There was that squeezing feeling
again, just like the time he touched the Visiting Stone. The only problem was
Wonder hadn’t touched a stone this time. When he popped back into existence Wonder’s
legs gave out from under him and he fell to the ground. Teleporting is no fun
when you’re not expecting it, and unfortunately Wonder was never expecting it.
His head was swimming trying to
process what had just happened. The last thing he remembered was Uncle Friendly
towering over him and pushing something into his hand. He looked down to see
the paper still clutched there, but it was disintegrating from the edges in. He
frantically tried to read the words on the page before it was nothing but dust,
but all he managed to make out was the word “Drifa” and some sort of official
seal stamped with Uncle Friendly’s name. The paper finished crumbling into
nothing and Wonder let it fall to the ground. He wasn’t exactly sure what
happened, but he knew Friendly was to blame and all he could think about was
how to get back to his friends.
Wonder got to his feet and looked
around for the first time. He was in a place unlike any he had seen before. The
land was stark and white; there were mountains in the distance and trees dotted
the landscape. The ground was covered in a soft powder that was cold to the
touch. “Snow?” he wondered aloud as he scooped a handful. “I think I remember
Magic Rock talking about snow when I asked him about the different regions of
Ur.”
There were several small ridges
on the street, so he climbed the tallest of them and took another look around.
The view was tree-covered and snowy in every direction. He knew he was in a
snowy region, but he had no idea where this might be in relation to where he
had been before.
“Why does this keep happening to
me?” he asked herself. Exasperated, he sat down in the snow to think about his
options.
‘Obviously my first task is to
get back to my friends,’ he thought. ‘Uncle Friendly is not the helpful cyclops
they think he is and I need to tell them what happened with Gwendolyn. So then,
the question is how to do that?’
Wonder sat for a while taking
out all the things he had brought with him. There didn’t seem to be much in his
bags that would be immediately helpful: some food and drinks, as well as some
tools he still hadn’t learned to use yet. He also pulled out his Cumbimal—Firedog—as
well as his Firefly Jar, and the music block and Crystal Heart Gwendolyn had
given him. These last two he examined very closely.
The music block was still giving
off an intense feeling of power and it made Wonder a little nervous. He
considered playing it to see what would happen, but quickly decided against it.
He didn’t want to risk making things worse if he played it in the wrong place.
The Cyrstal Heart looked very
much like it had when Gwendolyn had given it to him, though its light had faded
some. It felt cool to the touch and he liked the way the light reflected through
it when he turned it in his hands. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking
for, but Gwendolyn had told him that the Heart would help him find the way.
Unfortunately unpacking all of
his belongings didn’t do anything except highlight the helplessness of the
situation. He fell backward into the snow with a groan of frustration, closed
his eyes and yelled into the sky, “WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!”
He hadn’t really expected a response
so you can imagine his surprise when he got one.
“I’m not sure I understand the
question.”
Wonder’s eyes flew open as he bolted
upright and looked around. He couldn’t see anyone, but he had learned that
voices might come from anywhere in this world. “Hello? Who said that?”
Slowly a figure faded into view
in front of him. “I’m sorry; I forgot you couldn’t see me. It’s been so long
since I’ve actually talked to another Glitch.” Floating in front of him was a
Glitch, gray, see-through and sad-looking. It reminded Wonder of Gwendolyn.
“Are you a spirit?” he asked.
“Some Glitchen call us ghosts,
or the Half-Forgotten, but you may call me a spirit. It all means the same
thing.”
Wonder climbed to his feet. “I
met one of you. Another spirit I mean.”
“You found one of my brothers?”
the spirit asked.
“No, not exactly. I mean, it
wasn’t a ‘he.’ I met Gwendolyn, in the tower.”
The spirit smiled. “Ah, well
this all makes much more sense then.”
“Umm… OK.”
“Did she give you a quest?”
This took Wonder by surprise. “She
did, but how did you—“
“And did she give you anything
to help with that quest?”
Wonder held up the Crystal
Heart. “She gave me this.”
The spirit looked at the heart and
nodded. “Then you should know what to do.”
“But I don’t, that’s the
problem! I’m supposed to save everyone, or disappear everyone or whatever, but
I don’t know how!”
“You have the Heart, let it
guide you. It will help you find your way, and while you are on your way it
will also help you remind this world of what it once was.”
