The Forgotten Book

“How can I help you?” The Librarian said kindly. I was at the library. But I should introduce myself first. I'm Elizabeth Parkers. Born in Canada, and raised by Canadians, I'm a single child, and I'm in Grade 11. Pretty cool (In my opinion, of course). You might be wondering why I'm in the library. So I'm someone who wants to be an explorer when I grow up. And I already found my first mission! To look for a very mysterious book. And the only thing I know about it is that it's in a town called Gloomwind. Let's go back to the Librarian now.

“Do you have a book about a book in the town called Gloomwind?” I asked.

“Yes. It's right here. Follow me,” she said, leading me to a section in the library.

“Here you are. Tell me if you need anything else,” she said, going away. I looked at all of those books. How the heck am I supposed to find the book in this? I muttered to myself. And then I got an idea.

“You want me to come with you to find some stupid book?” Emma asked, staring at me like I was crazy. I nodded.

“Look, Emma, it might seem stupid, but imagine what could happen if we actually found it?” I replied. She sighed.

“But we're not going alone. We're bringing two more people with us. And I get to pick who,” she said. I nodded.

“Seriously? Of all the people you could have chosen, you choose the most annoying and obnoxious boys in the school?!” I cried.

“Yes. At least they're smart,” Emma said.

“But so many girls are smart,” I reasoned.

“I don't care. Either they're coming or I'm not going,” Emma declared.

“Fine. But you're doing the talking,” I grumbled.

Lucas burst out laughing.

“You want us to come with you to find some stupid book?” He repeated, laughing. I rolled my eyes.

“Yes. Come on. You've got to,” Emma pleaded.

“And what are we going to get if we come with you two?” Elijah asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Ummmmm… I could do your homework for a week and Emma could do Lucas's homework?” I offered.

“Hey! Why am I supposed to do his homework? I have homework too, you know!” Emma cried.

“We're only going if you both do our homework,” Lucas said, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Whatever,” Emma grumbled.

“Where do we start?” Elijah asked me.

“The library,” I replied.

“What are we supposed to look for?” Lucas shouted from a section.

“Shh! Are you trying to get us kicked out?” I scolded. “We're looking for a book that tells us about a town called Gloomwind.”

“This is rubbish,” he muttered.

“Keep looking,” I said.

“I found something!” Emma said, coming to me.

“Great job!” I praised her, giving her a high five.

“How the heck do we say this?” Elijah said, trying to pronounce the word: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.

“Let's ask someone,” I suggested, looking for a Librarian. I finally found one.

“Excuse me, but do you know how to pronounce this word?" I asked, showing her the book.

“It's pronounced: klan·vai·uh·puhth·gwin·guhth·guh·geh·ruh·thwuhn·draa·buhth·luhn·

tuh·si·lee·uh·gow·gow·gowk,” She told me.

“Thank you,” I said, and then tried to remember how she said it.

“Did you find out how to say it?” Elijah asked when I came back to the table.

“I think it's pronounced like this: klan·vai·uh·puhth·gwin·guhth·guh·geh·ruh·thwuhn·draa·buhth·luhn·

tuh·si·lee·uh·gow·gow·gowk,” I said.

“In the book, it says that's where we're supposed to find the book,” Lucas informed.

“Does it tell what the name of the book is?” I asked.

“Yeah. Well, I think it's called The Book because that's what it says,” Lucas.

“Does it tell the author?” Elijah asked.

“Nope,” Lucas replied.

“Wait, where's Emma?” I whispered.

“She was right here,” Lucas said, looking around.

“We have to find her!” I said, frantically looking for her.

“No need. We'll take you to her,” someone said. And then everything went black.

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to get up. But then I realized that my hands were tied behind my back.

“How would we know?” Elijah said, struggling to break free.

“We'll tell you where you are, as long as you help us find The Forgotten Book,” someone said. He came forward, holding a knife. I turned pale.

“What forgotten book?” I asked, trying to play dumb.

“Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Why else would you be in the library?” He said.

“We… we were doing our homework,” Emma lied. The man scoffed. And then he slapped Emma in the face.

