“See? They’re here. So you don’t have to rush home,” Peter said.
Mona just stood there dumbfounded. “I don’t…”
“Don’t just stand there, silly.” Peter shoved Mona towards her family. “Go show them around.”
Mona led them away from the treehouse. A quick look back, and she saw Peter waving at her, with that giant grin that encompassed his whole face. Then, when the company was a far enough distance away, Mona said, “You guys aren’t real, right?”
“Of course we are, sweetheart. I received the same call you did and found Shasta laying near a tree. Next thing you know, we’re both here to spend time with you.”
Shasta was trotting by Mona’s side, wagging his tail. “But Shasta didn’t like this place. And you’re supposed to be working.”
“That’s in the past now.” Mona’s mother wrapped her hand around hers. “I’ve realized how upset I’ve been making you and I hope you can forgive me. But if we stay here together, you won’t have to feel lonely anymore. We can spend every day together, just like you want. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Mona looked into her “mother’s” face and felt a warmth in her chest. Has it always looked like that? It would be nice to just hang out here every day with them. But…mom—my real mom—works so hard for me. What will happen when she notices I’m gone? And Shasta, my best friend, who will take care of him and give him kisses on the head? Mona squeezed her “mom’s” hand and the warmth twisted into an ache in her chest. She was spewing words of honey. Of temptation. Mona broke from her gaze and noticed she was at the base of the rocks that led up to the rainbow tree.
“Oh, sweetheart,” said Mona’s “mother”, “I think we made a wrong turn.”
“No. I wanted to come here.” Mona distanced herself from the two. “I’m going home.”
“But why when we’re right here,” Mona’s “mom” said, reaching out to her.
“If I stay with you, I’d be throwing away everything my mom did for me. If I stay here, I’d just give her another thing to worry about.”
Mona’s “mother” dropped to her knees in front of her and grabbed Mona’s arms. A giant grin covered her “mother’s” face as tears streamed down her cheeks. “If you stay…if you stay, we can do everything you ever wanted to do with me. Nothing will stand in our way. You have to stay!”
Mona tried to distance herself, but her “mother’s” grip was tight. Shasta had still been staring at her and wagging his tail as if he became a broken record. Mona took in her “mother’s” face once more. She looked so pitiful. So twisted. So horrific. “Peter made you, didn’t he? He doesn’t want me to leave, even though I promised I would visit.”
“That’s because you can’t.” In a blink of an eye, Mona’s mom and dog were replaced by Peter, who was glaring down at her with an ugly look on his face. “Once you leave, that’s it.”
Mona slowly backed away. “How do you know that? You said every visitor stayed, got bored, and then left.”
“I’ve tried to call them back to the tree, but they never hear me.” Peter inched closer. “One you leave, that’s it. So you have to stay here with me.”
Mona glanced up for a moment. Those beautiful rainbows were gone, and the marshmallow clouds gave way to thunderous ones. Peter ran his hands through his hair and even tugged on it a few times. His chest went up and down and up and down as he tried to level his breathing. He gave a small chuckle, and that smile that stretched across his whole face returned. Mona’s heart was racing a mile a minute. “P-Peter…why don’t you just come back with me? We can leave together, okay?”
“How stupid do you think I am, huh,” he yelled, still smiling, “Of course I tried that! I can only pull people in once. The portal won’t work for me otherwise. So you are going to stay with me and have some fun, got it?” Peter reached out to grab Mona’s arm when—
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Wait, Peter! What’s that,” Mona said, pointing towards the jungle. The second he turned his head, Mona zoomed up the rocky cliff.
“MOOONNAAA!”
CRACK. The ground crumbled beneath Mona’s feet, causing her to jump around to avoid plummeting into the ocean below. Can I die in here? Does he even know? Is he trying to kill me? A quick look back, she saw Peter cradling his head and covered in a reddish hue. The storm clouds thundered and shot a lightning bolt so close it knocked her off her feet! Get up! GET UP! She rose to her feet. Keep going! Mona attempted to leap over every crumbling rock, to dodge every bolt, all while garnering a few cuts and scrapes. When the tree was in sight, she dove straight into the hollow and into the portal. While falling through the tunnel, a foul smell prompted her to shield her nose, and the shimmering rainbow leaves that decorated the sides had wilted. THUMP. Mona landed on her stomach on a pile of normal leaves and was greeted by many slobbery kisses. “I know, Shasta. I missed you too, but let’s get out of here.” She crawled out of the hollow and took a few steps before being knocked to the ground by a booming shock wave!
