The boys were going to catch Justin; he had no doubt about that. He raced down the alleyway between two old red brick buildings. Up ahead stood a large barbed wire fence and beyond that lay a lush green field filled with vibrant wildflowers and dull brown cows . He looked back over his shoulder, three boys on bicycles skidded into the entrance of the alleyway. He sped up, his old hand-me-down black tattered Vans skidding on the gravel. Behind him, he could hear metal clanking against concrete and then the echo of fast footsteps.

"Hey, twinkle toes!" shouted one of his pursuers.

"We ain't going to hurt you. Come over here!"

"Yeah, we saw you in the drama classroom. We just want to get a picture!"

Justin gulped. Looking down, he noticed a tiny swath of glittering blue silk peaking out of the collar of his brother's black hoodie jacket.

Reaching the barbed wire fence, he stopped and looked to his right. More brick buildings lined the fence of the Fiscallini Ranch and beyond that stood the long narrow plaster building of the local grocery store. He looked to his left. Beyond the painted blue building of the post office sat the large baseball field. Parents, along with younger boys and girls, were already flocking the field for after school T-ball practice.

Looking down, Justin narrowed in on a section of the fence where a local stray had dug up the earth beneath it. Bending down, he stuck his head through. It was a tight fit. Shimming his shoulders back and forth, they just barely slid past the razor sharp barbs. His waist was nearly through when his jacket snagged on one of the sharp wires. He reached his hand out and grabbed the grass in front of him, pulling frantically. The jagged sound of thick cotton ripping reached his ears, and he gritted his teeth. The jacket had belonged to his brother. He would have to try to fix it himself. He exhaled as he felt the jacket un-snag from the wire and could see freedom in the shadows of the pine forest only 30 yards ahead. He started to pull his legs through when a hand grabbed his ankle.

"Where do you think you're going, Justin?"

Flipping onto his back, Justin looked into the eyes of his seventh-grade classmates, Mason, Creston, and Luis. Mason held Justin's ankle in a vise grip. He played Little League football and was the biggest kid in their grade.

"Hey Justin, don't make me pull you back through. I will pull you back through," threatened Mason in his over-exaggerated surfer dude voice. He wore a black Hurley cap on backward and his brown shaggy hair stuck out of the adjuster hole.

Whenever Justin heard Mason speak, it just made him want to punch the boy in the nose.

"If I pull you back under, it's going to hurt."

"Please," begged Justin, "I'm just going home."

"No, you aren't," said Creston, a tall lanky blonde kid who, in the presence of Mason, acted tough, but Justin had seen him cry behind the lockers on more than one occasion. "You wanted to dress up like a girl and we interrupted you. We're just coming to apologize. We wanted to take you back so that you could keep doing whatever it is you are doing. We will even take pictures of you for ya."

Justin's face flushed with heat.

"No, I, I want to audition for a play. No, I... no, I..." Justin stammered.

"Ha, listen to him, Mason," laughed Luis, the boy who had been Justin's best friend until third grade when he started playing sports and Justin had not. Luis' parents and sister were some of the kindest people Justin had ever met, but Luis seemed to be going down a different road.

"Don't be embarrassed," said Luis, "we get it."

"No!" Justin shouted firmly, and he yanked on his foot causing Mason to squeeze his ankle tighter and twist. Pain coursed up Justin's leg and he couldn't help but cry out.

"I can twist it harder or you can slide yourself under this fence."

"No, there was... There is a play I'm going to audition for," was all Justin could get out. Heart hammering in his chest, it was all he could do to hold back the tears.

With his other hand, Mason grabbed at Justin's knee and pulled. Grabbing onto the grass, Justin tried to scoot away. Mason twisted his foot even more, and this time, the pain shot all the way to his hip.

"Mason, you're going to hurt me!"

"No he isn't. Stop being such a wussy," said Creston. "You're going to hurt yourself, just come on back."

Not seeing any other choice, Justin scooted closer to the fence, and Mason relaxed his grip.

A flash of black fur bounded over Justin's head, and a large dog landed on top of his legs. Snarling at the boys, the dog bared sharp white fangs.

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Mason, not letting go of Justin's leg.

