The answer is kind of simple, even if the explanation is kind of complicated. It is just that a lot of things are happening at the same time. For example, you are trying to score a goal or a point. Unfortunately, the opposing side is doing everything they can to stop you, and many times they succeed. Another example might be that you are trying to do your homework or watch your favorite program on TV, but your brother or sister—even your parents—keep bothering you. It could be that that your favorite pet wants attention. With the TV, the electric company might want to do some repairs, and the electricity goes out. So, a lot of people have different plans that interfere—they conflict with each other—with the plans of everyone else. This is why we are always having to change our plans. It is no one’s fault, really. Just frustrating at times.
The second way of looking at things in life is to try and understand why plans change all the time. Perhaps the change is supposed to happen. Maybe something better will come along with the change. I often try this approach. Instead of grumbling about having to miss my favorite TV program or unable to check my E-mail when the power suddenly fails, I try to see if there is a good reason for the change. The changes might make our original plans better or more interesting.
All of us tend to look backwards in time. This is kind of silly, because we really cannot change what happened. We wish we could change things, but we cannot. If we look forward to see what is going to happen next, we will be more prepared. In fact, we might even find something wonderful or a big surprise!
So, while the twins felt disappointed by having to spend a whole night outdoors in the same place, it turned out to be a very good thing. They thought they had lost an entire day. They had to rescue Mother Giant, Tiny, and even themselves from the Forgetful Beach. They wished they could have used the time to look for the Ogre’s cave.
I will tell you, though, they would never have found the entrance to the cave during the daytime. You see, the cave opening was so cleverly disguised that they could have walked right up to it and not see it. The opening was not just a hole cut into the rock of the mountain. It was made to blend in with the mountain’s face. You could literally look directly at it all day long and never see it. (I have watched magician’s use the same trick to fool me. It is called an optical illusion. In other words, what my brain tells me is true is not true at all!)
Now, during the night, the Ogre liked to build a fire outside his tunnel entrance. He never builds it inside the tunnel, because this would have made his home all smoky and unlivable. I don’t know much about Ogres, to tell you the truth. I suspect that Ogres can become lonely, too, even though they seem to live alone most of the time. Seems kind of funny, doesn’t it? I mean, all the stories about Ogres are pretty bad. But, I suppose even bad creatures need other bad creatures to talk to and have fun with. In the forbidding mountains where most of the Ogres lived, I can imagine that from time to time they would get together to fight, wrestle, or even hunt together.
On this Islet, however, this little Ogre was the only one of his kind. Since very few travelers came to the Islet these days, he must have been extremely lonely. Maybe that is why he built a fire every night: to keep himself company.
Now, the cave opening might have been hidden, but the fire was not. And, it was Uniqua who first spotted the light of the fire.
“Use the backpacks,” she quietly told the Bunnies, “to make an arrow. That way, in the morning, we’ll know in which direction to follow.”
The Bunnies marked out the light and quickly laid out their backpacks in a crude line from their camp towards the mountain. So it was, when the sun rose in the east, the Ogre’s fire had died. The rock face of the mountain appeared unbroken, and there was not even a hint where the tunnel entrance might be hiding.
Scaling partway up into the mountain, the Bunnies looked back every now and then back down at the backpacks. They wanted to make sure they were following the right direction. Then, as they climbed, they marked out a trail to follow. (After all, they did not want to leave their backpacks behind. They contained everything they needed for the rest of the trip. And, this trek had a long way to go yet.)
Mother Giant finally awakened with the sun warming her, and it was her loud voice that woke Tiny and the twins up.
“I’m hungry!” she complained to her son.
“Breakfast will come in just a minute, Ma,” Tiny told her. “As soon as the Bunnies return.”
“What are they doing, running all over the place?” she asked crossly. “They should be making breakfast. Everyone’s hungry!”
“They’re almost finished, Ma. In fact, here they come now.”
