Fred and his Friends in Toylasia

Fred and his Friends in Toylasia(Prakriti lakhera) ‘Fred, get ready for school. It’s already late now,’ Fred’s mother called him. ‘Ya mom, ready in just two minutes’ Fred replied. Fred was never in time for the school so his mother was always after him. ‘What’s for breakfast? I hope not buns again,’ Fred asked his mom, making himself comfortable in a sofa. ‘Macaroni with cheese’ his mother replied. ‘Yummy’ Fred said as he sat down to eat. ‘Eat fast Fred; it’s nearly time for your school to start. Fred gobbled his food and went to the garage to get his bicycle. He waved good bye to his mom and pedaled fast in order to reach the school in time.

He was just in time as the school bell rang. He made his bicycle stand in a corner. As he turned to his class he saw his four friends Kemmy, James, Kate and Pam coming in a group. ‘Hallo everybody’ Fred shouted. ‘Hi Fred,’ all the four shouted seeing him. All the five, Fred, Kemmy, James, Kate and Pam hugged each other in a most unusual way. They all were best friends since first grade and their friendship was the talk of the school. They were pretty good in studies, and they liked reading adventurous books. However when they all met each other on the first day of the school, they were surprised to know that their hobbies were the same.

‘Has anyone studied for the exam?’ Kate asked suddenly. Pam, Kemmy and James nodded as all of them had studied well. But Fred didn’t say anything. Of course, he hadn’t learned for the exam. ‘Oh what should I do?’ he thought to himself, ‘Father wasn’t at all happy with my previous result. If I don’t score good marks in this test he will just stop me playing with my friends.’ ‘What happened Fred?’ Kate asked him, shaking him from his thoughts. ‘Nothing’ Fred said. ‘Don’t befool us. We know you haven’t learned for the exam’ Kemmy said. ‘I have an idea’ Kate said. ‘What?’ everyone asked. ‘Fred, you sit behind me, and I will simply leave my answer sheet a little to the right side and you can cheat the answers,’ Kate said. ‘Oh thank god,’ Fred said as they moved in the class.

They seated in their chairs and waited for the bell to ring. The first bell rings after fifteen minutes. As the bell rang, Mrs. Shweta, ma’am, entered the class. ‘Children, as the school is holding its school festival, the school will be closed for 10 days from tomorrow. So the exams are postponed and will be held after the holidays,’ Mrs. Shweta said. There was a happy cry heard from the students. The classes kept on going for 3 hours and after that the bell rang and that was the sign for the students to pack their bags and go home. Fred was happy to hear that the exam had been postponed, as were the others.

On the way back home Pam asked what they should do in the holidays. Fred said ‘You all come today at my house and we will discuss what to do in the holidays.’ So after having lunch at their homes all four headed towards Fred’s house. Fred was sitting in his room waiting for them to come. Fred told his mom to bring cold drinks for his friends as well as himself. Mother brought cold drinks and handed over the glasses to each of them. Then she went back to the kitchen. All of them started giving their opinions on what to do in these holidays. Suddenly Fred had an idea; he said ‘You all know that Old Mountain in which we all played together when we were kids. What about having a picnic there? And my father built a playhouse there. We can spend a night or two also. Guys, we’ll have so much of fun.’ ‘But what about our parents? Will they agree?’ Kate asked. ‘They will have to agree’ Fred said. So they all agreed on going for a picnic. ‘When to go?’ James asked. ‘I will be telephoning you to tell you when we have to go and you can send this message to Kemmy, Pam and Kate,’ Fred said to James. All four waved goodbye to Fred and went home.

At home all four asked their parents permission to stay on Fred’s playhouse for a day or two. At first none of the parents were willing to send their children alone. But after much appeal their plea was granted. Fred’s father readily permitted him and his friends to go to the Old Mountain for a picnic and spending a night or two there. Fred quickly made a call on James house and told him that they would go tomorrow to that Old Mountain so everyone had to come to Fred’s house for departure. James passed this message to Kemmy, Pam and Kate. All the four were ready and waiting outside Fred’s house. Fred was actually late every time, whether for school or for picnic. He came to the gate after 2-3 minutes where all his friends were waiting. Then all of them departed towards the Old Mountain.

