Into The Fairy Lands
By J. R. Bennett
<Chapter I ~*~ Chapter III>
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| alles, https://pixabay.com/en/landscape-nature-fantasy-horizon-1457457/ |
II
Through the Fireplace and What They Saw
~*~
Through the dark void
Zach and Alice travelled. They felt as
if they were in a sleeper hold, their heads swimming with a feeling of pressure
always growing until it was almost unbearable.
Just as the pressure began to feel as if it was never going to end, they
saw a flash of light and soon found themselves in a living room.
It wasn’t a
very fancy room. It was more quaint and
cozy with nice leather armchairs, couches, and a television set that looked
rather old. On the walls were paintings,
ceramic plates, and a wooden coo-coo clock.
Alice
looked up and saw Ed and an old man. The
old man was in a salmon, collarless shirt and grey trousers and seemed not to
enjoy the fact that people were popping out of his chimney in the middle of the
night.
“I trust
you had a fun ride,” said Ed.
“Why yes I
did,” said Alice with some smugness.
Ed and the
old man helped Alice and Zach up.
“Oh, dear,”
cried Ed. “My manners must have buggered
off again. Everyone, this is George Hendrick McTrotter. He is a good friend of
mine and I hope will be one of yours.”
“Keep it
down,” warned George, “you’ll wake up Emma.”
“Sorry.” Ed
replied curtly and resumed. “Anyways, shall we have some tea before heading out
to my house?”
George
brought out some china cups and saucers on a tray with a porcelain kettle,
sugar bowl and a creamer.
“If I had
known you were coming back sooner I’d have bought some cakes at
Sweetly’s.” George said as he laid the
tray on the coffee table.
“It’s
alright,” Ed replied. “By the way, has
Ryan been keeping up with the place?”
“Aye, the
boy’s kept it up.”
“Good.” Ed explained.
“Who’s
Ryan?” Travis asked.
“That’s my
son,” replied George, “he lives with yer friend here.”
“This also
reminds me.” Ed added. “Did he leave my car here like I asked?”
“He did.”
“Excellent,”
said Ed. “Then when we are done our tea
we can set out.”
It was
during the discussion over tea. Alice,
Zach, and Travis learned a lot about their new surroundings, particularly that
they were in a country known as the Gallan-Gallet[1],
which was the centre of what was known as the Deltic[2]
Empire.
After
everyone finished their tea, Ed led them to the front door where they descended
a few stairs to a driveway to where two old cars sat. Ed then unlocked the door and everyone piled
in. The car rattled and groaned to life
as it backed out and headed down the road.
“Where are
we going?” investigated Zach, who was
still not at all impressed with the setting.
“To my
place of course,” Ed replied.
The car
darted uphill with its engine rattling.
When it reached the top it rattled to the right and then it went
straight, only stopping at traffic lights.
The streets were empty, save the odd police constable making their
rounds or a passing car. After going
straight for a while, the car turned right and rolled down the street lined
with houses until they approached a peaceful looking house.
The house
stood at the end of a lush green lawn that had a grey, stone path in the middle
leading from the sidewalk to the small porch.
On the one side of the path, a willow sat in the middle while on the
other side was a bed covered in wild flowers.
Ed drove the car into the driveway and led everyone to the front door.
“This is
the place!” announced Ed as he unlocked
the door and led them inside.
The house
looked wonderful. The walls were covered
in paintings of both scenery and people.
To the left of them was the living room, it was lovingly decorated with brown
leather chairs and at the far end was a wooden entrainment unit with a large
tube television on the shelf next to it.
All the other selves were filled with books and records; on the right
was a set of wooden stairs that led to the bedrooms. Across from them, at the other end of the
hall, were two openings: the left led to the kitchen and the other was to a
washroom, side door and stairs to the basement.
As the three observed their friend’s surroundings, the light sent of
flowers floated in the air.
“I don't
think Ryan will mind if you guys take his bed for the night.” Ed said as he removed his over coat and hat
to reveal a brown tweed suit with a gold chain.
“For the
night?” inquired Zach.
“Well you
can't just leave after getting here.”
replied Ed. “I'll give you all
the grand tour as we head upstairs. I
trust you lot will be in need of some sleep.”
The second
floor was decorated much the same as the former with paintings of portraits and
scenery hanging on the walls. It was
decided that Alice would have the bed in the spare room; Zach would have the
futon in Ed's study while Travis slept in Ryan's room.
That night,
the three slipped into an uncomfortable sleep.
Unsure if they were only in a dream.
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