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 Hello my name is Bianca Serena Foulser, I enjoy writing about many different subjects, my favorite things are childrens stories and horror. I have had one book published so far, most of my inspiration comes from dreams, art and talking with others using the creative part of our mind, l have a very vibrant imagination. Favorite Quote, 'Courage does not always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying l will try again tomorrow'. My email is, imagination.fantasy@tiscali.co.uk
Published Book, The Hour Glass & The Stolen Treasure, By Bianca Serena Foulser.
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MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- The Hour Glass and the Stolen Treasure, published last year an Adventure story about two children. On the back cover it reads, Join Annabel and Matthew on an adventure travelling to many lands where they encounter strange and magical experiences. But will they be brave enough to help the princess and her people to retrieve the Hour Glass and get back home safely. On their journey they make many new and wonderful friends and face unexpected dangers. Written and illustrated in full colour by Bianca Serena Foulser.
- Now Working on my second book called The Hour Glass & The Five Pocket Watches By Bianca Serena Foulser. An older childrens story, it's an Adventure Story full of exciting magic and mystery, where talking Unicorns and Wizards roam the Lands of Snow and Autumn.
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MY FAVORITE LINKS:
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MY RESIDENCE INFO:
City: Eastleigh
State/Country: UK
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BOOKS PUBLISHED:
 Sample of The Hour Glass and the Stolen Treasure - chapters 1 to 7. Chapter 8 is missing due to lack of space to upload. Also, unable to upload full colour illustrations.
Chapter 1
‘Azzall The Magnificent’
It was December 24th; it was a cold Christmas Eve. There was a thick blanket of white snow outside from the earlier storm, but now only light flakes were falling. The moonlight shone through a gap in the snow clouds making the flakes glisten, they seemed to dance as if they had a life of their own.
Annabel was enchanted as she looked out of her bedroom window. She loved this time of year, everything looked so special covered in soft downy white. And of course she was excited about this evening. Her parents were going to take her and her younger brother Matthew to see ‘Azzall The Magnificent’, the best magician in the whole world. Her parents and friends had told her that his show was not like any other show; his magic tricks surpassed all expectations.
Annabel has seen posters at the local store showing Azzall The Magnificent. He looked strange and striking with his thick black shiny hair and piercing green eyes. He had a long red satin cloak flowing down behind him, which gave great promise of mystery.
Deeper and deeper her imagination carried her away when suddenly the chiming of the antique grandfather clock on the landing bought her out of her daydream. She counted seven chimes. The sound of footsteps on the staircase let her know that Matthew was coming to find her.
“Come on silly, it’s time to go. You’ll make us late if you don’t get a move on” Matthew panted. The children hurried put on their coats. Matthew pinched Annabel on the arm, “Last one downstairs is a wiggly worm”, he shouted as he ran out the door. “You do say such silly things”, Annabel giggled as she chased after him.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs their Mother and Father were already waiting for them. “Make sure you are on your best behaviour tonight” their Mother remarked. The children’s cheeks were flushed with excitement as they ran out the door to the waiting car.
The car moved off and cautiously drove through the thick snow on the way to the theatre. Ten minutes later they arrived at the entrance of the Grand Victoria Theatre, which was bathed in floodlights. The entrance doors were heavy wood with brass fixings and frosted glass panels. Annabel pushed hard to open one of the doors, which slowly squeaked open to reveal the commissionaire dressed in a blue and gold uniform. “Tickets please” he said in a loud crisp voice.
Her Father stepped forward and handed the tickets to the commissionaire, which he clipped and handed back. “Come on children, we’re a little later, let’s quickly find our seats,” their Mother said.
The children felt giddy with anticipation of what was to come. “Seats A3 A4 A5 A6, right at the front” said their mother loudly. They quickly seated themselves into the red velvet seats.
The opening music sounded aloud and the gold satin curtains parted to reveal a very large stage. “Ladies and Gentlemen tonight you will see things beyond your wildest imagination and dreams, so prepare yourselves for a spectacular performance by the one and only Azzall The Magnificent”, the announcer said. A roar of applause erupted as Azzall The Magnificent stepped onto the stage wrapped in his red satin cloak with a black top hat.
He opened his cloak in one swift movement to reveal a black tuxedo. “And now ladies and gentlemen,” he spoke with a Latino accent, “I will show you tonight things that you will remember and treasure for the rest of your life”. And then with a wave of his hand, shadows seemed to flow from out of his wand. Music filled the auditorium and the lights dimmed and the shadows became silhouetted against a white background. They formed into ballerinas and danced across the stage performing a scene from Swan Lake. The black prince swan appeared on the centre of the stage.
All the shadows moved with a life of their own, the whole audience was totally captivated. With the very first scene he had won them over! Slowly the shadows swirled into a black cloud and streamed back into the wand and the music faded away. The theatre was filled with awe and everyone was clapping.
“For my next act, please do not be alarmed, remember I’m an illusionist”, the magician said confidently. With this he waved his wand and the roar of a wild animal filled the stage. A box sprung open and a tiger walked out towards him. A loud gasp escaped from the audience. The tiger slowly walked towards the edge of the stage.
Annabel tightly gripped the arm of the seat, she felt Matthew spill his chocolate sweets across her lap but she was too transfixed to glance down. The tiger looked angry as it paced across the stage seeming eyeing up whom in the audience would be for supper! Perhaps having seats at the front was not such a good idea after all…
“Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologise as Raffell has not eaten tonight”, Azzall said with a laugh. “And now meet my beautiful assistant Lolita”, he added. With a bright flash a women dressed in a blue sequin gown appeared in the centre of the stage. She was indeed very stunning. Annabel’s attention was momentarily locked on Lolita; she hoped she would grow up to look as lovely. But she quickly reverted to the pacing tiger.
“My assistant will now be placed into extreme danger”, said the magician. With this he waved his wand again and fire erupted from the end of the wand to surround Lolita in a ring. “The question is,” Azzall announced, “will Raffell rescue the lovely assistant or devour her? Even I do not know,” he said with a sinister laugh.
It was clear to Annabel he was enjoying teasing the audience. He pointed his wand three times at the tiger. Raffell turned and leapt into the air towards the flames. “Was he going to eat her”, wondered Annabel? The tiger landed in the centre of the ring of fire. Lolita climbed onto Raffell’s back and the tiger leapt back over the flames.
The audience cheered loudly as they landed safely and Lolita stood up. The magician waved his wand once more and the fire disappeared back into the wand as quickly as it had appeared. As the clapping died down, Azzall said, “All very dramatic, the lovely lady is safe but there’s still a hungry tiger here”. With this the tiger turned and ran towards the edge of the stage. Annabel screamed as it appeared to leap into the audience. With a wave of his dark wand, Raffell disappeared into a puff of smoke. The smoke twirled around into a spiral and was pulled back into the wand.
The audience exploded into a loud frenzy of praise and cheers, they had never seen anything like this before. It took many minutes for the commotion to cease, they all waited in wonderment at what could possibly come next!
The third act was about to start. Azzall walked to the edge of the stage. “I now need a child from the audience to help me with my next act”, he said. “But do not be afraid boys and girls, Raffell is sleeping soundly”. Both Annabel and Matthew threw their arms into the air, lifting themselves off the edge of their seats to get noticed. “Chose me”, she whispered under her breath. Her arm began to ache as she stretched as far as she could. Her heart fell as Azzall pointed to a ginger haired girl whose face was covered with freckles. The girl jumped up out of her seat and rushed eagerly up the stage steps.