“Do spirits only know how to
talk in riddles?” Wonder’s frustration was getting to him.
The spirit just laughed. “I’m
sorry; as I said it’s been a long, long time since I’ve spoken to another
Glitch; really had a conversation I mean. The Heart helps. It makes it possible
for us to speak like this. These are all things that make sense from my
perspective, but are harder to explain to you. Just keep it with you, use it as
a guide, you will understand.”
“Will you come with me? I’ve
lost my friends and I don’t want to travel alone.”
He looked sad as he responded. “I’m
sorry, but I can’t leave this street. I’m stuck here until you set me free.”
The spirit’s words brought back
the monumental task Gwendolyn had set for him. He seemed to know what Wonder
was trying to do and looked forward to it.
“But don’t worry,” the spirit
continued. “I’m sure you won’t be traveling alone for long.” As he spoke these
final words he faded from view and Wonder was left alone on the snowy ridge.
After packing everything back
into his bags, Wonder considered what the spirit had said and looked back down
at the Crystal Heart in his hands. He held it out and faced this way and that
trying to get some sort of feeling or indication from the Heart. Once again he
got nothing, so he had to resort to common sense, which was less than
reassuring. The only saving grace was that he figured he couldn’t possibly get
more lost than he already was.
Thinking back on the route they
had taken to the tower he knew it was at a low point in Ur so he turned his
back to the mountains and headed in the most downhill direction he could find.
Wonder didn’t know it, but this was actually a pretty good idea and he was
going in the right direction.
Before long he came to a cave
entrance and immediately began to doubt his choice, but just as he was about to
turn back the Crystal Heart started to glow a little more than it had before. It
was enough to make Wonder pause in his tracks and turn back to the cave. The Heart
shined a little brighter as he moved toward the cave and Wonder began to feel
that he was headed in the right direction. Finally some of what Gwendolyn and
the other spirit had told him started to make sense.
He followed the path through the
cave which dropped steeply before coming out the other side. When he emerged from
the cavern he was met with the breathtaking site of the snow covered forest in
a moonless night. The sky was dark, but the snow caught the light radiating
from the Crystal Heart and reflected it back into the trees. Wonder was
awestruck and sat down to try to take it all in.
He wiped back a tear thinking
about how he would never see this place again or any of the other places he
never got to visit. It hadn’t been that long since his conversation with
Gwendolyn and he was still trying to come to terms with what he was supposed to
do. Right there, sitting in the snow, he realized that knowing what’s right and
actually doing it are two very different things.
As he sat and stared into the
trees he heard a shuffling noise behind him. He looked over his shoulder and
saw a piggy snuffling around in the snow. He had seen many piggies around Ur,
but never really thought much about them. Now he wondered about this Piggy. He
wondered what its life was like before, what its voice sounded like and what
kind of things they might talk about if it could still talk.
The piggy walked up to Wonder
and nudged its head under his hand asking for a pet. He obliged and turned back
to look into the forest again. While the piggy sat under Wonder’s arm the
Crystal Heart began to glow brighter in his lap. Wonder noticed it out of the
corner of his eye and watched it pulse gently a few times before returning to
normal.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The
forest at night, I mean. That’s why I hung around here.”
Wonder’s head spun around so
fast he almost fell over. “Did you just talk?!” he asked the piggy.
The piggy looked up at him in surprise
and replied, “Why yes, I believe I did.” And then, “Look at that! I did it
again!”
“But piggies have never talked
to me! How… why…?” Wonder was completely baffled until he remembered the Heart
and what the spirit told him. “Remind them of what they once were,” he
whispered to himself.
“I don’t know what happened. I
remember being here, in the forest, with Glitchen running all around waiting
for something, and then… it’s like I was in a daze until I woke up sitting here
with you.”
Wonder smiled at the piggy. “I
know what happened, and now I know what I need to do. I’ll explain it all to
you on the way if you’ll come with me.”
“Go with you? Well, sure I guess.
I don’t have anything else to do at the moment.”
“Great! By the way, what’s your
name?”
The piggy thought for a moment, “You
know, I’m not sure. I think I used to have one, but I can’t remember it. I
suppose you could name me.”
Wonder considered that before
responding, “How about Desmond?”
The piggy laughed. “And they
shall call me ‘Desmond!’ By the way, where are we going?”
For the first time Wonder felt
confident about his decision. “Not far, just to the end of the world.”
