Some things just weren’t meant to be. This was the motto of Mr. Lilac, who was a retired English teacher. His personality was very well hidden. Some said he was a sweet, gentle, old man. Others said he was a mean, vicious, grumpy, old, hag. But actually, he was both. To the studious children, who voluntarily tended his garden, he would occasionally bake them a treat, or invite them in for tea and biscuits. He was often compared to a sweet grandma. However, when kids would throw eggs and toilet paper his house, he would burst out the door yelling after them. “Darn kids! Go read a book or something! And leave me alone!”, he would say. Then, he’d go off into the house, murmuring. He was a man of 60, who had a tragic past. When he was born, his mother, Ruby, died from a stroke, just after taking a first glance at him. His father John, and his mother, were fighting the night before, on what to name the baby. John wanted the name, Jeffery, and Ruby wanted the name, Roger. After his wife’s death, John named the baby, Roger, to honor Ruby. About 2 years after Roger was born, his father had been smoking because of his depression. This caused his father to get mouth cancer. Since everyone thought John was a foolish man, no one helped him with his problem. Sadly, he passed away by the time Roger was turning 3. Roger was put in an orphanage.
There he met a girl around his age, who had lost her parents at age 1, because of a fire in the house. Her name was June. He felt sorry for her, because he had almost 3 years with his dad, while she only had 1 year with her parents. Comparing their two tragic pasts together, Roger and June became the best of friends. After almost 20 years, Roger proposed to June. Then, they got married, 9 months after. They had a boy and a girl, who were named, Derek and Ruby. Roger named his daughter Ruby, to honor his mother. Ruby married, and lived with her husband in Kenya, as Ruby was studying giraffes. Derek had become an eye doctor. Roger and June were both very proud of their children’s careers. Sadly, when Roger was around the age of 58, June passed away from brain cancer. Roger was extremely sad, but he was happy his wife left the world with a smile. He knew he would definitely miss her smile every morning. There Roger sat, thinking about each and every detail of his past. These memories brought him tears. He slowly sipped his tea as he slouched in his rocking chair, and drifted off into a deep sleep.
“Mew! Mew! Meow!” “Oh! What was that!” , barked Mr. Lilac, spilling hot tea all over his knees! “ Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! These were my favorite trousers!”, cursed Mr. Lilac, in his British accent. “I supposed that would wake you up!”, said a strange French voice. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my house!”, questioned Roger. Sitting ahead of him was a tabby, white furred, cat, with a beret and thin moustache. “Bonjour! I am Monsieur Whiskers! Pleased to make your acquaintance!”, and with that the cat stuck out his paw, as if he wanted to shake hands with Roger. Roger backed away, and thought he forgot to take his medication. “No more sweets!”, he told himself. “Quit thinking I’m not real!”, barked Monsieur Whiskers. “Come on! You are very late!” ”Late for what?”, asked Roger, puzzled. “I’ll answer, later! Come! Follow me!”, beckoned the cat. Off they went, as the cat dragged Roger by his wrinkly, aged, hand. Monsieur Whiskers stopped, when he reached the oven. “Now….climb in.”, he said. “Are you crazy! I don’t even cook in that thing, let alone climb in it!”, screamed Roger! “Oh my god!”, said Monsieur Whiskers, annoyingly. “It’s always the same with you humans! Allow me! With that, he opened the oven, and stared it at. Suddenly, out of surprise, he yelled, “Pickled Whales!” Roger looked at the cat, like he was crazy, even though he was. Then, the ovens racks disappeared and were replaced by a whirlpool portal, which had the colors blue and green swirling around each other. “Now, will you go in?, Monsieur Whiskers asked, mockingly. Roger looked at the portal, like he was going to reconsider, but a kick from the cat, disagreed. Down Roger and the cat went. They swirled into a world that was unimaginable.
