A world like a fairy tale

Author's Note

It's a fantasy romance story. So there is no need to get angry and insult the characters. Or me..just kidding.

Enjoy! I hope you do!

If there were a description for their situation, it would be as if they were hurled from the real world into a realm of fairy tales. Here, they read about strange creatures, miraculous trees, and humans with extraordinary abilities.

Such was the place, with their first encounter being a collision with a tree adorned with pinkish leaves and bearing peculiar blue fruits of extraordinary shape. They stood before it, staring for a while, until their father spoke up, introducing their family to it, "This is called the Rosy Tree, and its fruits are also called Rosy. They only grow near the Red Shore, acquiring a hue resembling the beach's color. They're as sour as lemons and refreshing in the summer."

It was their first encounter with a fruit near the shore as they awaited their means of transportation. "Is the transportation here strange as well?" Yamen asked his father who patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Everything here exists, transport carriages like cars but powered by water, carriages pulled by horses, and others drawn by faster creatures."

Further away, there was a man who had boarded with them on the ship and made a jump that startled them, as the man leaped a distance impossible for ordinary humans. In reaction to his leap, sand scattered here and there, reaching some of them. Their father explained once again, "He's human, with extraordinary abilities."

"Do you have an ability, Father?" Zahra asked. "Of course, I do. Have you all forgotten? I used to show it to you when you were little."

"And what happened to it now?" Yamen asked him.

"It has faded away. It happens sometimes as you grow older, especially if you don't use it," their father explained.

Daliah recalled something she thought was from her childhood fantasies. Their father used to fly them all and pluck apples from the apple tree planted in their backyard.

"'Flying,' she whispered softly but audibly. Her father smiled, 'Well done! It was flying indeed. You have a good memory, my daughter. You were six years old.'

This wasn't the most astonishing part for her, but rather that her father, for the first time in her life, was speaking uninterrupted, while her mother remained unusually silent, listening intently. Excitement was evident on her father's face, perhaps happy that his children were seeing where he had lived and grown up.

She too was excited to meet the rest of her father's family, whom she knew only through her grandmother, who had been with them until she passed away.

An immense creature-drawn carriage arrived, with skin resembling a turtle but more accurately likened by Yamen to a 'long-necked dinosaur.'

'Is that what you thought?' Zahra asked, astonished by her brother's comparison.

The carriage was spacious and enclosed, with velvet seats in a deep purple hue. Its windows were of a glass type not visible from the inside, hence they mistook it for a closed carriage. They traveled amidst trees they recognized, green-leaved with brown stems.

Thirty minutes through the forests, they enjoyed the views before entering through a gate inscribed with 'Welcome to Red River City.'

Her father's eyes were fixed on the sign, smiling as if reminiscing old memories. She remembered how he had often spoken about Red River City, named for the red river that flowed through it. He seemed so happy when talking about the city; his current joy resembled that when he told stories.

She glanced at her mother, who was calm, her usual demeanor when in an unfamiliar place. But she would be fine; once she got to know her new neighbors, she would return to her old habits.

"Look!" Yamen exclaimed, breaking the momentary silence, his hands pressed against the glass. "It's like we're in an Arabian world fused with 21st-century technology."

Once again, Yamen struck with his description—a world with its own culture yet evolving with its era. Modern buildings with an Arabic touch, modern bridges connecting some of the buildings. Their father commented, "These buildings are specially designed to adapt to the longest seasons here, winter and summer. They transform hot air to cool and cool air to warm, using physics, of course."

Another thirty minutes passed before they emerged from the building areas into the city center and another area clearly residential, with walls surrounding luxurious villas topped with colorful domes.

The carriage finally stopped at the entrance of a villa with a massive brass door that opened automatically before the creature halted. The creature then passed through the gate, leaving everyone but the father amazed.

A garden with brilliantly colored flowers, unseen in their lives, greeted them. They deduced they were flowers from their shape. There were also water basins for birds, and beyond those, unseen yet felt like a forest. "How big is the land?" their amazed mother asked, as they had not yet seen the villa due to the trees.

"A large area, with a farm," the father replied, gently holding her hand.

"When did you buy it?"

"Five years ago."

"Why haven't we lived here before?"

"I didn't want to take you away from your world."

Finally, the villa appeared on the horizon, after five minutes, a villa with three blue-domed cupolas, white walls, and two stories with large windows. In front of it was a fountain.

They got off, their astonishment never leaving them. "Didn't you say we were bankrupt? Is this what bankruptcy means?" Zahra asked, her eyes examining the place.

"My dear, we were bankrupt there, not here. The farm is doing well."

Then he added to his family, who were examining the villa’s eyes

"Welcome to your new home," he finally said as they gazed at the villa.

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