A tale of Agrabah

Cave of Wonders

Abu carried the old man for a fair distance and then they walked side by side the rest of the night. When the sun was starting to shine over the golden sands of the desert the old man suddenly stopped "It is here, I can feel it in my bones" Abu looked around but there was nothing, he wondered if the old man was seeing a mirage "What is it?" he asked, the old man chuckled "can't you feel the electricity in the air? If you stay still you'll feel a chill through your bones, it is the air charged with magic, and a very powerful one" Abu stood still and he did feel it, a pressure in his bones, the air was dense just like it feels before a thunder storm "I...I feel it" he whispered. The old man raised his trembling hands high up in the air "OH ALL MIGHTY GUARDIAN OF THE CAVE WE SUMON THY!" the old man pulled two round pieces of gold and clashed them together, a loud thundering sound, a lightning hit the ground. The sand started to revolve quickly forming a storm around them, the two pieces of gold flew from the old man's hands in to the sand storm which immediately calmed down and took the shape of a gigantic tiger with a thundering voice "Who dares disturb the slumber of the sands!" The old man fell to his knees "I do" "you think yourself worthy of entering the cave of wonders!" the guardian roared. "No, I humbly admit that I am not worthy but he is" signaling to Abu who immediately took too steps back out of fear, he wondered what had this old man gotten him in to. The tiger stared down at him, the two golden pieces of his eyes shining in the sun light like fireballs and without hesitation the giant tiger jumped towards him with his mouth open swallowing him whole in a swirl of sand and in the distance he heard the old man scream, "BRING ME THE LAMP!"

Abu opened his eyes and spit a mouth full of sand. He was furious but when he raised his head all his wrath went away. Mountains of gold coins, jewels and many other things extended through the vast cave there were no torches but the gold shined like it was being exposed to bright lights "take only what you can carry" a small monkey appeared by his side, Abu without questioning or wandering but only thinking about how rich he would become ran to the nearest gold pile and grabbed a handful of gold coins but when he tried to raise his hands from the pile it was impossible he was able to lift only one coin and it weighted more than he could ever imagine so he ended up placing it in the pile back again. "Why did you put it back?" asked the monkey "I made a promise to an old man I would take something back for him. If I carry that I won't be able to retrieve the lamp. "The lamp is as light as a feather, it's right there" the monkey pointed to a small pyramid with a golden oil lamp on the top. Abu walked towards the pyramid and climbed it, it only took him 20 steps to get to it. "Wow! You reached it, no selfishness in you to take it" the monkey said smiling "what would happen if I where selfish?" the monkey looked at Abu intently "the stairs would keep on going and you would have never reached the top" he climbed to Abu's shoulder "don't let selfishness cloud your heart for even a moment because the cave will cave in... ha ha, get it, cave will cave in" Abu didn't pay mind to the joke "why would I be selfish?" he took the oil lamp in his hands "JINN" He read out loud "It's a Genie" The small monkey whispered and Abu wished he hadn't because in that second the cave started to shake, the ceiling stated crumbling down and the ground opened revealing a river of lava.

"Why would you tell me that?!" yelled Abu as he looked for something that could save his life "there!" the small monkey pointed to what is seemed like hundredths of bats flying in the high ceiling "what do I want bats for?" but in that moment they all flew towards him "carpets?" screamed Abu "flying carpets to be exact, grab one!" The small monkey pointed at one that seemed to be flying extremely low it was the only one at their reach. As it passed by their side Abu jumped on it.

As the cave crumbled down, rays of light began to shine through the cracked ceiling. Abu managed to get the carpet flying in the right direction and out they were but as soon as they breathed fresh air a whirlwind came from the hole in the ground and dragged them down. Abu, the monkey and the now broken flying carpet fell in a mountain of sand as the ceiling closed and trapped them in darkness. "What happened!" screamed Abu "prisoners do not leave the cave of wonders" a deep voice answered Abu recognized it, it was the tiger of the sands "why am I a prisoner?" The two eyes of the tiger shined in the darkness as he opened them "Not you" He directed his luminous gaze to the small monkey who quickly lowered his head "why didn't you tell me!" Abu launched himself at the monkey who quickly avoided him "QUIET!!" the tiger's voice thundered trough the small crumbled cave "It is time for my slumber" he closed his eyes living them in darkness once again.

On the outside the old man inpatient for his lamp raised his walking stick to the sky and it quickly transformed in to a staff with a cobra's head on the top. He looked at the green emeralds that formed the eyes. "Jasmine" the emeralds turned in to green human eyes and Jasmine's voice came from the opened mouth of the snake "Jafar, it's about time. What has happened?" The old man vanished in green smoke and the figure of Jafar appeared "The man wasn't what we thought, he's gone and so is the cave of wonders" "great, all that work for nothing, never mind now, more important thing are at hand. Return to the palace immediately" the eyes took back the appearance of emeralds, Jaffar turned around and slowly started making its way to the palace.