SmartGirl Internette presents...

Ellie, Alice, and Molly, Carsol, Cardreg, and Zafron all stood and watched in terror. “Isn’t there anything we can do?!” the girls screamed.

“There is one thing, but it’s kind of extreme,” Cardreg replied, yelling against the noise from Earth.

“Well?” they asked.

“Like I said before, we can’t go across the border… but you can,” he said.

“But I thought we could only enter and exit during the Annual Rain,” said Ellie.

“There is an exception. If we can get Gaze to accept it, you can cross. But you can’t come back… ever,” said Cardreg, barely audible over the wind and Grogians. So many emotions were whirling inside of the three girls’ heads right then. They had grown so close to Lilia and everyone in it. But just when they would start to get attached to it, they would miss their old lives and families. There was something about Lilia that they loved, but there were so many people in their world that they loved, too. They couldn’t abandon everything they had ever known.

“Well, I guess we better get to praying,” Molly said. Carsol, Cardreg, and Zafron bowed down to the ground. The girls had no idea what they were supposed to do, so they just watched silently. Suddenly, Lilia began to shake. He trees, the ground, the water; even the sky was shaking. What happened next was hard to believe. They looked up to the sky waiting for a sign from Gaze. Then… the sky split. As if someone had just carved it with a knife, it split, and everything went dark. But a new light was shining through the crack, and a Holfman was lowering to the ground.

“Queens of Lilia and Sons of Earth, I am Maya. I was the ruler of Lilia and I have received your request,” Maya spoke. Carsol, Cardreg, Zafron, Ellie, Molly, and Alice all stood in wonder and awe. The Lilians had all gathered to watch their great leader of the sky speak to them. “You Queens have showed great talent and power in your reign. If you wish to leave Lilia and defend Earth, you may, but…” she paused.

“But what?” the girls asked.

“You must take the Sons of Earth with you. Earth needs them and Earth needs you,” Maya responded. By now, the other Lilians had figured out that the boys were from Earth and they were whispering and mumbling to each other.

“We will go,” the six said.

Maya spread her paws over the Queens and Sons and bowed her head. “My companions of Gaze,” she paused again, looking at the Lilians that were surrounding here, “and of Lilia, I ask that you accept our plea to allow these brave warriors to cross; to defend their land as we have defended ours for so many generations.” Lilia began to shake again. The sky was closing back up. “You may now pass, but I shall return to Gaze to see that you do,” Maya said. She started back up toward the closing sky. The sunlight began to return to Lilia and the light from the cracked sky receded.

Suddenly the sky stopped, only partially closed. Maya whipped around to face the Lilians. “What is going on?” she yelled angrily.

“A war…” said a dark voice. It sent chills through the girls and the triplets.

“I recognize his voice,” Molly said.

“Felix,” whispered Ellie.

“… and it is a war that you will surely lose! Earth is being torn apart by its very seams, and you can never stop me!” he laughed. Ellie glared at Felix, trying to gain control of his mind. He glared back, and Ellie developed a blank stare, collapsing to the ground.

“Ellie!” Carsol cried, and he ran to her side. She sat up and shook her head.

“I can’t use my powers on him,” she said, confused.

“None of you can, individually… but maybe together you can,” Cardreg said.

The Lilians seemed to be getting bored with all the meetings they'd been having lately. Ukah, a Holfman about the same age as the triplets, stood up on the table. "You know," he said, "I'm beginning to think that there's nothing wrong at all--that it's all just those humans trying to cause trouble!" Ellie stepped over to where he was standing. She looked him in the eye.

"Really?" she asked sarcastically. Suddenly Ukah's eyes turned completely white, his pupils disappearing. "What's happening?" Ellie asked, scared. Ukah's figure spoke the same words. The other two girls and the three guys ran over to her. Ellie shook her head and Ukah's pupils reappeared as he collapsed on the ground.

 

"It's the Magic of Gaze," Vincent said. "Everyone in Lilia develops a special power, and it appears that yours is the ability to control anything with your mind."

Molly and Alice looked angry. "What about us?" they asked, crossing their arms. Cardreg lashed out at Molly. She quickly became... not invisible, but transparent, allowing Cardreg's arm to glide through her. "Found mine!" Molly said, smiling. Alice looked even more annoyed.

Ellie sniffed. "Does anyone smell..." she sniffed again, "smoke?" she asked. Alice looked down at her feet. The floor had turned black and sparks started shooting out from her feet.