Azzall asked the girl her name, “Caroline”, she replied vigorously. Azzall removed his glossy top hat and handed it to the girl. “Please hold this out, tightly now, don’t let go”, he said. Tapping his wand twice onto the edge of the hat, “Abracadabra” he said loudly. A little pink nose and a pair of fluffy white ears appeared over the edge of the hat. Caroline gave a gasp of delight as a fluffy white rabbit hopped out of the hat onto the stage. Tapping his wand again on the hat, Azzall repeated the magic word and out came another rabbit, and then another, and then another until there were ten rabbits bouncing around the stage. The audience cheered loudly.
Taking the hat from the girl, he placed it on the stage by the rabbits. Tapping the wand three times, the rabbits all jumped back into the hat one by one until they were all gone. Azzall thanked the girl and escorted her to the stage steps so she could retake her seat.
“And for your attention, for my fourth act I will require two children from the audience”. Annabel and Matthew raised they hands quickly and were delighted when they were both chosen. They raced up and stood on the stage feeling nervous and excited.
Annabel looked down and her cheeks flushed pink with embarrassment. She realised that when Matthew had dropped his sweets onto her lap, a smear of chocolate had appeared across her green skirt, which she feared was quite noticeable. She tried hard to bunch her skirt up just enough to hide the stain. Azzall asked the children their names. “Annabel, I’m ten years old”. “And I’m Matthew, I’m seven” they replied. “Are you excited about Christmas,” he asked? “Oh yes we are” answered Annabel.
Azzall then called to Lolita “Would you please show the children to the magic boxes”. Lolita crossed the stage and took the hands of Annabel and Matthew and led them towards two large upright black boxes covered in silver stars. She opened the door of the first box and guided Matthew in. “Don’t be scared”, she said softly as she closed the door. Annabel felt very apprehensive as she was shown into the second box and the door was closed.
They could hear the magician’s voice from outside. “My lovely assistant will now show you that there are no trap doors or other exits from these boxes”, he said. They heard a number of taps on the outside of the boxes. “And now with a wave of my wand, the children will disappear and on my count of ten they will re-materialise.”
Annabel and Matthew began to feel strange and dizzy. They felt themselves moving but it was pitch black and they couldn’t see anything. Falling, falling, falling, they could feel themselves falling. After a few seconds they landed with a bump.
Chapter 2
The Snow People
Annabel opened her eyes and looked around her. She could see Matthew beside her; they were outside in the snow. “Where are we”, asked Matthew? “We must be outside the theatre, but I can’t see the building. It must be close by”, she replied. She looked around, all she could see was the never-ending snow and scattered trees.
“I’m cold”, said Matthew, “can we go back inside now?” “Silly thing”, answered Annabel, “we must wait until Azzall brings us back onto the stage otherwise we’ll ruin the act. He won’t be too pleased with us if we walk back in through the door”. “Oh yes, I didn’t think of that”, said Matthew.
Many minutes passed. “How long until we are taken back” asked Matthew? “I don’t know. It shouldn’t be long. We must just wait here”, Annabel replied. She put her arm around her brother to warm and comfort him.
After what seemed like ten minutes, the children were still outside. “How much longer” said Matthew? Half an hour went by and still they remained where they were. “I’m fed up with this”, said Annabel, “let’s go back in. Stupid magician, what is he playing at leaving us outside in the cold with no coats? Come along”, she said and she grabbed Matthew’s hand tightly. Matthew winced but didn’t say anything and they set off at a good pace towards what Annabel though was the direction of the theatre.
On and on they walked, their pace getting slower and slower. Matthew started to cry. “Don’t worry”, Annabel said to comfort him, “I’m sure Azzall knows what he’s doing”. However, she was not certain she believed this herself, but she had to keep up appearances, after all she was the eldest.
Matthew looked up. “Annabel”, he exclaimed, “I can see someone other there”. He pointed to a girl ahead of them. Annabel called out, “Hello, can you help us please. We seem to be lost”. The girl didn’t reply. “Perhaps she didn’t hear me”, thought Annabel. They ran towards the girl as fast as they could in the snow. Panting and out of breathe they reached the girl and Annabel tapped her on the shoulder. “Excuse Me”, she said, “did you not hear us call? My name is Annabel and we need your help”.
The girl still did not respond. “Now look here”, exclaimed Annabel. “You don’t need to be so rude, I was only asking for some help!” Still the girl did not speak or turn to face them. Annabel prodded her on the arm. “I said I just need…” Annabel’s voice trailed off. “What’s wrong”, asked Matthew? “She’s so cold”, said Annabel.
Annabel turned to face the girl. “My word”, gasped Annabel, “she’s not real. She’s totally made out of snow. But the face is so lifelike. And the detail… someone has taken a huge effort and skill to make this.” “So she’s not a snowman, she’s a snowgirl”, Matthew said. “I suppose you are right”, replied Annabel.
“Well we must move on, we can’t stay here staring at this snowgirl all night. If we don’t get inside soon, we’ll end up looking like her too”, she joked. “That’s not funny” said Matthew, “that frightens me!” “Don’t be such a baby, it couldn’t really happen”, remarked Annabel.
They set off again walking ahead. “Look, two more people ahead”, said Annabel. They ran up to them. There was a man and a woman holding hands. “But they are both snow people too”, gasped Matthew. “Who could of made all of these and why” asked Annabel?
They walked on and found many more snow people. A small boy holding a ball, people cuddling, children playing, even a little puppy made out of snow. Even though the characters were very beautiful, the children were getting an eerie feeling.
Suddenly they heard someone crying. “It came from over there”, said Matthew, pointing over to the side. They rushed over. On the ground there was a figure crouching. It was clear that this one was alive. White hair trailed over the stranger’s back and she wore a tiny diamond tiara on her head. Also wrapped around her was a long white fur cloak.
They ran up to the stranger. “Can you help us please”, cried Annabel? A strange but beautiful face looked up at them. “Who are you, where did you come from” asked the stranger? The children quickly explained about the magician and the events of the last few hours.
The stranger listened intently. “I’ve never heard of this Azzall The Magnificent, but Raffell the tiger is a friend of mine. He’s a very special talking tiger”, she said. The children looked at each other in amazement. “Don’t be silly”, Annabel scolded the stranger, “tigers can’t speak!”
The stranger smiled and ignored her outburst. “How may I help you”, she asked? “Well”, began Annabel, “we’ve just explained how we got here, so we’re lost. Do you know the way back?” “I can help you to get back, but I will need to use the Hour Glass”, she said. “The Hour Glass? What’s that” Annabel asked?
The stranger explained. “The Hour Glass has many magical properties. My mother was given the gift to use the magic within the Hour Glass by a red wizard, and she passed the gift onto me. Now the wizard, my mother and myself are the only ones who can use it”, she said.
“How do you use the Hour Glass” Annabel asked? “And will you please send us back?” Matthew added. “All you need to do is stand on the wooden frame of the Hour Glass and hold on tight. I will recite the magic words and it will send you back,” answered the stranger. “Oh, that sounds easy, thank you”, said Annabel.
“Oh dear, where are my manners, I haven’t even asked you your name,” said Annabel in an apologetic voice. “My name is Princess Starlight”, the stranger replied, “I’m the Princess of the Snow People, my kingdom is always where the snow falls. But my people cannot fully wake up until I use the Hour Glass’s magic. That’s why the people you’ve seen are still sleeping. When my people are awake there is much dancing and singing. I was crying because I cannot wake them up”.
