Meli's Journey

By Melissa Queen

People have different ways of handling stress and the day-to-day ruts that they seem to get into. Some turn to God, others to the flavor of alcohol. Then there are those who turn to a world of imagination for escapism. It’s not virtual reality but rather a reality of the mind, it is the world of fantasy.
A home maker with many hours of the day to fill uses her gift of having a vivid imagination to do what she feels is finding adventure. In the lands she is known as Meli. However, all creatures are not good and pure. Evil finds a way of making the darkness and death fall upon the lands, but Meli never backs down from a good sword fight. With her fashionable knee-high boots and trusted friends, they battle, win, and at times lose.
Memories of her past and how things were and how they became to what is, floods her mind as her saga continues in her real word, but just as life is forever changing, so do the rules in her fantasies. Evil always creeps in and so does loss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Nov 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684711383

Book preview

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MELI’S

JOURNEY

Melissa Queen

Copyright © 2019 Melissa Queen.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1139-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6847-1138-3 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 10/16/2019

In Loving Memory

Of

My beloved and loyal friends, Beast, AKA Rupert, and

Sawdust. May you run free and rest at our master’s feet

Walk Uprightly, Harm None

~George Washington Stevenson Jr.

Preface

People have many ways of handling stress and the day to day ruts that they seem to get into. Some turn to God, others to the flavor of alcohol. There are some who turn to a world where they can always be the hero. They can invent happenings, villains, lands and situations in which they always win. No, this is not virtual reality but instead a reality of the mind. It is cheap and everyone can do it. It is the world of fantasy. Although everyone has the mind to do this, only a few can make it happen. The inventors, creators, and vivid minded people are in this class. A simple-minded home maker uses her gift of having a vivid imagination to do what she feels is finding adventure but in doing this she finds that she may have gotten in too deep. Her adventure takes her to places that she had dreamed of and there she will have to fight battles just to get back home but not before the truth about her real life is revealed to her.

PART ONE

Love Survives

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CHAPTER ONE

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The Adventure Begins

O ur heroine finds herself between a rock and a hard place. The rock is a huge boulder she has fallen onto and the hard place is the fiend coming at her with a twelve-inch dagger. She opens her mouth and let out a yell.

Shield! She screams as she holds her right arm up to shield her face.

With that, a round shield straps itself around her right arm. She raises it up to her face. The fiend comes down at her with the dagger. Instead of stabbing her, the dagger hits the shield causing the fiend to bounce back. He lunges at her once more. She was able to jerk her feet up and kick the fiend in his chest as he comes towards her. He stumbles backwards, tripping and falling to the ground. The two jumped to their feet at the same time. They stand facing each other waiting for one or the other to make the next move. Suddenly the sound of an alarm can be heard in the distance.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

A grin comes across her face as she looks out of the corner of her eye.

Whoops! She says with a chuckle in her voice. It is time to go. She turns and vanishes.

She reaches over and hits the alarm clock, which was sitting on the nightstand beside of her bed. She opens her eyes to find herself staring up at her ceiling in her bedroom. She turns to find her husband lying beside of her. He looks over and rolls his body towards hers to give her a good morning kiss on her cheek.

Good morning, she says in a sleepy voice as she yawns

Good morning sweetie, he replies. Did you have a good rest?

So so, she answers with a giggle.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Once again, the alarm clock makes everyone aware of its presence. She reaches over and turns it off. She rolls back over to her husband and smiles.

So, it begins, she says as she rolls away from her husband to find her way to the edge of the bed where she reaches for her house coat and slips her feet into her fuzzy house shoes.

She was referring to the day. Her day would begin by getting her family on their way to start their journey in the big world. There are all kinds of wonderful adventures the world has to offer each of them. It was always her first adventure to see that it got started off right. Every morning was the same.

Once the coffee was served and breakfast was eaten, her husband would head to work. Her husband was a logger, so often she would hide into a fantasy world that she would create in her mind to keep it off of the dangerous adventure that her husband had to face every day. But only after the whole family had started their adventures.

A kiss good-bye would top off her morning. She would watch him get into the truck and drive down the driveway. She would always watch as he drove up the road until the truck disappeared over the hill.

Now for the kids. Her daughter was always in a hurry. She would go running around grabbing books here and there, never seeming to know where anything was exactly at.

Bye mom, I love ya’. she would holler as the door slammed behind her. However, it would never fail; she would always come running back into the house for her car keys.

