Tales From Calmore

CHAPTER 1
Abandoned

San walked happily around the island. He was in a
great mood, and why shouldn't he be? He lived on a beautiful island, had great parents, and he was turning fourteen in just a few days time. If you had asked him there was only one thing wrong. Every so often his parents would disappear. Sometimes they were gone for half an hour and sometimes for three days straight. As his birthday came nearer, his parents kept disappearing more often than not. San was so puzzled by this that he decided to take a walk around the island.
It wasn't that big, just two miles around and a half mile through. It was also very beautiful. The sand was white as snow and the water as clear as the sky on a perfect day. The trees reached for the heavens. Yes, it was very beautiful, but it was also very lonely.
When San was just four years old his parents (who were scientist) were offered a job to record every plant and animal they could find on a deserted island that was on no map in the world. His parents were quick to take it. They figured San would love the island, and they were right for the most part. He only hated being alone.
His parents never had any more kids because when San was born he was born with a twin. His twin came out with Down syndrome and with some brain damage. But the doctors said he would be fine and that he would live a long healthy life. Well one day when San and his brother were two they were playing outside. San's brother Pyan went as far as the sidewalk chasing his ball, all of a sudden a car on the rode swerved to miss hitting a dog. The car was coming from a distance where any two year old would've gotten away safely but Pyans brain took a little longer to process the information. By that time Pyan was already hurt. When the ambulance finally got there it was too late.
His parents were so full of grief that they vowed to have no more children just in case they turned out like Pyan. They just wouldn't have been able to handle the pain.
San stopped walking and thinking. He was almost home. Wow time flew by when you were walking down memory lane. He looked up at the sky, it was getting dark and he didn’t want his parents to worry so he walked faster.
When he finally got to their camp San didn’t automatically see his parents but that didn’t bother him. He walked around the campground searching for them. As he was walking something caught his attention. It was a note from his parents.
Dear San, it read, we have to leave. We didn’t tell you but your mom is seven months pregnant. I know you’re confused about how you didn’t notice but I’ll explain later. Anyway, while we were walking through the jungle your mom tripped and fell on her stomach. She was in serious pain. I made a fire signal and an airplane is coming right now. Leaving you all alone is very hard for us but we don’t have a choice. I am so very sorry. We will send a plane for you if we are not back in a few days. Love you dearly, mom and dad.
San stood their in shock. His parents had left him. They left him alone on a deserted island that no one knew about. He felt so, so, there was no word for how he felt. Oh, there was one.
ANGRY.
How could they do this to him? Didn’t they know all the dangers of the island? Of course they did but they left him anyway. San was so mad he couldn’t see clearly. He would show them. When they sent a plane for him he wouldn’t be waiting. He would be hiding and everybody would think he had died. Then his parents would be sorry that they ever left him for some stupid baby.
He turned and ran into the jungle. He just kept running and running. When he finally got tired he made a nest out of leaves and settled down for a restless sleep.




Chapter 2
Where am I?



It was hot. Really, really hot! And it was freezing, all at the same time. There were some people walking toward him. His PARENTS!!!!! What were they holding in their arms? It was small and wiggly and loud. It was a BABY! It was that thing that made his parents leave him. Man how he hated it. He wished it would just disappear. All of a sudden San heard a rustling in the leaves. Something big darted out of the jungle and took the baby.

