Gateway To A Thousand Realms

• Sophie Slack, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

I took a deep breath as I clutched the necklace and rubbed it hard. Blue fire burst out and into a huge gateway. It was impossible to determine what lurked behind the murky blue flames. I stepped in and the unknown realm immersed me.

I wandered along the twiggy trail and a morning dew dripping from the leaves above. I felt a warmth grow inside me as I kept walking. My head wandered as well and stared into the clear, blue skies. I saw civilisation.

I dashed towards the houses. They were blue. Walls, doors, roofs: everything! Someone stepped out of the house. She was blue. I glanced back at the leaves and morning dew, the twigs on the path, and the railway station hidden behind the rusty gate. Everything was blue.

I glared down hard at my pendant. I whispered to it, “Did you do this? Are you the reason my parents are gone? Are you the reason I travel realm to realm every day, with no success in my one mission: finding my parents?” I was fuming. My heart stopped. I heard a response.

“Yes. It is my fault. But I can show you the way. The way to your parents, and the secrets everyone keeps from you.” The locket teased me. It danced around me, calling my name, humiliating me. I knew it was lying. It was, wasn’t it?

The necklace hovered and pulled on my neck ‘till I was forced to move toward the station.
“This is where your parents will be.” The pendant insisted. I pushed the rusty gate and took a deep breath as I gripped the necklace. I felt my hair lift off my neck and my feet lift off the ground.

My body propelled toward the station, over the gate, onto the abandoned platform. My feet made contact with the floor. I scanned the platform, searching and scanning for any sign of my parents. I was hopeful.

After 2 hours of waiting, I heard the locket snicker. I snarled, “Well, sorry if I’m holding up your schedule, but I am not leaving until I find my parents. So you can be quiet, thanks.”

The pendant, laying calmly upon my chest, burst out laughing and said, “Well, you can stay but your parents aren’t coming!”

I gulped and my heart smashed into a million pieces. All hope was lost. As I turned to leave the platform, a train came. Smoke flowed and the smell overwhelmed me.

Two people waltzed out of the train. It. Was. My. Parents! I ran up to them and gave them a hug. As Mum and Dad gripped me tightly, Mum whispered in my ear, “We will never leave you again, sweetheart.” My parents were back.

Another portal opened up. It had blue and green light bursting through the seams. We crept into the enchanted gateway, and we were home. This time, we were staying for good.