The Kingdom of Folklore
By
T.A. Parker
Copyright 1998: 2009
Author's Note
PART I --- The Banishment (into exile)
Chapter 1 trial and exiled
Chapter 2 beyond the hills
Chapter 3 mushroom kingdom
Chapter 4 leaving
Author's Note
This is the 1st serialization of my novel 'The Kingdom of Folklore'. This time around, it is in 4 parts. This is the 1st Book.
I hope that you enjoy this version of my book which will have a second book coming out soon. It will be titled 'The Legend of Folklore'.
Thanks,
T.A. Parker
If you enjoy Book I, I hope that you will buy Book II - IV.
PART I
Book I – The Banishment (into exile)
Chapter 1
Trial and Exiled
“The Great Wall speaks only partial truths!” proclaimed a three-foot tall, red fox that held the book 'Ka-Knear's Law of Bad-tuate' under one arm. He had entered through a side entrance that lead out of the underground courtroom to the surface of the kingdom.
Decked out in a long, flowing, red smoking jacket, and a pair of wire-framed spectacles, the fox pranced back and forth on two, hind feet in front of the four Wisers that made up the court within the Great Hall of Ka-Knear.
He had been called upon for another trial involving Smalls. One of his first trials was about a runaway Elder who hadn't been heard from since.
Coming to a halt in front of the Wisers that sat on high chairs behind mushroom-style benches, the fox pushed his wire-framed glasses upwards for a better fit on his red, furry snout.
One of the Wisers behind his bench leaned forward, staring at the newcomer.
“Late as usual, I see.” The old Small was somewhat heavy, covered in a dark blue robe that fell all about his chair and feet. A pair of half-moon glasses covered his eyes. On up, his hair was spiked in such a way it resembled dozens of tiny fingers pointing upward.
The fox grinned. “Sorry, Professor Einstein, I had a last minute meeting that dealt with my case. It won't happen again, I promise.”
The old Wiser looked to his peers, than to the almost overcrowded courtroom, and threw a small laugh at the tall fox.
“Mr. Foxx...I do hope you have better luck with this case then.”
The last few cases the fox had lost, but this one was still up in the air. He was determined not to loose it. Actually, the first case he lost wasn't his doing, with the Elder taking off. Another case involved a drunken squirrel. It had slept on top of the opening that lead down into the Great Hall, trapping all of the Smalls within.
The red fox won that case with approval from two of the Wisers (the ones not trapped within during the meeting). They found it rather amusing that their peers had easily been caught in such a fashion, and by a squirrel by all means.
With this just brought about case though, the four young Smalls on trial had broken the greatest law of all Folklore, and the lawyer fox assumed he could win the case easily enough with the surprise witnesses he had discovered earlier.
Even though he had lost almost all of the other cases, the young ones parents had sent word of their offspring being charged with 'Betrayal to the Kingdom'.
It wasn't hard to locate the fox actually, once he had returned home from his venture. The venture had been some miles of Folklore in the Valley of Simms, where most of the giants thrived.
In this valley, Old Man Walker (an Anti-Small the fox had encountered numerous times before), kept a barnyard filled to the brim with fat, plumped chickens. And it so happened that that very night the fox was hungry, so he eased into the chicken house around midnight. Sure enough, three fat chickens were roosting on an overhang fast asleep; their heads tucked neatly under their white, feathery wings.
Seeing nothing more than fried chicken frying in the stove, the old fox grinned and crept upon them while the others slept nearby, noticing nothing.
Almost upon the fat barnyard fowl, the fox heard a familiar sound that any animal in his position would recognize right away. It was the noise of a human loading a shotgun, with the chamber snapping shut afterward.
At his age, the fox instantly knew that that wasn't a healthy sound to hear in his venture. Besides, he had heard the same sound many times before and was always well gone with a chicken between his teeth. The fox figured he must have been growing old due to the fact that the old man eased up right behind him in the first place.
“Eh again...darn varment! Caught eh red 'anded dis time!!” screamed the angry, cracked voice belonging to Walker.
Turning around, the fox saw the double barrel aiming in his direction. It was like gazing down twin, shinning black hollows. And behind the weapon was Old Man Walker. He was dressed in his bedtime under alls that was torn in one corner of the right knee. The back flap was hanging open, blowing in the wind that had just crept up due to the barn door laying open.
