flames filled in the areas behind him that he vacated.  By the time he reached the forest, the fire encompassed the entire field. For some reason, it left the forest alone. 

Stepping into the forest, he continued on the path. He stopped when he noticed movement to his right. On closer examination, Barry found a fox limping slowly in the same direction that he was going just off of the path. 

Barry’s first thought was to run, concerned that the fox was dangerous. But looking deep into the fox’s eyes he could see sadness, worry, and concern. Was the fox in danger? Was the fox concerned and sad about itself or Barry? Why was it limping? Should Barry help the fox? 

The fox crept slowly towards Barry. Barry stood still, getting ready to run if needed and then to Barry’s surprise, the fox spoke, “Please, help me. I’ve a message for the king. I was caught up in the fire and injured my leg. Can you help me get to the king? It is important that this message reaches him.”

Getting over his astonishment of a talking fox, Barry responded, “I have no idea where I am or how I got here. I would help you if I knew where I was going.”

“I can help you with some of that,” said the fox, “You are in the kingdom of Selat. It is said that you can only get here if you are needed. How exactly you got here and why you might be needed, I cannot answer. Perhaps the king might be able to help. I can lead you to him, but you might have to carry me.”

Barry thought about what the fox said and was about to agree to help when he noticed a sign posted on a tree in front of him. The sign read,

Now Barry was worried and nervously said, “I’m not sure I want to risk my life in the forest, based on what the sign says.” 

Looking behind him, Barry could still see the glow of the fire and the darkening cloud of smoke overhead as the wind blew in his direction. The way ahead was still clear. “But I guess I have no choice,” was Barry’s lament.

He picked up the fox and following its directions, went off of the path deeper into the forest. 

to be continued in H is for Hunted

H is for Hunted

Barry and the fox went deeper into the forest following only a route that the fox knew. It was made a little difficult for Barry as he was not a fox and for parts of the route he had to crouch low. This was even more complicated since he was also carrying the fox. 

After about an hour of traveling, they stopped for a rest. It was then that they heard the sound. Clearly something or someone was following them. The fox asked to be put down and he limped off, through the brush, after telling Barry to remain completely still and silent. A short time later the fox returned. 

“It’s one of his guards,” the fox whispered.

“Whose guards? And why is he following us?” was Barry’s reply.

“Hyde, the evil magician of Selat. He is having me followed because he suspects that I’m going to tell the King that I know where he holds his victims. No one in the kingdom knows this secret. But I found a hedgehog that knew. The hedgehog gave me a message to give to the king, which is why I’m going there. The magician must want me not to get there. The fire that led you here was no accident. Hyde must have started it to drive you into the forest, where it is easy to get lost and captured. I was lucky to find you first.”

“So what do we do?”

“I can no longer lead you through the forest. You’ll have to find your way to the king yourself. But I can give you directions. I will also give you the message to give to the king. I trust that you will be successful. Let the one who is following us, follow me; I’ll go in a different direction and try to lose him. Give me a 10-minute start and then move as quickly and quietly as you can. Good luck.”

After giving Barry the directions to the king’s palace, the fox took off, silently at first, but then making enough noise in his travels to ensure that he would be followed. 

Barry waited for more than ten minutes until he could no longer hear anyone in the forest and then he went on, following the directions that the fox had given him. He stopped periodically and listened for any sound of followers. He finally came to a clearing; there in front of him stood the palace of the king. Also standing in front of him was a guard from the palace pointing a weapon right at him. 

“Don’t you read signs!” threatened the guard.

to be continued in K is for King

K is for King

Before the guard could act, Barry held out the message and said, “I bring a message for the king. It is very important, lives may depend on it.”

The guard paused for a moment, then asked, “Whose lives?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know. I was told the king wanted this information.”

The guard grasped the message but didn’t open it. “And who might I ask, gave you this so-called message?” the guard queried.

Barry didn’t know how to proceed. So he rambled on with the truth as unbelievable as it sounded. “A fox, that was hurt, who said he got it from a hedgehog who said it was about a magician named Hyde that the king needed to know about.”

On hearing the name Hyde, there was a change in the facial expression of the guard. He was no longer confident in his stance; there was a touch of worry and concern as he lowered his weapon, made a complete about-face and ordered Barry to follow. 

Barry was led into the palace. He was led through an immense door laden with gold.  He walked through halls with portraits of ancient rulers and sculptures of knights and warriors past; passed large banquet rooms and smaller storage holdings and ended up at the royal reception room itself.  The walls were 20 feet high shrouded in red velvet drapes. Other than that there was little furniture except for the royal thrones centered on the far wall. The King sat upon one throne and the other was empty.

The guard explained to the king what Barry had said and handed the message to him. The king glared at Barry with a penetrating eye, then opened and read the message. The king demanded that Barry repeat his story. This time, Barry told the king all that had happened to him since he came home that day. 

