Flash Fiction #624 -- Neko's Trip Home/4

 

Gone.

More than gone, it was as though they had never been here. There should have been signs of the elephants at the very least.

Maybe I had taken the wrong path back.  Maybe this realm messed with my abilities.  I glanced around, but everything looked too perfectly the same for me to be wrong.

"Colin?" I whispered.  "Luna?"

Nothing.

"Colin! Luna!"

Nothing.

I have had an odd and even dangerous life.  Very little can scare me.  

"Meow," I cried.  I felt like a helpless kitten.  I turned in circles.  Where could they have gone?  Why did they abandon me?  "Meow, meow, meow..."

No.

Why was I panicking?  I knew they hadn't simply forgotten me.  There was magic involved, and that power didn't scare me, even though it was a different type of magic than I had known before.

That realization on its own bothered me. Even before I met Colin the Fae and Luna the Seer, I had known magic. Until now, I hadn't considered how Colin came from another realm, but his magic was mostly the same as the little that I knew.

I could not even feel the magic here.  I could only perceive its effects.  Everyone but me -- and maybe the elephants -- had seemed to be affected by the power. That couldn't be because we were not human.  The chipmunks had seemed touched by the magic.  Or at least they were gone with everyone else.

Where?

They hadn't walked away.  I would have noticed that path. I had noticed where we had walked in or any other spot around --

Up?

I considered it as I looked up into that unchanging -- and obviously magical -- sky. I had gotten used to the never changing daylight until I started thinking about it. Unnatural was the least I could consider it.

Cursed came to mind with a sudden rush of worry. This place was cursed to eternal daylight.  We had seen very little in native life except for plants. I had no time to consider what more it might mean because up appeared to be the right direction.  I could feel magic in the air above me.  Strong magic, moving like a wind into the direction we had been traveling.

I wouldn't have considered  it so important, but I could feel a trace of fae magic, specifically Colin's power, like a thread through it.

I began jumping upward.

I am a Siamese.  I did pretty well, despite fearing I was simply going to fall farther, the higher I jumped.

Then, when that didn't work, I climbed a tree to the highest branch that would hold me, and threw myself off with arms outstretched as though they were wings.

I flew.

It was all about attitude, and any Siamese can handle that, even without magic.  I enjoyed it for about three minutes (I need a watch in this place).

It was at three minutes that I started considering the idea of landing.  What if I saw my friends below me?  Did I just drop out of the sky and hope for the best?  Did I sweep down like a bird of prey and catch someone by the shoulder?

They couldn't be far now.  I could hear Luna calling my name.

By the time I saw them, Luna had hold of one man and shook him like a rag doll.  A man with a lot of power, too, although he looked too shocked to use any of it.

"You lost Neko!" Luna shouted and shook him some more.  "Where is Neko!  You had better find him, or I swear --"

The man --fae -- started to look annoyed.

"Luna, how do you land?" I shouted down at her.

She looked up. Then she released her prey, who stumbled backward.

"Neko!"

"I can't get down."

"How did you get up there?" Colin asked.

"I climbed a tree and jumped."

No one questioned that answer.  There is a reason we get along so well.

Colin reached upward and I could feel tendrils of his magic carefully catching hold of me. He gently pulled me down and into Luna's arms.  She cried and held me tight so that I could hardly breathe at first.

"Now," Colin said, looking at the other tree.  "What is going on here?  Why did you bring us here?"

"We naturally assumed you were part of the carnival," one of them said.  "You showed up in one of the pickup spots, so we grabbed you to get in early."

"What made you think we were part of this carnival?" Colin asked, still confused.

"Quite honestly, it was the elephants."

"He has a point," Luna said.
 

Flash Fiction #623 -- Neko's Trip Home/3

 

Colin all but spun around, looking --

"Not here," the leader said with a note of disbelief. He mumbled something about stupid giants. "It's far away.  It will be a long journey, even for giants."

Great.

We had a destination and guides, though.  The purple grass wasn't so bad, but the orange flowers had spikes at the ends of the petals.  I quickly learned to watch out for those.

We walked and walked and walked.  I noticed that the sunlight never changed.  Colin glanced upward a few times, too, so I knew he had noticed.  He said nothing, so neither did I.

