The Golden Band (7th Grade Edition)

Chapter Six -- Return to Golendria

No one spoke as they awed the Band. It seemed to stretch out forever, separating the earth. Golendria wasn't much farther.

"It's beautiful," I cried. "It looks like something that jumped right out of a book."

It did. The sun reflected on the lakes, turning them golden. The flowers were so many different kinds and colors, you couldn't describe one of them. Beyond Golendria was a forest of mahogany trees. I could see the shadow of the dark, gloomy trees.

Don't worry about that now, I said to myself as I looked out over the golden pond.

We soon arrived and were gladly welcomed. More elves, fairies, gnomes and leprechauns than I had ever seen swarmed around us. We were soon greeted by the joyful shouts of the land. It was a wonderful sight, but I still couldn't get the forest out of my mind.

Something was very wrong.

The people of Golendria were obviously very glad to see us. They had prepared a feast for us as quick as mice. We went into the great hall, appearing to be nothing more than a seventeen-foot-tall mushroom. Inside, a long mahogany table was laid out. On the table were the most delicious entrees I had ever seen. There were three plump, juicy turkeys with butter and savory seasonings seeping through the skin. The steak was thick, tender, juicy, and had just the right amount of texture. The venison was cooked to a tender perfection. There were five bowls piled high with light, fluffy mashed potatoes topped with real, dripping butter. There were two bowls of ripe, juicy peaches, pears, apples and bananas on each end of the table. The vegetable salads had crisp, crunchy lettuce with juicy, red rips tomatoes. It also had a thick homemade buttermilk dressing on the top.

I couldn't stand it any longer. I hadn't eaten since we picked up Trixie.

I pigged out.

My stomach was almost filled to the top when they brought out plates full of chilled desserts. There were many ice creams and cakes. The one that I got was a delicious, sweet strawberry shortcake.

When my stomach was about to burst, they showed us to our rooms. I had the room right next to Silver. When we found them, I had some free time. I decided to stay in my room. I lay down on the bed with a book and rested my feet on the stained wall.

Something moved.

I looked under the bed and in the closet cupboard. Nothing was there. I sat in the exact place on the bed I had been before. I put my feet on the wall again. I heard the screeching movement again.

There was a panel in the wall!

I slid the panel off and laid it on the floor. The panel was just big enough for me to crawl inside. Behind it was a dark tunnel.

I feel like Alice in Wonderland, I thought. "It's too dark in here," I said. "I need some light." As soon as I had thought of it, a candle appeared in my hand.

I led my way through the tunnel until I reached some sort of descending stairs. "Maybe this is the way out of here," I said, after losing my way through the tunnel. I climbed down the long flight of stairs, seeming to last forever. When I finally reached the bottom, I was surprised. I was standing in a room with five tunnels!

I searched around. All of the tunnels looked exactly the same, except one. That tunnel looked as if it had a light source at the end. I slowly followed the tunnel, making sure I remembered every twist and turn.

The walked seemed to last longer than the flight of stairs. It was a small, rocky tunnel that twisted on and on. There were many little slimy creatures oozing out of the walls.

As I walked on, the light seemed to grow brighter. There were enough luminous mushrooms to light the way.

Suddenly, something ran across the path in front of me. It was a rat!

I screamed and ran straight ahead, not looking where I was going. I ran right into a wall!

I fell on the ground and blacked out for a moment. Then I sat up dizzily. I slowly got up off the ground. I felt like I had bruised every part of my body. I turned my head to where I thought I had come from.

There was a wall!

I turned then to where I could have come from. There was a wall there too!

I brushed myself off. Suddenly, the rat came up to me. I decided to do something really stupid.

"Mister rat," I asked curiously, "do you know where I came from?"

"I thought you would ask that," the rat said.

"You can talk!" I exclaimed. "How come you didn't talk to me before?"

"I always speak when I'm spoken to," he said. "My name is Gabriel and yes, I do know a way out of here."

He led me through a wall of moss and through many passageways. Finally, we ended up in a strange room.

"Funny," I said. "I never remembered this before."

There were bookshelves everywhere. There was also a candle lit. That was where the light came from. Then I saw a strange figure in the corner of the room. It was a man lying face down on the couch!