Swallowed in Darkness, Carson Taylor Slowly Woke Up

Chapter 1

Swallowed in darkness, Carson Taylor slowly woke up. It was three thirty in the morning. In most places, it’s fairly silent at this hour. She, however, heard mystical singing. It was melodious and sweet, like an ancient church choir. It was beautiful, but Carson wasn’t necessarily happy to wake up at such a time.

She quickly plugged her ears with her slender fingers, and then pulled them out. “Oh, come on.” She blinked her eyes, and then pinched herself four or five times in frustration. “I have to be dreaming, or I’m crazy. And I’m not crazy. Seriously, who’s up at this hour?” She had already convinced herself that it wasn’t her neighbors, who were both older couples. Way older. They were at the age where you take medications with every meal and eat oatmeal for dinner. Yuck. Well, who was it, then?

She stretched, and then slipped out of bed. Carson shivered, it being a very cold morning, and half-heartedly walked over to the window. When she drew the curtains, she was shocked. It certainly wasn’t her neighbors. There, walking slowly down her neighborhood street, were creatures she’d never seen before.

They were draped in snowy-white cloaks, and underneath the garments were long, glistening, toga-style gowns, colored light blue. Their hair fell far past their shoulders, worn in rich brown-colored curls, some lighter. They all had fair, flawless skin, and wore solemn expressions upon their brows. Their necks were held high, in a proud sort of way, and they all walked and sung in unison.

Carson found the sudden crowd beautiful and mysterious, yet frightening. These were not normal people, and this was not a regular occurrence. One creature in particular caught her eye. She had especially long and light hair, and wore darker clothes than the rest; purple instead of blue. She wore a striking crown, made of silver and diamonds, which almost glowed in the full moon’s gleam. While watching the creature, she suddenly remembered all the fairytales she had read when she was younger. Every one of them had occurred on the night of a full moon. Then she shook her head in disbelief.

“This is probably a dream, anyway,” she scoffed, but as she began heading back to her bed, she couldn’t help notice the different creature, walking steadily, had dropped an object from her woven pouch. It gleamed on the sidewalk, untouched by any of them.

“Well,” she told herself, “If that’s there when I wake up, I guess I’ll believe it.” And she slipped back into bed, completely unaware of the wonders of the day to come.

Chapter 2

Carson awoke once more, now the morning, with the sun’s rays blaring into her half-open eyelids. She practically rolled out of bed, and that woke her up. She stretched, yawned, and remembered her dream, or occurrence, whatever it was.

“Oh, right, that thing.” She walked over to her windows, and peered outside. She looked on the sidewalk, the road, the grasses, but nothing was gleaming with light. “Ha! It was a dream,” she said triumphantly. She turned around, and slipped on a lightweight, summer blouse, then a pair of denim shorts and some green sneakers. After brushing her teeth and pulling her brunette hair into a ponytail, she headed for the kitchen for breakfast.

Her mom was waiting there. “Good morning, Carson!” she handed her a plate piled with pancakes. They were drenched in maple syrup. “Bailey helped with the syrup,” she added. Bailey was Carson’s three-year-old sister.

“Thanks, mom; thanks Bailey.” Mrs. Taylor nodded with a smile, and Bailey almost flipped out of her chair, jumping like she was.

Carson enjoyed every bite of the blueberry pancakes. She was about to put up her dishes, when Mrs. Taylor stopped her.

“Honey, did you drop this outside?” She held up a silver locket, adorned with diamonds. It was crescent shaped, attached to a long and delicate chain. “It was lying in the road. You should take better care of such beautiful trinkets.”

Carson’s jaw dropped. It was the creature’s necklace. “T-thanks,” was all she could get out. She shoved her chair away from the table, and gently took the locket.

Later, while in her room,Carson studied the jewelry. Fingering it in her hands, she could barely see a type of foreign language written on the back. It glowed in a silvery way when she held it up to the light. “This is weird,” she said, and rolled it over three or four times.

“Well, I guess I’ll keep it,” said Carson, and shrugged. She still couldn’t get over the night before. The creatures were real. She shuddered at the mere thought of the endless parade, the full moon, and the abandoned necklace, in which she held in her hand.

She thought and thought, but couldn’t figure out why the beautiful creatures had come from wherever they had. This brought on a new question to ponder: where had they come from?

Suddenly, her mom opened the door. “Hi, sweetie, just wanted to let you know, we’ll be leaving for Grammy’s house in about an hour. You know, for the knitting lessons?”

Carson let out an evident groan. She had completely forgotten about her weekly visits with her grandmother. Her grandma held a weekly lesson for knitting just for Carson. And, she hated it. Carson loved exciting, or at least interesting things to do. Knitting, for her, wasn’t one of them.

