Breton Wager - 4

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos

After English next Tuesday, Esse had to sit next to Price on the hour-long bus ride to The Museum of Time and Space. She could hear Mies and We talking happily together. They were the only people on the bus enjoying themselves. Even the bus driver was grumpy. He was constantly telling them to “Be quiet, or you’ll never see those heads of yer’s again!”

When they reached the museum, a tall elderly man led them through the many exhibits, telling them all about Dental Floss. “Dental floss has been going on since prehistory, but in 1815, Dr. Levi Spear Parmly thought of using waxed silk threads to floss teeth!” the museum guide exclaimed with enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm in Esse’s opinion.

He talked and talked and talked until they got to a pair of double doors with CLOSED FOR RENOVATION written on them. The guide was now bursting with excitement. So were Mies and We. “And here it is students!” the guide said. He threw open the doors. “The history of Dental Floss!” Mies and We oohed and aahed. After about two minutes of walking around, Price announced that he had to use the restroom. And just like that, he was gone.

Mies and We were in a corner, huddled around a photograph of some guy named Dr. Charles Bass. Esse walked into another room. This room contained dental facts, not all of them about flossing. There was a door at the end of the room that also said CLOSED FOR RENOVATION. Esse figured if she was already in an exhibit that was closed for renovation, she might as well go in this one.

The room was lit by a flickering light, coming from a lit chandelier hanging from the ceiling. All was quiet. No one was around. Not even Mies, We, or the guide could be heard from the other room. It seemed that the door Esse had come through was the only way to enter the room. Esse walked farther into the room. Every noise echoed.

There were no exhibits in this room. The floor was carpeted, unlike every other room in the museum, which was covered in hard tile. The walls were lined with wallpaper, instead of painted white. A plastic mat covered some of the floor beneath a tapestry with gold tassels hanging down the sides. Pick axes lay on the plastic mat, as well as hammers and a small bulldozer that fit in the room. The wall around the tapestry was chipped and cracked, as if someone had been trying to excavate around the tapestry. The museum obviously wanted the tapestry gone. Why?

Esse got a closer look. It was very old tapestry, with ancient writing at the top. There was a large multi-colored swirl to the left. To the right was what looked like dogs with waterfalls and lakes on their backs. It was fascinating. In the bottom righthand corner was the artist’s name:

Weasel Water Lou of The Peace in Carlos

It was truly very mysterious. Esse knocked on the wall. Hollow sounds echoed through the room. Was the tapestry a door? Who was Weasel Water Lou? Why was this tapestry in The Museum of Time and Space? Of course, Esse couldn’t spend forever in the little room. But when she walked out of the room, Esse saw something unfortunate.

Difgih was standing across the way from Esse. She was obviously partnerless. Her back was to Esse and she was reading something about dental floss for braces. Esse slowly tiptoed across the room into the one with FLOSS OF THE PRESENT. Hiding behind the biggest dental floss container in the world, Esse got a look at the clock. 4:37. That meant that the bus would come in thirteen minutes to pick them up and drop them off at home.

The bus ride from the museum was possibly less fun than the bus ride to the museum. When Price and Takahiro showed up at the bus late, they got in trouble for abandoning Esse and Difgih. So Price and Takahiro had to sit next to Mr. Oliverst and Esse and Difgih were “lucky” and got to sit in the back of the bus. Together. Esse looked out the window the whole time, and Difgih looked at the ground.

It wasn’t that Esse disliked Difgih, she was just afraid of her. Difgih had this weird telling-the-future thing she was always doing. And maybe Esse just didn’t want to know that she would meet a bear and go on a book worthy adventure. Maybe she just wanted to stay away from Difgih.

Esse got home at 6:43 p.m. Mrs. Iflandoonia was washing the dishes. “How was it?” she asked as Esse came in.

“It was good.” Esse answered. “Price abandoned me to go hang out with his friend. I sort of went around by myself. He had to sit with Mr. Oliverst on the ride back.”

“Aha!” Mr. Iflandoonia exclaimed. “I thought so! Price is no better than his father!”

“Luc!” Mrs. Iflandoonia said with her hands on her hips. “Really?!” Mr. Iflandoonia guiltily slinked away, probably harboring more thoughts on Price’s father. Mrs. Iflandoonia rolled her eyes. “I’ll talk with him later.” she said. “Well, Esse, how was it anyway?”

