 
A Translation of Inspiration

By A.S. Morrison

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 A.S. Morrison

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## Table of Contents

1. The Cliff and the Clock Man

2. The Woods and the Shadow

3. The Castle and the Wizard

4. The Water Ship and Its Captain

5. The War and the Princess

6. The Lake and the Lake Monster

7. The Office and the Coworker

8. The Canoe and the Sun People

9. The Plateau and the Very Familiar Face

10. The Hut and the Child

11. The Spoon and the Snowman

12. The Hat and the Nomad

13. The Streetcar and the Vendors

14. The Book and the Reader

15. The Precipice and the Clockmaker

16. The Secrets and the Sorcerer

17. The Power to Control and the Villain

18. The Cabins and the Cookbook

19. The Destination and the People Who Live There
1. The Cliff and the Clock Man

I stood. On a cliff. The remnants of white waves found their end on the jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. The hard cold breeze blew soft around me. Clouds hung low, occasionally wrapping themselves around the cliff. There were no other sounds apart from the waves and the breeze. My ears struggled to hear more, to find a more important noise, the aftermath of a massive shift or the beginning of something bigger.

I only became aware of my surroundings after a long moment of mental emptiness. The first thought was of past movement. I felt as though I had just stopped; a sudden halt of motion that caused my head to swim and my body to tense. One thought led to another, each more complex than the last. Nothing stuck. They came and went, just as the waves and clouds before them. And I was alone again, on the cliff without a thought.

This continued for an indefinable length of time. The world around me changed and grew while I remained stationary. My first impulse was to jump. I wanted nothing more than to feel the air as I fell and the hard smack as I landed, just to make sure everything was real.

I don't remember how I got to where I was. The limited memory I could access told me I had never been there before. But it also said there was no place other than where I was. The world began and continued from that spot. There was no place else, at least I was certain there wasn't. But what comes with every certainty? More doubt. And I had it. I tried my hardest to bring forth any recollections I could about my past. I struggled and strained but none could be found. Language was in my head and on my tongue. I had enough mind to know that had to come from somewhere.

I looked down to the sea below. It stretched off into the distance. There was no other land observable from where I stood. The impulse to jump grew stronger. I wanted to, I needed to. It felt good. Everything would become real if I jumped. I had to. It was no longer a decision to be made. I was going to do it.

I stepped up to the edge, my mind clear, and my body longing for a rush. My arms spread wide, my hands twisted, feeling the breeze on its entire surface.

My eyes found the water below. It looked soft from so high up. I knew I could miss the rocks if I jumped far enough. It was a risk I had to take. I bent my knees and looked up to the sky one final time. My feet launched off the rocky cliff. There was nothing but clean air below me for a ways, always shrinking. My limbs were sprawled out, catching the air that couldn't slow me. I dared not close my eyes. I wanted to see the water rising to meet me. It came at lightning speed.

I grinned at the rush. No memory came to tell me how that would feel. It was wondrous, but short. I hit the water with a great force and sank below the surface.

I opened my eyes, I was underwater. The light came from above and made it possible to see far. Behind me was the stone of the cliff. But in front of me, in front of me I could see the ends of the world in a blue haze. The bottom was sandy, not a creature or feature stood out. I started to swim down. I approached the sand. I could just about reach it if I stretched, and then the sand was no longer there. It vanished in an instant, swallowed by the blue haze. The water now stretched endlessly below me. I continued to swim down. The blue turned darker and darker until it was all black. I looked back up to see a ceiling of black blocking my return.

My lungs filled and deflated with ease. They did not know that they shouldn't. I continued down, answers remained just out of view. I reached around, but could not touch them, and so went deeper. I swam where no light could shine, I hadn't earned it yet.

Time passed. I don't know how long, I had no way of knowing. I couldn't stop. The dark began to frighten me. What if I never came to anything? What if I was in a void that lasted forever?

The fear left as I saw a pinpoint of light somewhere below. I went to it. As I did the dark faded and the blue haze returned. There was no source. It appeared without one. The pinpoint moved as I got closer. It floated smoothly away, settling in the distance.

The bottom of the body of water was no longer sandy. There were trees. They continued on as far as I could see in every direction. I pushed up on the water, getting closer to the canopy. I dropped below it, through the leaves. A swamp came into view. My feet touched the soft ground. The water all evaporated in an instant. I stood in a swamp, air replacing the water. I looked up. It was dark. I could see nothing through the trees. The point of light I had seen was now a good ways ahead of me, but I now knew what it was. A window of a little house, lit from within.

I didn't feel any different now that I had air around me. There was no sense of a pressure adjustment. I started for the little house. My feet sank into the saturated ground. Pools of greenish water bubbled mysteriously. I made out a slimy trail to the house. It curved and wound through the pools of water. I knelt down at the first pool and studied the surface of the water. The light around wasn't strong enough for me to see down into it. I straightened up and continued. As I approached the house I had my first coherent thought that would stick in my mind. How was I to get in? I thought about walking right in, but I knew that was wrong. Instead I chose to knock at the front door. I could hear movement inside. The door opened a crack and a face appeared.

"Do I have a clock for you?" The man in the door asked.

"I don't believe I ordered a clock." I said.

"Well then come in."

The man opened the door and I stepped inside. The small house was warm and bright. On a closer look I saw that it was a workshop. Clocks were everywhere. They were on tables, hanging on walls, and suspended from the ceiling. Clock parts were everywhere as well. Gears, springs, and pieces of wood littered the floor. The majority of the clocks were cuckoo clocks. There were so many that several were going off at any one time.

The clockmaker had a short gray beard and wore a long apron. He showed me around, tripping on gears and knocking over half finished clocks onto the floor where they joined the mess.

"I wasn't expecting you today." He said. "I would have done something."

"I wasn't expecting me today either." I picked up a clock and examined finely painted little birds. "And I don't believe you did at all."

He froze mid step and slowly turned his head back to me. "Are you sure?"

"No."

He continued around the small house. "Oh well."

I put the clock down and picked up another. This one looked to have the same basic design but painted by a child with little to no artistic training. "Do you happen to know where I am or who I am?"

He cleared off a table by wiping his arm across it, sending all sorts of little mechanisms to the floor. "I don't know who you are if you don't. Weren't you paying attention to where you were going?"

"I was but it kept changing."

"That's how life is I'm afraid."

"That's not what I mean."

He put his hands on the table and leaned forward. "I think it is."

"So you don't know where this house is?"

"I know, but it may be different for you."

"A place is a place, it can't be different."

The clockmaker smiled as though remembering a tale he heard long ago. "A name of the place will be the same, but the place itself is different for everybody. When I come in here I feel a certain way, certainly not the certain way that you felt coming in. That's all I mean."

"But that does not tell me where I am."

"Tell me where you were and we can start from there."

I thought back to swimming in the water and standing on a cliff, finding no memories before that.

"I believe I was standing on a cliff."

"And how did you get to the cliff?"

"I don't know."

He scratched his short gray beard. "So you ran up to the cliff you say?"

"I didn't say that. I was just standing there."

"And you wanted to jump. You wanted to soar to the sky and be a bird or a flying fish."

"No, that's not it at all." I said forcefully.

"You wanted to reach the sun and explode –"

"You are not even listening to me."

"—to shower back to Earth and watch as your many pieces land in various places. You say that sounds great. You say that is what you wanted. You say that will fix it all. You really shouldn't say such things."

I shook my head. "I didn't say any of that."

"You might have."

"No."

He picked up a clock from the floor. It was of the highest quality in the little workshop. He held it tenderly for a moment, and then threw it at the wall where it broke into many pieces.

"That's you showering down."

"I think I should leave now."

He took his time dramatically running over to me, tripping on everything his feet could find to trip on. Eventually he did make it over to me and put his hand on my chest.

"You can't leave. I have your clock."

"I told you I didn't order one."

"No, I just made it."

"I've been watching you, you haven't made one."

"You make watches?" He said excitedly. "We have so much in common."

"I mean you didn't have time to make a clock."

He pulled a small square box out of his pocket and thrust it into my hand.

"This isn't a clock." I said, looking the small box over.

"It's a special cuckoo clock."

"There are no hands, no numbers."

"It doesn't need it. When the time comes a little cuckoo will pop out."

"At what time?"

He scratched his beard again. Bells rang and cuckoos clucked all over the small workshop. "I haven't any idea. But I hope it helps."

"How can it help if I don't know when it will go off?"

"You have too many worries for someone who doesn't know himself."

I put the bizarre little clock into a pocket of the pants I was wearing, and just then noticed. I thanked the clockmaker and tried to take my leave. He stopped me once again.

"If you don't know where you are from how do you know where you have to go?"

"I think I'll figure it out."

"We always think we will." He said as if to a person across the room. I turned but nobody was there.

"You have been very hospitable but I think I really should take my leave."

"Not until I tell you my story."

He pushed me down onto a chair I didn't know was there and pulled up another from somewhere. And then he began his tale. I listened intently to what he said, but wondered the whole time why I should be bothered with his strange little story.

"It all starts, as often stories do with sad endings, in a very nice house. I grew up with a stern mother and father. They loved me plenty but I found their emotions tricky to understand. Anyway I remember with fondness my infancy. It wasn't one that I should tell you but I will say it was great fun to crawl around and have people to clean me up and set me going in the right direction. Do you remember your infancy? Of course not, only I do. I don't remember much from my childhood. The whole thing was a blur. I suppose I did things wrong and was yelled at to do them right. But what did I know? Did I know enough to be scolded for my infractions? I don't know, as I said I don't remember my childhood. At one point I became an adult. I wasn't a very good one. And that is all."

"That's not much of a story." I said, choosing not to pick at him remembering his infancy. The longer I was in that house the more I knew this man to be crazy.

"Well it's my story and if you don't like it find a better one."

"I think I will, but I need to leave here to do that."

"Oh yes, that is the only way."

"Then can I leave?"

"You certainly may, but only if you promise to never come back."

I stood up, affronted. "Did you not like my company? I daresay anybody else will sit here with you."

"As a matter of opinion I hated your company and never wish to see you again." He folded his arms and turned from me.

"Then I won't be back." I said, going to the door.

"Good." He said, still looking away. "But I do hope you uncover yourself somewhere, I bet you are a dusty little fellow wherever you're being kept."

I did not look back. I opened the door and slammed it closed. I turned to my left and began walking. I was so heated from being insulted that I did not notice that I was no longer in a swamp.
2. The Woods and the Shadow

The encounter with the clockmaker left me bothered by my lack of memories. How could he remember his infancy and I not remember any of my life? I could feel memories pushing into my mind but they were just out of reach. I wanted to stop walking and shake my head around until they found a place where I could remember them. The longer I walked the more I knew that they would reveal themselves soon. And so I could only wait.

After a long time of putting one foot in front of the other I finally looked up to see that I was no longer in the dark swamp. How could I have not noticed new surroundings, especially since they were so different? Trees were still around and I walked amongst them. They were much taller than the ones before and had no leaves, only thin branches near the top pointing out at all angles. The ground was dry and cracked. Dust rose up from where my feet had been. The sun, which made its first appearance for me, was large and bright in the sky but did not brighten the way as much as it should have. It appeared as bright as a summer day but where I walked was only as bright as a cloudy day. I didn't think much of this. After all, how could the man with no memory complain of the sun not doing its job?

There was nothing but trees in sight, not even a little house as before. I turned back to see it but only more trees and dry land was behind me. I must have been in a world unseen for many years. There wasn't a bug or animal as far as my senses could reach.

I waited for the surroundings to change, to alter in some way to show that I was getting somewhere. But the more I walked only more of the same appeared into my vision.

I didn't notice it long. The first memory came back to me. My name was Lawrence Foster Brickem. A strange name, but it was mine. I knew it. And then pieces of my childhood returned. I remembered growing up in a small house somewhere in a suburban area. There were no other children for me to play with being an only child and so I became very lonely. I did have a few friends in school, but at home it was just me and my young parents.

I was a quiet child. During grade school I rarely answered questions and would freeze up when asked. That shyness lasted well into high school. Eventually it worked itself out somewhat, but I was never what one would call social. After high school I worked at a department store for three years. College wasn't my thing and I dropped out after just two semesters. Lost, lonely, and fearing that my life wasn't going to amount to much, I quit my job at the department store and ventured away. I set my sights on traveling the world. I took what money I had and borrowed some from my parents to explore Europe. I made it halfway through England and ran out of funds, sending me back to the states to tell my parents I only halfheartedly followed my dreams. Before I knew it I was back at the department store, bored out of my mind.

And that was it. I waited for more memories to come but that was it. It took several hours just to get that much, and nothing would follow. It was strangely incomplete. How did I get from the department store to the cliff?

With the addition of memories came emotions. I felt betrayed by my own mind. And what was worse I felt hopeless to ever find any way out of those trees. I dug my fingers through my hair and stopped moving. I looked around, waiting for a sound or a motion to divert my attention. But of course there was nothing. I began to long for the clockmaker and his little workshop. I sat down with my back to a tree, hoping to get inspired to move on.

"Hi."

I jumped up. There had definitely been a voice. It sounded as if it came from the tree. I looked it over carefully but could find nothing capable of speech.

"Can I ask you a question?"

I spun around. It was coming from somewhere but I couldn't tell where.

"I just need a minute of your time."

I was really getting frustrated. "Where are you?"

"Down here."

I looked. A black splotch was all I saw. It stood out by being the only thing besides me that wasn't a tree.

"What are you?" I asked a little nervously.

The splotch moved. It slid effortlessly across the ground and up a tree where it formed into the shape of a human. It was a shadow, but it wasn't mine. I could see it as though a person stood beside the tree. It slowly turned until it was a profile. I made out the nose and mouth. The mouth opened, and words came through the air.

"So will you listen?"

"But what _are_ you?" I asked again.

"I know what you must be thinking. You must be wondering how on Earth I got to this state. Is that what you are thinking?"

The voice sounded sinister. The emotion it conveyed was that of a man trying to make a shady deal with me.

"I was actually wondering how a shadow could exist without a body."

It, or he, went forward, leaving the tree and appearing again on the ground.

"Yes that is what somebody would think having never lost their body. But I did not lose it; it was taken from me with an evil curse. And I need you to help me get it back."

"Can't you do it yourself?" I asked.

"I can't touch anything, not really."

"Well I'm actually going through something right now so perhaps you can find somebody else."

The shadow reappeared on the tree. Its head turned from left to right. "Do you see anybody else here? You are the first person I've seen for a long time."

"But I really must be going."

I started again, trying to put distance between me and the shadow. It didn't work. The shadow sped up and was always right ahead of me. I could see it out of the corner of my eye going from tree, to the ground, back up to the next tree.

"Sure, don't help the helpless shadow. Just walk away like I'm not actually here. I know where you are going and my body is there."

"You're wrong because I have no idea where I'm going." I said, refusing to look at it.

"Up about five miles is a great castle of a size you have never seen. It was there that my body was taken from me. All you have to do is move my body into a light in the castle. The mean curser that took my body put it only a few feet from the light. It was maddening to be so close and not be able to move it the few feet necessary."

I didn't believe him one bit. If there was a huge castle only five miles away I think I should have seen it already. But there was nothing ahead of us but more trees.

"I don't believe you."

The shadow appeared on the ground in front of me. It grew to a great length.

"I would kill you right now for calling me a liar. If only I could."

"I think you have more problems than just losing your body."

I walked on top of it. It could do nothing but wave its arms around.

It returned to a tree next to me. "If you help me I will tell you where you are and how to get to where you are going."

I stopped, thinking over what he said. "You know where we are? I mean really know?"

"Of course, I've been here my whole life."

I started again, still thinking. If he could help then maybe I could be back at home before the sun set. Though looking up at it I don't think it ever moved.

"I'll take you to the castle, but I want to know where I am now."

"I promise I will tell you when we get there."

"I'll trust you for now. But if anything happens in that castle I will take your body as far away from this light source as I can."

I could see him smile eerily in profile. "I'm very trustworthy."

And so I took a detour from my undefined path to help a shadow get back his body in exchange for information. While he didn't seem like the most trustworthy character he was the only thing I had seen in those woods that could do as much as promise to help. As we walked I thought of things to ask him. He wasn't always helpful but at least he made an effort to answer.

"Do you know of a swamp at the bottom of a vast body of water?" I asked on our way to the castle.

"I can't say that I do."

"How about a clockmaker in a little house?"

"Don't know that either."

"How about a large cliff?"

"A cliff?" He sounded interested in this.

"Yes, a high cliff overlooking an endless expanse of water."

"Now that does sound familiar. Did you happen to look back behind you?"

"No," I said shamefully, "I never did."

"Well if it is the same cliff I know then you would have been overjoyed to see the majesty of my father's kingdom. His castle stands near this cliff and is forty times larger than my own that we are currently travelling to. You might have even seen my mother tending the garden near the cliff. If only you had turned around."

"I don't remember seeing a castle or a garden. The first thing in my recollections is the cliff and that is all."

He appeared once more on the ground before me. "That is because the castle is of such astounding architectural quality and taste that all memory of the past is wiped clean on your first glance of it. This happens to many of the merchants who come. They leave having no idea where they came from or who they are."

"And they eventually remember?" I asked hopefully.

"I suppose. Though we never see them again so there is a chance that they wander off and die."

"Oh." I said, becoming scared.

"But that won't happen to you. You have me to make sure you don't wander off."

That didn't make me feel any better. Was there some slight possibility that he was truthful and I had seen his father's magnificent castle and that's why I had no memories? It was a stretch, but so was following a shadow that was cursed out of his body.

We walked in silence after that. I could think of nothing else to ask and waited until we got to the castle. We had to be getting close but still there was no sign of any sort of building. I had nowhere else to be and so didn't think of all the other things I could have been doing. In reality there was nothing else to do but follow the shadow.

After hours with the sun refusing to do its job and move towards the horizon, it began to grow dark. I looked up to see that the sun was still not moving, but growing dim. Minutes passed and it grew darker until it was no longer visible. There was still enough light to see by, though once again I could not find the source. There was no moon or lamp. I was beginning to see that there was no use in overanalyzing my current predicament. If I started that then I would never stop.

"I feel that we are almost there." The shadow said.

I strained my eyes to see him. With the sun gone I had to listen for him. He made no sounds other than speech. In the dim conditions I began to question my decision to help. All the doubt my mind could muster up told me to ditch my partner and get out before something bad happened. But I made a promise and was not about to go against it just because the sun left.

I continued walking while thinking about all the terrible things that could go wrong. It was easier to think while walking, making me think that I was good at both. The gap in my memories seemed to grow with each step. Something happened between working at that department store and appearing on the cliff, but what? There was the possibility that I saw a majestic castle and it wiped my mind clean. But I couldn't believe that without a memory backing it up. Everything else that happened since seemed bizarre, but at least I remembered it happening.

"Hold up!" The shadow shouted.

I froze mid step. I looked down to see my right foot hovering over a chasm. I quickly brought it back to solid ground. The dry Earth ended, being replaced by an enormous hole. It must have been over one thousand feet deep. In the hole was a huge castle. It really was of a size I had never seen. Lights blazed from all the windows. Turrets rose up to the edge of the hole, but not above. There was no sign of life other than the lights.

"This is it." The shadow said.

"How do we get down?"

"Jump."

"I'll be killed."

"Will you?"

I thought back to when I jumped off the cliff. I never even felt hitting the water. Without thinking for fear of coming to my senses I jumped into the hole. I hit the side and tumbled the full one thousand feet to the bottom. I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and continued without so much as a scratch.

"That is strange." I said to myself.

"You did great. Now let's find my body."
3. The Castle and the Wizard

The shadow and I made our way around the stone walls looking for a way in. The ground was moist down there, possibly from an earlier rain. The only flat surface was under the castle. I had a hard time keeping myself upright. A large metal door stood out among the stone on the far side. I pulled it open and we entered.

A long carpeted hall led us to a very large room with a marble staircase and a very large crystal chandelier that rained light down. It was a beautiful room with plush chairs and large paintings of royal looking people on the walls. The shadow led me behind the staircase where a set of wood doors took us to a small parlor. An intricately carved wooden desk sat at the end of the room. This must have been where the royals had company with their subjects. A fire crackled quietly from a fireplace in the wall.

"Who keeps this place running?" I inquired. I hadn't heard the slightest movement coming from anywhere.

"The wizard." The shadow growled.

I assumed the wizard was the one who put the curse on him. Despite his dislike I wanted to meet this wizard. Perhaps he knew where I was and how I could get home.

The shadow slid across the carpet and appeared at the desk. "I would give anything to be able to sit here again and do my duty."

"Where is this body of yours?"

"On the top floor."

"Show me the way." I said.

The castle had four main floors, along with a basement and the towers. Wary of the wizard, the shadow led me carefully through rooms and up hidden staircases he didn't think the wizard knew about. Every room was expertly furnished with the best of everything. The bedrooms, there were quite a few, all had large beds with quilts and fluffy pillows. The bathrooms were equipped with solid gold tubs and the softest towels imaginable.

The castle was eerily quiet. Every room had the look that someone had just left. All of the lights were on and there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere. It was as if everyone cleaned up the place real nice and then vanished. I was certain I would see someone eventually.

Up these stairs, down those, the shadow was leading me all over the place trying to avoid the wizard. I wasn't complaining. It was worth it to see the art alone. Large paintings of amazing landscapes hung on most walls. The shadow told me they were painted to show the kingdom. It wasn't always the dry woods I had seen. There were once valleys and marshes, hills and lakes, and even a few deep forests where all sorts of animals hid. Now it was all gone and the shadow blamed the wizard. I couldn't imagine one person being able to do the things this wizard was blamed for.

