CHAPTER Eleven - Frogpocolypse
I felt the end of the windstorm that accompanied key travel, but my feet never found solid ground. Instead, I was walking among the clouds. Amazingly, I felt no difficulty holding myself up. I’m light instead of heavy, flying without any pixie dust.
The winds felt different depending on which way I turned. From the east a soft and gentle breeze, a warm wind from the south, a cool wind from the west, and storm winds forming in the north. I didn’t see any rainbows. So much for troubles melting like lemon drops. Am I over the rainbow? I am so over it.
“Ribbit... Ribbit.” Quite suddenly, a frog hopped right through the cloud. And then a chorus of frogs surrounded me, “RIBBIT. CROAK. RIBBIT” as dozens of frogs broke through the clouds, including the one I was standing on. I lost my footing.
I screamed as I plummeted toward the ground in a free-fall. “Thunk.” I landed hard, not on the ground, on a… flying horse… a pegasus! Its huge white wings gracefully glided through the air, only beating occasionally for more lift. Wind whipped by so fast. I held on to the pegasus but looked at the land below. At first I thought it was green trees or grass, but no. Hundreds or thousands of frogs hopped, jumped, and croaked in every direction. I couldn’t see a place to land that wasn’t squirming with frogs. But the pegasus didn’t ask where I wanted to go anyway. Where is the Shadow? My question was answered quickly enough. She floated gently behind us. Whew! I’m glad she’s okay. Wait a minute, why am I glad she’s okay?
I didn’t have time to answer myself. The winged horse swooped lower toward the frogs but landed smoothly on the platform of a huge treehouse. I dismounted and the pegasus turned and flew back into the clouds. Another white pegasus with flowing purple and silver mane broke through the clouds, and riding the magical beast was an incredibly beautiful girl.
Her long, dark hair flowed behind her gently as she rode. What’s her trick for that? My hair was whipping around me all crazy-like, and when I rode in a car with the window open back home, my hair flew everywhere. This woman was young but older than me. Where have I seen her before? Is she famous? I know I’ve seen her face before! I tried to put my thoughts together, but they seemed a bit jumbled. She wore a gossamer gown of many shades of green, also billowing in the wind, beautiful gems and jewels, emeralds it seemed, and a small crown. As she traveled she gathered something from the air. It looked like she was collecting cobwebs, but that didn’t make any sense. Whatever she was collecting, she added it to a small pouch she carried at her waist and continued her search.
The graceful young lady in green arrived at the treehouse, smiling as if she was expecting my visit. She dismounted. The demeanor, the crown… I have to treat her with the proper respect. I’ve learned that respect goes a long way in these places to getting help from strangers, especially when they out-rank you.
I gave my best curtsy. “Your majesty.”
She laughed a tinkling laugh that sounded like bells. “Oh, none of that silly. I’m no queen. I’m just a SkyDancer.”
“Oh. Just a SkyDancer.” I’d never heard of a SkyDancer before, but I certainly didn’t want her to know that.
“A SkyDancer gathers the blessings from the windhorses,” she explained.
It’s like she was speaking a different language even though I can identify all of the words.
“I am Wendy Windhorse.”
“Windy Windhorse?”
“No, Wendy Windhorse,” she corrected me.
“Oh. Wendy Windhorse.” Why can’t I get anything right?
“And you are?” she asked, interrupting my negative self-talk.
“Sorry. My name is Iris Imaginoria.” I wish I knew more of what to say.
“Iris, like the rainbow. The messenger.” It wasn’t a question. She could see straight through me. I may as well be transparent. A rainbow.
“Yes, I’m Iris, like the rainbow.”
“I like rainbows,” she explained. “They help ever so much with my work. But you’ve come to Cloud Country at a rather tricky time. The Frogpocalypse only happens once every 500 years.”
“Cloud Country?”
“Our home in the clouds. The Skydancers and Cloudwalkers gather the good wishes sent by the people in the world and make sure they get to the right people.” She reached out her hand and caught something invisible. “You see this thread?”
I didn’t see it at first, but she pointed a crystal wand with an iridescent prism at the end and directed green light toward it. The thread glimmered with rainbow light, no thicker than a single strand.
“This thread began as a thought or good wish for another person. Whenever someone sends a prayer or thought, we catch it and make sure it goes where it belongs. The threads connect people throughout the dimensions in the radiant interconnected web.” She peered into the distance and waved her hand, sending the thread into another direction, I guess toward the person it was supposed to reach.
“How do you know where to send it?”
“That’s part of my job as a skydancer. To know.”
“That sounds important.”
“I do my best. Sometimes people send loose or unformed thoughts, or something happens to them along the way. I gather these to use later.” She patted the bag at her waist. “There are far too many loose thoughts right now, though, thanks to the frogs in Jumpingbean Land. They cut through the threads with their hopping, and there’s only one way to stop them. You can catch more frogs with flies than with honey.”
I looked at the squirming frogs jumping around on the ground. That’s gonna take a lot of flies.
“But I cannot go to the cacao grove to gather the flies,” she continued. “If I do, all of these threads are going to break and no one will be here to gather them. Would you be willing to help?”
“What do I have to do?”
“My friend Peggy will fly with you into the south wind. When you reach the cacao fields, ask the flies to come to Jumpingbean Land.”
“Just ask them?”
“You have to ask,” she laughed. “You can’t just expect them to sacrifice their lives without asking. That would be rude.”
“I kinda hate flies,” I admitted. “Don’t they spread diseases and stuff?”
