Moxie's Story

Dragons blow fire this way and that, while lava melts everything in its path. Cliffs that once flowed with crystal clear water now seems with molten magma. The whole world starts to fade…

“Moxie! Time to get up!” I wake with a start. I’ve been getting nightmares a lot lately. “Come on! I haven’t got three weeks!” I get dressed and brush my hair, taking my sweet time. When my morning routine is finished, I trudge down the stairs, too tired to think. I hear clanking from near the back door so I go to investigate, only to find my mum cleaning in the kitchen. “What have you been doing all morning? I’ve been calling out to you for more than an hour!”

“Sorry mum, I thought you were just calling me down for breakfast. I’m here now. What do you need?”

“Listen, tonight we have guests coming over. I know, it’s very short notice. I thought I could quickly whip up a pie for supper. I need you to go and fetch some huckleberries from the clearing not far away. Think you could do that?”

“Sure mum. Let me take a basket and a sandwich for the road.” I get all of the bits and pieces and rush out the door, feeling a sudden surge of energy.

I trot down the gravel path, deeper and deeper into the woods, stopping to acknowledge the beauty of nature. There are lots of acorns on the ground. This is how I know I’m nearly at the clearing. Finally, I reach the shrubs and check for any berries. Hundreds! Blue, purple, red and black. Large, small, squishy, hard and ripe. Perfect. I pick them. All of them. Mum will be so glad.

All of sudden, all I can hear are humming sounds. High pitched and low pitched, together creating a flawless harmony. I go to explore where it’s coming from. I follow the sound, leading me to a strange door. Orange, with vines coiling around it. It’s open ajar. That’s it. That’s where the noise is coming from. All of a sudden I’m hypnotized. The chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves has faded. I find myself stepping over. I try to pull away but everything I do seems to be brushed aside. Before I know it, I have my hands on the handle and my mind on what’s on the other side. I risk it and step in.

I snap back to reality, just to find the door dissolving into flakes being blown away by the wind. I am trapped. The world is weird. Really weird. So weird that the sky is fairy floss pink, the grass is sky blue. The tree trunks are lemon yellow and the leaves are a pretty shade of violet. Butterflies and ants roam around, the size of a boulder and elephants are the size of insects. Three suns brighten the strange atmosphere. I start to panic. How do I get back to my mum? Will I ever see the real world again? And most importantly, will my mum be able to make the huckleberry pie? All of these questions flood my mind, keeping me from noticing the small brown mouse trimming the indigo hedges into ice cream and lollipop looking sculptures.

“H-h-hello.,” I stutter.

“Why hello there little girl! How might you be doing on this fine day?”

“Uhhh… not very well in fact.”

“Why might that be?”

“I-I came here… now I can’t find my way back!”

“Back where?”

“Back home!” I started to feel helpless. This mouse wasn’t much help at all!

“Ahh. Is this not your world? Which world might you be from? The world with rivers flowing in the sky and clouds on the ground? Or the one where the grass is cats and shards of grass rule the world? Ooh! I know! You must be from the world where everything and everyone is made from chairs?”

“No! The one where the sky is blue and the grass is green! The one where clouds are in the sky and rivers are on the ground! Please! You have to help me get back!”

“Ahh yes. Earth is it? I know the exact way there. I can show you if you like? My name is Zip by the way, what’s yours?”

“Thank you! Thank you, Zip! I’m Moxie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” So, off we set, on a journey that would involve risks, quick thinking and a creative mindset, which wouldn’t be a problem at all for Moxie, the little brown mouse had declared.

I started getting tired quickly. When I said this to Zip, he told me we had only just started. This world is really quite unusual. Not only is everything strange colours and sizes, but sometimes I can see small creeks floating above our heads, like the world Zip had mentioned earlier. We’re coming up to a bridge now. An old, brown bridge with green moss on the handrails.

“Here we are. We must get across to the other side,” Zip announces.

“The bridge doesn’t look too sturdy, Zip. Are you sure this is safe?”

“Of course! This bridge has been here for thousands of years!”