Dodging back and forth, the fox barely made it from certain doom as both barrels went off. Old Man Walker had missed the hungry fox and blasted wood and plaster through one of the barn’s far walls. Using the new exit the farmer had just made, the fox bounced out through screaming, horrified chickens. He leaped through the hole, and dashed into the dark forest. Red D. Foxx hoped against all hope that the old man hadn't reloaded the gun, and was flowing behind.
Making it to his home that was an old opening in a giant, fallen log, the fox rushed into the darkness. Peering out into the moonlit forest one last time just to make sure he wasn't followed, he heard another familiar sound. It wasn't the snapping shut of a gun's chamber this time, but a spider web that dangled from a far off corner.
It was going crazy with vibrations like it hadn't in years. From a small hollow, he withdrew a long leaf covered with fireflies. Positioning it near the web, the far wall lit up.
Sure enough, he had a snail mail (how the Smalls and other animals communicated back and forth) announcing the upcoming trial of the four, young Smalls.
With a growling belly for lack of food, he replied back using a tiny twig. He carefully pluck the silvery webs like a fine-tuned instrument.
Later, making sure Old Man Walker wasn't lurking next to his hollow, the fox dashed out and toward the distant kingdom of Folklore.
The place existed beyond the forests, streams and all other stretches of mankind. Like the mother of all brier patches, it was surrounded by thick, entangled brush, the sharpest of thorns, snake-like vines, twisted bamboo poles, and multitudes of every mushroom known.
The kingdom covered three miles in Anti-Smalls (humans) numbers. It was well hidden from the noisy pollution, destruction, construction of forestland, and all of the weapons of mass destruction of the humans.
Smalls ruled this kingdom of Folklore. They inhabited tiny houses and huts fashioned from crushed leaves and mud. Others lived in simple dug runs that traveled under the kingdom to hollows and curved-out places in the earth.
Being the height of oak leaves with tiny limbs like the humans (including a lightning bug-size head), they have been mistaken for many creatures of old. They were clothed in miniature garments weaved by the spiders of the Northern Hills. If a human happened across one, he would be amazed. The one spying the Smalls would believe he had just discovered a tiny person, an elf or a leprechaun, somewhat larger than his index figure.
The court proceedings were being held in the Great Hall of Ka-Knear, some feet below the surface. Located in the exact center of Folklore, it was illuminated by hundreds of fireflies that remained for the duration. They hovered some inches from the curved, dirt ceiling so all within could witness the proceedings.
This very night, the four Wisers (very old Smalls) had to decide what to do with the young ones that had almost brought destruction to the entire kingdom.
The Smalls' families had met with the fox explaining what had taken place, since he was the greatest legal representative the kingdom had to offer. Finding his web address, they snail mailed him right away.
The fox questioned the little ones until he had what he thought a strong enough case. Standing before the four Wisers now, he was doing just that. But for some reason his case didn't seem so strong at the moment, not since U.B. Einstein started the proceedings.
The Wiser had stepped down from his mushroom bench and easily made his way toward a wall covered in sparkling quartz. It resembled multitudes of rainbows changing colors every so often.
Around his neck was an amulet containing a triangle-shaped quartz similar to the ones found in the Great Wall. With an ancient, straw-like hand, he adjusted his long, flowing, dark blue robe, and tapped the quartz wall with the amulet six times. Each time he did so, sounds like thunder emitted throughout the courtroom. Upon the last tap, it started flickering like a theater screen that was about to show a movie.
Smiling at the fox, and the other Smalls within the courtroom, he replied, “Let us watch what transpired between the accused and the terror of what almost happened to our home.” His old eyes fixed themselves upon the four young Smalls that nervously sat behind tables fashioned from oval, wide toadstools.
“Let us all see,” he now eyed the fox, “if what the lawyer says about the wall is true. Is it only partial truths...or the complete truth?”
The fox backed up to the young ones with a grin. Behind them, their parents were patting their children shoulders for support, trying to reassure them.
“It'll be just fine,” whispered the fox out of one corner of his snout. “Like I said...it only speaks partial truths.”
As if hearing all of this, U.B. Einstein smiled with his old eyes sparkling behind his half-moon glasses. “As I said, my friend, we shall see.”
The Great Wall flickered with shadows and lights as it finally blared on. It revealed the four Smalls walking down a leafy, forest path. The other Smalls in the room watched, wondering about what would happen next.