Thinking quickly, Boomer tossed one of the broken umbrellas into the water, creating a little boat. It skimmed across the river’s fiery surface and caught June just in time. She was safe, sailing downstream, the wind whipping through her hair. In that moment she felt fearless, untouchable. There was nothing the Chimpanzombies could do to stop her.
She spotted a waterfall ahead. She used all her body weight to pull back the umbrella, blocking the sparks that poured down onto the boat. She was completely sheltered from them, but her plan wasn’t foolproof. Within seconds the umbrella started to disintegrate.
She didn’t have long before she was in serious trouble. The makeshift boat was coming apart. She went around a quick turn and launched herself and her umbrella boat off a rock, landing in calm waters below.
“You’re okay,” she said, smiling. “You’re okay, June. It’s okay!”
But when the umbrella spun around, she spotted another huge drop ahead of her. In an instant, she went hurtling over the falls. She flew through the air, careening out over the park and landing on top of a giant statue of Boomer.
She sat there, catching her breath. It took a moment before she was truly sure she was safe. She’d somehow made it out of the falls. Her heart was pounding, but she was okay.
She stared into the distance. The mascots were watching her. They were so happy they were practically jumping up and down. She’d made it to shore.
“You did it!” Greta yelled.
“Well done!” Steve cheered.
June couldn’t help smiling. Then she got up, brushed herself off, and ran to meet them by the ravine.
But when June got to the bridge that hung across the ravine, she discovered it was broken. Some of the Chimpanzombies had ruined that, too. The sun was setting, and there was no easy way to get back to her friends, so she decided to go through Slot Canyon to find them. It was already dark when she started her hike down.
“Oh my,” she sang as she trekked across the sand. “Here comes pi. Three point one four—”
Suddenly, the ground beneath her gave out. She dropped through a trapdoor in the bottom of the canyon. But her feet never hit the floor. Instead she floated out and up, completely weightless.
“Zero G Land!” she said, excited. She’d totally forgotten it was here.
June somersaulted through space, enjoying how good it felt to be free from gravity. This place was even more magical than she’d imagined it could be. She was tumbling and turning against the night sky when she spotted a village in the distance. There was a strange house covered with balloons. It floated out in front of the stars.
She’d designed Zero G Land with trampolines throughout it, so you could launch yourself from one place to the next, building momentum. Now June launched herself toward the house, aiming at the window. When she got there, she clung to the shutters and peered inside. Piles and piles of candy were spread out on the floor of the living room. A familiar figure hunched over them. He worked quickly, sorting them according to color.
“Peanut…” June said to herself. Then she knocked on the window to get his attention. “Hey, Peanut!”
Peanut stood, and then he disappeared from view. June peered inside but couldn’t see him anymore. She wasn’t quite sure what was happening when the window opened and she was yanked inside. Peanut slammed the shutters behind her.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “Are you crazy?”
June just ignored him. “You’re alive!” she said. “I knew—”
“Who are you?” Peanut asked. He stared at her intensely.
“I’m June! I’m a friend of Greta and Boomer… actually, everyone.” She couldn’t believe she was here, with Peanut. All this time he’d been stuck in Zero G Land. He was safe. “They’re gonna be so happy. Let’s go find them!”
June reached out her hand, but Peanut pulled away.
“No, no, no…” he muttered.
“Come on,” June said. “I lost them at Fireworks Falls.”
“No,” Peanut said firmly. “Maybe tomorrow or something. I’m very busy.”
“Busy?” June repeated. “What could be more important than finding your friends?”
Peanut stared at her, his green eyes wide. He was exactly as cute and furry as the toy version of him. Just looking at him, she wanted to give him a huge hug.
“I’m not going out there, okay? I’m never going out there again,” he said.
They stared at each other for a moment, and June finally understood. He was serious. He was afraid.
“I just can’t, okay? I have work to do.…” Peanut settled back down next to the candy. “I gotta sort the candy.”
June took a deep breath. This wasn’t the joyful mascot she’d imagined years before. Peanut had been the life of the park, creating all its rides with his magic marker. Everyone loved him. Everyone looked up to him.
