I was sitting outside by a tree finishing up the rest of one of my favorite book series, when this peculiar brown speckled toad hopped out from what seemed like nowhere. It just sat there and stared at me, odd enough it seemed to be trying to tell me something. Realizing that I was being silly and that it was getting late, I packed up and walked the narrow trail home. As soon as I walked in the door I got the same instructions and questions that I get lectured on almost every day. “Kelsey, did you take the dogs out?” “Feed the fish!” “Did you do your homework yet?” “Make sure the cat gets fed!” Of course my little sister sticks me with it all, but never the less I do it without complaint. Some days though I wish I could go to another world. Once I was done daydreaming I put the dogs away and got ready for bed.



Today I’m excited because it’s the start of my summer break, though it feels like fall. Having finished my chores and having nothing else to do I headed back the trail that leads to our forest to start my next book. I settled down in my same spot when a toad leaped out from behind the bushes and landed right in front of me. Almost sure that it was the same toad I saw the other day I got up and went to investigate. Sure enough he was the same one. It was rather odd that he stayed near the exact same place. Rather than pestering him anymore I started back to my spot. When suddenly a bright light shone and blinded me, I clumsily stumbled to the ground. I heard a strange voice.

“Hello?”

“Who’s there?” I replied.

“My name is Jameson.” said the voice.

Finally I could see, and directly in front of me was a tall, thin boy with the darkest brown hair and eyes that I had ever seen. He wore dark brown slacks and a tan shirt. After I finished studying him I replied.

“Where did you come from?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Try me.” I replied.

“I come from another place called Limerick which exists in the distant future.” said Jameson.

“Why are you here then?” I asked confused.

“I have been sent here on a mission by the rebellion who call themselves P.R.I.D.E.”

“What mission?”

“A very important one, the fate of my world depends on it. I have come to find the chosen person who is to help me complete my task.”

“How are you going to know who the chosen person is?” I asked.

“ They will have the amulet of the golden heart, which was what my transportation device was locating. It sent me to this very spot a days time ago.”

“ I was here yesterday too, why didn’t I see you before?”

“ I was disguised as a small woodland creature.”

“The toad!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, the toad.” “I have very little time here and I have to…..” “ Your necklace!” “Did you have that on yesterday when I was here?”

“Yes, I never take it off.”

“You have the golden heart, you are the chosen one!” exclaimed Jameson.

“What? Oh no, you must be mistaken! My great grandma gave me this and her grandma before that gave it to her.” I exclaimed.

“I could never mistake the amulet. It was one of our cities most treasured items.”

“ I couldn’t help you save your world. I’m just a regular girl.”
“You may think that, but the amulet doesn’t just get passed around, it chooses you.”

“What do I have to do?”

“ You need to come with me.”

“What about my family?”

“You will see them again, don’t worry. You may go for an hour, but meet me back here no later, our time is running out!

Before I could say anymore he had turned back into the little toad. I hurried back the path home. As soon as I walked in the door I told my mom that I was going to a summer camp and that I had forgotten to tell her sooner. She seemed suspicious, but I paid her no mind, I needed to hurry. I raced up the stairs, grabbed a backpack, filled it with a few sets of clothes and our the door I went. I was late so I ran back the path and there stood Jameson.



“You’re late!” He yelled.

“ I know, I’m sorry it took me longer than I thought to give my mom an explanation that she would believe.” I replied.

“Ok enough chatting. Are you ready to go?”

“As far as I know, let’s go.”

“Alright but you might want to hold on to me.”

“Umm….”

“Lets go!”

Suddenly there was a bright light and it felt like I was spinning. Finally, I came back to my senses. It was probably the oddest place I had ever seen. Yet, it was beautiful. We were in a meadow with all the signs of fall. The sun was slowly setting.

“Welcome to Limerick.” said Jameson.

“It’s beautiful.” I replied in awe.

“Yeah, it’s something alright.”

“So where to now?” I asked.

“To the hideout.”

“Where exactly is that?”

“You know you sure do ask an awful lot of questions.”

“Yeah I get that alot. I can’t help it I’m just a bit curious.”

“Ah yes, I can tell.” he said.