Her son was a different story. He was often told in the mornings that he was slower than molasses on Christmas Day. It was the same conversation every morning.

Mom, I hate school. It is boring. Why do I have to go? He would ask.

She would explain to him that it was important that he get a good education so that he could go far in life. Of course, all he cared about was cars and what made them go fast. At any rate, he was always the last one to leave the house. Nevertheless, he would always make it to the end of the driveway before the bus ran. She would always watch, without him knowing of course, to make sure that he got on the bus safely.

It was an adventure just to get everyone on their way. Just knowing that she had the power to accomplish such a task, made her feel pretty much like a hero.

Now it would be time for adventure number two. First there were the breakfast dishes to wash. Then a break would be necessary. This would call for a nice cup of hot coffee and a smooth cigarette. These were two big vices of hers, but she enjoyed them so much, she could not seem to put either one of them down. After her break, she would step outside to visit with her friend. He was a strange looking fellow. He had the looks that only a mother could love.

She had adopted him at the local pet adoption so in a way, she was his mother. He was very strange looking to others but to her he was beautiful. When they first met, both knew right off that they would always take care of each other. Because of his strange looks, the only name she felt fit for him, without making him feel bad, was The Beast.

His strange looks would make you wonder if he was a dog. He had four legs and he barked but his mannerisms were those of a person. Sometimes he would walk with the grace of a cat. He never killed squirrels or rabbits that played in the yard. He was the friendliest creature you would ever meet. His personality was more of a person than a dog. She could talk to him and he seemed to understand every word that she would say to him. He was her best friend. They went everywhere and did everything together. His sandy blonde coat fit his features. One blue eye and one green eye set off his strange looks even more. He was your run of the mill Heinz fifty-seven mutt but to her he was a thoroughbred. She always felt safe when he was around. She had no doubt in her mind that if it ever came down to it, he would kill or be killed to protect her.

She always took Beast into her fantasies with her. He always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. Several times before he had helped her get out of some pretty tight spots that she managed to get herself into. Like the time she found herself in the middle of a pond. There had been a problem with an ogre eating a farmer’s sheep. She had gotten into a confrontation with the ogre and he had thrown her into the pond which was filled with flesh eating minnows. Well, Beast jumped into the pond without hesitation and helped her to the edge of the pond before the minnows even knew that she was in the water. Beast then distracted the ogre until she could catch her breath. When she was back on her feet, Beast ran behind the ogre by the edge of the pond. She attacked the ogre with her favorite golden sword with jewels set into the handle. This was a gift that she had in her fantasies, calling for or thinking about something that she needed, and it would appear. Anyway, she attacked the ogre forcing the ogre to move backwards and before he knew what had happened, he had fallen over Beast and landed into the water. There was nothing he could do seeing how ogres hate water. He was so scared of being in the water he did not hear or see the minnows swarming that were about to tear the hide right off of his body. She often thought to herself, If you are going to fantasize, do it right and always share the experience with a friend. In other words, strength comes in numbers. Together side by side, they would stand strong and proud to fight and sooner or later conquer evil.

After the two friends would play and wrestle around a while, Beast would get tired and go find his stuffed rabbit. He was a bit of a baby at times. He then would take the rabbit under the back porch and lay down with it for a nap. She would return into the house to complete the second adventure for the day and after the housework was done, she would have another cup of coffee and another smoke. She would then lie on the couch to think up worlds that she and beast could go into to conquer their evil for the day.

In her fantasies she was known as Meli. She got that name from a letter sent to her. Her real name was Melinda. When she got the letter, she thought that the sender must have been either a moron or really in a hurry to forget the second part of her name. However, she thought that it was strange enough to work in her fantasy worlds. A true fantasy seeker would never use their real name. Beast however seemed very fitting. He was alright with that. Besides, if she called him another name, he may not know who she was talking to and that could be hazardous to ones that fight evil.

After a while, when she felt Beast had napped long enough, she stepped outside to wake him up. After all it was a beautiful, sunshiny day. Too perfect a day for napping. She opened the door and tipped toed down the steps trying to sneak up on him. This was a game that they played every day. Of course, he would wake up as soon as she opened the door, but he would play opossum until she stepped onto the ground. Then she would try to startle him, but he would always jump out at her and pounce on her usually knocking her to the ground. Round and round they would go, just playing around. This time she was surprised. He was not underneath the porch.

Hmmmmm, she said to herself. He must be visiting the neighbors’ dog.

