Chapter 20 – Once Upon a Time
In which we’ve got one more part for the storybook…
…
“Of all the ways we’ve traveled since we got here, I think that was my favorite,” Chris said, as he and Darren stepped out of their Cheermaid-drawn clamshell and onto the riverbank. “Thanks, girls.”
The Cheermaids waved goodbye and disappeared back down the river toward the sea, while Chris and Darren continued their journey on foot. It was dusk by the time they reached the outskirts of the Thornbush Pit.
“This is it,” Chris said excitedly. “Once we find the saber from the deepest sea, we’ll have everything we need for the Wishing Spell, and we can finally go home.”
“Yeah,” Darren responded, sounding strangely subdued. “But we’d better wait for morning, don’t you think? It’s going to be too dark for us to see anything down there.”
“I guess you’re right. How about you make a fire, and I’ll scope this place out. That pit has to be over a mile across. I wanna see if I can find an easy way down into it.”
Darren nodded his agreement, and Chris set off around the edge of the Thornbush Pit. It was even more massive than he’d imagined, as if someone had taken the Grand Canyon and filled it to the brim with brambles. The long, sharp thorns on the dead brush looked daunting enough, but the way the living vines slithered about like snakes in search of prey was truly horrifying.
It took Chris nearly an hour to complete his circuit of the pit. By the time he returned to his starting point, darkness had fully fallen. Darren had succeeded in building a campfire, and was now sitting with his back to Chris, a short distance away. He was strumming the womandolin, and singing a song Chris didn’t recognize.
"The End" never seemed like it was good enough
Two little words seemed too small
I turned the page to find a blank one
As if the ones before never really happened at all
Chris quietly drew a little closer, not wanting to interrupt the song.
But what about the love, what about the old obsessions
We fell into when they were new?
What about the late at night heartfelt confessions?
The things we tried, the tears we cried
Well they seem to hide away
There was a plaintive quality to Darren’s voice that Chris found oddly compelling.
I got one more part for the storybook
One more road that I should've took
One more thing that used to have my heart
I got one more place in my memory
Where I wish with every part of me
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.
