text: “You have the ability to achieve great things, Cody. This is why I’ve chosen you to help save the Fading Vale.” He listened to the ham radio and sat with his mouth open. The voice started the day before, calling out his name from the small speaker. He didn’t respond but after hearing the panic-stricken voice say his own name he was forced to reconsider. Cody had considered just turning it off and pulling out his dusty console but the radio kept calling to him, especially when the voice sounded so desperate. He waited several minutes, hunched over at the table in the garage, for another crackling message but there was only static. The older man didn’t sound like anyone he knew and he spoke as if he were in a fantasy novel, talking about a “corruption that plagued the land.” The boy placed his finger on the off switch when he considered the first words that were spoken on the channel. The older man’s tone was filled with desperation and sadness, “I know you can hear me. Our time is drawing nigh. You must take heed. Our world is fading and soon yours will too. The magic of the Vale is diminishing. I have traveled across all planes of existence-” Static had interrupted and flooded the channel. At first, he was weirded out by the message, backing away slowly and going back to his room. It was a little bit creepy and somewhat odd. But he found it much more curious when he returned the next day with a notepad. His father wouldn’t notice it missing. He was too busy to even notice him when he was there, sitting on his chair in the living room and watching a game. Cody had sat at the workbench all day waiting for another transmission. He was slumped over with his hand on his cheek when the static popped and he perked up. “-must find them all. Grand Wizard -- The Helm of Shadows has given me the ability to see into the great beyond and instill objects in your realm with magic.” This time the voice was choked with lumps. “Woe to our kingdom, woe to the valiant and to our peoples if you should fail. The sacred objects have been transmuted from my world to yours, to open a portal into our world. Only a person pure of heart can use them and I’m afraid there are no more in mine. Seek them out and bring them together.” The man then spoke his own name and the boy stood back, mouth agape. A line of ink on the paper showed where he had stopped writing and scrawled across the page. The last word was “the Fading Vale.” What did it mean? It couldn’t possibly be a real place. It reminded him of a fictional land only existing in fairy tales. He wanted to chuckle but the pronunciation of his name was too eerie. Before he could turn off the radio the elderly man spoke behind a wall of static, “-objects may seem trivial but they are very important. I have imbued them with the five facets of existence: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual. These can be found near-” More static. “You’ll know- when- them.” He adjusted the knobs and pressed the speaker on the mic. He remembered the lingo his dad taught him, “Come in, this is Cody. Come in. Do you hear me?” When he received nothing back, he held his head in defeat and stared at the words. “Five facets of existence.” He said aloud. What did he mean? It was rather silly to belief in such fairy tales, especially when he was taught to never talk to strangers. There had to be some way to figure out if any of it was true. What was the harm in trying to find out? His father called from the kitchen, making him jerk. He’d ask Cody what he was doing and had the same reason, “playing with the radio,” which was the truth. It wasn’t like he would care. Rules, even if they were for his own protection, were meant to be broken. He made it into a game. Find the secret artifacts and save the Fading Vale. Real life was better than video games anyways. He looked around the garage, a room filled with tools and gadgets he didn’t fully understand. It was like a sorcerer’s lab, with racks for wands (screwdrivers) and containers of mystery. Surely if the wizard enchanted some random object it would have some importance to himself. It would have meaning. A box was sitting near the back door marked “Toys.” He pulled it out and opened the lid, furiously digging through the contents. All the toys brought back tearful memories of regret. His 10th birthday present, just last year, a small basketball, was sitting near the top. When he held it, he had nearly forgotten about the hours he spent throwing it at the hoop in the back. He bounced the ball, not as springy as it used to be, and rubbed his finger over the dirt spot on the side. It did feel like an artifact from a bygone era, a physical artifact. He set the ball on the workbench, having a new appreciation for the lost item. There was a smile across his face. He ran to his room, eager to uncover the secrets that had been forgotten. The dusty gaming console was sitting under the TV in his room. Nothing good had ever come from this except frustration. He looked around the mess, his clothes and blankets were jumbled together on the bed. There had to be something here of importance. Crouching he pulled things from under his bed, quickly rummaging through the unsung posters and toys. Each of the toys didn’t feel like they had magic properties. He didn’t know how he could tell but they somehow felt empty. He turned to the closet and noticed the collections of chains and necklaces. One of them did stick out, the necklace with the shark tooth. They had been at the beach when he got it, the sand was hot and the wind was warm that day. It had been one of his happiest family moments. He sat on the sand for hours, taking in the nice weather and meditating on the waves that crashed against the shore. The shark tooth dangled when he put on the necklace. He placed his palm over it, feeling a connection in his soul that steered him towards his desk. A composition notebook, with sketches and loose papers crammed inside, was sitting upright between several other books. He took it out and all the papers fell out. He cursed but then saw the notes that he had written in the open pages. They were from his math class. He flipped the page and saw notes from science class, and then drawings he made in art. It was all here, all of the things that he was supposed to know, all the knowledge passed down from his teachers. In the margins he had written his own interpretations and daydreams of the lessons from school. If there was anything in his room that was importance this would definitely be one of them, an “artifact.” There was a note on one page that not written by himself. It was written by his best friend, Stevie. In class they had shared a lot of things like pens, papers, and notes during a quiz but the thing that had brought them together in the first place was when he let him have a piece of gum. He pulled the gum pack from the jacket laying on the bed and held it up. This is what had brought them together and a tool he could use the break the ice to make other friends. The package glimmered in the light. He walked to the kitchen after giving up on searching his room for any other “magical” auras. He thought he heard his dad’s voice from the living room but he wasn’t there. He walked to the counter where he had left his pocket watch. It had elaborate engravings and when he popped it open, he saw his father’s initials. Instantly he lowered the watch and his eyes glossed over, to know that anyone, let alone his father, would give away something so personal. All the shame, guilt, and intimidation for doing bad things went away. He clutched it to his chest, feeling his father’s love, and that perhaps he wasn’t just the bad things and that he was a good son after all. If he saw him crying though, he would throw a fit. He put the watch in his pocket and went to the garage. As he laid the objects out in a row, he saw the meanings of them all at once and almost did cry if not for the absurdity of it. The wizard of the Fading Vale would be pleased, if he wasn’t consumed by the corruption already. But as he stared at the objects, he wasn’t sure how they were supposed to work together. The ball, the pack of gum, the journal, the pocket watch, the necklace, were they supposed to be combined? The radio was static. Maybe he had failed. Maybe the magical universe was gone forever. But then he heard rumbling near the garage door. A burst of light seeped in as the grumbling came louder, followed by the mechanical sound of the creaking door, being opened from the other side. When he moved his hand from his face, he saw his father standing there with a look of surprise. The door was fully open now and the sun was shining in. “Oh, hey kiddo. What are you up to?” Said his father. Cody smiled from ear to ear and said nothing. His father picked up the small basketball. He stared at his son with a look of playfulness, something Cody hadn’t seen in a while, and handed the ball to him. “You want to toss it around?” “Sure dad,” said Cody, turning off the radio. As they left the garage through the back a gust shuffled the leaves around the garage opening. A booted foot stepped out of midair, followed by a wooden staff that clattered on the driveway.