It had been a beautiful fall day in Hollywood Studios, filled with classic attractions and dazzling entertainment. Just what the boys had needed to ease their minds from the dreadful day before.
Charlie and his family quietly stood from a clear vantage point as the sun melted into the horizon, while other guests hurried and scurried to make it down the road and up the hill to the nighttime show, Fanstasmic.
Their day in Hollywood Studios had been fulfilled. The Zastawits family decided it best to beat the after-show crowd, as they slowly made their way out of the park and down to the shuttle boats. Epcot was calling. A relaxing evening of meandering and eating their way around the International Food and Wine Festival laid just ahead, as October 31st, Halloween…quietly approached.
******
The midnight hour was now seconds away, as Hollywood Studios sat silent and still in the wake of the moon.
Only cast members remained, making sure all was ready for next day’s show.
DING! DING! DING!…as a clock in the distance struck twelve, a lonely lamp post to the right of the Chinese Theater flared. Six wisps of darkness poured from the lamp like fine black sand, floating and winding along the pavement, shrubs and decorative trees. Undetected by even the smallest of creatures that inhabited the park during its off hours.
******
Frank looked over his shoulder. Quickly, he entered the Walt Disney Present’s gallery—walking directly towards a life size image of Walt standing next to Mickey’s shadow. The light charm around his neck illuminated as he said, “Magic and innovation”
The image of Walt popped to life. Smiling, he reached across and touched the lit doorway in which Mickey stood with his index finger.
Mickey’s shadow stepped out of sight, clearing the magic doorway, which opened.
White light shot through the opening, flooding the gallery hallway.
Without hesitation, Frank bent down and passed through the hidden dream dot.
The doorway quietly closed. Mickey’s shadow stepped back into position and Walt returned to his original pose.
******
Dark wisps entered the gallery, drawing raised brows from all the photos of Walt on the surrounding walls.
Startled, Mickey’s shadow disappeared from sight, as the dark sands slithered towards the doorway where Frank had passed near minutes ago.
The sandy darkness, fine and adaptable, worked its way through the cracks of the magic doorway, as the flanking image of Walt frowned and began to pace back and forth in worry. He had no way to warn his friend of what followed behind.
******
Soaring through the crystal blue sky like a bird in flight, or Peter Pan if you prefer, Frank banked left, then looped, and swirled through a sprinkling of fluffy clouds—all backlit by the welcoming sun which was always shining brightly in this special place.
Nestled atop each enormous cloud were the most magical and playful of things. It was a place of limitless imagination. Colorful, bright and full of possibility. Animated characters, of all animal, plant, human and inanimate types, effortlessly moved about in cartoon settings. Some were filled with villages, theme park attractions and countrysides, while others were populated with magical waterways, rolling hills, fairy tale forests and what not. But all were connected. Waterfalls cascaded from one cloud to the next. Majestic mountains, and giant, winding stalks, rose high into the limitless sky—disappearing into yet, more clouds above.
Atop one of the clouds rested a tropical island—the surrounding waters falling off in all directions, magically evaporated hundreds of feet below, leaving a Saturn ring rainbow around the island cloud. On its beach a band made of dolphins, sea horses and blow fish played to the beat of the octopus drummer.
Taking in the playful views from above, Frank giggled with joy. It was the ideal hiding place for the Magic Dream Expander, and he knew it. Swooping past the band, he dove towards a sea-side shake and burger joint.
******
The owl and cat sat in a window-side booth, checking out the beach activity, as they eagerly awaited the arrival of their friend.
Alexios had grown a human body, yet still had wings for arms and an owl head. He sat upright to the table, sipping on a strawberry shake.
Midnight too, had taken on a partially human form—with furry arms and paws for hands, a large cat head and fluffy tail, which protruded out the backside of his shorts.
It was a sight to see, though not that unusual for such a place in WONDER as this.
There was a sudden THUNK just outside the restaurant.
