Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Journey to the World Beyond ❯ Chapter 1

Journey to the World Beyond

 

Disclaimer: This is a musical story, so I am going to be using already-existing songs. You hear me? Only one song will be of my writing. The others belong to Tom Petty, Queen, Weird Al (Yeah, you'll find it strange when it comes up) and Paul Simon.

 

Our story takes place in a peaceful forest known as Oakwood. (I'm sorry if this name is already taken, I have no knowledge of it) Here, woodland creatures of all sorts lived in harmony together. One of them was a spunky young squirrel (He can look however you want! You have that option!) named Jordan. He always thought of himself as a leader and was very energetic most of the time.

 

“Goodbye, mom!” he shouted to his mother while she was sorting the nuts for the winter, “I'm off to see Kirsten and Neil, okay?”

 

Then, he made a bound out of his big tree onto a tall tree branch. Jordan had a very sturdy tree. It was rumored to be the nicest tree in the forest. You could not miss it.

 

We now take you to two other creatures, a small rabbit who was half the size of an average rabbit, making her the same height as Jordan, and her name was Kirsten. She was very beautiful and a nice rabbit. Jordan secretly had a crush on her.

 

The other was a small mouse. He looked very much like the others. What distinguished him from the other field mice was that he wore a pair of glasses that he one day found lying in the middle of the woods. His name was Neil and he was the most overcautious one of the group.

 

“Hi, guys!” Jordan greeted just entering the area, “Are you all ready?”

 

“I never realized that playing required preparations,” Kirsten joked as the three laughed and Neil pointed out, “I notice you're late as usual. How can you call yourself a leader when you're always late?”

 

“Get off my back!” was all Jordan could say as the 3 ran off into the forest.

 

The forest was a fun place for all wildlife. It was full of trees and flowers, and lots of places to go. All of this equaled fun for the three. Of course, this kind of area was always meant for squirrels to have fun, but other creatures had overtime grown used to this little piece of land.

 

The three were really getting into the spirit of the morning when they heard a sound. All 3 animals stopped dead in their tracks as what sounded like an earthquake came out of nowhere. Jordan was the first to look up. The little squirrel ran towards the sound as the others followed. Neil didn't know why, but the path they were taking seemed familiar.

 

The path was, in fact, familiar as it was one of the routes that lead to their home, and a sound like this coming from home was a big worry for any creature.

 

“Oh my god,” Kirsten cursed as her eyes widened, “What is that?”

 

The three looked up and noticed it, a huge yellow machine taking apart the woods. The creatures just stood there frozen as the big machine tore up every tree and polluted the air with its smoke.

 

“It can't be,” Neil groaned, “That's an annihilator. It's a machine operated by the humans to turn trees into wood so they can make their lives easier.”

 

“They're doing this at the cost of our home?” Kirsten remarked, “That's awful! Don't they care about us?”

 

“Some do,” Jordan said, “Most of them live in the city.”

 

These very words had given Jordan an idea, a very crazy one, but he did not realize what that idea was yet.

 

He lost his train of thought when all 3 noticed an army of gophers standing tall in front of the commotion. This was the Secret Gopher Alliance, an army dedicated to keeping peace in Oakwood. The colonel just stood there with a serious look on his face. Neil, Jordan and Kirsten knew what he was doing.

 

“What is he thinking?” Kirsten asked as she was ready to have a spasm, “Oh, those poor gophers are going to get killed! Someone has to go in there and stop them from throwing their lives away!”

 

“I'll do it!” Jordan said, but as he advanced towards them, Neil grabbed onto his arm, held him back and said, “You don't understand. The colonel has lives here longer than anyone else. He's the one who told us of this wonderful spot. He would not leave for the world.”

 

“But…” Jordan snapped, “They're all going to die! Look at that damage! Those loggers already destroyed our homes! They've killed our parents and our siblings! Everyone we knew and loved is dead!”

 

Kirsten felt like she was going to cry when she heard this. This was horrible news. She had not yet considered this until now. Jordan was right. The loggers had, in fact, transformed her burrow into a crater, revealing all kinds of damage. The loggers had also rammed their tired into the entrance to Neil's mouse hole, but since it was placed atop a small bump, the loggers had to placed their tires on top of it thus squishing his home to advance further.

 

Then, the group stared in horror as the colonel finally opened his mouth and the words he'd kept pent up came out:

 

“Well I won't back down, no I won't back down. You could stand me up at the gates of hell but I won't back down. Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around. And I'll keep this world from dragging me down. Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down.”

 

As the loggers destroyed another tree, the entire gopher army raised their arms high and chanted the following:

 

“Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out! Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down.”

 

The three animals just stared trembling in fear as the colonel silenced the others and said:

 

“Well I know what's right, I got just one life. In a world that keeps on pushing me around, but I'll stand my ground and I won't back down.”

 

It was then that the loggers noticed an area that they had missed, and this was the area where the gophers were standing tall. The duo drove their machine over to the area as one of them, a young man named Phil, stopped his partner and pointed down at the animals.

 

“What are those animals doing?” Phil asked as his partner shrugged and said, “Let's just get going.”

 

“No,” Phil protested, “We can't kill those animals!”

 

“Look,” his partner replied, “we'll give them some time, and if they don't move, we'll have to run them over.”

 

Kirsten just gulped and said, “I can't watch,” as Jordan tried to step in but was stopped by both Neil and Kirsten.

 

“Hey baby there ain't no easy way out! Hey I will stand my ground and I won't back down. No, I won't back down.”

 

As the colonel finished making these final remarks, the loggers saw no point in waiting and turned on the machine. The other three animals watching cringed as they witnessed a horrible sight they wished they had never seen. The entire gopher army was dead. Everyone was dead and these three souls were the only ones left.

 

“Come on,” Jordan said to the others, “I have a plan! Let's go to the city and find someone to take us into his home! The people there treat animals a lot better than those in the forest!”

 

“You're crazy!” Neil replied, “We can just find a new home here!”

 

“Don't you get it?” Jordan snapped tugging on Neil's shoulder, “There is no place for us here! This was the only home that worked for us! Now we have nothing!”

 

But, Kirsten had other plans.

 

“Look,” she said pointing to a small group of trees.

 

The others two shrugged and decided that this looked like a good spot. They approached the area hoping to make use of it.

 

(Just for the record, the story will not end there. Anyway, this is one of my few original stories with my own plot and characters. Tell me what you think of it. I'd really appreciate that)