“I want to go swimming.” She wistfully looked at the water on the other side of Forgetful Beach. Her voice sounded more like a child than a mother, if you were to ask me.
“Now, Ma. I told you: you can’t go out onto the beach,” Tiny reminded her. “It’s dangerous!”
“Don’t you sass me,” Mother Giant shot back. “I’m still your mother, and I can do what I want.”
“Ma,” Tiny replied patiently, “if you go out onto the beach again, I’m gonna leave you there. We can’t go out and rescue you all the time. We got work to do and places to go.”
“Well, why can’t I go swimming then?”
“‘Cause the beach is dangerous! It’ll eat you up!”
“I ain’t afraid of nuttin’!” Mother Giant insisted. “If your father were here, why he’d tear up the whole beach for disrepectin’ him.” She rolled herself up into a ball in a defiant sort of way.
“What do you want to eat for breakfast, Ma?” Tiny tried to avert her attention from the beach.
“Rabbit Stew,” she decided after a moment of thought.
This reply stunned the twins. In fact, they looked genuinely shocked. You have probably noted than throughout our story so far, no one—no one good-hearted, that is—ate any meat. With so many magical creatures being animals, eating meat would be—I suppose—kind of like being cannibals!
So, when the twins heard that Mother Giant wanted to eat Rabbit Stew, they looked immediately at the Bunnies, expecting the Bunnies to be shocked or worried or something like that.
When the Bunnies saw the shocked look on the twins’ faces, they started to laugh uproariously.
“Not to worry,” they said when they could find their breaths.
Rabbit stew in our world would probably have pieces of cut up rabbit meat, cooked and served with vegetables in a nice hot broth. (Yes, I have eaten Rabbits in the wild, and rabbit is delicious. Not to worry, though, I would not think of eating the Bunnies.) But on the Island, Rabbit Stew was a dish made from a special recipe the Bunnies were famous for. There were no pieces of rabbit in the stew, just vegetables. And, if you remember, some of the vegetables tasted like your favorite meat.
Within twenty minutes or so, the Bunnies began serving Rabbit Stew to the company (except Prince Bot, of course). For the next twenty minutes or so, there was a lot of slurping and munching. Mother Giant ate more than half of the prepared stew all by herself.
The smell of the Rabbit Stew caused the little Ogre to stick his head out of his cave. None of our friends saw this, of course, and he ducked back inside his tunnel. The twins surmised (later) that he must have been very hungry after smelling this delicious stew.
“Ah,” Mother Giant sighed contentedly, dropping her bowl onto the ground and patting her full stomach. “It’s been a very long time since I have tasted Rabbit Stew.” She looked at the Bunnies with reproach. “Why don’t you come more often and make my favorite stew?”
“Things have changed, Ma,” Tiny tried to make her understand.
“Well, after you take me home, we can change things back again.”
“I can’t go home, Ma. Not, at least, right now.”
“And why not?” Mother Giant’s voice rose several octaves, which meant it was not only louder but shriller. “You have to take me home!”
“I made a promise, Ma,” Tiny tried to expla
in. “I have to help the children get home first.”
Mother Giant looked at the children as if she were seeing them for the first time. “Where are you from, children?”
Carl looked at Karen, but neither were sure how to answer her.
“Our home is a long ways from here,” Karen finally answered for the both of them. “We hope the Lord of Power will help us get home.”
“The Lord of Power!” Mother Giant repeated derisively and snorted. “A lot of good that will do you—to talk to him! He don’t listen too good these days. And, he don’t like to talk any more, besides.”
“May I ask why you came to the Islet?” Karen ventured, a little afraid to ask the question.
Mother Giant screwed up her facial features as she tried to think. “I don’t recall now. Probably because I don’t like the way he’s been runnin’ things lately. Maybe I wanted to give him a piece of my mind. But then, I saw this beautiful beach.”
“Don’t think about the beach, Ma. It’s dangerous!”
