Exploring the Overworld, Book 1: The Jungle Temple Read online

arm is more or less healed now, but it still hurts. After I was healed, I rummaged through my bag and pulled out more potions. I noticed that there were some more healing potions, but there were also a lot of potions that would be a great weapon in the battle. I yelled Ghast’s name so he would come to me. One of the villagers ran off to get him, so I guess they had learned his name by this point.

  When Ghast came into my room I told him all about the potions and I gave them to him. He held each on his tentacle-like arms. “I know what to do,” was all he said before leaving my room.

  I didn’t see Ghast again until later in the day. He told me that he threw down potions like there was no tomorrow. Some of the other villagers were hurt, but most of them were just scared by the smoke and sparks that went off when the potions were used. I guess they had never seen anything like it before.

  There were still a few fighters left near the temple, but I can’t help but think that they won’t be there for much longer. The battle is all but won now... I’ll write more tomorrow. Now, I need to rest my arm.

  Day Twenty-Two: Retreat

  Dear Diary,

  I slept through most of the battle after healing my arm. Since I didn’t drink a whole potion, it healed my arm part of the way, but I still had some healing to do on my own. It’s almost healed now. It only hurts when I touch it. Still, being sick or injured tends to make a person tired, so I sat out the last battle. I knew it wouldn’t be a problem, not with Ghast on my side, kicking butt as I slept.

  When I woke up this morning, I heard a loud shout. Well, it was more like a hundred loud shouts. I hopped up out of my beanbag-bed and ran towards the entrance of the temple. On my way to the entrance, I grabbed a torch on the wall. I didn’t have a weapon on me, but I figured that a torch could do some damage if I needed it to.

  When I got to the entrance of the temple I stuck my head outside to see what was going on. I expected to see all of the other villagers running up the steps, ready to attack, but instead, I saw something completely differently. All of the villagers who had attacked the temple were running away, and Ghast was the one chasing them out! I didn’t know he had it in him. Either way, he was the one who saved the day.

  Once every last of the other villagers were gone, the temple villagers came back inside of the temple. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but I knew a cheer when I heard one. The other villagers had retreated. We won the battle!

  Now there’s only one thing to do...celebrate! I’ll write all about it tomorrow!

  Day Twenty-Three: Party at the Temple!

  Dear Diary,

  All is safe in the temple again, and that means it’s time to have a celebration. I have to be honest, I thought that the other villagers might come back and attack with more people, but they never did, so I guess that means that our side really did win. It’s a huge relief, really. I know that Ghast had a hard time fighting and I got hurt, so the last thing I wanted to happen was for us to have to fight again.

  Today the only thing I had to fight was my craving for a second chicken. All of the fighting lately made me so hungry. I felt like I could eat a horse, but the temple was clear of horses. The chicken was so good. These villagers really do know how to cook.

  I can’t decide if it’s a shame or not that the villagers live out here in the deep jungle, not knowing about all of the technological advancements that exist outside of the jungle. On one hand, they almost ran out of food and they probably would have perished if the scientists didn’t send me into help. On the other hand, other than the food shortage, these people seem to be doing pretty well without technology. I know that I won’t tell anyone about these people, but if one of these villagers wanted to learn about technology, I would help them.

  Anyway, now that everyone here is safe, and my stomach is full of delicious food, I think it’s about time that Ghast and I left and went back home, or found a new mission. I think we will head out tomorrow. We’ve had a strange but exciting time here, and now it’s time to have a strange and exciting time somewhere else.

  I’ll write more tomorrow.

  Day Twenty-Four: Weirdness in the Temple

  Dear Diary,

  The feast last night was wild, and I slept for about twelve hours afterward because I ate so much. It was like a Thanksgiving feast, only without a weird uncle who ruins the whole thing with a crazy story. I did party and I had my fun, but it was time to return to the real world again and find my next new mission. There was just one problem: the villagers didn’t want us to leave.

