Chapter 15 - Wake Me Up
Chapter Notes: In which it’s time to go-go…
Early the following morning, Chris and Darren crossed over the border into the Sleeping Kingdom. The change was immediate and striking. Whereas the Warbler Kingdom had been vibrant with life, the Sleeping Kingdom seemed to be...well... sleeping. Fields lay fallow, and the birdsong that had accompanied their trip thus far suddenly fell silent.
“It’s kind of creepy here,” Darren observed.
“Yeah. In my book, I wrote that even though the curse had been lifted, the land hadn’t recovered from a hundred years of sleep. Now I’m kind of wishing I hadn’t left this place so barren.”
“How far do you think it is to the palace? I’m not looking forward to walking all day through this wasteland.”
“Well, with any luck, there should be a couple of guys transporting a cart full of goats coming along any minute to offer us a ride.”
Darren shuddered. “I think maybe it would be better to walk.”
“Why on earth would we want to walk if we can get a ride?”
“Um…” Darren looked down at the ground, clearly embarrassed.
“What’s the matter?”
“I can’t tell you. You’ll laugh at me.”
“I won’t laugh at you. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
With a hesitant voice, Darren admitted, “I’m afraid of goats.”
Chris couldn’t help himself – he burst out laughing. “You’re afraid of goats?!?”
Darren looked at him with big, reproachful eyes. “You promised not to laugh.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Chris said, trying to school his features into an expression of sympathy. “But may I ask why you’re afraid of goats?”
“If I tell you, no more laughing.”
“Scouts’ honor,” Chris promised, holding up three fingers in a gesture he vaguely remembered from his days as a Cub Scout.
“Well, when I was little, my parents took me and Chuck to a petting zoo. There was this machine, kind of like a gumball machine, but when you put a quarter in, instead of gumballs, it dispensed goat chow. So Chuck put in a quarter and turned the knob, and I held my hands under the opening where the goat chow came out. Well, when they heard the sound of all those little pellets pouring down the chute, about a million goats came charging over and attacked me.”
“They attacked you,” Chris repeated dubiously.
YOU ARE READING
The Land of Stories: Gleefully Ever After
FanfictionChris Colfer, bestselling author of The Land of Stories, finds himself (along with Darren Criss, who is unwittingly responsible for this perplexing state of affairs) transported into the world of his imagination…with a few Gleeful differences.