The terrain changed from hour to hour, though, so at least we were not marching in place. I wondered if our new companions ever got tired or hungry. I was about ready to beg for food from Colin or Luna. All that stopped me was the idea of trying to hurry to catch up with them. My legs ached. Wasn't there a magical way to travel in this realm? Was there no magic here? There were many things I wanted to ask Colin, but it didn't seem like a good time. My questions might indicate weakness, and though I didn't worry about going up against the small army, I did worry about what else might be out there.

There had been other giants that came into this area. Had they all left by these gates we were heading towards? And what were the gates, anyway?

The little guys looked exhausted when their leader suggested we stop for the night. Colin shook his head.

"The sooner my group gets to the gates, the better it will be for everyone. Why don't you ride on the elephants?"

The troops discussed it and decided riding on an elephant would be better than sleeping and walking again tomorrow. At least one of the elephants didn't seem to find this objectionable and was probably as tired as everybody else from the slow pace they'd been forced to keep. Colin suggested I get up with them, but that didn't seem like a good idea. The chipmunks went up as well, though. I was glad when Luna scooped me up, and I could ride in her arms for a while. We were already moving faster than we had for the whole day.

"Why didn't you want to ride with them?" Luna asked.

"I am hungry," I mumbled.

"I'm sure we can find some food for you, and you could eat it up there," she replied.

"No, that is not the problem. I am hungry and the little guys were starting to look like mice in uniforms."

I could tell she was starting to laugh and fought the emotion back. However, she did glance up at the soldiers and gave a nod of her head. She also found me a piece of cheese from her purse. I almost asked how she happened to have it there, but then I thought about her power and realized it was probably inevitable that she would have just what I needed to stop me from going berserk and devouring our allies.

We kept going for a few miles before Colin finally called a break. Only the elephants hadn't been complaining, but even they looked ready to rest for a while.

"I miss the car," I admitted. The chipmunk nestled by me gave a sound of agreement. "I thought I was just getting the knack of those windshield wiper things. And now here we are about to get rained on again."

Everyone stopped and looked up at the sky as though no one had noticed it before. I was beginning to think there was something strange about this realm, and I wanted to talk to Colin about it, but he was now talking with the general. That was not a conversation I wanted to get involved in.

Besides, they were still looking like tasty little mice to me -- which was strange because I never really did like mice for dinner. Or breakfast and lunch. I sniffed the air and swore that I could smell mice...

Something very odd was going on, and I began to suspect that I was the only one not taken in by some magical vision surrounding us. Even the chipmunk seemed blissfully unaware. I looked over at Colin again, but he was deep in conversation. Maybe it was time that I did a little exploration of my own. I did have my own powers, though they were nothing compared to the Fae.

Maybe being someone of lesser power was why I wasn't affected like the others. Maybe I had just enough magic to protect myself, unlike the chipmunks, but not enough power to be targeted by whatever spell laid over this place.

Or perhaps I was just going a little stir-crazy and seeing trouble where there was none.

I could still smell mice, though.

Being down on the ground felt odd at first. I had not been walking much lately, and the ground felt mushy beneath my paws. The purple grass was not as thick here but seemed to have a different scent. There were none of the enormous orange flowers, either. The elephants sniffed at the plants and then began to nibble them again.

I would never be that trusting of this place.

I could feel more magic as I moved away from the others. The area had a few low hills and a small stream with pink water and rainbow fish swimming.  I watched and then realized I still couldn't judge the passage of time.  I didn't want to miss lunch or have Colin come hunting for the lost cat.

I retraced my steps up over the small mounds and ridges.  The golden butterflies were back, and I thought there might be more flowers, including a few of the huge orange ones.

When I got back to the camp, the others were gone.

Flash Fiction #622 -- Neko's Trip Home/2

 

The first sign we were somewhere else was the fields of grass where there had been nothing but sand and rock before.  Purple grass dotted with bright orange flowers. Golden-winged butterflies glittered as they danced over the petals.

I looked at Colin.

"Somewhere in the Faelands," Colin said.  He squinted out the window.  "I have never been here before, though. We might as well get out. The car won't go any farther into the magic lands."

Luna eased her door open and looked cautiously around before she stood. I held onto her shirt and thought about just burying my head in the cloth until things went back to normal.

Three elephants took mincing steps through the purple grass. I looked down and decided to hold on a little tighter. There was no way I was going to put my feet down there. What if it stained my paws? Or worse, my legs. I wouldn't look terrific in purple.