“Why would you do that?” I yelled. I instantly regretted saying that. He grabbed my hair and aimed his knife at my neck. As he did that, I heard footsteps. And then I realized that Lucas wasn't with us. Suddenly, the man who grabbed my hair fell to the floor. Behind him stood Lucas.

“I told you it was a good idea to bring Lucas and Elijah!” Emma cried happily. Hardly, I muttered under my breath.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” I asked Lucas.

“I'm waiting for you to say thank you. I mean, if I hadn't come, you'd be dead by now,” he bragged. I rolled my eyes.

“Whatever. Do any of you guys know where we are?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Elijah replied.

“Wait. You do?” Emma asked.

“Yeah. We're in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch,” Elijah said.

“And how the heck do you know that??” Lucas asked.

“I used my phone,” he replied. I rolled my eyes. I feel like I rolled my eyes quite a lot. Likewise, I should keep track.

“What should we do now?” I asked.

“We should find somewhere to spend the night. It's getting late,” Emma said. She was right. It was getting late.

“There is absolutely no way I'm sleeping on the floor,” I said.

“Well too bad. You're sleeping on the floor,” Elijah said.

“No,” I said.

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Stop! Rock, paper scissors. Whoever wins sleeps on the bed. I did it with Lucas, and he won,” Emma said, breaking up the fight.

“Rock, paper, scissors!” Elijah and I said together. He was rock. I was paper.

“Yay!!!” I shouted with joy.

“Whatever,” Elijah said, putting a pillow on the floor.

“I can't wait for tomorrow!” I said.

“Why?” Lucas asked.

“Because we're one step closer to finding The Forgotten Book.”

“The forest is completely harmless. Just don’t touch anything,” Lucas said.

“Are you sure there aren’t any snakes?” I asked, peering into the forest.

“There’s a fifty percent chance they won’t bite you even if you see one,” Elijah replied. Emma whimpered.

“Stop. For… a… few…. minutes,” Emma huffed, wheezing like a pig with each step.

“How could you be tired already? We didn’t even walk that much!” I said, helping her up.

“We’re taking a break, or I’m not going any further,” Emma declared, crossing her arms across her chest. Elijah and Lucas rolled their eyes and sat down.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“It’s time for you to check your phone,” Elijah told me.

“I’m too lazy to check my phone,” I reasoned.

“Why do you have a phone then?” Lucas asked.

“Because I wanted one,” I replied.

“You know what? Let’s keep on going. At least it shut you guys up,” Emma said, getting up. Elijah, Lucas and I rolled our eyes.

“This… is…. delicious!” Emma said, stuffing her already stuffed mouth with food. Lucas gagged. We were so exhausted after walking through the forest that we went to the closest restaurant after. Emma was addicted to it.

“Are you going to save a spot for dessert?” I asked. Emma nodded vigorously.

“Are you done eating?” Elijah asked me.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“How? I mean, we haven’t eaten anything all day,” Lucas said, shocked. I shrugged.

“Are you at least going to eat dessert?” Emma asked.

“Yeah… I guess,” I replied.

“Well then, what do you want for dessert?” Emma asked.

“I’ll take chocolate ice cream,” I answered.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!” Emma shrieked, waking me and the others up.

“What happened?! Why are you screaming?” Lucas said, holding a pan in his hand.

“Why the heck do you have a pan in your hand?” I asked.

“I thought someone was attacking her or something,” Lucas replied.

“I’m not screaming because of that! Look at the book!” Emma cried. Me, Lucas and Elijah looked at the book and shrieked.

“Why is there light coming out of it?” Elijah asked.

“How would we know?” I said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Who could that be?” Lucas asked.

“I’ll check,” I said, walking to the door and opening it. It was the hotel manager.

“Hi? Is there a problem?” I asked.

“I’ve gotten a few complaints about you guys being too loud. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to stay somewhere else. I expect you guys to get out now,” he said, closing the door. I stayed still, not knowing what to do.

“I still can’t believe he kicked us out like that!” Emma said, shivering.

“I can. I mean, I would as well if I got a complaint that someone was screaming in the middle of the night just because they saw a book that had light coming through it,” I replied. Emma snarled.

