CHAPTER 8 – HOUSE OF THE WIZARD

They got to the Wizard's House rather quickly. Perhaps, he casted a spell that made them walk quicker. Before they entered his home, Michaelah noticed that the house was crooked.

"Is the house going to fall over?" she asked.

"Ha! Do not be silly. It has looked like this for years and has never fallen over," said the Wizard.

Once they got inside Michaelah and Koji looked around and were amazed at all the cool stuff that was around. There was a lamp lighting the room with a tiny dragon in the bulb blowing fire out of its mouth to keep it lit. His house was very messy, papers of maps, and lists, and drawings everywhere. The mess was all over the tables and floors. There was barely any room to walk around!

There was a cuckoo clock on the wall. But it was not a normal clock. Every hour, on the hour a tiny wizard would come out of the clock. With a flick of his tiny little wand it turned the clock into a cuckoo bird, and the clock flew out of the window. But after Michaelah watched it fly out the window when she looked back at the wall the clock was there.

"It does that every hour, you know."

Alabaster, the wizard, was still busy searching. "Ah! Here's my wand," he announced.

Koji looked at a picture on the wall.

"Oh!" the Wizard said, "That is my great great great great great great great great grandfather, Salazar. But be careful, he just might leap out of the painting."

Right after the Wizard said that Koji noticed that the old man in the painting was following him with his eyes. Then the crazy old man in the picture jumped out and scared Koji. Koji stumbled back and knocked Michaelah onto the floor.

"I'm sorry Michaelah," said Koji.

As Koji helped Michaelah up, her locket slipped out from around her neck and Alabaster caught a glimpse of it.

"That is a marvelous necklace you have there. Might I have a look at it?" asked Alabaster the Wizard.

"Sure," said Michaelah, as she slipped it off her head. Unknowingly, breaking the vow she made to herself to never take it off until it opened. "I just got it. It was a birthday present from my dad."

Then it hit Michaelah. She was beginning to remember how she got here. It was her birthday. She was going to miss her party! Something about a train station and a fountain... But before she could keep going, she saw a bowl of candy sitting at the corner of the table.

"Can I have a piece of candy?" asked Michaelah.

"Help yourself. But be careful!" said Alabaster as he put her locket on the very same table. And at the exact same time Michaelah touched the candy bowl, Alabaster touched his wand to her locket. And poof! The locket sent out a ring of light and Michaelah was sucked into the bowl of candy.

"What happened?" asked Michaelah. But no one was around to answer her, not even Koji.

"Where am I?" she said again aloud, but then something strange happened.

A voice answered her and said, "Why you're in Candyland!"

Michaelah turned around and it was a piece of candy talking to her.

"My name is Butterscotch, but all my friends call me Scotchy for short," said Scotch.

"Hello Scotchy, I am Michaelah," greeted Michaelah.

"On behalf of all the candies in Candyland I would like to welcome you!" officially greeted Scotchy.

"Why thank you. I wonder... How many candies are there in this land?" asked Michaelah.

"Well, there is King Lollipop and Queen Gumdrop. And then there is old Candy Cane. There is also Miss Licorice, and her little baby Cotton Candy. And there is one more that we don't talk about," explained Scotchy.

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"Who is that?" asked Michaelah.

"Well, I really shouldn't say his name, but since you asked. I will only say it once. Mister Licorice. He is a monster. A bully. He is always pushing us around," said Scotchy.

"That's terrible. I've always liked candy, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a licorice," admitted Michaelah. All of a sudden a big dark shadow covered Michaelah. Scotchy screamed and started to run away.

"Wait!" yelled Michaelah, but he did not stop. The dark creature behind Michaelah drooled on her head. She wiped it off her long brunette hair and took a look. It was gooey. Before she turned around, she knew it was the licorice monster. The monster grabbed Michaelah.

"Put her down, Mister Licorice!" someone screamed.

King Lollipop stepped forth to save her. He took out his stick and used it as a sword. With his sword, he cut off the Monster's arm holding Michaelah. She fell to the ground and quickly got up and ran away, when she saw Scotch. He had returned with King Lollipop after ditching her.

“Thank you! I thought you left me!" said Michaelah. Then the Licorice Monster got big and ate the Lollipop King.

