Retrieving our ball

"Greg, I don't feel right with this. Can't we just knock on the gate tomorrow morning? Perhaps someone will answer us." My younger brother said to be in a scared tone.   

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"Come on, Kelvin, have you seen anyone come out of this gate since the three years that we moved to this neighborhood? It's not just our ball that is at stake; this is an opportunity for us to know what's happening in there." I whispered in Kevin's right ear as I tried to convince him. It was dark, and the ball we played in our compound had gone over to the dead, silent neighbor's some hours ago. Kelvin was right to be scared; we barely noticed any life entering or leaving the sealed compound that shared a fence with us. Kelvin was nine years old and less adventurous; the better behaved in the family, while I was three years older than him, my pubertial hormones kept me on my feet for adventures. "If you don't tell Kelvin, nobody will know. I promise." I said, crossing my heart in the dark.
 

 


 
It was about 8 p.m., and our parents had gone for an outing to return later tonight. I squeezed Kelvin's shoulder reassuringly before jumping up into the air to land my hands on the short fence, which was only about 10 meters more than my height. Immediately, my hands grabbed the top of the fence. I lifted the weight of my body up to my hands, and within a few seconds, first my eyes settled on the secluded hut with a glowing lamp hung at its wooden door entrance as it stood secluded in the middle of a wide-spaced compound presumed to be full of weed and unkempt grass. Within a few seconds, I was up on the fence, greeted by an unusually chill air. Though balanced on the fence, I reached out my right hand to lift Kelvin up a little since he was shorter than me and would probably not be able to reach the top, just as I had done earlier.
 

 


 
Kelvin grunted as he joined me on top of the fence, and from his 'wow', I guess he was equally surprised at what he saw. Kelvin and I landed softly on the ground within the compound with a mild thud and on our feet. Slowly, we stood to our feet, transfixed for a split second as our attention was glued to the hut that stood about 50 meters away. The compound was dead silent; not even the leaves rustled, probably except our breadth, which increased in response to our chaotic and erratic heartbeat. Kelvin had always been the scared one, and I suspected he would be ready to pee in his pants. I grabbed his wrist, and surely it was sweaty already. "Calm down, Kelvin. I'm here with you." I reassured.

"Can we just leave right away? I'm scared already." Kelvin confessed, glued to his feet as he resisted the pull I put on his wrist.
 
"Kelvin, I'll make sure nothing happens to you. Come, let's go." I whispered audibly, trying to wave off the fear that gripped my heart as well. " Kelvin trod behind me gently. Little did he know my courage lied in his presence with me. My right foot suddenly hit the ball that we came for, but I gently shoved it aside, knowing fully well that Kelvin would ask us to revert immediately. We soon arrived at the entrance of the hut, and we both stood there for about a minute, unsure of what to do. The lamp cast its illumination on us, sending tall shadows of our figures to the side. Kelvin stood right beside me, speechless as well.
 

 
I stretched forth my hand to the wooden door that faced us, blank with no inscription, and immediately, it opened inward, and a bright illumination engulfed Kelvin and me. I held tightly to Kelvin's hand as the light further imparted itself on us, blinding me and causing me to close both eyes. We landed with a thud, almost on top of each other. Kelvin quickly held onto me while I stretched my hands apart in defense. The world here was different from that which we knew. We looked back to see where we had come from, but it was sealed, like no channel ever existed there. There were humans just like us but smaller, like dwarfs, and each of them hastened towards a direction, prompting us to follow after contemplating for a while. Though we were young, our heights stood out from the dwarfs, an obvious and unnecessary distraction they did not seem to care about. The passage we followed was narrow, barely containing the hundreds of passengers, and its rough roof, carved with stones, made it look like we were in a cave. After a rowdy and tourtous walk of about three minutes, we arrived at a wide open space with thousands of dwarfs encircled around a wooden podium where a few dwarfs were adorned in radiant and beautiful regalia, clearly revealing royalty.
 