“All the more reason for it fall,” I whispered under my breath. We walked across it. It creaked and groaned… SNAP! The wooden planks holding the bridge together are snapping! We’re trying to hold on but SPLASH! Here we are. Soaking wet in the middle of a river.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! You fell off! You actually fell off!” A group of orange, slimy fish are laughing at us!

“Hey!” I yell.

“You’re right. Sorry.” The fish apologise. “Here.” All seven fish turn, their backs facing the sun, their small faces in the water, creating a path! I felt a bit guilty standing on them. “Thank you.” I say when we reach the other side.

It's getting dark. Around 6 o’clock I imagine.

“So, Earth did you say?” Zip asks, breaking the silence between us.

“Yeah. Earth is my home.”

“Oh…”

“What?”

“Quincy won’t be happy about that.”

“Quincy? Who’s-“ I begin, but before I could finish I hear whispering from the trees.

“Someone from Earth? Oh my goodness there’s someone from earth!” Tiny elephants are hiding amongst the trunks. “We must tell Quincy!” One yells.

“Yes. We must!” Squeals another and off they run.

“Oh no. This is bad,” says Zip.

“What? What’s bad? Who’s Quincy?” I ask nervously.

“Quincy is our ruler. She’s a Quokka. An evil one. Everyone hates her except her spies. She locks up anyone from Earth that enters our land.”

“Well that’s a bit unfortunate for me…”

“We have to try and stay away from her. It’s dark now. We better set up camp,” says Zip.

“Woah woah woah. Hold your horses. You expect me to sleep in a tent on the floor?” I say.

“Well where did you expect to sleep, in a king sized bed?” Zip replies with a chuckle.

“Fine. Only for three nights MAX.”

“Yes, yes.” We start to set up camp. I get the tents up and Zip starts a fire. I hope we can find our way home tomorrow.

“Up! Come on! Get up! We’ve got a big day ahead of us,” I wake, rubbing my eyes.

“Why so early?” I say through a yawn.

“If you want to get home quicker then we’ve got to get up early,” Zip says.

I get up out of the thin covers and run my fingers through my tangled, knot-filled hair. To my surprise, Zip has his backpack on, wide eyes and a big smile, ready to go. We set off again. “Ugh. It’s nearly midday,” says Zip.

“Why? What’s wrong with midday?” I ask curiously.

“When it turns 12 o’clock exactly, the whole world flips upside down. We have to walk on our hands and the grass is up there instead of where it is now,” explains Zip, pointing up to the three suns. Before I know it, I’m walking on my hands!

“Ahh! When does this end?”

“In about ten minutes,” replies Zip like this happens every day. It was so uncomfortable. All the blood rushed to my head in seconds. My whole body started to sweat and I started to trip over my own hands.

That was the longest ten minutes of my life! Let’s hope we get out of here before that happens again. Thank goodness everything is back to normal. I’m really starting to miss my mum. I’ve still got the huckleberries and that delicious sandwich I’ve been craving. I’m saving it for something important. We keep going. And going. And going. I start to hear a whistle… Jeez, the things I here in this world. Louder and louder it gets until all I can hear is a piercing shriek. Zip and I cover our ears. The whistle comes to a halt. I hear a rustling in the trees and bushes.

“Ahh!” I scream! Something leaps onto my back! “Ahh! Get it off get it off! Ahh!” I yell louder, hoping Zip would help me.

“Just stay calm!” He yells back. He is no help at all. The unknown creature crawls onto my face then… nothing. It just stops. All of it. The whistles, the screaming, the creature vanished. I look over at Zip. “Spies,” he says.

“Oh… What do we do now?” I ask, a little shaken.

“We set up camp.”

“What, and just brush that off like it was nothing?”

“Well I mean, yeah.” Zip says. We set up camp. Same as last night. I set up the tents and Zip gets the fire going. This is it. I am starving. I have to eat my sandwich. I take it and bite into it. Strawberry jam, my favourite. Yum. Time for bed. “Goodnight Zip,” I say.

“Goodnight,” he replies.

Last night was painful. I couldn’t sleep because of the attack. I think I’m traumatised. Tossing and turning, waking up then falling asleep over and over again.