“Why don’t you use the Hour Glass then” Annabel asked? “Because it has been stolen by Broth, the wicked hailstone dragon!” the Princess told her. “Can’t you get it back” Annabel said? “Prince Topaz went to try, but he has not returned. I don’t know what has happened to him and I’m very worried”, the princess replied.
“I need your help to retrieve the Hour Glass and find the prince, but I will not be able to assist you as I need to stay here and look after my people as they cannot defend themselves from evil strangers. Unlike you, some of the people who wander these lands are not all kind”, the princess told them.
“We would be happy to help as the Hour Glass is our only way back and if we can we will help the prince too. Then you will be able to wake your people. But we will need coats to keep warm and directions”, said Annabel. “I’m so hungry, we’ve not eaten since we arrived here”, piped up Matthew.
“Come inside the palace my friends”, said the princess, and she led them towards a white ice palace in the distance. Pushing open one of the heavy ice doors, the children could see a brightly lit room. The princess handed them ice skates. “You will need to wear these to move around” the princess remarked.
The children eased on the skates over their shoes. Annabel slowly began to move around the room, “I love to skate”, she said. A cry from behind her made her spin around quickly to see Matthew skidding across the ice, flapping his arms around. “Help”, he called as he flew backwards and landed with a bump on his backside. The princess and Annabel began to giggle.
“Well don’t just stand there laughing”, Matthew retorted, “help me up!” Their giggles subsided and the princess glided over to where Matthew was. She helped him back up onto his skates. As soon as he was standing again, he started to look shaky. “Grab hold of the back of my cloak”, the princess told Matthew. He grabbed hold of the thick white cloak. “Hold tight”, she said as she glided over to a white marble table. Annabel joined them.
On the table there was a silver decanter with three bowls and three glasses filled with a reddish brown liquid. “Eat and drink my friends”, the princess said. They sat down upon small silver chairs. “What is this drink”, Annabel asked? “It’s called berry juice, it’s sent to me from the Autumn people. They are good friends of mine. We often trade goods, I get berry juice and other foods, I send them medicines for when they are ill and ice for them to melt for water”, the princess told them.
“We also send each other letters with news of our kingdoms, but that doesn’t happen very often. Queen Amber’s daughter, Princess Fern, was married last year and she has recently had a baby called Ruby on account of her thick reddish hair. As of yet I’ve not visited, so I’ve not seen the baby”, the princess said.
“Oh how lovely”, Matthew exclaimed, “I wish we could visit the Autumn people. “Can we, can we”, he pleaded. “Matthew, have you forgotten that we have a task to do? We must get the Hour Glass back and rescue the prince”, Annabel said sternly.
“Your sister is right, you do have a task to complete. May be there will be another occasion…” the princess remarked. She then reached over and picked up the decanter and poured a thick creamy white liquid into the bowls. “This is cream soup, eat as much as you want. I will pack some more berry juice and soup for your journey”, she added.
When they had finished their meal, the children both exclaimed in unison their appreciation for the princess’s hospitality. “So where is it we have to go”, Annabel asked. “To the land of hailstones”, the princess replied. “I have a special little friend to guide you on your way. Come and meet him.” But I thought everyone was still asleep”, said Annabel. “He is”, said the princess. “But how will you wake him without the Hour Glass?” said Annabel.
The princess reached inside her coat and pulled out a very tiny glass bottle. “I only have one drop left of the magic liquid, this should be enough to wake him”, she said.
They left the white marble table behind and skated deeper into the palace, Matthew holding tight onto the princess’s coat. They reached a narrow door on the far side of the room which they had not noticed before. The princess pushed the door open and they entered into another elegant room with five sofas along the walls. The sofas were all blue satin with yellow trimmings.
Annabel admired the elegance of the room. The princess indicated for them to sit on one of the sofas, so Annabel and Matthew seated themselves.
The princess was still standing. She skated over to a cabinet and opened the doors. The children saw her take the bottle of magic liquid and pour a single drop onto something white and fluffy which they couldn’t quite see as the princess was obscuring their view. When the drop landed, the children heard a little sneeze that had not come from the princess. They heard a sweet sounding little voice that said “Hello Princess Starlight, thank you for waking me”. The princess then moved to one side and the children could now clearly see.
On the shelf on the cabinet stood a little horse complete with a little silver horn on its head. Matthew gasped, “It’s a unicorn”, he said. The unicorn had white fluffy fur, a little pink tongue, big blue eyes and golden hooves. It was the most adorable creature Annabel had ever seen in her life.
It raised one of its little hoofs and said, “Hello, my name is Opal”. Annabel breathed out a huge sigh of delight. “Opal”, the princess began, “our beloved Prince Topaz has had to go to the land of hailstones to retrieve the Hour Glass taken by the hailstone dragon. But he hasn’t returned, so these two brave children, Annabel and Matthew, will go there and try to find the Hour Glass and the prince. But they don’t know the way, will you guide them?”
“Yes I’ll go”, replied Opal. The princess approach Opal and crouched down to face him. Removing a necklace from her own neck, she placed it over his head. The chain was silver and the pendant hanging from it was a tear shaped pale blue sapphire stone. “This is a good luck charm”, the princess told Opal, “it will help to keep all three of you safe. It was given to me by my mother, now I give it to you my friends.”
Opal looked at the pendant. At first he just stood there gazing at it and then with a leap and little bounds of joy, he began jumping around the room. “It’s so pretty”, he squealed with delight. “Thank you, thank you”, he said to the princess. All three laughed to see Opal being so playful.
“Come now”, said the princess, “you will need to go now”. “But”, began Annabel, “we will need some boots”. “Of course you will”, said the princess and she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out two thick white coats and placed them around both children. She also gave them both pairs of white boots for them to wear. “And here are your food supplies too”, she added.
She then opened a small drawer and took out two glass bottles; one filled with green liquid, the other a pale blue. “Take these with you, the green one will melt hailstones, the blue one is a healing potion if anyone is injured. I afraid there are only these two bottles as I use the Hour Glass to make the potions as I need them, so this is all I have left. So may they serve you well”, the princess said.
So the children said goodbye to Princess Starlight and they left the Ice Palace and headed out into the snow.
Chapter 3
The Journey
Opal leapt forward and took the lead. After some time of trudging through the thick snow, they came upon a strange wall of ice. “What’s this?” said Matthew. “It’s the ice maze we must pass through”, replied little Opal. “Is it dangerous?” asked Matthew. “Oh no”, said Opal, “but it is very complex. But don’t worry, I’ve passed through it many times”.
So the children followed Opal into the entrance of the ice maze. After some time of winding left and right through the maze, Annabel yawned with boredom. “How much longer”, she said. “Nearly there”, Opal replied, “Shall we run through the last bit?” So the children ran and Opal skipped ahead. At last they saw the exit and they were out.
“Thank goodness that’s over with, so have we reached the hailstone kingdom now?” Annabel asked Opal. “Not yet, we must now climb the ice staircase”, he replied. In the distance they saw a spiral staircase rising into the sky. As they got closer they could see it was made of ice with silver railings. Opal carefully placed his hooves on the first steps and headed up. The children followed on behind. “Make sure you keep hold of the railing, the steps can be very slippery”, Opal warned.
