All tagged stems
Joy hugs the stem of the Shroom for an hour before something happens. The stem leads to the Shroom, which holds the tunnels, which lead somehow, impossibly, into Justin’s dream which seems to be infinite in size and in which anything can happen. And yet the stem has only enough room for ten people at most, and that is if they stand uncomfortably close.
After about an hour, Charlie’s Shroom falls.
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We wait for hours, but the Shrooms don’t fall. Joy and Charlie insist on not letting go of the Shrooms’ stems in all that time. Joy is holding on to the stem of Justin’s dream, and Charlie holds on to the stem of his dream.
At some point I decide to sit down on the small surface of the Shroom. I still hold Master Mind’s hand. I am still afraid I might fall when the Shroom collapses.
They spend the time talking to each other by yelling from Shroom to Shroom.
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I ask Master Mind to hold my hand. I am really afraid. I’m the only one who is.
Joy, Master Mind and I, are standing on top of Justin’s Shroom. The tunnels that lead back inside are on two sides of the stem and Joy is hugging the stem between the tunnels.
Joy has to be sitting down while hugging the Shroom since the Fairy Flies have taken Justin’s stem to be their home. Over the last few months they have gathered and come to rest on the stem at the height of Joy’s head. Possibly this is their nest, but who knows. They don’t talk.
Two meters below us and ahead is Charlie, standing on his own Shroom, hugging his own Shroom’s stem.
“Ready, Joy?”
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When the door opens, we are only a few centimeters from the tunnel. In the middle of the sun, it’s not that bright, as the edge of the tunnel shines outwardly, filling Charlie’s dream with light.
“We’re going to your dad’s dream, right?” I ask.
Joy nods. She’s the boss. I’ve learned that we can’t make her do anything.
The tunnel, slimy, with strange pock marks, always makes me feel woozy. The fact that it seems to be shrinking slightly and expanding slightly doesn’t help. The fact that I have to lower my head to walk in it also doesn’t help. I really hate these tunnels.
We come out to stand on Charlie’s Shroom. I look around, feeling disoriented. The Shrooms are not in the same position as they were when we came in.
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“What is it?” Justin says.
“It’s like a tiny fairy with really big teeth,” Charlie says. “Is it going to eat me?”
“It’s just a fly,” Joy waves at it dismissively. “General Hawk and I saw a cloud of them. They don’t do anything.”
Justin reaches out with an open palm, inviting the creature to land on his hand. But the creature flies up, circles around Charlie’s head, then flies towards the stem behind us. The Shroom’s stem is thick, thrice as thick as Justin’s body. And I can see a handful of these glowing creatures are already resting on the stem.
“They’re are quite cute,” Master Mind says with his robotic voice. “Petting them would bring me pleasure. As would crushing them between my fingers.”
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