1 The Discovery

Malorn sat on his porch watching the night sky enjoying the cool air on his skin. He sipped at his iced tea and thought back, back to his childhood and better times. He thought of his siblings and how they used to tease him when he would talk about the bridge.

He smiled a soft yet sad smile as he thought of those days. Days spent playing on the bridge, days spent with the others. While he would talk endlessly of his times with them, of the games they would play and yet no one believed him. Always they would talk about what a wonderful imagination he had. often encouraged to write stories and become a famous writer. so he did. he wrote of the bridge and of the others across the bridge.

He wrote of the marvels and the games. Always he would be exacting in all the details, the names always so specific and yet no one ever believed it was all real. No one that is but his best friend and constant companion Bellis. Bellis didn't believe Malorn at first either. He teased him about the others and they way he described them. But one day Malorn, tired of the jokes, took Bellis to the bridge.

It was old and rickety. a wooden bridge built many decades before their parents had even been born. Bellis saw nothing special about the bridge other then it looked old and dangerous and that made him want to run through it. Bellis loved danger and was always doing risky things and more often then not getting hurt. He had recently fallen from his tree house while trying to make his own zip line. his arm was still in a cast and itched endlessly it seemed.

Bellis ran to the bridge intending to race across it before he fell through but as he got closer to the bridge he slowed and stopped. A feeling of concern and foreboding filling his mind. For the first time he was truly scared. Malorn walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. The fear began to fade and was soon replaced with a sense of curiosity and wonder. The once old and crumbling bridge now looked new and strong.

Turning to look at Malorn, Bellis wanted to ask, wanted to know but he couldn't find the words. Malorn just smiled at him and nodded as if hearing the question in his mind. Together they stepped forward onto the white boards of the bridge that looked new and strong. Together they crossed the bridge and stepped into another world. The world of the others.

The skies of this new place were bright but no sun could be seen in the sky. It was as if the land itself radiated with light. Bellis rubbed his eyes against the sights unable to believe what he was seeing. Malorn removed his hand from Bellis shoulder and started to move off to a familiar destination. A place had spent hours and even days without ever feeling as though he had seen it all. Bellis stood dumbfounded for just a moment longer before he started after Malorn.

Moving along the soft ground but never really feeling the land beneath him as he did so. He tried not to give it any thought. He just followed Malorn for what seemed mere minutes and yet when he looked back ti the bridge he couldn't see it anymore. Feeling anxious once again he started to ask the question but Malorn once more responded as if he had heard the question in his mind.

"It's still there. we have simply traveled too far to see it from here."

Lost and utterly confused he just stared at his friend for a moment before his eyes caught sight of the forest before him. Trees as tall as skyscrapers with trunks as big as a house rose up before him. colors of the rainbow but in hues and shades not seen before and certainly not of an earthly nature.

Malorn walked up to one of the trees and placed a hand on the smooth trunk. He could feel the familiar hum of which he had come to know as the rhythm of life here. Bellis looked on in awe as the tree seemed to split and open as if a door that not been there before opened before his eyes. Malorn smiled as the tree welcomed him once again. Waving for Bellis to follow him he stepped into the pitch black doorway of the trees opening. Bellis followed without thought his heart pounding with fear. A moment of disorientation washed over him and just as quickly it was gone. They now stood inside a very large domed building that Bellis would have described as belonging in a palace. Malorn was seated in a very large and high backed chair that seemed to be growing out of the floor. Bellis watched jaw hanging open as a second large high backed chair did that very thing. roots and vines began to sprout from the floor. Moving with grace and speed they twisted and grew forming a seat, legs and arms of a very lavish looking throne like seat. In a matter of moments it was finished. Nearly identical to Malorns chair with the only difference being the color.

While Malorn sat in a dark rich green chair with small flowers adorning the top where as Bellis chair was a deep plum in color with large red roses adorning the top of the back. He had no words to describe the way he felt at that moment but then none were needed as Malorn had felt that way too so long ago. Bellis sat in what had to be the most comfortable seat he had ever known. feeling so small in this magnificent place he said nothing but continued to stare and wonder. Hours passed and they did not notice. They did not hunger or thirst they had no need to relieve themselves of the normal bodily functions.

They sat and they watched and they listened. two very tall creatures resembling humans but clearly not had come into the room and were performing a show of grace and magnificence the likes of which no human could ever hope to match. Their bodies twisted and contorted into shapes and forms with a fluid like movement. one moment they were nearly eight feet tall with lanky limbs that seemed impossible and then they would shimmer and change becoming something new. Something beautiful and yet slightly terrifying. Creatures and plants, objects and even words as their bodies flowed and changed. When it was over they simply faded away as if they were never really there and Bellis wondered if they ever were.

It was time to leave now and Malorn guided his friend to another door within the place. He opened it and on the other side was the bridge. No black passage this time as they stepped through and onto the bridge itself. Just a few steps and they were home again. the bridge once more old and rickety a clear and obvious danger to attempt to cross. This time Bellis did speak and spoke softly as he did so.

"What the hell was that?"

With a small yet audible laugh Malorn looked at his friend and said simply. "I told you so." Bellis laughed this time. Laughed so hard he nearly fell over. Once he had regained his composure they took off for home. it wasn't until they reached the fork in the road that would take them to their respective homes that Bellis realized the sun was still high in the sky and his stomach was growling with hunger. He knew he just knew they had been gone for at least four to five hours but the sun was still just coming up on noon. This simply wasn't possible!

Malorn just smiled and said once again. "I told you so" and off he went to lunch and his afternoon chores.

A sip of his tea and he smiled at those long ago memories. Too long ago he thought. He also hadn't thought about Bellis in many years. Not since high school. He wondered now how his friend was doing. He wondered if he ever thought about the other place or if he had forgotten it. That was common for those who visited there. They often forgot about it within a few days. Bellis hadn't forgotten as he visited often with Malorn. Malorn had never forgotten though it had been so many years since had visited.

He often wondered if he could go back now. Go back as a man to the place of childhood wonder. Would the doorway still open to him? He simply did not know and yet he wondered. About the other place, about Bellis, about his love long since passed away. He sat and he wondered.