Shannon D.

The Enchanted Chapel

“So may God be with you. Amen.”

“Amen.”

Soft music started to play while people rose and left.

“May I go explore the chapel now, Mother?” asked a little boy. He was about ten years old with blond hair and freckles scattered over his pale face.

“It’s okay with me, Charley. Why don’t you go ask the pastor?” said his mother.

“Excuse me, Pastor,” Charley said to the tall man standing beside him, “May I please explore the chapel, sir?”

“Be careful. You never know what you might find.” The pastor winked, then walked away.

Charley climbed up the steep, twisted, red staircase. Each step creaked as soon as he put his little bit of weight on it. When he saw the small room held up by the endless stairs, the boy gasped.

“I went up all those stairs for nothing,” Charley said to the almost empty room.

The only thing left in the room was a rickety, old rocking chair with designs carved into the tan surface.

“While I’m up here I might as well sit down,” Charley said to himself.

The ancient chair groaned when he crawled on. The boy got comfortable then closed his eyes. A teenager, about sixteen, wearing a golden crown with bright jewels surrounding it, was fighting an animal that was part dragon, part lion. It had the body, tail, and wings of a dragon. It also had the head and legs of a lion. Charley opened his eyes and saw the same picture really happening.

“Help me, boy,” shouted the teenager to the boy.

“How?” Charley yelled back.

“Use this,” said the teenager, throwing the ten-year-old a scroll.

“How?” he screamed again.

“Think!”

Charley thought of a golden river and opened the scroll. He touched the picture of the river then rubbed the golden water off his fingers.

“Cool!”

A couple of seconds later, he opened the scroll again and licked the handful of ice cream he took out of the scroll.

“Yum!”

“Hello! Are you going to help or are you just going to eat that ice cream?” asked the sixteen-year-old.

“Oh, right,” said Charley.

He thought of a sword and tried to scare off the dragon-lion. It blew fire on the sword, but the sword held strong. The big animal flew off when the blond-haired boy was about to throw his only weapon at it. The dragon-lion was confused and didn’t know what the sword could do. Once the animal left, the teenager with the jeweled crown said, “You fought that ‘liogan’ very well. What’s your name?”

“Charley. What’s yours?” asked Charley.

“I am Prince Mason from Middlefield Mountains. Where are you from?” asked the Prince.

“Georgia,” said Charley

“Charley,” said Prince Mason. “A brave lad like yourself deserves to show his abilities with a quest from royalty. Why don’t you come to my castle to receive a quest from the king and queen?”

“I’m not sure. I should be getting back to my mother,” Charley answered.

“Please, boy, we are in desperate need. Come ride on my horse with me,” Prince Mason said.

“All right. I guess I could come,” said Charley unsurely.

Prince Mason helped the boy onto the large, saddled horse. Then he climbed up himself and forced the horse into a trot.

“How far away is your castle,” Charley asked as they circled around the cherry blossom tree.

“It’s just over this hill,” Prince Mason answered as they came up to a small hill surrounded by bright, colored trees.

The prince and the boy arrived at the gold and orange castle as the sun was beginning to rise and the morning mist was still cool.

“Here we are,” announced Prince Mason.

“Wow! It’s very big,” said Charley, quietly.

After Prince Mason gave his horse to the stable boy, he and Charley entered the castle. In the dining room, the king and queen were sitting down at the table. The queen’s eyes were red and she was crying. The king was trying to calm her down.

“Hello, Mason. Who is that young boy beside you?” asked the King.

“That, Father, is a brave lad who should be given the quest,” answered Prince Mason.

“My name is Charley,” he told the King.

“Hello, Charley,” greeted the King again. “Our youngest daughter, Amy, was kidnapped and hidden by our oldest daughter, Jenna. Jenna was always mad that people liked Amy more than her, so she got rid of Amy. We need you to bring her back to us, safely. She is guarded by one, very hungry liogan, the dark forest, and a locked tower. Be careful. Mason will go with you.”

“Please hurry. She has been gone for days, and I need to make sure she is all right,” said the Queen between sobs.

“Let’s go,” demanded Prince Mason.

The two courageous people left the castle and headed to the forest. The two saw the liogan right in front of the forest.

“Let’s use the scroll,” suggested Charley.

“Good idea,” said Prince Mason.

Charley thought of the sword that could scare off the liogan. He opened the scroll and took out the sword. Charley flung the sword at the liogan. It blew fire at it, but the liogan didn’t leave after the sword flew back to Charley. It wasn’t scared like the first liogan. Instead he tried to burn Charley and Prince Mason.

They ducked and the liogan missed every time. Charley tried to stab the liogan, but it wouldn’t budge. Charley jumped on top of the liogan, hoping to stab it behind its head. The liogan moved, forcing Charley to fall. After Prince Mason and Charley tried everything else they could think of to get rid of the liogan, the hungry animal ate the shining sword because he could wait no longer for the humans. There was a bright light circling the liogan and he disappeared in a flash.

“What happened?” asked Charley.

“I’m not sure,’ answered the confused Prince. “But let’s go before he comes back.”

They entered the dark forest. When Charley was jumping over a fallen log, a big bird swooped down and swiped the scroll in its talons.

“Hey, give that back,” shouted Charley.

Charley ran after the bird. When the giant bird flew up a tree, Charley tried to follow, but he wasn’t good at climbing trees.

“I’ll try,” offered Prince Mason.

He climbed up the tree and found the bird. The bird was hiding in a nook in the tree, too small for the prince. Charley found some spots to place his feet when he tried to climb the tree again. Charley was about to fall when he lifted his hands, so he swung his leg over the closest tree branch to force himself to sit. Once he was ready, Charley climbed up the rest of the tree. When he got up, the boy ventured into the small hole. The bird tried to hit him, so Charley held the bird’s beak shut while he snatched the scroll. He and Prince Mason slid down the bumpy, crooked tree together.

“Nice work,” commented Charley.

“Thanks.”

Prince Mason and Charley searched the forest until they found the tower.

“We need a key,’ said Prince Mason pointing to a lock.

“Try this,” Charley said, shoving the end of the scroll into the lock, after a minute of thinking.

The door opened with a screech.

“You came!” shouted a girl in the tower, ”Thank goodness. I’ve been trying to open that door for days. I’m so happy to see you.”

“Amy!” said Prince Mason. “Let’s get you home.”

After introducing Amy to Charley, the threesome arrived at the castle and went into the dining room.

“You found her!” shouted the Queen and King.

While they hugged her and greeted her, Charley spotted the same rocking chair that was in the chapel.

“Excuse me. May I sit in that chair?” asked Charley.

“Yes, but let me reward you first,” said the Queen, giving him a shining silver medal.

”Thanks,” Charley said, looking at the medal as he sat in the rocking chair.

He closed his eyes, imagined the chapel, opened them, and he was there.

“I’m back,” screamed Charley.

He ran down the stairs and told his mother all about his journey.

“That’s nice,” said his mother questioningly. “Let’s go home. I think you should rest … after that adventure.”

On their way out, the pastor grinned.