Elysia: The World in Children’S Dreams

By Malcolm Chester

Twelve-year-old Courtney dreads the day when she will become a woman, for it is then, that she must leave Elysia, the world of light, goodness, and beautynever to return again. Recently elected queen, Courtney knows the rules of Elysia are unyielding. Only children are allowed.

Courtneys world was once normal. But after her father disappears, Courtney, desperate to escape her depression, begins entering a fantasy world every night as she sleeps. As young as she is, even Courtney knows this place cannot possibly exist; still, in this colorful world filled with delightful creatures, everyone wants to make her happyincluding her new best friend and the boy of her dreams. But unfortunately, an evil civilization also exists nearby, and its king has stolen the magic crystal that provides power to the beautiful world she has come to love. Now Courtney and her friends must journey into the dangerous darkness to try to get the crystal backbefore they become adults.

In this fantasy tale, as Courtney and her new friends come of age, they must somehow find the strength and character inside each of them in order to save their world from destruction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781426975851

Malcolm Chester

Malcolm Chester earned a bachelor’s degree from Brown University in political science, a master’s degree in child study from Tufts University, and a Juris Doctorate degree from IIT Kent School of Law. A former public affairs executive, he continues to consult while also practicing law. He currently lives in Illinois; this is his second novel.

Book preview

Elysia

The World in Children’s Dreams

MALCOLM CHESTER

©

Copyright 2011 Malcolm Chester.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Author Credits: To my son and daughter, my grandson and granddaughter to be and all the lovely children who I have met over the years.

Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. To the extent any character resembles any real life person is purely by accident.

ISBN: 978-1-4269-7584-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-7583-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4269-7585-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914847

Trafford rev. 05/20/2015

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Contents

Chapter 1: Courtney’s Life

Chapter 2: The Pink Road

Chapter 3: The Brown Road

Chapter 4: The Purple Road

Chapter 5: Reginald’s Life

Chapter 6: The Boy’s Purple Road

Chapter 7: The Powder-Blue Road

Chapter 8: The Castle

Chapter 9: Slither

Chapter 10: Maelstrom

Chapter 11: Real Lives

Chapter 12: The King and Queen

Chapter 13: The Ceremonies

Chapter 14: The Festival and Dance

Chapter 15: The Final Battle

Chapter 1

Courtney’s Life

T welve-year-old Courtney dreaded the stirrings inside her. Soon, very soon, she would become a woman. When she did, Courtney would leave Elysia, the World of Light, Goodness, and Beauty, never to return again.

Just days earlier, she had been elected Queen of Elysia, alongside her beloved king. He was the fairy-tale king of her dreams and would remain so until she died. Courtney loved this world and the people in it far more than her own world and its people, but the rules of Elysia were firm and unbending. Only children and the creatures and people of Elysia could be there. Adults from her world were not allowed.

Courtney looked at her small, drab room and sighed. Her dolls were piled in a corner along with her warrior princess outfit, sword, and shield. She spent countless hours playing with these toys, one moment giving tea to her dolls and the next fighting her friends as the warrior princess. While her real world life had become a much better place since she had visited Elysia every night, she still missed the time when she and her parents were together a year and a half ago.

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Their world was a very happy one filled with family parties, trips to the movies and parks, and just time spent quietly together. Then, the anger and the darkness came. Her father, suddenly lost his job, and the arguments started soon after. Her mom went back to work at another company, but her dad did not find a new job. Then one day after a long argument the police came and took her dad away. Courtney had seen him only once since that terrible day.

A week later, Courtney, lay in her bed, waiting for sleep to come. Just a few months ago, Courtney had been able to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When sleep finally came this night, Courtney found herself in front of an elaborate wrought-iron gate with a large sign reading Elysia set amid the swirling pieces of iron. The sun shone very brightly, birds sang happily, and sweet flower smells escaped from the spaces between the iron bars of the fence. The place looked very much like illustrations in her books, but instead of being pictures on a page or the more fuzzy parts of the dreams she remembered, this place was vividly real, as real as the life she ordinarily lead. Even in her eleven-year-old mind, Courtney knew this place could not exist, but nonetheless she was here.

After a short time, the gates to this magical world opened and an odd-looking man emerged. Tall, mustached, and thin, the man wore a black tuxedo, a green waistcoat, a pink frilly shirt, a pink polka-dot bow tie, a top hat with a hole in one side, and very large orange shoes that flopped when he walked. He was constantly moving, muttering, and staring at his watch. He looked very stressed and worried. Then, quite suddenly, he looked up with his yellow eyes and spoke to Courtney in his irritating nasal twang as if he had known her all of his life.