“I think we should continue the hunt. I mean, we could get closer to the book or wherever we’re supposed to find it,” Elijah said.

“He’s right,” Lucas said, looking in the book. Suddenly, a folded piece of paper fell out of it. I picked it up and opened it.

“It’s a map! Leading exactly where we need to go! And we’re actually really close!” I said, looking at the others.

“Lemme see,” Emma said, pulling it out of my hands.

“Hey! I’m not done with it! I saw it first!” I said, taking it back.

“I want to see it, too!” Lucas demanded.

“What about me?” Elijah asked, pulling the map out of my hand. Lucas tried to take it, but then we all heard a rip.

“You ripped it!” I groaned, taking the map. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Taping the map together was a great idea,” I said, observing the map.

“Stop!” Emma yelled. Me, Elijah and Lucas all stopped walking.

“What in the world is wrong now?” Lucas said, annoyed.

“If I didn’t say stop, you guys would’ve been dead by now! Look down!” Emma replied. We all looked down. We were at the end of a cliff.

“Emma, you really are a lifesaver,” I said.

“Excuse me? I saved your life too,” Lucas replied.

“What are we supposed to do now? I mean, there’s absolutely no way we can jump over that,” Elijah said.

“And It’ll take forever to find a way to cross this,” Lucas remarked.

“We’ll help you,” a female voice said. We all turned around and saw a young couple standing behind us.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Lily, and this is my husband, Mark,” Lily responded.

“I’m Elizabeth,” I said.

“I’m Emma,” Emma told.

“Elijah,” Elijah mumbled.

“And I’m Lucas,” Lucas informed.

“Thank you!!” I cried. We had made a bridge to cross the cliff.

“You're welcome! And good luck!” Lily said. And then we were off.

“Are we close?” Emma asked Lucas who had the map.

“Yeah. We just need to find a cave,” Lucas replied.

“I don't think we need to find it. Look,” Elijah said.

“Awesome,” I exclaimed.

“Turn on your phone flashlights,” Lucas instructed. We all did what we were told to do.

“Now be careful. We don't know what might be in this cave,” Elijah said, walking into the cave.

“Yeah right. I mean, what could possibly be in this— Aaaaaaaaaaa!” I shrieked.

“What?” Emma cried.

“Spider!” I cried, hiding behind Emma.

“Oh brother. It’s just a spider!” Lucas said, stomping on it.

“Is it gone?” I whispered.

“Yes. You can stop hiding now,” Elijah said, pulling me away from Emma.

“Don’t touch me,” I snapped.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Spider!!!!” Emma shrieked.

“I hate this cave, I hate this world and I wanna go home,” Emma muttered under her breath.

“I can’t wait to see Lucas or Elijah when they’re scared of something,” I said.

“Same,” Emma said. Lucas and Elijah rolled their eyes.

“Look!” Emma said suddenly.

“It’s The Forgotten Book!” Elijah gasped. Lucas rushed toward it, but I stopped him.

“There might be traps. Let’s go slowly,” I told. We all walked slowly towards the book. The ground slightly shook underneath us. Finally, we reached the book.

“Well, that was easy,” Lucas said. But as soon as he said that, the ground started to shake violently.

“Uhh, I think it’s time to run,” Elijah said.

“For the first time, I don’t disagree. Run!” I cried, grabbing the book and dodging a huge rock. We ran as fast we could until finally, we were out of the cave.

“I’m never going back in there! Even if it was for a million bucks, I’m never going back!” Emma said, gasping for air.

“Wow,” I gasped, looking at the book.

“What?” Elijah said, coming toward me.

“It’s telling me what my future is,” I replied.

“What does it say?” Emma asked.

“It says I’ll have a dog, two kids, and I’ll be married to—” I stopped and looked at Elijah, shocked. He and I both turned red.

“O … M …. G!!!” Emma cried.

“Aww. Lovebirds. How does that song go, Emma? Lizzy and Elijah sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First—”

“Stop!” Elijah and I said together. We looked at each other.

“Wait, If it tells you your future, would it tell mine?” Emma asked. I smiled.

“You’re married to Lucas in the future!” I told her gleefully.

“No!” Emma and Lucas shouted.