Elli Turner and the Magical Mailroom

A forgotten past. A determined girl.

When 12-year-old Elli visits a post office, she embarks on a transformative journey into a realm of magic and mystery, guided by a magical bracelet and a red door, as she unravels the truth behind her father's vanishing and finds her place in an fantastical new world.

"I have never been more excited to visit a post office," Elli said as she stepped off the bus.

Gregory, the shopkeeper, was waiting for her at a bench that sat next to the bus stop. "I suppose you're in for quite a treat, being your first time back since it all happened and all." He stood up and embraced her with a warm hug.

"It's good to see you Gregory," Elli accepted the hug as it lifted her spirits, readying her for the journey ahead.

They walked down the road, taking turns here and there, winding the corners until they found themselves amidst the wide cobblestone streets that marked the only part of town that belonged to a much simpler time.

Ellie wore a blue denim jacket, and a backpack full of clothes and some supplies for the journey. She was tall for a 12 year old, with short black hair covered by a baseball cap. She followed Gregory, a short man with glasses and thinning blonde hair combed to the side. He wore a blue windbreaker and an old pair of sneakers that had seen better times. Gregory kept glancing at Elli as they sauntered, wondering just how much to let on about it all.

"Go ahead Gregory, spit it out. It's not like you to keep quiet." Elli was well aware of the silence, and of its cause.

"Hmm, oh right. Um. Well, how much of it do you remember, kid?" Gregory asked apprehensively.

"I get bits and pieces. I don't remember the details. It's just my intuition that I can trust now, you know," Elli answered.

"For what it's worth ya' can trust me. I've always stuck by ya'. I was there for your father when he w- Um, I mean ya' know I just want ya' to know is all, you can trust me." Gregory tucked his hands in his pockets and looked away, worried he had already pushed too far.

"I know Gregory. When I say trust my intuition, I don't just mean my thoughts, but also my feelings; like with you, you brought up my father. I don't remember him. I don't remember any of the events that lead to his disappearance, and I don't remember your involvement at all. That may be hard for you to understand." Elli noticed a sadness come over Gregory's face as she continued, "I will say this, I feel a great sense of trust with you, like a safe place. Even though I don't remember anything since the curse, I still know I can trust you. I don't know how to explain it. I guess it's like how you don't remember exactly where and who may have taught you how to read or speak works, but you trust in your ability to do it. I don't remember what we've been through Gregory, but I do know there's no one else I would trust to be by my side for what's to come."

Gregory stood up straighter, his face brightening after hearing these words. "It's just up the next block kiddo."

At the end of the block stood an old post office. Once used as the main hub for all incoming and outgoing mail, now it just housed a few P.O. boxes for the locals. Elli and Gregory walked up to the door. Gregory grabbed the door handle and paused.

"You sure you're ready for this kiddo? No one will blame ya' if-"

"Gregory, open the door," Elli cut him off. "Please, this is what I have to do."

Gregory understood and knew this was her final answer. He opened up the door and Elli passed through. The lobby area was dated with tacky furniture that had patterns that didn't belong in such a mundane type of business. The counters and lamps were in need of a good dusting. Elli noticed this by the small particles flying off of the ceiling fan above her, which wobbled roughly, daring the ceiling to hold on a little longer.

"May I help you?" a raspy voice came from behind the counter. An old woman with short, spiky gray hair sat in her chair, reading glasses rested at the edge of her nose, as her small eyes peered over their frames toward the two would-be customers.

"Ah yes, how do you do?" Gregory stepped to the counter.

"I'm fine," the woman answered Gregory, although her eyes were studying Elli.

"Right, well great. Um, so we have a deposit to make in our safety deposit box, ya see, and we don't have the key," Gregory mumbled.

This got the woman's attention. "Oh, I see. Well I haven't seen you here before. What's the name and the number?," she looked expectantly towards Gregory.

"The box is under the name of Turner, and the number-" Gregory started rummaging through his pockets and pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper."The number is 13004- uh, one sec," Gregory squinted harder struggling to read it.

"The number is 1300489." Elli stepped forward, now at the counter.

"Very well, I'll need to see an ID to match the names." The woman walked to a filing cabinet and began to look through the folders, searching for the file. She finally found what she was looking for. She paused and turned towards the two. She pushed up her reading glasses and looked Ellie in the eye. "Turner. As in Elliot Turner?"

"That's right, he's my father," Elli responded. She set her ID on the counter. The woman approached with purpose and picked up the ID. Gregory patted Elli on the back, reassuring her he was still there.

"I don't believe it," the woman said, looking back and forth between Elli and her ID card.

"Listen, I know it's a school ID, but that's all I have. I'm only 12," Elli tried to explain.

The woman set the ID on the counter and slid it back towards Elli. "I don't need to see an ID to see that you're the spitting image of your father. I knew you looked familiar the second you walked through the door, Elli Turner."

"Right, so we're good then? Can you lead us to the deposit box?" Elli asked.

The woman smiled brightly and the room felt more alive than it had in years, "Right this way," she chortled. Elli looked to Gregory who seemed both proud and relieved to see Elli take the lead.

The three of them walked through the back rooms, past the lockers and deposit boxes, and into the sorting room. Most of its vast interior space now sat empty, with torn paper and envelopes scattered throughout the stone floor. Elli began to wonder where they were being taken. Gregory noticed this and gave her that reassuring pat on the back and nod of the head.

"Just up ahead, Ms. Turner," the woman smiled brightly as she glanced back at Elli.

