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JOURNAL ENTRY: EXPLORATIONS AND FAME

Trip 7: Julian’s Town

We had finally explored most of the Overworld and the Nether, and battled everything from zombies to ghasts, we were ready to see our old friend. I had promised him, and I try to never break my promises. The journey wasn’t going to be easy. I stared at Oliver’s map and realized that Julian’s town was on the other side of the Overworld, and the journey would take quite awhile.

“I think it’s time we visit Julian,” I told Oliver.

“Good idea,” Oliver said, studying the map.

I looked at the map again. “It looks like we’ll have to travel through the swamp.”

“Yes, and you don’t like witches.”

Despite being a warrior, witches scare me almost as much as fire, and I try to avoid them at any cost. So swamps are some of my least favorite places to go. But I had to see Julian, and there was no easy way to reach his village without traveling through the swamp biome.

“We could always teleport to Julian’s town,” suggested Oliver.

“That seems like cheating. We are world-renowned explorers. We don’t TP.”

“Well, then I think we should start our journey now.” Oliver looked over at me.

“Yes, but let’s go through our inventories and make sure we have all the supplies we need first.”

We had well-stocked inventories. I took a sip of milk and a bite of a potato, and with that, we began our trip to Julian’s village.

At first the journey seemed too easy. We traveled through grassy biomes, and the first night we built a shelter without any attacks from hostile mobs. But once we reached the swamp biome, I started feeling nervous.

“I don’t see any witches.” Oliver kept a close eye on the surroundings.

A bat flew close to my head. “I don’t think that’s necessarily a good sign. We know they’re here somewhere. . . .”

I was right. Within seconds, we came upon a small witch hut. A witch emerged from the house. She clutched a tiny bottle of potion in her hand.

“Watch out!” Oliver shouted.

I stood frozen in terror. I couldn’t move. No matter how many times Oliver shouted warnings at me, I just couldn’t. I was terrified. The witch was coming closer.

“William!” Oliver shouted. “Sprint!”

I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn’t move. The witch was so close that I could have reached out and touched her—if I’d been able to move. She splashed a potion on me. Now I was frozen in place and I was weakened.

Oliver ran toward us. He lunged at the witch with his enchanted diamond sword and struck her before she had a chance to use another of her potions. With a few blows from the sword, she was destroyed. The witch dropped a glass bottle. Oliver leaned over and picked it up. He came over to me. “Drink this.”

I sipped the potion Oliver handed me and regained my strength.

“You did a good job,” Oliver told me.

“Me?” I laughed. “You were the one who destroyed the witch. I did nothing.”

“You’re still here, aren’t you?” Oliver said, and we continued our journey to Julian’s town.

When we entered Julian’s town, crowds surrounded us. They were excited to meet the world-famous explorers. I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but this happens to us whenever we enter a new town now. We’ve become celebrities.

Julian rushed over to us. “You guys finally came to visit! I’ve missed you!”

He introduced us to his friends. We saw Tess again and met many other villagers. He walked us over to the wheat farm and told us that he would throw a huge celebration for us that night. The townspeople were excited and everyone talked about the food they would bring to the big feast. Someone decided to plan a fireworks show, too. We were so happy. I was glad to see Julian and be reunited with my old friend.

While we dined on rabbit stew and baked potatoes, a townsperson named Hope asked me about the Nether. “Isn’t it very dangerous and scary?”

“Not at all,” I said, “if you know what you’re doing. I can battle three ghasts without any hassle. And Oliver can battle a horde of blazes while still taking notes for his maps.”

Oliver looked over at me. I could tell he was annoyed. I’ll admit I was stretching the truth a little. But it didn’t excuse Julian when he said, “William. Everyone knows you’re afraid of fire.”

I stared at him. Why would he reveal one of my biggest secrets? I didn’t want anyone to know about my fears. To them, I was a fearless leader and explorer of the Overworld. I wanted it to stay that way.

“Me? Afraid of fire? You must be mistaking me with Oliver over there.” I tried to laugh it off. I didn’t want people to believe him.

The sky grew dark and people began to settle in for the fireworks show. As we watched the colorful display, I hoped that people had forgotten Julian’s comment.

After the show, everyone headed home. We settled in Julian’s house on the wheat farm. As we climbed into our beds, Julian suggested, “Tomorrow we should go look for the treasure we buried in the desert temple.”

“Tomorrow, we are going to continue our explorations. We don’t have time to go back to the desert and dig up that measly treasure,” I replied.

“What? But that was our plan.” Julian seemed very disappointed.

“Plans change,” I said.

“People change.” Julian was annoyed. Oliver was silent.

I fell asleep thinking about the treasure. Julian didn’t deserve it. He had shared one of my secrets with the world. I didn’t trust him.