-Don't forget to take your umbrella, it will rain today-.
-Mother, the sun is shining,- said Javier with his eyes fixed on the sky.
-The atmosphere smells like rain, don't trust it,- replied the woman.
Despite his mother's warning, Javier decided not to take the umbrella; that day was very important for him, because he would present his boss the most important project of the agency and if they accepted it, this meant a promotion for him.
"With my new salary, I'll be able to buy a car," Javier thought as he walked to the bus stop.
When he was almost to the bus stop, something strange happened, the weather changed abruptly, a cold breeze came into the air, Javier accelerated his pace, to get there faster, the wind ripped the folder from his hands, papers were flying, the man was desperate, trying to reach them, he could not believe what was happening, Javier had dedicated a lot of time to this project, he could not lose it.
He only had that day to present the project, there would be no more opportunities, why me, he asked himself; it began to rain, at that moment he regretted not bringing an umbrella, the rain became stronger, big drops lashed Javier's body, he ran and ran, until he could take refuge in an old house, it could be seen that the house was abandoned.
Javier sat down on an old chair, lamenting his bad luck, suddenly he heard a loud noise, he looked out of one of the windows, he could hardly see anything inside the house, it was very dark, but he thought he saw several eyes staring at him, -Is anyone there?- he asked, he only heard the echo of his voice; The door opened suddenly, -That was the breeze!-, Javier thought.
The man, still afraid, decided to enter, the house was more scary inside than outside, Javier decided to get out of there, but when he was going to the door, it closed, a cold shiver ran through his body, he was scared to death, he tried to open the door, but the knob did not work, suddenly a hand rested on his shoulder.
-You are the chosen one,- he heard it say.
Slowly he turned around and was in front of an old man, with a shaved head, big red eyes and his nose was like a long beak, he was wearing a black robe that reached his ankles, Javier froze with fear, he wanted to speak but his voice did not come out.
-I won't hurt you,- said the old man.
-Who are you?- asked Javier.
-It doesn't matter who I am, the important thing is that you are the chosen one. The old man answered.
-The chosen one, what for,- said Javier.
-To break the spell that has me captive in this house,- answered the old man.
-I think he was wrong, everything goes wrong for me,-said Javier.
The old man raised his cane, pointed it at Javier and shot him a black ray. Javier only raised his hands to protect himself, but he didn't feel anything strange.
-You're ready,- said the old man.
-Ready for what?- asked Javier.
-You will run the Race of a Thousand Nights, you will win and Madam Sharlotte will remove the spell she has on me,- the old man answered.
-I told you, everything goes wrong for me, I'm a loser,- said the man.
-This time, it will be different, you will win that race for me and in return, I will free you from your bad luck,- said the old man.
Javier agreed to run, but when he wanted to shake hands with the old man to close the deal, he realized that he had no hands, he only had two big bird legs, he ran to a mirror and saw that his body had changed, he was no longer a man, now he was a huge ostrich.
-What did you do to me,"- he asked, frightened.
-Only this way you can win-, answered the old man; -Come on, it's time-.
The old man told Javier to stand in front of the mirror, which began to move in circles, a hole opened in the center, both entered there, they appeared in a place never seen before by him, black clouds and lightning could be seen in the sky, trees without leaves, black birds were flying from one side to another, really gloomy that place; A man with the face of a horse and dressed in a tuxedo, welcomed them.
-Come in, come in...they are waiting for you,- said the man, showing them the way to follow.
They followed him and arrived at an open place, which had a big banner floating in the air, it said: "WELCOME TO THE RACE OF A THOUSAND NIGHTS", the track was ready to carry out this event.
While waiting, Javier could meet some of the participants, all of them were animals and had something in common, all of them were once people, there was something that the old man had not told him and that was that if he lost, he would stay forever in that dark place.
Javier was very worried when he heard this, but he did not have much time to think, because they called the participants to take their place at the starting point, he thought about escaping, but where to, if he did not know where he was, the only thing that was going through his mind at that moment was the need he had to win, or he would stay there to live, but how would he do it, he was so distracted that without wanting to, he stumbled on a tree, from which a nest fell, with his big legs he stepped on it, destroying it.
The owners of the nest, were some birds with pointed beaks, who from afar observed how that ostrich destroyed their home; Javier took his place and gave the cry of:
"On your marks, ready, go!"
Javier was almost in the last place, this was worrying, at that moment, he felt two punctures in his rear, which made him triple the speed, the birds whose nest he destroyed, followed him and decided to take revenge; In a few seconds, he passed the other participants, remaining in the first place, where he stayed and won the race.
The old man was waiting for him at the finish line. There was also Madam Sharlotte, both congratulated Javier. The old man took his cane, shot a lightning bolt into the sky, a portal opened, which absorbed them and took them to the house.
-You won, so I will keep my promise,- said the old man.
The same lightning bounced off the mirror and returned to the old man, who was rejuvenated and his nose regained its natural size, the house was illuminated and lost the gloomy aspect it had.
-Go away, and may luck be with you,- said the man.
Javier opened the door and left the house, the sky was clear, he looked at his watch and it was still 8 o'clock in the morning, something unusual, but the most incredible thing was to see that in his hand was the folder with the project he had to present, he did not understand what was happening, but he took a cab to the company, he presented the project, it was accepted and he was given the promotion he was longing for.
The cover image was made by modifying an image from Gordon Johnson and from [email protected] on pixabay
The translation of the text was done with DeepL Traductor
What an imaginative, and richly told tale, @clemenp. You have a wonderful imagination! The strange events, bizarre details and plight of Javier keep us interested and reading with anticipation until the end, yearning to find out how it will end.
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Hi, thank you, glad you liked it!
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STOPA captivating story. Thank you for sharing this.
I love these types of magical stories because anything can happen ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ So you're never sure what to expect. Terrific imagination, and vivid unique details - great job!
A very exciting story that kept me very attentive as I read. You have a lot of imagination, that magical world enchanted me and the ending was excellent.
Regards @clemenp