Shadow (Chapter 1: Party Time?)

Five children walked through their neighborhood under a mysterious sunset. It was 5:59 p.m. on an ordinary Friday in October. Come to think of it, all the days in the past week or so had been ordinary.

No announcements at school.

No meals other than tuna fish sandwiches.

No interesting events.

“Guys, what are we doing again?” asked five-year-old Lidia who was wearing a cowgirl costume.

“Haven’t we explained this a million times already?” moaned nine-year-old Aron. He was dressed up as an explorer.

Josiah, Aron’s eight-year-old best friend, nodded in agreement. He had made his policeman costume all by himself and wanted to show it off to at least one person.

“We got that letter and are going to the party!” he exclaimed. “And they said bring costumes and—"

“Josiah,” his thirteen-year-old sister, Abigail, said. “Lidia won’t understand if you explain it like that!”

Eszter, who was also thirteen, nodded. She was dressed up as a pixie, and Abigail was dressed as a gardener.

“Lidia,” Eszter said. “We got that invitation in the mail that invited us to a kids’ costume party for our neighborhood."

“Which is weird because we are the only kids who live in our neighborhood," Aron pointed out.

“Well, yeah, except for Hannah. The invitation Josiah and I got included her, but as usual, she didn’t want to come,” Abigail added.

Eszter, Aron, and Lidia were siblings, as were Abigail and Josiah. Hannah was Abigail and Josiah’s ten-year-old sister, but she had chosen to stay behind.

“Yes,” Eszter said. “Anyway, the invitation told us to go to 223 Willow Lane.”

“That’s Mr. Fern’s house,” Abigail clarified.

Mr. Fern was a rather interesting neighbor of theirs. The children had never seen him in person, but the plaque on his door clearly read, “Albert Fern.”

There were many signs of life around his house, like strange decorations that changed every season.

The children were looking forward to meeting him.

“And what will happen next?” asked Lidia, adjusting the pink bow on her brown cowgirl hat.

“Well, we’re going to the party now,” said Abigail. “Who knows what will happen next?”

“Okay,” said Lidia.

“Wasn’t it weird that our parents pretended not to know anything about the weekend?” Eszter asked the others.

“Yes, I know!” Abigail exclaimed. “My dad even told me to go to school on Saturday! Or, at least, I thought it was Saturday. Because we ended up actually going to school. All of my classmates were there, too. Except they all acted like it was normal. Well, in hindsight, I was probably just confused.”

“That exact same thing happened to us, too!” Aron cried. “I thought it was Saturday.”

It was true. Before the children had left to go to the costume party, their parents had acted as if the weekend didn’t exist.

The past few days had all been exactly the same: They went to school, came home from school, and went to bed. They hadn’t noticed it until now, but the children felt that there was something wrong. Not just with their parents, but with all the people around them.

“Oh, look!” Eszter said, breaking the silence. “There’s Mr. Fern’s house!”

The door was open. Thinking this was a sign to enter, the group walked inside. The walls of the house looked somewhat old, with cobwebs and portraits hanging every few feet. The floor creaked with every step, and there was a musty smell throughout the entire house.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Josiah wondered out loud.

Eszter pulled out her diary, which she and Abigail shared, and studied the page with the invitation. “Yes, unless there is a misprint.”

After strolling down a long, dark corridor, the children came across a strange-looking lady who was dressed in a red and gold uniform.

“Who are you?” she asked. “Wait, are you the new servants we just hired to guard the Eye?”

“The Eye? What’s that?” Abigail asked.

Before the lady could respond, Lidia spoke. “Are you Mr. Fern’s wife?” she asked.

The lady stared at them with a confused, then alarmed look in her eyes. Then she bolted away without a word.

“Hey, come back!” shouted Lidia. “Are you Mrs. Fern or not?”

They chased after her, but she was too fast. Eventually, the children gave up and sat down on the dusty floor, panting.

Then, suddenly, a man in a wizard costume emerged from the direction the strange lady had run. The lady in the uniform sheepishly followed the wizard. The children stared.