“I saw this exhibit on Dental Facts, and one of them had the biggest dental floss container in the world.” Esse answered. “But I have English homework, so, bye.”

Esse went up to her room to ponder the questions she had thought of earlier. But who could think with all that racket that Illtyd and Sverre Jon were making? She could hear them fighting over who would be Sidfig. “I’m the one who bought the book first!” Sverre Jon was yelling.

“I know that Esse has The Magical Powers of the Bonnet!” Illtyd yelled back. “That makes me a Verarlium Partosium, and you have nothing to do with it!”

Esse got out of bed and walked out the door. “Where are you going?” Mrs. Iflandoonia asked. She was trimming bushes. Why was she always everywhere she shouldn’t be? “I’m going for a walk.” Esse answered. And so she walked into the forest.

After about 1 ½ miles, Esse rested off the trail. It was so peaceful. Esse usually didn’t like quiet and peaceful. She normally liked things happening. But the forest was her favorite quiet spot. It was meant to only be the sounds of the birds and the deer and rabbits and foxes and… that strange noise from behind her. Esse turned around. There sat a little bear. Well, not little, this was a bear after all. If the bear stood on its hind legs, it would probably be as tall as Esse.

“Oh, hello.” she said. Then thought, Maybe I do hate Difgih. “Hi.” the bear answered back. The bear crawled over to rest next to Esse. “My name is Luc. Short for Lucjusz.” it said.

“My dad’s name is Lucjusz!” Esse said.

“Cool.” said Luc. “Do you want to be friends?”

“I guess.” Esse said. “Just because my dad and you share the same name? But, okay. I think bears are probably better friends than people.”

Luc nodded. “Oh yes, oh yes. We don’t hunt nixies for sport.” Esse smiled. “You’re much better than the kids in my class.” she said. Luc nodded.

“I always thought bears were better than nixies.” he said. Esse tilted her head. “Bears have never actually talked to me.” she commented. “But I think it’s because my brothers are too loud.”

“Oh, it’s not you.” Luc explained. “It’s, an, um, bear thing. We, uh, call it , um, Don’t Speak With Murderers. No offence.”

“Oh, it’s okay.” Esse said. “And you’re an adventurous bear?”

“Oh yes. I am the second bear to talk to a nixie and survive. Nobody knows yet though. The first nixie is you.” Luc answered. “I thought that that’s how I would die, but. . .I guess I die differently.”

“I guess we’re friends then.” Esse said, only a bit weirded out by the last part of Luc’s sentence. Luc nodded. It was decided.

The next day, Esse decided she was going to go see Luc again. If she found him again, she knew she would have made a friend. During school that day, Esse caught Difgih staring at her as if she knew. It was creepy.

Luc told Esse some interesting news. “Esse, you’ll never believe what I heard!” he said. “The Carlosians are closing in on the West Side of Peace, and they just took it over!” “Who are the Carlosians?” Esse asked. “You don’t know?” Luc asked, shocked. “The Carlosians are the people in the country that surrounds us. They are evil, and violent, and deadly, and they’re slowly taking over The Peace in Carlos! Only not so slowly anymore!”

“Wow!” Esse exclaimed. “I can’t believe I didn’t know that!”

“Neither can I.” Luc said. “I wonder who else doesn’t know. The problem is, not everyone has a hiding place, a secret den like my family does, and so they can’t always be safe when they need to be.” He shook his head in disapproval. “They’ll probably all die or something.”

“No!” Esse cried, “We can’t let that happen! What will we do?!”

“You and I can try to find a place for everyone.”

“Oh, yes. That’s a good idea,” Esse agreed, “Do you know any places?” Luc shook his head. Esse started to sigh, then paused, remembering the tapestry. “I might know a place!” she exclaimed with glee, “Yesterday I went to the new Dental Floss exhibit in The Museum of Time and Space, and I found a really mysterious tapestry by someone called Weasel Water Lou. There were pickaxes and bulldozers, and things like that near it. I bumped into the wall, and it was hollow! Also, the room looks like a room in a old house, not a museum room. There’s real carpeting and wallpaper! Maybe they’re making a hiding place for us! I wish I could show you.”

