Elysia: The World in Children’s Dreams

Chapter 1

Courtney’s Life

Twelve-year-old Courtney dreaded the stirrings inside her. Soon, very soon, she would become a woman. When she does, Courtney would leave Elysia, the world of light, goodness, and beauty, never to return.

Just days earlier, she had been elected Queen of Elysia, alongside her beloved king. Courtney loved this world of her dreams and the people in it far more than her own world and its people, but the rules of Elysia made it very clear that she would soon have to leave. Only children and the creatures and people of Elysia could be there. Elysia did not allow adults from her world.

Courtney looked at her small, drab room and sighed. Her dolls sat in a corner along with her warrior princess outfit, sword, and shield. She spent countless hours playing with these toys, one moment giving tea to her dolls and the next fighting her friends as the warrior princess. While her real world life had become a much better place since she had visited Elysia every night, she still missed her earlier childhood when she and both her parents spent so much time together.

She lived in a happy world then, one filled with family parties, trips to the movies and parks, and just time spent quietly together. Then, anger and darkness came. Her father and mother suddenly lost their jobs, and the arguments started soon after. Her mom found work in another company, but her dad did not find a new job. Then one day, after a long argument, the police came and took her dad away. Courtney had seen him only once from afar since that terrible day. In her mind, she journeyed back to this time . . .

Courtney lay in her bed, waiting for sleep to come. Just a few months ago, Courtney had been able to fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When sleep finally came this night, Courtney found herself in front of an elaborate wrought iron gate with a large sign reading Elysia set amid the swirling pieces of iron. The sun shone very brightly, birds sang happily, and sweet flower smells escaped from the spaces between the iron bars of the fence. The place looked very much like illustrations in her books, but instead of being pictures on a page or the more fuzzy parts of the dreams she remembered, this place seemed very real to her, as real as the life she ordinarily led. Even in her eleven-year-old mind, Courtney knew this place could not exist, but nonetheless, she stood here.

After a short time, the gates to this magical world opened, and an odd-looking man emerged. Tall, mustached, and thin, the man wore a black tuxedo, green vest, pink frilly shirt, pink polka-dot bowtie, black top hat with a hole in one side, and very large orange shoes that flopped when he walked. He constantly moved, muttered, and stared at his watch. He looked very stressed and worried. Then, quite suddenly, he looked up with his yellow eyes and spoke to Courtney in an irritating nasal twang as if he had known her all of his life.

You are late, young lady. Our schedule is very precise. Courtney McGee is to be met at the gate at 8:59 p.m., not a moment sooner or later. By my watch, it is 9:00 p.m., way too late for our meeting. I have hundreds of children to meet today. It takes simply too long to file all the papers. They must be in triplicate, you know. No, I am sorry I cannot let you into Elysia. There is nothing that can be done. That is the rule. It is very important, you know.

That is very disappointing to me. I really wanted to see what it is like on the inside. Isn’t there a way for me to enter? There just has to be. By the way, what is your name? I don’t like talking to people if I don’t know their name. And for goodness sakes, why does your hat have a hole in it? Courtney said, walking up to the man and trying to speak in a way that the man would understand.

Well, maybe you can come inside after all. There are, of course, exceptions to the rules. Let me see. You had to be in bed by 8:50 p.m., which gave you exactly nine minutes to fall asleep. According to my chart, you were in bed at 8:30 but did not fall asleep until 9:00 p.m. Well, wouldn’t you know it; there is an exception for children who go to bed early. This changes everything. Please follow me inside. You must come quickly. I do not want to get any farther behind than I already am. By the way, I am Cedric. Oh, as to the hole, well, there is no money in the budget for a new hat or to fix this hat. I can tell you it is better to wear a hat with a hole than to wear no hat at all. That would never do. I mean, I have a bare spot on my head.

Well, that makes sense, Cedric, but I wouldn’t really mind if you had a bald spot. My dad has one. Anyway, thank you for letting me inside.