After many minutes of climbing, Matthew groaned. “Annabel, I think I feel a bit sick”, he said. “What’s the matter?” Annabel asked. “I looked down and we are such a long way up, I started feeling queasy”, he replied. “Don’t look down silly, keep looking up. Then you won’t feel ill”, she told him. So they continued climbing until the top of the staircase appeared.
“We now need to cross that bridge over there”, Opal said. The children looked in the direction Opal was pointing with his hoof. A bridge of ice and silver stretched out before them. They began to walk across until they reached two large gates. The little unicorn lifted the latch on the gates and pushed them open with his pink nose.
“We have now reached the end of the snow kingdom, before us lies the kingdom of hailstones. But be warned, we must be careful. Sometimes hailstone giants walk this land. If they are nice, they will pay you no heed, but if they are nasty, they will gather up a huge ball of hailstones and throw them at you. If I say run, run as fast as you can and don’t look back!” Opal told them.
Annabel and Matthew felt afraid. “No one said anything about giants”, Annabel groaned. “Don’t worry too much”, said Opal, “remember I have the good luck charm from the princess”. Annabel raised an eyebrow. She wondered how a little charm would save them from any giants they encountered, but she said nothing, as Matthew seemed comforted by this.
As they walked onto the hailstones, they crunched noisily beneath their feet. “Oh this is great”, Annabel said sarcastically, “With all this loud crunching, every giant in the land will be able to hear us coming”. “Oh it’s a lovely sound, isn’t it”, Opal said missing Annabel’s point completely. Annabel shook her head and carried on walking.
“So where is the dragon and the Hour Glass?” asked Matthew. “I don’t know”, giggled Opal. They pushed on through the hailstones until they came across a tall statue. As they got closer Opal gave a gasp of horror. “Prince Topaz, what has happened to you”, he exclaimed. Opal’s big blue eyes began to fill with tears. Little drops began to trickle down his face, one landed on his nose. He gave a little sneeze.
Annabel reached into her pocket and pulled out the green bottle. She took the lid off and poured it around the statue. “Everyone stand back as I’m not sure what will happen”, she said. They all moved back as a green mist surrounded the statue. It was hard to see what was happening, but they could see that the hailstones were melting away. Eventually all the hailstones were gone and as the mist disappeared, they saw a handsome prince with thick white hair, pale blue eyes and a radiant smile spread across his face as he caught sight of Opal.
Opal ran up to the prince and leapt into his outstretched arms and they embraced. Opal gave the prince a lick on his cheek, the prince laughed. “It’s good to see you my little rascal”, he said affectionately. “And who are these companions with you?” he asked. Annabel stepped forward. “My name is Annabel and this is my brother Matthew. We are friends of Princess Starlight”, she said. “But I’ve never seen you before”, interrupted the prince. “Yes I know”, began Annabel, “but you see…” and she explained how she and Matthew had visited the magician’s show and had magically appeared in the land of snow, how they had meet Princess Starlight and why they had to help to find the Hour Glass so they could get home again. She also told him that the princess had said that he had come to retrieve the Hour Glass too, but that he hadn’t returned.
“Yes”, said the prince, “I did come to find the Hour Glass, but as I was walking, one of the dragons was flying high in the sky and it swooped down on me. We had a terrible battle, I repelled the dragon many times but eventually I began to weaken and during another attack, I didn’t get my shield raised in time and the dragon’s breathe encased me in hailstones. I’ve been here in my icy cage until you found and released me for which I am externally grateful.”
“Oh that’s OK”, blushed Annabel. “Well now I must eat”, said the prince, “being encased in hailstones has made me weak and hungry”. “So are we” they all replied in unison. “Let’s take shelter over by those rocks and have something to eat”, suggested Annabel. They all walked over to an outcrop of rocks and sat down.
Annabel reached into her pocket and pulled out the silver flask Princess Starlight had given her earlier. Removing the top, she poured out the thick creamy white soup into the lid and first offered it to the prince. The prince drank down the soup quickly; he was obviously very hungry. He passed the lid back to Annabel. She refilled it and passed it in turn to Matthew, herself and then placed it on the ground so that Opal could lap the liquid up with his little tongue.
“So where do we go to find Broth the haildragon?” asked Annabel. “I don’t know for certain”, replied Prince Topaz, “I was attacked as I headed in this direction”. He pointed towards some cliffs in the distance. “We will have to keep trudging through this land until we find what we are looking for”, he added. Matthew interrupted, “Are there really giants in this land”, he asked? “Yes there are, but I’ve not seen any”, replied the prince.
They stood up and set off across the hailstone land towards the distance cliffs. After many hours of walking in silence, Matthew complained his legs were tired. “I’m sorry”, said Annabel, “but we need to keep going for a bit longer”. They continued on their way. Opal bounded ahead.
Chapter 4
The Battle
After many minutes, Opal returned. “I think I can see some caves ahead”, he said. They all stared into the distance. “Yes, I can see them too”, said the prince. They pushed on with renewed vigour towards what they hoped was the lair of the haildragon.
As they approached the caves, they became more cautious. There were many caves in the cliff face in front of them. The prince led the way into one. It was very dark; they couldn’t see anything. The prince reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet pouch. He carefully untied the strings at the top of the pouch and opened it. A dragonfly with beautiful wings flew out. The prince spoke quietly to the dragonfly. It flew up in front of them and its wings began to glow brighter and brighter lighting up the darkness inside the cave.
They began to explore around the entrance of the cave, not daring to go further in yet. After many minutes they had not discovered any evidence of the cave beginning lived in and so they came outside again. “We will have to keep searching until we find the right cave”, said the prince. They entered another cave, again the dragonfly lit up the darkness, but there was nothing to see.
They entered a third cave. After searching for many minutes, they were about to leave when Annabel heard a noise from further inside the cave. “Shush, listen over here”, she said to the others. They all fell silent and listened intently. From deeper in the cave came a snoring sound. “Do you hear that”, asked Annabel? “Quiet”, the prince said sharply, “it may be the dragon”. Annabel fell silent and held her breath. Up until now this has seemed like an exciting adventure, but now they were possibly close to the dragon, she felt afraid.
The prince waved the dragonfly back, he didn’t want the light from its wings to alert any dragon back there. As they stared into the back of the cave, smoke began to appear. They crept very carefully forwards. Matthew gently tugged at Annabel’s coat. “Look down on the floor”, he whispered. Annabel glanced down. On the floor of the cave she could see brightly shining stones. They were gemstones she realised. She looked ahead again and, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could make out a large creature lying on the floor. It was a green dragon! It had a large scaly body and a great long spiky tail. She could just about make out its head; it had a long snout with sharp teeth. Luckily it was fast asleep. As it was snoring, smoke was gentle rising from its flared nostrils.
“Where’s the Hour Glass”, Matthew whispered, “is it here?” No one responded so Matthew asked again a bit louder. “Don’t shout”, Annabel spoke quietly but sternly. The prince gently waved the dragonfly forward. It flew slowly towards the back of the cave lighting up the dragon and the surrounding area. There were gemstones and many other silver and golden objects shining in the light. And, over next to the dragon lying on top of a pile of emeralds, diamonds and sapphires, was a beautiful Hour Glass in a wooden frame. The sand inside was a turquoise blue and there was writing engraved in gold on the frame that Annabel did not recognise. At the top of the frame there were pearls set into the wood with an enormous red ruby at the peak.
