Lost In The Dark

      He trundled along the winding path that led back to his Neohome in Neopia Central. Roland live on the outskirts of Neopia Central, so from his bedroom window he could see the Neopian Plains, and, when the sky was clear, Roland could see the dark clouds that lurked above the Haunted Woods.

      Roland grinned with pleasure. He was in such high spirits, but overly tired after all his adventures he had had that day. He was looking forward to going home and eating the pack of his favourite food, Grapefruit Biscuits. Roland watched as the magnificent sun finally disappeared behind a hill in front of him, and the moon took its place, beaming white light onto his path like streetlamps. Roland walked at a quicker pace, now the sun had set it was getting colder, and Roland had always heard the stories of Neopets that had got lost and never returned in the Neopian plains.

      Roland's breath grew hurried, as clouds covered the sky that once seemed empty, and the bright moon was hidden. The path that was once lit so intensely now vanished in the black, and Roland stopped, scared and frightened. He was all alone, in this dark. He tried to find a light, he tried to find the moon but all he could see was dark, emptiness everywhere. Roland was petrified, but his paws were glued to the floor in shock, so he couldn't run.

      "Help," he cried, but no one answered, "help," again he cried, even louder. He burst into tears, he was so scared, and he didn't know how to get home. Then Roland thought to himself "I can't stay here, I must move." Roland thought about which way his home was and took a step in that direction.

      "This must be the way," thought Roland. He continued to move in a straight line into the never-ending blackness, hoping to find the comfort and warmth of his Neohome. Roland was confident he was going the right way, and in his mind he thought to himself "forward, forward."

      For what seemed like hours Roland continued to go straight on, until he realised he was getting nowhere. He thought to himself how, when he usually came home, he had to take a right somewhere along the path. He realised that was where he had gone wrong, so Roland veered right and carried on.

      Unfortunately, his home was not this way. Roland scanned the horizon. It seemed to be just black but, there! Was that a glimpse of light to the left of him? Roland was sure there was something there and decided, even if it wasn't his Neohome, he could go inside and ask for directions, and a torch to find his way home.

      Roland persevered along the new path, hoping this way would bring him closer to his Neohome. But as he carried on, he realised that this way was as black as every other, there was no light, there was nobody. Roland shivered as the bitterly cold wind lashed against his thin fur. He looked up to see the first raindrop hit his sore nose, before a huge downpour began.

      "I have to find some shelter," thought Roland as he charged forwards, looking for anything to hide under. He moved at a startling speed but gradually grew slower as his tiredness caught up with him. Thinking of food made him even hungrier than he already was, and Roland found he just couldn't move.

      "I can't carry on," Roland gasped. His muscles ached, his paws were cut and bruised and his fur was thoroughly soaked through. Roland collapsed onto the floor, as the thunder laughed hysterically beside him. "Help," Roland whispered.

      Suddenly, it all stopped. The rain ceased, the thunder grew silent and the bitter North wind disappeared. A beautiful purple light, ten times brighter than the sun lit up the black. It came gracefully towards Roland was who was whimpering on the muddy ground.

      Roland looked up, but could not see properly as the light dazed his eyes. In the middle of the purple, a figure hovered. Roland tried to talk, "who are you?" but his throat was too dry and cracked to speak.

      The figure did not say anything but elegantly came to Roland, and swept him up. Roland could tell the figure was female, by the heavenly smell of lilac that blossomed around her. The woman sang a song, and its gorgeous melody filled the night-time air. She was so warm, and Roland snuggled close to her chest, as her silk gown comforted him and protected him from the murderous weather.

      Roland was soon up in the air, in the arms of this beautiful figure. Roland looked down to see the hills he had struggled to walk over, and the path he had tried to find. The breeze gently whistled past him, as they overtook the shooting stars in the sky.

      Roland closed his eyes, the tiredness taking over him. He knew he was now safe, and there was nothing to worry about. The overwhelming aroma of the figure's perfume made him drowsy, and her beautiful lullaby, that she continued to sing, soon sent him off into a deep, peaceful sleep.

      It was morning. The sunlight entered through the curtains in Roland's bedroom, filling the room with golden yellow light. Roland woke up, yawning as he sat in his bed. Another day, he thought to himself. He checked his clock and lay back down in his bed. "That's strange," Roland puzzled, "what did I do yesterday?"

      Then it came back to him. Trying to get home, getting lost in the dark, not being able to find the warmth of his Neohome. The light! The beautiful woman who swept him up in her arms! Wait, that couldn't be real! She couldn't have been real, surrounded in that dazzling purple light.

      Roland was sure she had existed, but he could have just been dreaming. What if it was all a dream? He checked his paws, there were no cuts or bruises, and his fur was totally dry. Maybe it was all just a dream, but it seemed far too real to not be true.

      Roland thought for a minute, before deciding that he had imagined it all. He must have been dreaming, and told himself repeatedly to get it into his head. Roland pushed away his duvet and went over to the sunlit window, where he opened the golden curtains. Light poured though, and he was blinded for a moment.

      When his eyesight came back to him he noticed a box glimmering on his windowsill. He picked it up, and jumped as it started to play a tune. Roland gasped; it was the same tune that he heard last night! The same tune he had heard as he had been flying through the skies in the arms of the beautiful woman! It all came back to him, as he replayed it over and over again in his mind.

      He gazed at the box, and saw there was a figurine on the top of it. Roland was startled; it was the woman he had seen last night. She was stunning, dressed in a beautiful, purple silk gown and a sky blue tiara. She had flowing, radiant purple hair and her eyes were so magnificent, it was hard to draw yourself away from then. On her back a pair of lilac wings shone against the intense sun, as magical and fascinating as could be.

      Roland could hardly believe it, but he knew it was true. The person on the music box was the one who had saved him from almost certain death last night "Thank you," he smiled to the world outside of his window, to the person he knew was out there. He was so happy, as he stared up into the white clouds that covered the glowing blue.

      And from somewhere up in the sky above Fyora, the Faerie Queen, smiled back to the little Kougra she was glad to help.

The End