3: The Plan.

  “So what do we do then?” Tic asked.

  “Hmmm”, puzzled Tac under his breath.

  All Toe could do was look rather perplexed and just a bit worried.

  The professor pushed his glasses up his nose once again as he rubbed the few graying whiskers on his chin. He looked off in deep thought for a moment.  Leah looked out the window for a moment.  There was total silence in the room. Finally the still was broken as Dot looked at Trimese.

  “Someone has to go outside of Dreamsland and bring someone back that knows how to fix clocks, that knows how to wind them at least,” the professor proclaimed.

  “What?” everyone seemed to exclaim at the same time. Leah turned from the window to look at her father. The brothers looked at one another and then to the Professor.

  “Go outside of Dreamsland?” Toe sort of muttered. “Is that possible?” “Has anyone ever done that before?”.

  Tac was now the one to rub his chin as he pondered the suggestion.

  Looking over at Leah, Tic blurted out “Yeah why not?”

  “Yeah, why not?” said Tac as he looked over at the professor. The professor shot him a very knowing look.

  “Mmmm” Toe sort of grumbled.  “But who?”

  “But who indeed?” the professor said as he looked at all of them now. “Who could we get to go that already knows about the clock, and the clouds and that is not tied up with doing their garden?” “Who is brave enough and has the fortitude and foresight and vision?” he continued.

  “We’re already on board professor.” “You don’t have to sell us”, Tic said.

  “Right” added Tac. He nudged his brother Toe in the side “Right Toe?”

  “Um…right, right… “. He nervously smiled at everyone.

  “So good, it’s agreed then” the professor said as he searched again through his piles of cluttered messed.  “Now where is that map?” He went over to several cylinder rolls that were stacked in one corner, sitting in a canister, and fumbled through them.  Finally he had found the one he was looking for and took it over to the table where he had the books. Pushing them to the side he laid out the map and placed several small books on the corners to keep it from folding up on it self.

  “Hmmm” Dot thought to him self as he once again pushed up the glasses on his nose.

  “Not many people know I have this.” He glanced over at the boys and his daughter and then at the map.

  “What is it professor?” Tic inquired.

  “It’s a map to the outer world” the professor answered him still looking at the map. “Or rather it’s a map on how to get back here from there?”

  “Huh?” Toe muttered. Even Leah was a little confused.

  “How do we do that professor?” Tac asked, a little confused. 

  “Simply turn it upside down and follow it backwards.” The professor answered.

  “Guard it with you life boys cause there’s not another like it in the world.” “And if you intend on getting back here then you’ll need this for sure.“  “The City Elders don’t even know about it.” “They would never approve of such things.” 

  It was true, the City Elders were so stuck in dogma and old ways they would never ever consider anything outside the comfortable confines of the quaint little village. To them, there was nothing outside the city limits, nothing beyond the ‘business as usual, take care of your gardens, mind to your own affairs and try to fit in’. Beyond the hills that surround Dreamsland was a ‘never ever’ land that no one ever visited or even discussed. It just wasn’t brought up.  No one ever left Dreamsland.  No one ever visited.  It had been this way since the very beginning or as long as anyone could remember. You were born here, you lived here, you worked in your garden and you tolled away at it all your life. You lived off the vegetables or the fishes that were caught in the little lake that sat next to the village and the meat from the animals that were raised and kept in people’s back yards (in their little cottage barns) and at the end of it all you simply died here… end of story.

  Dot knew all about the City Elders and the rigid thinking that had been part of life here forever simply because he had been employed by them for many years in dutiful service.

And he knew how to fit in and get along with the system even when he didn’t always agree with it. He simply was a reasonable man, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t look past his own nose or past the borders of this quaint little village. In fact, he could. He knew that there was a big world outside of Dreamsland. He knew that there were several. And beyond those was that terrible ‘never ever’ land that the rest of us would call “reality”.

