Zosix and Camelon - 4

A Trippy Meeting

Camelon bit into a bumble fruit dolefully. It was the last of his stash of bumble fruit. He was all alone now; Baba had disappeared and now so had Zosix. He sat outside Baba’s hut, around the ashes of the previous night’s fire, waiting. It seemed like an eternity had passed since Zosix had gone in search of Baba.

“What am I going to do?” he wondered aloud, “it’s been so long since Zosix had gone.”

However the truth was that it had been less than an hour since Zosix had left Camelon and descended to the forest below. Camelon just had a propensity to exaggerate these things. In actuality he had watched as Zosix climbed down the cliff, until he was out of sight, then after a few minutes of sitting around he had found himself rather bored and had ambled of to the patch of bumble fruit he was so fond of. After gorging himself there, he had brought a few back to keep him company, while he waited for Zosix to return. Now that all the bumble fruit had disappeared, Camelon was left to rue the fate that had befallen Zosix and Baba.

He had also been getting a little tense with each minute. This was due to the fact that he thought he had seen people or creatures sneaking around him. It had started about half an hour after Zosix had gone. Camelon hadn’t noticed it then, but now he kept seeing their stealthy movements out of the corner of his eye, and when he turned to look they were gone. No doubt they were cunning creatures. He wondered what they could possibly want. And in the last few minutes they had started getting bolder, he turned just as soon as he saw them dart out of sight. And now a large boulder, a few feet away from him, started to move. Camelon jumped back (if he could rub his eyes in disbelief he would have, but unfortunately his feet were not built for that purpose) he edged away from the rock, towards Baba’s hut. At least he would be safe inside.

All of a sudden the rock leapt forward, Camelon leapt backward, and Zosix leapt out from under the rock.

“Zosix!”

Camelon ran towards his friend, unbelievably happy to see him, and highly relieved that he was back. Just as Camelon neared Zosix, about to jump on him, he came to a screeching halt, for Leia’s head had popped out of the hole in the ground from where Zosix had made his entrance.

“There’s someone behind you!” yelled Camelon.

“Oh! This is Leia” said Zosix as he held out his hand for Leia and helped her out from the pit.

Leia stood a little behind Zosix, dusting herself. She then adjusted the flower in her hair and looked at Camelon and smiled. Camelon regarded Leia suspiciously. He didn’t like her sartorial promiscuity.

“Hi!” Leia waved at Camelon, “And you must be Camelon, Zosix told me a lot about you on the way up here. It’s so nice to meet you! I’ve never met a singing dinosaur before!”

Camelon flashed the obligatory smile that was necessary in response to such a remark.

“Leia’s from the forest below” announced Zosix, rather unnecessarily, “and she’s a forest sprite!”

Camelon was annoyed that Zosix had not yet inquired about his health. Then he decided he did not like Leia, since she was the reason Zosix had not yet expressed his concern for Camelon. However his curiosity was piqued by the fact that she was a forest sprite: Camelon was not sure what a forest sprite was.

“What’s a forest sprite?”

Zosix turned to Leia. He felt she would be in a better position to explain to Camelon what a forest sprite was, especially since she was one.

“Well” began Leia, in explanation “I live in the forest below. It’s my forest”

Camelon did not think this was a satisfactory explanation. “Even we live in a forest!” he said, “It’s our forest!”

“Well what I meant was, I’m part of the forest, and the forest is part of me. We are essentially the same being. If my forest is destroyed, I’ll die too.”

Camelon felt this was indeed scary, and it was unfortunate that poor Leia’s existence depended on the forest. However since he had already decided not to like her, he pretended that he was not concerned about what happened to her or her forest.

Zosix however, was concerned “Oh! You didn’t tell me that” he said.

“Well I doubt that would happen, it’s just the easiest way to explain how I’m linked to the forest” said Leia.

“Oh, alright.”

“The fact is” continued Leia, “that the energy of the forest is constantly regenerated. When an animal dies its body gives of heat, which is used by the smaller plants around it, then it decomposes and becomes one with the earth again. It gives sustenance to the smaller insects that help in the decomposition process. Then once again it grows into a plant, which can be eaten by another animal. And so the entire energy balance is maintained.

“The only way the energy could be lost would be in a fire, or if trees are cut down or animals killed and taken out of the forest, such that there is a shift in energy. Of course this doesn’t matter at a larger level, since the energy will still remain within the biosphere, and I will once more be part of the larger consciousness.”

“So do all forests have sprites?” Zosix asked.

“Well, yes. In a manner of speaking, they do. We all are part of a larger plane of things – we are all sisters.”

“What about this forest,” Zosix pointed at the old forest that started at the end of the plateau where Baba lived, “we’ve never met a forest sprite here.”

Leia looked up at the gigantic, cretaceous trees. “Oh, this forest belongs to my sister Anticia, she’s the eldest of the existing sisters. She’s very reserved; I’ve never spoken to her myself. I don’t think she takes on the human form ever, I guess that’s why you’ve never seen her, which is a good thing, she’s rather temperamental.”

Zosix nodded. Camelon looked nervously at the bushes, while something moved about behind them.

“Zosix, there’s some creature in those bushes” Camelon said, rather nervously, “It’s been moving around here for a while now!”

“Where?” asked Zosix.

Camelon pointed in the direction of the purportedly moving bushes.

“They aren’t moving.” Zosix moved in closer towards the bushes.

“There’s nothing there” said Leia.

Camelon ignored her. “I’m sure there’s something there Zosix, what if it’s a giant dragon?”

“What rubbish, dragons don’t exist anymore” noted Leia.

Camelon ignored her once more.

Zosix moved into the shrubbery, quite certain there was nothing in them, least of all a giant dragon, which couldn’t possibly hide in the small bushes, unless of course it was a midget giant dragon.

“There’s nothing here”, he declared, standing waist high in the bushes.

“But I’m so sure there was something there” said Camelon disappointed, and at the same time relieved, that there were no giant dragons around. “There it is!” he cried, turning suddenly, just as the creature darted out of the periphery of his sight.

Leia looked in the direction Camelon had turned. A pair of butterflies flitted around, but she saw no creature that merited the description of giant dragons. “Where?” she asked.

“It must be a shadow creature” said Camelon.

Zosix walked out of the bushes. “There’s no such thing, Camelon. What’s wrong with you today?”

“I guess this is what’s wrong with him” Leia observed, as she picked up the remnants of a bumble fruit.

Camelon made a grab at the fruit. The arrogance of this girl, he thought, she arrives out of nowhere, she hardly knew them and now she wanted his bumble fruit.

Leia smiled at Camelon, then she turned to Zosix and said “Bumble fruit when eaten in excess can be a very potent hallucinogen!”

Zosix burst out laughing, “And he’s been eating them by the dozen over the last week”

Camelon didn’t find any of this funny (particularly because he had no idea what a hallucinogen was), he thought Zosix and Leia were being mean. What was worse was that his stomach was starting to feel funny and worst of all both Leia and Zosix had just turned into big green flies, with large, ugly, red eyes.