The king listened intently. When Barry was done, the king stood up and spoke.

“What the fox said was true. No one enters Selat unless they are needed. And indeed you are needed. The hedgehog that gave the fox the message was a spy of mine. His task was to find the magician. If the hedgehog had been found out, he likely would have been killed which is why he enlisted the aid of the fox and the fox of you to deliver this message.  The message reveals the location of Hyde’s captives. 

Barry questioned, “Why is its location so important and what do I have to do with it?”

The king answered, “For years we knew of Hyde’s activities of enslaving people and others, but since these people meant nothing to us, we didn’t feel it was necessary to find them. The queen, however, a more compassionate person, was very interested in not only finding them but saving them from whatever Hyde’s nefarious intentions were. I humored the queen and made a small effort to find out information, but none was forthcoming. That all changed when the queen disappeared. This, I was sure the work of Hyde and sent out spies, both animal and human, to find his location. Lucky for us one of them found you.” 

The king continued, “Since the magician knows everyone from Selat, it would be hard to get to him undetected. However, you are not known, therefore it seems that fate has determined that I choose you to be the savior of the queen and those that have been enslaved by Hyde and put an end to his plans. Good luck!”

Barry had no time to protest. He was given the message, which included a map to Hyde’s location, a knife to protect himself, and a flashlight. He was quickly escorted out of the palace and back into the area where he had been found by the guard. The escort also wished him luck and then left Barry alone to ponder what to do next.

to be continued in M is for Mistake

M is for Mistake

    Barry just stood there wondering what to do. It’s not that he had a choice. He was only a 13-year-old boy. In some cultures, he may have been considered a man, but at this moment he felt so much like an unprepared kid that he was frozen in time, consumed with doubt and fear.

He looked at the message and map again and reminded himself of all the skills he had learned about mindfulness in school. He sat down on the ground, closed his eyes and took slow deep breaths. He tried to focus on his family and friends. He pictured in his mind the hero that he wanted to be. As he calmed down, a plan began to emerge. He would follow the map as best he could but remain slightly off the path that he was instructed to follow. This would allow him to see and hear anyone that might be near him, who meant him harm and give him time to avoid them. When he arrived at the captive’s hideout, he would stealthily attempt to gain access and make contact with the queen and the captives. His hope was that at that point they would be able to figure out a way to make an escape together. 

The key to all of this was not to be caught. Barry studied the map carefully. There were enough landmarks on the way to make it easy to follow. He managed to avoid a few animals and people; not sure if they and anything to do with the magician. He reached the spot where the map showed the captives were being kept. It was a cave.  There didn’t seem to be anyone guarding the opening. Barry hesitated for a moment and then entered the cave. 

After taking a few steps into the cave he stopped and listened for any voices or sounds of movement. When he heard none, he took out the flashlight that had been given to him, by the king, and turned it on. He slowly progressed further into the cave. 

He came to a fork in the tunnel of the cave. Down the right fork, he could hear the voices of people. The voices were of people of many different ages and genders. Barry could hear things being moved around. He heard some heavy breathing, some men complaining, some women screaming, some crying children, and someone who was clearly giving orders. These must be the captives. 

Down the left fork, Barry only heard the voice of one woman. She was clearly talking to someone, using a very regal sounding tone. It must be the queen. Barry decided she should be the one to contact first. Without much thought, he walked straight down the fork to the left and soon came face to face with the queen herself. 

The queen stared at Barry, with that same penetrating eye as the king had. She looked at the flashlight in Barry’s hand and realized at once, from its insignia, that it had come from the king. Before Barry could utter a word, the queen turned to the guard, who had been the one she had been talking to and loudly ordered, “Quick, go and get Hyde. It appears we have a new slave to work with the others in the cave!”

It appeared that both the king and Barry had made a big mistake. The queen didn’t need rescuing; She was working with the magician, not against him and Barry had walked right into her lair. He was now their captive. He was again frozen in time, doubtful and scared. How was he going to help the captives now?

to be continued in Q is for Queen

Q is for Queen

    The guard left to find the magician. Barry wanted to run away but was too scared to move. The queen, however, moved quickly. She moved close to Barry and said, “Quickly, we don’t have much time. What news from the king?”

    Barry didn’t know what to think. Was this some ruse she was using to get information for Hyde or was she really concerned about the king?”

    “Why should I answer you?” was his reply, “You’re about to make me a slave.”

    The queen’s demeanor changed. Her face showed more concern now than conceit and power. “I did what I did to give us time to talk in isolation and see if there is a way out of this mess.”

    “But you were bossing the guard around. You’re one of them. You’re working with Hyde. I thought you were supposed to be captured and a slave.”