The prince turned and whispered to them. “You must quietly go back outside the cave and wait there for me”, he said. “But we can’t leave you here alone”, began Annabel. “I’m the only one who has a sword and a shield to protect myself”, he said, “it’s far too dangerous for you here. Go quietly outside and hide behind some rocks until I appear.”
So Annabel, Matthew and Opal slowly backed away from the dragon and felt their way along the cave walls to the outside leaving the prince and the dragonfly behind. Once outside, they looked around and ran to a pile of rocks to hide.
The prince stared at the dragon. He felt a little afraid, but he knew the others were counting on him. He recalled the earlier battle he had with a dragon and he knew what he must do. He must obtain the Hour Glass and take it to the others, after all this is what they had come for.
He carefully picked his way through all the precious objects making his way towards the Hour Glass as quietly as he could. He got closer and closer to the Hour Glass making no noise at all resisting the temptation to reach out and grab it. Eventually he stood before it. There was a pile of rubies on top of the frame. He slowly began removing them, but he didn’t notice a string of pearls hanging from the side. As he lifted the Hour Glass, the pearls fell making a loud noise, which echoed around the cave.
The prince quickly looked towards the dragon. One of its green eyes had opened and it was staring at him. The dragon quickly raised itself up and stood facing the prince eye to eye. “How dare you enter my cave”, hissed Broth the dragon, “how dare you try to steal my treasures”. “All of these treasures were stolen by you from other lands, so they are not yours”, the prince replied. “I have come to take back the Hour Glass to Princess Starlight”, he added sternly.
The dragon glared at the prince. “It’s mine now”, he sneered. “We’ll see about that”, said the prince bravely pulling his long silver sword from its sheath. The dragon leapt at the prince, its long claws slashing towards him. The prince jumped to the side swinging his sword towards the scaly skin. The dragon sprang aside.
The dragonfly loyally stayed with the prince, hovering just above his head so that he could see. Without the light the prince would be defenceless against the dragon which had very good eyesight in the darkness.
The dragon advanced upon the prince causing him to retreat backwards towards the entrance of the cave until they emerged into the daylight. This allowed the dragon more room to move and he began to circle around the prince looking for a better way to attack. Every time the dragon tried to slash the prince, the prince used his sword to fend off the attack.
Suddenly, after a lunge from the dragon, the prince lost his footing and fell backwards onto the ground. His sword fell from his grip. The dragon responded quickly and jumped over the prince. He has a gleeful look in his eyes as he realised he had won. “You should not have come here, you fool”, said the dragon. The prince tried to reach for his sword which lay on the ground a few feet away, but it was too far away to reach.
The children watched from behind the rocks. They saw the prince fall but they had no way to help him. Annabel began to get up but Matthew grabbed her. “You can’t help the prince”, he said, “the dragon will get you too”. Annabel sat back down. Matthew was right she thought, but surely there is something we can do…
The dragon opened its mouth preparing to breathe hailstones at the prince. At this range there was now way he would survive the onslaught. A mighty roar sounded, but this had not come from the dragon. Annabel could see a huge orange brown cat behind the dragon; it was Raffell the tiger she realised. Raffell ran at full pelt towards the dragon and sank his sharp claws into the dragon’s side. The dragon bellowed and turned to meet his new assailant.
Raffell and the dragon became engaged in a mighty battle rolling over the ground clawing at each other. But Raffell was no match for the much larger dragon and after a short time the dragon had pinned Raffell to the ground. The dragon clawed the tiger first down his left side and then down his right. Red blood poured from his wounds and he let loose a howl of pain. The children looked on in horror; surely this would be the end of Raffell…
Just then the prince came running up. Raffell had given him the chance to recover and reclaim his sword. The dragon was so engrossed in the fight against the tiger he didn’t see the prince and with a might lunge, the prince thrust his sword up into the heart of the dragon. The dragon roared in pain and fell to the side. He rived around in pain before laying still.
The children and Opal jumped up and ran over to where the dragon lay. “Don’t get too close”, the prince said wearily, “he’s not finished yet”. Matthew could hear the sound of a beating heart. Thump, thump, thump it went, but it was getting slower and slower until it stopped. The dragon was dead!
They all quickly ran to Raffell. The tiger was lying very still. Blood poured from the wounds the dragon’s claws had inflicted. “Raffell, Raffell, you were so brave”, said Annabel. “And Prince Topaz, you saved us all”, she added. Raffell looked up at them. “You will have to go on without me”, he struggled to say, “I don’t think I will be able to make it back”. “We will not leave you here”, said the prince. Just then Annabel remembered the second bottle Princess Starlight had given her. “Wait”, she shouted and she pulled the bottle from her pocket.
The prince saw the bottle, “That’s magic healing potion”, he said. “Quickly, pour it gently onto the wounds”. Annabel did so. Almost immediately the blood stopped dripping from the deep gashes and the cuts began to close up. The orange and brown fur began to quickly re-grow covering what were now only red marks. Raffell began to climb to his feet. “The pain has gone”, he said, “I’m well again”. Everyone cheered and hugged the tiger and the prince.
“And now it’s time to leave”, said the prince, “we don’t want to hang around here as more dragons may appear”. They all nervously looked around for any sign of more dragons, but all was quiet. “Aren’t you forgetting something”, asked Matthew? “What’s that”, Annabel said looking quizzically at him. “The Hour Glass of course”, he said, “we didn’t come all this way for nothing”.
The prince smiled and walked back towards the entrance of the cave. “I had to put the Hour Glass down over here somewhere”, he said, “I couldn’t hold it and fight the dragon”. The dragonfly lit the area up again. They searched around and Opal quickly found it. The prince picked it up. Annabel could now clearly see it. The Hour Glass was about 40 inches tall and about 30 inches in diameter. The prince struggled to hold it.
“That’s look heavy”, said Matthew, “do you have to carry it all the way back on your own”, he asked? “I have some straps here”, said the prince reaching into his coat, “if I bend down can you tie it to my back”, he said. Raffell ran over. “Prince Topaz, please strap it to my back, I can carry it”, he said. “Are you sure”, asked the prince, “you were badly injured only a few minutes ago”.
Raffell assured the prince that he had fully recovered and felt fine. So the prince and Annabel held the Hour Glass on Raffells back whilst Matthew put the straps over the top and tightened them underneath the tiger’s tummy. The prince opened his pouch and the dragonfly obediently flew back in. “Thank you my friend”, he said as he put the pouch safely in his pocket. They set off back in the direction they had come.
Chapter 5
‘Mowin’
After many hours of walking, they heard a strange rumbling sound and the ground slightly shook. “What’s that noise”, asked Annabel? “I’m not sure”, answered the prince, “but if it gets any louder we had better hide just in case it’s another dragon”. The noise seemed to fade away and they continued on.
But after a while the noise returned, quiet at first but slowly getting louder and louder. Boom, boom, boom it went and the ground began to shake more violently. “I don’t think that’s a dragon”, said the prince, “but we had better take cover as there are many strange and sometimes nasty creatures who travel these lands”. They quickly ran behind some rocks. “I’m afraid”, said Matthew. “Shush, just keep quiet and stay low”, said Annabel.
The noise grew even louder. “It’s not a dragon”, Opal said, “that’s a giant, and a big one too!” Sure enough from around the side of the rocks a huge foot appeared and slammed down into the ground. The rocks shook and they were all knocked over. The giant then came into full view. It was very tall and was wearing a long sheepskin coat. Annabel looked up to see a huge face with a long brown bread. She had to strain her neck up, as the giant was almost as big as a mountain!