“Good morning!” Says Zip in a cheerful voice. Somehow, he makes me feel so much better when I’m feeling sad. “Sorry, but today there are going to be a lot of attacks. Once there’s one, the spies don’t stop,” says Zip. I nod my head and gulp. This is going to be a long day.

Attack after attack, I knew there would be a lot but I didn’t know it would be this many. I’m starting to get scratches from the tiny elephants and blisters from the three suns beating down on my face and shoulders. Sometimes the spies take me down to the ground. They attack Zip as well. He says it’s because he’s helping me. The scratches hurt so bad. I can’t believe such tiny animals can leave such a big mark.

The sun is setting and I’m excited. Zip says that we’ll get home before dark. Wait… there’s a small figure in the distance… is that… a Quokka? Quincy! Oh no, this is bad. “It’s best we try to talk to her,” Zip says. “If we run and hide, she’ll just want us more.” I agree. I walk up to Quincy.

“Why hello there,” Quincy says. “I hear you are from Earth… well I’m sure you have already found out but… I don’t like trespassers from Earth. I’ll have to get rid of you.”

“Wait. Let me explain,” I say trembling.

“Go on.”

“I was on Earth, just picking huckleberries, when I heard strange humming sounds. I went to investigate and found this orange door with vines all around it. I tried to resist but it felt like I was being hypnotized. I went through the door then it disappeared. I just want to go home to my mum,” I explain.

“Wait… you got lost?”

“Well basically, yeah.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know… I thought you just came to come and take over the world. I try not to be mean… to anyone but I just find it hard. Please forgive me.”

“Of course,” I say.

“If you like I can show you the way. Back to Earth, I mean. You’re really not far off. Zip’s been doing a lovely job I see,” Quincy says.

“Of course you can show me the way! I mean the more the merrier,” I say cheerfully. Off we go, chit chattering happily, getting to know each other. Turns out, Quincy’s favourite colour and fruit are both orange! Fancy that.

We’ve been walking for a while now. Wait- what’s that I see? A rectangular object in the distance… a door! Yes, finally! This is it! It’s still a bit far away but still.

“Oh thank you Quincy and Zip. Thank you… oh no. My mum will be so worried! I’ve been gone for two days!”

“Don’t you worry… Moxie, I believe? One day in our world converts to one minute in your world. When you get back it will only be about two minutes after you stepped through the door,” explains Quincy.

“Phew.” We’re finally here at the door! It looks exactly the same as the door I went through on Earth: orange with green vines twisting around it. “This is it I guess. I couldn’t thank you enough.” I give the two of them hugs.

“It was our pleasure,” they reply.

Before I walk through the door, Quincy adds, “Wait. You may leave the world under one condition. You must not tell anyone anything about our world. Pretend you never even came through that door. Got it?”

“Got it,” I reply. I give each of them one last hug and step through the door.

Finally! A blue sky! Green grass! The animals are normal sizes! I walk to the clearing and lay down on the grass, relieved to be home again. Oh! I nearly forgot to pick more huckleberries! I pick more. Lots more. Time to go home. I walk home and there’s my cottage. I step through the door.

“There you are! Did you get the huckleberries?” Mum asks.

“Yes mum, here they are,” I say handing her the basket.

“Thank you dear,” she says as she gives me a big hug.

It’s almost time for dinner. I dress up fancy with a beautiful dress on and pink ribbons flowing through my hair, ready for the guests to come. There’s a knock on the door. Here are the guests, my aunty and uncle! We sit down at the table and enjoy the feast. Roast chicken with a side of mash potato and peas. When we’ve devoured the dinner, it’s time for the delicious huckleberry pie.

“So,” says mum. “Did you do anything interesting while out looking for huckleberries?”

“No, not really,” I lie. We finish supper and my aunty and uncle leave.

“Moxie, could you grab my lip balm from my room?” Mum asks. I nod and walk up the stairs. I enter her room and go to her dresser. Wait… what’s that? I’ve never noticed this before… tucked behind her dresser mirror with just the corner sticking out is a small polaroid. Pulling it out I see it's of my mum and is that… no, it can’t be. Quincy?