11
Cody
I brought Brad and Susie to the library where Christian had been spending lunch almost every day even before we discovered Somewhere Else. His place of solitude before he discovered that there really was an escape from the dull agony that was his high school experience.
Christian was relaxing on one of the couches, with a familiar book in his hand. One of our English class textbooks, the Grimm Fairytales.
We came up to him, “What’s going on, man?” I asked, patting his shoulder and pulling him from the trance of being lost in a book, lost in a story. I was trying to sound casual, friendly, I wanted him to know he had friends. I always wanted him to know he had friends.
“I’m researching,” Christian said.
“For English,” I looked over and confirmed that the book was indeed the Grimm Fairytales, “You know that unit’s over, maybe we’ll have to brush up on it before finals, but we’re on Beowulf now, don’t you think you need to be studying that?” I asked.
“It’s not research for class,” Christian said, sitting up and putting the book down. I noticed he had a plethora of sticky notes marking certain pages and stories that he thought important. “I’ve been thinking about that world, Somewhere Else I mean,” Christian looked around to make sure no one else was around to overhear us and make sure that Mrs. Carrey, the librarian was far away over in non-fiction re-alphabetizing the encyclopedia section.
“As soon as I saw that world, really experienced it, I knew it I knew what it was, I just couldn’t put my finger on it right away, I’ve been there before,” Christian said, a smile coming across his face. This had to be the first time I saw a smile on him, save for our first experience Somewhere Else together.
“Wait, what do you mean you’ve been there before? That doesn’t make sense,” Brad said.
“Okay,” Christian shook his head, “Maybe I haven’t actually been there before, but I have been there in a way,” he held up the book of Grimm’s Fairytales, “While I was over there the other weekend, exploring it, getting to know it, I heard stories, tales of great castles, tales of princes finding their princesses in frankly absurd and fantastical situations, I heard a story of a prince who visited a neighboring town putting a slipper on every young unmarried girl, I heard about young princess who kisses a frog of all things, and now she’s a married woman, this world, this place we found, I’ve been there before, these stories. Stories I’ve read over since I was a boy, this is the world we found,” he said, holding up the book. “It’s the Grimm Fairytales, I’m sure of it,” he started to laugh, “We actually found a way inside a world of fairytales, of all the places some mystical portal could bring us, it brings us to a place that I know inside and out, I know everything about that world,” he said, beaming with pride.
“Christian, slow down” Susie said, “You really think that’s what that world is, what Somewhere Else is, you think it’s some kind of fairytale?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s a simple place, a place beautiful because of that simplicity,” his smile was so wide, the widest I would ever see it in this world, he started to laugh even, “We can go there, we can live out a fairy tale, this is amazing” he said.
“Christian, calm down” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “You really think there’s connection between Somewhere Else and the Grimm Fairytales?” I asked.
Christian opened his book “Look here, I’ve been going through every story and comparing them to rumors and whispers of news I’ve heard while I was over there. I heard about a tower, far off but maybe closer than we think, people spoke of a tower with no entrance, a tower no one could climb,” he flipped through the book to one of his many sticky notes, “See, Rapunzel, doesn’t that sound familiar. And in another town, I spoke with a merchant selling the finest jewels and minerals in the market. He said he bought them off a group of dwarfs, he said there were seven of them, does that sound familiar enough?” he asked.
“Woah man, are you saying we found fairy world? Does that mean there’s some evil queens, dark fairies we got to worry about while we’re there?” Brad asked.
“I mean, maybe, but princes take care of them. Over drinks with the guys, they always spoke of this or that prince dispatching of some evil queen, out smarting some wicked step-mother who tried to marry into wealth, or slaying some monster that threated their bride to be,” Christian said.
“Wait, hold on,” Susie took a seat on a large chair next to the couch, “I have to sit down for this,” she buried her face into her hands, took a deep breath and collected herself, “So, you have multiple accounts, from multiple people, that in your mind confirm, that we have visited a world of not just fairytales, but of specifically the Grimm Brother’s fairytales?” she asked.
“Yes, I mean, from the stories I’ve heard there’s been a kind of tone they all carry. One thing I can is that this isn’t the Mouse’s world, it’s better,” Christian grinned, “It’s a world with some edge to it, a world with some teeth. It’s way more exciting than some colorful prim and proper, safe no-teeth Mouse movie,” Christian’s grin grew wider, “We can have some fun here, it’s like playing a video game and we already own to the strategy guide,” he held the book up.
“Christian, I remember those stories too, I have an A in English just like I’m sure you do, some of those stories do have a bit of danger in them, is it safe to keep going there?”
“Yes,” Christian said, not even hesitating to answer, “It’s safe because we know how it works, don’t you see what I’m trying to tell you, the things we could do there, the glory we could win, the gold we could earn, it’s a world where we’ll literally know everything that’s going to happen before it happens, we can use that knowledge and, dare I say it, make things a little better for the people living there. We can know how things play out there, and if we find a situation knowing what could happen, we could help, lend advice, win glory, save princesses,” Christian looked away for a second. His eyes had this dreamy look in them when he mentioned the idea of saving a princess.
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“How could stop anything that’s happening over there, we’re just four kids with no idea about how anything in that world works,” Susie said, “What power could we have over there? I know you got us some weapons, but we’re not warriors, we’re not heroes,” Susie wrung her hands together. She was always the most nervous of us when it came to trying our hand at daring heroics in the other world. Of course, Brad and I were able to get used to it after just a short time winning glory there. But Susie, armed with nothing more than a pretty dress and a small dagger for just in case she found herself in a hairy situation and needed a weapon as a last resort, I could see how reluctant she would be to throw herself in the maw of danger.