“Ooooh”, the giants voice boomed out. Large drops of water began to fall around them. Annabel realised the giant was crying. The giant pulled out a very large handkerchief and blew his nose. A sound like a mighty explosion filled the air and a wind like a hurricane came. The prince quickly grabbed Opal and they all clung to the rocks to stop being swept away.
The wind stopped as quickly as it had come. They looked to see the giant had sat down just by the rocks facing the other way, so he hadn’t seen them. He was still crying, his loud sobs and moans echoed around. Water trickled over the ground soaking their feet.
“What a noise”, Annabel shouted, “whatever is the matter with him?” “Shush”, Matthew scolded her, “he might hear you”. “He couldn’t hear me if I was an express train”, she replied.
“I’ll go and ask him what’s the matter”, said Opal. “No, stay here”, the prince ordered. So they all quietly waited whilst the giant cried. But Opal began to get bored and without the others being aware, he trotted over next to the giant. “Oh no”, said Annabel, “look where Opal is”. They all turned to see Opal. At the same moment, the giant looked down and caught sight of the little unicorn too. “Foolish creature”, the prince said.
“Hello there”, Opal spoke to the giant. The prince was about to run out to distract the giant so Opal could escape, but to their surprise the giant did not attack Opal. “Who are you”, the giant’s huge voice boomed out? “My name is Opal, I’m a unicorn. It’s nice to meet you”, Opal replied. He went on to explain that he had travelled from the snow kingdom. “And what’s your name”, he asked the giant. “My name is Mowin”, the giant replied. “Oh, that’s a lovely name”, Opal said politely.
“Why were you crying” Opal asked? The giant burst into tears again and Opal had to use his powerful legs to jump out the way of the mighty water drops. After a few minutes the crying subsided. “I’m sorry”, he said, “but the memory makes me so sad. Back in my homeland, the land of the giants, there is a beautiful she giant who I love. Her name is Gerwyn, she looks a bit like me, but she had long purple hair, a wonderful wart on her nose and when she sneezes, rocks blow apart. She is everything a man giant could want”.
“So if she is so lovely, why are you crying” asked Opal? “She told me that she would only be my friend if I gave her a special present”, he told Opal. “And what did you get her” asked Opal. “I gave her some flowers, but when she smelt them, she sneezed and blew all the petals away”, Mowin replied, “so she stormed off. She said she never wanted to see me again”.
Annabel heard what the giant had said. “Oh dear”, she thought, “I like flowers, it wasn’t Mowin’s fault that she sneezed”. She didn’t say anything and continued to listen to the giant.
“I am very upset”, the giant said, “and when I’m upset I come to the land of hailstones to stomp around and let off steam. Sometimes I pick up lots of hailstones, make them into a huge boulder and throw them at something. It all helps me to forget”.
“Oh please don’t throw any at me”, said Opal. “I won’t”, said the giant, “I’ve already thrown four boulders, that’s quite enough for today. But I would like some help to win back Gerwyn, if you don’t mind”, he added. “I’ll help you”, Opal offered. “What you need is a nice present. Here, take this necklace and give it to her, she will like it and then she will like you too”. “Really, do you think she will like it” asked the giant? “Oh yes”, Opal replied, “it’s a charm necklace, she will love it”.
The giant reached down and carefully took the necklace from Opal. “But that’s the charm necklace that Princess Starlight gave to him”, whispered Matthew. “Well it’s up to Opal what he does with it”, said the prince. “Opal is always so kind and helpful to everyone he meets”.
The giant took the necklace into his huge hand. “It’s far too small for Gerwyn to wear around her neck”, he said, “but maybe she can put it on her finger or hang it up in her cave to look at. It’s so lovely, I’m sure she will like it too. Thank you little unicorn”, he said. “If you are ever in the land of the giants, come and see me”, he added.
“Oh I will”, said Opal, “but I’m not sure when I’ll be in the land of the giants next. Good luck with Gerwyn.” The giant stood up and looked down at Opal. He nodded his head and walked off in the opposite direction. Again, with each step the ground shook, but as he got further away the shaking became less and less until he was out of sight.
Opal ran over to the others. “Opal, that was a very foolish thing to do”, scolded the prince, “but very brave for such a little unicorn”. Opal bounded around in delight, he liked being called brave. “Let’s be on our way now”, the prince added, “and keep a look out for any dragons”. “And giants too”, added Annabel.
They all got up and set off towards the land of snow. On and on they walked until at last they reached the gates at the entrance to the land of hailstones. They pulled them open and headed towards the ice bridge. They were now back in the snow kingdom. No more dragons or giants!
They crossed the ice bridge and reached the top of the ice staircase. Down and down they climbed, being careful not to slip and fall. Raffell had to take extra care due to the heavy Hour Glass. At the bottom they entered the ice maze, Opal again showed them the way through. They left the maze behind them and walked on through the thick snow.
After a while they spotted a building in the distance. It was what they had all been longing to see, the Ice Palace! It looked so beautiful sparkling and glistening in the weak sunlight. They moved forward quicker now, eager to reach the entrance.
Finally they reached the palace. They were looking forward to seeing Princess Starlight and having a rest; they were all very tired after their long journey.
Chapter 6
The Awakening
The prince stepped ahead and pushed open the ice doors. He walked into the entrance hall; the rest followed him in. There was no one in sight and it was very quiet. They walked on into the large hall, but still no sign of Princess Starlight. “Princess, we have returned”, the prince called out. But there was no reply. Where was the princess?
The prince walked over to a narrow door and pushed it open. “Come on in”, the prince said, “but Raffell, would you mind waiting behind that curtain, I want to surprise the princess”, he added pointing to a large curtain hanging in the corner. Raffell smiled and hid behind the curtain. The others followed the prince. Annabel recognised the room as soon as she walked in. It was the room Princess Starlight had bought them into when they first arrived at the Ice Palace. And lying across one of the large blue sofas was the princess herself. She was asleep with her head resting on one of the yellow cushions. That’s why she had not answered their calls.
The prince slowly walked over to his sister. “I’m home”, he whispered gently, and he stroked her long white hair. The princess’s eyelids flickered and she opened her eyes. She looked up at the prince. “Am I still dreaming”, she said? “No, you’re wide awake, it’s me, I’m home”, the prince said. The princess smiled, stood up and embraced the prince. They hugged for quite some time. Then the princess turned to face the children and Opal.
She held her arms out. “My brave wonderful friends”, she said with tears in her eyes. They ran to her and she crouched down to wrap her arms around them and kissed them all on the top of their heads. She stroked Opal’s soft fur. “Thank you for being such a good friend”, she said to the little unicorn. “But where is my charm necklace” she asked? “It’s a long story”, said Opal, “we’ll tell you everything, but first we all need some food and drink”.
“Of course you do”, the princess said. She looked at the prince again and took his hand. They beckoned the others to follow and they went back to the main hall. Princess Starlight told them to sit down by the marble table.
“I have a surprise for you, please close your eyes”, the prince said. The princess did as requested and the prince waved to Raffell. The tiger quietly walked out from behind the curtain carrying the Hour Glass on his back.
“You can open your eyes now”, the prince said. The princess was overjoyed when she saw the Hour Glass had been returned and she was also pleased to see Raffell too. “Now I shall be able to walk our people from their slumber”, she said to the prince. “And send us home too”, asked Annabel? “Oh yes, of course I shall”, she replied.