"Alice, chill!" Zafron said, using his power to control water to extinguish the flames.

"OK, well that's interesting," Alice said.

"Lilians!" Guardia said, "Please focus on the..." Guardia's eyes turned white. "I'm going to shut up now," she finished. Vincent looked at Ellie. Ellie was staring hard at Guardia.

"Ellie!" admonished Vincent. Ellie jumped and released her focus from Guardia.

"You cannot abuse these powers!" Guardia exclaimed. Ellie hung her head.

"Sorry," she muttered.


The meeting went fairly quickly. Vincent assigned more patrols and told the three girls and three boys to check the border of Grog and the border of Earth. They set out to the Earth border first. "So if the border is right around there, why can't we just walk through it? asked Molly.

"Because," Cardreg explained, "Earth's atmosphere is different than Lilia's and Grog's. We wouldn't survive." They stopped in their tracks. The Earth border was right in front of them, but something was terribly wrong. There were objects flying back and forth on the other side, and trees were being uprooted. Alice saw her parents trying to walk in the street.

"Mom!  Dad!" she cried.

"They can't hear you. You never existed!" Zafron yelled over the roaring wind.

"What's going on?!" Ellie and Molly screamed together.

"Something is messing up the natural balance," Carsol said. A gray shape moved in front of the border. Then another. Then dozens were walking up and down the street, terrorizing animals and the people, too.

"Grog Grog invaded Earth!" they all cried!

     When the girls turned, they couldn't believe their eyes. Their attacker was... a human! He fired a shot at Alice, but she dove to the ground and he missed. They could tell he was armed with a gun, knife, and bow and arrows. The man pulled out his knife and ran toward them. Carsol, Cardreg, and Zafron leaped from behind the girls and kicked down the man's arm. "Who are you?" demanded Cardreg, "and how did you get in here?!"
     "My name is Ronald. And yours is Dead!" he snickered, throwing his knife at Carsol's chest. Ellie jumped, grabbing the knife in the air and hurling it back at Ronald. The knife grazed his arm, causing him to clutch it and wipe the blood away. He pursed his lips and yelled.
     Ronald pulled his gun back out and began randomly firing. The six ran at him and attacked. Just as they reached him, he shot his gun again. The bullet flew past Molly's head and broke the chain on the gate. The bridge flew down, revealing the Army of Lilia, with Vincent leading the way. He raised his large paw and bellowed, "Army of Lilia, ATTACK!"
     The soldiers rushed forward and seized Ronald, but not without losing two Holfmans. Hayshire pulled out his sword and killed Ronald with a swift stab to the chest. Ronald muttered, "R - O - G - G..." and fell dead. The soldiers stayed behind to pick up the dead Holfmans while the three girls and three boys headed to their rooms in the castle, exhausted and understandably shocked.
     In the morning, Guardia and Vincent called another meeting. Everyone was sore from the battle and silent at the meeting. "Thank you, People of Lilia, for attending this meeting. I want to thank our Queens and their--I suppose you could say... 'Kings'--for helping us defeat the killer. He has been executed. We are now trying to figure out how he got in to Lilia," he said.
     Guardia spoke next. "We have identified the five Holfmans that were killed yesterday as Nanu, Fale, Ciate, Adat, and Jeckle. This has been an unfortunate loss, but a great victory. These five served Lilia well and have earned a special place in Gaze. They will not be forgotten!" A few sniffles were heard around the table.
     "What we have to worry about are Ronald's last letters, Alice," said Vincent. Alice stood.
     "Ronald obviously entered Lilia during the Annual Rain. Do you recognize  him from your neighborhood?" Vincent asked. Alice thought hard.
     "Actually, I do!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed. "He came and cut the grass around some of my neighbors' houses," she explained.
     "He must have followed you in," said Guardia.
     "Great," said Molly. "So it's our fault!"
     "How can it be our fault? We didn't even mean to find Lilia!" argued Ellie. The three broke out in argument.
     "Enough!" shouted Vincent. The girls quieted down. "Just think about the letters. Everyone is dismissed," he said. The trio of girls and the trio of boys walked outside. The girls followed the guys around to the moat surrounding the castle.