Every member of the royal family had paintings as well. These went back hundreds of years to the founding of the kingdom, known as Amna. The shadow's real name was Prince Heradus Amna. There wasn't a painting of him, at least not yet.

After an hour of wandering this way and that we came to the fourth and final floor. Heradus was certain that there were booby traps on the way to the room with his body. They didn't affect him, but he couldn't move the body. I had to be careful.

The first room was another bedchamber. This one was different from the others. The bed had nothing but an overstuffed mattress on it. The floor was hard stone without the usual carpeting I was now familiar with. The walls were bare save for one painting of an old wizened man. He was clean shaven except for a tuft of white hair on the right side of his upper lip. It was bizarre, but I suppose that was the fashion somewhere. He wore faded yellow robes and had a mysterious smile on his face.

I stepped warily across the stone floor, keeping my eyes and ears peeled to a sudden change or movement. There were no traps across the first half of the floor. Heradus whispered encouragements to me the whole time. He slid effortlessly across the floor near my feet. At the halfway point I looked up. The door was so close. I had a feeling that if I ran to it I would be able to make it before anything bad happened. But I couldn't. I chose to take it slow and be vigilant.

I moved my right foot carefully and touched down a few inches in front of my left. I then moved my left a little ahead of my right. I attempted to then lift the right but it wouldn't come. I pulled and pulled but I was stuck. To my horror my feet were sinking into the stone floor.

"What are you doing? Come on." Heradus yelled.

"I can't. I'm sinking."

"Why are you sinking?"

"Because it's fun!" I shrieked.

"Hang on."

He glided across the floor, the walls, and the ceiling trying to find some way to help but it was no use. My legs sank lower and lower. It felt like I was in mud. Someone started laughing. My head twisted around trying to find the source. It was the painting. The old man in the yellow robes threw his head back and was cackling like a madman.

"That's the wizard." Heradus said, stopping on the wall next to the picture. "He's done something to the floor."

My torso slipped beneath the stone and my arms followed.

"Where am I going?" I cried, feeling hopeless.

"I don't know, but I'll find you."

My head dipped below and I couldn't see anything. Next thing I know I was falling through the air, landing on a bed on the floor below. I pushed myself off and tried to get my bearings. The stairs to the fourth floor were right outside the room. I called to Heradus and he appeared on the stairs a moment later.

"Oh, that wasn't so bad after all." He said, clearly relieved that his helper wasn't trapped somewhere.

"It still wasn't very fun." I muttered.

We went back up the stairs to retry getting through that room. This time I knew not to go slow, the wizard was expecting that. I took a deep breath and ran right across the floor to the door. I made it. I nodded to the painting. The wizard now had a sour frown. We pressed on.

Next up was a hallway. The floor was uneven and the walls were covered in more paintings, all of which had the wizard with his strange facial hair and yellow robes. I tried not to look at them. Slowly I started into the hall.

The floor rocked this way and that, attempting to throw me into the wall. Heradus yelled more encouragements, but now they were annoying and I told him to shut up.

I got down on all fours and crawled across the bucking stone floor. It was little use. I was tossed this way and that, making hard contact with the walls. But as with jumping from the cliff and falling down the hole, it did not hurt. It did however disorient me. At one point Heradus yelled at me because I ended up facing the wrong way. I righted myself with difficulty and continued to try my hardest to stay on course.

All the paintings, and there must have been thirty of them, began laughing at me. Some even started yelling rude things to me.

It took a little while but eventually I did make it. The floor stopped and the paintings ceased. They all took the sour frown like the first one.

The third, and thankfully final, room was another bedchamber. It looked very similar to the first. The bed had only a mattress and the floor was bare. There wasn't a painting of the wizard in that room. The door on the other side of the room was open. It was dark beyond it.

"What do we do now?" I asked Heradus.

"I don't know if you take this slow or fast. Try fast first."

I ran toward the door. An inexplicable force met me half way through and I was lifted off of my feet and thrown backwards with such a force that I could only watch as the hallway flashed by. I slowed in the first bedroom and was placed gently back on my feet near the stairs. We had to start all over.

"This wizard sure likes to play games." I called to Heradus who was sliding across the floor back to me.

"He is evil. Don't think that this is a game." He snarled. "Now let's go back. Remember to go fast here."

"I know."

I ran through the first bedroom again and continued speedily through the hall. That may have been a mistake. The floor came up in a wave and bucked me back to the stairs.

"You know this isn't too bad." I said, getting to my feet in the first bedroom again.

"If you could feel pain you would probably be half dead by now." Heradus pointed out.

"Thankfully I can't. And I'm hoping this wizard can tell me why."

"He will only lie, like he did to me."

I knew the routine now. I had to go fast through the first bedchamber, slow through the hall, and I hoped slow again in the second bedchamber.

I started for hopefully the last time. I sprinted through the first room and stopped myself in the hall. The floor rocked back and forth. I got down on all fours and crawled across the wild floor. It tried its best to halt my progress but I struggled on. The paintings laughed louder than ever, and the insults were worse than ever. Eventually I stood up in the last room.

I took steps slowly, not wanting to start over again. Halfway through I clenched my fists and took quiet and slow steps to the darkness beyond the next door. I made it. I sighed deeply and started into the dark. Once again I could no longer see Heradus.

"Just a little bit on now." He said somewhere ahead of me.

"What is in this room?" I asked.

The floor was stone and it was cold in there, but that's all I could tell.

"It used to be a small closet. The wizard changed it to what you see here. My body should be right up here."

The door slammed shut behind us. We were in complete darkness.

"Don't worry." Heradus said calmly. "We're almost there."

I kept my arms out to make sure I didn't hit anything. After a while it no longer seemed like a room but a void. Once again I began to wonder if I made a good choice in helping Heradus.

A light appeared. It came from the ceiling and lit a platform about twenty feet high and a little ways ahead of us.

"That's it! That's where my body is."

I made out a staircase leading up. In a minute I was at the top. A body lay just out of reach of the light. Heradus's body wore a bright green outfit one would expect from royalty. He even had a sword on his belt.

"Now just push me into the light and I'll tell you everything." Heradus's voice grew excited.

I knelt down. A blinding flash hit my eyes. I shut them tight.

"Not another move." An old voice said from in front of us.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw the wizard from the paintings standing on the same platform twenty feet away. I could no longer see the light needed to bring Heradus back.

"If you move that body I will curse you away."

Heradus slithered across the floor to the wizard, trying his hardest to inflict some kind of damage to him. It was all useless. "Do it, do it now." He shouted.

"I wouldn't." The wizard said calmly.

"What will you do to me?" I asked.

The wizard folded his arms and thought for a bit. Heradus would not give up his attempted attack. He groaned and yelled on the floor.

"I think I will turn you into a chair and then sit on you forever."

"I only need one thing." I said. "I want to know where I am and how I can get home."

The wizard stepped forward. "I can tell you that if you step away from the body."

"No, I will tell you how if you put me into the light." Heradus called.

I didn't know who to trust. If the wizard really did do so much to the land and turned Heradus into a shadow then he had to know how to get me home. But then again he did do bad things to the land and turned Heradus into a shadow. And after all I did make a promise to Heradus to help.

"Why did you do this to him?" I asked the wizard.

He sighed. "Heradus was a very bad prince. He took a thriving part of his father's kingdom and destroyed it over just a few years. Did you see outside? He tried his best to destroy everything."

Heradus slid over to me. "He's lying to you. You can break all of his curses right now by just putting me into the light."

I got down next to the body. I made a promise to Heradus and I was not going to break it now. I pushed his body to where the light had been.

For a second everything stopped. The three of us looked at the body. And then I saw Heradus the shadow move slowly to the body and underneath it. The body's eyes flew open. He smiled wide and got up.

The wizard stayed put. He simply watched as Heradus regained his body.

Heradus looked himself over and gave me a big grin. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I could have done this without you, Lawrence."

Did I tell him my name? I don't believe I did.

Rumbling started all around. The whole castle was shaking.

"You've doomed everyone." The wizard said. "I promised he could do no more harm to this kingdom and made it so the castle will collapse if he regains his body."

"Why would you do that?" I yelled.

He didn't answer. One second the wizard was looking around at the walls and the next he was gone.

"It's his evil ways." Heradus said. "You should leave now."

"What about you?"

"I have my own ways."

He put his hand up. Slowly his feet left the ground. He rose up into the air.

"Where are you going?" I was starting to panic.

"I'll be seeing you Lawrence. You really were a big help."

He rose higher into the air. There was a small hole in the ceiling; he was heading straight for it.

"You need to tell me how to get home." I begged.

"I have no idea how you can get home."

The platform crumbled away and I hit the floor.

"You promised." I shouted up to him.

He was at the hole in the ceiling.

"Good luck." He yelled down.

He disappeared through the hole.

I turned around and saw the door we came through. I ran back to it. The ceiling began to collapse around me. I avoided falling stone and got to the door. There were no more tricks in the bedchambers or the hall. I ran through them as everything collapsed around me. I shot down the stairs and was immediately lost. Parts of the castle had already fallen. I could see down to the first floor but was wary to jump. And then I remembered my recent invincibility and let the floor disintegrate below me. I dropped through the three levels below and landed with a thud on the ground floor. I weaved in and out of rooms avoiding giant slabs of stone that could have easily crushed me. I found the large doors and made it out. The great building gave one more heave and the whole thing went down in a heap.
4. The Water Ship and its Captain

The giant mass of rubble that was once a grand castle was no longer in a giant hole. Somehow it was now on flat ground. That was all right with me. I didn't much want to climb out of the hole anyway. That wasn't the only thing that was different. There were no more trees. A vast empty landscape took the place of the woods. The dry and cracked ground remained.

I wish I had listened to the wizard instead. But he may not have been any help either. I suppose it didn't matter now what I did. They were both gone and I was still there with no idea as to where I was or how to get home. All I could do now was continue and hopefully find somebody new who might know something.

I picked a direction and started away from what was left of the castle. For the longest time there was nothing but emptiness. It grew tiresome. I missed having company. Heradus hadn't been so bad. Of course he was just using me to get his body back. It didn't make sense that he just let his castle crumble. There must have been something else going on between the two of them. I vowed to find them both to get some questions answered. The question I found most important was about the constantly changing landscapes. How could a castle be in a giant hole when we go in and flat ground when I come out?

I can safely say that that had been the strangest day of my life, or two days, or one week. I had no idea. It was now daylight again, but the sun was nowhere to be found. I tried to think back and figure out how many days had really passed so far. It was day when I jumped from the cliff, I think night in the swamp, day in the woods, night in the castle, and now day again. So that was two and a half days. Somebody was probably out looking for me from the department store. They probably checked where I lived first. Where did I live? I think it was a small apartment. That sounded right. Maybe I left from the apartment when I went to the cliff. That sounded right as well. There was just that pesky business of the journey from the apartment to the cliff. I still had no answers for that. There must be someone out there who knew, and I was going to find them.

The barren and dry land ended of a sudden. I now stood on a beach. Waves lapped against golden sand. Only it wasn't water like I had ever seen. It wasn't even water. I went up to the edge of the sand to get a better look. I didn't recognize what it was at first but when I looked beyond the waves it was clear to see. Wood. The water was not water but wood. Not just any wood but a hard wood floor. The entire ocean had lines running through it of a wooden floor.

I tried to comprehend what I was seeing. It wasn't water but wood. But it sounded like water. The edges hit the sand like water and retreated again just as small waves do. Was it wood colored water or something I had never encountered? I put my hand out and waited for another wave to pass over the sand. It felt like water. I picked up a clump of sand and threw it out beyond the waves. The sand hit the surface as though it were wood.

I scratched my head, completely befuddled. I took a few steps back and ran up to the edge, jumping over the waves. I landed hard on wood. It was only the very edge that acted as water. The rest of the massive sea seemed to be entirely wood. I jumped back to the sand.

There was no one there to sort this out for me. I was once again the only person around. I sighed and started down the beach. If there was an ocean then there should have been a port somewhere.

A giant something appeared in the water ahead of me as if coming out of a fog. It appeared to be a ship. It rose off the wood fifty feet. It had sails, masts, a bow, a stern, and every other part a good sailing ship needed. The only problem was that it was not made of wood. From where I stood it looked to be made entirely out of water. It's hard to explain. Imagine a ship sized glass filled with ocean water. Now imagine that there was no glass to hold it together and it was simply held together on its own. That's what I was looking at. I could see fish swimming around inside.

If there was a ship there should have been a crew. I made my way over to it, expecting to see smartly dressed sailors ready to help me board. There were no such people. Instead I came face to face with a short scraggly man wearing a two hundred year old pirate costume complete with an animal on his shoulder. It wasn't a parrot but a minuscule blue octopus.

He took no notice of me coming up right in front of him. I hailed him from afar but he looked through me.

"Excuse me." I said.

He finally saw me. His eyes darted all around, and they did not dart together. One whizzed in circles and the other in a square pattern. I tried not to notice. His face was covered in old scars. He had a messy beard that clumped together in three parts.

"What do you want?"

I was expecting a harsh gravelly voice. What came out of his mouth was nothing of the sort. It was angelic. I could almost imagine him bursting into beautifully tuned gospels.

"Is this your ship?"

"It's a ship."

"Where are you headed?"

"It's going to another shore."

That sounded as good as anything else. "Can I come along?"

His eyes stopped moving for a second as he looked me over. And then they continued to twist and twirl around. "Yes. But hurry up it's leaving immediately."

He showed me to a water ladder that protruded out of the ship. I climbed up. I could feel the water running over my hands, but there was something solid underneath. I don't know what it was; all I could see was water. I made it up to the top. It felt like I was standing in a puddle. I decided that the ship was held together by something, but I couldn't see it.

I went up to the helm and saw the wheel. The ship began to move beneath me. I went over to the edge and saw that the man was still on the ground.

"It's moving. How do I stop it?" I yelled down.

"No idea." He called back.

"You're the captain."

He laughed. "I'm not the captain."

"Then who is?"

"You are now."

"Where is it going?"

"It goes where it wants to go."

The ship picked up speed and we left the strange character behind. It glided smoothly across the wood floor, leaving a trail of water. The masts rained water down with each movement. The fish inside swam around. There were so many different kinds, big ones and little ones, red ones and green ones.

I gave myself a tour. I splashed water around with every step, marveling at what I was on. It was a nice clear day, perfect for sailing across wood. I didn't even care where I was headed. As long as there were people there I was alright with not having any control.

I took a seat at the very front of the deck and relaxed in the inch of water I was in. The air hit my face and I felt better than I had all day. There was no shadow to trick me or wizard to impede my way. It was just me and the unknown force steering the ship to an unknown destination. Everything felt right.

My head was as clear as it ever was and bits of memories floated with the breeze. There was something about school. I remembered my high school. It was an ugly brick building with little windows. I had good times there. I didn't quite recall what those good times were but I knew I had some. Random moments entered my head, a fragment of a conversation here, a trace of dream there.

And then there was something more recent, an image of me sitting in my apartment. I could feel an acute sadness that I could not shake. It was so strong that I felt it as though new. I couldn't get rid of it. It closed in on all sides. I tried my hardest to push it back, but it wouldn't go. I was enveloped. I closed my eyes and pressed my palms against them. My head fell back. The water came over me. It was deeper now. It closed around me as completely as the sadness did. I opened my eyes and saw that I was sinking into the ship. I swam up but couldn't break the surface. The water was thicker than it should have been.

The fish paid no attention. They swam carelessly around as I sank deeper. The deck and the air grew farther away. I neared the wood. I couldn't breathe. It wasn't like when I swam to the swamp. My lungs ached for air but I couldn't get it for them.

My eyes closed and I stopped trying to swim. I could do little else. I let myself go. My body floated around. My lungs were ready to burst. I slipped out of consciousness.

I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. I was back on the deck. I was on the top of the water again. My eyes darted around to find my savior. There was no one there. I mean there were no people. There was something. It floated just above the surface behind me. I crawled over to it. It floated backwards. It was something different, something I had never seen before. I shook my head and looked again.

It was a pair of eyes, no lashes, no eyelids, just a pair of big brown eyes staring at me. I stopped moving towards them. They continued back, through the water and out the back of the ship. I ran to the railing and watched them. They weren't moving; the ship was. The eyes were still, unflinching, uncaring. They simply watched. Soon they were just a tiny dot in the distance, and then nothing.

I had never seen anything like that and hoped I never did again. There was something unnerving about them. They stared at me as though they knew all about me. As if they had all the answers that I craved. I felt ill at ease. I was left with a feeling I didn't like and couldn't quite place. I turned to see what was ahead, trying my hardest to forget the whole ordeal.

It didn't take much. I could see land in the distance and everything else dropped from my mind. The ship slowed. This was no ordinary land. The beach was black and clouds hung dark and ominous. The rumbles of far away thunder hit my ears. And then, in the distance, several large mountains appeared. Their tops were so high they disappeared through the clouds. I could just barely make out what looked like little tents at the base of the closest mountain. That had to be people.

In my excitement I didn't notice until it was too late that something odd was happening with the ship. It was getting shorter. I looked over the edge and gave a cry of fright. The water was getting loose. The ship was melting into the wood. It was spreading out at the base and leaking away. I didn't know what to do. I ran around trying to find something that I could use, but everything was made of water. The fish jumped out and disappeared into the wood. I had to watch as the ship melted away. The deck disappeared and the masts came down with a splash.

One minute I was on a large watery sailing ship and the next the ship was gone and I stood on the dry wooden ocean. I shrugged. It really wasn't the strangest thing to happen to me that day. I started for the black beach in hopes of finding someone who could finally answer my questions.
5. The War and the Princess

The black sand was course and hard and crunched when I walked on it. The wind picked up and blew fiercely down from the mountains. I pulled my jacket collar up around my neck. Wait! I looked down and found myself wearing black pants, a gray shirt, and a black jacket. Had I been wearing that before? I checked my pockets. The strange faceless clock was still there. Maybe I had been wearing that the whole time.

The black beach ended. The land was now reddish, from the rocks to the mountains. The ground rumbled every so often. I looked up to the mountains and wondered.

The camp was ahead a quarter mile. There were people standing around outside that wore the same black outfit that I was wearing. That had to be a good sign. But from where I was I could not tell if they were friendly. There was only one way to find out.

The terrain was rough. Rocks of all sizes littered the ground. I stepped carefully. The lightning was getting closer. I could see occasional flashes and hear the thunder louder. A storm was coming.

I approached the camp slowly. One of the people outside, I took them to be guards, saw me approach. He came up, holding his hand out for me to stop.

"Yes, sorry, um, where am I?" I asked nervously.

The man looked me over. "We are pleased you are here. Come inside."

He didn't look all that pleased but I followed him anyway. He led me into the largest tent. The tents were made of a thick canvas. Lanterns hung from the ceiling, illuminating twenty or so cots. A crowd of people sat in the corner. We went up to them. The man who sat in the middle of it all stood up. He had a good natured face and a wide grin at the sight of me.

"So you volunteer?" He said expectantly, putting his hand out for me to shake.

"Volunteer for what?"

He withdrew his hand. "I put out a notice for someone, isn't it you?"

I was used to being confused, but now I was really confused. "I'm sorry but I don't know what I volunteered for. I never saw any notice. I've just arrived and I was looking for someone to tell me where I am."

He chuckled merrily. "Why you are here."

"Where is here?"

His smile faltered slightly. "Right here."

"Yes, but what is the name of here?"

His smile disappeared completely. "Why need a name? Right here is good enough for me. And if it's good enough for the king then its good enough for you."

"Oh, are you Heradus's father?"

"Who?"

"Heradus. He ruled Amna. He said his father was king and had a castle near a cliff."

The man looked around for help as if I was speaking a different language. "I know nothing of Amna or a Heradus."

"Right, never mind. So what was it I volunteered for?"

His smile returned in full force. "I need you to lead the army?"

"You need what?!" I nearly shouted.

Everyone recoiled at my voice. The king looked scared. He cowered down and put his hands up to cover his face.

"That's what the notice was about. I'm sorry I forgot you didn't see it."

"It's alright." I said calmly.

The king put his hands down. "Are you sure?" He asked innocently.

"Yes."

"Good." He returned to his full height. "But the truth is that there will be a battle momentarily and we need someone to lead the army."

"Why don't you?" I suggested.

His eyes grew large and he began to breath deep and slow. "Me? I can't lead an army."

"Well aren't you king?"

He stood on the tips of his toes, almost falling over. "That's right I am. I will lead this army to victory today."

"That sounds great." I said.

He hunched his shoulders and bent down. "But what if they fight?" His voice sounded like that of a scared child.

"So what if they do?" I said, standing straight and tall. "That's what happens in a battle, isn't it?"

He sat down on a cot and let his head fall to his knees. "I don't know; I've never been in a battle before."

"That's alright, neither have I."

He picked his head up and smiled timidly. "Will you teach me?"

"How to fight?"

"Yes, just for today."

I looked around. This place was more of a madhouse than the clock workshop.

"I can't teach you the skills needed for battle, I don't know them myself."

A collected sigh went through the tent.

I felt bad about letting all these strange people down. "Why don't you tell me who you are fighting and maybe I can be of some help."

The king stood up. He frowned at me and nodded. "I will tell you the story of how we came to be in such a predicament. You will cry of sorrow for us. It all started when I was a boy. I was a cute thing. My parents had many pictures made of me. The painters were so excited just to see me. There is a tale that they took their time in painting me just so they could spend more time with me."

I raised my hand. He stared at it.

"Does this have anything to do with the battle?" I asked.

"I'll get to that. I just thought you might want to know how adorable I was. Around the time I was so adorable a mighty and evil king came over the mountains to our little kingdom. Before that we had no idea there were any other lands out there. We believed that we were everything. This king threatened us. He said that since he was stronger and had a larger army he would control us. Naturally my father stated his claim to the land and told the evil king to leave. He promised to be back in thirty seven years with an army to destroy us for our lack of cooperation. Today marks thirty seven years since I was last adorable. You may wonder how that is."

