Author: | Steve Messman | ISBN: | 9781301169818 |
Publisher: | Steve Messman | Publication: | April 14, 2013 |
Imprint: | Smashwords Edition | Language: | English |
Author: | Steve Messman |
ISBN: | 9781301169818 |
Publisher: | Steve Messman |
Publication: | April 14, 2013 |
Imprint: | Smashwords Edition |
Language: | English |
Twenty years ago, a mystical orb prophesied that Debbie would return to the magical world of ants and spiders in order to bring Brian home. That was eight years before Debbie was born, and in all of her life, Debbie had no idea who Brian really was—except from her mother’s farfetched stories. Debbie’s Choice is the essential sequel to Grandpa’ Portal.
A young girl of twelve, Debbie suddenly finds herself faced with many life-changing decisions. Her mother, Hannah, tells Debbie that it is time to enter Great Grandpa’s magical world. Hannah insists that Debbie must fulfill the orb’s prophecy by bringing Brian home. Debbie refuses; from having heard her mother’s stories, she is fully aware of the prophecy and the terrifying dangers supposedly manifest in this strange world. Destiny will not allow this to be Debbie’s final decision. She tries to hide from the reality of what her mother has asked. Tucked in a corner of Great Grandfather’s closet, pouting in the darkness and sulking behind old-smelling trouser legs, Debbie discovers a tiny crack in the wall. That crack turns out to be a concealed door, and the door has a very special lock that Debbie swears was engineered by elves. She is suddenly captivated, and now she has a mystery to solve. Debbie soon stumbles upon a stone necklace that possesses inexplicable warmth. That necklace, she recognizes, is essential to unlocking the hidden door. Behind the door—a secreted diary.
That ancient diary is well over a hundred years old. It contains entries by dozens of people, all of whom have mysteriously vanished from the earth, all of whom have disappeared through Great Grandpa’s magic portal. She finds that Great Grandfather was the most recent person to have disappeared. There are many more mysteries: an evil presence that Great Grandpa can’t yet describe, how the portal keeps drawing a person back, and how Great Grandfather knew about Debbie 40 years before she was born. Debbie decides that the great sum of mysteries is worth following. She succumbs to her mother’s wishes and steps onto the path that Great Grandfather blazed over twenty years earlier.
Leaping through the portal, and risking never returning, Debbie enters an impossible world where she finds her mother’s truth. She is smaller than the ants and spiders that immediately attempt to capture her. Every minute becomes a struggle for survival; every movement signals her location; every breath could be her last. The madman, Feloviel, is in charge of this strange world. He controls entire armies of ants and spiders. He controls at least one other tiny human, Rathbone. He easily captures Debbie, but for a reason yet unknown, the madman and his minions keep her alive. She finds, once again, that the necklace is the key.
The adventures that follow include horrendous battles, sudden deaths, missing keys, mysterious orbs, ripples in time, and more. Debbie finds help, and with assistance, she endures while learning how to fight, eat bug meat, and tend wounds with spider webs and slug slime. Those trials teach Debbie many lessons about such values as honesty and strength, good and evil, loyalty and justice. Most importantly, she learns the importance of following one’s heart. Combined, those lessons line the path that Debbie must soon follow to her destiny.
Twenty years ago, a mystical orb prophesied that Debbie would return to the magical world of ants and spiders in order to bring Brian home. That was eight years before Debbie was born, and in all of her life, Debbie had no idea who Brian really was—except from her mother’s farfetched stories. Debbie’s Choice is the essential sequel to Grandpa’ Portal.
A young girl of twelve, Debbie suddenly finds herself faced with many life-changing decisions. Her mother, Hannah, tells Debbie that it is time to enter Great Grandpa’s magical world. Hannah insists that Debbie must fulfill the orb’s prophecy by bringing Brian home. Debbie refuses; from having heard her mother’s stories, she is fully aware of the prophecy and the terrifying dangers supposedly manifest in this strange world. Destiny will not allow this to be Debbie’s final decision. She tries to hide from the reality of what her mother has asked. Tucked in a corner of Great Grandfather’s closet, pouting in the darkness and sulking behind old-smelling trouser legs, Debbie discovers a tiny crack in the wall. That crack turns out to be a concealed door, and the door has a very special lock that Debbie swears was engineered by elves. She is suddenly captivated, and now she has a mystery to solve. Debbie soon stumbles upon a stone necklace that possesses inexplicable warmth. That necklace, she recognizes, is essential to unlocking the hidden door. Behind the door—a secreted diary.
That ancient diary is well over a hundred years old. It contains entries by dozens of people, all of whom have mysteriously vanished from the earth, all of whom have disappeared through Great Grandpa’s magic portal. She finds that Great Grandfather was the most recent person to have disappeared. There are many more mysteries: an evil presence that Great Grandpa can’t yet describe, how the portal keeps drawing a person back, and how Great Grandfather knew about Debbie 40 years before she was born. Debbie decides that the great sum of mysteries is worth following. She succumbs to her mother’s wishes and steps onto the path that Great Grandfather blazed over twenty years earlier.
Leaping through the portal, and risking never returning, Debbie enters an impossible world where she finds her mother’s truth. She is smaller than the ants and spiders that immediately attempt to capture her. Every minute becomes a struggle for survival; every movement signals her location; every breath could be her last. The madman, Feloviel, is in charge of this strange world. He controls entire armies of ants and spiders. He controls at least one other tiny human, Rathbone. He easily captures Debbie, but for a reason yet unknown, the madman and his minions keep her alive. She finds, once again, that the necklace is the key.
The adventures that follow include horrendous battles, sudden deaths, missing keys, mysterious orbs, ripples in time, and more. Debbie finds help, and with assistance, she endures while learning how to fight, eat bug meat, and tend wounds with spider webs and slug slime. Those trials teach Debbie many lessons about such values as honesty and strength, good and evil, loyalty and justice. Most importantly, she learns the importance of following one’s heart. Combined, those lessons line the path that Debbie must soon follow to her destiny.