“But how did fourteen sneezes come all of a sudden?” Ramya
looked puzzled.
“I think the relative rate of flow of time between the
worlds is in a state of constant flux. Time in the land we were in must have suddenly slowed
down compared to our world. So within minutes there, time moved 3-4 hours in
our land and hence Sneezy’s fit of sneezes.” Vinod’s tone had taken on an air
of a professor addressing his students.
The other three still looked confused. But they decided not
to press it any further for the fear of Vinod launching into another of his
long lectures filled with scientific mumbo jumbo. What they clearly understood
was time moved weirdly in the strange lands and if they were not careful, they
might come home late and would end up making their parent’s suspicious.
“I wonder what kind of land will be there today,” said
Navneeta.
“We should have checked with the gnomes. Sleepy might have
seen it in his dreams.”
“ What is the fun knowing beforehand, Ajay? Don’t you have a
sense of adventure? How much more fun to land there and discover the lands?”
Ajay remained silent. Silence was the best approach with
Ramya.
They were soon at the cave entrance. They called out at the
hollow and waited. It was a long time before Dopey arrived. As usual, he was
silent, lost and efficient. They soon found themselves at the Burrow.
“To what do we owe this honor of your esteemed visits,
friends” asked Doc.
“We had a free Saturday. We thought we will come and spend
time with you guys and maybe visit a new land. We really loved the Land of
Bargains and Kissanpur”
“Well, my dear friends, even a rose bush comes with thorns.
Not all lands that come offer us joy.”
“Maybe we can just take a peak,” said Ramya.
“But you must definitely be careful when you are in an
unknown land. One needs caution when venturing into unknown lands. Fools rush
in where angels fear to trend.”
“Sure, we will be.” Ramya was all charged up.
“While we get ready, may we offer you our hospitality?”
The children made themselves comfortable on the floor. Soon
each had a small bowl of some mashed up substance that had the smell of
potatoes and olive oil. They tasted it and it was indeed delicious though they
could not make out the ingredients. They had never tasted something like this
before.
Navneeta could feel tiny fingers tugging at her hair. She
turned around to find the cutest of the gnomes, the only one without a beard:
the one they called ‘Bashful’. He reminded her of one of the dolls she had when
she was much younger. She smiled at him. Her smile seemed to send him into
raptures of delight. He jumped up and down excitedly and uttered squealing
sounds. Then suddenly he caught hold of her hands and pulled. He seemed to want
her to come along with him. Strangely most of the gnomes other than Happy,
Grumpy and Doc seemed very taciturn. And Bashful being Bashful was more so.
He led her to the back of the cave where there was a little
door. He opened it and beckoned Navneeta to follow. She had to stoop to be able
to pass through the door. They waked through a narrow passage and then they
emerged into a dimly lit area. Bashful puffed his cheeks and made some gentle
noises. She could hear some movement in the distance. In a few moments a dark
form emerged. It was some kind of animal, almost Navneeta’s size. For a moment
she froze in fear. Had Bashful brought her here to be fed to some underworld
monster? She should have never come with him alone.
However as the creature came into view, her fears were put
to rest. The creature moved with a gentle grace and its eyes with dark circles
around it had a benign calmness to it. The creatures fur looked like the finest
velvet and despite her fears, Navneeta could not resist the urge to extend her
arms and run her fingers through the smooth fur. It felt so soft and nice. The creature
did not seem to at all mind this unwanted intrusion on its self. It responded
by gently rubbing its snout on Navneeta’s face. This seemed to be a nice animal
like a pet dog.
“Grandfather mole,” said bashful proudly. Ah! That is what
this was. She had seen pictures of moles in her books. She surveyed the creature,
looking closely at its spade like front paws and its twitching snout with smart
whiskers. It seemed too large for a regular mole but then nothing was regular
inside this cave.
By the time they decided it was time to go back, the mole
had got quite friendly with her and followed them to the burrow.
The other children were surprised to see the new visitor.
The gnomes however showed no sign of surprise. Apparently it was usual for the
mole to pay them a visit.
‘”Welcome to out humble abode, great Bracken. We are
honored.”
All the gnomes rose to welcome him. The children looked
surprised.
“These entire networks of caves were built by the race of
giant moles. They are the real rulers of this place. But most of them died out
due to infighting, disease and other disasters. Bracken is one of the last
surviving members of this ancient race. He knows the entire network of caves
like you know the back of your hand.”
The children nodded. They were a bit scared but felt reassured seeing how Navneeta was comfortable around the creature.
They were soon ready to visit the land.
“Sleepy told us about this new land. It is called the land of odors. While it is not a particularly dangerous land, it is not likely to be a very pleasant one either. I also have a feeling our friend Bracken with his excellent sense of smell would be very useful to have around. So what are we waiting for? Let us march on ahead my, Yeomen. Ho Ho Ho.”
12 comments:
The first few lines about the concept of time had me smiling and you know why :) liked the idea of the mole, wondering what role he has to play in this series... Meanwhile the land of odours? Wondering if this has anything to do with that smelly contest :)
Curioser and curioser, as Lewis Carroll would say :) Can't wait to smell the land of odors :)
Of course. Usually when I am writing a story as a series, when I get any feedback through the comments or discussion, it will usually find its way into the later episodes. Yes - the mole is just another character - trying to create some folks like the folk of the Faraway Tree - like moonface, suasepan man and the rest.
You are right regarding land of odors. I was planning to pariticipate in the smelly contest. But I did not have time to get my entry in on time and also I badly needed a connector episode before moving on to that land.
Thanks Suresh. I still need to come up with the idea.
Wow. That's some geeky dialogues there - the first couple of lines I mean. Been going well so far. And Land of Odours.....hope you don't miss the Racold bus :)
Have actually missed the bus for Racold already. The deadline got over last Friday itself. But I wanted to continue with the idea I had originally conveived.
I want the land of shoes. Who should I send my request to? And also Chaat land.
Ha Ha Purba. Those lands might come. After all, I do need ideas for new lands to follow. Don't want to stop with land of odors.
Lol cant wait to read about the land of odours. It shall be a smelly business :p
Anyway the Mole remindes me of this book: The wind in the willows. I was reading it last week and it's fresh in my mind, perhaps that is why :)
Thanks for supporting this series, Midnight Scribbles. Hopefully I can continue to keep this interesting. Yes - Windown in the Willows has a similar character. Also works of Brian Jacques and William Horwood. Bracken is actually a name from a character who is a mole in one of William Horwood's books.
Can't wait for the next episode :)
PS: Was this the background for Racold post that you couldn't finish due to lack of time?
Thanks, Pankti. If there had been an extension, I might have skipped this episode and straight away gone to land of odors.
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