Mistica Chronicles


Welcome to Issue 2

Fox Winning Entry

He was lost. He had not heeded the warnings of his parents and had wandered into the dark forest, dead trees reaching out towards him with long, spindly claws, winding paths merging into one and unraveling again. It was pitch black save the waning moonlight that threatened to disappear behind the clouds.

He had almost given up hope when an eerie glow shone through the trees, beckoning him closer. He pushed through the branches, stumbling on roots and twigs until the glow became brighter. The glow of an abandoned carousel. Where the light was coming from, he didn't know.

It was old and decrepit, paint already faded and peeling, wood splintered and broken. The spiders had nestled itself in its crevices, spinning their elaborate webs and peering out with ghostly eyes at the newcomer. He knew he shouldn't be here, that he should just go. But, he stepped nearer, and nearer, reaching the carousel...and stepping onto it.

The wooden mannequins adorning the carousel seemed to breathe, eyes watching him as he stepped from one figure to another. A wooden tiger, a pig with one eye cut out...and a strange wooden horse, a pumpkin mask covering its face, faded orange and white mane seeming to move in the faint moonlight. He ran his hand alongside its neck, resting on the purple and green saddle that sat upon it. For a moment he hesitated...then slowly, carefully, reached his leg over it, and got on.

The horse turned its head toward him...and smiled.

He was about to leap off when it reared, shrilling wildly into the night, the carousel springing to life as the music started playing a haunting melody, the other animals roaring, squealing, screaming. The horse moved its legs faster and faster, the carousel copying its movements as it started turning quickly, rotating so fast he felt like he was about to fly off.

And the horse leaped off the carousel and ran into the night, carrying him with it. The horse ran frantically through the forest, tree branches scraping his face. Ghosts appeared beside him, cackling their cackles, smiling devilishly and trying to keep up with the wooden horse that was racing through the dark forest. They reached out for him, one finger touching his face, leaving a cold trail where it touched him. He pulled away, urging the horse on faster.

They moved onward, dashing from one path to the next until they reached the outskirts of the forest...to the cliff overlooking the sea. The horse never stopped, never slowed down. He stared out at the vast ocean and closed his eyes.

And the horse jumped.

He opened his eyes again, hugging the wooden horse, now inanimate in the same position as when he first got on, on the carousel that was still old, decrepit..and still. He got down slowly, the lanturn-masked horse still seeming to watch him, yet perfectly still.

He heard a voice. His brother had found him and was leading a search party closer to them.

"Jasper.." Gregory said, allowing Jasper to place him on his head. "I'm glad the wind carried me to you. What is this place?"

Jasper stared at the carousel, smiling his little smile.

"I've found my calling." He and his brother walked forward, covering their tracks so that none could follow them.

He had work to do.