Writing Challenge Winner: The Amazing Adventure of Amelia Smith by Lisanna Swallow

Lisanna Swallow is an eleven-year old writer who participated and completed the summer 2024 Hero’s Journey Writing Challenge. Her short story, The Amazing Adventure of Amelia Smith” features an incredible tale of dragons and slayers, betrayals, and triumphs.

Read Lisanna’s incredible short story below:

Part One

            Dragons, said to be horrible monsters that burn down villages at a time. Only the brave or people with death wishes face them. That’s when Amelia Smith came in. She fought dragons, saved people, and hung dragon heads on her wall as a trophy. Everyone  admired and loved her. She now lives in a castle-like cottage in the middle of a small village, her hometown. She lives with her one daughter. She sells dragon parts for a living. Everyone still admires her. Honestly, sometimes, I don’t understand it. I am Amelia Smith the third. Her one and only daughter. Welcome to my mind.

          Other people don’t understand it. They don’t see it happen. She doesn’t just slay the dragons, she murders them. One day, when I was younger, she let me meet one of the dragons. The dragon was a baby hydra. Mother had already killed its family. The hydra had many heads already. The hydra was sweet and joyful. She was also weary and shaky. Poor thing. That day, I bonded with the hydra. I named her Ginger. I tried to stop Mother from butchering her. Mother was not pleased. She forced me to watch it happen. 

          Most every dragon Mother brought into the butcher was kind. It filled my heart with terrible guilt and the horrible pang of sadness to let it happen. But there was nothing to do! Every try failed. This continued on and on. There was no stopping it. Another day, another dragon. Another try, another watching the butcher. It was a horrible punishment. Mother did not seem to care for the dragons she was murdering. It made me look at her another way. As if she wasn’t my mother, but a heartless butcher.

          “Today will be different.”, I whisper to myself as I get out of bed. I change my clothes and walk to the rusty kitchen. An egg lay on the table. Not a dragon egg, but a chicken egg. One purposed for eating or cooking. I see that the firepot was already lit. I crack the egg to eat for breakfast. The fire is slowly dying, the egg will take a while to cook. I sit in patience and loneliness. I remember the days Mother would eat with me. Back when we had Father. 

          After finishing my egg, I head out of the cottage doors. A raven, tall and proud, is perched on the barren roof. I click my tongue and stick my arm out. Sure enough, tied to his leg is a letter. It reads:

Amelia Smith III

A letter? For me? I untie the parchment from the raven and reward him with a scrap of meat before he flies home towards the rising sun. 

          I run back inside and sit on the dragon scale carpet in the main room. I maliciously tear open the envelope to reveal a parchment that reads:

 Amelia Smith III,

Somebody told me that you like dragons, That you don’t  want to hunt them. I respect that. I, too, am against dragon hunting. I know of a dragon that needs saving. A dragon that you can save. For I am far too old and fat to become a dragon hero. You, however, are young and spry. The dragon in speaking is a hydra. I believe your mother has butchered his sister. Enclosed in this document is a map. That will guide you to the hydra. The hydra is now in captivity. He is being tortured and will be butchered in a month. The journey will take time. I hope you make it to him before it is too late.

Caspian

Who is Caspian? Nevermind that! In the letter he mentioned a hydra! But also another one, one my mother butchered! I believe he is talking about Ginger. I pull the map from the document and read it. The journey is long, stretched wide and far. It will be a long and perilous journey. I plan my route.  The route is supposedly the quickest route but I have no horse to ride upon so I must go on foot. It also has many valleys, many forests. Spots on the map say in red, bold writing; “DRAGON SIGHTINGS HERE” The path I chose has many of those spots.

