The Binkle and the Catawampus Compass (Binkles and Magic) (11 page)

Ping. Direct hit—right on the chin. Although it wasn’t very hard, it got Merve’s attention. Merve spun away from Anna, then charged after Jeep like an angry rhino. His buddies chased behind.

Jeep bolted, dodging around parked cars.
If they catch me, they’ll get me good.
Although he was still ahead, he wasn’t a good runner he knew he couldn’t last much longer.
Why?
Why was I so stupid?

Merve and his crew got closer. Jeep heard the flap-flapping of their tennis shoes as they gained on him.
Any moment
they’ll catch me
.
I don’t stand a chance.
Jeep gasped, fighting for air. Unable to catch his breath, he pressed both hands against his chest. His fingers accidentally brushed his rabbit medallion and his thoughts went to Lulu. A zizz of happy memories. As his hands clutched the medallion the magic happened. (Blip)

~~~

Jeep appeared abruptly in Grikkl’s cozy chamber. His panting body plopped out of the air and bounced heavily onto the sofa by the fireplace.

“I’m safe!... I’m safe!...” was all the surprised and breathless Jeep could gasp—or grasp. He shook with relief, overcome with gratitude and wonder for his unlikely escape. Lulu hopped over to him and rubbed against his leg, as if he’d never been gone.

Adah rushed to his side and engulfed him in her welcoming arms. “Jeep, you’re back so soon!”

“I suppose... How’d I get here?”

“Binkle power. I knew you had a knack. You’re like a little bird that leaves the nest and manages to find its own worms.”

“I hope you’re talking about binkles, not worms. But I knew I had to find binkles every day so I could get back here.”

“Must have worked ’cuz here you are!”

“You’ll give me plenty of them while I’m here, won’t you?”

She cradled him tighter in her arms. “Silly boy. Don’t you know that whenever you give a binkle you get one? They’re about sharing! I get fed inside as much as you do every time we connect.”

She let go of him but held his gaze for a long moment. “My dear Jeep, so glad you’re back. Grikkl’s grown tired of my songs and I know all of his stories. You...” She beamed at him. “You
want
to hear me sing, and keep asking for more. How can I thank you?”

“Thank me? It’s me who should be thanking you. It’s much more than songs and stories—you make me happy.”

She tussled his hair in reply, and sang him the Bee Song—another favorite song about flying, only not so high. As she sang he tirelessly flew from flower to flower. He felt himself float slowly over flower beds, pausing to burrow his face into blossom after blossom, breathing in their many-flavored scents.

 When he finally returned to the hive, other bees gathered around to taste the pollen clinging to him, so they could enjoy the same flavors. Jeep the bee wiggled an intricate dance for the other bees that told them where to find the flowers they just tasted on him.

Through Adah’s song he experienced a bee’s life as a diligent search for blossoms. As such, he enjoyed riding the shifting breezes and feeling the warm sun or cool shadows as he went about his never-ending work.
Ah, the life of a bee, I like that
.

Grikkl came over once Adah finished her song. “Now tell, Laddie. We want to hear about what you learned out there on your own.”

The three of them again sat in front of the fireplace, but this time Jeep did the talking. He told about the little ways his life at home and school changed after he went back—more energy, more variety in how he spent his time. The gnomes chuckled at his description of spending so much time with people he used to avoid. Adah praised his spunk. But hearing Jeep’s joy in having a marvelous secret was the part they liked best.

They talked a lot about binkles. Adah said, “Life is sprinkled with perfect moments, kind of like pepper. Whenever you binkle, you’re spreading that pepper around. You get some on yourself at the same time you sprinkle it on anyone else. And there’s more good feelings for everybody.”

~~~

Lulu stuck to Jeep as if she were glued to him, but he spent more time with Cerberus as well. Jeep asked the dog, “Don’t you ever leave?”

