The Land of Dark

  By The Teller

  Intro

  How lovely it is to remind both of our past and the present. Depending on what you’ve seen and what you have already experienced, it is a mixed feeling with both nostalgia and your conflicts. And no matter what you would call them, it will always be a story.

  From time to time, ages upon ages, you would try to visit a familiar place with your eyes. “That’s not how it's supposed to look,” You might say. Deep down you want to relish the times-... The times when things should have never changed. Sentimental, yes. But you know that time-... Time is ever forward.

  There is one story that I would like to read you before my mind has been engulfed by abstraction. This story starts with an abnormal young boy who always seeks happiness, even when times are not right.

  Chapter 1 | Water Park

  Part 1

  The Start of a Great Day

  It was a lovely Saturday. The sun was shining brightly on the dusty road track. Cracking the dry asphalt road little by little as many vehicles were driving on the road, heading toward a wide forest from a far distance. From one of the vehicles, there was a bus carrying many passengers. Many of those passengers were in primary school, and all of them were boys. They poured out many waves of laughter and funny conversations from the back seats while their teacher had a simple talk with the driver. And from the very end of those seats, a boy named Thomas was daydreaming of some sort. His short black hair was constantly dancing by the air conditioner from the ceiling of the bus.

  “I wonder if my hair was a recreation of a wheat field.”

  Thomas’ mind was in a place where he could just think about anything he wanted. No disturbance from outside of his head could distract Thomas from enjoying his deep thinking. Until…

  “Thomas. Can you hear me?” His friend Alex has made Thomas snap back to his conscious mind. He then quickly turns his head facing towards Alex who was sitting next to him, only to see Alex offering him a bag of chips while Alex’s other hand was too busy feeding himself with it.

  “Do you want some chips? I swear, this is the seventh time you didn’t listen to what I said.” Alex was getting annoyed by Thomas’ constant daydreaming.

  “O-Oh yeah,” Thomas replied embarrassed as he took one potato chip from Alex.

  “Sorry for ignoring you by the way…”

  “Don’t sweat it. Once you’ve retrieved your ears and listened for once, I’ll gladly pass on your sorry. Ha!” Once Thomas heard what Alex said, Thomas felt worried that he had ignored him many times before. Yet he didn’t feel like this was a problem. He then returns to his original position by leaning his head on the window frame. He pressed his cheek against it just to feel the warmth of the window before his eyes gazed upon the view of the wide forest that they were heading to. He couldn’t contain his excitement towards the wide forest. In fact, it was not the forest that all of the kids were waiting and dying for, it was something more exciting than that.

  Thomas quickly stood up from his seat to ask his friend Jason in front of him. He peeked his head on top of Jason’s backseat.

  “Are you ready for this sweet water park!?” Thomas gently pulls Jason’s blonde hair to get his attention. He forced his voice to become louder than usual to compete with the other kids who were raging happily with their voices.

  “Yup! Couldn’t wait to try the O-shaped slides!” Jason replied as he turned his head facing Thomas with a smile. Raoul, Thomas’ friend who was sitting beside Jason quickly faces them to join the conversation.

  “Is it true that they have a huge water playground thingy?” Raoul asked both of them with a curious expression.

  “I think many of us are going in blind with this park,” Thomas answered. They suddenly heard many screams of joy at once from the other boys when they finally entered the wide forest ahead. “But from what I've heard, the water park has many cool rides.”

  “All water parks have cool rides, dude. Like, that's literally the main source of making a water park.” Raoul commented. Both Thomas and Jason let out a small laugh when they heard Raoul’s comment about Thomas’ fact. It also made Thomas think that this was going to be a good joke for the rest of the trip. Sort of that way, because he did not want to steal a joke from one of his beloved friends.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Stealing is bad!”

  He thought to himself with a pre-guilt carved into his face. He tried to modify the joke himself, but no inspiration has blessed his mind.

  “What’s the name of the park by the way?” Thomas asked. He pushed his legs against his seat to reach his head on top of Jason’s backseat. Pressing down his chin against it to get a better posture.

  “Uprise Down, that's the name.” Jason answered. But as Thomas followed their conversation even further, his attention was slowly driven away by the outside view from the window frame. It was the beautiful pine trees that caught his eye. He slowly returns to his seat to get a better view of the pointy trees from his window frame as they keep passing by. Leaving the conversation entirely without his friends noticing him. His eyes were shone by the sunlight that was rapidly blocked by many of the tree’s branches and leaves. Something about pine trees resonates with Thomas. He tries to uncover the reasons for his feelings toward pine trees. But every time he tries to do so, his feelings sink into the bottom of his mind, and he forgets about them for quite a long time.

