Alejandro Mora of 4A has only recently arrived at BSCR. Judging by the first chapter of this fantasy series ‘Serenase,’ we are privileged to welcome a creative writer of unique talent. Prepare now, to enter his bizarre imagination.
Hello. My name is Lev, and, until recently, I had had a relatively normal life. I used to have a brother, a mother, and a dog, but that is all gone. Don’t feel sorry for me, though. While I may have lost some things, I have gained many, many more. I have a world of my own now. I have a place where I belong.
Let me explain further. I was born in December 23rd, 1959 in Moscow, Russia. Growing up in the sixties was interesting to say the least. At that time, the space race was going strong, and the U.S. had just detonated its first nuclear bomb. The Klu Klux Klan was killing African Americans in Alabama and the Hippie movement brought up a whole new batch of STDs. Yeah, definitely not the best times Earth had seen. But oh well, the USSR wasn’t so bad, at least not from my point of view. I had a pretty normal life, that is, before December 23rd, 1970: my 11th birthday. That’s when I discovered the best place ever. The amazing, incredible, fantastic world called Serenase.
Have you ever read Alice in Wonderland? Well, Serenase is like Wonderland. Only bigger, crazier, and way, way cooler (plus, there are no annoying queens or ugly food that makes you shrink or swell up like a balloon). Serenase is the best place in the whole world for a kid like me to have lived in. I could run around everywhere, use pretty much everything, and just do anything; I had nothing to worry about except for one tiny, tiny exception. No matter how many ice-cream scoops I gobbled from Sweets Valley, how many round, red, scrumptious bonbons I tasted, or how many French Fries I swallowed, I always had to get my daily dose of Fairy Dust. If I didn’t (and I don’t really understand why yet) I might disappear from Serenase. And that is truly my worst nightmare.
Fairy Dust was found inside the petals of this very strange flower that grew in the Plains of Need. The plant was beautiful; its small blossoms were light blue, and their petals made them look like stars fallen from the skies. The plains were full of them, and the Fairy Dust was not hard to get. You just had to touch the inside of the flower with your finger and lick the shimmering powder.
I had gotten used to eating fairy dust by now, because it was a routine for me, but for any of you out there that have never tried it and want to come to Serenase, I must tell you that it is not a pleasant process. Not for me, at least.
Very few people outside Serenase have dust. Don´t ask me how they get it, because I can’t answer that; from what I’ve been told by Serenatians, you can only get the dust from the Plains of Need, like I do, but for some reason these guys have it. They are called “hobos.” They wear old, muddy, stinky clothes and like to hang out at Moscow’s dark alleys.
I met my “hobo” one Friday, when I was coming home from school. I was running down the streets, singing a song about pigeons, when I heard him. I hadn’t noticed him at first; he was hidden in the shadows, and looked like the trash bags around him. He was coughing quietly, but I am a good listener. I stopped, and hesitated. Mom always told me not to talk to strangers, but I was so close to home I could just run away if something happened. I decided to ask the man what he was doing, because I had noticed something else: his greasy hand was holding a shiny white powder.
“What’s that?” I asked, getting a little closer. I saw the man move and heard him groan. He looked at me and smiled. His yellow-brown teeth were crooked, and many of them were missing.
“A newcomer!” he said, and tried to stand up but couldn’t. I was now so near him that I could see a couple of flies flying over his head.
“Is that ‘sshh’ dust?” I questioned, staring at the thing in his hand.
“Huh?” he replied, curving one eyebrow, visibly confused. I felt a little embarrassed, because I knew that wasn’t its name. I meant that dust that came with lollipops, the one that goes “sshh” on your mouth, but I couldn’t remember what they called it. The man raised his hand and, to my astonishment, stuck his nose into it and sniffed the bright particles. They didn’t “sshh.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking ‘bout, kid,” he said sleepily. He coughed again and suddenly seemed to have more energy, like when I get a sugar rush. “But whatever that is, I can assure you this is better. This, my friend, is Fairy Dust.”
He held his palm out for me to see. I was amazed. The Fairy Dust was so sparkly and pretty I wanted to take some. I did, and held a handful in my own palm. The man laughed.
“If you sniff it, the fairies will come and protect you from the horrible ogres that hide in mailboxes. They want to eat you.”
“There are no ogres in my-” I began to say, but the man stood up all of a sudden and covered my mouth with his other hand. His face was dead serious.
“That’s what you think, that’s what you think, but they’ll come out eventually. Unless the fairies are here to protect you,” he said, his yellow eyes wide open, staring at mine. He started smiling again, sniffed some more dust, and coughed. “You take that home and sniff it. You can also lick it, but the dragons will wake up and open a hole down there,” he told me, nodding and pointing at his belly button. I nodded with him and then ran home.
That night, in my room, I got out some dust from my backpack and looked down at it. I had hid it because if I showed it to my mom she would ask where I got it, and I would have to tell her I had talked to a stranger, so better not make her angry. I let some of the dust go down between my fingers and fall on my mattress. It shone with the streetlights that came through my window, making it look magical. I didn’t think there were ogres on my mailbox, but I wanted to try the dust. What was it really? I looked around me and, not knowing what to expect, I sniffed.
Nothing happened. I coughed, because my nose tickled from inside, but that was all. I got more dust from my backpack, much more this time, and got ready to sniff it. Then it hit me. I didn’t feel I was falling until my head hit the pillow. The impact did not hurt, of course, but I felt my brain would explode. My nose was burning, and I couldn’t open my eyes because the tears stung. My legs were moving violently, and my neck was rigid. I was holding the fairy dust tightly with my fist. My only reaction was to swallow it, and I did. A wave of calmness went over every corner of my body, and I felt I was floating. Then I felt grass on my back, and when I opened my eyes, I was laying on the Plains of Need, surrounded by blue flowers.
…And that’s how I got to Serenase. I will now share my story. I’ll tell you of my adventures, my journeys, and my experiences in this magical place. So grab a handful of Fairy Dust and meet me in Serenase.
