• Once upon a time there was a boy named Clen. He was a peasant in a village called Tonnel. One day, the king’s messenger made an announcement: “His majesty desires all the strongest men to come to the castle and be tested in strength, speed, skill, and wit! The best of the best will be a Royalgade knight!”
    Clen, being a peasant and a farmers son, couldn’t go. He wasn’t good enough. But then a sudden tragic came…the princess got kidnapped by Sailver! He was the chosen one of the bunch that came to be a Royalgade knight. And he was the one that kidnapped her—that traitor! He threatened to hurt her if the king sends his fighters. Clen, here, didn’t like it at all. The king didn’t know what to do and the princess was in trouble. So he begins a long quest to save the princess.
    “Wowwww” Len says in awe. He was just six years old. He heard this story about a hundred times but he still loves it. “And what happened to Clen?”
    “Oh you know what happens” his mother smiles. She sat in a rocking chair, holding Len in her arms. She no longer needed a book because the story was told so much that it engraved itself in her head. “First he unties the ropes that bound Oko to a tree”
    “Oko—his horse!”
    “Yes, his horse” she smiles, lightly pinching his nose. Len giggled.
    “Then he rides alllllll the way to Banshee forest! That’s where he meets a pond fairy that helps him go through an underwater tunnel” Len makes a water motion with his hands.
    “That’s right” the fire in the fireplace crackled. It lit the dark room with a warm color.
    Len yawns but keeps on talking. “And then…and then…” he yawns again. “He gets out of the tunnel to see a…a…” rubs his eye.
    “A mountain range full of snow! Now how did he get there?” his mother gets off the chair and carries Len to his room.
    “He got there…because of the fairy…” his eyes drooped.
    “Who did he meet at the snow mountain?” she opens the bedroom door.
    “A snow…” he mumbled at the end, meaning to say ‘monster’.
    His mother knew what he was trying to say though. “But he wasn’t a monster, was he?” she set him on his bed.
    “No. He was real…nice. His name was Tey”
    “Yes, Tey” she tucked him in.
    “Clen saves the princess…” Len says sleepily.
    She kisses his forehead. “Yes sweetie, he does” she walks back towards the door and flicked off the light. “Goodnight Len”
    But he was already asleep. His snoring was quiet and calming to listen to. His mom smiles and closes the door gently.

    8 years later.
    Morning came. The sun shone through the window. Len was sleeping deeply on the floor. At first he was on his bed but he kept moving around and eventually hit the wooden floor.
    “Len, wake up!” his mother shouts from the kitchen. When he didn’t come, she storms into his room. Seeing him on the floor wasn’t a surprise. “Up, up” she stomped her feet close to his head.
    Len’s eyes snapped open and he jolted up. “Wha…? Where am I?” he looks around, dazed.
    “Get dressed. We’re going to eat at Clen’s house”
    “Mommm” he groans in embarrassment. “Stop calling Aunt Lilly’s house Clen”
    She grins. “But you love that story” she heads out the room to put on her shoes at the front door.
    “Yea, when I was like—five!” but he didn’t realize that his mom left till she bangs against his window from the outside.
    “Get your lazy butt in the car or I’ll ground you for eternity” she leaves for the car and sits in the driver seat. “He’s become so lazy lately”
    Len yawns, stretches, yawns again, and gets up. He was still in his boxer and white T-shirt as he heads out to the car, sitting in the back seat.
    His mom stares at him from the review mirror. Len starts to waver then falls on the rest of the seat, his body spread out. She sighs and backs out of the driveway. The car turned right and she drove to her sister Lilly’s house—farm, actually. That’s why she calls it Clen’s house, because in the story he lived in a farm. Len used to love going to her house to explore when he was younger.
    Sweet memories. She thinks to herself. Sometimes she wonders what Len would do now. He doesn’t go to school because she home schools him. He doesn’t even have friends because of that. The neighbors don’t have kids for Len to hang out with either.
    Len pretends to sleep in the car but he isn’t really sleepy right now. He keeps thinking about how life sucks. It’s boring to him; he feels out of place in the world. There’s nothing to do but be lazy. Len knows his mom wants more out of him. She’s disappointed by the sight of her son.
    The car hits a rocky street and Len complains about the ride. When the bumps were over, it was smooth. They’re almost close to the farm. Then his mother steps on the brakes hard, causing Len to fall off the seat. He rubs his head as he gets up.
    “What was that for? You’re so bad at driving” Len says half heartedly.
    His mom takes awhile to answer. “I thought I…saw something” she blinks twice, staring up ahead on a hill. An animal-like figure rose up. It was brown with some white on its face.
    “That’s Oko” Len says. “Remember, Aunt Lily’s horse? She always lets him run lose because he never runs away”
    “Oh—r-right” she stutters. That was the horse her and Len named because he almost looked like Oko from Once upon a Clen. She shakes her head as if that would erase her sudden fright. The car starts moving again.
    “Geez mom, get a grip. You’ve been here more than I have”
    She laughs. “Well, today feels a bit weird—different, don’t you think?” she was feeling edgy ever since they were halfway to her sisters’ home. Something just didn’t feel right. Her eyes left the road to look back on the hill. She gulps and turns away. Oko was still there and he was staring at her. That’s what she thought, but who he was really staring at was Len.
    “Are we there yettttttt?” Len whines, grabbing hold of his mothers’ back seat and shaking it. “I’m so boredddd!”
    She didn’t want to argue with him. “Be quiet and sit down” her voice was demanding, a bit tense.
    Len lets go of the seat and sits back down. Sheesh, what’s got her all wound up suddenly?
    Clouds covered the sky with fierce hunger. The wind blew, scattering autumn leaves. Trees wavered and looked like they’d fall any moment. Lilly was cooking in her house once she saw her sisters’ car coming up. She hurriedly left her chicken soup to greet her older sister Rosa and her nephew Len. When she opened her door, they were already there. Lilly told them to come in and they did. Once the door shut, Oko walked out from behind a tree. He was staring into the kitchen window at Len. Right when Len turned to look out the window, Oko was already gone.
    Rosa saw Len looking out the window so she looked too. There was nothing there. The dark clouds and tall trees made everything look dark, as if it was close to night. There was a howl nearby; it was just wind pushing against the barn. She turns away, shivering. Something wasn’t right today at all.