The Toe Chronicles

The Toe Chronicles; Volume l

By Timothy Scott and Jacob Grady

“In the quiet town of Willow Creek, a peculiar tale begins with an even stranger occurrence - the mysterious disappearance of Nathan's toe. Nathan, an ordinary young man with an uneventful life, finds himself thrust into an extraordinary adventure when he wakes up one morning to discover that his left pinky toe has vanished without a trace. Bewildered and alarmed, Nathan embarks on a quest to unravel the enigma surrounding his missing digit. Little does he know that this trivial incident will lead him down a path fraught with unexpected twists, eccentric characters, and unearthly secrets. Join Nathan on a journey beyond the realms of ordinary existence as he delves into the curious and whimsical world of 'The Toe Chronicles'” - ChatGPT

Nathan

It was a sort of normal day again, the moon shining in the sky like it does every day. The frogs were chirping melodiously, and the crickets started howling like they always do to show that it was the start of a new day. He did feel something was different about this day though, however he got up out of the haystack (which serves the purpose of a bed) and started climbing down the ladder and then went out the big barn doors. He was thinking about what could possibly have been different when he almost tripped over the rake that must have been left there by one of the other boys on the farm. As he continued walking, he heard rustling in a nearby bush, and with a howl a burping tree yoyo the size of a two year' time tree trunk ran across the path sending Nathan tumbling to the ground with surprise. This was when he noticed it. The one thing that was off about this day. Right there on his left foot, there was something missing, his pinky toe.

His brain raced as he tried to comprehend the terrible sight. He closed his eyes, and opened them again, and there it was, or should I say, there it wasn’t. His toe really was gone! He wiggled his feet, making sure that they still worked, and then pinched himself to make sure that he was awake. Unfortunately for him, he was. As he was getting up, he heard one of his friends call for him.

As he suspected, the one calling his name was one of his closest buddies, Bob. Nathan had known Bob since he was little more than a youngster, and aside from their physical differences, their voices sounded pretty much the same. As expected, it looked like Bob was holding his bamboo fishing pole (probably on his way to catch some micro fish for his supper), and he was headed in Nathan’s direction. When Bob arrived next to him, he could even think of the words to describe what happened as much as a fish could sing in an opera. He started blurting out words in a very rushed tone and all that Bob could make out were the words toe, gone, and he was sure he heard Nathan mention the word crazy at least twice as many times as the hairs on his very head. Bob was thoroughly confused and had to say something, “Will you just calm down and tell me what happened?!” he asked. The words momentarily silenced Nathan as he still couldn’t think of how to say it. He eventually got his mind together and just pointed towards the ground to his feet which were slightly dusty from walking on the hard dirt road. Bob looked down and suddenly his eyes widened, and he too had an expression of shock on his face.

Bob

The day was going great for me. I was almost done with my chores, and the owner of the farm said that he would buy me and my friends yummy treats. I asked all my friends what treats they wanted, and was ready to leave, when I realized that I had forgotten someone. “Where’s Nathan? “I asked the owner. He did not know, and none of my other friends knew either. I called Nathan’s name many times, but he never answered, which led me to become very worried. I grabbed my fishing pole for protection and because I was planning on fishing after this, and then set off towards Nathan’s haystack. From a decent way off, I could see Nathan lying on the ground, staring at something. I ran up to see what was wrong, but I was not prepared for what I saw.

There, right in front of my eyes was Nathan, but there was something different. I got closer and he started going on and on as understandably as a burping frog trying to talk in a south-northern accent. I eventually told him to just stop it and tell me what was going on, and he was still unable to find the words as he pointed to his foot. It all seemed normal until I looked closer at the dusty old foot. There on the edge was a little bump where a toe should have been but wasn’t. I got a very surprised look on my face as I had no clue what to say, I could only stare at where should have been Nathan’s pinky toe.

Nathan

Under normal circumstances, Nathan would laugh at Bob’s face. At first, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and then his mouth opened wide, and the biggest gasp Nathan had ever heard came out of it. Unfortunately for Nathan, he was missing a toe, which meant that he was too busy trying to figure out what to do to laugh. Nathan started bombarding Bob with questions, but Bob was too busy trying to not faint to answer them. After several minutes of asking questions, Nathan finally realized that his companion had no ability to answer his questions. And so, Nathan sat on a stump, dejected, and tried to come up with some way to fix the predicament he was in.