You are welcome, but please hurry.

Cedric waved Courtney forward and walked to the gate, which opened as he drew near. Courtney followed him inside. Courtney adored Elysia from the first moment. Everywhere she saw bright colors, fantastic creatures, candy mounds, amusement rides of every kind and shape, and thousands of laughing and smiling children of every race on earth running and playing with each other in the distance. Before Courtney could absorb all that she saw, Cedric grabbed Courtney’s arm and led her to a brightly colored building just to the right of the gate with Adult Questioner above the door.

Oh my, I am so late. All the alarms on my watch will start to go off. The next name on my list is already flashing on this piece of paper. The questioner has many questions for you. You must answer his questions before you can enter. I will leave you then. Cedric said, pushing Courtney toward the questioner’s door.

Before you go, Cedric, I have one question for you. Why are you wearing a green vest?

Well, that is obvious. Your name is McGee, an Irish name. Green is your color.

I do like green, but I am not sure it is my favorite color. I really like blue better because my eyes are blue. Do all kids have a color?

What a silly question. Do all kids have legs? Do all kids have arms and heads? Of course, all kids have a color. Now as I said before, I must leave. Just knock on the door. The questioner will let you inside. Cedric abruptly turned around and headed for the gate, but he tripped on his large shoes. He stumbled but did not fall and then walked hurriedly away without looking back.

Courtney gazed at Cedric for a while and then turned to study the elaborate door in front of her. The door, made of a dark wood with finely wrought iron hinges on the top and the bottom, loomed in front of Courtney. A very large knocker, with a face that looked almost real and with raised and deeply furrowed brows, wispy brown hair, and dark, sparkling eyes, immediately caught her attention. She could see small amounts of moisture form on the knocker’s lips and smelled the pungent odor of hairspray, which she assumed held his wispy hair in place. Thinking that she had to announce her presence, Courtney lifted the knocker and let it fall. To her surprise, the knocker spoke with a great deal of irritation.

What are you doing? My teeth are chattering. The knocker always does this to me. How would you like to be hit by a knocker on the chin? It isn’t pleasant, I can tell you that.

Taken aback a little by the mistake she had made, Courtney tried to make amends for knocking the knocker’s chin. I am sorry. Cedric told me to knock on the door. You are a knocker, so I used you to knock.

The knocker calmed a little after Courtney made her apology, but the knocker still spoke with some anger in his voice. Don’t you know anything? You knock on a door with your fist. You don’t abuse the poor person like me on the door. I may look like a knocker, but my name is Knockle.

Well, Knockle, Cedric told me I have to talk to the questioner before I can enter Elysia, so I knocked on his door, Courtney said as sweetly as possible. She liked this place already and did not want to make any enemies before she even entered it.

You didn’t have to knock me in the chin to do that. Did you even bother to try the door? It is always open. Just walk inside. The Adult Questioner is sitting behind his big desk, where he always sits.

The Adult Questioner, is he the same as the questioner?

Yes, Cedric doesn’t make the distinction, but he should. All kids are questioners. Adult questioners ask different kinds of questions. They want to know stuff about kids that kids don’t want to tell them. This is why an adult questioner is the right kind of person to ask your questions. We have many criteria for admission to Elysia. Only the Adult Questioner can tell whether you meet them or not.

Then I guess I will go inside and talk to the Adult Questioner, Courtney said, a little unsure of herself and still staring in wonder at the talking door knocker.

No one is stopping you.

Courtney walked inside to find the Adult Questioner where Knockle said he would be, in a big room with only a large desk in the middle. The same heavy dark wood as the one outside covered the walls. Another door lay behind the desk. The Adult Questioner looked very much like Knockle. He appeared to be very thin and had small frameless glasses and a dark suit with polished black shoes. He looked very severe and intimidating. Unlike Knockle, he had a mustache.

Walking up to the front of the Adult Questioner’s desk, Courtney spoke first without really thinking.

