The Ankulen

by Kendra E. Ardnek

  “You see, Derek,” said Megan. “Jen is really sorry. She didn't even know we were here. All's good now, though, since she found us. Jesus makes all things right.”

  I turned to her in surprise, opening my mouth to say something, but Derek beat me to it.

  “You believe those myths? You must have had a really sheltered life. Jesus doesn't help you. You have to help yourself.”

  “Yes he does!” Megan protested, horrified. “Jesus will always help you if you have Him in your heart.” She turned to me. “Do you have Him in your heart, Jen?”

  A smile spread across my face as I nodded. “Jesus isn't a myth. I'm one of His warriors. I haven't done very well thus far, but starting today, that's going to change.”

  “You're a warrior?” Megan asked, her expression one of astonishment.

  I nodded. “I'm an Anka. I have an Ankulen. My job is to make the world a better place. As I said before, I haven't been doing a very good job these last eight years, but today is the day that changes.”`

  Derek rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Spare me your high and lofty words. You obviously haven't lived real life. It's a bad world out there, No 'Jesus' is going to change that fact.”

  I sighed. Yes, I had done a very bad job in my role as an Anka. “Well, why don't we argue theological matters on our journey. We have quite a ways to go today.”

  “Where are we going? Home?”

  “I wish,” I said, with another sigh. “No, we're not going home just yet. I haven't touched my imagination in eight years, and it's a little worse for the wear. I need to start fixing it. Come on.”

  “What if I don't want to come?” asked Derek. “Maybe I just want to go back to sleep.”

  “Unfortunately,” said I, “you'll find that very hard to do. I've disabled the Swinging Castle. Now that you're awake, you're stuck that way, since it's a little more complicated than telling my bracelet to be quiet.” To prove my point, I tapped my Ankulen and made all three of the beds disappear. Since Derek was still in his, he fell to the ground, but I knew that he couldn't be hurt. He was real like me.

  He was on his feet in a moment and not happy about it. “I said I didn't want to be awake!”

  “Know what?” I asked. “I think this would be a lovely time for a nice game of tag. You're It, Derek! C'mon, Megan!” I grabbed her wrist and we ran out of the room, Derek not far behind us. I led him on a merry chance through the halls. He wasn't happy about it, but it was the best way I could think of to get him out of the castle.

  “Tag, Jen?” questioned Megan, once she was over her initial surprise.

  “Of course! I thought it would be fun!”

  When we were finally out of the castle, I allowed Derek to catch up, wondering what he would do.

  For a moment, he just looked at me, his expression unreadable. Then he slowly reached out an open hand. I tensed, ready to bolt, but he just placed that hand gently on my head. “Tag,” he said. “You're it. Now, can I please go back to sleep?”

  I grinned. “First I have to put the Dreams Castle back into place.”

  He withdrew his hand from my head and folded his arms over his chest. “Then hurry up about it.”

  “Didn't anyone ever tell you that patience was a virtue?” I asked, closing my eyes and placing a finger on the center gem. While I pictured the castle floating up and the chains reattaching, I heard Megan gasp, but Derek was silent.

  I turned around and, opening my eyes, gave a dramatic bow. “Now, ladies and gentlemen, let us be on our way. We have far to go.”

  I started walking, but Derek grabbed my arm. “How am I going to get back up there?” he demanded.

  I glanced back at the castle. “Back up there? I suppose you could climb that tree. That's how I got in.”

  He frowned and gripped harder. “That tree doesn't have any branches low enough,” he pointed out.

  “So it doesn't,” I observed. “I didn't realize, since I rode it up while it grew. Well, I guess you'll just have to shimmy if you're that eager to get back up there. I, on the other hand, really need to get going. I'd love to have you come with me, though. I'm sure you'd love to meet Chris.”

  “Chris? Who's he?”

  “The boy you thought was Peter Pan,” I explained.

  Derek gave me an exasperated look. “Oh, him.”

  “Derek! Let go of Jen!” Megan cried. “You're hurting her. Why do you want to go back to sleep? Weren't your dreams bad too? Being awake is much nicer.”

