I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The last few illustrations are being finished and I am getting excited to finally putting out my finished product. With that said, below is chapter one of “Doorway The Soccer Ball Quest” for you to sample.
Chapter One
Enter the Doorway
“Whaaaahooooo!” Ryan yelled from the back seat of the car, as they cruised down the road. They were leaving the Pizza Barn, where Ryan’s end of the season soccer party was held. He and his teammates had won the season championship, and he was holding the biggest trophy he had ever seen. He examined his achievement, and in his five year old mind, he had never seen better craftsmanship.
The small, golden soccer player on top, ready to kick the ball straight into the goal, at least that’s what he assumed. Two long, green and white columns, which looked like candy canes, leading down to a large stone base. On that base, there was a mirrored plate with his name on it. He looked at the plate, and got a kick out of seeing his reflection with his name on his forehead. He even saw a bit of leftover pizza sauce at the corner of his mouth, which he cleaned off using his tongue.
He held his new trophy up to the window, and let the sunlight shinning through reflect off the golden soccer player, and made it dance on the roof of the car.
Hannah sat next to him, annoyed by his constant cheering. Using her stuffed rabbit, named Hannah Bunny, and her hands, she held them tight against her ears to block out his noise. She could still hear him, but, it was the only thing that made the ride tolerable.
She looked over at her younger brother. “Do you have to be so loud? You’re giving me a headache,” she said, in her most annoyed tone.
He laughed, and continued to wave his trophy in a figure eight pattern. “He’s so annoying,” she thought to herself. He loved to bother her, and tried to get her involved with his crazy games, and his imagination. She always avoided him when he tried to include her. She was nine now, much too old to be bothered with a five year old, and all of his kids toys.
"Are we there yet? I can’t take much more of Ryan’s noise." Hannah asked, not able to stand listening to her brother anymore.
"We aren't going home yet," said Mom. "We have to stop by Jane's house first to drop off some items for the garage sale tomorrow."
“Yes! Will Jacob be there?” asked Ryan. “I want to show him my trophy, and play with his new toys.”
“We’ll see when we get there,” said Mom. “You three can play together, while I unload the van.”
“What! Mom, please, you’re not going to make me play with Ryan and Jacob are you?” protested Hannah.
“Yes, I am. You two haven’t spent much time together this summer. Besides, I’d like to see you two start getting along better, and I think this will help,” said Mom.
Pulling up onto Jacob’s street, the reflected light went dark, so Ryan looked out the window at the dark clouds forming. He knew that meant they would have to play inside, and Mom would be in a rush to unload everything, so they would not have long to play.
“Wait ‘til you see Jacob’s toys, Hannah. He just got some new ones for his birthday, they’re awesome!”
Hannah replied, “I’m too old for his toys. I’ll just go watch some TV, or something.”
“No Hannah! Come upstairs with us, I’m sure there is something for you to do. I know! You can help us play with his action figures,” said Ryan.
Hannah groaned, “I don’t play with toys anymore, Ryan.”
“You used too. You would come to my room, and we would play with my cars, and morph robots all the time.”
Still not wanting to listen to her brother, Hannah looked out the windshield. She saw her Mom, watching her in the rearview mirror, and knew all hope was lost. That look she got, told her she was going to have to entertain her brother whether she wanted to or not. She slumped down in the seat, not happy with the way things were turning out.
Mom turned into Jacob’s driveway. Ryan grabbed his backpack, and trophy, and hopped out of the van. “Last one there is a rotten egg,” he yelled, as he raced to the door.
Hannah and Mom just strolled behind him, avoiding the argument that would take place if either of them beat him to the door.
“Mom, can I please stay out here and help you,” Hannah pleaded one last time.
“Hannah, go spend some time with Ryan. He always wants to play with you, and that tells me he loves you. Why can’t you show him a little love back,” said Mom.
“Mom, please, I’m nine, and he still plays with action figures and robots. I outgrew that stuff a long time ago.”
Mom chuckled. “You’re right, you are nine, but it wasn’t that long ago that you two got along great. Bring some of your nine year old imagination into his play, and see what happens. All I’m asking is that you give it a try. Who knows, you might even enjoy it.”
“I doubt it,” said Hannah softly.
When they arrived at the front porch, Ryan was already ringing the doorbell.
Jane opened the door, and Ryan held up his trophy, and said, “Look what I won! Is Jacob here? I want to show him.”
“I’m sorry Ryan, Jacob’s not here. He went to spend the day with his grandparents.”
Ryan’s head dropped, “I can’t believe he’s not here. I brought my backpack full of toys and everything.”
Mom put her hand on Ryan’s shoulder, and heard thunder in the distance. “We better get this stuff loaded into your garage before the rain comes,” she said.
“Good idea,” said Jane. “If you kids want, you can go up to Jacob’s room and play. Ryan, you know the way to his room, don’t you?”
“Sure do,” said Ryan.
“Great, he got some late birthday gifts from his relatives last week, so there are some new toys you haven’t seen yet.”
“Cool,” said Ryan. “Come on Hannah, let’s go check them out.”
Starting up the stairs to Jacob’s room, Hannah said, “Do you really want me to play with you. I’m sure you’d be fine by yourself while I go help Mom.”
“No, come up with me. We’ll pretend, like we used to.”
“What do you mean, how we use to?”
“Don’t you remember,” said Ryan. “You taught me. Every time we went to our rooms, we would close our eyes really tight, and when we opened the door, we would use our imagination. Whatever we see in the room, is what we can use when we play.”
Hannah smiled, the memory of what they used to do came back to her. She used to play in his room for hours. He loved when she would put voices to his stuffed animals, and have grand adventures with them. She specifically remembered three characters that were his favorites. Peter the dolphin, Ariel the stuffed bear, and Gino the race car. All named after our pets, thought Hannah, and it made Ryan particularly happy when we involved them in our adventures as well.
Holding up Hannah Bunny in front of her, she asked, “What if there’s nothing in there I want to play with.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something in there,” said Ryan.
Looking into Hannah Bunny’s eyes, her smile got bigger. “I bet you’re right.”
“OK, this is his room. Close your eyes, and here we go.”
Hannah closed her eyes, and everything went completely black. She heard Ryan open the door, and the light from the room started to break the darkness. It became so bright, that she put her arm in front of her eyes.
Holding Ryan’s hand, they stepped forward, and went through the doorway.
