IN THE SNOW
“Why are you popping … stopping?”
“I’m too big to fly up the slide carrying you. You’ll have to use your broom. I’ll be a smaller Dragon.”
“What did …”
“No talk! In the snow. In the snow. Go!”
* * * *
“Now tell …”
“Wait! I’ll melt a path up to the surface. We’ll see how deep it’s gotten.”
“But first …”
“Bek!”
* * * *
“More than half! Oh, more than calf! The bees … fleas … trees! … are more than half married … buried! Prophesy. Praw! Fuh! Sigh!”
“Bek, settle! Sit. Here. I’ll burn out a snow cave … There, such. I’ll tell you what happened, but you must sit quietly. I’ll tell you what the Koil said and what I promised. Just think, Bek, I’m the first jrabe jroon to shift from bendo dreen to charborr to Dragon,
and now here I am, a Dragon in a snow cave about to make a speech to Bekka Ja Harick. The first! The first jrabe jroon to do so such!”
“KAR!!”
“Sorry. I’ll flatten my mind … There … Now … I’ll tell. There I was in that confusing jumble of charborrs. Fragments of thoughts flew at me from all sides. I understood nothing. Too much tangle. I shouted for Ommy Anthus again and again, but in vain. Thoughts boiled in turmoil, ignoring me. But then, then Bek, the Koil appeared on the apron of rock at the mouth of the tunnel. With one crashing slap, the twisting mass of thoughts retreated to silence. Crisp form rigid, the charborrs obeyed the echo thought of the Koil and snapped ‘emselves …”
“Into a pyramid! I was stare … flare … there. I saw it!”
“Bek, the snow is falling. Do you still want to save the Charborr Forest from bursting into flame?”
“Yoss, I …”
“Then try not to interrupt again. It knocks me off center. I lose my place. Now, to continue. Yes, the charborrs snapped ‘emselves into a pyramid, and I was a part of it, the
first jrabe jroon ever to be so such a part of a pyramid. The Koil called in thought with quite a rumble, Olly Ocksen, have you found Ommy Anthus? Well, Bek, then and there I found out and now you know, too, that Ommy Anthus was not there in that pyramid. No, no, Ommy Anthus is still somewhere out here!”
“Then we …”
“Bek! I’m not through! I promised ‘em. I did! How it happened was that Olly Ocksen thought from somewhere down off to my left, No, I didn’t find Ommy Anthus, but I met charborrs from the lake. There was the when that I made my speech.”
“Leech … speech?”
“Bek, you look worried. Don’t be worried. You know what a skillful liar I am. Oh, I told ‘em all about the lake and our slide and how ticklish it is. Don’t groan, Bek. They believed every word. I told ‘em we had vanishing skills and could put ‘em to use in searches. They didn’t doubt me. I promised ‘em we’d find Ommy Anthus and stop the snow. They clung with hope to my every word thought. I told ‘em that you’d rushed off to begin the search when we realized that Ommy Anthus was not in the Dome. I pledged to join you. The Koil expressed thoughtful gratitude. The Koil has a soothing rumble in thought. I learned, Bek, that burrowing in snow is unhealthy for charborrs. Ommy Anthus had volunteered to fetch greps in spite of the danger. Olly Ocksen, too. I told ‘em snow was nothing for us lake charborrs. Truth known, it refreshes us! I told ‘em that. I told ‘em we’d rip up strips of greps and send a goodly supply down the slide.”
“Snow is … is … unhealthy?”
“Yes, so it is, so it is for charborrs.”
“Ommy Anthus! Praw! Fuh! Sigh!”
“Oh, well, yes, maybe we’d best find the charborr soon.”