Elontra stared at her Captain—void of all expression, her arms crossed.
“I don’t mean any disrespect your excellency, but, but we heard—”
“Shut up, you buffoon, and listen.” She slammed both her fists on the table, then pointed at Plank with her long, crooked index finger. “That, is not important at this time, in fact, it is the most ridiculous thing I have EVER heard. What is important, as far as you are concerned, is this. We received word today from one of our elite spies that the Patron’s chosen outsider will be returning to Walt Disney World any day now. What they have planned, we do not know. I’m leaving it up to you, Plank, to find out. We need you to gather your crew, track down any vital information you can within the Magic Kingdom, then report back to me. The Shadow Queen has laid this upon me and I will not fail her. Which means, you can not fail. Understand me?”
“Yes, I’ll get right on it. Consider it done, dark leader,” Plank said, nervously jumping up from his chair.
“Very well then. Go fetch your soldiers, spies, or whoever and get me some answers.”
“Aye-aye your highness. I mean, I’ll get on it straight away. You can count on me.”
“Oh… and Captain.”
“Yes, your excellency?”
“Try to be smarter next time. You wouldn’t like me when I’m… angry.”
“Of course your excellency,” Plank replied with a fearful heart.
Dark Thorn Elontra stood up, then quickly lifted her arms upwards. Blue flames shot up from the floor, engulfing her completely. Seconds later, she was gone. The only thing remaining were scorch marks where she had stood.
Dinner had been filled with conversation about the next day’s trip to the one place on earth the whole family enjoyed, Disney World. Everything that could be packed was. All required documentation was sitting on the kitchen counter next to the luggage, and the kids were in bed trying to overcome the unbearable urge to stay awake. Their parents were triple checking everything one last time before they themselves retired for the short evening ahead. Departure time was four thirty a.m. This assured they would be in the parks by no later than noon the next day.
Charlie laid in bed, his eyes wide open—nervously thinking about tomorrow and the dangers he and his brother may face. He could faintly hear his parents talking, as they walked up the stairs towards their bedroom.
“You have the money for snacks tomorrow morning and the parking fee at the airport, right?” his father asked.
“Yes, Ed. I’ve got plenty to go around.”
“Okay, good. Once we get on property we won’t have to worry about any other expenses. We’re all covered.”
“So where are we staying again, dear?”
“Beach Club Resort.”
“Oh, that’s right. I think you told me last week. And which park will we be at tomorrow?”
“The Magic Kingdom. And, we have a dinner reservation for seven o’clock at The Plaza Restaurant.”
“That sounds perfect, Ed. The boys are going to have such a great time. I’m so worked up right now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I sure hope the boys sleep better than I plan to. They really need to get a good nights rest before all the fun begins.”
When Charlie heard his mother’s words, he rolled onto his side to exhale, then mumbled to himself, “I don’t think I’ll be sleeping much at all on this trip.” His eyes remained open, while his mind kept looping thoughts about the spoken words of his friend, Frank Wellington.
The hallway light went dark, as did the soft glow from their parents bedroom. Morning was just a few short dreams away.
There was a spark of light. A swirl of color. And then…the white rabbit. Running through the colorful, and very lush, woods of Wonderland. A quick turn around a giant oak tree and BAM, he collided with Charlie—who was standing smack dab in the center of the pathway upon which the rabbit was traveling.
Both fell hard to the ground. And each was equally confused about what had just happened.
“I say lad, you caught me quite off guard. The last thing I expected was for someone to be standing, well, where you just were.”
Charlie shook, then rubbed his head—still trying to figure out where he was at.
“What’s the matter boy, lost for words?”
“I’m just trying to figure out where I am. And how I got here?”
“Well clearly you’re not here,” the rabbit said.
“What? Not here? What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t understand,” Charlie replied with a look of confusion painted across his face. “And where’d my pajamas go? This isn’t what I wore to bed.”