While we were talking we had been walking toward the hideout. We had been walking for some time and I had noticed that our surroundings had changed quite a bit. Everything seemed so dark now.

“We’re here!”

“What’s here?” I asked.

“The hideout, of course.”

“Where’s the door?”

We were stopped in front of a fairly broad tree.

“Just wait.”

He first pulled a branch, knocked in a certain sequence multiple time, then the tree parted revealing a straight down tunnel with a ladder going down it. We climbed down and at the bottom it split into multiple chambers.

“Everyone, I’m back.” called out Jameson.

After he said that I heard a variety of different voices saying. “He’s back!” “Hey wake up, he’s back.” Suddenly there was a little crowd of kids and a couple of adults. They all stared at me very curiously.

“Everyone, this is Kelsey.”
“Hello.” I said nervously.

“We can’t stay long so we must get packed.”

There was a chorus of “bye and already?” He led me into one of the chambers. Then he opened a little door and pulled out an old dusty book.

“According to this book we must find three items to take the evil king down.” Jameson said.

“King?”“Is that why I’m here?” I asked.

“Yeah, you see he’s evil, he plays with dark magic and uses it against all the helpless citizens.”

“Alright, what do we need to find and where?” I asked determined.

“I’ve been studying and researching this for a long time. We need to find three items. The first item is a goblet, it’s somewhere in time, along with the other two items. We have to transport through time to find each one.”

“Ok, where are we going first?”

“1750, let’s go!”

Time traveling was almost the same as when I had traveled to Limerick with Jameson, the light and the spinning, except this time I held onto Jameson. We had finally landed, much softer than the last time. We were indeed in a different time, there was a war raging and we were in the middle of it.

“We need to find the goblet and quick because it’s starting to pour!” Jameson exclaimed.

“Ah, it’s flooding. Wait, I see the goblet.”


“Where ?” asked Jameson.

“There, in the emperor’s tent!” I yelled.

We trudged through the rapidly rising water.

“There it is!” I exclaimed.

“Are you sure?” Jameson asked.

“Yes, let’s grab it and get out of here.”

“Ok.”

Jameson grabbed the goblet and we struggled through the large lake that used to be dry land. Within seconds we were back in the chamber, safe but soaked.

“Well that was fairly easy.” I said.

“Yes, fairly, that rain seemed to come from out of nowhere.” said Jameson.

“Yeah that was strange.”

“Ok, let’s get cleaned up there is a bathroom in the hall that you can use. I’ll get changed and set the time machine for our next destination.”

“Ok, thanks.”

I went down the hall to the bathroom and took a quick shower and put on some dry clothes. When I walked into the chamber Jameson was studying the goblet.

“Kelsey, may I see your amulet for a moment?”

“Sure.” I said a bit confused.

I took my necklace off and handed it to him.He placed it in the design on the side of the cup, where it fit perfectly. Suddenly the cup started glowing a brilliant blue. When it stopped glowing the design was imprinted all around the goblet.

“Why did it do that?” I asked.

“I’m not sure myself. Never mind that. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, but what are we looking for?”

“A sword. Let’s go.” said Jameson.

We were off again. Once I regained my sight, I saw that we were on a cliff that was surrounded by large mountains with lots of brush and trees, but not many animals.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We are near an ancient temple.The sword should be in that cave.”

Jameson pointed to the cave that was opposite the cliffs edge. It was warm and pleasant outside unlike our last trip. It felt like summer.

“Are you coming?” Jameson asked.

“Oh, yeah.” I replied.

I was so lost in admiration of my surroundings that I had forgotten why I was even there. We walked into the cave, it was cold, damp and erie. I felt as if someone or something was watching us.

“Where do you think the sword is?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but I almost think that the amulet will help us find it.” he replied.

As soon as he said that the heart on my necklace lit up bright blue.

“See, I was right!” exclaimed Jameson.

“Partially, we still need to find the sword.” I said.

“Yeah.”

We spent about ten minutes just surveying the cave and trying to spot what we were looking for. Finally, Jameson found something.

“Look here!” yelled Jameson in excitement.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It looks exactly like the imprint that was on the goblet. Here put the amulet in it.”

