Pem’s concern
My feet hit the soil, and it’s spongy. I sink in to about my knees. “Oh, my!” I say.
Pem’s hissing and spitting at a frog, who is staring at her from a lily pad floating on the little lake.
“I’m here, Pem!”
Pem’s back is on the arch. “Help me get this frog!”
I look at the frog. They seem tranquil.
“I don’t understand, Pem. You sounded like you were in trouble.”
“I’m angry! I wanted that bug, and the frog got it. So I was gonna get that frog, but they hopped on that lily pad and I can’t reach them. Go get a stick or something.”
I look around my legs, buried in the ground like sand at the beach. “I think I’m stuck here, Pem.”
“Well duh. We’re all stuck here, William.”
“Wait, what does that mean?” I ask.
Pem lowers her arch and turns to me. “It means we’re just here. And we can’t leave.”
“But why?”
Pem stares back at me with large eyes.
“Where did we come from?” I ask.
“I dunno,” Pem says. “We’re just … here. Now help me get this frog!”
I open my hands down toward my legs.
Pem looks.
“Oh,” she says. “I see what you mean.”
Pem trots over and starts digging.
It’s slow going, and I feel impatient. “Aw, this is going to take forever …”
Pem keeps digging. “You got somewhere to be?”
“Well I’m not sure,” I say. “I just met this snake in the tree—Najwa is their name—and they told me about a City in the Branches …”
Pem stops. “You talked to them?”
“Well, yes …”
“No! William, no! You don’t talk to Najwa!”
“Why not?”
“They’re an agent of the Slax!”
“What on earth is the Slax?”
“That’s it! It’s not of this earth. It’s just horrible icky stuff that eats the world!”
I shake my head. “No, snakes just have a bad reputation, Pem. Corruption being paired with snakes is a Biblical thing. Before that, snakes were symbols of wisdom and healing.”
“Okay, thanks professor, but that snake is bad. Najwa works for the Slax. I’m telling you.”
I shrug. “All right. So we don’t go to the City in the Branches then?”
“No! We don’t go there!”
I feel disappointed.
Pem digs some more. “I’ve got to get you out of here, before Najwa climbs down that tree.”
“They didn’t seem interested in doing that,” I say.
Pem keeps digging.
I feel stuck on Najwa. “They were so friendly …”
“You’ve never met someone friendly and evil?” Pem asks.
“Well, yes. I suppose I have … But I don’t think that’s the case here.”
Pem nudges me with her head. “Push down! Help me out here!”
“Oh! Okay.”
I push down as Pem digs, and my legs come loose.
“Now let’s go, before Najwa shows up again.”
“But what about your frog situation?”
“Forget that frog,” Pem says. “We gotta boogie.”