MOOONNAAA
GET BACK HERE
COME BACK
Mona cradled her head to nurse the sudden splitting headache. “Can you hear that?!” Shasta was glued to the ground, covering his ears.
I NEED YOU
PLEASE MONA
COME BACK
Mona staggered towards the tree and rested her head on its side. “P-Please, Peter. You’re hurting m-me.” The headaches stopped. Mona sloped down to the ground and took a deep breath. Silence. Then she could hear crying coming from the tree.
“Please don’t leave me here, Mona. I need you.”
Mona’s heart started to race again, but she inched towards the hollow. “You said I wouldn’t be able to hear you once I left. Were you just trying to trick me again?”
“No, no. I’m caught off guard too. I didn’t expect to hear your voice either. So maybe that means you can come back.”
“I’m not doing that. I can’t be stuck there with you, Peter.”
“Listen, listen. Y-You were the only one who ever cared about how I felt. I even thought that, maybe, when I fell from the tree, if we’d been friends back then, you could’ve prevented me from being stuck in this wretched place. I thought…because you cared, you wouldn’t mind staying.”
Mona felt it from the start. Despite all the smiles and laughs, she could see the pain behind everything. “You know, if I could freely travel between worlds, I would. Because, despite everything, you are my friend, Peter.” The hollow of the tree started to glow, and the leaves that covered the portal turned white. “Peter? Are you doing this?”
“It’s not me, I swear.”
Mona grabbed a stick and poked at the leaves. The stick glided straight through. “The portal still works.”
“Are you serious? My hand can go through again. Maybe you can visit me after all!”
Mona stared at the portal and pondered for a bit. “Or maybe, I can pull you into my world.” She let out a chuckle. “We could hang out all the time. I can show you my garden, and I’d even let you pet Shasta—the real one, of course.”
“You…You really think I can leave?”
“Nothing like this has ever happened before, right? This might be your chance. We have to try at least.”
There was a moment of silence. “OK. We’ll lock hands and then you pull me out.”
“Great…Wait. How do I know you won’t pull me back into your world?”
“I’m giving you an official Peter Promise that I won’t try to trick you. Not again. Not ever. We’re friends, right?”
Mona let out a deep breath. “Right.” She placed her hands inside the glowing white portal and grabbed Peter’s hands. “Got you!” She put her feet against the sides of the tree and tugged with all her might. She was able to slip through so easily before, but now there was resistance. Was the world trying to keep Peter trapped? She continued to struggle until Shasta grabbed onto her shirt and added his strength. “Alllmmoooosssttt—Whoa!” Gravity tossed Mona and Shasta onto their backs. Her body was definitely sore by now. Mona sat upright and saw that the portal was no longer glowing, yet the leaves were still white. Crinkling sounds came from her hands, which were now holding rainbow leaves. “Peter, it didn’t work, but we can keep trying.”
Silence.
“Peter?”
Still no answer.
Mona walked towards the hollow and put her hand through the portal…except it was gone. “Peter!” No portal. No answer. What happened? Did I mess up somehow? She circled the tree, looking for any signs. Anything at all. There was a sudden tightness in her chest. She noticed Peter’s Tree was etched into the back of the trunk. Looking up, she saw the broken tree branch. “He said he fell. It’s so far up.” She tried to measure the distance between the branch and the ground. She walked back towards the hollow and looked again at the white leaves. She slumped to the ground and stared at the rainbow leaves in her hands. Shasta crawled up next to her and whined as he placed his black and white head on her lap. “I…I think this is all that’s left of him, Shasta.” Despite her efforts, hot tears escaped her eyelids and rolled down her cheeks.