Chapter 29
After several hours of walking, listening to the song of the glittery lights and passing thin clear-white sticks forming a bridge across some ledges along the walls, she ended up in a dark tunnel with a large sapphire-looking stone set at the very end. She leaned against the tunnel walls (after testing it with the end of her tail to make sure she didn't fly away again) and sighed, stretching her feet, intending to take a nap.
"Hey!" a male voice shouted. She jumped up two feet in the air out of sheer surprise and glanced around until the speaker became clear. He was a creature like her, with green skin instead of gold and slightly ruffled slick-backed black hair. He had a stringed instrument slung around his shoulder. "I've been searching the entire Rock for you!"
"Why?" she asked innocently.
He stepped back. What kind of a reply was that? "Because … because I'm in love with you," he told her finally.
She laughed and rubbed her sore bottom. "Why should I be in love with you? I don't even know you!"
He hung his head. "I deserve that." He sighed. "I asked Fishface to fight you. You said you liked that sort of thing and he seemed willing enough," he explained with tense pain in his voice. "I also wished that you would lose your best friend. I didn't realize it would actually happen, but it did and I can never forgive myself for it." He looked up at her, tears in his eyes. "I've looked into that Blue Rock and I've seen that my wish also made me alone too. I've wanted to love you for so long … but I guess when I made that wish, it meant I wouldn't be your best friend, either." He kneeled. "I can never truly apologize enough," he sobbed.
She stared at him with jaw agape. "I … don't know what to say," she said at last.
"Please forgive me," he begged with clasped hands.
"I would, if I knew who you were," she told him.
"For Rock's sake, I said I was sorry!" he shouted angrily.
She shook her head. "I don't think you're grasping the situation here. I … do … not … know … who … I … am … much … less … who … you … are."
"You're telling me you don't even know your name?" he asked in disbelief.
She moaned in frustration. "Albrecht was right: folly is surrounded by fools." She cupped her hands around her snout. "I don't remember who I am! How clear do I have to be?"
The male Fraggle stood up and placed a small emerald amulet in her hands.
She stared at it for several moments, seeing her reflection in the large stone that was almost the size of her palm. She could see the male Fraggle as well, who looked as though a boulder had just fallen on his tail.
"C-C-Crooner," she whispered. She paused. "I'm – I'm Gwen and you're … Crooner." She gazed at him. "I'm a Princess and you're a Minstrel."
He nodded happily.
She glanced over at the Blue Rock. She walked right up to it.
She saw nothing. Supposedly, it showed you what you were most afraid of on the surface, at least, she remembered distantly that Crooner had told her that long ago. There wasn't even a reflection of herself or Crooner. She could see the reflection of the tunnel behind them, but it was like there were no Fraggles staring at the Rock at all.
In a rage, she flung her helmet at it … and found herself behind it. There was nothing there but a small cave barely big enough for a couple of Fraggles. She looked around, but Crooner wasn't with her. Nobody was with her. She turned to see if he were still outside, but he seemed to be gone.
Just like everyone else.
What had she accomplished? She truly was nothing! There had been nothing but pain and resentment in all of Fraggledom, all because she was a Princess. She hadn't protected Fraggles from disappearing. She hadn't stopped true villainy from running rampant throughout the Rock. She had let her best friends down. She had taken the bait of an ambitious Fraggle and let his desire to be the leader nearly destroy the entire population of Fraggles. She did nothing as the rhythm of the Rock changed for the worse.
She was nothing.
Being alone was all her fault.
All of a sudden the sapphire began to glow eerily. She was certain it was going to punish her for being nothing.
And yet …
… she didn't want to be alone.
She took a step toward the Rock as it glowed increasingly brighter.
Above the Great Hall, past the large hole in the ceiling, a loud bawling and screaming could be heard.
Just as suddenly, a female voice could be heard humming a soothing song, like a lullaby.
Down a dark path through the willow woods,
There is a pond where,
Dream boats are docked in the cattail reeds,
I know, I've been there.
At the end of the trail,
When the last light has failed,
You can turn in your day cares,
And hoist up your sails.
Catch a ride out on a dream,
No fears, no cares.
I know, I've been there.
Wind on the pond strums the lily leaves.
Stars come, twinkling,
Moon on my cheek like a silky sleeve,
Starts me to thinking,
That the wind wafts and blows,
And the pond ebbs and flows,
And the moon comes and goes as it pleases to.
The wind, and the pond, and the moon and me,
Dreaming, our dreams.
"Look up at the moon, Junior," it said wearily. "It welcomes you into the universe."
Author's Note: Again, unless it's an Elvis song, it's one from Fraggle Rock.