‘Can you hear me, Philip?!’ Frank screamed across the open field.
‘Yes, I can hear you, Frank! Are you okay?’ Philip replied, hearing his friend vaguely, now that all the tribal screaming had ceased.
‘I’m cool! Just these vines are really hurting me!’
‘What did you say?’ Philip asked, struggling to make sense of his friend’s screams.
‘The vines around my waist are hurting!!’ Frank shouted again.
‘Yes, so are mine! This is really frustrating!’
‘It is! But at least we weren’t roasted alive!’
‘Toasted the tribe! What?’ Philip screamed, not hearing his friend clearly.
‘We weren’t roasted alive!’ Frank shouted, raising his voice even more.
‘Yes! Thank goodness for that!’
‘What do you think these forest barbarians will do to us now?’
‘What?’
‘Never mind!’ Frank replied, frustrated with the broken telephone conversation.
Even though Philip hadn’t heard his friend, he was stressing about exactly the same thing. What were these evil plant beings going to do next?
‘Maybe by some miracle Chimzen will come and save us before it’s too late,’ Philip mumbled, clutching at his last straw of hope.
* * * * * * * *
Philip opened his mouth to shout something to Frank and was stopped short by a sudden crashing sound. The wind blasted across the open field, scattering leaves and dead Indian plant petals in all directions. The crashing sound increased in volume, with the intensity of an earthbound thunderstorm. Philip closed his mouth, taking a big gulp, and almost swallowed his tongue in the process. Frank turned his head to look upwards, half expecting to see the sky light up with an electrical thunderstorm, followed by a tremendous cloudburst. That was not the case; there wasn’t a cloud in sight and the sky was crystal clear, filled with bright shining stars and a dazzling pale blue moon.
The overwhelming crashing noise was over in an instant and the gusting wind grew suddenly calm. Hundreds of strange plants, shrubs and small trees sprang out from along the forest edge, and dashed across the open green past Frank and Philip, as if in fear for their lives.
‘What on earth was that?’ Philip wondered, while he watched a group of about a hundred pink daffodils sprint across the open field. Frank was also quite taken by the enormous crash, but could not help laughing at the panic-stricken flowers.
‘Run, you bunch of depraved floral halfwits! Run!’ he roared, swinging in wild circles and chuckling to himself. He was making the most of the enjoyable moment; it really pleased him to see the other side half scared out of their petals for a change.
‘Yes, you twisted bunch of slithering delinquents! Now it’s your turn to run for a change, creepy green vipers!’ he yelled, watching several thick distressed creepers sliding hurriedly across the grass like a pile of twisting snakes in fear for their lives.
It had crossed Philip’s mind that Chimzen may have been responsible for all the mayhem, although he didn’t really believe that the wizard was capable of such an act of power. If the boys had seen the destruction he had caused, they would have most probably fallen over backwards. When the great wizard had said he was more than capable of taking care of himself, he meant it!
Floran was in a state of chaos and all green life received warning by word of leaf. All the smaller trees and plants uprooted and headed for the hills, running for their lives to escape any further potential disaster. Large trees were unfortunately far too set in their roots to move, planted firmly, shaking at the leaves.
Floran had flourished in peace for centuries with no destruction of this magnitude ever occurring. The Floranion beings had had things far too easy up until now, growing deceitful to the roots, with their perfect rosy lives. No trees chopped down for paper, no suppliers of good fruit, no flowers used to manufacture perfume or medicine – this self-indulgent planet was up to no good.
Frank and Philip watched as the forest cleared its beds, having absolutely no idea what all the fuss was about. The boys were left completely undisturbed in all the hysteria, peacefully swaying from the trees while thousands of panic-stricken plants dashed past. Philip could feel the tree he was suspended from quivering slightly, and noticed several of its leaves being shaken to the ground as though autumn was suddenly upon it.