Sitting on a stump and feeling stumped, Nathan suddenly remembered a rumor of a wise old youngling who was going through town a couple moons back. The youngling was now rumored to be in Liverriver a full two day’s walk from the small town of Willow Creek. He jumped up and looked around to tell Bob of the youngling who might hold information on how to get his toe back, when he couldn’t see him. He was about to call Bob’s name when the ground shifted under him. He almost lost his balance when he realized that he had jumped and landed on Bob, and he quickly jumped off. Nathan then hurriedly apologized for his mistake, and asked Bob if he remembered the wise youngling. Bob remembered and after discussing it they decided to leave the morning the next day as soon as the sun had set, and the moon started to rise.

    Nathan went to sleep that night feeling conflicted, worried, and above all, amazed that he never noticed his toe being removed. His mind felt like it would fly to space from all the thoughts racing through his head. Eventually, his thoughts tired him out so much that he went to sleep, and he slept fitfully through the rest of the night. Bob, on the other hand, slept great, without a care in the world.

He was fighting a giant froble right when two hundred little ents charged his way in their thick gray armored shells. He was getting cornered and was about to falter when suddenly, “WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAHAHAHGHAAAAAA.” He sat up quickly still sweating from the terrifying dream. He looked around assessing his surroundings when he realized he was still safe in the barn's loft. The howling of the morning crickets had woken him up along with the newly rising moon. As he got up and was heading out of the barn recollections from the previous day came back to him, and he realized that he had almost been late to meet up with Bob. He arrived at a little opening in the path where they had agreed to meet the night before, and there he saw Bob waiting for him.

Bob

Being patient is not one of my strong suits, and I was starting to think that Nathan had either died or had left without me. I mean, he has left me standing here for three whole minutes! The nerve! I decided that Nathan had probably left without me, and so I started to start the journey to Willow Creek, but then, I heard a scream. It sounded like something was attacking someone! I ran as fast as I could while holding my fishing rod. I knew that if there was an animal attacking people, I would need to have a sturdy weapon, and that is what my trusty rod can serve as in a pinch. I had just reached the rendezvous when I heard bushes near me rustle. Something was emerging! I almost clobbered the beast right there, but something in the back of my brain told me to wait and see what animal it was. Lucky me, or rather, lucky Nathan, I waited, and saw who it was. He looked like he hadn’t slept a wink last night, which was probably justified, but I was too busy trying to find the animal that was attacking him. “What are you doing?” asked a sleep-deprived Nathan. “Looking for the monster that attacked you!” I replied, still at guard with my rod. “Oh, that was just a dream” He said, “I hope.” I slowly lowered my rod. “Are you ready for the journey?” I asked Nathan.

Nathan nodded his consent and they both started the long journey to Liverriver. Ten legions distance into the journey they had already both started to tire a little, and by midafternoon they both decided to take a break and rest. They both thought ahead some and grabbed some cooked broccoli, sourdough bread, and money to buy supplies they might need. They sat down to eat the meal, and they both were silent as they ate because they were both decently tired. After the quick meal, they moved on for a couple more hours until the sun started to rise, then they set up a temporary (and kind of shabby looking) camp to rest for the night. Suddenly when the sun was in the midnight sky, they were both woken up by a sound. They didn’t know what had woken them up, and they both looked around to see what caused the disturbance.

Nathan

Nathan tried to stay still while looking around, trying to not alert whatever was near them that he was living. For a fleeting moment, he hoped that it was his toe coming back to him, but all logic in his brain put that idea to rest. Bob looked terrified, but he had his trusty pole with him, so he would be fine. Nathan, however, had only two hands, a backpack, and two feet with nine toes. He looked around for a weapon to use, but all he could find was a burned piece of wood. He slowly scooted towards the campfire, hoping to stay quiet. An outlying twig had other ideas, and made a loud snap when Nathan put his hand on it. The bushes rustled with increased speed, and out appeared a small, fleshy looking object. Nathan almost called out to it, thinking it was his toe, but then he saw more and more of those toe-looking objects emerge from the bushes. He almost laughed at them, but some of them held sharp looking objects. Nathan looked again. They didn’t hold the spears, the spears levitated in position with the toes. Either way, they looked tough, and there were lots of them.