“That sounds nothing like my den, but okay, I’ll take your word for it.” Luc said. “I wish I could get to it.” After a moment, he exclaimed, “Hey! Are there windows near it? Maybe I could get in!” He sounded excited.

“Well…” Esse mused. “There’s a wall of all glass in the Dr. Levi Spear Parmly exhibit. Does that help?”

“Are there any windows that you can open?” Luc asked. “Oh, well, in the recreation of Johnson & Johnson, there’s a window. It might fit you, but I should probably measure it.” Esse answered.

“That would take too long.” Luc said. “Roughly how big was it?” Esse showed him with her hands. Luc just fit. “Good!” Luc said. “Is the Johnson & Johnson recreation on the first or second floor?”

“First floor, but the window is high. I’ll help you.” Esse volunteered.

“Good.” Luc nodded his approval. “See you tomorrow, Esse.”

“You too, Luc.” Esse waved goodbye.

Breton Wager - 3

After Rose returned with the pens, Breton got to work on the posters. He sat on the stage across from Rose, who, despite his previous claim, was not being of much help at all. Nashaadh bustled around backstage, moving boxes and hanging the posters that Breton completed.

“Breton, are you going to the Masquerade Ball on Friday night?” Nashaadh asked after a little while.

“I’m going!” Rose interjected before Breton could even conceive an answer. “I’m going with Nashaadh,” he added.

“You really should come with us, Breton,” Nashaadh invited.

“Aw, Nashaadh, do you have to go and invite your cousin?” Rose pouted.

“Rose, he’s your friend too!” Nashaadh scolded. “It’s a school hosted event, he should go anyway!”

“I know, I was just kidding,” Rose said calmly. “You should definitely come, Breton.”

“How?” Breton asked, not pausing his decoration of Nashaadh’s posters.

“Well, I’m going as a phoenix,” Nashaadh reminisced, setting down a box and plopping down beside Breton and Rose. “All red and yellow and fire . . .”

“And I’m going as a parrot,” Rose shared, scooting closer to Nashaadh. “All color and sleek good looks.”

Rose tossed his wavy, dark red head of hair. Nashaadh laughed.

“You really should go, Breton,” Nashaadh repeated.

“What would I go as?” Breton argued politely. “You guys already took phoenix and parrot.”

“You could be a woodnymph bird,” Nashaadh offered.

“Oo! Yes! You’d look good in purple, Breton!” Rose agreed, clearly enthused.

“You really would, Breton!” Nashaadh exhibited excitement. “There must be a beautiful indigo pattern jacket somewhere we can buy for you!”

“Yes! And I have these wonderful pants that will match gorgeously!” Rose continued.

“Ohmygosh, Breton, we are totally building your costume for you!” Nashaadh squealed. “You are coming on Friday!”

Breton remained silent as Nashaadh and Rose used the previously discarded markers to plan his costume. Silently, he was pleased. Nashaadh and Rose were his two closest friends. And although a Masquerade Ball sounded scary, if he went to one, he would want to go with Nashaadh and Rose.

Besides, with the Christian hanging around, it might be a good idea to live in the moment.

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos - 4

When Esse picked herself up, all was quiet and dark. Not even gunfire could be heard. It was also quite cold. “Luc? Luc?” Esse hissed. Esse felt a furry hand on her arm.

Esse snuggled up to Luc. He was usually warm, but even Luc was cold in the little room. Esse heard rats scurrying around in the dark shadows. A cold dark voice sounded nearby. “Which one of you is skilled in the art of nymph stories?” it asked. Esse let go of Luc as he stood up. “It-it was me. I knew the nymph stories.” he said. “You knew the stories of Queen Frida’s Dogs and Jennifer and Clara?” the voice asked.

“My-my parents helped me on Jennifer and Clara.” Luc stammered. All was quiet. A small chuckle sounded from the voice. “Don’t hurt them!” Luc cried. “And don’t hurt Esse either!”

Esse felt her cheeks turn red with embarrassment, but she was glad that Luc had said that. “I see.” the voice said. “Come here.”

“No.” Luc responded. “You are a stubborn little bear, are you not?” the voice chuckled.

“And what are you?” Esse asked, standing up too.

“Me? I am something you have never heard of, something you may one day wish to have, but will deny wanting right now.” the voice said mysteriously.