“Settle down there laddie, settle down. No need to get yourself all worked up over a little dream interaction.”
“Dream interaction?” Charlie said.
“That’s right, dream interaction. Frank sent me into your dream to provide all the valuable information you’ll need to know prior to your arrival at the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.”
“He did? Like what kind of information?”
“Oh, you know, the four w’s kind of stuff?”
“The four w’s?”
“Yes. Who, what when and where. Surely you’re familiar with that sort of thing? I mean, you are the chosen outsider.”
Charlie thought for a second, then it occurred to him that Frank actually never did tell him who he and Michael were to meet, where they were to meet, nor when the meeting was to take place. All he really knew at the moment was the what. Which was the watch. And that the Patrons were to contact him once he arrived at the Magic Kingdom. “Uh, I guess you are right Mr. Rabbit, Frank didn’t really get a chance to tell me much in the video I watched a few weeks ago. All I know is, there’s a magic watch and someone is supposed to contact me when we arrive at the Magic Kingdom.”
“Quite right, good fellow. That’s exactly what Frank told me. Now then, would you like to hear more?” Quickly answering his own question, the white rabbit replied. “Of course you would. You’d be silly not to, right-right. Very well then, let’s tackle the four w’s one at a time, shall we?”
“Sure,” Charlie replied—barely able to get a word in on the quick-tongued rabbit.
“First off, who are you meeting with? Well, for starters, you will be looking for someone you are already familiar with. A chap by the name of Ben, I believe?” The rabbit pulled a note pad out of his jacket pocket to double check. “Ah yes, that is correct, Ben.”
“Oh, Ben. Ben Glimmer. The little red headed fellow? Yes, I know Ben,” Charlie said, with a chuckle of relief.
“Excellent chap, that’s swell. Now, for the what. You are already aware that the Object of Magic to be used in your search for the second Kingdom Crystal is a watch, is that correct?”
“Yes. A watch. Right,” Charlie replied. “I already said that.”
“Good-good,” the rabbit said with a smile, as he nudged his glasses back up his nose. “Next we have the when and the where. You are to look for Ben at the very end of the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin attraction. Plan on entering the ride between two forty five and two forty eight. Fastpasses for you and your family have already been secretly added to your magic bands. So you should have little difficulty boarding a ride vehicle during the appropriate time. Are we clear?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”
“You guess so?” The rabbit mocked.
“Oh. I mean, yes sir. I mean, Mr. Rabbit. Sir,” Charlie answered back.
“Hmm? Let me hear you repeat what I just told you, just to make sure,” the rabbit insisted.
“OK. I—I mean, Michael and I are to meet Ben at the very end of the Buzz ride. We are to get on the ride between two forty five and two forty eight using the Fastpasses already on our magic bands. Oh, and we will be discussing information regarding the magic watch,” Charlie said, nearly out of breath after such a long spout of words.
“Splendid, young fellow. That was spot on. Well, it’s time for me to carry onward.” The rabbit
turned and was just starting on his way, when he stopped and turned for one last word of advice. Pointing at Charlie with a squinted eye, he added, “Now don’t forget young man, you must be on that ride between two forty five and two forty eight. Two forty five and two forty…it’s four thirty, Charlie.”
“Charlie? Wake up. It’s almost four thirty. We gotta go. Dad’s already loaded the van. C’mon Charlie”, Michael said, as he literally pulled his brother out of bed and onto the floor. “Hurry up. Get dressed and brush your teeth, Charlie. Mom just said we’re leaving in ten minutes!”
Morning had come. It was dark, it was early. Way early. Charlie’s mind was still in a heavy dream-like fog. But it did not matter, he knew today was no ordinary day. It was a special day—a magical day. It was the first day of their Disney World vacation.
The families morning travels had passed quickly, Charlie and his brother were sitting in the hotel lobby of the Beach Club Resort waiting for their parents to check them in.