Beast had lots of friends in the neighborhood, especially the female German shepherd down the hill. She was a beauty. The two of them were often referred to as beauty and the beast when they were seen together.

Melinda took this time to walk around in the yard to enjoy the wonderful sunshine. She smiled as she felt the warmth of the sun shined on her face. They had just had a long and miserable winter, so the sun was a nice treat. She looked up into the brilliant blue sky. It was breath taking. She made her way back into the house to pour yet another cup of coffee. She sat on the couch and enjoyed her coffee and a cigarette while she waited for her friend to return. Afterwards she had an idea.

Oh, I know, I will get dressed now, she thought as she sat her coffee cup onto the coffee table in front of where she was sitting on the couch.

Let’s see, she thought as she investigated her closet. Blue jeans, blue jeans or do I want blue jeans.

Just by looking into Melinda’s closet you could see why she fantasized. Anyone who only wears blue jeans needed some excitement in her life. She pulled the jeans up onto her small framed body and buttoned them up. She then flipped through the assortment of tee shirts hanging in the closet and pulled out a dark green one and slid it over her head.

Now, she said to herself. A pair of socks and some real shoes and I will be ready for the day.

After putting her socks on and lacing up her sneakers, she looked at herself in the full-length mirror that was standing in the corner of the bedroom and gave herself a half smile as she took a deep breath. As she stared into the mirror, she could not help but to think of happier times. Times where she saw her husband and not just at the supper table. Times where she felt like a queen and not a door mat or just a part of the house. She shook her head and turned to walk into the living room where she sat back on the couch and enjoyed her coffee and another cigarette.

Sometime had passed. Thinking that her loyal friend would be back, she went outside to check. To her surprise, when she opened the door and peeked outside, the beauty of the day was gone. It had been replaced with dark black clouds. The warmth and beauty that the sunshine had provided was not there anymore. Instead there was a cold wind blowing with the lagging musty smell of mildew. Pieces of ash fell upon the ground. She looked across the back yard where she saw Beast standing at the edge of the trees that lined the yard.

Beast! She yelled. Come here boy.

Beast just looked at her with a blank stare on his face. She thought that maybe he did not hear her because of the wind that was now blowing and making the dead leaves from the trees rustle loudly. Beast started walking into the wooded area.

Where is that crazy dog going? She mumbled.

Beast just kept walking. Suddenly his ears perked up as if he had heard something. Then he took off running until she did not see him anymore.

Beast, she called as she ran towards him, Wait up!

She reached the edge of the woods where she had seen her friend go in but before she entered, she stopped. A cold chill flowed through her body. She could hear Beast barking. He seemed to be barking every breath. The barking was getting hard for her to hear, between the wind in the trees and the fact that Beast was running away from her.

Cautiously she stepped into the woods where she saw that it was different. She and her husband had a trail through the woods with little benches along the way. They liked to go into the woods to read or just get away from things. It was their own little get away place but now something was wrong. Everything was grown up with thickets. There benches could not be seen for all of the dead vines that were covering them. All she could see was rocks and dead trees that had creepy looking images on them. It was as if the trees had evil faces that seemed to watch your every move.

Beast, she said softly, I don’t think we are in Marion anymore.

Realizing that her fantasy must be starting for the day, she fought through the thickets trying to dodge the large roots that were lying on the top of the ground. She was able to get closer to Beasts’ barks. They seemed to be getting more aggressive. It was as if he was trying to ward off an intruder. Suddenly his vicious growls turned into whines and whimpers. Her heart sank as she raced to help him. She knew that something was very wrong, Beast never backed down from a fight, especially not in a fantasy. It was as if he knew that he could not lose. They both felt this way that is why she could not understand what was going on. This was very strange and very different. She had never entered a land without her knowing it from the beginning. With this one, she was already in the fantasy before she knew what was going on and from the looks of her surroundings, she did not like the land that she had entered. She nervously looked back towards the entrance of the woods with the thoughts running through her mind that maybe she should turn around and go back to the house when she heard Beast let out a yelp.

This is not right, she thought. We don’t get hurt. We are the heroes. Beast doesn’t whimper.

She quickly turned and started running further into the woods towards the sounds of her friend that was in serious trouble. She finally reached a clearing in the forest where she found her friend lying on the ground in a pile of bloody leaves.

Beast! She gasped as she ran to him.

