Hungry and miserable
Pink Cotton Candy Tutu Girl stood in the clearing all by herself. Hungry and miserable. She had always relied on her own judgment and calmness before, but a situation like this she had never confronted, even in her dreams. First thing she had to do was to have her mouth back. She pushed her tongue through, getting rid of that straw, keeping it though for later, it might come in handy. Her face hurt a little now, but it was bearable. What next? She looked around this foreign place, it had a spellbinding beauty. Soft velvety green pillows all around her, the sun casting shadows, glittering through the surrounding trees. Little white and pink flowers nodding their heads in the gentle breeze. In the distance sang birds, loudly competing with each other. A woodpecker hammered a staccato, a cuckoo started her aggressive announcement:
I hope this is not another Dunk. What did he want from me? Now I am in this place, beautiful as it is, and what am I to do next? I need to find some sugar. She went over to the little tarp, shook it out, and low and behold, a small bag of sugar, the one Dunk had stolen from the candy maker, fell out. That was a start. Actually a great start. If I am careful, this will last a while, and when I get back to the fair, I will pay the candy maker for the sugar. He always was so nice to me. So were most of the performers. If she could cry, she would.
She looked around on the forest floor, saw all the curled up golden leaves. Some had a bit of rainwater in them from a past storm. She sprinkled a few crystals of sugar into one of the golden cups that had water in it, took her straw, drank and felt instantly better. She put the bag of sugar, careful that it was closed properly, the straw and some of the curled leaves on top of the outstretched tarp, gathered the corners together and slung the bag that she now had over her shoulder.
Walking felt odd
Walking felt odd, almost funny. If she had felt better, she would have laughed. But maybe I should laugh and sing anyway, that would probably make me feel better, and that would give me the strength to go and find a way out of here. She started singing and walking at an even pace. Soon she had left the spongy moss, shuffling through leaves, all dried up and noisy, even under her delicate steps. She sang and crunched, walking in between the trees. If I got into the forrest, I must be able to get out of it.
Often, her cotton candy got hooked on small branches, then she had to stop and free herself. Sometimes she lost a tuft of herself. But that I can not worry about now, I will take care of those holes when I get home to Mirror Boy, inside his wonderfully protective Fun House. Then I can mend myself by spinning for days until I am whole and plump again.
At one of those stops to get untangled, suddenly this creature stood before her. She was vaguely familiar with its shape and demeanor. Yes, I have seen a rabbit before, but it was white. The magician Star Man always pulled one out of his hat. “Are you familiar with the rules of the forrest?” asked the rabbit, standing on his hind legs, which made him as tall as Tutu.
“No, no, I do not even know where I am, I am very tired, somebody just left me here, and I am trying to find my way out of this forrest so that I can get back home,” she sang to the rabbit.
“Then you don't like the forrest?”
“I like it fine, but I don't live here, and I would like to go back to where I do.”
“I don't like the forrest, never know about it in here; I live over there in the meadow on the edge of the trees. My whole family does, would you like to meet them? If you don't stay in the forrest, you don't have to learn the rules, but I tell you anyhow.”
She listened to all the rules, they were very complicated and she was glad that she did not have to learn them right now, being so tired after this ordeal. “Thank you, that would be nice. Maybe I can rest up a little at your place?”
“Space is never a problem for us, you can stay in one of the extra rooms in the side burrow. It is all nice and dry in there, besides, we just love having guests. You have a beautiful voice, just like a silver bell. Do you speak also?”
“Mostly I sing, but I can whisper, everybody has to be really quiet then.” And so they walked along, time flying by. They reached the edge of the meadow, the end of the forrest, in no time at all.