‘Please don’t get up and run tree! Please don’t run!’ Philip begged in fright, expecting it to uproot and take him for an unpleasant jog. The tree would have loved to do just that; it was absolutely petrified. Fortunately for him, it was far too deeply planted and could not budge a root.
In a very short space of time, all the smaller trees, shrubs, plants and creepers had evacuated the forest altogether, and only the very large trees remained.
The boys swayed gently from the trees, looking over the quiet desolate field, and wondering how on earth they were going to get down. If only they could at least spend some time talking with each other; they were both awfully lonely hanging up there all by themselves.
Chapter 17
‘Trio, we have to start searching for those boys as soon as possible! Goodness knows what may have happened to them by now!’ Chimzen exclaimed, looking up at the magical balls with a serious expression on his face.
‘Yes master, as soon as possible master!’ the Malcos agreed, spinning in anxious circles over his head. Zip was a bit delayed with her reactions and didn’t respond quite as swiftly as the others. She was overwhelmed with a burden of guilt, and was far too ashamed to admit to anything.
‘First things first though,’ Chimzen said, holding his wounded leg in agony. ‘Zip, I need you to give me some of that gentle lady healing touch of yours, if you don’t mind.’
Chimzen was playing the Malco girl to see her reaction. He noticed the little black spots spreading over her silver body like a deadly plague and it pained him to see her suffer so. All that was necessary was a simple confession to release herself from the impurity that bound her.
‘I can’t help you master,’ she squirmed, coasting a few steps back and dropping quietly to the ground.
‘What’s wrong Zip?’ Zen asked, dashing after her with an unusual display of concern.
‘Never mind Zen, come back here!’ Chimzen commanded.
Zen returned to his master’s side feeling very confused.
‘I want to clear up this silly matter once and for all,’ Chimzen addressed the trio. ‘Whose idea was it to search for me from an aerial view?’
Zet was about to pipe up on behalf of Zen, being the good spokesperson he was, when Zip suddenly flew up from where she lay and dropped in front of the wizard.
‘Sorry master! I lied to you!’ she cried, blushing red with embarrassment. ‘It was Zet!’
With those words an unpleasant blackness that smelled of death rose from Zip’s silvery body and disappeared into the sunlight air. Zen and Zet watched in amazement, hardly believing their balls.
‘What on earth was that?’ Zen exclaimed.
‘It was the... ‘ Zip began.
‘You don’t need to say anything, my dear, you are forgiven,’ Chimzen said.
‘No, I must tell the others,’ she insisted.
So Zip told the others about her little lie and apologised to Zen for taking the credit. Zen wasn’t really bothered all that much, only sorry she had to learn such a nasty lesson. Chimzen explained the seriousness of a pure being opening up to deception and the consequences thereof. Zip was truly ashamed, and Chimzen felt confident that it would never happen again.
* * * * * * * *
‘Now that that’s all out of the way, how about some of that gentle lady healing touch of yours, if you don’t mind.’
‘Of course master,’ she said softly, still embarrassed and ashamed, but delighted to be chosen for the special task nonetheless.
‘One small problem, sir, we are going to need some ash to seal the wound,’ she squeaked, not thinking very clearly in her enthusiasm
to proceed with the honourable task. Chimzen burst out laughing, stretching his hand across the endless field of ash.
‘There’s plenty here my dear!’ he exclaimed, clutching his sides to contain the laugher.
‘Yes master, of course master,’ the little ball squeaked shyly, and dropped to the ground in embarrassment.
‘Never mind Zip,’ Zen said, feeling sorry for his sister. ‘We all make mistakes, Malco girl.’
‘Don’t look so serious Zip, it’s all forgotten,’ Chimzen said, reaching over to grab a handful of plant ash. He gently rubbed the fine ash on his tender shins, sucking through his teeth in pain.
Once the wounds had been layered neatly with ash, he called on Zip to administer her healing laser magic touch. This time she would show the others exactly what a lady Malco ball was made of and that she was no fool.