  I figured that the villagers wouldn’t want us to leave before because the pictures on the wall showed us helping with the battle. Now that the battle was over I figured the villagers would be cool with Ghast and I leaving.

  I even went back down to the hallway with all of the pictures in it to see if there was anything else there. Maybe there would be a picture about Ghast and I ruling over the temple like a king and a queen...not like I would actually do that, though. I probably wouldn’t do that... Anyway, I went down there to check, but I didn’t see any more pictures with Ghast or I in it. As far as I knew, there was no reason for the villagers to want or need us to stay, but they did anyway.

  I know that they wanted us to stay because today one of the villagers spoke their first words of English since I got here. “You. Stay.”

  This wouldn’t have done much to stop me from leaving, but the villagers were holding spears, and I knew they knew how to use them, and I wasn’t about to test their skills. I went back into my room to avoid making them angry.

  I still want to get out of here. I just need to figure out how to do it without the villagers noticing me...

  Day Twenty-Five: Locked Inside

  Dear Diary,

  I have been staying in my room since my encounter with the villagers with spears (freshly sharpened spears, I might add). I know that they have been walking around my room. I can hear their footsteps in the hallway. There seemed to be a couple of them walking around the hallway in shifts. I have the timing memorized, and even though I can’t actually see out into the hallway, I still know when the villagers are walking past my room or not.

  Once, when I knew the villagers would be away from the room for about ten minutes, I tried to open the door so I could run out of here with Ghast before the villagers could get to us. The only problem was, the door was blocked from the outside. I tried to push it open, but there seemed to be furniture or something equally heavy behind the door, keeping it shut.

  “Ghast, do you think you can laser this door open?” I asked him. I didn’t know how strong his lasers were.

  “Yeah, I’m sure I could,” Ghast said. He sounded boring and monotone. I gave him a confused look. “I could, but I don’t think I should.” I only gave him a more confused look when he said this. Luckily, he knew how to clear things up for me. “I don’t think I should, right now. We need to plan this carefully.”

  Ghast went on to tell me that we should escape at night, and quickly. He told me all about how we should escape how we tried to in the same way that we did before the battle. The only problem was that this time Ghast would need to laser a door open, which would definitely be loud... and would probably draw some unwanted attention towards us.

  “We should leave tomorrow night to put our plan into action,” Ghast said.

  “I agree,” I said. This place it starting to give me the creeps. The sooner we leave, the better. I’ll write all about our escape once we get out of this place.

  Day Twenty-Six: The Great Escape

  Dear Diary,

  “It’s time to blow this popsicle stand,” I told Ghast.

  “What’s a popsicle stand?” Ghast asked me. For a second, I forgot that he was from the Nether and that he’s never had a popsicle before.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get you a popsicle once we’re out of here. Let’s just get a move on.”

  “Okay, stand back,” Ghast said. I stood against the wall opposite of the door. Ghas
t charged up his laser and then aimed it at the door. The door exploded with the loudest bang that I’ve ever heard. I was sure that the villagers had heard the noise. I could even guess that people a hundred miles away could hear it.

  Since the explosion made such a loud noise there was no point in trying to stay quiet. “Run!” I yelled.

  I sprinted out of the room and jumped over the exploded pile of wood and stone. Ghast floated quickly behind me. There was also another set of footsteps behind me...or ten. The villagers had heard the explosion as I had expected, and now they were running after us.

  I slid across the floor as I tried to run faster than the villagers behind us. As Ghast and I neared the entrance of the temple I saw the door was still closed. We wouldn’t have time to move the door open. “Ghast, blast it!” I yelled. He charged up his laser and blasted the door open...well, blasted it to smithereens.

  “Jump on my head!” Ghast yelled. He floated lower to the ground and I hopped on the top of his head. “Hang on!” He yelled. I grabbed onto his head as he floated over the stairs of the temple and into the sky.

  As I looked down and back at the temple, I saw the villagers running down the stairs and into the jungle. They didn’t even think to look up. We were out of the clear. “I think it’s time to go home, Ghast.”

  “I think so too.” We floated above the