Tiny Tale #03 – The lost castle!

Breathless and tired, they pushed themselves for the last few meters. Mike and Jammy, had set out on the trek from the bottom of the hill this afternoon. They were warned by the local villagers against attempting it. “Nobody ever came back,” they had said. They considered the mountain sacred and home to the Gods. But despite their best attempts, the adventurous duo had ignored them. After all, the trek didn’t look that difficult from below, and this wasn’t their first time either.

Panting and puffing, Mike spoke, “I guess we are almost there.”

“The villagers have no idea how beautiful this is! Stuck in their old superstitions,” Sighed Jammy.

As they walked a few more steps, the thick bushes gave way to a clearing with stone cobbled pathways. They did not believe what they saw. The sun was just setting down in the clear sky, but the moon was already up. Mike quickly ruffled through some papers from his pocket and pulled out a map. He tried hard but was baffled. “There should be nothing here! There’s nothing on the map!!”

“I didn’t see anything from below! How could this be! It’s majestic!!”

“But,” Mike was still puzzled, “How did we not know!” He took out his cell phone to see if he check his GPS. “There is no network.”

Jammy’s stare was still glued to the site he saw. It was a majestic castle. The cobbled pathways led to the entrance that was built on a bridge over a creek. The fortified stone walls were tall and magnificent. The roofs were reflecting the purple and orange hue of the sky. Drawn by its beauty, both of them walked towards it. Exploring all of its beauty, they stepped on the stoned entry. The path was blocked with broken stones and barbed wire. Mike held Jammy’s shoulder and stopped. “Let’s go in,” said Jammy as he shook off Mike’s hand.

They negotiated the obstacle in front of them and now stood below the large wooden door. Jammy pushed the door open and stepped inside. Mike looked around nervously and followed his friend into the darkness. Slowly the wooden door closed behind them. There was movement inside the windows above. And suddenly, as if on cue, the sun went down completely, the evening turned dark as dark clouds filled the sky. The cloud cover thickened and slowly swallowed the moon. A thick fog built up ever so slowly. The bridge at the entrance slowly faded into the earth. Soon the walls of the castle were lost in the mist. The roof looked smoky. In a few seconds, the fog cleared, and along with it, the castle disappeared too, leaving behind only the thorny bushes, the dry creek, and a clear dark sky. The moon was shining bright!

(466 words)

Author’s Note:
This post was written in response to Sadje’s What Do You See prompt #35. The challenge is to use the picture prompt as inspiration to compose an original story, poem, or a caption. Thank you Sadje for hosting this challenge.

Image courtesy: Pixabay- Ariadne-a-mazed

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