Destruction in the Desert Read online

  “Of course,” Poppy said.

  “We should go back to your house and see what the other folks have pulled on each other.”

  Poppy agreed, and they both headed back to her house. When they arrived there, they found everyone in the living room. Everybody was talking about what pranks they pulled or were pulled on them.

  Callie laughed as she explained the prank Laura had pulled on her. “I was running, and I kept falling into a hole every few seconds. I had no idea what was happening to the ground.”

  “I dug small holes in the ground,” said Laura.

  Poppy said, “That prank sounds slightly mean.”

  “It was funny.” Laura clarified, “The holes were very small.”

  “It was funny,” said Callie.

  “But it wasn’t as funny as the prank I pulled on you,” said Laura.

  “Yes, you did pull a funny one.” Callie giggled.

  “What did you do?” asked Poppy.

  “I TPed Callie to the cold biome.” Laura smiled.

  “It was really cold,” said Callie, “and I didn’t have a jacket on hand, but she TPed me back after ten minutes.”

  “That prank also seems slightly mean,” Poppy commented.

  Then Nancy told everyone how she and Helen had pranked each other. Helen had sealed Nancy’s door shut, and Nancy had filled Helen’s living room with chickens. Helen admitted, “Seeing the chickens was funny, but removing them was another story entirely.”

  Poppy looked around for Joe. “Where’s Joe? We need him to judge the contest. We need to figure out who is the winner.”

  The sky was growing darker, and they questioned if they should go find Joe. Nancy was worried they’d be caught in the middle of another battle with hostile mobs. She explained that she was still recovering from the morning battle in the rain.

  “We can’t let Joe miss the feast,” said Brett. “Also, I’m worried that he isn’t here. This isn’t like him at all. He is very prompt.”

  “Maybe he is still being pranked,” suggested Callie.

  “I was the one chosen to prank Joe, and it happened a while ago. I was invisible and removed wheat while Joe was farming,” explained Brett.

  “I bet that was very funny,” said Laura.

  “It was.” Poppy told them how she happened to be near the farm when she saw the prank in action. “I wonder if Joe will award it the best prank of the day.”

  “We don’t know what he will choose unless we find him.” Brett’s voice shook. He was nervous. Being late was out of character for Joe, and Brett wanted to find his friend.

  “We should go to his house,” said Poppy.

  The gang pulled out their armor. The night had settled in, and traveling made them vulnerable to hostile mob attacks. Although Joe lived only down the path from Brett’s house, they could still encounter a dangerous and lethal mob. The gang held their diamond swords as they charged toward Joe’s house. Brett was the first one to open the door and call out for Joe, but there was no answer.

  “Where can he be?” asked Brett.

  Poppy and the others stood by Joe’s couch. They stared at a hole in the middle of the couch.

  “Oh no!” cried Brett. “That looks like a portal!”

  “Should we jump in?” asked Poppy.

  4

  IN THE LIVING ROOM

  The crater was large, and Brett could feel the cold air emanating from the opening. He looked down at the massive hole in the couch and said, “We have to jump in.”

  “What?” Callie’s voice cracked.

  “I’ve fallen down two portals before. One brought me to the past, and one to the future. I know Joe is stuck in another time period, and we have to help him,” explained Brett.

  “But what happens if we get trapped in that time period?” Laura questioned. “How will we get out?”

  “I agree,” said Callie. “I’m not taking the plunge. It’s too scary.”

  “Joe is a good friend, and I’m going,” Brett announced. “You don’t have to come with me.” Brett hopped in the portal. He didn’t look back to see who had followed him on this journey. As he fell deeper into the portal, he felt goose bumps on his arms. The cold air was even more frigid than the past two portals, and he felt as if he were turning into an icicle. With only his light blue T-shirt to keep him warm, Brett was freezing. He hugged himself to keep warm, but it didn’t help. There was nothing he could do to warm up. The deeper he traveled, the colder it became. After a couple of minutes, Brett wondered if he’d survive. He hoped he didn’t freeze on the trip through the portal. He wanted to land in whatever biome or time period Joe had been thrown into, and he wanted to help Joe escape.