“Do you guys want to hear something crazy,” Christian said, taking a deep breath, “I met Goldilocks,” he said.
“Wait, what do you mean you met Goldilocks,” I shook my head, “Like, you literally met the Goldilocks, like the one with the bears and the porridge and the beds, you met her?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Christian said, “I met her, I mean, Cassie REDACTED is the hottest blond in this school, no doubt, but she doesn’t hold a candle to Goldilocks. Her hair is literally golden, like it has a radiance to it, like it catches the light the same way our golden coins do, it has this luster, this beauty. Her curls so alluring, her body so light and waif, but with a strength to her. The same kind of strength a baby bear would have. Not much at first look, but when you see how powerful it is in person you know this is a girl who could go toe to toe with any animal. I actually got a wedding invitation, though I’ve probably missed it by now,” he said.
“A wedding?” Susie asked.
“Yeah, to the woodsman who helped her get out of the forest after she escaped the bears,” Christian said, “I was talking with her and she couldn’t stop going on and on about her brave hero,” Christian rolled his eyes, “Apparently stuff like that happens over there all the time, this or that woodsman or prince saves this or that maiden or lady from some horrible evil, and he gets a ton of gold and a new wife,” Christian took a deep breath and sighed, turning look a thousand yards out the library window. I didn’t notice that look in his eyes at the moment, but in recalling these events I can remember that look clear as day. That want, that lust as Susie would probably call it, that motivation to return to Somewhere Else and carve out his own life, his own tales of heroism, and find his own princess.
“What I’m saying is, there’s a lot of work to be done over there, and last time I visited I was asking around, keeping my ear to the ground to find something we could do,” Christian said, turning back to us as his excited smile returned to his face.
“Wait, what do you mean, for us to do?” Susie asked.
“The gold, remember, there’s tons of people who need things done. It seems if you’re not a prince or woodsmen or some other knightly trade you just wait around for someone else to fix a problem that’s besetting your land, we can be those heroes, we can solve those problems,” Christian said.
“I don’t know man, you just told us about a guy who literally had to fight three bears, two of them full grown, I don’t want to be fighting a bear,” Brad said.
“Yeah, this sounds dangerous,” Susie said, “When you said we could easy jobs there for coins, I thought you meant something like delivering packages, tending a garden, you know, simple things,” Susie said, “Simple things for a few coins, they’re not worth much in that world and they have no idea how rich they can make us here,” she wrung her hands on her skirt.
“Okay, I’ve been researching, looking for something going on we could take care of,” Christian put his book on the coffee table in front of us and flipped through the pages to one of his many sticky-noted bookmarks, “The Children of Hamelin,” he said.
“Wait, Hamelin, why do I think I’ve heard that before?” I asked.
“It’s a story we’ve all heard, and not just in Mrs. Pate’s class, it’s more commonly known as the story of the Pied Piper,” Christian said.
“The Pied Piper, the guy who flushes all the rats out of town, and then the town doesn’t pay him-” Susie interrupted me and finished the story.
“Then he comes back and kidnaps all the children, that’s the easy job you think we should take?”
“Yeah, can you think of something more heroic then rescuing a bunch of kids, according to the story the Pied Piper whisked all the kids away. If we track him down and rescue the children, I’m sure the town will reward us, they’ve obviously learned their lesson about stiffing the hired help,” Christian said.
“How would we stop him? I mean, isn’t he magic or something,” Susie said.
“Susie, he plays a flute, and we’re not children and we’re not rats, I think that the three of us with a little muscle and showing off our weapons and that we mean business, I think we can save those kids,” Christian said.
“That is a good point, it is just a guy with a flute,” Brad said, stroking his chin, “Save a bunch of kids, I think got to say yes, I think my conscience is making me,” he nodded.
“How would we even find this city Hamelin, much less wherever the Piper took the kids?” I asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that, it’s hard to explain but while it looks like we land the same place every time we jump in the lake, and we do, the world seems to kind of move around the lake. The last time I went I thought to myself I wanted to see what a real city looked like Somewhere Else, somewhere bigger and more populous than a simple village, and low and behold, just a short walk in a slightly different direction then that first town I found, I came across the city of Godsburg. That’s where I met Goldilocks, she was in the city shopping for her bridal arrangements and I came across her in one of the city’s pubs,” Christian said, “This sounds crazy, I know, but I think if we just think real hard once we get there that we want to go to Hamelin, and just walk in a random direction, set on our quest to find the city, I don’t think it will take long to get there.”
Susie shook her head, “A we seriously sitting in a high school library and debating the physics of a freaking fantasy world?” she asked.
“The word is they promised to pay the piper a good deal of gold, if we get as much as they were going to give him for bringing the children back, that could be a year of college…for each of us,” Christian said, “And more importantly,” he sat up, straightening his shoulders, “There’s kids in danger, some creepy flutist comes and takes them all away who knows where, doing who knows what to them, it’s our duty to save them, our duty as good people who can make a difference,” Christian said.
“I’m in,” I said, not thinking things all the way through, “To save the kids,” I nodded again, giving Christian’s plan my stamp of approval.
“Save the kids and get that gold,” Brad rubbing his hands together, “We’re going to be heroes, what do you think Susie?” we all looked to her.
She took a deep breath and sighed, “You really think we can save some kids? You really think we can really do this?” she asked again.
“I do, everyone looks at us like we’re some kind of great warriors, traveling knights from the far-off land of Nebraska of all places,” a grin I wouldn’t have thought it capable of came across Christian’s face, “Let’s be heroes,” he said, “Let’s be damn heroes,” he laughed.
