Patty Liu - Silent Reflections

Wolf shot into the air, his arms flaying about him. He had felt himself entering the cursed Sixth Kingdom but then he felt someone shoving at him too. He thought he also heard Virginia’s voice yelling at him from far away. But then the next thing he knew, there was a tremendous force that just expelled him out of the invisible barrier and he was flying through the air.

He landed with a splash in the dirty water of the footprint lake. It was a shallow area and he hit his elbows and knees on the muddy surface beneath the murky water. He sat up and shook the water out of his head like a dog shaking water off its body. Water splashed and sprayed everywhere.

“Cripes! What in the world was that?!” he cried out to no one in particular. That was when he noticed that Patrick was in the water with him just several feet away. How the hell had Patrick ended up in the lake too?

Patrick was sputtering and spitting dirty water out of his mouth. He gave a curse and sat up also. He gave Wolf a narrowed gaze and was just about to blame the whole thing on him when they both turned at the sound of voices.

“Wolf!” It was Tony. He was kneeling down holding Virginia’s body up slightly and fanning her face. There was a young woman standing next to him with a shocked but relieved expression and she looked like she was about to break down crying from sheer exhaustion.

Patrick and Wolf saw feet too: Huge, gigantic feet that were only the bottom part of a humongous giant that stood amid the trees. They had to tilt their heads back to even see the top of the giant’s head.

“Quit staring you two oafs!” Tony cried out again. “Virginia was standing too close to the force field so that when the sound returned, the pressure hit her too hard. Come and help me here. When in the world did she get so heavy?”

Wolf splashed out of the water and reached Tony’s side. He cradled Virginia’s head and splashed water into her face. Her eyes flashed open and they darted from one face to another. Then she screamed and hugged Wolf so tight he could scarcely breathe.

“What happened? How did the spell break? Oh, I can hear again!” Virginia shouted. The pressure in her ears was making sound still a bit muffled so she shouted when she spoke, thinking that it was at a regular level.

“Virginia, stop shouting. We can hear you fine,” Tony said.

“Huh? What? Speak up, Dad.”

Tony shook his head but gave a huge grin. Oh, they were out! They were finally out! The spell had somehow been broken and all sound was restored. He wanted to flay his arms about and prance around the clearing and sing at the top of his lungs. But of course he composed himself and remained where he was.

“Huff, puff, Virginia. Are you all right, my love?” Wolf asked, brushing wet hair out of his eyes. He gazed down at Virginia and gave her such an adoring look she almost started crying.

“Oh Wolf. I’m perfectly fine! Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you... earlier, did I?” Virginia hesitated a little.

“Oh my delicious little bacon bit, you didn’t hurt me one bit. See, I am doing perfectly fine!”

“I want to know what happened. What in the world was it that sent us hurling through the air?” Patrick spoke up, trying to wringing water out of his soaked shirt.

“As far I could see, Wolf was trying to enter the Sixth Kingdom. Virginia tried to shove him out. The spell must have broken right at that moment because all sound came back and the force of the sudden pressure of sound sent everyone outside of the borderline flying. Virginia was standing too close, too. That’s my guess at least,” Tony explained what he could come up with. “Frankly, I am just glad I can hear my own voice. I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life writing on chalkboards!”

He gave Princess Wendy a big hug. She was so happy that she did end up crying. But her tears were of joy. Pip started flying around and around them cooing and muttering to himself.

“Hey Pops, now that the spell is broken, you gonna still owe me, don’t you forget it.”

Tony gave a wide grin and nodded. “Of course, Pip. You deserve anything that your little heart desires! You have been a great help. Oh dear, we should go tell everyone in the Sixth Kingdom what has happened.”

“Don’t worry little man, I will get the message passed around,” Udo bellowed from above. He gave everyone a quick good bye and trotted off into the night. He clicked his belt and he immediately became invisible his footsteps shaking the ground.

“What do you suppose broke the spell? Was it just a delayed reaction?” Virginia stood up, shaking the pressure out of her ears.

“I think it was when your husband tore all the pieces of the map up into the tiny pieces,” Princess Wendy spoke out. “Perhaps you were suppose to tear the map where the Sixth Kingdom was placed. That would explain why nothing happened when you only tore it down the middle.”

“That sounds possible. But it’s doesn’t matter anymore. The spell is broken. We’re all okay. Let’s just get out of here!” Tony exclaimed in excitement.

“Tony’s right. We need to get back to Prince Wendell and let him know everything,” Wolf said in glee.

“I thought he was king,” Wendy asked with a confused look.

“I meant king. I always call him Prince. Oh gosh, you, Patrick, you must come with us to the palace. You will be rewarded for all your help and you too, Pip.” Wolf had the hugest crooked grin on his face as he hugged Virginia over and over again.