“And what is that?” Esse asked, crossing her arms defensively.

“I will tell you later, child. Now, let us see what you want.” the voice said.

“We want a way out of The Peace in Carlos. It is shrinking because for the Carlosians.” Esse told the voice.

“Ah, yes. The Running War, as they call it here.” the voice mused. “And how may I help you with that?”

“Can you answer a question?” Luc asked.

“It depends on the question.” the voice sang out.

“Is this house a gateway out of Carlos and The Peace in Carlos?”

The voice chuckled. “I’m glad you asked.” it said. “Look upon the door.” At once a flickering light lit the wall in front of Esse. A door was set into it the wall. It was made of steel and covered in strange symbols that definitely were not nymph writing.

“This, my children,” said the voice. “is the gateway to another world. To reach it, you must answer this question: What is my name?” And then Esse and Luc were no longer in the room. They were both standing under the window to Johnson & Johnson. The window was placed in it’s socket.

“Wow.” Esse said. It certainly was strange. “Did that even happen?”

“Yes.” Luc said certainly. “It must have. We meet tomorrow?”

“Yes.” Esse agreed. And they went their separate ways.

That night, Esse rushed to the museum. With her family asleep, she could go where she pleased. Esse thought back to when she wished she could enter an adventure. And here she was, in an adventure. She had decided to go back to the invisible house and locate the source of the voice. Esse didn’t know where Luc lived, so she couldn’t ask him to come along. Right?

Outside the Johnson & Johnson recreation, Esse took a running leap at the window. It popped out of the frame, and Esse took another running leap to get a hold of the frame to pull herself through the window. It was much harder without Luc.

Rushing to the little room with Weasel Water Lou’s painting in it, she licked her finger and entered Carlos. Once in Carlos, Esse rushed down the stairs to the room with the voice. Gunfire still sounded through the Carlosian streets even though it was late at night. She put her hand on the door. “Lucjusz Yu Iflandoonia and Quer Ty Iflandoonia.” Esse whispered. The door gave way. She stepped slowly into the dark room.

Maybe the voice wouldn’t notice. “Welcome back, Esse.” the voice said. “I’ve been waiting for you.” But the voice heard her anyway.

“I’m here to decode the door.” Esse said bravely. The light illuminated the door again. Esse knelt in front of the door. She ran her fingers along the symbols as if she could read it like braille. And Esse could. The symbols and their meanings blinked and buzzed inside her head. She murmured the meanings out loud. “Max… Nora… Nils… Su-Li… Ursula… Anica… Liesl.”

“Yes.” the voice murmured. “And who wrote that story?” Esse shuddered. But she knew the answer. She had to answer. “No one wrote the story. It is a true story.” Esse answered.

“And what is the title?” the voice asked, almost in a whisper.

“Queen Gretchen’s Choice.” Esse let out in a breath. And then she was no longer in the small room.

Everything was dark. All around was dark. There was no sky or ground. Esse was in dark, and only dark. She was floating in darkness. Suddenly, a movie seemed to play in front of her. A man and a woman at a wedding. The women was Nora. The man was Max. But there was just one thing. Max was a bear.

The scene changed. Nora and Max were now adopting a child. Two children. Two Earthen children. The African boy was Nils, and the Asian girl was Su-Li. The scene changed. And this time, there was another baby. This was no adoption. This was a real baby, one that Nora had given birth to. But the baby was strange. The baby was half human, and half bear. And then Esse was falling, falling. And everything was dark.

The Christian

Illustration courtesy of Teepi Guest

Breton Wager

Breton didn’t usually walk this way after Math class ended. No, he decidedly didn’t walk this way, and he decidedly wasn’t supposed to.

“Darn,” he breathed. This was not going well at all.

Turning around, Breton tried walking the other way. No, that didn’t feel right either. If he turned to the left and went that way, he’d be back in Math class. That would end the whole thing right then and there. Going to the right would guarantee his progress into one of the Science classrooms.

Breton took a step towards the Science classroom. There was a buzz and a zip as everything resituated to his current standing point in time. Breton took a breath, closed his eyes, and began to walk forward.

After what felt like a good amount of steps to take towards a Science classroom, Breton stopped and opened his eyes. Ah, yes, this was indeed the Science classroom he knew and loved. There was Ms. Jennings. She was holding a paper out to the class, and the way her face was positioned seemed to indicate that this was a very important paper she had grasped before her. Oh, and look, there was Christian. Apparently he had Science first period. Go figure.