Roger and Monsieur Whiskers landed hardly, on a patch of ground, that was colored orange. Roger felt like he broke his sternum, but Whiskers just got up, dusted himself, and began licking his paws. Roger got up and questioned the cat, rapidly.”Where are we? Why in the world, did you say, “Pickled Whales”, and Why do you need me?” “Would you just be quiet?”, screamed Monsieur Whiskers. Then, he led Roger through a forest of orange grass, blue pebbles, and pink trees. At the end of the forest, Roger saw his daughter! “Ruby! What are you doing here?”, he asked, running to hug his daughter, in his warming embrace. “I don’t know, Daddy! This hooligan grabbed me, while I was analyzing giraffe feces!”, she answered. “Oh! Roger, allow me to introduce my good friend, Senor Rover! Senor, this is Roger Lilac.”, introduced Monsieur Whiskers. Roger had no idea, how the cat knew his name. “This is crazy! Who am I going to meet next; Mademoiselle Turkey?!”, barked Roger. No, of course not! She’s our queen! , consoled Monsieur Whiskers. “That’s it! I’m leaving! It’s way better for my daughter and I to get away from you, you, you freaks!”, said Roger, furiously. Him and Ruby, walked off and started talking, like they were old friends. Roger asked Ruby how her daughter, Lillian, was. Ruby asked Roger, how his garden was. Then, she stopped dead in her tracks and said, ”Wait! Daddy, we don’t know where in the world we are, so don’t you think it’s safer to go with dog and cat guy?” Roger agreed and ran to “dog and cat guy”. “Please, let us go with you!”, begged Roger. “Okay, then.”, declared the animals. Roger and Ruby followed the animals to a tree and a log. "Unfortunately, we have only space for two in each of the houses.”, consulted Monsieur. Roger took Whisker’s house, and Ruby took Rover’s. Roger stepped into the cat’s house, and gasped. Before him was a luxurious 3 piece sofa, seated in front of a 100 inch plasma screen TV! Then, a finger tapped on his shoulder. Startled, Roger looked behind him, and saw a fuzzy fur ball with buck teeth, and bulging curious eyes. “FLOOFLE!”, yelled, the strange being. “Roger, this is my Gristle Puff. In Weirdania, our maids are called, Gristle Puffs! FLOOFLE, means “hello!”, introduced Monsieur. Monsieur told Roger that his Gristle Puff’s name was, Yolanda. Roger couldn’t believe that his crazy cat friend owned a 10 star luxurious bungalow! That night, Roger slept peacefully, except for the times Yolanda barged into his room, and broke out in dance. He couldn’t even figure out why she did that! The next morning, Roger awoke to a thud! He opened his eyes and saw a gigantic slimy, wriggling, purple, tentacle plopped on his waist. What was shocking , was that the tentacle was bursting out of the window! Then, a screech was heard! It was a sound of an eagle’s mixed with a lion’s. Whiskers burst into the room, and said, “Looks like it’s our turn to face the Octoriffin!” “The Octo – what now?”, asked Roger. Whiskers explained that the Octoriffin was a beast of fury, bravery, and agility. Only the bravest of the brave could face the beast. A rare jewel called the Polytimos was the only thing that could stop it. But to acquire it, you had to go through the forests of Gruselig, ski through the mountains of Kori, and make it past the guarder of the Iyalamayai caves. Legend had it that the Polytimos was never used, because no one was brave enough. Therefore, everyone who was visited by the Octoriffin was never seen again. “I’m not going to die in a world full of freaks!”, declared Roger. “Senor! Monsieur! Ruby!”, Let’s get that Polytimos.”, yelled Roger!
The group got out bags, and started to pack up necessary items for the trip. Roger asked Monsieur Whiskers why he didn’t pack any food. Monsieur replied, “With this fishing pole, I don’t need to pack any food!” However, Senor Rover was packing all the food he could find. Ruby emptied out all the makeup and junk in her purse, and packed it in the bag. “Girls.”, muttered, Roger under his breath, rolling his eyes. Roger seemed like the only person, or rather, living thing, that packed everything NECESSARY! At the end, Monsieur’s bag was flat and nearly empty, whereas Senor’s was bulging with food, and dripping with sauces that might have leaked in the bag. Ruby’s bag was so full, that one of the zippers fell off! The four of them set off on their journey. But how were they going to get past the Octoriffin? Senor ducked behind one of the monster’s tentacles, and signaled the others to follow him. Slowly, one by one followed Senor. When Ruby tip toed under the Octoriffin’s tentacle, she accidentally brushed her shoulder up against his suckers. The monster turned around, and snatched Ruby. “Daddy! Help me!”, she screamed! Roger and the beast deeply stared at each other, for a moment. Then, the Octoriffin let go of Ruby, and stuck its tentacle through another window. “How did you do that?”, asked Monsieur. Roger said that he would explain later. They continued on their journey and stopped at a dark and eerie looking forest. They were at the forest of Gruselig! Ruby understood! “Daddy! Gruselig means creepy and ominous in German!” Roger knew she knew this, because he would make her study hours of English and different languages in her childhood. Whiskers shivered at the thought of the forest. He remembered that he would play ball with his friend, Silky. Sadly, one day he threw the ball too far. Silky went to fetch the ball, but he was never seen again. Slowly, the group tip toed towards the forest. Hoots of owls, and shakes of trees, sent chills down their spine. And if that wasn’t enough, the scattered weeping willow trees gave them a sad lonely environment. Nothing could save them. But, they forgot about the creepiness. Onward, they went, as the howling wind sounded like a lost hungry coyote! Fortunately, this eeriness made them want to run! They ran out of the forest as fast they could. They had made it. This wave of loneliness and horror had finally made them never ever want to go to this place again!