“Flies help keep the cycle of life in balance. Bees make honey from some flowers, but not all of them. Without the flies, many flowers would not pollinate. Including cacao… chocolate.”
“Flies give us chocolate?”
“Indeed. So will you help us?” I agreed, and Wendy whistled. The clouds parted, and the pegasus she rode before landed on the platform. “Peggy knows where to go,” she explained. She then handed me a dark green bag similar to the one she wore on her waist. “Bring the flies back in this. It’s too far for them to fly here on their own.”
“But it’s so small.”
“Small things can make a big difference. They are never what they seem. It will work, trust me.”
I nodded and climbed up on Peggy the pegasus. She lifted her wings, and we were off, sailing through the air at a nerve-wracking speed. I held onto her neck tightly.
:Relax. I haven’t dropped anyone yet.: The voice came from inside my head, but it was not my voice.
“Who said that?” I asked aloud.
:Who do you think?:
“Peggy?”
:Obviously. You can loosen your grip. I won’t drop you.:
Taking a deep breath, I let go. I started to feel more at one with the wind. Breathe. Just breathe. I reminded myself. After that I began enjoying the ride. I lifted my head toward the sun, and my hair stopped flying in my face. The soft, warm wind rushed past. I looked back at the Shadow. As I relaxed, so did she, gliding alongside my winged steed.
:Look ahead,: Peggy instructed. :Cacao trees.:
We descended at the edge of a lush rainforest, dense with tropical heat. Hundreds of trees bore large yellow and green football-shaped fruits, nestled under the canopy of other trees. A thick, earthy fragrance enveloped me. Along with the fruit, small white and red flowers grew directly out of the twisted, gnarled tree trunks. This is a chocolate tree? What did I expect? Candy bars growing out of the flowers?
I unmounted and immediately Peggy opened her wings, preparing to take off.
“What, you’re leaving me here alone?” I asked incredulously.
:I can’t fly into the rainforest. Whistle when you need me.: With that she flapped her great wings and disappeared into the clouds.
“Whistle? I don’t even know how to whistle…” Oh well. I’ve got flies to catch. It felt like that old story, “The House that Jack Built.” Find the cacao to talk to the flies to catch the frogs to save the clouds. I’m on my way to talk to a bunch of flies. This might be the most ridiculous quest ever.
A few steps into the forest, something invisible bit my arm. Great. Biting insects. Ugh. I hate nature. The ground squished beneath my feet. How am I supposed to find the flies? I swatted another insect away as it buzzed around my face. And how am I supposed to talk to them? I don’t speak ‘fly.’ But both Wendy Windhorse and Peggy thought I could do it, so I kept going. So many bugs! Then it dawned on me. I’m looking for bugs! Okay, how do I talk to tiny flies I can hardly see?
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the rainforest, I saw nearly invisible insects emerge from the small, five-pointed flowers. Swarming together in a type of dance, they separated again, pursuing new trees, new flowers.
“Hello? Chocolate flies?,” I called out loud. “Wendy Windhorse sent me to talk to you.” I figured name-dropping might help.
“Yesszzz,” a tiny voice replied. “We know Wendy Windhorszzze.” I shook my head, trying to identify the speaker. But the flies were too small.
“Wendy Windhorse sent me because the frogs are hurting the clouds. She said, ‘You can catch more frogs with flies than with honey.’”
“Another Frogpocalypse? Haszz it been 500 yearsszz already?”
“Frogs have taken over all of Jumpingbeanland and are jumping into Cloud Country.”
“And you want usszzz to give ourselveszz to the causszze? To make all the sacrificeszz you will not make?”
“Um… yes?”
“Aszz Queen of the Fliesszz, I will talk to my workerszz. See if any will go. But I make no promisezz.”
The Queen? I guess I found the right person… I mean, the right fly. After about a million years, a slightly larger fly emerged from the swarm and landed on my arm. She didn’t bite, but her legs tickled. Don’t swat the fly. Don’t swat. It took all my willpower to overcome my natural inclination.
“We have many willing to grant your requeszzt,” the queen buzzed. “All of usszz cannot go, of courszze. We have work to do here.”
My curiosity got the better of me. “What do you do?”
“We carry the pollen from one flower to another. It’szz a very important job. Only a few bugszz are small enough to get inszzide the flowerszzz. We are their favoriteszz.”
“Wendy said I was going to the chocolate grove. Is this really how they make chocolate?”
“Oh, yesszzz. Inside the podszz are the seeds. They call theesszze trees theobroma cacao, the food of the godzzz.”
“And some of your people... flies, I mean. Some of your flies are willing to come with me to help with the frogs?”
“We only live a few weekszz. Some of our flies are nearing the end of their liveszzz. Many of the volunteerzz are older flieszz who want to see a bit more of the world before they die. Some are younger flieszz willing to go for a good cause.”
“If they’re sure, I will take them back to Wendy. She said I can carry you in this bag because it’s too far for you to fly.”
“Very good,” the Fly Queen responded, taking off from my arm. “Open the bag for my flieszz.”
I agreed and opened the drawstring on the small green bag. A storm of tiny flies surrounded me, buzzing as they filled the tiny bag. It held so many of them! I hope Wendy is right about other things, too.
“Thank you, your majesty,” I replied, bowing slightly.
Now how do I call Peggy? Oh yeah. :Just put your lips together and blow.:
Try as I might, I couldn’t whistle very well, but winged horses must have excellent hearing. She swooped in from the clouds. And away we go.