“I know. I heard you the first time. That’s what I’d like to tell him if I see him. He shouldn’t be lettin’ dangerous things like this be lyin’ around. He oughta be more careful.”
“Tiny will escort you through the hills, Mother Giant,” Uniqua interjected. “Then, after you’re safe and can cross back over the bridge span, we’ll be on our way to meet with the Lord of Power.”
“Well, you just tell him for me that he can’t forget the people that matter,” Mother Giant concluded her list of complaints. “Otherwise, we’re gonna start forgetting about him.” With that, she allowed her son Tiny to take her hand and lead her away from the Group.
Half a day was wasted, using Cassandra’s thought, waiting for Tiny to return.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Carl asked the Giant when he rejoined the group. He was thinking of the wolves and Trolls that might be waiting across the bridge.
“Oh, sure,” Tiny said, waving his hand as if Carl should not worry. “If anything gives Ma a hard time, it’ll wish it hadn’t in the first place. Ma is a fighter. Everyone else should be afraid of her, and she wouldn’t hurt a flea unless it deserved to be hurt.”
At last, the Group moved up into the foot of the mountain, following the trail the Bunnies had left. Even though they got closer to the cave opening—like I wrote above—they still could not see it. It was so cleverly disguised, Tiny almost stepped on the Ogre because he could not see him either.
“You step on me,” the Ogre shouted up at Tiny, “and I’m going to stomp on you like you’ve never been stomped on before!”
“What’s the problem?” Uniqua asked, walking up next to Tiny.
“This clod tried to step on me!” the little Ogre declared hotly.
The Unicorn blinked several times. It was very difficult to distinguish the cave and the Ogre from the surrounding rock. The Ogre’s skin coloring was almost the same as the rocks it sat on or leaned against. His skin was also mottled (meaning not the same color all over but shades of the same color). In other words, he looked like a small rock. (This kind of reminds me of a chameleon, a lizard that can change its skin color.)
“What do you want?” the Ogre challenged them after a short period of silence.
“We need to pass through the tunnel,” Uniqua answered. “We are on our way to meet with the Lord of Power.”
“You have to play and pay,” the little monster told her.
“Play and pay?” Uniqua asked quizzically, because she did not understand his meaning.
“You have any of that Rabbit Stew left?” the Ogre asked hopefully.
“Uh, no. I’m afraid not,” the Unicorn told him sadly.
“Then, it is definitely play and pay!” the Ogre roared defiantly. “Or else, you can just go back the way you came and never bother me again!”
“What do you mean? What do we have to play? We have no money,” Uniqua told him.
“I get to ask you questions,” the Ogre explained. “If you have the right answer to each question, then you can pass.”
“And the payment?”
“If you are wrong or cannot answer the question, I get to hit you!” At this, the Ogre gave them a big, wicked grin, showing all of his sharp and crooked teeth.
“What kind of questions?” Cassandra wanted to know. She marched up beside Uniqua. The back of her neck was up, showing that she was very irritated.
“Oh-ho! A Dragon!” the Ogre exclaimed with glee. “I am going to enjoy hitting you.”
At this threat, the three Bunnies immediately jumped in front of their mistress and assumed defensive fighting stances.
The little Ogre just laughed. “You think you can fight me?” His tone was challenging. “Then you have all lost the game.” Now his tone of voice was commanding. “Leave. Turn back and go home—or wherever it is you came from. You will never pass through my tunnel.”
“Now, now,” Uniqua said soothingly. “We did not come all this way to fight you. The Bunnies are very protective of their mistress. We will play your game, as long as it is fair and reasonable.”
“Good. Then it is settled. Who’s first?”
I feel that the Ogre was kind of relieved. After all, he lived all alone on and in the mountain, and it had been a long time since he had played his game with anyone. He sounded very gruffy, which is how some people act towards others, kind of mean like. When, in actuality, they do have a soft spot inside them. They try to hide it because they think being kind is the same thing as being weak.
“I am,” Tiny spoke up. “If there’s going to be any hitting, you can hit me.”