  As Thomas was about to drift to his sleep, he was suddenly interrupted by a loud joyful shout from most of his friends in the front seats of the bus. Not scream, but a shout, as if they were doing it with a purpose. Thomas was not annoyed by this but rather felt fond of it. And to his curiosity, he decided to walk towards them to see what made his friends shout in such a cheerful high-pitched tone. He saw almost all of his friends gathering together in one spot like a pack, looking at the outside view from the window frame. As he passed by many of the bus seats, he sensed the once-grumpy road beneath the bus’ wheels had become soft like silk. Thus, he did not need to hold onto the bus seat’s shoulder to prevent his legs from tripping.

  Another shout was released by Thomas’ friends. He then dashes toward his shouting friends with curiosity and accidentally collides with his friend Dean.

  “Hey! Oh, Thomas.” Dean was unfazed by Thomas’ sudden act. His emotions went from a sudden surprise to a thoughtful smile.

  “What are you guys doing?” Thomas questioned with a cheerful tone mixed with such high curiosity. He really wanted to know about all of this clatter going on.

  “You know, just praying to the gods of Uprise Down!” Dean told him with a pinch of his humor after another wave of shouts was released that made Thomas flinch. Dean loves to hyperbole everything he explains whether it is serious or not.

  “P-Praying?” Thomas was surprised by what Dean said. He took Dean’s comment with a serious look even though he knew it was one of his jokes. He then goes to the back of the bus where it isn’t crowded to see out the window with a better look. All he saw was more pine trees on the side of the road. Until he saw a big billboard in front of the road. It was an advertisement featuring the water park’s best-selling food and drinks. When they were about to pass by the billboard, Thomas could hear his friends raising their voices before they let out a shout after they passed by the billboard.

  “Ohh. So that’s why they were screaming…”

  Thomas’ question was finally answered. It was just a fun exciting game for them. Knowing the rules of this simple game, Thomas immediately joins back in with his friends and plays along with them.

  As they’re getting closer and closer to the front gates of this overhyped water park, their P.E. teacher, Mr. Arlon, stands up from his seat. That one movement from Mr. Arlon creates the whole class to return to its former seats.

  “Alright, class! We’re about to enter this water park.” Mr. Arlon told them as he held onto the driver’s seat’s head to maintain his balance from standing up too quickly. “But remember! I want every one of you to stay disciplined when we’ve finally stepped into the place.” His eyes gazed upon the class. Trying to predict every move that his class would make when they got there. The class went bonkers when they heard the word ‘discipline’. They became worried that they had to follow some kind of rules from Mr. Arlon before playing. Fearing that this experience will go to ruin because of it.

  “But—...” Mr. Arlon suddenly spoke again. The whole class looks at him back again with hope. “That doesn’t mean you cannot freely roam the place.” Those words that he gave out reignited the class’ flame of excitement. They began screaming and shouting again. Mr. Arlon felt a slight regret after saying that. Covering both of his ears with his hands.

  “Alright! Alright! Jeez… Just… Take care of yourselves, will ya?” He told them. He reopened his eyes slowly after taking a chunk of his students' high-pitched screams. “Stay with each other! Don’t get lost, and don’t leave others behind. Got that?”

  “Yes sir!” The class replied to him with some of them giving out a nod. The class returns to its original chatty style with each other. Killing time as much as they can in that cramped bus, hoping that they won't realize that they've already arrived at the park.

  Finally, the bus came to a halt and the bus driver took the parking tickets by his window from the ticket boy. Upon closer inspection, they were greeted by a wide gate that was coated with stripes of wooden planks. And by the size and width of the property that Uprise Down owns, it’s no wonder why the park has been given a title called “The Largest Water Park in The World.”

  “We’re here! We’re actually here!” Jason’s emotion just skyrocketed as they went through the gates. Entering a forest of pine trees serves as a parking place for vehicles alike. The driver, after a second of entering the gates, felt frustrated. Why? Because he could not find a spot to park the bus as every spot in this place had already been taken. Unfazed by this annoying discovery, the driver had no choice but to take on a journey to find a spot to park the bus in this wide-range forest with its huge four wheels.

  Thomas on the other hand, felt a kindle of uncontained joy inside his innocent heart. Sitting on his seat while using that joy for his imagination. Creating scenarios as an outcome of every possibility that he could do inside that water park.

  “Maybe I could do a backflip while I take on the water slides. Or I could climb the pipes to impress all of my friends.”

  Scenarios played out in his mind, unfolding before his eyes. Until he was awakened by the bus’ striking left turn, followed by its engine turning off. He finally heard the shouts of excitement that were created by his friends as he left his daydreaming once again.