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The Perfect World Fallacy - - Chapter 27
Chapter 27
You’re Walkin’ on Sunshine
The walk to the Castle (she supposed it was a Castle, but it might have been a City Hall or A Valhalla Drinking Hall were equal possibilities) was not as easy as one might expect.
Apart from being a damn long way to walk, as Sebastian wheezed to her more than once) the walking was not physically easy to perform.
It seems the way things worked in this place, even taking in the seeing and hearing aspects, were also much different.
Though they traveled on a path that was well worn and would appear, if not paved, at least even and regular for those that would pass by.
It seems that this world was made of marshmallow.
No, it wasn’t fluffy and sweet. The ground beneath them gave way to their weight with each foot fall presented to it. Imagine an entire world made up of your parent’s living room couch.
The first few steps were fun, but after a while one would have given anything to find a solid place to push off from.
This was amplified by the fact that while this piece of soil beneath your feet at this moment would resist you on a scale of 1-10 a nice little 4, the next step you took might give way an 8.
They had to make frequent stops so that Sebastian could stop and catch his breath. To tell the truth it wasn’t long before everyone was turning and asking, “Do you need to stop now?’ said with their own heavy breathing to attest to their own need.
Luckily the boulders at the side of the path were likewise soft and restful.
After the first hour even “The Coach” was a bit winded.
Harriet at first assumed that their guide, Stick-Girl as she had come to think of her, was doing so much better because she was used to walking on this world-trampoline, but, on one of the breaks, she noticed the real reason.
The woman made of crystal wasn’t walking on the ground they were dealing with, but was, instead, hovering about half an inch above it. While she seemed to be walking she was gliding above it.
Harriet realized this when she saw that the Earth didn’t give, or need to, beneath the woman’s feet.
“This was an increasingly interesting place,” the detective mumbled to the short lady telepath who sat beside her, “It doesn’t seem that there is anything here that is what it appears to be.”
“Imagine,” Dorothy said as she lit a cigarette, “How one of these would do if forced to exist in our world?”
“Their feet would have to touch the ground,” Ima Than said in a pleasant tone that gave no indication that neither of the females in the group had opened up to her in any way yet. The men on the other hand had all introduced themselves and nearly fallen over their own feet to make her feel welcome.
Harriet decided that whoever this person was, she didn’t deserve the cold shoulder just because of the way she looked. But before she could act on her decision, Dorothy had stood and held out her hand.
“Dorothy Cottey,” the little woman announced in a voice twice her size and an aspect that would have been welcome in any Embassy of the world, “We should have introduced ourselves earlier.”
Then smiled and took the hand, “We’ve all had a lot on our minds.”
“Harriet Dante,” the detective said, also proffering her hand, “We…”
“Oh, I know you,” Than said, “I studied all the histories you and your father allowed to be published about your cases. I am a bit hesitant to say this, but I am a fan.”
Suddenly Harriet trusted this person much more than she had just a moment before.
© 2009 by C. Wayne Owens