The weird fleshy things also had tiny little faces which Nathan found quite interesting, they all had two eyes which could look in different directions like a chameleon and they seemed to hop around everywhere, because as far as he could see they had no visible limbs. A quick glance at Bob and a nod showed that they both had the same idea, they needed to get out of there right away. They both easily rushed the front lines of the tiny fleshy things and jumped over them, and then they both ran like horses being chased by a pack of rabid hyenas. They ran for around a quarter of a legion when they couldn’t see or hear any sign of the weird little creatures. As soon as they slowed down, they realized they had left half of their supplies at their previous camping spot, and now only had Bob’s fishing pool and some of the food that Nathan quickly grabbed before the dash, and thankfully the money that they had brough on the trip. They sat down and talked for a little about whether to continue or not. They decided there was no point on going back and it would just be best to go to Liverriver like they had planned.

With a day of traveling ahead of them they ate a quick meal with what food they had left, then they trudged on with empty stomachs and sad hearts. At around noon, they stopped near a river to let Bob try to catch a fish for them. Nathan sat on the side, wondering what those fleshy things were, and if they were related to his missing toe. Nathan was deep in thought when he heard Bob yell out. Nathan jumped up and looked for a weapon. After grabbing an empty water canteen that some litterer had left on the trail, Nathan looked for Bob. He found Bob pulling the biggest fish either of them had ever seen onto land. Nathan dropped his newfound weapon and rushed to help Bob pull the fish up farther onto land. They cooked then ate as much of the fish as they could, and tried to bring the rest with them, but realized that they would get tired out from that. And so, they threw the rest of the fish into the river from which it came and continued.     

When there was little less than an hour till moonset, they rounded a bend and they both sighed relieving as they saw that Liverriver was less than a legion away. It was much larger than their home of Willow Creek, and they were both a little in awe of how big it looked even from a decent distance away. As they drew closer, they noticed there were a lot of people wandering in and out of the town, and they both thought that this might be due to the market that the town was known for. As they entered the town, they remembered the youngling that they were looking for and tried to think of how they might find him in this large place. They decided they could ask a shopkeeper to find the whereabouts of this wise youngling. As they were both discussing this plan, they randomly strode in front of a small shop that was about the size of two wagons (one twentieth the size of a Walmart). They both looked at each other with a nod and decided that this was as good a place as any to ask around.

When they entered the shop, the nastiest smell they had ever smelled hit their noses, making them almost throw up. Nathan looked around for someone to ask questions to, and then turned to Bob to ask for help. Of course, Bob wasn’t there. Nathan looked through the window and saw Bob gasping for breath outside. Nathan decided that Bob would be no help, and so, he turned around to continue his search. He noticed an old man staring at him with searching eyes. Nathan was slightly weirded out, but since he didn’t see anyone else in the shop, he walked over to the man. “You look like you have traveled a long way to get here” the old man observed. “Yes. Yes, I have.” Nathan replied, “I was wondering if you could tell me where the wise youngling lives?” “Can I, yes. Will I, no.” The man answered. “But it’s important! I need him to tell me how to get my toe back!” Nathan lifted his foot, showing the missing toe. The man stared at it for a few seconds, and then said, “That’s a mighty fine predicament you are in, but I still won’t help you.”

As Nathan assessed the man, he noticed how big his muscles were with his arms being the size of a tree trunk, there was no way that he was going to be able to take the man on physically to get the information. So, he decided to go out to Bob to find a different way to get to the youngling. He wandered out of the store to see Bob chatting on and on with a normal-looking townish-like person. He was a little shorter than normal though, but looking into his eyes there was something there that showed that he had great wisdom. He wondered, could it be? Was this the youngling that they had been looking for? As he approached Bob and the other guy, they both quickly looked up at him as he drew closer. Bob was quick to introduce the kid which he himself had just met, Nathan shook hands with the kid, and the kid introduced himself as Charles. Nathan and Bob now wasted no time in explaining their predicament. Charles looked like he understood the situation and nodded as if to himself after they finished telling their story to him. There was a brief silence as Charles thought, and soon after he opened his mouth to tell them what they would need to do.

“You see that mountain?” Charles said, pointing. “That is where you must go. Locals call it Limb Mountain.” “Why do they call it that?” Nathan asked. “They just do, don’t interrupt me.” Charles replied, annoyed. “When you reach that big cave in the middle of the mountain, enter it. You will then have to go through some puzzles. After you complete the puzzles, you will meet the wise youngling. He will show you where to find the Pool of Phalanges, where your toe will return to you.”