    “What good would that have been, if I had been captured? The king wouldn’t listen to me about the Hyde. I knew the only way to get him to take me seriously was for me to disappear and let him think that Hyde had captured me. I knew that if I were indeed captured by Hyde, I would have no way to help those enslaved. So I decided to make it known to the proper individuals that I had had it with the king and was looking to partner up with the magician in his plans to take over the kingdom.”

    “But how did you ever find Hyde to make that offer?” Barry asked. 

    “As I said,” the queen continued, “I knew who I could trust and who would get my intent to Hyde. Now tell me, time is running out, what are the king’s plans?”

    Barry took a deep breath, decided to believe the queen, at least for the moment, and in a wavering voice said, “He has none. He has sent me here to save everyone.”

    “He WHAT!” remembering then to lower her voice. “You’re just a boy… Well, it’s too late to send you back for help, so we’ll have to come up with another plan.” 

    “I could run away and you could say I escaped.” 

    The queen thought about it, but then said, “No. That would just warn him that his hideout is known. What you have to do is become a slave. When Hyde comes, tell him that you just got lost in the woods, that’s how he captures most of the others. And give me your flashlight. The king’s insignia is on it, which would give away who you are.”

    Barry handed over the flashlight, which the queen quickly disposed of. “Then what?”

    “There is one guarding the captives, named Rory,  that I trust. He works for me and keeps me informed. You will identify yourself to him. Give him this.” The queen handed Barry a silken handkerchief that she had pulled from her dress and described who he supposed was to look for. “He will know that you speak the truth and will be able to keep the lines of communication open between us. Tell him that I will let him know when the time is right to execute our plan. We better hope that it works.”

    “But what is the plan?”

    Barry never got a chance to find out, for in walked a tall, lanky man. He had long dark hair, dark eyes and an evil sneer on his face. “WHO IS THIS CHILD?” he demanded.

    “He appears to be a lost child, who wandered here from the forest,” the queen replied.

    “Why don’t I recognize him,” questioned the mage, “Where are you from boy?”

    Too much was happening at once; Barry was really frightened now. He stammered, “I..I…I come from a..a… foreign land, sir. I’m just trying to find my way back home.”

    Hyde stared deeply into Barry’s eyes. He could read the fear that was coursing through the boy. It pleased him. “Good. I’ve got news for you, boy. You’ve found your new home. It’s right here with us.” 

Hyde turned to the guard and ordered, “You know what to do with him. Put him down with the others, it’s time for him to earn his keep.”

Hyde turned and left with the queen following. The guard grabbed Barry roughly by the shoulder and dragged him back up the cave path to the fork and down the other path into a damp, musty cavern covered with stalagmites and stalactites. Around him were men, women, children, and animals of all sorts. They all stared at him with saddened faces. Just another poor soul to be added to their group. 

Barry was handed over to another guard, who quickly put him to work. Barry was surprised that in all the time he had been there in the cave, no one ever checked him over to see if had a weapon. The knife the king had given him, was still sheathed beneath his pant leg.

to be continued in R is for Rescue

R is for Rescue

It didn’t take Barry long to figure out who the queen’s guard, Rory, was. He waited for the proper moment when both he and the guard were alone and Barry spoke to him. “I have a message from the Queen.” 

“What Queen? Get back to work!” The guard grabbed Barry by his arm roughly. “We don’t listen to slaves!”

Before the guard could say anything more, Barry pulled out the silken handkerchief and showed it to the guard saying, “Your name is Rory.” There was an immediate change in the guard’s countenance, though he continued holding Barry, as he leaned a bit closer to Barry’s ear. 

“Not here,” Rory whispered, “I’ll find a time to talk, later.” Then out loud he ordered, “Now get moving, back to work!”

And that was where he went. Working involved a lot of digging. It seemed that an underground tunnel was being created. As luck would have it Barry found someone he knew, who had also been captured, the fox. 

Barry told the fox exactly what had happened since the fox had left him in the forest. The fox, in turn, told Barry his story; how he had led the guard deeper into the forest before his leg gave out and was captured. Since the guard didn’t know about Barry, the fox was the only one taken back to Hyde, whereupon he was thrown in with the rest of the slaves. Luckily for the fox, one of the guards took pity on him and bandaged up his leg. The leg had improved.

As it turned out, the guard who helped the fox, was the same one the queen had sent Barry to contact. The fox introduced Barry to some of the other animals in captivity, the hedgehog, a yellow cat, and a mole. What they figured out, was that the Hyde was building a tunnel to the palace with the intent of either capturing or killing the king so that the magician could take over the kingdom. This was all confirmed when Barry finally got to talk to Rory. 

“The queen had been working hard at finding out the specifics of Hyde’s plan. She now knows that he plans to put a spell on the king which will put the king into a trance, that can only be broken by the magician himself.  Once done, with the queen’s help, he will take the throne,” Rory explained. “Her hope is that in digging the tunnel, you and possibly some of the animals can create a hidden side tunnel that can get you into the palace before Hyde and warn the king.”