Breton took a step towards Christian. “Owgh!” he exclaimed as something painful happened to his head. Lifting his hand to the back of his skull, Breton felt a bruise forming. Shoot, what had he been doing a few seconds ago? Had it been dangerous? It certainly hurt, whatever it was.

Taking a look at Christian, Breton decided he should just return to Math class. Christian looked like he was about to say something to the person next to him, and Breton didn’t really want Christian to talk. The look on Christian’s face was not one of pleasure, and his usually neat blonde hair was sticking about. Both his hands we balled into fists, and one was poised above the table as if to pound it in the moments to come.

Breton turned and began to walk the other way, back towards the Math classroom. Eyes closed, of course. He began to pick up the pace, until he heard a small voice coming from over his shoulder.

“Breton! Hey, Breton!” it hissed. Breton stopped, opened his eyes, and turned. Coming down the hallway was Christian.

No, this wasn’t Christian, Breton decided. Not at all. What this looked like was the product that came from someone trying very hard to make a plush doll of Christian. They hadn’t failed, not necessarily. It was flying. That had been accomplished. Its long floppy arms caught the wind behind it as it moved.

“Breton!” spoke the Christian. It had floated very close now, and was only half a foot from Breton’s face.

“Hello . . . Christian,” Breton finally decided on words. “Are you . . . going to class?”

“No! I’m not going to class!” the Christian huffed, exasperated.

“Oh, you’re not. Yes,” Breton usually found himself at a loss for words, and talking to the Christian was no exception.

“I am getting rather fed up with you,” the Christian grumped, turning with a puff. “Which is ironic, isn’t it?”

“Isn’t it?” Breton asked, not entirely sure.

The Christian was suddenly very close, touching noses with Breton, the Christian’s long arms flopping onto his chest.

“I am you,” the Christian declared dramatically, and left.

Esse Iflandoonia

Illustration courtesy of Teepi Guest

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos - 9

On Wednesday, Esse was so excited she woke up super early and woke Nurse Moss up too. “Hurry!” she kept saying. It seemed that Kennen had been doing the same. Esse and Nurse Moss met Kennen and Doctor Lexie in the lobby. “Let’s go!” Esse said. With Esse running close behind him, Kennen flew all the way to the palace. They were waiting in the jungle waiting-room when a girl about Esse’s age came in and sat down next to them. “Orderer Gemma!” Nurse Moss and Doctor Lexie said at the same time. Orderer Gemma smiled sheepishly and waved. “Hi, Nurse Moss. Hi, Doctor Lexie.” Orderer Gemma had messy orange hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She was wearing the same blue outfit as Esse, with a blue vest over it. The blue vest had a few badges on it. Esse looked closer. One badge was for surviving a landslide. Orderer Gemma waved to Esse and Kennen. They waved back. Soon, a voice sounded through the room, “Orderer Gemma, your appointment with Teacher Yi is ready.” Orderer Gemma got to her feet. She turned once more to wave and smile sheepishly again before vanishing through a door. “I think we just met the princess.” Kennen whispered to Esse. Esse nodded. Orderer Gemma seemed to be a pretty nice princess. Soon, the same voice sounded through the room again. “Nurse Moss, Doctor Lexie, Esse and Kennen, your appointment with Weasel Water Lou is ready.” They walked through a door with the word SECRETARY etched into the wood. Opening it,they saw this: A small cocker spaniel sat at a wooden desk. A small dirt path led to the desk. Surrounding the path were trees and grass. “Hello.” said the cocker spaniel. “And how does my painting concern you?”