The four continued on their journey, as they walked along the rocky pebbles that colored the ground. They had stopped when they saw an icy, snowy majestic, mountain, in front of them. “Welcome to Mount Kori!”, introduced Senor Rover, dramatically. Roger’s heart was racing as he thought of the long and high trek. The mountain seemed to be taller than Mt. Everest, itself! And worst, he was 60. Would he survive, or would he die? No one knew the answer. Only fate could bring the truth. Off they went, ready to begin the trek. They trudged through the rocky environment. As, if things couldn’t get worse, snow appeared! They trudged through the heavy snow. Roger started to miss sitting in his rocking chair with his piping hot chamomile tea, at home. Finally, the group found a rest area. They set their tents, and went to sleep. The next morning, the four continued their trek. Finally, they reached the top! “Now all we have to do, is slide!”, said Monsieur.”Are you crazy!”, yelled Roger! But, Monsieur kicked Roger, and the next thing he knew, he was sliding down the tallest mountain in the universe! Since the altitude was so high, Roger went down the mountain in 2 minutes. Luckily when he slid, his group followed him with scared expressions. They conquered the mountain, finally! They continued walking when they stopped at a cave. It was the cave of Iyalamayai! Just looking at the cave gave you the creeps! You could see all the stalagmites and stalactites dripping with water. “Let’s go in!”, said Ruby. The four went inside, but stopped! There was a big hairy warthog like creature standing in the entrance! “ Who dares to go in the caves of Iyalamayai! “, it bellowed loudly! “ Are you wretched fools here to take the Polytimos?”, asked the beast. “ I am Lionestica! Guarder of the Polytimos! Not a single soul has passed me!”, roared Lionestica. Roger deeply stared into Lionestica’s eyes! Then, Lionestica melted on the ground! The goop disappeared, and in its place, was a bottle full of a strange liquid! “I don’t know what it is, but it might help us!”, said Roger, tucking the bottle into his jacket. They continued on, in the cave and Ruby accidentally stepped on a raised altar, built in to the ground! The altar let way, and Ruby fell down a hole, screaming! Roger thought he lost his daughter, forever! His comrades urged him to move on, and he finally gave in. A few minutes later, Monsieur fell sick, and fell to the ground. Right before Roger’s and Senor’s, eyes His body slowly started disappearing! Senor and Roger ran and ran into more deeply into the cave. Roger heard Senor scream! He looked back and Senor was gone. Roger felt very lonely! He went even deeper into the cave, and there it was! The bright pink Polytimos glowing in all its glory! Roger grabbed the jewel, tucked it in his coat, and without thinking, he drank out of the bottle. He didn’t really want to do it! Something forced him to. Then, he was sucked into another portal. He was back at stage 1, standing behind Monsieur’s and Senor’s luxurious bungalows. The weird thing was that his group was with him! They all explained that they disappeared right back where they started.” I think the liquid transported me back here!”, said Roger. Monsieur told Roger to stick the Polytimos in the Octoriffin’s eye. Roger just threw the jewel and it perfectly landed in its eye! The Octoriffin shrieked and disappeared! Standing in its place was June! “Roger, I didn’t pass away from brain cancer, I was sucked into Weirdania!”, complained June! She explained that she had done life research on the Polytimos, and set for the journey! She went to the caves but the Lionestica turned her into the Octoriffin! “Now that I’m free, I can finally go home!”, cheered June. The family of 3, were transported back to their home! After the crazy adventure, Roger knew that he was living his life to the fullest! And they all lived happily ever after!
The End !