    While the fox, mole, hedgehog, and cat were working on the side tunnel, Barry was kept guard at its entrance with his knife, luckily no one found them. Meanwhile, the queen was busy searching out all of Hyde’s books of spells. She looked carefully for spells that could be used to entrap the king. When she believed she found the right one, she sent word to Barry through Rory and set her plan in motion. 

    When the tunnels were complete, both Barry and the cat, were to escape through the side tunnel and into the palace; the cat, to warn the king and Barry to the Royal Armory to get suited up as a knight so that Hyde wouldn’t recognize him. Barry was to make sure he took the golden shield with him from the armory. Meanwhile, when Hyde entered the tunnel with the queen, Rory was to allow the captives to escape into the woods and run away from the palace. Rory would lead the rest of Hyde’s guards on a chase that would lead them toward the palace.

    All seemed to go as planned. The king had all of his guards out of the palace ready for Hyde’s men. Barry was all suited up and standing next to the king in the throne room as Hyde and the Queen walked into the room and stood before the throne.

    Hyde pushed the queen aside and claimed, “This Kingdom is mine!” He uttered words of a sleeping spell and cast it at the knight.”

    “NO!” yelled the queen.

to be concluded in S is for Surprise

S is for Surprise

As a bolt of light shot towards Barry, so did a flash of something moving in front of him. It was the cat. The spell hit the cat and its forward momentum carried it out of sight of the magician. Barry also reacted quickly, he dropped to the floor in front of the king. Where the cat was asleep, Barry was not, though he pretended to be so. 

    The queen was horrified. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. There was nothing she could do. 

    Hyde smiled an evil grin and glared at the king. “As I said,” he announced, “the kingdom is mine. Once I dispose of you and take control, all will have to bow to me!”

    The king wanted to sound strong and confident, but his voice faltered. “You won’t succeed. Help will come and no one will follow you.”

    “But that’s where you are wrong. I don’t see any guards here to help you, besides that foolish one that I already took care of.” Hyde replied, “The queen has already agreed to support me in my claim. And we all know no one will fight against the queen.”

    The queen stood there frozen and helpless. Everything she had hoped for was for naught. She wanted to cry, but kept up her calm demeanor. 

    What happened next surprised them all.

 The magician raised his hand and spoke out loud the words of the trance spell; the one that would entrap the king forever. As he threw his hand forward a bolt of light shot out from his fingertips and headed straight for the king. It was then that Barry stood up and placed his golden shield in front of himself and the king. 

    The light hit the shield and reflected back in the direction it had come from hitting the magician directly where he stood. The instant it hit, Hyde’s face froze where it was, his eyes glazed over, and he toppled to the floor. Barry sat down on the floor in front of the king, emotionally exhausted, as the queen rushed to the king and held him in a strong embrace. 

    It wasn’t long before word got back from the king’s guard that Hyde’s forces had been vanquished and all the captives were found and returned home unharmed. It seemed that the only casualty was the cat. For try, as they might no one was able to wake her up. The king swore to all, that he’d search for as long as it took to find an antidote to the magician’s spell. 

A great banquet was held honoring the success of the event and of Barry’s part in it all. All were invited. The king had one last thing to present to Barry. He asked Barry to step into the corridor outside the banquet hall to retrieve it. 

    Barry was overwhelmed by all that had occurred in Selat. He opened the door, turned and looked at the King and Queen, his friends the fox, hedgehog, mole, and Rory. He lamented the loss of the cat and the sacrifice it had made to save him. He backed out into the corridor and as he turned around all went dark and silent.

    Suddenly there was a flash of light, the room was illuminated and Barry heard a group of voices shout, “SURPRISE!”

    He found himself inside the doorway to his house. There in front of him were his parents and friends. He quickly turned around and looked behind him but only saw the open door of his house leading to his front yard. As he turned back he was greeted by pats on the back and streamers from all in attendance. Barry was speechless.

    Confused, he tried to explain what had just occurred, but no one would believe him. They thought he was just making it up to avoid admitting that he was surprised about the party. Was he making it up? Everything that had occurred seemed so real. Maybe he had just been daydreaming. It had been a long day. 

The rest of the party was just a blur. At the end, when everyone left, he was sitting on the living room couch and trying to take it all in when his father entered the room. 

    “This was just left at the front door.” his father said. “It’s addressed to you. And happy birthday again, son. I hope you enjoyed the surprise party.”

His father handed him a rectangular wrapped box. The box had some small holes in it and a card was attached to the front. Barry opened the card and read it. It read, ‘Happy birthday, Barry. Enjoy your present, and thanks.” It was signed, “Love, Us.” Barry undid the wrapping and slowly opened up the box. A yellow cat jumped out of the box onto Barry’s lap, winked at him, and then took a nap.