I put the amulet in the imprint and it lit up, but this time it was different. I felt heat seeping through my hand. The light got really bright and then disappeared as fast as it appeared. There was still an odd tingling sensation in my hand. I looked down and in my hand I held the sword. Suddenly we heard a noise, it sounded like a stalking creature. It was huffing and puffing. I could barely see, given we had no light. The creature was coming near, we needed to get out of here and fast.

“Jameson?” I whispered.

“Yeah Kelsey.” he replied.

“Please tell me you have a plan now”

“Not at the moment, just be real quiet, we need to get out of here. Start walking towards the entrance of the cave slowly and quietly.” “We must not let the creature know where we are.”

I started moving backwards when. “CRACK” I had stepped on a twig. The angry beast came crashing towards us. We took off running towards the mouth of the cave. The closer we got the smaller the mouth was getting. We picked up speed. We had to make it out. Just as we jumped through the small opening falling to the ground we looked back to see the beast stick his large furry arm out the opening. He bellowed and stalked back to his resting place.

“That was close.” said Jameson out of breath.

“ I agree, let’s get back to Limerick.” I said shaken.

Once we got back to Limerick Jameson took out the sword and studied it. He looked up curiously and said. “What’s that on your hand.”

I looked down and studied it for a moment, then it hit me. When I put my necklace in the imprint back at the cave it must have left the emblem on my hand.

“ I must have gotten it when I put the amulet in the imprint.” I replied.

“Oh, I see, the amulet must be claiming you as the chosen one.” Here let me see the amulet so that I can place it in the swords imprint.”

I handed the it to him and then I admired the emblem on my hand. The bright light shone again when Jameson placed the golden heart in the swords handle. The imprint had multiplied up the swords blade and magnificent blue jewels were in each one.

“Now that we have found these two items, I’m sure you are tired. We shall rest for the night and research the third item tomorrow.” said Jameson.

“Sounds good to me.” I replied.

“Great, I’ll show you to your chamber.”

He led me down the long hall and stopped at the door on the very end of the hall.

“I hope that this room suits you.”

He opened the door to a spacious chamber. It was decorated in the most exotic way. It was almost like I was in the rainforest.

“Thank you, it’s more than satisfactory.”

“Good night Kelsey.” Jameson said as he kissed my hand.

“Good night Jameson.” I replied smiling.



The next morning I got up energized, anxious to get the third item. I got dressed in a hurry and headed down the long hall to Jameson’s chamber. I opened the door to find Jameson pacing back and forth with the large, old, dusty book in his hands, mumbling to himself

“Good morning.” I said.

Jameson jumped. “Oh, good morning.”

“You look worried, is everything ok?” I asked.

“I’ve looked and looked for where the third item might be.” I don’t even know what the third item is, let alone where to find it.” Jameson replied with a frown.

“I’m sure we’ll find it. It’s probably hidden where nobody would dare go or even think to look.”

“That’s it!” exclaimed Jameson

“What’s it, what are you talking about?” I asked confused.

“What you just said. If my hunch is right then I know where we are going next.”

“Where?” I asked not liking the feeling I was getting.

“ The place no one dares to go. Grab the goblet and the sword.”

“Ok.” I said hesitantly.

I grabbed both of the items that we had retrieved the previous day and we were off. Traveling was different this time. We weren’t spinning instead it just felt as if we were moving incredibly fast. We came to a stop in front of a large erie castle. From its appearance you could tell cruel things had been done there. It was dark and cold. There was a thick green slime growing up the side of the wall. There were remnants of carriages and toys scattered about. My skin began to crawl. There were goss bumps covering what felt like my entire body.

“Follow me, but stay low.” whispered Jameson.

“ In there? There must be another way to get third item.” I said hopeful.

“This is the only way if we want to retrieve the third item and save my world. Please Kelsey, I can’t do it without you.” begged Jameson.