  “Oh, there were plenty of nightmares,” Derek admitted. “But I usually had a pretty good idea what was going to happen in them. Besides, Jen's 'imagination' doesn't look all that nice, now does it?”

  “My imagination is simply in need of repair,” I informed him, bristling slightly. “And if you'll just let go of my arm, I'll show you how Glitter Forest ought to look. Unlike some portions, it's only missing its color.”

  Derek frowned at me for several long minutes, then released his grip. “Well, let's see it.”

  After allowing a second's luxury of an arm rub, I closed my eyes and pictured a rainbow spreading across the sky and the clouds diminishing from around the sun, allowing it to shine with all its glory. I quickly opened my eyes again. Watching the rainbow sunrises had always been my favorite part of the morning.

  Color and light danced everywhere, banishing the grayness and causing the world to sparkle. The glittery leaves and shining castle walls were almost too bright to look at, yet look I did.

  “It's all so pretty,” breathed Megan, as the rainbow dissolved, leaving only the natural-colored light. “Isn't it, Derek? Don't you think so?”

  “It's too bright,” said Derek, refusing to be impressed.

  I giggled, giddy with the joy of finally seeing my imagination the way it used to be, the way it was supposed to be. “I've always loved glitter. It's just so … glittery.”

  “It's beautiful,” said Megan. “Simply beautiful.”

  “Well, the rest of it will be harder to restore,” I admitted. “The Polystoikhedron avoided this part because of Swinging Castle, so all I had to do was reveal the sun and add some color.” After a moment more of admiration, I turned and started running.

  I was pleased to hear Derek and Megan following.

  Chapter 15

  In Which I Fix a Few Things

  Iwasn't eager to leave that particular portion of my imagination, the one corner that was left untouched by the Polystoikhedron's appetite, so my pace soon slowed to a walk.

  “Why are we slowing?” Derek asked as he and Megan caught up with me. He added, in a sneering voice, “Are you tired?”

  I laughed it off. “We can't get tired here unless we're in a working Dreams Castle. No, I've just decided to take my time and observe things. It doesn't really matter if we walk or run. I can make sure we reach our destination at the same time either way.”

  “You can?” Megan's voice was awed.

  I nodded. “If I want to. I can do a lot of things if I want to – if they're in my imagination, that is. I'm a normal person in the real world.”

  “Who everyone thinks is crazy?” prompted Derek.

  “She's not crazy!” Megan defended. “She's got a wonderful imagination.”

  “Which makes her crazy.”

  I was beginning to think that there wasn't any way to impress this guy.

  “Actually,” I said, raising my voice to get their attention again. “I'm not considered crazy, not even by the few people who know I exist.”

  “People don't know you exist?” Megan asked, concerned.

  I shrugged. “Well, I'm sure they do, in the corners of their mind, but I don't have very many friends, and none of them are anywhere near my age. I'm very shy.”

  Derek snorted. “You could have fooled me.” Then he added, in a disgusted voice, “Roses!”

  My stomach twisted, causing me to clam up. Instead of answering, I squeezed my eyes shut and began feeling out my imaginary friends.

  Now that I knew how
again, I could tell the location or condition of anyone or anything in my imagination – simply by feel. To my relief, things weren't quite as bad as they had appeared to my forgetful eye. True, much was missing and what did remain was in terrible condition, but a good number of the people were still there. Though they were hiding in fear and despair, they were alive. A few brave knights, such as Sir Erran, were even adventuring about, seeking any possible way to make the others more secure.

  And, of course, looking for any vain chance to find and return Lady Jenifer. I smiled. My return was no longer a vain hope, but an accomplished fact. Soon, very soon, all would know. Soon, despair would be a thing of the past.

  If I succeeded in my battle against the Polystoikhedron … No. I wouldn't think about the “if” part. Not now. I had other, happier things to attend to first.

  “Why are the trees losing their color?” Megan's voice jolted me back to my immediate surroundings.

  I opened my eyes and grimaced. The color was fading. “We're nearing the edge of Glitter Forest,” I explained. “So it's starting to mix with the next location. I only spread the rainbow over the Forest, the rest of my imagination is still gray.”

