Julia E. Clements - Dreamland

DREAMLAND

Julia E. Clements

Julia E. Clements 2017

Pink Quill Books

Cover photo by Francesco Valla

Any images not created by the author are licensed under:

CC0 Public Domain

Free for commercial use

No attribution required

The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happenings. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recorded, or photocopied form without written permission of the author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the author or under the United States Law of Fair Use.

Although every precaution has been taken to verify the accuracy of the information contained herein, the author assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for damages that may result from the use of information contained within.

If you enjoy this story, maybe you could ask Mum or Dad to help you write a review on Amazon, so other kids can enjoy reading Dreamland too!

Dreamland is also available as an audiobook , read by the wonderful Kae Denino!

My latest book, Adventure in Malasorte Castle , is now available at all online retailers in paperback and ebook!

books2read.com/MalasorteCastle

And if you sign up to my newsletter, youll also get an exclusive short story for free! You can find the link at the end of this book.

For my wonderful readers, Francesco, Jess,

Bronwyn, Abi, Jack and Alex

Thank you for believing in this world of magic and dreams

Glossary of Names

A few of the characters names in Dreamland come from Italian, here are their meanings.

Argill comes from argilla, which means clay. Unlike in Italian, here its pronounced with a hard g sound, like the g in girl.

Stregona comes from strega, which means witch.

Argenta comes from argento, which means silver.

Lucinda comes from luce, which means light.

Grullo means silly or foolish in Tuscany, very appropriate for the giant!

Malia means a spell, or an enchantment, or sorcery.

Incubus comes from incubo, which means nightmare.

Grunden come from grun, which means green in German.

Chapter One: The Birthday Present

D ANNY CRIED OUT IN his sleep as he plummeted down through the dark, inky blackness towards a single point of light that grew steadily brighter as he got closer. Suddenly he plunged out of the shadows into dazzling sunlight and saw that he was standing next to the old, gnarled oak at the bottom of the garden. In its sturdy branches above him was the tree house his dad had made so carefully two summers before.

He looked up at the familiar wooden chalet with its slanting roof, fake chimney and trap door entrance, remembering how his dad had warned him not to light any fires, joking that the fire brigade was busy enough as it was. A thick rope hung down from the tree house, swinging gently to and fro in a non-existent breeze, inviting him to climb up. He didnt want to go; the nightmare always began this way, appearing to be like any normal dream, and then rapidly turning into panic-filled horror. But, just like every other time, he had no choice.

He moved automatically towards the rope and began to climb the tree, using some pieces of wood that had been nailed into the trunk as foot holds. As he climbed he passed the sign he had written himself in bright red paint: The Snug, Oak Tree Top, Gardens End, Rootling and the empty post box nailed below it. He glanced down and quickly wished he hadnt; the tree trunk seemed to be rushing away from the ground at an astonishing rate, the garden no longer visible through the swirling clouds below him. He grasped onto the rope, his head spinning, and determinedly carried on climbing. Finally, gasping for breath, he reached the trap door, pushed it open with one hand and hauled himself up into his tree house.

All of his things were where he had left them and nothing was out of place, yet he felt oddly uneasy, as if someone or something had been there recently. He stepped into the middle of the room that had been built around the tree trunk and sneezed as he brushed into some long, grey cobwebs dangling down from the ceiling. Disgusted, he frantically slapped his face to get rid of the sticky strands that had wrapped themselves around his head.

He realised that everything was very quiet, too quiet. There was not a single sound, no birds singing, no insects buzzing and droning in the branches of the oak. He tiptoed over to a window and looked out - there in the distance was the enormous, menacing black cloud, moving swiftly across the sky as usual. Suddenly the bright day turned dark as the cloud passed in front of the sun. Danny held his breath in trepidation, his heart thumping. He could hear the rope outside creaking as if someone was climbing up it, towards the open trap door in the floor. He hoped that this time it was his dad, coming to take him back to the house for his tea, even though he knew it was impossible, that his dad would never again come through the trap door.

A scream built up in his throat as a dark, shadowy figure glided into the tree house and slowly turned around. Two piercing red eyes glowered at him, as bright as burning coals. The spectre glided towards Danny, its long, black cloak swishing around its feet. Terrified, he stumbled backwards until he could feel the wooden wall of the chalet behind him and he had nowhere left to run. This was the point where he usually woke up, the spectre melting away as he sat up in bed with his eyes wide open in fright. But this time it was different. This time the spectre continued to advance, until he could see the vapour from its fetid breath just a few inches from his face. His frightened scream reverberated around the tree house as a long, skeletal hand reached out and slowly beckoned to him. At the same time an enormous, swirling vortex of air appeared above the trapdoor, spinning violently.

The tree house started to disintegrate and Danny grabbed onto the trunk, dodging pieces of wooden planks while desperately trying to save himself from falling into the roaring whirlwind, his books and toys flying past him. Air whistled past his ears and his arms ached from grasping so tightly onto the trunk. As his grip slowly loosened and his fingertips slipped on the rough bark, he could feel his body being pulled towards the vortex. Unable to hold on any longer, he suddenly let go and hurtled through the air towards the raging maelstrom and the terrifying apparition waiting for him...