Imaginary Friends (short story): Difference between revisions
←Created page with '{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = Imaginary Friends | title_orig = | translator = | image = ImaginaryFriends_Shannara.jpg | caption = Cover art of ''Imaginary Friends'' | author = Terry Brooks | illustrator = | cover_artist = | country = United States | language = English | genre = Fantasy |...' |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
'''''Imaginary Friends''''' is a 1991 [[fantasy]] [[Short story|short story]] by [[Terry Brooks]], and was an early “prototype/precursor” of what would later become the “[[Word and Void]]” series. It was published as part of ''[[ |
'''''Imaginary Friends''''' is a 1991 [[fantasy]] [[Short story|short story]] by [[Terry Brooks]], and was an early “prototype/precursor” of what would later become the “[[Word and Void]]” series. It was published as part of ''[[Unfettered]],'' which is a collection of fantasy short stories that Brooks contributed to, the proceeds of which would go his friend and editor of the book, Shawn Speakman’s “considerable medical bills.” <ref>{{cite news|title=Terry Brooks' Strange Tales Aren't Limited to the Realm of Shannara|url=https://www.wired.com/2012/08/geeks-guide-terry-brooks/|access-date=25 March 2024|publisher=Wired|date=22 August 2012}}</ref> |
||
==Plot summary== |
==Plot summary== |
||
Revision as of 20:08, 25 March 2024
 Cover art of Imaginary Friends | |
| Author | Terry Brooks |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
Publication date | October 11, 2011 |
| Media type | eBook |
| Pages | 27 pp |
Imaginary Friends is a 1991 fantasy short story by Terry Brooks, and was an early “prototype/precursor” of what would later become the “Word and Void” series. It was published as part of Unfettered, which is a collection of fantasy short stories that Brooks contributed to, the proceeds of which would go his friend and editor of the book, Shawn Speakman’s “considerable medical bills.” [1]
Plot summary
Jack is a normal 13 year old boy living with his parents in a house near a park forest. The story begins with Jack being diagnosed with a blood disorder, like leukemia. A flashback reveals that when he was 6 years old he stumbled and fell while playing in his sand box, hitting his head. He then sees his dog barking at something and goes into the forest to investigate, despite having been told by his parents not to go into the forest. When he approaches the dog, he sees that he is barking at a tiny creature, dressed strangely. The creature says he is a wood elf named Pick. Jack chases the dog off and frees Pick from the brush he had become entangled in. Pick then shrinks Jack down to his size and they go for a ride on Pick’s owl, Daniel. Jack sees the entire forest from above, and Pick points out a troll under the bridge. He also shows Jack a tree where a dragon named Desperado is being imprisoned. They land and Jack hears his mom call him, he turns to look and when he turns back Pick is gone. Later he searches for the tree where Desperado is imprisoned, and the troll, but finds nothing. He tells his mother about it, but she says that it is normal for kids his age to have imaginary friends, and that he should keep them to himself.
Later, after his medical diagnosis, he tells his friend Waddy that he has been given 6 months to live, but Waddy tells him that he’ll probably beat the cancer. That night, unable to sleep, Jack hears someone calling for him outside. He runs outside, but trips over the dog and falls off the porch, bumping his head again. He then runs into the forest and finds Pick locked in a cage hanging from the troll bridge, but the troll is gone. Pick tells Jack that the troll has gone to release Desperado from his prison and that he must stop him. Jack runs to the tree and picks up a trash can lid and branch that magically become a shield and sword. The troll is lying on the ground, burnt. The dragon is huge and is made up of all Jack’s doubt, fears and sickness. He runs from him, but the dragon is everywhere he turns. Finally he resolves to fight the dragon and beats it back into its prison. He then awakes in the hospital, where his parents tell him they found him lying outside unconscious. During his stay, more tests are run and they find that all traces of the cancer are gone. Waddy tells Jack he knew he would beat it, but Jack knows that it was defeating the dragon that destroyed the sickness. [2]
Characters
The characters are: <ref name=Brooks>
- Jack - a 13-year-old boy, recently diagnosed with cancer and given 6 months to live.
- Waddy - Jack’s best friend.
- Pick - a tiny wood elf.
- Desperado - a dragon trapped by magic in a tree in the park forest.
External links
- [ http://www.amazon.com/Imaginary-Friends-Word-Terry-Brooks-ebook/dp/B00629AUZS Speakman Press |Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks] - Amazon webpage for Imaginary Friends eBook.
- Terry Brooks Official Website
- ^ "Terry Brooks' Strange Tales Aren't Limited to the Realm of Shannara". Wired. 22 August 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
- ^ Brooks, Terry (2013). Imaginary Friends. Seattle: Grim Oak Press. pp. 588, paperback 608.
{{cite book}}: Text "Unfettered: Tales by Masters of Fantasy edited by Shawn Speakman" ignored (help)