By Emma McGraw
Katahdin Elementary
Grade 4
Hi. This is Emma and I’ll be your narrator. Like all monster stories somebody, most likely a kid, has a vision of a monster (most likely in a dream), and has to fight it. Well, in this story I’m going to give you a little more than that.
It all started with Josh, a 10-year-old boy, who loved to dream, especially at night. He would always dream of superheroes, monsters, and all the stuff that boys like. Well, on day he had a dream, an unusual dream.
Chapter One
One day, Josh and his friend, Luke, were walking down the hallway of Brentonway Elementary. Josh was talking about his awesome dream he had last night.
Luke said, “Man, Josh, I wish I could have as good of dreams as you do. All I have are bad dreams.”
That night, when Josh was in bed, he was thinking about what Luke said, “All I have is bad dreams.” That night, Josh had a horrible dream! This terrible thing was after him! He could not even describe it. It was terrifying! On the morning bus, he dried to draw it, but it was almost impossible. Here’s what it was. It had teeth like the glades of a samurai sword. It had red, red gleaming eyes like flames. You could never see him because he was completely black. I called him Pitch Black.
When I showed the picture to Luke, he screamed like a little girl and fell right out of his seat. The bus driver yelled at him. “Luke! Get back in your seat!”
Luke was shaking. “Is that what you saw in your dream? Even I see less scary things than that in my dreams!”
“Ya, it’s pretty bad.”
“It’s pretty bad! I’d say. It’s just more than pretty bad!”
When they got to school, they talked as they walked down the hallway. Luke asked, “What are you going to do about this Pitch Black you speak of?”
Josh said, “I don’t know. I’ll probably figure it out when I’m doing that math test today.”
Luke shouted, “Today’s the test?!” I forgot to study!”
“What do you want me to do about it?” said Josh.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, be quiet then. You’re going to get us in trouble for yelling.”
“Sorry.”
That night, Josh had that same dream about the Pitch Black again. It’s like he couldn’t control it from coming.
On the bus, Luke asked, “Did you dream about the Pitch Black thing again?”
“Yup. I’m sick of it,” said Josh.
“Well, I am too. Lately you’ve been really down and it’s bringing me down too,” said Luke.
When they got to school, they talked as they walked down the hallway like they always did. Josh said, “This dream is tearing me apart!”
Luke said, “You’re going to just have to fight them.” Right after Luke said the words “fight them,” the floor beneath them just fell away!
Chapter Two
“Where are we?” asked Josh.
Luke said, “How should I know? I can’t even see my hand in front of my face!”
All of a sudden, they heard someone calling names. “Luke, Josh, follow the light.”
Josh yelled, “What light?!”
All of a sudden, they saw a little white light. They followed the light until the little hole got big enough to crawl through. When they climbed through the hole, they came face to face with a door that led into a castle. When Luke looked back, the hole had gotten too small to climb back through.
Luke said, Welp, no turning back here.”
Josh opened the door and saw an enormous mansion inside. Both Josh and his friend were in awe. They heard that voice again. It said, “Josh, Luke, I’m in the living room.” They followed the voice and found a big, big room with the most beautiful furniture they had ever seen. A beautiful woman with a crown on her head (obviously, she was a queen) was sitting on a chair. We stopped and stood inside and stood there staring at the queen. She said, “Come now, sit down, I have been waiting for you.” Josh and Luke sat down. The queen said, “My name is Sarina and I am queen of this land. Josh, I’ve heard that you want to get rid of the horrible Pitch Black.”
“Yes, how did you know?!” asked Josh.
The queen said, “This is your dream world, Josh. I know whatever you’re thinking about, all the time. Plus, our kingdom has trouble with it. Do, do you?”
“Yes, I do,” Josh said.
“Well, you’re not going to be able to fight like that you two. You’re going to need some armor.”
Sarina led them into a room full of battle stuff and showed them two shiny suits of armor just about their size.
Luke said, “How are we going to fight Pitch Black without any weapons?”