He waited for me to ask. I didn't much care.

"You see," he continued, "after that my parents didn't have time to spend with me because they had to grow an army. But as I said we are a small country. These tents are the entirety. Over the next thirty seven years we had gotten the army together. But now I realize that we never trained them. They are sure to lose." He sat back down on the cot.

I cannot say how much I wanted to leave that tent and find a people that could help me more. But once again I said that I would help and I will not go against my word.

"Did you say that you have been living in tents your whole lives?"

"Yes." The king said simply.

"Alright," I said, shrugging, "so why thirty seven years?"

"We have no idea."

The king looked around to see if anyone else knew. No one did.

The guard who led me to the tent rushed back in.

"They are here." He cried.

Everyone leapt from the cots and started running around like mad. Lanterns hit the floor and cots went flying.

"Stop it this instant." The king screeched. It was the first time he looked to be in control. Everyone froze. "We will fight as we planned. Someone go tell the army their time is here. And guest," he looked at me, "I have an important job for you."

I nodded, expecting to be asked to lead the army again.

The king looked to a young woman sitting beside him. She looked to be in her early twenties like me. She had brown hair that hung in a mess down to her shoulders and bright blue eyes. "Now Ramonia, I want you to go with this fellow here." She shook her head violently. "Stop it. He's smarter than all of us put together. He will keep you safe. By the end of today you might be the only one from my kingdom left. Tell others you meet about us. They will surely want to hear about my being adorable."

She nodded slowly. "I will go, but only because I know you will be safe. We will hide out until the battle is over and then return in time for the victory celebration."

They hugged. She then led the way out of the tent. I took a final look at the king.

"Make sure she lives." He said through tears.

"I will."

The lightning was right above us. Ramonia ran through the camp towards a small pass between two mountains. I kept up the best I could but stole glances at the tents to see what was happening. The army formed into a line. There were about fifty people in all. I looked up to the mountain they were facing and my heart dropped. There were so many people wearing blue running down the mountain that it looked like a tsunami coming to destroy everything. I ran a little faster.

Ramonia turned up the side of the mountain on the right. I could tell that she was heading towards a small ledge several hundred feet up. My eyes kept darting back. The small line of an army stood their ground as the approaching doom came down on them. The mountains were doing their part as well. The largest one was a volcano. It spewed hot rocks and ash down on the fighters as the lightning struck anything it could find.

It was a sight to behold. And I would have much rather been watching from someplace safe. I looked back up to see Ramonia holding her hand out to me from the ledge. I grabbed it and she pulled me up. There was a small cave there that couldn't be seen from anywhere below. It just might save us.

She didn't want to go in. She watched in horror as the blue wave met the small black line. In an instant the line was swallowed whole. The tents were next. Even with the rocks and lightning the advancing army destroyed the tents in seconds. I pulled Ramonia away from the edge for fear of us being seen when the worst sight of all hit my eyes. The volcano had let loose a great pyroclastic flow that shot down towards the battle with great force. I wanted to run for the cave's entrance to avoid the sight that was sure to follow but couldn't take my eyes away long enough.

The hot cloud of dust and ash covered the whole scene. It filled the pass between the mountains and rose up. I pulled Ramonia into the cave and we ran. Thankfully it was more of a tunnel. Fifty or so yards in we looked back to see the entrance disappear. We stood still in the darkness, listening to see if we were safe. We could hear something coming toward us and we ran through the dark as fast as we could. A light flickered on. Ramonia lit a lantern. She kept it up high. The lantern swung from side to side and the light did the same. A few minutes on and Ramonia stopped.

"I think we are safe here."

I listened closely. I think she was right.

"Now then," she said, "I am Ramonia. Do you have a name?"

"Yes I do. It's um, I think it's – I know I knew it this morning."

For the life of me I could not recall my own name. The memory that it came with had left. I thought and thought but I could only remember one thing.

"I think there is a Brickem in there somewhere."

She put out her hand and I shook it. "It's nice to meet you Brickem. Now we must continue on. I know this tunnel well. I roamed through here when I was a child. You are safe with me."

"Look, I'm sorry to have to say this but I don't think we should go back. I'm almost certain there is nothing left now. We should get as much distance as we can."

"Do you know how many times this happens? Why do you think we live in tents? The volcano destroys everything all the time."

"But what of the army? Surely they destroyed everything?"

She shook her head. "My father once jumped into the volcano and lived. He can survive an army."

That about settled it, I wasn't going to try and convince her everyone was dead. She knew more about their abilities than I did. And how was I to complain about people living through a battle? I lived through things I shouldn't have as well.

There was something odd about that tunnel, not that the idea of something being odd could throw me anymore. But there was definitely something odd that could be felt, something deep within its depths that had been kept hidden for all eternity. We were heading straight to it. It was the same sort of feeling that I had about jumping off that cliff, a very sudden and very real knowledge of what was to come and what I had to do.

"Do you know where this tunnel leads?" I asked Ramonia.

"I was never aloud very far from the entrance." She said.

I was hoping she had some knowledge of where we were going, but apparently not. We were walking blindly into the unknown. And with every step I felt more convinced of impending danger.
6. The Lake and the Lake Monster

The tunnel curved this way and that, leading us into the heart of the mountain. It was a jagged hike with rocks protruding every which way. The small amount of light available to us caused shadows to appear. They mixed with my feelings of danger and materialized into monsters. I was certain each one was real before I told myself that they were only tricks of light.

Ramonia led the way fearlessly. There was no hesitation in her. She effortlessly steered clear of the rocks and jagged edges of the walls. She didn't stop for anything and I found it hard to keep up. I stumbled on the floor and thumped against the walls. Luckily there was still no pain felt. I presumed the mishap on the ship was a fluke. I trusted that it wouldn't happen again.

The princess was hard to talk to. She answered most of my questions as fast as she could with only a few words. I avoided anything about her father or the tiny kingdom for fear of making her sad. I did ask her about the mountains and if she knew anything about where we might be going. There were no tales of what was ahead from any of the people that journeyed in here before us.

The tunnel sloped down. It was a chore just to stay going slow. I lost control at one point and sped down the slope until I hit a large rock that knocked me to the ground. Ramonia helped me up and we carried on.

A cool breeze hit us. We were coming up to an exit. I didn't know if I should be scared or relieved. The feeling of danger kept its grasp on me.

"I think we are getting somewhere." I said.

"I don't think we should be near the other side yet." She said warily.

"Maybe we walked longer than we thought we did." I said brightly.

"Doubtful."

I wasn't fond of her mood. Up to that point the only full conversations I remembered were with overzealous individuals like her father or the clockmaker.

"Well if there is a chance then I'm going to hope we find a way out." I said confidently.

She didn't say anything to this.

A dark aperture appeared a little ways down. The breeze grew strong and blew past us with a great force. We came out into a very large internal cavern. The path we were on moved along the edge of a wide shaft, downward in spirals until it met with water one hundred feet below. The water was lit from within. Iridescent fish shimmered inside. I could see down into the depths of the water. There was no bottom visible. The light from the fish was sufficient to see by. Ramonia put out the lantern.

"Ever hear of anything like this?" I asked in awe.

"No." She said plainly, not stopping to take in the sight.

I couldn't take my eyes off the water. I had to be careful not to step off of the thin ramp we were on. We continued down towards the water. Ramonia kept looking around, attempting to find a way out.

"There should be a way out." She said quietly, her voice echoing around the large open space.

"It might be down in the water." I suggested.

"That's what I fear."

We came to the bottom of the ramp. There was no place left to go except for back up or in the water. I could see something deep down that looked like the mouth of another tunnel.

"Do you see that down there?" I pointed to it.

"Where, oh, that might be it."

"Do you know how to swim?" I asked hopefully.

"Of course I do." She snapped.

"Alright, I never saw any water where you lived."

She gave me a dirty look and I dropped the matter.

She placed the lantern on the edge and stepped into the water. The fish immediately swam out of view, darkening the cavern.

"What was that about?" She said, annoyed.

"I don't know. Perhaps they saw you as a predator."

"Well I wish they would come back and light the way. Do you remember where you saw it?"

"Yes, I think so." I'll swim down and see."

She nodded. "I'll be right behind you."

I jumped into the water. It was cold. "You ready?"

"I am."

I took a deep breath and dipped below the surface of the lake. I could no longer hear or see if she was behind me. I had to maintain my course and hoped she was following. I swam down towards where I thought I had seen the opening. For a while it was quiet and still. I swam through the water with no fear of drowning. My lungs filled and deflated just as they did when I was swimming towards the swamp. And then I heard something. It wasn't a garbled sound I expected to hear underwater, but a faint and very clear sound. A rhythmic and continuous note came to my ears. I was swimming to the right side of the cavern and it was coming from the left, somewhere below me. I slowed my pace. Something hit my legs. It was Ramonia, surprised by my slow down. I could feel her hitting me to continue, but I didn't want to. I wanted to know what was making that sound. It rose and fell as if singing. It called to me. I started towards it. Ramonia caught my leg and pulled me back on course. I nodded, though I knew she couldn't see it, and tried my best to find that opening.

The sound grew louder, more urgent. I couldn't help but look in the direction it came in. The longer I heard it the more I wanted to race over there as fast as I could and see what it was. Ramonia held onto my leg so I wouldn't. I kept my head in that direction but felt around for the hole at the same time. Finally I found it. At that same moment the sound came louder than ever. I could no longer resist it. I kicked Ramonia away and swam to the source. My body wasn't fast enough; I needed to get there faster than possible.

Two large lights appeared near the lake's wall. I stopped swimming and simply floated, staring at them. It didn't take long for me to see that they were not ordinary lights, but eyes. Beyond the brightness I could make out a bluish body. All my want to know the source of the sound vanished. I turned and swam quickly back to Ramonia, who I could see near the hole.

The monster released a new sound. This one was evil and warped. I fell for the trap and now it had me where it wanted me. I tried to push on, to get back to Ramonia before the worst could happen. My arms swung in wide circles and my feet kicked as fast and hard as possible but it wasn't enough. The giant lake monster was on me instantly. I felt a push on my feet and then a sudden warmth as it opened its mouth. I was never going to get to the small tunnel. The light from the eyes lit the hole and I could see a path just small enough for me and Ramonia to slip through. Instead I was forced up and away from the only clear refuge. My eyes found the beast below me. It smacked its jaw closed with such vigor that Ramonia was driven into the tunnel. The monster looked up and the lights blinded me. I came to the surface with spots in my eyes. I climbed onto the ramp and started to run up the thin path we had just come down.

The monster shot thirty feet into the air. It was a giant fish with tiny fins all over it. Its head was as big as the whole rest of its body. It opened its mouth and emitted an earsplitting screech. I saw several rows of very sharp teeth.

I knew the window of opportunity was almost nonexistent but I took my chances and dove back into the water. I swam down towards the tunnel. The whole lake lit up and I knew the fish was coming back down. It hit the water and its weight sent me straight to the bottom faster than I ever could have managed. I readjusted myself and went for the opening. The light grew brighter and brighter. This was it. Who would win out? The water grew warm and I knew my time was up. I gave one final push and closed my eyes. The beast's mouth clamped shut and I was propelled into the tunnel. It had just missed.

I ran into Ramonia and we wasted no time. The light remained to help us see where we were going. It went out for a moment and then came back on, the monster blinked. It watched us the whole way through.

In a minute we came out into another lake, this one much smaller. The glowing fish were swimming all around. I could see the surface and kicked for it. The fish suddenly disappeared again leaving us wanting for light. My head came out into the air and I paddled over to a small strip of land. I fell onto it and breathed a sigh of relief.

"We made it." I moaned, so happy to feel safe ground.

Ramonia sat down beside me. "I'm not sure."

"Not this again." I complained. I was really tired of her pessimism now. "We survived that fish monster, you should be happy."

"I would be," she said slowly in the dark, "but how did it appear if there was no other visible way into that lake except for the tunnel that was much too small for it?"

I didn't know and I didn't care. "It was probably hiding somehow."

"Or it can just appear places."

This was getting ridiculous. I wanted to sit and feel relieved and she kept making me paranoid. " _Or_ it knows this place better than we do and had a way to sneak in."

"I'm still not sure." She said.

My ears picked up the smallest of noises. I strained to listen. It was the continuous note I heard before.

"Do you hear that?" I asked, growing scared.

"I do." She stood up and backed away from the edge.

I stood up as well.

Very slowly two large round lights emerged from the water. The noise grew to the warbled and evil tone of the monster as predator. Its body rose higher and higher into the air until it floated above the surface.

My feet stumbled backwards and I fell. I turned and crawled up to where Ramonia was against the wall. There was nowhere else to go. No tunnel to escape into this time.

The creature opened its mouth and I could smell the horrific stench that came along with it. Ramonia pointed up at something above our heads on the wall of the cavern. Thin roots hung down from a plant on a ledge a good distance above us. The roots ended five feet above my head. I knew what to do. I linked my fingers together and I launched Ramonia up to the roots. She grabbed on and began to climb. I jumped up and grabbed onto her legs. She seemed to be strong enough to climb even with me hanging on.

The monster suddenly came straight at us, mouth open wide. I lifted up my feet and it crashed into the wall. The force caused Ramonia to let go of the roots. We tumbled down onto the creature's back. I hung onto a spike protruding out of its head but she slipped right off onto the ground.

The thing twisted and shook its head trying to get me off. I held on as best I could. It grew tired of this and fell back into the water. Still I hung on. This cavern was much smaller and it couldn't swim around as it could in the other. Instead it spun around very fast hoping I would fall off. I did not. When it was tired of that it went to the bottom of the lake. I thought it was going to wait until I drowned or got tired, but it had other ideas. It sprang up with a great swiftness and exploded out of the water. It flew up faster and farther than it did before. It went up so high I began to wonder if it was actually flying. It continued up and up until I could see the ceiling of the cavern coming up fast. I shut my eyes and heard the greatest of bangs. I could not help but look.

The monster had jumped straight through the ceiling and we were now outside. We were in the clouds. Rain hit me like little needles and the lightning flashed before my eyes, the thunder erupting around us. I felt my hands slipping, giving up to the storm. I could do nothing as I fell through the air except look at the giant fish monster that continued higher and higher. Soon it was enveloped by the clouds.

I turned to see the hole in the ceiling pass by and then only darkness remained. I shut my eyes tight. I didn't scream. I didn't even become scared. I knew I wouldn't feel the impact. But what if I did? The idea didn't register quickly enough. My body twisted round and round like a pinwheel lost in the wind. I had no control. There was no way to stop. I hit the surface of the water and then . . . and then there was nothing.
7. The Office and the Coworker

There was a new sound. I didn't know what it was just yet. It was quiet and dull. I knew that by the time it got to me it was old and outdated. A new and better sound had probably already replaced it by the time it got to my ears. And yet it continued on monotonously. I wanted it to stop, to change, to do something so it was not the same boring noise. It haunted me, made me feel weak and helpless. I grew angry at it. Would somebody please just make it stop!

A vision came to my eyes to vanquish all the darkness I had to endure for so long. It came as a blurry and obscure sight. But it wouldn't be for long. I could see it was morphing and growing clearer into something I might be able to recognize as sight sooner or later. Colors were added and it was as if I was looking at a painting taking shape in a painter's mind. I was watching the inspiration come before them. I was a part of it and it made me feel like I was an ingredient in the greatest artwork ever to be seen.

The sound and the picture merged into one solid entity. They both changed as they intermixed. The sound grew more tolerable, and the picture developed into something less than great art: the dreariness of real life.

Without warning the sound and the visual came together. I found myself sitting in a chair staring down at piece of paper. A coffee mug full of pencils and pens with no caps was right beside it. A blue folder was on the other side. It was stuffed full of paper. A laptop was closed in the corner.

I looked around at it all, not quite sure what it meant. Something was different and I knew it. I wasn't always sitting in that chair looking over that paper. I was somewhere else. I didn't know how long ago I was somewhere else but I knew the memory was still fresh, if only I could remember it. I got bits and pieces. I knew there was something about a mountain and bright lights. I racked my brain for more but it wouldn't come.

I leaned back and heard a crinkling. A rain coat was spread across the back of my chair. My eyes found a window with rain streaking across it. My ears picked up the soft patter of raindrops and it joined the drone of staplers, squeaky wheels, and uninteresting chatter.

I stood up and looked around. I was in an office. My chair was the same as the other thirty that were heard swiveling and squeaking. The room was filled with cubicles. All the people looked the same, dreary and tired, trying to find anything for their minds to do that wasn't the usual muddle of papers and computer screens.

I walked around. I thought better while moving. It helped the ideas come. Not that I needed any ideas in that place. It looked like a place where I would be told what to do and have to do it. But if I got paid then it wouldn't be a total waste.

"Hey you."

I stopped. I was over by the window, looking down at the street far below. Little people ran around in the rain while cars came and splashed water on them. I turned and saw a young woman sitting at a cubicle. She looked very familiar with her messy brown hair and her bright blue eyes.

"I haven't seen you for an hour. What have you been up to?" She asked.

I looked back at the window as if she might have been talking to it. I assumed she was and tried to get away.

"Where are you going?" She said, half laughing.

I stopped and looked back at her. "Are you really talking to me?"

"Who else would I be talking to?"

I pointed to the window. She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"You sure are funny."

"I am?"

"Do you still want to go to that new place across the street for lunch?"

I shrugged. "Beg pardon."

"That new place. What was it called again? Something like the Clock Maker. It's a weird name for a restaurant, but whatever."

"And you want to go there with me?" I asked certain she had the wrong person.

"Of course. I'm not married to anyone else in here am I?"

"We are what now?"

"I know," she sighed, "I can't believe it either. I'm having a hard time remembering to put Ramonia Brickem on everything."

That name, I knew it from somewhere. I tried my hardest to think of where I knew it from but had trouble recalling the exact place.

"So how about it?" She pressed.

"Yeah, that sounds like something to do." I said awkwardly. "When is lunch again?"

She checked her watch. "Coming up real soon now. I'll get you when its time."

I nodded and went back to my chair with my raincoat on it. I buried my face in my hands. I didn't know where I was or what I was doing there. Some things came back to me, but they weren't about the mountain or the bright lights. They were about a much more ordinary life. I knew that just two weeks ago Ramonia and I went to a nice ranch thirty minutes away and got married. We knew each other for three years before that. I think we met in college. I didn't go very long, only a semester or two. There was also something about an apartment. I spent my nights sitting on a couch and playing video games or watching television. And that was it, the only memories that came back to me. It wasn't a terrible life I supposed. I had a job, a wife, and an apartment.

The time came and Ramonia and I left the office. She went on about a savings plan I didn't know anything about. I wasn't really listening. I was much too preoccupied with getting a feel for my surroundings. I hoped a certain person or a particular part of the building would bring everything back. She noticed my lack of interest in what she said.

"Excuse me." She said haughtily. "Are you listening? I'm trying to find a way to save for a house here. Do you have any suggestions?"

"What kind of down payments are we looking at?" I said.

Where did that come from? I went from not knowing where I was to answering a question I didn't hear.

"Well there are some in our price range in the suburbs but we have to think long term here. Are we going to be able to keep up with the payments? What if we have kids?"

"Have what? I think we should worry about one major expense at a time."

Where was I getting all this from?

"Good point." She said. "But I do see that in our future."

"I do too, but there is time for all of that."

"Barring a setback."

"Yes, of course."

We got into the elevator with a dozen other people going to lunch. We dropped the conversation there. When we got to the front door I realized I forgot my raincoat. I didn't want to go back and get it so we ran across the street to the Clock Maker. It was a cuckoo clock haven. The things were all over the place in there. It was a little bistro like place. Ramonia picked out a seat at the window and we watched the people scurry about in the rain. She went up and bought the food. My wallet was in my raincoat. She came back with two sandwiches and we ate.

"So did you get a lot done so far?" She asked through a mouthful of pastrami.

I took a deep breath. "Actually I seem to be having a problem today."

"Really, what kind?"

"Memory lapses."

She put her sandwich down and looked at me somberly. "Is this recurring?"

"I can't tell you if it is. I just have this intense feeling that I was somewhere else an hour ago."

She didn't take her eyes off me. "Napping again in the office?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. This was much more real than that."

She picked up her sandwich again. "Tell me where you were."

She was using a tone that made me think she didn't believe me. I didn't let that deter me.

"I don't know. There was something about a mountain and some bright lights. I remember something about, um, I think you."

"You mean I was there with you?"

"I believe so."

She smiled warm heartedly. "At least I'm in your dreams."

"I told you I wasn't dreaming."

"Alright, sorry, at least I'm in whatever you want to call it."

I looked gloomily out the window at the passersby. My eyes slowly made their way up the tall building that we worked at. The name of the building was near the top. I stared at the words for a long time.

"At least Heradus didn't notice you going to wherever it was you went." She said sternly.

I continued to stare at the sign. The combination of what she said and the words Amna International struck against something in my head. A feeling came to me. I felt betrayed by something. Was it Amna or Heradus?

"Who is that?" I asked quietly.

"Who? Heradus? Our boss."

That was it. The name Heradus brought the feeling of betrayal to me, and this time a memory of someone floating away.

"Say it one more time?" I insisted.

"Heradus. I know it's a weird name."

I could see a bedroom and a hallway.

"Again and again, keep saying his name."

"What is your problem?"

I waved my hand at her. "Just do it."

She repeated his name ten or twelve times. I stared transfixed at the words Amna International. Everything fluttered back into my head. I was walking through the forest and a shadow asked me to help him. I did and he left me without keeping up his end of the bargain. Amna was the name of the kingdom where he lived.

