The Forbidden Side

Erin

"Julia!" Erin called, barging into her sisters room. She needed to know what happened in the forest seven years ago. She needed to know what Lizzie was so scared of.

"Julia!" She gasped, out of breath. "What happened in that forest across the street the day Adam and I  disappeared? Lizzie's hiding something from me, but you'll tell me, right?"

"Well," Julia answered, "I am in a peculiar situation here, but I cannot disobey. If Lizzie does not want you to know, you shouldn't know."

"But -" Erin started. A blond-haired blob knocked her off her feet.

"Lizzie, come on," Justin whined. "That's, like, the fifth time in a week!"

"Justin, it's Erin," his sister said. Justin put a sheepish look on his face.

"And don't worry, Erin," he told her. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. It was silly to be mad in the first place, and, if you don't need my help, I'm fine with it." Erin smiled down at the little boy.

Lizzie came barreling up the stairs. Don't worry, they didn't tell me, Erin thought. Lizzie smiled. "Come to our room," Lizzie said to Erin. Erin followed her sister down the long upstairs hallway and into their bedroom. " You should know," Lizzie was saying as they plopped onto their beds. "I just don't want your curiosity getting the best of you. Please don't go in there, Erin. I can't lose you again."

After Lizzie told her the story, Erin knew they had to go back into the forest. "Lizzie, trees grabbing people doesn't happen everyday, you know," Erin pointed out. "It was obviously magic, and magic is going to help us..." she faltered. "Wait, what are we supposed to do?"

"I think," Lizzie answered, "that we're supposed to free Home from the artificial powerfuls that are using magic to keep its people in line."

"And how exactly are supposed to do that?"

"With King Z's crown!"

"But I thought the crown was only for finding the prophecy?" Erin asked.

"Well,  it's the only magical item we have, so we have to use it," Lizzie told her. "So all we have to do is find it again."

A smile started to grow on Erin's face.

"What?" Lizzie asked, seeing it. "Where do we look?"

"Um, I don't know, uh, nowhere," Erin stammered, pressing the smile down. Of course the crown was hidden in the forest, but there was no way Lizzie would let her go back there. Apparently, it was too dangerous, but there was nowhere else to go. Erin would have to find her own way to the crown. She saw her sister look at her, curiously. The look soon went away, and Lizzie shrugged. Erin sighed, relived.

"Wait," Erin said, an idea coming to her. "Do you still have that key? You know, the one we found in the dumpster?"

"Umm," Lizzie replied digging into the back pocket of her jeans. When her hand came out, she was holding a shiny gold key. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Great." Erin took the key from her sister and walked over to their desk. On it, lay the Thought Log. She punched the key into the matching gold keyhole on the cover. The keyhole was usually for a small, plastic key attached to the spine of the book, but Erin guessed this was a special occasion. While she was inserting the key into the hole, Erin realized she had never gotten a good look at the cover of the book. It was turquoise with little green flowers scattered around it. "Lizzie" was scribbled in all capital letter across the cover in messy little-kid handwriting.

"What are you waiting for?" Lizzie urged.

"Oh, right," Erin said sheepishly. She noticed she hadn't turned the key yet. Erin grabbed the end of the key and twisted it in the keyhole. Nothing happened. Erin twisted the key again. Nothing happened. Erin stepped away from the desk. "Lizzie," she said, "um, nothing's happening."

Lizzie frowned. "Well I guess we could -"

"Wait, look!" Erin pointed to the Thought Log. The key was twisting by itself. It twisted around the hole twice before two of the green flowers' yellow insides opened to reveal a riddle. Erin read it aloud: "I have bark like a dog and messy green hair," her eyes moved to the second flower, "and you can find me pretty much everywhere."

"That must be who has the crown!" Lizzie said.

"Yeah," Erin replied. "So all we have to do is find someone who barks and has green hair. Shouldn't be too hard." She sighed.

The sisters stood thinking for awhile. It felt like hours to Erin. This was the hardest riddle she had ever done. Actually, it was the only riddle Erin had ever looked at. In Home, everything was straight forward - no need for vague riddles like this one. Erin looked out the window. The sun still shone over the forest across the street. All the trees were very similar, almost identical. They all had long brown trunks covered in bark. At the top, green leaves were jumbled around and dancing in the slight wind. Bark and green leaves , Erin thought. It isn't a who at all, a thing is hiding the crown.

"Lizzie!" Erin yelled. "Lizzie, I solved it!"

"Nice," Lizzie answered. "What's the answer?"

"The crown is in a tree in the forest." She pointed out the window. Erin watched her sister's face darken. "Come on," Erin said in a whiny voice. "We have to go into the forest, I know you don't want to, but we have to."

Lizzie sighed. "Fine, I guess we really have to."

"But I have one question first," Erin said. Lizzie nodded. "Why did the crown make Adam and I disappear? I thought the crown was on our side."

"I've been thinking about that too," Lizzie answered. "But I think the crown was influenced by Home's evil magic, and it was somehow programmed to take you and Adam to Home. So I'm thinking that if we get it back, then we can do the same thing and program it to unbrainwash the people of Home!"

"That makes sense," Erin said. And finally, it was clear. They knew exactly what they had to do.