You look just like Knockle.

Of course, I do. Knockle is my knocker, after all. Why should he look like anyone else? The Adult Questioner pretended to be insulted by Courtney’s question.

I guess that makes sense. I think you are supposed to ask me questions, Courtney said, using her sweet voice. She noticed the Adult Questioner had even stronger-smelling hair tonic on his head than Knockle.

Yes, adult questions. Please sit down on that chair. It is my job to ask you every question on the paper in front of me, the Adult Questioner declared, adjusting his eyeglasses and grinding his teeth a little.

Those are the kinds of questions kids never really answer.

Yes, those are the ones.

Okay, ask.

Is your name Courtney McGee? the Adult Questioner asked, twirling his moustache. He stared straight at Courtney, causing her to fidget a little. Why do adults always have to stare at kids this way?

Yes.

Are you eleven years old?

Yes.

Did your father and mother have a bad fight?

Yes.

Did your mother divorce your father?

No, but my dad no longer lives at home.

Have you seen your dad since he left?

No.

Are you sad and unhappy?

Yes. I am very sad. I spend part of every day talking to my doll. She listens to me, Courtney replied but only reluctantly. She found this last question very difficult to answer. She shouldn’t have to tell adults how she felt.

That is it. You qualify for admission. Of course, I knew that already. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. Do you want to come inside?

Yes, of course. Otherwise, I would not have answered your questions. But I have questions for you. Is this place real? Am I dreaming? Why am I here? I have more questions, but that is enough to start.

Silly girl. I am a questioner just like my parents before me. My parents also practiced law, but since we have no laws or courts as such, I don’t know what they did. Anyway, questioners only ask questions. If we answer, which we almost never do, you can’t understand what we say. If you want answers, you have to ask an answerer. There are some inside, but I have no idea who they are, what they are, or where they are.

Then I suppose I need to go inside.

If you want to go inside, walk around my desk and go out the rear door. It is unlocked.

If I had refused to answer your questions, would you have let me go out the door behind you? Courtney asked with irritation as she rose from the chair.

I don’t know. You must be hard of hearing. I am a questioner, not an answerer.

Courtney, not wanting to spend another minute with the Adult Questioner, walked around his desk and out the rear door. If she spent any more time with him, she would get a very bad headache.

Once again, Courtney focused on the fantastic world in front of her. She found herself on a blue brick road that led into the distance. Many other roads intersected the blue road on the right and the left, each a different color. Courtney hesitated a moment not knowing what to do. Then a very funny-looking boy came skipping toward her. The top part of him looked like one of the boys she knew in school. He had reddish hair, hazel eyes, and a plain green T-shirt with Elysia in large letters on the front. The boy also had very baggy pants, which he needed for his enormous legs. His legs seemed like they belonged to a giant. Attached to the boy’s legs were his huge feet stuffed into the largest gym shoes Courtney had ever seen. He skipped to a place half a yard in front of her and stopped. The odd boy gave forth a strong sweaty odor very similar to the smell of boys in her class after they returned from recess. He spoke to her with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Hi! I am Ted Skipper! You look new. If you want, I can show you around Elysia, but only if you can skip.

That would be nice, but why are your legs so big, and why do I have to skip? Can’t I just walk instead? Courtney asked, trying to make sense out of the creature appearing in front of her.

I am a skipper, not a walker. I can only skip. If you don’t skip, you won’t be able to keep up with me—that is, of course, if you want to be with me.

It would be nice to be with someone who knows his way around here. I will try to skip, but you didn’t answer my question about the size of your legs.

That’s obvious. If you skipped all day, your legs would be the same size as mine. Skipper looked down at his legs.

Well, I guess that makes as much sense as anything else around here. I will skip as long as I can, but I think I will get tired after a while. Where are we going?

