#2
Michigan...
As soon as their plane touched down in Michigan, Jadis rented a car. Amaris fell asleep throughout the drive. After driving for two hours nonstop, Jadis stopped in front of a forest. She woke Amaris up and told her to follow her as she got out of the car.
What are we doing here? Amaris asked, as she followed Jadis into the forest.
“you’ll find out soon, just follow me” they kept on walking for a while till they got to the heart of the forest and were standing in front of an enormous tree.
“this relative we going to be living with, do they have a cabin in the woods or something?”
We are here, Jadis said, ignoring her questions here? Amaris asked, a little confused as she looked around. They were standing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by nothing but trees and the sound of the birds chirping in the air.
“but there’s nothing here unless an imaginary cabin or house is standing in front of us. I don’t see any reason we should be in this damn forest,”
Amaris, please keep quiet and let me concentrate, said Jadis as she walked towards the largest tree there. She stretched out her hands as she stopped in front of the tree and started chanting some strange words. In some seconds, the tree split into two, and a bright colourful light was shining out of the hole made in the middle of the tree.
Amaris looked dumbfounded at Jadis, then at the tree, then back at Jadis," huh... what the", before she could finish her statement Jadis grabbed her left arm and jumped into the hole in the tree.
As soon as they entered the tree, they appeared in a whole different place.
“what the ..... how in the world did we get here, mum how did you do that, how... how?” Amaris asked.
Amaris, calm down, calm down? I just saw you split a tree into two and we just jumped into it and landed... landed yes Amaris calm down, I will answer all your questions and explain everything to you soon, so just calm down, Jadis says as holds Amaris until she calms down.
When Amaris calms down, she looked at the place the tree had transported them to. She was amazed by what she saw. It looked so surreal. The place looked like some kind of magical garden, the grasses were dazzling green and spine shaped, there were blue roses on the trees and plants, at the edge of the garden was a beautiful stream with stepping stones. The enormous tree we just stepped out of was in the middle of the garden. It had water coming out of its leaves, which flowed like a waterfall into a channel at the foot of the tree In the garden that enables the water from the tree to flow into the pond.
“where are we?” Amaris asked Jadis
“The enchanted garden,”
“the Enchanted garden?”
“yes, the enchanted garden “
“and that’s the same tree that brought us here?” Amaris asked as she pointed at an enormous tree that looked identical to the one they jumped into in Michigan.
Amaris sighed as she took in all that Jadis told her and all that happened since they got to the forest. “This feels so surreal”, she said as she seats on the grass and rubs her head. Jadis crouched down to meet Amaris and hugs her, “I know baby, I know but I just need you to trust me and I promise you I’m gonna explain everything to you”.
“so what are we going to do now? Are we just going to stay here or...?”
come on, Jadis said as she helped Amaris up, “we are going to see that lost relative I told you about “
3 hours later.....
AMARIS POV
“Are we there yet?”
“almost there “
you said that like 30 minutes ago, I said as I slumped on a rock beside me. We’ve been walking for hours since we left ‘The Enchanted Garden’ and only stopped at some spring to get water to drink and continued our journey, “and I’m tired plus my feet are hurting”
Mum walked a little further and then stops using her eyes to search around. We were on a narrow walkway with tall plants beside us.
“We are here,” mum said as she walked back towards me and helped me up.
Really?”
“yes, we just need to go a little into the forest... so let’s go”. as we entered the forest beside us, I sighted a house not too far from us. It’s a small cream house in the middle of a small forest. It looks like a cottage, but it’s bigger than one, with a black chimney on its roof and a small vegetable garden at its frontage, with a white wooden fence surrounding it.
As we got to the house, mum knocked on the door and we waited for someone to come open the door. After a while, we heard footsteps on the other side of the door.
The door opened, revealing the most handsome looking guy I’ve ever seen in my life. He appeared to be in his late thirties. He looked jaw-dropping, with his white pixie hair and sparkling grey eyes, which looked just like mine. He had a square-shaped face and a well-defined jawline. His milky porcelain skin looked glorious and flawless. He wore a navy blue long-sleeved tunic with gold-trimmed embroidery on the neck region with a black belt strapped to his waist and black trousers. He dressed like some high born from medieval times.
As soon as his eyes landed on mum, it widened in disbelief, “Jadis”, he whispered her name. “is this you”, he said as he looked at her in disbelief.
“yes it is me”, mum said, smiling at him. He hugged her and then kissed her passionately ignoring my presence, “ I thought I would never see you again”, he told my mum as looked her in the eyes and tucked a strand of her hair on her face to the back of her ear.
From the way they looked at each other, you could tell they had history. They looked like some star-struck lovers. He tried to kiss her again, but I interrupted him, “hm, you do know that I’m right here, right like I can see you guys”.
“oh pardon me, I didn’t see you there”, he says looking flushed, “you must be a friend of Jadis”, ugh, “come on in both of you”, he said as he held the door open for us and beckoned on us to come into his house.
The inside of his house was giving off some kind of medieval vibe. There was a bear rug on the wooden floor close to the fireplace. A large window on one wall gave an exquisite and clear view of the forest. He had the head of a bear hanging on the wall at the far end of the room, with two swords and a shield hanging beneath it. There was a fireplace on the other side of the room with green couches surrounding it and a folding chair at the end of the room.
“Thalia!” he called out someone’s name as he entered the room. Soon, a girl who looked just about my age came running in.
“yes master”, she said as she curtsied before him. she looked almost as breathtaking as the guy we just met. she had long wavy brunette hair with deep green eyes and rosy cheeks. The girl was slender and a bit taller than me. she looked like all those models you see on the runway or in a fashion magazine. She wore an ankle-length tunic with a black belt
“as you can see, we have guests”, he said, looking at us, “ so please prepare their chambers and supper for us to all eat together.”
“ok master”, she said and curtsied again before leaving the room.
As soon as she left the room, he beckoned on us to follow him," this way". He led us to the fireplace, and we all sat down on the couches surrounding the fireplace.
Nice place you’ve got here, I said to him
well, thank you, he responded smiling at me, “Jadis hasn’t introduced us yet, I am Alcmene Valeria-moon”.
“I’m Amaris, Amaris Carter”, as soon as I say this he stopped smiling and looked at me in awe and then looked back at mum.
“is...”, before he could finish mum interrupted him, “ yes she is the one, your niece”.