CHAPTER 12 - BOGGY LANDS

The path was not as scary during the day. That was for sure. It looked like any other forest. It wasn’t until they got to the boggy lands that Michaelah began to worry. The forest floor softened, and the trees shrank and twisted together into a maze. What was even worse was the swampy mess the ground turned into. It was like each step they took turned the dirt beneath their feet into mud. The further they walked the stickier it got.

“Dr. Rhino would love this,” said Koji.

“Which part?” asked Michaelah, “Us being stuck or a new kind of goo?”

“Both I suppose.”

They slowly made their way across the boggy lands. Getting through the swamp was hard enough. Michaelah was thankful nothing scary tried to attack them. Then again, what would be so terrible it would live in such a place?

Just then, Michaelah heard a bubble from the swamp puddle they were walking through. Wait, that’s not right. Bubbles can’t make noises unless they’re popping. She heard it again. Even Koji did. He had stopped walking. The word “walking” was a stretch to use because the mud was now up past their knees. The correct word would be “treading” through the muk.

The bubbles garbled behind them. It was like a loud vibration or a dull roar. Impossible to decipher but all the same scary. Michaelah and Koji moved through the swamp as fast as they could to get away from it.

Unfortunately for them the mud only got deeper. Way past their waists and getting up past their heads. Michaelah knew the bubbles, or whatever was making the bubbles would catch them soon. The bubble roar got louder. She looked back and saw the bubbles also getting bigger.

Suddenly, the muddy bog floor pushed up beneath their feet and then down wildly, even deeper. They both went under for a second. This wasn’t like swimming in a pool. It was like drowning in chocolate. They went under mud and if the floor didn’t bounce them back up they might not have ever escaped.

Quick-thinking, Michaelah grabbed Koji’s plunger and slipped the loop of the yo-yo string onto it. She gave the plunger back to Koji and started wrapping both of them with the yo-yo, an everlasting amount of string spooling out of it.

“Throw it!” Michaelah yelled.

Koji threw the plunger and it stuck to the side of a tree. When the floor gave out on them again they sunk and the yo-yo string pulled tight, keeping them from going under. Michaelah and Koji dangled in the air, their feet dripping with mud. They both climbed up the string to the solid part of land. As they climbed the bubbles got louder, larger, and closer. One hit the heel of Koji’s foot and popped. A massive blast of wind exploded all around. It hit them so hard they had to stop climbing for a second.

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Michaelah grabbed a hold of the tree roots and pulled herself up to safety. She turned around and saw what was inside the bubbles as Koji was trying to kick them off. A great ball of fire with an angry face came barreling towards them. Michaelah panicked. She could feel the heat on her face already. There would be no escaping this time.

Koji got himself up with the help of Michaelah, but managed to pop a couple more bubbles which released another fireball each. They were out numbered three to two. Then something unexpected happened.

Michaelah looked back toward the solid ground part of the forest and saw three figures racing towards them. One was most certainly an alligator standing on his hind legs, running like a human, and dressed like a conquistador. He even had the two guns to boot! The other was a chubby white ghost with big black eyes and a crooked smile. The ghost floated through the air as quickly as the other two ran. The last character was a scarecrow who had the poise and grace while running that could be that of a woman. The trio yelled at them. “Run!”before they all three started fighting the fireballs.

The gator shot the fireball with his guns. The bullets that came out of the guns exploded right before they hit the fireball. The bullets exploded into water and extinquished the first fireball.

The chubby white ghost flew up to the fireball and ate it. Michaelah was shocked. She didn’t think the ghost could stretch its mouth that big, but then again it wasn’t even solid. It looked like a living drawing. Michaelah thought about it and in a world like this that probably meant the ghost could do whatever it wanted. The second fireball was made ghost food.

The last one was interesting to watch. Michaelah knew from one of her father’s favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz that scarecrows are extremely flammable, meaning they burn easily when faced with fire. How was this scarecrow going to beat a fireball? She didn’t seem much different from the one in the movie. The scarecrow punched the murky ground and started absorbed the mud up through her arms and legs. She became soaked and a little wobbly and then lunged herself at the fireball. As soon as she hit it, the fireball stopped yelling. It sounded like it drowned inside her wet straw body.

When the scarecrow landed back on the ground in front of them she was smoldering, smoking so much she was hissing. Parts of her hips were so dried out from absorbing the fireball they lit on fire. She smiled at them as she rearranged her straw. Michaelah was amazed. Apparently, this scarecrow definitely had brains.

Once the coast was clear the trio introduced themselves. “Howdy folks, this here is the Not So Scary Gang. I’m Al la Gator, this is Carl the ghost, and that’s Scarecrow Cassy.

“It’s very nice to meet all of you,” said Koji.

“Thank you for saving us,” said Michaelah.

Scarecrow Cassy continued, “We patrol Scary Territory in an effort to show the people of Pandamonium that they can safely travel the land, if not the sky.”

“What do you mean about the sky?” asked Michaelah.

“The sky is where the most terrifying of all the monsters live. Those fireballs are from the skies. They float down here and raise havoc.”

“We are looking for safe passage through the territory in order to get to his home, the Bamboo Palace.”

“We can help you on your journey and see you get to the border safely,” said Carl the ghost.

Michaelah and Koji smiled at each other. Things were finally starting to look up. Right when Michaelah was about to open her map to chart the rest of the way, all three vampires, Carlisle, Seth, and Vlad came running out of the swamp.

“Oh, no,” said Michaelah.