In at least one hour they all reached the Old Mountain. They were exhausted so first they went to the playhouse and rested there for a few minutes. After that they went out in the sunshine and opened their bags which contained chips, cold drinks, toffees, biscuits, chocolates, oranges, etc. They soon started picnicking. They talked as they ate. After finishing almost everything they slept for a while. When they woke up they thought to take a round of the Old Mountain. So they all started walking, and they soon came to a cave which was looking dangerous and full of horror. They didn’t dare to step inside it. Kemmy said, ‘what is so dangerous about it? Let’s go inside it.’ Fred also thought that it would be stupid to feel scared from a cave. Then all of them started moving inside the cave.

When they entered the cave they felt a stab of pain in their heads. They screamed in pain and fell down fainted. They could not understand what had happened to them when they woke up. When they looked back, their mouths fell open in astonishment because they could see magnificent buildings all around. Some buildings were even floating in the sky. Then to their great astonishment they saw living toys. Toys that can walk, run, jump, play, skip etc. ‘I think I am sleeping now also,’ Kate said seeing all this. ‘But this all is true,’ James said, pinching himself to see if he was sleeping or not. ‘Who created this world?’ Pam asked. ‘I created this world.’ Everyone heard an old man saying this. They all turned back to see who the speaker was. The speaker was an old man dressed in white clothes. ‘I created this world,’ repeated the old man. ‘And its name is Toylasia, it is a land of toys. Toys can speak, dance, run and do many other things in this world. ‘Why are we here then?’ Fred asked, who was quiet for a long time. ‘Because the people of Toylasia, I mean, the toys of Toylasia country, need your help’ the old man said. ‘Need our help?’ all the five asked in amazement. ‘How can we help you? We are only kids and we know nothing about this place’ Fred said. ‘Looks like I will have to tell you the whole story’ the old man said. ‘Please tell us or we’ll understand nothing’ Kate said.

The old man begun, ‘Not very many years back King Tiny Toy ruled Toylasia. He was a very kind king and treated all the people of Toylasia well. One day he decided to make a visit to all the parts of Toylasia and see how his people were living. He was on his journey to the Sandy beach situated in the south of Toylasia when he came face to face with an old man who was in a very feeble condition. King Tiny Toy told that man that he would give anything to him he would ask for. Now, the man was actually Garry the Ghost who was jealous of King Tiny Toy and Toylasia. He said that he wanted half of the country of Toylasia and its wealth and the toys living in it. King Tiny Toy was perplexed hearing all the conditions of the old man. But as he had promised, he gave all the things demanded by the old man. After hearing from the King that he would get the things he wanted, the old man came to his real form and once again became Garry the Ghost. Our Majesty was full of horror in seeing Garry the Ghost. He returned back to Toylasia and as promised gave half of Toylasia to Garry the Ghost. Garry, with his magical powers, made all the toys in his part ghost toys. But he didn’t stop at this. He made an army of ghost toys and attacked the other part of Toylasia with it. Somehow the toys escaped, but now Garry the Ghost is planning to attack us again. Then King Tiny Toy came upon the cave from which you all have come from. He bestowed magical powers to the cave so that if anyone tried to go inside the cave they would be thrown out, but if someone succeeded in coming in the cave they would be told to help us. And as you all succeeded in coming in Toylasia you are asked to help us,’ finished the old man.

