Malory's Marveless Adventures

By DOUGLAS HECK

  Become entranced in this New Millennium, Wonderland Adventure.  Find yourself personally challenged (along with protagonist Malory) as you confront astounding—sometimes baffling—characters, who may leave you whirling, but abounding in the end.  An coming-of-age read for children and adults, alike.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DOUGLAS HECK
• Release date: May 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393153627

Book preview

The spiritual mind sees heaven in every petal,

in every jot of the inspired pen.

This book is dedicated to

Christopher and Noelle,

who encouraged me from

the book’s very beginning,

and to my wife Debbie,

who has often encouraged

me since, to see through to

the end what I had begun

Chapter One

FOX  BALOO

"S he was too a she." Malory looked back over her shoulder from where she was reclined to see if she could get a better view. Malory and Mynah had chosen the first truly warm day after the school session to come to the beach.

'Twas a he, 'twas a he, Mynah repeated emphatically.

They were arguing over a gorgeous blue fox that appeared on the edge of the woods some one hundred yards from where they were sunning themselves.

Male's the beauty, Male's the beauty, Mynah insisted. 

Malory simply took Mynah to mean that the male is usually the more outwardly attractive of the various animal species. But, on second thought, she wasn't sure whether this was what it was saying at all. Was the silly bird simply repeating something that Malory's little sister had taught it in weeks gone by? Poor Mynah. Why am I arguing with you? I brought you here so we could enjoy each other's company on the shore of this crystal-blue lake.

So for the next indefinite space of time her pet bird flitted in its cage, seeming to watch the children play on a sandbar farther down the shore. Meanwhile, Malory went back to the book that she had brought to the beach.

This above all—to thine own self be true,

And gather the lily-whites, which lost, fade away.

Beware of the scatterings, the Foxes Baloo;

Lest enchantment befall by land's end of day.

How peculiar, Malory thought, as she finished reading the verse. I was just arguing about a blue fox. Then she began skimming the next pages of the text to see if there was further mention of this beautiful creature. The story, which had been interesting enough up to this point, began to describe a scene by a grove of trees. And, yes, adjacent to the grove was a sunny, pebbled beach. 

The girl in the story (her name too was Malory) was chasing a blue fox. On they went through the woods, first

encountering this set of circumstances, next defying that. The reason that the Malory of the book was chasing the fox was unclear at this place in the story; for in the following scene the fox was chasing her, and threatening by nipping at her heels. 

Bad fox, the young damsel Malory exclaimed. Didn't your mother teach you better than that?

The chase brought them to a stone fence that looked as if it was nearly in ruin. Peering over the fence Malory spied a beautiful, ornate garden. Both Malory and the fox had stopped the chase and were finding their way over the small barrier. Having succeeded, Malory began a close inspection of the leaves and petals of some lovely flowers, when the words WELCOME TO ___ISIBILITY flashed before her eyes.

How terribly delightful! Malory thought. This is indeed a curious garden.

The words, she discovered, were actually a small sign made by ants, which were directly below the marigold she was attending. Each ant held a grain of colored sand in its pincers. Whether at a leader's command or by group instinct, they flashed their piece of the sign in unison. The scene reminded Malory of the variegated placards that are held up at football games to spell a cheer to the crowd. Each time that Malory looked down, the ants were displaying a different sign. To do this they would drop one color of sand, change positions, and pick up another color. Malory, however, was still trying to figure what the first words meant. WELCOME TO ___ISIBILITY. Perhaps the leaf of the flower had blocked the first letters