One day, in the town of Cofentin, there was a boy named Jacques. He lived with his mother and six-year-old brother, Guillaume. They were peasants of a village near a castle and their family was very poor. Some day, Jacques wanted to become as rich as one of the Kings, but he had to work hard even to have enough bread and water. Every day he would work, mowing the fields and planting the crops with his little brother, ever since his father had died in a nearby burning village.

One day while he was walking in the field with his brother, Guaillame ran ahead and disappeared over the crest of a hill. When Jacques hurried to try to catch up, he fell into a deep, narrow hole, the same one his brother had fallen into. It was pitch black. He called out cautiously, "Guillaume?"

Suddenly a light flickered and he saw he was in a cave. The cave had green liquid oozing from the walls and stalactities and stalagmites. The only light came from a small stone ahead that almost looked like it burned. "Just like my diamond," he thought. But where was Guillaume?

"Guillaume!" he called, "Where are you?"

A deep voice answered, "He is in my clutches and you are too. The only way you can escape is if you give me the completion of my diamond, and then I rule over both our worlds."

Jacques had to think quickly. Jacques's mother had given him the one valuable possession she owned, a diamond on a necklace. It was either the diamond or no hope for escape, but there was no proof that the deep voice would keep the promise. Should he keep the diamond with little hope of escape? It was either the diamond or his mother he'd never see again!

Suddenly he had a cunning idea. He said, "Show yourself, and then I will give you the diamond!"

Then there was a deep rumbling, and two stones moved. Out from one of the stones stepped a huge dog. Out from the other stepped a man easily as big as the dog, with an odd weapon that Jacques was sure had many powers. Next to him, his brother, Guillaume, who looked terrified.

The man said, "Is it true you have the gem I've been loooking for?"

Jacques pulled out the diamond his mother had given him. He said, "This belonged to my father who is dead. I don't know why you want it, but take it if it means I can leave and have my brother back."

The man said, "I will only let you leave if you pick the right door. The wrong door will lead you to a strange place that you'll have a hard time getting back through."

Jacques finally agreed, after much bargaining, and handed over the gem.

The giant man took him to the doors and said, "Choose one of these doors, but choose carefully because one will lead you to a hard and bad place."

After thinking for a few minutes he decided to go through the large door the man had come from, since the dog looked like he had come from a haunted place. Jacques held his brother's hand and carefully stepped through. Immediately he found himself in a light land, hotter than usual, but alright. People were dressed in clothing 2 and 3 layers, not like the usual linens they wore. Their clothes were many-colored, almost like the king's clothes. They also wore shiny accessories that almost looked like jewelry but were worn in holes in their pants or held in their hands. Nearby there were huge castles straight up and down with many, many windows but no drawbridges or moats. These castles looked like towers with pavement. Monsters were zooming around on the wider areas.

Jacques realized then that they had come in the wrong door and it would be hard, but hopefully not impossible to get back. So he decided they'd try. He went up to a man and asked, "Excuse me, what is the name of this place and where can I stay?" Jacques had very little money.

The man, obviously in a hurry, wore a white shirt, black boots, and black pants. His hair was very tidy. Jacques had never seen hair as tidy as this except for when the king had paraded by. It was then he realizedthis was the king of the land and he thought maybe this was an okay place. Perhaps they would ship them to Cofentin from here, this alien place. So he bent down on his knees and said, "Oh, Your Majesty, could you please give us humble peasants a lift on the wagon to Cofentin? It would be oh so kind of you, oh Great One."

The man then got into one of the sleeping monsters and the monster zooomed away.

Jacques sat baffled and engulfed by the smoke that came from the back of the monster. He sat and sat, trying to think of what to do next, and then heard a loud noise. A monster pulled up right next to him and a man got out wearing lots of black shiny gadgets. Another man came out of the monster, pointed at Jacques and said, "Get him. He's crazy." A guard walked over and said, "You are accused of talking oddly to that man over there."

Jacques said, "Excuse me. I thought he acted weirdly to me. Are you some sort of guard?" The guard nodded and picked him and his brother up and seated them in the monster. It was then he realized the monster was some sort of high speed wagon.

"What are you doing with us? We're just looking for a place to stay. What have we done? Are you taking us to the dungeon?" A rumbling noise started and Jacques saw everything start to speed by him. He thought this was fantastic until he remembered about the man and the guard.

Jacques started asking questions and they only gave him short responses, mostly "no".They stopped at a house that looked almost like their own house but it was white. The guard told Jacques and Guillaume to get out of the car. Inside there were more guards at a desk and some standing. The guard who brought them from the car spoke. He said, "This is a strange little boy we've found."

One of the officers, who had oddly dark skin, said, "You can see from his clothes."

They all started questioning Jacques. One pulled out some gadgets, asking him, "Do you know what this is, and this and this?"

Jacques knew one was a wooden club, he told them. Another guard asked him what his name was and he said, "Jacques". Another guard tested him with weird wires and buttons. He'd never seen anything that wasn't alive make sounds. Finally, they realized he was from the past and they started to have a more reasonable conversation. Jacques told the story of how he lost his brother and fell down the hole. After he told the whole story, they asked if he knew how to get back. "No," said Jacques. They said they would help him, teach him about their world, and put him and his brother in an orphanage. Jacques didn't like the sound of this at all and he said they wanted to do it on their own. They told Jacques this was against the law. Jacques started making plans for their escape.

The guards brought them to the white tower to sleep and gave them colorful clothes. That night Jacques and Guillaume snuck out and made their way down a hallway and long set of stairs, but Jacques lost count at 25 steps, having never been to school to learn. They snuck past a sleeping guard at a desk and the door opened by itself, automatically. Finally they were out in fresh air. Jacques heard guards talking nearby and hid quickly behind one of the monsters he now knew wouldn't move without people in them. Then they ran behind a bunch of trees and because they were so exhausted they slept before the alarms started.

Jacques woke to voices that sounded strangely familiar of home. He opened his eyes and heard children, younger than he, dressed in colorful clothing. It was then he guessed they were in a place of the future. He asked one of the children to help them and the child said, "It depends on what you want help with." Jacques asked if they had any food because he and his brother were very hungry. The children brought him food and Jacques gave them pieces of gold. They were so pleased they handed Jacques a whole bunch of shiny gadgets. They walked off and tried to find a way back.

After days and days Jacques found on old man who seemed helpful and kind. The old man said he had once lived in a land like the boys knew. Jacques explained how he hoped to get back to this land. The old man gave him food and hospitality. He told Jacques about the gadgets and how some of them beeped,. He showed him what to do with all of them. Then the man handed him a gun and he buckled it on. With his newfound friend, Jacques showed him the exact place they had appeared. The old man said this was the same place he remembered, along with the giant man and the cave. Once they realized they had come from the same place the old man pulled out one of the beeping gadgets with more buttons. As he pressed the buttons everything seemed to swirl around for ten minutes. After the swirling stopped they found themselves back in Cofentin with the familiar sounds around them and Jacques looked for their house. After they finally arrived home he told his mother all about what happened. He sold his shiny gadgets all for lots of money and they lived almost as high as the king himself.

The End