The Griffin

This is about a girl who gets taken to another world, all because of one statue. :)

'...there has been a house on this site since 1336, but the original name belonged to the earliest recorded owner of the estate in 1198.'

 

Maddy was not interested in the slightest. She signed heavily and recieved a deadly stare from the tour guide. Straightening up, Maddy stepped behind her mother, who was examing an old table with so much awe that anyone would think it just spoke to her.

 

Why did she bring her here anyway? She was missing a day at the beach for this. Besides,  her mum knew perfectly well there was nothing she hated more than traipsing around old National Trust Homes that smelled of out of date raisins. Letting the gaggle of old people (and her mum) scuttle off upstairs, Maddy decided to quietly go back through the long hall and out into the gardens.

 

They really were enormous. There was a wide expanse of gravel, and then acres of luscious grass, broken up by hedges, perfectly trimmed into various shapes. There were statues, too, mostly of angels and cupids. She could see they were all exquisitely carved, even from a distance, but Maddy's attention was drawn to one in particular.

 

It was a griffin - the head of an eagle and body of a lion. She walked towards it, gazing at the feathered wings which arched up way over its head, and its mouth that looked like it was open in mid roar. Maddy touched its face and traced her fingers over the strong features. 'I bet you've had adventures. You must know what fun is. Come on, take me somewhere new.' Maddy spoke softly and with longing. She craved excitement all the time, but rarely got it.

 

Until now.

 

There was a low, rumbling noise as the statue moved forward about three feet to reveal a hole in the ground. Maddy looked in amazement to the statue and then back to the hole. It was filled with a glittering gas, and she reached out to touch it.

 

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Her eyes shot open. The smell of ripe fruit had woken Maddy and she propped herself onto her elbows, drinking in her surroundings. She was in another garden, much bigger than the one she had just been in, with hundreds of apple trees and a river running along the bottom. Where the hell was she? And how long had she been asleep for?

 

Noticing someone walking towards her, Maddy brushed the grass from her faded jeans and stood up, preparing herself. He had hollow eyes and abnormally pale skin, with well groomed black hair that fell like curtains around his face. He was smiling.

 

'Excuse me, could you tell me where I am please? I-I got lost and fell asleep.' Maddy was suddenly very aware of her posture and hair, which was a dishevelled blonde heap on top of her head at the moment. The strange man seemed to have ignored her question and smiled again. He gestured over to one of the tall apple trees, plucked a single apple and placed it in Maddy's hand.

 

Oh no, she thought, wherever I am obviously isn't real. This is too Snow White. Anyway, don't eat the apple. Don't trust this guy. Whatever you do. But as his face  brightened encouragingly, Maddy found herself melting as she stared into his eyes. It was like the irises were shimmering with purple liquid. Wait, purple? Now she definitely knew this wasn't real. A dream. So one bite of an imaginary apple can't hurt...

 

And so she found her limbs relaxing as she took the first bite. Maddy had no control over her body, she could only see, and in that defenceless moment, the vampire that had just given her the poison moved in for the kill. His sharp teeth were just about to dig into the soft white flesh of her neck when his purple eyes became blank, and he fell backwards, unconcious. So did Maddy.

 

'Oh, the evil b******'s been at it again,' grumbled the elf who had thumped him on the back of the head, 'preying on defenceless young girls.'

 

'And he cheated!' added his wife, 'Feeding her one of those damn apples. She'll be out for hours.'

 

'Come on, let's get her back to our house. The fishing can wait 'til later.'

 

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Maddy awoke in another strange place, hoping this wasn't becoming a habit of hers. She looked up at the friendly face of what could only be an elf - the same pointed ears and delicate features as she had read about. She had brought a tray with a glass of warm orange liquid and some bread. 'Eat up, my dear. You've been through a terrible ordeal.'

 

Considering what had happened the last time she ate something from a stranger, Maddy was reluctant to start, but eventually her stomach surrendered and she tucked in. The bread was like nothing she had ever tasted before; rich and strong but sweet at the same time. She ate hungrily and the elf lady seemed place, for she was smiling kindly.

 

'Thank you.' said maddy afterwards, too scared to drink what she had been given and slightly embarassed of her rapid eating. 'Where am I?'

 

The elf just smiled sympathetically and looked up to her husband, who was sat in a large armchair in front of the fire with a cup of the orange stuff, staring into space. 'She's still delusional, dear. We'll have to keep her here for a while.'

 

'No, you don't understand. I actually don't know where I am.' Maddy was quick to correct them, however tired she was.

 

'Well, of course you don't now, but once you recover you will remember and you can go straight back home.'

 

'Is this some sort of joke? A minute ago I was in some boring antique house, and now I've been poisoned by a vampire and taken to a house with elves that drink orange goo!'

 

The husband elf looked up. 'She's obviously finding it difficult.'

 

Maddy buried her face in her hands. She had to get out of here.

 

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So that was how she came to be walking through a forest with silver trees. Maddy had managed to sneak out of the cottage and follow a narrow path for a few miles, which had brought her here, lost in a fantasy world with no way of getting home. Either that or she had gone crazy; neither idea seemed very appealing to her.

 

She sat down under one of the trees and wept. It didn't look like she was going to get back at all. And then she saw it.

 

A blue dragon was drinking from the glistening stream about ten yards away from her. It was covered in metallic scales, most of which sparkled in the sunlight that filtered through the tree canopies. But her wings were her best feature - even more stunning than the ones on the griffin. They arched backwards instead of over the head, and looked strong enough that a thousand men couldn't break them.

 

Maddy was frozen - awed and petrified at the same time. Then the dragon turned to look at her and she heard her own blood rush around her body, desperately trying to stop her from fainting. It really was huge, and coming towards her. She didn't even blink as it sniffed her, she couldn't summon the strength. The dragon paused for a second, and picked her up with its nose, flinging her on its back without further notice.

 

Maddy forgot to breathe until they were soaring above the silver tree tops. Images flashed by - castles, fields, houses, green smoke, and then there was complete darkness.

 

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Maddy awoke for a third and final time, sprawled across the grass and looking up at an unimpressed tour guide and the stern eyes of her mother. She looked up at the griffin statue. It was facing the other way.

 

 

 

Reviews

[Princess3Morag]

Such a cool story! Also, the ending is nice, with the tour guide and her mother looking at her. Personally I'd say 'blood rushing through her body' but that's just personal. It's really awesome :)