You are late. Our schedule is very precise. Courtney McGee is to be met at the gate at 8:59 p.m., not a moment sooner or later. By my watch, it is 9:00 p.m., way too late for our meeting. I have hundreds of children to meet today. It takes simply too long to file all the papers. They must be in triplicate, you know. No, I am sorry I cannot let you into Elysia. There is nothing that can be done. That is the rule. This is very important, you know.

That is very disappointing. I really wanted to see what it is like on the inside. Isn’t there a way for me to enter? By the way, what is your name? I don’t like talking to people if I don’t know their name, Courtney said, walking up to the man and trying to speak in a way that the man would understand.

Well, maybe you can come inside after all. There are of course exceptions to the rules. Let me see. You had to be in bed by 8:50 p.m., which gave you exactly nine minutes to fall asleep. According to my chart, you were in bed at 8:30 but did not fall asleep until 9:00 p.m. Well, wouldn’t you know it; there is an exception for children who go to bed early. This changes everything. Please follow me inside. You must come quickly. I do not want to get any farther behind than I already am. By the way, I am Cedric.

As Cedric came to this conclusion, his entire attitude changed. He waved Courtney forward and walked to the gate which opened as he drew near. Courtney followed him inside. Courtney adored Elysia the moment she saw it. Everywhere she looked, there were bright colors, fantastic creatures, candy mounds, amusement rides of every kind and shape, and thousands of laughing and smiling children of every race on Earth running and playing with each other. Before Courtney could absorb all that she was seeing, Cedric grabbed Courtney’s arm and led her to a brightly colored building just to the right of the gate with Adult Questioner above the door.

Oh my, I am so late. I have to leave you now. The questioner has many questions for you. You must answer his questions before you can enter. I will leave you then. The next name on my list is already flashing on this piece of paper, Cedric said, pushing Courtney toward the questioner’s door.

Before you go Cedric, I have one question for you. Why are you wearing a green vest?

Well, that is obvious. Your name is McGee, an Irish name. Green is your color.

I do like green, but I am not sure it is my favorite color. Do all kids have a color?

What a silly question. Do all kids have legs? Do all kids have arms and heads? Of course all kids have a color. Now as I said before, I must leave. Just knock on the door. The questioner will let you inside. Cedric abruptly turned around and headed for the gate, but he tripped on his large shoes. He stumbled but did not fall and then walked hurriedly away without looking back.

Courtney gazed at Cedric for a while and then turned to study the elaborate door in front of her. The door was very large and heavy, made of a dark wood with finely wrought iron hinges on the top and the bottom. The door’s most prominent feature, however, was a very large knocker with a face that looked almost real, with raised and deeply furrowed brows, wispy brown hair, and dark, sparkling eyes. When Courtney lifted the knocker and let it fall, a very irritated voice spoke. She could see small amounts of moisture form on the knocker’s lips and smelled the pungent odor of hairspray, which she assumed held his wispy hair in place. The knocker spoke with indignation.

What are you doing? My teeth are chattering. The knocker always does this to me. How would you like to be hit by a knocker on the chin? It isn’t pleasant, I can tell you that.

Taken aback a little by the mistake she had made, Courtney tried to make amends for knocking his chin. I am sorry. Cedric told me to knock on the door. You are a knocker, so I used you to knock.

The knocker calmed a little after Courtney made her apology, but there was still irritation in his voice. Don’t you know anything? You knock on a door with your fist. You don’t abuse the poor person like me on the door. I may look like a knocker, but my name is Knockle.

Well, Knockle, Cedric told me I have to talk to the questioner before I can enter Elysia, so I knocked on his door, Courtney said as sweetly as possible. She liked this place already and did not want to make any enemies before she even entered it.

You didn’t have to knock me in the chin to do that. Did you even bother to try the door? It is always open. Just walk inside. The Adult Questioner is sitting behind his big desk, where he always sits.

The Adult Questioner, is he the same as the Questioner?

Yes, Cedric doesn’t make the distinction, but he should. All kids are questioners. Adult questioners ask different kinds of questions. They want to know stuff about kids that kids don’t want to tell them. This is why an adult questioner is the right kind of person to ask your questions. We have many criteria for admission to Elysia. Only the Adult Questioner can tell whether you meet them or not.

Then I guess I will go inside and talk to the Adult Questioner, Courtney said a little unsure of herself and still staring in wonder at a talking door knob.

No one is stopping you.