Images and thoughts poured into my head as if someone stood above me with a pitcher. Everything came back, the cliff, the clockmaker, the shadow, the water ship, and most importantly Ramonia the princess to the adorable king.

"You were there." I breathed.

"Sorry?"

"You are Ramonia the princess."

She started to look scared. "What are you talking about?"

"I remember now. I was on a journey. I needed to find someone to help me find a way home."

"Looks like it worked." She whispered. She kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure nobody else was listening.

"Did it?"

Was I home? Was this the reality I wanted to find so much? If so I think I liked the world I was in better.

"Do you know anything of a cliff?" I asked.

She took my hand. "Lawrence did you remember to take . . . you know."

"Take what?"

"Your pills." She whispered as quietly as she could.

"Pills?" I said loudly. "I'm not on pills."

She shushed me. "Be quiet not everybody needs to know."

"Know what? You think I'm crazy don't you?"

Her breathing grew shallow. "No I don't. But I know how you get when you don't take your medicine."

I glowered at her. "I'm not crazy."

"I know. Remember the promise you made me when we got married. Do you remember? You promised that you would always take your pills. We don't want another episode like at my parents' house."

I pulled my hand away from hers. "What are you talking about? What episode?"

"You know."

I stood up. "I don't know and I don't want you acting like you don't know what I am talking about."

"I don't." She whispered angrily.

An idea hit me. "I know what I'll do. I know a way to show you that I'm not crazy." I looked up at the building. "I'll go to the top. You'll see."

I ran out of the restaurant into the rain. She followed close behind yelling something I didn't hear or even care to listen to. I made it to the elevator and she caught up. It came and we were the only ones to get in. I pushed the button for the top floor.

"I'm telling you that after this you will see that I am not crazy. But it would be better if you were on the ground floor."

She took my arm. "I don't know what you are thinking about but you better not do anything. Now let's go back to work and things can get back to normal."

"Things can only get back to normal if I prove to you that I am invincible. I don't know why but I am. I'll show you."

She embraced me. "Just stop it alright. You go back to your desk and I'll run home and get your medicine. Everything will be better after that."

I thought it over. "Alright." I said.

She pressed the button for our floor and we got out of the elevator. She walked me back to my desk and went to ask the boss something. I watched her get permission to go home. I gave her a few seconds to get the elevator. And then I stood up and slowly walked out of the office. I had to be fast so she would be right below me.

I found the stairs and ran up to the top floor. There was a front facing office and I went in. The desk clerk tried to stop me but I went to one of the windows without acknowledging them. It wouldn't open. I went back out into the stairs. There was a ladder that went up to the roof. The door was open. I climbed up onto the roof.

A few people were working on something nearby. I bypassed them and went to the edge near the Amna International sign. I spread my arms out and was ready to show everybody that I wouldn't feel a thing when I hit the ground.

I was just about to let myself fall when I saw something to my right. A pair of brown eyes floated nearby. I had seen them on the water ship. Once again they made me feel like they knew more about me than I did. I was an open book to their gaze. I hated the feeling. My feet sluggishly took a few steps back. The eyes were unblinking and unwavering. This time I knew that they were not eyeballs floating there but a flat image. I wanted to know their secrets as well as they knew mine. I couldn't stand it. I didn't want them to look at me anymore. I ran from them. The only feeling I had was one of fear. My feet carried me away, but my mind was not on where I was going. I fell through the entrance to the stairs and hit the ground hard. There was no pain. The eyes came and rested a few inches from my own. I closed mine to try and get rid of the horrid feeling they brought. There was no way to shake it.
8. The Canoe and the Sun People

I didn't dare open my eyes. The thought of those ghastly things looking at me was enough to want to keep my eyes closed forever. I tried my best to do just that.

Nobody came to my aid. No one seemed to notice that I had fallen. Was there anybody even there? I listened for the rain. My ears were not picking up the rhythmic patter of rainfall. In its place was a new sound. It was a sort of crackling or bubbling. I tried to place it. There was nothing in an office building that I knew of that could make that noise. I wanted to look but gave myself a little longer to recuperate after seeing the all knowing eyes.

I felt myself lightly rocking from side to side. I was no longer face down but face up, leaning back against something. There was no transition from one position to the other. I suddenly became aware of everything new at once, the noise, the rocking, and the new position.

I slowly opened my eyes. I dared not wait any longer to see my new surroundings. My mouth dropped open. These surroundings were new all right. And they were possibly the most outlandish environment I had ever experienced.

Everything was bright. The colors ranged from yellow to orange to white. There was a type of fog I was unfamiliar with. It was not the white or gray fog I was used to but a yellowish fog that caused mirages and heat shimmers.

I was riding in a small canoe over what looked like whitish water with some yellow in it. The canoe caused ripples just as it would through water. I had a sinking feeling that I knew where I was, but at the same time knew it was not possible. My mind tried to tell me I was on the surface of the sun. The lack of heat proved that to be false.

There was someone with me in the little canoe. It was Ramonia. She stared at me intently. She wore a pretty white dress and held a little parasol as if on any normal excursion on a nice lake. I looked at my own outfit and saw that I was wearing a nice suit with an overcoat and had a top hat on my head. I put the hat on my hand and twirled it around, shaking my head at all this insanity.

"It is a wonderful day, isn't it?" Ramonia said happily.

I looked up but could only see a yellow sky. "I suppose."

"These little excursions always bring out the best in me. Do they you?"

"Say what?" I said. I hadn't been listening. I was looking around trying to find some bit of normalcy.

"I said they bring out the best in me. Don't they bring out the best in you?"

I turned around and looked behind us. There was nothing in any direction but more yellow.

"Yes, I guess so. Can I ask you a question?"

She nodded cheerfully.

"Do we work in an office building?"

"A what?"

"An office building. I guess not. Are we married?"

She giggled uncontrollably. "No."

"Oh, well do you know of a cliff?"

She raised a finger. "I have heard of one."

"Really." I slid a little closer to her.

"Yes. I believe it is overlooking a great diving spot."

"That sounds like it."

"But who would dive into the sun now? It's so hard to see down there."

"Wait, did you say dive into the sun?"

She nodded.

"We _are_ on the sun?"

She nodded again.

"And the cliff is on the sun?"

"Everything is on the sun."

"Never mind, I don't think we are talking about the same cliff."

"Are you sure? You have to pass the great palace of the sun just to get to it. That's where we are going now. Maybe we will see it."

That's the second time I heard of a great castle or palace next to a cliff. I really should have turned around before jumping off of mine.

"How long until we get there?" I asked.

"It shouldn't be too long now."

I nodded slowly and leaned back against the back of the canoe. I found the source of the bubbling. It was the boiling yellow water. It wasn't a rolling bubbling but a slow and steady bubbling. Fish jumped out of the water nearby. They looked to be on fire but didn't show signs of burning. They jumped out of the water and arched over the boat leaving a trail of smoke behind.

There was serenity out there like I had never felt before. Everything was so calm and tranquil. It wasn't like the bustle of the city I was just in. The bubbling produced a warm melody that soothed me and comforted my frenetic thoughts. I no longer cared to piece together the gaps in my memory or to learn why I was moving from place to place at such an impossible rate. I only wanted to sit in that little canoe with Ramonia and forget about everything else. My eyelids grew heavy and I almost drifted off to sleep. But then I saw something off to my right and I was wide awake.

Several people were walking about on the surface of the water. I couldn't make them out clearly because of the heat shimmers. The more I watched the more I was certain that they were not people. They looked to be too tall. Parts of them looked to be on fire in the same way that the fish were. They walked about and sporadically knelt down to the water.

"What are those?" I asked.

Ramonia looked over and waved. One of them saw and waved back. "Those are Sun People."

"And what are Sun People?"

"You are acting like you've never been here before."

"No, I have. I just happen to forget the exact definition of Sun Person sometimes."

I don't think she bought it. At least she looked at me like she didn't. "Sun People are the indigenous beings here. They have lived here for thousands of years before we ever arrived. They are very friendly and keep to themselves. They build all the sun buildings including the sun palace. Is that enough for you?"

"Yes thank you."

That brought up more questions than it answered but I didn't risk asking any yet. I could tell she didn't think I was quite right today and I didn't want to give any indication that I wasn't who she thought I was.

The Sun People kept on with whatever they were doing and soon they were out of sight. My mind wandered around. As with the city I began to remember things about my life. Only this time I knew it wasn't real. I didn't know about my past too well but I seriously doubted that I grew up on the sun. This was just another bizarre situation I found myself in and I was certain that before too long I would be someplace new wondering how I got there. So I let the memories come.

I worked as a bridge between the humans and the Sun People. I could speak their language and could make sure that they had everything they needed. Because of this I wasn't very popular. There were some people who didn't want the Sun People around and did not like those who did. That's why Ramonia and I were on our way to the palace. We had to meet with those who were against our wanting to make sure the Sun People had their own town just for them. We were sure to meet great opposition, but we came prepared.

Ramonia grabbed my arm. I came back to reality. She pointed ahead at something. There was nothing there at first. And then it began to appear, a giant palace shimmering and glowing. It was so tall it disappeared into the yellow haze. It was orange and yellow and red. It had balconies and towers and a dome and everything else that could be thought up architecturally. My eyes could not find anything else to look at. The palace was so large it took up my entire field of vision at once.

The canoe steered itself up to a solid patch of bright stone and we disembarked. Other people were also getting out of canoes and going towards the palace. It had great doors that stood fifty feet high. They were made of a substance I had never encountered and would probably never encounter again. It looked like liquid metal, rippling when touched but still solid. I made sure to touch it when I passed through. It felt like regular metal.

The entryway had a high ceiling that must have gone all the way up to the ceiling because I could not see the top. It was plain compared to everything else. There was no carpeting, no furniture, and not ornately carved statues like I expected. Instead it was simply a room with a high ceiling and dazzling walls. In fact the walls were the only sight that grabbed my interest. Colors swam through, moving like fish through water. It was not just the oranges and yellows represented in the walls. There were blues and greens as well.

A Sun Person led all of us through the building. After seeing the outside and the entryway the rest wasn't that great. I expected large rooms with beautiful paintings. Instead the inside was full of small hallways with pictures of the sun.

This was the first time I got to see a Sun Person up close. Intense was the best word to use. They were around eight feet tall and had faces that reminded me of Foo Dogs. Small flames protruded out of their arms and legs. This one walked slowly and left burn marks on the floor that disappeared in seconds.

We were corralled into a meeting room with a long table and seats for all of us. This room did have a chandelier but it was not a bright shimmering one. It was a dull stone one. I guess to them that was as beautiful as crystal was to me.

Everyone sat and we waited for whoever was in charge. A man came in with two assistants. This must be him. He stood at the head of the table and welcomed us. He went straight into why we were there. Most of the people around the table were against the idea of having a town for the Sun People. They were business types and grandparents. There was really no way to categorize them in one way like I had hoped to. I wanted them to look like degenerates that I could put into one category in my mind and write them off. But just like me and the three other people there for the town, they were just regular people with their own ideas.

After the speech he called on the leader of those against the town to state their reasoning. An old woman appeared right across from me and stood up. I did not notice her sitting there. She started speaking in an old and shaky voice.

"I believe that people have inherited the sun." She began. "And I believe in a sun rid of these supposed Sun People. Now I know that this hasn't been the most popular idea as of late but here us out, Mr. Councilman. I do not want to live in a star where these strange creatures have a town of their own. Together they pose a threat. They can conspire and eventually overthrow us. And what did they do to earn our money to build them houses? It costs quite a bit to build one house. We don't need to build these creatures anything unless they want to finance most of it themselves."

She nodded and sat down. Those around her shook her hand and patted her back. The Councilman looked to me next. Apparently I was the leader of this movement. Without knowing where it all came from the words to say came to me.

"I believe," I said, "in a sun where people are treated fairly no matter what they are. These Sun People had the sun before us and we came in and took it over. They are too gentle to fight back and too nice to even want to. Now I don't want them to take all of our money and give nothing back in return for these homes either. But let's see what we are forgetting. They built this palace. I'm sure that some if not most will want to build their own homes since that has become their primary role in society anyway."

I could not think of anything else to say and sat down. Ramonia clapped loudly, she was the only one. I felt good about stating my opinion. I could tell that the councilman looked a little happier now that I spoke. That gave me the impression that he may have been on our side. He stood again and told us to leave the room so he could decide.

Strange should no longer be in my vocabulary after what I had been through the past few days. If anything strange was the new normal. But what happened next was strange even for this new world I was going through.

The air grew tense suddenly. A man at the end of the table caught my attention and I grew wary of him. There was no reason to. I glanced at him and at first he was calm and intent to leave, but then his face took a turn. He looked like he had been insulted in the worst way imaginable. He looked at me with the utmost hatred and stood up. To my immense surprise he pulled a gun and pointed it at my head. It was not a shimmering bright gun. It was simply a black gun. It looked out of place there. I could see Ramonia stand up next to me. She grabbed my arm and shouted something at the man. He didn't take his eyes off me. As if in slow motion I saw him pull the trigger and the gun pop up slightly. The bullet moved slowly toward me. I could not move. I had to watch as it flew to me. It made contact with my forehead as my vision shut off.
9. The Plateau and the Very Familiar Face

It was dark again. I seemed to be spending a lot of time in the dark recently. I knew what it meant now. My surroundings were changing. It was like a play. The stage gets dark as the stagehands change out the sets and props. That's all this was to me now. I was in an overproduced play and couldn't get out. I just hoped the audience liked it.

An image entered my vision. It was small and blurry like before. It wasn't as wonderful feeling as last time. This new image had a more somber tone. It became bigger and got closer, becoming less blurry all the time. There wasn't any sound, or if there was it was too quiet to hear. The image took shape before me. I blinked.

When I opened my eyes I was standing in a small room. It was dark; the only light came from the hallway behind me. There was a television attached to the wall on my right and a white board below it. The opposite wall had a lot of openings where things could be plugged in. A chair faced a large window. It was night and nothing could be seen. There was a person sitting in the chair, facing the window. They sat completely still. I went up to the back of the chair. I could feel a sadness emanating from somewhere.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly.

They did not turn or even acknowledge hearing me.

"Where are we?"

Still no response. I heard footsteps come into the room. I turned to see a young woman come in. Even in the darkened room I knew it was Ramonia.

"I'm so sorry." She said. "I don't know how you feel but I want you to know that I am here."

"Don't say that." The man in the chair said softly. "I don't want to hear how sorry anyone else is. Do you know how many times I've heard that already? They just wheeled him out of here and every single one of those people who came in said it."

"I didn't mean to –"

"Just stop, please."

Ramonia went over to the chair. The man turned to look back at her. He looked so familiar to me but I didn't know where from. And then I saw his eyes. They were brown. I instantly knew that those were the same brown eyes that I had seen twice already.

I backed up. Something was off. It was too real for me, the pain and sadness, Ramonia and this man, and worst of all those eyes. I ran from the room into the hall. I didn't stop. All I wanted was a way out, a way to stop feeling the gloom that completely enveloped me.

The hall kept on forever. There was no end in sight. I shut my eyes tight. Maybe the darkness would change my surroundings again. I wished to be somewhere else, anywhere else. My feet took me away but was I going anywhere? I opened my eyes and stopped. My surroundings had changed. I was outside.

I heard rumblings like thunder. At first I thought I was back in the mountainous area with the volcano and storm. But this was different. The ground was reddish and there were a few plateaus around, but this was definitely not the same place. It wasn't thunder that I was hearing. Explosions erupted in the sky and on the ground. People were running every which way. Screams and shouts were drowned out by more explosions. My eyes focused on one man. I watched him running with a gun in his hand. And then a cloud of smoke took his place. I could just make out small pieces of him shooting off in all directions.

There were people on the plateaus. They had large cannon like objects and were shooting bombs into the fray. If there were organized armies they were gone now. All that remained was thousands of people running around trying to kill anybody not wearing the same color they were. One side wore purple and the other wore red. With all the dust and red dirt flying it was hard to make out who was who.

I stood in the middle of it all gazing at everything around me. The impulse to run hadn't kicked in yet. It was all so sudden and too different. A part of me knew I should still be in that dark room and the rest of me hadn't gotten the peril to that part yet. And then it hit me. I took off toward the closest plateau. Smoke rose up everywhere. Bodies were lying still or barely crawling around, dazed. I made it to the plateau and hid behind it, hoping everything would end momentarily.

I slid down the rock to the ground and ran my hands through my hair. What was going on? I didn't mean about me ending up someplace new, I was used to that. I meant this war. Out of all the places I could have found why did it have to be a battlefield? If only I had stayed in that room and not been spooked by those eyes. They knew something, that man knew something. He had the secrets I wanted. And what of Ramonia? How did she fit into all of this? I was starting to give myself a headache.

A girl came around the plateau and sat nearby, reloading her gun. She looked too young to be in any sort of battle.

"What is this?" I asked her.

She suddenly noticed me and looked me over. I saw that I was wearing the same purple uniform she was. She noticed and deemed me suitable to talk to.

"What is what?"

I waved my hands around. "All of this? Where are we?"

"You don't know?"

"No."

There was a sudden change in her. It was the same as with the man in the sun palace, except she didn't look angry. She just looked confused.

"I don't know."

She got up and ran away before I could ask anything else.

That wasn't very helpful. I crawled around until I could see the fighting. I kept still and watched. I felt fairly safe from where I was. It was a horrible sight. So many were bloody on the ground and even more were bloody and still running. I couldn't see the point of it all. There were no landmarks to signify that this was an important place. No generals calling orders or any way of knowing who these people fought for.

The fighting shifted. I felt safe because all the bombs and bodies were heading away from my position. It didn't last long. They turned and started to come towards me. I got up and started away from it all. Unfortunately there was no place else to hide. In front of me there was nothing but flat land as far as the eye could see. I kept going anyway. The more distance I put between me and those bombs the better.

What if there was a reason for me to be there? The idea caught me off guard. What if there was a specific reason I ended up in these places? Maybe there was something I had to find or something I had to do. Of course I didn't know. Nobody was there to help me. The only person I thought knew anything I was afraid to go near. I promised that if I ever see that man again I will go straight up to him and ask him how to get home.

But until then I had more important things to attend to. The fighters were coming closer. The bombs were going off all around. I ran, trying to find someplace to hide until I could think things over. And then I remembered my invincibility. Did I still have it? I survived the sun and a gunshot wound to the head. I must still have it.

That gave me confidence. I turned and stood tall, knowing that I could not die. This gave me more ideas. What if there was something else I could do besides not get hurt? What if I could jump really high and not even know it? That would have come in handy against the lake monster. I bent my knees and jumped. I went maybe an inch and a half. So I couldn't jump really high.

While waiting for the fighting to get closer I tried several other things. I tried to fly but it didn't work. I punched the ground really hard but it didn't crack. I gave up. All I could do was not feel pain, at least not physical pain.

A middle aged man in purple came up to me. He was bleeding from his head but still had his wits about him.

"Why are you just standing here? Did you lose your gun?"

"No, I don't have one."

"Well let's get going. Camp is up that way." He pointed in the direction of all the fighting.

"We have to go through there to get to camp?" I asked, suddenly wanting to get to this place.

"Yes, do you think you can make it?"

"I guess."

I followed him into the battle. He jogged in zigzags, avoiding bombs and bullets. I simply walked after him, feeling like nothing could hurt me. We both made it to the other side without much trouble. I could see the camp in the distance. It was a tent. It looked awfully like the ones near the mountains where I met Ramonia. No one followed us up there. I don't think anyone cared. A base would be a great place to attack but that didn't seem to be the way things were done here. Before we went in I stopped the man to ask him a question.

"Do you know of a Ramonia?"

"I've never heard of anyone by that name." He responded.

"How about a king who thought himself adorable."

"Oh yes the adorable king. Yes of course I have heard of him."

"Have you?"

"Yes, he's a direct ancestor to the current king."

"Is he still alive?"

The man cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. "He's dead."

I nodded. "That volcano was really bad."

"Volcano? That king died of old age two hundred years ago."

I took a step back. "What?"

"He ruled a long time though."

"Is there any chance there was more than one king who thought he was adorable?"

"No, that's why he's known as the adorable king, he's the only one."

He continued inside. I stayed back. Something was not right. How could he have died two hundred years ago when I was just talking to him a day or some other amount of time ago? That man confirmed one thing. I was going through time as well as through space. I shook my head and went into the tent.

It was filled with cots and hanging lanterns. The fellow who led me there was getting his head wound checked out. Nurses kept trying to bandage me up and I told several that I was fine. I waited for my new friend to finish getting wrapped up and we went back outside.

"So what part of the kingdom are you from?" He asked as we watched the fighting from a distance.

"Oh, way out there."

"Ah, I have some friends from there. Do you know Macagagaca?"

I don't know who could ever remember a name like that. "No, it doesn't sound familiar."

"That's too bad. He's a good guy. He was sick today so he's probably still there. I don't live too far from here. I'll be going back tonight. I hear someone in town is making goose. I'll want some of that after this."

"You mean you can leave whenever you want?"

"New fighters will be here in the morning and things will pick up again."

"That's a very strange way to do battle."

"If you can think of another way feel free to tell the king."

"No thanks."

I was getting tired of this place now. In fact I was getting tired of every place now. If only I could have just done what the wizard asked and he could have taken me home. Instead I'm stuck here with all these strange people doing strange things.

"Oh no." The man said.

"What is it?"

He was gone. I turned to see him running into the tent. He waved at me to come as well. I shrugged my shoulders. What was he scared of? We walked straight through a battle with no problems. He was looking up. I did as well and saw a plane flying over. It dropped something. The big black object hurtled toward the ground. I knew what it was. A bomb, but this one was much bigger than all the others.