  “Can you only fix one part at a time?” asked Megan.

  “Oh, I could fix it all in one fell swoop while sitting in the depths of the deepest, darkest cave that I ever dug,” I replied, breaking into a grin. “But I don't want to do that. I've distanced myself so long, I want to feel like I'm a part of it again.”

  “So you're purposefully keeping it looking terrible?” said Derek.

  I stared at him in disbelief for a moment before I honored him with a reply. “I would love to fix everything while hiding in a cave. It would be so easy and painless. But I'm not going to do that. I shan't take the cowards route.”

  “And how would doing things 'easy and painless' be the coward's route?” Derek asked, annoyed. “Seems to me, you're just wasting time.”

  “I can't waste time here,” I pointed out. “I can travel for weeks and weeks, and still get home in time for supper. Time doesn't flow here like it does in Reality. However, that still doesn't change the fact that the two of you just spent eight years in my Dreams Castle.” My fists balled briefly.

  “Oh, I see,” said Derek, clearly NOT seeing.

  “I'm not doing this for my sake,” I continued. “I'm doing it for the people who live here.”

  “Wait … people live here?” Derek gave me a look of utter disbelief.

  “Not real people,” I quickly explained. “My imaginary friends. Like Tisha and Chris. Apart from myself, the two of you are the only two real people to set foot in my imagination.”

  “Which is why no one knows you're crazy?” questioned Derek.

  I sighed. “I guess you can say that.” I decided to continue my explanation. “Not many of my imaginary friends know that I've returned to them, and even the few who do know of my presence know me only as the gray girl with no memories. And no ability to fix things.”

  “I don't see why that would make you want to do things the hard way.”

  I closed my eyes. “Hope. They've been without hope for so long … they need to see me, not just the effects of my presence.”

  “So you're going to show us all of your imagination?” asked Megan, eagerly. “And we get to watch you fix it?”

  “We'll see,” I said. “Unfortunately, I'm afraid things are far more complicated than they appear.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Megan.

  I didn't want to explain, so I answered with, “I promised Walnut that I would heal the Orchard first.”

  Confused by my response, Megan hesitated a moment before she decided to not press the issue. “Who's Walnut?” she asked, following my change of topic.

  “A Wood Child,” I explained, my smile returning.

  “A Wood Child?” repeated Derek. “What's that?”

  “You'll see!” The last shreds of color were disappearing, so I decided that it was a good time to start running again. They sped up their pace to match mine.

  The Orchard still looked exactly the same as it had when I had last been there. Dead. Gray. Spooky Horrid. That's why I ran. I wanted to reach Walnut's tree as quickly as possible.

  “This looks worse than the glitter forest did,” I heard Derek comment.

  “The Orchard is in terrible condition,” I agreed. “It had no Dreams Castle in the center to keep it healthy and ward off the Polystoikhedron.”

  “The Poly-what-did-you-say?” repeated Derek.

  “The Polystoikhedron,” I corrected. “It's … it's a horrible creature. I'd rather not talk about it.”

  Derek tried to question me further, but I refused to say anything more. So he stopped talking and we ran in silence until we reached Walnut's Home Tree.

  And, for once, Walnut was actually in its branches rather than hopelessly lost among the other trees.

  “Is that a little boy up there?” asked Derek.

  I nodded. “That's Walnut.” Then I cupped my hands around my mouth and called up, “Walnut! I'm back!”

  Walnut jerked to attention, his distant gaze settling on me. He broke into a grin and, next thing I knew, his arms were tight around my waist. “Jenny!” he cried. “You're back! And you have color!”

  Laughing, I extracted myself from the hug and knelt down so that I was at his eye-level. “And I have my memories,” I exclaimed, with the same exuberance.

  “Does that … does that mean that you can fix my tree now?” he asked, giving me an awed look.

  I nodded, tapping the end of his nose with my finger. “Of course. I can fix the whole Orchard for you if you'd like me to.”

  “Oh!” he cried, throwing his arms around my neck. “Can you really?”