“Peanut…” June started. “What happened to you?”
He didn’t look up from the piles of candy. “What do you mean, what happened to me? The Chimpanzombies had me, I was able to escape, and I made it up here. And now I’m sorting candy. It was a mess when I got here—believe me.”
Peanut stopped, noticing something in one of the piles. He grabbed a stray piece of candy and stared at it, horrified.
“What—stripes?!” he said in disbelief. “If I’m not on every minute, there will be anarchy. Chaos.”
“Look,” June said, watching as Peanut dropped the candy into another pile. “If you’re afraid of the park—”
“I’m not scared of the park,” Peanut replied. “It’s just… It’s safe in here.”
“But you’re alone—”
“Where nothing can hurt me.”
“Well, you can’t stay in here forever,” June tried.
“Says who?” Peanut asked. “There’s no rules for something like this.”
“Something like what?”
“To losing everything!” Peanut said, exasperated. “The world out there is just a reminder of all that’s lost.”
“But not everything’s gone,” June said. “Greta, Boomer… they’re all still there.”
“I can’t bear to look them in the eye.”
“Why?” June asked. “Do you think they blame you?”
“They don’t blame me,” Peanut said. “They count on me. And I… I can’t deliver. Not anymore.”
“Sure you can. I know how this works. You just wave your marker—” June went to grab the marker, but Peanut stopped her.
“Put that back,” he said softly.
“And you can make anything come true.”
Peanut stared at June, his eyes sad. “I wish it still worked that way.”
“But you’re Peanut the Splendiferous!” June said, trying to cheer him up. “All these amazing things in Wonderland—they came from you.”
“That is a lie,” Peanut said finally. He hung his head, unable to look her in the eye.
“Huh?”
“I was just the middleman,” Peanut admitted. “All the ideas, the inspiration, it came from…”
June took a deep breath, realizing what he meant. “A voice whispering in your ear,” she said, finishing his sentence.
“How do you know about that?” Peanut asked. “I never told anyone.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“And not too long ago,” Peanut continued, “the sound of her voice… it just…”
“Went away,” they said together.
June nodded, understanding what had happened. After her mom got sick, June hadn’t wanted to play with Wonderland anymore, and all the wonder she’d put into it had gone with her. She’d abandoned Peanut. He couldn’t keep Wonderland going without her, not when there wasn’t anyone telling him where to go and what to create. He didn’t know what to make with his magic marker if he didn’t hear her mom whispering the directions in his ear.
“And then the Darkness took over…” June said.
“I guess, whoever it was,” Peanut said
, “she forgot about me. I kept waiting. I kept hoping she would come back to help me fight against the Darkness. But I just felt so…”
“Alone.”
The two stood together in the middle of the living room, feeling the sadness of the past months. Everything had fallen apart so quickly. June had never meant to let the light inside her go dark, but when her mom went away, everything was so hard. How was she supposed to keep shining, as her mom said, when she was so afraid all the time? How could she take care of Wonderland when she was worried about her dad?
She looked down at the marker in her hand. “Peanut,” she started. “I need to tell you something.…”
But just then Peanut sprang forward and pressed his finger against June’s lips. “Shhhhh!” he said, his eyes wide.
Then June heard it, too—the sound of the Chimpanzombies in the distance. They were in Zero G Land, and they were coming toward the house.
“We have to go!” Peanut cried.
Then he reached out and grabbed June’s hand.
They ran up the stairs and into a small tower connected to the house. From the upper windows, June had a view of the whole floating city. A long line of Chimpanzombies streamed through, bouncing off the different buildings and trampolines, getting closer.
“Every day, every day is a wonderful day, is a wonderful day in Wonderland!” they sang, their voices echoing across Zero G Land.
“They found us!” Peanut said. “They must’ve followed you in!”
The lead Wonder Chimp doll was dressed as a gym teacher, and he ordered the rest of the Chimpanzombies around. He blew his whistle several times, and the dolls launched themselves one by one up toward June and Peanut.
“We need to move—now,” Peanut said.
