CHAPTER 29: THE PATH BACK
We had left Happy Happy village with the sun high in the sky. We felt refreshed and better than ever thanks to the restorative powers of Lilliput Steps, the second sanctuary. As we walked through the valley, we had to evade the few little UFOs, and spinning robots. The worst thing we had to look out for were the trees that exploded. Every now and then, one we hid behind would start to move and we had to run away as fast as we could.
The sun was finally beginning to set as we reached a high up hill, void of trees. We sat down on the edge to take a well-needed break after hiking and running about all day.
"You can see Twoson from here." I said, pointing over the hills in the distance.
She giggled. "Yes, you can."
We stayed silent for a few minutes, and it began to worry me. I had no idea where we could go next.
"So what's the plan, now?" I asked Paula. "I've never left the Onett area until now."
"I suppose we can try going to Threed." She suggested. "But they say recently ghosts are in the tunnels."
"I think I heard that in the newspaper or something..." I shrugged. "Ghosts can't be real, right?"
"Nope!" She said, laying back and looking up into the pink sky. "That's just plain silly."
"As silly as an evil alien overlord trying to take over our planet?" I asked, flopping back to the same position.
"That's different." She said. "We know for certain that alien exists. Ghosts are just children's tales."
"There must be something to it." I turned my head to look at her.
"You think so?" She whispered, turning to look at me.
"The buses aren't going to Threed." I said. "We'll have to try it on foot, I guess."
"It's a long tunnel to get there." She said. "It goes under the hills and stretches for over a mile!"
"Jeez..." I muttered. "We'll have to make sure we're ready for a hike then. Gather food supplies, and make sure we're well rested."
"Especially if a ghost chases us!" She giggled, then waggled her fingers in the air. "OoooOOOoooOooO."
Her impression made me burst into laughter.
"I'm glad you're with me." I said, and then suddenly blushed. I hadn't meant for it to come off the way it sounded.
"I'm glad I'm with you too." She smiled. She had the rosiest cheeks, and she was really cute. I quickly looked away, and coughed.
"R-right." I said. "Well... Should we get going?"
"You think we should? The sun is setting. We might not make it back to Twoson by nightfall."
"The crazies are already out in the day." I said. "You're probably right. We'll camp right here. And get a good view of the moon and the stars. I've never seen them real well. Onett has too many lights downtown."
"Oh!" She said. "They're really beautiful."
"Just like you." I said, and then instantly slapped my hands over my mouth.
Paula turned her head to look at me again, and smiled. "Thank you, Ness."
"Y-you're welcome." I stumbled over my words. "I mean you're nice to look at—I mean you're—Um...I—"
"Shh." She said. "Quit while you're ahead. I think you're cute too. But we have to worry about saving the world right now."
"Maybe when it's all over we can get a milkshake and burgers?" I smiled, imagining the simplicity of life just a few days before. I had never imagined I'd be travelling all the way to Threed. I'd never been there, and all I knew about was the massive graveyard they had.
"Sure." She giggled. "That sounds... nice."
Paula scooted her hips closer to me, then moved her shoulders as well. Our sides were nearly touching. I sucked in a deep breath. I'd never been so close to a girl before. For a moment, when she lifted her head, I thought she was going to kiss me—But instead she put her head on my shoulder, and sighed.
"Big day ahead of us tomorrow." She yawned.
"Yep. Big day." I said.
"I'll have to check in with my family before we leave." She said. "And talk to Mr. Everdred at the park. Maybe we could even see the Runaway Five show before leaving. That'd be so nice."
"We don't have time for concerts." I reminded her.
"Well aren't you mister serious?" She laughed.
"I never used to be really... but ever since the meteor landed on the hill outside my house, well... things changed.
"Tell me about what you've been through so far." She whispered, cuddling up against me.
"It's boring really."
"Just tell me. Pleeeease?"
"Okay, just for you." I said. "I woke up to the world shaking. Gosh I thought it was an earthquake. When I got out of bed, Mom and Tracy were already awake. Something big was going on outside."
"Mhmm..." She mumbled.
