The Blark Island

THE BLARCK ISLAND You have heard many stories about how children get lost in forests but this one is different. You see, this story begins…

Ring, ring. Denisse picks up the phone, "Yellow? Who is it?" "Hey it's me, Sam," said the mumbled voice on the other side of the line. "Mom said to remind you to be at my house at 7:10." "Yeah, whatever. I'll tell mom." Denisse hung up. "Mom, Sam just called. Mrs. Lo says to be at their place by 7:10 AM," said Denisse in a moan. "Do I really have to go?” "Denisse Hy," said her mother, "We've been planning this for so long! Remember it's a quality time!" "Okay, fine!" and then mumbled "You have five minutes to be ready!"

something

her

mom

couldn't

understand.

Five minutes later, Denisse, her brother and Mr. and Mrs. Hy got in their car and drove to my house. When they arrived, I had to open the door for them. When I opened it, my eyes caught thirteen year old Denisse's 5'4” figure. “Ha, I'm 3 inches taller than her,” I thought. Because of the windy weather, her skin was even lighter than her normal yellowish color. It was 7:00 a.m., I was very tired and I actually had to pretend I liked her in front of her parents! Then, Mr. Hy said the most terrible words in the world: "Sam, you're coming with us!" Denisse and I looked at each other. Our looks said it all: "No way!" As we got in the cars, I saw my parents' car drive away, and I thought to myself, "Wonderful…! Now I'm stuck here with little Miss I-know-it-all and her annoying little brother, who thinks we like each other… yuck!" As we started to drive, the silence battle began. Denisse and I avoided each other's looks at any cost! So I began to look out the window; I found that this was the best way to avoid looking at her. About half an hour later my mission not to look at HER was interrupted when Mrs. Hy looked back and called my name with a slightly worried and curious voice, "Sam... Is everything okay, sweet cheeks? " At this point Denisse started to laugh and Ling Ho woke up, looking at her, and said with the annoying little voice he always had, "What are you laughing at? I want to know! " "Nothing, what do you care?" said Denisse quite irritated "Please tell me!"

"Go back to sleep! You're so annoying" "Now, Denisse... be nice to your little brother," said Mr. Hy strictly. "But dad!!!!" "No arguing!" "Okay." Then I smiled to myself and thought, "Good thing Ling Ho woke up! Now I don't have to explain anything to Mrs. Hy." As I turned my head to the window, Ling Ho poked me and I turned towards him saying, "What?!?!" Then Denisse looked at me thinking I was talking to her. All of the sudden, Ling Ho mumbled to himself, "Finally!!" And we turned away to look outside the window once again. Mr. Hy realized we were running out of gas and we stopped at the nearest gas station. As we arrived, I spotted my parent's car and was filled with an inner joy. We got out for a potty break and for some snacks. On our way back to the car, I tried to sneak in to my parents' car but then Ling Ho called my name and Mrs. Hy saw me, so I had to go to their car. Then we got into the car and we finally got to the camp site at The Blarck Forest. After parking, we got things ready for the night. Realizing it was getting kind of dark, our parents sent Denisse and me to get sticks for the bonfire. Unwillingly we went, and then it all started. "Why do they have to send us, I mean specifically us two,to go get the firewood!?" "Well, you don't have to come, I can go alone!" "Who do you think you are? I say we better do what they want us to do! Though, I would rather it to be without you!" "Excuse me! Don't talk to me in that tone of voice!" I said making fun of her, snapping my fingers the way she always did. Then I laughed. This went on for the rest of our walk. We were tired because of the trip to the camping site and the walk. We also lost track of time while we were arguing. Then Denisse and I were so sleepy and tired that we feel asleep under a tree. All of a sudden I woke up because I felt something soft underneath me, and realized it could not be the grass where I had laid down in the first place. It was a mattress. When I opened my eyes I was expecting to see the trees and grass, but instead of trees I saw a wall so full of bottles you could almost not see any of it. The bottles had substances of various colors and consistencies. There were hats, tunics, boxes, etc. However, I made myself look away and glance over the rest of the room. The only thing that made me remember Denisse was with me, was herself. I had already