The Malco doctor spun into action, hovering close to her master’s wounded leg. She projected a very fine orange beam at one of the gaping sores, aiming with perfect precision. The wizard braced his lips, clutching at his throbbing knee while the fine beam pricked at the sensitive wound.
Once proper contact had been made, the fine orange laser began with its accurate work of surgery. It felt like a series of soft pinpricks, not very painful at all. Zip rotated very slowly, cautiously running the fine beam along the edge of the perforated skin. The magical laser treatment combined with the plant ash forced the torn skin to rapidly regenerate new cells, and slowly narrowed the gaping wounds. Except for slightly reddish areas where new tissue had formed, in a very short space of time Chimzen’s left shin was completely healed.
The right leg was slightly more complicated though, as the cactus leech had caused a nasty bruised area surrounding the wound, which made the leg rather sensitive to walk on. Once Zip had gently sealed the nasty sores with fine laser precision, she confidently spun near her master’s face.
‘Sorry master, this is really going to hurt. Are you ready?’
‘No, not really Zip, you know how I feel about pain.’
‘Come on master, you must be a man now,’ she chirped cheekily, and returned to complete phase two of the delicate procedure.
‘The cheek of it!’ he exclaimed, shaking his head and smiling.
A bit reluctant, the little silver surgeon proceeded to treat the nasty bruise. Right now she wished one of the other Malcos would do it instead. The responsibility wasn’t a very pleasant one at all.
The other two balls watched Zip, impressed with the neat work she had done so far. Once again, she projected a fine orange beam, aiming to the centre of the enormous bruise. Zip widened the scope of the beam into a large spread of fine lasers that encompassed the blackened area. The wizard held his breath, clutching his leg with a look of pain on his face. The lasers penetrated his skin like a sewing machine doing a zigzag stitch at high speed, in order to administer healing to the damaged flesh below. Zip worked with great care and accuracy, and completed the painful healing procedure in a very short space of time.
‘That wasn’t so bad now, was it master?’ she asked, rubbing herself affectionately against his cheek, more relieved than he was that the procedure was over.
‘I couldn’t have done it better myself!’ he exclaimed, jumping up and down to test his new legs. ‘Thank you, my darling!’
Zip spun off totally beside herself. It always pleased her to have her master’s approval.
‘Good work Zip!’ Zen yelled. It was quite strange to see Zen showing genuine approval for his sister’s master work for a change. Maybe Zip’s little “lying” incident wasn’t such a bad thing after all. It certainly seemed to be improving Zen and Zip’s friendship, at least for the time being.
The two male balls congratulated their female friend, tapping into her from the sides. Zip was very pleased to see how impressed Zen was, although a bit taken aback with the sudden tap of friendship. She had felt so ashamed of herself earlier on, but now she was the little silver heroine.
* * * * * * * *
Chimzen called for the trio’s attention. They were having a little spinning game nearby.
‘Yes master!’ they squeaked simultaneously, spinning to a halt in front of him.
‘Please won’t the three of you form a nice seat for me, so I can have a few minutes’ rest?’ he asked, exhausted from a hard night’s battle.
‘Yes master!’ they squeaked, quickly positioning themselves into a triangular formation. In a few seconds they had projected thick yellow beams towards each other, closed in to form a fairly small, hovering triangular seat.
The exhausted wizard plonked himself down on the little hovering seat, blasting the air out of his lungs as he relaxed his weary body. He sat quietly for a while, appreciating a few good minutes of rest to regain his strength. Thanks to Zip, his legs were as good as new, and now he could handle any challenges which lay ahead.
The sky was getting lighter and the stars were slowly fading away. The new day would shortly dawn, making it a lot easier for them to spot the boys. The wizard gazed quietly over the desolate stretch of gloomy ash black land, worried sick over his missing friends.
‘Okay trio, let’s not waste time; goodness knows where those boys have got to.’ He stood to his feet and ordered them into hover board formation. They responded with a jerk, a bit startled by his sudden yell.
The trio spread further apart, increasing the size of the little hovering seat into the larger hoverboard formation and hung motionless slightly above the ground surface, eagerly waiting for the wizard to step on.