After Esse explained to Weasel Water Lou her whole adventure starting at her trip to the dental floss exhibit, Kennen repeated the part where Luc was taken away. Weasel Water Lou nodded. “Luc is no longer alive.” she said. “That is certain.” Esse nodded. She lowered her head. “I hoped…” Esse trailed off. Kennen landed gently on her shoulder. “As for your The Peace in Carlos being in danger, I will help you. You see, I once had a very good friend named Joe of the Braceland who I made that tapestry for. I would love to help all your people escape.” The next few days, Weasel Water Lou worked on the second tapestry, and Esse, Kennen, and Master Cameron worked out what to say to King Nnu, the ruler of The Peace in Carlos. “When I still lived there,” Weasel Water Lou said. “the ruler was Queen Asda.” Esse explained that Queen Asda was in the west part of The Peace in Carlos, solving their recent Carlosian invasion. Mistress Amelia was very helpful and so was Orderer Gemma. Orderer Gemma and Esse soon became very good friends. Kennen became friends with a boy named Ky, who was coming with them to talk to King Nnu. Everyone was very excited when Weasel Water Lou finally finished the second tapestry. It was time for Esse to go home.

Once in The Peace in Carlos, Esse led the new-comers toward King Nnu’s palace. “Let’s avoid everyone until later.” Master Cameron suggested. Everyone else agreed. “I have a secret way.” Esse announced. She led them through the woods where she first met Luc. They reached the end of the forest. They were in Ie Square. The big sign reading IE SQUARE stood tall above their heads. “We mustn't be seen!” Master Cameron hissed. Esse nodded. There were so many people in Ie Square. Disguises might be necessary. Kennen and Weasel Water Lou were already okay, but Master Cameron, Esse, orderer Gemma, and Ky had to get disguises. They all changed into olympic horse riding uniforms except for Orderer Gemma, who insisted on being a flight attendant. They blended in pretty easily. The olympic horse races were happening, and a plane had just crashed by Lake An. No one was hurt, but many flight attendants were milling about. When they reached the gates of King Nnu’s palace, right outside Ie Square, they tore off their disguises. They didn’t need them anymore. They entered easily, (King Nnu refused to have guards) and entered the throne room, where King Nnu and Queen Ly sat. “Your Majesty.” Esse cried. “We are in terrible danger!”King Nnu listened to the whole story from Esse, then Luc’s death from Kennen, and finally, all the rest from Master Cameron and Weasel Water Lou. “First.” said King Nnu in an orderly fashion. “I must inform Luc’s parents of Luc death. Kennen, would you mind coming?” Kennen said he would go. “Secondly,” King Nnu continued. “Esse, please go directly to you parents with Master Cameron. Weasel Water Lou, Ky, Orderer Gemma, please stay here and tell me of the place you come from.” So Esse and Master Cameron headed off.

“Esse!” cried Mrs. Iflandoonia. Esse was embraced with lots of crying. It felt so good to be back home. Even Elian was glad. Ty still thought Esse had been away at camp. Demitri,Sverre Jon, and Illtyd listened to the whole story of Esse’s travels, while Mr. and Mrs. Iflandoonia discussed things with Master Cameron. Soon, the whole town knew, and the escape from The Peace in Carlos was set for Friday, November 20th. Esse waited and waited. The day finally came.

The whole town was gathered in Ie Square. The large sign reading IE SQUARE was broken. Everyone had brought their belongings. Only nine at a time could enter the tapestry at once, not including luggage. It took five days to get everyone into The Meadow of Nimm. Esse and her family plus Kennen camped outside the vortex in The Meadow of Nimm to make sure everyone made it safely. There was a great search of The Peace in Carlos to make sure no one was left behind. But everyone was safe. No one was in danger in The Meadow of Nimm, with Ursula Kinns being gone. Weasel Water Lou verified that. She said that teleporting wasn’t very useful unless an emergency was occurring. You cannot control where you teleport to. All was well. Forever.

Nashaadh Sonjan

Illustration courtesy of Teepi Guest

Why intercept?

Why?

Weasel Water Lou of the Peace in Carlos - 3

The next day right after school, Esse went to see Luc at The Museum of Time and Space. She was certain her mother would notice her absence,but she was trying to help a bear save their home.

“The Johnson & Johnson window is on the East side.” she told Luc. So they set off. They peeked in every window until they found the one. High up on the wall. “This is it.” Esse told Luc. “You get on my shoulders and climb in. Then, pull me up.” Luc told her.

There was a bush right under the window to the Johnson & Johnson reconstruction. Esse landed right in the middle of it with an oof. Luc climbed up the wall. “You can’t open it from the outside.” he reported. “But I can try to break it.”