“Hello, my friends,” the wizard said. “You have been chosen to find the Secret Red Eye.”

“What in the world is the Secret Red Eye?” asked Aron, his voice filled with suspicion. “I thought we were supposed to be at a costume party.”

“To know what the Secret Red Eye is, you must first know what this is,” said the man in the costume, producing a case from his cloak. It was slightly bigger than an eyeglasses case. He opened it.

The inside looked similar to a jewelry case, except much bigger. There were two slots carved out of the foam. One held a striking ruby that was in an oval shape. The other slot was empty.

“This is the Sacred Red Eye,” the wizard said.

“The jewel?” Lidia asked.

“Yes, this ruby right here. Your task is to find its sister, the Secret Red Eye.”

“And why should we help you?” asked Aron, clearly annoyed. “I want a party, not some weird adventure with ruby eyeballs!”

“But are you Mr. Fern’s wife?” asked Lidia, addressing the servant.

The wizard chuckled. “This is my helper and wizard in training, Wanda,” he said, motioning to the girl in the uniform. “I technically am Mr. Fern. That’s not my real name, just my cover name, here on Earth,” he said.

“You come from somewhere other than earth? Where?!” Abigail exclaimed.

The wizard’s expression became amused, and he said, “You will find out the place I am from soon.”

“Probably Mars,” Aron commented. “And you forgot about my question,” he told the wizard.

The wizard began to respond, but Aron interrupted. “And to answer your question, Aron—”

“How did you know my name?!” Aron cried.

The wizard ignored this comment and said, “You should help us because Shadow will take away the fun of every single day until you do. And the party was just an excuse for you folks to come here.”

“Who’s Shadow?” Abigail asked.

“The fun of every day?” Aron asked.

“So, there’s no costume party?” Lidia asked, looking a bit upset.

The wizard sighed. “Here, sit down, and I’ll explain everything.”

“There are no chairs,” Josiah rudely pointed out.

The wizard simply waved his hand, and a few old stools materialized out of thin air.

The children gaped. Something told them that this man wasn’t just a fool in a costume. The kids sat down on the stools and listened carefully as the wizard told them the story of Alexander and the Two Eyes.

“Long ago, before you were born,” he began, “there was a poor little blind boy named Alexander, and his parents were the best thieves in the entire world.”

“Thieves?!” exclaimed Lidia. “They stole things?!”

“Yes, unfortunately,” said the wizard. “At some point, Alexander’s parents managed to steal two very powerful rubies. The gems were called ‘The Secret Red Eye’ and ‘The Sacred Red Eye,’ named for their oval-like shape. They were on display at a wizard school that I once attended. I run that school now.”

“You run a wizard school?!” Aron exclaimed. “Yes,” the wizard said dismissively. Then, he continued. "The gems contained very powerful magic that helped many young wizards like myself to find their magic. They had allowed me and others to cast very strong spells. The two jewels also enabled their possessers to shapeshift into practically anything they wanted. One day, the two thieves left Alexander at home while they went out to rob a restaurant.

“A restaurant!?” Aron exclaimed. “Was it McDonald’s? Because if I were a thief, I would totally go to McDonald’s and steal all of their cheeseburgers!”

“McDonald’s? What’s that?” the wizard asked, genuinely confused.

“Never mind,” Abigail said, waving it off. “Keep going.”

The wizard nodded. “Anyway, Alexander’s parents left the two gems at their cottage while they were robbing the restaurant. Alexander was just a toddler back then, so he couldn’t yet distinguish what was edible and what was not, especially since he was blind. Upon discovering the rubies, Alexander gulped them down, thinking they were sweets.”

“Did he choke?!” Lidia asked, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“No,” the wizard replied. “The gems recognized his blindness and shapeshifted into his eyes. Suddenly, Alexander could see! His eyes were blood-red, but he didn’t mind; he was too busy laughing happily. Even thieves have a spark of kindness, for his parents allowed him to keep the gems.

