69 Short Stories

4th story: The story of a Knight, King and Queen 999words

"Hey! Dean! You wanna go on an adventure together?" My 5-year-old brother came running down the hallway. 

"Daniel! How many times have I told you not to run in the hallway?!" My mum's voice interrupted from the kitchen. "Go with him, Dean, don't stay in the house every day."

"Mum! I was just finishing this book!" I protested, holding up the fantasy novel.

"Not at the rate of two books per day!" My mum killed my idea and stormed into my room. "Oh, just go with your brother, get some sunshine!"

I silently put on my sneakers and met my brother at the door. He was kneeling on the ground watching a group of ants. But with my approach, he jumped up energetically and ran out onto the grassland.

"C'mon, Dean, it's hard to stay a book person if you're on the farm!" He smiled, his straw hat falling off in the strong wind. I sighed, little kids.

 A lean figure approached on the other side of the fence. 

"Hey, Daniel! Where are you going with your sister?" He greeted, holding a bundle of hay. My little brother laughed and ran towards him with his somewhat uneven steps. 

"We're going on an adventure! Arley, you comin' with us?" He put on a wide smile which looked weird with one of his teeth missing.

"Yeah sure, Dan. My task is about done, lemme drop these off at the barn. Meet me at the gate!"The 17 years old boy agreed. 

It was a surprise to me that he gets along so well with Dan. Arley, how do you even stand the childish thoughts of these children?

The three of us made our way up the grass hill, with Dan jumping up and down in front. I feel a bit tired doing all these walking, after all, I'm more of a bookworm.

"Hey! Dean! Arley! Let's take a break over the meadow." Dan turned around and commanded. "Then we can go over the mountain! We might find something interesting over there!"

As we sat down on the grass, I felt that something wasn't right. I observed the edge of the mountain closely and saw something that I've never seen before.

"Everything okay, Dean?" Arley waved his hand in front of me. I pointed at the structure. It took a while for him to focus, but I guess he saw it too.

"Oi, Dan, doesn't that mountain edge seem a bit weird to you?" He bobbed down to ask my little brother. "You see that little thing on the edge?"

"No, Arley, I can't see anything!" My brother grabbed Arley's shoulder. "Let me ride on your shoulders! I can see more things if I'm taller!"

"A castle! That's a castle!" Daniel jumped back on to the grass and exclaimed. "C'mon, Dean, we're going there right now!"

I nodded and patted off the grass as I stood up. Following the fast and fully charged boys, my legs were killing me. 

When we overcame the excitement of seeing such an architecture, the three of us have already arrived at the castle's entrance. We stopped by the hanging bridge and hesitated. 

"I'll go first." Arley volunteered. "Only cross after I got to the other side. Take care of Dan, Dean."

I nodded as he took his first step on to the bridge. I held Daniel by the shoulders and didn't dare to breathe.

After a few nervous moments, Arley finally made it to the other side. Dan exhaled, apparently, he was nervous too. 

"Let's go together, Dean." He tucked my sleeve. I nodded led him slowly on to the logs. 

"Don't look down. Hold the rope, Dan." I reminded. But the curiosity of seeing what was underneath took over and I snuck a peek. I regretted immediately.

There's a violent stream down there, hitting hard against the rocks and flowing, no, surging in an extremely brutal way. 

But then we got to the center of the bridge. It swayed back and forth so harshly that I doubted if I could take another step. 

"It's okay." Arley's voice sounded like a whisper, breaking the wall of loud splashes and gusts of wind.

Somehow... we made it. 

The castle was unguarded and everything seemed long forgotten. We explored the hallways and was deeply amazed by the fanciness. 

There was a tap on my shoulder, I supposed it was Arley trying to show me some cool things, so I turned around.

But it wasn't him. 

It wasn't Arley, or Dan.

It was a statue. 

A moving statue.

I screamed. Arley and Dan stepped to my sides, yelling, but I couldn't hear them. Then I blacked out.

When I regained my conscious once more, I was somewhere else. Somewhere I don't know. 

"Hey." The knight statue greeted me. "Answer my riddle and I shall let your brother and friend go. but if you don't answer it correctly, they'll be turned into a statue like me."

I frowned, then nodded. Well, looks like I just need to answer a question and leave this place. 

"One night, one King and one Queen went into an empty castle. Next day, three people came out, who are the three people?" The rusty statue asked in his hoarse and metallic voice. I couldn't see any expression under that bronze helmet. 

"The Knight, the King, and the Queen," I replied with solemnly. I came across a lot of homophones before, this was no challenge. 

"Well, have a good trip." The statue's rust fell off, revealing a magnificently detailed masterpiece. "Thank you. It's now my duty to return you home safely since you broke my curse with your intelligence."

Before I could respond, I lost my conscious once more. 

When I woke up, I was back in my room. I could hear Dan's voice getting louder as he approached my room.

We heard a call and looked out the window, only to see Arley waving at us. 

"That was a great adventure." 

"Yeah."

"Another one?"

"Mmm~Yes Please!"