Chereads / The adventures of Hopper / Chapter 10 - Green Pastures

Chapter 10 - Green Pastures

"If you're mentioning what I think you're mentioning then there is only one place this valley can lie and I can tell you right now that this place aint pretty. I rather go on Hopper's almost imaginary adventures then to that place."

"Men! Please don't start grumbling and complaining again. Gird yourself with the helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness and the sword of the spirit so that when we charge this valley we will be more than well adequate for the evils that crawl in the deep. We must hasen if we wish to pass through the valley before it gets too dark out."

"I'm sorry dad but where specifically are we going?"

"Son, our first clue leads us straight to the darkest place on earth. The Valley of Shadows!! There lies the spirits and ghosts of the deceased as well as the undead animals. There they roam the valley; enslaved in their own imprisonment."

"You don't believe that do you dad?"

"There's more than just images of the world on your computer. There are real life physical locations too. All I can say is don't look these spirits in the eyes or else you'll become one with the dark. A creature of dust. Legend has it that there are ten of the most feared monsters dwelling in that valley. The first is called the Behemoth. A gigantic creature with a tail so powerful it moves like cedar. Only can be tamed by God himself. The second creature is the giant. Although giants were born before the flood that doesn't mean they died out all together. Noah didn't take any giants on the boat so where did they go? The next creature is called the smoke locust. A descendant of the modern day grasshopper, it is no cute little green bug. With a sting like a bee and the ability to survive in any condition this locust was hard to get out and would always come in swarms. The third creature is called the Unicorn.Brought up nine times in the Bible this is no ordinary creature. God asks people if they can tame the unicorn and people of course cannot. The fourth is the Abaddon locust. Ruled by an angel called Destroyer who is from the bottomless pit, these locusts are nothing to mess with. Bigger than the normal locust, their figure resembles that of a warrior horse. With tails like scorpions and stings like viper their head is that of a man and their hair like that of a woman. They wear on their head crowns of gold and are covered in armored breastplates. The next creature is more than one. Called the 200 million Horsemen they are just as powerful as their name sounds. Don't get them confused with the four horsemen though that are symbols of death, grief, pestilience and other foul things. Their name may be called horsemen or men that ride horses but that is not so for these beasts have heads of lions, tails like serpents and spit smoke, fire, and brimstone out of their mouths. The next set of creatures are anything but normal. The first is a lion with wings like eagles that can then transform into a human. The next is a bear-like creature similar to the dogman and still another is a leopard with four heads and four wings. The final is a creature with iron teeth and ten horns. The last of these creatures is a monster that swims in the lake that surrounds the valley. In this lake lies the Leviathan himself. He roams the deep and all other animals don't compare to its size. Getting to spirits we have a few. The first are the Nephilims or fallen ones. Speculation surrounds if these fallen ones are extraterriestials or descendants of Seth and Cain that fell off the face of the earth. Going in deeper we have the tens of thousands of people that got swallowed by the face of the earth when God opened the ground up and they fell in. More individually we have Jonah. Like what ever happened to him? All I know is that the writer of his story didn't know how to write because that is not how you end a story just saying. Next we have the Lost tribe of Judah. Where'd they go? There are countless more like the deceased as well because God said he will never open the gates of Heaven until He comes, takes everybody up to Heaven where they will be judged, then He'll open the gates for the saved to walk through. So where do their spirits lie before then?"

"Dad, that story was beyond creepy and also that was way more than ten monsters. We might not even see all these creatures you talk about. Half of these creatures aren't even as nasty as you say they are. Writers like today were poetic and spiced up there writing. Like the locusts. I bet they don't sting that bad. The Behemoth was not a dinosaur nor was the Leviathan. They weren't even egg bearing creatures and Unicorns...yea. They were just overlarged ancestors of cows that were...…very large!!"

"What? Why are we stopping," someone from the group yelled forwards.

"Unicorns," Hopper whispered and turned around.

"Men!... I give you...….Green Pastures!"

"That is a lot of grass."

"That is a lot of cows."

"How long does this pasture go?"

"I don't know but we can't find out by just standing here."

"Dad, I know I didn't believe you before but I'm starting to turn into doubting Thomas. I believe now."

"Son, just wait. There's more to believe along the ways. Like for example when rainbows appear they are actually….HALT!!!!

The Clan came to a complete stop and looked around for the person behind the voice but found none.

"Who dares wake me from my slum..berrr?"

The wind tossled the grass and the grass gave a slight movement, then out of the ground rose the locusts. Two frogs put together didn't even come close to the size of these beasts.

" It is I, brother of Aaron and I ask for a right to pass."

"Aaron I know. Your father I know but you I know not. Anyone who disowns Aaron disowns me and henceforth does not have the right to pass anywhere. I head you to turn back now while I am still in the right of mind to let you."

"Dad, look," Hopper whispered to his dad. "Look! Their breastplates. We need one. It is possible the map your brother wrote wasn't for the trouble you got in but was years in the making. For someone who hadn't seen his brother in a while the first thing I would do is try to get them to come back home then along the way give them trinquits that remind them of who they were. We need one."

"I'll give you to the count of three. One...Two….Three!

"RUNN!"