Adventures In Malila: The Ivory Princess (Book the First)

Inside A Boulder

Shielding her eyes, Sophie stepped into the boulder behind Danken. She clutched the dolls in her arms, while Ami held Ears and Aster. Suddenly, they seemed very heavy. They grew heavier and heavier until she finally dropped them because her arms were numb.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped, stumbling quickly to a stop before she stepped on them.

"Don't worry about it!" Cindi said. "We can keep up now."

She fell into step behind Sophie. Sophie glanced over her shoulder. Shagfry brought up the rear, holding the Snozzle around the neck. That's when it hit Sophie that something was odd.

The blue light threw sharp shadows behind them against the walls and ceiling. Everything showed up clear as crystal. The dolls and toys were all the same size as she and Ami. And the Snozzle was the same size as everyone else.

"Hey!" She exclaimed and stumbled to a stop. Ami bumped into her.

"What is it?" She frowned, rubbing her nose.

"Sorry," She said. "But look behind us. At the Snozzle."

Ami looked at the Snozzle and gasped. "Oh, my! This makes me wonder. Did the boulder grow...or did we all shrink?"

"What's the difference?" Danken called out. "It's the same thing when all's said and done. We're all the size we need to be to get in. And here we are!"

He came to the end of the tunnel and stepped out into the light. He motioned for Sophie to follow.

She came out, shielding her eyes, and looked around.

The blinding blue light came from a blue sun in the sky. A Silvery, white starlike light. She stood on the edges of a hill and Danken was trudging down the hillside on a tiny, well-worn path.

And down below in the twilight lit valley spread out a lovely village.

It was hard to tell at first glance if it was a village or an orchard in fact. The squat blue trees had girthy trunks and giant palm leaves sprouting from the tops. And each one had a round door in the trunk and windows glowing with a warm golden glow. The streets of the village were full of Blue Elfs. All, of course, the same size as herself.

How very peculiar, she thought. Still, this is a land of magic. Why am I so surprised.

"Come on you sillies," Danken called out. "I haven't all day. The Master's Cottage is this way."

He led the way down the winding lane into the village. They threaded through the tree cottages until they came to the center of the village. Or at least Sophie thought they were... it was easy to get mixed up in the middle of the trees.

"Here we go," said Danken and pulled on a knocker in the middle of the round door.

For a moment nothing happened. And then the door swung back.

"Come in! Come in!" A silvery bubbly voice called from inside.

"Well there you go," said Danken. "I'll be seeing you." He turned to go.

"Oh no, you don't!" Sophie grabbed him by the elbow, and Ami latched onto him from the other side. "You have to give us an introduction!"

The Elf pulled away. But now that they were the same size, he was much stronger than either of the girls. He shrugged them off.

"Don't be ridiculous," he said. "The Master can't stand me. You'll get on much better without me. Goodbye!"

He brushed them away again and disappeared among the other cottages.

"Come in!" The silvery voice repeated. "I've just taken some cookies out of the oven and I was hoping for visitors! Do come in and be my taste testers!"