 It is only noon. I will not set out on my journey today. For today is a day for packing, planning, and preparing. I run to my room. Ready to pack my items. I grab a lightweight handbag. I also grab my bow and arrow satchel. I will need to hunt. I run to the kitchen and find something to contain  water. I run outside towards the well. I fill the canister with water and stuff it into my bag. I run back into my house and straight into the kitchen. I grab all the scraps of food as I can and put them into my bag. My bag is only a bit more than halfway full. I run into the barn and grab a rope and knife. In the barn, I see a compass, laying on the floor. I think for a minute and decide to grab it. My bag is finally full. I run to the room and stuff it under my bed along with the map, letter, and bow and arrow set.I eat dinner alone. My mother is too busy to bother. I go to bed and try to sleep well. The thought of running away is nagging at my brain. I can’t just leave her alone without a word! Can I? I will write a note. I know it doesn’t really make a difference but it helps me sleep. And that is all that matters now.

I awake. It is early. The sun hasn’t risen yet. I grab my quill and ink and begin to write the note:

Mother,

It is time I go on an adventure of my own. I will be back

                                Your daughter,

                                        Amelia

It has happened. I am off. I will become a hero. A dragon hero.

Part Two

      I sit down on the dusty, pathless floor. I have been traveling all morning. From the looks of the dim sun in the middle of the sky  it is around noon. I pull the dry map from the coarse leather bag on my back. The tree I am sitting by is big. It is so big that it is a landmark on my map. I am still very far from the spot circled in red ink. I move my eyes back to the silhouette of the tree and see in red ink “DRAGON SIGHTINGS HERE” right by it. A rustle in the nearly-dead bushes sends me aback in shock.

I grab my leather handbag and fling it above the lowest branch I tie it on and climb as high as a can. Quickly and quietly at the same time I grasp the highest branch I can and thrust myself up to it. There are more rustles in the bushes. The orange autumn leaves stop me from seeing the cause of the rustling. The forest is beautiful and calming. The chilly autumn breeze gives me a warm sense of home. I get a tight grip on my branch and duck down. A slick, green, snakelike figure with a long tail sits in the clearing. It has two teal goat like horns and two wings far too small to support its body. Its legs have huge claws pointing out and it has two mini horns between the large horns. It sniffs the air and turns its head around. What if it smells me? 

It lays down. It doesn’t see me. What a relief! I have let the thoughts go through too soon. The snapping of a branch fills my body with ice cold fear. My leather bag falls and almost hits the creature’s scaly tail. Its reflexes were swift and quick. Before I knew it it’s perched on the thin branch next to me. A dragon! I lose my footing and plummet forwards. As I fall back from the tree, my heart races with the sudden rush of adrenaline. The regret of climbing so high hits me hard. The dragon pounces forward. Its long claws grip into my coat and keep me from falling. The dragon is smaller than I thought. It’s about the size of a large lion. “Grab my wrist.” It speaks! I do as it says. Excited and scared at the same time. A talking dragon! It flings its wrist over its head and I land on its back. It jumps off of the branch and its wings seem to expand magically. The wingspan is about as long as a pitchfork. We landed and I jumped off of its back. “Thank you.” I say. The dragon bows its head and opens his mouth. “I am Mars. Peacemaker for the animals. Dragon of Shamrock woods. I help all problems and aid all that need it. What brings you here?” 

Its voice was male. He looked at me expectantly. “I am Amelia Smith the third. My mother is a butcher to dragons but I attempt to pass through the forest in peace. For dragons are my friends and a hydra on the other side has been sentenced to death. I will save him.” I grab my bag and see an arrow poking out of its satchel, the tip glistened dark red in fresh blood. I turn to Mars to see him lying on the ground, a sleek cut on his tail staining onto the dying tan grass. “My arrows! How could I be so careless?!” I think aloud. Mars stands up, his tail thrashing to the side, shiny red droplets falling to the grass, walking towards me.  I prepare myself for the fiery wrath of a dragon but instead he stops and sits beside me. 