Courtney walked inside to find the Adult Questioner where Knockle said he would be, in a big room with only a large desk in the middle. The walls were made out of the same heavy dark wood as the outside, and another door was behind the desk. The Adult Questioner looked very much like Knockle. He was very thin and had small frameless glasses and a dark suit with polished black shoes. He looked very severe and intimidating. Unlike Knockle, he had a mustache.

Walking up to the front of the Adult Questioner’s desk, Courtney spoke first without really thinking.

You look just like Knockle.

Of course I do. Knockle is my knocker, after all. Why should he look like anyone else? The Adult Questioner pretended to be insulted by Courtney’s question.

I guess that makes sense. I think you are supposed to ask me questions, Courtney said, using her sweet voice. She noticed the Adult Questioner had even stronger-smelling hair tonic on his head than Knockle.

Yes, adult questions. Please sit down on that chair. It is my job to ask you every question on the paper in front of me, the Adult Questioner declared, adjusting his eyeglasses and grinding his teeth a little.

Those are the kind of questions kids never really answer.

Yes, those are the ones.

Okay, ask.

Is your name Courtney McGee? the Adult Questioner asked, twirling his moustache. He stared straight at Courtney, causing her to fidget a little. Why do adults always have to stare at kid this way?

Yes.

Are you eleven years old?

Yes.

Did your father hit your mother?

Yes.

Did your mother divorce your father?

My mom said she was going to divorce my dad.

Have you seen your dad since he left?

Only once.

Are you sad and unhappy?

Yes. I am very sad. I spend part of everyday talking to my doll. She listens to me, Courtney replied but only reluctantly. She found this last question very difficult to answer. Her feelings were private. She shouldn’t have to tell adults how she felt.

That is it. You qualify for admission. Of course, I knew that already. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. Do you want to come inside?

Yes, of course. Otherwise I would not have answered your questions. But I have questions for you. Is this place real? Am I dreaming? Why am I here? I have more questions, but that is enough to start.

Silly girl. I am a questioner. My parents were all lawyers, whatever that is. They were questioners too. Questioners only ask questions. If we answer, which we almost never do, you can’t understand what we say. If you want answers, you have to ask an answerer. There are some inside, but I have no idea who they are, what they are, or where they are.

Then I suppose I need to go inside.

If you want to go inside, walk around my desk and go out the rear door. It is unlocked.

If I had refused to answer your questions, would you have let me go out the door behind you? Courtney asked with irritation as she rose from the chair.

I don’t know. You must be hard of hearing. I am a questioner, not an answerer.

Courtney, not wanting to spend another minute with the Adult Questioner, walked around his desk and out the rear door. If she spent any more time with him, she would get a very bad headache.

Once again, Courtney was mesmerized by the world in front of her. She found herself on a blue brick road that led off into the distance. Many other roads intersected the blue road on the right and the left, each a different color. Courtney hesitated a moment not knowing what to do. Then a very funny-looking boy came skipping toward her. The top part of him was very similar to one of the boys she knew in school. He had reddish hair, hazel eyes, and a plain green T-shirt with Elysia in large letters on the front. The boy also had very baggy pants, which he needed, for his legs were enormous, many times the size of the rest of him. Because his legs were so big, the boy had huge feet stuffed into the largest gym shoes Courtney had ever seen. He skipped to a place a half a yard in front of her and stopped. He had a strong sweaty odor very similar to the smell of boys in her class after they returned from recess. He spoke to her with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Hi! I am Ted Skipper! You look new. If you want, I can show you around Elysia, but only if you can skip.

That would be nice, but why are your legs so big, and why do I have to skip? Can’t I just walk instead? Courtney asked, trying to make sense out of the creature appearing in front of her.

I am a skipper, not a walker. I can only skip. If you don’t skip, you won’t be able to keep up with me. That is, of course, if you want to be with me.

It would be nice to be with someone who knows his way around here. I will try to skip, but you didn’t answer my question about the size of your legs.

That’s obvious. If you skipped all day, your legs would be the same size as mine. Skipper looked down at his legs.

I will skip as long as I can, but I think I will get tired after a while. Where are we going?

We are going down the blue road of course. Skipping as long as you can is fine with me. I will start the tour, which means I have to use my official tour guide voice. Here we go. Ted skipped down the blue road with Courtney beside him. Courtney desperately tried to keep up with the very fast Ted, who pretended he was talking into a microphone.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Elysia. This is a place created by children for children. The blue road we are now travelling along cuts through the entire area. Other colored roads, all made of brick, veer off the blue road to other places. The gold road leads to the royal palace, where the king and queen reign over the land. The black road leads to Maelstrom, the World of Darkness and Evil, where children face their greatest fears and nightmares. Very few children who take the black road are ever seen again. The pink road leads to the special girls’ place. The red road leads to the special boys’ place.