She mumbled, “Sure. I’ll be there.” And by that she ended the conversation.

Her mother left, and Carson let out a sigh. “I guess I’d better look, well, presentable,” she mumbled.

She took out her ponytail, and combed her brown hair until it shined. The she slipped on the necklace.

She stepped aside to see.Suddenly, Carson felt a mild shock, but not quite electric. It seemed to be coming from the locket, so she looked down. Sure enough, the locket was emitting a sort of blue glow, followed by white sparks. The sparks kept coming, and each attached itself to Carson, continuing so until they covered her. She tried to scream, but felt suffocated. She couldn’t breathe, nor move, nor tell what was going on. Suddenly, all she could see was black.

Chapter 3

Carson’s only thoughts were, “What just happened?” and “Who’s poking me?” for she couldn’t see yet. She felt a cool, wet cloth cross her brow, and a hand brush her hair way from her face.

“What is she?” came a voice.

“I’m not sure. She certainly isn’t one of the elves,and not a fairy. Look at her garments!” came another.

Carson blinked her blue eyes. Her head hurt badly, and when she felt it, there was a sticky substance on the surface. Blood. Finally, with another blink, she began to see her surroundings. She was in a forest. Ancient trees towered above her, and water occasionally dripped from overhanging moss. There were grass huts scattered around, and tree platforms on sturdy limbs. Everywhere she looked, there were dragonflies, painted in striking colors, and the sky above was blue. As she began to sit up, she realized the creatures around her were the same as the night before!

“Where am I?” she mumbled, trying to take in everything at once. It was unlike any picture or postcard she’d ever seen, and there were the creatures in front of her. They were the same as the night before, except much taller and more beautiful than the night before had shown. One had blonde hair and sparkling eyes. The other had brunette locks and brown eyes; both pairs of eyes were full of curiosity.

The blonde answered her question, after a laugh, “You’re in Riplyn, whatever you are. What are you, a dwarf girl?”

“N-no, I’m a, a human. What are you?” Carson demanded.

“We are… wait! Did you just say human?” They eyed each other in wonder, their large eyes getting bigger.

“Yes. What’s wrong with that?”

“Well, we’ve never had a human here… before,” the other one spoke up. Oh, and to answer your question…We are elf maidens, servants of the high queen. Yesterday was midsummer’s eve, today being Midsummer’s day. The day of your arrival.”

“But, I thought elves were, well, shorter.” Carson awkwardly said.

The creatures looked at her in a peculiar manner. Suddenly, the blonde one cried out. “The girl’s head is bleeding! Get her a cool cloth!” Immediately, Carson was brought a long strip of cotton, in which she tied around her bruised head. Once seated under a shady tree, the blonde waved goodbye, leaving Carson with the kind brunette.

Carson didn’t know what to expect, being the only human ever to step foot into the land called Riplyn, especially after not meaning to do anything in the afternoon but knit!

Suddenly, the brunette asked, “How old are you?”

Startled, Carson looked up. She didn’t expect the elf to be interested in her. Still, she answered. “I’m sixteen.”

The elf maiden nodded. “Me too. My name’s Jailyn. You?”

“Carson,” she said.

“Come to my hut. You can’t go around here dressed like that,” said Jailyn.

Carson nodded, being unsure of what to do next. With all the elves and other things staring at her, she was forced to follow the creature.

Chapter 4

Jailyn led Carson along a dirt path that crunched as they stepped. Flowers were blooming almost everywhere Carson looked, which was odd for the summer. There was also very green grass. Along they walked until they reached a sunny and warm meadow.

“Let’s stop here and get a drink,” said Jailyn.

Carson nodded and asked, “Where do we get one?” The elf lifted a tiny glass bottle from out of her pouch, filled with a cherry colored substance.

“This is a potion that lets you transform things. Like this.” She Picked up a pebble and dripped some potion on it. “Pouch!”

Before Carson’s eyes, the small pebble was surrounded by the same type of sparks that she had encountered, and in the next second, Jailyn held a beige colored satchel. It was decorated with shells.

She smiled, and handed it to Carson, who by then was almost speechless. “Thank you,” she said in wonder.

Jailyn made a few more transformations; from another pebble to a bottle of potion, in which she handed to Carson; then some grass into bottles of sweet water.

They sat under a shady tree and drank the water gratefully. After another short rest session, they were on their way once more.

They walked through a meadow of tall grasses, and entered a clearing. There sat a little cottage. A stream ran through the small property, and trees intertwining cast shadows upon the ground.