“Do not blame yourself. The tree is to blame. It was the branch that had snapped. The fact that the bag stayed on shows that you tied a strong knot onto the tree. You are better than you think. For it was the tree that could not handle you. Why else would the branch have thrown you off?” Mars looks at me and blinks sympathetically. Suddenly, he jumps off of the floor and into the sky. He is gone. I am alone. I lie down and look at the map. Wind blows in my face and Mars is back. He has stuff in his jaws. He lands and sets it down. His tail is bleeding heavily. “There are healing herbs and honey not far down north.” Mars speaks. He wants me to grab them. I stand and walk into the forest. 

I spot the herbs quickly and set them all in a pile together. A buzzing bee hive drips honey. Though there is nowhere to catch it. I spot a spear like stone and grab it. I walk up to the hive. I gulp at the sight of so many bees. I whisper to myself. “I can do this.”  I dig the stone knife into the yellow hive. Bees swarm out, stinging me, they mostly get my hands and arms. It doesn’t hurt very bad but it sickens me with guilt at the thought of all of them dying to hurt me. I grab a leaf and use it to catch the warm, fresh honey oozing out of the damaged hive.

I return to the clearing to find Mars awaiting me. My coat is sewn up from the claw marks and the hole where the arrow broke through the satchel is mended. I give Mars his herbs. He silently fixes up a poultice. I look to the sky and realize the sun is setting. I grab my water canister and drink a few thirsty gulps. I get my bow and arrows ready. “I’m going to go hunting.”  I tell Mars.

I catch a deer. Mars’s wound has finally stopped bleeding. It is magically stitched up. Mars starts a fire and I cook the deer. As I eat it Mars talks. “I want to mentor you. Teach you the ways of the dragon. The forest. So when you save the hydra you will be ready. I want to come with you.” I reply  “Thank you Mars. You can come with me. We leave the forest tomorrow.” I rest along the tree tonight. Mars is curled in a ball in the clearing.  

Part Three

I awake. Mars is curled in a ball in the clearing. I sit up. It is morning. I breathe in the fresh lake air. The warm summer sun is warming my entire body. I sit up and pick up a few ripe tomatoes from a vine. Then, a hydra runs into the lake and shouts. “Save me!” Its voice is a dying groan of many voices together. It falls to the floor. “Mars!” I shout his name. He doesn’t awake. I shake him yet his body lays limp. He is dead. An arrow soars past my head. I hear a scream and the entire world comes different and falls into cold darkness.  

          I awake with a jump, my mind pulling itself back into consciousness. “Just a dream.” I whisper to myself. The chilly autumn forest surrounds me, A warm sense of home fills my thoughts. Shamrock woods is much like the forest by my house. A rustle in the autumn thicket startles me. Mars sticks his head out of the bush and then he jumps swiftly onto the clearing. His eyes gleam with an unhidden sense of confidence. “Are you ready to set off?” He asks, spreading his wings magically, almost knocking down one of the ancient trees with the size of his scaly wings. I stand up and stretch. I throw the bag over my shoulders and sit on his back. His wings flap, gusting a wind that rustles every leaf within ten feet of the clearing. He jumps greatly and we are in the sky. We are off.

          After a while of flying, the clouds seem to thicken. Finally, it starts to drizzle. Next, it’s raining. The rain keeps getting heavier and heavier. “I can’t fly in this.” Mars honestly announces. We glide down until we reach ground. “We are still in Shamrock woods.” Mars’s news disappoints me. “When will we be out?” I ask. “After the Sphinx’s maze.” “The what?” “You will see.” I look around and see a landmark that I remember on the map, the landmark that shows the exit. “We will continue on foot.” I decide. Mars nods and we walk forward. 

          We continue on until the path is blocked by a tall thicket of cold, green thorns. The green was dark and eerie. I see a tree. Its leaves are a dying orange like all of the other trees in the forest. The tree is gnarled and there are birds nests in it. The bushes are the only green in the whole woods.  Mars mutters something in another language. The hedge opens like a door in front of me. I shudder. Mars nudges my back and I step forward. I keep walking and Mars enters the bushes too. It somewhat looks like a giant maze. The hedge door slams shut and Mars sits down. “We have entered the Sphinx’s maze.” His voice sounded solemn and the leaves beside me rustle. I attempt to jump backwards but Mars’s horns push me forward. He moves to the side and I stand next to him. A large creature appears out of the bushes. A sphinx! 