I didn't have time to run into the tent. The thing hit the ground and flames hurtled toward me. This was a big bomb. It came the same way the bullet did, very slow. I wasn't scared at first; I knew I would survive it. But then doubt hit me. What if the bullet took away my invincibility? I opened my eyes wide and tried to move, but could not. I was engulfed in the flames and the world went black for what seemed like the one hundredth time.
10. The Hut and the Child

After the bomb went off and my body was destroyed I appeared in a nice meadow. I stood on the bank of a little lake amongst the pretty flowers and tall grass. There were frogs and birds and small furry animals I didn't know the name of. Turtles sunbathed on logs and dragonflies buzzed around. The area had a serene beauty to it. I wandered about, relaxing in my good fortune to find a place that wasn't noisy or dangerous. That changed quickly. Clouds came in and a storm approached. It wasn't a little rain shower. This was a powerful storm with strong swirling winds and lightning. It grew so strong that even the largest trees could not withstand its might. I was blown around with ease. I hit a tree and tried to brace myself from the wind when I saw another tree had split up and was coming straight at me. I couldn't move in the strong wind. I was quickly filled with small and sharp pieces of wood. A large branch went right through my head.

I didn't go through the darkness this time. Immediately following being run through with a branch I appeared at the bottom of a deep canyon. A small stream was at my feet and I could see the top of the canyon several hundred feet above my head. This looked to be just as nice as the meadow at first. I listened to the stream and felt a nice breeze blow by. It was calm and quiet and there wasn't a single person around to confuse me or question my sanity. I followed the flow of the stream to see if it led me anywhere interesting. It took me around a curve and I saw a wall of water coming toward me. The entire canyon started to rumble violently. I stood calm and waited. The massive surge swallowed me up. A large rock came out of nowhere and took me out.

I opened my eyes and saw a field of wheat. A minute later an outbreak of tornadoes came out of the blue. I was lifted off of my feet and smacked back down.

I stood in the middle of a busy road – hit by car. I was piloting a small airplane—fiery crash. Standing in a bank—shot by a robber. Swimming in the ocean—eaten by a shark. Sitting in a hospital bed with a lot of injuries—died slowly from losing too much blood.

I finally closed my eyes and waited for all of this to end. I heard crashes and rumbles. It just kept coming again and again. There was no pain involved. I might have been brutally killed thirty or forty times before things finally slowed down. I waited for more but it seemed to be over.

My eyes slowly opened, anticipating the worst. I was upside down, floating in the air. I could only see white in every direction. I must have been in a cloud. There was no air current and no reason to fret anymore. I liked floating there. I didn't need to think or to wonder about how I would get to someplace new. That would come one way or another. That seemed to be the way of things. I was going to let the world choose what I would see next.

I hoped to float forever. The clouds parted below me and I saw land. The view was stunning from way up there. It was barren as far as I could tell. Each crack and crevice shaped the land and gave it a spirit unseen except by those with a high vantage. I wanted to take mental pictures that could be conjured up whenever I felt cheerless.

My body began to drop slowly. The ground gradually took the form I was more familiar with. I wanted to go back up, to see the world from a view rarely seen. I only dropped faster. I righted myself and touched the ground, a little put out.

A whimper. I scanned the area for the source of the sound. A lump broke the flatness of the ground. It looked to be a little dirt mound. At least until it started to move. It shifted and revealed itself to be a child, a boy, only six or seven years old. He saw me, wiped his eyes, and sat up.

"Hello." I said gently. "Are you lost?"

He looked around. "I think so. I was looking for something but I never found it."

"What was it?"

"My home."

My breath caught short. "Do you live around here?"

He shook his head. "I don't remember anything. I woke up and I was here." He started to cry again. "I can't remember where I was."

His story was similar to my own. Whatever happened to him might just be the same thing that happened to me.

I sat down next to him. "You know what? I had that same problem."

"Really?" He sobbed.

"Yes. I don't remember much about my own home either. And the first thing I can remember is standing on a cliff. Do you think we have gone through the same thing?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well how about you come with me and we'll find your home."

"Where are you going?" He wiped his eyes again.

"Wherever this land takes me. Do you want to come?"

He nodded quickly. "I don't want to be alone."

I put my arm around him. "You won't be again. We'll find your home as fast as we can."

He smiled timidly. "Okay."

I helped him to his feet, picked a direction at random, and started somewhere. He proved to be a good companion. I had someone to talk to and he kept up with me well. There wasn't much to see and even less to talk about. The only thing he could remember was sitting on the ground right where he was. He didn't want to move in case somebody was looking for him. I was the first person he saw. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, only that it was for a long time.

I told him all about my adventures. He found them very enjoyable. His favorite was my encounter with the giant lake monster. I told him in great detail how it all happened. He gasped at the part where I hit the water but I told him that I was practically invincible. As I told the stories I grasped just how strange they all were together. He kept asking me if I knew why I was at this place or how I ended up at another, but I had no idea. I was becoming used to the changes and weird events but I really would have liked some answers.

"Maybe there was a clue somewhere." He said when I finished my stories.

"What do you mean?"

"Somewhere in one of those places there might have been something that would have told you how you got there."

I thought back but nothing stuck out. "I don't know."

Something stood up against the flat ground in the distance. It looked like a little hut. It was a strange place to have a home. I didn't want to nitpick when I was just so thankful to possibly find another person. The boy and I went straight up to the hut.

"What is your name?"

"Ambrose."

What a strange name. I don't think anybody had used that name for one hundred years. I hoped he was named after an ancestor.

"My name is Lawrence." I said without hesitation.

We shook hands.

The little hut looked like it couldn't have been anymore than one room. It had wood walls and a straw roof. I knocked at the door.

An old man answered. I stared at him for a minute before realizing where I had seen him before. The tuft of white hair on the right side of his upper lip gave him away.

"You." I snarled. "I remember you."

His eyes widened and he tried to shut the door but I pushed it wide and slipped into the hut, Ambrose right beside me.

"Now I don't know you and it is very rude to barge into someone else's home." The wizard said.

"You don't remember me? I pushed Heradus's body into the light and then you both disappeared without helping me."

He scratched his chin. "That does sound familiar."

I was so relieved he said that. After meeting so many people who didn't believe a thing I said it was nice to have somebody who remembered me.

"Now I need you to tell me and Ambrose here how to get home. I think whatever happened to me happened to him as well. We both have spotty memories and appeared here without any knowledge of coming."

"What makes you think I know anything?" He said, sitting down at a small table.

The hut was very small. There was a table and one chair and a painting of the wizard on the wall.

"You're a wizard you must have some way of getting us home."

He looked us over distrustfully. "And what's in it for me."

I pointed a finger at him. "If you help us I won't bash you."

He laughed. "I'll just disappear. I say you should be friendlier to the person who knows all of your secrets."

"That reminds me," I said, "I have seen a pair of eyes twice now that I am certain have some deep knowledge of me. Do you know anything about that?"

"I don't believe I do."

"So am I crazy?"

"You might be, but don't let that stop you from getting to the truth."

He took a pipe off the table and lit it. Instead of smoke little green frogs came floating out with every breath. They swam around in the air and disappeared a few seconds later.

I smiled at him, hoping he would see how friendly I was. "Can you help us?"

He took the pipe out of his mouth and watched as a rather large frog floated away. "I think I will, but only because you are distressing me in my own home."

Ambrose lit up. "Thank you sir."

"Don't go doing that yet. I haven't told you how I would help."

"Well . . ." I said nicely, not wanting to get him anymore distressed.

He leaned back in the chair. "As you probably know the world around you changes frequently. There is a way you can control where you go."

"There is?" I whispered.

"Of course. Now it's not an exact science. What you have to do is collect something from each place you go and that will change where you end up next. When you leave here you will be on a nice dirt road. You will find a Spoon in the road."

"Do you mean a fork in the road?" Ambrose asked.

"No I mean there will be a spoon sitting in the road. You will take it. Shortly after that you will arrive in a frozen wasteland. There you will find a hat. Put the hat on and you will end up near a small city. Go into the city and stay one night in the hotel. When you wake up you will be in the place where your secret lies. I will meet you there."

"And you are sure this will work?" I inquired eagerly.

He sighed. "I know it will."

I could barely hold in my excitement. I was only a little ways away from getting home and sitting back on my couch in my little apartment. I was even happier for Ambrose. Soon he would be back with his family.

"Thank you so much. I am so sorry that I helped Heradus instead of you."

"None of that matters now." He said kindly.

I started for the door. Ambrose stayed back.

"Why can't you just get us there yourself?" He asked.

The wizard leaned towards him. "Because then you won't learn anything for yourself, now carry on."

We left the hut and let a few floating frogs out when we opened the door. I watched in amazement as they went up in the air and disappeared.

I was on my way and for the first time I had an itinerary and a destination. I was so pleased it took a few seconds to notice that we were in fact on a little dirt road. It curved up a hill. Fences lined fields on either side. The breeze was nice and the air was warm. It looked to be shaping up into a fine day with my new friend Ambrose.
11. The Spoon and the Snowman

The path took us up the hill and gave us a great view of the road ahead. The fields and fences stretched endlessly into the distance. A few trees were scattered here and there in the fields. There were no houses and no people or animals. It was just Ambrose and I scanning the ground for a spoon. We missed a lot of the beauty around us because our eyes were only focused on the dirt road. Occasionally I would spread my arms wide and take a deep breath of the wonderfully tasty air. It could take all day to find that spoon and I wouldn't care. I was just happy to be doing something I knew was productive.

Ambrose had cheered up as well. He didn't look like the sad little kid I found lying on the ground. He chatted away about what the spoon might look like and was already guessing as to the style of the hat.

"I'm going to say a party hat." He said excitedly.

"I'll say it's a bowler then. I always found those funny."

We spent a good bit of time talking about the spoon and the hat. We even went into how the hotel room might be. Neither of us could remember staying at a hotel, but it was probably just one more thing that we forgot. I can't overstate how nice it was to have someone to talk to that was in the same position I was. It made me want to figure this out even more, for his sake. When it was just me I could go around and not care much. With another person I felt like the brave leader who knew the most, though unfortunately not much. It made me care more.

The road flattened out at the bottom of the hill. There was nothing spoon shaped around, but we didn't falter in our hope.

"He did say it would be in the road, right?" Ambrose asked me.

"I believe so." We both kept our eyes on the ground. "Hey, what is the first thing you are going to do when you get home?"

He shuffled his feet. "I don't remember much about home."

"What do you remember?"

"I remember something about my family, but not much. And something about school, but not much about that either." He stopped and thought for a second. "But there is something, deep down, it's more of a feeling though. It's just a great feeling, and I know I only get it at certain places. I haven't gotten in while I'm here, but I remember it."

"That sounds nice." I said dreamily. "I wish I could remember good feelings. The only ones I remember are bad."

We walked a little ways without finding anything. The excitement we felt as we left the wizard's hut soon dwindled.

"What are you going to do when you get home?" Ambrose asked.

"That's a good question. I remember a few things. I know I had a couch in a little apartment and worked at a department store. I guess I just want to be back on my couch."

"Did you have an exciting life?"

"I don't think so. I think it was actually pretty boring."

"Then why do you want to get back?"

I took my eyes off the ground and looked at him. "I suppose because it is still my life and I want to be a part of it."

"But this is your life too."

I took a deep breath. "True. You know what? I'm so confused about what's real and what's not that there are times when I don't care if I get back."

"At least we know this is real."

"Do we?"

He nodded. "It seems real enough, doesn't it?"

"It does look real."

The sun, which I could not see, must have been dipping for the horizon because the sky was now filled with orange and red. Before long it was evening and the sky darkened.

"We must be getting close." I said; wanting to find the spoon before it was too dark to see. With no civilization nearby I assumed the sun was our only light source.

"I can feel it." Ambrose whispered. "We will find it before dark."

And so with rejuvenated vigor we searched faster. Ambrose ran ahead and I stayed back scanning the ground carefully. There was a small part of me that believed the wizard tricked us into believing his story. When the thought came into my head I reminded myself that he was right about us finding a dirt road, and so at least was truthful about something.

Ambrose called to me. I ran to meet him. He pointed at something on the ground. With what little light was left I saw something poking through the ground. I knelt down and studied it. It didn't look metal. I pulled it up. It was a plastic spoon.

"You know if I wasn't looking for it I probably would have passed right by it."

"What do we do now?"

I looked the spoon over. "We wait to be transported to a frozen wasteland."

I tapped the spoon against my leg and waited for things to change. I glanced around expecting things to warp and morph.

"None of the places changed without something happening." I thought aloud. "Usually I died, but occasionally I would go through a door, like we did earlier."

"Then let's look for a door." Ambrose proposed.

There wasn't a single sign of anything that could have a door. "I don't think that will work this time."

The light was just about gone. And that's when I thought of it.

"It has to be dark."

"What?"

"I remember when I first got here I was going through the water and it got dark. Next thing I know I am in a swamp. I think it has t get dark. That way the stagehands can change the sets."

"The who?"

"The stagehands. This is like one big play. Things change when the set is dark."

He pretended to understand me. "And so we wait for it to get dark?"

"That's all we have to do."

I took a seat on the ground and waited. The light rapidly weakened until we sat in absolute darkness. I held the spoon close. It was silent. Sometime when I wasn't paying attention the ground changed. It was harder, colder. I smiled. This was it. Light started again behind us. The new landscape was completely different. The ground grew colder every second and I jumped up.

We were no longer on a pleasant dirt road. We were now freezing in a new environment. The ground was light and covered with a thin layer of snow. To our left was a range of great mountains, all covered with snow at the top and ice down the sides. There was nothing but more flat land to our right.

Jackets replaced whatever we were wearing before. I zipped mine up and put the hood on. I helped Ambrose with his. Even with the jacket it was still cold. An icy wind chilled us. There was no place to get away from it. I was afraid a hat would blow all around in those conditions. This was beginning to look like a much harder task than simply finding a spoon on a nice dirt road. But there was no way around it. Ambrose and I lowered our heads against the wind and started on our way.

The path we had chosen was not marked in any way save for where we had been and the prints we left. It took us near the mountains where we hoped to avoid some of the gusts that took their toll on our bodies. The closer we got the harder the wind hit us. It was hard to keep our heads up long enough to see something as small as a hat. I told Ambrose to keep his face as covered as he could while I searched the ground and the air.

It was a desolate scene. If anyone was around they would see two poor souls trekking through horrid conditions on their way to a better spot. Why else would we be out in a place like that if we weren't expecting to get to a better place in the end? That idea of home kept us moving. Little Ambrose was chasing after a feeling, but it was enough to keep him going. I tried to think that I was continuing on to get back to my small apartment with my couch and my boring life. Not even my mind would accept that as a good reason to suffer freezing conditions. I tried to think up another. I wanted to see my family that I was unfortunate enough to not remember. My mind wouldn't take that either. And then I finally found something that I knew the whole time. I was there to get Ambrose back to that great feeling of his. My mind accepted that readily and I once again had the strength to continue.

This new path we were creating took us into a valley cut by a large glacier. I picked Ambrose up and put him onto my back where he linked his arms around my neck. I then lowered myself onto the glacier. The surface was uneven and I feared the thin dusting of snow blocked my view of a crack or crevice I could lose my balance on. My other fear was of slipping, but the farther I went the less I expected my feet to slide out from under me. I took steps carefully. Tiny ridges made it difficult to find good footing.

Ambrose yelled something into my ear, but a particularly strong gust carried his voice away. When the wind died down he tried again.

"Do you see that?"

I looked wildly around expecting to see a hairy snow beast bounding toward us. Thankfully that was not the case. There was something on the glacier in front of us though. It was a giant snowman, towering over us. It did not sway or give any movement to the wind. There did not appear to be enough snow for it to be created, and yet there it stood. Its arms were large tree branches and it had large round stones, possibly from a far away stream, as eyes. It even had a scarf that looked to be made from a long blanket. The only thing it was missing was a hat. This may have been a clue that the hat was nearby, and probably much larger than I was anticipating. It was nowhere to be seen, and so I continued to the other side of the valley which was still some distance away.

It took a long time to cross the glacier. After an hour I found solid ground and Ambrose got down from my back.

"It's going to be very hard to find this hat." I yelled through the wind. My teeth chattered as I talked.

"Unless it's easy to find." Ambrose said optimistically.

"We can only hope. But I want us to stay together this time."

"Don't worry, I won't go anywhere."

He stayed close and we began our search anew. The search did not get any easier. It seemed to be at first because the ground was much easier to cross than the glacier, but the wind still howled and the cold only seemed colder. I didn't know how far a hat could travel in that much wind but if it went far I knew we would never find it. I couldn't be killed by a bomb or a surge of water, but I didn't know if I could freeze to death. I had a sinking feeling that I was going to find out soon.
12. The Hat and the Nomad

We went up a small ridge. From the top I saw the most bizarre sight. My heart dropped. There was a forest down there. All the trees still had green leaves on them but were covered in ice. The strange part was that there were thousands of black top hats all over the place. They hung from trees and littered the ground. My fear of never finding the hat dropped from my mind.

Ambrose started down to the trees. "We should try them all on and see which one works."

That was as good an idea as any. We were once again invigorated with the plethora of hats. I suppose it was like finding thousands of keys to one door, but I tried not to think about that. Ambrose ran around the icy trees putting hats on and taking the ones that didn't work and making a special pile for them. The cold and wind didn't seem so bad after that. We both ran around quickly putting hats on. The ground was slick but I didn't care now. I slipped fell multiple times, but the idea of getting out of the cold only made me run faster.

Icicles hung long and low from most branches but they didn't impede us any. Either my body was too numb to feel when I crashed into them or I simply didn't feel them because of my invincibility. Ambrose was the same way. I knew he was like me, I only wished I knew what that meant.

"I'm going to go over here." Ambrose called.

"Alright, but don't go too far."

We went in opposite directions. The forest was large and the hats seemed to multiply. Some were too small and others were so large they could have fit several of the giant snowmen in them. I carried a few of the small ones with me so Ambrose could try them on. I looked for him but couldn't see him from where I was. We must have gotten away from each other without meaning to. I called to him.

"Hey . . ." He called back.

It was close. I saw a hat hit the ground. I moved to it slowly. That may have been it. By the time I got to it I could no longer distinguish which one it was. Several lay in the same little area. I tried them all on. The moment the last one hit my head the forest disappeared.

I was now standing on the same dirt road that we were on before. The fences were still there and the fields lay beyond. Ambrose stood nearby, nodding happily.

"We did it. We are almost there."

There was something off about him. He looked pale. I shrugged it off, assuming he was still cold. We were now wearing short sleeve shirts and blue jeans. The jackets were gone.

It was early morning. The first rays of light peaked over the horizon so we could see the road ahead. Ambrose scuffled along slowly. he definitely did not look well.

"Is everything alright?"

"I don't feel good." He groaned.

"What is it? Was it the cold?"

"I don't know."

I put him on my back again and carried him the rest of the way. The sun came up and it was turning into a nice warm day. The freezing conditions from before were just a memory. The morning passed quietly. I hoped that Ambrose would get better. He didn't complain about feeling any worse.

A man sat in the road as we entered the afternoon. He mumbled to himself and chuckled at something only he could hear. He stood up when he saw us coming.

"Hello there." He said, stepping into the middle of the road. "Headed to Amna?"

"And what is this Amna?"

That name was attached to a kingdom and an office building. I was curious to see what it was now.

"It is the great city up ahead. You'll never have as much fun as you will in this city. I can be your guide. I will show you all the hottest spots."

I walked past him. "No thank you."

He came up beside me. "Ah, but you don't want to miss all the excitement. What are you going to town for?"

"A hotel, and possibly a doctor."

He clapped his hands together. "I know of all the greatest hotels. There is only one in this city and it is the Amna Hotel. It is by far the best. And as for doctors, I have a list. I can sell you the list of the finest doctors from all the cities. I made it myself. I travel a lot you see. I go from city to city to show travelers the greatest times of their lives. That usually ends in a visit to the doctor."

"I would like the list but I haven't any money."

He looked put out. "Then how will you stay at the hotel?"

"I hadn't thought of that."

"Never mind the sad points, let's only talk of what you can do with my help. I can get you a job so you can pay for the hotel."

"I think I'll find my own way."

"Is there anything else I can help you with? I know about everything."

I waved him away and then realized he possibly had some information I could use.

"Wait. Do you know of a kingdom named Amna, or a giant cliff, or an adorable king?"

"That cliff thing sounds familiar. Is it overlooking a great sea of water?"

"Yes." I said. "Have you been there?"

"Sure have. I grew up right there. My home town is right next to the cliff. You had to go right through it to see the cliff."

"I don't remember anything before standing on the edge of the cliff."

"That happens." He said. "My grandmother is always cooking with this crazy spice she loves. If you're used to it you won't notice a thing. But if not it can make a person forget everything they're doing. Some of the neighbors try to get her to stop using it. Occasionally someone will just walk right off the edge. It's very sad."

"I don't know about all that." I said. "But I really wish I had just turned around to see what was there."

"Oh well. I guess I'll be seeing you. There might be more people coming up behind you."

I waved and kept walking. I should have asked him how far the city was. I didn't have to wait too long. Within five minutes I could see buildings. I misjudged how far they were. It took quite a while to get close. These buildings were long and gray. I suspected that they were small factories.

The road went between two and down a steep hill. At the bottom of this hill was a sprawling city on the edge of a wide sea. The sounds of bells and hundreds of conversations hit my ears.

"We're here." I said to Ambrose.

He whimpered something in return. I had to find a doctor. I made my way quickly down the slope to the city.

