Not Present
Chapter VI
Cadrabass
And to those of you who commented on my grammar mistakes: I don't give a hoot about spelling. It's about the story that counts. And please, for the love of God, give me some relevant reviews…
And so the fellowship took off. Greg the Goth took the lead. Behind him went Terry Gorn, the skater. After that went Joe Bo the nerd. Behind him was Dan Angie. After that was Wikkin, then Jerry. Behind those walked Lego, the prep. After that was Ben O'mir, the skater. And following up behind was Kim Lee, the jock.
"Ok, crew, listen up. To make for the shortest possible, were going up Cadrabass hill," said Terry.
"Cadrabass?" asked Joe. "Isn't that the land of the music players?"
"Yep. And I'm not sure how they will react to us crossing their land. Depending on the billboard chart, they may be grumpy or not. We shall see."
Finally, they arrived. And it didn't look so good.
"Oh my God. I can't believe Eminem is still on the charts. He is sooo overexposed."
"I know! And what's all this country crap appearing everywhere? I am so sick of songs about shoes!"
"Seriously. And Aaliyah's 'Miss You' hasn't even hit top ten when it should be number one!"
"Same with Pink's 'Family Portrait.'"
"Yeah, and 'Stole' by Kelly Rowland isn't on top ten? Come on!"
"If Eminem's 'Lose Yourself' is number one for one more week, I am going to hit someone."
"And 'Girl Talk' by TLC, I mean, one of the members just died, and it's also a great song!" They couldn't take any more.
"Greetings, music listeners!" spoke Greg. His voice was loud and important. "We are but a group of humble travelers. May we have permission to pass your hill?"
"Pass? No way. Why would we let you pass this?"
"What if we refuse to listen to your bidding?" asked Terry.
"Then we shall hit you with these clumps of grass."
"Farewell my lonely one, nothing can be done so, hit the freeway," sung someone.
"We don't want to make things complicated," said Ben.
"Why you have to go and make things so complicated?" sung a listener. They ignored him.
"Greg, this is too difficult," said Terry.
"Our only other option is to pass through the tunnels of Boreia. But, we really don't want to go through that. I think we can endure the grass being chucked at us."
"Very well." He turned to the music listeners. "We have made up our minds," said Terry. "We shall cross your hill, and endure any grass you throw at us."
"Very well," said the listener who was probably their leader. "C'mon, dudes. Let's go."
And so the nine walked up the hill.
Big mistake.
There was a crapload of grass. It was insane. A wall of animated weeds was hurling this way and that. They couldn't even see. It covered them, consumed them, buried them alive.
"What should we *gak* *cough* do?"
"Don't worry, *coughcough* *gak* Joe, it's not too bad. I've seen worse."
The green only grew thicker. "Give up, yall. It's not worth it," said one of the causers of this madness.
"I can't handle this," said someone. It was Wikkin.
"I agree. This is too much," said Ben.
"Very well," said Greg. Somehow managing to stand erect, he bellowed, "Stop this! We cannot take it any longer!" The raging flurry subsided. "We shall retreat and bother you no longer!" And with that, the fellowship ran off the way they came.
"What shall we do, Greg?" pleaded Joe. "Is there no other way?"
"There is one other way," said Greg. "That is to pass through the Tunnels of Boreia."
"Boreia?" asked Jerry. "What's that?"
*recap history moment*
"The Tunnels of Boreia were created a long, long time ago by the jocks," said Greg. Kim chuckled to himself. "It was created in attempt to make a hangout for people bored with school and wanting to chill and relax. Thus the name Boreia. It is a complex of underground tunnels under the playground. It's quite fascinating, really. There's this whole world underneath the field that so little know about. But, sadly, the place was taken over."
"Taken over?" asked Dan. "By who?"
"The seventh graders," said Kim sadly. "They invaded this once peaceful, happy environment." He sighed. "No one goes in there now because of them. Absolutely no one. There are so many seventh graders in there. I didn't know so many existed."
Wikkin gulped. "And… you mean to tell us that we're going in?"
"It's the only way," said Greg. "Cadrabass takes up so much of the playground area, it's really our only option."
They soon found the entrance. It was a meager hole in the ground in the nook of two roots in a tree.
"Is everyone ready?" asked Terry. "There are many dangers within this cavern. Some unexpected, and even I may not be able to foresee them. But whatever may happen, I just want to wish you all good luck. Be careful." And with that, they hopped into the tunnel.
It was dark. That was the first thing they noticed. It took a while before they could see anything. Everyone was a faint silhouette, like a shade of black against a darker background.
"It's so dark in here," said Dan, then wishing he hadn't said it, for it was so obvious and stupid.
"Not matter," said Kim. "I can find my way around these tunnels, light or dark. That is, if nothing has changed since I left." Joe was troubled at this slight unreliability, but there was nothing he could do.
They walked along for a bit, blindly feeling their way around, Kim in the lead directing them.
"Root," said Kim as Wikkin tripped. "Sorry. Shoulda warned you a bit earlier. Isn't there another one?"
"Yep, found it," said Jerry, getting back up and dusting himself off.
"Yep, you might want to be careful. You never know when—" he was cut off by a rubber band whizzing by his head. It missed from a nimble duck by the jock.
"Seventh graders…" muttered Terry, brandishing his skateboard. "Prepare for battle."