          “I am the sphinx of the Thornbush maze. Only one may pass.” The sphinx walked away to let us decide. Mars looks at me and I realize he knew that this would happen. “I have to leave you now. The time has come for us to part. I will see you again.” I open my mouth to say a remark but he launches himself up into the air. “Goodbye, Amelia. I hope we meet again.” I stare in disbelief. I have to make it through the bushes. I tell myself over and over again. Not for myself, but for the hydra, but for Mars, and for my mother. So that she can see that killing these magnificent creatures is wrong. 

          The cold voice of the sphinx breaks me from my thoughts. “Amelia, is it?” I turn to face her and give a quiet nod.  She grimaces and stares into my eyes. “Well, Amelia, You will have to complete a quick riddle before entering the maze. You will get three guesses.” “Let me know when you are ready to hear the riddle.” I prepare myself. “I’m ready.” I gulp. “I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?” The sphinxes voice rings. “Three guesses.” 

          “A shadow.” I answer. I try to make my voice confident to hide my fear. “No.” The word rings in my head. It doesn’t stop. It’s wailing cries. Then it’s clear to me! “A ghost!” This time, the confidence in my voice isn’t fake. “Wrong again” The sphinxes voice rasps. I look up to the sky in vain, half hoping that Mars would come back down. He doesn’t come to me but the answer does. The rain is the mouth, the sun is the ears. “A cloud.” This time I answer truthfully, my voice full of fear. Cold air filled my lungs as the sphinx opens her cursed mouth to speak. “Incorrect.” Her voice feels like ice stabbing into my heart. The bushes break open to reveal an exit and a gust of wind blows me back. 

          I awake. I recognize the tree I am rested by as the one that was near the maze. But now there is no maze. I have failed. The pathway forward will sacrifice another day of traveling. I will need to eat. I grab my hunting supplies and look around. There are no deer tracks. There is no sign of any good food. I hear a rustle. A rabbit! I aim my bow and shoot. The arrow hit the rabbit’s flank. The rabbit tries to run but I shoot again, this time hitting its neck. It struggles for a while until it finally dies. I grab my arrows out of the rabbit and put them back in my satchel. I start a fire to cook and eat the rabbit. I pack up my supplies and move onward. The hydra needs me. But am I even strong enough to save him if I can’t even answer a simple riddle?

Part Four

          After what seems like forever, I finally stand up. Even if I can’t save the dragon, I will need to journey back home. I look around. It has stopped raining. The sky is starting to clear. There is no sign of Mars. This is it. I’m finally alone. I never had any friends. I have only really made friends with dragons. Mother used to be my friend. But after Father died, she didn’t really care about anything. She was all I had left and I abandoned her to save the life of a dragon. Ginger was a close friend of mine but Mother had her butchered. Mars was probably the closest thing I had to a friend. But I had to leave him to save that dragon. This stupid dragon is the reason for the loss of my friends. And I want to choose not to save him. But if I did, that would be a disgrace to my friends. The reason I lost them was because of this dragon. So if I give up, I will lose them for nothing. I have to move on. No matter how much I don’t want to. I must move on. 

