Epick Journey

For weeks have I traveled now... first to the land of Drain in Oregonia, where I did attend the birthday party of the wonderful Jennyrose, and collected the good wishes of those who would travel no further. Then did the *icks journey forth to Washingtonia, finding a night's lodging with the good family Blanchard, who kindly furnished us with supplies for the next phase of our quest...

From a small port in Washingtonia, we boarded a ship to sail us across the mighty Puget Sound, eventually arriving in Canadia. Here were we held against our wishes by the grim gatekeepers known only as "customs", for being both teenaged and male, we roused much suspicion. They interrogated us at length, but eventually - we answered every one of their riddles, and so were allowed to pass into their strange lands.

Once inside Canadia, we were greeted by our old friends Charlie and Noam (Charlie having made the journey a day sooner, and Noam being a native of the Northern realm). We found shelter for the night with Noam's family, setting out the next day in search of a fortress known as the Greyhound Station in the city of Vancouver. This required switching between horseless carriages ("buses," Noam called them) and sea going vessels with astounding skill and timing. Fortunately, Noam had made this leg of the journey many times before, and so was able to guide us in safety.

Inside the fortress, we exchanged a significant amount of moneys for passage aboard one of the Grey Hound's buses. This was much like the buses that had transported us to Vancouver, but all did not seem as it should be, and we were aprehensive. As the sun set over the Canadian horizon and the bus carried us further into the heart of those lands, the source of our unease slowly dawned upon me. The passengers on the bus (for we were by no means alone) seemed weary and broken, as if the life had been drained from their eyes. The terrible voyage lasted well into morning, and nearing the end, even we had begun to feel it's effect. I am certain that without eachother's company to preserve our sanity, we too would have become the Hound's mindless slaves.

Finally, the terrible bus arrived at our intended destination, a small mountain village known as Neslon, BC. It was astonishing how quickly the shadow was lifted from our hearts... Rick lept from his seat and burst through the bus door, escaping into the blessed sunlight and the waiting arms of our long lost friends Dawn and Tessa. The rest of us quickly followed, and there was much joy at the reunion. An hour later (after we had eaten), Dawn's twin sister Shippy arrived on another of the Hound's buses, and our party was complete. We boarded two carriages (Tessa driving one, Noam the other (I offered to take one of their places, but was unfamiliar with the "standard shift" mechanism)), and rode further into the mountains to Tessa's home in the small community of Argenta.

Here we remained a week, and a most memorable and important week it was. Many are the tales to be told of our stay in Argenta (including the legendary Watermelon Fight), but they are a story (or many stories) in themselves, and I shall not recount them here. Suffice it to say that our journey was not at all in vain, for the prize was more than worth the obstacles we had faced.

At the end of our glorious week, we returned to Nelson, and after a long and tearful fairwell, boarded another bus to return us to Vancouver (leaving behind Charlie, who had decided to remain some time in Canadia with Shippy and Dawn). The voyage back was even more terrifying than the first, and again I feared we might lose our souls, but somehow we survived, and many weary hours later found ourselves back at the Grey Hound fortress. Here were we happy to receive an invitation from the good Reanna, and so we stayed a day and a night at the house of Alder, and there regained our spirits.

In the morning, Doug of Alder was kind enough to deposit us near one of the many Vancouver bus havens, and with more than a bit of luck, we skipped from bus to boat to bus to boat, and found ourselves back in Washingtonia in a matter of a few hours. Once again we were interrogated by the Customs, and this time our belongings were searched as well (Rick was carrying a small bag of tea and another of powdered sugar, which they at first took to be some dangerous medicine), but once again we answered their riddles, and eventually were allowed to pass beyond their gates.

We stayed again with the family Blanchard, this time for three days. We meant to board a train back to Oregonia on each of these days, but on the first our plans were delayed by a closed bridge, and on the second we found the train had no room for us. Finally, on the third day, we were allowed passage on the train, and so returned to Corvallis, where I now record these words.

<The audience claps enthusiastically> Bravo! Bravo! Let's have another tale, good sir!

A most delightful tale indeed! So brave wert thou to try so strange and treacherous a land as Canadia. *grin* Oh, Lord. The things one finds when one enters random search words. - KimW