WHAT KAR DID
Kar struggled to a sitting position, blinked her eyes and said, “Whew, that was what I call nothing but fun.”
I stood posed, chin on cupped hands, hands stacked on broom, waiting for Kar’s explanation. I felt wonderfully calm. The tide of success truly began to wash away all my nervous doubts. I smiled at my best friend from ever and waited. She blinked again and studied me closely.
“Bek, my worrying Bek, you seem to be oddly content. Can it be so such?” she observed.
“What did you do, Kar?” I repeated gently without a stumble while cocking my head to the left. “What did you do? Tell me as we walk.”
She jumped to her feet and joined me. We hooked arms and turned to the tunnel, leaving the Dome and its pulsing pale green charborrs.
“Well, it was like this,” began Kar. “When you said ‘no mischief’, I of course assumed that you meant a little speck of mischief, but not too much, and only that little tiny amount if everything was fine with the Koil and all. I had plans for Ommy Anthus, I can tell you. Oh Bek, you weren’t charborr so you didn’t sense the walls of the tunnel on the way to the Chamber of the Koil. Along with the purple pulsing and the orange streaks, there were big pink velvety spots.”
“That’s what you were … bumping?” I said, almost stumbling.
“They were nice to the touch. Very … velvety,” she said, shrugging. “So I bumped ‘em. I wonder if I could feel ‘em now. I …”
“What did you glue … do, Kar? What did you drink … think to the Koil and then to the … the … charborrs?” I asked, surprised I felt so such another level of comfort with the return of my speech stumbles.
“Ah, yes, to be sure, of course, what fun!” Kar resumed. “Well, when I reached the Koil and saw it was perfectly healthy, I announced that I was Oddy Drago, the lake charborr, and I was looking for the famous liar, Ommy Anthus! Bek, so such what a wonderful fuss I made! How could I have known that ‘liar’ was the perfect word to start things hopping. The Koil was shocked and vowed to discover with a confrontation the truth about the so said lying. Confrontation, Bek! The Koil decreed it. I wondered what it would be. Bek, I didn’t have time to ask or explain before the Koil rushed through the tunnel and I followed. When we reached the Dome, the Koil roared in thought for assembly. Oh, the charborrs scrambled. They assembled quickly to a pyramid. I bet you saw ‘em, Bek. You were there by that time, weren’t you?”
“I was there,” I answered, nodding.
“They do make a crisp, neat, pyramid, don’t they, Bek? Well, you can shake my tambourine and whack me on the head with it if I wasn’t almost flattened by what happened next. Almost, I say, almost. The Koil announced that the lake charborr, Oddy Drago, requested a confrontation. That was all. The Koil slid aside, and I was alone on stage, so to say. Well, Bek, you know me. I’m happy to spout anywhere, anytime. I slithered forward and told ‘em that I was going to give to ‘em a story about a great liar. I even started with ‘Once upon a time’. Oh, I didn’t name names, oh no. I gave out clues about ‘great’ this, ‘wonderful’ that, ‘brilliant’ the other. I knew like you know that Ommy Anthus could not keep still, and sure enough so said, ‘Lies!’ rang out in thought and Ommy Anthus detached from the pyramid and rushed up to argue with me. The puffed up braggart raged on and on about how the wonderful and gifted Ommy Anthus rid the Forest of the terrible snow. I shouted on and on about how the powerful Orry Culla was sent to trick the dimmest lackwit charborr in existence to perform the simple snow spell removal. It was a good argument, Bek, a lively sparked confrontation, two creatures shouting thoughts at a pyramid of charborrs and paying no attention one to the other at all. But I ended it, Bek, I won! I challenged the great Ommy Anthus to a disappearing contest, and before it could sputter an objection, I shifted to bendo dreen.”
“Very … clever,” I said, searching for and finding the right wrong word.
“I thought so such,” said Kar.