          I walk forward. I keep walking. This forest seems to go on forever. Until I see a sign in the distance. I run towards it, dodging the trees and boulders. I finally reach it. The sign! It reads “You are now exiting Shamrock woods.” I step onto a dying, windy prairie. A bright light flashes in front of me. A man appears. His face is pale and he wears black robes. The robes seem familiar. They seem like the robes that the witches and wizards wear in all of the stories that the elders in my village tell me. The robes are dark and have yellow constellations on them. “Hello, traveler!” His hand is as pale as his face. “You have traveled far and made it through Shamrock woods! Continue straightforwardly for a prize! For Shamrock is a huge forest and only the brave make it through!” His smile looked honest but something was off with this man. “Who are you?” I ask. “Why, I’m the wizard of the woods! I work together with the other spirits of Shamrock forest to make the place better. My name is Mercury!” His voice and smile seemed honest yet something was still completely wrong about this man. 

          “Forest spirits?” I wondered aloud. “Ah yes! Forest spirits! There are three of us! There’s me, Jupiter, and Mars! I suppose you have never heard of them.” Mars! “I know Mars! He helped me get through the forest!” Mercury’s face lit up in shock and excitement. “Really? Well that’s curious! It’s Jupiter who helps the travelers.” I have never heard of Jupiter before. I think for a second and then it hits me. “There are eight planets! Why are there only three of you?” Mercury smiled again and said “You are thinking well! There are actually nine spirits! Three to guide the forest, three to guide the prairie, and three to guide the beach!” I nodded at the information. “That’s it! Mars said that he met a girl named Amelia! He said that if I saw you then to give you this!” He holds out a small wooden box. I grab it but before I can open it there is a loud beeping sound. “Gotta go now!” Mercury disappears and the beeping stops. 

I walk forward and stop at a small boulder. I sit down beside it. On the box there is a small parchment. It reads “For Amelia.” I open the box and inside is another parchment. I pull it out and unfold it. 

Amelia,

I  saw you in your village and decided you were the one. You were the one to save all dragons. The hydra is real. The hydra represents millions of dragons on the beach, being trapped and tortured. You need to save them. Do you remember the note? The one from a man named Caspian. It was true. It was all true. All except, There is no Caspian. It was me.

-Mars

Inside the box there is a whistle. Tied to it is a note. “Use only in an emergency.” I move onward just through this prairie is the beach. I will save the dragons. I will save them all. 

After running for a while, I run out of breath. I try to slow down but I slip on a rock hidden in the tall grass. Right when I think I’m going to hit the ground, I don’t! I look to see a dragon where I should have landed. I get off of it. “Thank you.” The dragon nods. “I am Pluto, Dragon of the prairie.” It was a female. She is pink and has a yellow belly. She is a Long dragon, like the ones in Chinese folktales. “Why have you entered this sacred land?” her voice was calm. “On the other side of this there is a beach. In that beach there are people who torture dragons. I attempt to save the dragons.” Pluto looked at me with hope and respect. “Use this in an emergency.” she handed me a whistle and disappeared in a poof of dust.

I finally exit the prairie and reach a beach. There are no dragons in sight. I move along the beach until I reach water. There are footsteps, dragon footsteps. I follow the footsteps until I see a group of people far in front of me. I hear the screech of a dragon and see many dragons near the people. “Oh no!” I accidentally say aloud. A few people whipped around and  started charging for me. I grab both whistles and blow them. The whistles disappear and Mars and Pluto appear by my side. This is a battle we will win. 

Part Five

The three approaching men look startled at the fact that Mars and Pluto are beside me but they keep charging. “We’ll all take one!” The middle one decides. I charge for him. I pull out my bow and arrow, dip it in the poison compartment that I had installed as a child and aim steadily, still running towards him. I shoot, hitting him in the head. He falls to the ground, dead. The two other men lay on the ground near Pluto and Mars. I jump on Mars’s back and he flies. Pluto flies near us and we land where the dragon tortures hideout is. 

A splash comes  from the water and a huge, blue, and yellow dragon splashes onto the shore, crushing a few of the men. It is the size of a whale. “Hi! I’m Neptune!” The roar echoes all around the beach. I run to a cage of small dragons. A sharp rock lay beside me and I pick it up, its jagged edges pricking my fingers. I use it to destroy the lock on the cage and set the small dragons free. I run to the next cage. I destroy the lock and let the dragons free. A thump brings me to the ground. I turn and I realize that one of the men from the dragon torturers has pinned me down, his foot pushing hard on my stomach. I wrap my legs around his foot and push hard, shoving him off of me. I stand up.

