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  “Hey, see that crowd of people entering the park?” The voice was back with more to say.

  This time, however, the voice sounded very like the girl he had just met.

  But Exton didn’t care to think much of it. “Yeah, why?” Exton replied to the voice.

  “Duck down and get in the middle and try to pass as one of their family members,” the voice said to Exton.

  “But I don’t have a ticket,” Exton replied.

  “I know. Just stay down and try to squeeze through with them,” the voice said.

  “Ooh! Okay, got it.”

  Exton ducked down and walked into the group of people entering together. When Exton reached the cast member scanning the tickets, he was stopped for his own ticket.

  “Oh, I’m with that family that just walked through. Didn’t my mom just scan my ticket?”

  “Oh, yes, are you … Braxton?” the cast member asked.

  “Yup, that’s me, Braxton!” Exton said nervously.

  “Okay, then, I guess you’re in! Have a magical day!” the cast member said.

  “Thanks,” Exton replied.

  Exton made his way through the turnstile and into the park. Suddenly, he saw the Mickey Mouse made out of flowers and couldn’t help but smile.

  Exton entered the Magic Kingdom under the train station, in a tunnel that showed various Disney shows, rides, and more. He walked down the street and into the middle of Main Street, USA. As he looked at the castle, he tried to remember what happened during his birth that could have given him his powers. Then, he remembered once again that he was born inside the Sleeping Beauty Castle just as a shooting star shot over it.

  Exton ran down Main Street and up to the Walt Disney statue. As he stepped onto the bricks placed on the ground, one was loose, wobbly, and even a bit higher than the others.

  Not very many people were in the statue area at the time, so Exton felt comfortable enough to go and pick it up. As he touched the brick, his eyes opened very wide. He witnessed every recollection he had stored in his mind of his mother. It was being played in some kind of weird slideshow inside his mind. He could see the sparkling gleam in her eyes and hear her infectious laugh.

  When the strange slideshow finally finished, Exton had more memories of his mother than he could ever have imagined. Exton fell back, but luckily caught himself on the iron bars around the statue. Breathing heavily and sweating profusely, it was obvious he didn’t want to touch that brick again, but he had to see what was underneath it. He bent back down and reached towards the brick, poking it very quickly to see what would happen. But nothing did happen. He then carefully picked up the brick.

  Underneath was some sort of treasure chest, with the words: “Laughter is timeless, Imagination has no age, and Dreams are forever.” All around the top was a dark-green thorn pattern.

  Exton read the words on the box aloud, as the box suddenly flew open. The box began to rattle and shake, as he struggled to close it. When he did so, the box let out a bolt of energy that struck him in the heart. Exton finally closed the box with all his might.

  People began to walk towards the section he was in, so he quickly unzipped his backpack and slid the box inside. He thought it could possibly come in handy. He then quickly got up and walked off, as if nothing had happened.

  As Exton walked through the Sleeping Beauty Castle, he was hit with massive emotions of consternation, and uneasiness mixed with anxiety. Then all of a sudden, Exton’s eyes opened very wide, and his pupils dilated greatly. He had just gotten hit with even more memories of his mother and his father in the stretching room pre-show of the Haunted Mansion. Suddenly, he became befuddled, because he hadn’t even been born yet. Exton’s pupils shrunk to normal size after the flashes of quick memories were over — a clairvoyant moment. He knew he had to go into that ride to see what had happened there, and if it had anything to do with his powers.

  As Exton walked into Fantasyland, his heart started to ache, but he didn’t think much of it. The buildings were bright and colorful as always in Fantasyland and full of love. But he had to go to the darkest part of Disneyland, so he began to walk.

  Exton took a left towards Frontierland and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a runaway mine train ride that took you through twists and turns and in and out of caves. The ride had two peaks and looked like a mountain in the Old West. When he walked towards the big ride, a runaway mine train came shooting out of a cave and hurdled down around the old mountain bend. Exton jumped as it happened.

