The Road to Nowhere: Chapter Eight

                            Chapter Eight

            The children and the unicorn continued on their way for quite some time. They admired the houses of Heatherwood, and played “I Spy”, and had a very pleasant afternoon.

            After a while they came to a group of plants that looked like a jungle. Kara pushed some leaves aside, and the travelers beheld a most beautiful waterfall, with rocks all around it and lily pads floating in it, and palm trees hanging over it.

            The three children were breathless.

            “Come,” Claydo said. “We have to pass through here.”

 The waterfall was even more stunning up close. A rainbow could be seen in the foam at the bottom of the fall, and it was reflected in the river that the waterfall ran in to. Kara, Kyle, and Levi were so occupied admiring these wonders that they didn’t see Claydo sneak away.

            “Hey, where’s Claydo?” Levi asked a few minutes later. The children looked for her, but she could not be seen anywhere. After a few moments had passed, there was a rustling in the leaves, and Claydo emerged, bearing a canoe on her back. “Hop on!” she said as she dropped the canoe onto the bank.

            “Don’t we need life jackets?” asked Kara.

            “Not here,” Claydo said.

            After the children had climbed into the canoe, Claydo pushed them off and flew up above them.

            The ride down stream was amazing. Trees, flowers, and every beautiful plant imaginable grew along its shore. All too soon, the ride ended.

            “Well, here we are,” Claydo said with a sad look in her eyes. “The border of Fairyland.” She flapped her wings and three water pistols appeared in front of the children. Then, without a good-bye, Claydo vanished.

            “I didn’t know she could do that!” Kyle exclaimed.

            Kara swallowed hard. “Well guys, I guess we’d better be going.”

            They trudged along for miles and miles in a barren and seemingly endless desert wasteland.

            “There’s nothing here except sand,” Levi said weakly.

“That’s because we’re in the middle of Nowhere,” Kyle explained. The three children dropped to their knees and crawled until they could go no farther. It was then that they plopped down to sleep.

            That night a horrible storm arose, blowing sand everywhere. But the children were sleeping so deeply that they were unaware of the storm, and they were buried by the sand.

            Kyle was the first one up the next morning. His eyes stung because they were full of sand. He stood up and shook as much sand off of himself as he could. After taking a deep breath, he began looking around, trying to find his brother and sister.  He saw Levi’s hair sticking up out of the sand. Kyle dug through the sand and pulled him out.

            “Kyle,” Levi said hoarsely. “I need something to drink.” He reached for a water pistol.

            “Levi, no!” Kyle exclaimed as he grabbed Levi’s hand. “You cannot drink a drop of that water until we defeat Quasbed!”

            “Then what can I drink?” Levi asked.

            “I don’t know,” Kyle said. “Let’s find Kara first, then we can walk to go find some water.”

            After the boys found their sister buried beneath the sand, she stood up and let Levi hop onto her back. Kyle held all three water pistols, and the three of them marched bravely on. Kyle was in the lead, with Kara and Levi following a short distance behind.

            But someone was watching them from a great mountain by the desert. Someone who possessed a certain magic dragon scale. 

           “Water!” Kyle called over his shoulder. “Hurry, hurry!” Kara ran faster and she caught up with Kyle. “See?” Kyle said excitedly, pointing his finger. “The desert is coming to an end! See that river up ahead!”

            So the children ran as fast as their legs could carry them, and they arrived at the river. The river was made of the clearest, purest water that the children had ever tasted. When they had drank all they possibly could, Kara suggested that they should take some water with them, in case they needed it.

            “But what can we carry it in?” Kyle asked.

            The golden butterfly flew by their heads, and Kara turned and saw something that she had not noticed before. A tortoise shell was lying on the bank of the river. “We’ll keep it in this shell!” she said. She filled the shell to the rim with the crystal water. Then she turned to her brothers and said, “Get the water pistols, guys. It’s time to go get that dragon scale!”