The Hollow: Magic and jinn, #1

By MJ

Jude, an eleven-year-old boy, finds himself on a mission to bring his erased little brother back.

The Hollow is a fantasy short story dealing with paranormal events, capable spirits roaming the earth, and threatening human peace by preying on the weak-willed individuals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: MJ
• Release date: Oct 6, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223914631

Book preview

The hollow

By MJ the writer.

Jude woke up again in distress. Another year has passed; he went from an eleven-year-old kid to a sixteen-year-old teenager in a span of a few days!

It all began—not that long ago—when Jude and his family went to the fountain park, a trip the family used to go on every Friday.

On the way, as usual, his mother Lena and his father Daniel were lecturing him and his little brother Benjamin (Benny) about the Jinns, who have the ability to grant each person an only wish. Everybody is granted an only wish that they can make as soon as they turn sixteen, but in return, the jinn will require them to do them a service of the jinn's own choice. Time and again, that service proves unfortunate for the person who uses it. It was important to educate the kids not to use their wishes and to keep protecting the people against using them, no matter how strong the temptation was. Jude had already listened to the same speech hundreds of times; if it wasn’t his parents, it was his teachers, and if it wasn’t his teachers, it was his uncle, grandma, the grocer...

As usual, his mother Lena and his father Daniel sat on the grass, drinking their tea and preparing the snakes, while Jude and his brother Benny, who was five years old, spent the day playing with the ball and riding the bicycle.

Benny was playing with the ball when he kicked it too far away, and it landed near a huge, black, almost charred-looking tree. He ran to get the ball quickly, and when he reached the tree, he noticed a hollow in the tree; it was a big enough hollow to fit himself in it. Back to Jude, who saw Benny drifting away far; being the older brother, it was his responsibility to look after Benny, so he ran quickly to him. Suddenly, Benny disappeared in front of Jude's eyes as he walked through the hollow.

Jude's heart jumped to his throat with the fear that something bad would happen to Benny and the worry that his parents would be angry at him for not taking enough care of his little brother, allowing him to get far from him, and potentially harming himself.

Jude stopped in front of the tree and shouted, Benny, Benny, are you there?

But no one answered. Jude shouted once more, but still nobody answered. Jude started to panic, and impulsively, he walked through the same hollow.

***

Jude woke up from a deep sleep feeling relieved. Oh, thank God, it was a dream. He walked out of the bed, went to