Short Stories

Enchanted Forest & the Seven Seals (Part I)

Once upon a time, in a far off land, there lived two seals in the vast ocean, a seal king and queen. They ruled their people fairly and justly. Every one of their citizens loved them and abided by the rules. Unfortunately, all peace must inevitably come to an end...

The king and queen soon learned that children would be on the way. Seven children, to be exact. In preparation for the children, they both started the construction of the east wing of their coral castle, soon to be known as the Nursery Wing. Each of the seven rooms was decorated uniquely: the first, located at the end of the hallway, was purple; the second, slightly closer, was blue; the third, closer still, was built of the finest rainbow coral; the fourth, even closer, was red and orange; the fifth, only a few yards down the hall, was green and decorated with the lush forest in mind; the sixth, very close to the hall's entrance, was decorated with black pearls; the final room, the very first in the hall, was decorated with white and silver. All rooms had fine beds of soft anemone.

As the date drew closer for the birth of the children, the king and queen decided to give the children magical charms to help them in life. Each necklace was made of silver and imbued with magic that would allow the seals to breathe on land. The necklaces were also decorated similarly to the rooms of the seals. 

The day came for the seven children to be born, and the kingdom had a grand celebration and feast. They were seven baby boys, each born a minute after the other. Their names were Ralph, Ethan, Eli, Elliot, Greg, Grey, and Georgie. As soon as they were born, each received his own necklace. The kingdom rejoiced for seven days and nights, one for each child. As soon as the festivities were over, the children were passed from the royal chamber to their own nurseries. They quickly fell asleep.

A few hours later, an orca whale broke through the window at the end of the Nursery Wing. He was hungry for the seven seal children! He went to each room and took a child in hand, saving them to cook in his cave later. However, he'd made so much noise coming in the window that the king had come to investigate! 

As soon as the king saw the orca, who was both hungry and the prince of a rival kingdom, he attacked. Flippers met teeth in this fierce battle. With one final flipper-punch, the king knocked his seven children out of the orca's fins. The orca, using his sharp teeth, tore off the king's right flipper and the seven children floated to the surface of the water, eventually onto the beach. These magic seals were cursed to stay in water, but the seven brothers had their enchanted necklaces that could bypass the curse.

As the full moon shone on the beach, a large, snow-white owl found the seals. Pitying them, he took the seven brothers to his home in the middle of the enchanted forest. They eventually grew up in this forest, under the protection and tutelage of the owl. They expanded the size of their home, hollowing out the sacred oak tree to make a large base. As the owl grew older, he realized it would soon be time to tell the seven seals of their origins, and so our story begins...