Chapter 1: The Blue Marble Comes Back With A Red And Green Marble
“Elrond, Kian Ann and Yi Qian, you will team up to do the banner about Anne Hathaway.” Miss Lim, our Social Studies teacher instructed, “Elrond, perhaps you would behave better without Xander in your group project.”
‘Sigh!’ As Elrond and I were enemies, I thought to myself. I am so fortunate to have Yi Qian in my group, so I would not spend too much time quarreling with Elrond and concentrate on the research for the banner. Who is Anne Hathaway, by the way? Hey, it rhymes!
After joining tables, we quickly settled down. I spotted three marbles on Yi Qian’s table and felt that one of the marbles seemed familiar.
“Hey!” Yi Qian exclaimed, “Isn’t that the blue marble ball that led us to Japan in the first book?”
“What marbles?” Elrond asked.
“Stay out of this, Elrond!” I warned, “Yi Qian, maybe we should leave those marble balls alone. Remember, in the last book, we almost died. If we die in this book, there would never be a Book III!”
“But if nothing happens in this book, nobody will read it!” Yi Qian retorted, “Furthermore, I thought ‘The Author’ has forbidden us to tell the readers that we are fictional characters?”
Suddenly, a loud and bold voice sounded, “You’ve just let the cat out of the bag, Tan Yi Qian, you’d better catch it back for me!”
“Please forgive me, Mr. Author, but the cat is running out too fast!” Yi Qian apologized, shivering in fear.
“I’ll give you just one last chance. Each of you has a secret mission. Kian Ann, you have to be William Shakespeare’s assistant, helping to complete Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Elrond, your mission is to catch Thomas Vavasor. He is planning to steal ‘Romeo and Juliet’ with his men. Yi Qian, you just have to take care of a green kitten. I don’t care what complaints you have, but just complete your mission. Goodbye…”
“Hey wait! Why do I have the least job?” Yi Qian shouted in front of the class accidently.
“Well, you can do some decoration for the banner, Yi Qian…” Miss Lim suggested. Yi Qian’s face flushed red in embarrassment.
Conformed to ‘The Author’s’ instructions, Elrond rubbed the blue marble, Yi Qian rubbed the green marble, and I rubbed the red marble. Instantly, we spun…
Chapter 2: The Blue Cat’s Wife, The Red Cat, And The Extremely Annoying Green Kitten
After I gained consciousness, I saw a red cat standing beside me.
“Hi! I am the blue cat’s wife, the red cat.”, it said, “I will be guiding you with your mission. Unlike my husband, I can speak to you directly.” I got up, and found myself in the same forest as my last adventure, lifeless with rotten oak trees.
“Where should we go?” I asked.
“We have to follow these chicken footprints in order to leave this forest.” it replied.
… … … … … … …
When Elrond got up, he found himself in a magical desert, all alone…
“Oh, you’re awake!” An impatient purr sounded out of nowhere. “I can speak to you through your thoughts. Quick, there’s not much time to spare, let’s get ready for our mission!” Elrond could not discern where the purr originated from. When he looked down and saw a blue cat standing in front of him, he believed that the purr was from the cat.
“Okay!” Elrond exclaimed. He then calmed himself down, showing off his cool manner, “Let me think about it.”
“Stop talking! Please communicate to me through your mind, as this mission should be a secret, Mr. Trying to be cool!”
“You mean I’m not cool?” Elrond challenged the cat through mind communication, “Watch this… Yo, what’s up bro, you look funny!” He turned around and noticed that the cat was already a few miles away. “Hey, wait for me!”
… … … … … … …
When Yi Qian woke up, he found himself lying in the middle of a plain field. A little green kitten was standing on his stomach.
“Guess it’s just you and me now, kitty kitty!”Yi Qian cooed.
“Nope, just you…”The kitten said, running away happily.
“Oh my goodness…” Yi Qian sighed and chased after it, “My mission is to take care of a talking, annoying and runaway kitten…”
Chapter 3: Visiting New Places
After getting out of the forest, we saw a very old house. The walls were covered with mold and vines. Dim rays of light pierced through the windows and an aroma of freshly baked cookies filled our surroundings. As we walked through a stony path, I noticed something wrong with the house.
“Is William Shakespeare still young?” I asked. The cat stared at me with a confused “meow”
“If he’s older, he would have moved to a new house called ‘New Place’! Why did the chicken footprints lead us to ‘Stratford-Upon- Avon’, which is William Shakespeare’s birthplaceⁱ?”I continued.
