Lost in the Woods

Jerome was a 11 year old boy who loved reading books. He read all kinds, and had his own personal library full of his favorites. Other people didn't approve of this reading habit but he didn't mind. Whenever he was upset or simply bored, he used to go into his room, close the door and read a book quietly. He liked other activities as well, but reading was his favorite. He read books of all genres, be it fantasy, mystery or even non-fiction study books. He preferred to read stories instead of watch them on a TV. Books had way more descriptive writing than any movie he had seen. He excelled at school and studied very well.

One day he was reading a book in his room when he realized that he hadn't had this book yesterday. "Who kept it here", he thought curiously, but he didn't mind, it was just one more book to add to his collection. But as soon as he ended the tale, he was sucked inside the book! He went through a colorful tunnel and came out at a forest. "Where am I" he wondered aloud. "YOU'RE IN AN ENCHANTED FOREST. MY ENCHANTED FOREST" a voiced boomed all around him. "Wh-wh-where are y-you?" Jerome asked. He wasn't so brave, he just liked reading. "l-leave me a-al-alone." "NOT SO FAST" the voice replied "FIRST YOU WILL HAVE TO PROVE THAT YOU ARE WORTHY OF GOING FREE, BY COMPLETING 3 QUESTS FOR ME."

"Wh-what quests.""FIRST," the voice said "YOU WILL FIND THE SWORD OF LIGHT. SECOND, YOU WILL KILL THE MINOTAUR AND LAST, YOU WILL GO THROUGH THE HAIRY SPIDER'S MAZE AND BRING THE GOLDEN SWORD AND THE MINOTAUR'S HORN TO ME" 

"Wh-wh-where do I find all of these"

"I DON'T KNOW, THAT IS PART OF THE CHALLENGE. YOU HAVE UNTIL SUNDOWN TOMORROW TO COMPLETE THESE QUESTS. OR ELSE YOU WILL NEVER GO FREE"

Jerome hurried to his feet and ran down a path. After some time, he saw a golden parrot sitting on the lowest branch of a mango tree. "Where are you going young boy." it asked. But after hearing the voice in the forest Jerome couldn't be startled easily. "I'm going to defeat the Minotaur."

"Really, well in that case you should take the sword of light with you" the parrot advised

Jerome brightened up immediately, "Do you know where it is, can you please tell me"

"Hmm, you seem like a nice boy, so ok. The sword of light is on top of the Golden Hills. It is surrounded by draceanae, so you will have to fight and defeat them to get the sword, then you can control the dracaenae and go home peacefully. er, you do have a home don't you?"

"Yes" Jerome replied, "also, do you know where I can find the Golden Hills and the Hairy Spider's Maze"

The parrot shuddered 'Do you really want to do this boy" Jerome nodded eagerly. The parrot sighed, "You will be able to see the Golden Hills once it's dark. But they move around all the time except at night. The Hairy Spider's Maze is hard to miss too, you will know it when you see it" with that, the parrot flew away.

Jerome found the Golden Hills and climbed to the top. The dracaenae had never had to fight anyone before because no one dared to take the sword, so they were sleeping when Jerome approached. "I'm really lucky" he thought and took the sword. Then he heard a monstrous roar somewhere in a dark part of the forest and, like the parrot said, he just knew that it was the Hairy Spider's Maze, "or not" Jerome thought.

He went in and fought the monster. It was hard but he felt strength like never before and suddenly, he felt like the best swordfighter in the world. He knew it was the sword's magic and he defeated the Minotaur. Then he went deeper into the maze and faced the hairy spider. He managed to get out of the maze with only a few scratches. The warm sunlight felt good on his face. He went to the place where he had landed and said aloud, "I bought you both of the things, now let me go!"

"GOOD, NOW YOU MAY LEAVE. THANK YOU FOR DOING ME SUCH A GREAT SERVICE"

Suddenly Jerome saw himself asleep at his table, still in front of the book. Somehow the pages had flipped to the end, revealing two words, 'THANK YOU' Jerome immediately buried that book in his backyard, not wanting anybody else to get it. He didn't know what had happened, but he went along with his business as usual.