"I decided I would go check it out, but the cops were everywhere. I had to sneak past a few. When I made it to the top of the hill—"
A grumbling coming from beside me caught me off guard. I thought one of the bears from the cave had followed us. But there was no sign of any animals. Just then it happened again, and I looked down at Paula. A long grumbling sound came from her nose. It was just her snoring.
I had to stifle my laughter.
"You're so cute..." I whispered, as I tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear.
"Hehe."
"Y-your awake?" I breathed, my face burning red.
"Just a teensy bit." She giggled. A moment later she was back to snoring loudly.
I smiled, and looked up at the sky. The sun was just disappearing over the hill, and the darkness of night was enveloping us; but the moon offered a luminescence that was breathtaking. I wished Paula were awake to look at the sky with me. It was so beautiful. Not only could I see the normal bright stars, but I could see hundreds more—Many surrounded the full moon.
"To think..." I whispered. "There's an alien out there that wants to kill us—Everyone of us in the entire world. What a sick jerk..."
Paula shivered and pressed her body tighter against mine. I put my arm around her and hugged her tight. Just to keep her warm, I told myself. That was the only reason I was giving myself permission to touch the girl.
I hummed to myself—Songs that were now committed to memory—The ones from the first two Sanctuaries. I could feel the warmth from my backpack—The Sound Stone was reacting. It was comforting in a way. So much so, that I eventually felt too tired to keep my eyes open, and let myself fall asleep.
The next morning I woke up and bolted upright. Paula was gone.
"Paula?" I gasped, looking around. She wasn't on the small plateau we had rested on. I crawled to the edge and looked down. The river was beneath us.
"Oh no!" I heard Paula say from somewhere down below.
I threw on my backpack, and ran down the hill full speed, twisting around the curve, and recklessly running past trees that I couldn't tell if they were alive or not.
At the bottom, I skidded to the edge and looked down and there was a large rock below. Sitting on it, was Paula. She was putting her feet and legs in the water, rubbing them. Then I realized she was only half-dressed. Her pink dress was sitting on the rock next to her.
I jumped back and covered my eyes. "Paula? Are you okay?"
"Oh! Ness!" She gasped. "Were you peeking at me?"
"N-no! I mean y-yes! I mean n-no!" I stammered.
"Hold on, I'll be right up!" She called out.
I sucked in my breath and tried to wipe the vision of her bare back from my mind. I hadn't meant to see her. I felt so wrong—So invasive.
Paula popped her head up over the lip of the small cliff. Her hair as dripping wet. When she emerged the rest of the way she was wearing her dress again, but was carrying her shoes in her hands; her feet bare.
"Hi!" She said. "Good morning!"
"Morning!" I said, covering my eyes again.
"Oh come on!" She giggled. "Only my feet are revealed."
"R-right!" I brought my hand down, and acknowledge her as she curled her toes.
"Do you want to bathe too?" She asked.
"With you?" I gasped, flushing again.
"No! Silly!" She laughed. "I already bathed. But I thought maybe you'd want to. We can wait."
"I'll be fine." I mumbled. "Let's just get back to Twoson."
"Sounds fine to me!" She smiled.
We walked through the rest of the valley, and eventually we had to start to head north. But Paula stopped.
"What's wrong?" I asked, glancing back.
"The bridge to the south is fixed!" She said. "There's a man over there standing on it."
"That would have been useful on my trip to Happy Happy Village." I sighed, slumping my shoulders.
"Well hurry up slowpoke!" She said, as she ran, still barefoot to the wooden-log bridge.
The man on it saw us and waved. Paula ran up to him, and I was forced to follow. He was wearing an orange floral button up shirt, shorts and flip-flops. He was definitely a tourist.
"Hi mister!" Paula said.
He looked us up and down. "Blue, blue..."
"Oh no!" I cried. "Paula get back!"
"Oops!" He said, holding up his hands in defense. "I won't say it again."
"What're you doing here?" I asked, breathing a sigh of relief.
He nodded. "I fixed the bridge as a sign of apology. I'm just trying to help."
"That's good of you." Paula said. "Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, now we can get back to Twoson without trekking all the way up north." I added.