Then, one elephant took a little bite of the purple stuff. Before long, we were all eating it. Colin watched them for a moment and then shrugged again. They didn't seem to know much of what was happening, which worried me since he was the closest we had to a guide here.

The Chipmunks must have decided to stay in the car. That didn't work out well. The car made a popping noise and disappeared, dropping everything we put in it, including our new little friends, on the ground.

At that point, we all turned to Colin, including elephants and chipmunks. He looked startled, glancing around at the entire group.

"Why are you looking at me?" He asked. "What makes you think I have any idea what's going on?"

"You said this is the fae land," Luna reminded him. "And you happen to be our only Fae."

"We are in so much trouble," I mumbled. The chipmunks nodded in agreement.

I started looking around, hoping for a sign that would direct us back to our own place. I saw purple grass and orange flowers that seemed to go on for miles until they faded into the hill land beyond us. I saw nothing except the strange movement of the grass about half a mile away from us. It took me a moment to realize something was heading our way. Whatever it was, the thing appeared to be short and long.

"I think we're about to have company," I said and nodded toward the waving grass.

We all gathered in the line, but the elephants remained behind us. I had the feeling the elephants might be a little intimidating, and Colin agreed. The elephants never told us what they thought.

I could hear small voices. "High-cut, low-cut, high-cut, low-cut."
We had trampled down the grass in our area, and it wasn't long before a small army appeared at the edge.

A small army of very small people. At first, I mistook them for pixies, but they had no wings and certainly didn't have the pixie disposition. About 60 of them rushed out of the higher grass and lifted their swords and other weapons into the air as though to warn us they were not to be messed with.

I don't think laughing with the answer either. I had to do a lot to keep myself from doing more than coughing. One of them was a stout little guy with a beard all the way down to his waist. Stepped forward and looked at us with a snarl.

"Not more damned Giants," he snarled in a voice that was louder than I had expected. "What do you want here?"

He shoved his sword into the ground, waiting for an answer. It was a good question. My answer would have been to say we only wanted to get away, but that might not be polite.
We looked at Colin again.
Since he didn't look any less confused, I had to suspect he had no idea what was going on. "It might help if we knew where we are," he offered with a bright smile.

"You must be blind! It's obvious where you are. You're in the land of the purple grass."

This was not going to be as easy as I had hoped. Then something odd -- well odder -- happened. The little guys had been looking up at us, but something to their attention to the ground. And there they saw the chipmunks. Their leader yelled angrily, drew his sword out of the ground, and started to charge forward with all of his army behind him.

The chipmunks rightly panicked at this behavior. One jumped on my back, and the others climbed Colin or Luna.

Colin pointed at the army. "Stop right there."

And they did, although that had clearly not been their intention. They gave cries of fear and anger.  The chipmunks made sounds of worry.

"How dare you come between us and the evil ones!"

Chipmunks as evil ones finally got a laugh from me. Neither side appreciated it. Apparently, the elephants got bored, though.  They wandered off, munching on purple grass.

The leader took a swipe at Colin's ankle.  He yelped and grabbed the guy up by his shirt.  "Don't do that," Colin ordered. "None of us, including the Chipmunks, are here to do you any harm. What makes you think there's a great evil?"

"They come in every harvest season and raid our fields and still our food before they cross back to their own lands and leave us to find more supplies for winter."

"They go back to their own lands? How did they do that?" I asked and shifted slightly to move the chipmunk off my shoulders.

"They don't do it with your fancy fae magic.  Oh yes, I know what you are.  Put me down!"

Colin put him down. "How do they get home?"

"By using a gate, of course."

Flash Ficion #621 -- Neko's Trip Home/1

 

 This is the third Neko story.  The other two are Neko (ff 556), and Neko's Vacation (ff575)

 

I had not expected Colin to let me drive. I stood in his lap, clamped both paws around the steering wheel, and dug my claws in.

"Remember what I said," Colin added. "Gentle movements and watch out for others. I'll take care of the rest until you feel the magic."

I nodded, forced my ears forward, and looked at Luna. She appeared oblivious to the idea of a Siamese cat driving the car.

Luna had been that way pretty much from the moment she learned I could talk and that Colin was fae. It helped that she had magical abilities, but I thought she might be suffering from prolonged shock.

We were on a dirt road in the desert, so we didn't have to worry about other cars. I had to keep my eyes open for the local denizens, though. It was good practice for the much larger cars, which I hoped would be easier to spot and avoid.

