Stevie in Wonderland

Shark! (Photo by K. Riggle)

Jason’s puppy, Stevie, had run off. Jason requisitioned both Madison and Kevin to join in the hunt. They followed Stevie’s footprints into the forest on the hill.

The footprints led them to a lake. They needed to cross it in order to continue following the footprints, but their path was blocked by a vicious shark. The shark mocked them, saying that their dog had been taken by a wicked entity and that they had no hope of finding him. The group noticed that a shining key was hanging from one of the shark’s teeth. They hatched a plan. Madison distracted the shark by pretending to swim across the lake. Jason jumped on the shark’s back and rode it like a rodeo star, grabbing the key from its jaws. Devoid of magic from the shining key, the shark suddenly transformed into a fish and fell harmlessly back into the lake. The group crossed the water unscathed and continued to follow the footprints of the puppy.

The footprints led them to the entrance of a small castle in the forest. They heard voices inside and snuck closer to investigate. Inside the castle they found a bunch of winged squirrels talking about how the puppy was being held captive somewhere and that the key they were guarding in the tower was one of seven required to free Stevie from his prison. The group could see that the key was being kept in a chest on the other side of the room. Kevin brazenly leaped into the room, intent on running straight to the chest and taking the squirrels by surprise. The squirrels tried in vain to stop him; they were too small and fluffy to do much of anything. Kevin opens the chest to find not a key, but a book about dogs. Kevin was baffled, but Jason stepped in and turned to the page about the English Pointer, the breed that Stevie was. The shining key was lying within that page. When the key was removed, the book suddenly shriveled into an old twig and dropped to the ground. Furious, the squirrels cursed us out and took to the sky, flying towards a tower at the top of a cliff that loomed over the forest. They claimed that they would find all of the keys before the group did.

Dogs! (Photo by K. Riggle)

The group scaled the cliff easily, using a pulley system they found in the cliff face. When they reached the tower, they found that it was a library. On the top floor, they found that a book had been torn apart, mangled pages covered the floor. The word “IS” was printed on the cover of the book. It seemed that someone had been frantically tearing through the book in vain. A loose Post-It note lay near the book’s remains. It bore the same two letters as the book’s cover. Madison postulated that the fervent searchers may have mistakenly been looking at the letters upside down when they were searching. She found the book marked “SI” and tried to pull it off the shelf. This opened a secret compartment in the wall, revealing a golden bust of George Washington’s head with a shining key clutched in his teeth. They removed the key and the bust faded from brilliant gold to cold weathered stone. The group left the tower and proceeded to follow a path that led down the slope near the back of the structure.

Government! (Photo by K. Riggle)

Suddenly, Madison and Kevin realized that Jason was no longer with them. They called his name, but got no answer from the looming forest around them. It was then that they noticed a figure standing in the path ahead of them. The figure cackled ghoulishly, stepping toward them. It appeared to be a grizzled otter. Its fur was twisted and matted, and its eyes glowed with menace.

“I’m not really surprised that you made it this far," it spoke in a raspy squeak, "Those squirrels are a fickle lot. They lack focus. But that's why I'm here. I've taken your friend! Don't worry. He's just fine. And you can get him back if you can find him in the labyrinth ahead. But you'd better hurry. The animals are getting hungry, and you don't want curiosity to kill the cat!" With another cackle, the otter disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving them to ponder his cryptic words.

Fearful for their friend's life, Madison and Kevin hurried down the trail. They soon found themselves penned in by high stone walls. They appeared to be inside of a giant maze. The walls were covered with carvings and glyphs depicting all manner of subjects. Kevin was almost instantly at a loss, but Madison caught on quickly. She knew that the otter had mentioned animals, and she noticed that carvings of animals were only on certain walls. They decided to follow the animal carvings in order to find Jason. Suddenly, as they rounded a corner they saw a large cheetah blocking their way. It bore a shackle around its neck that was chained to the wall. The shackle bore a shining key. Madison and Kevin crept toward it, but the cheetah just looked at them with a calm, pensive stare. Fearless and daring, Madison slowly reached out for the key and yanked it off of the shackle. The cheetah's bonds disintegrated. Where the cheetah once was now stood Jason. He thanked them for saving him and told them that he knew where the otter lived.

