Alex

Laurella was paralyzed with fear. As the fairy was talking to her, she tried to think of a plan to escape but could not. When it came time to make her decision, she simply paused for a moment and then fled as fast as her legs could carry her. “Stop her! She knows about the labs!” she heard one of the fairies saying behind her. Even so, many elves began pursuing her in a zombie-like fashion. They might have run after her, but the chains around their ankles prevented much movement. A beam of bright red light whizzed above Laurella’s shoulder and she quickly looked back to see the fairies casting spells in her direction with magic wands. Fortunately she reached the edge of the forest from which she had emerged unharmed moments earlier. Almost out of breath, she could not let up in her escape. She crashed over fallen branches and through streams, scurried across boulders and in her haste finally tripped on a root and fell. As she got up and looked around, she could tell Crystal Forest was changing. What before had been a lovely painting of the sun cast through dew-dropped trees had become a dark wood of frightening, gnarled trees and giant mushrooms with sinister noises of animals lurking in the shadows. Laurella heard a crash behind her a ways and turned to see Begonia pursuing her. But Begonia had changed too. Instead of a welcoming winged fairy, there was now a giant, brutish ogre with hardly any of her original traits. When Laurella saw this she almost let out a scream but clasped her hand over her mouth. She darted behind a large rock and cautiously peered around the side. The fairy was still there, and it was sniffing the air to trace Laurella’s scent. Suddenly it looked straight at her, and Laurella began sprinting through the forest once more. She soon became hopelessly lost, however, in these new woods she didn’t recognize. Scarcely looking where she was going, she ran into someone headfirst. “Gregory!” she exclaimed. “Laurella, thank goodness I’ve found you!” he said in reply. “Come with me, I know the way out of here.” And so, the two of them swiftly made their way out of the forest. The fairy, now easily following the scent of two children, tracked them more quickly than ever before, and was almost within arms reach of them as the two children saw the light where the trees ended. The fairy snatched at Gregory’s arm, but he just managed to wriggle away as the two burst into the sunlight. Holding hands, they tumbled onto soft grass, once again in Laurella’s back yard. Preparing for the worst, they looked into the trees behind them, but the fairy was shrinking back into the depths and before long it was out of sight. The forest was returning to its peaceful, pure self as well. Before long all they could hear was the brook and birds that had always been there. Laurella’s mom came out of the house with a tray of cucumber cheese sandwiches and lemonade. “Had an adventurous morning?” she inquired. But Laurella and Gregory just looked at each other and took a sandwich each, still trying to catch their breath. They knew no one would ever believe them anyway.

=**THE END**=