By NAOMI OH
Staff Writer
 
Late one night on Christmas Eve, Archie couldn’t wait to wake up next morning. While Archie was sleeping, he heard strange noises from his closet. He wanted the sound to go away, so he got up from his bed and opened the closet. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw what it was. There stood a giant matte black figure with glowing white eyes. Archie fell to the floor, screaming his lungs out. For some reason, this time his parents didn’t come in to check on him. “Follow me,” the figure said. “I won’t hurt you.” Before Archie could run away, the figure grabbed his hand, said, “Do not worry,” and took him away.
The figure brought Archie to a colorful land full of mythical creatures. The figure introduced himself as Shadow.  Archie saw that  the figure resembled a black ghost. Archie soon came to believe that Shadow was a good guy. Right when he thought of apples, an apple tree appeared right in front of him. Shocked, he thought the land had magical powers.  While they were walking, Shadow told him to imagine whatever he wanted, and it would appear.
Shadow later took Archie into his lair and gave him a box.  He told him not to open it til Archie got back home.  Later on, Shadow said, “The day has come to an end. You shall now go home.”
Archie asked, “Why? I just got here.”
“It is time to go, come on!”  Suddenly, Archie heard elves screaming and fairies hiding under bushes.
“Archie you have to go now!”  Before Archie could even react, a beast burst from the foliage and attacked Shadow.  It grabbed Shadow and came close to crushing him with his bare hands.  Right then, Archie thought of a sword.  He grabbed the sword and killed the beast.  He sheathed the sword in the belt he imagined into existence around his waist. He had saved Shadow and his land from the beast using his imagination! Shadow thanked Archie for saving his life. A fairy with a tiny voice asked, “Is he the one?” Archie was confused by what the fairy asked. Shadow told the creatures that Archie had saved their land from the horrifying beast and that the curse is gone. Shadow took Archie home on a flying cloud, and he went to sleep in his bed.
Archie woke up in the morning, believing the whole experience to be nothing but a dream… Until he saw the sword lying beside him in his bed.