A bell jingled as the entry door opened. Frank stepped through. His eccentric appearance made for good conversation of the other customers. With his long grey hair blown straight back from the flight, the old Imagineer lowered his mirrored sunglasses, squinting, as he searched the joint for his friends.
“Over here,” Alexios shouted.
Frank confirmed their location and headed over to the retro booth.
“Ahhh, I really love this place,” said Frank. “It reminds me of my early days as an Imagineer.”
“And the food’s not too bad, either,” said Midnight, rubbing his belly.
Frank looked at the cat. Shaking his head, he said, “It’s good to see you are feeling better, my friend.”
The cat had Frank’s attention, trying to start up conversation about his encounter with the shadow horseman, but the owl knew that now was not the time.”
“Anyway, we know why we’re here,” said Alexios.
“Yes, you chose to meet us here, Frank, so…where is it?” asked Midnight.
Frank looked around, scratching his head, he eyeballed his target across the room. “You boys feel like a little music?”
The owl and cat looked at each other…perplexed.
Frank rose from the table and said, “C’mon, fellas, let’s put a little money in the jukebox and shake things up a bit. What do ya say?”
Again, his friends looked at each other, not knowing how to react.
******
The kitchen staff was hopping, busy as bees. The grill was sizzling, the fryers frying and orders were being called out and filled like clockwork.
“Order twenty two is up!” the fry cook shouted through the window between the kitchen and waitress pickup area.
A young lady with long black hair tied in a ponytail answered the order. “Twenty two right here,” she said—grabbing the food and placing it on a serving tray, she raised it above her left shoulder, spun, and headed towards a table.
******
“Oh swell, here comes the food,” said Midnight, licking his chops.
“You and your appetite,” said the owl. “The way you eat, I’m surprised you can even get out of that cat bed of yours in the morning.”
“In WONDER the laws of physics and calories do not apply,” the cat replied.
“I’m afraid he got you there,” said Frank.
“Hi ya, boys. Hope you brought your appetites,” said the waitress.
“Always,” Midnight replied.
“Uh…miss,” said Frank, before you go through the trouble of dishing out their food, I think we may need it to go? Don’t you agree, fellas?”
“Good point,” the owl replied.
“Fine…bag it up,” Midnight reluctantly added—grabbing a fry off his plate and stuffing it in his mouth before the waitress could take it away.
******
Food in hand, the threesome made their way to the jukebox.
Frank dropped in three quarters. One for each of them. He combed the restaurant. No one was looking.
Filing through songs, Wellington came to a selection on his own.
“Ahhh, yes,” the wise Patron said, pushing the buttons M-D-E.
“Uh, Frank, I don’t think that’s how this works,” said Alexios. “You see, each song requires a letter followed by a number, such as—”
Frank held a finger to the owl, shushing him. “Wait for it.”
The jukebox began to play, hypnotizing everyone in the restaurant with its flashing lights in every color imaginable.
Faster and faster, the colors spiraled out of the jukebox—forming a hidden portal.
The owl and cat looked at each other, realizing what was about to happen.
“After you gentleman,” said Frank, gesturing for his friends to step through the portal.
Alexios and Midnight walked through, vanishing instantly.
Frank took one last look over his shoulder, for security measures, then followed his friends in.
It was too late to turn back. A woman cloaked in black smoke had hitched a ride through the hidden portal at Frank’s expense.
Traveling at blinding speed, they battled back and forth—each pushing the other against the spiraling walls of the portal tunnel, carrying them to the hidden location of the Magic Dream Expander.
The walls sparked and flashed as the high-speed battle between good and evil continued.
“Who are you?” said Frank, his friends too far ahead to hear.
“Your worst nightmare, Frank,” the cloaked woman replied—her piercing green eyes the only recognizable feature.
Reaching back with her right hand, she thrust forward her mighty staff—sending Frank through the tunnel wall and into a free fall towards the shake and burger joint below. Acting out in calm desperation, the wise Patron touched the light charm around his neck. There was a flash of light. Frank vanished, avoiding his perilous collision with the restaurant’s rooftop.
Quickly, the mysterious woman gained on the owl and cat, who now sensed her presence.
