Patty Liu - Silent Reflections

In the Sixth Kingdom, everything was slowly becoming a bore. No one could hear anything and everyone was getting restless and uneasy. Villagers were walking around in a daze with chalk board slates hung around their necks on a string.

Tony wandered around the tiny town while Princess Wendy slept the whole night away. He, himself couldn't, even though every muscle in his body cried out for rest. His mind was just too busy worrying about Virginia and the fact that they were still trapped. Pip, the talking dove, still hadn't returned with any news. Tony was getting anxious from all his frustration. He decided to walk to the border by the edge of town and wait for Pip. All the waiting was driving him up the wall. He wrote a short note on a slate and put it next to the princess telling her where he was to be found if he was needed.

The sun was coming up and the sky was a whiter shade of pale with a tinge of pink and gray. Tony smiled to himself as he made his way through the small clearing by the village. He remembered the time on Mushroom Island when he and Virginia had been sung to sleep by singing mushrooms.

For the life of me, I will never know why I stayed in the Nine Kingdoms with all the nonsense that exists here, he thought to himself.

He soon came up to wooden sign that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE SECOND KINGDOM on it. He tested the border line by trying to pass through, but something just invisibly shoved him back gently. Tony pushed again but still there was resistance. He gave up and sat down on a fallen log. He smelled the air and sighed. "At least I can still smell. And actually, I can still see too. Just think what it would feel like if I lost all my senses," he said silently to himself and chuckled silently when he realized what he had thought. He could smell the trees that were surrounding him and the grass that was growing. Great time to relax, he thought sarcastically.

Something tapped Tony on his shoulder gently and he whirled around so fast he almost knocked Princess Wendy off her feet. She regained her footing and waved a silent hello to him and smiled. Tony smiled back and motioned for her to sit down next to him.

THOUGHT YOU WERE SLEEPING, Tony took out his slate and wrote to Wendy.

I WAS. HAD ENOUGH THOUGH. GOT YOUR NOTE. THOUGHT I’D COME BY AND KEEP YOU COMPANY. Princess Wendy smiled. This whole ordeal was teaching her great patience and endurance. But she still depended on Tony. She looked up to him almost like a father-figure now.

Tony smiled down at the young princess and patted her hand. She reminded him so much of Virginia.

All of a sudden he caught a flash of movement in the trees. He ducked down behind the log and pulled Wendy down with him. She gave him a startled look and he put his finger up to his lips to signal for her to be quiet, for all the good it would do since no one could hear anything anyway.

They looked out into the trees that were about two hundred feet away from them. They didn't see anything at first, but then Tony caught it again and he pointed it out to Wendy. They saw a small group of full grown men jumping around and chasing after one another. They looked like hunters with their burly beards and long tangled hair. Some of the men were sitting around and mixing sticks around in a pile. Others were running around with their arms spread out pretending to fly.

WHAT ARE THEY DOING? Tony quickly wrote down on his slate and showed Wendy. She just shrugged and looked on. The big burly men were silently playing amongst each other with no care in the world. They even saw one sitting all by himself crying underneath a tree.

THEY ARE ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF CHILDREN! Tony squibbled.

Wendy nodded and suddenly pointed in another direction away from the hunters. Tony squinted and barely made out dark hairy shapes moving around amongst the trees. What in the world?!

TAZZIES! Wendy wrote on her slate.

Tony mouthed the word "What?" and continued watching the hairy creatures. They were extremely fierce looking and they were also huge. But they were also participating in the oddest behavior. Two of them were skipping stones on the ground and jumping around on one foot. Another group seemed to have fashioned some sort of jump rope and were skipping back and forth.

TAZZIES ARE TAZMANIAN WOLVES. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE EXTINCT. GUESS I WAS WRONG THOUGH, Wendy explained to Tony, who turned to watch the hunters at their play.

WHY ARE ALL OF THEM ACTING LIKE CHILDREN? THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO KNOW.

I'M NOT SURE. Princess Wendy sat in thought for a moment and then quickly erased her previous sentence and wrote down, THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH!

Tony raised an eyebrow at that and squibbled something onto his slate.

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH! THAT THING EXISTS!?

YES. THERE ARE ONLY A HANDFUL OF THEM SPREAD OUT IN THE NINE KINGDOMS. MOST OF THEM HAVE DRIED UP, THOUGH. She wiped at her board and wrote again, BUT THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH DOES NOT MAKE YOU APPEAR YOUNG. IT MAKES YOU YOUNG ON IN THE INSIDE.

Tony frowned at this and looked back at the hunters and the tazzies. They all seemed to be playing around and goofing off in their own little silent world. The fountain of youth could explain it but he had always thought the fountain made you appear young. What a disappointment, he thought.

BASICALLY YOU ARE A CHILD TRAPPED IN AN ADULT BODY. BUT USUALLY THE WATER ONLY AFFECTS YOU FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME UNTIL YOUR BODY DIGESTS IT AND GETS RID OF IT.

YOU ARE PRETTY SMART, PRINCESS, remarked Tony with a grin. LET'S LEAVE THOSE "CHILDREN" ALONE FOR NOW THOUGH.

Wendy nodded and smiled in agreement and they sat silently behind the log waiting for Pip to return.