  A few minutes later, as he entered the New Orleans Square section, he heard a big clap of thunder. Shaking slightly, he looked up, as did everyone else near him. There was a dark cloud surrounding the park, with small flashes of heat lightning scattered within it. As the cloud began to drop water down onto the pavement around the park, visitors fled into the closest buildings. Exton was very close to the Haunted Mansion, so he made a run for it.

  As he entered the gates to the Haunted Mansion, the rain fell even harder, as a bolt of lightning struck the top of the mansion. Terror stricken, Exton jumped and slipped, hitting his head on the concrete. For what seemed like an eternity, he just lay there, drenched in the rain. Finally, a few cast members walked over to help him to safety. Trying his best to focus, his eyes began to flutter, until he finally just passed out.

  Chapter 6

  A few hours passed before Exton woke from his deep slumber. He tried to open his eyes but closed them a few times to adjust to the light. Exton sat up and looked around the room.

  He was lying on a gray exam table with paper rolled over it, like being at the doctor’s office for a check-up or a flu shot. As he began to sit up, a young-looking lady walked through the door to the room.

  “Hi, my name is Scarlet Jones. I’m the Nurse Practitioner here at Magic Kingdom.”

  Exton fully opened his eyes and began to rub his head. The first thing Exton noticed was that she had beautiful dark-brown wavy hair.

  Scarlet was holding a clipboard with a few notes jotted down on it. She was wearing a white lab coat that had a pocket on the front embroidered with a black Mickey Mouse head. Under the coat was a fancy blue skirt that was sewn onto a top of the same color. On her feet, she wore a pair of black dress shoes. Still trying to recover, Exton didn’t reply to the woman.

  “It’s a miracle you didn’t go into a coma,” Scarlet said, clicking her pen as she wrote something down on her clipboard.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, where are your parents?”

  Exton tried to think of a lie, but when he got one, he wasn’t able to say anything.

  “Okay, I guess I will just check on you later and let you recover. Bye for now!” she said, as she walked out the door and closed it.

  Exton had a very bad feeling about that doctor. He didn’t know why, but he just felt negative energy. He rubbed his eyes to wake himself up even more. He sprang off the bed, trying not to make a sound. Unfortunately, he slipped and kicked the metal trashcan, which made a loud ringing noise. Exton stopped in his tracks and waited a moment to see if anyone had heard the noise. No one had walked in the door, so Exton continued with what he was doing. He immediately grabbed his backpack and put it on. The bag began to glow green through the zippers, and it started to shake. Before Exton could take the magical box out of his backpack, it pulled him into the left wall. The magic rested for a few seconds, then slammed Exton into the right wall, with a huge thud.

  Exton heard footsteps coming towards the room. He looked around for a way out, but there was no exit. As the doorknob began to twist, the bag flung Exton up into the air and onto the ceiling.

  Scarlet Jones walked into the room once again to find that Exton was gone. He looked down at her from the ceiling, hoping she would not notice him. Deftly, Scarlet pulled out her phone and began to dial a number. She raised it up to her ear and began to speak, as she walked away and closed the door. Exton immediately plummeted down onto the cold tiled floor.

&
nbsp; When he got up, he walked towards the door. As he opened it, he inconspicuously poked his head out to make sure that no one was there. When he walked down the hall, he heard the woman speaking on the phone in room number 13.

  Exton pressed his ear against the door to hear what was going on.

  “I don’t know where he went. Send out security to find him. We can’t let him get away or expose his powers to anyone. Whatever the cost, get him back, or we will have to pay it.”

  When she was done, she hung up, not allowing the other person to talk, whoever or whatever it was.

  When Exton heard her high-heeled shoes clicking on the tiles, he quickly ran into the room next to her office. Once there, he barely cracked the door open so he could see if it was safe to leave. As Scarlet made her way outside the building at the end of the hall, Exton darted towards her office. He quickly closed the door and locked it, wanting to find some clues as to what was going on. As he began to look around through piles of books and papers, he came across a cabinet labeled, “The Lucky One.”