forgotten I had even met her, but then I saw her placidly sleeping on a mattress next to me. Sleeping, she looked almost agreeable. "Hey Denisse," I shouted trying to rouse her, "Where in the world are we?" "Well, in case you didn't realize I was beside you when we laid down under the tree so I have no idea where we are either, though it sure looks like a hut or a cottage," she replied with that you're-so-dumb tone of voice that always got on my nerves. "Excuse me! Well, whatever. Let's just find out where we... Hey, did you hear that?" "No. Hear what?" "It sounded like someone speaking," I said trying to listen more intently, "Yeah! There is someone speaking! Stay here, I'll take a look." "No, Sam! Why does it always have to be the girl who stays?" she whined. "Suit yourself!" I replied So I went to the window cautiously, and the first thing I saw was a guy with a blue tunic and a stick in his left hand. At first I thought of Disney's Fantasia and then I almost burst into laughter, but I contained myself for what I saw next outweighed the guy's looks. Having shaken the stick a little, the guy had disappeared into a purple cloud and appeared seconds later sitting on a chair, grinning. When I looked over my shoulder, Denisse had her mouth open. "Did I see what I think I just saw?" She mumbled as I was on my way out of the cottage," Sam, where are you going?!" As soon as I had one foot out the door the guy said without turning, "I was expecting you," now he turned. He looked like he was in his early 20's and was about 6 feet tall. His skin color was like none other I'd ever had seen, it was kind of yellow but at the same time slightly dark. "Hello, my name is Dorlan," he added," I live here. And when I saw you lying there I thought you looked uncomfortable, so I transported you into the cottage to soft beds.” "Thank you, ummmm... Dorlan, but I was wondering... how did you do that? I mean, you disappeared for an instant," I said, though my excitement got the best of my voice. "Oh! This?" and he did it again but this time appearing behind Denisse making her gasp. "It's easy, you just shake the wand and..." "The what?!" I didn't let him finish, "Did you just say wand?" Finally bursting into laughter. "Yeah, why is that so funny?" he seemed annoyed. "It's a wand." "Wand... as in magic wand?" Denisse spoke for the first time after Dorlan's trick. "Yes, wand as in magic wand! Hey, guys… why is this so surprising to you?" he asked, looking sincere enough for me to believe him.

"Well, since magic does not exist... I mean I've seen tricks but, magic? Ah...!" Suddenly, Dorlan was laughing so loudly, I thought people in the city could hear him. "That magic does not exist?! Are you serious? Buddy, I've never heard someone be so wrong! Of course it does! Otherwise how would you explain what I just did?" He said with a where-did-he-come-from look. I had nothing to say. All of a sudden I found myself trying to deny it, but finding that I already started to believe it! Magic existed! "Ha! Well, you already know my name but I don't know yours or hers." said Dorlan quite curious. "Mm... I'm Sam and she's..." "Denisse, I'm Denisse Hy," she interrupted as if I had no right to even say her name. "Anyway," I continued, "We came here to this forest to camp for a few days. When we got here we were told to get some firewood and we lost track of time and ended up falling asleep under a tree. Then, we woke up, inside that cottage, which now I assume to be your house." It all came out in one breath. "Oh, I see... well, as I said I'm Dorlan. I come from a long line of wizards. Long ago we used to live together, but when news of our existence spilled out to the rest of the world, we were forced to scatter and live apart from each other." "But, then, why are you speaking to us so freely? I mean aren't you worried we might tell a lot of people about this?" Denisse spoke again, taking the words right out of my mouth. "You see, young lady," -I could see some color pour at Denisse's cheeks at being called young lady,- "The instant I saw you I knew I could trust you, or can't I?" "Oh, yeah sure, you can. We won't tell a soul," she assured him and cast a glance at me as if she was defying me to do it. Like this we spent a couple of days. Dorlan showed us some tricks, but we had to beg him to teach us. "Okay, guys," he finally gave in." I'll teach you a trick, one of the easiest but very useful. How to make things disappear." Meanwhile, our parents were preparing dinner back at the camp. "George," said Mr. Hy to Dad, "please help me with dinner. I want to have everything ready before it gets dark." "Yes, it's better to finish before dark" "I hope the kids realize it's getting dark and won't go too far." "It's so nice to know they are friends," said mom.