“You see,” the red cat explained, “Stories in this world has passed down generations after generations, and they become distorted. So, we call them ‘twisted stories’. Anyway, let me test you, what is the history of Stratford?”
“Ahem!” I said proudly, “Stratford-Upon-Avon was founded by the Saxonsⁱⁱ when they invaded the place in the 7th century. At first, Stratford was a typical village, and then in the late 12th century, it was transformed into a town. There have been several fires in the year 1595…wait a second… will we get attacked by the fire? Are we in the year 1595?
“Well, we would be safe if we go inside that house…”the red cat replied. We proceeded to the doorstep and rang the doorbell.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” A rotund, short man answered the door unwillingly. I could hardly find hair on his head. He was bald with no mustache and beard. The proportion of his head was too small for his body, which…well…made his overall figure look like a turtle. He seemed like a busy man, because he tried to close the door without waiting for our reply.
“Wait!” I shouted, “I need to see the bard of Avon, William Shakespeare.”
“What do you need me for?” he asked.
“You’re William Shakespeare? I thought you should have brown, wavy short hair, brown mustache and a little beard on your chin, and the William Shakespeare I’ve researched is very friendly and patient? Wow, so many things get twisted through time…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh nothing, I was just wondering, can I be your assistant in writing scripts? Don’t worry, I’m a free labor.” I asked.
“A kid shan’t play pranks. I’m sorry, but you are not invited, and who knows, you may be a spy of Thomas Vavasor…”
i William Shakespeare was born in the year 1564.
ii The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes.
“Wait!” a fierce, old lady stepped out of the house and said, “Let them in!” She wore a silver necklace and had silver bands around her wrists.
“As you wish, Anne,” William glared at me.
“Okay, Kian Ann, since you want to be my assistant, you need to know that I am now writing a script called ‘Romeo and Juliet’. My purpose of writing this is to caution all youngsters prone to falling in love at the flicker. I need you to help me jot down as I relate the script to you.” Shakespeare instructed, being friendlier in speech this time.
--- --- --- --- --- --- ---
After getting out of the magical desert, Elrond pointed to a skinny little man leaning against an apple tree, “Is that Thomas Vavasor?”
“No, of course not…” the cat replied.
“What about him?” He pointed to a man with a sword and a shield.
“NO-wait… yes…”
“Should we follow him?”
“What do you think?”
Elrond followed Thomas Vavasor to a dark, dark alley filled with rats and centipedes. Vavasor climbed over a wall and went into a ruined castle. Elrond saw thousands of people, with black cloth covering their whole body from head to toe, revealing only their eyes. They walked in a suspicious manner, as if they were keeping a secret. Elrond felt a sense of insecurity as he did not know what to do next.
“This must be their meeting place! But how do we go in?” Elrond thought.
“Are you that stupid? Just knock one of them out and wear their outfit! If you are too short, let me stand on your head and give you directions as I can see from the eyeholes!”
Elrond did as he was told, and with the cat balancing on his head, they walked into the castle.
“What’s the password?” One of the guards asked them.
“Why must I tell you?” Elrond replied so fast that the words just came out of his mouth. He stuck out his tongue immediately. Fortunately, he was covered by the black cloth.
“Correct! Go in!” The guard said monotonously.
“See, sometimes, being rebellious is a good thing…”
“We shall see…”
“Hey! Where’s Vavasor?”
“While you were boasting about being rebellious, he was already nowhere to be found.”
“You should have told me earlier on!”
As Elrond and the blue cat had smuggled into Vavasor’s territory, they walked past a long passageway and were awed by the treasures placed everywhere. When they entered a room they were surprised to see lots of members of the ‘secret’ society sitting around a long table. Just then, a tall built man in the same outfit walked into the room. He ordered all of us to sit down and declared the start of the meeting.
Elrond shivered as he heard more and more wicked plans from some members. The meeting concluded and the society had agreed on burning Stratford down.
After the meeting, they came out of the ruined castle and they saw a man taking out his outfit.
Isn’t that Vavasor? He must be the leader of the group! Is he going to be the one to burn Stratford down? Elrond thought.
I guess so…
He was carrying something with him. Elrond followed him all the way to Sheep Street.
Chapter 4: The Big Battle
“I’m so hungry”, whined the green kitten, standing in front of a fishmonger’s stall, admiring the pile of fish. “I wish I could have a dish of fish to eat…hey, that rhymes!”
Panting away, Yi Qian finally caught up with the green kitten. It was a crowded marketplace.