As they were still looking at the mountain Charles suddenly walked away and as soon as they stopped looking at the mountain then they saw that he was now nowhere in sight. They both looked at each other for a little while thinking about what to do next. They talked a little then decided to get some supplies while they were still in Liverriver then the next morning when the moon rose, they would set off on the couple day journey to the middle of the mountain. They hurriedly bought some supplies and then found a good place to lay down for the night just a little way from town. They both laid down, but both fell asleep with ease, because of the drowsiness and exhaustion from the previous couple day’s journey. Tomorrow, they started the journey to the middle of the mountain, and they now had good hope. Possibly, in a couple days' time, Nathan might have his toe back.

The climb was grueling, but the thought of getting his toe back motivated Nathan to continue. Bob was a little less motivated, having only the hope of getting his friend’s toe back. At about midday, they found a jut in the mountain to rest and eat. They laid there for about an hour, though it didn’t feel like that because they took a nap. Nathan woke up first, and after spending five minutes waking up Bob, they recommended the climb. They had almost made it to the cave when night came, and both were worn slap-out. Bob wanted to find a place to rest, but Nathan wanted to continue. It took Bob quite a while to convince Nathan that it would be better to sleep and face the cave’s challenges tomorrow, but he finally did. And so, they both went to sleep, one dreaming of getting his toe back, while the other dreamed of fishing.

They both woke up around two hours past the rising moon which was a little later than they intended. However, this didn’t keep them from continuing towards their goal, hope was in sight and Nathan’s toe had never felt closer. Except for when he had it on his foot however, but just the hope that he would soon have it back got him excited. They hiked on for a couple hours and then came across the entrance to the inside of the mountain. It looked like any normal cave with about two flabits length wide and one and a half flabit lengths long. The entrance to the cave looked like an interesting blue shade of limestone while the inside looked a more yellow shade of the same material. They both slowly entered not knowing what was inside the damp dark cave. They were both ten paces into the cave when suddenly something unexpected happened.

Bob

   Everything was going fine until it wasn’t. We had made good time going up the mountain, although we stopped less than I would have liked. When we finally entered the cave, we noticed several interesting things. First, the cave entrance was made of blue rocks, and the inside was yellow. I felt a shiver go up my spine, and my hands tightened around my fishing pole. We both stepped into the cave at the same time and were waiting for our eyes to adjust to the dark when we heard something move. We looked around but saw nothing. Before I could open my mouth to ask Nathan if he could see anything, the floor moved out from under us, and we fell down a long chute! We slid down it through the darkness for what felt like five minutes. I noticed how colorful the slide was, and then realized that I could see colors because we were getting closer to light! The chute ended a few feet above the ground, dumping us. Our landing was not graceful, but nothing broke. When I got up to look around and see where we were, I saw that we were next to a mountain that looked like the one we came from. Nathan was the first to notice why, and he said, “Isn’t that the mountain we just climbed?” I looked again. It was! That was why it looked like the one we had climbed; it was because it was the one we climbed! Needless to say, we were not very happy.

They had to sit and think for a moment, if they went back up again, they might fall into another trap, or even down another chute and find themselves on the other side of the world because that was one thing that they had to consider. They were both contemplating what to do next when a sudden familiar voice spoke up behind them, it sounded very familiar, like it could, could it? They looked behind them to the source of the voice, which sure enough, was Charles. He and Nathan were both in awe and both looked shocked to see that the short kid from Liverriver was right in front of them. They both had a thousand questions to ask, but before they could open their mouths Charles started to explain. He first talked about how he used the mountain as a way to see if he could trust them, and that the puzzles is what he will determine to see if they are really worthy of going to the pool of phalanges. He was going to test to see if they were worthy by asking them a simple riddle. He said it would be easy, but it seemed anything but easy. He carefully explained, “I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?” He explained that if they explained the answer to this riddle and gave the answer then he would take them to the pool of phalanges. They had come all this way, and now all they needed to do was think.

I didn’t want to be the pessimist of the group, but we were doomed. Neither of us are that good at riddles and we were tired and dirty. All of this is to find a toe. My life could not get any weirder than this. “I feel like I have heard this riddle before.” Nathan said. He was right! I had heard this before too! My brain raced as I tried to remember what the answer was. Once again, it was Nathan who got to the realization first. “An echo!” Nathan yelled. Charles nodded his head. Yes! We had done it! Nathan and I jumped up and down for joy, feeling like we could take on anything! “Now, you must face The Finger Thiever.” Charles’ statement cut through our joy like a scythe cutting through wheat. “The what?” I asked. “The Finger Thiever” Charles replied calmly. “What on earth is The Finger Thiever?” Nathan asked. “The Finger Thiever, to put it in simple terms, is a dragon that magically steals animal digits. No one knows why it does this, it just does.” Charles replied. “How are we supposed to get my toe back?” Nathan asked. There was no reply. We looked around, finding that Charles had left us.

