The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby
The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby
Copyright 2014 Angela Castillo
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 A BEAM OF LIGHT
CHAPTER 2 EXPEDITION FOR EXIT
CHAPTER 3 OUT AND ABOUT
CHAPTER 4 THE SWAMP PEOPLE
CHAPTER 5 MIA
CHAPTER 6 AN EVIL DART
CHAPTER 7 THE STRANGE VILLAGE
CHAPTER 8 VALERIE’S TALE
CHAPTER 9 HORACE
CHAPTER 10 DOWN THE RAVINE
About the Author
Sneak Peek: The Further Adventures of Toby the Trilby
Connect with the Author
1. A BEAM OF LIGHT
One inch farther…
Toby’s fingers stretched for the patch of energy. The saffron beam splashed his skin and heat flowed through his tiny person. True light from the real sun! He wanted to hug himself in delight but his other hand clutched the rock wall, fingers laced through the Swiss-cheese texture.
His arms ached. Toby bid farewell to the speck of magical warmth and swung back to the small ledge. He scampered down the cavern wall, fifty feet to the floor below. Water squirted up between his furry toes as he waded through the stream dividing the room.
A natural cathedral of minerals surrounded him; soft-serve ice cream stalagmites reached for stalactite counterparts. Oblivious to these natural wonders, Toby fixed his eyes on the tiny patch of daylight, the only part of the world above he had ever seen. Here, he caught raindrops and snowflakes. Some visits rewarded him with star sprinkles against a velvet handkerchief of night. He called it his ‘Yawn,’ the cavern’s one penetrable, unexpected opening.
Gramble Shana was a botanist and loved natural things. She was the most likely person to listen when Toby talked about his favorite room in the cavern they called home.
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One day he had asked, “Gramble Shana, is God just a big man who shines different colors across my yawn?”
‘Gramble’ was his own word; a combination of ‘grandparent’ and ‘grumble.’ His six caretakers became fond of the term, so it stuck.
Gramble Shana turned from the tomato plants and put down her pruning shears. Her white hair shone under the artificial lamps.
“Toby, where are all these questions about God coming from? Since you were a tiny Trilby you have studied books and media films about the world above. Haven’t you chosen your faith yet?”
“I’ve studied so many different cultures,” Toby pulled a tomato off a bush. “Everyone has a different idea about God. I only know what I feel.” He patted his chest with a tiny hand, “My deep inside is empty.”
Gramble Shana chuckled and brushed loose soil off her denim shirt and skirt. She rose to her feet and handed him a basket. “Empty, huh? Sure it’s not your stomach growling for some of these tomatoes?”
Though he knew she would never mean to hurt his feelings, Toby wished his grambles would take him more seriously.
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Toby hung his head down and stared at his shoes on the stream’s bank, unwilling to imprison his feet just yet. Each team member had been chosen for the cavern because of his or her intense passion for science and relied on mathematical equations and logic reasoning to explain most of the mysteries of life. Wildly different (and often hotly debated) religious theories were brought forth by each one, but none of these ideas truly felt right for Toby.
Shoes in hand, he paused once more. His oversized ears swiveled to catch any sound.