  Brett heard a sound coming from above him. He looked up and saw a pair of black boots. It was Poppy. She had followed right behind him. Although he was freezing, his heart warmed with the thought of Poppy helping him find Joe. Knowing Poppy was there made Brett a bit less scared. Before he had time to call out to Poppy, he landed on the ground with a loud thump. Sand shot up from the ground and got into his eyes. The sand stung his eyes, and he began to cry.

  “Brett,” Poppy hollered as she landed on the ground next to him. She brushed the sand from her eyes and questioned, “Is it always that cold in the portal?”

  “Yes.”

  “You should have warned us. We could have put on jackets. I’m only wearing this jumpsuit. I was freezing,” Poppy said as she jumped in place to help warm up her body.

  “Us?” asked Brett.

  “Yes,” Poppy said. “The others agreed to jump in, too.”

  “Really? Where are they?”

  “They’ll be here soon unless they backed out.” Poppy looked up at the sky she had fallen out of. There was no visible sign of the portal, and Poppy wondered if their friends had joined them.

  “I hope so.” Brett stared at the sky as he spoke.

  The sky was getting dark, and Poppy was worried they’d be vulnerable to a hostile mob attack. “If they don’t show up soon, I should start crafting a house. I don’t want us to be out all night. It’s not safe.”

  Brett looked around the landscape. All he could see was sand. There was nothing but a large stretch of sand and a few dunes. “I wonder where we are. I can’t figure out what time period we are in. Can you?”

  Poppy wasn’t paying attention to Brett. She was too busy searching through her inventory to find the items needed to construct a house for them. “What did you say?”

  “I said I wonder what time period we are in,” Brett repeated.

  “I have no idea. It just looks like your standard desert to me,” said Poppy.

  “I just want to do a quick exploration to see if we find any clues.”

  “Now?” Poppy questioned as she pulled wooden planks from her inventory. “We have to build a house to sleep in. I think we should construct it here in case any of our friends show up. We will be right where the portal drops people.”

  “That’s a good idea. We can find out what time period we are in when we wake up in the morning. Do you need any help with the house?”

  Poppy handed a wooden plank to Brett and told him what he needed to do in order to help her finish the house before sunset. They worked tirelessly, and when the sun had finally set, they were placing the final window on the house. Brett pulled out a torch and placed it on the side of the house.

  When they closed the door, they quickly crafted beds in the small, one-room home. Brett could barely keep his eyes open as he crawled into the bed. He closed his eyes but opened them when he heard Poppy say, “I can’t believe our friends didn’t go through the portal.”

  “It was a lot to ask of someone. They had no idea if they would ever get back home. It’s a scary endeavor.”

  “I know, but they seemed fine with the idea. They all said they would jump in right after me. I can’t believe they lied to me.” Poppy was upset.

  “I don’t think they lied to you. I bet they wanted to jump into the portal, but they got sca
red and backed out,” Brett reasoned.

  “I guess you’re right,” said Poppy.

  “We have to get some sleep. Tomorrow we need to do a thorough search of the desert. We have to find Joe,” said Brett.

  “I hope we find him,” Poppy said as she closed her eyes.

  The two friends were drifting off to sleep when they heard a knock at the door.

  5

  BACK IN HISTORY

  “Who’s there?” asked Poppy.

  Brett walked to the door and opened it. He smiled when he saw Nancy, Helen, Callie, and Laura standing in the doorway.

  “We are so glad this was your house,” said Nancy.

  “I knew Poppy designed it,” Callie remarked. “She has a certain signature style. I always know when she has built something.”

  “Can we fit in here?” asked Helen.

  “Of course,” Brett replied, but as they crowded into the tiny living room, he wasn’t certain they could fit in the house. They were standing so close to each other, they barely had room to breathe.