Prior to arriving at their resort, Charlie had secretly told Michael what their plans were for the day using text messages—explaining all the important details Frank and the white rabbit had brought to his attention over the past few weeks. At first, Michael thought his brother had made up the stories about the secret DVD message and the white rabbit dream. But eventually it sunk in—especially after he thought back to what had happened on their previous visit to Disney World.
“Okay boys, we are all set. Is there anything you want to leave here at bag check before we head to the Magic Kingdom?” Mr. Z asked. “Our room isn’t ready yet, but we can leave our carry on luggage here and they will take it up to the room with the rest of our luggage once it is ready.”
Charlie saw this as an opportunity to pull the magic looking glass out of his backpack and hide it in his pocket for later. “Yeah, Dad, I need to leave my backpack, if that’s OK?”
“Me too, Dad,” Michael added.
“Of course guys. Just give them to me and I’ll check them in.”
Charlie quickly unzipped the pocket where he had stored Merlin’s magic looking glass, pulled it out, and began to stuff it in the right front pocket of his shorts, when his mom noticed what he was doing.
“Charlie, isn’t that the toy you bought last year when we were here?”
Caught off guard, he quickly thought up a story. “Uh, I had so much fun last year, that I brought it back for good luck.”
“Oh, I like that Charlie. A ‘Disney World good luck charm’. That is such a neat idea. Don’t you think so, Ed?”
“Yeah, really cool, Charlie. So, you guys got everything you need?” Their father was so preoccupied on getting to the Magic Kingdom that the magic looking glass was hardly a blip on his radar. A big relief for Charlie.
“All set,” their mother replied.
“Okay Zastawits family, let’s go find a ride to the park. There’s a sign over there pointing to the bus pickup area.”
They all headed out the front door of the lobby, veering left down the pathway, with their father enthusiastically leading the way. It was going to be a fun-filled day at the Magic Kingdom.
The remainder of the morning passed quickly for the Zastawits family, as did lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, thanks to a wonderful midday performance by Sonny Eclipse and some tasty burgers.
Before Charlie realized, it was two thirty five. They had just finished riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, only ten minutes remained until he and his family were to enter the Buzz attraction so the boys could meet up with their red headed friend, Ben Glimmer. It was still too early to hit the attraction, so Charlie stalled for time.
“Hey Dad,” don’t we have Fastpasses for something?” Charlie asked. A question he already knew the answer to.
“Let me check the app here. Yes, we have two forty five Fastpasses for Buzz. So in about five minutes we’ll head over there.”
Charlie looked to his brother and grinned, to assure him that everything was running just as Frank had planned.
Five minutes of people watching passed like one, and it was time to go ride Buzz. The Fastpass line was barely occupied, allowing them to reach the boarding area of the attraction in no time at all. As they waited to board, Michael stood and admired the large Buzz Lightyear figure, one of his all-time favorite characters.
“Okay, watch your step please,” the cast member said, waving Charlie and his family to enter the boarding area walkway.
“Is it alright if Michael and I ride together, Mom?”
“Sure Charlie”, she replied. “We’ll be right behind you.”
Charlie and his brother jumped into a ride vehicle—a cast member locked them in and they were off. Being the older of the two, Charlie immediately claimed control of the vehicle, which Michael did not mind since he saw it as an opportunity to zap more stuff with his cool laser pistol. The boys had a blast shooting, spinning and shooting some more. And while Michael focused primarily on targets, Charlie concentrated on steering, in an attempt to spot Ben. The deeper into the attraction they went, the quicker he spun around—desperately trying to find their little red headed friend. But before he succeeded, the ride had come to its final stage. The vehicle spun forward and locked into place, no longer allowing Charlie to steer.
“Did we miss him?” He quietly asked his brother.
“Miss who?” Michael replied.
“Ben, you idiot.”
“Ben?” Michael asked—still not catching on.