Lightning flashed across the sky.

"Out of the wash. It might not be so dry soon," Colin ordered.  

We'd been driving north on the flat stream bed for a few minutes, the banks too high to drive out on. Now I looked frantically around, hoping for an easy way out, though I suspected Colin would put wings on the car and fly if we had to.

Then I saw movement coming straight at us. Not water, my brain said. Coyotes. An entire pack of them. Maybe several packs. They swarm around and over us, their panic so strong that I started trembling --

"Luna, take  Neko.  Hold on."

I jumped into her arms. The ground started shaking, but I didn't think it was water.

No, it wasn't.

Elephants. A herd of elephants about a quarter mile away and not slowing.

"Time to run like the coyotes!" I shouted.

"Up!" Colin ordered.

The car made a feeble leap of about two feet and came back down. The elephants were closer.

I said nothing. I don't think I could have spoken. Luna seemed in much the same condition.

"Up, up, up!"

I looked into the startled eyes of a giant elephant who seemed as shocked as I was. Maybe that was because we were flying.  

So were a half dozen elephants.

"Colin!" Luna shouted and waved her arms toward an elephant swimming along and about to --

CRUNCH

I couldn't see the damage, mainly because we were rolling. Luna held on so tight that my ribs hurt. I made no complaint about seeing other things flying around the car. A package of cookies hit Colin in the head.

It burst open with the scent of cinnamon and sugar. Pieces exploded outward, and several small creatures leaped up from the back seat to grab them.

"Colin, we've got chipmunks," Luna warned.

We were no longer tumbling as fast and the elephants had spread out. We all headed for the right-hand bank, car, and creatures (including the chipmunks), landing with ease.

Luna didn't let go of me. I didn't complain.

Then the rain started, and almost at the same time, I could hear the roar of water in the stream. I was sure the entire herd of elephants had gotten out. Somewhere nearby, I could hear coyotes barking. Everyone was safe.

Colin dropped back on his seat with a moan, his hands still tight on the steering wheel. He turned his head to look our way.

"That did not go right," he mumbled. Then he looked away with a start. We need to get off the edge. I hope I can get this thing to work!"

"There are elephants out there," Luna said as though we hadn't noticed. "Where did they come from?"

"I'll ask when we get a chance," Colin replied. I couldn't tell if he was serious or not. Now was not the time to badger him with questions, either. The car sputtered to life, caught hold, and moved a few feet before dying again. This time, the entire vehicle shimmered and almost faded away.

"No," Colin ordered. The car returned to normal. Well, normal for it. "We're safe here. Rest for a while."

I wanted answers. Instead, I got chipmunks curling up on my shoulders and elephants leaning against the car as they slept.

I turned my head to look at Luna. She gave a slight shrug. I guessed sleep wasn't a bad idea, though it wasn't that easy to go to sleep.

Especially when an elephant ducked his head and stared at me. It shifted slightly and I feared we would go tumbling again. Then, the colossal beast lowered his head even more and went to sleep.

My chipmunks slid down a little, grabbed my fur, and snuggled. I had started to protest and changed my mind. It was kind of nice.

I slept, waking more than once from nightmares and finally waking completely at the light of dawn. I stretched. The chipmunks protested.

By then, everyone was awake and staring out at the dismal morning. The rain had turned to a fine, silver mist that was almost a fog. It obscured everything more than four yards away, including another elephant that came our way and greeted our companions.

Colin moved and made a sound of protest.

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Something purposely drained me of power last night," he replied. He moved his fingers as though he hadn't expected them to work.

"Where did the elephants come from?" Luna asked.

"Probably the same place as the chipmunks," he replied. Colin might even have thought that made sense to us. I felt this was a problem with not being fae -- and not having lived among them, either.

Colin got the car running, though slowly. The elephants padded along beside us like a royal bodyguard. I still didn't trust them much, though.

The mist soon began to clear.

We were no longer in the desert.

Flash Fiction # 620 -- Real life vacation/8

 Going back allows you to revisit spots, and to stop at ones you bypassed.  Bear Lake is a favorite, but often so crowded  they close it off.  If you are lucky, the high road might be open for a fun drive, providing your car is up to it.


We've been there on lovely warm days.  We've also hit high altitude snow storms, and once an ice and snow storm through the entire park.  All of these trips were in June and July.  Sometimes the upper park will close because of snow and ice. The parts remaining open were still lovely.