| THE HOLE IN THE WALL |
My alarm went off; it was 5:35 in the morning. Even though I had no energy left in my
body, I knew I had to get up for school.
"What's for breakfast Mom?" I said in a low, dull voice.
"Some of the best pancakes you will ever have," she wasn't lying. "You seem very tired.
How late did you stay up last night?"
"Until around 12 o'clock, I had trouble going to sleep," I said, even though I was up until 2 in the morning playing video games.
"Well okay then, I hope you don't fall asleep in class, now go get ready for school," she said. So I did just that, took a shower, ate my breakfast, brushed my teeth, your usual morning routine. My day was completely normal, but little did I know this day would change my life forever.
When I picked up my bag I noticed it was lighter than usual.
"I forgot my binder in my room, let me grab it really quick," I said in the middle of walking. I opened up the door and turned on the light to my room, there it was. Sitting on my desk where I left it after finishing up my writing assignment that was due last night. I grabbed it, put it in my bag, and proceeded to walk out the door. Just as I closed the door to my room, I saw
a flash of purple light shine out of the corner of my eye. I turned around and there was a massive hole, what looked like a portal, floating in the middle of my room.
"Mom! You need to come here right now!" I exclaimed.
"What do you need?!" she shouted.
"Just come here! I think you need to see this!"
She ran as fast as she could, laptop bag in hand, toward my room to also see the massive portal. Looking through the other side you could see another different world, with people-like creatures walking throughout the town.
"I'm going to put my hand through it," I said, not knowing what I was about to get into.
"Robert James, if you move any closer to that thing, you are going to be in very deep
trouble." But I did not care, I was going to put my hand inside the portal anyway. So, I reached
my arm out, and as soon as my finger tip touched the inside of the portal, my entire body was
transferred through the portal.
"Help!" I shouted as loud as I could, "I'm trapped!"
"I'll call your dad," Mom said. I did everything to try to get that portal open but nothing was working. Despite me kicking, punching, and even slapping the portal, it just wouldn't open.
"Hey!" a mysterious voice shouted from behind me, "Quit hitting my portal, you are
destroying my creation." I turned around to see a gigantic, seven-foot tall, purple blob standing
in front of me.
"Who are you? And where am I?" I said.
"I am the King of the Other Side, and you are in the Other Side, a rich and prosperous land, made from almost entirely gold. Who are you and where are you from?" he asked.
"I am RJ, I'm from Earth, will you please let me go back through the portal so I can go back home."
"Well, yes, but fir–"
"Thank you, sir!" I shouted, "thank you so much."
"Wait, wait, you interrupted me before I could finish. Like I was saying, you will be able to go home once you complete my three tasks."
"Yes, yes, I will do whatever you ask from me," I said. "Mom, I will be back, and I will be home.""The first two tasks you do will help you with your final, very difficult, task which is defeating the Dragon of the Other Side," the King said. "If you fail to defeat him, I will permanently shut the portal and you will never go back home."
"Okay sir, what's my first task?"
"You will attempt to hit the golden bullseye from over 200 feet out from the target, you only get three arrows to hit it, don't fail."
"Okay sir, I will try my best," I said. I was confident in myself that I was not bad at archery, considering my skill in my physical education class, but I had never shot a bow and arrow more than thirty feet away. So, I took my first shot, and it was not even close. There wasn't even any wind and I still missed the target by a mile. My second shot was much better than the first, it was slightly off but just barely missed the center bullseye. At this point I was shaking, if I missed my shot I could never see my family again. So, I lifted my bow, pulled it back, and took my shot. Bullseye, "Yes!" I shouted, "I cannot believe I just hit the bullseye."
"Congratulations, here is the golden handle to the sword that will help you kill the
dragon," he said. "Next you must forge and craft a blade to complete the sword, make it strong
enough to kill the dragon."
"Yes sir," I said, and I was off.I tried to find anything around the town to make the blade. I asked the citizens of the city if they knew where any metal was in this world. All of them said the same thing, "there is only gold here." Gold was too weak and fragile for my sword, but I knew if I did not try to use it I would never be able to go back home. I carried seven, large, heavy bars of gold back to the anvil that the King had set up for me to be able to craft the sword. Then, I placed all of my gold into a bucket that could melt the gold to become a liquid. Next, I poured out all of my now liquid gold
into a mold of the blade. I finally waited until the liquid had cooled and attached the handle to create my golden sword. I knew that I was one step closer to going back home and seeing my family.
I kept telling myself, "I can do this, I can defeat the Dragon," over and over again. "I can do this! I can defeat the Dragon!" I shouted.
"Phenomenal job, my boy, you now have to complete the most difficult task of them all, killing the Dragon of the Other Side."
I knew I could do it, I was so confident and determined to kill this Dragon, and to go back home.
The King placed me and the gigantic Dragon onto a large platform, I stared at him, and soon enough he did the same.
The King said, "RJ, are you ready?"
"Yes, I am, sir," I replied while not keeping my eyes off the Dragon.
"Then GO!" the King shouted; I ran faster than I ever have in my entire life toward the Dragon, remaining focused on killing this Dragon. Once I got close to him, I made my leap. I jumped as high as any human who has ever jumped, pulled my sword back and ... it broke. It snapped in half as soon as I made contact with the Dragon. I hit the ground so hard that it made a crater where I landed. Then, the Dragon started flying toward me; I knew I was going to die.
"HALT!" the King shouted, "do not kill this innocent boy, he has no reason to die."
"Thank you so much sir, but do I have to stay here for all of eternity?"
"Yes you do, you failed, there are never any second chances in the Other Side." I started getting mad, the fact that I could never see anyone I loved again, just because of a mistake I made, made me angry. I picked up the broken sword and started running toward the portal.
"AHHHHHHH!" I shouted while running, then I made my second leap, "I'M-GOING-HOME!" I stabbed through the portal and ended up back in my room.When I looked up I saw not only most of my family, but police officers, government officials, scientists, and CIA agents. I ran to both my parents and told them what had had happened to me.
"There was this giant purple blob, who kept saying he was the king, and there was a lot of gold, and-"
"RJ, it's okay, we're just glad you are home and not in any danger," my parents said. After I talked to my parents, all of the scientists, government officials, and CIA agents forced me to explain every detail about what happened to me.
Several years later they still continue to do research on the portal and now I work for federal agencies dedicated to the mysterious hole in the wall. |
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