Storytelling Week 11: Reality in the Skies

On a bright summer day at a family reunion a young boy stumbled upon an enormous tree; easily the largest tree the boy had ever seen in his entire life. Upon further inspection of the large tree, the boy discovered a whole in the trunk, just big enough for him to fit through. Without hesitation, the boy climbed inside to further explore this wonder of a tree.

After inside the trunk of the tree the boy say a ladder, the ladder went up as high as his eyes could see. Climbing the ladder for at least two hours, the boy had became exhausted but saw light seeping through the near exit above.

Exiting the top of the tree, the boy had entered wonderland. The ground was composed of the clouds he once looked up at, he was above them now. There was a forest in front of the boy, but the trees were made from what to appeared to be animal fur. This was not typical animal fur, but colorful patterned fur, almost artificial. The leaves of the trees were composed of what appeared to be the clouds he was also standing on. There were small creatures all around which he did not recognize.

What appeared to be a short troll approached the young boy and said, "Welcome, young boy. I see you have traveled quite a way to get here. Follow me please." Without hesitation the boy followed the troll until arriving at what looked like a large pillow; one for a giant to rest his head on. The troll lifted the pillow and leaped down into a hole the pillow was covering. The boy followed the troll down the deep dark hole and fell for what felt like eternity. Upon lightly being placed on the ground after falling down the hole beneath the pillow, the boy wiped his eyes in disbelief. He was right where he had started this journey previously.

Mysterious Clouds, Source

The boy enjoyed this place and explored it for what felt like days continuously going in circles and finding his way right where he had started each different time. After growing tired of walking the boy had sat down to take a rest between the roots of one of the fur/cloud trees. The second he had fallen asleep, the boy had awoke from his bed at home; his alarm clock was blaring loudly six inches away from his ear. It was time for class...

Authors Note
In the original story, a man in search of his love had fallen into a lake. When he fell in he realized he could breath underwater and eventually discovered a great village at the bottom of the lake. There a short fat man led him a great stone. The man was right in his own kitchen with his love, but she was frightened at his sight. He thought he had been gone for only hours when in fact it was actually over a month. I wanted to incorporate the same Twilight Zone/Alice in Wonderland feel to my story, but also have a solid twist in it as well. I made the land mysterious and interesting, but my twist may feel a little cliche. Though I have seen this same twist in other stories, I could not help but use it once in my writing also.

Bibliography 
This story was an adaptation of the original story entitled Owen Goes a-Whooing, written by W. Jenkyn Thomas in 1908.