Sarina said, “Oh, I almost forgot. I will give you each a samurai sword as sharp as Pitch Black’s teeth are.”
“Cool!” Josh shouted.
When they got on their suits of armor and had their swords, they stepped outside.
Josh said, “Cool, we’re like knights in shining armor!”
“Ash, Josh, we are knights in shining armor,” said Luke.
“Oh, ya, right.”
Right out of the blue, two beautiful white horses appeared in the front yard. Josh said, “Wow! Cool!”
Sarina said, “Your journey starts now. Just follow the red brick road. (I know, I know, it’s yellow brick road, but I’m mixing it up a little).
Chapter Three
When Josh and Luke got started on their journey, they rode and talked as they usually would at school. Luke asked, “Hey, Josh, you still got some gum in your back pocket? “I don’t know, let me check,” said Josh.
All of a sudden, Josh pulled a map out of his back pocket. Luke asked, “Where did that come from?”
Josh said, “I don’t know. Sarina must have snuck it in my back pocket before we left. Hey look! It’s a map of where we need to go. First, we go through Curtles Cave, then we go over Death Bridge, then we finally get to the land of Pitch Black.”
“Ya, ya, do you have any gum?”
“Ya, Luke, I have some gum. Here,” said Josh.
“Thanks,” said Luke.
When they got to Curtles Cave, Luke said, “Boy it sure looks dark.”
“Ya, I wish we had a flashlight to see in there, “ said Josh.
“Hey! I think I still have that flashlight from when you and I went camping last summer,” said Luke.
“Well, get it out then!” said Josh.
Luke looked in his backpack and instead of pulling out a flashlight, he pulled out a note that said it was from Sarina.
“Wow, that girl’s sneaky!” said Luke. He opened the note. It said, “Do not use any light for I am told if you do, great danger you behold.”
Josh said, “Well, I guess we’d better not use a flashlight.” So they went in on their horses and were careful not to bump into the walls of the cave. When they got out, they saw daylight once again.
Chapter Four
When they got to Death Bridge, they were suddenly looking down an endless pit of green gas. Josh said, “Oh, no. I wonder why they call it the Death Bridge, although it has nothing to do with death; it just knocks you out.”
“What knocks you out?” asked Luke.
“Nitrous oxide, said Josh.
Luke said, “Nitrous ox-what?”
“Nitrous oxide! You know, the stuff that makes you pass out and then when you wake up, you’re all laughy and stuff?” exclaimed Josh.
“Oh, you mean that laughy gas that the dentist gives you at the dentist office?” asked Luke.
“Yes, Luke, laughy gas,” said Josh.
They crossed the rickety bridge safely; except on of the horse’s shoes on the foot of Josh horse fell off (which wasn’t really a problem).
Chapter Five
When they got to the land of Pitch Black, there was basically a line between the dark side and the light side. Josh and Luke were just two feet away from it.
“Welp, this is it. I guess I’m going to have to face my dreams,” said Josh.
“Well, we didn’t come all this way for nothing, did we?” asked Luke.
“Josh said, “No, we didn’t.”
All of a sudden, the horses got so scared that they flung Josh and Luke off their backs and galloped away. The two of them stood up and brushed themselves off. They slung their samurai swords out and walked into the darkness. It was quiet for a few seconds, and then they heard a big swooshing sound. They saw red gleaming eyes.
Luke screamed, “AAAHHHH! IT’S PITCH BLACK!”
Josh slung his sword. It hit Pitch Black right in the heart. They heard a loud crashing sound. Josh yelled, “He’s dead! He’s dead! I killed him!”
Josh and Luke went back to the castle and told Sarina how their journey was and how they killed Pitch Black. (Technically, it was just Josh, but he gave Luke credit just because he’s a good friend). Sarina told them why she sent that weird note. There were angry trolls all over the place and they hated being disturbed. Sarina sent them back home and Josh had the most wonderful dream that night. (Just a joke.)
