Young Writers Society

Thomas awoke in a thick forest, surrounded on all sides by thick-trunked trees and different animals. He could see a path far to his left, and heard the sound of a nearby brook. It was a peaceful environment that might have been very enjoyable and relaxing under different circumstances, but Thomas felt only panic.

How had he gotten here? What was going on? Was this a dream? No, it couldn't be; it was all so vivid and alive. Most of his dreams weren't even in color, and these colors seemed to be abnormally bright,- it was like he had been wearing sunglasses all his life and had just now taken them off for the first time and was experiencing the real color of the world.

Looking around, hHe saw no signs of anyone after scanning his surroundings. He wandered towards the road and started to walk along it, resolving to go as far as he could until he found some sort of civilization. He hadn't been asleep that long, What if you add quotation marks and italicize this since it sounds like he is thinking to himself? he reasonedtold himself. He couldn't have gone far, but he didn't know which states had thick forests.

He started to become more concerned. What if he had been kidnapped? Had his parents taken him here? He had no idea what was going on, and he had never been in these woods before. There weren't very many woods in Iowa to begin with, and how had he not woken up when someone had to strap him into a car or an airplane?

As soon as he stepped onto the road, Didn't it say he was walking along it two paragraphs above? he heard some heavy footsteps approaching. Fearing it wasthat it may be his possible kidnappers, he decided to hide so they couldn't take him farther away from home. He scanned the area frantically for any suitable hiding place, and eventually settled on a bush a few yards away from the road. He dove in, headfirst, Uhh, I don't think it was necessary to dive into a bush headfirst. Maybe you could change that. and pulled the rest of his body in until he was completely enclosed by the prickly green branches. Ouch!

As the footsteps drew nearer, Thomas' curiosity got the better of him, and he peeked out above the bush. Don't look Thomas! Being curious in a fantasy story never turns out well! He then saw what could only be described as an army drawing closer to him.

They were walking in a strange formation, 4 What about you write out the numbers, like replace "4" with "four"? Just a suggestion. You don't have to do it. men wide and lines going back as far as Thomas could see. They were all wearing white uniforms with a yellow crescent on the right breast and sailor-like cap, and all marched in a hypnotizing, perfect rhythm. That was strange. Thomas didn't know of any armies nearby that had that uniform. Maybe they would help him. They were theseemed to be from a government,. aAfter all, and they certainly looked official.

Thomas crawled out of the bush and approached one of the soldiers. The second he moved, a dozen of them swiveled and drew their guns, all pointing them at Thomas. Thomas raised his hands in surrender and gulped nervously.

"I.. I mean no harm," he stammered.

"Halt! Who are you?" one of them shouted, shoving That's not nice. *pouts* the other soldiers out of the way as he walked towards Thomas. Judging by the way he carried himself and the badge on his uniform, Thomas assumed he was some sort of commander.

"I am Thomas Murphy, from Iowa, and I mean no harm, I mean no harm," Thomas repeated.

"Iowa? What strange land is that? It is not familiar to me," the soldier answered.

"What do you mean?" Thomas was incredibly confused. How did this man not know what Iowa was?

“It's in the United States,” Thomas offered. Doing quick calculations in his head, he resolved that he could possibly be in a different country, where they might only know the United States and not each individual state. Rip Thomas you're stuck in an alternative world.

"Listen, boy, if you are a thief, you can be honest with me, and we will spare you. If you cannot answer even this basicsuch a simple question honestly, what is to show that you will answer my other questions honestly? That gives me enough of a reason to shoot you right now." Wow, that's very strict. The man leveled his gun at Thomas.

"What seems to be the holdup I think there's supposed to be a space between "hold" and "up". here, Lieutenant Aplex?" another voice called. A tall man walked between the ranks, and even the Lieutenant faltered in his presence.

"Nothing, General. We have come across a scoundrel hiding in the bushes, most likely planning an attack on our army. I think they're overreacting. Maybe you could change it to "possibly planning an attack on our army" Permission to shoot him?"

"Permission not granted, Lieutenant. Have some patience. Who are you, boy, and where do you come from?" asked the general

Thomas grew frustrated. "I am Thomas Murphy, and I come from a land called Iowa."

"Iowa? I am not familiar with that territory." The general furrowed his brow in confusion.

"See what I mean, General? He is clearly a lying scumbag," Lieutenant Aplex cut in.

"Give the poor boy a chance to speak, man," the general snapped. "Do you have any weapons, Hah, it's funny he asks since he just orders to search him anyways. and where are you headed?" he asked Thomas.

"I am wandering the lands looking for work," Thomas answered. "And no, I am completely unarmed."

"Hmm. Search him all the same, Lieutenant," the general instructed.

Lieutenant Aplex obliged gladly, thoroughly patting Thomas down and even sticking his hand in Thomas' shoes to make sure he wasn't hiding anything. "He's clean, General," Lieutenant Aplex reported.

"Very well, then. You may travel with us, boy, but you will be walking in the middle. If you cannot keep up, you will be left behind. And You shouldn't start a sentence with "and". (I forgot when but I learned it at some point in school lol) wWe will drop you off in the next town we come across and wish you the best of luck. After that, we are not responsible for your safety,. Iis that clear, boy?"

"Yes, General. Thank you." Thomas bowed his head, as he assumed it was respectful.

"General, may I have a word in private, please?" Lieutenant Aplex requested, glaring suspiciously at Thomas. Thomas returned the look, trying to convey his refusal to back down while making it clear that he had no violent intentions. Judging by the look on the Lieutenant's face, he had come across as a little too threatening.

"Certainly. Step this way, please." the general led Lieutenant Aplex to a small clearing about 100 Replace "100" with "hundred"? yards from the road.

