The Invisible World

"It was Shadrack's birthday," I complained to my mother, "and I went with Meshak and Koolaid to get her a toy car. Then," I paused for breath. "Koolaid went and told her."

Shadrack, her sisters Meshak and Abendego, and Koolaid were just four of the many inhabitants of the Invisible World--my own private world. I longed to go there, even in a dream, but, since it wasn't so realistic as Drumleman, that never happened. That doesn't mean there weren't a lot of people though. There were: Mr. Pumpkin, Rana, Jerry, Renee, Theresa, John, Hana, Mercedes, Emma, Trampolina, Marie, Jodie, Gregory...oh, and the silly blankets. We can't forget the silly blankets.

Shadrack, Meshak, and Abendego were three sisters. Shadrack was the oldest, my favorite, and in charge of things. Meshak was in the middle and often looked after Abendego. Abendego was the youngest and was just a big cutie. The silly blankets were their three constant companions.

Koolaid was inspired by the pictures on the Kool-Aide containers of a pitcher with a big smile on it.

Rana and Jerry were Mr. Pumpkin's kids. Mr. Pumpkin was the only Invisible World character that existed in bodily form--he was a little Hallowe'en basket that we kept and stuffed little toys in. I think he's still in storage.

I searched for the hole into the Invisible World. There is a hole outside our bright blue home on the Lagan that I thought was possibly the hole there. Do you know, I actually believed that if I could manage to shove my way through there I'd actually get there. The hole was about 4-6 inches in diameter, with a circumference of 12.57-18.85 inches (I cheated and used a calculator with 3.14 for pi). Whatever it was, it was too small to fit a little girl in it regardless. After a while I stopped searching for the hole into the Invisible World. I lost interest in my old friends...but not imaginary friends. That's how I came up with Renee and Theresa.

Renee and Theresa were a couple of a whole score--but those are the only names I can remember. I came up with them in fourth grade. And in fourth grade, I had to do these journal entries and illustrate them with nothing in particular. So I illustrated five friends doing about five different things to do when... "It's a Rainy Day" "It's a Sunny Day and You've Been Banished Outside" "The Whole Family Has To Go Down To Salem, Oregon For Thanksgiving and You're in the Glove Compartment" "It's Time to Decorate Grandma's" etc.

But after a while, I retreated to stories to keep the Invisible World alive. I still do that now, but here are the most memorable, stupid stories I wrote (and most of these with my dad).

John and Hana
Once upon a time, in a strange country called England (or something), the king had three sons, John, Juan, and Benjamen. He sent them out to get wives, and Juan and Benjamen came up with nobility, Nana and Skade respectively. John, on the other hand, the cuckoo one, was so discouraged that he ran into the woods, tripped up, and hit his head on a tree root where he lay unconcious, until Hana, a pretty young woman with no family, found him and bandaged him up. They end up getting married and rulling a country called Sweeden (yes, it's a different land spelled that way). Then they get lost in a computer game called Myst and the story went downhill from there.

Mercedes
Once upon a time, in Seville, an Italian noblewoman (named Juliet) and an Eithiopian princess (named Aida) show up mysteriously. They're out to protect a ne'er-do-well, Carmen, who works at the cigarette factory and is falling in love with Don Jose. Problem? Well, Don Jose is engaged to this village girl named Micaela and kind of goes crazy from there. That part is based on the opera Carmen. Juliet and Aida meet up with Mercedes and end up saving Carmen from getting killed and Don Jose and Micaela mend their broken relationship. But then, Juliet goes back to Italy, where she runs into a problem. She's a Capulet, you see, and the Capulets are fighting with the Monteagues. But Romeo Monteague sees her and the two fall in love. This time, Carmen and Aida and Mercedes rush to the rescue and save the couple from tragedy in a burial vault.

So Aida goes to Eithiopia, but in a couple years, she's a slave in Egypt and desparately needs help. Mercedes, Juliet, and Carmen, all come to the rescue. Aida is a slave to the cruel princess Amneris, and the two are both desparately in love with this soldier named Radames, who prefers Aida himself. Problem? Radames is fighting against the Eithiopians, and all of a sudden Aida's father (who was supposed to be dead) shows up and want her to betray him (this is based on the opera Aida). The couple ends up getting buried alive and prepares to die together...except that the crafty trio of two Spaniards and an Italian show up and dig this tunnel. Daddy thought it was cute, but looking back at it it makes no sense.

Emma
Once upon a time, in a little town in Austria, there lived a man, married for the second time, with three daughters, Emma, Marie, and Trampolina. He tells them all to seek their fortunes. So Emma goes by boat across the Atlantic to New York, then catches a train to Seattle. Marie goes to Japan and sails to Seattle. And Trampolina flies over the North Pole to Seattle. The sisters have a bunch of adventures in Seattle, but the cruelties of a deranged musician (a musician we made up, not anyone I've mentioned) force her to flee to Hungary to save her life. Now, in this fairy-tale world, Hungary is ruled by a handsome young king, Ivan. Ivan falls in love with multilingual, beautiful Emma and makes her his queen. Problem? Oh, yes. King Michal of Austria is at war with Hungary. When he gets wind that Hungary's queen is a native Austrian, he sends out two scouts in bear suits to catch her in a game of hide 'n' seek. Never trust talking bears. Anyway, they end up catching Ivan and Trampolina and Marie, as well as the new baby, Katrien. With the unexpected help of a "brainwashed" woman and her twin sister, they manage to escape.

Gregory and Jodie
Once upon a time there was beautiful princess named Kathleen who had an equally beautiful, if not more so, servant, Jodie. When she was of an age, Kathleen's father sends out a decree that whoever can fulfill three impossible tasks will have her hand in marriage. A young prince of Blackthorne, Gregory, comes and is assigned the first task--to find a missing mountain dulcimer. He doesn't know that Kathleen stole it, but Jodie does--and follows her concience to tell. The king is angry, but he tells her to assist Gregory in his remaining tasks because she's smart. Big mistake. As the pair finish a symphony together, they fall in love and are secretly married. Then they complete a last task, which was a trick. Just then, Gregory remembers that he was supposed to marry Kathleen. The king, however, takes the news of the marriage of Gregory and Jodie well--and tells Kathleen to marry count Blusseldorfff (yes, that is three "f"s on the end there).

Now, I've written so many stories that are getting better, that it's hard to do a good summary for them. Besides, I'm probably boring you. I'll close and post some poetry or something.
Saro