An Adventure in the Holidays

Treading gingerly on the rocky and uneven terrain of the forest landscape, Julia, Tim, and Anne stopped to take a stock of the surroundings. Enveloped in the inky darkness of the night, the Forest of Aden refused to provide them with convincing succor that they would find the mythical Popilil, the flower that would save their beloved Aunt Rose's life. Anne wondered about the myriad ways she had planned to spend her vacations. Perched in the cool confines of her kind Aunt's home, savouring her perfect cooking during the day and going boating in the lake with Tim and Julia in the evenings, she would come back to a cozy bed and sleep off the night. But destiny had other plans. When the Trio had reached her home, they had found her unconscious, gasping for breath. The doctors at the hospital informed them about the rare and therefore unheard of disease Calotithia that slowly overpowers the patient and can be fatal. Only the paste of Popilil flower, procured from the Ambrosia tree from the Forest of Aden, applied on her chest could save her. The Trio had set foot in the Forest in a flash for they loved their Aunt. Magically, a glowworm emerged from the undershrubs and wrote on the black slate of pitch blackness 'Follow me for Popilil'. Mystified and grateful for the unexpected help, the trio followed it. They were led to a marshy area, the darkness punctuated thickly with the presence of bizarre moving and talking, the green and brown army of TreeMen. The leader, an aged Tree, named Samaritan, smiled a benevolent smile and asked the Trio not to be disheartened as they would help them to get their prized possession. They screeched and screamed and even yelped into the darkness to beckon the Ele-jack. If the TreeMen flabbergasted them, the appearance of Ele-Jack made their eyeballs jump out of their sockets and their heart leaped into their mouths.An elephant head with a jackal's body and ostrich wings made a crash landing bumping off a few TreeMen leaving the rest of them chuckling. Ele-Jack wrapped its wings on its side, saluted the Trio with its muscular trunk, and led them to the Glittering Land. Glittering Land, not far from the marshes, was where the sky merged into the land. Sprinkled with millions of Stars, Planets, and Galaxies, it was what confounding dreams were made up of. The Ele-Jack informed them that Stars, Planets, and Galaxies would aid them to fight the Dread Devil army who lived surrounding the Ambrosia. DreadDevil army was wicked and evil Hyena monsters that guarded the Popilil as its nectar was the spout of invincibility and brute strength for them. Bewildered Trio had acquired frozen mouths. Shaken out of the seemingly odd reverie, Julia asked what they should do to overpower them. Ele-Jack advised to fight them and use the stars, planets, and galaxies as weapons. Only selfless interest, exceeding goodness and immense innocence can defeat the DreadDevil army. They waged a war. The TreeMen, El-Jack, and the Trio fought the sharp-toothed, vicious, menacing hyena monsters. They plucked the stars, planets, and galaxies off the ground and hurled them at the DreadDevil army like frisbees. Victory prevailed for the virtuous and Popilil was plucked from the Ambrosia. The Trio departed bidding a reluctant farewell to their newfound but friends for life friends. Aunt Rose recovered and soon afterward packed a large sumptuous lunch for the mythical creatures who had saved her life and of course for her beloved Trio. THE END