by Mark Mulle
trees. The jungle looked so pretty below us, and the stars were so beautiful above. This was one great adventure, but I’m glad that it’s finally come to a close.
Day Twenty-Seven: On the Train Again
Dear Diary,
I fell asleep on Ghast’s head last night as he floated above the forest. When I woke up, I was on a bench at the train station. Ghast had carried me all of the way here, and I couldn’t have been more grateful. I didn’t realize until I was in the sky how tired I really was. All of this excitement had really taken it out on me.
I was glad to finally get back on the train. I would be back home...or well, at least back to my usual spot in the Overworld. I guess I don’t actually have a home. I move around from place to place when I am between jobs.
My plan is to go back to the building where the scientists first hired me for this job. I need to go there to get paid anyway, and they are probably wondering what took me so long. I am sure that I will be able to explain my situation well enough, but I’m not entirely sure if they will want to hire me for another mission, or maybe they will. I did help to save all of the villagers in the temple, after all.
I’m not really sure what I will do once I am back in the city. If there’s one thing that I never get used to, it’s going back to a city after being away on an adventure for so long. At least this time I am not doing it alone. I’ll have Ghast by my side to go through the weird changes with me, so I at least have that to look forward to.
I also have a nap to look forward to...there’s just something about train rides that make me so sleepy...
Day Twenty-Eight: Payday
Dear Diary,
The train arrived in the village early this morning. I rubbed my eyes, collected my stuff, and hopped off of the train. Ghast floated slowly behind me. It seems like he got a little tired while on the train ride too.
Since the scientists didn’t even know that Ghast and I were showing up today, we decided to take thing slow today. There was no reason to rush. Ghast and I decided to go to a little diner for breakfast. I got a stack of pancakes so high that I could hardly see over them. I made sure to order them so that they would be covered with strawberries and whipped cream. I must say, the diner did not disappoint.
Ghast had never been to a human diner before, so he wanted to try a little bit of everything. His plate was full of eggs, hash browns, meat, and even one pancake. We must have sat at the diner for an hour before we finished all of our food. I made sure to pay the bill and I gave the waitress a big tip. She deserved it after carrying all of that food to our table.
After leaving the diner, it was time to head towards the science building to collect my payment for going on the mission. When we got to the building, Dr. Shelly greeted us. The other doctor wasn’t there today. She said, “I don’t need to ask you how the mission went. I saw the whole thing on our cameras.” I had totally forgotten that the scientists had been watching the temple. I would have never guessed that they would have been monitoring our whole mission. I guess I didn’t need to explain anything to her after all, and she didn’t seem to want to ask any questions. She handed me a bag full of diamonds and emeralds. “I hope this covers it.”
I looked in the bag. “I think it does.”
Dr. Shelly thanked Ghast and me for our hard work and we thanked her for paying us. Once we were out of the building, I actually looked at how much we got paid. It was a fair amount, but I could have had so much more money if I had stayed at the temple, but staying in one place isn’t really a part of the adventuring lifestyle. Besides, I would rather have a lifetime full of adventure than a pocket overflowing with gold.
Now... I do need to figure out what my next mission will be, but I owe Ghast a little surprise before I figure that out. I’ll write about it tomorrow.
Day Twenty-Nine: Ghast’s Surprise
Dear Diary,
There wasn’t much to do while Ghast and I were on the train the other day, so while I was on the train, I read over my diary to look back on my adventures. It sounds boring, but there wasn’t much else to do on the train. Anyway, while I was looking through my diary, I remembered that I needed to show Ghast what exactly a popsicle stand was. Usually, I wouldn’t write about a topic this dull, but actually bringing Ghast to the popsicle stand was funnier than I ever thought it would be.
“Ghast, come here. I found something you need to see!” I called to him while we walked around the village today. I didn’t actually find a popsicle stand, but I did find an ice cream cart, which was close enough for me. I turned to the ice cream man. “Two popsicles, please.” I paid the man and took the two popsicles.
“Here, Ghast, try this.” I gave Ghast one of the popsicles. “This is a popsicle. Eat it.” I licked mine to show him how it was done.
“Eat it?! Are you crazy?” He tried to swipe my popsicle away from me, but I made sure to keep it firmly in my hand. I wasn’t going to let this orangey goodness get ruined by the grass.
“What are you doing?” I asked him. Okay, I might have yelled at him.
“Didn’t you say these things blew up? Why would you want to eat it?”
Now I was confused. “What are you talking about?”
“When we first talked, you said, ‘let’s blow this popsicle stand’. Doesn’t that mean they blow up?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at him. “The only thing that’s going to explode is your taste buds when you find out how tasty it was.”
Ghast slowly raised the popsicle to his mouth and licked it like he thought it was going to taste like brussel sprouts or something. “Hey, this isn’t that bad!” He shouted. He then tossed the whole thing into his mouth, burped out the stick, and then yelled again, but this time because he got brain-freeze. I have to say, the whole thing was hilarious. I’ll write more tomorrow when something else memorable happens.
Day Thirty: What’s Next?
Dear Diary,
Well, it’s time to move on from this village to find out what my next mission is going to be. I asked Ghast if he liked the mission that we went on together. He said that he liked parts of it, but some parts of the mission were just too intense. I figured that the fighting wasn’t very good for him, so I just asked him what parts he did like. “Spending time with you,” was his answer.
Before now, I had never taken anyone else on a mission with me. I thought I would like working alone better, but I think having Ghast by my side made things better. “Do you want to go with me for my next mission?” I asked him. I don’t know why, but I was a little nervous about what he might say.
“I would love to!” He said. “What’s your next mission?” He asked.
“You should have asked, ‘what’s our next mission?’” I corrected him. Then I thought about a real answer. “I don’t know what our next mission is going to be. Will you help me to find one?” I asked.
Ghast nodded.
Well, it looks like the two of us have an adventure ahead of us. Even though I don’t know what it will be, I am sure it’ll be great!