There were many tall apartment buildings. They didn't look too great and were all dingy. Balconies had blankets and towels drying while a webbing of clotheslines hung over back alleys. The roofs were all varying types of worn metal. Most were green but a few were bright and copper. A streetcar made its way slowly down the biggest street. Most people walked. A few small vehicles struggled through the pedestrian centric streets. The smell of industry and progress met my nose and I coughed.

I wandered through back alleys trying to find someone who would talk to me. I don't know how I looked but the citizens here turned their noses up at me when I passed. They could probably sense my foreignness. They all wore gray overalls and carried small lunch pails.

I tried several streets before coming out onto the main road. It was crowded. People bustled to their destinations. Seeing that it was near evening I assumed workers were heading home. The street was filled with little restaurants and shops. As the evening came the lights on their signs flickered on. They were bright, but I could read them better. I kept an eye out for a doctor's office.

A few blocks later I came to the Amna Hotel. I thought it was better to get settled and see if someone there knew where a doctor was. The building was a little run down but I didn't expect much better in that city. The lobby was dreary and brown. The front desk was small. A young woman sat behind it. My mouth dropped open. It was Ramonia.

"Can I help you?" She said. She didn't give the impression that she recognized me.

I wasn't in the mood to try and force her to remember me.

"Hello, I don't have any money but I really need to stay at this hotel."

"Name?" She said jadedly.

"I don't have a reservation."

"Name." She repeated.

"Lawrence Foster Brickem."

"Yes, here you are. You do have a reservation."

"I do?"

I took a look at her notebook and saw my name scribbled in it. It was the only name there.

"Yes." She said dully. "A man came by and made the reservation for you yesterday. He said you should be in sometime after trying on hats. How did that go?"

"Um, it was fine."

"Great." She said even more dully. "Here is your key. You are in room one. It is on the second floor. Have a good stay."

"Oh wait; do you know where any doctors are?"

"There is one near the water a few blocks over. He has a large sign. You should see it if you go straight to the water from here."

"Okay, thanks. I'm going to settle in the room and then I will go."

I took the key and went up the stairs. Room one was the first room on my right on the second floor. I opened the door and grimaced at the room. There was a bed and a small table in the little room. The bed was small and wasn't even made. A blanket, a sheet, and a pillow sat atop a very old and very tattered mattress. Large bugs scurried around the floors and the window was cracked and didn't have any curtains. I quickly made the bed and sat Ambrose down on it. He looked worse than ever. His face had turned a sickly gray and he was sweating terribly. I then went to the window and opened it as wide as I could, hoping the fresh air would get rid of the smell of mildew. I had a nice view of the water from there and some boats sailing across it. He would most likely be better off going with me, but I wanted to get done quickly and so left him there.

"I'm going to see if I can find you a doctor." I said peacefully.

"Don't leave me." He moaned.

Tears welled up in my eyes at the sad sight. "I'll be right back. You will be safe here."

I kissed him on the forehead and backed slowly out of the room. I ran down the stairs and out the door. The city was still bustling, but it was a little quieter now. I crossed the street with some other people, narrowly missing getting hit by a man in a three wheel automobile, and walked briskly toward the coast.

The sea breeze felt lovely on my face. I scanned the shops and saw a large sign for a doctor. The door was locked. I banged on the glass door. A man only a few years older than I was opened the door.

"I'm closed. Don't you see the hours?"

"I need you. There is a boy at the hotel that needs someone."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know."

"Let's have a look."

He came with me back to the hotel. I let him in the room and he went straight to work. He didn't bring any equipment with him. I stood nearby as he asked Ambrose some questions and felt his head. After a few minutes he took me out into the hall.

"I can't find anything wrong with him."

"Get your stethoscope. Bring some thermometers or something and see if he has a fever. We were in a really cold climate earlier."

He shook his head. "He doesn't have a temperature or anything."

"There are a lot of things that could be wrong with him that don't require a temperature."

"I'm sorry but I'm telling you I don't know what's wrong."

I paced the hallway. "Are there any more doctors?"

"I'm it here."

"You have to do something. He looks worse than ever."

"I can't do anything if there is nothing wrong with him."

"Look at him!" I shouted. "Can't you see he's not well?"

"I will come back in the morning and see how he looks."

The doctor went down the stairs and left the hotel. I silently opened the door and stepped into the room. Ambrose looked to me. He was ailing and I couldn't do anything.

"What did he say?" The boy asked.

"He's going to come back in the morning."

I knelt beside the bed and stroked his hair. He was the only person I met that was the same as me. He knew of a past before this world and traveled the same way I did. I had to get him better. He was my only friend.
13. The Streetcar and the Vendors

It was getting late. The masses gradually thinned outside. I sat in a chair near the window and watched Ambrose struggle to breath in the bed. He was getting worse all the time. I glanced out the window and examined the boats coming and going. They blew their whistles as they passed each other. I wished that my life made as much sense as theirs did.

I went over what the wizard told us. He said that we had to fall asleep and that we would end up in the place with the secrets and that he would meet us there. That was it. That solved our problems. All we had to do was go to sleep and be transported to the place we have been longing for. Then the wizard would come and make Ambrose better.

I went to the bed. "Ambrose, try to get to sleep. Remember what the wizard said. He said that all we have to do is go to sleep and we will be where the secrets are."

Ambrose barely nodded. "Alright." He croaked.

I wasn't tired yet. I decided that I would walk around town a little and try to use up some of my energy while Ambrose went to sleep. The next time I entered the room he should already be transported to the new place and I could use the bed.

I told Ambrose my plan and he smiled to show he was on board. I then left the room and went back to the lobby. Ramonia sat with her head in her hand, looking out the door envious of the passersby.

"I want to see the town a bit, any suggestions?"

"Why don't you go on the streetcar? It's free this time of night for the workers to get home faster. One goes by every ten minutes or so."

She looked about as unexcited about the streetcar as someone can get.

"I'll do that. Thank you, Ramonia."

She looked at me warily. "How do you know my name? I left my nametag at home."

"I've seen you before."

She looked even more disturbed now. I left before she could ask me any more questions. She probably thought I was some kind of creepy stalker.

The nightlife in Amna lifted my spirits slightly. I was tired of being alone and even more tired of strange characters being all around that the sight of regular people going about their business under the neon signs made me feel at ease. There were no wars or bombs going off. I didn't have to worry about making a statement for Sun People. It was just me and all the people I didn't know and didn't have to worry about.

A streetcar was coming up behind me. I didn't see a station or any place it would stop. I watched as someone ran up beside it and jumped on the back. I readied myself to do the same. It didn't take much. I hopped on when it passed. There were no seats open so I stood near the back and watched the city go by.

The streetcar rumbled down the main road slower than I could have walked. The restaurants were all full of the dinner crowd. Every block had a few people pushing carts filled with food. Everyone appeared to be getting along. Large groups roamed the streets greeting everyone they could. The city's small size and relative loneliness meant that everyone knew each other. Not many tourists came. My name _was_ the only one on the list at the hotel.

We came to a stop and half the riders got off. We weren't very far from the hotel so I stayed on. I found an empty seat in the front and took it. The streetcar started again. No one bothered to wait for it to go by. Everyone crossed or walked right in front of it. The conductor had to ring the bell every few seconds so people would get out of the way.

I sat back and enjoyed the rest of the trip. Some twenty minutes later we came to the edge of town. Everyone got off this time. I wanted to walk back to use up my energy and started for the hotel.

No one gave any notice to me. I no longer got the strange looks that I got when I first arrived there. I was one of them now. Not even the vendors who stood at their little shops or at their carts and called out their specials cared that I was there. None of them stopped me to shove a plate of food in my face like they did to others. Maybe I didn't look like I had money.

I couldn't remember the last time I ate anything. I didn't even pick up the sandwich Ramonia bought me at the Clock Maker. I never even got hungry. That must have been a part of the invincibility. It didn't make any sense that I could freeze but not feel anything when hit or even get hungry. I shrugged it off. Everything would be explained when we got to the new place in the morning.

Halfway back I chose to stop by one of the carts and see if they could give me something to eat. I wanted to know if I even could eat. The man at the cart was calling out what he had. It took a bit for him to notice that I was trying to get his attention.

"Would you like to buy a meat patty? These are the best in town."

"Can I just try a tiny bit?"

"A sample? Of course—yes, here please take one."

He cut a little off and handed it to me. It was very good.

"No thanks, I'll go somewhere else."

He looked put out. I now knew I could eat. I was going to try and remember to ask the wizard why I never got hungry. I crossed the street and went down to the coast. It was much calmer there. Couples strolled along together and a few lonely people sat on benches and watched the boats. Streetlights hung overhead. The water was dark and the boats could only be seen by the lights they had hanging off the fronts.

I lost track of where I was, the sound of the water and the nearby activity of the main street synced into one noise. It made me feel like everything was going to get better soon. I walked on with my head held high and my sights for better shores.

The doctor's sign came up and I knew I was at my destination. The hotel was dark when I got back to it. The lobby was empty. As I walked up the stairs I hoped to see an empty bed. I opened the door and the first thing I heard was shallow breathing. The room had no lights of its own. The only light available was from a bright sign across the street. It flashed on and off. Ambrose still sat in the bed, wide awake.

"Can't you get to sleep?"

He shook his head. "I was scared." He whispered barely audibly.

I pulled the chair from the window up to the bed.

"Close your eyes and try."

"I can't." He shivered. "I'm thirsty, Lawrence."

There was no sink. I told him I would be right back and went down to the lobby. Behind the desk was a small tank filled with water and a few paper cups. I filled one and took it back up.

Ambrose couldn't lift his head to drink it. I carefully opened his mouth and poured it down his throat.

"Thank . . . you."

His breathing grew wheezy. I sat in the chair trying to find something to say or do. I had no medical training that I could remember and could do little but hope for the best.

"Do you want to hear a story?" I asked.

He made a noise I thought was a 'yes'.

"Close your eyes while I'm talking and try to sleep."

He closed his eyes.

I already told him about everything that I had done. I needed to make up something. I thought for a bit but couldn't think up anything. I started talking in hopes that I could make it up as I went along.

"There was once an old woman who lived in a nice city like this one. Every day she would wake early and take the streetcar to the end of its route and then walk back by the water. She did this for years. She never had to work because she was left a huge amount of money from her parents. She also never got married. One day she saw an old man drowning in the water. She watched the man for a long time. A memory came to her of being a young woman and seeing this same man on a boat. He was a capable sailor and if he wasn't so old he would have easily swam to shore. The woman didn't call for help or even try to do anything. She simply stood and watched as the man sank beneath the surface. A few minutes later she leisurely went to the police and told them what she saw. They rushed to the scene and pulled his dead body from the bottom of the water. They asked why she didn't call for help or rush to get them sooner. She politely waited for them to finish and said, 'I can no longer yell and I never knew how to swim.' The police apologized and let her on her way.

"The woman went back to that spot and sat on a bench looking at the water every day for the rest of her life. One day someone came by and found her body on the bench. She was taken away and had a small funeral. Nobody really knew her and only the police showed up. They remembered the day she watched the man drown and wondered why she kept going back to that spot. A young couple came into the funeral home when the police officers were leaving. They looked too happy to be in that sort of place. 'I urge you to respect the deceased' one of the officers said. 'Sorry' the young woman said 'but I know this woman.' The officer stared at her strangely. 'You did? Do you know why she sat on that bench every day?' The young woman nodded, 'The man that was drowning was her love for a very long time but he never knew. She knew that if she tried to rescue him she might die and he live. So she let him drown knowing that she didn't have much time left herself. She hoped that they could finally be together after they both were dead.' The officer shrugged and walked away, not believing any of it. He looked back to get the young couples names but they were gone. He looked at the casket and saw a picture of the old woman from when she was young. She looked very familiar to him."

I finished my story and was happy to see Ambrose's eyes still closed.

"That was a good story." He said in a low voice.

"Did it keep you awake?"

"No, I just can't go to sleep. I've tried."

I sighed. "Well, just keep your eyes closed and you might drift off."

"Lawrence?"

"Yes."

"Do you think if I die I will go back home?"

The tears tried to come out again. "You are not going to die. You just have a little sickness. Once you get to sleep you will be someplace new and the wizard will fix you right up."

His eyes fluttered open and then closed again. "I can't sleep. I can't get sleepy."

I patted his shoulder. "Just please close your eyes."

"Thank you Lawrence for helping me."

"You're welcome, now think of your home and that feeling you like. It might help you sleep."

"What feeling?"

"The one you had at home. Remember you told me about it?"

"What's home?"

My own breathing grew shallow. "Don't you remember your family or home anymore?"

"I only remember you." He whispered.

The sickness was making him forget everything. I asked him about the city, the snowman, and even the wizard. He didn't remember anything but lying in bed.

"Come on now, Ambrose, you can't forget everything." I pleaded.

"Ambrose?"

"That's your name."

"I have a name?"

I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. They spilled out of my eyes, rolled down my cheeks, and dripped into my lap. I tried my hardest to stop crying but it was all too much for me.

He was quiet for a minute. His breathing returned to normal and I thought for a second that he was getting better. His eyes flew open and he stared at me oddly.

"Who are you?" He breathed.

I shook my head, trying not to believe what he said.

And then he closed his eyes. Something was happening. He grew very pale, too pale. His skin slowly turned see-through and he disappeared altogether. My hand reached carefully over to the bed. I could only feel air. He was gone.
14. The Book and the Reader

I couldn't bring myself to move for the longest time. The room was silent and the bright sign across the street annoyed me with its flashing letters. My hands felt the blanket, still warm. I stared blankly at the bed wishing that the sick boy would appear and jump off of it. But he really was gone. I grasped onto the last piece of hope I had. I told myself again and again that he fell asleep and was transported somewhere. He was waiting for me there.

I crawled onto the bed and brought the blanket up over my head. I tried to talk myself to sleep. Ambrose was right, it was hard. I wasn't tired. After everything I had been through I should have fallen straight to sleep when I hit the bed, but it wasn't going to happen. I tossed and turned and tried to think of anything I could to bring sleep. Nothing worked. My mind gravitated back to Ambrose. After an hour I was able to convince myself that he had transported away and that I had to go after him. I closed my eyes and told myself not to open them until I was ready to wake up.

Time passed slowly, but nothing happened. I wished for sleep. It wasn't so much a wish but a demand for sleep. There was a moment near morning when my mind cleared and I thought I might really sleep. And then I noticed that the blanket was gone and I was lying on something hard. Despite never getting to sleep I was transported somewhere new.

I opened my eyes and saw hard rock around me. I was in a cave. It was almost dark. The only light was from an object a good distance away. I looked throughout the small cave. No one else was there.

"Ambrose are you here?" I called. My voice echoed throughout the cave.

There was no answer.

The realization was starting to come to me. He vanished for good. I knew it. I don't know how I knew but I did. It was as though someone else had put the thought into my mind. I shook my head violently, trying to dispel that feeling. I was the only one with access to my mind, to even think of anything else was absurd.

I got up and moved toward the light. It was all I could do to stay sane. That light represented my way home and I needed to get there. I couldn't tell what it was yet, but I was glad to see it.

The light was extraordinarily bright. It was almost blinding as I neared it. Something was in the light. I shut my eyes and felt around. I hit something hard. I ran my fingers over it and picked it up. It was a book, a large book. The moment my hands touched it the light faded away.

There didn't look to be anything special about it. The cover was old and worn. There was no cover picture and no words. I leafed through it. The print was small. I stopped on a random page and began to read.

She repeated his name ten or twelve times. I stared transfixed at the words Amna International

What was I reading? That actually happened to me when I was at the Clock Maker with Ramonia. But what did it mean? I looked at another page and started reading.

It was like a play. The stage gets dark as the stagehands change out the sets and props. That's all this was to me now. I was in an overproduced play and couldn't get out. I just hoped the audience liked it.

I remembered thinking that. Was this book a collection of my thoughts? How would what I've already done help me?

There was a sudden breeze. I heard footsteps. I turned to see the wizard standing behind me.

"What do you think?" He said, gesturing to the book.

I shrugged. "I don't get it."

He smiled guiltily. "It's hard for most to understand at first."

"Can you explain it?" I asked. A mounting anger was slowly building up inside me.

"What's to explain? It's all there, in your hands."

"There is nothing here. This is just a book telling me what I've already done." I said through barred teeth.

"Keep looking and it may come to you."

I dropped the book. A thud echoed around the chamber. I wasn't in any mood to play around.

"I want you to tell me what it means." I said threateningly.

He didn't look fazed. "Like I said people come to the conclusion at different times. I only want you to know that the answer is right there on the ground."

"What answer?!" I shouted. "What does it mean? You haven't told me a thing."

"I can't tell you, you have to figure it out."

"I'm done figuring things out. What has it gotten me? Ambrose is gone and I am still no closer to figuring anything out."

The wizard nodded slowly. "And that's alright."

That was it. I was tired of him and I was tired of that world and everyone in it. A small fire lit itself near the wall. I don't know where it came from or how it got there but I didn't care. I picked up a stick that was nearby and lit the tip on fire. I put the stick near the book.

"I wouldn't do that." The wizard said.

"And why not? Please tell me something." I moved the stick closer to the book.

"That book is you." He said exasperatedly. "It would be a really bad idea to burn it."

"What do you mean it is me?"

"I'm saying that the book _is_ you. That is your book. That's what you are. How are you not getting this?"

"You are still not making any sense."

I wasn't in my right mind. And if I could have thought clearly I probably wouldn't have done what I did. I lowered the stick to the book and it immediately was engulfed in flames.

The wizard gave me one final look. "You don't get it. That _is_ you. You've just doomed yourself."

He disappeared.

I didn't care. I did what I had to do. That book was starting to feel like those eyes. I didn't have the opportunity to destroy them so I did the next best thing. I felt so much better as I watched the pages turn black and shrivel up. This was what I had been waiting for. If that book was me then maybe I could finally go home with it destroyed. I closed my eyes and waited to be someplace better.

The crackle of the fire ceased. I was someplace different. I felt that I might actually find myself sitting at home when I opened my eyes. When the time felt right I looked. I was not at home.

I was in a room. A small bed was against the wall and a television was on a table in front of it. A person was sitting in a chair near a window. It was white outside. Snow covered everything. It looked to be a parking lot. A cup of tea was on a small desk in front of the window. A blank piece of paper lay beside it.

"Hello." I said.

The person didn't respond. I had a feeling I was in a similar situation as I was last time I saw a person sitting by a window. Someone came in. Just like last time it was Ramonia.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"No." The person by the window said.

"You've been in here too long. Why don't we go and see a movie or something?"

"No thanks, Ramonia." The man in the chair said gloomily.

"You have to do something."

"I am."

Ramonia picked up the paper. "Yep, sure looks like hard work."

The man grabbed the paper away. "I'm getting to that part."

"Get there faster."

"I think I'm going to be there soon."

The man turned and smiled at Ramonia. When I saw his face I noticed the eyes again. I couldn't stand them. I wanted so badly to get that fiery stick and jab it into them. There was no way to avoid the feeling that those eyes knew every single thing about me. I hated it. But instead of running away to a battle field I chose to wait it out to see if I could get any clues as to what was happening.

I stared unwaveringly into the man's eyes. But then I noticed his other features and once again noted how familiar he seemed. His nose was similar, his mouth was similar, even his hair was similar. I tried to place it when an explosion of thought came into my head. I suddenly knew where I had seen this man before. I even knew his name: Lawrence Foster Brickem. I was staring at myself.

I couldn't handle it. Everything was just too much for me emotionally. I lowered myself halfway and then dropped to the floor, unable to take my eyes off of myself. How could it be? How was it even possible? What did it mean?

"Excuse me but do either of you hear me?" I said loudly.

There was no indication they heard me.

"Hello!" I screeched.

They didn't hear a thing. I was right there in the same room and they didn't even know it. My mind was filled to capacity with questions that I didn't have answers to and couldn't even ask. It was maddening.

I finally did what I should have done right from the start. I ran out the open door and through a hall and down the stairs to the front door. I couldn't touch it. It was as if I was the one who wasn't there. I closed my eyes and ran. My body never met a solid object. I continued running faster and faster away from my own eyes that I feared so much. I never wanted to stop. If I stopped then I would have to come to face whatever insecurities I still had. If I stopped I would have to be somewhere and I didn't want to be anywhere. I didn't want to exist. I wanted to burn away like that book and be erased from the world's memory. I wanted to fade away like Ambrose and be gone forever. Anything sounded better than finding the truth behind those eyes, the horrible truth that was bound to be attached to whatever was going on. I no longer wanted the wizard's help. I just wanted to be lost in a place where my own recollections couldn't find me.

I stopped running. I couldn't do it forever. I opened my eyes and looked around. There was nothing. I was in the darkness of the changing sets. My mind wouldn't stop shoving visions of myself front and center. I sat on nothing and tried to clear my mind of everything. I wasn't going to stop trying until everything was gone. What could I lose? I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. All I could lose was time and I didn't care about that.

One question persisted more than the rest. What was I? Maybe I wasn't anything. Maybe I was something new that hadn't been discovered yet. It didn't matter what the answer was. No one was there to tell it to me so it made no difference what it was.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. There was nothing left for me. I wanted it to end. The invincibility had to have a weak point. If I couldn't die physically then maybe I could empty my mind and die that way. It was a long shot but I was willing to try my best.

I think it was starting to work. I soon forgot about the clockmaker and the shadow. It continued. Before I knew it my mind was empty and there were no ideas left. The darkness closed in on my entire existence.
15. The Precipice and the Clockmaker

I stood. On a cliff. The remnants of white waves found their end on the jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. The hard cold breeze blew soft around me. Clouds hung low, occasionally wrapping themselves around the cliff. There were no other sounds apart from the waves and the breeze. My ears struggled to hear more, to find a more important noise, the aftermath of a massive shift or the beginning of something bigger.

