The
library was huge beyond belief. I couldn’t even see the opposite wall it was
so big. Despite the library’s size, Fumu seemed to know where we were going.
Where we were going was into a dark and forbidding section of the library that
looked like it had never been used in centuries.
Fumu’s
eyes practically flew across the titles of the books, scanning for a certain
book on something, I guessed. She appeared to read very fast as she moved along
the aisles quickly. Terakka and I just stood there, watching like idiots.
Eventually
she found the book and began skimming it for a certain page. I groaned in my
mind. Why so exact? , I wondered. Eventually, she found her 1,000,000
dollar page and said, “READ NOW.”
as she handed me the book. It was a little hard, mainly because the book was as
big as I was.
“Out
loud?” I asked her.
“Yes.”
she answered quickly.
Of
course, I immediately forgot that I had this conversation and began to read to
myself. This page of the book was... interesting. Yeeeaaah, interesting. As in,
it was weird. The page had a bunch of stuff on it about reincarnations and signs
from a past life and that kind of stuff. Why
was Ireading this anyway? I thought. Does
Fumu think that I’m seeing... oh, GOD
no. No. Nononono, this isn’t right. That would mean-
“You
mean you think that I’m seeing who I was in a past life!?” I exclaimed,
“’cause that’s just not right. I mean. This guy in my reflection was
almost DEAD.”
“You
are seeing him right before he died, Kirby.” Fumu answered me calmly.
“Okay,
you’re freaking the living daylights out of me.” I said.
“No
way, really?” Terakka said sarcastically.
This
was getting weirder than weird. I thought I was going crazy, but I think Fumu
beat me to it. GOD, she was scaring me, acting like she knew exactly what was going
on. AS IF! Like she has ever seen a
dead guy in place of her reflection, beckoning to her to come into the
reflection. I highly doubt that.
I
dropped the book, motioned to Terakka, and ran.
“Well,
that was a nice meeting.” Terakka told me sarcastically, “I’m sure I’ll
be desperate to forget it.”
“She
was freakin’ scaring me.” I answered, annoyed.
We
had run to some place down by the beach, the setting sun making the orange
waters appear red and violet. An occasional ripple of pink shimmered across the
water, along with butterscotch and marigold. A group of dolphins were swimming
near the surface, calling out to each other gaily and without a care in the
world. Above this all, Popstar’s two moons shined silver, one directly above
them, another barely noticeable over the horizon. Unfortunately, I was in no
such mood to enjoy this.
I
had no idea of what to do. I ditched one of my best friends in a library, I now
knew what the hell was going on with this whole reflection thing, and to top it
all off, I was hungry. And I get WEIRD
when I’m hungry.
“Warpstar!”
I called half-heartedly.
The
beautiful creamy yellow star came whizzing over in response to my call. It
stopped in front of me, waiting for me to board. It didn’t have to wait long.
Soon, Terakka and I were flying above the Orange Ocean, now dark from lack of
light. Countless stars sparkled around the now-clearly-visible moons, giving
anything down here on Popstar a silvery look. Terakka even looked like a big
bead of silver, her eyes seeming to glow on their own.
This
ended all too soon when I saw the shining city of Rainbow Resort ahead of us.
Yet still, I tipped the end of my Warpstar’s front point to loose some
altitude. Our landing wasn’t perfect, but we didn’t crash, so that’s a
plus. First Terakka, then I dismounted the Warpstar, and it flew away to its
home inside Kabu.
Before
heading home, we stopped at the local diner for some food. As usual, Terakka
didn’t order anything but some soda, while my order took up two sheets of
paper. Mmm, curry and watermelon slices. My fave.
The
diner, as always, had a bulletin board that I liked to visit whenever I was
there. Even better, it was in my sight from the table, so I could eat and read
it at the same time. Today, it had a few posts for lost Tookies, a demon
sighting and a-
DEMON
SIGHTING?!?!
I
had to choke down my food to finish reading the post. Apparently, this demon was
seen in Vegetable Valley, and it was blue and serpentine. Odd, what would a
demon be doing in Vegetable Valley? Anyway, the post said it did no harm to the
village, or, for that matter, any damage at all. Sleeping? A possibility.
An
old Waddle Doo sitting at the table next to us leaned over and said, “A girl
came here yes’erday and posted that. Jus’ in case ya wanted ta know.” He
must’ve seen me staring.
Eventually
I got my sorry backside out of that diner, still thinking the post over and
over. Vegetable Valley, young girl, no damage done. , I thought, Vegetable
Valley... Hmm, what would a demon wantfrom Vegetable Valley,or
a little girl?
Once
we were home, I went to the map I kept pinned to the wall of my room. Vegetable
Valley, was a long way from here, even on a Warpstar. But I had to go there!
Something could be going on, and I wasn’t going to let life get in my way. It
would be a clear day tomorrow, and we might not even have to fly there if we
made good time. I traced the path we should take repeatedly, just to make sure I
knew it.
“Hey,
Kirby, whatcha doin’?” Terakka, of course, “Planning to go somewhere,
because last time, it didn’t go so well.”
“Uhh,
yeah. And you need to not follow me.”
