I wrote this story with the help of my son, Isaac, who was three at the time. I asked him questions about the story, he told me how he wanted it to go, and then I wrote it down. As I recall, almost all the details were of his devising. Yes, that includes the bit about the bones.
I happened to be going through my file of writings and saw this, so I thought that I would share.
Samuel and the Battle of Monster Castle
By Seth and Isaac Ben-Ezra
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived the people of Block City. Now, Block City was a very sad city, because a hideous monster was terrorizing them. It would fly in the middle of the night and stomp on their homes and burn their gardens with fire from its mouth. And, worst of all, it would eat their children. The army tried to fight the monster, but it was no good. Swords would just bounce off its metal skin, and it would grab the soldiers with its thousand tentacles and fly away with them to its castle far away in the middle of Deadman’s Swamp. And so the people were very scared and sad, and they prayed that someone would come rescue them.
One day, after the monster had attacked them, a boy named Samuel spoke up. “I will go fight the monster.� But the people tried to stop him. “Oh no, Samuel, you are much too little.� But Samuel said, “God is taking care of me, so I will fight the monster.� So Samuel got his sword, the sword that his father had given him, and he left the city to find the monster’s house.
But first, he had to cross Deadman’s Swamp. Now, Samuel knew that Deadman’s Swamp was filled with evil skeleton monsters that would eat him if they caught him. But he was very brave and prayed to Jesus before entering the dark swamp.
It was very smelly. Gas bubbles would pop, making the swamp stink. Samuel could hear the skeleton monsters laughing at him from the darkness around him. So he drew his sword, which glowed dimly in the darkness. (After all, aren’t all swords magical swords?) Samuel could barely see the shadows of the skeleton monsters, moving all around him. He was very scared, but he knew that Jesus was taking care of him.
Suddenly, disaster struck. Samuel tripped over a tree root and fell face-first into the stinky mud. In a flash, the skeleton monsters were on him. Bony fingers clutched at him as he tried to get up. He tried to draw his sword but the skeleton monsters held him fast. Cackling, they flew through the air, gripping Samuel tightly.
“Put me down!� Samuel begged. But the skeleton monster only laughed at him. “We will never let you go,� they whispered through bony jaws.
“Where are you taking me?� asked Samuel, now very afraid.
“We are taking you to our master, the ruler of Monster Castle,� hissed one of the skeleton monsters. “When we get you there, our master will eat you.�
Soon, Samuel could see something glowing red in the darkness ahead of them. It was a huge castle, lit by a moat of lava that surrounded it. Its gate was formed from the open jaws of a long-dead monster, gaping wide. Two lighted windows stared at them as they approached. The skeleton monsters flew through the gate, and the jaws slammed shut behind them. Samuel was trapped.
The skeleton monsters dropped Samuel on the floor of a huge room. One of them cackled with glee. “Now, our master will eat you up!� They flew away, rattling and clattering through the dark night sky.
Samuel looked around but could not see anything because the room was so dark. The skeleton monsters had forgotten to take his sword, so he drew it carefully. When the sword began to glow, he gasped. The floor was covered with the bones of the children that the monster had eaten.
Suddenly, Samuel heard the sound of mighty wings flapping in the darkness and heavy breathing. The monster had come to eat him! Samuel turned around and around, trying to see the monster, but he couldn’t. All he could see were all of the bones. And still he could hear the beating of the monster’s huge wings.
Then, he heard the monster say, “Now, children, it is time for dinner!� Something flew out of the darkness at Samuel. As Samuel dodged out of the way, he saw that it was a smaller monster. The evil monster had children, too!
Another little monster flew into sight and dove at Samuel, breathing fire. Samuel rolled to the side, barely avoiding being burned alive. The bones on the floor caught on fire. Now Samuel could see.
Leaping to his feet, he swung his sword at the nearest monster. The sharp blade cut through the monster’s wings, knocking it to the ground. It whimpered and scurried away. But then the second monster rammed into Samuel from behind. He fell on his face, cutting his chin. The monster was grabbing him with its tentacles and trying to eat him. Samuel was very scared, but he knew that Jesus was taking care of him. So he took his sword and, reaching over his shoulder, stabbed to the monster in the mouth. It screamed and let Samuel go. It flopped about on the ground in pain and finally died.