All the five kids were listening to the story carefully. They did not understand what to do. Whether to help them or not? Finally they decided that they will not be able to help the toys, as they were so small. They shook their head when asked to help. The old man was disappointed. He said ‘Well it’s ok if you don’t want to help but stay this night here only. It’s too dark for you to go back home.’ The five kids agreed. The old man took the children to a magnificent building and led them to their rooms where they can rest for a while. The children were exhausted so they slept in their own rooms. Now in the other part of Toylasia, Garry the ghost was seeing all this. He thought to kidnap Kate and make her a toy so that was not able to leave the country. He quickly took his bike that can fly and went to the building where the kids were sleeping in their rooms. He went to Kate’s room and tried to snatch her hand. Kate gave a cry. Hearing it all the other started running to her room. But by the time they reached Kate was turned into a toy statue. Garry was trying to take Kate to the other part of Toylasia whom now everybody called Ghost land. Pam was furious to see this. She kicked hard Garry as he flew away but then he went back to Ghost land leaving Kate’s toy statue there only. All the friends were in tears seeing their friend turned to a statue. ‘Now what we will do? We can’t go back without Kate’ Fred said. King Tiny Toy had also come by that time. ‘If you all will help me saving the toys from distress and making Toylasia once again free then I will tell you how your friend can be saved’ King Tiny Toy said. ‘Yes, we will do anything for saving our friend’ all the children said at once. ‘You have to go to the ice castle and bring this toy monkey statue from there’ King Tiny Toy said giving them a map of ice castle and a sketch of the toy monkey statue. ‘Ok we’ll start off at once’ Fred said. ‘No, please don’t go now. Go tomorrow morning’ King Tiny Toy said. So they all waited for the morning. At morning all the four kids were ready to go to the ice castle. They had remembered everything. ‘But be careful because snow queen and her snow army are always on guard. And you have only 2 days to come back to Toylasia once you have reached the Ice Castle’ King Tiny Toy said. All the four children set off for the journey. They could only see their friend in danger. It was a very long path to the Ice Castle. It took them 5 days to reach Ice Castle. They were exhausted on reaching the Ice Castle. The Ice Castle looked beautiful. They sat on a stone table from where they would not be able to get caught up by the snow queen or its army. They could see the snow toys on guard. Then they saw that in between the castle the toy monkey statue was kept. There was only one problem on how to get in the Ice Castle as it was being thoroughly guarded. They started discussing on how to get in the castle. ‘Any ideas how we can get in?’ Fred asked. ‘It is impossible to get in the castle by the entrance door as it is being guarded’ Kemmy said. After much discussion Pam noticed that she was sitting on an underground door. And that door led to the castle. Pam told this to everyone. James, Kemmy and Fred opened it with great strength. There was a ladder that led inside the castle. One by one they stepped inside the castle with the help of the ladder. The ladder led them to the personal cabin of the snow queen. There they saw a cupboard and opened it. It was full of guns. All the four kids took one each. Suddenly they all heard the footsteps of someone coming in the cabin and they froze. Suddenly Kemmy saw a store room that was nearby so he led everyone there and shut the door. They saw snow queen coming in surrounded by guards. When they saw the snow queen was gone they quickly crept out making no sound. They started heading forward. They saw that the toy monkey statue was near but it was covered with a shield and many snow toys were on guard. ‘We should take an action now otherwise it will be very late to do anything and we will not be able to save Kate’ Pam said feeling impatient. ‘But how to grab that toy statue? Others are on guard’ Kemmy said. ‘So what guys. They are only toys remember. And I am sure we can defeat them’ Pam said. ‘Ok, but take your guns. We can’t possibly fight bare handed with them’ Fred said. They crept from there and reached the place where the toy monkey statue was kept. Seeing the kids, snow toys started attacking them. All the four children took out their hand pistols they have taken from the cabin of snow queen. They also started fighting with the toys. After 2-3 minutes the fight was over. The children won from the snow toys. When they reached to the toy monkey statue they found that it was covered with a shield. They couldn’t understand what to do to take the toy monkey. Then they remembered what King Tiny Toy has told them. He has told them that they wouldn’t possibly take the