“Quietly. Break it quietly.” Esse instructed. “I’ll try.” Luc said. “Do you have some cloth?” Esse handed him her sweatshirt. Luc tucked it into the edges of the window. Then he raised his paw and smashed it. The whole window popped out of the frame and landed on the floor, muffled by Esse’s sweatshirt. After Luc checked to make sure nobody heard the window fall, he crawled through the window.

There was a small thud as he landed on top of Esse’s sweatshirt and the window. Seconds later he reappeared to pull up Esse. Once they were both inside, Esse took him to the little room with the tapestry. All was the same as before. Except this time, Luc was with her, and for some reason Esse felt safer.

“There.” Esse said pointing at the tapestry.

“Wow, they really do hate that thing.” Luc commented, looking at the area around the tapestry just as Esse had. “You said it sounded hollow behind it?”

“Yes.” Esse said. “Try it out.” Luc walked over and knocked on the wall. The hollow sound echoed through the room again. “There must be a way to open the tapestry. Maybe if we look closer we’ll see something.”

Esse walked over to the painting. She looked closely. “There’s that swirly thing in the corner with a bunch of colors. Does that mean anything?” she asked.

“Well, yes,” Luc responded. “That’s obviously a giant-sized vortex. So…”

“A what?” Esse asked.

“A giant-sized vortex. You can tell from the mix of blue, brown, maroon, and teal. Small vortexes are violet, black and neon-yellow.” Luc answered. “Haven’t you ever seen one?”

“No.” Esse said. “My dad used to work for the Things that Don’t Exist Patrol, and vortexes are definitely one of the non-existent things.”

“Well, they are real, I learned of them in Wise Learning.” Luc said. “So obviously, the little dog thingies are going into the vortex.”

“But why do they have waterfalls pouring onto their backs?” Esse asked.

“I don’t know.” Luc answered. “Who is Weasel Water Lou?”

“I was hoping you knew.” Esse said. “It’s an unusual name, let’s work off that.” Luc decided.

“Well, the water in the name Weasel Water Lou could explain the stains of probably water on the canvas. It looks like they placed their finger on it. See how it’s in the shape of a paw print? And some fingerprints.”

“Maybe it’s an artist thing they did.” Esse mused.

“Maybe.” Luc agreed. “But look, I just noticed something. See these words in the corner?” He pointed at some strange symbols Esse had never seen before. “Those are ancient symbols of the nymphs.” Luc continued. “Bears had to learn that language during The Many Wars.”

“Can you read them?” Esse asked, excitement bubbling inside her.

“Yes! I learned it in Wise Learning!” Luc was excited now too. “Then read it!” Esse instructed him.

“Let’s see, the first word is… Starshine, with a capital S, next is Snowflake, also a capital S, then it’s Sugarplum, with another capital S, last it’s Frida, with a capital F.” Luc read aloud.

“Well, Frida is obviously a name, right?” Esse said.

“Correct.” Luc said. “Queen Frida had three dogs Starshine, Snowflake and Sugarplum. They ran around The Meadows of Bella. One day, Bella started a war with Lily, queen of the sun, and Queen Frida was brought into the conflict and was hurt. Starshine, Snowflake, and Sugarplum saved her by creating a vortex to safety and pushing her through it along with them. But they had to be bathed in the Waterfall of Sara first. Sara gave them their own personal waterfalls. She’s one of the really nice queens.” Luc paused.

“I know that because it’s a nymph story.” he added sheepishly.

“That makes sense,” Esse nodded, moving on to more important matters. “The tapestry shows Queen Frida’s dogs going into the vortex to safety, with the personal waterfalls that Queen Sara gave them!”

“Yeah!” Luc agreed. “And maybe we can get to safety too, if we wet our fingers or paws and touch the vortex!”

“Weasel Water Lou must be a mechanical genius if this is going to work.” Esse commented.

“Well, it’s worth a try.” Luc said. They licked their fingers and touched the vortex. The vortex grew and grew until it could fit both a thirteen-year-old girl and a bear child. Esse felt herself being sucked in by her finger. Colors were all around her. She became dizzy. And then they were there.

The first thing Esse heard as she picked herself up off the floor was the muffled noise of running feet. “What’s going on?” Esse asked.

Looking around, she realized she was in a house. And no one was in sight. “Luc?” she called out. There was the sound of running, and Luc came into the room. “The vortex must have separated us.” he explained. “They do that sometimes.”