San sat up. Wow that was a weird dream. “I wonder what that was all about.” San asked himself.
He heard a voice call out in the distance, “Hey, what are you doing? Why was he hearing voices? The island was deserted. There couldn’t be voices, right? “It must’ve been the wind.” He told himself in a shaky voice. Why was he scared? Well it didn’t matter. It was only the wind like he had said. He believed it, until he heard another voice say “It’s my turn!” It sounded like kids voices. But that couldn’t be true. No one was on the island except for him.
San looked around. Wait, he didn’t remember this part of the island. Was it possible that he was on a different part? No, he had explored the whole island already. He could be on another island. That would explain why he didn’t know where he was and why he was hearing voices. But how did he get there? There was only one way to find out. He had to find where the voices were coming from and ask them if they new what was going on.
He got up and walked to the left, where he had heard the voices last, and followed the noise. Soon he came to a clearing. He stayed on the outskirts watching.
He could see 4 kids. It looked like they where playing some kind of game he’d never seen before. They had a coconut and they were hitting it to each other with something.
He moved to get a better look and accidentally stepped on a twig. He stepped back, (frightened by the noise not knowing it had come from him) and stepped on another twig. Then another, and another, and still yet another.
The kids heard the noise and quickly pulled out what looked like bows and arrows except the arrows where curved like a boomerang. Even if he didn’t know what they where, they could be dangerous. He knew he could either stay in the shadows and let the kids hunt him down, or he could go out and face them like a man. He automatically chose letting them hunt him down. “Wait, there just kids. They can’t be that dangerous right?” He was talking to himself. He always did it. It helped to keep him calm.
He walked slowly but steadily toward them and when they heard him coming, two people automatically stepped forward. As San got closer he saw that they where two boys who had stepped in front of two girls. They also looked about his age, and they looked oddly familiar. Yet, he didn’t know where or when he had seen them.
When he got even closer he could see that their hair and eye color matched. They weren’t normal colors either.
There was a tall, light skinned girl who had a good build and amazing green eyes and shoulder length green hair. The color wasn’t a regular green, it was neon green! And her eyes were too. The boy in front of her was tall, dark, and muscular. You could see that his arms were those of someone who had just won a wrestling match with a tiger. (And San was sure he had.) This was the kind of guy that girls went nuts over. Not to mention his shaggy hair, that went down to the back of his neck and rested right above his long, thick eyelashes, was a deep shade of blue. The weird thing was that his eyes were the color of the sky on a perfect day.
Now that wouldn’t have been weird except that everybody else’s eyes were exactly the same color as their hair. The boy next to him had the same, Whoa! San did a double take. The boy next to him looked exactly like the first boy! “Were twins.” The boy with blue hair said out loud. As if reading San’s thoughts, but it was probably the look on his face that gave him away. “I’m Rade and this is my brother Kraz.”
