A More Surprising World
Sean Chung Age 10
Into the Darkling Woods Introduction I, Severus Ulysses Secralius, was a happy snake. I hoped my life would be joyful, but my hopes were very limited. Soon, my life would change, but not quite. Chapter 1: Captured “Be careful of the hawk, Severus.” “I know, Mom, you told me a million times!” I replied. I headed off looking for somewhere to bask. My mom told me to come back in about thirty minutes, but us snakes don’t have watches like humans do, so I’ll travel back when I want to. But a few minutes later, I saw a bird soaring over me. “That’s strange, birds don’t usually fly near the Orchard,” I muttered to myself, “except for hawks.” Then it hit me! The bird was a hawk! Flying toward my nest . . . My mom told me hawks hunt snakes. I slithered toward my nest with all my speed. When I came back, it was far too late. My mom was struggling to avoid being captured, but the hawk took hold of my mom with their razor-sharp talons and flew away. I was devastated. What would I do? Chapter 2: The Map The hawk headed northwest. I had to get the map that my mom found in a forest in Corian’s Land, which was infested with wolves. I went inside my nest and scavenged for the map. I searched under my bed, in cabinets, on bookshelves, but I found it in a sports magazine. When I opened the map, I realized the hawk was taking my mom to Darkling Woods! I was worried, yet relieved, because the Darkling Woods houses a prison my mom told me about. In the Darkling Woods, random snakes are captured and kept in the prison. My grandfather was the only one to fully escape the prison and says that nobody other than him lived to tell the tale.
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