A Magical Day

John opened the door of his house and took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh air. A sudden draft of cold air caused him to shiver. He turned back to go back inside to get his jacket when his eyes fell on a small package. This package was dirty and seemed like it had been left out in the rain for many days. He stood there for a moment, wondering what to do. Then, gingerly, he lifted the package, wincing when it dripped brown, dirty, water from the soggy bottom. Suddenly, it made a growling noise, and John dropped it in surprise. Minutes passed. When it did not make a sound again, John picked up the package, and set it on the kitchen counter. He took a knife to cut it open, but before he barely touched the box with the knife, the package opened on its own. There was only a note inside. John read it and then frowned. “Go into your attic and open the box marked SPECIAL on your left.” It probably was just a prank. But then there’s no harm in just looking, John thought.

He took a deep breath and sprinted upstairs, to the attic, bursting with curiosity. His knees shook as he climbed the old, wooden rungs of the brown ladder that creaked with his weight. He was breathing rapidly just thinking about the terrible and frightening things that could be in that box and he could almost hear his heart thumping. It’s just a prank, he thought, trying to reassure himself. But before he could turn back, he was already in his attic. He tiptoed to the left side of the attic, trying not to notice how unusually cold, dark, and smelly the attic was. He looked to the left, and sure enough, there was the box. It was an extremely big box, much wider than him, but only half of his height. He cautiously opened the box and peered inside. At that very instant a few rats ran past him, startling John. John leaped up in surprise, his foot hit the wall, and at that moment lost his balance and fell into the box. The last thing he could remember was falling through sparkly clouds.

The next instant, John was hurtling toward the ground. The clouds sparkled and the world around him was so bright, he could barely see, and had to squint. “AAAAAAAAH!!!” John screeched as he fell. Suddenly, he landed on a bright, sparkling reindeer. John was so shocked, he leaped off the reindeer, trying to get away. Luckily, they were much closer to the ground at this point, and John landed in the grass, not getting hurt at all. The reindeer landed gracefully in front of him. It shimmered very brightly, and its nose shone. It pawed at the ground confidently. Suddenly, a bright flash came from it. John looked away and covered his eyes with his hands. When he looked again, he saw that standing before him was not a reindeer… but a very short man! “Hello, my name is Cookie!” The short man said, with a strange accent.

“W-what are y-you?” John stuttered. “I’m a dwarf!” Cookie said. “And so are you!”

“I’m a WHAT?” John yelled, not caring about how loud it was. Cookie flinched. “You’re a dwarf! How else do you think you fell through the box? The box is a door to Dwarf Land, where you are right now! And we brought you here to tell you this secret!”. “But I’m not short, like you!” John said. Cookie did not seem offended. “You will grow shorter as you grow older,” Cookie explained. “Well, how old are you?” John asked Cookie. “Only about 400,” Cookie responded. John gasped. “400?” He asked faintly. Cookie nodded. John couldn’t take anymore. He fainted.

When John woke up, he was back in his own house! He was in the attic, lying on the floor! John slowly got up. Was it all a dream? John thought. John looked around, but he could not find the large box. He went into the kitchen and looked at the counter, but he could not find the package or the note. Maybe it was a dream, and I’m not a dwarf, John thought relieved. But as he sighed in relief, sparkles fell from his pocket. John groaned. Was it a dream? Was he a dwarf? But then he realized something. Dwarf or not, he was thankful to be back home.