If you only knew, mom... "Yes, it is," said Mrs. Hy. "I'd love to have Sam as a big brother," burst out Ling Ho.

"Honey, be quiet. We adults are talking," his mom told him. "But it's true!" he replied. Mom, Ling Ho and Mrs. Hy sat on some logs around the place where the bonfire was going to be. Dad and Mr. Hy sat next to them. The last rays of sun were now disappearing on the horizon and the characteristic stillness of night started to reign. Everyone was starting to wonder where we were. "Why aren't Sam and Denisse back yet?" Ling Ho asked innocently. "What in the world could have happened to them?" mom ventured to ask. "It is very strange," said Mrs. Hy timidly. "They should have been back by now." "Philip," my dad called Mr. Hy softly. "Come." They walked away, so our mothers and Ling Ho wouldn't listen to them talk. "I think something has happened to the kids. It has been pitch-dark for at least half an hour now, and they are nowhere to be seen," dad said. "We still need the fire," Mr. Hy said. "Let's go get some wood to keep the rest of our families warm." They went and got some branches; enough to last for the night. When they got back to the camp, Ling Ho was already eating his dinner. As soon as he was done, he went to the tent we were supposed to share and fell asleep. After all, for him, Denisse and I were just hanging out with each other. Our parents sat on the logs next to mom and Mrs. Hy. Now, the worry in their faces was evident. "I can't imagine my little boy spending all night out there," mom said pointing at the trees surrounding them. "Sam can take care of himself and Denisse," dad said. "But, it's such a dark night… and the wind feels so cold!" said Mrs. Hy. "We'll have to wait until the sun comes up again to start looking for them. If we go out now, we will likely get ourselves lost as well," Mr. Hy said. "Why don't we all go to our tents and try to get some rest?" dad proposed. "We will go look for them first thing in the morning." At about five a.m., the sound of rain woke our families up. It was a sudden spring rain, not a big deal. It rained for about an hour. Then, it began to rain harder. The ground below was starting to get really muddy. They hoped for the rain to stop, but it just kept raining. You could hardly see anything more than ten feet away. After a lot of discussion, Mr. Hy and my dad decided that it was better to go into the cars and wait for the rain to stop. They couldn't look for us in that weather. It would have been insane, or at least that's what they told our mothers to convince them not to go out looking for us on their own. They ate breakfast as they could. It still kept raining. Everyone was getting

uncomfortable. "Will the rain ever stop?" they wondered. Every now and then, our parents exchanged concerned looks. Ling Ho began to feel something was wrong. "Where are Sam and Denisse?" he had asked. It was the look in his mother's face that made him drop the question right away. Suddenly, dad sat up in the car. It was not what he heard, but what he did not hear: the rain. It had stopped raining. He took a glance at his watch, two o'clock in the afternoon; half of the day lost because of the rain. He looked at mom, no words were needed. The same happened with Mr. and Mrs. Hy. They prepared and ate lunch so fast that I think they deserve a prize for it. Immediately they started the search. They meant to split into two teams to cover more ground. Mr. and Mrs. Hy took Ling with them; they couldn't have him missing, too. "Okay, everyone, we lost half of the day because of the rain, but it won't stop us. Elizabeth and I will search north. Philip, you and Sue take south. Be careful, the ground is all mud. Open up your eyes. Stay alert," Dad said before they parted. "We'll meet here at six, before it gets dark. We don't want any more people missing." The view was pretty much the same for both parties: trees, lots of them. Wherever you turned, just trees. Nothing exciting happened throughout the afternoon, except Ling falling in a mud puddle and getting all his clothes stained. No sign of Denisse and I. Both parties returned to the camp by six, knowing nothing from their children and fearing the worst. I mean, if your children were lost and you knew nothing from them, you'd be worried too, wouldn't you? They had dinner, but they only spoke when it was absolutely necessary. Desperation and sadness were evident in our parents' faces, but in all, they tried to comfort each other. Again they went to sleep. There was a light breeze; it was cold. Mom whispered to Dad, "Honey, do you think they will be cold tonight?" Dad gave her a big hug. "They are going to be fine, we'll find them." By nine the next morning, everyone had eaten breakfast and was ready to go searching. "Yesterday we went north and south," said Mr. Hy. "Today we will go east and west. Liz, George, you get west. Sue and I will go east." And so they started. The view was exactly as the day before. Lots of trees on both sides; trees everywhere you looked. At each step they called out our names. "Sam! Denisse!" No answer. Mr. and Mrs. Hy were back at the camp before my mom and dad, so they started to walk west to meet with Mom and Dad when they came back. With their eyes wide open, in case they saw something; they saw nothing. Then, Ling Ho made a discovery:

"Mom, what is that?" he asked. In that very moment, mom and dad came into sight. "Oh, there you are!" Mr. Hy said. Mom and dad smiled. "No sign of them," they said. "Mom, what is that?" Ling asked again, this time louder. All eyes turned toward him, then all eyes turned toward what he was pointing: the cottage. Right at that moment, there was an earthquake so huge and wild that it seemed as if it had been waiting for them find the cottage. In the cottage, Dorlan was telling Denisse and me about a different spell when the earthquake happened. The moment it started made Denisse hug me in fear for her life. Now, I'm not too sure what I was thinking at the time but I hugged her back, so we stood there as the earthquake was going. Then we realized what we had been doing. So we stopped hugging each other, but since the earthquake hadn't stopped yet and the room was shaking so violently that we just ended up hugging each other again, but this time we didn't care. Once the earthquake had finished, Denisse still hadn't let go so I tried to say something, but words seemed so distant at that moment. Then, a few seconds later Denisse let go realizing that the earthquake had ended. "Wow, what an earthquake!," Dorlan was the first voice we heard after the earthquake. Then we heard someone scream. Denisse and I looked at each other. We thought the same thing. "Ling Ho!" So we ran outside to see what had happened. The first thing we saw when we stepped outside was a group of adults. We assumed it to be our parents standing in a circle. Then we heard a sob, so we ran to see what had happened. As we got there we saw Ling Ho in the middle of the circle crying so hard ,I thought he had broken a leg, but as I got closer, I realized that it was an animal that had died because of the earthquake. Once we got to the circle, Ling Ho was the first to see us, and like any little boy who had just been crying and sees something that makes him happy, yelped for joy and said," Sam and Denisse!!" Then our parents turned around in disbelief. "Oh, Sam!" exclaimed Mom, once she saw that brown head of curly hair as she told me afterwards and burst into tears. Dad went to see if I was ok. "Denisse!" said Mr. and Mrs. Hy with utter relief and ran up to hug her. Then, slowly, Ling Ho came up to us and hugged us both while saying, "I thought I would never see you again!" So we hugged him for a few seconds but then quickly pulled away because then he said silently with the biggest smile on his face, "Ha... I knew you two liked each other!" Then I heard Mrs. Hy ask Denisse who the funny looking guy behind us was. But before we could say anything Dorlan spoke, "I'm Dorlan, your children were with me the whole time. I took care of them don't worry." What I saw next was quite

shocking to all of us, as I heard Ling Ho say, "THE OCEAN!!" When I looked up I saw water everywhere. "Now that's not something you see every day in this forest!" said Dorlan, with a snicker, always seeing the best of things." The earthquake must have made the forest an island!" We stood there not knowing what to do. After they talked amongst themselves our parents finally directed their conversation to us. Mr. Hy was the first to speak, "Okay, as we all know we are now stuck on this island and we have no clue what to do now." "Let's live here!" shouted Ling Ho so that he could be heard. Then the adults looked at each other for a few seconds. Finally, Dorlan broke the silence, “I think it’s a great idea! And I wouldn't mind having the company!" After much consideration and us pleading, our parents finally agreed! Ling Ho, Denisse and I were so happy. AND WE ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER ON THE BLARCK ISLAND!