They remembered a while before when they were stumped, well now they thought about it and they were, without a doubt, double stumped. Charles had just flat out disappeared into thin air, and they had absolutely no clue how to get to the dragon which they were supposed to face. The moon was now about to set, and they decided to just eat and camp where they were for the night. So, they lit a small fire, warmed up some of the bread that they were carrying in the fire, and then they laid down beside the cozy warmth of the fire. They had not rly any plans for the next day, so they didn’t have too much to worry about. They both quickly fell soundly asleep in the dark sunlight that there now was. In the morning, they both woke up later than they intended to at around two hours past moonrise, and they had a late breakfast of some potatoes and bread. Not having a clue on how to find the Finger Thiever they just decided to do the best they could by going to Liverriver again and asking around. They now began the day’s walk to the town where they hoped to find out more information.

   We arrived at Liverriver at around four hours past noon. The first thing we did was buy more food, because we had run out of food on the walk back to town. We then searched around for more information. Most of the people we met were not kind enough to give us any help. We met a few kids our age who told us some things, but everything they said sounded super fake, and sounded like they were playing a prank on us. We asked for information everywhere we could, except for the smelly shop that we had entered during our first time in the town. We, I mean, I, finally decided to go into the shop and ask for information, because there was nowhere else, we could find it. Nathan stayed outside and waited for me, because he went in first last time, so I guess it was now my turn. The awful smell punched my nose as soon as I opened the door. I resisted the urge to throw up and continued inside. I tried to hold my breath as long as I could, but I soon realized that the terrible smell is smart, and it waits for its victims to breathe before it attacks. I stumbled through the shop, looking for someone to ask questions, but there was no one there. I almost gave up and left when I heard a sound coming from an open door in the back of the shop. I quietly shuffled over to the door and peeked inside.

Inside the door was something that he didn’t even know how to describe. It was a weird old-style laboratory with a lot of tubes and beakers and even some smoke was coming from some weird container looking things. At a closer glance, the smoke looked like what was the cause of the unusual smell that had surrounded the shop. In the corner he noticed the shopkeeper dressed in a weird thin plastic poncho-like thing while he looked like he was messing with some beakers and drawings. Bob looked around the room still taking it all in when he accidentally leaned on the door causing it to move forward a little with a loud screech. There was no running and hiding now, and while he was still in the shock of the door making such a loud sound, he felt the presence of something big in front of him. He slowly looked up, and there he was. The big muscular shopkeeper stared down at him with a stern look. There would be no just getting out this time, and the look that the man gave him also told him that there was no escaping or just walking out now. Bob prepared himself to face the old man and raised his head up to look at the man that towered above him.

Nathan

   Nathan was sitting outside waiting for Bob when he heard a scream come from the shop. Nathan jumped up and ran as fast as he could, almost pushing down the door as he entered the shop. The smell almost knocked him to the ground, but he continued. He didn’t see Bob anywhere, but he did see an open door at the back of the shop. After double checking that Bob wasn’t in the shop, he looked through the opening, and saw three things. First, he saw a bunch of tubes and wires. Second, he saw Bob unconscious tied to a chair. Third, he saw a shadow engulf his body. He looked up just in time to see the shopkeeper raise his fist.

As he slowly woke up, he realized that his movement was restricted by ropes tied tight around him. He looked around to see that Bob was also in the same room tied up as well, and it looked like he had been awake for a while too. They were no longer in the backroom of the shop but were in a damp cave-like cavern lit by some torches. He continued looking around in space when he noticed a glowing light in the corner of his eye. In the left side of the room the shopkeeper was glowing. He slowly got brighter and grew. Nathan was totally shocked by what he was seeing as he saw the shopkeeper morph into something un-human. The glow suddenly subsided until it disappeared and there was a large creature left. It looked like a dragon, and it was well over three times the size of Nathan and Bob combined. They both were in shock to witness the bright transformation. Suddenly it hit him, there right in front of him was the thing that they were supposed to face. Infront of them was the thing they were looking for, the Finger Thiever, a huge dragon that could easily crush them into thousands of tiny little pieces.

A brief history of why:

Started: 4/2/2024