  “I can expand the house,” Poppy said with a yawn. “I’ll take a few things from my inventory and build an extension.”

  “It’s not safe. We can’t go outside,” explained Nancy. “We just battled skeletons and a witch.”

  “A witch?” questioned Brett. “In the desert?”

  “The swamp borders the desert,” replied Callie.

  “Where did you land when you were dropped from the portal?” asked Brett.

  Callie explained how they were dropped on the edge of the desert by the swamp. It was dusk, and they were forced to battle a series of hostile mobs. They were ready to give up when they found this small house.

  “When we saw this house, we knew we had found you guys. We’ve had such an awful experience ever since we landed in this time period,” said Laura. Then she asked, “Do you know what time period we are in?”

  “We don’t know,” said Brett.

  “I guess you haven’t found Joe?” asked Nancy.

  “No, we also have to do that in the morning,” replied Brett.

  Poppy surveyed the room and announced, “I think it will be very tight, but I believe we can all sleep in the house. I’ll help you guys craft beds.”

  The gang worked together to craft beds, and after a good night’s sleep, everyone was ready to find Joe and figure out what time period they were in. Callie was the first one out of the house. The sun was shining, and she breathed in the dry, hot air. “I forgot how hot it is in the desert,” Callie said as she tried to block the sun’s rays with her hands.

  Laura squinted. “I’m already sweating. Today is going to be very hot.”

  Helen sprinted from the house and hollered, “Watch out!”

  A sand-colored mob lumbered toward Callie and Laura. It almost appeared camouflaged in the desert landscape, but on closer inspection they saw that it looked similar to a zombie. Laura looked up and shrieked, “What’s that?”

  Callie’s voice shook. “It’s a husk.”

  The husk’s arms were extended, and the beast grabbed Callie. She tried to pull away, but it was too late. She had been attacked. Once the desert mob touched Callie, she was struck with an incredible hunger. She wanted to eat every item in her inventory. Her stomach growled, and the only word she could speak was “Apple.”

  Laura swung her diamond sword at the husk’s belly and destroyed the beast, which dropped a small piece of rotten flesh. Laura pulled an apple from her inventory and handed it to Callie. Callie finished the apple in one bite.

  “I’ve never been that hungry in my life,” confessed Callie.

  “When husks attack, they leave you with an intense hunger,” explained Nancy. “I’ve only encountered a husk once before, and it hit me. I wound up eating everything I had, and I was still hungry.”

  Brett and Poppy stood in the doorway with their mouths gaping as they watched an army of husks charge toward them.

  “I don’t understand how hostile mobs can form. It’s daylight,” said Poppy.

  “Husks can spawn anytime. The sun doesn’t bother them,” said Callie. “They are creatures of the desert.”

  “This is going to be a real challenge,” said Brett as he put on his armor and grabbed his enchanted diamond sword and raced toward the husks that were ready to attack them. He slammed his sword into two husks. The beasts were destroyed and dropped rotten flesh.

  The battle lasted longer than they expected, and they were all exhausted and hungry. The gang ate everything in their inventories. Callie remarked, “We have to restock our food supplies.”

  “Yes,” said Helen. “There is no way we will survive unless we find some food.”

  Poppy sighed. “Food is so hard to find in the desert.”

  “If we can find a lake, we can fish,” said Nancy. “I have a fishing rod.”

  “Great idea,” exclaimed Poppy.

  As they walked through the desert and searched for a lake, Brett wanted to suggest that he build a farm. However, he remembered he had once created a farm in the desert, but it wasn’t an easy task, and he knew that it would be days before they’d be able to see anything grow. Instead he suggested they try to find someone who might be willing to trade supplies for food. “I have a lot of emeralds,” he remarked. “Maybe we can trade those.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Callie. “It doesn’t look like we are going to stumble upon a lake anytime soon. All I can see is sand.”

  The gang was thirsty and hot as they made their way through the cacti-filled desert.

