A Trio of Anomalies - The Quest for Paradise

CHAPTER 18 - SEA OF SLUMBER

A completely smooth ride surrounded with nothing but clouds, absolute silence, and the gradual drop in temperature as the once blue-grey sky revealed its beautiful colours of baby pink, orange, and periwinkle. Steve did think it was perfect for him to plough through at least another quarter of his novel, and he did, but unable to continue he stuffed his book back into his bag and continued to stare aimlessly into the endless space of ... nothing actually. He didn't dare look down himself, and had to trust Nicholas' claim of "There's still nothing down there" throughout the entire journey. The other two behind him weren't looking a lot better, Nicholas had fallen asleep while curled into an extremely uncomfortable position that would certainly guarantee his neck and both his legs hurting as soon as he woke up. Snowy Dawn tried her best to sleep as well, but since half the spot was taken up by a certain black-haired boy she settled on folding and smoothening a piece of square paper over and over again, creating a crane, a fox, a rose, and back to a crane again.

Seeing the three adolescents absolutely bored out of their wits, Goose Blahblah asked the Dragon to land in the Kingdom of Comfort, hoping to at least make sure Nicholas didn't accidentally smother himself in his own backpack. Steve held his breath and the horn in front of him as the Dragon plummeted and searched for a cushion firm enough to walk on without sinking.

Waking Nicholas up, the three adolescents stumbled off the Dragon's golden back, feeling a bit dazed and shocked that the place was in darkness.

"Wasn't it afternoon just now?" Steve crinkled his eyes, holding up a ball of flames.

"Why'd you think the ride took so long?" Boils chided, "This is the Kingdom of Comfort, my knights! It's all dreamy and weird, and all that."

"And dangerous," added Goose Blahblah, giving Snowy Dawn a bit of trail mix, "What's wrong with this place I still can't recall, and the notes that I brought along never touched on it."

"That means everything's ay-okay, so stop worrying your feathers off!" Boils retorted, "Let us grab a nice pillow and camp out here until morning."

"I am a nurse, my dear!" Goose Blahblah raised her voice, "My responsibility in this mission lies with making sure no one gets hurt, especially the children! I suggest we move on to somewhere safer, like the Land of Fairy Tales, where I believe it's more homelike and normal."

"And risk the Dragon crashing down because he couldn't see?" Boils disagreed, "I thought your responsibility lies in making sure no one gets hurt."

"Boils does have a point there," Oscar nodded as Goose Blahblah crossed her arms, "I don't think it should be right to have him fly all night, especially since he'd flown all day."

"Maybe instead of jumping to conclusions we should ask him first!" Goose Blahblah turned to the Dragon of the Rainbow.

He was snoring.

"Well!" Boils laughed, "We've got our answer just like that!"

The HF Club found more pillows and put them in a circle, making a fire out of cotton in the middle.