  Exton opened the cabinet, wondering what he would find, and what he found was astonishing. It was his mother’s death record, but there was something odd about it. It was only filled out halfway, as if the person signing it just stopped or even disappeared. Another peculiar thing that he found was the same exact Polaroid picture of his mother in front of the castle.

  “What the …” Exton said, pulling out more and more papers and stacking them on top of each other.

  The most disturbing part of all was finding his own birth records, with the necklace his mother gave him taped to the front. Exton looked down at his chest to see that it was gone.

  She must have taken it while I was unconscious, Exton thought to himself.

  Exton pulled off the necklace and slipped it over his head. When he walked over to Scarlet’s desk, there was a manila folder sitting on it. Exton took off his backpack, unzipped it, and then snatched up the folder and slid it in underneath the box. When he put the backpack back on and stood up, Scarlet was standing there looking at him.

  “What are you doing in here?” Scarlet demanded.

  “Oh, um … about that …” Exton said, as he darted around Scarlet and out of the room. .

  “Hey, get back here!” she yelled.

  When Exton was nearly out, Scarlet shrieked, “Get him!”

  Two large security guards came bombarding into the room. Exton pushed his hands out in front of him, sending the two grown men flying.

  “He already knows! He knows too much!” Scarlet yelled.

  Exton exited the building and re-entered Main Street. He began to run towards the exit of the park, but decided to take a sudden right into the Disneyland fire department building.

  Exton walked to the wall on the side of the building that had a door that read: “CAST MEMBERS ONLY.” He began to force the door open, until he realized it was unlocked. Exton walked into the backstage area and up a ramp that led to Walt Disney’s private apartment.

  When Exton walked into the apartment, which was Walt Disney’s home away from home, he sensed cigarette smoke, but it was very faint. It had been resting in the room for over four decades now.

  Exton looked around the room. The Victorian details were exquisite, with a wooden Regina music box set against the wall. Exton walked towards the window. Sitting on a desk was a very famous lamp, which represented the presence of Walt Disney watching over the park to this day. Exton pulled the curtain back and looked out the window. Scarlet was nowhere to be seen.

  He felt very at home in this building, and he was not sure why. He even felt a sense of déjà vu, a hint of melancholy, as if he had been here in this very room several times, but maybe not in this lifetime. Exton needed to rest. He sat down on a white-flowered printed chair. When he took off his backpack, the Regina music box began to play. Exton felt petrified. He frantically stood up and grabbed his bag; he wanted to leave as soon as he could.

  As the darkness of the night fell, the candle sitting on the desk glowed brighter and brighter. The music box was so soothing and calm, he began to feel sleepy. He sat back down in the white rose pattern chair. He slipped his backpack off and let it slide to the floor. The lamp acted as a soothing night light for him. Exton fell into a deep slumber, napping as if he was back in that moment in 1955.

  Exton awoke to total silence. The music box had stopped playing, and the silence was deafening. Exton sat up and rubbed his eyes, and walked towards the window. He carefully pulled the curtain back, and looked out the window. Main Street was entirely empty, not a soul to be seen. Exton fished out his phone and checked the time.

  “11:58 p.m.,” the clock read.

  “Wait! What!?” Exton exclaimed, as he grabbed his backpack and sprinted towards the door.

  He slung the door open and fled down the ramp leading towards Main Street. Every step he took on the ramp made a loud thump. Exton ran to the gates under the train station. They were closed and locked. Suddenly, he was trapped in the happiest place on earth.

  He began to panic, and started breathing heavily and running his fingers through his hair. He walked into the middle of the street and slowly turned around. He stared at the clock on the train station: “11:59.”

  The sweep hand on the clock only had five seconds until it reached 12 midnight.

  “Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick …”

  The sweep hand clicked as it struck twelve. Then the clock let out a loud tock, as Exton’s heart ached even worse than last time. The anguish stopped very soon.

  Suddenly, a thought came to Exton. Wait, it’s my birthday! I’m thirteen! Exton smiled to himself.

