"We've gotta get you presentable to meet the queen, a.k.a. yo momma," said Melvin. Felicity, with squinted eyes & a scrunched up forehead, stared at Melvin as though his head had just turned into an egg.
"My what?!" Felicity blurted out.
Melvin sighed & straightened up his posture, "you were sent to live a normal life soon after you were born -- broke your mother's heart -- but while checking up on you like I have always done (every 5 years or so), I discovered that you were not only unhappy, but also not being treated well. I'm sorry, Felicity, that it took me so long to get you out of there."
Felicity, still staring at Melvin with shock & disbelief, turned her gaze downward as if she was trying to put all the pieces together.
"I know this is a lot for you to take in, so I'll let you be for a while. When you are ready, you let me know & we will go from there."
Felicity still staring at the floor with wide eyes just nodded as to say, "okay."
"Now then," Melvin began as he placed a wooden bowl full of soup on the kitchen table, "I have some things to do before going to town. Eat this, you'll feel better."
Melvin turned & trotted off towards the front door, he slid on his bright orange flip flops & then flip flopped his way out the door. Felicity sat, still staring. A few hours later, Melvin returned to find Felicity in the same position staring at the same spot on the floor. Felicity looked up to see Melvin in his short shorts positioned in a lung & stretching his right arm over his head.
"Okay, Melvin. If all of this is true, then why haven't I heard from my mother in all of these years?"
Melvin, standing up out of his lung & then lunging again, this time with his left leg & stretching his left arm over his head, replied, "your mother tried to protect you by giving you a normal life outside of the realm. Living in Chroley as a member of the royal family is dangerous. If she would have reached out to you, then she would have put you in danger. There are many who would kill to have the power of a queen, especially in Chroley."
"Okay, then what about my father? Is he King of Chroley?"
"Your father died soon after you were born. The castle was overtaken by Gallian Forrestor & his dangerous clan. Your father was killed in the overtaking, but eventually Gallian & his clan were pushed out of our realm by Chroley seamsters. Seamsters have protected this land ever since," said Melvin in a more serious tone than he had used since meeting Felicity.
"What on earth is a seamster?!" Felicity blurtted out.
"You'll see," said Melvin.
"I am going to get ready & we will go to town. Would you mind waiting outside for a bit? My shower area is not enclosed, if ya know what I mean, Jean."
Felicity shrugged, "sure, no problem. You do remember my name is Felicity though, don't you? It's not Jean."
"Yes yes, I know, it's a saying, it's a- oh, nevermind."
Felicity walked outside & sat on the bench in front of the cottage.
After what felt like hours, Melvin walked out of the cottage with hair that was gelled to perfection as his thick blonde locks glistened in the sun. He had on a bright yellow & white stripped, short-sleeved v-neck shirt with baggy green pants that stopped below his knees & wooden clogged shoes. Melvin's chest hair also glistened in the sun as though he put on an oil to create a glimmer of shine. He had a red, leather vest in his hand that he put on as he was shutting & locking the front door.
Melvin turned to Felicity with raised eye brows & a crooked smile, "the ladies like it when I show a little chest hair."
"Okay," replied Felicity, chuckling under her breath.
Off they walked in the opposite direction of the Giant Hedge Maze & towards the back of the cottage. What Felicity didn't notice before was that the cottage was attached to the bottom of a ginormous tree that she could clearly see while walking behind it. Melvin & Felicity walked through a beautiful forest where about a mile ahead was a wooden pole with three wooden signs attached to it.
The top sign that was pointed towards the left read, "Edinborough".
The sign under Edinborough pointed to the right & read, "Blue Berry Springs".
The sign under Blue Berry Springs pointed to the left & read, "Chroley Train Station".
Felicity & Melvin walked left to catch the train into downtown Chroley. About a half a mile in was the train station. It was packed with people. Everyone was wearing bright colors & wooden clogged shoes. The men wore v-neck shirts & and stripes, while the women had on long dresses with large, curled up hair. All of the women had pastel-colored hair, light pink, lavender, pale yellow, light blue. Felicity stuck out like a sore thumb, but noone seemed to notice or were just too polite to stare. Felicity stood around people-watching while Melvin grabbed their train tickets from the ticket booth.
The train itself was peculiar looking too as it was in the shape of a long cylinder & was purple with fancy writing on the side that read, "Welcome to Chroley Haven".