San looked over at Kraz. He had flaming red hair that went up in all directions and eyes that looked like they had burned people alive. But at the moment they looked warm and inviting. San was just about to say who he was when he noticed a girl standing behind Kraz. She was pretty in a plain way. Short, skinny, dark skinned and looked exactly like the girl at school that no one would notice if she wasn’t pointed out. Except this girl had jet black hair and eyes that were so dark you couldn’t see her pupils. She looked at him and then shyly looked down again.
Rade interrupted his thoughts to introduce her. “This is Belany and our friend Andlie.” He pointed to the green haired girl first and then the black haired girl. San was still staring at Andlie for some reason. When she caught him staring at her, she blushed and for some reason that made San blush.
All of a sudden Belany got a look of recognition on her face. Much to everyone’s surprise she ran up to San and gave him a BIG hug. He caught sight of Kraz and his look was so mean that San felt like he was one of those unfortunate people being burned alive by the boy’s eyes.
When Belany felt Sans hesitation she quickly stepped back and looked sheepish. After a few moments of an embarrassing awkward silence, San heard a noise coming from behind him.
He turned to see a beautiful girl walking towards him. Even though he lived on a deserted island he knew what girls looked like. Every month or so, his parents were picked up by a plane and they all took a trip into the country to get supplies. Even on those trips girls were a rare sight. The ones he had seen were nowhere near as beautiful girl standing in front of him.
Her skin was a light brown. It reminded San of caramel. She had wavy black hair that went down to the middle of her back and had dark purple highlights running through it. She wore a pink off the shoulder shirt that showed her flat, tan stomach. She also had on light blue jeans and pink shoes that pointed upwards. He barely noticed that all the other kids were wearing jeans and T-shirts too.
He had been staring for so long that the girl got an uncomfortable look in her eyes. Wow! Her eyes were gorgeous. They were big and deep purple. She had a button nose and full lips that were naturally pink by the looks of it.
It wasn’t until then that San realized that he had been staring. He blushed deeper then he had before and was sure that Rade was now giving him a dirty look.
After another awkward silence San managed to choke out
“Hi I’m San.”
“We know who you are.” The girl said.
Then she flashed him the most amazing smile he had ever seen. He went weak in the knees and forgot why he had come here in the first place, oh yeah. Now he remembered, he needed to know how he had gotten on the island and why he was there.
“Um, how do you know who I am?” San questioned.
“Have you been introduced to my friends, yet?” She asked, avoiding his question entirely.
“Yeah, yeah, we already did that.” Rade said.
“You were supposed to wait for me.” The girl said in an irritated tone.
“We were going to but since you decided to take your sweet time we went on without you.”
“Well if you had brought the scroll like I asked then I wouldn’t have had to go back and get it.”
“Well if you would’ve given us more time then we would have been prepared!”
“Guys, guys stop fighting!” Belanie cried out. “Yeah! And what’s this we stuff? I didn’t even talk.” Kraz added.
“Um this is weird and I want to go home.” San said, interrupting their argument. “Well you can’t go home, not now and not ever!” Rade exclaimed.










