What If

Penny made a face, scrunching up her nose and narrowing her eyes. "What's that you're wearing, Nick? You look like a human slip-n-slide."

Nick grinned. "Yeah, it does, kind of. But it's the only kind of material I can change with my body. You don't want me running around naked, do you?"

"Not very practical, all that blue. Can't you give yourself clothes?"

Now Nick made a face, scrunching his nose and narrowing his eyes to mirror Penny's earlier expression. "Look. I'm not running around naked even if I can appear to have clothes on. You try it on North Avenue sometime, see how you like it."

"Well." Penny nodded. "It does get cold. You still look like a slip-n-slide though."

"Ha. Watch this." The boy vanished; suddenly Brice stood in his place, dressed in jeans and a coat. "Come on, kids. You'd better get to practicing! Or else you'll be a no-good like me!" Brice melted into the brown-haired youngster again, and Nick and Penny doubled over with laughter.

"That's good, that's good," Penny gasped between giggles. "Now do James."

"What about me?" James asked, coming around the corner.

"Nothing, just practicing," Nick said solemnly. "I think you should buy stock in Alister and Ashleigh. They makes great stuff together. See my new clothes?" Nick strutted for James.

Penny scoffed, but she did look proud. "You can't buy stock in people."

Nick balled his fists on his hips. "Well, they should start a company, then we could buy their stock." Nick nodded.

James smiled. "You look so much like your sister when you do that. Come on, let's go. Carrie and Eden are waiting for us at the restaurant."

Looking after

Carrie never has been good at eating. But when her health was so bad she started to not keep food down, I knew she was in trouble!

We didn't just have chicken soup like from a store. Luckily though when I told Eden she needed something like that, she knew just what to use in mid-world.

"Broth," she explained to me. "From boiled bones. We need some meat."

So I went hunting. James was busy with hypnotizing Carrie so I went myself and BAMF! I caught the two rabbits on my own! They were not very mutated so they were good to eat.

As Eden and Alister and I were cutting them for the pot, the red blood was coming out a little...

And as soon as I saw it I knew what'd been bothering James.

James'd been hiding it for a while. I didn't realize exactly and didn't exactly pry either, cuz I remember the way his mind wasn't closed off to me. But now staring at the raw meat, I knew. He was out of blood, and it was hurting him even if he wouldn't show it.

We were making the stew and more and more of the blood was cooking in the water, and too late I wondered if James should have some.

I don't know if he can drink animal blood. Really I never seen him drink blood at all and that must be on purpose. And I don't think he should cook his blood at all. So the rabbits wouldn't do him any good now anyway.

Thing is, we got to get him some blood, and that's just a practical matter.It's like eating for him. If both he and Carrie can't eat we're in real big trouble!!

So I'll have to ask him about it. Not now though... now he's hypnotizing her, and anyway now he doesn't want to talk.

Tomorrow though... We can step away from the others, maybe pretend to be decorating the log of ... er, whatsit... Roland's Log... and talk.

Sometimes he needs looking after.

Bumbler Luv

I don't remember the battle of Jericho Hill too well. I remember it was hard, and sad, and I almost did some things I shouldn't because I wanted to save them and couldn't.

But after it all we were alive, and okay, and we had the horn. As we left the forest we started to leave all the old wrongs behind. We had to do other things and press on, and not look back.

And guess who came with us! A Billy-bumbler!

He really came because of the Genius. Alister fed him lots and he kept wanting more!! He's cute and furry and snuggly and real smart. He can even say my name!! Kind of.

I got to thinking. It was while Carrie and Ashleigh were doing the not-look-too-much-at-each-other thing. Sure, Arthur loves Alister, but what he really needs is a lady bumbler, so he can love her and have little bumblers and be in a noisy happy family pack. Then they could talk to each other, and hunt and stuff, and Alister could teach them how to smell out Low Men, and stuff.

So that's when I decided to make this! Drum roll please....

Introducing....
Mid-world's first ever....

BUMBLER LUV MATCHMAKING SERVICE!

