Introduction: 

There is a faraway land called 'Nother World. It is like our world, at first glance, but search deeper, and you will find that it is very different. You see, there are portals in that world. Portals that led to other worlds. Only one portal had been discovered, but there were many others. Where you ask? Everywhere and nowhere. You never know when you might run into a portal if you live in Nother World. You might find one in a tree, or in your own bedroom! But once you step into a portal, there's no telling what you might find. It might be a huge world, with different animals and strange people, or it might be a land of complete darkness. And you can never know if you could get back out of that world once you get in. You might wonder, what does it matter? Why are you telling me these things? You see, dear reader, I am telling you these things because our story takes place in the very heart of Nother World. 

An Explanation of the Land of Phroone:

One of the worlds that a portal leads to in Nother World, is called Phroone. Pronounced proon. But it wasn't always called Phroone. In the old days, it was called Lura. Lura was a beautiful land, with trees and grass and towns and homes. The people that lived there were always very happy and never had any wars or battles. But one day, and no one knows how, or who, or why, but someone got into Lura from somewhere else, and they ravaged the land. They burned the towns, killed the animals, and imprisoned the people. But the land of Lura had magic. So that when that great evil was done, there was a small bit of mercy. The person who did it went away. No one knows if he was teleported to somewhere far away or if he died, or disintigrated into dust. The good citizens of Lura were released, but the magic of Lura also made it so that the ground dried up and cracked. It was a lonely, dusty purple. And the sky, instead of blue, was purpley/grey and full of clouds. The air was dusty and the sun, old and shriveled, gave a red, opaque light. Some of the citizens of the former Lura went away. They found a way to go to another world. They went there, trying to build a new and better life for themselves and their children. But for the people that stayed, their future seemed grey and lifeless. And they got so desperate and tired of looking up at the purple, lifeless sky, that they decided that life would better to just live underground. So they tunneled under the dry, cracked land and began to build an underground city. But, they didn't dig far before they discovered an amazing new place. It was a whole new world, untouched by civilization. There was grass and trees and forests and animals; it was just like the old Lura. But there were no people there yet. Legend has it that only one very old man lived there, and he became the first king of the new Lura. But no one knows if that is true or not. And so the good people settled there and built homes and towns and never destroyed the forests to make large cities, and were always good to the animals that had been there first. They called it the new Lura. But, over time, decades later, when the first Lurans were gone, some of their descendants had forgotten that there even was an old Lura. They forgot the great evil that was done so many centuries ago. They forgot what really lay above the surface. They thought it was only the clear, blue, sky. Over the years, evil, money-thirsty people from other worlds who wanted to make amusement parks out of other worlds got into Lura, but they couldn't come beneath the dry surface. The magic of Lura saw to that. So when they saw the hard, lifeless, purple ground and sky, they called the land Phroone, not knowing it was really called Lura. It is said that the land reminded them of something from their world, and that's why they named it Phroone. But still, the Lurans remained oblivious to all goings on above the surface of their world. Until some children, who were said to be the descendants of former Lurans, came to Lura and reminded the people of the truth. In fact, that is what this entire story is about.   

Chapter one

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Sarah sat with her head in her hand, watching the raindrops roll off the window. The only sounds in the car were the sounds of the rain and her grandfather snoring. The ride had been long and dreary; the rain and thunder beating on the roof of her grandmother's old station wagon. But a little spark of excitement was still ignited in Sarah's heart. Today was the first day of Summer. Sometimes, the monotonous thrum-thrum of school and chores got to her, but there was always that one day, that one beam of light at the end of the tunnel. Summer. Ever since their parents died, well, they hadn't exactly died, but had disappeared one day, since then, Sarah and James had lived with their grandparents, Louise and Tom. But every summer they spent with their Aunt Betty Lou and Uncle Fredric. One of Sarah's favorite parts of summer was her Uncle's stories. He always told of strange lands, and mystical objects. He was almost always stopped by Aunt Betty in the middle of them, though. But something that always stayed with Sarah, was the unfinished stories. It seemed to be the same with James, too. The first thing Sarah would do when she saw her Uncle, would be to ask about one of them. 

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The next morning, Sarah and James gobbled down the breakfast, oatmeal, that Aunt Betty Lou had prepared. They shoved on their clothes, anxious to find their Uncle Fredric. When they arrived the night before, Aunt Betty had told them that he was on a fishing trip, and wouldn't return until the next morning. She said he was most likely asleep in his boat right now. Sarah raced through the dewy grass and blooming flowers of the field trying to keep up with James, who was far ahead. As she neared the dock, she could see the water sparkling in the newly risen sunlight. Then, she spotted a boat far out on the lake. It was Uncle Fredric! He was asleep, though, and out of earshot. James untied the rope binding the boat to the dock, and began to pull. "Help me, Sarah!" he said through gritted teeth as he tried with all his strength to haul the heavy man to shore. Sarah reluctantly grabbed the end of the rope and heaved on it. When finally the two children had managed to pull the old man and his boat ashore, they were parched and dripping with sweat from head to toe. The old man opened his eyes, sat up, and laughed that crazy laugh that only he could laugh. "What's so funny?" Sarah asked, obviously annoyed. "I tricked yuns, didn't I? Ya thought I was asleep and reeled me in!" He cackled some more, pausing only to catch his breath. James joined in, giggling at the well-played prank. Sarah didn't find it so funny that she had used up a week's worth of strength towing in an old man who was perfectly capable of doing it himself, but eventually she grew into a better mood and gave into the laughter.