“Good. Good.” The Ogre jumped up and down. “Now, for the first question: do you have any red with you?”
For a second or two, the Group was rather perplexed. Then, the Bunnies started rummaging through their backpacks, looking for anything red. They found a red scarf and even one red sock, and they showed them to the Ogre.
Tears were streaming from the Ogre’s eyes; he was laughing that hard. “WRONG!” he shouted. Without warning, he butted Tiny right in the stomach.
“Oof!” Tiny uttered, stepping backwards. “That’s a mighty punch!”
“That’s one question. Four more to go, and then you must go.”
Uniqua turned to Cassandra and the twins. “I have the feeling that we are not going to win this game. He can ask the most impossible questions, and we will not be able to win.”
The Ogre’s ears were quite sharp, and he heard every word. “Of course you can’t win,” he said triumphantly. “What’s the point of playing if you don’t win all the time?”
“Learning something?” Karen suggested.
“Maybe it is time to wish for something,” Carl said under his breath.
“Not yet,” Uniqua cautioned. “Not yet.”
“Learn what?” the Ogre replied. “I already know everything I need to know. And, I don’t need to learn anything new, thank you very much.”
“How about manners and being nice?” Karen responded.
“Look at you, girly!” the Ogre remarked. “I’m an Ogre. I think I’m being nice by not eating you as part of the game.
“Now, for the second question: do you have a part of the sky?”
The Group gaped at the Ogre in despair. What a silly question! What an impossible question!
“You mean, like a star or a meteorite?” Carl asked.
While the Ogre jumped up and down again, Uniqua gave the Bunnies a knowing look and motioned with her head to fall back.
“You lose again,” the Ogre told them. “Who’s next?”
“You can only hit me,” Tiny declared. “You can’t hurt me.” He stepped in front of the Ogre.
“Really?” And the Ogre grinned again. “We’ll see about that.” He hit Tiny again in the stomach so hard that the gentle Giant staggered backwards, trying to catch his breath.
“Ready for question three?”
“Do you mind if I ask a question?” Uniqua inquired politely.
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br /> “It’s not part of the game,” the Ogre began to protest. “But, since you’re gonna lose anyway—and I haven’t had so much fun in a very long time—ask away. I’ve got time.” Here, the Ogre looked rather sad. “I have lots of time.”
“Why did you come to the Islet?”
“Why did you come? And that question is not part of the game,” he added quickly.
“We need to see the Lord of Power. These children need to go home.”
The Ogre looked at the twins. “You’re not from the Island. I can see that now.” He sat down on his favorite rock. “You will never see the Lord of Power. I’m sorry, children, but the only way to his castle is through me. And that you will never do.”
“Why can’t you just let us pass through your tunnel?” Karen asked hastily.
“I can’t go home!” the Ogre cried bitterly. “Why should you?”
“Why not?” Carl asked.
“Look at me! I am an Ogre, yes. But I’m a shrimp! I am the shortest Ogre there is in the whole wide world. No one likes me. The others chased me all the time. They like to beat me up. They called me all kinds of names. This was the only safe place to come. All the other Ogres are afraid of this Islet.”
He leaned forward, like a conspirator. “Besides,” the Ogre continued, “the Lord of Power doesn’t like Ogres. He hates us.”
“I don’t know if that is true or not,” Karen remarked.
“But it is!” the Ogre insisted. “He made us ugly and mean. He made our hearts to hate and enjoy hurting people.”
“You know, we met another Ogre,” Carl began. “He looked just about like you. Sure, he was gruff on the outside. But after we got to know him better, he was really a nice guy.”
The Ogre blinked several times. I don’t think he wanted to know that there was another Ogre on the Island who was just like him, except that he was happy.
“We could introduce you to him later, after we have talked with the Lord of Power,” Karen suggested.
“Question three,” he sharply changed the conversation. “Do you have a Dragon’s egg?” He looked squarely at Cassandra.
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