Beth J Wilson
As she walked, the rain patted softly on her rain coat making strange noises; sounding from inside her hat like musical notes echoing in her ears. Her rubber boots glided through puddles like great purple ocean liners run off course. They skimmed the waters surface making wide ripples, waves radiating out, only disrupted by the occasional oak leaf, an island in the saltless sea. Adel gazed downwards at the water beneath her feet, seeing at first only her reflection, but then as her eyes unfocused she saw the pale sky behind her head; a slice of white cutting into the water, an ice burg created of clouds floated in the surface. Then it was as if the rain paused above her for a moment, hovering in the air like so many honey bees, buzzing about her ears. She took a breath and her reflection become perfectly clear as if a bright light illuminated the puddle from within; as she released her breath, the water came rushing back down around her, a force so strong it knocked her down. She put her hands out, as they splashed into the water she felt a sickening sensation as if she hid been twisted upside down on a roller coaster ride; she closed her eyes.
Adel opened one eye, brushed the water from her face with the sleeve of her dress, and then carefully opened the other eye, blinking rapidly, shaking the remaining droplets of rain from her eyelashes. She stood up slowly, realizing that her dress was somehow mostly dry under her coat, but her striped stockings did not fair as well, they seemed to have soaked up the entire puddle into their thin yarns. She was about to let out a cry of despair at the thought of having to continue her walk home with sopping tights glued to her legs; when she lifted her chin up from boot level and saw the world to be very different than when she last looked. The landscape was as foreign to her as the bottom of the ocean floor, new plants ad trees had seemingly sprouted out of the soggy ground, which now looked like a sea of cloud instead of the dark pavement of the street she had walked on a second before. The strange forest loomed all around her, it was as if it had been blanched by the rain, like overcooked vegetables standing alone on a plate, the pale silhouettes protruded into the ashen sky. Her mouth lay open in the moist air, she had been drinking in this new landscape so rapidly that she gasped suddenly realizing that she was very far from home, and had no idea how she had gotten here. She sat down abruptly on what she thought to be the ground, and what turned out to be a toadstool of sorts, but very large and pallid, almost transparent. It proved to be a comfortable resting spot for her soaked and now shivering body. Adel thought about how she must have arrived in this strange land, and as she sat there she became more and more puzzled, lost in the labyrinth of her thoughts. She was pulled out of her thoughts by her own shivering, which was getting stronger, and more erratic. Adel realized that she must find some shelter from the wetness that seemed to pervade everything here so she could warm up and dry off. She began walking along the ground, the foggy floor swirled around her ankles weirdly obscuring her boots with pools of mist. She thought she heard a whisper behind her, turning rapidly, she saw no one around her. She dug her hands deeper into her coat pockets gripping her hair clips within so tightly that the metal dug into her palm slightly. She decided to go higher away from the creepy mist on the ground and see what she could spot from a higher point. She put her boot unsteadily at first, atop one of the strange toadstools and then jumped to a second slightly higher toadstool; for they seemed to be growing in a circular shape, arching upwards. She followed the toadstools up and up, seeming to bounce higher and higher with every jump, until she finally came to rest on the highest and largest of the toadstools. It was a blue spotted bump rising out of the center of the ring of toadstools. She steadied herself by resting a palm on the surface, for this one was more slippery than the rest, seeming to have a slimy residue on its bumpy top. Adel gazed out across the lands and seeing no end to the pale forest, her spirits dipped again; until she saw a light glowing in the distance at the end of a river snaking into the horizon. Maybe that light would be her escape from this odd world, she went to take a step forward and looked down to see the toadstool beneath her changing to a deep violet color.