"It's that nasty stray dog," said Luis.

Creston slowly backed down the alleyway, his eyes glued to the dog. The dog shook with rage, large droplets of spit flying everywhere, but Mason and Luis did not budge. Lunging at the hole in the fence, the dog opened its mouth and Mason immediately let go of Justin's leg. Justin pulled his legs through the hole and scooted back, away from the dog.

The dog scrambled through the hole and charged at the two boys huddled on the ground. It looked like a predator about to make the kill.

"Don't! Stop it!" yelled Justin.

The dog froze. Looking in Justin's direction, it made a growling noise from deep within its chest. It bared its teeth at Justin causing him to scramble to his feet, turn and run.

He raced through the dry field towards the shelter of the evergreen pines as fast as his legs could carry him. His calve muscles twitched every couple of seconds in anticipation of teeth sinking into flesh. He scrambled up a hill, stopping only when the sun dimmed beneath the first set of pines. Only then did he dare look back, squinting towards the row of buildings of downtown Cambria, but he couldn't spot either the dog or the three boys.

The tension releasing from his legs, Justin exhaled loudly. From beneath his brother's black hoodie, he pulled out the blue sparkly scarf and wrapped it around his neck three times, holding his head high.

What's a wizard without his magical scarf? thought Justin.

He snorted out loud at the thought, but then continued with the idea all the same. Gazing at their surroundings, they sighed. The wind from the ocean blew through the upper boughs of the pine trees and made them creak in a chorus of whispers. Whispers that Justin the wizard could understand.

They are my subjects, they thought. All the mere humans in the world have nothing compared to what I have. The knowledge of thousands of years within my trees.

The air was fresh and mixed with the smells of musty pine and sea spray.

Magic exists within this air. It is where my magic comes from. A complex system only I understand. The mere excited electrons of the powerful ocean waves slamming against the cliff sides produce it.

Even though the trees spoke and a few birds whistled, the silence that enveloped the forest was almost a thing in and of itself.

And that is the treasure that every wizard seeks. The beast within the silence. I will roam this forest far and wide to seek it out.

Giggling to themselves, all the fears and stress from the school day washed away. They walked farther into the forest and it wasn't long before they were traveling back into a distant memory.

They were seven years old again, hiking through the same evergreen forest with their older brother, Simon. They were adventuring pirates, who had anchored their pirate ship right off the cliff's edge. They heroically climbed the cliff and explored the forest, looking for treasure.

"I've heard tales of these here magical woods," said Simon in a drawling pirate voice.

Justin giggled.

"Perhaps we can steal the magic."

"It'll be dangerous," replied their brother, "but we are the most feared pirates in all the seven seas. If anyone can do it, it will be us."

"Let's go!" exclaimed Justin, and they raced ahead straight towards a giant fallen redwood trunk. Before they reached it, their brother caught their arm, stopping them. Simon fell to his knees and put a forefinger to his lips. Half in fear, as they didn't know if their brother was still acting or not, and half in excitement, Justin slowly followed suit.

Their lip quivered as they asked, "what is it?"

"I saw something just beyond that log there. It was huge, and it raced through the trees in a flash of giant fur."

Justin's eyes darted to all the shadows and tried to make out the things they couldn't see within the darkness.

"Do you know what it was?" they asked.

Simon nodded gravely.

"It's the wizard's pet. It guards his magical forest for him. It is said that there is no creature that is more evil or hungry. It snacks on pirates trespassing within these woods. With its enormous mouth filled with fangs, it gulps them down in one bite."

Justin inhaled sharply.

"You should go take a peek. You're the captain."

Simon nodded.

"Tis I am. I will go on into the depths and when you hear me give the call of a Robin, you come as that means the coast is clear."

Justin gulped and nodded, their wide eyes fixed on their brother as he bravely climbed the log and disappeared on the other side. It was easy for their five-year-old brain to imagine the beast waiting for their brother in the darkness of the forest. Jumping to their feet, they raced towards the log.

"Simon!" they shouted. "I will come with you."

But there was no answer. They tried jumping onto the log, but it was about twice their height and almost as smooth as stone.

