The day Tristan, Leena and their parents were to leave for Dreamland was hectic to say the least. A huge crowd of well-wishers swarmed them at the airport to start with, followed by reporters and their camera crews. Then the Mayor of their town himself captured them, as he tried to horn in on the media attention. This wasn’t something that Michael and Jackie Welsh had counted upon, and it wasn’t appreciated at all. Even Tristan thought that this somewhat quasi-celebrity status cast an unwelcome shadow on the excitement of the event. He sure hoped that shadow would be left behind them as they boarded the plane bound for Dreamland, and their wildest dreams.
There was no clamorous crowd at the Dreamland private sector of the airport, just a designated chaperone and staff. Instead of being treated like mere celebrities, they were treated like royalty. Their chaperone had their luggage taken to the waiting limousine, and they were whisked away to the Dreamland hotel in the amusement park.
Their room was a penthouse suite, and the luxury accommodations were the likes they had only seen pictures or videos of. Michael and Jackie were impressed, and the children were beside themselves. The chaperone was a mild mannered young man named Gary, and he left them at their suite with an informational video disk for them to watch, with instructions to help themselves to anything and everything that room service could offer. “I’ll be back for you at one PM for the ‘Welcome Picnic’.” He said before leaving.
The suite was huge; entirely too large even for the family of four. Tristan went exploring it right away, and came back amazed.
“There are three bathrooms! One in each bedroom.” He beamed excitedly.
“This is really too much.” Jackie spoke softly to Michael.
“Yeah, but look how much the kids like it.” He offered in return.
“All three of them.” She added.
So they went about unpacking and settling in, as they had been instructed to prepare for up to a two week stay. Soon all were relaxing and enjoying the accommodations, and then they decided to watch the informational video given to them. It was an elaborate welcoming film with a brief description of the park, dining facilities, and room services available, all at absolutely no cost. They were told that all of them were welcome to anything, and everything they wished, courtesy of Dreamland of course. The woman on the video instructed them that they could easily access any other information from the TV, and how to navigate the Dreamland private network. There were educational and information channels, as well as a myriad of entertainment channels, which was to be expected from these leaders of the amusement world.
Soon their chaperone, Gary, was back at their door to take them to the gala picnic in the Grand Courtyard, and the four obliged him. Outside a custom electric powered golf cart of sorts, but much bigger and more luxurious, quickly took them to the courtyard where forty seven other families were gathering. Everyone could see right away that this was to be a festive occasion, or rather a full blown party. There were a multitude of different food stands offering everything from apple pies to zucchini bread, and plenty of it all. Interspersed with the food stands they found games and interesting challenges for prizes. Also there were numerous exciting exhibits.
Dreamland had really pulled out all stops for this affair. All the while a well-known pop-rock band belted out tunes from the far end of the courtyard. The music wasn’t too loud though, just enough to give a pleasant backdrop to the carnival like atmosphere. Warm sun drenched the scene from the rich blue sky, making for a picture perfect afternoon. It was quite obvious that everyone was making the most out of it, and having a great time. The Welsh’s were definitely no exception to this rule; this was a day that they would all remember with fondness. Through the afternoon they also met quite a few people, as everyone was encouraged to socialize with each other. Gary was always nearby, but never intrusive, as were any of the other chaperones.
The children took to the socializing as if it were second nature to them. Leena quickly made friends with a timid eight year old girl named Becky, whom was only a year junior to Leena. Becky was slightly chubby and almost a foot shorter than Leena, whom with her long blonde hair, and natural beauty; attracted the attention of more than one of the boys around. Even though Leena didn’t outwardly notice this, her new friend sure did, and the good natured teasing commenced. Leena wouldn’t believe a word of it though, or at least that what she pretended. Secretly she hoped it was true. Becky received no such attention, and Leena felt a bit pitiful for her. She thought the little red haired girl was somewhat cute herself, though she had to admit that most boys probably wouldn’t share her view. Their differences however, made them a perfect complement to each other, and this fostered each of their unique talents as well. Leena with her natural ability to appreciate the true beauty of a soul, and Becky whom could see the very essence and underlying truth of the same.
Tristan had made several new fiends as well, and though they were all the ripe young age of mischief; none of the boys had such in their hearts that day. A boy Tristan’s own age of twelve, named Joshua, and he bonded as friends quickly. They found interest and fascination in many of the games, and challenges presented. After all Dreamland was the definitive expert in the field of entertainment. Both Tristan and Joshua found a certain ‘hands-on’ exposition of a Mars lander to be the most exciting challenge of all. It required a tricky bit of cyber maneuvering that needed the utmost in team work to successfully complete the computer generated mission of landing on Mars, without crashing. Tristan and Joshua were the only ones to complete the maneuver without flaw, and this made them pretty popular in the eyes of their peers. They were both very smart boys, and an even mental match; although Tristan had the keen ability to quickly grasp most any concept thrown at him. Joshua on the other hand was much more attuned to understanding what others expected of him, and how to achieve this compliance, even if it took complex problem solving. Another boy named William joined the pair after their Mars lander success. Although he was only ten years old, he quickly warmed up to the older boys, as he really enjoyed their company. William was very much fond of Tristan’s sister, and Joshua clearly felt this. Tristan found the younger boy to be very hip, and instantly liked him, although he couldn’t sense what Joshua could. Too soon the glorious afternoon was over, and night found all of the Welsh clan quite exhausted and quickly to bed.
