CHAPTER 23 – THE JOURNEY TRAIN
The Haveldasher followed Koji’s final wish to the letter. He took Michaelah to the trains that they saw before they were separated. He flew along next to one and said then his personal goodbye to Michaelah. She was not crying anymore, but still felt very sad. The mighty white horse could see this in her face. She kissed the Haveldasher on the cheek and said thank you.
He nuzzled up against her. Michaelah felt the horse’s hair absorb the tears on her cheeks. It was nice but it was not the panda fur she had grown accustomed to. She would never again feel the comfort and security of that fur again. Michaelah patted the Haveldasher and got on the train. She found a seat by the window so she could watch the Haveldasher fly away. Michaelah watched the majestic beast fly back to Pandamonium.
She continued watching, not letting herself let go of Pandamonium until the very last second, not until it was completely behind her. Michaelah turned around to have a look at the inside of the train. It felt like she was on the train going to see the Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. She sat back in her seat and thought about the adventures she had just gone on. Michaelah remembered the Coral Reef and the mermaid. She remembered Snowland and the Igloo House. Michaelah thought about Francis the Snowman, Lo, and Behold. She also thought about the Canopy Symphony, the Umpteenth Annual Garden Variety Contest, and the Stampede parade. Michaelah also remembered Snafu, and the JollyLoggers in the Magical Forest, the terrifying time spent in Scary Territory, the Sky Chandelier, and the Lit Desert. And how could Michaelah forget the magical Wizard Alabaster, and the friends she made at the Cuisine Inn and Kitty City. The Goo Zoo might’ve been the craziest thing she’d ever seen if it wasn’t for that color catastrophe world.
But most of all Michaelah remembered Koji the panda, and how he saved Michaelah and everyone in Pandamonium. Michaelah was going to miss Koji more than anyone. Just then she saw a bright light coming from the front of the train car. Michaelah focused her eyes, she could not see much because the light was so bright. Michaelah put her hand in front of her face and blocked the light. Now she could see a little bit.
It looked like. No, it can't be.
It looked like a panda walking towards her. Not just any panda... it looked like her old pal and closest friend Koji the panda. She got up and ran towards him. But when she got closer, the light faded away. And what looked like Koji the panda turned into Mickennah, her sister.
Michaelah ran up to Mickennah and hugged her.
"Where have you been? We were looking all over for you!" said Mickennah.
Michaelah brought Mickennah to her seat and told her all about her journey. As Michaelah was telling Mickennah the story, the Conductor of the train walked by and asked for their tickets. Michaelah searched around and could not find any tickets.
Mickennah pulled out two tickets and gave them to the Conductor. He said, "Thank you."
And Michaelah looked up to say, "You're welcome." When she did, she saw that the Conductor had a very familiar panda face. The Conductor winked at Michaelah and then walked away. Michaelah got up and ran after the Conductor, but he was gone. It was a long trip. Michaelah told Mickennah about everything that happened to her. Before they got to their stop, both Michaelah and Mickennah fell asleep. When they woke up they were in their beds at home.
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Michaelah was so surprised to be home. Did everything she just went through really happen? Was it all a dream? That's impossible. She remembered everything like it happened yesterday. There was no way it was a dream.
Michaelah ran into Mickennah's room and woke her up. "Do you remember!" she asked her, "Do you remember what I told you on the train?"
"What?" Mickennah said. She had no idea what Michaelah was talking about.
Michaelah walked back into her room. Maybe it was a dream. She looked at her mirror. She was looking into the mirror and remembered how she fell into the fountain. How she became her reflection in the water. Michaelah shook her head. She was daydreaming.
Then she saw something peculiar in the mirror. She saw one of her stuffed animals with something in its paw. It was not just any stuffed animal. It was the panda one and her favorite growing up. The stuffed panda was holding something shiny. It was the locket that her father gave Michaelah for her birthday. She clicked it open and saw the picture of Koji drinking water from the pond. Michaelah held the locket close to her heart and closed her eyes.
Her sister Mickennah walked into her room sounding like a zombie. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her hair twisted all above her head like a crow’s nest. “What were you asking me?” she asked.
“Forget it.”Michaelah didn’t need anymore reassurance. She knew everything she had experienced was real. It had changed her life. How could it not be? She didn’t need anyone validating how she felt.
“I remember,” Mickennah said unprovoked. “I remember everything. The coral reef, snowland, meeting Koji, all the way to losing him. But I still have one question.”
“What question?”asked Michaelah.
“After visiting all of those crazy places and finding ways to get back after being turned into a ghost and sent to a color dimension, do you really think Koji is gone forever?”
“No, I guess not. I didn’t really think about it like that.”
“Michaelah, you did some amazing things over there, and when times were tough who was with you every step of the way?”
“Koji.”
“What’s that?”her sister asked abruptly. She noticed that locket in her hand too. That was a good sign. Michaelah showed it to her, specifically interested to find out what she saw.
“That’s him? That’s Koji the panda?”
Her question confirmed it for Michaelah. She smiled, grasped the locket in her fist, holding it near her heart, and stood up.
“Yes, it is and I’m gonna go find him and bring him home.”
“Oh, no, you’re not,”said Mickennah standing next to her sister, they both looked at each other in the mirror, “You’re not going back there without me.”
Michaelah smiled and held her sister’s hand. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She closed the locket and twisted the lock above it. When the seal locked into place a loud bell tolled out from outside of the house. Mickennah looked around concerned but did not stop holding her older sister’s hand.
Michaelah opened her eyes and walked right up to the mirror like it was a door. Mickennah walked with her. Even if her older sister was about to walk them straight into a closet door with a mirror for its surface, Mickennah was ready. Even if they had to traverse the diverse lands in their pajamas Mickennah was ready. She held her sister’s hand firmly.
Michaelah did not just walk them into the mirror. For her the mirror was not even there. It was merely the loose barrier between the worlds. When she held the locket like this everything felt different. For some reason reflections were weak points. She knew this from the fountain. She stepped towards the funny looking mirror with one hand on her locket and the other holding Mickennah firmly, her first step towards getting Koji the panda back.
COMING SOON: RETURN TO PANDAMONIUM
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