Labyrinth! (Photo by K. Riggle)

Jason guided them out of the labyrinth and led them to a river. He pointed out a large tunnel in the side of the bank and said that it was the otter's home in addition to housing another key. They contemplated how to deal with the otter when Kevin had an idea. He had Jason put the key in his mouth to turn him into a cheetah again. Then Kevin sent Jason into the river to use his feline instincts to catch a fish. Live fish in hand, they proceeded to walk straight into the otter's burrow. It wasn't long before they found him, blocking their path once again.
"Are you going to try to bribe me?," he snarled, his face contorted with arrogance, "It's going to take way more than a single fish to win ME over." But the group had no intention of bribery. Kevin quickly stuck the first shining key into the mouth of the fish and threw it at the otter. The fish transformed into a giant shark in midair and collided with the otter, swallowing him whole. Jason took the key from the grounded shark's jaw once again, turning it back into a fish. The otter was nowhere to be found. They dropped the fish back in the river and began to plan their next move.

Kidnapper! (Photo by K. Riggle)

The group saw a squadron of the winged squirrels flying by and decided to follow them. They had to sprint to keep up, but the group finally got to the squirrels' destination. They had come to a burned out shack in the middle of the woods. When they looked inside, they saw a gleaming jukebox playing an elegant song. There was a team of squirrels trying deparately to pry a shining key from the jukebox's coin slot. With a final pull, they yanked the key out and fell into a heap on the floor. The key was sent flying across the room and landed at the feet of Jason, who was standing in the doorway. The jukebox shrank until it became a tiny wooden music box, trilling a simple tune.
"Why can't you just leave well enough alone?," The squirrels cried in anguish as they took to the sky, "We all live in constant fear. That dog should remain locked away!" They all flew away with defeated sighs and angry grumblings. One of the squirrels dropped a crumpled up Post-It note. The note read "among the Plants." The group left the shack and saw a dim glow from down the hill. Among the trees, the glass roof of a greenhouse could be seen. They headed down the slope, determinations high.

Music! (Photo by K. Riggle)

They came to the entrance of the greenhouse and saw that it was nearly overgrown with huge plants. The plants glowed with a bioluminescence that refracted off of the glass walls, blurring the outlines of everything inside. Tentative, the group slowly strode into the psychedelic jungle. The plants appeared to be moving as the group walked, but it could have just been a trick of the light. They finally reached the center of the greenhouse, where the plants were thickest. There was a small pot on the floor, out of which grew countless thick plant stems and vines. A small shining key was stuck halfway into the soil. Suddenly, the sound of malicious laughter filled the room. The flowering heads of all of the plants had turned to face the group, each of them giggling with a mouth full of sharp teeth. They began to move closer, some of the flowers snapping their jaws aggressively. One of the flowers lunged forward and latched its jaws around Kevin's leg. The pain was minimal, but more flowers kept closing in. Kevin looked over and saw that Jason had one biting his arm. They were about to be completely surrounded when the plants abruptly stopped moving. Kevin and Jason looked over at Madison, who was now holding the seventh key triumphantly in her hand. The plants shriveled and receded until there was nothing more than a single tiny flower blooming in the pot. Eager to leave, the group ran back outside.

Glass Walls! (Photo by K. Riggle)

They finally had all seven keys that were required to release Stevie. Kevin reminded them that they still did not know where the puppy was being held. But when they pulled all of the keys out of their pockets and put them together, the keys shone bright white and melded together until they formed one large key. This big key emitted a beam of light, presumably pointing them to the location of Stevie's prison. They followed this light back up the hill, oblivious to a flock of winged squirrels who followed them with trepidation from above.

The key's light led the group back to the labyrinth. The light's beam bent to lead them around the corners of the maze. Eventually, the corridor terminated in a wall of glowing prison bars with a large key hole to one side. Thought the bars they could see the small shape of Stevie, hunkered over in fear. They quickly put the key in the lock and turned it, eager to free their friend. Suddenly, the world around them vanished, and after a while they found themselves standing at the edge of the forest where they first entered. A horde of squirrels fell from the sky, landing harmlessly around them one by one, wingless and as nature intended. Stevie came bounding out of the woods and sent the squirrels clambering back to the trees. Stevie jumped up and landed in Jason's arms. The puppy licked Jason's face and he lifted Stevie up high.
"Let's all go home!," Jason exclaimed.
"That was crazy! How do you think we were able to do all of that?," asked Kevin.
"I guess we were just 'on Point'," replied Madison, with a wink.

Stevie! (Photo by K. Riggle)