I only became aware of my surroundings after a long moment of mental emptiness. The first thought was of past movement. I felt as though I had just stood up. As if I had been lying down before and was now up without any say in the matter. One thought led to another, each more complex than the last. Nothing stuck. They came and went, just as the waves and clouds before them. And I was alone again, on the cliff without a thought.

I knew what I had to do. I had to jump. I had to dive into the sea below and go somewhere. I didn't know where yet, that would come with time. I spread my arms wide and hopped off the precipice. The air felt great but I needn't get too comfortable. It ended of a sudden with a hard smack into the water. My face stung but I was alright. I swam down into the deep dark depths. The nothingness lasted for a long time. I needed air. My lungs ached for it.

Tops of trees became visible below. I swam faster. My chest was about to explode. The water suddenly vanished and I fell through the trees and hit the soft ground. I could finally breathe. I was in a swamp. I took a minute to catch my breath and then got up and started toward a point of light I saw in the distance. A wood path led me up to a small house. I knocked at the door. When it opened a man with a short gray beard appeared. He wore a long apron.

"Do I have a clock for you?" He asked.

"I don't know." I said.

"Well come on in."

I entered the little house. It looked more like a workshop. Clock parts were scattered all over the floor. Half finished clocks were on every table. The clockmaker led me around and showed me various types of clocks he had been working on.

"Excuse me," I said, "but I seem to be in a place unknown to me."

"Are you now?" He said brightly.

"Yes, can you tell me where this swamp is?"

"I can, but I don't think you will know the name even if I tell you. Now about these clocks. . ."

"Do I need one?"

"Of course you do. You have a big mission in front of you."

"I do?"

"Don't you?"

"I don't know. You see I don't remember much about where I came from. I think I just appeared on a cliff a little while ago."

The clockmaker rummaged around and took something off of a table. "I see what you are saying and I understand, but how about this clock? It's great right? It doesn't even need hands to tell time. Do you want to know how it works? Why wouldn't you? But I won't tell. It's a secret. Here, take it. It will go off when you need it to."

I took the clock from him. It looked to be a regular wood box. "How will I know when it needs to go off?"

"You won't. It just will when the time is right."

"And that is when?"

"No idea."

I was having trouble taking this clockmaker seriously. I asked him some questions about a road out of the swamp but he only wanted to tell me about his other clocks. Finally I thanked him for the little box and left his workshop. I didn't need to be getting involved with people that wouldn't help me get my memory back.

When I left the workshop I saw that the wood path led through the swamp. I continued on it hoping it would take me away to someplace where somebody could help me receive my memories.

Several hours later the swamp ended. The ground dried up and the trees lost their leaves. I was walking through the woods. As I did this certain things began coming back to me. My name was Brickem Ambrose Foster and I used to work in a large building. I had a desk job, though I don't remember exactly what I had to do. Somehow I went from that job to that cliff, but there were no connecting memories to tell me how it happened. I would have plenty of time to figure all of that out on my journey.

I saw a man standing in the way ahead. He wore a very regal looking outfit. I assumed he was royalty.

"May I ask you a favor?" The man asked. "I seem to be lost in my own woods. Can you help me find my castle?"

Help a royal person find their castle? Of course I would help. I agreed to help him and we started through the trees together. He told me all about how he was on his way from his father's castle and got lost in the woods. His horse got spooked by a shadow and took off without him. His name was Prince Heradus of Amna.

I told him what little I knew of my life and he told me that sometimes when people lose their memory, talking to royalty can help. It didn't sound like anything I had ever heard of before, but I gave it a whirl just to see if it worked. To my surprise it did. I discovered that I went to the cliff because there is a legend that diving off of that cliff will bring a person to a world where their deepest desire can come true, if they know where to look. I wasn't even sure what my deepest desire was, and so decided that a good dive off the cliff might make me remember it. It didn't work, but that was alright. I was on my way to find it. I couldn't wait to see what it was.

I also remembered that I was recently engaged to a girl named Ramonia. She didn't come with me because she thought the idea of finding one's deepest desire didn't exist. That was another reason I went, so that I could go back and show her that it was in fact real.

Heradus and I arrived at a very large and very ornate castle. It rose one thousand feet off the ground. It had towers and balconies and everything else any prince would want. He thanked me for helping him and invited me inside for lunch. I was starving and didn't even remember the last time I ate. I was also getting tired from all the walking. He suggested that I spend the night in one of the castle's seventeen bedrooms.

His cooks made the best steaks I ever had. After dinner Heradus took me around and showed me the castle. It was very beautiful but would take a month to describe every magnificent detail. He showed me to my room and I went to bed early. I was so tired.

I woke up early. Heradus saw me to a coach that was to take me to the coast where I would then find a magic ship that was made of water. The kingdom's sorcerer bewitched it to sail across the legendary sea of wood.

The coach was comfortable and I had a great view of the trees. It sure beat walking that far. By midday we came to the coast and I was amazed at the sight of a giant sailing ship made entirely out of water. It sparkled magnificently in the sun. The hull was filled with barrels. I didn't know what was in them, but I assumed something important. The captain looked a little scary but he assured me everything was going to be alright.

The ship took off across a wood ocean. It looked as if the entire sea was covered with a wood floor. It was so wonderful that I pulled a small journal from my coat and began to write about my adventures.

Day 2

On a Ship entirely made of water heading for my next destination. I don't know what this journey has in store, but so far it is well worth my time and energy to see this magnificent Desire World in person. All the stories are true, it does dazzle and amaze with sights and sounds unlike our own world. I already have a souvenir of my time. A clockmaker made me a strange little cuckoo clock that will apparently go off at an unspecified time. I can't wait to show Ramonia what I have uncovered.

I put my journal away. The captain wasted time by telling me all about his travels. I had never heard of a single place he mentioned but it was nice to hear about them anyway.

Our good times ended quickly. We heard a rumbling underneath the boat and a giant fish monster with many little fins all over its body shot out of the wood and went through the ship, taking several barrels with it. There was no crew; we had to defend the barrels ourselves. The captain threw me a harpoon made of water and we took defensive stances, waiting for the beast to strike again.

We listened intently to the rumblings under the wood, trying to determine where its next attack would come from. It tore through the wood right under me. I threw my harpoon but it missed. The creature swam away with more barrels. I looked for something else to use. There were several water spears nearby. I grabbed two and waited for it to come again.

The monster came into the ship from beneath it. There was nothing we could do. It grabbed the rest of the barrels with its teeth and escaped before we could even throw our weapons. Once it got all the barrels the wood grew calm again.

The captain went to the edge and started yelling at the thing. The wood began to rumble. I walked toward the captain, telling him politely to stop. Before I could get three steps the beast jumped up, grabbed the captain, and returned to the wood with him. I kept to the center of the ship; if it came up there I might have more time to run. But it did not come again. I was safe.

I took the wheel and sailed the ship in the same general direction we were already going. I felt for the captain, but he really shouldn't have been shouting at a giant fish monster.

As evening came I could see land. It had a black beach and many mountains. I didn't know how to stop the ship and it smashed into the sand. I went tumbling off and landed with a hard thump on the edge of the wood. I picked myself up and limped onto the sand. I didn't make it very far before having to sit down. My back ached terribly. I lay in the sand and looked up at the mountains a ways away.

More memories came back to me. I now remembered the guide up to the cliff told me that temporary memory loss could happen. I also remembered that my life was very boring. I hated that desk job and would have given anything to get out of it. That was the biggest reason for coming to this place. Anything that could get me away from work for a few weeks was alright with me. I promised myself that I would enjoy myself immensely and have a journey that I could tell people about for years to come. So far I had accomplished that much.
16. The Secrets and the Sorcerer

I could see tents in the distance. They were huddled up against one of the biggest mountains. I started toward them. The people there might have an idea as to where I could find my deepest desire.

A couple guards marched back and forth outside the largest tent. I asked for admittance and they let me inside. It was filled with cots while lanterns hung from the ceiling. A group huddled in the corner. They surrounded a large man with a crown. I went right up to him.

"Hello sir." I said pleasantly.

"Who are you?" The king asked.

"I am a traveler looking for my deepest desire; do you happen to know where people find those?"

"It depends on the person." He said. "But I do know that a lot of the travelers who come through here go into a tunnel up one of the mountains. They don't come back so maybe they find it in there."

That didn't sound like the safest place. "Do you know of anywhere else?"

He scratched his head and thought. "You can go see the sorcerer, maybe he knows."

"Where can I find this sorcerer?"

"I will show you myself."

The king jumped up from the cot and escorted me out of the tent. We went passed the other tents to a small road between two mountains. He told me to follow that road until I came to a little shack. The sorcerer would be there. I thanked him and started on my way.

I admired the mountains as I passed between them. I wondered if any were volcanoes. I wasn't sure how to tell. The road curved and I saw a little shack. I ambled up and knocked.

An old man answered the door. He wore yellow robes. He didn't have a beard like I imagined a sorcerer should. He was clean shaven.

"Yes?" He said wearily.

"Hello good sir. My name is Martin Ambrose Foster and I am looking for a sorcerer who might tell me where my deepest desire is."

He cocked his head to the side and looked intently at me. I smiled nervously. He was staring at me as if he might know me from somewhere, but I never once saw him.

"So you seek a desire?" He said, still gawking at me.

"That is correct. Do you have any?"

"Any desires?" He asked with a wry smile.

"Yes, do you have any?"

"I'm sorry; I'm fresh out of your desires."

"Oh, that's too bad. Is there another sorcerer that might have some?"

He looked pityingly at me. "Oh, Lawrence, I warned you about that book"

"Excuse me? My name is Martin."

"Of course it is. But I can't say where your desires are. You are going to have to find them on your own. If you want I can take you somewhere so you might find it sooner."

"That sounds lovely."

I took his hand, he said a few words under his breath and we disappeared from his little home. We reappeared a moment later in a city. It was evening. We stood on the sidewalk. People walked all around. A streetcar came up in front of us and then continued down the street. Vendors pushed carts down the sidewalk and I quickly got out of the way of one rolling up fast.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"I think your deepest desire is in this city." The sorcerer said.

"Are you sure?"

"That's what I believe. Now why don't you come with me and I will show you something."

"But I am in need of finding my desire."

I tried to walk away but he stopped me.

"I really think you should see this. By the way, what is your name again?"

"My name is Alexander Martin Ambrose."

"Yes, that's right you told me." He said with a mysterious smile.

I didn't feel quite right with this fellow. He seemed a little loopy. But he was a sorcerer and knew this place better than I did.

"I'll follow you." I said.

He wandered away and I followed. The city was very nice. The people all looked friendly. I was waved at, greeted, and a few people even shook my hand. It really was a great day. He might have been right after all. That city was so friendly I wouldn't be surprised if it housed many people's desires.

My mood couldn't be brought down no matter how hard anybody tried, and thankfully no one out there did. I don't think it mattered where I went I would be happy. This whole experience was so much livelier than my everyday life. Whether or not I found my desire in the end I promised myself that I would try to dive off the cliff again just to go back through this wonderful world.

The sorcerer went into a shabby looking hotel. It was a dreary looking place. He went up to the girl at the desk and started talking.

"Excuse me, miss, but what is your name?"

"Abigail."

She was about ten years older than me and had long black hair.

"Oh, I see." The sorcerer said. "Alexander, does this girl look familiar?"

I looked her over. "No, and my name is not Alexander, its Granville."

"Right, whatever, come with me then."

I followed him up the stairs and into one of the rooms.

"You can't go in here." I said. "You don't have a reservation."

"Never mind all that. Do you recognize this room?"

It was a horrible little hotel room. The window had a crack and the mattress was worn and ragged. But despite that I still liked it for some reason.

"I've never been to this city before. I only just arrived in this world the other day."

The sorcerer paced the small room, mumbling to himself. I went to the window and could see the water. A bright sign across the street kept flashing. It provided all the light the room had. I took the only chair and set it beside the window and sat down.

"It is shaping up to be a nice night." I said to the sorcerer, I don't think he heard me.

"There has to be a way to get you to remember." He whispered.

"Remember what?"

"Who you are."

"I told you I'm Percivus. I don't think I would forget who I am."

He snapped his fingers. "That's it. Tell me about yourself."

"Alright." I said brightly. "My name is Mashek and I am a great knight from the kingdom of Amna. I jumped off a cliff to find my deepest desire. I hear it is around here somewhere."

He nodded. "Good. Now tell me again."

"Tell you what?"

"Where you came from and your story."

"My name is Levi and I work at a department store. I jumped off a cliff into this world to find my deepest desire."

"And one more time." The sorcerer said happily.

"Tell you again? I've told you twice."

"I know, I know, but one more time for fun."

"Are we playing a game?" I asked apprehensively.

"Yes."

"Great, I love games. Okay. My name is Zordaturey and I am from a far away galaxy. I jumped off a cliff to find my deepest desire."

The sorcerer clapped loudly. "That's it. Don't you hear yourself?"

"What are you trying to get at?"

"Your name and back story keep changing. You are quite a character. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before."

"Like what? Tell me what's going on."

He paced the room again and kept muttering about how interesting this was. I definitely did not see anything interesting about the way he was acting. He must have had memory problems. He couldn't remember my name three seconds after I told it to him. I was starting to wonder if I could leave without him noticing so I could find my deepest desire.

"You." He said, pointing at me. "You are the most interesting character I've ever met."

"And you are the most interesting character I've ever met."

"Come with me somewhere else. I am certain I can get you to remember."

"I've been trying to tell you that I know perfectly well who I am and where I come from."

"You won't say that for long. Here, come on."

I grabbed his hand. He muttered a more words and we disappeared from the room. We reappeared in a very cold place. I was wearing a large jacket and I immediately zipped it up and put my hood on. The sorcerer did not have a jacket and I felt like offering mine. At least I would have if I wasn't so cold.

We were standing on a large glacier. It was rough and uneven. The wind blew around wildly. A giant snowman stood nearby. It was huge and had a scarf and tree branches for arms. It was a very well made snowman.

"Do you remember this place?" The sorcerer asked.

"No." I said with chattering teeth. "Should I?"

"Let me tell you a story about a man I once knew."

"Can't you tell me someplace warmer?"

"I could but I would rather tell you here. I once knew a man named Lawrence Foster Brickem. He was a good man who was just trying to find out where he was and who he was. He didn't know that he wasn't like regular people. The whole time he went around this world he thought he could find a way home. What he didn't realize was that he _was_ home in a sense. Like anywhere there was a better destination ahead, but he did not know that. I tried to play along with his fantasies. I pretended to be a horrible wizard that turned a prince into a shadow. When that part of the story ended I disappeared. I watched him carefully and then decided to appear again. That time I told him that he could control this world. I hoped he would control it fully but he still could not. And finally I showed him a book. The book was the most important thing in the whole world because it _was_ him. He didn't believe me. He didn't put two and two together. He grew angry and burned the book and all of the memories he stored away up to that point. When he appeared again he was a new person. He had to start from scratch and this time he was completely controlled by his creator, he had no say in anything. Do you see where I am going with this?"

I could no longer feel the cold. Something in that story froze me in a different way. There was some part of me that was reaching up to the surface. A part I hadn't heard from in a while. I tried to fight it. This older part came with emotions I didn't want to feel. I suppressed it. I fought it off as long as I could but it won out. All the negative emotions bubbled to the top. I felt scared and alone and worst of all saddened by the loss of a friend. I fell to the ground, everything trying to rush my mind at once. I fought harder. Memories were not as strong as emotions. I kept them from coming. I stood up and faced the sorcerer.

"I don't know what you just did, but I am going to try and pretend it did not happen."

"No, let it out. Become Lawrence Foster Brickem again. Control your own destiny once again."

"I would appreciate it if you would help me find my desire now." I said dangerously.

"You can't hold it back forever. You can only continue once you return to your real self. I know; I've been through this before myself. We are the same. We both came from the same place and are hoping to go to the same destination. Ambrose was the same way. Do you remember him, Lawrence?"

"I don't know an Ambrose."

He took me by the shoulder and we disappeared from the frozen landscape. We appeared in a small room. A man was sitting by a desk. I could not see his face. He was typing on a computer.

"Where are we now, sorcerer?" I asked angrily.

"Why don't you look at this man? And hurry, I can only be here for a few seconds."

I went around the desk until I could see the face of the man sitting in front of the computer. He looked very familiar. And then I saw his eyes. Everything rushed back to the surface. I had no control over it. I put my hands on my head and fell to the floor.
17. The Power to Control and the Villain

I remembered everything starting with jumping off the cliff the first time. I remembered all the adventures and all the people. And I remembered everything the wizard said to me about how we were the same. I tried to piece it together. He mentioned that we were different than other people. We were going somewhere, to a far away destination. I needed to know more.

I sat up. The wizard stood before me. We were in the darkness. I could see him and he could see me but there were no light sources. It didn't matter anymore. I knew I wasn't on Earth, at least not the Earth that I once knew.

He looked down at me sadly. I was a mess inside and out. My head hurt from having all those memories thrown back in at once. I was doing all I could to not scream and start crying from the shear intensity of it all. I looked up to him. I needed what he knew.

"Can you tell me the rest now?" I said. My voice was rough.

"I'm sorry, Lawrence, but I can't. I only told you that much because I needed the real you back, the real you that you tried to destroy when you burned that book. You have to uncover the rest yourself. It won't be hard. You are almost there."

"What do I do?"

"You now know that you can control this world. Control it and bring the answers to you. If you can't do that then you can wait for them to find you. I think you are almost finished with this journey. The way will reveal itself, just be patient."

"Where is Ambrose?" I asked.

"He is gone."

I already knew that he was gone but it was different to actually hear it. The small bit of hope that told me he could still be alive vanished. I was supposed to help him find his family and I failed. He would never again feel that wonderful feeling he talked about. It was now up to me to try my best to survive. The wizard did a lot to help me. If it wasn't for him I probably would have faded away as well.

"Why did he die?"

The wizard thought before he answered. "He was forgotten about."

I looked at the wizard to explain. He smiled, nodded, and then disappeared. I was alone again. I hated being alone. It gave me too much time to think about everything. All I wanted to do was finish whatever this was and be done with it forever. I wanted to see that destination the wizard talked about. I wanted to know if it was real.

I stood up and closed my eyes. This was it, time to find out if I really did control this world. My mind produced a picture of where I would like to go. I imagined a road going up a hill. On either side was a fence. Beyond the fences were fields. A few trees could be seen in the distance.

My eyes opened and I was standing on the road that Ambrose and I walked not too long ago. I felt the nice warm breeze and listened to the trees rustling quietly. It was so serene there. I leaned against a fence post and looked around at everything that came out of my mind.

I really was in control. But what did that mean? What else could I do? I closed my eyes again. This time I thought about a canoe on the sun. I pictured it in my mind just the way I saw it last time. There was whitish water with some yellow in it. Up above would be a yellow haze. I opened my eyes and found myself gently rocking in a canoe by myself on the sun. I put my head back and let the boat rock me. It felt so nice that I didn't want to go anywhere else. But it was time to see how much I could really control.

I went back to the road and thought of a little tree right near the fence. One appeared right there. It would be nice to have a little dog. I flipped around at the sound of barking to see a little dog. This was unbelievable. But I could think up more than dogs and trees.

I scanned the fields. As I did large stones popped out of the ground. They were then covered with ivy and then moss and then ice. One shattered into a million pieces. A wave crashed down in the distance. The wind blew to incredible speeds and then died down in an instant. Animals of all sizes ran through the fields. The road I was on turned to gold and I started running. Fireworks went off in the sky and thousands of people were in bleachers cheering me on to the finish. They disappeared and were replaced by Tangerines with arms holding Axes. Buildings rose up to the sky and planets came down to meet them. The sky was streaked by shooting stars that came in every color the universe had to offer.

I got tired of running and blasted off the ground into the air. I zoomed by the buildings and the planets. I raced the shooting stars through the sky, beating all of them. Water and rock came up and swirled around me as I flew higher and higher with no problem. With a great burst of power I shot the swirling rocks and water higher into the air and blasted it all away. I landed and was back on the road with the fences and the fields.

Next I decided to try something different. I thought up a little apartment with a couch. I opened my eyes and discovered the small apartment I thought I lived in. Except now I knew it was never mine. I don't know where the memory came from or why it was there, but it wasn't mine. Nothing existed for me before the cliff. My life started there.

I sat on the couch and tried to think up how to get the answers I wanted, or my deepest desire as the other me called it. The first thing I had to do was find out what was in my way. I tried to think up a way for the world to show me what it was that hindered my progress.

The small apartment was gone. An image was coming toward me in the darkness. It took shape around me and I was in a barren landscape. I stood on brown stone and there was nothing else in any direction. There had to be something here. I didn't see anything in my way.

A person appeared. It was Heradus in his green royal clothing. I stared at him, unsure what to make of his sudden appearance. He came up to me.

"I am the one who stands in your way." He said threateningly.

I wasn't sure what to do. I asked my mind to show me what was in my way and he appeared. But what did I have to do? Fight him? He didn't look like the Heradus that I knew. His eyes stared blankly at me. He was expressionless.

"Hello." I said awkwardly. "Why are you here?"

"You need to defeat me." He said.

That took care of that question.

"What will happen if I do?" I asked.

"You will find out the answer you want."

That settled it. I somehow had to defeat him. I thought back to how he floated away after I helped him. I used that to build my anger up against him. If he could have helped me I wouldn't have had to go through everything else. This was it. I readied myself and then ran at him. I tried to punch him but he dodged and ran away. I chased after him.