Suddenly, a loud noise sounded from outside the strange house. Esse jumped. “Oh, that’s just the gunfire.” Luc explained nonchalantly. “They do it a lot in Carlos.”

“Don’t people get hurt?” Esse asked, shocked.

“That’s the point.” Luc said. “The Carlosians are the most violent race on the planet. They are constantly trying to murder each other.”

“How do they stay alive?” Esse asked. Luc shrugged. More gunfire sounded outside, followed by shouting.

Esse jumped up. “Are we safe?” she asked, looking around worriedly. “Not if we go outside.” Luc said. “But I actually think that this house is invisible.”

“How can you tell?” Esse asked. “Well, if you stick your head out the window, and turn around so you face the house, you will see right through it.” Luc answered.

“Did the Carlosians see you?” Esse cried, realizing this is what he had done. “Well, they ran around pointing at me.” Luc said, shrugging. Esse looked him sternly in the eye. “Never do that again, okay? That’s really dangerous.” she scolded.

“Okay.” Luc agreed. And he meant it. But a new problem arose in Esse’s head.

“How do we get back to The Peace in Carlos?” she asked.

“Look.” Luc said, pointing to the wall. “There’s the same tapestry we just went through, by Weasel Water Lou.”

“Is Weasel Water Lou in nymph stories?” Esse asked. Luc tilted his head, thinking. “Not that I know of.” He finally answered. “Though there are many stories I’ve only heard of, like the story of Emelea’s Children. For all we know, Emelea could be Weasel Water Lou’s mother.”

"It’s such an odd name, Weasel Water Lou.” Esse mused. “C’mon, Esse.” Luc beckoned from the doorway. “Let’s explore!”

After Luc and Esse had explored most of the house, they came upon a locked door. Esse and Luc both tried to open it, and then they tried together. But the door wouldn’t budge.

“Maybe there’s a code, just like with the tapestry.” Esse suggested. They looked all around the door until Luc found symbols on the wall next to it. “This is more nymph writing!” he exclaimed. “And I bet that this house is made with nymph magic!”

“What does it say?” Esse asked. “Is it another story?”

“It’s more names.” Luc said. “Jennifer and Clara. I don’t know that story.”

“Try to think.” Esse said. Luc thought for a while, but he couldn’t think of anything. “I’ll ask my parents tonight.” Luc decided. So Esse and Luc did the same thing exiting the house they did entering the house, and promised to return again tomorrow. They popped the window frame back into the window socket while exiting the museum. Then they went home.

The next day, Luc and Esse met at the window to Johnson & Johnson. They did the same as last time, and entered the house in Carlos, which they began to call The Invisible House. After they were safely in The Invisible House, Luc told Esse what he heard from his father.

“So the story is called Jennifer and Clara.” Luc began. “Jennifer’s father, Tim, promised to his sister, Olivia, Jennifer’s aunt, to give her his first born son. So when Jennifer is born, and she isn’t a boy, Olivia becomes angry, and kidnaps Jennifer’s mother, Linnea, and runs away. So Tim takes Jennifer to hide her in case Olivia goes after her, and Jennifer meets a girl named Clara who has two sisters, Cicci and Molly.

“A little while later, Olivia has a daughter named Emma, and since Tim (stupidly) hid Jennifer in the same town as Olivia lived, Emma becomes friends with Cicci. Then Olivia knows where Jennifer is, so Olivia kidnaps Tim, and also Clara’s family except Clara, who escapes. So Jennifer and Clara go to live with Clara’s Uncle Erik, and he helps them find Olivia so she can be arrested. They first have to get through this door by speaking the full names of their parents. Then they all live together with Uncle Erik, who is rich. The End.”

“Wow.” Esse said. “That’s really complicated.”

“I know.” Luc agreed. “But what I think is that if we say the full names of our parents, the door just might open.”

“Okay.” Esse said. “Let’s try.”

They walked up to the door. “We have to put our hands on the door.” Luc instructed. Esse put her hand on the door. “You first.” she whispered to Luc. “Dunya McDaniel and Wert Mies.” Luc said clearly. Esse copied his clear tone, saying, “Lucjusz Yu Iflandoonia and Quer Ty Iflandoonia.” Suddenly, the door gave way, and Esse and Luc fell face first into darkness.