Source: pinterest.com

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.

Naims (gnomes) had chosen Zack as their new Storysmith. Convinced the only way to escape was to teach them how to be storysmiths themselves, he gathered them together and tested their ability to pretend.

Within five minutes he’d pinpointed the most imaginative Root Naims, and pronounced them “Semi-Finalists.” Then he gathered them into the middle of the Great Mushroom Chamber and said, “Congratulations! You’re going to Hollywood!”

The Semi-Finalists were excited but completely confused.

“We’re gonna have a competition,” Zack translated, “to discover Naimian’s Greatest Storysmith!”

“But that’s yer, Master Zaggyzim!” a thoughtful young fellow said, “an’ there cannot be but one storysmith at a time.”

“Aye!” All acknowledged this universal truth.

“Ah…well, there can now,” decreed Zack.

Storm clouds gathered over the sea of faces. But Zack plowed on:

“In order to make the contest fair, I’ll have to pick ten Leaf Naims too. And then, hatching a secret plan to generate team spirit, Zack motioned them closer: “Only you guys are a million times better than them! Root Naims rock! Leaf Naims are lame!”

There was an excruciating silence, the kind that drives comedians to drink. Finally, a soft-spoken female said, “I know nay crippled Leaf Naims, Master Zaggyzim, save my cousin Flitter.”

“Ah, right. Uh, I meant… ‘Root Naims rock and Leaf Naims fall off tree limbs!’” The naims looked like third graders learning to cuss—guilty and excited all at the same time.

“Traith?” a teenage naim asked.

“Traith!”

“Root Naims rock!” the chamber erupted. “And Leaf Naims fall off tree limbs!”

“And just to show you how proud I am of my team,” Zack said, “I’m gonna wear the team colors!”

To make good on his promise, he visited Root Naim’s best seamsters and had them sew him a simple tunic (it was a bit misshapen since they’d never outfitted a giant like Zack before). They also made tunics for the ten Root Naim Semi-Finalists, and onto each stitched a patch featuring the image of a bright red tree root.

Two hours later, Zack repeated the same strategy with the Leaf Naims, while Lyffwyn and her cronies brooded in the shadows. He selected ten Semi-Finalists and led them in an ad hoc pep rally designed to incite Leaf Naim pride: “Leaf Naims soar! Root Naims eat mud!”

Then he went to the best tailors in Leaf Naimian, a flock of grookwarfs whose scissor-like beaks were legendary. They were overseen by an eminent naim known as Mistress Stickpin. Zack commissioned simple tunics for his ten Leaf Naim Semi-Finalists, as well as one for himself, and had them sew a blue leaf patch on each. He also had them fashion a lavish red and blue-striped greatcoat for him. Then he took Mistress Stickpin aside…

And commissioned a secret alteration.

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Thoughts: Any time you hatch a covert scheme, it’s a good idea to make funeral arrangements, as well. Things planned in the dark tend to ignite in the light.

To read the next episode, click here.