April 26

muscle, wood, monk, publisher, collection, glue, deficit, activity, chase, leftovers

Pukwudgies took a shine to Jasmine. She showed her skill with arrows in a game against some of their best archers. More importantly, she shared what appeared to be an endless supply of porter. How had she managed to bring so many bottles?

Time was not on our side. We decided to do what should never be done on a quest: we had to split up. Jasmine would keep the Pukwudgies occupied with enjoyable activity so they wouldn’t chase me. I would continue the search for the Brownies.

“If we pull this off, I’m going to write a collection of our adventures and send them off to a Half Light publisher,” I whispered to Jas before making my way out of the car.

“I’ll be on the roof,” she said. “Get there.”

Scraping my arms on every piece of wood I passed, I made it into the next car undetected. I was hoping for a dining car where I might grab a few leftovers. There had been a serious deficit of meals lately and the remaining nutbutter snack I’d eaten had tasted like old glue.

I took a moment to bend and touch my toes to soothe a cranky muscle in my back. I grabed the door handle and yelped. A refrigerated car? I rubbed my hand on my thigh to warm it and wondered if there might be a chance for me to become a monk. Monks enjoyed simple, quiet lives. But, they didn’t eat very well, did they?

I pushed through the chilled metal door and faced a frozen waterfall.