The Mysterious Wheelchair

Chapter 1: Zuphixy’s Strange Day

One sunny summer morning, Zuphixy, a 16-year-old boy with hair that looked like gold when the sun shone on it, got up earlier than the rest of his family. He climbed into his purple (the same purple kings have on their robes) wheelchair to take his dog out for an early morning walk. As he did up his seatbelt he looked to his left side. He was surprised not to see his dog, Rugger. Instead he saw a path that seemed to go on forever through woods that seemed go be all around him, for as far as he could see.

“This is odd,” Zuphixy said out loud more to himself than to anyone else.

“I was just in my bedroom getting ready to take Rugger for a walk and now here I am in these woods on a path that seems to go on forever. I wonder where it goes,” Zuphixy thought.

He put his hands down to where he expected to find the wheels of his chair. As soon as he touched what he thought were the wheels of his chair, he suddenly heard a girl’s voice madly saying, “STOP! DO NOT TOUCH ME! Get off me, you strange beast! You’re too heavy to stay sitting on me even if you are in shock from falling on top of me when I had just stopped here to rest.”

Zuphixy replied, “What do you mean? I just got into my wheelchair and suddenly I was on top of you in these woods. Now I am lost and can’t walk because I have a disability. Can I just….?”

The girl interrupted him and loudly yelled, “Get off of me, you are hurting me!”

Zuphixy slid himself off the girl and turned to look at her. He found out that he was looking up at her and could only see what should have been her feet. Instead he saw what looked like the front wheels of his wheelchair. As he slowly looked up he noticed that her body was all the same purple as his wheelchair.

The girl had black, long, wavy hair that touched the ground. And where her elbows should have been, he saw what looked like big wheels, one for each elbow.

Zuphixy pinched himself to make sure he was not dreaming, “Ouch!” he said. He then said to the girl, “Hi. My name is Zuphixy. Can you tell me where I am?”

The girl said, “Well, seeing as you look like a nice kid, and even though I am not allowed to talk to strangers, I will tell you that we are in the Woods of Despair in Silla-Tierra or Wheel-Earth.”

With an amazed and scared look on his face, Zuphixy sat there thinking of what to do or say next. Then the girl said, “Well, I better get going and find my way out of these woods.” She started to wheel down the path.

Zuphixy (who in his own world could never walk) got up and ran after her saying, “Seeing as in some unknown way I got into this world and don’t know how to get back to my own world, can I come with you?”

“Ok. You can come. But don’t expect me to help you if something bad happens. It’s everyone for himself in these woods,” said the girl.

“Thank you. Um… I don’t know your name. Um … I won’t expect anything from you, but I like you; so if I sense that you need help, I will help.”

“Well, I don’t know if I should tell you my name, but seeing as you told me your name I will tell you mine. My name is Purpleten. About you helping me… um… I guess you can. But, seeing as you are new here, I am not sure what you can do.”

They continued along the path for some time before Zuphixy finally said, “Purpleten, I do not want to be rude or anything, but you look like a … um … my … um … wheelchair, except you have long hair and you can talk.”

Purpleten responded politely but yet annoyed, “Yah, I am what I was told is called a wheelchair in another world, except that here in this world, we all are talking wheelchairs. But we weren’t always this way.

I was told about 2000 wheels ago (or as I believe in your world you call it years ago) it was different here. I have never known it to be different because I am only 10-wheels-old. But I have been told how it was different back then so I can tell you what I know. However, right now I want to find my way out of these woods. If we are still together, then I will tell you the story my dad told me.”

Zuphixy asked, “Why do you keep saying that you are trying to find your way out of these woods?”

Purpleten responded, “Well, I ran away from home looking for a way to make things the way they were 2000 wheels ago. Instead I got lost in these woods that have paths like a maze going through them. I have been lost here for more days than I can remember.”

Zuphixy said, “I think I may be able to help you in some way….”

Purpleten interrupted him and asked, “How … how can you help if you are as lost as I am!”

Zuphixy answered, “Well, I have what is called a compass, which if it works will tell me which way we are going. Then I can draw a map on a paper of where we have gone.”

Zuphixy took an object out of his pocket and looked at it. In an excited tone of voice he said, “It works!”

Purpleten said, “Good! Let’s use it then — if you have what you call paper.”