     "What did we come back here for?" asked Ellie.
     "It's time to clean the gate and feed the moat creatures," Carsol explained. The girls eyed each other with questions in their eyes. Carsol, Cardreg, and Zafron jumped into the water.
     "We're humans, remember?" Alice pointed out. "We can't breathe under water.
     "Yes you can," urged Zafron. "Just try it." The girls held their breath anyway, and leaped into the water. After a few minutes of sitting in the water while the boys laughed, the girls finally gave in and ... surprisingly, the water was just like air, but fresher, clearer, and somehow relaxing to breathe.
     Suddenly, Ellie noticed something creeping out from behind a rock. It was green and about the size of a small dog. It looked sort of like something out of a fantasy tale, sort of like a...
     "Is that a... goblin?" Ellie asked. Carsol laughed.
     "Not a goblin! A goblit. Completely different species." Carsol smiled. "Goblins will eat you alive if you're not careful, but goblits are harmless!"
     "Wow! I had no idea," Ellie said.
     "In fact," Cardreg added, "Goblits are the reason we can breathe underwater. They breathe in water, and when they exhale, they release a type of magic that allows us to breathe."
     Molly noticed that the Goblit was swimming toward them. "Why is it coming this way?" she asked nervously.
     "I'm not sure," Cardreg replied. "They don't usually interact with us that much." The goblit stopped right in front of them, reaching out with its boney arm, and looking behind at the castle.
     "What's he pointing at?" Alice asked.
     "It looks like --" Zafron started.
     "Grog," interrupted a new voice behind them. They whipped around to see Vincent swimming toward them.
     "What are you doing here?" asked Carsol.
     "I was coming to help feed the moat creatures, but then I noticed you all with the goblit," he said. "I've never seen one interact with a Holfman before," he added.
     "Neither have I," said Cardreg. His two brothers nodded.
     "Something is messing with all three of our worlds, and we need to figure out what!" said Vincent, pounding his fist. The girls nodded. Time for another meeting.

 

 

Don't we all just want a little place to go and escape? Somewhere where no one can find you and you can't hear the voices of truth? Admit it. You know and wish you could have a place like that. If you search hard enough you can.