They skipped for some time, Skipper talking and pointing at things almost continuously. Eventually, Courtney became tired. She held her hand in the air and turned to Skipper, panting a little as she did so.

Skipper, that’s enough, she gasped. I don’t want to know where every one of the roads leads. Half of the fun of going down a road is not knowing what is at the end. Anyway, I am tired of skipping.

I guess that makes sense. You should go down the pink road and meet some of the girls like you. I always go down the purple road to the amusement park, the playgrounds, and the zoo. This is the only place kids skip like me. Bill Jumper, who jumps like I skip, shares the welcome duties at the Adult Questioner’s house. When we go there, we can usually convince the new kids to skip or jump with us.

I don’t know whether I want to go down the pink road or not, but I don’t really want to go to a playground right now. I think I will explore a little. Anyway, thanks for meeting me, Ted. I appreciate it.

Sure. If you feel like skipping, just come down the purple road and find me. You are a very pretty girl. I like skipping with pretty girls, Ted said, sounding a little embarrassed.

At just this moment, Courtney heard another more familiar sound.

Courtney dear, are you awake? In a half hour, I have to be off to work. If you want a ride, you have to be ready, or you will have to find another way to school.

Yes, Mom. I am on my way to the bathroom. I will be ready on time as usual.

Later that day, Courtney was daydreaming in her fifth grade class. She remembered every single moment of her time in the Elysia. It was just such a happy place. The sun was warm but not glaring and hot as it often was during the summer in her world. The breezes were light and carried strong and fragrant flower smells. The wind made gentle sounds, which mixed nicely with the happy music that always seemed to be in the background, along with the laughter of other children. Courtney also liked the characters she met. They were ridiculous, but also fun and entertaining.

Courtney would much rather be there than here. School was very boring. She was one of the smartest kids in her class and could easily answer the questions the teacher asked her. She was learning, but Courtney felt she could be learning a lot more than she was. Her teacher, who Courtney could tell liked her, was being particularly nice to her, probably because she knew about Courtney’s problems at home. Courtney worried that the other kids would resent the attention she received. The rough boys in the class were already making nasty comments about her being the teacher’s pet.

Then there was Edward. He was always looking at her and making stupid comments about the way she looked and what she was doing. One day he said she was swaying her hips when she was doing nothing like that. She was just walking. Then he said she was wearing lipstick, but all she had on her lips was Chap Stick. Courtney tried to ignore him, but if she ignored him too much, he would pull her hair or push her to the ground. Courtney knew Edward liked her at least as much as an eleven-year-old boy could like an eleven-year-old girl, but she wished he didn’t have to act like a jerk all the time.

Courtney’s girlfriends Rachel and Dede had been avoiding her lately and playing mostly among themselves. Courtney suspected it was her fault. When her parents had started fighting, it turned her whole world upside down. She hadn’t felt like being friendly to anyone. She was probably avoiding them more than they were avoiding her.

After school, Courtney quickly finished her homework and retreated to her room, where she could read books she liked and listen to music. She also practiced the guitar her father had given her on her last birthday. The instrument made sense to her. She could tune it by ear and always knew where the fingers of her left hand were supposed to go while she picked and stroked the strings with her right hand. Courtney could already play a number of tunes and liked to sing and hum along. Her father had told her when he gave it to her that it was part of her Irish heritage. The Irish loved to play instruments, sing, and tell stories. Courtney wanted to learn how to play and sing very well so she could impress her father when she saw him again.

After dinner, Courtney’s mother seemed to be staring into space. She sat by the phone even though, like everyone else, she carried a cell phone with her.

Mom, you have to give dad a chance. He will find a good job, and when he does, he will call us. I know he will.

Of course he will, Courtney, but I don’t want to miss his call. Your father and I have much to discuss.

I know. If you don’t mind, I am going to go upstairs to my room.

That’s great. Remember to do your homework.

It’s already done, Mom.

Courtney practiced her guitar a few hours until it was time to go to bed. She turned out her light after her mother said goodnight and concentrated on falling asleep. Courtney hoped she would return to Elysia.

Chapter 2

The Pink Road

A n instant later, Courtney was watching Ted skip down the road. She was exactly where she had been before she woke up in her bed. After considering it during the day, Courtney decided to follow Ted’s advice and turned down the pink road, which veered off to the left from the blue road. Immediately, Courtney began to see cute and cuddly things by the side of the road. A Teddy bear squealed with delight when she passed, and a stuffed rabbit hopped in front of her. Courtney tried to talk to the rabbit, but it kept hopping. She heard a high-pitched voice