Ok here is my whole story so far. Tell me what you think about it. I might change some things in Chapter the fourth.
Thomas and the Magic ValleyBy Maryann Christensen
Prologue
Once upon a time there was a magical valley where everything had a bit of magic in it, from the tall trees down to the tiny pebbles. The people that lived there respected the land and tried as hard as they could not to pollute it. But soon, there came a group of people who chopped the trees and stole the magic out of them. They stored all the magic in small sticks that came off the trees. Then they used the magic to harm people and steal their possessions. The trees soon became regular trees and the magic in everything else soon disappeared. At first people were sad because of this great loss, but after a few decades everyone got used to it. The sticks that had the magic in them were passed down from generation to generation. The people named them “wands” and the people that used them became known as wizards.
Chapter the First “Thomas!”
Thomas looked up from his schoolwork and out the window. Outside it was a perfect day, blue sky, green grass, and he was stuck inside doing arithmetic. The head of a young girl was looking at him from the window.
“What do you want Verana?” Thomas whispered to his sister. “Don’t you understand that I have to finish my arithmetic before I can play?”
“No! I mean yes I understand but this is important ...” Verana said but Thomas interrupted.
“It may be important to you but needing another person to play crow ball doesn’t seem that important to me.”
“Oh alright. Just try to hurry up please!” she said and popped back out the window. Thomas chuckled and went back to his work.
“Ok ... 67 times 23 is....oh what is it,” Thomas mumbled.
“Thomas!”
“Verana, I can’t finish my math in two seconds you know. Stop bothering me,” Thomas said without looking up. There was no reply. Thomas looked up and saw that Verana wasn’t there. He stood up and looked out the window. Verana was walking across the field; she couldn’t have run away that fast.
“Weird.” Thomas went back to doing his work.
“Ok 67 times 23 is 1541.” Thomas jotted it down.
“Thomas!”
“Who’s there?” Thomas asked. He didn’t recognize the voice.
“Come to the Borgenam Woods tonight at midnight and you will find out,” the voice said. Thomas looked around and didn’t see anyone. The hair on the back of his neck rose. He took one more glance around and went back to his work.
“I must be hearing things,” he reassured himself.
“Thomas!”
It sounded more urgent this time.
“What do you want?” Thomas whispered. His mouth had gone dry.
“Come to the Borgenam Woods tonight at midnight and you will find out.”
Chapter the Second There was a small village set in the middle of a valley. The village was dominated by the marketplace with the exception of one schoolhouse and a few small houses. Most of the people in the valley lived out of the village on small farms or in the Borgenam Woods, which took up most of the valley. Thomas was one of the few that lived in the village. His family lived in the upstairs of the schoolhouse, for his mother was the one and only teacher. His father was a merchant and was often gone, traveling across the country. Thomas’s family was poor, yet they always seemed to have enough food and clothing to survive, even through the cold winter.
That night, after eating supper, Thomas went down to the school’s library (a small shelf in the schoolroom) to read about The Magic. Thomas was fascinated by the whole idea that the valley that he lived in used to be magical. He always wanted to talk to one of the wizards, but they all seemed to keep to themselves for some reason. So Thomas would resort to reading stories about them. He thought that he must’ve read all the ones they had in their library, but every time he looked for a new one, there was one sitting on the shelf, covered in dust. That night he wanted to read one about the Borgenam Woods, see if there were any accounts of magical things happening there. And sure enough, when he reached the shelves there was one labeled Magic in the Borgenam Woods, seemingly popping out of the shelves. Thomas picked it off the shelf, dusted it off and opened it. The first page said: This book belongs to Anavard Rionsky
Please return
Thomas slammed the book shut and ran upstairs. His mom was reading to Verana in their small sitting area. He went to Verana’s and his room and plopped down on his bed.
“Anavard Rionsky... I’ve heard of him before, but where?” Thomas muttered. “Oh well.” He reopened the book and started reading. At around ten o’clock, Verana came in and got in bed.
“Thomas, when are you going to stop reading? It’s kind of bright with that candle on,” she said sleepily.
“Oh, soon enough,” Thomas said absentmindedly. Verana could fall asleep with the lights on easily. Thomas usually stayed up late into the night reading, long after Verana had fallen asleep. And about ten seconds later, Thomas heard the light snoring coming from the other side of the room.
Chapter the Third Thomas read until it was time to go to the forest. He quietly got out of bed, got his jacket and crept downstairs and out the door. He had read enough of the book to know that the Borgenam Woods were not known as “magical” although there were some accounts of mysterious things happening once every 50 years or so.
As Thomas walked across the playing field, he wondered what was in store for him ahead. He was scared only a little bit. None of the information he had obtained from reading said anything about bad things happening in the Borgenam Woods, except to wrongdoers. Thomas hoped that he wasn’t considered a wrongdoer.
When he reached the forest, he got out a candle he had brought along and lit it before venturing forward into the darkness. Everything was quiet, except for the sound of crunching leaves under Thomas’s feet. He walked a few feet forward and stopped. He didn’t know where to go once he got in the forest.
“Thomas!”
The voice broke the silence and sent shivers down Thomas’s spine.
“What?” Thomas whispered, too scared to speak aloud.
“You have done as we told you and soon you will be rewarded.”
“We?” Thomas asked, “There’s....there’s more than one of you?”
“Of course there is. LIGHTS!” Suddenly a gust of wind came and blew out Thomas’s candle, and as a replacement put a small ball of light in front of Thomas.
“Follow the light and you will find us.”
Thomas did as he was told and followed the small shimmering orb that had just appeared. It led him to a fairly large clearing in the heart of the woods. Thomas looked around but could not see anyone.
“Where are you?” Thomas inquired.
“We are all around you.”
Thomas searched the clearing but there wasn’t any sign of human life. He sat down and leaned up against a tall oak tree.
“Thomas!”
Thomas jumped up and stepped away from the tree. The voice seemed to be coming from it. He thought for a bit and then suddenly a light bulb turned on in his mind.
“You’re the trees!” he exclaimed.
Chapter the Fourth “Very good, Thomas,” the tall oak said.
“Your reading has paid off,” a nearby elm tree said.
“Speaking of reading, have you been enjoying the books we gave you?” a small pine tree said with a girly voice.
“Of course he has, haven’t you boy?” another pine tree said in a grumpy voice.
“I personally liked the one called....” a birch started but the tall oak interrupted.
“Let the boy speak!”
Thomas looked around at all the trees. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Finally he inquired, “You gave me all the books? But how did you know which ones I wanted to read?”
“We still have some magic left in our roots,” the oak said. He seemed to be the leader. Thomas was bewildered by this statement.
“You...you mean....,” Thomas stuttered, “You’re the same trees from all the stories?”
“Yes, Thomas. We five are the only ones who survived the Wizard War. The Magic has kept us alive for centuries, much longer than we would like. It was waiting for this moment to come,” the oak said. Thomas sat down in the middle of the clearing, contemplating this piece of information.
“You mean ... the magic has been waiting for us to meet?” he asked looking up at the oak.
“It has been waiting for the time when you would be educated enough to begin your mission,” the oak replied.
“My mission?” Thomas asked, standing up.
I don't know. Chapter four kinda seems like it doesn't fit in or something. But I don't know. I need someone else's opinion.