He mounted the solid yellow platform, and carefully positioned his feet for flight.
‘I think we need to have a good aerial view of the forest, Malcos. It will give us a better idea of where the boys were taken. First take me back to the original enclosure, and we will take it from there.’
Without another word the trio platform gently rose into the air, flying straight up until they reached a reasonable height for the best possible aerial view of the underlying forests. Then they gradually increased their speed, and cruised towards the open field enclosure.
Chimzen looked over the edge, turning his head to see the extent of damage he had caused.
‘When will these creatures ever learn?’ He folded his arms and slowly shook his head. He was not happy with what he had been forced to do.
The Malco hoverboard cruised past several large stretches of trees and reached the destination in a very short space of time. Chimzen gazed down as they passed endless masses of trees, rather surprised by the enormous distance the nasty creepers had carried him across.
The sun could be seen slowly creeping up the horizon, transforming the dull sky to a pleasant blue. The trio hovered high above the large enclosure, where the enormous decaying parachute of lily plant lay shrivelled below.
Hovering at a standstill, he looked over the forest and noticed that only large trees remained. All the mobile trees and plants had completely disappeared, running for their leafy lives.
‘Well well, it looks like my little spout of anger last night has had quite an impact on these delinquent plant beings. I guess they will think twice before they decide to challenge me. Bunch of greenhouse gerbils.’
‘No one messes with Chimzen the Great!’ Zen squeaked triumphantly, adding his ten cents’ worth with intent to please his master.
‘Whatever you say, Zen,’ Chimzen rapped, sounding quite annoyed, while he scanned the forest below for any clues of the boys’ whereabouts.
‘Tell me, trio, do you balls have any idea where we were positioned last night when you were in the process of teleporting us back to earth?’
He looked over the rather similar surroundings and scratched his head in confusion.
‘Yes of course, master!’ Zen chirped excitedly, almost causing him to lose his balance. ‘It was by the blue earth ball!’
‘You are a genius Zen! Of course, the earth ball! Find it at once trio!’
The Malco board dropped gently, cruising to the ex
act position where the little earth planet lay. The wizard hopped off the yellow Malco platform, reached down to pick up the little blue earth ball, and placed it neatly in his pocket. He turned around, standing in the exact position he had been in the night before, looking very pleased to finally be making progress with his search.
‘There, that’s the tree I was hauled up by those nasty creepers!’ he exclaimed, striding towards the forest with his finger pointed upwards.
The trio quickly disengaged from their platform formation and hastily spun after the excited wizard.
He stopped suddenly before entering the forest, and eyed the thick grass below like a private investigator at the scene of the crime.
‘I know that the boys chased after me when I was dragged off, which means they must have also been apprehended somewhere nearby.’ He scratched his hairy chin in desperate hope of finding a clue somewhere. ‘Help me trio; search the nearby area for anything that will lead us in the right direction.’
‘Yes master!’ The trio spun off in different directions, searching the terrain eagerly for a clue.
Not even a minute had passed and Zet returned. ‘Master, I’ve found something! Come and look!’
The surprised wizard marched after the excited ball, eager to see what he had found.
‘Here master! Lying by the leaves!’ he exclaimed, bobbing up and down over his find.
Reaching over and rustling through a pile of dead leaves, Chimzen produced a small stick with a sharpened tip. The trio hovered above him, not understanding why their master looked so pale all of a sudden. The trees above shook their leaves in fear, protesting his antics during the night. He looked up at the raging trees momentarily, not demonstrating the least bit of concern, and returned his gaze to the sharpened little stick in disbelief.
‘No, not the Indian plant tribe!’
‘The Indian what?’ Zip squeaked, unable to make sense of her master’s mutterings.
Chimzen told the trio all about the Indian plant tribe, having had first-hand experience with them in a previous visit to Floran, and knowing all too well about their deadly misuse of fire.
Green Planet Page 14