SHOOOOP-BOOOM!
Midnight hit the floor with a mighty thud.
Alexios quickly maneuvered though the air, avoiding the same fate.
The room was stark white and brightly lit. Floating at its center was the Magic Dream Expander—all lights were focused on the machine, which sparkled and shined.
Alexios, fully himself again, circled around it as the cat rose to his feet.
Midnight quickly morphed into a white hawk, blending in with his surroundings, while circling the Magic Dream Expander as well.
A sudden burst of black smoke shot into the room, striking the floor. The smokey mass of evil exploded into six separate cloud-like formations, with the largest rising high up from the impact zone.
The white owl and hawk continued to circle the Magic Dream Expander, which remained suspended in the center of the room—now covered in gray ash.
A giant black dragon-like creature with large arms and wings grew out from within the center cloud formation, only its upper half was visible. It piercing green eyes quickly surveyed the room, spotting the owl and hawk. Snapping its massive jaws, the mighty beast snapped out commands to the other five cloud formations which had now morphed into silvery serpent figures. “Take care of them.”
The black eyed serpents twisted and hissed as their slithery tongues lashed out at the owl and hawk.
Alexios burst into sonic speed. Now only visible as a blur of silvery streaks, he wove in and out of the serpents, who were suspended in mid-air upon dark clouds of smoke.
The white hawk, seeing the owl had the full attention of the serpents, swooped in on the dragon—circling the mighty beast with effortless skill.
The black beast swayed from side to side, its head jerking left, right, up and down, as it tried to locate the streaking hawk.
On the next pass the mighty creature caught glimpse of the white bird, and in one full swoop of its enormous head, made contact with Midnight—sending the white hawk crashing into the perimeter wall of the room.
Knocked unconscious, the bird fell helplessly to the ground, changing back into a black cat.
The dragon creature sought out its next victim, a silvery streak circling the room. Its five serpent allies were having no luck in slowing down the cunning owl.
Unable to see Alexios, the beast pulled back a deep breath. Exhaling, it unleashed an eruption of chartreuse green flames which instantly filled the domed room. A harmless act to its serpent sidekicks.
Alexios anticipated the attack perfectly and shot towards the Magic Dream Expander at blinding speed. “If I can gain enough speed while tightly circling the machine, then maybe I can transport it to another realm of WONDER,” he mumbled to himself.
Faster and faster, the owl circled the machine, encasing it in a silvery-white orb of radiant light and glitter.
The Magic Dream Expander began to fade.
Alexios’ plan was working.
Sensing it was about to loose its prized possession, the mighty black beast drew the energy of the serpents into its cloud. Twenty, thirty, fifty feet tall, the black dragon now filled much of the massive room, as the cloud which suspended its half-body swirled like a tornado.
The powerful winds began to wear on the might owl—slowing his flight and bringing the Magic Dream Expander back to its present location.
The enormous green eyes of the beast grew bright yellow as it cupped its massive clawed hands around the owl’s orbital flight pattern.
Alexios continued to weaken from the winds—the magic machine was back in full capacity.
Glancing down, the dragon creature unleashed a powerful stream of flames into the path of the owl.
The heat generated by the flames became harder and more intense on every pass, as Alexios tried to push through. It was too much to bare.
Screeching in pain, the owl let up—his magical orb gave way to the heat of the beast and exploded. Alexios was thrown against the wall and fell to the ground. Knocked unconscious, he lay still, next to his friend.
“The expander is mine,” shouted the beast with a mighty roar.
With one giant swoop of its enormous horned wings, the dragon creature pulled the Magic Dream Expander into its massive body—as it faded back into the smokey cloud from which it spawned.
The gray mass of cloud spun round and round, faster and faster—then disappeared into nothingness, leaving the room eerily silent and still. The cat and owl laid motionless upon its dirty, ash-covered floor.
© 2024 Charles E. Zitta. Charles E. Zitta and Disney and the Wonder Within blog novels are in no way part of, endorsed or authorized by, or affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
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