Animalian

Epilogue: One Final Souvenir

Three months later...

Emily had been having odd dreams.

It wasn't that uncommon—she had been prone to nightmares since she was a young girl. But somehow, these felt different. Not entirely good, but not entirely bad either. They reminded her of some distant occurrence that had once happened.

Colorado was beautiful, and every day held new excitements, but somehow Emily awoke every morning and something felt missing. Some tiny part of her—the same part that thirsted for adventure, for the unknown. It was probably just the books she'd read last night, Emily decided. She still felt unsatisfied, though.

Emily got out of bed and went to her desk, ready to leaf through her books until she found the one that was causing these weird dreams. Suddenly, she noticed a small box pushed back in the corner, barely larger than her thumb. She curiously opened the small object, finding a folded-up piece of paper and a tiny piece of bread. Unfolding it, she started to read the small print.

Hey, Emily. Miss me yet?

I know what you're thinking—And no, I'm not trying to poison you. But you have to trust me when I say this: Eat the bread.

Emily stared in confusion at the blunt words, fingering the miniscule dough. The rational part of her mind told her not to eat it, but before she knew what she was doing, she had put it in her mouth. It tasted like oranges. . .

It took me a while, but I figured out a way for you to remember everything without getting drawn permanently back to Animalian. Okay...Soraan might have helped a little. But I was there cheering him on and helping him eat the herbs so his garden didn't get overgrown! Team spirit, ya know?

Anyways, life over here is going pretty well. Queen Rosemary opened up a school for gifted creatures, and we have many new Talented animals living near the palace. She made me Head Scout, so it took me a while to find time to bring this to you. Get this: I have a title now! You can call me "Sir Cinnamon!" Great, huh? Almost as good as Knight or Dragon-Slayer.

I thought everything would sail smoothly from here on, but every so often I hear Queen Rosemary muttering in her chambers. Something about the Lake of Life and a failing power core...? It sounded like rubbish to me, but I thought I'd let you know. Oh, and before you ask, we gave Ethan a piece too. I thought you'd both want to remember, so here you go. If I ever have time, I'll try to drop by. Maybe I can scare the heck out of Jackson also!

In the bottom corner of the letter was a stamped paw print. Emily smiled at the familiar gesture and slid the letter gently into her desk. She would come back to the letter many times over the next few months. But right now, she had a mission: to make sure everyone knew about the Naturals that were so important to both worlds.

"Thank you, Cinnamon." Emily whispered. Because somehow, deep in her heart, Emily knew her adventure wasn't over quite yet.

* * *

In a faraway magical land, a certain Lake began to gurgle. . .

THE END