The Land of Imagination One-Elsa

(This is a story I wrote a long time ago, one of my first short stories. Here it is, unedited, raw and origonal. There are several more after this one.)
Elsa 

  It all started when I was walking through the woods one day. Now, before I go on with my story, let me explain who I am. I’m a nine year old that has been home schooled all my life. At least, I have been until now. In the fall, I have to go to real school. I have red-orange hair and I hope not to get teased in school about it. I also don’t think I have a good imagination. My mom is an artist and has a good imagination and every one expects me to have one too. Anyway, now that you know some things about me, I’ll gat back to my story. I was going to meet a friend when suddenly I saw a bridge. “Now where did that come from?” I thought. I decided to cross it. I got on top of the bridge. Suddenly, it was foggy all around me and I thought I might fall off. Then, just as I thought I    would never find my way off, I could suddenly see again but there was no bridge! And then I saw that I was not in the woods that I was used to either. “Where am I?” I thought. Just then I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and then wished I hadn’t. I saw a, you’ll never guess what, but I saw a..... LION! And not just a lion, but a winged lion! I was terrified but to my surprise the lion said hello! Then she said her name was Elsa. I said hello and then asked her where I was. She said   that I was in the Land of Imagination but I could call it LOI for short. Then she asked me if I wanted to go to the old owl’s house. I thought “Owls are smart, so maybe he could help me. So I said yes. So she turned around and I followed. We walked past lots animals. At least, I think some of them were animals. Some of them were strange creatures that I’ve never seen before and the landscape was very strange. There were purple trees and pink grass. Just then we got to a massive tree. It looked very old. We went around to one side of it and I saw that someone had nailed boards to the trunk. I looked up and saw a sort of house built into the trunk. Elsa and I climbed up. Above the door was a sign that said “MAYORS HOUSE” in big letters. I guess the old owl was the mayor. Elsa knocked on the small door and a few minutes later the door opened with a loud squeak. “That repair pet hasn’t come yet. You just can’t trust beavers these days.” The speaker was an old but wise looking …thing. I wouldn’t really have called it an owl. “Ah, good morning, Elsa. Have you brought a customer?” What? I thought. Customer? “Um, excuse me. What do you mean by customer, uh, sir?” The …thing looked at me and said “Hasn’t Elsa told you?” I shook my head. He said “This is where unwanted imaginary pets live.” I didn’t get it. Aren’t imaginary pets supposed to be well, imaginary? I just stared at him. Then I said “Can people get them back?” The owl (I’ll just call him that because every one else does) shook his head. “Sadly, not every one can. In fact, not every one can even cross The Bridge of Mist. It wasn’t always this way though.” The owl paused and then went on. “A long time ago, almost every child had an imaginary pet. But once the child became a teenager, they forgot their pet and that pet died. One day a very imaginative girl was getting too old for her pet but she didn’t want it to die. So she came up with this place. Now whenever a pet is given up, it comes here. Pets here die too but only if the person that made up the pet dies.” He paused again and looked at me to make sure I understood. Then he went on. “Pets here won’t die though if someone else adopts them.” He looked me meaningfully. Adopt a pet? I had to know more before I decided anything. “Is the pet of that girl still alive?” I asked. The old owl smiled and said “Yes, in fact, you’ve already met her.” I looked at Elsa and she nodded. “She is the oldest one here” he said. “But for years, no one has wanted her. They say she is too old but imaginary pets have no age. She may be more mature than some of the others but not old.” That was all I needed to hear. “May I adopt Elsa?” His smile grew and he almost seemed to sigh with relief. “Why don’t you ask her your self?” I turned around and said “Elsa, do you want to be my imaginary pet?” She smiled and said “I would be most grateful if I could.”

                          

                                  *****

    A few days later when everything was settled and Elsa had said goodbye to her friends, the old owl, Elsa, and I went back to where the bridge had been. To my surprise, it was there as if it had never disappeared. The old owl and I shook hands/wings and then Elsa and I walked up to the bridge. “Remember” the owl said “Elsa will disappear once you cross the bridge but if you imagine her, you will be able to see her.” I nodded and then remembered that I had one last question. “Who can come here nowadays?”  His answer came to me as the mist closed around us. His answer was “people with a great imagination.”

 The end? We’ll just have to see.