We are going down the blue road, of course. Skipping as long as you can is fine with me. I will start the tour, which means I have to use my official tour guide voice. Here we go. Ted skipped down the blue road with Courtney beside him. Courtney desperately tried to keep up with the very fast Ted, who pretended he talked into a microphone.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Elysia. This is a place created by children for children. The blue road we are now traveling along cuts through the entire area. Other colored roads veer off the blue road to other places. The gold road leads to the royal palace, where the king and queen reign over the land. The black road leads to Maelstrom, the world of darkness and evil, where children face their greatest fears and nightmares. Very few children who take the black road are ever seen again. The pink road leads to the special girls’ place. The red road leads to the special boys’ place.

They skipped for some time, with Ted talking and pointing at things almost continuously. Eventually, Courtney became tired. She held her hand in the air and turned to Ted, panting a little as she did so.

Ted, that’s enough, she gasped. I don’t want to know where every one of the roads leads. Half of the fun of going down a road is not knowing what is at the end. Anyway, I am tired of skipping.

I guess that makes sense. You should go down the pink road, which is right here, and meet some of the girls like you. I always go down the purple road to the amusement park, the playgrounds, and the zoo. This is the place I can find kids who skip like me. Bill Jumper, who jumps like I skip, shares the welcome duties at the Adult Questioner’s house. When we go there, we can usually convince the new kids to skip or jump with us.

Hmm, I don’t know whether I want to go down the pink road or not, but I don’t really want to go to a playground right now. I think I will explore a little. Anyway, thanks for meeting me and telling me a little about this place, Ted.

Sure. If you feel like skipping, just come down the purple road and find me. You are a very pretty girl. I like skipping with pretty girls, Ted said, sounding a little embarrassed.

At just this moment, Courtney heard another, more familiar sound.

Courtney dear, are you awake? In a half hour, I have to be off to work. If you want a ride, you have to be ready, or you will have to find another way to school.

Okay, Mom, you don’t have to yell. I am already on my way to the bathroom. I will be ready on time as usual.

Later that day, Courtney daydreamed in her sixth grade class. She remembered every single moment of her time in Elysia, a very happy place. The sun felt warm but not hot as it did during the summer in her world. The breezes tickled her skin in a nice way and carried strong and fragrant flower smells. The wind also made gentle sounds, which mixed nicely with the happy music that always seemed to be in the background, along with the laughter of other children. Courtney also liked the characters she met—ridiculous in many ways but also fun and entertaining.

Courtney would much rather be there than here. School seemed boring to her. She received very high grades and reviews and could easily answer the questions the teacher asked her. She still learned but felt she could be learning a great deal more. Lately, her teachers had gone out of their way to be nice to her, probably because they knew about Courtney’s problems at home. Courtney worried that the other kids would resent the attention she received. The rough boys in the class already teased her about being the teacher’s pet.

She could handle this teasing, but Edward drove her crazy. He constantly stared at her and made stupid comments about the way she looked and dressed. One day, he accused her of swaying her hips when she did nothing of the sort. She just walked like any other girl. Then he accused her of wearing lipstick, but since when is ChapStick lipstick? Courtney tried to ignore Edward, but if she ignored him too much, he would pull her hair or push her. Courtney knew Edward liked her at least as much as an eleven-year-old boy could like an eleven-year-old girl, but she wished he didn’t have to act like a jerk all the time.

Courtney’s girlfriends Rachel and Dede had been avoiding her lately and playing mostly among themselves. Courtney suspected the fault lay with her. When her parents started fighting, it turned her whole world upside down. She hadn’t felt like being friendly to anyone. She probably avoided them more than they avoided her.

After school, Courtney quickly finished her homework and retreated to her room, where she could read books she liked and listen to music. She also practiced the guitar her father gave her on her last birthday. The instrument made sense to her. She could tune it by ear and always knew where the fingers of her left hand belonged while she picked and stroked the strings with her right hand. Courtney could already play a number of tunes and liked to sing and hum along. Her father had told her when he gave it to her that the Irish loved to play instruments, sing, and tell stories. Courtney wanted to learn how to play and sing very well like a good Irish girl so she could impress her father when she saw him again.

