Today was the day! I will finally be a teenager. I overheard my mom talking about a surprise party over the phone a couple of days ago. All I had to do was get through the dreadful school day.
When school was finally over, my mom took me out for my birthday dinner. I think it was to stall so, you know, everyone could get to the party. The dinner was great, but I inhaled the food so we could get to the party quicker. The car ride home seemed to last forever! I eventually got home and headed towards the front door. I opened the door, already envisioning everyone yelling, “Surprise!”
I just stood in the doorway staring at an open room with just my Grandmother sitting on a couch, alone. I should have known better, I don’t have any friends. I am too cowardly to talk to anyone and too shy for anyone to notice me. I ran upstairs to my room and slammed the door shut, not even thinking of saying thank you to my mom for giving up her time to plan this. I jumped on my bed and started to cry.
I could hear my grandma telling my mom, “Let him go, he’ll come out when he’s ready.”
I thought for a long time about my life while I was alone. I wouldn’t call it awesome. My dad died when I was eight. My brother, Jack, is in jail, and obviously, I don’t have any friends. While thinking about all of this, I heard a knocking noise. I thought it was probably my grandpa or someone else but I heard it again and again. I noticed the noise seemed to be coming from underneath my rug. I uncovered the rug and right then and there a trap door appeared!
I was honestly so scared, but I opened it anyway. All I could see was a dark hole, about the size of a human. I looked around my room and saw it was only 6:46, I had time before bed. I decided to  step down into the hole. It was actually a tunnel, the sides full of dirt. I could see a faint light at the end of this eerie tunnel.
I was contemplating whether to go down or not, but I had a hunch it was meant for me. The walk down was longer than I thought, but eventually the light was right in front of me.
That’s when I heard a voice say, “Hi I’m Elmer the Elf. Welcome to Springdale!”
I just stared at the mystical land with amazement. There were hundreds of elves dawdling around and extensive amounts of tiny fairies flying every which way. The smell of lavender whiffed past my face. I looked down and saw I had no shoes on, only feeling damp fresh cut grass under my feet. The sound of water trickling through gentle streams was the most calming sound you could imagine. But what caught my eye the most was a beautiful sunrise, with almost all the colors you can imagine. The vibrant colors ranged from reds to yellows just along the horizon.
Eventually, I noticed that Elmer had been blabbing the whole time. He looked at me trying to have a serious face saying, “Were you even listening?!”
I shook my head no. I asked, “Is this real or a dream?”
Elmer told me it could be anything I wanted it to be. He also said it would be going to help get over my fear of being outgoing.
While taking in all this information I started to concentrate more on Elmer. He was an elf, of course, but he had a very high pitched voice. He was short and he wore ragged green clothes, that made him look even more suspicious. Elmer wore a red pointed hat that made him look taller than he really was. The most distracting thing was that he had HUGE feet! His shoes looked more like slippers. They were red and pointed. They also had so many bells that every time he stepped it sounded like Santa and his sleigh were flying right above you!
Elmer was kind of freaked out that I was just staring at him.
“Oh sorry,” I said.
Elmer asked, “Do you want to go on an adventure of a lifetime?”
I didn’t really know if I could trust a little ragged elf.  Then I thought to myself why not, nothing exciting ever happens to me. The words, “What kind of adventure?” stumbled out of my mouth.
Elmer told me all about how they started this land on an abandoned island in the ocean. No human could see it, unless they were “special.” All the creatures that don’t fit in the real world come to this island. Elmer was the founder of the island and decided to name it Springdale since it was always spring time. Springdale was a safe place that never had any conflict until, the Stenchhounds came along.
“The Stenchhounds were the most sickening, voracious, smelly dogs you can imagine. They started to attack this island one by one, killing everything in their path. We have no idea how to stop them; that’s why we brought you here to help us. The Stenchhounds are on the other side of this island at this very moment! So, are you in or not? Better decide quick, you are only allowed to be in Springdale for twelve hours or else you get locked in.”
I looked at Elmer’s face, he was very frightened and he really needed my help. “Fine, I’ll do it!”
Elmer right away dragged me to his house to make a plan. His house was a cave, but it very nicely decorated. Elmer sat me down on a very small chair at a very small table. On the table was a map of the whole island. There were x’s representing the Stenchhounds on one side and o’s representing all the other mystical creatures, on the other side. The Stenchhounds were very fast travelers and would probably be here in about an hour.
I asked Elmer, “What kind of weapons are we going to use?”
He said, “The Stenchhounds can’t stand the smell of peppermint.” If they smell or even see pepermint they will literally go the other way.”
“Okay, I have plan! All we need is peppermint, squirt guns, and a lot of help!”
