As Perry looks around, he feels the warm rays coming from the sun and his back gets the cold blast of air emerging from the cave behind him. He walks forward a little to get out of the cold air's path and glances at everything around him. Trees in the distance, grass, rivers. Perry feels at peace here... but something is amiss. Perry walks toward the river and kneels down beside it. He looks at his reflection in the water and sees a cricket jump up onto his hat. The cricket stretches down to see Perry eye to eye and smiles.
"Well, y'all don't look famil'er," the cricket says, hopping off of his hat and onto the ground. "So, what be yer name, son?"
Perry replies with a chatter and stares at the cricket. The cricket replies by saying, "Oh, ah see. Y'all don't know how ter communcate c'rectly do yer? Well dat dere's no probem, mister. As y'all can see, I"m jist leernin' all me grammars, too!"
Perry looks at the cricket, struggling not to slap the cricket for speaking the way it is. "Hey, you knows what? Why don't y'all come o'er to ma place fer a while, now. It'll be safer when da sun gone darn to settin'?"
Perry thinks about this offer a while, and how if he does go down to her place, that he'll have to listen to her all day... and what if she's not alone? But, he decides to accept the crickets offer.
"Well dat's just dandy, darlin'! Well, all jist call up the fam'y raght now!"
Perry hesitantly follows her down to her home. He passes by all different kinds of places. The beaver dam, the bird's tree, the anthill...
Perry looks forward and sees a huge stalk of grass about five times bigger than the average man. Perry's jaw drops as he looks in amazement. The cricket hops up to the grass stalk and pushes a tiny button opening up an automatic door in the grass. She hops inside and turns around to face Perry.
"Well, come on," she says. "No need to be shy, now." Perry lays down and looks at the small opening in the grass, thinking how she expects him to fit through there. "Oh, dat's right. Well, y'all to big an' tall ter fit yerself trough here. You 'don wait one moment. d'i'll be right back. Don move now."
The cricket hops further into the grass and the door closes by itself. A few seconds later, the door opens and out hop two more crickets. The door closes again and the crickets raise their heads up to see Perry's face.
"Well, I'll be," the male cricket says. "It's the blue fairy!"
"Honey," the cricket that brought Perry here says. "Now, what I gon don an tell'd you erbout say'n dem sterpid quotes from all dose movies you's been watchin'?"
"Sorry, dear," he says.
"Anyway, this is Beyill."
"Would you stop saying it like that," he says. "They're gonna start thinking that's my actual name!" He turns to look at Perry and says, "My name's Bill. My wife's got a speech impediment, you see, and..."
"Oh, Bill! He don care 'bout all dat nonsinse. Well, this o'er here is Jackson, he's are on'y child. Oh, dear me! I competley fergot to interdoce meself. My name be Wanda... SIKE! Get it? Wanda, Syke... Oh ne'ermand. Ma real name is Lynn, but y'all cin call me Lynn."
"Darling as much as I love you, you make no sense whatsoever."
Perry looks at all of them repeating their names in his head so he won't forget them, for he has a feeling he will be with them for a while.
"Well y'all jist make y'allself comferble. Ima make zum eats fer y'all so y'all don spool y'all's foods, k?"
"Sweety, would you please stop saying y'all all the time, it's getting kind of annoying."
The two walk back into the stalk of grass, still going at it. The door closes and Jackson looks back up at Perry. "They're not always like this. Just thought I'd tell ya."
It's silent for a few moments as Perry nods his head. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you then. Catch you later." Jackson walks back into the grass and the door closes behind him.
Perry leans up against the stalk and sighs. This is what he's going to have to put up with for the next part of his journey. Well, at least there's one thing that's good coming from all of this. It is at this time and this place that Perry knows and accepts the fact that...
This, is Perry All Amiss.
Sorry this one is so short, but there's gonna be a couple chapters about the second task. So, if you put them all together for one chapter... that's a pretty good sized chapter in my book. There I go again rambling. Anyway, I hope y'all... heh 'y'all. I hope you all like it so far and stay tuned for the next chapter THANKS!