“Sure, but I’m so fast that no one sees me coming and going. I’m gone and back in a flash. Besides, most of my trips take me to other dimensions, where the fairy folk live. Over there everyone treats me like the mailman.”

“But I thought things got done by magic.”

“That’s only halfway true. But magic or not, the mail gets through because I deliver it
.
You know the saying, ‘Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night...’ That’s about me. See my mailbags?” He gestured toward the gear on his back.

“I was meaning to ask you about what it’s for. I thought it was a saddle.”

“That’s a good one, Jeep. Who do you think would ride me?”

“Grikkl?”

Cerberus burst out laughing with a wheezy, yodeling sound. He laughed harder and harder, louder and louder, more like yodeling all the time. The dog was so consumed by laughter he fell over. His right front paw waived in the air, as he pounded the floor with his left one. More than once, the riotous laughter petered out, only to start up all over again.

 “I don’t think it’s that funny. Maybe it was a dumb thing to say, but don’t make fun of me. I didn’t know,” said Jeep.

Cerberus was wheezing too hard to answer. Feeling put down and embarrassed, Jeep moved off by himself.
I’ve been made fun of too many times, but didn’t expect that here. And not from a dog
.

He tried to ignore Cerberus’ chuckles and floor pounding without success. But soon Lulu leaped into his lap and made him forget.

From then on, Cerberus treated Jeep as good for a laugh. The dog would ask him a riddle or tell a joke with Jeep as his straight man. Although Jeep’s ability to understand the dog’s words improved, he never got the point of those jokes. They depended on experiences he didn’t have. Like when Cerberus asked, “How is a fairy like a hummingbird?” the answer (taller than a finger) didn’t make sense to him.
Even when I’m told the answer it doesn’t seem funny.

Jeep’s bewilderment just made Cerberus laugh at him all over again. “Is the real joke on me?” Jeep asked the dog. But he got no answer. “Jeep decided to tell Cerberus his favorite jokes—about cannibals.

 “What did the mother cannibal say to her child? (Pause) Eat your soup before it clots.

“How did the cannibal like his pizza? (Pause) He ordered a pizza with every
body
on it.

“Two cannibals ate a clown. Later one asked the other one, ‘Did that taste funny to you?’

“How did the cannibal describe the crashed airplane? (Pause) ‘It’s really crusty on the outside, but the insides taste real good.’”

