The Adventures of Brian

Book written in 1989. Revised in 2023

​

Chapter One: A New Place

 

Brian woke from a deep sleep to the sound of slow dripping water filling his dark room. “Dad probably forgot to shut off the water faucet after brushing his teeth”, he thought to himself. He could almost taste the strong, sweet taste of chocolate from his tenth birthday cake he’d eaten with his friends that afternoon.

 

His eyes gradually adapted to the darkness, and he noticed a soft, still-blurry glow just to his left. As the room faded into view, he became more and more aware that he was not where he expected to be. Strangely calm, he thought to himself, “This is definitely not home!” It was a completely different place - strange but soft, warm, and very pleasant. Even though unfamiliar, it did not feel frightening. He was surprised to be completely without fear, but rather he felt at home with all of the strangeness. He wondered quietly about his dad, but was again calmed by the pleasant and soothing feeling that everything was going to be alright. He knew, somehow, his dad was with him still.

 

He sat up straight in his bed. The feeling of warmth and pleasurable softness continued to embrace him, and he realized - the bed was made of something cloud-like. He reached out to touch it; a small piece flowed into his left hand and formed a warm ball, soft as the feathers of a day-old chick, in his palm. He discovered he could play with it: when thrown in the air, it broke into tiny rainbows and firework-like colors.

 

The darkness gave way to the early dawn, and he was reminded of the soft glow to his left as it became more distinct - shaped like a medieval sword. The same kind of sword his video game hero had! He reached out and grabbed the handle. It was a beautiful sword, about three feet in length - a bit longer than the length of his arm. He gently touched the blade, and it passed through his fingers with no injury. It was as though the blade was a part of him; it was so light and fit so snugly into his hand. Even when he let go, the blade remained firmly in his palm. This gave him a thought. “I wonder what else I can do… Can it fly?” He lifted it up and let go and it gently flew from his hand into the air and out through the window opening. He squinted into the blue, sunny sky and saw the sword hovering with its gleaming handle shining towards him like a silver band of protection.

 

 

He climbed down from his cloud bed into the grass below. The field was filled with different hues of grass. The blues and greens of the grass flowed in the breeze and disappeared over the low valley. All of the colors around him were vivid - as if from a video game. There were hundreds of flowers, types he had never even seen, showing their bright colors in the sunlight. The sizes ranged from as small as his pinkie toe, the size of his palm, and even as large as his big textbooks at school. The flowers were beautiful, sweet smelling. Creatures, which resembled a cross between a teddy bear and his puppy Sheba, were dozing in the shade of the tall tree surrounded by these flowers. The dripping water sound drifted back into his attention and he saw the sound came from small drops of dew sparkling like tiny diamonds falling gently from the tree to the flower petals below.

 

There was a large rock the size of a house nearby, with a path leading toward boulders and down along a stream. He noticed shoes, decorated with cartoon drawings of bright flowers on the ground next to him. They fit him perfectly. The sword hovered and followed him as he walked towards the tree. He felt, again, that his dad was with him. Behind the tree was a table set perfectly with plates and bowls filled with delicious looking foods and aromatic fruits. Brian hesitated, as he had been taught not to take things that were not his without asking for permission. He was not supposed to eat or drink anything without making sure that it was safe. But… no one was in sight. He walked hesitantly around the small table. "I don't know. This is a strange place. Is the food safe to eat?" Brian asked himself. His favorite school backpack was draped on the back of a chair at the table. A blue envelope the size of a small notebook was placed with the table setting.

 

The envelope said, “To Brian” in large, cursive letters. Each letter had a tiny and elaborate drawing of flowers, childrens’ toys, and musical scores. It was as if the letters were three-dimensional; they seemed to float on top of the envelope. A bright and focused beam of light shot from the envelope in the form of a hologram about five feet in front of him. Brian was startled and stepped back from the table. The hologram was the size of a small computer screen, with the image of his prized toy airplane. The secret marking, "Ace King, 1980. Paw" was inscribed on the left wing of the toy plane.

​

Click here to next 

ca Light is an easy-to-read font, with tall and narrow letters, that works well on almost every site.