Eric--Part Twenty-Seven

Splog # 126

Twenty-Seven

 

   "Rhyming is exhausting work," he remarked, still looking straight into Eric's eyes. "Ever since I walked into this clearing and saw my three friends lined up so neatly and politely..."(He turned his head and made a sort of smacking sound with his lips that seemed to arouse the three creatures and they began moving from Eric's knapsack to where he was sitting, then he turned back and resumed his soliloquy.) "...part of my brain has been puzzling desperately over a  possible rhyme for orange. All right. All right. I know. It ended up rather weak  but seconds before I said it my mind was still blank so I have to be thankful that anything came out at all. And I know I'll still be searching for days to come to find just that perfect pair of syllables that fit with orange as the fruit fits into its peel." He looked up into the air, not mindful of the gentle drops that could now find their way under the brim of his hat. "Your dang(er). Poor range. Unj - unj - unj. There simply seems to be a scarcity. Plunge. Dungeon." His face suddenly lit up as though everything in the world had been revealed to him in one fell swoop. He stood, raised his arms as though he were going to pronounce a benediction...and then a look of puzzlement crept over his countenance and one hand stole under his hat to scratch his scalp beneath his curly hair. He looked back at Eric and then waded closer to him until he disappeared at the point to which Eric could not lower his eyes. Eric was now positive that the man was looking for him. His mention of the beach, the stars, the drops from the sky, Bev and Cor, all showed that he knew most of what had happened to Eric since the strangeness had begun. And now noises began to reach Eric which he could make no sense of. A couple of splashes, some slipping and sliding, a stamping, some squeaks and a grunt or two. The frog and the rabbit, back on the wall, and the deer standing between them, were all regarding something occurring below his level of sight. "Oops. That's a little more slippery than I thought it would be. Maybe I could try the other side. If I held on here...Nope. What if this...Can I reach...but then I'd have to come under...Oh. That's no good. Just..." Here there occurred a lot of rapid breathing and one long rustling sound of something being dragged. A couple of moments later, the man's head slid into view on a horizontal plane, as if he were lying on something underneath where Eric was held captive. "Th-e-r-e," came out on a long sigh. "I wanted to get a closer look. I know you're in there and I'll have you out in a jiffy." He looked straight into Eric's eyes. "I think you're in there." He blinked a couple of times. "You're in there," he said confidently and then raised his head as close to Eric's as possible. "Aren't you?" Eric would have laughed if he could, the man looked pretty funny so close up. His nose was almost touching Eric's. He brought his hands up on either side of Eric's head though Eric couldn't feel anything. "How did you get in there? That must be yours; well, of course it's yours. It's facing in your direction. Anyway, let's get you out." He turned and looked back at the three animals. They remained watching and he turned back to Eric. "The rain should help. But I can't reach your arms. Lightning! We don't have stars so we'll need lightning. Thunder would be good but definitely lightning." The man maneuvered himself into a standing position before Eric. He seemed to be having difficulty, as though his perch were slippery. "Lightning...Lightning..." he kept murmuring. Then he snapped his fingers and let out an "Ahh!" He stepped aside, turned to the animals, gave a curious two-note whistle, repeated it and Eric watched in wonder as the deer lowered itself to the wall so the frog and rabbit could hop onto its back. Then it daintily stepped over the wall and walked towards the man and Eric. It moved very cautiously and Eric expected the smaller creatures to slip off its back at any moment but they retained their precarious positions until they reached a spot beneath the man that Eric couldn't see. Then the man put one arm above and behind Eric and reached down with the other. Eric guessed that one of the animals must have jumped into his hand and shortly the man lifted the frog and placed him somewhere above Eric. He lifted the rabbit in the same manner and then gave another whistle, of three notes this time, and stood watching whatever was happening over Eric's head. Eric heard a murmur of thunder but didn't see any of the lightning the man seemed so excited about. He could hear a whispering sound above him and then more thunder. The man gave another whistling signal and after some splashing Eric saw the deer returned to the clearing, running and bounding but remaining in view.