"Simon!" Justin shouted again, anxiety swelling within their chest. They could not breathe and tears filled the corner of their eyes. Then, a Robin called out and the fear that was forming within Justin shattered. They breathed once more and giggled.

Twelve-year-old Justin stood upon that exact log, twirling about. That same scrawny pirate had returned a wizard themselves and taken the forest from the evil wizard. They brought peace to all the woodland, and it was theirs.

The sun pierced through the canopy of the pines, warming Justin's skin. Tilting their chin, they took in the warmth. The wizard could heal any injuries using just the sun.

A ghostly whistle broke them from their healing. Spinning on the spot, they saw a large owl swoop down from the top branches of a pine. It swooped so low that Justin could nearly caress its feathers if they reached a hand out. Flapping its wings once, the owl called out again and then disappeared on the other side of the small clearing.

In an instant, Justin leaped from the log, and ran after the owl.

My knight of the night, they thought. My friend, not pet, who protects these woods for me when I am gone. He must have something to show me.

They zigzagged through the pines. Up ahead, they spotted another flash of the owl before it disappeared to their right. The underbrush thickened and grew tall here. Justin dove headfirst into it and didn't seem to care when the thorns scratched their face and clawed at their hood. They were euphoric and lost in their imaginings.

The undergrowth continued. Fighting their way through it, it felt as if the thorns would never end. Finding a hole in the bushes, they stood on their tippy toes. The blackberry vines, and to their horror, poison oak, continued on. They dropped onto their hands and knees and noticed a rabbit-sized hole through the foliage. Crawling through, they pulled and ripped at the plants as they went. They nearly gave up when another hoot from above encouraged the wizard to continue. When the long unique bird whistle of the Pheonopepla met their ears, they doubled their pace.

That is a rare visitor to my kingdom indeed, they thought. I must make haste to greet it.

In truth, their pirate captain had been the real birder, but since his disappearance, the wizard had taken it upon themselves to learn every feathered creature that flew in their canopy and every small furry friend that scurried beneath it.

Finally, Justin wriggled out of the bushes. They itched from head to toe. Thorns stuck in their hair and even within their shirt and hoodie. Their hoodie clung to them like a wool blanket and sweat dripped down their spine. They couldn't breathe. They pulled the hoodie off over their head and looked about. A massive tree so heavy with pine needles, its lower limbs sunk close to the ground, stood in front of them. Walking up to it, they hung the sweater from one of the lower branches.

"Take care of that for me, will ya?" they asked with a polite nod and then bowed low. As their nose nearly touched their knees, they could hear the sound of waves hitting sand.

He straightened and looked about, blinking.

"I didn't realize I'd gone this far."

The ocean was supposed to be over a mile away yet. Out of curiosity, he slowly stepped around the large pine. Sure enough, its branches parted way to the edge of a cliff. Below him, the deep blue of the Pacific stretched toward the horizon. He looked both left and right at a never-ending line of forest.

Huh, he thought, I didn't think there was any part of this forest I hadn't seen. I didn't think it met the ocean.

The feeling of what Justin could only describe as a slippery eel weaving through his guts struck him. He turned in a circle, but nothing looked familiar.

Had he left his forest without even realizing it? So caught up in his imagination that he hadn't even looked where he was going? The eel slithered against his rib cage and he wrapped his arms around his chest.

I don't like this, he thought. I've never been here.

Beyond the pine tree where his brother's hoodie hung, the trees grew shorter. Blackened and dry, they withered together, weaving into an arch and forming a hallway-like path. It almost looked man-made to Justin's eyes, and that pulled him towards it. He walked along the path with the sound of the ocean to his left and the occasional hoot from the owl. He ground his teeth together and shivered with every gust of ocean breeze, but it wasn't because he was cold.

The natural hallway made Justin feel as if someone, or maybe something, was watching him. The skin on the back of his neck prickled, and it didn't help that the dead branches wound together so thickly that almost no sunlight pierced through. Holding up a hand in front of him, he could barely see its outline.

Only two things comforted him as he walked: the sound of the ocean waves that thumped against the cliffside in a sound of melodic spray, and that the path that he was on seemed man-made. There was no vegetation underfoot. It had been well worn down into a six-foot-wide path. Other humans had been here. He would be okay.

