Travel to Sockland

Chapter 28

It seemed to Arnie that the whole village and the entire population of pens and pencils had turned out to see them off. Lined up at the gate, looking sharp and ready, were the five selected squadrons. Within them was a mix of pen and pencil soldiers. Arnie noticed that any of the discomfort or unease of working together that had been around at the beginning was gone. They were united now with a common goal and a common enemy.

The leaders of both groups were standing, erect and proud in the middle of the group. Arnie and Isabelle were behind the whole group, towering over them as usual. It was a magical land this place. It had struck Arnie as he was attempting to sleep how magical this place was. Not only were the pens and pencils able to move with speed far beyond their size, Arnie had also realised that he didn't seem to get dirty at all here. Both himself and his clothes remained fresh and clean despite the fact he had been here for an uncountable number of days.

The gate was open and with a command from the pencil leader the squadrons moved forward, leaving the village behind as they headed toward the forest ahead. The crowds cheered as they went, clapping and shouting. The shrill cries filled the air interspersed with the occasional, and somewhat odd sounding, deeper voice.

The soldiers moved with military style precision and discipline. There was no chit-chat and a seriousness hung in the air, it was almost an opposite feeling to that of the village they had left behind. Arnie noticed that Sofos was at the head of the pack, looking straight ahead as he led them on. They were heading through the glittering trees. Arnie made a point of looking around him as he went and he pointed out some of the interesting wildlife to Isabelle as they went. She marvelled at some of the creatures. Evidentally she had missed a lot too. The needle and thread birds were hovering around silently. Some were bright green, some were black and there was even a white one. They saw several "ruler" snakes slivering up the golden branches of the trees. They even saw a family of the silver shining spoons in the distance.

After they had been marching for some time Arnie noticed a dead end in the path ahead. The path branched sharply to the left and sharply to the right. He thought back to the map he had seen and imagined they would be moving left and sure enough, when Sofos reached the end of the path he turned left and continued.

The journey went on for a while longer before he saw an opening in the trees ahead. It looked like the forest was coming to an end. In the distance he saw the same long purple grass that they had at the main pen village. The sky was the same kind of bubble gum pink also. But as they drew closer to the end of the forest Arnie saw hills rising up on the horizon. As they came into focus he was actually shocked by the colour. The hills lacked real colour. They looked like the green of a lime would look if it was converted to grayscale. It was definitely an odd shade of gray and yet he could tell it ought to be green. The contrast was spectacular to behold, the hills stood out like lumps of coal in a basket of fruit.

As they exited the forest Sofos stopped and the group halted. The pen leader spoke. "The middle hill there" he said, pointing at the center hill, "is our destination. Although it looks far, the horizon is actually close. We will break here to eat and then we will continue."

As though a string had been released the soldiers flopped onto the ground. There was a palpable feeling of relief mixed with excitement.

Food was passed among them and Arnie took a bite gratefully of the purple, square, juicy item he had been given. It tasted like a golden delicious apple and it crunched just like an apple as he bit down. He felt the energy it provided coursing through his veins and realised he was hungry and hadn't even noticed. He glanced around and saw the soldiers feasting, their mood merry. His gaze fell to Isabelle who was sitting nearby tucking in to a trianglular, yellow thing. "What's that you've got?" Arnie asked, interested.