Name: Arthur
Age: 3
Species: Throcken
My human: Food Man
Favorite food: crunchy bugs
Favorite sleeping spot: Food Man's lap

I like to talk about: Things I smelled today
Favorite word: "No!"
My talents: Finding things with my nose
My pet peeve: bumblers who can't make people-noises
Sand or dirt?: Dirt
Favorite karaoke song: Walking on Sunshine

My ideal date would be...a bumbler who knows lots of people-noises and with a really curly tail
I think it's romantic when... a female goes mother hunting at night with me
I met my human when... he came into the woods to give me food
I like my human because... he's fuzzy like me

That's right lady throcken, he's single!! Plus also, real nice!!

((psst, thanks Aron for filling out the answers ;) ))

Ugly Ka, Crystal Ka

Without us, there wouldn't be any one left to fight at Jericho Hill. I don't know why we needed to save them just so they can die tomorrow. It makes me hate Ka. If I had a bullet for Ka I'd squeeze the trigger point-blank and never look back.

I get the feeling something here hasn't been done, or learned, or... something. I want to ask Carrie, but I know she misses her heroine, and she needs it to see.

It's like some sort of crystal lens for her mind. Sometimes it shatters. Well... we won't have to worry about that for much longer. I feel so bad! If I was going to lose my powers I don't know what I'd do!!

There isn't much I can do, I know that. James says if things go south I get myself on that cliff no matter what. He didn't say, but I knew, that when one of us gets hurt real bad (and I've got to wait until it's bad!) I got to do the same thing... take them safe to the cliffside.

The ugly part comes next.

Eden said something about Dinh. Carrie asked her if she thought she could lead us. I was silent. Me, I don't listen to anybody but James, I thought to myself. James points his gun one way and I point mine the same, no matter what. Does that make me a tet-breaker?

Sometimes Carrie knows when you should talk to James, and you listen to her. Sometimes the genius eats all your waffles because you made too many. Sometimes, Eden knows just what you mean when you haven't said it yet. So, maybe she won't have to lead with a gun.

There's something else about Eden. Not dinh--not like that. It's more about how we treat her than how she leads us. I've seen it in everyone's face when we fight. Ashleigh most of all. He was going to save Carrie, but then the Guardian attacked Eden, and he had to save her, even if it meant letting Carrie get hit - he had to. We're all like that.

We can't bear to let her fall again.

Waiting on the tracks

I've never been so mucky. The Guardian was in a big ole muck-pile. It attacked our minds, and made the Genius and Ashleigh march toward it. And the smell was horrible!!

If James hadn't a dived in the way and scooped me up I mighta been as bad off as the others. They most all got hurt. The thing took long to die.

And then Carrie took a dive. She turned her gun on us - she thought she worked for the King. She was really way out of it. We had to teleport her away, but I couldn't take her far enough. I was out of energy. The fight was too hard.

I was going to teleport again, and this time, I knew I was going to pass out. Then I felt James's mind nearby, concentrating on the right place with me, and together we both teleported.

When we got back near everyone went their separate ways. Until James called a meeting the next morning. We both knew we had to keep people together. I was real proud of James for calling everyone, too. Genius and Ashleigh liked my waffles!

Ashleigh says he can't sleep. I said maybe he could sleep by the rose. He hemmed and hawed about that suggestion till Carrie said he could sleep on her couch. He liked that idea, but he seemed embarrassed, like maybe he shouldn't - or like maybe we all didn't understand.

I knew. Sometimes a person can be the rose. I tried to explain how that's so with me and James, to make things less awkward, but I just made everyone go quiet. I don't really understand it, but I think people aren't supposed to talk about other people being like the Rose. But I don't care. Carrie says things other people don't say all the time, and it doesn't matter. It's better to be clear and to the point. I meant to make him feel better.

Anyway, Carrie said there's another vision. It's another horn we need. She describes the horn, curved and smooth and pretty, lying in a battlefield. It's on the grass, still as a whisper, and trembling like a penny on the railroad tracks.

We've got to save it or the horse flattens it.