Check+This+Out!+(Book+Club+Reviewing)

So, this can be a place where our original works can be posted, and we can review them, as readers, as the Book Club!

~Nichelle

**Just Another Ordinary Quest**
We could have said that it all started on a dark, stormy night, a very long time ago, but that wouldn’t have been quite entirely true. It actually happened on a bright sunny day, not so very long ago. If we could flash back upon this unexpectedly eventful event, we would see an ordinary looking girl, siting on an ordinary looking boulder, in an ordinary looking meadow, talking to an ordinary looking crow, who was sitting on an ordinary looking stump, not far from the ordinary looking boulder in the ordinary looking meadow, looking ordinary. According to any ordinary reader, this book would be looking, rather, seeming quite boring. But you know what they say: Things are not always as they seem.

The girl had been sitting there for hours. Well, it had seemed like hours, but perhaps it was minutes, or seconds, or maybe even flaps, the unit of time used by the buck-belly trolls of the Aroo Mountains. But all she knew was that he was late. And How did she know this, when she didn’t even know the “he” she was speaking of? Because, how else are you late to a prophesied meeting you were told about ten years in advance, and every year since? By not showing up at the appointed time, that’s how! She had come and was waiting for the other child in the prophecy to show. She had been “the child of stone”: According to this prophecy, it was up to her, and “the child of a darkened sky” to save their people and the entire realm. The girl pondered this as she sat, waiting for the other half of a dynamic duo that seemed straight from a fairy tale, when a crow alighted the stump not five feet in front of her. Then, it opened its beak and squawked out “ My, aren’t you here early!” The girl looked up. “Did you just talk?” “Why of course!” “But, YOU’RE A CROW!!!!!!!!!!!!” “Yes.......” “................” “What’s your name?” asked the crow. “Why should I tell a talking crow?” “Um....... Are you the child of stone?” “Who’s asking?” “The child of a darkened sky.” “YOU’RE MY PROPHETIC PARTNER?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” “ The one, the only, the extraordinary, magically gifted, protective warrior, of the crow people --- Stan!!” She raised an eyebrow. “Stan? Really?” “Yes.” “Pretty anti-climatic, huh?” “Yeah. My brother’s name is Damian. Naming mistake. We’re only a year apart, and our parents heard the prophecy before either of us were born.” Stan looked uncomfortable when mentioning is elder brother. Well, as uncomfortable as a crow can look. He ruffled his feathers then shook them out, and looked to the girl. “So are you the child of stone, and if so, what’s your name?” “Yes I’m the child of stone. My name’s Soraya.” “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Soraya.” “Trust me, the pleasure’s all yours,” “Well, I guess we should start out on our world saving quest.” “After you, partner.”

Several miles down the road, Stan the Crow had deemed that trekking in silence was completely and utterly boring, and he took up a rousing game of I Spy. “I spy, with my little eye, something. . . . . gray.” “Let me guess, AGAIN, it’s ANOTHER boulder?” “Yeah! You’re so good at this game!!!!” “No, you just never spy anything put boulders.” “Well, I spy, with my little eye, something. . . . . gray.” “ANOTHER boulder?” “No, a large stone wall.” Soraya looked up from her feet. About a mile down the road was the outer wall of a large city. Attempting to go around would take days off their journey. She looked at the wall. There was a large gate located at the end of the path. She sighed. there was really no choice but to get in the city before nightfall and find a place to stay. “Thank you, O mystical warrior of pointing out the obvious.” “You’re welcome.”

They were half way through the city, and looking for an inn, when Stan decided to open his beak again. “You know an awful lot about prophesied questing for this being you very first quest. . . “ “My foster family gave me many books about such quests to read for ‘research’.” “Oh. What do they say about talking animals?” “Avoid when possible. If they are your sidekick, be prepare for a lot of babbling induced headaches, and extreme annoyance.” “Ouch.” “You’re proving the books right, Stan.” “Fine then!” At that, Stan clamped his beak firmly shut and decided not to talk for the rest of the night.

They found a small inn nestled in between two larger buildings. Stan tried to see past the grime on the windows, and failed. So they went inside. The interior was brightly lit, with a large desk that had a couple fairly-large boxes that glowed and beeped on it. A man in strange looking clothes stood behind the desk looking quite bored. Soraya nervously walked up to the desk. “This is an inn, right?” The man looked down at her. “Yes, welcome to Mystic Bridges Inn. Are you interested in a room for the night?” “Yes we are,” said Soraya uncomfortably. “Why’s it called Mystic Bridges Inn?” asked Stan. “Because people from all dimensions and those with access to the space/time continuum can find this Inn. We have doors literally everywhere. But they all lead here.” “That’s. . . . SO AWESOMELY COOL!!!!!!!” “That’s enough Stan.”

With that the man pushed a lot of buttons on his box. It beeped and buzzed and glowed different colors. It gave one final sputtering, and stilled. It was then the man looked up. “You’re in room 13. Here’s your key, have a nice stay.”

All the way down the hall, Stan was shaking and muttering. And when they came to their door, he refused to go in. “What the hell is wrong with you?” “What would you say if I said that I have triskaidekaphobia?” “I would say ‘What in the world does that mean?’” “It means that I have an irrational fear of the number thirteen.” “Oh. I would say that you’re and idiot.” “You’re right, I don’t vote. But what does that have to do with my fear of thirteen?” “I meant moron.” “Oh, that’s mean.” “That’s the point.”

With much cajoling Stan did go into the room. But only after Soraya taped up a piece of paper on the door turning it from 13 to 130.

Later that night, as Soraya lay awake, the had a startling thought. This quest was going to be the beginning of the end of her sanity.