If you were to ask me if I’ve ever heard of Davenport, my answer would be, yes, I do in fact know of Davenport University.  If you were to ask me six years into the past, I’d respond with eyes as wide as saucers and the most mischievous grin an eight year old could wear.

Davenport was the sacred, oh so magical, enchanted forest in my backyard where  all the most mystical and whimsy supernatural creatures resided. Although I’ve never seen any of these so called, ‘mystical’ and ‘whimsy’ creatures before in my life, I just knew Davenport was magical, that there was nothing like it on this rotating planet.

I was obviously the chosen one for the blessing of having such a sacred forest in my backyard, after all, just how many people exactly have a magical kingdom of forest people right behind their home?

Not many.

We had just moved at the end of August into our new home in Minnesota, so I didn’t have many friends to boast about my marvelous backyard except one person.

Her name was Halima but everyone called her Abyan. She was fascinated when I first told her about the sacred forest, her eyes shimmered in excitement and she was practically hopping in her seat. She chattered for days on end about the forest, she even advised me to make a journal and record all my discoveries.

My discoveries weren’t anything special now that I think back to it. But seeing a butterfly flutter it’s wings right out of such sacred provinces, I gasped and immediately sketched out the image. It was your usual, tiny little, butterfly with wings the color of ivory, but to me, it was a message from the kingdom that laid within the sacred forest. They were calling me, telling me through each little flap of it’s wings.

The kingdom was in dire situation, and I don’t think I’ve ever ran so quickly to the telephone before. I already had her phone number memorized like the back of my hand although it was only fall.

She gasped even louder than I did,

“You really are the chosen one!”

After countless hours discussing our great arrival into the forest and just how we’d do it, we were almost prepared to enter.

It was scheduled for Saturday, some random day in October. I hadn’t even considered the idea of dressing well but when Abyan mentioned that we would be meeting royalty today, I tsked inwardly at myself for being so oblivious.
She wore the  finest clothing she owned and I wore mine.
When she arrived, we shared a glance with one another, small smiles painting it’s way onto our features before a stern nod in certification.

We both took  one step beyond the safety of my home, the smell of evergreen and cold air filling our  nostrils as bright smiles casted on our faces.

I’ve never been anywhere farther than the patio, so I was a bit reluctant at first but Abyan didn’t seem hesitant in the slightest, she waltzed right across the whole patio and hopped over the last step, her golden brown locks falling back into rest on her shoulders as she  landed on the damp grass below.

Glancing behind her shoulder, she motioned me over with a wave,

“C’mon! What’cha waitin’ for?” And quite frankly I don’t know what I was waiting for or why I was suddenly so uneasy about all of this. My feet were glued to the deck and my throat ran dry.  Perhaps it was because Abyan was so nonchalant about all of this, like nothing could potentially hurt us out there.

Or maybe I was just utterly terrified of my own imagination.

Practically shaking in my shoes, I cautiously inched closer and closer to the eager golden haired girl, my previous grin replaced with one of uneasiness.

“C’mon!”

Wrapping her fingers around my wrist, she pulled me forward and onto the wet grass beside her.
“Which way is it?” She asks whilst taking in our surroundings. Since it was fall, the trees were all stripped of their usual vibrant leaves no longer complementing the once bright blue sky that was now a saddening, dull, grey.

I pointed into the direction the butterfly descended from, and without a second passing, she yanks me forward, the fabric of our skirts bouncing along with us each step we took.

We were only, what, fifteen feet away from the deck?

A loud, earth shaking, bark or roar rather sounded from the house right beside ours and I’ve never been so scared in my life, I’m actually pretty proud of myself for not bursting into tears at that exact moment.
We jumped back by instinct, landing on our bottoms with a thud.

“What was that?” Abyan asks, voice wavering in anxiousness.

“I-I dunno..”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You live here!” She counters, her voice raising and her eyes resembling horror. 

Another uproarious, ear-splitting bark erupts from the neighbor’s home, a black, beast-like figure pounding against the windows.

“I-Is that a beast?” I’d tell her no, to try and reassure her because most playdates don’t usually involve big black beasts pounding at your neighbor’s window. But I’m a chicken, so I just sat there, not bothering to give her a proper response besides a squeamish whimper.

The only thing blocking us from Davenport was in the shape of a furry, velvet black, beast and suddenly Davenport didn’t seem so charming anymore, not when a sasquatch is blocking your way.  Technically, it wasn’t actually blocking our way. If anything, the window was blocking its way of us. But we were only eight and were still afraid of the dark so who could expect any less?

“M-maybe we have to defeat the beast i-if we want to get to Davenport..” She mumbles quietly, nudging me slightly with her elbow. “You want to defeat that?” I questioned in disbelief, and to my dismay, she nods bravely.

“We want to get to Davenport right? How can we if that thing is blocking our way?” She states wisely, rising to her feet as I stayed below, gazing up at her from the ground in awe.

She really is crazy.

She sashays her way across the backyard, crossing over the neighbors, and Davenport is right there, just a little bit more and she could meet the Queen we believed ruled the land, and answer all the little, majestic, forest creatures pleas. It was all right there.

And I sat on the wet grass behind, watching her fulfill my dream.

Until the beast behind the glass screeched again and finally the neighbors opened their backyard door, freeing the monster as it beelined towards Abyan.

It took Abyan 0.2 milliseconds to race all the way back over to my backyard and towards the front of my home, the sasquatch on her tail in an instant.

She ran repeatedly around my house in what seemed to be never ending circles and I may or may not have sat still on the ground trying my hardest not to pee in my underpants let alone such fancy attire.
Abyan never came to my house again after that. In fact, she hardly even spoke to me at all for the three months I spent in Minnesota.

I don’t blame her though.

Because when Halloween came around, my mother mentioned us going to a different neighborhood instead of ours to trick-or-treat. She led us down the same path the butterfly came from.

To Davenport.

Turns out Davenport is just any ordinary neighborhood that gives out some pretty boss Halloween candy, and that ‘beast’ was only our neighbors ridiculously large black dog named Jack. I tried to tell Abyan before I moved away, but she was absent at school on my last day.

So we moved back to Michigan and I never got to tell Abyan that,

“Hey, y’know that beast thing that chased you around my house for a good fifteen minutes? Yeah, it was actually my neighbors’ dog!”