I hear the crying yelp of a dragon and see that one of the torturers is using the jagged rock to stab it. I slide over and kick the torturer. I grab the rock and gently pick up the baby dragon. It looks up at me and bites at me. I hold on tight to the baby dragon. I set it far from the battle and run back. A sharp pain stabs into my arm as an arrow sinks in. The bristles on the back are purple to show that the arrow is poisoned. Gladly, it wasn’t killing poison like my poison of which I made myself. Pain surged through my entire arm and I yanked the arrow out, letting my arm bleed. Pull out one of my arrows and dip it in the poison. I get a sight of who shot me and shoot him right in the head. The instant poison does the rest for me, leaving him dead on the ground. 

I finally make it back to the battlefield and unlock more cages. All of the men guarding the fortress are either gone or dead. All of the dragons outside of the fortress were also freed. The only people outside are me, Mars, Pluto, and Neptune. Neptune turns himself into a human. And runs to us. “You can turn into a human?!?!” “All dragons can.” We enter the fortress. There are only ten men, each guarding one cage. Each cage has a dragon that is around the size of Mars in them. “Help us!” Almost all the dragon cages call in sorrow. Over and over again. Their wailing begging us. Pluto is the first to jump forward. She pins one down. She opens her mouth and burns the man to a crisp. She growls and stalks until all of the men are cowering in a corner. “Are we going to let this stupid dragon boss us?” One man shouts. The others cheer and grab their spears. “STAY THERE!”  I run to a cage breaking it open. The others do the same. I open the door and let out the dragons, glad that Pluto is distracting the men.

I run up the wooden stairs, Mars following me. I reach the door and slam it open. In the roofless room there is a great hydra. It had more than thirty heads, each crying their despair. He is blue and massive. A thousand strong ropes tie him down. Massive cuts are everywhere along his giant scaly body. Nobody is in the room. I run to the hydra. “You are going to be alright.” I assure him. I use the jagged rock to cut each rope, one by one. The hydra stands up, revealing tons of cuts and scars on his leg. One of his heads came down to face her. 

“Thank you. Thank you for saving all of those dragons. But I am too scarred to leave this place. They would kill me if I walked a step. Thank you for it all. You are a hero, Amelia. Go home. Tell your Mother you are safe. Tell her all that has happened. Tell her all that you can. Tell her to stop. After what you did, she will. Goodbye, Amelia. I wish I got to know you better.” I step back. “What do you mean by that?” He lays down. He closes his eyes. He is gone. “No! NO! You can’t be dead!” he doesn’t hear me. My eyes swell up in tears as I think about earlier. He was not a stupid hydra! He wasn’t the loss of my friends! He was the start of my friends. Mars comes towards me and sets his tail on my shoulder. 

Three Months Later

I awake. Mother is cooking breakfast. I get dressed and walk to the table. Mars is waiting at the table. Pluto and Neptune are in human form, talking about something. I sit next to Mars. “Good morning, Amelia.” “Good morning,” I reply. It has been two months since we moved to Shamrock woods. Mars, Pluto, and Neptune live with us now. Mother is no longer a dragon butcher and lives a much happier life hunting with her family. And best of all, I have 9 new friends. For Mercury, Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (The other forest spirits) Are my friends now! Ever since the battle, Mars, Pluto, And Neptune are my best friends. “Breakfast is served!” Mother said, placing five plates on the dining table. We all ate breakfast quickly and ran outside. We flew to the snowy beach. All of the dragon torturers’ stuff was cleaned up and our wounds were healed. I finally have friends! I finally have a family! I finally have a home! Every day, I give my respect to the hydra. I give thanks because he is the reason for my happy ending.

  The End