Artwork by WillOBrien

The Wishing Map is a full-length fantasy that is being posted episodically at this site. To read the previous episode, click here. To read the entire novel, begin here.

Newly arrived at the island kingdom of Sur Kellan, Zack and Gina were taken to an inn by their rescuers Maerith and Shelcor. There, Gina dipped into the adult’s meeth bowl and became unintentionally drunk.

Disgusted with his sister, Zack headed for the bowl marked “Cheldings and Naims.” This put him near enough to the alcove to hear what the naims were saying. They were arguing about the “story” inside a fresh-cut plank of rainbowwood laying against the wall:

“Nay! Yer can’t have yellowy-ness coming out a’ the water, yer pilky fern!” a well-fed fellow, Bulgy, pontificated. “An’ looky there: that’s a lee pond, certain, in all its ripply bluey-ness!”

“Yer duppy toadstool, that’s sky, not water. An’ there is yellowy-ness, so it has ter be sunrise!” said a wiry naim called Sniggle. Only he and his wife Noddie dared challenge the self-important Bulgy.

“But how can sky be all ripply-like,” an old fellow named Tuber asked, “and how can water have sun in it? An’ n’er sky nor water has such greeny-ness. We don’t know the story—that’s what’s amiss. We needs a storysmith that knows what’s traith!”

“Traith!” the others agreed loudly.

“Well, we don’t got nay storysmith, not since old Pogger Knotfiller’s passing—”

The naims smacked their foreheads in reverence.

“So, I says I should decide,” concluded Bulgy, “since I’m the most thinkiest. An’ I say it’s—”

“Both,” a voice declared from behind them. The naims were stunned; humans rarely spoke to naims, Zack had been told, and always treated them as inferiors. He walked over to the plank of rainbowwood and pointed at its blue, green, and yellow grains. “So, there was this mega solar explosion, right, and a piece of the sun broke off and fell into this pond!” He pointed at the green streaks. “And this is the hydrogenic power that was released when it hit the water!” (Hydrogenic wasn’t a real word, but it sounded cool.)

There was a moment of silence, and then Noddie, Sniggle’s wife, said, “I sees the hygerpow!”

“Aye! Me too!” said Sniggle. “An’ it’s all greeny-ish, certain!”

This was way more fun than watching Gina embarrass herself. “And when the sun piece hit, it went KUSHOOOOONG!!!”

“KUSHOOOOONG!!!” the naims echoed.

“And then everything for a million miles was covered in green steam and no one could see anything!” Zack pointed at the green spirals that spun out from the blue and yellow patch.

Tuber Root-Rigger, the old naim who’d spoken earlier, stepped forward, sensing more than anyone the gravity of the moment, and looked up at Zack.

Zack got down on his knees to make his eyes level with the old naim’s.

The naims gasped! Then Tuber looked at the plank, and back at Zack. “Aye, it is steam!” He studied Zack’s face, and then hatched an ear-bridging smile. “An’ he’s a storysmith, certain!” Then he peered deeply into Zack’s eyes. “A great storysmith!”

“Traith!’ the naims erupted. “Traith!” Zack stood up, confused but pleased.

He’d apparently passed some kind of test.

φ

Thoughts: Have you ever found a group of people who see value in you that no else has? It can be heavenly. Or dangerous. Often both.

*A brief Glossary of SurKellish words: meeth = a potent SurKellish brew; cheldings = children; naims = gnomes; lee = little; pilky = a crude, derogatory adjective; duppy = stupid; ter = to; nay = no; traith = truthful or wise saying

To read the next episode, click here.