Dawn and the Elves by Bella Goodrich

Thanks to Nina and my family.

It was a cold and stormy day. I walked down my timber stairs. I still had flash backs from my dream. One step at a time, wondering why I had it. The dream looked so realistic. I could feel things. I remembered a huge bunny with big bulging red eyes eating everyone, but the scared humans weren’t actually scared humans. They had pointy ears and they where short. They had triangle hats with gum leaves on top. As I got ready to open my bakery at the usual 9:00am, I found a scrunched up paper. I was so curious. What is the piece of paper for? Was it for me? Does it have words inside? My curiosity gave me the guts to open it, so I did. Tiny handwriting only a fairy could read.

It said:

Dear Dawn,
We need your help, a huge bunny is chasing us! We have no where to hide, we know we can count on you. You are the best at saving ain’t you? We are in the Forgotten Woods.
Love from Ellis and the Elves.

Now I knew why I had the dream, I had to go right now. It’s not good to be late. As the pounding on the door and window grew louder from my hungry customers, I apologised and said my daughter will take the job. I set off with half eaten bread, an apple, a cheese stick, and a magical carrot for the bunny, just in case. That would get me through. Plus there’s lots of things growing in the Forgotten Woods. Luckily it was only a few hours away. My parents were born in the Forgotten Woods, so I knew the ins and outs growing up. We escaped because we felt it was safer to move to the main town, Ahoy. But before we left, our dad was taken by a monster and I never got to see him again. At least I could see my grandparents again, I had missed them deeply. As I was chewing on my apple I found a giant bush! Music started playing. It sound old fashioned, like when gramps and nana were born.
“Welcome to the maze!” A person who I didn’t know said.
He had mustard hair and a moustache with a round tummy, and a big smile.
“Welcome to the maze!” he said again with pleasure, “you will have to complete the maze, if you do you can cross my bridge!”
I said “yes” and my journey began. Luckily the man gave me a map. I was great with mazes, my dad had taught me, but what I didn’t know is that there were traps. I walked down the green bushes with Berrys growing, it was getting darker and darker, the vines were getting longer and longer.

Suddenly a faint whisper of a women’s voice came through the darkness.
“Anyone there, I need help, they’re coming for me!” The voice sounded alarmed.
“Hi, I’m dawn from Ahoy. I was told to come here from Ellis and the Elves,” I said politely.
I looked at my feet. I could see a shadow, it looked like a human. Out of the corner of my eye I could see…the most beautiful woman in the whole world. She had silk alluringly black hair, she looked at me with her great green eyes. She was wearing all black.
“I am Aliza,” she spoke, “I have come here from Misty Isles, my journey has been tough. I was riding my old and rusty bike. The robbers where chasing after me. I hoped my bike would go faster but it didn’t. I threw my bike away and ran into the woods. It feels like I have been here for years. I have been surviving on berries and bugs,” she sighed.
“They were chasing me because I am an elf.”
She took her hoodie off. She had pointy ears.
“Elves are endangered, everyone wants their skeletons, they give them powers to stay alive for thousands more years!” I looked up feeling guilty.
“Here have my half eaten bread and some of my cheese stick.”
I gave them to her with my scraped hands from the vines in the maze.
“We can make a deal, I’ll get you out of here and you will help me with the robbers and that huge rabbit.”
“Yes yes yes yes!” she exclaimed, “what’s your name by the way?”
“My name is Dawn,” I answered.
“Here you might need this.”
Aliza handed me a piece of paper scrunched and ripped up.
“Sorry it’s a bit ripped,” Aliza said shamefully.
“Oh no it’s okay,” I said.

We were too focused on talking to not notice the tree stumps. Aliza’s foot touch the bottom of the tree stump and she fell face first, her blood curing lip turned to crust.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhh help!”
She screamed as her body was turning to crust. I reached up to her body, her face was already crust.
A screeched blurted out, “Aliza!”
Her legs, arms, body turned into an easy to crack grey rock, it was too late…
It had taken me a day to escape from the maze. Tears were still rippling down my face. I was now in the Forgotten Woods but not in their town. The Forgotten Woods reminded me of my childhood. Suddenly, I remembered the piece of paper Aliza gave me last night, I knew it was for me. I opened the paper and read it.

Dear Dawn,
My family have found a place to hide, the monster is probably sleeping, it’s as silent as a mouse.
From Ellis and the Elves.

I was a few minutes away and now it was very silent. A sign read “toad forest.”
“It must be here!” I thought to myself.
As I stepped, the stone steps clanged against my worn out shoes. I could see huge bunny foot prints, it was true! I nearly stepped on the skulls and bones of the elves, but elves can come back to life.
“Grrrrrrr” said a deep voice, I looked up and saw an immense pink bunny, with round eyes poking into my soul. “There kitty kitty,” I said with fear in my voice.
I reached out to my bag to grab the magical carrot.
I couldn’t feel the carrot, I must have dropped it! The bunny grabbed me with force. Then a familiar voice was at the bunny’s feet.
“Put her down!” It was the little girl from my dream. Her mum looked eager to get her daughter out before she was grabbed. She shoved her aside, a swish of air came out of nowhere. It smelt like bravery, it was so hard the ginormous bunny was shocked. A beautiful women appearwed wearing black.
“Aliza!” I babbled and bantered.
I saw a glistening carrot, she had the carrot! I forgot that elves can come back to life.