She knelt on the ground beside of him. He had a large gash in his neck, and she could not understand what had attacked him or how it attacked him. She had never seen such an injury. Nothing like this had ever happened before. She knew that something was not right with this fantasy. She tore the bottom of her tee shirt and placed it over the wound to try and keep him from losing his blood so quickly. As she applied pressure to his wound, blood seemed to gush heavier. She put his head in her lap and rocked back and forth trying to figure out what to do.

Think stupid, think, she said in disgust.

In her panic she could not think clearly. She looked around but everything was dead. Dead trees, dead vines, dead earth, dead air and if she could not think of something quick, her friend was going to be dead. Tears streamed down her face as she watched her dear friend close his eyes.

What in the blue hell is going on here? She screamed.

Her mind was blank as she held his head wishing for an answer, anything or anyone who could help her. She heard a noise from the thickets behind her. She gently laid the dog’s head on the ground and jumped to her feet. She grew nervous as she saw a man coming out of the thickets. Not saying a word, he walked past her and bent down beside of the bleeding dog. Without a word he reached for a leather pouch that was tied with a leather strap on his belt that he had around his waist.

Excuse me, she said with an annoyed tone.

But the man did not respond. It was as if she wasn’t there. This angered her, the fact that she was being ignored. She ran towards the stranger and clasped her hands together, interlocking her fingers and with great force hit him on his shoulder which knocked him backwards to the ground, causing him to drop the leather pouch that was in his hand onto the ground.

I said excuse me. Who are you? What are you doing to my friend? She demanded.

By this time, she was irate. The man jumped to his feet facing her as if they were ready to battle.

Sword! She commanded.

With that command a rusty sword with a wooden handle appeared in her right hand.

What the hell? She asked stunned as she had never had a command screw up before.

She stood, with heart pounding and palms sweating, waiting to see what type of weapon he had. She really was hoping that it was as terrible as hers. Instead of drawing a weapon he held both hands to his sides with his palms up to indicate that he was unarmed. She was kind of relieved for that since she did not get her favorite sword to fight him with. She never back down. She kept her stance even with the rusty piece of crap sword. It was not in her nature to back down.

Wait, he said. We can fight later. For now, let me help or your friend will surely die.

She looked down at Beast gasping for air. Then she looked at the stranger and lowered her sword. The stranger picked up his pouch which had dropped, and he went back to Beast and sat down on his knees beside of the lifeless dog. As he opened his pouch, Meli saw that the inside glowed a neon blue color. The dry contents were poured out onto the wounds of Beasts’ neck. The shiny powder glistened as it mixed into Beast’s red blood causing it to form a deep purple at the wound. Within a few seconds Beast jumped up and ran over to his best friend where he pounced on her, acting as if he had not seen her in years. Meli bent down to accept his wet, slobbery kisses. She could not believe her eyes when she saw that underneath the blood mixed in with his blond hair there was not even a scratch.

Now, said the stranger as he stood up and dusted himself off, if you would like, we will finish what you started earlier.

Yes, she replied and then hesitated. Uh, no, uh, oh crap!

He watched the sword in her hand to make sure that she was not going to come at him with it. She saw that he was not being aggressive towards her, so she backed down. She noticed that he kept his eye on her sword watching her every move.

Oh, sorry, she said as she continued, Sword, go away!

As those words passed her lips, she expected the sword to vanish just as weapons had vanished for her command before but this time the sword flew out of her hand and stabbed one of the dead trees nearby.

This makes no sense, she said as she walked over to one of the big rocks at the edge of the clearing and sat down.

She could not help but to stare at the stranger. She had never seen anyone like him before. Not even in her many fantasies. He wore his dark brown hair long. When the wind caught it, it seemed to travel in slow motion. His deep blue eyes matched his dark complexion perfectly. It was as if he had just stepped out of a gentlemen’s magazine.

My name is Meli, she said as she as she pulled her last cigarette out of the pack in her tee shirt pocket. If there is anything, I can do for you just let me know. I feel that I owe you my life for saving my friend. I am truly indebted to you.

He paused at first not knowing exactly what she was about to do. It was clear to him that she made rash decisions. He watched her closely as she pulled a lighter out of her back jeans pocket and lit her cigarette. She laid the lighter beside of her and started to pet Beast who was sitting at her feet. Seeing that she meant him no harm, he walked over to where she was at and reached his hand out towards her as if to shake her hand. Slowly she placed her hand into his expecting a firm shake. To her surprise he took her hand into his and raised it to his lips where he gently kissed it.