They all helped to untie the Hour Glass from Raffell and place it on the floor. The tiger had carried it all the way from the land of hailstones, but he was relieved to have the weight removed. He stretched and let loose a loud yawn. The princess laughed and gave him a tight hug. Raffell then ran over to join the others at the marble table; he was very hungry too!
The princess left the hall and quickly returned carrying a silver tray, which she placed onto the marble table. On the tray were glasses and bowls, some full of soup, some full of berries. “Please eat and drink”, she said, “and do try the berries, they are delicious. They were sent to me by the Autumn people many months ago but they stay wonderfully fresh encased in ice”.
The children took a few berries and agreed that they tasted lovely. The prince placed two bowls of soup on the floor for Opal and Ruffell to eat. They both eagerly lapped up the hot soup whilst the prince, Annabel and Matthew feasted on the soup and berries. After they had finished, the princess bought out a flask filled with a brown liquid. She poured some into Annabel’s, Matthew’s and the prince’s glasses. “Try this”, she said to them. They all took a sip. “Oh wow”, cried Annabel, it’s like drinking toffee”. Matthew and the prince both agreed and they quickly drank them down.
The princess waited patiently whilst they ate their meal, but as soon as they had finished, she eagerly asked for them to tell their story of their adventure. So Annabel began by explaining how they had travelled to the land of hailstones and found Prince Topaz encased in hailstones. She explained how she had used the bottle of green liquid to free him. Prince Topaz took up the story and he told of how they had gone on to find the haildragons lair and of the battle that took place. And Matthew piped up quickly to tell how Raffell had come to the rescue and how the mighty prince had slain the dragon. But Raffell had been badly injured and Annabel had used the blue liquid to heal him.
The princess listened intently. She saw how the children enjoyed relaying the story and how very excited they became. Then Opal told of the meeting with Rowin the giant and to explain what had happened to the necklace. The princess laughed, she didn’t mind that Opal had given the lucky charm away for such a good cause.
“And now it’s time to awaken our people. Come, let’s take the Hour Glass outside and put it back in its rightful place”, the princess said to the prince. “Yes it is time”, agreed Prince Topaz. He walked over to the Hour Glass and picked it up. They all followed him outside and he placed the Hour Glass onto a silver pedestal just outside the entrance doors. The prince stood back and the princess stepped forward and placed her hands onto the Hour Glass.
She began to recite a magical verse.
Magical Hour Glass, mighty and bright,
Obey your princess to do what is right.
Please wake up my people and fill them with joy,
Each man, woman, girl and boy.
The Hour Glass began to glow with a blue light. The children gasped with surprise. The blue light filled the Hour Glass and then ascended up and out of it. The luminous light travelled out away from the Ice Palace and they could see it moving amongst the snow statues, surrounding them and entwining them in its glow. The light also moved into the forest, seeking out the statues scattered in the trees.
Annabel watched one of the closer statues. For a moment she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but sure enough the stature began to move, slowly at first but then coming more to life. She looked and saw more and more of the statues coming to life, stretching their arms and legs. The snow on their heads had become hair, the snow of their bodies became skin and they were dressed in many different styles. Then they opened their eyes. They had become real people!
Annabel saw movement from the forest. More and more snow people were approaching the Ice Palace. She could see they were all different, but they all had pale skin, just like the prince and princess. They all looked happy to have been awoken from their long slumber and began to crowd around the foot of the Ice Palace in front of the prince and princess. There were hundreds of snow people there. They clapped their hands and bowed to Princess Starlight and Prince Topaz. The prince waved to them.
Matthew spotted the snow puppy they had seen when they had first arrived in the snow kingdom. And the little girl they had first encountered who hadn’t spoken to them. Annabel smiled; it was good to see them all awake.
The blue light from the Hour Glass had risen above the snow people; it seemed to be watching over them making sure they were all awake. Its task done, it began to descend back into the Hour Glass until after many minutes it faded out.
Princess Starlight removed her hands from the Hour Glass and turned to face her people. “I’m sorry you have been asleep for so long, but I couldn’t wake you as a wicked hailstone dragon stole the Hour Glass. But thanks to the bravery of these two children, Annabel and Matthew, Opal the little unicorn, Raffell the tiger and your beloved Prince Topaz, the Hour Glass had been returned to it’s rightful place and you have been awakened”, she said to the crowd.
All the snow people began to clap again and many cheered the group. Then they bowed to the prince and princess again and sang a song of joyful praise. Annabel and Matthew were included in the lyrics; they were both very excited. Opal bounded around, he had been called brave again which made him very happy.
“It’s a pity the King and Queen could not be here to meet you”, the princess said to Annabel and Matthew, “but they are having a holiday in the land of Summer and won’t be back for sometime yet”. Annabel replied that they were sorry to have missed them too. Opal wandered over and nuzzled up against Annabel. “And you haven’t meet my older brother and sister”, he said. “What’s their names”, asked Matthew? “My sister’s name is Armani, which means princess. My brother is called Smokey, he’s fur is white with a tinge of grey in his mane. They both have their wings and one day when I’m older I’ll grow mine too”, Opal said.
Then the prince stepped forward. “There must be festivities to celebrate the return of the Hour Glass”, he said, and everyone nodded in approval. The snow people dispersed to begin working on a feast and to collect snow decorations.
Annabel grabbed Matthew’s hand and walked over to Princess Starlight. “When will we be sent back to our home”, she asked? “We have been gone for so long and our parents will be so worried”, she added. “You don’t have to worry”, the princess told them, “time in our world is different than in yours. What has been days here in these lands will have been but seconds in your own. So when I return you with the Hour Glass, no one will even realise that you have been away”. Annabel and Matthew were much relieved; they didn’t like the thought that their mother and father would have missed them.
“Please stay for the party in your honour”, the princess requested, “I promise to send you back after”. “We will see you again, won’t we”, asked Annabel? “I promise that one day we will meet again”, replied the princess. “We are very grateful to you for your help in returning the Hour Glass so that my people can be awakened”, she added. “And we are very glad that we have met you and the others”, said Annabel, “we will be glad to get home but sad to leave this wonderful place”.
Everyone then helped with the preparations for the party and feast. The snow people had set up many long white tables and they were busy placing all sorts of lovely looking foods along them. There were many different coloured ice creams, jellies, chocolate snow cakes and large jugs of berry juice. The children’s eyes were wide open staring at all the delicious food and drink; they couldn’t wait to taste them all.
Matthew tugged Annabel’s sleeve and pointed to the trees where more snow people were using ladders to hand many little ice lights up in the leaves and branches. Their light was soft but it lit up the area brightly, sparkling and twinkling in the evening dim. “Oh how lovely it all looks”, said Annabel. Yes indeed, it did look a wonderful sight.
Prince Topaz then declared aloud, “Let the celebrations begin”. He raised his arm and pointed to a young boy. The boy began to play his flute, softly at first but getting louder. A violin player also began to play followed by others playing different instruments. The snow people began dancing and singing. A snow boy and girl ran up to Annabel and Matthew and pulled them into the dancing crowd. Round and round they danced; both Princess Starlight and Prince Topaz were caught up in the fun. Opal was leaping and bounding all around, whilst Raffell was relaxing flicking his tail in time to the music. He still felt tired after the long journey and preferred to watch the others.