The feeling of being watched grew the longer he walked. He felt the gaze in his core. Every few steps he stopped and peered back in the direction he had come, but it didn't matter, he could hardly see anything at all. The wind still smelled of ocean salt and pine. He was still in the same forest.

He noticed a singular bright green vine weaving its way through the dead branches. As he walked, he noticed more bright green vines. They twisted and twined together into even thicker vines until they covered the whole archway in a mat of vibrant green. Scattered throughout the vines grew bright blue flowers in full bloom.

Justin stopped.

I can see it? he thought.

Turning to the nearest flower, he realized it glowed with a faint blue light. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The flower still glowed. Stepping even closer, he reached out a finger and touched the tip of one petal. It felt fuzzy and warm.

A flower that gives off heat? I haven't heard of that.

He leaned in over the flower, his face illuminated in blue, and sniffed. The smell hit him in the gut. A smell so familiar and yet so foreign. If he could have described it in words, he would've said it smelled like his surroundings when he read about faraway places while tucked up between the shelves of the local library. Quite simply, it smelled of happiness.

The tingling on the back of his neck returned. Someone or something in the distance growled. He straightened and hastily continued on.

The blue glowing flowers grew so dense that they illuminated the whole hallway in a blue glow. Ahead, Justin could clearly see the hallway ended at a large black iron gate.

Another deep growl echoed through the vines causing Justin to race towards the gate.

You're being an idiot, he thought. It's just that stray dog.

Reaching the gate, he grabbed a hold of two black iron bars that ended in arrow-like points. He pulled on the gate, but it did not budge. Another growl rumbled on even longer and, to Justin's astonishment, it made the ground beneath him shake. Immediately, he was five again and Simon was telling him a tale about the beast of the forest.

"It has a voice box," said Simon, "so large that when it growls, it shakes the earth."

"Is that how the earthquake happened?"

Simon nodded and frowned.

"If you get too close to the beast when it growls, it can burst your eardrums."

Justin gasped, and he was back at the gate, shaking it frantically. Suddenly, as if on its own, something within the gate clicked, and it swung inward. He raced through. Slamming it shut, he caught sight of something large, almost as tall as the top of the canopy. It was furry with a long black tail. It slinked through the blue light of the flowers and disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

Moving his mouth open and closed like a fish, Justin inhaled and exhaled, inhaled and exhaled, just as his mother told him to do when he panicked. Bending over, he placed his hands on his knees and continued to take in gulps of fresh air.

Illuminated by a soft golden light, he looked down on perfect smooth black pavement that still smelled strongly of gasoline.

Straightening back up, he looked about. He stood on a road that wound into a neighborhood. Justin blinked in surprise.

His panic forgotten, he turned back and looked at the gate and the forest beyond it and then back at the perfect neighborhood. The two worlds clashed, the gates seeming to hold the wild back.

Tall metal lampposts arched high in the air, illuminating the street with big, round lights.

Massive front yards lined either side of the street. Directly to Justin's right, a grassy yard rose up a hill. On top of the hill, one massive oak tree grew with a large tire swing hanging from its lowest branch. Next to the tree stood one of those old cream-colored two-story houses. Each window had its own large balcony and on the bottom floor there was a massive wrap-around porch. It belonged in a history book about the old south where evil plantation owners lived.

To Justin's left was a gigantic pond and an old willow tree with long branches that caressed the water. On the far side of the pond stood an old two-story simple brick cottage that Justin could've sworn came straight out of the countryside of England.

Curiously, Justin followed the street deeper into the neighborhood, taking in each yard and house as he went.

No two houses looked alike. No two houses felt as if they belonged together. The only unifying theme was the fact that none of them belonged in Cambria, California. Taking in a white and gold palace with bulbous spires that ended in sharp points, his round eyes grew as large as the owls. Grand sweeping lawns filled with picturesque statues and elaborate fountains spewing water into the air led up to the palace.

Turning down one of the side streets, a lawn covered in white caught his eye. Stepping closer, he decided then that somewhere in the forest he must've fallen and hit his head, and now he was dreaming.