  “Well, I guess I’m locked in here now,” Exton said aloud, as he pulled out his phone to call his dad.

  As Exton’s first finger was placed onto the screen, it began to wig out, and then shock him. He immediately dropped the phone, watching it shatter into several pieces on the pavement.

  “Oh, that’s just perfect! Now I don’t have any contact with my dad or anyone!”

  Maybe now that I’m thirteen, my powers are gone, or maybe I’m even more powerful now, Exton thought to himself.

  Exton stuck out his hands. As he did so, a bush of thorns began to grow on a plot of grass, with flowers attached to the train station stairway.

  “Same old thing, nothing different!” Exton said, as he turned towards the castle.

  All of a sudden, he heard a strange sound behind him. He slowly shifted his head around bewildered. The thorns on the plot of grass had become a beautiful rose bush, and bright green vines grew down the side of the concrete wall, holding the plot of grass. The vines had white and red roses on them. Exton was very proud of himself, until the vines kept growing and began growing faster and faster.

  He began to run down Main Street towards the castle. He spun around and stuck out his hands to try to stop it. But it didn’t work. An invisible force of energy shot from his hands, sending him flying multiple feet in mid-air.

  When he stood up, the girl that he had met earlier that day was standing in front of him, with her hands outstretched towards the wild vines. A blue, sparkling energy was being forced from the girl’s hands and onto the vines. The vines began to stop growing, then finally shriveled up and died. The girl dusted off her hands and extended her right hand out to help Exton up.

  “Hi! I’m Alana!”

  Exton declined her help, as he scampered back, and then got up.

  “What? Are you scared of me now, or something?” Alana asked.

  Exton had no reply.

  “Hello! Exton?” Alana said, as she waved into his dead face.

  “How do you know my name?” Exton asked under his breath, kind of fearful of her response.

  “I told you I see everything, and I also know everything.”

  Exton waited a few seconds in shock, then said, “You’re the voice in my head!”

  “Yup.”

  “I thought I was crazy or something!” Exton replied very ha
ppily.

  “Well …” Alana said, as she giggled.

  “Come on, I wanna show you something.” Alana began to run towards a “Cast Members Only” area on Main Street.

  “Umm … Do you have a key or what?” Exton asked.

  “No, but watch this!” She grabbed Exton’s hand and shut her eyes, as she whispered some sort of spell.

  “FROM THE PRESENT

  TO THE PAST,

  WE LEAVE YOU AT LAST,

  OFF WE GO,

  TO WHAT ONLY WE KNOW!”

  When Exton blinked, he was standing inside the legendary Lilly Belle caboose!

  “No way!” Exton said.

  “Yes, way!” Alana replied in a flash.

  Exton and Rose were standing inside the legendary Lilly Belle, a train caboose named after Walt Disney’s mother, and which was only used for VIPs.

  “Ever wonder why the cart was only used for VIPs?” Alana inquired.

  “Isn’t it because the cart was very old and they didn’t want it damaged or something?”

  “No! I found out that Disney had the first time machine,” Alana said.

  “What do you mean?” Exton asked.

  “I mean once Walt Disney lost his mother, he used every bit of magic to try to bring her back, but he couldn’t. So, he brought himself back to the time when she was alive.”

  “Wow,” Exton said.

  “Yeah, I know. Sit down, watch this,” Alana said, as the creaky old train wheels began to move, sending them down the train tracks.

  “Okay, hold on to something! Here we go.”

  Exton looked around. He couldn’t find anything on the antique caboose to hold on to, so he just decided to sit next to Alana and hold her hand.

  “Is it okay if I just hold your hand instead?” Exton asked Alana nervously.

  “Um … sure …” Alana said smiling, as her cheeks reddened. He didn’t mean anything by it, but he was completely fine with holding such a beautiful girl’s hand. The cart began to rock and shake, as it sped down the tracks, faster and faster. As they passed in front of the Disneyland train station, the cart was accelerating to massive speeds.