The new-formed gang headed towards the castle at the end of the forest.
“Open the gates!” Two celeries
bellowed. The heavy gates moved slowly away from them. Esther stepped in along
with the two vegetables and rabbit.
Maids and guards of different
kinds of vegetables bowed in respect as the gang waltzed by. “News sure travels
fast,” the rabbit said.
The castle was everything that
the girl thought should be. Chandeliers hung on the ceiling, paintings adorned
the passageways, and the intricate designs on the carpets seemed to tell a
story. Finally, they came to a large room where a lady sitting atop a grand
throne was deep in conversation with a couple.
“My queen, we’ve brought the
girl,” the leek said.
The lady stopped talking and
turned to face the voice. She jumped out of her seat immediately. “My! Come
over here my dear!”
The girl tip-toed over to the
lady. She was greeted by a queenly smile, “Welcome, hero!”
“Oh, please don’t call me that!”
the girl was overwhelmed by all the attention.
“But I must! You are going to be
our saviour! But look how confused you are, sorry, where are my manners? I
forgot to introduce myself. I’m Queen Cai, the queen of the Vegetable kingdom.”
“Hello Queen Cai,” the girl
offered the brightest smile she could.
The couple whom the queen had
been conversing with bowed to the girl. “As the royal dentist and
mathematician, we shall provide you with any service you shall need!”
“You can trust them,” the queen
assured, “they’re my best aides, Zhen and Zu.”
“I thank you for your generous
treatment”, the girl said, “but if I’m the hero you so speak, what exactly am I
supposed to save?”
“Ah yes, you are unaware of the
turbidity that plaques our dear land. This is Wunderland, a magical world which
my father had left me. I love all these vegetables, they’re my people, I
promise to rule in love and compassion. Unfortunately, my sister, Joanne,
thought otherwise. She raised a rebellion which was thankfully snuffed out by
my strong vegetable army. So she led the group of rebels to the other side of
the country and calls herself the Queen of the Food. She aims to build an army
of curry puffs, processed snacks and all the unhealthy food you can think of!
It just breaks my heart.”
“So just defeat her the same way
as you did the last time,” the girl said.
“It’s not as simple as you
think,” a forlorn look fell on the face of the queen, “Recently, one of our
soldiers has betrayed us and gone on to join the Food Queen. He was such a
brave soldier, and caring too, who could have thought?”
“Still, it’s just one soldier.
That kind of stuff happens all the time in wars, you deceive me and I backstab
you.”
“Karl is not just an ordinary
soldier. He’s the reason we won against the rebels the last time. He possesses
great leadership and tactical skills. Imagine what will happen now that he has
gone over to the other side! We are doomed!” The queen dug her face into her
palms.
“That’s why we need you,” the
mathematician broke the moment of hopelessness. He pushed up his glasses so
that they accentuated his steely eyes. “I have calculated that the best way to
deal with the situation is to send you in as an undercover.”
“What?” the girl cried.
“They don’t know anything about
you yet. You can just sneak in as one of their soldiers or planners. You can’t
expect a vegetable to pull off that feat.”
“Oh please help us!” the woman
next to the mathematician implored, “Do you know how many horrible cavities
they’re caused to my little teeth darlings?”
“Well, I…”
“Let me show you something,” the
queen grabbed Esther’s hand, “After seeing this you will decide if you want to
help us.”
They descended a long flight of
stairs and entered a room with a NO ENTRY sign. As the door swung open, the
smell of manure and ammonia gnawed at Esther’s nostrils. About fifty
vegetables, with battered leaves, bruised flesh and rotting stems lay on small,
hard beds. “These are the lucky ones,” the queen said, trying to raise her
voice above all the groaning and moaning. She punched in some buttons on a counter
and a screen flipped out. A video was playing and Esther was shocked to see
hundreds of vegetables and other creatures locked in cages. One of them was
being strapped to a chair, with a weird yellow liquid being pumped into its
arm. A scientist jabbed a syringe into the poor vegetable, drawing out fluids
from it. “They managed to kidnap and take prisoner so many of our people over
the duration of two weeks!”
Esther took in the whole scene.
Something in her boiled and churned. It just wasn’t right to treat living
things like that. “What do you need me to do?” she asked.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Take care of yourself,” Clara
the rabbit said as she stuffed the last items into Esther’s waist pouch.
“I can’t thank you enough,
Esther,” the queen took the girl’s hands into hers. Her hands were warm, just
like her mother’s. Esther thought about her mother back on earth, her kind eyes
and sweet words. She would bake lovely mango cheesecakes for her. But it was no
time to miss her family. After all, Queen Cai told her that Wunderland is
operating on a completely different universe, so in her time in Wunderland, not
a second has passed on earth. Besides, she believe was sent here for a reason.
She took a deep breath. The
entrance to the Food kingdom was right ahead, at the foot of the verdant slope
that divided the two kingdoms. Yellow and white flags flapped in the wind. The
sad, quiet brick walls seemed to scream the tragedy that lay beyond itself.
Guards, armed with long baguette sticks, stood unmoving in the blistering wind.
She played the whole plan in her head once again.
First thing to do: roll down
this hill.
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