Short Story: The Mysterious Consequence [Guest Post]

Autumn was sitting all alone on a small, peculiar pebble. She had no idea how she got this small. What did she do? Where did she go? Somehow, Autumn became as small as a bug and was in the strangest of places. Autumn looked around. She was by the bank of a stream, that is, what looked to her like a ginormous river. She looked up. The sky was a very weird purple color and she saw a gap in the clouds. Autumn wondered if she had fallen into some dream world, just like “Alice in Wonderland”. Autumn stood up, and just a split second later, before she could even step off the pebble, she heard a faint screaming coming from above her head. Right then, before her eyes, her best friend Lily fell right onto the same pebble on which Autumn was standing. They both stared at each other in the oddest way, and then the peculiar, purple sky turned blue, and the gap in the clouds disappeared.

“Lily! Are you all right?” Autumn said, approaching Lily.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lily said, as she stood up and brushed off her clothes. Lily took one glance around and realized what was happening. “Why are we so small and why…?”

Autumn cut Lily off. “Shhhh, I know. I have no idea what in the world just happened, but we have to find out.” Both girls started walking, but could only go as fast as their miniature legs could carry them. “The first thing I want to find out is why in the world we are so small,” Autumn said.

“Yes please,” Lily responded. As they continued walking, they heard a rustling in the bush that was beside them. “Ummm, Autumn??” Lily said as she started backing away. All of a sudden, a bunny, one that looked as huge as a bear to the girls, hopped out of the bush. Not only did the girls jump out of fright, but also from the strange look this bunny had.

“Don’t be scared, I am here to answer all your questions,” the bunny said. This bunny was the strangest looking creature the girls had ever seen. He had extra-long ears and an extra-large nose. He was purple, just like the color the sky was. He also had overalls on and carried a tiny backpack.

“Who are you?” Lily and Autumn said, simultaneously, looking at this creature with concern.

“My name is Desman, and my job is to help people like you learn why you’re here. Jump on, let’s go!” Seeing as how everything else around was just as weird as Desman, the girls agreed and jumped on Desman’s back.

As they traveled through the woods, they saw many interesting, strange, and mystical things. It almost seemed as if they were dreaming, but yet they were awake. They wondered where Desman was taking them. In just a couple short minutes, they ended up in front of a cute little cottage.

“Is this where you live Desman?” asked Lily, as she and Autumn jumped off his back.

“Yes, yes it is. Please come in.” Desman and the girls went inside and sat down. “Now, I must tell you why you are here, I’m sure you are wondering,” said Desman, as he plopped on a little cushion.

“We most certainly are,” Autumn said, as Desman motioned for them both to sit down.

“First answer this question, what were you both doing before you fell down here?” asked Desman.

Autumn answered, “Well, Lily and I were just sitting on our couch playing a game when our parents walked into the room.”

“Yeah, but they didn’t know that we were in there and they started talking about very important things,” continued Lily.

“Okay, do you think you were supposed to be listening to that conversation?” asked Desman. Autumn had a blank expression on her face and she turned red.

“Well, no…but we couldn’t help it! We wanted to hear what they were saying!” Autumn said as she and Lily frowned, realizing what they did.

Desman replied, “Well, this is why you came here. After you listened to your parent’s conversation, that’s when you fell into the hole that opened up under you into this world and became small. You are in ‘Land of Consequences’.” Both of the girls looked at Desman with a sort of despaired look on their faces.

“We made a mistake…I’m sorry,” Lily said, and Autumn agreed.

“But why did we become small?” asked Autumn, with a puzzled look.

“Becoming small was to teach you guys a lesson that if you mind your own business, the world would go round a deal faster than it does, come with me.” Desman replied, as he got up and motioned to the girls to follow him outside.

As they went outside, they looked around. The girls realized that Desman’s house changed to be right in the middle of a busy town. There they were, small as bugs, watching other bunnies and forest animals minding their own business and going about their life throughout the streets.

Desman watched the girls as they looked on with wonder, “Now if you two were to walk out there and try to get someone’s attention or try to have someone hear you, they wouldn’t be able to. You are too small and they are too busy to notice you, too busy with their own business and not causing trouble.”

“I think we both understand now…” said Lily, with a regretting tone. Autumn agreed, “Yeah if we would have minded our own business, our parent’s would have been able to go about what they were doing without having to worry about us.”

Desman smiled, “I’m glad you both were able to learn a lesson from this. I think it’s time to get you girls home.”

Both of the girls jumped onto Desman’s back once again. At that moment, the little town disappeared and there were just woods in front of them. Desman started running back down the path into the woods, as both of the girls glanced at each other.

In just a few minutes, they were back at the side of the stream where Desman first found the girls. “Now, you must wonder why I carry this tiny little backpack with me,” Desman said, taking the backpack off of him and putting it on the floor, “It holds what you need to get back home.” Both the girls looked at Desman, and then at the backpack, with the most puzzled looks on their faces. Desman pulled out two tiny crystals out of the backpack. “Both of you need to hold one of these in the water until it melts, and then go stand on the same pebble you fell onto. It has a purple mark on it. Then, the hole in the cloud will open up again, and you both will be pulled back home and return to normal size. However, when you get home, remember to not tell anyone about what you have seen or heard.”

Both the girls responded, “We understand.” In that moment, Desman hopped away back into the bush in which he appeared out of earlier, and he was gone. The girls ran down to the stream. They both waited for their crystals to melt, and then they ran to the pebble. They watched the hole open up, and they were zapped back home so fast they couldn’t even see it happen.

Autumn’s and Lily’s vision cleared and there they were sitting in the house behind the couch. The first word the girls heard the parents say was the exact last word the girls heard before falling through the hole.

“Wow…no time must have passed at all!” Lily said, with an excited look on her face. “Yay! We need to do the right thing now and stand up and let the parents know we are behind here, and tell them we are sorry for eavesdropping on their conversation.” They both agreed and stood up. The parents had a startled look on their face when they saw the girls. The girls explained how they were behind there the whole time and how they were sorry for listening to the conversation. The parents forgave them, and everything was alright. Then the girls gave their parents a hug, and they both looked at each other and smiled. They never told their parents about what happened, just like Desman said, and the lesson they learned was one they would remember for the rest of their lives.