  “Hey! Not if you choke me to death!” I answered, starting to stand up. He released my neck, but I allowed his hand to slide into mine as we turned to face our observers. “But first, I would like to introduce you to my brother and sister, Sir Derek and Fair Maiden Megan.”

  “Oh!” said Walnut. He stared at them for a few seconds, then let go of my hand and ran over to them. “I didn't know that Lady Jenifer had a brother and a sister.”

  “Well I do,” I said. “Though, truth be known, I didn't know about them either until today.” After a moment or two of nobody moving, I added, “Well, don't everyone just stand there! Say hello! Be friends!”

  As if a spell had suddenly been broken, Walnut grabbed Megan's hand. He would have grabbed Derek's, but Derek had folded his arms across his chest, placing his hands out of reach. “It's so, so good to meet you!” Walnut exclaimed.

  “It is good to meet you, too,” said Megan, bending forward so that she was nearer his eye level. “Jen has some very nice people in her imagination.”

  I almost mentioned that she had, so far, only met two of my imaginary friends, but decided that I would leave it be.

  “You have very pretty hair,” Walnut continued, reaching up and grasping one of her curls between his fingers. “It's just like Apple's was when we had color.”

  “Apple's?” Megan gave me a questioning glance.

  I cocked my head to the side and said, “Walnut, why don't you call Pecan and Apple. I'm sure they would like to see me for themselves.”

  Walnut broke away from Megan, grinning broadly. “Oh, they would, Jenny! I told them about your being here the other day, but they wouldn't believe me. But if they see you for themselves, they'll have to believe!”

  I laughed again. “They certainly will, won't they? Well, hurry up and call them. I'll have my Ankulen amplify the signal, so they'll be sure to hear.”

  “But will they come?” asked Walnut, his voice suddenly small.

  I gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Of course they will. They can't resist my call.”

  His smile returned and he was up his tree again in a moment. While he tapped out his message against the bark, I pressed my fingers against the purplish-pink gems. Soon, every tree in the Orchard
trembled almost-imperceptibly with the message.

  “He's so cute!” Megan whispered.

  “I must admit that I'm biased into the same opinion,” I agreed. After a laugh, I added, “Just wait 'til you meet the Water Babies!”

  “Sir Derek?” questioned Derek, giving me an “are you for real?” look.

  “Did I add 'sir' to your name?” I asked, pulling an innocent face. “Oh dear, old habits die hard, don't they?” Shrugging, I explained, “I was fascinated by titles growing up. If you're a normal human – not like a Wood Child or something – you're either a Knight or a Fair Maiden. It's just a title, though. No meaning implied.”

  “I see.” Derek wasn't amused. “Well then, Fair Maiden …”

  “Lady.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Only Sir Erran calls me Fair Maiden Jen,” I explained, matching his position – arms over chest. “And that's because he didn't realize who I was. I'm Lady Jenifer here.”

  “Lady Jenifer, eh?”

  “What are Water Babies?” Megan cut in, attempting to calm our argument.

  “Adorable creatures,” I explained, closing my eyes to check the positions of Apple and Pecan. They were getting close. “Unfortunately, they can also be frustratingly foolish.”

  “Oh.”

  “I'll introduce you to them when we repair Rushing River.” I opened my eyes right as a little girl appeared in a nearby tree. She was dirty as Walnut, and wore a shift dress that had once been white. Her hair, as Walnut had mentioned, was as thick and curly as Megan's, but it was also as gray as the rest of my imagination. She didn't notice us, her eyes instead fixed on Walnut as she tapped out a message of her own against the bark of her own tree.

  “Is that Apple?” asked Megan.

  I nodded.

  “What is she doing?” asked Derek.

  “She and Walnut are tap-talking, also known as sap-speaking,” I explained. “It's the Wood Children's favored method of communication, but with the trees dying … Right now, she's asking him why he called and how he was able to reach her so far away.”

  “And how …”

  “Because my finger is on my Ankulen.” I grinned. “She's now telling him to not make up stories and is refusing to look down where we are.”