They came to two, navy, blue, double doors. The woman started looking for the right key to open them. Above the door a sign hung that read: Distant Destinations. The doors opened and the three of them stepped through. In this room stood ceilings that seemed to never end, and deposit boxes lined the walls like bookshelves in an ancient library. The woman made a beeline to the left side and started mumbling the numbers of the boxes to herself as she walked the wall.

In the center of the room stood an interesting site, like nothing Elli had ever seen. A lone red door with a white frame stood in its center. There were no walls, or rooms, attached to this door. It simply stood alone. Elli looked to the woman and to Gregory who both seemed completely unbothered by this. Elli supposed this was normal, and just another thing she would have to stop being surprised by. Elli walked to the door and looked behind it, confirming it led to nowhere.

"Aha!" The woman’s sudden acclaim startled Elli. "Over here, Ms. Turner!"

Elli walked over to the woman at the far end of the room, where a deposit box was waiting for her at a nearby table. "Here you are, young lady," the woman smiled brightly, expectantly.

"Um, do you mind opening it? I haven't got a key," Elli said.

"Oh, right! Okay." The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a small cylinder shaped piece of bronze metal. "This one's free Ms. Turner, but if you lose this one, replacements cost $50. Okay?" The woman waited for Elli's acknowledgement.

"$50. Got it," Elli said, making it up as she went along. The woman smiled again, set the bronze cylinder piece on the table, and cleared her throat.

"Carverio!" The woman spun her finger in a swishing motion and the cylinder piece began to carve itself down to a smaller shape. Elli gasped with excitement, this was the coolest thing she had ever seen. Bronze shavings floated from the piece and seemed to evaporate in thin air, within seconds a small bronze key now sat where the cylinder had been. Elli went to pick up the key.

"Careful Elli, it's still a little warm," the woman warned, and then blew some air on it to cool it down. "That should do it." Elli picked it up and sure enough it was still warm from the carving process. The woman stepped back from the table. "Just lock the box when you're done. Don't worry about putting it away. I'll just be waiting by the door when you're ready," she said as she walked away.

Now, next to the box stood just Elli and Gregory.

"Alright, what do we say we open up the box kiddo?" Gregory asked.

Elli smiled, inserted the key, and turned it, waiting for the box to pop open, wondering what surprises lay ahead. The box unlocked and opened itself just a smidge, allowing Elli to reveal its contents at her own pace.

"Well go on, it won't hurt you," Gregory chuckled.

Elli opened the box and inside sat a golden bracelet with a blue sapphire attached to it. "Jewelry?" Elli seemed surprised. "That's not what I was expecting, not gonna lie."

Gregory chuckled, "well what did you expect? Some fancy machine or somethin’? A Cell Phone?"

Elli retorted. "Ha Ha. Very funny, so what's next?"

"Well, that bracelet is your wayseeker. You have to put it on to get to where we're going," Gregory explained, still getting used to Elli not understanding this process.

"And where's that?" Elli asked. Gregory motioned to the center of the room. The older woman waited next to the red door.

"Right, the door. Got it." Elli wondered if it would be easier to just stop asking questions. She put the bracelet on her hand, closed the now empty deposit box, and locked it.

Gregory had already started walking to the red door. Elli, fidgeting with her bracelet, followed behind. Once at the door, the woman looked noisily at the bracelet. "Now that's a beautiful wayseeker, Ms. Turner," she remarked.

Elli covered the bracelet with her other hand. "I hate jewelry," Elli said firmly. "Do you have a wayseeker Gregory?"

"Of course kiddo." Gregory pointed to his belt buckle, it was silver with green gemstones.

"Well that's not fair. Why do I get the bracelet? And don't say 'because I'm a girl.'"

The old woman let out a nervous laugh.

"Um, a different time maybe. We should head off, Elli," Gregory shifted his focus to the red door.

The woman approached the door and removed a necklace she had hidden beneath her turtleneck. It bore a red key. "Remember, office hours are 8-5 Monday through Friday and 9-4 on Saturday, should you plan to return on a Sunday, no one will be able to let you back in. If you lose your wayseeker, I'm afraid you won't be traveling between realms anymore, so keep that in mind please. Look out for the Mystic Force, they are stopping travelers more often this time of year, so just be ready." The woman inserted the key and gave it a turn, before glancing back to Elli. "Good luck my dear, you have so much wonder ahead of you. Your father would be so proud."

Elli dismissed that last part with a nod.

The door opened and ahead was a brightly lit workshop with floating tools, packages and moving boxes as if ghosts were in charge of them.

"Floating hammers. Let me guess, Thor's workshop?" Elli joked nervously, her jaw dropping at the sight.

"Very funny, but Santa's workshop would be a closer guess. Let's go kiddo. Thank you, miss," Gregory said.

Elli took a final look around the room, "so long semi-normal world." Her and Gregory stepped through the lone red door to another realm. A realm where anything was possible.

The red door closed behind them. Elli watched in awe for a moment as she observed the rhythmic chaos of floating packages and what-not. She snatched one as it passed her. She read the label.

Jacobi Enokee 329 MUSHROOM MARSH - FARTH SIDE FUNGILTOWN

"Best that we don't touch things, Elli." Gregory gently pulled the package from Elli, and released it, where it resumed its flight path.

Suddenly, the sound of clonking footsteps could be heard. A woman rounded a corner and appeared before them. She looked nearly identical to the woman from the post office, except this time she was wearing much more colorful clothes.

"Hello travelers, do you have your wayseekers?"

THE END....FOR NOW.