Land of Fantasy

It all started long long ago at the time when Humans were apes. There in the deep forests of the Amazon lived an ape. He was tall and thin with a long and serious face. He looked pretty weird for an ape. He wasn’t that friendly though. It so happened that one day while the ape was sleeping, a bright light appeared in front of him. It was really annoying for the poor ape who was instantly thrown out of slumberland. Rubbing his eyes angrily, he opened his eyes to see what it was. To his utmost surprise, it resembled something like a pathway or maybe a whirlpool that was standing upright like a doorway. Engraved on wood, situated at the top was, “The Abyss of … ” That was all he could see. The last word was smudged with mud and dry leaves making it impossible to read. He dared not touch it.

For a moment, the poor ape’s mind went completely blank. It was a dilemma that was going on in his mind of whether he was supposed or enter or not. Eventually, with a firm decision, he decided to enter the whirlpool pathway. Mustering up all his courage, he stepped forward. In the twinkle of an eye, a powerful gust of wind pulled him in. The journey resembled hell to him. His hair was flying in all directions. His mouth was wobbling like jelly. He had no control over his body. All he could do was, “AAAUUUUAAAUUAUAUAUAAAUU!!!!” Out of the blue, “Thud!” He landed on the ground in a pathetic heap. Groaning and moaning with pain, he woke up from his miserable state. All around him was a weird but beautiful sight. There were trees in pink, grass in purple and the sky in red?!!! What was all this? A million thoughts raced through his mind.

Suddenly, a tall and dark shadow loomed over the ape. A surprisingly friendly-looking creature with two glittering sharp fangs came up to the ape. The creature had the head of a lion and a tail of a squid. The ape started shivering with fear. Then, the creature introduced himself as the king of that land, ‘Minawa’ in a sweet voice. The apes’ nerves calmed down as he stepped forward and bowed down to the king. The king welcomed the ape with respect. Soon, they became fast friends.

 However, the king’s brother who was living in the same palace as the king disliked the ape as the king enjoyed the company of the smart ape. The king and ape were totally unaware of this. So, the king’s brother made a plan to trap the ape. The ape went to the pond every morning to drink water. The king’s brother was aware of this, so he set a trap there. The next morning, when he went to the pond, in midway, he saw a wilted flower. Below the flower, there were a few petals. Written on it was, ‘GIVE ME WATER’ Fortunately, he found a small bowl filled with water nearby. Without further ado, sacrificing his own needs, he took the bowl and poured all the water on the flower. As if it was magic, the flower turned into a beautiful fairy. The fairy said, ‘Hola, gracias por ayudarme.'which means, Hello, thank you for helping me in Spanish. Knowing little Spanish, he nodded in agreement. “Ya que me han ayudado, yo también le ayudará por estar contigo y el alerta de cualquier peligro.” The fairy said which means, ‘since you have helped me, I will also help you by being with you and alerting you of any danger.’ The ape was very grateful to the fairy. He started walking towards the pond. Just as he was about to reach the pond, the fairy’s sharp eyes noticed a rope on the ground that was easy to trip over. “PARADA!” (STOP) she exclaimed but she was a fraction of a second too late. The ape tripped over the trap and a rope net fell over him. The ape struggled to free himself from the trap but in vain. The fairy looked up and saw a happily smirking face of the king’s brother. Immediately, she realized whose plan it was. The fairy quickly assumed the form of a rat and started gnawing at the rope.

Within few minutes, the ape was set free. After the ape drank water, they went to meet the king. At the court, the fairy narrated what she had seen about the king’s brother. The king did not know Spanish, so the ape translated the fairy’s words. The king was dumbstruck. At first, he did not believe the fairy’s words, however, in Minawa no fairy lied. If they did, they would be thrown into the dungeons. He went to check on his brother. Sure enough, he wasn’t there. When his brother returned, he questioned him and asked him where he had been. For a moment, the king’s brother was at a loss for words. He had to admit the truth in front of the whole court! Being the king’s younger brother, he told all the truth. The king was really angry that he disrespected their new guest. The king decided to punish his brother accordingly by banishing him from the city for five years so that he would not repeat the same mistake again and would turn over a new leaf. The fairy said, “Oh Estimado Rey, Este mono es muy útil que mi humilde petición es darle un premio.” Which means, O Dear King, this ape is very helpful. My humble request is to give him a prize. The king was pleased to hear how the ape had helped the flower. He decided to give the ape whatever prize he wanted. The ape replied that he wanted to go back to his home, to the Amazon Forest. Hearing his selfless request, he decided to give him a gift before he left. He gave him a boon that all apes would become intelligent, dignified and handsome/beautiful. The ape was over the moon. A few minutes later, he vanished from the court and found himself back in his forest. He wondered if all this was a dream. As he turned his back, there were all the apes, including himself transformed into humans.