It is an honor to meet you my lady, he whispered as he looked down into her eyes. I will collect on that debt another day. I hope you will help me with the problem at hand.

Sure, she said, but then paused as she pulled her hand from his. Do I know you from somewhere?

No, he answered. But I do know of you.

Not knowing what he meant, she could feel her face getting hot from embarrassment. She started to feel very uncomfortable. She thought that maybe he was some kind of stalker or pervert. She stood up and started to step backwards away from him.

How do you know of me? She asked as she blew smoke out of the corner of her mouth.

Everyone has heard of the one who conquers evil with her trusty, strange looking sidekick, he said.

Nervously she looked around without moving her head.

Who is everyone? She asked as she took another drag from her half-smoked cigarette.

Let’s just say you are legendary, he answered as he stepped closer to her.

Meli was not sure how to take that. The more the stranger spoke to her the more worried she got. The stranger saw that she was feeling uncomfortable, so he stepped away from her.

Let me explain, he said as he sat on the rock that she had walked away from. You don’t know what you are, do you?

Sure, she answered hesitantly. I am a homemaker. I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful children. I clean, cook and keep the house going. To feel important, I create worlds that I can go to so that I feel important. But it is just a fantasy world. It is not real.

She looked at the blood on the ground where beast had been laying.

This is not supposed to happen, she continued as she pointed to the puddle. I really don’t know what is going on and the more I think of it; I really don’t feel that this is a fantasy. Not mine anyway.

CHAPTER TWO

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It’s my fantasy

T he stranger looked puzzled. He stood up and walked back over to where she was standing.

She took her last drag from her cigarette and let it drop to the ground where she stepped on it with the toe of her shoe.

Dear lady, you are much more than that, he spoke in a soothing voice as he took her hands into his. The worlds that you create in your mind are real. The things that you do really happen and the evils that you conquer are highly ticked off at you.

Meli looked around as if she were looking for something.

Ok, she chuckled. Where is it?

Where is what? The stranger asked as he looked in the direction that she had looked.

The camera, she answered. My husband is behind all of this isn’t he? He makes fun of me when I speak of my fantasy lands and the things that I do in them.

She stood up and started to knock on the trees. I must say all of this is pretty elaborate, what with the trees and the blood on Beast. That man has really out done himself this time. He laughs at me every time I tell him of my adventures.

The stranger started walking around with her.

Who are you talking about and why are you acting this way? She asked with annoyance in her voice. This is all a practical joke that my husband is pulling. I knew you were too good looking to be real. What did he do find you in a magazine or something? She started talking louder, as if she wanted someone to hear what she was saying. Come on out, I figured it out. You have to get up earlier than that to fool me.

Why would anyone joke about this? The stranger asked as he grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him.

Meli started to tremble. She did not know if it was fear or if it was that she was in the strangers’ grasp. Did my husband not set this all up? She asked in a scared voice as her smile faded while looking into the serious eyes of her new acquaintance.

I do not even know you husband, he answered. Besides how would anyone have been able to stage your sword?

Meli was stumped on that one. How would he have been able to stage that? She pulled away from the stranger and walked back to the rock and sat down. She pulled an unopened pack of cigarettes out of her shirt pocket. Quietly she opened the pack. As questions raced through her mind as she pulled a single cigarette from the pack and placed it between her lips. She felt around all of her pockets for her lighter. She looked all around the rock knowing that she had left it there. She thought that maybe it had fallen off onto the ground somewhere.

Call for it, the stranger said.

Meli looked up at him.

Call for what you need. Isn’t that how you do it? He asked.

She took the cigarette out of her mouth.

Light, she said softly.

Immediately a lit candle in a small candle holder appeared in front of her on the ground.

What is this? She asked with disgust.

The stranger looked at the candle and then at her.

It does put out light, he joked.

That is not what I meant, she said as she picked up the candle and lit the end of her cigarette that she had placed back between her lips. Candle, gone, she mumbled.

Instead of the candle disappearing it melted within seconds putting the fire out.

Now that is just stupid, she exclaimed as she threw the candle holder with the melted glob of wax onto the ground.

Meli, he said as he sat down beside of her. I really need to get you to see what I am saying. This is not a joke. You believe in what you are doing. By believing you are making it real. Evil is taking it out on my land, my people and all living creatures of my land. We must go so that you can fight this thing that has come into my world.

What if I do not want to go? She asked.

I really hate to tell you this, but you have no choice, he answered. "You are so deep in the