"I was just trying to go to Threed." The man said. "But the strangest thing happened. I was on the bus, and it tried to make it through the tunnel—You know there are ghosts in there! Anyway, the bus made it through but then when it came out, we were back in Twoson! Somehow the ghosts turned us around."
"Seriously?" I asked, my eyebrows rose.
"Looks like we're not taking the bus..." Paula said. "But we were prepared for that."
"Do you have a plan to get through?" The man asked. "I'm going to hike the hills until I make it I think."
"I'd be careful." I said. "It's dangerous. There are a lot of violent animals, and things..."
"I'll be fine." He said. "I have my trusty pocket watch. It's lucky, dontcha know?"
"Riiiiight." I eyed Paula. "Let's go."
"Nice meeting you, sir." Paula smiled with her eyes closed.
I grabbed her arm and pulled her along.
We walked through the short tunnels to get back to Twoson, and we finally arrived.
"Feet are dry now!" She said, and slipped back into her shoes. "Let's go see my parents."
I followed Paula as we walked through town, past the bus station and the pizza parlor. We arrived at the Polestar school. A boy was playing in the front yard—The same one as before. He grinned as we walked past, but didn't say anything.
As we walked inside, Paula called out. "Mom, Dad, I'm home!"
A little blonde girl with a ponytail ran up to Paula and hugged her tight. I smiled, but then she jumped up and hugged me too.
"Thank you for saving Paula." She said. "You are my hero."
I put my hand behind my head and chuckled. "It was nothing."
The door at the opposite end of the room opened and the woman with big poofy golden hair came running in. She grabbed Paula and picked her up in a mammoth hug.
"Yahoo!" She cried. "I knew it! You saved Paula."
"She was in Happy Happy Village." I said.
"Ness put an end to the cult there." Paula smiled.
"He did? All by himself?" She asked.
I nodded, bashfully.
"Well!" She said. "I don't understand it, but I know that Paula's miraculous power and your great courage will allow you to stand up to any challenge."
"You mean you're really gonna let me?" Paula stood on her tip-toes.
"Paula if you must take a trip, be sure to bring this along. It's my very own hand-made band-aid! Ooo! That rhymes! I know, I'll call it a Hand-aid."
Paula took the hand-aid and put it in my backpack. "Mom likes to make things by hand. She makes all kinds of weird things."
"I see.' I said. "Well then."
"Did you meet Dad?" Her mom asked.
"Not yet." Paula said.
"He is so sorry that he suspected Mr. Everdred of Burglin Park. Please if you see him, please extend his apology."
"Of course." I nodded. "I think we're planning on seeing him before we go."
"Where are you planning on going?" Her mom asked.
"Threed is our next stop." Paula said. "I have a feeling we're going to meet a new friend there."
I looked over at her—It was the first I'd heard of it, but I welcome any and all help against Giygas.
"Let's go see Dad!" Paula said, then grabbed my hand and led me into the next room.
We took a few steps then the door opened from behind us, and the tall form of her father appeared.
"Oh Paula!" He said, sounding almost as if he were going to cry. He ran over and picked her up, spinning her around in the hugest of bear hugs.
"Daddy, stop!" She laughed. "I can't breathe!"
"S-sorry." He said, and then set her down.
"Ness, thank you so much!" He told me. "You must be the boy who will save the world, like in Paula's dream."
"That's him, Daddy!" Paula giggled.
"Paula, I'm sure you'd be a big help to Ness. It's not everyday a father lets his daughter embark on a journey to save the world!"
"Dad, don't worry about me." Paula said. "Ness and I will be able to take care of ourselves. In Threed, the next town we'll meet another friend. If the three of us combine our power, no one can beat us."
Paula's dad was in full-blown tears.
"Now wipe your eyes." She said. "Blow your nose, and smile before we take off."
He grabbed his shirt collar and blew his nose into it. I scrunched my face at his gross gesture.
"Goodbye Paula." He said. "Don't worry I won't cry anymore."
They exchanged one last hug, and then Paula looked to me.
"It's time to start our journey." She said. "Are you ready?"
I grinned—Knowing everything was going to be great—Despite any hardships we would face. "Yeah. I was born ready."