  The professor wouldn’t answer Trimese’s questions about how he came across the map preferring to let them know that some things were best left unsaid. The main thing was that they would need it on their journey.

  They all looked down at the map for sometime and Tac made special mental notes of big landmarks along the way that he might need to know. That would come in handy later on.

   They knew they would need to get together some food for the trip. From the best they could figure out it would be a day’s trip or more there and back. And he would need some food along the way.  One thing that Trimese liked, and that was to eat. That, at least, was one of the things he did have in common with the rest of the folks of Dreamsland.

  How ironic, he thought to himself as he made his way home to get his stuff together, that the one person that was so shunned and ignored and made fun of would be the one person who would be needed to save the day.  Trimese never ever envisioned him self as anything like a ‘hero’, he just knew he was different simply because no one else would ever let him forget that fact. His desire was simply to be accepted by everyone else (and more than just by Leah and her father). He just wanted to ‘be’.  But at the same time he had grown use to the way he was treated because this was all he ever knew. He had always been like this and they had always been the way they were as long as he could remember. 

  Yeah, being a hero was the furthest thing in his mind. It was simply a manner of someone had to do this and he was the only candidate.

   “Um, lets not forget to take some sweet breads” Toe added, “you know how we love those”.

  “You mean YOU love them.” Tic retorted. “I could care less.” “You know I’m a salt kind of guy”.

  “Well in any case we’ll need some water too.” Tac added. “We’ve got to keep the liquids in our bodies.” “It’s gonna be an interesting little trip for sure and who knows what we’ll encounter along the way.”

  Toe stopped packing his backpack for a moment, “What do you think we’ll encounter?”

  “ I have no idea Toe” but one things for sure, it will be interesting and like nothing we’ve ever done before”.

  “Like nothing no one has done before” Tic added. “We’re trailblazers boys. Just remember that. “

  “Right now I don’t much feel like a trailblazer” Toe looked over at him. “Right now I feel sort of sick.”

  “Hit him for me will you?” Tic nodded to Tac and Tac gently tapped Toe in the stomach.

  “Toe, you got nothing to worry about. We’re gonna be right there with you the whole way.” Tac said to his brother reassuringly.

  “It’s not you I’m worried about”, Toe glanced over at them sort of nervous like.

  “Here eat this” Tic said and picked up some sweet bread and handed it in his direction.

  “Mmmm, sweet bread…my favorite” and with that Toe stuffed his mouth and felt better.

 ....

   Meanwhile back at the professors’ cottage Dot and Leah were busy on their own getting together their own little care package for the boys. There was an uneasy silence between the two because they both knew how important this trip was and what was at stake for everyone. Dot could tell how nervous Leah was as she tried to busy herself and she was talking to herself (a habit she only did when she was nervous or scared).

   “They’ll be okay” she seemed to mutter under their breath. “They’ll be okay”

   “Yes they will” Dot said as he reached a hand and put it reassuringly on her shoulder.

  “They will be okay, wont they?” Leah said as she looked up at her father and tried to smile to reassure him as much as herself. 

  About that time Trimese had made it back to their cottage and was once again at their front door.  Leah hugged them as they opened the door and for a brief moment there was a moment of silence as no one said anything.

  “Um, guys, if it’s okay with you, I’m gonna stay right here” Toe said as he looked down at Leah who had her arms tightly around the guys. They all laughed for a moment. 

  “Yeah right.” Tic added.

  It was then that they all noticed it together standing on the front porch of the professor’s cottage. It sent a chill down all their spines and made them stop and look around them. Time was definitely running out. They would have to leave right away. No long goodbyes, no tearful departures. They would have to leave and leave right now. 

  From where they were standing they could see the tiny birds sitting in the trees at the edge of the yard, they could see other birds sitting in on some of the bushes across the walk way (the track) in the central garden.  But nowhere could they see any birds flying in the sky.

What was worse was that there was complete silence. None of the birds were singing, none of them, and THIS had never happened before…EVER!