“Yi Qian,” said the kitten, “It would be nice if you can buy me a fish, and I won’t run away anymore! I promise!”
Yi Qian dug into his pockets and realized that he was penniless.
He wondered what he could do to stop this annoying brat from running away. “Grab the kitten?” He thought. Yi Qian felt that it was a brilliant solution.
When he stepped forward, the kitten found that it was a threatening action, so it grabbed a fish and ran away.
“Oh, not again…” Yi Qian sighed. The fish monger and the townspeople’s attention were all turned to the helpless boy.
“Get this boy out of Ely Street! Shoo him to Sheep Street!”
Yi Qian ran for his life, and saw a sign stated ‘Welcome to Sheep Street’ He looked behind, and realized that he had got rid of the townspeople.
“Kitty! Where are you?” Yi Qian shouted desperately as if he had been walking for a long time. Suddenly, he saw somebody familiar from afar.
“Isn’t that Elrond and that blue cat?” Yi Qian wondered, “They seem to be following someone…” Instantly, Yi Qian remembered that Elrond’s mission was to catch a thief.
“Let me follow them, and see if I can be of any help!” He decided.
Yi Qian followed him silently, not knowing that he was plunging into a great danger, and he had entirely forgotten his initial mission…
… ... ... … … …
In the verge of writing Scene III, Shakespeare suddenly said, “Kian Ann, we have to go! We need to go to the Sheep Street!” I packed up my bag in confusion, and followed him.
“Meow!” I fed the red cat with some fish as it pounced on my shoulder.
… … … … … … …
Elrond sensed that he was being followed, but before he could find out anything, he saw Vavasor pouring kerosene around a house, he then threw a lighted matchstick, and in a split second, the house was on fire!
“Boo!” a familiar voice behind his back whispered. It was Yi Qian who caused Elrond to jump in his tracks!
“I thought your mission was to take care of a green cat? What are you doing here?” Elrond blurted aloud. His voice was so loud that it made Vavasor noticed him. “Hey, Vavasor’s running away! Let’s split up to chase after him! I’ll take this road! Yi Qian, you’ll go by that way!” He said hurriedly.
Yi Qian spotted a shadow of a man running towards a quiet lane. He figured that it might be Vavasor’s shadow. Just then, Yi Qian saw a wall of fire coming towards him from the back. When he was about to run away from the fire, a huge wooden pillar caught in fire dropped down in front of him and he realized that he was trapped.
“Help!” Yi Qian coughed. Out of a sudden, he saw something dashing towards him.
“Come with me!” a familiar voice cried.
Yi Qian found himself being covered by a wet blanket and was pulled away suddenly. When Yi Qian got out of the fire, he saw the one who saved him was indeed the furry, striped green kitten. “It’s you, Kitty! Thank you for saving my life!”
Elrond bumped into Yi Qian coincidently and complained, “Oh, I have lost him!”
Suddenly, Thomas Vavasor appeared from the opposite street with a few thousand men.
“You were following me, right?” Thomas Vavasor snarled, smiling, “RIGHT? Give me your ‘Romeo and Juliet’! NOW!”
“O Villain, Villain, smiling damned Villain! My tables. Meet it is I set it down. That one may smile, and smile, and be a Villain!” Shakespeare exclaimed, arriving at the scene with Anne, the red cat and me.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” He held up his ‘Romeo and Juliet’ script.
“Y-E-S! My plan worked!” Vavasor sneered,” You have no chance against us!”
“All the men behind Vavasor, I know all of you are facing financial difficulties that forced you to join him. Let me tell you, being mean and evil is not worth it. If you quit, good and fulfilling lives would be ahead of you. I can promise you that.” I said persuasively.
The confused men thought for a while. They seemed to be convinced by me. Without uttering a word, they turned their backs and left. The only person left in front of us was Thomas Vavasor. Feeling disgraced, he took out his sword and stabbed himself.
“To die-to sleep, no more, and by a sleep we say we end. The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks. That flesh is heir to: tis a consummation. Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep; to sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there’s the rub: For in that sleep of death. What dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause- there’s the respect. That makes calamity of so long life.” Shakespeare sighed.
“Well, mission completed! I guess it’s time to go back to our class …” I said, as the cats turned into marble balls, “Good bye Shakespeare and Anne, it was nice knowing you!” I said, as we rubbed the marbles. And we spun…
After this mission, I had a very difficult question. Where did the cats come from?
To be continued in Book 3…
“A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardoned, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe,
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”
~ William Shakespeare
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