He bent down and touched something powdery and cold. He grabbed a handful.

Snow, he thought. Actual snow! I never thought I would actually get to see and feel real snow.

Every winter, the city put on a winter wonderland carnival and had snow made for a large sledding hill. Justin had spent many hours in snowball fights with Simon there. That snow had felt like large ice cubes cut into tiny pieces. It was hard and sometimes razor-sharp when thrown at you. Whereas this, this was what Justin thought a cloud felt like.

Stepping onto the snow-covered lawn, his vans sunk quietly into the snow. Up ahead, a wall made of ice rose into the air and beyond that, Justin could just make out the ice-bricked roof of a fortress.

He shivered from a biting cold that had not been there moments before. On the rare chance that he wasn't dreaming, Justin stepped back onto the safety of the street instead of exploring the ice fortress as a part of him deep down wanted to.

He passed a house barely visible in a tangle of pine trees, smoke billowing from a tall chimney and another suspended above a tangle of vines, ferns, and wide trunk trees.

He wandered deeper and deeper into the strange neighborhood, mesmerized by the houses and lawns he'd only ever thought he would get to see on the Internet. Justin used to play a game with Simon, where they would click on random places on Google maps and then plan an entire trip to that place as if they were actually going to go. They would look at flights, scuba diving excursions, mountain expeditions, and lodging in remote towns and villages. They did this all under the plan that they were archaeologists looking for the last ruins in the area. Simon always saved the trips in the folder on the family computer labeled Simon and Justin's future adventures. He had promised Justin that someday they would go on these trips together, and Justin had believed him.

Justin's footsteps echoed down the empty street as he walked. He hadn't encountered a single car or person yet. In fact, he hadn't seen a single car in any driveway. Many of the houses didn't even have driveways, and Justin hadn't even seen a single person or any movement in any of the houses.

He stopped walking. His heart thumping against his chest, beads of sweat formed on his forehead even though a chilled salty breeze funneled down the street.

Looking into the sky, it was then Justin noticed the singular massive dark blue-black cloud that stretched out in all directions for as far as he could see. Directly above, the cloud billowed and spiraled upwards. It looked to Justin like an angry black volcano ready to spew death and chaos at any moment.

Crack!

Justin fell to the pavement as his vision filled with hot white light and the surrounding air crackled with electricity.

He lay there for a minute until the bright white subsided from his vision and his breathing, which he thought he lost the capability to do as he gasped and gulped in vain, returned to a frantic panting.

He looked up just in time to see lightning crackle across the sky. It was not nearly as close as the first, but a thunderous boom so loud that Justin brought his hands to his ears and ground his teeth together to keep them from rattling out of his mouth immediately followed it. He lay there frozen as the first drops of icy rain splattered onto his nose. The drops unstuck his mind, allowing his thoughts to flow once more.

I need to get out of here. It's late. I need to get home. Was that a castle on the hill?

Squinting at a pine-covered hill in the distance, he saw yellow pinpricks of light flickering from square, diamond, star, hexagon, and circle windows in a black shadowy tower.

Like a faucet turned on high, the rain dumped upon Justin. Turning, he ran in the direction he had just come. As he ran, he noticed even more streets than he remembered seeing before. He came to a stop as he realized he did not remember what streets he had turned on. Lightning struck again up on the hillside, and Justin frantically looked at the surrounding houses. He turned on the street next to a log house upon a field of wildflowers he thought he recognized.

His vans had no tread, and he slipped on the slick pavement as he ran. In minutes, not only was his clothing completely soaked through, but his joints, frozen, resisted opening and closing. He pushed on, holding onto the thought that if he could just reach the gate and get through the archway of dead trees into his own forest, he would be safe.

None of the houses he passed looked familiar.

I've been running for minutes! I couldn't have wandered the streets for that long.

A sound not unlike lasers from Star Wars being released at an enemy ship ricocheted through Justin's eardrums. Bright white and orange light flashed as half of a giant redwood exploded into pieces. Instead of falling to the ground, when Justin's vision returned, he found himself running halfway up a sand-covered yard to a five-story mansion found only on the beach in Malibu.

