It Boggo-s the Mind.

Chapter 1

Beneath a Rock

Boggo

I scurried along the northern tunnel. The longest stretch of tunnel that was lengthening with every day of construction. I passed tunnels left and right as well as the few vertical tunnels that there were. Some of which went straight to the surface and let in a cool breeze that trickled down.

Blue besties were posted at each vertical tunnel to ward off any young explorers who didn’t fear the surface enough. Everyone said good morning to me. Everyone smiled. Except for Hukka. He rolled his eyes when I approached the vertical tunnel he guarded.

“Boggo,” he said. “Listen mate, I can’t let you up. Why me? Why is it you think I’m going to bend the rules for you? It’s every time with you, mate. You’ve gotta drop this. I’ll be in serious trouble, you know. I’m sorry, but there’s not a thing you can do about it this time. Rules are rules.”

“Hey Hukka,” I said. I handed him two dreambons.

“Alright,” Hukka said. “You got two minutes.”

I scaled the vertical tunnel without knocking a mote of earth from the walls. I climbed with haste until the air was significantly cooler. The breeze, stronger. I stopped right beneath a fork of roots which held a large rock in place.

The rock felt warm. Baked by the early autumn sun. With great effort, I nudged the rock. Enough to let in a small shaft of dappled light. The breeze was sucked into the tunnel. With it came a cascade of aromas. Mostly of oxidizing leaves. A hint of sea. Myriad old flowers and forest debris.

Sounds were louder. A nearby cricket startled me. Made my ears go flat. Dried leaves rustled along the ground as they flew around. Green leaves whooshed together in the canopy. A beetle zoomed across my line of sight.

My plan was to put one foot on the surface of the world. A world I’d never stepped on before. But I paused with severe apprehension. My heart raced. My hands trembled. Then my knees. My feet. Then my tail. When I put a hand to the rock, I panted.

I put my shoulder to the rock and nudged it some more. It moved nearly a whole inch. The breeze strengthened. The sounds gained volume. Daylight found me.

Hukka called up, “one minute!”

The gap was enough to fit my head through, but I was shaking so violently, I was afraid I’d lose my footing and fall. Even my thoughts seemed jittery. I couldn’t even phrase an affirmation or string a few words of encouragement. Everything just seemed surreal to me for a moment.

I don’t know what it was, but something came over me.

I stuck my head through the gap. The surface of the world came at me like a flood over a blade of grass. The air was different. It was salted. Humid. Fast. The scents put images in my mind. A montage of plant species.

I spun my head around and kept ducking, just in case of predators. Worst of which would be owls. Snakes too. Badgers.

The nearby cricket paused. I heard the distant crickets sing. A ladybug traipsed along a vine of ivy. A colony of ants moved in single file up the root of the connecting tree. Their line went all the way up the bark and congregated around a knot of wood where the sap glistened in dappled sunlight.

The rock shifted into me. I was startled enough to let out a yelp. I lost my footing, scrambled to regain it, and started to move the rock back into place as fast as I could. My heart was beating so fast, I could hardly believe it wasn’t bursting from my ribs.

With a grunt, I shifted the rock back as I’d found it and shakily descended the tunnel. When I dropped down beside Hukka, he shook his head while he finished chewing a bite of dreambon.

“Didn’t mean to yelp,” I said.

Hukka swallowed. “Listen mate, if you’re going to put my job at risk like that, you’ve gotta be quiet about it. And stop moving the rock.”

“I have to if I want to see what it’s like.”

“Nothing but trouble,” Hukka said. “Imagine what happens when something sees you. Comes down after you. Grabs a blue bestie. And it would be all your fault. Imagine then. You’d be banished.”

“Banished,” I said. “I know.”

“Now get a hold of yourself. You’re shaking.”

“I’m the only one ever curious,” I said. “Aren’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say curious. I’d say stupid. Listen. Everyone’s curious. Always curious. But there’s a difference between being curious, and being stupid about it.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid. I want to see more!”

“Would you pipe down. Please. Listen, Boggo. No more. That was the last time.”

My eyes bounced from the last half eaten dreambon to Hukka’s emphatic expression. He took another bite and chewed for a moment before nodding toward the tunnel behind me. He shoved his bite into one cheek and said, “Off with you.”

I returned to the main tunnel system, ignoring most other besties along the way. It was rather difficult to be social when my mind was so full of chaos. So torn.

Part of me wanted to break away from the rules. Leave the nest. Explore the world. The other part of me—the logical part—knew that road led to certain death. If I did explore the surface of the world, it would be a short lived expedition. Why waste a thousand more years of my life for a brief experience.

But a life lived in fear is a life half lived.

I considered that as I returned home to my chamber. My siblings were there and they immediately smelled the surface on my fur. I paid half attention to their scolding. On and on they went. But I had other things on my mind.

Hawkin’s Lesser Plane Cutter beer. One of the most memorable experiences of my life.

When I stuffed myself into my bedding of fur, I day-dreamed of the ethereal plane. Where tons of insects were my companions and no predator roamed the land. That experience had been the longest 24 hours of my entire life.

I wanted more. So much more.