Eventually they stopped and sat down at the tables to eat. The food and drink were as delicious as they had looked and everyone ate until they were full.
As the evening light faded to darkness, the princess called for quiet and declared it was time for the children to return to their own land. Everyone felt a little sad, especially the children, but they realised they must go. “We will miss you”, said the prince, “please take this token of my appreciation”. Annabel looked down and saw a gold pocket watch in the prince’s hand. “Thank you, we will miss you all too”, replied Annabel with a tear in her eye as she took the pocket watch from him and placed it safely in her pocket. “Keep a look out for Raffell”, said the princess, “he often travels to your world, you never know when he might turn up”.
The princess beckoned the children over to the Hour Glass. She instructed them to stand on the edge of the wooden frame and to hold on as tight as they could. Annabel and Matthew carefully climbed on the frame and held onto the top of the Hour Glass. The princess began to recite a verse, but Annabel could not understand the words. She guessed they were magical words. Nothing happened at first and then the Hour Glass began to spin, slowly at first but gathering pace until the children became a blur to the onlookers.
Annabel and Matthew shut their eyes tightly. They felt a falling sensation; this felt familiar, the same as when the magician has made them disappear from the stage. Falling, falling until they stopped with a thump. Annabel opened her eyes; it was all blackness. But then she heard the voice of Azzall the Magnificent. She was back on the stage in the box. Matthew must be in the box next to hers.
She could hear the magician saying “And now ladies and gentlemen, my lovely assistant will open the boxes and the children will have re-materialised”. Annabel heard footsteps coming towards her and suddenly the door opened letting in a bright blinding light from the stage. Annabel could see Lolita’s smiling face looking at her.
“Is Matthew alright” she asked? “He’s right here”, Lolita replied and moved aside so that Annabel could see Matthew standing in front of his box. She ran over to him. Above the noise of the audience clapping and cheering she shouted “Oh it’s so good to be back”. Matthew nodded excitedly in agreement.
Chapter 7
The Return
The magician walked across the stage towards them. “Thank you children for your assistance”, he said loudly, “now take a bow”, he added quietly to them. They both bowed and Azzall showed them to the stage steps. As they headed down towards their waiting parents, Azzall whispered to Annabel “Memories you have will last a life time”. Annabel turned and looked at him, what did he mean? Did he know where they had been? She turned and continued down the steps. Then a strange thought entered her head; perhaps the magician had sent them to the snow kingdom on purpose…
They hurried back to their seats. Their parents thought it was strange that both children gave them a big hug as they passed; after all they had only been away from their seats for a few minutes! Matthew and Annabel exchanged glances and smiled. Only they knew what had happened over the last few days. Matthew let loose a big yawn and Annabel had to struggle to stifle one too. They were both very tired and ready for their beds. But the magician’s show had not yet finished. So they had to keep themselves awake whilst other wonders occurred in front of them.
Eventually the show ended and the curtain dropped across the stage. They all stood up from the red velvet seats and made their way through the crowds to the exit. Their father left them for a few moments whilst he collected his car and then they all climbed in and set off for home.
The car seemed to speed along to their home and they arrived in no time at all. They walked into the house and took off their coats and shoes. “Come now, it’s well past your bedtime”, said their mother, “now run upstairs and get ready for bed. Make sure you settle down quickly; I expect Father Christmas will be here soon”. The children had completely forgotten, tonight was Christmas Eve and tomorrow was Christmas Day back here in this world.
As they ran up the stairs, Matthew whispered to Annabel “Shall we tell Mummy and Daddy where we’ve been?” “They would never believe us”, said Annabel, “it’s best if we keep this as our little secret”. “Do you think we will ever see the prince or princess again”, he asked? “Princess Starlight promised we would, so one day I’m sure we will”, Annabel replied.
They went into their rooms. As Annabel was undressing for bed, she remembered the pocket watch the prince had given her. She pulled it out to look at it and was sad to see it was no longer working. She tried the winder, but with no luck. She turned it over and saw an engraving of a little wizard with the name ‘Golddust’ underneath. She pondered for a moment. “Golddust, I wonder what that means”. She shrugged her shoulders. Never mind, she would keep it as a reminder of the prince and she jumped under the pink fleece bed covers. They had another wonderful
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Small sample of horror book by Bianca Serena Foulser.
Chapter 1
Takagsi Hashimoto
The cheers of the soldiers echoed in her ears as she slowly regained consciousness. She could feel the strong grip of the soldiers holding her fast. Blood dripped from the open wound on her head forming a pool on the ground. She sensed a presence nearby, a feeling of terror overwhelmed her, but she dare not look up to see who see know would be standing in front of her. A loud voice, overpowering in its authority, bellowed a command in an all too familiar sounding language. It’s content she did not understand but its effects were dramatic. The soldier to her left violently gripped her hair, forcing her head up into the face of the hated oppressor, Takagi Hashimoto himself. His eyes were hard, unyielding, there was no compassion. She knew her death awaited.
Takagi Hashimoto, the devil from the east. His rise to power over the last two years had been frantically, almost satanic. He had overrun a peace-loving world before it even knew that he was upon them. Standing at only 5 foot 4 inches, his unusually broad shoulders increased his statue well beyond the norm for a man of his origins. His black, tightly cropped hair, narrow oriental eyes and stiff lips all added to the brutal appearance. Takagi himself was a well-educated, religious man, his life purpose to unite the world under the glorious rule of the Japanese empire. His readings of the Western bible had shown him without any doubt that he was Gods chosen being to cleanse the world of the undeserving. The Book of Revelations, the Riders of the Apocalypse, he had kept his promise as the Son of God to bring forth a plague of wrath. Non-stood in his path, even the mighty Americans were falling at his feet. Soon his name would ring out around the world as the saviour.
Takagi slowly approached the pitiful creature held before him. Despite the soldier’s hard grip, he could see her violently shaking, a mixture of blood and sweat running down her face. It was clear that she has not washed in many a long time; the stench burned the lining of his nose. He spoke to her in words she would understand. “Don’t worry my child, eternal peace will be upon you soon. But, first you must suffer for your sins”. Swiftly he turned and marched to the podium erected before the conquering soldiers. The crowds chanting increased as he rose up. Quickly he raised his arms to the heavens and a sudden quiet descended. “You have served me well, the nations of the world will kneel before our feet. Victory will be ours as ordained by God himself.” The cheering returned, this time louder than before. Again the raised arms bought silence.
The words he spoke to her doubled the terror she felt. What cruel fate was this inhuman menace to afflict on her? Her head still held upright, she stared at the opposing figure. The sounds of a babies cry diverted her attention. A soldier approached from the side carrying a bundle from which the sounds emanated. As the soldier neared, she saw a menacing smile grow on the leaders lips. Removing the wraps, he raised the baby high into the air before him. It was at this moment that the realisation hit her – it was her child! A scream of horror escaped from her dry lips. A plea, maybe he would listen to her. “Not my child, spare her life” she shouted with all her remaining strength. He looked at her, a mocking laugh ringed in her ears. Throwing the baby high into the air, he quickly drew his Samurai sword and with a single stroke, he sliced the baby the in two as it fell. Blood sprayed out hitting her face and trickled down into her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but a drop slid down into her throat. The chants began again, the volume deafening. Her screams were muted by the rising vomit in her throat. She felt it rush over her face and body as the mercy of darkness closed in.
TO BE CONTINUED
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