 
"Welcome, my people; today, our prophecy is fulfilled. The gods have sent us two humans for our princesses to marry. Bring them forth immediately!" An old looking man with overgrown gray hair bellowed in our direction. My already synchronized heartbeat went erratic. About eight dwarfs in uniforms approached us, putting cuffs in our hands as Kelvin and I were gazed upon by numerous eyeballs. As we were led to the podium, the dwarfs on our way gave way. I didn't know if their prophecy was good or bad, but definitely not to get married to any dwarf, not even at my young age. I made sure Kelvin was right beside me all through, and within a minute, we approached the podium, towering well above the dwarfs and their royals.

"Welcome to the dwarf kingdom. It's an honor to have you both in our midst." The gray-haired man spoke to us in full royal regalia. He turned to two subjects who waited on him. "Bring forth the princess right away; let her choose from either of the two humans. The wedding would commence immediately." He said this, waving off the subjects. Drums began to roll, and the once-silent kingdom sparkled into brightness with different and alluring illuminations. Two shiny gold-laced robes were out on us after some dwarfs climbed a stool to reach our shoulders as they prepared us for the wedding to the princess. A thousand and one thoughts of an escape route crossed my mind, but none were feasible. Kelvin held me tightly like his life depended on me, and I reciprocated his hold. We were both scared, and at that point, I regretted not listening to Kelvin when he advised us to turn back from the hut.
 

 
I saw a young dwarf lady adorned with a glistening white robe with beautiful stones on it. She had a small crown on her head. She was truly a young dwarf lady, adorned with a glistening white robe with beautiful stones on it. but I could see in her expression an unwillingness or sadness written all over.

"Father, my heart beats for another. I'm sorry!" The princess confessed to her father. There was a rowdy grumble within the crowd, which soon died after the gray-haired leader, whom I presumed to be King, waved his hand in silence. The old man looked into his daughter's eyes expressionlessly for a while. The kingdom was in dead silence. It seemed everyone waited for something, but nothing happened.
 


 
"Return the weaklings immediately; we have no use of them!" The leader thundered as he pointed at us, and the soldiers once again approached us and led us out of the crowd. We were led back in the direction where we came. We got to a familiar spot, probably where we first saw ourselves. The walls were rough and blank. One of the soldiers walked up to the wall and stuck a pendant on it, and like magic, the walls began to separate in uniformity. The soldiers pushed us into the wall while they stepped back. I could not remember ever letting go of Kelvin's hand from the moment we got trapped in the light and world of dwarfs until the moment we were teleported out through the mysterious channel.
 

 
Within a split second, we found ourselves right outside the hut, and the door slammed shut behind us. Immediately, we took to our heels, though my legs were weak. Kelvin ran ahead of me, and then I remembered the ball. I saw it lying just where I had shoved it and picked it up. The lamp from the hut gradually dimmed as thick darkness began to envelope us. Kelvin jumped at the wall as though he could grab the top. I was quick to support him from behind, preventing him from falling. I joined him at the top of the fence just as he was about to jump down. He seemed to be in more haste than myself. We fell to the grass beyond with a loud thud, the ball in my grasp. We ran with the little strength left within us and barged into our gate. I didn't know how long we were away; it felt like ages, but I was surprised to see that our parents were not back yet.
 

 
Kelvin and I rushed to the room we both shared. The time was 8:15 p.m. I ran into the shower for a quick bath, and Kelvin followed suit. Kelvin and I stared at each other before bursting into laughter. We began to recall all that transpired and concluded never to be near the house again. Our parents got in shortly after at 8:30 p.m., and I was grateful Kelvin carried himself like nothing happened.
 

 
The following day, however, in the brightness of the day, the stubborn me stole a peak by climbing the fence to see the hut again. Alas! Vastness of emptiness with tall grasses alone domiciled the compound. I shook my head gently and continued on my way, many thoughts of the previous night still fresh within.