The Victory Of Jack (Part 1)

I will not tell you who I am. I will not show myself either because only the people who have heard of the story of The Victory Of Jack can see me. If you will promise to see the complete unraveling of this story, I will be broken of this wicked curse. Even you can enjoy a good story. So, win - win. Since you are tempted, I will tell you this story.

Many years ago, there lived a man called Jack. No, it is not the story of Jack and Jill. He lived in The Fantasy Land Of Joy and this man was a scholar. His town was filled with magic. In every part of the town, you could see people using magic spells to do their bidding. With the wave of a magic wand, food would appear. When he was a child, he had learned that the magic of his town depended on a sculpture made by the Gods. Jack grew up to be a great professor at the University of Magic. The children loved learning from him as he was very funny.

One day, Jack felt uneasy. As a professor, he had some powers to predict the future. He prepared himself for defense just to be safe. He kept his wand in his pocket. He had also informed his neighbors and friends to be ready. Jack's prediction had been right. There were some unexpected visitors and one look at their faces and you could see that they were here for war. Magical bells were sounded in every part of town. The people stood their ground ready to strike. Nothing happened. Just the border's gates were rattling. After sometime, even that stopped. People started to think that this was a false alarm.

At that moment, the gates opened and in rushed heavy enchanted smoke, which blinded the people. Some even started to fall asleep. Jack and some others were still okay. They saw some hooded figures moving through the crowd. In a moment of panic, people started shooting spells everywhere. After sometime, the smoke cleared and Jack saw many people on the ground, snoring noisily. Jack did not waste any time and sent a flare into the air calling doctors for help. Within minutes, doctors and nurses had arrived. When Jack went to consult one of the doctors, the doctor said "Its nothing to worry about. The people will recover soon. Nobody has suffered any casualties. But, we all are puzzled why our magic spell of instant healing won't work."

Just then, a flare went up near the Head Quarters of The Fantasy Land Of Sorrow. It showed, 'The last sculpture has been stolen!' Jack immediately rushed to the Head Quarters. On his way, for the first time he had seen the people weeping and panicking. When he reached, he saw the Mayor, sitting on his chair with his head in his hands. "We are doomed" said the Mayor with a muffled voice. Jack couldn't argue with him for being gloomy, he himself was feeling worse. The sculpture had been a gift from the Gods. It had supported all their magic. Now the power of magic was lost. A meeting of the town was called. When the people came together, they made a decision that one person would be sent to seek the sculpture. Jack wanted to go willingly, but the people said that he did not know anything about the ancient sculptures and who had stolen them. He tried to ask the people but they were engrossed in finding the solution to revive magic.

So, Jack went home and started to flip through the pages of his ancient books left by his ancestors, thinking he might get some information. Then, he saw the name of a witch called Bony Bluffer. She had lived for almost 100 years and was still alive! Jack knew that this was it. This witch must have known something at least about the sculptures. It was also written that she lived in a nearby forest, in a cave. Jack ran out and into the forest. Other people would have not dared to go into the forest even in broad daylight because of the deadly plants and ferocious beasts that were in there. But Jack had spent his entire childhood playing in the forest. There were no deadly plants and he had even made friends with the 'so-called' ferocious beasts. It was all superstition.

But, Jack was astonished when he saw, a floating cave! He couldn't believe it! It was in the air and was not touching the ground! Jack's courage started to waver and he was just moving back when a voice called out, "Who's there?" Jack stopped for a moment, turned around and went into the cave very slowly. He saw a woman. She looked like a bag of bones. Her face was wrinkled and she had pure white hair. "Want do you want", said the witch. Jack introduced himself. He said that he wanted to know the story of the ancient sculptures. "Its been a long time since I told that story. Youngsters these days never want to hear good-old stories. But why do you want to hear about the story of the ancient sculptures." Jack told her about how he was on a mission to go and retrieve the ancient sculpture.

The witch said, "Fine, I'll tell you the story. Long ago, the world had been made into two parts- The Fantasy Land Of Joy and The Realistic Land Of Sorrow. The Gods were pleased with the people of The Land Of Joy and as a gift to us, they gave us the sculptures which gave life to magic. But, the people of The Land Of Sorrow were mean, nasty and full of hatred. A thieving group called "Black Blood" had vowed to steal the sculptures. It was lead by Satin Titan. When they attacked, we offered no resistance. However, one statue remained. Thomas, a great professor had hidden it well. He died while trying to protect it. But, even that has been stolen."

There was an awkward silence. Finally, Jack said, "Thank you for your story and hospitality, but I must be off. "Before you, take this", said the witch while showing him something which looked like a compass. "This will help you get there. Just say, "Take me to The Realistic Land Of Sorrow" and you will be there. It was given to me by the fairies in my 20's." Just when Jack took the compass...

-YAWN-

Sorry, its me, the cursed man. Its time for my afternoon nap. But, don't worry. I will be back soon. Stay tuned for The Victory Of Jack (Part 2)

Bye - Bye