The Magical Cave VIII: Out of the Mouse Trap

The strong smell of decay seemed to be getting closer by the minute and the wind was blowing more strongly. They rushed on. If they did not get out in the next couple of minutes, they would be struck in this land for the rest of their lives. This indeed was an extremely unpleasant proposition given their experience in this land so far. And they knew what the smell was. They were being pursued. If they faltered a bit, they would be taken into captivity again and bundled back to their prison cell.

The next moment they suddenly saw a gleam of sunlight breaking through an opening in delight. They ran towards it. As they were about to come out of the opening, a shadowy demon like form popped up in front of them and blocked their way. This must be one of the land’s denizens that they had not been able to see so far. It was interesting to be able to see one but interesting things were not always nice: definitely not when they stood between you and freedom. They wondered what to do. He looked too menacing to even think about fighting their way through.

As they stood thinking, Sneezy resolved the issue for them. He gave one loud sneeze. “Achoooooooo!” The creature was swept out of the way and the children jumped to safety. It was a moment none too soon for when they turned around there was complete emptiness behind them. The land had disappeared. For a moment the children reflected in horror, what would have happened had they been held up even a second more. They heaved a sigh of relief, thanked their stars and slowly headed towards the gnomes’ burrow.

“We must have been away for ages. Our parents must definitely be looking for us by now. When they find us, we will be in deep trouble unless we tell them about this cave and the strange lands. Either they won’t believe us or completely forbid us from coming here ever again.” Ramya sounded very mournful.

“How much time do you think has passed?” Vinod turned to her with a flourish of a professor asking the class a smart question.

“I would say it has been hours and hours, maybe even days.”

“And how many times did Sneezy sneeze?”

“Well…”

She looked at him surprised. "You mean just an hour has passed in our world?"

“If Sneezy’s biological clock is still working.”

That was one more problem solved. They even had time to stop by at the gnomes’ place for a snack. By now they had become firm friends with the gnomes. Nothing like an adventure to cement bonds between people! Even Grumpy no longer seemed to resent them. And Dopey, Sleepy and Bashful, the more silent gnomes also spoke to them now and then, at least to Navneeta who looked sweet and kind.

“Ajay and Sneezy are the heroes of our story, eh?” said Ramya.

Ajay did not look too happy to talk about his role in the whole episode. But he knew Ramya would never let it pass. Damn her!

Bracken sat quietly in a corner. Naveneeta and Bashful sat on either side of him, passing their hand lovingly over his soft fur. Sleepy was fast asleep.

“I hope you have learnt your lesson from this episode,” said Grumpy.

“All is well that ends well. Ho Ho Ho!” laughed Happy

“Sleepy has seen that the next land will be the land of games. That is not an entirely safe land but we should have an interesting time, if we are prudent,” said Doc.

A faint smell of cheese wafted in. Slowly it became stronger. Then suddenly it turned to the smell of musk. It was so delightful. They were involuntarily drawn towards the smell. As they walked towards it, suddenly it turned to the smell of rotten fish. They turned away in disgust. Then suddenly they began to get a smell of cheese again. What was happening? Had the creatures from the land of odors come after them? But they thought the land had gone away. And why were they giving out so many different kinds of smells?

They heard a scurrying sound. They turned around and found a small cute mouse like creature in front of them.

The Magical Cave I: A Cave in the Hills <<<< The Magical Cave VII: A Foul Turn of Events << >> The Magical Cave IX: An Intriguing Problem

Picture Credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Comte_(cheese).jpg