The First One is Here!

Here's my first CWWC story! This is the first of many to come. We had three prompts and I was able to include all of them in this one tale! I hope ya'll enjoy! 

“Morning Mom!” I called to the kitchen from upstairs. 

“Morning hun!” She replied. 

“You have to hurry or you’ll miss the bus!” 

“Will do!” 

I dashed from the hallway into the bathroom. After quickly brushing my teeth, I glanced in the mirror to check my hair. “Ugh.” I groaned. 

“Peter! Will you please start washing the mirror when you get toothpaste on it!” I yelled through the house, knowing he did it. 

“It wasn’t me Jill!” Came the echoing reply. ‘hmm,’  I thought to myself.’ Likely story.’ 

I looked once more into the speck and noticed it didn’t look quite like toothpaste. No, It looked different. A man perhaps? ‘Oh stop it!’ I murmured to myself, shaking my head. 'You have no time for such silly games!' I spritzed my hair with hairspray and dashed for the stairs. I grabbed my lunch bag and headed for the bus. 

After lunch, I went to the bathroom only to notice it again! The elf-type thing on the same spot, only a different mirror. And this time, I could see it a bit clearer. He seemed to be smiling, with a beckoning grin. 

“Come on Jill!” I heard my friends calling, shattering my thoughts. 

“Quit staring at yourself and come on!” They cried in unison.

 “Ok, ok I’m coming!” I jumped to follow. Just before I rounded the corner, I stole one more peek at the man in the mirror, who was still there, watching.

The next morning I got up early to investigate the mirror. As I suspected, he was in the same spot. To my surprise though, he had two small friends with him. They were giggling and playing together, apparently unaware of my presence. The older man looked at me and beckoned with his hand. I glanced at the time. 5:30am. I closed my eyes and carefully reached out to touch the glass. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes feeling a bit let down. 

“Ah!” I jumped, as I noticed the small man was right next to me. Although it was the same man, he was big, bigger than me even! 

“Well no need to be scared ma’am.” The small, well I should say large man said. “We aren’t going to hurt ya!” 

“Who are you?” I asked, a bit taken back. 

“What, don’t you know?” Another small man said. “We’re the Ferrymen! And we guard these passages!” The two small ones said in unison. 

“I’m Paul,” The oldest Ferryman said. “And that’s Judy and Rev.” 

“Hello.” Judy politely said. 
“Hiya squirt!” Rev spouted.  

“Hi Rev, Judy. I’m Jill. Nice to meet you all!”  I looked around. “So, where am I?” I asked. 

“Why, your in the hundred acre wood!” Rev explained, motioning towards the woods. 

“Come on! I’ll Show you around!” Said Judy. 

“Um, ok! As long as I’m back before 6:30!” I told her. 

“What’d you mean 6:30?” She asked. 

“You know, 6:30 in the morning?” I was bewildered. Did these ‘Ferrymen’ not have time? 

“Uh, I have absolutely NO idea what your talking about so, come on!” Judy sprinted ahead, not waiting for me to respond. 

"Hey! Wait up!” I sprinted for the woods, following Judy and Rev.

After a bit, Judy and Rev walked me towards what sounded like rushing water. “Hurry up Jill!” Rev shouted behind his shoulder. “This is the best part of the woods!”

“I’m coming! I’ve never been in the woods much you know!” I struggled to catch my breath and talk at the same time. 

“Shh!” Judy said. “There it is!” She pointed her finger towards something. My eyes slowly followed her finger. It was the most spectacular image I had ever seen! It was a huge, gushing waterfall and a tree with a young girl and a beast of some sort perched on its branches. The sun spilled just above the water, making the girl and beast silhouetted. The smell of the fresh water mixed with the dewy grass was refreshing, and delightful.

“Wow.” I said, breathlessly. “That’s wonderful.” 

“It sure is.” Judy softly replied. The girl on the branch suddenly noticed us. She swung down the large oak branches. The beast shortly followed her, opening its wings to glide down to us. 

“Hello,” The stunning young girl held out her hand in greeting. “I’m Cara.” 

“Nice to meet you Cara, I’m Jill,” I shook her hand in reply. She had a firm grip. 

“This is Toothless,” Cara gestured towards the beast, which I now noticed was a large dragon. Toothless, had a black body, a white belly, a very colorful mane, and was as the name implies, toothless. “You can pet him,” Cara mentioned. “He won’t bite.” I cautiously pet the beast. He grinned a huge, slobbery smile. 

“I think he likes you!” Judy said. 

“Your new here, aren’t you?” Cara asked me. “I don’t recognize you.” 

“Oh man!” I gasped. “I gotta get home!” 

“Home?” Rev wondered aloud. “Aren’t you going to stay here with us?” 

“No!” I replied, with urgency in my tone. “Mom and Dad will be worried sick! Oh no no no! I am so grounded!” Cara touched me on the shoulder. 

“Ok just calm down. Toothless can take you anywhere you need to go.” 

“It’s not that simple Cara.” Rev cut in. “She’s, uh, not from around here. She has to find a portal to get home.” 

Cara frowned. “Well that’s a way to complicate things.” 

“Can’t we just go back to where I came in?” I asked. 

“No. When you’ve used a portal once, you can’t use it again.” Rev said. 

“We can just wait until tomorrow.” I started to get frustrated. “You don’t understand. My parents will, will-“ I burst into tears, unable to finish my sentence aloud. 

“Oh honey.” Judy tried to comfort me. “We can try Paul, maybe he can help!” I sniffled and nodded my head. “Ok, thanks.” 

We all mounted Toothless and headed back to where Paul was still guarding the portal. The portal, I now noticed looked like a window of sorts. It looked into my bathroom, where it was dark. We ran to Paul and explained to him the situation...

"and Rev said we can’t use the same portal more than once and…” Paul interrupted me with a chuckle. Then a laugh.Then he reared back his head a laughed! And laughed. And laughed. 

“Where?” He tried to say in between gasps for air. “In the world?”… “Did you hear that?” Rev squirmed and seemed to try to struggle to find the right words. 

“I, I… I don’t know. I thought you said it!” He pointed at Paul. 

“Oh! No, I said YOU can’t use the portal. Your a Ferryman! it would crush your being!” Paul chuckled back. “The portal will shatter after you leave though, you can’t ever come back.” 

“Do you have to leave?” Judy asked. 

“Well, I really don’t want to leave now!” I muttered to myself. Then I thought of mom, worrying in the kitchen. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. My parents will worry.” Judy came and hugged me 

“It’s ok, that’s very good of you.” I smiled a sad smile. 

“Ok, I can’t stay. I have to go now before I lose my gut.” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Goodbye Rev, Paul. Goodbye Cara, Judy.” I proudly hugged each one as I said their names. Toothless snorted. “Oh yes, and goodbye to you too Toothless,” I pet his colorful mane. I closed my eyes and reached for the passage. 

“Goodbye Jill!” Came the faint voices. I inched forward. “Crash!” Glass shattered all around me. I laid on the bathroom floor, with glass all around me. I stood, unharmed. As I brushed myself off, the glass turned to sparkles. I ran down the stairs to the kitchen. My mom was there, waiting. 

“Oh my gosh!” She breathed. “Paul! Come quick! She’s home!” 
-The End

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