I followed him reluctantly. He led us down toward the large moat surrounding the castle. He started to descend the ledge of the moat when he suddenly disappeared. Startled I jumped and ran toward the ledge where I saw Jameson standing on a piece of land that jutted out from the ledge. Slowly I descended down to where Jameson stood. When I reached his side he was looking around as if trying to find something. He found a large stone and lifted it up into the air. Like magic a piece of the ground slowly shifted revealing a dark passage. First, he hopped down then I followed. He seemed to know this place like the back of his hand. We didn’t walk for long when we came to a door covered with spider webs, you could tell it hadn’t been opened in quite sometime.. He cautiously pushed it opened. It swung open to reveal piles of treasure. I had never seen so much gold and jewels. Suddenly something caught my eye. It was glowing the same brilliant blue as the amulet. The amulet lifted from around my neck and floated through the air to meet the item which I recognized to be a crown. The amulet fit perfectly in the crown, it flashed its bright blue color. Finally, it descended and settled upon Jameson’s head.

“Me?” questioned Jameson in amazement.

Suddenly the doors on the opposite end of the room swung open with a loud bang.There stood the evil king. He was clothed in a dark black cape, the rest of his clothing was black as well. He had a scruffy beard, long shaggy hair and a long scar down the right side of his face. He was completed by an odd black crown with a jewel glowing bright red.

His voice boomed across the room. “Who dares defy me?”

“I do, along with the rebellion of P.R.I.D.E.!” yelled Jameson.

“Ah, I have been watching you, Jameson isn’t it? You must be pretty proud of yourself. You must remember you have no power what -so- ever and especially not over me.” mocked the king.

“We’ll see about that.” said Jameson under his breath.

Jameson and the evil king squared up preparing for battle. Suddenly all three of the items we had retrieved rose up into the air and flashed a bright light. When the light disappeared Jameson was wearing a full suit of armour which was gold with bright blue jewels lining it. The battle began, the clanging of swords echoed throughout the entire castle. I could tell that Jameson was tiring while the king showed no signs of slowing. His dark magic was feeding him. I needed to help Jameson and quick, but how? Then the emblem on my hand started glowing and I knew what I had to do. I ran across the room, not getting noticed by either of the sparing pair. I raised my hand and the kings crown flew off his head and right into my hand where it disappeared.

“Aaaah” the king screeched.

His power had left him. Just like that he started fading away. Yelling”What have you done to me?”

“I took away your harmful powers.” I replied.

By this time all that was left of the king was his dark cape. At that I moment I realized that Jameson had collapsed.




“Jameson! Jameson!” I yelled shaking him.

“Where am I? What happened?”

“ We are still in the palace, you collapsed.”

“Did we win?” asked Jameson.

“Yes, take a look outside.”

It was beautiful out. The sky was a bright blue, the grass was green, the birds had returned.

“Wow! it hasn’t been like this since I was little.” cried Jameson with excitement.

“Here come with me, it’s time for something special.” I said.

I led him down the palace hall and out onto the balcony where all of the citizens had gathered. Jameson caught on, he was to present himself as the new king of Limerick.

“People of Limerick, I am happy to announce that the evil king has been defeated.”

The crowd cheered.

“ With the approval of the people I shall take his place.” Without any hesitation the crowd once again erupted in cheers showing their approval.

“Come on Kelsey, let’s get you home.”

I nodded in approval. Jameson transported back to the hideout. I collected my things while Jameson told the rest of the rebellion that the king was defeated.






“Kelsey.” called Jameson.

“Yeah.” I replied.

He walked into my chamber and gave me hug. He took a step back and said. “ I just wanted to say thank you for everything. You did so much for me and the people of Limerick.”

“Oh, it was the least I could do, after all you did most of the work.”

“Yes, but none of it would have mattered if you hadn’t came.” replied Jameson.

“Well thank you for believing in me.”

“You are very welcome. Alright it’s time we got you home.”

I grabbed my stuff and he transported us back to the place we first met in my forest.




“Well I guess this is it.” said Jameson.

“I guess so, it was a great adventure.” I said with a smile. I took my necklace off and handed it to Jameson. “Here this belongs to you and the people of Limerick.”

“Oh no, you keep it. Whenever you want to come and visit just wish it, and you will come to the palace. I’ll see you in the future, just don’t forget me.” With saying that Jameson had disappeared. I looked down at my hand and noticed that the emblem had faded away. I headed home feeling better than ever knowing that I was always welcome in Limerick.