Homeward Bound

It was that time of the year again, a time that I had always hated. My parents had made me participate in the "tradition" when I was younger and although I hated it, and still hate it, I do it every year. It was time to start spring cleaning. I have never been a clean or organized person, matter of fact I prefer for things to be scattered out and not completely organized. Now I'm not saying I'm a complete slob because that would be a lie, my parents are neat freaks and they tried to raise me to be one too, it just never stuck with me. My house is orderly enough where I can walk, I won't get rodents, and I know where everything is. So, I started cleaning my basement. I dusted, mopped, swept, did laundry, and semi-organized my stuff. Then it came time to move on to the upstairs i repeated the same process being slightly more careful because that is where I sleep after all. Then I decided I should probably clean my attic, after all I had skipped over cleaning it since I bought the house. I crawled up into the attic and cleaned until I thought my arms and legs would fall off. I was sitting down recovering when the something caught my eye. There was something shining in the corner. I made my way over and at first glance it looked like a mirror, but then I looked closer. It was a door! I tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. I came back the next morning with supplies to open the door. After hours of hard work the door finally started to open. I got it all the way open, and then propped the door open and crawled inside. Once I got inside the space opened up quite a bit. The room was outside it reminded me of something I had seen before. I look around a bit and didn't see anything interesting so I decided to leave. I turned around to walk out the door, but the door was gone and in its place was a note. The note said, "If you are reading this it means that I have died. You probably don't know who I am, but there is more important issues at hand. Like how you are now stuck in a fictional world until you can complete whatever quest they give you. The good news is time will stand still in the real world until you return. Hopefully they give you an easier one then I had, or you may never make it out. You should find a bag of supplies by the tree closest to you. Gather your supplies and your thoughts and head northwest towards the castle you will receive further instructions there.

Signed,

Daniel Lawrence

I put the letter put in my pocket and started to head towards the tree as it had instructed me too. I made it to the tree and their was a backpack and a crate. In the backpack was a compass, extra clothes, a map, and small food items. In the crate there was camping supplies and bigger items of food. I put the backpack on and started to head northwest. I figured I had a long journey ahead because I was traveling by foot and I couldn't even see the castle yet. I traveled for three days setting up camp and resting every night. When I finally arrived at the castle I was hungry and tired, the tent was small and didn't cover uneven ground, and almost all of the food was already expired. I looked back at the note to see if it told me where to receive my task, it did not. So, now I am standing outside of a castle in a mysterious land not knowing what to do. I didn't want to just walk right into the castle, after all that seems pretty rude to me. Just then somebody on horseback rode past me. They saw me and stopped to ask me what I was doing. I told him about the note and he said he knew just how to help me. He told me where to go and how to get there. As he rode off he yelled, "Oh by the way I'm Prince Joshua!" I was in shock, I just met a prince, and all I did was ask him how to get a quest. I followed the Prince's instructions and I made it to the throne room. The king was there sitting on his throne. The king asked, "What are you doing?" I told him that I needed to complete a quest to get home. He said, "But of course you do I should've known, but on that note I don't think I have anything that I need done for me." I sunk to the ground, figuring I would never get home. The king looked as if he was deep in thought. Then he exclaimed. "I know exactly what you can do, you can go to the royal gardens and gather lemons and make lemonade!" So after receiving directions to the royal gardens I was on my way. The garden was packed with flowers, fruits, and vegetables. I wandered around for an hour before I came across any lemons. I then realized that I didn't have a basket to carry the lemons. Lucky for me there was a basket in front of the tree. I filled the basket to the brim with lemons. I then started to head into the kitchen, the king had given me directions earlier. I made it to the kitchen, and it was huge! I looked around and found sugar, water, and a large pitcher. I used my special recipe that everybody loves. I squeezed all the lemons, measured the sugar, and dumped water, and then boom I had a perfect pitcher of lemonade. I then took the lemonade to the king in the throne room. He took once sip and proclaimed, "This is the best lemonade I have ever tasted, you are free to go home now." Right then a door i appeared in front of me. It was the same door I had traveled through earlier. Then it struck me I didn't want to go back. I enjoyed my journey here, and back home everything was so dull. So, I asked the king if I could stay, and he said yes. The door disappeared and he said that time would resume in the real world now. I was enjoying life, but then I woke up. I was saddened at first, but I realized it would be better for me in the real world anyway.