The Hero Returns
Behind every magical adventure is a hero waiting to be born
Sleeping Hugs
This week’s kitty pic is from the first few months. Since they’re litter mates, they snuggle a lot! They were abandoned by their mother and we ended up taking a liking to each other. So, when I moved to a new apartment the following month I adopted them! They’re my babies now.
I guess that’s a little bonus story…
…Time for this week’s story…
The Hero Returns
After all these years, Phillip’s favorite toy had appeared while digging through his parents’ storage after their passing. He used to snuggle this wood and cloth doll when he went to bed and have adventures in the night. After decades, they had finally been reunited.
“Punocchio!” Phillip held the doll in the air excitedly then hugged it tightly to his chest. “We used to have so much fun together.”
To relish in the old times, Phillip took Punocchio to bed with him that night despite the protest of his wife, Veronica. He held the toy close like he did as a child. Phillip was reasonably surprised when Punocchio shook him awake in the middle of the night.
“Hey buddy! Let’s go on an adventure!” Punocchio said.
“Holy crap! What’s going on?”
“It’s time for adventures! Yay!” Punocchio grabbed Phillip with both hands then threw himself to the side. Punocchio and Phillip fell into a magical shimmering tunnel and landed on something soft. They were on a four-post bed surrounded by expensive sheets, metals, and heraldry.
“My lord!” A woman chirped. The loud bang of metal echoed nearby. The servant woman ran out of the room and down the hall, leaving towels and toiletries on the floor, a silver plate still spinning on the marble tiles. “The hero has returned!”
Phillip and Punocchio enjoyed a small feast while they awaited a royal greeting. The man named King Absolon was a familiar face to Phillip from his childhood dreams. The tall, regal King with a graying beard and hair greeted them gleefully like old comrades. Phillip was still having trouble believing what was happening, thinking it all to be a dream.
A week of fun and adventures passed in that world before Phillip awoke in his world on the next canonical day. Punocchio was still a lifeless doll and Phillip thought nothing of the vivid dream. They returned the next night and the night after. Every night he dreamt of that world and the magic and combat training like when he was a kid. The incredible dreams were real in every sense one could imagine. Phillip understood exactly how real when he injured his forearm while sword training. He awoke the next day with his arm wrapped in a bandage, covering a gash.
Phillip decided it was worth the risk to continue the nightly adventures. After two months of adventures and Veronica’s complaints about Punocchio creeping her out, there was no way he was going back to living without all this magic in his life. The true danger, however, was made clear to him when he awoke one day in a castle torn asunder by a dark wizard.
They rushed to don their armor and run into the castle. The attack was still ongoing, with people to rescue and fires to put out. Some dark minions appeared from time to time to halt their progress, but they pressed on. Phillip and Punocchio followed the sounds of explosions and battle until they finally reached the source of it all.
The queen and princess were huddled behind the King and his two oldest sons, both hulking young men fully clad in armor. Above them hovered a man with white streaks through his bushy beard. He wore a black robe with white trim, holding a wand in one hand.
“Finally, King Absolon, your kingdom will be mine! I thought I might be too late when my spies told me the great hero had returned, but I see no sign of him. Since fate has blessed me so, I think it’s time we bid farewell to the royal family of Milstonia.”
The dark wizard raised his wand and brought it down towards the family, but Phillip was there to block it. The crackling lightning split when it collided with his magical shield, devastating the ranks of minions lining the room.
“Not today!” Phillip said gallantly.
“Ah, hero. So good of you to show yours-”
“Get wrecked!” Phillip thrust his sword at the dark wizard, shooting from it a bolt of fire at the dark wizard, hitting him in the shoulder. Phillip charged and a great battle ensued. In the end, the dark minions were defeated and the wizard was on the defensive, but he did not yield. Instead, he laughed.
“You are strong, hero. But, my minions have secured what I came here for. On the next full moon I’ll have more power than you and all of Milstonia’s armies can contend with. Then, this kingdom will be mine!”
The dark wizard vanished, and his minions with him. Rescue, first aid and repairs began immediately. The King and his people conferred with Phillip and Punocchio. The full moon would fall during his next visit, but they could not wait for him to begin their assault. They made their plans and after several days, Phillip awoke in his own world.
Concerned for the people of the Kingdom, his day went by in a fog. At the end of the day, Veronica wanted to have a serious talk about his behavior lately. Worst of all, she was holding Punocchio. He tried to explain, but nothing sufficed. In the end, a bout of frustration led to him telling her the truth.
After shuffling through different emotions, she laughed and asked him to prove it. Phillip warned that they were going into a dangerous battle and she demanded to go anyway. He told Punocchio to bring her along too and they went to bed early that night.
Veronica was beside herself watching them don their armor. She rode on the back of Phillip’s horse on the way to battle and watched him charge headfirst into danger. Punocchio stayed by her side and together they watched Phillip slay the evil wizard. She shed tears at the sight of her husband, the hero. In the modern times, it’s a side of us that so rarely gets to shine.
After that, Veronica joined them on their nightly adventures.