The fire has spread, and so Samuel could see the huge monster on the other side of the room. Its single good eye glistened red in the light of the raging fire. With a bellow, it charged at Samuel. Reaching down, Samuel tried to pull his sword free, but it was stuck in the body of the child monster. With a mighty roar, the monster scooped up Samuel in his tentacles and swallowed him with one giant gulp.
Samuel was very, very scared. But he knew that Jesus was taking care of him.
All of a sudden, the monster didn’t feel very good. The mud that covered Samuel was making it sick to its stomach. Then, with a mighty heave, the monster threw up. Samuel flew out of his mouth, covered in nasty monster vomit.
Slowly, Samuel dragged himself to his feet and wiped the dripping nastiness from his eyes. On the other side of the room, he could see the huge monster stagger to its feet. The fire had burned out in the middle of the room, and the two of them were surrounded in a ring of flame. Samuel called out to the monster, “Come and fight me, you evil monster. You may be strong and fast. You may be covered in metal and breathe fire. But Jesus is with me, and I will kill you.�
The monster roared in defiance and breathed fire at the brave boy. But Samuel threw himself to the side, avoiding the fiery blast. Then he was up on his feet and running toward the monster. Reaching down, he scooped up a blackened bone from the floor of the room. Tentacles reached toward him, but he slipped past them. The monster howled in frustration and bent down its head to bite at Samuel with its mouth. Samuel leaped onto the monster’s nose and, with a scream of fury, stabbed the bone into the monster’s one remaining eye.
The monster screamed, jerking its head back. Samuel fell to the ash-covered floor and scurried away from the thrashing monster. His leg hurt and so he could not get up. Crawling as quickly as he could, he made his way toward his sword, which was still stuck in the child monster. He grasped the hilt and pulled. Slowly he drew the sword free. The monster was in agony on the other side of the room, bellowing and screaming. Blood was running from its eye and falling like black tears onto the floor of the room. The flames were burning even higher now, and Samuel could see everything clearly.
Then Samuel saw a chunk of rock falling from the ceiling. The monster was doing so much damage to the room that it was beginning to collapse. Larger pieces began raining down. Samuel tried to limp towards the door, but his injured leg gave out and he fell. Turning, he saw a huge piece of ceiling fall onto the monster’s head, crushing it. So the monster died.
But Samuel did not see how he could escape, either. The ceiling was collapsing far too quickly, and he knew that he would not be able to crawl to the door before it was too late. So he curled into a ball and prayed to Jesus that He would come take him quickly. A single tear fell from his eye as he thought of all the life that he would miss, but he knew that, even now, Jesus was taking care of him.
Suddenly, he felt something grab his ankle and pull. He was dragged from the room just as the ceiling finally collapsed. He was alive! He croaked, “Thank you, Jesus.� Then he opened his eyes and gasped in alarm.
Before him was another monster, covered in metal, with a thousand tentacles. Samuel tried to raise his sword.
“Oh no,� said the monster. “You don’t have to be afraid of me. That evil monster that you just killed was keeping me a prisoner. You have rescued me! Thank you very much, mighty hero.�
Samuel was confused. “You are not evil?�
“Oh, most definitely not!� the monster said. “I only eat grass. It was that evil monster out there that ate children. And he kept me locked up here because I tried to stop him once. So now I am free!�
Samuel was happy, but he was very tired. “Can you help me?� he asked.
“Of course I can,� the monster said. “What do you need?�
Just then, Samuel heard the clatter of bones coming from the corridor outside the room. It was the skeleton monsters! “Can you take me home?� he asked.
The monster picked him up gently with two of its tentacles. “I will fly you all the way home.� With a leap it was in the air. Soon it was soaring out of Monster Castle. As Samuel looked back, he could see the sun rising over the horizon. As the first light of day touched the castle, it gave a mighty lurch. Then, it began to crumble and collapse, falling into the lava moat that surrounded it. Soon, there was nothing left of the castle but a smoldering ruin.
And Samuel smiled, because through it all, he knew that Jesus had been taking care of him.
And now, children, you can be assured that Samuel returned safely to Block City, and that he and the good monster had many adventures together, but those are stories for another night. So for now, children, rest your eyes, and remember that, no matter what you face, Jesus is taking care of you.
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That is such a boy’s story. But it still made me cry.
Well, Isaac is definitely a boy’s boy, too. He makes me so proud.