Elmer took me and a bunch of other elves out to the woods to pick peppermint flowers. The flowers were very odd because, the petals were cinnamon sticks and the middle were peppermints. Once we got a bunch of the flowers we went to the bakery to use the oven. The baker was a troll, but he was very nice. I put all the peppermints from the flowers into bowls and stuck the bowl in the oven. While the peppermint was turning into liquid, Elmer and I went to get the squirt guns.
For some odd reason Elmer had a whole tool shed full of them. We loaded up a couple of wagons full and brought them back to the bakery. All of the other elves were there and right away ran up and each took a squirt gun and started to fill them up. They were all filled in about ten minutes.
Elmer yelled to the rest of the elves, “I’m sure you guys already know that these are going to be used against the StenchHounds, but I just wanted to make something clear, Peter will be in charge.”
I looked over at Elmer and asked, “How did you know my name? I never told you it.”
“I know everything,” he said while giving a wink.
I couldn't help but give him a smile. I led the way to the woods. I told all of the elves to stay down behind the bushes because the Stenchhounds were almost here. That's when we heard barking, lots and lots of barking.
We were all set in position to fire. I saw one of them right in front of me and pulled the trigger. To be honest the squirt gun gave a kick. The peppermint hit the hound right on. It ran back along with a few others. Pretty soon all of the elves were firing at the hounds. One of the hounds got past me when I was shooting at another. The hound looked smarter than the others, it must have been their leader. He went straight towards Elmer! Before I got the chance to tell Elmer to watch out it already pounced on him!
The hound grabbed Elmer by it’s mouth and ran off with him. I started to chase him but he was so fast I couldn’t catch up. I tried to fire the peppermint, it actually hit the hound right on the bottom. I waited for him to stop but, he didn’t. It must not effect the leader, I thought.
Elmer yelled back, “Go back and help the other elves I will be okay!”
I stopped running and watched him take off. A tear slipped out of my eye. That was so stupid! Why in the world did I stop running?! Elmer was the only person that actually understood me, and I let him slip away. Peter you are the dumbest, most selfish person ever, I thought to myself. I started to cry harder.
One of the other elves came after me and yelled, “We need your help and leadership, or we will all die!”
He dragged me back. When we got back I started to help shoot again. After a while all of the Stenchhounds had gone the other way. I knew probably by now Elmer was dead and the all the hounds had gone back.
All the other elves and mythical creatures were celebrating that the Stenchhounds had left. They all picked me up and started cheering my name. I wasn’t one bit happy or excited because Elmer died.
I started to head back to the entrance, where I came from. All the creatures were telling me bye and thanking me for my help. Just as I was about to go back I heard a knocking noise. It was coming from inside the door. I opened it and I hardly couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Elmer!!!
“How in the world did you escape the Stenchhound leader?!”
“You didn’t know elves can teleport?”
“WHAT? NO. You had me worried sick!”
“Once I was out of your vision, I teleported back to battle, and watched you help the other elves. You were very courageous, Peter. I think my work here is done.”
“Wait! So, I didn’t come here just to help you? I came here to gain more courage?”
“Yes, but we really did need your help saving this island.”
“You could have picked anyone to help you, why did you pick me?”
“We have been watching you for awhile now, and you were the special one.’’
“Elmer, I’d wish met you a long time ago.”
“Well, it’s almost time to go,” Elmer said.
“I am going to really miss you”
“We be here anytime you need it. Don’t worry, I will always be watching over you.”
I smiled and grabbed the door handle. I stepped in the doorway, but before I go in I turn around thank everybody.
“Goodbye, Elmer.”
I stepped in the tunnel and it is just the same as the way before. I look back and the door had disappeared and I get a little teary eyed. I made my way back to my room. I push open the trapdoor and step up into my room. I look at the clock and see it’s only still 6:47. Only one minute passed! A lot can happen in a minute I thought. The trapdoor also disappeared right after I got up.
I decided to go down the stairs and celebrate my birthday with my family. My grandma and mom were sitting on the couch.
“Sorry for how I acted.”
My mom said, “It’s fine, let's have some cake!”
For the rest of the night I celebrated. I didn’t even mention a word about what all happened. It will be Elmer and my secret.
The next day at school I thought about trying to make a new friend. I noticed Fred in the corner of the classroom. I was a little scared to go up to him, but I started to walk his way. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Elmer at one of the desks.
He was saying, “Go up to him it's okay, make a new friend!”
Then I blinked my eye and he was gone. Was that just my imagination or was he actually there?
I went up to Fred with a lot more courage. I asked him, “Do you want to hang out this weekend?”
“For sure, that sounds like a lot of fun!”
Wow, a lot can happen within a minute, I thought to myself.