toy monkey without speaking the correct password. Now the problem was to speak the correct password. They couldn’t dream of any password that would unlock the shield to get the toy monkey. They started saying as many passwords they thought would prove helpful, but nothing proved helpful. In the meantime the snow queen was sitting in her cabin seeing all this. She didn’t order any of her guards to grab the children. The guards were waiting for an order so that they can grab the kids and bring it to the snow queen. The snow queen said ‘Let them try to unlock the shield and take the toy monkey. I know they will not be able to unlock it and would return back. If by chance they succeed in unlocking the shield, then we would take the toy monkey away from them.’ The children could not understand how to unlock the shield. They were exhausted speaking the words they thought would be the password. Suddenly Fred remembered something. He jumped up with excitement when he remembered what King Tiny Toy has told him. Fred said to his friends ‘You know that sketch of the toy monkey. The password was hidden in it.’ ‘What’s the password then?’ everyone asked. Fred lay out the sketch of the toy monkey. They could see that the password was hidden behind toy monkey’s crown. And the password was “KIMBALA”. They quickly typed the word KIMBALA in the password box and the shield turned invisible. They took out the toy monkey and Pam kept it in her bag she was carrying. The snow queen was seeing all this. She told the guards to take away the toy monkey from the children. The snow toys that were the guards rush to the place where the children stood with the toy monkey safely in Pam’s bag. The snow toys aimed their guns towards the kids. All the four kids too took out their guns and aimed it towards the snow toys. Fred commanded everyone to shoot the snow toys. Now only firing was to be heard. All the four kids were doing well. The snow toys were left injured by them. Seeing all this, the snow queen rush to that place. She quickly with her magical powers made Pam injured. Snow queen threw a knife at Pam which made her injured. Pam’s hand was bleeding very much. Fred told Kemmy to look after Pam and the toy monkey and take them safely away. Kemmy went to the place where Pam was sitting and sobbing due to the constant bleeding of her hand. But the toy monkey was safe in her bag. Kemmy led Pam away from the Ice Castle which was now melting because Fred had broken the magic wand of the snow queen. After sometime Fred and James came safely out of the Ice Castle. All the snow army with the snow queen was dead. Fred bandaged Pam’s hand so that it would stop bleeding. After resting for sometime all the four kids started their journey back to Toylasia. When they were back they quickly went to King Tiny Toy and presented the toy monkey statue before him. King Tiny Toy was very happy in getting the toy monkey. The toy monkey statue was holding a tiny box. King Tiny Toy took that tiny box out and opened it. It contained a red colored pigment. King Tiny Toy spread that pigment on the ground and in a second a huge army came out. King Tiny Toy told the army to go at once to Ghost land and destroy the army of Garry the ghost. Then he told the kids to accompany the army and creep secretly in the castle of Garry the ghost. Then he handed the toy monkey to the kids and said that they had to keep this toy monkey aiming Garry the ghost. Rest all is depended on the toy monkey. So all the kids started off at once to the Ghost land. When they reached the Ghost land they crept carefully in the castle of Garry the ghost. Garry was in his room seeing his army getting destroyed. When Fred kept the toy monkey aiming Garry the ghost, then suddenly the toy monkey statue became alive. He looked at the kids and then Garry the ghost. Then taking his sword the toy monkey jumped on Garry the ghost and had a fight with him. Garry the ghost tried to escape but he can’t. Soon after the fight ended everything changed normal. Garry the ghost died and his magic too. Every toy that was turned into a ghost also became normal. The Ghost land once again turned into Toylasia. Kate also became normal and all the four kids hugged her as they have missed her a lot. There was a dinner party organized by King Tiny Toy at night. All of them were happy and very excited to eat. At night they slept in their rooms. When they woke up the next day they found them in Fred’s playhouse. They were shocked. ‘Was that a dream?’ Pam asked everyone. But it wasn’t a dream because they had a letter in their hand by King Tiny Toy which said ‘Thank you all my friends for helping me. Whenever we want you or need you we just had to play a flute left by Fred and then you all can once again come to the land of toys in TOYLASIA. Because adventure never ends my friends. You soon will be here in Toylasia once again.’ ‘It was really thrilling’ Fred said as they set off for home.