To: My siblings, Teresa, Thomas, Kathrine, and Leo.

2022

Once there was a boy named Basil, he never wanted much and was kind and humble. Basil had a strong imagination and was quite smart. But he was very shy. Basil used to be brave and not scared of anything. But after his dad went to war, his life changed entirely.

One day as he was walking down the market street he noticed a mouse, there were not many mice in Parelar so he was surprised about this. Another thing he noticed was that he seemed to be the  only human there, even the merchant’s seemed to have left their shacks behind them! Then he noticed that he and the mouse were not alone, there was a girl there who was about a year older than him. She had black hair and a violet dress.

“Hi!” she said “I’m Lavender!” Basil was too shy to answer. Lavender was a pretty, brave, and short girl who has a strong heart. (But she was quite a chatterbox) They waited a long time. Finally Basil answered “I’m Basil” “Well nice to meet you Basil!” but this time it was not Lavender who said this, It was the mouse! Lavender just stared at it and Basil almost screamed! 

“What’s the matter, you’ve never seen a talking mouse?” said the mouse, then Lavender got the courage to speak “I’m sorry we haven't, and by the way what is your name?” “Fidmeararaliguscarinoill” replied the mouse. “Could I call you Araligus?” asked Lavender. “Well if it’s the best you can do then that is my name.” Now Basil was feeling awkward but he did not know what to say to a mouse, so he said nothing.

On the other hand Lavender was starting to feel comfortable. She was asking questions like “How heavy does a crumb feel?” or “Do  humans like when you pass by?” Araligus answered most of the questions. Then Basil asked “How did you get to talk?” Araligus answered this question with a most unusual answer: “ I did not learn to speak your language, you learned to say mine.” and with this Basil and Lavender shrank to the size of mice. Then with a gust of wind they even looked like mice! But they still had the minds of a human and still talked like one.

“What did you do to us!” asked Basil (Who now was not as shy) “You underestimate a mouse!”said Araligus. Now they were quite scared. “What do we have to do to become a human again?” asked Lavender,   Araligus laughed, “You have to hold fire from a different world!” and with another gust of wind, he vanished. 

Chapter 2

Basil and Lavender were still puzzled and didn't know what to do. They also were sad, worried, distressed, and a little angry, because it was almost like having to start life all over again. Or if a really good friend of yours stopped speaking to you. Soon enough Basil and Lavender went hungry, they found a few crumbs that made a decent snack for a mouse.

Then they scampered around seeing everything like it was before but bigger. As they were doing this they saw something that was more amazing than anything they had ever seen! It was a door that had more colors than you can ever think of, each unique in it’s own way. Even more amazing, this door was attached no wall, it was floating in mid air!