But after he turned ten, Alexander’s parents got arrested and thrown into jail for life. Alexander got sent to an orphanage, where he was allowed to roam around the village, but no further. I decided not to take out the eyes, for I felt pity for the boy. But, soon enough, Alexander discovered what power he had with his two red eyes. At first he used his magic wisely. But then, he began to slip toward the darkness. It started when he turned a boy into a mindless frog.”

“I hate frogs,” Aron interjected.

The wizard ignored him and continued. “I gave him a warning that if he continued his wicked ways, I would remove the eyes, and he would be blind again. But he didn’t listen. Instead, he got worse. Alexander created an immortal werewolf that still terrorizes people to this day. Eventually, I knew he must be stopped. I cast a spell on Alexander to remove his eyes, but the spell was only strong enough to dislodge one. Alexander replaced the Sacred Red Eye, which was the one taken out, with an ordinary eye that could do nothing except turn red. He calls himself Shadow now. Shadow is always in the form of a black—well—shadow, which is the only form in which Alexander can shoot fireballs.”

“Fireballs?!” Lidia cried.

“Yes,” the wizard answered. “Fireballs. No more interruptions, please. Now, where was I? Oh, of course! The most important fact of all! Alexander can still shapeshift, but now there is one thing that gives him away, since he needs both gems to shapeshift perfectly.”

“What is it?” asked Aron.

“Oh, so you are interested,” teased Eszter.

The wizard cleared his throat and continued. “The thing that gives him away is his tears. They are blood red. You must defeat him and bring back the Secret Red Eye, for my sources tell me that if you don’t stop him soon, the uniqueness of each day will be gone forever.”

“What do you mean, the difference in every day?” asked Aron. “There isn’t any difference between yesterday and tomorrow.”

“No, not anymore,” the wizard agreed. “But as you should know, before Shadow placed the curse, there were weekends and holidays and tiny little things and events that made each day special,” said the wizard.

“I guess that’s true,” admitted Aron. Then he thought some more. “What curse?”

“Every human except for you folks is under a very powerful curse from Shadow that makes them do the same thing every single day. To defeat him, you must discover his weakness, which no one knows yet,” the wizard said. “Here, to help you complete your task, I will enchant some of your costumes’ accessories."

Aron had a golden compass that had come with his explorer costume. The wizard muttered a few incantations under his breath and then said,

“This compass will now point you to Shadow’s lair.”

He gave a skeptical glance at Lidia’s flimsy lasso. After whispering a few more magical words, he told her, “I have made this rope unbreakable. Use it to pull your friends out of trouble.”

His eyes lit up when he spotted Josiah's Nerf gun prop. “Wow, what luck!” he exclaimed. He enchanted the toy, then said, “This is now a functioning blaster.” The wizard raised his eyebrows at Josiah. “Be extremely careful. There’s only one projectile inside. It is magical; if you hit something living, it will turn into butterflies. If you hit something inanimate, it will explode. Use this bullet wisely. I don't have many to spare.”

“Butterflies?!” Josiah protested. “But that’s so girly! Can you make them wasps instead?!”

“Wasps?!” Lidia exclaimed. “I don’t like wasps! They sting! They’re so scary!”

“But butterflies are so yucky! They’re pink!” Josiah said.

“Not all of them,” Aron added.

The wizard cleared his throat and took a small bottle out of Eszter’s pocket. It was filled with purple glitter, something that the other girls had persuaded her to bring along.

“Oh, that came with my pixie costume,” she informed him. The wizard said nothing but a few magic words. The glitter vanished, and the bottle suddenly filled with a deep purple liquid.

“This is a healing potion,” he said. "You will need to use it, mark my words.”

Eszter studied it. “It looks so magical,” she said.

Finally, the wizard examined Abigail’s trowel, which was a prop for her gardener costume. He charmed the small shovel with his words of sorcery and then looked up and said, “This small trowel can now dig faster than any shovel on earth.”

“Woah, thanks!” she said.

The wizard nodded. “You should start off on your journey now. Time to go!” With that, he vanished into thin air.

“So, how does this thing work?” Aron asked, fingering the compass. “Oh, look—it's spinning!” he exclaimed.

The five crowded around the compass. Suddenly, it came to a stop.

