Synan sits in his back yard looking at

the sky. He then sees a comet-like object fall

into the atmosphere and stops in the clouds.

He doesn’t pay too much attention to it, though.

The next morning, Synan wakes up and eats

breakfast.

“Synan, will you go shopping for me

in town? Here’s $20.”

“But mom, I want to go check out that

comet!”

“Tough.”

“But it didn’t come down yet!”

“It probably did--you weren’t out there

long enough.”

“...!”

“You can look at it on the way there.

Now go, Synan, or you’re grounded.”

“Oh, okay.”

Synan leaves the house and walks through

the fields toward Vatican City. The comet is still

in the clouds.

“Weird...” Synan says. Synan only knows

a few people in the neighborhood. A friend from

school, Zoe, has been missing for four days.

Synan enters the city. He goes to the

first shop. As he enters, a shady old man standing

behind a counter greets him.

“Hey Synan! Nice to see you!”

“Oh, hi. Do I know you?”

“Actually, no. I’m a friend of your mother’s.”

“Oh okay.”

“Well, I wanted you to check out my new

invention. I call it the ‘Warp Marble’. Why? You’ll

understand when I’m done.”

The old man leads Synan to the back room.

“Watch...” he says after a short pause. The

old man pulls out a red glass marble. In the center

of the marble is a white thousand-point star shape.

The old man throws the marble toward a

rat in the corner. It hits the rat and bounces off. A

white beam shoots out of the center and hits the rat.

The rat lights up white and shape-shifts to the rest

of the beam. The beam is sucked back into the marble.

The marble hits the ground and bounces back into

the old man’s hand.

“Now watch...” The old man says.

He then throws the marble back to the ground.

It bounces up and the process is reversed. The

marble hits the ground and bounces back into

his hand.

“You’re mother will love these! Here’s

ten of them.”

“Thanks.” Synan takes the ten marbles

and leaves the store. A crowd ahead runs through

the streets screaming, as if they’d seen a ghost.

Synan goes on to investigate. As he leaves the

city, the exit furthest from his home, a short

monkey-like creature approaches him. As Synan

looks down, the monster looks up at him. Its

head is half the monster’s height, and its eyes cover

its whole face. Its head is shaped like two balloons

merging. Frightened of it, Synan kicks it right in

the face as a reaction. The creature runs away

holding its face.

“Take that you ugly thing!”

Synan walks on. He soon sees a monster

about his size--the height of an eleven-year-old,

about 4’ 3”.

“You have been banished to The Land

of No Return, Synan, under orders of Lord

Wizeman!”

“What? Why?”

Before the monster can respond, a large

shadow appears over Synan. He looks up, and

sees that the comet is above him. Soon enough,

Synan is paralyzed and floating toward the island,

unable to speak or move. Is this what happened

to Zoe?

Synan awakes on land of purple soil.

He is in a small area with three walls and two

guard towers, complete with a guard wearing

dark purple uniform. Synan gets to his feet and

looks at the side without a wall--the edge of this

obviously floating island. Synan stares at the

world he left behind. The guard behind him speaks,

“Oh, so you’re awake.”

“Where am I?”

“I’m getting to that. Well, you have been

out a long time. Three days now.”

“Three days?”

“Welcome to The Land of No Return,

Synan.”

‘The Land of No Return?’ Synan thinks.

‘Maybe this is where Zoe vanished to. Obviously,

because, if you don’t return from here, that explains

it’