  “I feel like we’ve landed in the past,” said Callie.

  “What makes you think that?” questioned Nancy.

  “I don’t believe anything has been created yet. I feel like we have been walking forever, and we haven’t seen one desert temple or another person. If we don’t find someone, we will all be destroyed. We need food,” remarked Callie.

  “I see something!” Poppy called out.

  The gang followed Poppy as she hurried toward a small hut in the distance. When she reached the hut, she called out, “Hello. Is anybody home?”

  A small man wearing a green cap opened the door. “Yes,” he said. “Who are you?”

  “We are lost,” said Poppy, “What town is this?”

  “Sandy Vista,” replied the man.

  “What?” Callie put her hand over her mouth. “It can’t be.”

  “It is,” he said.

  “But Sandy Vista doesn’t really exist,” Callie replied.

  “Of course it does. I live here,” he laughed.

  Brett added, “Sandy Vista was a place of legends. It’s a lost city. People always talk about it, but nobody has ever been there. People have spent their lifetimes traveling around the Overworld searching for Sandy Vista, but nobody has ever found it.”

  “It appears that you guys have found it,” the man said with a smile. “I’m Jacques.”

  The gang introduced themselves and asked Jacques if he had any food. “I do, but I can also show you a great place to find food. Just follow me.”

  The gang trailed behind Jacques as he led them through miles of undeveloped desert. Their stomachs let out a collective grumble, and they hoped he’d lead them to food soon.

  6

  SANDY VISTA

  It felt as if they had been walking for hours. The sun beat down on them, and the gang was losing their energy. Brett asked, “Where is the food?”

  “You must be patient,” replied Jacques. “Things haven’t been very easy for us lately.”

  “What is happening?” questioned Poppy.

  Jacques stopped and pulled a bunch of apples and bottles of milk from his inventory. “Take these. I see you guys are starving and thirsty, and these will help you regain your energy. This journey might be longer than expected.”

  The gang thanked Jacques as they gulped the milk and finished the apples.

  Jacques asked, “Do you guys feel better?”

  The color had been rest
ored to their cheeks, and they all agreed they felt better. Nancy asked, “What is going on in Sandy Vista?”

  Jacques’s eyes filled with tears. “There is a villain that is terrorizing us. She wants to destroy our beautiful town.”

  “How?” asked Nancy.

  “This person has decided to spend all of her time trying to ruin the town. She has magic abilities, which are tough to battle,” explained Jacques.

  “Like what?” asked Brett.

  “She is able to pour a potion on her body, and then she disappears.”

  Brett said, “That’s not magic. She has a potion of invisibility.”

  “What’s that?” questioned Jacques.

  “Have you never brewed a potion before?” Poppy was shocked, but then she remembered they were far back in the past in a town that survived only in legends. Sandy Vista didn’t even make it into history books because nobody was certain the town had ever existed. Poppy hoped they could help Sandy Vista survive. She knew that would change the shape of history, but she didn’t care. She wanted to save it so people could visit the miles of unspoiled stretches of desert. The landscape was stunning.

  Jacques confessed that he had never brewed a potion. “I’d love to learn how to brew one.”

  “When we get back to your house, I will help you craft a brewing stand and teach you all of the essential steps to brewing,” said Brett.

  “That would be incredible,” said Jacques as he continued walking, and the group saw a large desert temple in the distance. Jacques said, “That’s where we will find food. We have a king—”

  Before he could continue, Poppy interrupted. “King Jed and Queen Gail,” Poppy spit out their names.

  “Yes, how do you know them?” asked Jacques.

  “We all know them. They are legends. They were the rulers of the lost city,” Poppy explained.

  “Why is Sandy Vista a lost city? You guys are here now. How can it be considered lost?” Jacques was confused.

  Brett took a deep breath and exhaled, then said, “I know this is going to sound a little farfetched, but we are from the future.”

  “The future? What do you mean?”