Chapter 3

SWAMP WORLD

Chandler and Holly came out from the glowing door and entered swamp world. It was covered in mud and sludge. It was night when they entered. The air was cool and the sky was black with a few tiny stars dotting the sky. They looked like small diamonds on velvet fabric pressed against the horizon. To Chandler, it seemed calm and quiet. He was eager to find more about this New World. Holly was aggravated that she was moved so quickly from such a wonderful world to such a desolate, empty wasteland as this. There were trees in the swamp with twisted branches entwined with one another. They had vines between them. "Probably for the gremlins", Chandler thought grimly. He suddenly heard a faint drone near a few overturned trees. It sounded as if something was rolling near them. Suddenly there was a flash of light. The drone was coming nearer…nearer... closer. The flash of light was getting brighter.

"Wait", Chandler thought. "It looks more like a glow. The glow of a life form!"

He worried that the life form might be hostile. He started to run through the swampy areas near the murky water toward the light. He was terrified of the risk he was taking yet it was a risk he had to take. He had to find a way out of this horrible place and a way back home.

The glow became brighter. Suddenly, the life form turned around abruptly. Chandler stopped dead in his tracks. It was something that looked like a glowing pumpkin! It started to roll near them, with an evil smirk on his face. It began to laugh and snicker in an eerie tone that sent chills down Chandler’s spine. The glow was even brighter, and the laugh was getting louder and even more evil. Holly hid behind Chandler shaking with fright.

Chandler heard a thumping behind him.

"THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!"

“Arggghhh!” he screamed. He had turned around only to see even more of the evil looking pumpkins, snickering and laughing at him. All of a sudden, a huge looking pumpkin (it was similar to the smaller pumpkins, but had a gruesome smile and razor-sharp teeth) came out from the mass of snickering pumpkins.

“WHA, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!” it cackled. Then, out from his gruesome smile came a huge, slimy tongue that had to be at least 10 feet long. It started to wrap around Chandler slowly. Chandler screamed at the top of his terrified lungs. Holly picked up a stick and started hitting the awful creature. The tongue moved back ever so slightly at the sound of Chandler’s scream. Chandler lunged out from under the tongue that was wrapping around him. The smaller pumpkins started to swarm around him. Chandler remembered the small gadgets that the Mayor had given him. He took out his small rope with a curved hook and latched it around one of the smaller pumpkins. He swung it around his head. The pumpkin had stopped laughing, but was still glowing. It glowed brighter and brighter. Chandler aimed the rope at the huge pumpkin and let go of the rope. The small pumpkin flew toward the large pumpkin. Suddenly, it exploded, and the huge pumpkin went with it, making a huge blast that incinerated the laughing pumpkins.

Chandler dived into the murky water. Even under the murky water, the sky seemed bright from the explosion.

Chandler climbed out of the water and sighed. Holly came out from behind the tree, shaking but safe. Out of nowhere, Tor appeared and said, "It's safe now!" Tor led the two children to a strange colored box that was suspended from a vine between two trees. They watched as Tor floated up to the box and pushed a little red button. A red beam of light engulfed them and sent them through a porthole to a new world.

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