After retrieving their train tickets to downtown Chroley, Melvin motioned for Felicity to follow him towards the train. Inside the train was interesting. Instead of seats just large enough to fit two people on both sides of the train, there were long seats in the middle where about 10 people were able to sit side-by-side. Two little boys, about 9 years old or so, were playing a game of cards on the floor in front of the seats. Felicity noticed the cards were shaped as circles instead of rectangles. The inside of the train windows had lavendar lace curtains that were tied at both sides of each window. The train floor was black & the seats a neon yellow. Instead of having many carts, the train was all one big cart & there must have been 100 seats lined down the middle. Felicity & Melvin sat down a few rows from the front & moments later the train took off. And boy did it go! It took off so fast that Felicity lost her breath for a few seconds. Not 2 minutes in & the train had arrived in downtown Chroley.
"Wow!" said Felicity.
"What's that?" replied Melvin.
"How did we get here so fast?" Felicity asked.
Melvin smiled, "magic, of course."
Once Felicity's feet hit the pavement outside of the train she was taken aback by the scenery. There were tall black poled street lights with intricate curved black metal shapes at the top of each one, and there were giant bright green hedges behind benches on the outskirts of the large walkway. Further down, stores, restaurants & taverns lined the outer edges of the walkway. There was a large circled drive where people could walk on both sides & in the middle was a huge fountain with beautiful greenery & flowers surrounding it with cement benches surrounding that. Further in the distance was the castle that had a balcony at the very top that looked like the Queen could stand & see all of downtown Chroley. There were no vehicles, everyone was walking. There were lots of people tall & short, large & thin, all wearing the signature bright colored clothing & wooden clogs.
"I have to do a few things, Felicity, but do some exploring while I'm gone, won't you?" said Melvin.
"Sure thing," replied Felicity looking around in awe.
Felicity began to walk towards the castle. A beautiful woman with bright red hair & a long blue, green & purple flowery dress was selling pastries & was standing outside her store with samples.
"Hello, dear! Please try a sweet. They are superb!" exclaimed the lady.
"Don't mind if I do, thank you very much!" said Felicity.
The tray had many different types of sweets. One was an orange sandwich-like doughnut with swirley green and white cream in the middle. Another was a flat purple cookie with light pink chunks of candy on top. All of them were different, but colorful -- kind of like the clothing style here in Chroley. Felicity decided on the fluffy white gummy with a crispy blue bottom topped with strawberry icing.
"Yum!" exclaimed Felicity, "this is absolutely delicious! Thank you, ma'am!"
"You are more than welcome! Enjoy!" replied the lady.
A man dressed in a striped light & bright green suit was cartwheeling in a large circle & blowing bubbles that when popped turned into colorful butterflies. The butterflies would then disappear after a moment or two. A small group of children watched with excitement & cheered as the bubbles seem to become larger & larger each time. Felicity couldn't help but smile. Finishing the strawberry flavored sweet, Felicity began to feel a bit dizzy. She decided to sit down on one of the outside benches. Next to her sat an older man with glasses & a top hat. Everything became blurry & voices around her started to sound deep & very slow. Felicity stood up & wiped her eyes a few times. She started walking towards the shops looking for Melvin, but after only taking a few steps she collapsed.
"Felicity, are you okay? Felicity?" A worried man's voice was heard as Felicity was coming to & her sight went from blurry to very clear within a matter of seconds.
Felicity looked around & saw Melvin kneeled down beside her.
"Melvin? What happened?" Felicity's weak voice barely made any sound.
"You fainted," replied Melvin.
"Good thing I saw you fall as I was exiting the post office. Are you okay?" he asked.
"I feel okay. But I did eat a pastry earlier. Do you think that may have had something to do with it?" Felicity said.
"Um, did you get it from June McKalin? She owns June's Sweetery & is always experimenting with different ingredients. One time I ate what I thought was a mint & woke up laying on a float in Kevin Leasures swimming pool petting his pet iguana & then had the squirts for a week."
"Oh wow," Felicity stuttered.
"I don't know if her name was June, but the lady was giving out samples of sweets on a tray."
"Yep, that was June alright. Listen," said Melvin, "if you get the squirts, I have an outhouse near the back of my cottage where you can take care of business."
Felicity sat up & took a hard look at Melvin to figure out if he was serious or not. Yep, he was serious.
"Come on, friend," Melvin said as he took Felicity's hand & helped her to her feet.
"Let's get you ready to meet the queen."