He grabbed June’s hand and jumped out of the tower, aiming for a large trampoline below. They floated downward and hit it, and then they ricocheted toward another trampoline farther off. But the impact was so strong the marker slipped from June’s grasp. It floated out in space, just beyond her reach.
“Your marker!” June said, trying to figure out how they could get it back.
“Leave it,” Peanut said. “It’s worthless.”
“No, it’s not!” June said, launching herself toward it.
She was so focused that she didn’t notice that the Chimpanzombies had spotted her and changed course, coming right at her.
“Look out, June!”
When June glanced up, the swarm of Chimpanzombies was moving in fast. Peanut launched himself through the air and began fending them off, trying to buy her more time. She flew toward the marker. It was heading to another trampoline, so she changed her trajectory to meet it after impact. As soon as it bounced off, she soared toward it and caught it in her hand.
She had it. She had Peanut’s magic marker!
“Oh no!” June cried, unable to stop herself. There was nothing to catch hold of. Now she was on a collision course with a pack of Chimpanzombies.
“Gotcha!” a familiar voice said. Peanut grabbed her, and they were both floating in space, casting out on another course.
“There’s no way out,” June said, eyeing the exits. They were all blocked by the Chimpanzombies.
“There is for you,” Peanut said. Before June understood what was happening, Peanut grabbed on to a lamppost they were floating past. He wound around it like a gymnast, still holding on to June and picking up speed. Just when they were spinning as fast as they could, he released her, sending her careening toward the edge of the floating village.
Once June landed at the exit, she turned back. The Chimpanzombies were descending on Peanut. They surrounded him in a giant swarm.
“June! Go!” he called out to her, waving her away.
She did what he said, but as she reached solid ground, she couldn’t stop thinking about how Peanut had saved her. What would happen to him? Was this the last time she’d ever see him in Wonderland? How could the park go on without its genius creator?
June ran through the park, trying to make her way back to Fireworks Falls. Now that she had Peanut’s magic marker, they could repair the park one ride at a time, but she’d need the mascots’ help to do it. First, they had to save Peanut. He had to hold the magic marker for it to work. If they could only rescue him… if they could only get away from the Chimpanzombies long enough to use it.…
She turned back, staring up at the Darkness that loomed in the sky. She’d created it, just as she’d created everything else in Wonderland. After her mother got sick, June couldn’t bear to spend all day creating and designing the park, and without her love and attention, it had slowly fallen apart.
She’d never let her fear take over again. She couldn’t let down the mascots; she couldn’t let down Peanut.
She picked up speed, racing toward Fireworks Falls.
In that instant June just knew her mom would be okay, that the summer would pass, and then she’d come home. June’s dad had said her treatments were working. She’d get better. And when she did, June wanted Wonderland to be as wondrous as it had always been when they were together. She wanted her own light to be brighter than it ever had been before. She knew exactly what she needed to do. She had the skills as a builder and an inventor to rebuild the park.
She was going to save Wonderland—before it was too late.
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June Bailey loves to create things. Her imagination runs totally wild!
Her favorite project is a big amusement park called Wonderland. She’s designing it with her mom.
Trying to escape a trip to math camp, June wanders into a nearby forest.
Deep in the woods, she finds a mysterious abandoned roller coaster car. When she gets in, it starts to move…
… bringing her to Wonderland! The amusement park she’d worked so hard on with her mom has come to life! But how? June sets out to explore.
Suddenly, a giant blue bear races by. It’s Boomer the Welcome Bear!
June recognizes the other characters from her imaginary amusement park.
Greta the boar is in charge of park security. She’s fearless!
Steve the porcupine is in charge of safety. He has a bit of a crush on Greta, but he has trouble telling her about it.
Gus and Cooper are the beavers in charge of construction and engineering.
Peanut is the leader of the park. His magical marker lets him create the attractions in the park.
But the park is not quite how June remembers it. It has fallen into disrepair. June and the gang will have to explore the entire magical area…
… and put their heads together to come up with a plan that will restore Wonderland to its former glory!
June is very glad she met all these new friends. She’s determined to help them save the park.
June Bailey is going on the adventure of her life in Wonderland!
Wonder Park--The Movie Novel Page 5
