Nikki vs Rikky

Chapter 13 - Bean Burger

Nikky woke up with a startle. It was already bright and sunny. She looked around the countryside and was astonished to find no trace of the houses. Even the cave that confined the three men had vanished.

‘Where did they all disappear?’ Nikky said. She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself one more time and felt the pain.

Nikky sighed and thought about her encounter with the three men but wasn’t able to concentrate. She was very hungry and thirsty. Nikky looked up at the bright red apples but she didn’t have a craving for the fruit. Just then she remembered what the three men had told her. ‘...in your sincerest of voices say aloud...’

In an instant, Nikky closed her eyes and said aloud, ‘I wish I could have a burger for breakfast.’ Several minutes passed but nothing happened. Nikky looked at the apples again and had barely reached to pluck one of them when she heard a vehicle approaching. She ran to the edge of the road and looked at the direction of the sound. A minute later she saw a red and yellow van coming her way.

It slowed down and came to a halt right next to her. Nikky, dwarfed by the huge size of the van, blinked at a large cheesy burger painted on the side of the vehicle. Just then the door swung open and a man hopped out of the van. He smiled, tipped his cap towards Nikky and strode to the rear door. He pulled out several white boxes from the cargo compartment, placed them one top of the other and crossed the road.

Curious, Nikky moved to the corner of the van and peeped. What she saw left her bewildered. Out of nowhere there stood a cafe in front of her and the delivery man was heading in its direction. ‘It indeed is a magical land,’ Nikky said to herself. ‘And I bet those men exist too.’

As the delivery man stepped into the cafe, Nikky ran across the road as swiftly as she could and entered the cafe. A woman in a red and blue uniform stood behind the counter talking to the delivery man.Nikky looked at her as she crept in and quickly looked away at the menu displayed over the counter.

The two people abruptly stopped talking.
When the delivery man had left the counter, Nikky placed her order.

‘Could I have a bean burger, please?’

‘Anything else?’ the woman asked right away. She looked as serious as the woman she met at the water stall.

‘A glass of water,’ Nikky replied.

‘That will be six V-coins,’ the woman said.

Nikky had completely forgotten about the money. She gave a nervous smile to the woman who hadn’t stopped staring at her and suddenly said aloud, ‘I wish I had money.’

The woman’s eyes narrowed in curiosity as Nikky took out a few V-coins. She counted and handed the exact amount to the woman.

The bean burger was there in no time. It was the tastiest bean burger Nikky had ever eaten. She finished the burger quickly, thanked the woman at the counter and rushed out.

Nikky returned to the apple tree and looked around for the cave. She couldn’t spot it. She had to help the three men, as they were her only hope of returning home. She even tried saying it aloud but it was of no help. A thought just occurred to Nikky. What if she treaded on the same path as she did the previous evening? She gave it a last try, which a moment later turned out to be the best decision.

Halfway into the pasture, Nikky spotted a faint smoke twisting and curling its way up into the blue sky. She felt a rush of excitement and broke into a run. She reached the cave panting and breathless.

The dark mouth of the cave wasn’t scary anymore. Nikky picked up a piece of smouldering wood and was ready to step into the hollow.

And before she entered, Nikky remembered to chant the magic words. ‘I wish I can walk on quicksand.’