        "It's too cold to swim," said Ellie.
        "I know. I wish there was something else we could do," said Alice and Molly.
        "Do you remember when we built that fort in the woods that went back into the gully?" asked Molly to Ellie.
        "Um...no. I think that was Matt," she replied.
        "Oh yeah."
        "But we did build that tepee in your woods!" said Ellie.
        "Omigod yeah!" Molly exclaimed.
        "Hey, I have an idea," said Alice. "We could go build a tepee in my back yard!"
        "Yeah!" they all agreed.
        "Let's go into the woods behind my house," said Alice. So they put on their hiking boots and set out into the great unknown of Alice's backyard.
        They hadn't gone too far when they could hear music. "What the heck is that?" asked Molly.
        "It's the neighbors. We're pretty close to their house," replied Alice.
        "There aren't any good sticks to build a tepee with," sighed Molly and Ellie.
        "Hey, I know a great place. It's behind the drains down the street. Ya'll want to go?" asked Alice hopefully. They both agreed so they started down the street.
         They were passing an intersection in the neighborhood when Molly looked down the street. "Hey ya'll! Look at that. There's a perfect gap in the trees. Let's go!" Ellie and Alice looked to where she was pointing and they took off down the street, running as fast as they could with heavy boots on. Molly, Ellie, and Alice walked through the gap and into the forest. The trees were thin and tall but there was little space between them. They couldn't see any houses or hear any neighbors. The three girls walked a little ways before stopping to look around.
        "Hey, what's that over there?" asked Ellie. "I think it's a lake or pond." Alice and Molly widened their eyes and they started weaving through the trees as fast as they could. They could see the water clearly now and stopped to gaze in amazement. In front of them was a small lake surrounded by trees and tall grass. It was beautiful. Molly walked down closer to the water.
        "Look at the edge of the water," she said pointing.
        "Lily pads!" exclaimed Alice.
        "And tons of them!" added Ellie. Ellie looked up. "Wow. Now, that's cool," she said. In the very center of the lake was a small island, overgrown with trees and bushes.
        "This is so amazing. I can't believe we found it," said Molly.
        "We can't tell anyone about this. It's our place," said Alice seriously.
        "Well, our place needs a name," suggested Ellie.
        "Something original; something neat," said Alice. Ellie snapped her fingers.
        "I got it! See all the lily pads? We can call it Lilia!" she said.
        "Yeah! That's great!" the two other girls said.
        "We should go explore the rest of Lilia!" suggested Molly.
        "OK."
        "Then we can come back and build our fort," said Alice.
        "Oh yeah," said Ellie."The island in the middle of the lake can be the center of Lilia. It'll be called...Little Island."
        "OK, that'll work."
         The trio marched on through the thick grass. "We probably shouldn't go too far. The grass is too tall to see anything under it, like snakes," said Alice carefully checking where she stepped.
        "Yeah. We--whoa. Check that out," pointed Molly. "It's a paddle boat! Someone must know this place is here."
        "But look closer," said Alice.
        "The bottom of the paddle boat is wooden. They don't make wooden paddle boats anymore," pointed out Ellie.
        "We could get to the island!" said Molly happily.
        "Um, not a good idea. We have no idea if it can float or not," Alice replied.
        "Yeah. Darn."
         They started walking back to where they had decided to build the fort.
        "Listen," whispered Ellie cupping her hand to her ear. Alice and Molly stopped and listened. The wind picked up and made the leaves of the trees rustle against each other. "This place was meant for us," said Ellie. The girls walked back to the place where all the lily pads were and started bringing broken trees against a tree to start their tepee. They used really long branches so all three of them could fit inside the fort.
        "We can use that cleared area by the lake for Lilia meetings," said Alice.
        "Sure," replied Molly and Ellie. They had gotten about half way done with the outside of their tepee when they heard a crack of thunder and the rain started to poor down.
        "Great! We didn't even finish. It'll get blown down in the storm," sighed the girls
        They ran through the forest, the rain soaking their clothes. "There's the small tree we passed the first time." All three could see the edge of the forest up ahead as the rain got heavier.
        "Finally. We're th- what happened?" asked Ellie. Instead of coming out into Alice's neighborhood, they were in a grassy clearing lined with wooden and mud huts.
        "My house! And all the other houses! Where'd they go!?" exclaimed Alice. Molly stood gaping at the huts.
        "I have a feeling that Lilia wasn't as make-believe as we thought," said a stunned Alice. Just then the doors of the huts began to open. They watched as the inhabitants stepped out into the slightly decreasing rain. Though their sizes and shapes were slightly different, all the creatures looked about the same. They had long legs that looked like horse legs. Their feet looked like paws with very long claws, just like their hands. They had the body of a wolf and the head and face of a human. The male creatures wore pants down to their knees and vests. The female creatures wore skirts down to their knees and long-sleeved shirts.
          "Whoa. Those are definitely not my neighbors," said Alice shaking her head. By now the rain had let up and the sun was shining through the trees.
        "I wonder if they're friendly," said Ellie.
        "I think we're fixing to find out. They're coming this way," replied Molly. The Lilians made they're way down to the edge of the clearing where the trio stood. The largest of the Lilians stepped out of the crowd and approached the girls.
        "Greetings. We are the inhabitants of Lilia. We are called Holfmans and we would like to welcome you to Lilia. How may we be of assistance?" asked the Holfman.
        "Um, well yeah see, the thing is," started Molly. Ellie finished for her.
        "When we came to the Lake this area was Alice's neighborhood where humans lived. Then when it started to rain we came back but we found ya'll. Where did our town go?" The Holfmans glanced at each other and laughed.
        "What's so funny?" asked Alice.
        "Once you come into Lilia, there's no way to get out. You three are the first humans to find Lilia. And just in time. We needed a leader," spoke the Lilian.
        "OK, stop and rewind. Leaders?" asked Alice.
        "Yes, indeed. We could sense you three when you came in to Lilia today. And we knew you were the ones who would lead us to thrive in this land."
        "We don't belong here. We're not even teenagers yet. We have families at home!" cried Molly.
        "They don't know you're gone. They don't know who you are. When you left your world it was as if you never existed," said large Holfman.
         The girls were more confused than ever. "But how?" asked Ellie.
        "You don't need to know. All you do need to know is that this is your home now and you have a destiny to fulfill. Come with me," he said.       
        "Before we follow you and 'fulfill our destiny' can you at least tell us you name?" asked Ellie.
        "My name is Felix. These are my sons, Carsol, Cardreg, and Zafron. And last my wife Gardia. Now you must come with me, Ellie, Alice, and Molly."
        "How do you know our names?" asked Alice.
        "I told you. We've been waiting for you," Felix said.