In Keotom

Chapter 1

    “Thomas. Thomas? Thomas!” Thomas slowly opened his eyes and looked up at his teacher, Kara. “You fell asleep again. This is high school, not daycare,” she said, glaring at him with deep blue eyes and tapping a ruler against his desk.

    Thomas sat up in his chair and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry ma’am. I won’t do it again.”

    She huffed, crossing her arms, and turned around. “If you do, I’m calling your mom.” She walked to the front of the classroom and turned to face the class. Her black hair hung down behind her, swaying slowly with each step.

    “As I was saying,” she said, continuing the class. “Tonight is a full moon. There are many stories you can find about full moons. Can I have some examples?” She stood for a moment, searching the room before pointing at Thomas and the student sitting next to him. “Sally and Thomas, will you come up here and give us some examples of full moon stories.” Thomas and his brown haired friend stood up.

    Sally cast her green eyes to the ground, feeling a little self-conscious, and said, “I-I only know of the man who turns into a wolf on the full moon; werewolves.”

    The teacher nodded and turned to Thomas. “Thomas, what do you have?”

    Thomas though for a moment before he answered; “When I was little, my mom would tell me an old story about this ancient magical place called Keotom. You could only get there and back on a full moon night between midnight and one. There are so many plants and creatures we’ve never even heard of before.”

    The teacher nodded and thought for a minute. “I think… I think I’ve heard that one. Time moves faster there. They can be hundreds of years old but the equivalent of five.” She smiled, seeming to be reminiscing. After a few moments, Kara glanced at the clock on her desk. “That’s all for today. Class dismissed.”

    Sally and Thomas walked together to the end of the school ground, as they had done every day for six years now. “Is your story true?” Sally asked, gently picking up a small ladybug.

    “I don’t know. I’ve never been awake at that time.”

    Sally gave him a thoughtful smile, watching the ladybug fly off. “Maybe you have, but you just don’t remember.”

    Thomas shrugged and watched his mom drive up. “Let’s go, Thomas!” she called. Sally waved and told Thomas goodbye.
    “I’ll see you later,” she said.

    “You too,” he said, waving back.
Thomas’s mom drove him home and let him play on his computer until dinner. After dinner, while he was washing up, he got a text from Sally.

    GeneralS: You should try staying up.

    Thomas stared at the text, taking a moment to reply.
    KingT: You mean to try and find Keotom?

    GeneralS: Well, duh! Then you’ll know if it’s real or not. That’s the fun of mythology. You don’t know if it’s real or not.

    Thomas had to admit, it sounded fun, but they had school tomorrow.

    KingT: I’ll think about it, but tomorrow’s Wednesday.

    GeneralS: I’m aware, but that’s half the fun. Besides, the only class that’s any good is the social studies/mythology class. I can just sleep through the rest of them.

    KingT: Like you don’t already.

     Sally replied with a face that was sticking out its tongue before saying goodnight. Thomas sighed and looked at his clock. He decided to get a snack, still thinking about whether or not he’d stay up.