My Golden Life

Chapter 58

My sleepy eyes fluttered open as I felt the warmth of the morning sun hit my skin. I smiled when I noticed Artie's arm still around my waist, and I was still snuggled beside him. I could see that he was still fast asleep, and he looked so peaceful. My mind then flicked back to what had happened the previous night and, of course, our first kiss. What a breathtaking moment that was. I would have never thought in a million years that someone would have strong feelings for me, kind of mind-blowing if you ask me. 

I could hear Shrek getting up not too far from where we were, but I decided not to get up just yet. It was then I began to hear what sounded like massive movements coming towards us. The log that Artie and I were resting on suddenly moved from under us, and we both ended up falling on the floor. To our shock, there were at least seven trees gradually surrounding us.

"Ahh," Donkey screamed.

"What's going on?" I asked as we all clustered together with our backs against each other.

We then saw a group of pirates dragging a piano to where we were, with Captain Hook playing dramatic music on it.

"Look out! They've got a piano!" Donkey cried.

"Kill 'em all. Except the fat one." Hook said, pointing his prosthetic hooked arm at Shrek. "King Charming has something special in mind for you, ogre."

"King Charming?" Shrek said surprisingly.

"Attack!" Hook yelled.

His pirate crew immediately charged straight towards us with swords and several weapons.

I was undoubtedly baffled by what was happening, but if they wanted a fight, then that was what they were going to get. I grabbed the nearest stick closest to me and started to defend myself against the multitude of sword blows that were coming at me. My sword fighting skills were definitely getting put to the test. I looked over to see Shrek and Artie were working together, which was great to see. 

As our fight continued to intensify, a bunch of men forced Shrek up onto a plank. He ended up falling into this treasure chest below it. The pirates tried to shut the lid on him, but clearly, they didn't think through how big of a trunk they needed as Shrek wouldn't get fully inside.

Elsewhere Donkey, Puss, Artie, and I found ourselves getting caught in a hidden net which had been set up by the evil trees. The pirates aimed a canon in our direction, which caused Puss to extract his claws out and begin frantically trying to cut through the netting. They then began lighting the cannon just as Shrek burst out of the trunk, but it was still stuck onto his backside.

"Shrek!" Donkey called out.

"Help!" Artie and I added.

He saw that we needed immediate rescuing and launched into action. Shrek swiftly grabbed two pirates and pushed them into the chest. He flung it onto the other end of the plank, which threw him into the air, and he landed right in front of the canon. He began trying to lift it upwards, but nothing was happening. I could see the fuse dimming, and all of us in the net huddled together to brace ourselves for the incoming impact. Thankfully at the very last second, Shrek managed to flip the front end in the opposite direction, and it fired at Hook's piano, blowing it into pieces.

All of Hook's crew began running off, and the trees dropped us onto the ground, and they ran off as well. Bunch of scaredy cats if you ask me.

"Ya, cowards!" Hook yelled at everyone speeding off.

"What has Charming done with Fiona?" Shrek demanded.

"She's gonna get what's coming to her," Hook replied as his hooked arm got caught in one of the trees' branches, and he got carried him away.

"Ah! And there ain't nothing you can do to stop him!" he called back. The others and I quickly hurried over to where Shrek was.

"We've got to save her!" Puss said urgently.

"But she's so far far away!" Donkey added.

Shrek pondered for a short moment before turning to Artie and me.

"You two get yourselves back to Worcestershire," he told us.

"What?" I said. "Knowing that Fiona and everyone in the kingdom is in trouble? No chance."

"No, Shrek. Hold on a second. I've got an idea." Artie said as he looked over to where Mr. Merlin was. He was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed meditating.

"I'm a buzzing bee, buzz, buzz, buzz..."

Boy, this guy is weird.

"Mr. Merlin," Artie interrupted. "They need a spell to get them...I mean, us, back to Far Far Away."

"Forget it." He said, getting up. "I don't have that kind of magic in me anymore, kid. How about a hug instead? Hmm? That's the best kind of magic."

"Mr. Merlin, please. I know you can do it."

"I said, forget it!" he said sternly.

"But..." Artie uttered. He then stood where he was for a short second and began sobbing out of nowhere.

"Oh. What, what's with you?" Mr. Merlin asked, walking back towards Artie.

"It's just so hard. You know?" Artie wept. "They really need to get back 'cause their kingdom's in trouble 'cause there's a really bad man, and it's just so hard..."

I had no words at this point. I looked up at Shrek, and he too was baffled.

"C'mon, take it easy." Mr. Merlin said, trying to hold Artie.

"No! I don't think you understand!" Artie cried, dropping to his knees. "There's a mean person doing mean things to good people-"

"Oh, have a heart, old man!" Shrek added.

I then realised what Artie was trying to do, so I played along with his dramatic performance.

"Cmon Sir, please. Look how upset he is," I whimpered.

"And they really need your help to get them back!" Artie wailed. "So why won't you help them?"

I could see how uncomfortable Mr. Merlin was getting by all of this, and at last, he finally gave in.

"Uh, Okay... I'll go and get my things." He said, heading into his house.

Artie then got up from the floor. He quickly composed himself before turning to us with a smile on his face. "Piece of cake."

"Well, well, well," Shrek smirked. "You want some eggs with that ham?"

"I see you still got it when it comes to acting, huh," I giggled.

"That's because I had an amazing partner who helped me with it." He chuckled, kissing my cheek.

Mr. Merlin came back with his spellbook in his hand and was now wearing his blue hat, just like the old days when he used to teach.

"Now, I am a little rusty, so there could be some side effects." He stated.

"Oh no," I thought.

"Side effects!?" Donkey gasped.

"Don't worry," he said. "Whatever it is, no matter how excruciatingly painful it may be, it'll wear off eventually... I think."

He cracked his knuckles, and a bot of lighting shot out, striking a rock that was next to Donkey, scaring the life out of him.

"Oops"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Donkey asked nervously.

"Look, if Artie trusts him, that's good enough for me," Shrek said. "Even if his robe doesn't quite cover his-"

"Alacraticious expeditious, a zoomy zoom zoom." Mr. Merlin chanted. "Let's help our friends get back, um... soon!"

Swirly blue smoke then shot out from his fingers, and it darted towards us. It whirled around, and then I felt myself being lifted off the ground and into the sky. The rest of that travel is kind of a blur, but I can say that it felt pretty cool.