Krikkit's Shoes: Book 2: Forest of Stolen Dreams

By Jessie L. Best and Petro Gurido

Krikkit, an 11-year-old schoolgirl receives a new pair of magical shoes from her sorcerer friends. In book 2 of this magical middle grade series, Krikkit must learn how to release the power of the shoes to free herself and her friends from a captured dream. She discovers that an evil wizard is stealing children's dreams to take the

• Language: English
• Publisher: BestBooks
• Release date: Sep 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781999208516

Jessie L. Best

Jessie Best was born in the Ottawa Valley region and moved to the Toronto area as an adult. She has worked in the healthcare field for many years. She is now planning on making writing her second career. Jessie is the mother of one son and the grandmother of a boy and a girl who, from time to time, add valuable feedback about her endeavors.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Dream Guardian

Krikkit crept through the golden magical door, eager to greet the mystical dream guardian in the Land of Dreams. Lately her own dreams had a feeling of wonder and enchantment as Krikkit realized how unique her experiences truly were.  One of many dream guardians and caretaker of dreams, Mullen, a magical, elderly man, also collected and stored the dreams of children. Each one captured, he catalogued and stored them in a vault so large, it would take many months to walk through.

Mullen worked quickly to snatch the mystical mist from which all dreams were made, recording carefully their events with his mystical gold ink.  At night in this realm, the bright stars glittered overhead, a sparkling, yet protective canopy.

Mullen was a small lively man with rapid movements and twinkling eyes. His bald head shone brightly as if he spent many hours polishing it. Krikkit had grown quite fond of him in the short time of their acquaintance. Finding the tiny golden rocking chair usually reserved especially for her, the girl sat down, waiting for him to appear.

Krikkit looked forward to drinking the hot blueberry tea he served her on every visit. It made her feel a little woozy for a while, but she loved it just the same.

It will help you to stay awake throughout the night, explained Mullen. It is a magical brew, made especially for you and will help clear all those sleep cobwebs from your mind. Tomorrow, you will wake up refreshed as if you had slept the whole night away!

 Krikkit and the dream guardian laughed and talked in their visits together, while she sipped her tea. When she had finished, he would then tell her something of the dream he had selected just for her. He did not tell her everything, leaving her curious and excited. Taking her by the hand, he would guide her through the dream, reassuring away any concerns.

On her last visit, he gave her only a brief outline of her next dream journey. A little girl had dreamed that she visited a forest where all the trees and grass were black.

Something seemed amiss this time, however. Mullen always appeared right in front of her the moment she sat down in the chair. Yet, there was no sign of him and Krikkit began to worry, as she rocked gently back and forth, her glossy brown hair swinging with every movement.

Suddenly, the young girl noticed a small oblong box on the ground beside her. With its lid askew, it appeared to have been dropped in a hurry. Realizing this was the tiny wooden box Mullen always carried, Krikkit carefully removed the loose lid and fished out the small piece of paper inside.

The paper, trimmed in gold, quivered in the child’s small hand as she bent to read the spidery golden scrawl. Wow! she muttered, her dark brown eyes widening in surprise. However, the words jumped mysteriously across the page, and she could not read it at all. Was this a handwritten description of a dream? Only Mullen could read it, Krikkit guessed.

This must be the very dream we were to visit tonight! exclaimed Krikkit. Although the note had not given her any details, the schoolgirl could hardly wait to enter this dream, trembling with eagerness. Where was Mullen? He had always been present whenever she visited.

Bewildered, she rubbed at the band of freckles across her nose, a habit Krikkit had when she was uncertain. Not sure what she should do next, the young girl put the note back in the box, secured the lid and put the box gently on the ground beside her. Krikkit decided that she would wait a little longer before returning through the magical door into her own bedroom. Perhaps Mullen was just running a little late.

As she sat waiting, Krikkit’s eyelids began to droop over her brown eyes and she grew sleepy. Without warning, the girl heard a soft whistle close by. Suddenly, wide awake again, she sat upright in the little golden chair, looking around her.

Mullen? Krikkit whispered into the strangely quiet night. There was no response. The next thing she knew, Krikkit felt something thrown over her head, and she was dragged gently, but firmly to the ground. Finding herself in total darkness, the girl lay stunned and bewildered by this unexpected attack.

A low voice kept telling her, urgently, Keep quiet! as she felt herself being pulled along the ground. Frightened and having not the faintest clue of what was happening, the child obeyed.  She shivered with fear, laying quiet as a mouse, and waited. What was to befall her in this unfamiliar Land of Dreams?

***

There was nothing ordinary about Krikkit’s life anymore. Events from the past year ran swiftly through the girl’s mind as she lay, frightened and still, in the darkness. Now almost 12 years old, more than a year had passed since Krikkit discovered the mystical, shiny black leather shoes that had transformed her life.

Secretly believing that the shoes had found her, the young girl was astounded when they transported her to the magical Kingdom of D’Arragon. Her ordinary life had suddenly changed to one full of excitement. Since then, a whole lot of magic had entered her once mundane life. She had returned to D’Arragon to visit the friends she had made there many times since.

Every time she visited D’Arragon, Krikkit felt more like a real princess. She was certainly treated like one and had come to love the royal family and the sorcerers who had helped her.

Giving the magical shoes back to their original owner, the sorcerer, Syntaba, had not been easy. However, he and Jara, a sorceress, presented the young girl with a new pair, just as magical. If she slipped them on just before she went to bed, she found they took her to the Land of Dreams, a place she had discovered with her old sorcerer friend.

The new shoes were her favorite purple with sparkling silver soles. Their magic, as wondrous as the original black, shiny, leather ones, took her back to D’Arragon whenever she desired. Since Syntaba had begun another one of his many journeys, Krikkitt waited for his return to receive further lessons in the magical power of her new shoes.

They are a little bit different from my black shoes that first brought you to D’Arragon, Syntaba informed her, his eyes twinkling with secrets. I will give you more lessons when I return from visiting with my friend, the Wizard of Centaube. Many journeys await you my little friend, but you can start with the Land of Dreams as long as you are guided by the dream guardian, Mullen.

Krikkit was happy to do just that for she had discovered how intriguing and magical dreams could be. Yet, here she lay in darkness, lost and alone, with the dream guardian nowhere to be found.

This is the opposite of Syntaba’s instructions, Krikkit whispered into the blackness, as she lay still.

Without warning, the veil of darkness was whisked away. Krikkit managed to sit up, then stand upon her feet without any trouble. Brushing the long brown hair off her small face, the schoolgirl looked warily around for the person who had abducted her. She saw no one at all. Remaining perfectly still, Krikkit waited for the person to reveal himself. However, when no one appeared, she realized she stood alone in a strange place without Mullen’s comforting blueberry tea, his guidance, or his protection.

As she looked about her, Krikkit had no idea where she had been taken. The air felt different and the night was much darker than usual. The canopy of stars had disappeared except for a few distant stars that flickered and provided tiny points of light.

A smoky colored mist began to rise from the ground beneath Krikkit’s feet and she could hardly