"Well, here is my home." Jailyn led Carson into the stone house. Inside, the hut was large and more beautiful that the girl had thought. A fire was lit in the hearth of the fireplace, and a woolen rug was thrown on the floor. In the furthest corner, there was a soft looking bed. It was very low to the ground, compared to the beds on Earth, but looked like it would fit Carson’s height.

Paintings were hung everywhere. There was a wooded dining table, complete with cushioned chairs and silverware.

“Your home is nice.” Carson smiled.

“Thank you. Oh! You need something to wear around.” Jailyn walked over to the bed and knelt beside it. She pulled out from under it a small chest.

“Choose any one of them.” She handed the trunk to Carson.

“Are you sure?” Carson could already tell that the elf didn’t have very many clothes, splendid as they were. The chest was very light.

Jailyn nodded, and Carson opened the chest to the most beautiful clothing she’d ever seen.

Some gowns were glittering and adorned with precious gems, and some were made of neutral shaded cloths, but either way, Carson could barely decide.

Finally, the girl chose a chocolate brown undergarment and a forest green cloak that hung past her waist. She also chose an emerald hair adornment, and earthy moccasins.

Jailyn said, “You look great. I think you’re ready to live here. If you will, I mean. You can’t sleep outside!”

Carson firmly agreed. As they walked back outside, they found that night had fallen.

“Oh! I didn’t keep track of time!” Jailyn suddenly cried.

“What do we need to do?” questioned Carson.

“Tonight’s the Midsummer’s day feast at the palace! We need to get over there fast!” Jailyn immediately let out a shrill whistle.

“What?” Cason dumbly asked.

But before she could answer her question, they were both scooped up on the back of something large, winged, and feathery; and they shot into the sky in the direction of the palace!

“This is my pet griffin.” Jailyn didn’t sound the least bit scared, but Carson was mortified. She clung on to the flying beast as hard as she could, until it let out a pained squawk.

Jailyn assured Carson that the animal would swoop down and catch her if she fell, which made her feel better. She released her clutch.

As they flew, they neared the tall, majestic palace of the elves. It was warmly lit, and they could hear hearty laughter. Finally, they entered the kingdom. The griffin landed softly, and the girl and the elf entered the huge threshold of the castle.

Inside, there were winding staircases and many long banquet tables. They were covered with lacy tablecloths, and piled high with bread, berries, and something that looked like steak, only much larger and better-smelling. The room was well lit by glittering chandeliers, and filled with merry elves, dwarves, pixies, fairies, and Carson. She was the only human, but the others seemed to take no notice.

Carson was amazed. It was an amazing sight. An elf boy about Carson’s age led them to a half-full banquet table, where they took their seats. “Here you go, Jailyn.” He kindly handed her a large silver plate and gauntlet full of “berry water.”

“Thanks, Aleigh. Let me introduce you to the first human in Riplyn, Carson.”

The elf widened his eyes. “You’re a human?”

Carson grinned and nodded.

“Well, welcome!” he gave Carson her silverware, and the party continued. They ate a feast of hearty stew, soft bread rolls, savory meat, fruit, and for dessert, Berry cakes.

Carson decided then and there that she liked Riplyn’s food. It was better than two thanksgivings combined.

When the moon had fully come out, all the guests made their way outside for dancing. Jailyn introduced Carson to most of the guests, who thoughtfully welcomed her.

After dancing, the elven maidens began singing the same mystic song Carson had heard just the night before. It seemed like so long now. She vaguely wondered how long it would be until she got back to the Earth. She nodded her head slowly to the singing, until she was very tired. After the show was over, Jailyn and Carson said goodbye to all they knew, and rode Jailyn’s griffin back to the house. All Carson could remember from there was slipping into a snuggly blanket and falling asleep.

Chapter 5

Carson woke to the smell of cooking meat, seasoned nicely. Jailyn was cooking breakfast. She yawned, stretched, and slowly made her way to her feet.

Jailyn turned her head to the awoken girl, and smiled. “Are you hungry?”

Carson nodded, and sniffed the air. It was a delicious smell. “I’ll have some.” She smoothed out her slightly wrinkled garments, and her long hair as well.

After a moment with the sound of sizzling meat in her ears, Jailyn came into the room with a wooden platter piled high with foreign food. The meat that she had smelt was sautéed steak. There was a long and fluffy looking loaf of sweetened bread, and an abundance of berry pastries.

Carson’s mouth watered and longed for the feast, and within a minute, she was taking the first glorious bite.

Carson later noted that this was the greatest thing that she’d ever put in her mouth. After breakfast, Jailyn and Carson wiped off the table with a soapy cloth, and rinsed the dishes in a washing basin.