“Yes, Ben. The little guy with red hair. He helped us get the Kingdom Crystal last year? You know. Ben.”
“Ohhhh, that Ben. Right.”
“Yeah, that Ben.”
“I didn’t see him anywhere on the ride.”
“Are you positive?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, Charlie, I’m positive.”
As they exited the ride vehicle, fear swept through Charlie’s body like a wave of nervous energy. Had he somehow missed Ben? He thought to himself. The sounds around him became muffled. His vision blurred as his eyes began to well up with tears. Tears he could not let his parents see. Suppressing his emotions, Charlie walked up to the monitors to help his brother look for their photo. He felt a hand on his shoulder. Thinking it was his father, Charlie quickly wiped the water from the corner of his eyes and turned to look up. Only he didn’t have to look as high as he had anticipated. It was a shorter man, a jolly man, a man with red hair. It was their friend, Ben Glimmer.
The wee man held a finger to his lips, signaling the boys to be quiet. “Hey lads, good to see ya. I’m only here to tell you one thing. Keep your eyes on monitor number three.”
“But Ben, I don’t…”
“Shhh, lad. No time to talk details. Just watch the monitor,” Ben said, as he turned the boys heads towards the third screen. OK, I gotta get going now. Good luck.”
Charlie turned around to speak, but it was too late. Ben had left and his parents were rapidly approaching. “You distract Mom and Dad while I watch the monitor, Michael. Got it?”
“Ten-four, big brother,” Micheal replied. He jumped into character immediately. “Hey Dad, did you guys find your picture yet? I think I see it over here.” Michael pointed in the opposite direction from where monitor three was located.
His parents bit, following the clever ten year old, and leaving Charlie to focus on the third monitor.
As he stared intently at the screen, waiting for something to happen, he noticed the monitor was rapidly alternating between a picture of them and a black screen with words. The harder he stared, the clearer the message became, until it was so clear that the photo was almost non-existent. It read:
It’s time to visit the hatter and take a spin.
The screen went blank—then a photo of the next group appeared. The message had disappeared. But not before Charlie had committed it to memory and typed it into his phone. All of this had happened in a matter of mere seconds.
His brother, ready
to move on, gave Charlie a look of desperation. He had run out of ideas to keep their parents distracted.
Charlie read his brother’s eyes and came to his rescue. “Hey Dad, I think we should move on to Fantasyland. I heard they’ve made some changes since last year.”
“You know, I heard that too, Charlie,” his mom added. “Besides Ed, we still have a lot to see, eat and do before the day is over.”
“I think you guys are on to something,” Mr. Z replied enthusiastically. “Looks like we’re headed to Fantasyland.”
As they approached the Mad Tea Party, Charlie spotted the Mad Hatter, just left of the queue line entryway, triggering the message he had just received on the Buzz attraction. Tugging his brother’s shirt, he pulled Michael close enough to whisper. “This is it.”
“This is what?” his brother barked back.
“Shhhh. The Mad Hatter. We need to speak to him before we get in line for the ride.” Charlie thought quickly. “Hey Mom, Michael and I want to get our photo taken with the Mad Hatter, is that Okay?”
“Sure dear. You boys go right ahead. I’ll take a photo or two as well.”
Charlie and his brother walked up to the Hatter, who strangely enough, already knew their names. “Oh, hi boys, you must be Charlie and Michael. I’ve heard all about you, I have.”
The noise from the crowds and attraction music masked their conversation. Their mother could not hear a word they were saying.
“How did you know our names?” Michael asked.
“A cat told me,” the Hatter replied.
“A cat?” Michael snipped back.
“Yes, I believe you know him? He’s kind of big, fluffy, and he loves to talk a lot.”
“Oh, you mean Midnight?” Charlie asked.
“Yes, that’s his name. Midnight.”
“It’s Frank’s cat, Michael. We met him towards the end of our trip last year in Frank’s apartment, remember?”
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