Seven Wishes

#7 Into the Woods

Sophie and Jake checked their guide, and they saw the names Sophie and Jake floating over the edge of a gigantic forest - there were drawings of trees and plants, and it used up a lot of space in the South. The words floating ontop of the big forest was: Juvenum Forest.  They saw that the place where they were standing in now was called the Gondy Forest, which was what the police officer said. Although both of them were forests, they could see that the drawing of Gondy Forest was much more friendlier than the Juvenum Forest.

"Wow, the Juvenum Forest looks creepy," Sophie said, amazed. 

"Yeah," Jake said, if he was in a trance, "Anyways, I think we'll have to go through that forest anyway, 'cause that colourful lighted line should be the path to the Candle of Dreams. 

Jake pointed to a colourful dotted line, which glowed the same way Sophie and Jake did. They continued walking, and there was silence between them. They both stuck together, their heads poking into the map from time to time. They marched a few more feet, and they found themselves staring at the most ugliest forest ever. On the right of the two friends, there was a rusty, metal sign with an arrow pointing straight at the forest: The Juvenum Forest. Underneath the name, were carved tiny words, words barely ledgible: Approach with caution. A Wumbelton enters, no Wumbelton out. 

Sophie and Jake looked at each other with fear. Which means, once they enter the forest, they might not get out?

"Oh gods I don't think we should go in," Jake said, shaking his head. 

"But we've got to, or else we'll never be able to get back home," Sophie sighed, letting her head droop on her shoulders. 

"Well, before we go in, we should get ready - wasn't there a protection spell Pumpalot taught us?" Jake asked.

"Oh yeah! Great idea - um, we'll have to shout - uh, yes! We'll have to shout the word 'Clarius Canitus'," Sophie concluded, clasping her hands together. 

"Oh right! Okay let's do this," Jake said, "On the count of three: One, two, THREE!" 

"Clarius Canitus!" the two friends chanted, snapping their fingers. 

All of a sudden, it was exactly what Pumpalot described - a magical transparent bubble appeared around them. They knew it worked perfectly, because when an acorn dropped from a tree above them, the acorn immediately bounced off. 

"Yes, we did it! So are you ready?" Sophie asked, facing the Juvenum forest, mustering up all her courage.

Jake took a deep breath, hesitated, and yelled, "Let's do this!" 

And off they went. 

***

As they entered the dark, deep forest, they trees were nothing like the healthy and bright ones in the Gondy Forest. All of the trees were towering over them, each of them in a horrible shade of sickly green. The leaves were yellow, and very abnormal birds lived in the forest. There was a bird that had two heads and 4 legs, and another breathed fire and had knife-like wings. Fortunately, none of them moved, and all of them were rather still - but it was quite abnormal for birds to act like this. 

"Why are all the birds just staying still?" Sophie asked under her breath, nudging Jake. 

"Dunno - hey it's Wumbelpot remember? Almost everything is nonsense," Jake muttered back.

They walked in silence again, and Sophie suddenly hopped into the air, her eyes as wide as an owl's. 

Jake took a step back, his face filled with sarcasm and shock, "Sophie, are you okay? Are you high?"