CHAPTER 3
Can’t go home

“What do you mean I can’t go home?!” San asked in a worried tone. “He didn’t mean it like that.” Said the girl. Then she shot Rade a dirty look. What is with these people and dirty looks? San wondered to himself. “By the way, I’m Anelina” The girl told him. Actually, now she wasn’t the girl, now she was Anelina. What a pretty name San thought to himself. “What he meant is that you can’t go home, yet.” Anelina told him. “What do you mean I can’t go home yet? I can go home anytime I want, can’t I?” San asked. “Not in Calmore you can’t.” Rade said. “And even if you could, how would you leave. You can only leave and visit through the portals, and you aren’t a royal.”
“What’s a royal?” San asked. It seemed like he was always asking questions in this weird place. “And where is Calmore?” “A royal is someone of royal blood.” Kraz said. “And Calmore is our home. It is a place that only exists if you believe in it.” Anelina added. “Wait, what do you mean if you believe? This isn’t something like, if you believe then you can do anything, is it?” San asked. “No.” Anelina said with a smile. He liked her smile. “Calmore exists wether you like it or not. If you believe it’s real, then you can find it. If you don’t then you will never come here.” “But isn’t that impossible? You’re saying that if I believe then I can visit when ever I want? I didn’t even know about this place so how did I end up here?” San said. “He lives on a deserted island. How come he’s smart?” Rade asked. “I’m home schooled. There are obviously no public schools in the jungle. Even someone as stupid as you should know that.” “Hey, you want to fight geeky boy!” Rade threatened. He slowly advanced towards San while rolling up his sleeves.
San was scared but he didn’t say so. He’d rather get beaten up then chicken out in front of Anelina. “Stop it you two! No one is going to fight anyone.” Anelina yelled. Good thing too. She just saved San from getting a black eye or a broken bone.
“What’s the matter? You don’t want me to break your new boyfriend.” Rade said in a mocking voice. “Get over yourself Rade. Stop trying to act all tough. Everyone knows that you’re just a big fake.” Anelina shouted, practically busting San’s eardrum since he was standing right next to her. He moved a little bit to the side while watching the verbal fight that was brewing. “Oh, you mean the same people that know how you really became princess know that I’m a big fake!” Rade said with a sneer. Anelina turned ghostly pale and then bright red. “How could you say something like that!?” She said, on the verge of tears. She abruptly turned left and ran out of the clearing and into the jungle like there was no tomorrow.
Rade looked happy and then San thought he looked like he wanted to run and tell Anelina that he was sorry. He must have sensed someone staring at him because he picked up his eyes and looked at San with resentment. Rade then turned and ran the opposite way that Anelina had.
“Ah not again.” Kraz complained. “What was that all about, and aren’t we going to go look for them?” San asked, not knowing any better. “Nah, they’ll be alright. They just need time to cool down.” Belany said. “Why were they fighting?” San questioned. “They fight all the time.” Kraz said with a sigh.
“But why?”
“Well it’s kind of a long story.”
“I’ve got the time.”
“Come to think of it, no one knows why they always fight. Except for Andlie.” Kraz said. “Hey, that’s right. No one else knows.” Belany put in.
“Well if you really want to hear it I guess I can tell you. And you too.” She said, while turning to Kraz and Belany. “On one condition.” She told them in a serious voice. “You can’t let Anelina or Rade know that I told you. And I will only tell you if we walk to the palace at the same time.” “That’s right.” Belany exclaimed “The meeting is being held today and we need to be there on time.” “Wait, what meeting?” San asked. “Do you want to hear the story or what the meeting is about?” Andlie asked in a playful voice. “Actually I want to know how I got here and why I’m here.” San said. It was suddenly deathly quiet. The three kids looked at each other and then they looked back at San. “We can’t tell you.” Andlie said. Her tone serious again. “Only the princess is allowed.” “Well who is the princess? Can I talk to her?” San asked, dumbfounded. “You already met her.” Belany said. “Yeah, and you were drooling all over her.” Kraz added with a smirk on his face. “Oh, Anelina’s the princess. Wait, I wasn’t drooling over her!” San defended himself, but his blushing face gave him away. “Um, anyway, let’s get back to the story. And let’s start walking.” Andlie said quickly. “Okay. How far away is the palace?” San asked. “Don’t worry; we’ll be there in time for Dect.” Belany said. “Wait what’s Dect?” “Can you please stop asking so many questions? I’m only going to answer one.” Andlie said in a cranky tone. “Well sorry!” San said in a tone that equally matched hers. “I’m sorry San. I’ve got a lot on my mind. Soon you will to.” She apologized.
“Wait what do you mean I will to?”
“San, what did I say about questions? Now do you want to hear the story of Anelina and Rade or not?” Andlie asked. “Sorry Andlie. This is just so much to take in.”
“If you think this is a lot, wait till after the meeting.” Rade put in. “Huh?” San muttered, for fear that Andlie would tell him something about to many questions again. When he looked at her he realized that he didn’t have anything to worry about it because she wasn’t even paying attention. He could mainly tell she was in La La land because she almost stepped on a bunny that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She stumbled and fell backwards. If San hadn’t been walking behind her she would’ve fallen on her back. Instead she landed in his open arms. She quickly stood up and muttered an apology. San noticed that she was blushing the whole time.