During the next two days the winning contestants and their families had exclusive free run of the entire facility, as Dreamland had closed the park to all others. The bonds that the children made were especially deep for the time allotted them. This was in part due to their inherent good nature, and that they were having the time of their lives.
Everything went along without a hitch, with one exception that is. It was probably inevitable that the looming competition scheduled to start the fourth day would cause, or more appropriately, be the catalyst for an incident. Several of the fathers of other children got into a heated shouting match that almost became ugly before the ever present security forces quickly defused the situation. It was found after words that one of the men had managed to sneak a bottle of liquor into the park, which was strictly forbidden. This almost caused the man’s son, a boy named Larken, to be disqualified from the competition that everyone now knew of as ‘The Quest’, but the last minute intervention by the longtime president and CEO of Dreamland prevented this.
Most of the children would not have minded this expulsion, as Larken was one of the most unlikeable of all the children; being somewhat arrogant, and selfish. Instead the father had simply been removed from the park. This prompted the first time any of the contestants had a glimpse of the famous Chief Executive Officer and founder of Dreamland; Ms. Millie Schotner. Her reputation as a ruthless shark in the financial world, was vilified by the manner in which she carried herself. After the above incident she made an appearance to address the parents with their children; during which she admo
nished them not to become overly involved in the competition between the children, emotionally or otherwise. This was, as she so eloquently put it; “A matter for the pure of heart.” Not a soul would dare argue with her on that, or most any other point; as one look from the woman’s gaze spoke volumes. She didn’t appear past sixty in age, but her eyes told of decades more wisdom. There were other indications of her great power, but these were only apparent to a small handful of the children, and of these only Becky could see something truly ghastly.
After the meeting, Becky confided to Leena that the old woman had really terrified her.
“She has got to be at least a thousand years old!” Becky quivered.
Leena merely stated, “She just seems like she is used to being the boss.”
Becky looked shocked, “What do you mean? I’ve never seen anything like her before,…I just can’t believe she could even be alive!”
Leena didn’t understand. She couldn’t, at least not yet.
The morning of the fourth day was the beginning of the competition, and all of the children with their parents were gathered in the Great Hall; where the previous meeting by Millie Schotner had been held. Each of the children contestants had been given a brightly colored jumpsuit to wear. These were made of some fantastic metallic like material, and adorned with Dreamland ‘Quest’ patches.
As the last of the families and children were gathering into the hall, and the appointed time drew near; Leena started to become frantic. She searched the crowd visually for her new friend Becky, but couldn’t see her. Just then a man in a yellow Dreamland jumpsuit went to the podium on the stage, and spoke into a microphone.
“Are we all here?” he pleasantly asked.
Leena was just about to yell out; “NO!” when she finally spotted Becky being encouraged into the hall by her parents. Becky was obviously frightened, and resisting. Leena told her own parents that she would be right back.
Becky was in tears, clinging to her father.
“What’s wrong Becky?” Leena queried earnestly.
Her dad spoke for her. “She’ll be all right.”
“Shhhhhshh!” Becky’s mother interposed.
Leena felt a wave of commiseration for the poor frightened girl.
The loud speakers crackled, and the man’s voice blared forth.
“Welcome to the Quest!” He said with heavy anticipation in his voice. “This will be the most exciting and fun filled journey ever undertaken by any of you children….the pure of heart.”
The parents all applauded as the man paused.
Then he continued, “This will not be a solo effort though.” At this news a few murmurs were heard. “You will be grouped into seven separate teams of seven players each.”
Just then Leena heard a familiar giggle from behind her. It was Becky. Leena looked at her quizzically, and seeing her friend’s confusion Becky whispered, “He’s a funky looking monkey.” This brought a smile to Leena’s face, even if it wasn’t understood.
The speaker proceeded, “Now if we can have all the contestants come up to the stage, and stand in the area marked the same color as your jumpsuits.”
Leena saw that Becky’s and her jumpsuit were the same color of vibrant gold, as were Tristan’s and the friends he’d made already. As all the children made their way to the designated spots, the man at the podium went on, “Please, each team take a few minutes to get acquainted with your team mates if you don’t know them already.”
The members of their team were; Tristan, Leena, Becky, Joshua, William, another nine year old girl named Sarah, and finally one of the youngest children in the Quest; a seven year old girl named Penelope.
After the children were introduced, the speaker announced; “If all the teams would please follow me to the briefing room, we will get this magnificent adventure underway.”
Leena turned to Becky and voiced, “Come on!” She put her hand out in gesture. “It’ll be fun….really.”
A huge round of applause erupted from the parents as the children left the stage.
3: The greatest adventure