After dinner, Courtney’s mother seemed to be staring into space. She sat by the phone even though, like everyone else, she carried a cell phone with her.

Mom, you have to give Dad a chance. He will find a good job, and when he does, he will call us. I know he will. We will be a family again, you’ll see.

Of course, he will, Courtney, but I don’t want to miss his call. Your father and I have much to talk about.

I know, Mom, but if you don’t mind, I am going to go upstairs to my room.

That’s fine. Remember to do your homework.

I already did it, Mom.

Courtney practiced her guitar for a few hours until she became tired. She turned out her light after her mother said good night and concentrated on falling asleep. Courtney hoped she would return to Elysia.

Chapter 2

The Pink Road

An instant later, Courtney watched Ted skip into the distance. She stood exactly where she had been before she woke up in her bed. After considering it during the day, Courtney decided to follow Ted’s advice and turned down the pink road on her left. Immediately, Courtney began to see cute and cuddly things by the side of the road. A teddy bear squealed with delight when she passed, and a stuffed rabbit hopped in front of her. Courtney tried to talk to the rabbit, but it kept hopping. She heard a high-pitched voice behind her and turned to see an indignant fluffy white rabbit looking at her. He had a small pair of glasses on his pink nose, a soft blue shirt, and pants. The white rabbit spoke in a lecturing tone so often used by adults.

You can’t talk to a stuffed rabbit. What a ridiculous notion. They aren’t alive. I, on the other hand, am a real rabbit. If you have anything to say to a rabbit, say it to me.

Oh! I am sorry, Mr. Rabbit. I didn’t mean to offend you. I am new here. I don’t know who can talk and who can’t. I am a little surprised you can talk. Rabbits from my world can’t talk.

You really don’t know anything, do you? Of course, rabbits in your world can talk. You just can’t understand what they are saying, and they can’t understand what you are saying. Here, every living being understands what another living being is saying. This makes things a lot better here. We don’t have living beings killing or hurting each other for the simple reason that they don’t understand each other, the rabbit lectured Courtney.

I am sorry; I didn’t know. I understand the animals talking, but you said living beings. Does that mean plants talk as well?

Yes, yes, of course, they do, but for the most part they won’t talk to us. Since they make food and animals don’t, they feel they are superior to us. They complain that all animals do is hurt or kill them. Plants also regard human beings and insects as their worst enemies. They are still mad about the construction of this world. Many trees died to build the houses, barns, and castles in this world. Insects and humans are not the only ones the plants don’t like. I can tell you that the carrots really hate me. They know that I will eat any of them that I find. You ought to hear them squeal when I approach them, Fluffy Rabbit said in a soft voice, not wanting to be overheard by the plants nearby.

I don’t know what to do about their problem. If we don’t eat, we’ll die. We really don’t have any choice.

I have told them the same thing, but they are still angry. Sometimes you just can’t please everyone.

I guess not. Do you want to hop along with me to the end of this road? I could really use a companion.

"It is nice of you to ask, but I am very busy. I have to sneak into some farms and dig some lettuce and carrots to take to my family. I have six sons, five daughters, and a wife to feed. My wife, Betty, just told me she is expecting more babies. I spend almost the whole day trying to find enough food for all of us. When the new babies come, I will have to spend even more time looking for food. It is an exhausting and dangerous work. My friend Wilbur cut his rear paw very badly on some barbed wire yesterday. He is taking care of their kids while his wife is hunting for food. I think he will have a limp for the rest of his life, which is not very good for a rabbit, who has to run fast to survive. If you want an animal companion, dogs and cats like to be with humans, as do pet rabbits, but I don’t know of any pet rabbits here. I came into this world as a wild rabbit and will remain a wild rabbit until I die. By the way, I don’t know why you