Trees sprouted up and grew tall. We were running through the woods toward his castle. I had to stop him before he got there. I imagined a wall and one appeared right in front of him. He ran right into it. I grabbed his arm and we hurtled through space and landed right outside the sun palace on its bright walk. We wrestled on the ground and I got the upper hand. I pushed his head down towards the white water that I hoped was as hot as it looked. He pushed me away and got up. I dove and caught his ankle before he could get away again. The world around us blurred away and refocused in the swamp. I could see the clockmaker's house in the distance.

We punched and kicked at each other but we weren't getting tired or weaker. I was once again physically immortal. I don't know what happened when things started over but I was glad to be invincible again.

I felt that my only advantage over him was that I could control where we went. I had to find a way to use that against him. After the swamp we materialized in dark clouds. He fell straight down and I flew near him, firing lightning his way. A few made contact and I saw that he was finally feeling the pain.

And then we were in a tunnel underground riding little carts on a rail. I made the rails go up over hills and run down a steep slope next to each other. We grabbed at one another and punched every chance we got. Fireworks exploded in the sky to make it more interesting. The fans were back in bleachers beside the tracks. The carts hurtled lower into the Earth at incredible speeds. This was going to end it, I knew it. I was going to make sure of it.

Both our carts caught on fire and we quickened our assault on each other. I grabbed his head and pulled him into my cart. The thing was engulfed in flames. I couldn't feel it but he caught on fire and screamed. I pushed him down into it. It was almost over. But then the cart flew off the track into a ravine. We fell out. He was burned but could still fight. We fell into emptiness. There was probably nothing below us. We would fall forever.

I punched and clawed and drove him into the side of the ravine. He hollered but I wasn't going to give up. I could feel the secrets in my grasp. I had to finish him off. But then I saw his face. He couldn't take it anymore, he was almost dead. I thought of Ambrose.

I remembered the nice meadow I only saw for a second before being impaled and we hit the soft ground there. I assessed the damage. Heradus was still alive, but barely.

The crowds were gone and the fireworks had ended. It was just me and him in the calm meadow. He groaned and flopped around. I went too far. I was supposed to defeat him not kill him.

All of a sudden my head hurt tremendously. I fell to my knees. The meadow disappeared and I was on the moon. I could see the Earth in the sky. And then that vanished and I was on a train. And then I was in a city, a bizarre, a coastline, a mountaintop, and a factory. Everything went by so fast I barely had a chance to even figure out where I was. It went faster and faster until I couldn't see anything but flashes of light. I closed my eyes and screamed. I had no control anymore. I felt the rush and hoped it would end. But it didn't, not for a while. The flashes continued until it was all too fast to comprehend and I only saw a solid light through my eyelids. I was moving faster than I ever had before.

And then it stopped. It was a sudden halt of motion that caused my head to swim and my body to tense. I was standing on a cliff. Waves hit the rocks hundreds of feet below. Clouds wrapped themselves around me and floated away again. This was _the_ cliff. This is where it all started. I took a deep breath and turned around.
18. The Cabins and the Cookbook

There wasn't a castle as Heradus had said and there wasn't a palace as Ramonia said on the sun. Instead there were endless rows of cabins. People milled about through the streets. It wasn't at all what I expected, not that I knew what to expect. A man saw me and jogged over. He wore a suit, a top hat, and an overcoat like he was coming back from a nice dinner in 1900.

"You made it." He said cheerfully.

"Made it where?"

"Yes, this is the interesting part for you. The part where you find out the truth about what you've been up to all this time. Come with me and I'll tell you what you need to know."

He put his hand around my shoulder and took me up the first street. Each cabin had been made up a little differently. One had green shutters on the window and one had a rose bush in a pot out front. Some were two stories but most were only one. There were all sorts of people in doorways or walking around or hanging out of windows talking to people in other cabins. Everyone seemed to know each other and get along. The outfits they wore were all different. One person wore a suit of armor and another wore a lab coat. There was no way to categorize anybody.

We walked past all the friendly commotion until we were in a much quieter area. The cabins out there weren't made up and nobody was talking to anyone else. The few people I did see looked worn and tired. They trudged through the street and glared at me as I passed. I stayed close to the man I was following.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"Wilmer."

"My name's Lawrence."

We kept on and left the sad and lonely part of the street. The next part wasn't any better. Some of these cabins didn't have doors or roofs and some were falling apart. The people here didn't bother looking at us. They were so far gone that I think some of them weren't even alive anymore. I tried not to look at them.

Finally we came to the end of the row. A few new cabins were out this far. Their wood was a lighter shade than that of the others. Wilmer went up to the last cabin in the row and led me inside.

"This will be yours." He said merrily.

"Why is it way out here?"

"These are the new ones. Don't worry, if all goes well you will be in the front in no time."

The cabin was scarcely decorated. There was a small hard looking bed and a tiny wood desk and chair. There was no kitchen or bathroom.

"Where do we eat?" I asked.

He laughed. "We don't eat. Haven't you noticed that you don't eat?"

"I did at one point."

He thought this over. "Strange. Why don't you tell me everything that's happened to you so far and I will try to fill in the missing pieces. It's better if I have an idea as to what you've been through."

I was anxious to find out what he meant and so I started from the beginning and told my entire story. I began with standing on the cliff the first time and ended with arriving on the cliff the last time. I went into great detail about everything in between. I told him about how I didn't need to breath underwater and how the water disappeared. I told him all of my conversations word for word, starting with that of the clockmaker. I even told him about the wizard and Ambrose and how they were similar to me but I didn't know how yet. He looked sad when I told him about what happened to Ambrose. I continued and hoped he would fill me in on what actually happened. Overall he seemed very interested in my story. When I finished he even clapped.

"That was great. You did more than most ever do. You make a good team. I see you being in the front in no time. You will probably get out of here quickly too. I usually have a good eye for that type of thing. On who gets on first. And I think you will."

I tried to interject several times while he talked but he kept on going.

"That sounds great," I finally said, "but I don't know what you are talking about. I think it would be best if you filled me in first."

He looked at me like someone looks at a friend before they take them on a favorite ride at an amusement park. "Are you ready?"

"I think so." I answered nervously.

"To start with I must say that you are quite a character."

I remembered the wizard saying that same thing to me.

He continued. "What I mean to say is you _are_ a character. When you started out on that cliff you were just coming into existence as an idea. A man named Lawrence Foster Brickem thought you up. He gave you his face and his name and set you on your way. You are the embodiment of a story. All of us are. We are all stories that originated in people's minds and are now in a limbo of sorts. Our stories have been completed one way or another and we wait until the world is ready for us. We have it the best. We are already written. It is much harder for an idea to be forgotten about once it is written. It can happen, but it is rare. Your friend Ambrose was an idea as well. The author took his story and merged it with yours. But it did not work out and Ambrose the idea was no longer needed. He was taken out of the story and forgotten about, hence why he faded away. That is the only way for an idea to truly die; it has to be forgotten about."

I couldn't wrap my mind around any of this. How could I be an idea? It didn't make sense. Ideas can't walk around. They are ideas! They exist in someone's mind. They are brainwaves or something, not people.

"I—um—I don't get it."

He chuckled softly. "I didn't get it at first either. Nobody goes through life thinking that they are an idea. It always comes as a shock. I have to say that you are taking it well. The last person I told jumped off the cliff again. They still haven't come back."

"So the cliff is a starting point?"

"Yes, the cliff is where all ideas start. They dive off and enter a person's mind. These are story ideas of course. Other ideas start somewhere else."

"And so I'm an idea." I said. Saying it out loud made it official somehow. I could work with it now. I could wrap my mind around it and start to make sense of it.

"And what an interesting adventure you have had." He said. "Every idea's world starts off strange and shaky as the writer determines what is to happen. It then takes shape and a story line comes out. Your story line is just as strange as you are. I'll try to tell you what was going on. It seems that the first place you ended up was a swamp with a clockmaker. He gave you a clock that was supposed to have some importance but it doesn't sound like the writer knew the importance himself. He never brought it up again. After that you went on a few adventures, the writer was getting a feel for the story and the possible characters. I can't say exactly what the story was about just from what you said. Only you know the story completely. If you think hard you can remember exactly what ended up on the pages he wrote. And now let's talk about Ramonia. She is an interesting one. I believe that she is someone from the writer's life and he decided to put her in the story. But he could never figure out where he wanted her. At first she was a princess, and then a coworker in an office building. By the way, that one sounded like the writer was using his real life. And then she appeared on the sun with you and even in a hotel. He clearly was trying to find a place for her. That part of your journey, where everything was changing and nothing seemed to make sense; that was the idea stage. You had no control and the writer was doing what he wanted with you. After that you found out that you had some control and you made it so you went to the places you wanted to go. When you picked up that spoon and that hat you were controlling the destination without knowing it. You knew what it was supposed to do and so controlled where you went. That's where the wizard comes in."

"He said he was like me."

"He is an idea, but a different kind. Almost every idea that comes into a person's head has a point of inspiration. Maybe you hear something or see something that gives you an idea. The wizard represents the original inspiration to your story. The real Lawrence Foster Brickem heard or saw something in his life and the idea for you came into his head. The wizard could have been a television show or a book the writer was reading. Either way he ended up with you, the younger idea. To give you an example imagine that you are reading a great book about a girl who goes to live with her grandmother for the summer while a parent is sick. And then you come up with an idea for a story where a boy lives with his grandfather. Your idea could be wildly different from the story of the girl with her grandmother, but that still formed some sort of base. The girl, or the embodiment of her story, would appear in the boy's life somehow. The writer would never know. That is a crude example but I think it works."

"I think I get it, but what about me having control?"

"Alright think of it this way. We, ideas and characters I mean, live in a highly abstract world. If the writer feels something then something happens to the character. For you it looks like the writer had a death in the family and you saw a glimpse into his conscious mind. Remember when you were in the hospital and saw him for the first time? After feeling sad he grew angry and he took it out on you, someone he could control and you died many times. Shortly after you took control with the wizard's help. That's when you became a character. The difference that we here see between the two is drastic. An idea is something the writer thinks up. The character is what the writer finally writes down. That's when you get the control. You were shown your book by the wizard. That book was the symbol of the connection between you and the writer. Just as the pages he wrote acted as the symbol of you in his world. When you burned it you burned the story and the real Lawrence suddenly decided that he should start over with you. That's why you appeared on the cliff again and didn't remember anything. The version of the story you went through then was more polished than before. The wizard helped you see that the character you became before burning the story was a much better one and so you remembered your past and the writer decided to return to that version of you. It's very complicated, I know. You two, you and the writer, are a team without either of you knowing it. He can control you and you can control the direction you go in."

My head was spinning. I took a seat on the bed and tried to wade through the vast amounts of new information.

"There were eyes. I saw eyes and they knew everything about me. But they were just eyes."

"That was the writer looking in on you. He only did it twice, both times when you were in distress. The first time he saved you on the boat. You felt a piece of his conscious mind. That sadness you felt was probably related to the death that came shortly after. The second time was on top of that building when you were about to jump off. Right after that you saw him in person. I've never heard of anything like it but it must be some type of special bond you had. You must be a great gift to him."

"I don't know. I don't think I know anything anymore, not that I ever knew anything. This is all just too much."

Wilmer nodded in understanding. "I'll leave you for today. I'll be back in the morning to see how you are doing."

"Wait!" I said. "Where is the destination? Where am I trying to go?"

Wilmer smiled broadly. "Everyone here is trying to get to the same place. We all want to be published. Once a story is published it goes to a new place, a paradise for stories. I can't tell you about that because I've never been. Once a story gets there it doesn't come back."

"What kind of story are you?"

He took a seat at the little desk. "My writer was a cook. She wrote a very interesting little cookbook and I was the narrator. I explained the recipes and told jokes. The world I lived in was very interesting and had food everywhere. Anyway she wrote it all up but couldn't get it published. I assume she died some time ago and the manuscript is sitting in an attic somewhere. One day I will either be discovered and published or thrown out. I daresay I'm a bit old fashioned. I don't know if anyone would want to read me now. So I take responsibility in telling the new stories what's going on. That's what you are now. When you appeared here you left being just a character and are now the embodiment of your story, waiting to get published."

"I know you will make it." I said.

"Thank you." He stood up. "Is that it for today? Any other burning questions?"

I thought for a bit and came up with one more question. "Right before I got here I could no longer control what was happening. I flashed through places really fast. Do you know what that was?"

"Time doesn't go the same way for us. One of your little adventures might have taken months to think up but only felt like a day or two for you. Uncontrollable flashing most likely means that your story was passed around. Many people thought up places for you to go and things for you to do. Those all flashed before your eyes as you entered other people's minds. Finally the author got you back and made the final decisions. He wrote you, and now you are here as a manuscript."

"Alright, thank you. I think I have enough to digest for one day."

"In that case I will be back tomorrow to check on you. Remember Lawrence, you are with friends here. We are all simply translations of our creator's inspirations."

He bowed and left me alone in my little cabin. I fell back onto my bed and tried to go through everything piece by piece. I was now a finished story. I didn't feel so bad anymore. I finally knew my purpose and had a final destination in mind. I hoped the real Lawrence wouldn't forget about me.
19. The Destination and the People Who Live There

Evening came before too long. I sauntered outside and took a look around for the first time while knowing what was going on. Several new cabins had already been put up since I arrived. Wilmer went around explaining things to the new stories just like he did for me.

I walked down the row, looking around at my new world. I passed the sad and lonely stories that had probably been there a while. Before long I was with the happy stories who knew they were about to leave. There were so many different types. Some weren't even human. A few monster looking things were around as well as a talking rock. The humans had every possible look you could imagine. Some were fighters from history or made up worlds, there were astronauts, athletes, and regular people.

I found out a great deal about other stories and how their worlds looked. Most were much more realistic than mine. I told bits and pieces of my story to anyone who would listen. Everyone was surprised by how convoluted it was. I enjoyed listening to their tales. I was in a world with people like me, and I loved every minute of it. The whole idea that I was just a story made up in someone's mind no longer bothered me. We were all the same there and it didn't bother them. I learned how to view my situation as good. If all went well I was going to end up in a paradise for my kind of people, and that sounded all right with me.

That night I went back to my cabin and tried to sleep. I wondered if I even could. To my surprise I dozed off not long after getting in bed. I had a dream. I think it was of my story and I was able to see what the real Lawrence put into the final manuscript. I must have had a big impact on him, he wrote closely to what actually happened to me.

It started with me appearing on a cliff and diving off, not having any memories. I swam down and appeared in a swamp where a clockmaker gave me a faceless clock. I then left and remembered a lot about my past. I worked in a large building with my new wife Ramonia. She appeared throughout the story to give me words of wisdom on how to get home. That was my main objective, to get home and find out how I got to the new world in the first place. I met a shadow named Heradus and helped him get his body back but he didn't repay the debt of me helping him. The wizard was cut out of the story altogether.

After that I found a water ship and sailed to a new place, a tiny kingdom. The king's daughter looked like Ramonia and she gives me advice. I become a leader there and helped defeat a vicious enemy army. The king showed me how to leave and I ended up in a city. It is there that I meet a Sun Person who fell from the sun. I help him find a little spaceship once used by humans who went to the sun and he gets back safely. I wander the world for a while and end up in a city with a coast. It is there that I meet Ramonia again. I realize that this person is not Ramonia, but an otherworldly guide who looks like Ramonia so I will listen to them and go where they tell me to go. In the end I find out that it doesn't matter where I am, I was still having a great life. It's only when I realize that the location doesn't matter and the people do that the little clock activates and transports me home. I live happily ever after with Ramonia.

I'm not sure how much I like the finished story, but it wasn't too bad. I just hoped other people liked it enough to publish it so I could move on.

I woke up the next morning to see that my cabin moved from the very back to near the front. I was only ten or so cabins away from the cliff. That meant that the story was almost ready to be published. Wilmer came by to tell me that that was the single biggest jump of any story he had ever seen.

I spent the day going around to other rows and meeting other stories. They all had interesting lives and some even made me a little afraid. There were so many of them that had much better stories than I did. A few were even way in the back of their rows and never moved. If they were that great and hadn't been published yet then what were my chances?

The days went by, each slower than the last. I found out how terrible it is to have to wait for something that was sure to happen and yet didn't seem to ever happen. Weeks went by and my cabin only moved up one spot. I saw others disappear overnight and new ones replace them. Some were much newer ideas.

I was becoming like Wilmer. After a few months he recruited me to help him go around and greet the new stories. There were record numbers every day. I agreed and soon became complacent in my new job. My cabin was solidified at number nine. The wood turned dark and I was afraid it would start to fall apart and I would be pushed back with the stories that pretty much didn't have a chance.

Wilmer kept my hopes up. He told me about stories that had to wait years. All that did was make me feel worse. Meeting the new cabin dwellers made me feel bad too. They were so full of hope and optimism just like I was. And some had a right to. One day I was telling a new story all about what I thought his story was about and the next he was already gone.

A year after I arrived there new types of cabins started showing up. These were temporary cabins. The stories knew that their writers were going to take care of publishing themselves and so they didn't need to stay long. At one point somebody arrived and they disappeared before we made it to their cabin. Most who came were this sort. They arrived and left within a matter of minutes or hours, however long it took for the writers to secure the publication.

Wilmer stopped the meet and greets. It was no longer practical. Unlike with me, most new stories already knew they were stories. And through all this my cabin never moved.

I went to the cliff daily. I thought about jumping off again. I figured it would force Lawrence to change the story into something better. I never could make myself do it. Every morning I went to the cliff and thought about jumping off and every night I went home and hoped the next day would be my last.

One night I was shaken awake by Wilmer. He looked excited about something and I followed him outside. A large silver door stood on the edge of the cliff.

"Who is that for?" I asked.

"You."

I stared at him. I should have felt excited, but instead I felt skeptical. "Why a door? Don't most just disappear?"

"Yes, but a door is a good sign. I haven't seen one since I was a new story here. The door means that you are expected to do great things on the other side. It's only for the best stories."

I shook my head. "I'm not the best story. There are so many better stories around here."

"Don't let a perfectly good cake waste because you aren't proud of the ingredients."

"Come again?"

"Sorry, that's the cookbook coming out."

I shrugged. "So what do I do?"

"You just walk right through that door."

I took a deep breath. "Alright, let's hope they don't send me back."

Wilmer laughed. "They won't."

"It's been fun." I held my hand out for him to shake. He hugged me instead.

"I know you'll do great. Don't forget about us out here."

"I won't. And don't worry. I'm sure you will be published one day."

I went up to the door, smiled to Wilmer, and went through.

Dazzling light forced my eyes closed. I could hear cheering. I forced my eyes open and saw hundreds of smiling faces clapping and shouting. I stumbled through the crowd, shaking hands and greeting people.

It was a wonderful sight. I could see for miles. There were streams and fields and even mountains beyond all of that. There wasn't a worry anywhere.

A couple of kids came up to me. The boy wore a tunic with a twig belt and the girl wore a dress and they both had blond hair. I shook their hands and they eagerly wanted to hear about my tale. I told them I would tell them but I wanted to get settled first. They took me away from the crowd and up a slope that I felt was actually made of cloud. The girl turned to me.

"We are going to where you will be staying. Now that you are published you will be read by many people."

"Yes," the boy said, "but don't get too scared about it all."

"Shut it, Ludus. Why would you say something like that?" The girl said angrily. She smiled at me. "Don't mind him. There is nothing to be scared of here."

I was too happy to feel scared about anything, especially people reading my story. After all, isn't that why we were all there?

At the top of the slope was an endless row of large doors. Each one had a symbol on it to show the story that belonged inside. We passed one with a golden rose on it.

"This one is ours." The girl said. "Yours will be down here a bit."

I studied each one and tried to figure out what type of story they belonged to. One had a little brown box on it. I assumed that one was about little creatures coming out of the box. I don't know how I figured that, it just seemed right. Another had what looked like an upside down bowl on it. A man in a gray outfit stood beside it. He nodded as we passed.

"Showing the new story around, Mith?" He asked.

"Someone should, Hardin." She said. "It's not like the old days where we let them wander around endlessly."

"Though that was funny." Ludus said.

Some symbols were stranger than others. One door had a fedora on it. I had no idea what that could be about. After we passed it a man came out of that door. He wore a fedora and had a nice suit on with a vest. That confused me more.

I finally saw my door. I knew it instantly. It had a cliff with water below. A tiny person was standing on the cliff. We stopped outside this door and I looked at the ones on either side. The door on the left had a black carriage and the one on the right had a lantern. I couldn't help but see the next one after that. It had a hobo bindle on it.

"You and your writer must have a great bond." The girl named Mith said. "Most writers never know about the cliff where ideas start."

"I think he knows as much about me as I do about him." I said.

"So this is yours." Ludus said. "Just go in and you will figure out what to do on your own."

I thanked them both and put my hand on the knob.

"Just remember," Mith said, "your real adventure starts now."

They walked away. I looked at the door. Whatever was beyond it was my final destination, my deepest desire. I slowly turned the knob and entered.

It was a plain white room with a chair in the center. The floor and walls were so white I could not see where one ended and the other began. On the chair was a book, the same book the wizard showed me. I took it and sat down in the chair. Immediately I knew what to do. I opened the book to the first page.

A little boy and his mother appeared. The boy was in bed and his mother was sitting beside him. She held the book in her hand. I watched as more people started to appear in the room. There was a girl sitting at a desk, a teenager in the grass, an adult on a bus. Hundreds became visible. They all sat around me, but could not see me. The little boy in the bed was holding a little box that looked just like the faceless clock I had. He pressed a button and a little cuckoo popped out. He laughed and set it down, waiting for his mother to start. I looked down at the page, joy filling my mind and body. This was my purpose. This _was_ my deepest desire. I took a deep breath and began to read my story. Hundreds of voices joined me and we all read together.

"I stood. On a cliff. The Remnants of white waves found their end on the jagged rocks hundreds of feet below. The hard cold breeze blew soft around me. . ."
