It Boggo-s the Mind.

Chapter 3

Lots of Things Are Scared of Me

Something clicked inside me. I wanted more of the world.

The blue bestie tunnels suddenly felt closed in and cramped to me. Even my chamber felt like a dead end instead. My things didn’t interest me. I found myself often staring at the walls, but saw through them. Saw memories of my trip in Thrush’s backpack. Saw my experiences out on the ethereal plane. But each time, after only a few moments, I snapped out of it and saw the earth of the tunnels once more.

I missed the light of day. Even the little bit of light that reached into the depths of Hawkin’s cellar.

When Thrush and I met up in the cellar, I was more interested in going on trips to the surface with him instead of shooting dice. He was happy to take me to new parts of the forest. It wasn’t that surprising to me that the forest was different depending on where you were. It was the same thing underground. The earth was different. Different roots grew in different places. But seeing the surface of the world change was an incredible experience.

Friends and family weren’t interested in the stories I was recounting. I was even given a scolding from my elders for venturing out. They said I was violating the safety of the network. When I was threatened with banishment, I traded with Thrush for more Lesser Planes Cutter Beers. Then I spent the time of my life on the ethereal plane.

I saw Hawkin on the plane almost every time. Barnacle-eyes too. But I always avoided them. When they were by the river, I explored the meadows. When they were in the meadows, I went to the river.

There was just something about the water that drew me to it. Whether it was the river or the sea, I couldn’t get enough of it. Since the river on the plane was clear, I braved touching it a few times. It wasn’t as cold as the water in aquifers, but it was just as pleasant. The current was something new to me and I wondered where all the water went.

On one particular day, I’d been counting my time on the plane. I waited until the last possible moment to jump into the river. I was petrified, but for a few seconds, I floundered in the river. Paddled my feet. Floated. Swam downstream.

Then I left the plane.

I wanted to do the same thing in the sea, but I knew the sea was much more dangerous than the river. So I asked Thrush if we could go down to the port one day.

“Sure,” he said, and loaded me into his backpack.

I brought my hammer this time. Made me feel safer. And when we arrived at the port, I came out of the backpack, hammer in hand. We walked down the dock together and I clutched my weapon, ready for anything.

“This is your first time walking on the world outside of the plane,” Thrush said.

“I feel alive,” I whispered.

The crashing of the sea was mesmerizing. I stared for minutes on end until Thrush sat beside me. I lay my hammer down and sat on the handle. When I kept looking over my shoulder, Thrush said not to worry. Nothing will come near without him knowing.

We spent many days sitting on the port, looking out at the sea. Out at the wall of mist. I even saw a fish leap out of the water once.

We talked about nothing important. Drank beer. Thrush shared dreambons and smoked meats with me.

“Do you want to board Barnacle-eyes’ boat?” Thrush asked me another day.

I always wondered about it. Knew what it was for. I was intrigued by it and often slowed down to stare in wonder at the giant buoyed vessel as we walked the dock.

“Do you think she’d mind?” I said.

“Not at all.”

I climbed into Thrush’s backpack and the beast climbed aboard.

It was so strange to stand on something that moved on the water. I was so excited that I scurried all around, exploring the nooks and crannies of the sloop. I went below deck and listened to the water through the hull. I climbed the mast, all the way to the top and was granted one of the best views on the water.

When I came back down, Thrush asked me what I thought.

“Barnacle-eyes sails this out to sea?” I said.

“On most days,” Thrush said. And perhaps he saw something in my eyes because he asked, “Would you like to go sailing one day? You can freely walk around, or stay in my backpack if you’d like.”

“That would be a dream,” I said.

And that dream came true.

Thrush had a surprise for me one day. I was nervous as all hell when Thrush arrived at the dock on a windy autumn morning with me in his backpack. I heard a voice on the deck of Barnacle-eyes’ sloop. And when Thrush climbed aboard, I saw Barnacle-eyes.

She was mumbling to herself, untying knots in ropes. She waved to Thrush before returning to her labor.

Thrush set his backpack down and kneeled beside it.

“We’re going to go sailing together,” he said. “I asked Barnacle-eyes if you could join us.”

“Sailing?” I said.

“You can help rig the sloop as we sail. Or you can wander around and look out at the sea.”

“What if I fall in?”

“I’ll try and get to you before something else does,” Thrush said.

I asked for a moment to think things through. In that time, Barnacle-eyes introduced herself and I couldn’t stop from shaking.

“A quivering rat,” Barnacle-eyes said. “Every goblin ship has to have rats! Welcome aboard!”

I took that as a compliment, but still corrected her. Blue besties are not rats. And when she returned to her work on the sloop, my legs began violently shaking. I had to kneel down and put a hand to the deck to steady myself.

“Everything alright?” Thrush said.

“I’m… scared,” I said.

“Scared,” Thrush said. “You can still sail with us while you’re scared.”

“I’ll be scared the whole time.”

“Then be scared the whole time. Nothing wrong with being scared. Lots of things are scared of me and they still go on living.”

There was a weird truth to his words and after too much thought, I agreed to sail with them. Barnacle-eyes was exuberant about it and even asked me to be a crew member. I told her I’d have to think about it.

Then we pushed off from the dock, raised the sails, and sailed through the wall of mist.