Chapter 21

Shortcut to the Village Square

image [https://i.imgur.com/ZIpyTLC_d.jpeg?maxwidth=520&shape=thumb&fidelity=high]

Sophie liked walking along the roads to church, but Narissa preferred the bumpier, more adventurous paths.

“Where are you taking me, Narissa?” she asked. “This isn’t the right way, is it?”

“Of course it is!” she answered.

“But—are you sure?”

“Hey! Do you want to find out what your powers are for, or not? Trust me! I know the way. This is a shortcut! I think . . .”

Sophie gulped.

Nibelheim was no ordinary village. It was built upon the ruins of an ancient city. There were statues, tombstones and fallen temples just about everywhere you looked. Especially in the wilder, wooded parts that were too steep and rocky to farm. Narissa was quick and nimble. She dashed through these trails with ease. But Sophie was lousy at it. She got stuck in every bush . . . “Agh!” . . . tripped over every tree root . . . “Eek!” . . . and slipped on just about every single rock . . . “Oof!” It was a good thing her friend was there to catch her, or she may have never made it out.

“Narissa! Help!”

“Gotcha!” she answered with her big smile.

Often, they found old trinkets, coins and runes in the soil. They had lots of fun collecting and deciphering the symbols on them. Many were the late nights they’d spent trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Who were the people who dwelt there before them? What happened to them? “Nibelheim” wasn’t the name Sophie’s village chose for itself. It was the name inscribed on an ancient stone tablet they discovered when they arrived on the shores. It meant “Home of the Mist.” The People of the Book kept it in honor of them.

Sophie and Narissa also found crystals in the soil. The coast of the continent was rich with blues and greens. Reds were a little less common in that part of the world, except around the volcanos. Yellows seemed to appear more after thunderstorms. By the end of their little excursions, their pockets would be stuffed.

But the most exciting part was the buried treasure chests they’d find! All Sophie would have to do is close her eyes and think about them. Somehow, she’d know exactly where they were. She did the tracking and Narissa did the digging. With all the artifacts they discovered, they could have probably opened their own museum.

“O-kay,” said Narissa, coming to her favorite part of the woods. There was a deep ravine called “Snake Pit.” All the children were afraid of it. But not Narissa! She had climbed up a tree one day and built a rope swing over it. “Come on!” she said, holding on. “Let’s GO!” With her brilliant blue hair flowing in the wind, she swung across effortlessly. Sophie gasped in astonishment as she landed on the other side. “Hi-ya! There! You see? It’s easy!” Sophie looked doubtful. Then Narissa threw the rope back. “Okay . . . now it’s YOUR turn!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“What! Me?” our heroine squeaked. She looked around to see if there was anyone else, but there wasn’t.

“Yes! You!”

Sophie had never dared try before. When Narissa swung over, she always took the long away around. But today there was no time.

“Hey, I thought you said you’d do anything,” Narissa teased.

“I did?” answered Sophie, trembling.

“MmmHmm! So, prove it!”

Sophie hopped up onto the ledge. She felt a cold gust of wind. The sun’s bright beams nearly blinded her. It shone behind Narissa, making her blue hair glitter with gold. She looked down at the snakes and started to feel scared. But then Sophie saw the Dragon King’s mountain fortress in the distance. That black smoke rising! Those horrible, ugly ships patrolling the seas! For some reason, it made her feel braver and more determined.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll do it.” She closed her eyes and took a very deep breath, almost like she was getting ready to dive under water. Her cheeks puffed up like a chipmunk’s. Narissa tried her best not to laugh. Then Sophie bent her little knees, gripped the rope tightly and counted down backwards from three—“Mmm! Mmm! MMM!”—before jumping. “EeEeEeEek!” she squealed all the way across. Narissa couldn’t hold back her laughter any longer. Sophie was as stiff as board, twirling around in circles. But then Narissa realized she wasn’t going to make it. She dashed towards the edge, reached out and caught our heroine by the hand just in time. “Gotcha!”

When they finally arrived at the village square, their hair and dresses were full of twigs. They took turns dusting each other off. Nibelheim was bright and colorful. There were flowers on every windowsill, children laughing on every corner, kittens, puppies, pony rides and a band who played the most cheerful, delightful music you can imagine. The air smelled like fresh cinnamon buns and apple pie. You could hardly take a step without being offered some. But the best part, at least in our heroine’s opinion, was how squeaky clean and friendly everyone was. As she skipped and hummed, she tried her best to greet each and every one of them.

“Good morning! How do you do?” she said curtsying.

“Very well, thank you,” they’d reply. The women curtsied back to her. The men smiled and tipped their hats. “And you?”

“Very well! Thank you!”

Sometimes Sophie would get a little too excited and send herself spinning.

“And how do YOU do? And how do YOU do?” There were so many. She couldn’t keep up. “And how do YOU and YOU and YOU do? Eek!”

“Sophie,” said Narissa, holding her up. “You can’t say good morning to everyone, or you’re going to get dizzy and fall over again. Don’t you remember what the doctor said?”

“Sorry, Narissa! But I can’t help it. Everyone is so charming! Oh, look! Fresh strawberries!”

Farmers brought in their best crops on Sundays. They parked their carts in a big circle. People came and took what they pleased. Everything was free in Nibelheim. Instead of using money, people just shared. Nor were there any police or mayors. Why would there be when everyone got along? The only rule the People of the Book followed was “do what the Book says.” As long as everyone did that, there was no need for any more. On Sundays, you would always hear at least one person standing up tall, passionately reading from It.

“Be kind . . . treat others fairly . . . say you’re sorry if you do something wrong . . . always forgive . . . share everything . . . do good deeds . . . shower everyone you see with affection . . .” And so on and so forth.

Sophie loved her village so much that sometimes she’d climb up onto the fountain in the middle and just sit there with a big smile on her face, watching everyone as they did these things. It was her favorite thing to do in the whole world.

But our heroine was on a mission that morning. She needed to find the village priest before church started. Quickly, she handed her basket to Narissa and ran up the stairs into the temple.