THE OTHER WORLD
CHAPTER 2: LANDING IN THE OTHER WORLD
A sucking sensation had gripped the four teens, as they were sucked in through the portal. They felt as if being sucked in through a tunnel. Suddenly, they landed, on a pavement, not too gracefully. Stumbling, they held onto each other for standing straight.
"Owww! My head hurts so bad. My head is spinning. What on earth was THAT?", Fred exclaimed, groaning.
Molly was looking around the whole surroundings, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
"Are we dead? Is this heaven? If it is, then what are you doing in heaven Fred?", Alice said. "Hey, what rubbish are you talking about? You are supposed to be my sister", Fred accused, giving her a glare.
"Yes, and you are supposed to rot in hell", Alice shot back, smiling like an angel.
"Oi! Is this the time?! Grow up, you two", George said, frowning at them, irritatated by their immature fights.
"SHUT IT!", Molly yelled, making them jump in surprise.
"Oh! My poor heart! Mollyyyyy.... Don't be so loud. You'll give me a heart attack", Fred said, feigning a pained face, clutching his chest. One of Molly's legendary death glare shut him up.
"Here we are, stuck at this weird place, with absolutely no idea of how to go back home, and all you three can do is childish fights!!!", Molly admonished them.
"Don't you blame ME Molly! I did nothing", George said indignantly, looking at her with challenging eyes.
"What are you doing right now, George?", Molly asked in a fake tired voice, raising her eyebrows. George's face flushed red in embarrassment. "Ok, so, what exactly IS this place? Where are we?", George wondered out loud, looking around himself.
They were trapped in, it seemed, a dark tunnel. Walking forward, Fred stumbled, and was about to fall down, George held his arm.
"What's that, over there? Can't even see anything properly. It's so dark, in here", George commented. Looking down, Molly exclaimed happily, "Oh look! This is a railway track". "But... Wait. A railway track? A RAILWAY track? A railway TRACK?!", Molly shrieked, her eyes widening to the size of saucers.
"Yes Molly, that's a RAILWAY TRACK. We are perfectly capable of hearing that, at once", George said, shaking his head and sighing dramatically.
The four proceeded forward, trying to find their way out of the tunnel. They all maintained a cool calm and patient exterior. But inside, they were perspiring in anxiety. Nervous anticipation was building up inside them. After crossing the longest short journey that they had ever experienced, they finally reached outside the tunnel. They didn't know, where they had expected to find themselves. Maybe it was a dark dingy place; or maybe they had expected a fairytale scenario; or maybe an ultramodern, robotic city. But where they found themselves, was not something they had imagined. They saw a very common town railway station.
Only, it was eerily quiet and the whole station was vacant. No one was seemingly present, except, perhaps only themselves. Anxious and panicked, Molly tightly gripped Fred's shoulder, to the point of being rather painful. Alice was looking around in wonder and George was keenly observing the surroundings, with a frown upon his face.
"This train is quite......uhh.... nice... I think", Alice said, laughing awkwardly and pointing to the only train, present at the station. A rather neat and clean one, looking like a steam train.
"Yeah....nice....very nice indeed", George commented, solemnly nodding his head.
The four looked at each other, in utter confusion. There was a long moment of silence. "Now, what are we supposed to do exactly?", Fred asked, breaking the uneasy silence, looking specifically at Molly.
"PLEASE, Fred! For God's sake, DO NOT look at me. I am at my wit's end", Molly cried out hysterically, wringing her hands in despair.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps approaching towards them. Very fast. It was the first time that day, that the panicked, worried state of their minds were visible clearly on their faces.
"Hey!", they heard someone greet them from behind, in a frustratingly jovial and cheerful voice. Molly's face went white. Fred, in nervousness, had tightened his fist so tight, that his knuckles were almost white. George had tightly shut his eyes closed and Alice was feeling numb. They slowly turned around to face whatever ordeal, that they had to.
Turning around, they came face-to-face with a kind-faced man, smiling sympathetically at them. He had several scars across his face and his eyes had a tired look in them. Yet, his presence did not scare them away. Rather, they strangely felt their anxiety ebbing away.
"Welcome visitors!", he excitedly greeted all of a sudden, rather loudly, making them all snap their heads to look at him weirdly. But it seemed he was unfazed, as he continued, in a disapproving voice, shaking his head, "These days, the lessening number of visitors, disappoints me greatly. Thank God, we've got some new people".
To them, he said, in a friendly jovial voice, "Welcome to Charlington Station!!".
To say, that they were confused, would be a great understatement. They were bewildered and stood utterly confused. A collective gasp and a chorused shout of "WHAT??!!", was heard, echoing through the station.
"There's nothing to be so panicked. Please calm down. Here, take this bar of chocolate. It will help you calm down", the man said, forwarding a bar of chocolate towards them.
"Nothing to be so panicked about??!! NOTHING TO BE SO PANICKED?!! We were peacefully cleaning the attic of our Grandma's home. Then suddenly we find that...that...that wretched Latin book. And now we are HERE...HERE, at this place. Now YOU come and add to our confusion by saying that THIS place is Charlington Station, which it is certainly NOT. And you say, don't panic?! And you are offering chocolates to us?!! CHOCOLATES?! Do you not have any shame in you?! If not panic, what are we supposed to do? Dance around in joy?", Molly finished, breathing heavily, glaring fiercely at the frightened man.
"Err... Molly, let's be patient, shall we?", George asked in a small voice, looking at Molly, giving her a small uneasy smile.
"Yes yes...be patient. Some chocolate helps calm down your system, you know", said the man.
Molly's face grew redder in anger. Before she could proceed to tear him apart, limb to limb, Alice hurriedly asked their chocolate loving acquaintance, to introduce himself and explain where they were and how they ended up there.
"Oh yes! How silly of me. I should probably introduce myself first", said the chocolate man--... oops... the station man. "Realised soon enough...", George muttered to himself, crossing his arms.
"I'm John Abott, the caretaker of Charlington Station. And before you interrupt me, let me tell you, that you are, right now, in a world that exists beyond your world, and separate from your world. Whatever places, cities and towns, you have there, exist here, as well. Only, that this other world has people who are magical, i.e., they have magical abilities. The only city that we have, which your world doesn't, is Tinworth Highland. That's the best place here and that's where this train will be taking you to. That's the best place for visitors", John calmly explained, a wide grin plastered on his face.
Stunned to the core, the four teens stood rooted to their spots. Breaking the eerie silence, John asked, "Chocolate anyone?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Notes(A/N):(1) Here's the second chapter of THE OTHER WORLD. Hoping to receive a positive response from my lovely readers. Drop in your most valuable comments. Do give your suggestions and opinions.
(2) So, readers, what do you think, will happen next?😉... Are the teens going to trust Mr. John Abott and get onto the train or not?
How are you liking the characters of Fred, Alice, George and Molly? Do you like John Abott? Isn't he and his chocolate obsession adorable?😁... Which is the character to which you can relate to, the most?😉... For me, it's Molly😅...
Love you loads💙💛...
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