Thomas slipped away from the group and hid behind a tree to listen in on their conversation. He made certain to conceal himself and strained to hear the discussion.

"I just don't believe you're beingit is a wise decision to takeing this boy with you. I just edited this sentence to seem more formal He is either not mentally stable and possibly delusional, or a deceptive urchin with some malicious intent. I don't understand why you would risk the safety of your men and the security of this army for some worthless peasant," Lieutenant Aplex protested.

"I understand your concerns, Lieutenant, and I need you to trust that I would not knowingly put the army in any danger unless I judged it was worth the cause. This boy is weaponless and clearly incapable of remaining hiddenharming us. I just thought remaining hidden part just sounded off so maybe it would be better to say "harming us" He has nodoesn't seem to have enough skills to be an successful assassin or really anything successful. Plus, I know what it's like to have nowhere to turn Did you mean this part as in "nothing to rely on"? I think you need to be a little more clear.. It won'twouldn't hurt us to just drag him with us to Bajilk, then just dump him there. Besides, who knows? WMaybe we could convince him to join our cause, and you know just as well as I do that we need all the fighting hands we can get," the general reasoned.

"As you wish, sir." the Lieutenant bowed his head, and. After the conversation had seemed to have ended, Thomas scurried back up the hill back to where the soldiers had been positioned. He thought he had been very sneakyquite stealthy, and was feeling quite proud of himself whenuntil the general came up behind him. If you say "when", I think it could be mistaken as that he was proud at the time when the general was behind him, which is probably not the case.

"Why were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" he asked casually, as if he was talking about the weather or who won the sports game last night.

Thomas felt his face go red, and heard some of the other soldiers snicker. "I.. I wasn't."

"There's no point in lying, young man from Ee-oh-wah. Why were you eavesdropping?"

"I'm.. sorry. I just wanted to hear what you had to say," Thomas faltered.

"Even though it was no concern of yours?"

"I.. I thought you might be talking about me." Thomas was on the verge of tears, Why would he cry over something so trivial? Or is he supposed to have a fragile personality? and the general seemed to sense that. Thomas shifted his position, and a ray of sunlight illuminated his face. As Thomas extended his arms to try and shield himself from the blinding light, the general squinted at his face, and then his eyes widened. He placed a hand on Thomas' shoulder and looked him in the eye, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Is something the matter, sir?” Thomas asked.

"Come. There's someone I want you to meet."

Thomas followed obediently, mumbling apologies to the soldiers as he squeezed between them. They all seemed to move out of the waycreate a path when they saw the general. He possessed a scary powerseemed to have a powerful aura, and Thomas couldn't help but wonder how he had achieved such respect. This type of fearful reverence did not seem like something one earned out of kind deeds, but out of fear of a violent act coming towards them if they did not cooperate.

They finally reached the front, and in the very first row, a group of about 6 the same annoying reminder about spelling out words men were holding up a tent on polesthe poles supporting the tent. The men snapped into attentionposition Just thought that "attention" didn't make sense. as the general approached, and stood with their heads held high and shoulders upstraight. I just think of it as soldiers having their soldiers straight and perfect, not upwards really.

"O King, I have brought someone that I would like you to meet. Permission to enter?" the general called into the tent.

"Permission granted," a raspy voice called back. The general bowed and led Thomas to the front, where a ladder had been thrown down from above. Thomas climbed up and pushed aside the flap, revealing an old man in royal clothing Maybe you could get more descriptive? Since "royal clothing" can be interpreted in several different ways. sitting on an exquisite throne.

"Bow, boy," the general hissed at Thomas. Thomas fell on one knee and bowed his head, like he had seen in the movies. The king chuckled, and Thomas breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't offended the old man.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. I humbly present to you a straggler we found back there, and something about how he behaved and the way he carries himself reminds me of your son, Jared. I thought perhaps you would want to meet him," the general explained.

"Come forward, boy," the king commanded. Thomas obediently stepped forward, and once he came into the light, the king gasped.

"It isWhat an unbelievable resemblance! This is a miracle! What is your name, boy?"

"Thomas," Thomas replied.

"This is a godsend! You must come back to the palace immediately. The great queen Eamol will want to speak with you and see your face. Tell the men to change the course to head back to the castle immediately," the king ordered.

"But sir-" the general started.

"No buts, General! Any war can wait. Very wise. Throw away your country for some stranger because he looked like your son. Lol that's actually pretty funny. We must get him home immediately!" The king thumped his staff on the ground.

“Very well, sir. I shall prepare a cot Makes me think he's sick or something hah. for him, and youThomas can rest, Thomas, while we're on our way, go to the castle, assuming that that suits your wishes, O King.”

“Your advice does please me, General. Do everything you have said, and pass the word on to the other men.”

The general bowed and left the tent, leaving Thomas and the king alone in the tent Repeating the same words in one sentence sounds awkward. The two sat in silence, the king closely examining Thomas' face for whatever reason. Thomas had never thought of himself as having any distinguishing features, apart from his slightly bumpy nose and odd freckles. Apparently the king's son had looked like that, too, even though they were from different worlds. This is ridiculous, Thomas thought. Here I am, in a different world where no one has ever heard of Iowa or even the United States, and now a king is taking me to a palace immediately because somehow, someway, I look like his son.”

The general reappeared a remarkably short time later, carrying a stack of bland green blankets. He spread them out on the floor and gestured for Thomas to lie down, and Thomas obliged gratefully. Even though he had just been asleep, he would always take an opportunity to nap. He adjusted the blankets so that he was at the perfefct Spelling! temperature, then dozed off gratefully.