Wet sand stuck to his shoes as he made his way to the large glass front door. He banged frantically on the door, not caring if it shattered or not. He had to get out of the storm. He willed someone to be inside as he banged, but no lights turned on and no one came.

To Justin's left, a growl echoed from the eucalyptus trees of the next property. He would've thought it was thunder, except that he was very certain that it came from the trees.

Abandoning the beach house for the property on its right, he passed large spiked cacti and succulents with white flowers on tall green stalks. He stopped in front of a bright blue wooden door of an Adobe-style home. Instead of knocking, he immediately tried the door. He pulled with all his might on the metal handle, but the door wouldn't budge. He slammed his fist against the wood, but again, no one seemed to be home.

Again, there was a loud growl, this time even closer by. He turned around just in time to see a huge black mass slink into the brush behind a three-pronged cactus.

Whatever had growled had four legs and was at least twice Justin's height.

Bolting for the next property, Justin pushed and pulled on an ancient door that was partway sunk into the ground, but it too did not budge. His teeth chattered.

Hypothermia, he thought. He had read about that for his and Simon's expedition to the Arctic.

He turned and ran back to the street. Lightning struck the lawn a couple of houses down. It illuminated a tree across the street. The tree was a massive canopy of thick interweaving branches and from the branches, vines twisted down, entwining around the trunk until disappearing into the earth. It was hard to tell where the trunk started and the vines ended.

From where Justin stood, he could just make out a dark hollow within the smaller vine branches. Another flash of lightning and he ran for the tree.

As he ran, large footsteps thudded behind him. Running faster, he willed himself not to look back. When he got close enough, he dove for the hallow in the tree. There was just enough space between the branches to squeeze himself through. Crawling to the back of the hollow, he curled into a ball, wrapping his arms around his legs. It was damp inside the tree, but most of the rain did not make it in.

Wake up, wake up, wake up, thought Justin. This isn't real. This. Cannot. Be. Real.

A loud growl shook the trunk of the tree. Justin held his breath as soft thuds indicated the creature was right outside. It thudded right up until it came to the part of the trunk Justin lay against.

Warm air whooshed through the cracks in the vines, brushing against the back of Justin's neck. The beast sniffed, taking in Justin's scent, and then let out a loud pitched whine.

Upset that I am just out of reach, he thought.

He tensed, waiting for the beast to tear the tree apart.

Crack!

White and orange light flickered through the gaps in the tree. The beast howled in what Justin thought was pain. Closing his eyes shut, Justin willed himself to take three deep breaths and then he stood on his knees and peered out a small hole between the vines.

The tree next to the one Justin hid in was now a pile of branches and vines, some of which glowed orange and smoked.

I picked a tree to hide in, a tree!

He scrambled back to the small opening and froze.

Wait, the beast is still out there.

"The beast will protect its magical forest at all costs," he heard his brother say, as if he stood right next to Justin. "It will eat trespassing pirates."

"But I am no longer a pirate," said Justin out loud. "I defeated the evil wizard. This is my forest. I can defeat his silly pet, too."

They slipped out of the hollow to find that they stood outside a white palace with bulbous towers that ended in twisting, pointed spires. Fountains lined a blue-tiled walkway that led up golden stairs.

Justin squared their shoulders. This neighborhood was inside their realm. They should have access to all doors.

A deep booming growl echoed behind them, and they lunged for the tiled walkway. Water pooled on the tiles and they lost their footing and skidded all the way to the first step.

They took the stairs two at a time while chanting to themselves, "I am a wizard. I am a wizard."

At the top of the stairs, a golden door stood encased in a wall of vibrant colors. Peacock feather tiles radiated from the top, turning into pale pink flowers and then a redfish scale pattern.

"I am a wizard!"

There were no door handles. Screaming, Justin slammed his body against the golden door. Thunder shook the walls of the palace and Justin responded by shouting, "I am a wizard!"

The door budged a crack. Justin gasped and pushed harder. The door slid slowly open. Soft warm light pooled out from inside. Justin could hear someone humming quietly as he slipped through the door.

"Hello?" he whispered.