Theodore & The 7 Layers of Space, Book 1: Brick & Bird

Chapter 31: Up

Strictly speaking, before Theodore and his friends went up, they had to go back down again.

The remainder of their journey was not unlike all of the roller coasters ever, times eleven. It's a specific but necessary calculation and equation – any more and they assuredly all would have been killed. Any less, and we'd be doing a dis-service to the experience and thrill-ride that Theodore, Isobel, Terrycloth Green, The Buddy Bot, and the giant bug they were privileged to be riding in had undergone.

***

Meanwhile, save for the comings and goings of two giant bears and a host of local, regular-sized insects, Lumpstone Valley Meadow had lain largely undisturbed for the better part of the last several decades. It was, by many standards, idyllic. Its sprawling expanse of lavender, violet, and shining delf grasses grew untamed as a rebellious teenager's hair-do, dotted with vivid wildflowers peeking through the shimmering carpet, pinpricks of neon yellow and pink, all enough to make Mr. Caruthers proud.

Buried beneath the majestic view, under what appeared to be an innocent hill, was an ancient train station. The years had left it wildly overgrown, but long ago it was a favorite destination for the view that it still offered.

On the day that the giant insect train burst through the ground of this long lost Insect Transit Underground station, sending clods of earth hurtling and careening about like a rain of brown glory, the bears who often passed through in order to go to and from the berry orchard had only just left it behind. Upon hearing the ruckus from afar, the bigger of the bears remarked to his long-time companion, "Earl, did you hear something?"

To which Earl replied, "Heh? Whozzat?" not-at-all-unexpectedly, as he'd been mostly deaf for the last fifteen years.

Suffice it to say, no one was harmed. Other than our insect train's intrepid occupants, of course.

The insect train rocketed upwards, blasting through the ground in a dramatic arc of dirt and motion and then landing like a leaf guided by the wind. Its spindly bug legs and serpentine body extended outwards and a small hatch on its side popped open.

"Wooo hooo!" Terrycloth Green came tumbling out, followed by the rest of the gang who, with the understandable exception of The Buddy Bot, were filled with the wide-eyed excitement of someone who just got off of the best and most painful roller coaster of all time. The Buddy Bot had simply fallen apart into several sizzling pieces.

Theodore instinctively laid down on the grass to rest his spinning head and stomach. He felt sick with thrill, relieved to be detached from the machine, and yet he longed to reconnect with it again all at once. Isobel merely shook her head back and forth through an uncharacteristic cheek-to-cheek grin.

"Well, we almost died a bunch!" Theodore said.

"We're awesome," Terrycloth Green said.

"You did great, Theodore," Isobel said.

"We all did! But seriously, we almost died a bunch," Theodore said.

"Can someone please check on The Buddy Bot," Isobel mentioned.

"Would you like a precise calculation of how many times we were nearly destroyed?" The Buddy Bot offered as he crawled from the wreckage while re-attaching an arm.

"Buddy Bot, you're alive!" Theodore said through more tears.

"A variety of my primary, secondary, and tertiary functions and circuits have been scorched, severed, or are inoperable. Yes, I'll be fine."

With very little noise or ceremony, the insect train closed its door and scurried back down the hole it had made. They stared after it.

"Thanks!" Theodore called after it and wondered if it heard or understood.