The sinister Mister Licorice quickly twisted over, like a swirling mop and ate Scotchy too, right in front of Michaelah. No! But by the time he got to Michaelah the King's stick sword stuck out of the Monster's belly and cut him in half. And out jumped King Lollipop and Scotchy. It was not over. The two strands of licorice moved on their own and then tangled together and reformed the evil dark red gelatinous monster. It once again attacked King Lollipop, Scotchy, and Michaelah.

Luckily, before anything else happened, a giant wand came from the sky, and with a flash of light, Michaelah was once again in the Wizard's House staring at the bowl of candy.

"Well..." said Alabaster, "Don't you want a piece of candy?"

Michaelah thought long and hard about it as she put her locket back on. She could not eat her new friends. Then she thought of a way to help them. "I think I'll have the licorice one!" proudly announced Michaelah. She reached in and took out the licorice. At first it did not taste good. It wasn’t even sweet. But as her tastebuds adjusted to the odd flavor it was actually quite delicious!

Koji ran over to Michaelah. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, "has he figured out where home is yet?"

"Well, Michaelah," The Wizard said as he dusted off an old map, "I have never seen anyone like you that isn't a dwarf or a wizard. But! There is a place that I have been to before where everyone looks just like Koji, and it is called the Bamboo Palace. In order to reach it, you must cross through many lands, including the Scary Territory."

“That doesn’t sound good,” said Koji.

“What makes it scary?” asked Michaelah.

“Two things really. I cannot speak for the rest. There is first Spooky Valley, the home of frightful ghosts. And if you want to go around you must cross through Volcano Canyon.”

Koji looked extremely worried.

“Those do not seem like very nice places,” said Michaelah.

“Indeed they are not. If you truly must go home to the Bamboo Palace, then I will give you what you wish for your quest. Including this map.”

The Wizard touched the map with his wand and on it appeared the picture of a girl and a panda holding hands. “It will always show you where you are. Now, what do you wish of me?”

Koji walked over to a knights helmet he had been eyeballing since he entered the Wizards house. With the old man’s nod of approval, he put it on and lowered the visor infront of his face. It was a snug fit. Michaelah took a red cloak off the table and put it on. They both looked at her.

“What? I’ve been cold so many times already and I can’t go home and get my sweatshirt.”

“Fair enough, my dear. Here take this as well.”

“A yo-yo?”

“Not just any yo-yo. If you ever need to get something out of reach or catch something too fast to chase after, look to the yo-yo.”

Koji and Michaelah looked at the neon yellow yo-yo in her hand. It was just a toy. But Michaelah and Koji had realized quickly that nothing in the Wizard’s house was as it appeared.

“Any further requests, you too?” asked Alabaster.

“Can we have your wand?” asked Michaelah.

The old man laughed quite loudly at that.“Sadly, that is the one thing I cannot part ways with. Luckily, for you I have this.” He reached into the cupboard and pulled out a strange object.

“A TV remote?” asked Michaelah.

“Ah! So that’s what it is. I picked it up at Cat City, but they never told me what it is or what it does. I always thought it looked cool though. So, I enchanted it with a couple spells.”

Michaelah looked down at the map. Between them and the Bamboo Palace was not only Spooky Valley and Volcano Canyon but also other lands, and Cat City, albeit slightly out of the way. The Wizard handed the TV remote to Michaelah.

“What about me?” asked Koji.

Alabaster rubbed the white whiskers of his mustache as he considered what to give the panda. He walked out of the room and came back. With what he was holding in his hand it looked like he just visited the bathroom.

“Take these, they will serve you well when danger inevitably crosses your path.”

“What are these things?” asked Koji, he was so confused.

“It’s a toilet lid and a plunger,” Michaelah said, “How will that help us?”

“I made them impervious.”

“What does that mean?” asked Koji.

“They are both unbreakable.”

“How is that going to help us?”

“That, my dear girl, you will have to find out for yourself,” the Wizard smiled as he looked at them. “You are ready for your quest. Good luck you two! I know you will make it home.”

“Thank you,” said Michaelah, while Koji bowed to the Wizard next to her. They said good-bye and left the house of the Wizard. Although their journey was far from over, they now had a way home and the tools to get them there. Michaelah finally felt hope. There might still be time to get home before her birthday party.