Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Journey to the World Beyond ❯ Chapter 2

Journey to the World Beyond

 

This had been a strange and unusual day in Oakwood. The forest had been torn apart and the only 3 survivors were homeless… until now. Luck had come onto their side as they had found a new home.

 

It was a space among the trees in the woods that they often played in. Normally, no creature would have even expected there to be another place that was spacious enough to be called home, but they had found it.

 

Jordan was actually quite angry that his idea was useless, but at the same time, he was as happy as the others to find a home.

 

“I hope these animals accept us into their home,” Neil said with a big of worry in his voice.

 

Jordan had to agree with what the mouse said. These 3 had no clue what lived in this spot and whether or not they were nice. No animal had found this spot before, so the creatures that lived here were unknown. But, these 3 kids had grown up only knowing of small creatures such as themselves, so they went into this space expecting creatures their size.

 

“Of course they'll accept us,” Kirsten said with a smile. The thing about Kirsten that always worried the others was that she trusted anything that wasn't human, and Jordan and Neil both always had a suspicion that this would be here downfall. Still, they felt confident and, Jordan knew that if they weren't accepted, at least they couldn't be killed by creatures their size.

 

Upon entering, they saw no creatures in sight. Neil looked around and only saw a big boulder.

 

“This is our lucky day,” Neil said, “It's deserted! We can find a new life here! Jordan and Kirsten! You will repopulate us!”

 

Kirsten blushed at the sound of this as Jordan just rubbed his head and looked away.

 

Then, the group saw what could have been the scariest thing they had ever seen. The boulder moved! Not only that, but it was now that they realized that this boulder was covered in black fur and had a tail.

 

“What the hell is wrong with you?” the towering beast that initially looked like a boulder spat, “I was having a nice nap!”

 

Then, the monster looked down at the ground and realized what had said such a thing.

 

At that moment, a series of other creatures almost this monster's size emerged from other directions just to gaze down at their tiny visitors. Neil just trembled with fear and said, “Um… our home was destroyed by loggers… can we live here?”

 

The black creature just snorted at them and said in a kind voice, “If you're home was destroyed, of course you can live here, but on one condition!”

 

“What is that, Mister… what are you anyway?” Jordan asked as the big creature laughed and replied, “I'm known as a bear! Listen, we are the toughest animals in the forest, and in order to live with us, you must be strong too!”

 

“That's good,” Jordan replied, “We're plenty strong! I can run really fast and Kirsten here can jump high and Neil can run faster than…”

 

“No, not strong in your legs!” this thing known as a `bear' replied, “We mean physically strong. You know, MUSCLES! We mean the ability to lift and crush things with your bare hands! Tell them what I mean, boys!”

 

Then, one of them, a gorilla, started beating a row of tree stumps like bongo drums as the other animals clapped their hands and the bear explained a few things.

 

“We are the toughest animals to ever exist! We can mow down anything that crosses our paths! We survive because we're strong, this way you can never go wrong so long as you live in Big Boy Town!”

 

Then, a big feline leapt at the group, lashed his fangs, showed off his mane and said the following:

 

“You see this figure in front of you? I am known as the king of the jungle! I'm the most ferocious of them all! My power exceeds many a creature! I can chop down tree branches with my claws and chew through anything with my razor sharp teeth! You'll be dealing with guys like me! You will never feel safe! That's just the way it is in Big Boy Town!”

 

The three small animals just trembled in fear at the sight of this. These creatures were really impressive. As they cowered at the majesty of these creatures, a wolf leapt forward, lashed out her fangs and stated the following:

 

“You see me in front of you? I'm the queen of each and every carnivore! If you are not tough enough, I will rip you to shreds with my powerful fans! You can't get away from me, and I'm not even the strongest! You deal with much worse things in Big Boy Town!”

 

Neil just ran behind a big object after hearing that one. Jordan and Kirsten followed suit seconds later, but found that they had gone behind the black bear again.

 

“I never really explained, my little friends, what I am capable of! I can cut a whole tree right in half with my powerful claws! I can also crush an actual boulder with super powerful fist! I'm just one of those guys, these are the kind of beings, we are just kinds of things you can expect… IN BIG BOY TOWN!”

 

(Just for the record, that was one of the songs. That song was written by me! These are the lyrics I spent a long time coming up with. The song is titled “Big Boy Town”, but you probably already figured that. Enjoy the rest of the chapter! There's a lot following this.)

