Take My Hand

a whole new world

Millie held my hand the whole way across the glass road to our unknown destination, bubbling out information to me.

"Now we're passing over the Confines, where the criminals are banished to live. It's a rather dreary place, but the borders are hexed so that none of the inhabitants can leave." The place she was describing contained rundown buildings, and even small huts and tents. Little groups of people were congregated around small campfires, with some even cooking food over them. I watched as people dressed in poorly made clothes walked along dirt roads, some dragging wagons of laundry. In the middle of the whole area, there was a large dirt road lined with street lamps, splitting the Confines into two sections. It was lined with people and many brightly coloured booths, selling who knows what. I noticed that the general air quality of the Confines was poor; some places were densely bathed in smoke, deterring any chance of observing activities there. I shivered; this place looked hellish from above, and I couldn't imagine what it must be like actually living in it.

Millie tugged my hand and pointed excitedly at the blue sky above us. I looked up and squinted, eager to look at something else. I watched as people dressed in bright yellow uniforms and helmets zipped by on things that looked like matte black snow mobiles, minus the skis.

"We call them the Yellow Jackets," Millie explained. "They police the whole city, and they're damn good at it. I wouldn't mess with them if I were you."

The rest of the way I noticed other spectacular things of Morlayah: a shallow but wide circular waterfall surround by vast green space filled with children playing, a cylindrical glass skyscraper that appeared to be a museum, a hovering ice rink encased in a dome, and so much more that I almost felt overwhelmed. This really did look like paradise.

At the end of glass road lay stairs leading down to a marvellous castle made of marble, featuring a grand set of doors with the letter 'M' carved into the middle of them.

Millie finally let go of my hand as we walked up the large cobblestone path to the doors. "This is Queen Meluna's palace. Her ancestors have lived here for millenniums, but she's by far our favourite queen yet!"

I looked up at the large walls of the palace uncertainly. "Why? What makes her so special?"

"She's a fairy!" Millie exclaimed. "She's technically the only descendant left in line for the throne, but thankfully she's expecting a baby soon."

I was about to ask what she meant by technically when we were suddenly greeted by a male guard. He held a large silver spear and donned a fitted navy uniform jacket, black pants, and large black boots. What was most unusual were his ears, which were narrow and pixie-like.

"Hello Millie," he bowed in her direction, his light hair falling slightly into his face. "It's great to see you again."

Millie nodded and then cringed. "How upset is she?"

The boy chuckled and shook his head. "Less than I expected. To be honest with you, I think she's just disappointed, Millie."

Millie groaned. "Disappointed is even worse! She always makes that face at you like you almost did something bad and then stopped because you got caught. It makes part of my soul die."

I looked back and forth between them. "Forgive me for eavesdropping," I interjected, my voice dripping with sarcasm, "but could one of you explain what's going on?"

They both looked at me and Millie's face lighted up again. "Sorry, how rude of me! This is my brother, Benny."

"Benjamin," he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I told you to stop calling me that, Millie."

Before they could start an argument, a yellow flower the size of my fist drifted from the sky and floated in front of us.

"Millie, I request your presence immediately," a lilting voice emanated from it lightly. It sounded kind and gentle, but the sentence itself made Millie sigh. She turned to us and said in a serious tone: "No funny business, you two."

Before I could say anything she jogged the short distance to the doors and went inside.

"Benny" turned and looked at me. "Well, you know my name now. You are?"

"Charlotte," I replied. "Are you two really siblings? You're like..."

"Polar opposites? Yeah we are," Benjamin smirked. "So what's the deal with you two?"

I shrugged. "We're strangers."

I raised my eyebrows as Benjamin let out a short laugh. "Oh you're definitely more than strangers if you're here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Millie left Morlayah weeks ago on a whim," Benjamin explained, rolling his bright green eyes. "The queen made the mistake of letting her go just once, and we thought the stupid girl got herself stuck in your world. Visitors are rarely allowed here, so you must be important to Millie in one way or another."

I threw up my hands. "Well, I don't know. Maybe you should ask her because I haven't the faintest idea."

Birds chirped in the distance and large apple trees lining the cobblestone path danced in the breeze. I looked up, admiring the now fiery orange sky as the sun sank closer to the horizon. I turned back to see Benjamin looking me up and down before staring into my eyes. It creeped me out after a solid five seconds; it looked like he was staring into my soul. After making some sort of unspoken decision, he held out his arm for me to take, which I did.

"We best go inside now," Benjamin said, "the queen will be waiting."

"Whatever you say, Benny."

He snorted, and we both smirked at each other before heading to the doors.