Chapter 1

The Human Woman

Boggo

Hawkin’s Mist Hidden wall wavered behind us. It moved in the air like slow clouds that were being shredded by slow winds. Stretches of the mist flared every now and then. They snaked in the sky like unspooling ribbons lashing at the coast behind. At a land that stretched far away.

From atop the mast, I clutched rigging and waved at that land. Not at Hawkin, nor Abigail, nor the coast itself, nor Thrush, nor the trees. I waved at the colony—the blue besties! They were all underground, of course, and would never know that they were being waved goodbye to; but I did it nonetheless. Acquaintances were there. Perhaps friends, if time could make them that way. Then there was my family too—my siblings, and I worried about them.

Those worries were slowly being replaced with more imminent worries. When I moved about the masts, rigging, and crow’s nest, I held a death grip on everything. I was petrified that a sudden gale would wrench me from the ketch and bury me beneath the waves. And I also worried about storms and sharks and unsavory surprises that the surface of the world held for me. Those were the worries that began to churn in my mind.

After adjusting the sails, I returned to my crow’s nest that was overgrown with climbing trumpet flowers. The mast looked like a tower of green leaves and vines. There were so many leaves and flowers that I gathered them into the shape of a bowl on the roof of the crow’s nest. With a touch of blue fur here and there, the nest was packed solid. It was a promise of safety and security. I settled myself into that nest to relax after a hard day—a hard week!—of working nonstop to get the ketch up and ready for sailing. In the distance, the Mist Hidden wall was shrinking the further we sailed.

Noise from below drew my attention. Barnacle-eyes jammed a rig at the helm. She and Remember-not ran between rows of flowers and then took the hatch below deck.

By myself, I turned to gaze back upon the coast. The wind crossed my face and ruffled my fur. I flattened my ears so that the wind wouldn’t lift me. I leaned back on the wall of the nest of trumpet flowers, leaves, and blue fur. I twirled the tassel of yellow fur with my fingers. I closed my eyes and lifted my snout to the sky. The sun warmed my wet nose.

There was no better day to begin sailing. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Dare I say there was even a peaceful mood to the world. Perhaps it was really the solitude which I found myself in that granted me a few moments of peace.

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Another sound below caught my attention. I looked over the rim of the nest to find that a human woman was onboard near the prow. She crossed the rows of flowers and went port side to the taffrail. She learned over and seemed to be looking for something upon the coast. She turned her gaze north and a flash of the Mist Hidden wall flared in her eyes.

I recognized her boots. I froze. My hands panicked and searched for something—at least they tried to; all they really did was clutch and clutch again the vines of the trumpet flowers.

I gaped while the woman walked around and around. My mouth went dry. Thoughts and questions flooded my mind. At last, I scrambled out of the bowl of trumpet flowers and scurried down into the crow’s nest. I lunged for a dreambon ale in the corner. I ripped the cork from the chimeric colored bottle and poured a libation over my feet.

I ran back to the threshold of the crow’s nest. The woman drank from a bottle of beer. She wiped her lips with the pad of two fingers and then leapt overboard. She landed firmly on the surface of the sea and then sprinted toward the Mist Hidden wall.

My heart raced. I trembled like an earthquake. I threw myself back into the corner of the crow’s nest and mangled a cry for help while I fumbled and shook another libation out of Thrush’s dreambon ale. Still nothing happened. Thrush did not appear. I dropped the bottle. It rolled into a wall and bounced.

I dove to the hollow of the mast in the floor of the crow’s nest and hollered, “help! Help!”

I threw myself back to the pile of dreambon ales and pried the cork from another one. I dumped the whole thing on the floor. I furiously panted as I stared at the spilled beer and foam.

“Thrush! Where are you?”

Barnacle-eyes and Remember-not exploded from the hatch on deck. I heard the hatch doors slam open on the deck.

“Boggo? What’s wrong?” Barnacle-eyes said.

“Human lady!” I said. “She’s the one!... She kicked me! She’s here! She’s over there!”

The goblins gazed into the distance that I pointed to. Just then, a part of the Mist Hidden wall, not quite by the docks, flared high in a plume of bioluminescent mist. A gap formed only for a moment before the bioluminescent mist flooded the gap until it was filled again.

Thrush suddenly appeared beside me. The mast creaked us.

“Sorry Boggo. I was starving again. How are you?”

“Thrush! Thrush! The human woman is here.”

He looked at me for a moment. Then his eyes widened and his nose twitched. He ducked out of the threshold and leapt down to the dock. Wood planks cracked under his weight. Thrush inhaled deeply. Several currents of wind and pollen flew into his mouth. A few butterflies were drawn in. His chest expanded. His snub nose nostrils flared. I imagined all the scents that he was possibly sucking in.

“That way!” I said and pointed at the Mist Hidden wall.