 

We take you away from this scene to the area in which Neil, Jordan and Kirsten used to live. The loggers were still at the site even though it had been 20 minutes since they had finished their shift. Why were they still there, though?

 

One of them, a young man named James, had planted seeds in the ground.

 

“Why are you doing this?” he partner asked as James sighed and said, “I feel bad having a job like this. I don't like to destroy wildlife, so I figure that we might as well say `Out with the old, in with the new'. I'm just planting new trees to make up for the ones were destroyed.”

 

His partner laughed and nodded his head. “That's what I like about you, James,” he said, “You always care so much about others. You even dug graves for the animals were killed today. You're a good person. Besides, we all know that without trees, we can't live. That girlfriend of yours is lucky to have you.”

 

James finished planting the last seed and chuckled saying, “I almost forgot that my girlfriend is making spaghetti tonight! I don't want to miss that! Come on, let's go home, Gregory.”

 

The two loggers nodded, boarded the leveler and drove towards the city.

 

Meanwhile, a certain trio of animals that survived the incident had been sent flying into a tree.

 

“And don't come back!” the black bear shouted at them as they rubbed their heads, “We don't take kindly to weaklings walking in on our territory!”

 

Then the big creatures laughed and resumed their positions. The black bear went back to sleep as the wolf went back into the dark end of the space. The gorilla went back into the trees and the lion went to sleep as well.

 

“We have no other options now,” Jordan said with a sad look on his face, “We might as well head to the city.”

 

So, they trekked. The three creatures roamed through the forest in search of the city. On their way, they discovered a field of flowers.

 

“Oh, thank heavens!” Kirsten shouted excitedly, “We found a field of flowers! I was starving!”

 

Jordan and Neil shrugged and decided to join in. Flowers were a very popular delicacy among rabbits, and Jordan and Neil happened to like them too. But, as Kirsten picked up the first one and brought it up to her open mouth, she heard a strange noise coming from it. She looked at it, blinked a couple of times and screamed, dropping the flower.

 

“OH MY GOD!” she cursed in terror, “THAT THING HAS A FACE!”

 

The other two looked and freaked when they saw a pair of eyes and a quivering mouth on the flower's bud. At that moment, every other flower in the field grew a pair of eyes and a mouth.

 

“Dorothy, you're not supposed to show your face to those that feast upon us,” a rose stated as the small daisy that was just dropped trembled and said, “I'm sorry, I just got nervous!”

 

“Hold on,” Jordan intervened, “Are you telling me that you want us to eat you?”

 

“Sure thing,” a sunflower stated, “I wouldn't mind being eaten myself! It's our purpose to fill the stomachs of vegetarians such as yourselves! Besides, we don't like living here anyway.”

 

“Why not?” the three animals asked as the sunflower sighed and explained, “See, this field your in has been used over the past for warfare. If you go further into the field, you'll see a large crater on the other end. That was caused by a nuclear explosion that wiped out half of our population.”

 

The three moped and reluctantly ate a flower each. They were too hungry to let it go.

 

“But how is it now that the war is over?” Kirsten asked as the sunflower sighed and explained, “It's lonely and dark.”

 

Ironically, at that very moment, night had come. The light that illuminated the sky had turned to darkness just like that. It was depressing.

 

Then all the flowers started to dance and said the following:

 

“Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping left its seeds while I was sleeping, and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence. In restless dreams I walked alone narrow streets of cobblestone, neath the halo of a street lamp. I turned my collar to the cold and damp when my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light that split the night and touched the sound of silence.”

 

The three animals walked through the field feeling more sad every minute as the flowers continued their song:

 

“And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening. People writing songs that voices never share and no one dare disturb the sound of silence. Fools said I, you do not know silence like a cancer grows. Hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you. But my words like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the wells of silence.”

 

Then, visions of the nuclear bombs being dropped in the war and the flowers watching came back as they continued.

 

“And the people bowed and prayed to the neon God they made. And the sign flashed out its warning, in the words that it was forming. And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls and whispered in the sounds of silence.”

 

Jordan just felt angry while Kirsten moped and Neil just sulked. As if one bad thing wasn't enough, now nightfall had come and they felt depressed. The trio decided to move on. Staying here only made them feel sadder every second.