Just then a voice boomed out from beneath her, “Who stands upon my back !”, two eyelids set into the flesh of the toadstool flashed open, and two yellow eyes stared up at her. Adel stared back in shock at the creature that she was apparently standing on and uttered, “I didn’t know.. uh uh... I’m sorry, I’m sorry !” The creature retorted, “Well now you know, so get off my back or I will bounce you into next Tuesday!” Adel took a giant leap onto a nearby toadstool and looked up at the creature as it rose to its full height- it was a spotted toad of huge proportions. It gazed down at her with its yellow eyes, observing her with an annoyed look, as if she were a fly buzzing about its face. The creature then announced, “ I am Rellus, Elder of the Bolete Tribe, what are you doing in my toadstool ring?” Adel had to answer in a small voice, “ I am merely passing through trying to find my way home..” ; she then ventured, “Where is this place?” Rellus the Elder then answered her in a perturbed tone, “You are in the land of Aqueous- how did you come to be here an not know where you are?” He then went to settle back down into his seated position and turn away from her. Adel turned and reluctantly started back down towards the bottom of the toadstool ring. As she descended back towards the misty ground she took note of the direction of the glowing light on the horizon; for anywhere that glowed had to be warmer and safer than here. She heard the voice of Rellus from above again, saying ,” Follow the river and run its course and you will learn...” and then he trailed off into sleep again. What an odd creature she thought as she continued on her way, yet she headed towards the river, because even odd creatures have good suggestions she thought.
Adel wound her way through the forests of seaweed looking plants and managed to finally find the river, rushing along a bed of polished stones. The river was crisp and clear blue like a spring sky, which stood out among the dullness of the rest of the landscape. The mist cleared about the river bed and revealed a lush pillow of green moss lining the sides of the rushing water. Adel followed the river up hill along this green stripe of land, weaving like a colorful ribbon through the bland landscape. She watched as her boots sank slightly into the softness of the moss and wanted to feel it with her toes, so she remove her boots and stuffed them into her backpack and continued on her journey barefoot. Surprisingly, the moss was not only velvety soft on her toes but somehow warm and comforting as well. As she continued down the path, Adel began to notice small flying creatures, flitting by the water, here and there. One of these creatures looked like a feathery puff ball with delicate lacey wings of silver, it seemed to glide on the tufts of air caused by the rushing water, swirling in lazy circles. Just then, it landed lightly on the edge of a giant plant, similar in form to a teacup complete with a lid made of a leaf hovering in mid air. Adel ran up to the plant to see a closer glimpse of the strange flying puffball and caught her toe sharply on a river stone, causing her to fly forward, tumbling into the cup shaped plant. Splash! She was surrounded by warm liquid, welling up around her legs; she went to stand up but noticed that the lid of the plant had snapped downwards, shutting her in this dark prison. She screamed in pain as she realized that the liquid was tingling and burning her skin, and then again she yelled out in anguish at her predicament. Adel panic stricken, clawed at the walls of the horrible plant, but made only scratch lines in the thick hide. She soon exhausted herself trying to fight her way out of the giant plant, and sat disheartened in the bottom of the plant. She perched upon her back pack away from the juices of the plant, which she only guessed was trying to eat her alive. After a few minutes of weeping in the silence, Adel noticed that the juices seemed to be rising up further towards her, now reaching the top pocket of her backpack. She squished her legs up tighter underneath her and began to scream again, this time for help. When Adel’s voice had gone hoarse from yelling, she put her head down on her knees and gave in to her sorrow, giving up on the idea of ever getting home again. Just then she heard a great flapping noise and a rush of wind all around outside and then a ripping noise, and she saw giant pinchers tearing through the plant wall at her. She shrunk into a corner fearing this new creature, but was soon grabbed by the pinchers and tossed high into the air. She squeezed her fists and eyes so tight it hurt, afraid to look at her new captor; but she landed softly in at first what she took to be moss. Then opening her eyes slowly she was taken aback by the vast landscape rapidly flowing beneath her feet, she was sitting perched atop a giant furry moth! She gazed down at the now peaceful seeming landscape below, tinted by the silvery gauze wings she looked through. The moth was a soft blue color, like a new rosebud before it has decided what color to be. As they flew higher and higher Adel soon felt at ease, listening to the whistling sounds of the wind rushing past her ears she gripped the moth tightly and soon fell asleep. Adel awoke in what felt like moments later to see that the moth was perched on a giant flower petal drinking a golden liquid from the center. It motioned to her with its giant feathery antenna, and simply said in a whispery voice,” Drink.” Adel climbed down and drank a sip of the liquid from her palm tentatively, but after one taste of the sweet honey nectar, she bent down to drink in large gulps. She felt a renewed strength in her and soon st down satisfied from the pure sweet liquid. ...(to be continued...)
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