“Don’t
even THINK about leaving me behind, Kirby. I know where you’re going.
You traced it on the map.” I did? Oh, yeah. Damnit.
“I
guess you’re coming, then.” I sighed out finally.
“You
bet your sorry backside I am.”
*** Terakka ***
In
the morning, we set out to Vegetable Valley. I had asked Kirby why he wanted to
go there, and he explained the whole shebang of it. Demons already, god, evil
won’t let people live a peaceful life.
So
anyway, we were following a creek upstream, which met uphill. Life gets sucky
when you’re a rock, I am just not good at walking uphill. Downhill, I can just
tumble. But this was hell.
The
good thing was, we were on level ground soon. I could now see a huge mountain, a
huge dip, and another mountain. Vegetable Valley was down there, and it would be
a pain to get there. Mainly because we have to trek across the whole side of the
mountain, then get down. I really didn’t know how Kirby was planning to get
there, but I didn’t want to ask. I was afraid of the answer. Of course, my
mouth didn’t listen.
“How
are we gonna get down there?”
“We
find the least steep part, then hike down.”
He could not possibly expect me to hike. I’m afraid of heights, and I
can’t really climb downwards, upwards or sidewards. Sideways, whatever the
word is. I still can’t do that. Something struck my mind suddenly. Neither
could Kirby.
I
swear he is developing telepathy, because right after I thought this, he said-
“We’ll
use the waterfall.”
OH
GOD NO. Not the waterfall that was like a thousand foot drop. That could
kill us. Is Kirby finally losing it? Well, I guess Kirby was too light to suffer
any major damage, and I was waaaaay to heavy. Hmm, maybe we would make it
thought this. Note the maybe.
Once
we got to the side of the mountain, I started to regret pushing Kirby to bring
me along. There was a lot of uphill, and I kept slipping on loose rocks. Life
gets tough when you’re a rock with feet.
We
eventually got to a small cliff edge, and stopped for a bit. Kirby scanned the
area surrounding us to find a not-so-steep part of it. He must’ve found it,
because he quietly said to me, “Come on.” And started down the side of the
mountain.
Okay,
I have this pathological fear of heights and falling, so this was eating me
alive. While Kirby could easily just climb down, I had to jump and slide and run
to avoid falling stones. This is one of those times that I wish I was Kirby.
Eventually
we got to a small clearing in-between the two mountains. My feet hurt like hell,
and I was purely exhausted, therefore, I almost died when I heard a rumbling
roar of a waterfall in the distance. “We’re close.” Kirby said excitedly.
But he really said-‘Hey, Terakka, you’re about to die so it was nice meeting
you. Hope you have a nice time being dead. Bye!’ Just the words I needed to
hear.
I
desperately tried to move the waterfall away from us using telekinesis, but
it’s atoms proved highly resistant to my mind power. Even worse, Kirby was
speeding up now, and I had to follow him.
“Ohgodsomeonesavemenowplease.”
I said quietly as we approached the waterfall.
The
drop was dizzying. I couldn’t tell where the falls stopped, and the sheer and
sudden drop was nauseating. I could see now why people call it Vegetable VALLEY,
because it sure was in a valley! I looked away from it, hoping that, like in my
dreams, it would go away. This, of course, failed.
“I’ll
go first.” Kirby said eagerly, as if he wanted to jump into a waterfall the
size of... something big. I sighed with relief. At least I could put it off for
a few more minutes.
“Geronimo!”
Kirby shouted as he jumped into the current and plummeted down the falls. His
last word kept echoing about the cave wall, distorted and taunting.
I
looked down the side of the valley again, and it seemed deeper than last time. I
shivered, knowing that anytime now, a gust of wind could just blow me off the
side. But I had to do this. Sort of.
As
I jumped into the water, I wondered what had possessed me to do this. I was
committing suicide, damnit! I was practically having a seizure when I hit the
drop. Oh my god, I am going to die, I thought.
The
drop was terrifying, white, foamy water spraying around me, the roar of water
hitting somewhere far below, constantly getting louder. The whole time I was
inhaling more than I was exhaling, because, despite my efforts, I was in an
extreme state of PANIC. My brain was screaming, Flee!
Flee!, but to where it did not know. My feet were trembling, and I swear my
right eye was twitching involuntarily.
I
noticed a town below me, getting closer every second. Vegetable
Valley, I thought. Finally, I could stop thinking I was going to die, even
though I had, mentally. The waterfall ended in a vast and sparkling lake, which
I recognized as Vegetable Valley’s water supply. I also noticed a small- OH
MY GOD I WAS GOING TO BE PART OF VEGETABLE VALLEY’S WATER SUPPLY IN FEW
SECONDS!!!!!!
The
lake was getting closer to me, and I was no longer able to hold back the panic.
My mind was in a crazy, frenzied rush to think about everything besides that
fact that I’m so dead I don’t even want to think about it. I denied this
later, but the moment before I hit the water’s surface, I screamed.
And
then I was surrounded by water.
Awhile later, I had met up with Kirby and we were sitting on the edge of
the lake, me in a towel, still shaking. Kirby seemed a little hysterical from
the impact, but he had mostly recovered. Note the word, “mostly”.
