Good Knight

The Curse

A clap of thunder woke Penelope from her sleep. She gasped with surprise at the rapid change from serenity to chaos in what seemed like just minutes. She got up and ran to her bedroom window, now aware of the storm that was to come. The night sky had become darker than it already was. A thud was heard behind her.

Penelope turned to find that one of her story books had fallen off the shelf. She didn't think much of it and turned back to her bed. When she reached for Teddy, he was gone. Penelope's heart sank. She couldn't be sure if she left him in the bed or if he'd fallen on the floor.

"Teddy, where are you?" she thought out loud. Another clap of thunder startled her. Penelope looked out her window again and across the wide bay behind her house, then up to the sky. The dark clouds had gathered together into a threatening shape. A flash of lightning lit up behind them. Penelope's jaw dropped at the sight she was seeing.

The clouds rolled in toward each other. It was a spine tingling sight. The wind picked up speed and the waves grew bigger in the canal. It began to look very strange outside, as if it were a different world. The thunder rumbled and a streak of lightening shot down somewhere across the canal. This time the roar of the thunder outside shook the house.

"Teddy!" Penelope cried. She backed away from the window. The sky was growing darker by the second. A terrifying face formed out of the clouds over the water and was spitting out lightning and causing chaos. Then the house shook more violently. Two large hands picked her up and put her on her bed.

Thinking it was her father, Penelope turned and found a knight leaning over her instead. A young man with soft, dark eyes, eyes that reminded her of her beloved Teddy Bear, and brown hair. The same shade of brown her Teddy Bear was. Penelope thought she should be fearful of a strange man in her bedroom, but there was something so comforting and familiar about him.

"I'm here," he said. Penelope was in awe at what had just happened. Before the young knight could explain himself, he cried out in pain. Penelope was startled again, but even more so when she saw a dark shadow behind the knight, which was what was hurting him. The knight managed to shove the shadow off of him and drew his sword.

He stood protectively over Penelope. She quickly realized that the dark shadow did not come alone. Silhouettes of the villains from her storybooks crawled out from in-between the pages. Monsters she occasionally feared were real, emerged from underneath her bed.

"Prince Grendelmere has awaited this day," a rough and raspy voice spoke. It was the shadow that loomed over the knight and Penelope. As frightened as he was, the knight did not falter.

"No! Can't you see she still needs me!? It's too soon!" the knight argued. The Nightmares around them closed in. Penelope trembled and tears welled up into her eyes.

"Upon the first doubt of Penelope Pimm, Sir Theodore will lose all his fine courage and be imprisoned by the Nightmares, a prison from which he will never break free of!" a man's voice echoed through the room.

Sir Theodore? Penelope thought to herself. No, it couldn't be. She had been led to believe this knight standing before her, protecting her, was in fact her Teddy Bear. At that moment Sir Theodore clutched his chest and groaned in agony as he slowly sank to his knees. The dark shadow laughed maniacally.

"You see? She continues to doubt you! Even with you standing here before her!" the shadow insisted. Sir Theodore struggled to lift his sword. The shadow slapped the weapon out of the knight's hand and it was devoured by the others, the Nightmares come to life.

Sir Theodore staggered to his feet. Penelope felt around for her Teddy Bear, still in disbelief of what was happening.The stronger her doubt, the more the knight cried out in pain. The Nightmares took advantage of his new vulnerability and pulled him to the floor. He tried to stand his ground, but he was no match against them. He looked to Penelope up on her bed, distress in his eyes.

"Penelope! Please!" he cried. The little girl was speechless and frozen with fear. Sir Theodore's heart raced with fear. "Penelope, if you continue to doubt me, they'll take me away! You'll never see me again!"

"It's too late! She already has doubted you! The curse is done!" the shadow reminded him. Penelope leaned forward to get a closer look at the man pleading for her pity.

"Teddy?" she whispered. Sir Theodore felt hopeful about this. He nodded to assure her she was right.

"Yes! Yes Penelope! It's me!" he said. The Nightmares acted quickly and pulled Sir Theodore into their world. They entered through the pages of the storybook that had fallen to the floor.

"NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he screamed. Penelope leapt off of her bed after them. She grabbed onto the knights hands.

"TEDDY!" she cried. If this was all real and this knight was truly her Teddy Bear, then this meant Miss Krabbtree was wrong. It also meant that her Teddy Bear was being kidnapped and she had to rescue him.