Stacy--Part Thirty-One

Splog # 117

Thirty-One

   Having waited quietly for a short time and hearing no further sounds from the other side of the cauldron, Stacy decided she should continue on her journey. She'd lingered here at this odd vessel and now she wanted to see what she could do about the children in the cages. Whatever was on the other side of the cauldron (the word "lurking" arose in her mind, but she tried to dismiss it as it seemed rather threatening), if it was still there, probably wasn't even interested in her. It had ignored her when it jumped into the cauldron and again when it jumped out on the other side, in effect ignoring her twice. So it seemed there was nothing to be concerned about. Of course, concern and curiosity were two different things and, although she had done her best to minimize any concern about the mysterious interloper, her curiosity was still raging strongly. But in spite of that, Stacy firmly held to her intention to reach the children as quickly as possible. Besides, as she increased her distance, she might be able to get a glimpse of whatever was abiding (lurking) on the other side.

   Soothing her curiosity with this reflection, Stacy set out for her goal. As she passed by the lid with the food scattered on it, she grabbed an apple and when she got to the front she turned around and matched her position to the point where the lid joined the cauldron to get her bearings. She took a step to the right and held one hand at face level, flat out, thumb up, in front of her to try to make her line of sight as direct as possible. One more tiny step to the right and she seemed to be standing exactly opposite to where the lid touched the cauldron. As she was turning back to the plain, something flashed into the corner of her eye. A rope seemed to have been tossed into the air from beside the cauldron. It hung for a brief moment against the sky and then fell out of sight. She froze where she stood and her eyes scanned her surroundings. She didn't want to move from her place so instead called out, not too loudly, "Hello?" She waited a moment. "Hello? Somebody?" Enough. She had to get going. She turned her back to the rim and leaned against it for a moment. Just as she was about to walk away, she heard another snore.

   "If there's anyone there, I have to go!" Then, in an afterthought, "Thank you for helping me get the feather."

   As she started walking, she murmured quietly, "I don't know if you helped me on purpose, or if you even knew you helped me, but thanks anyway. I guess."

   And now she was striding purposefully across the barren plain. She felt slightly exhilarated to be at last heading towards the children, filled with the determination to do whatever she could to help them. She tried to keep her eyes fixed on the exact point on the horizon she had chosen for her destination  In this endeavor, she decided she had better wait a while before she looked behind her to check her bearings against the cauldron. So she strode steadily on, trying to think what she'd be able to do for the children, wondering if they knew Lane and Johnny, although she thought that that might not be too likely. She hoped she was going in the right direction and then she realized that it would be better to reference the cauldron often to make sure it was always at her back. But if she did a lot of turning around, she wondered if she mightn't be more likely to wander off at a slight angle instead of remaining on her straight line. Still walking, she tried to think of a way to turn around without losing the exactness of her direction. If she stopped for a moment, placing her two feet in a straight line ahead of her, with one foot about a yard in front of the other...She figured she'd better give it a try as she was simply confusing herself by attemting to discover a foolproof method of maintaining her direction. So she stopped where she was, placed her right foot exactly in front of her left, and then pushed it forward until she was in a comfortable stance.

   When she turned back, she was surprised to see how small the cauldron had already become in the distance. It seemed to be on a line directly back from her left heel. So her method of travel seemed to be leading her the right way.