Travel to Sockland

Chapter 25

Arnie woke suddenly. He was on his back within the boundaries of the village walls exactly where he had fallen asleep. The bubblegum pink sky remained unchanged. The sky here didn't change, it was the same all day and night. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He didn't feel tired, although the feasting had gone on for a long time. He had no idea how long he had been sleeping for.

The pens and pencils were sleeping all around. There were a few of the thicker pens standing guard around the group, and Arnie noticed Flimgog and Alagog were standing across the clearing. They both waved and Arnie wondered if they had slept at all. A few feet away, Isabelle was still sleeping, her face looked peaceful. His gaze lingered on her yellow, green and blue hair. She wore that same mischeivous smile.

They had talked yesterday for hours. She was, as he suspected from her paint spattered t-shirt, a painter. She was 19 years old and lived in a small flat in Edinburgh. She was not at university, but worked in a bar and spent the rest of her time painting, walking and, as she put it, admiring the beauty in the world. As they talked he thought you couldn't get two more opposite people. Him with his Scientific, logical thinking patterns and her with her abstract, admiring views of the world. And yet they seemed to click. He told her how he had ended up in Sockland. She laughed as he told her of the "trap" he had set to follow his lost sock.

Her story was a very different one. She had been painting a picture, her easel was set up in her small living room. On her painting she had painted a pink sky, with violet grass - just like the area surrounding this very village. She loved to paint new looks into things, new ways of viewing the real world, different colours, odd shapes, twists and turns. When she got to the point where she was mulling over what colour to make the sun she felt herself pulled forward by the paintbrush in her hand. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull back and was sucked right into the landscape of the painting. When she landed amidst the violet grass, she saw her paintbrush had grown legs and ran off into the distance away from the village. The pens had come quickly, and just like what happened to him with the pencils, she was trained and put to use in the war. (Although she wasn't beaten like he was.)

Arnie decided he wouldn't wake her and got up quietly. He stalked over to where Alagog and Flimgog stood. "Did you sleep at all?" he asked them, keeping his voice low.

"Yes Arnold, we each slept a little, but we wanted to keep watch."

Arnie nodded, understanding their discomfort. They stood in silence together looking over the assembled pens and pencils, sleeping peacefully. Arnie was pleased to see that some had mingled together even in sleep. It seemed that the long-created animosity between the two races wouldn't take too long to subside.

The pen leader appeared from his building, surrounded by a small number of pen guards. As he approached the clearing a sound blared through the area. The pens and pencils woke suddenly. The pens rose quickly, clearly aware that the leader was approaching. The pencils rose equally quickly, but they looked ready to defend. Alagog called to them,

"Be calm, all is well. Gather around me." The pencils moved quickly and gathered around. Arnie saw Isabelle get up and he waved as she made her way towards the pen leader. She waved back with a smile, her eyes bright.

The pen leader stopped at the edge of the village clearing. "Today we march to our friends in the pencil village. I will also send runners to our other villages to release all pencil soldiers and tell them to meet us there. Then we will march on the paintbrushes and end the fighting." There was a cheer from the crowd, pens and pencils alike. Arnie had long since gathered that the pens and pencils didn't like violence.

Runners were sent first, in teams of two to all corners of Writingshire to spread the word. The pen leader spoke again, "Now we will march. If they would be so kind, I would like us to follow our pencil friends as they lead us on."