CHAPTER 4
Journey to a new place

“Here’s how it goes.” Andlie started. “Last year you could tell that Anelina and Rade liked each other. They always flirted but they never told each other how they felt.” Andlie paused. She had seen San get sad when she said that Rade and Anelina had really liked each other. She should have known it. Every guy that met Anelina fell head over heels in love. Andlie shouldn’t have expected San to be different. But he had been so nice to her in the past, why was it so different now. Andlie suddenly realized that everyone was staring at her and that they had stopped walking. “What? What did I do?” She asked in a surprised tone. “Nothing.” San said. “We were just scared that you would step on another helpless bunny.” Andlie blushed and noticed that San looked at the ground. “I’m sorry. I was just thinking.” She said. “Is it the same thing you were thinking about when you fell into San’s arms?” Rade asked with a grin. She rolled her eyes and started walking again, completely ignoring Kraz. Everyone was silent as Andlie argued in her mind. Should she tell the real story or change it. Her truthful side lost as she decided to change it.
She just couldn’t stand to see San sad, that’s how much she liked him. If Anelina had asked though, she would’ve said that she didn’t want to betray her trust. “Anyway,” she said, starting the story and the walking again, “One day me and Anelina were in the forest of mirrors picking herbs. We were talking and Anelina said that she didn’t like Rade that much anymore. She never told him that, she just gradually stopped talking to him. That’s why he doesn’t like her anymore. He said that she shouldn’t have ended their friendship and not give him any reason. And that’s it.” Andlie said. That wasn’t that far from the truth. The real story was that they had been picking herbs in the forest of mirrors. And they were talking about Anelina and Rade. Anelina was asking Andlie if she thought that Rade liked her. Of course Andlie said yes and it wasn’t because she was one of Anelina’s best friends. Even a complete idiot could tell that Rade was in love with her. When they thought that they had enough they headed back to the castle. Anelina saw Rade in one of the windows looking out; she was just about to wave to him when our other friend Yulissa came into view. Anelina slowly lowered her hand. While we watched, Yulissa pressed her lips against Rade’s then the curtain moved back into place and they could see no more. Anelina just stood there in shock. She took off into the castle and didn’t come out of her room for 3 days straight. The only one she let in was Andlie. She cried the whole time and Andlie was there for her. When she finally came out of her room she wouldn’t say a word to either of them. Yulissa must’ve figured out what was wrong because after a few days of the cold shoulder she packed her bags and left. No one had seen her since. Unfortunately for Rade, he didn’t have a clue to why Anelina was mad at him. The last part of the story was also true. Rade didn’t know why Anelina had ended their friendship so fast without even explaining it to him. That’s why he was mad. “That’s it. That’s the story.” Andlie broke out of her thoughts to say. “Are you sure that’s the whole story?” Kraz asked suspiciously. He looked kind of doubtful. “That’s all I know. Unless you’re hiding something.” Andlie countered. She had meant it to sound playful but it must’ve come out different because Kraz’s next reply was paranoid and suspicious. “Of course I don’t know anything, why would you say that? Who have you been talking to?” “Calm down Kraz! No one said anything. Why are you so weird?” Belany exclaimed. “Sorry. Sorry. There’s been a lot going on and I think its driving me crazy.” “It’s all right, we understand. We’ve all been feeling the pressure.” Belany said with a forgiving smile. “Come on, We don’t want to be late for the meeting. Especially since were bringing the guest of honor.” Andlie said. “Wait, who’s the guest of honor?” San questioned. “You of course.” Belany said in a voice that was full of honesty. “San don’t even ask why you’re the guest of honor. The truth is, we don’t know either.” Andlie said. San closed his mouth because he was just about to ask her that exact question. “Wow, this place is amazing!” San said, and he wasn’t just saying that to change the subject. This place really was unbelievable. The trees formed a canopy that shaded them from the boiling hot sun. The ground was covered with soft green moss and the whole place smelled like pine. The coolest thing was the leaves of the trees. They weren’t leaves at all, they were mirrors! “Whoa!” San exclaimed. “Yeah, there amazing aren’t they.” Andlie said. “The cool part is that they show you if a plant is poisonous or not. If a plant is poisonous then it shows up red in the mirrors, if it’s okay it shows up green.” She said. Man, talking to her was like talking to a dictionary, she knew everything. “Are we almost there?” “Yes. Just a couple more minuets.” Kraz said, answering Sans question. “Good, because I am worn out. How long did we walk, half a mile?” San asked. “What? Of course not! We walked for six miles.” Andlie exclaimed.
“How is that possible? We’ve only been walking for like, 12 minuets.”
“Time is different in Calmore.”
“How is it different, exactly?”
“Well, the thing is, we don’t know.”
“How come ya’ll don’t know anything about where you live?”
“San, I’m tired. Can you save your questions for later please?”
“Okay, sure.”
They continued walking in silence, until San spotted a clearing up ahead. Belany walked ahead and stopped when she came to the edge of the forest. Turning around she threw her arms above her head like a Vegas show girl and said
“Welcome to Calmore!”