By Abigail Kam
Emily and Alicia had always longed for an adventure of some sort. Then one day, they got their wish; but not in a way they’d expected....
"Emily! Emily! Let's go to the park!" squealed 8-year-old Alicia.
"Not now.....not now...It's too late at night," grumbled Emily, half asleep. She was actually five years older than Alicia, but due to her petite size, both of them were more like twin sisters.
"But no one will be there! We'll have the whole park to ourselves!" Alicia pleaded. She knew exactly how to convince her older sister.
Emily sat up and snickered, "Actually... that's not such a bad idea after all!" Her eyes lit up as more fun thoughts began to dance in her mind. Things that she could never have done when other kids were in the park during the day. Now, both she and Alicia could do as they pleased!
Not wanting to startle anyone else in the household, Emily opened the window just wide enough, and climbed out first. She landed dangerously close to Mama’s prized rose bush. Soon, her sister was squeezing through the window...”Ow!" Alicia winced, but managed to keep her voice low.
As they walked towards the park, they started thinking of all the exciting things that they could do together. They could not wait to get there!
Just then, a dark figure swept past them, making them freeze.
"W-who's that?" Emily gulped.
There was pin drop silence for a moment. The sisters kept on walking. The park was just a 10-minute walk from their home.
There it was again! That rustle of leaves. Weren't they the only ones there?
Once again, the sound disappeared into the night. "Hehe...it’s probably… just...the wind?"
Emily tried to assure herself and not look frightened, at least not in front of her little sister.
Alicia rolled her eyes. "As if,,,"
Suddenly, they were grabbed by…. SOMETHING!
Before they could do anything, they felt a hand over their mouths. They soon realised that they were being kidnapped! They tried to escape but the burly man held them tight and warned in a low voice “Be quiet!” They felt helpless!
Here they were, two LITTLE girls, kidnapped by an EVIL kidnapper, maybe TWO and it was MIDNIGHT!
And there was no way of shouting for help as the man had threatened to kill one of them if the other made any noise. They were immediately bundled up into a big gunny sack and thrown into a car waiting by the roadside.
Not unless....a miracle happened...
"Okay, okay, Emily, stay calm," Emily whispered to herself as the car engine started and they began to move.
"Being bounced around in a sack.....woah!....not fun!!" complained Alicia in the dark.
"Uggh! This sack is super-duper stinky!" Emily held her nose.
All of a sudden the car stopped,someone (or SOMETHING) yanked them out of the car and they felt as if they were sailing in the air for a bit and...WHOOSH!!! They were bounced and dropped to the floor like a bag of dirty laundry to be washed. It didn’t hurt much as the sack was thick enough, but they were much too frightened to move.
Perhaps the kidnappers had reached their destination.
Thoughts of what the kidnappers would do next kept them worried. “Are they going to sell us?” Alicia whispered. “Or, are they going to cut us into pieces to sell our organs?”
They had just enough air to breathe through a small hole; and when peeping through it, they could see nothing except pitch black darkness. They remained in the sack for a few hours, all this while, trying to figure out a way of escape.
Suddenly, there was a commotion; they could only hear some loud noises, but could not see anything.
Then, the dead silence. Just for a minute… followed by a slow ripping sound. The girls stared at each other, horrified.
The sack tore open and the girls found themselves gazing into the most dazzling set of jeweled eyes which belonged to a magical-looking creature that swished its beautiful tail! Its rose coloured talons were razor-sharp and the scales on its legs were golden yellow. It had feathers that were rainbow-coloured and---
"Wait…Scales?" Alicia squeaked.
Was it possibly...a dragon? They blinked at each other.
"This dragon saved us, Emily! It did, it really did!" Alicia squealed happily. The ‘dragon’ turned away and flew away into the sky-that-was-not-so-starry-anymore.
"It looked more like a phoenix. B-but…" Alicia stammered.
"It was gorgeous!!" Emily sighed.
"COCK- A- DOODLE- DOO!!!" the rooster crowed. "Gosh, is it the morning already??" Emily gasped.
At the first light of dawn, they climbed out of the huge sack. As they did, they could make out the two figures, like men lying down on the floor, probably dead. All they could think of was to get home and didn’t want to bother with anything else. They looked around for a familiar landmark.
It was handy that Emily could recognise where they were, she had followed her Mama here to get groceries before. It was not terribly far but would take them at least half an hour to walk home.
"Let's get back before Mama and Papa find us missing...!" Alicia pulled Emily away.
Strange Visit
They raced back home...climbed in through the window… straight into their beds! Emily dozed off immediately whilst Alicia was much too excited to even shut her eyes. She was looking up the pages of “The Big Book of Birds and Flying creatures” which their grandparents had gifted them for doing well at school. She wanted to find out what the creature that rescued them was...
"Hi Mama! Hi Papa!" Alicia chirped, when she heard her parents talking to each other.
“Why is Alicia so.....energetic?” Emily, thought to herself, with eyes barely opened. "Umm...hi Papa....hi Mama...?" The morning greeting sounded more like a question, as she was still trying to catch up on her sleep.
"You've changed into your play clothes! Great job!" Mama said.
"My! You're early today!" Papa smiled.
Both parents were pleasantly surprised that their children were finally able to get up from bed so early in the morning. Little did they know…
"Yup! Bright and early!!" Alicia beamed.
"A little too early," mumbled Emily.
"There's yummy breakfast this morning," their parents grinned. "Pancakes and maple syrup. Just the way you girls like it!"
"Oh...wow...thanks a lot!" The girls raced to the dining table. Emily almost stuffed her face, maple syrup running down her chin. She managed a half-smile in between mouthfuls. "Hehe...Deelicious!!"
“Yum!!" Alicia licked her lips.
They had a rather ordinary Saturday. That night, they tumbled into bed.
"Emily, Emily, look!!" Alicia called.
"Yeah. A tree." Emily grunted.
"Not that, over there!" Alicia pointed. "Could that be the same phoenix that rescued us?" She found a picture of a phoenix that looked exactly like it in the book that morning.
Emily gasped. The phoenix dove towards their window.
"Woah! Hi!" Alicia exclaimed. "Thank you for saving us, Madam Phoenix!"
Emily grinned. Alicia smiled back. With a graceful wing swoop and as bright as a moonlit star, it flew upwards and away.
The two sisters waved. "WE LOVE YOU MADAM PHOENIX!”