“Let’s go!” declared Lidia.

The group went in the direction the compass was pointing. They exited Mr. Fern’s house through the back door. “Whoa…” the children marveled.

The area surrounding the house looked completely different from when they had entered.

“Must be magic, or something like that,” said Josiah.

“That or this is the world the wizard comes from!” exclaimed Abigail. “Well, probably both.”

The grass was a healthy green, and there were a few tall trees that had sprung up. The sun was setting in a vibrant array of gold, pink, and crimson. It made the landscape appear to be glowing.

Everyone was taking in their surroundings, that is until a scream interrupted them.

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

The scream had come from Josiah. “There’s SHADOW!” he yelled.

Lidia and Aron screamed.

Josiah hastily pulled out his pistol and fired at a tree.

The tree exploded into butterflies.

To Josiah’s dismay, they were all bright pink.

“Josiah!!!” Eszter shouted. “That was only the shadow of that tree over there! You wasted our one and only bullet! I can’t believe this! That bullet was magical, too. I remember because I wrote that down in my diary.”

“Seriously, Josiah?!” Abigail snapped.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“Well, it wasn’t Josiah’s fault!” exclaimed Aron, who always wanted to stick up for his friend, which was a good thing—except when it wasn’t. “Besides, those are some pretty neat butterflies.”

Eszter shook her head sadly.

“I’m scared,” said Lidia. “I want to go home.”

“Sorry, Lidia,” said Eszter, “there’s no going back now.”

“Hey, check this out!”

Aron and Josiah had discovered something.

“Look, it’s a tunnel!” shouted Josiah.

“Yeah, the compass is pointing right into it!” Aron added.

The boys were right. They stood in front of a stone tunnel, resembling a drainage pipe, but a bit bigger. At the top of the tunnel, there was a sign that said, “To The Subterranean Plains.”

“Who’s that little red guy?” asked Abigail.

“I, as a matter of fact, am the Task Troll,” said a small red man who was standing in front of the stone tunnel. “I have just one task for you all to complete, and when you do, I’ll let you go into the tunnel.”

“Okay, well, what’s the task?” asked Eszter. “I need you to dig a hole as deep as… you!” The Task Troll pointed at Lidia, who was around four feet tall. “Sorry,” he said, “but I only have a chopstick for you to dig with.”

The kids sighed, knowing this task would take a long time.

Aron picked up the chopstick and began scraping at the har earth with no luck.

The others tried picking at the dirt with their fingers.

Five minutes passed.

Suddenly, Abigail remembered something. “That’s okay,” she said, reaching into her backpack. “I have this trowel!”

Abigail shoved the small shovel into the dirt, and it magically dug the hole by itself. All Abigail had to do was grip the handle. The Task Troll watched in horror —and the kids in pure amazement—as the trowel cut through the dirt in seconds.

“Wait! Wait!” the troll called, but it was too late.

She had finished digging.

“That’s not allowed!” he cried.

“Why not?” asked Aron.

“BECAUSE YOU NEED TO USE THE CHOPSTICK!!!” he screeched.

Little did the children know that the Task Troll was in league with Shadow, and if it weren’t for Abigail’s trowel, they would never have finished the task.

“Geez, no need to get so upset,” Josiah muttered.

The children slipped past the fuming troll who was so consumed by his tantrum that he didn’t even notice them leave.

They were finally in the tunnel. The group crawled through the cold, stone hole. But, after a while, a small trickle of water began running between their legs.

“My pants are getting wet,” complained Lidia.

“You’re not the only one,” replied Aron.

The small trickle wasn't so small after a bit. The water rose higher every minute, until Abigail had to hoist Lidia onto her shoulders to help her stay above the surface.

That was when the group noticed a giant wave coming towards them. Lidia screamed. The wave swept them into three separate shafts.

“Help!” shouted Aron. The girls got washed down the third tunnel, while Aron was swept away in the first. Josiah ended up in the second one.

Their screams faded away as they slid down the tunnels. Nobody had noticed the small flicker of light as they fell. But someone had heard their shouts and knew why they were there.

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