       Cerberus didn’t get them. All he said was, “Bad jokes! Cannibals aren’t funny. Now elves, they’re funny. Or wizards, they’re really funny. But cannibals aren’t funny at all.” Then he snickered smugly at his own wittiness.

~~~

Jeep asked Grikkl and Adah, “You said that sending me home was a test, to see if I could find enough binkle power without any help. I got enough to get back here. Since I passed the test, can’t I stay here now?”

Adah answered, “There’s still much for you to learn. You must be able to live in your own world. This isn’t a place to escape life’s challenges.”

“But I’m safe with you. Nothing scares me here.”

“Learning to master your fears is one of those lessons,” said Adah.

Grikkl added, “Fear can be a good thing or bad thing, depending on what you do about it. It can shut down your brain for the moment. That’s natural; we’re all afraid once in a while. But think of fear as just a warning—Be careful! So pay attention—don’t ignore those messages. The point isn’t for you to be scared by those feelings. Instead, see if you can notice your fear—without it scaring you.”

Jeep shook his head in confusion. “That doesn’t make sense. Fear, scared, afraid—they sound like the same thing to me.”

Adah answered, “But they’re not the same at all! Fear doesn’t do you harm—unless you let it scare you.”

“Are you telling me it’s OK to be afraid? I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Sort of—notice where your fear is coming from. From something that’s dangerous or your thoughts about it. Don’t get fooled because something is fearsome. That doesn’t mean you have to be scared by it.”

“So what should I do instead?”

“Treat whatever you’re afraid of like a sign that flashes, ‘Find a binkle here.’ By the time you figure out how to get a binkle in the situation you’ve forgotten to be scared. And binkle or not, you’ve gotten something better besides. It didn’t get you.”

“Even if you’re right, I’ve been scared way too often to take a chance. It doesn’t work that way. If I see a sign it would say, ‘Stay away!’ Do you really think a few binkles can make me brave?” Jeep made a face that clearly said he didn’t think so.

Grikkl said, “Let me tell you about a young African girl who overcame her fears. Her name was Mella. Her father was very ill and the medicines couldn’t cure him. She feared he would die, so she asked the moon goddess what to do. The goddess told her to get help from the Python Healer.

“That advice scared Mella since even the bravest men in the village were too frightened to speak after going to his cave. But she loved her father so much that she put her fears aside and walked four days to the Python Healer’s cave.

“The snake told her, ‘You’re a foolish girl who should be afraid of me, like all of the other people from your village.’

“She answered, ‘I do fear you. But my love for my father speaks louder to me than my fears do.’

“The python asked, ‘If your love is more powerful than your fear of me, would you let me wind myself around your body? (A python kills its victim by coiling around it and crushing the body to death; then it swallows it whole.)

“She hesitated, but only for a moment. By letting the snake wrap himself around her, she proved she was more courageous than the brave men who ran from it. Mella carried the snake for four days back to her father, and the snake was able to cure him. Her father was grateful and praised both Mella and the snake. Then she carried the snake coiled around her another four days, all the way back to his cave.

“At the snake’s cave, the Python Healer said, ‘Mella, you are both wise and brave. You’ve learned that courage and love are stronger than fear.’”

Grikkl ended, “Jeep, I tell you such stories to show what’s possible when a person has enough courage to face their fears. Mella was even strong enough to build trust with a snake. It’s not a bad thing to have fears—if you can do what you know is right, anyway.”

Chapter 10—

THE FACE OF EVIL

Another time, Adah commented to Jeep, “Don’t be afraid of your emotions. Fear is just one of them. They’re your heart entering into the conversation. Into the experience. They add the color, the sparkle to life.”

“But my emotions are so rotten, I don’t want to feel them. Better that I push them away.”

“My dear boy. If you shut off your emotions, you shut them
all
off. Not just the yucky ones. You turn off the love and joy too. You’ve got a lot to learn about riding the emotional roller coaster. Life is not all ups—it can’t be.

“But the downs don’t feel good. Better to shut them out,” insisted Jeep.

“Don’t act surprised when I tell you the way out of ups and downs is binkles. They can turn a down into an up—or an up into a way-up. There are no yucky binkles. When your heart is happy, you forget about being miserable, or angry, or even annoyed. So downs won’t pull you down with it.”

“Of course, your answer to everything. More binkles,” scoffed Jeep.

“And why not, pray tell,” said Adah, with a waving finger. “Since it is.”

“I’ll not argue with you—for a hug. I think I’m catching on how this works,” he winked.

A day later Grikkl asked, “Want to go back to the Chamber of Ancient Wisdom?”

“You bet! Hoping you’d ask. Only this time I’m going to explore in one place instead of leapfrogging all over.”

As before, Cerberus led the way until they reached the rock walls that blocked the tunnel. Grikkl chanted at the first wall. The next time he blew the musical notes to move the rock wall aside. At the two wooden doors, Cerberus took charge. He sniffed, made low woofing sounds, and listened. Finally Cerberus laid down in front of the door to the right. Today, at least, that door was the safe one.

But Jeep was shaken by the dog’s choice. While Cerberus was going through his routine, Jeep decided which door he’d choose if it were up to him.
I
chose is
the wrong door! (Fortunately, only taken in my mind.) Without Cerberus I’d have taken The Door of No Return.

Once inside the Chamber, Grikkl gestured for Jeep to follow him to a nook with works of art. Several elaborate tapestries hung upon the rock wall, each showing a unicorn.