Tales of Egroj - The Stones of Edun

Egroj suddenly found himself falling into Sensuois Nocnu.

Sensuois Nocnu was a dream-like place that would capture the victim for an arbitrary amount of time. Sensuois Nocnu was built by Emit. Emit was not a friend of Egroj, and was not going to release him any time soon.

Someone would have to get him out. That can happen several ways, but you are probably wondering how he got in, right? So am I.

Well, Egroj had been wandering, looking for something, but not knowing what exactly, when he came upon a nicely stacked pile of stones. As he took a closer look, he realized they were stones from the Edun Sea.

These stones were smooth, soft, warm, and kinda tingly when you touched them, especially with your tongue. Apparently, this was something to do when you were looking for something to do.

Licking Edun Stones was tricky business. One has to lick only for a moment, then stop licking quickly before the stone's tingliness overcame the "licker", and plunged them into Sensuois Nocnu.

Egroj wasn't very good at taking his tongue off at the right time, and found himself many times waking up next to an Edun Stone.

It was a good thing that Edun Stones were rare, and not laying around everywhere, or Egroj would not have been a very productive member of society.

Little did Egroj know that Emit had set this trap using the stones as bait, along a path he knew Egroj would be wandering on.

Well, Egroj unsuspectedly put his tongue on one of the Edun Stones, and as usual, held it too long, and slipped into Sensuois Nocnu.

Usually Emit would release whoever fell in after a little while, but when he realized it was Egroj, he was very happy.

Egroj woke up, this time not on the path next to an Edun Stone, but on the muddy shores of the Edun Sea. He couldn't move, so he just waited.

Meanwhile, Princess Eel was trading words with Regna. Regna was trying to force Eel to tell him where Egroj was, but Eel wouldn't tell him. He was trying to grab her, but he had very poor eyesight, and it was very easy to avoid his hands.

Also, he had to be careful not to move too quickly or strain himself.

Regna was upset with Egroj for tossing him a vial of Aeeraid, whichfell to the floor and splashed onto Regna's foot, causing sharp, bubbling stomach pains, panicked mandatory visits to the land of Teliot (if you could make it) and an immediate fear of Stoot Diuqil, who was a formidable opponent. Regan had meant to catch the vial, but with his eyes being so poor, didn't even see it coming.

So you understand why Regna was upset.

Regna promised to Eel not to hurt Egroj and she told him that she had a way to find the Anti-Aeeraid solution.

Eel took Regna into her home and found a pair of Egroj's Stnap Rednu. She rolled them up and forced them into a cup of Trop Elet.

She then dropped in a couple of drops of Rednif and watched with a smile.

She put her fingers into the cup and pulled out a vial of Regnirb.

Meanwhile, Egroj was thinking about drinking some Retaw. He had become so very thirsty. He was thinking about lifting himself up to crawl over to the Edun Sea and have himself a drink when he felt something being taken out of his Jolly Sack.

Eel had taken off the lid of the vial and dropped one drop into the cup containing Egroj's Stnap Rednu.

Egroj suddenly felt as though he was being pulled to the sky. He watched the Edun Sea with its muddy shores get smaller and smaller as he flew straight up toward the clouds.

Suddenly, the cup exploded and Egroj appeared in its place, then instantly flew up to the ceiling and stuck there.

Egroj opened his eyes and looked around bewildered, finally noticing two figures standing on the ceiling.

He rubbed his eyes to try to clear his view and see who they were, and came crashing down to the ground, right between the two figures.

Once he figured out who they were, he stood up and gave Eel a hug.

"Thank you for bringing me," he said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"You are welcome," she said.

"That sounds like Egroj," said Regna with a grunt, turning his head toward Egroj's voice.

"Hello, Regna," said Egroj.

Regna just glared toward Egroj's voice, caferul not to make any sudden moves.

Egroj took a step back. Eel reached over to Egroj's hand and grabbed out of it the Edun Stone he had been gripping so tightly.

She secretly dropped it into a cup of Retaw and held it up to Egroj.

"Egroj," she said to him with a wink. "I promised that you would give Regna the anti-Aeeraid solution, and he promised not to hurt you."

Egroj winked back at her. Regna had no idea all this winking was going on.

Egroj reached into his Jolly Sack and pulled out Rednes solution and dropped a drop into the Retaw.

"That should do it," said Egroj, replacing the lid back onto the vial.

"Here, Regna," said Eel, and placed the cup into his hand.

He drank it and immediately was gone...cup and all.

Eel and Egroj stood there in silence for a few moments.

"It's good to be home," said Egroj.

"Did you find it?" said Eel.

Egroj was already digging in his Jolly Sack, and produced a small lump of what seemed to be white clay of some sort.

"Well," said Eel. "Come on, how does it work?"

Egroj rolled the clay stuff up into a long tube and got close to Eel. He shoved one end into Eel's ear and the other end into his own.

The clay stuff was a Renetsil, and by putting it in each other's ears, they could hear what they were thinking.

Their expressions told the rest of the story.

Both Eel and Egroj looked confused, like they were listening to another language, squinting, then they looked surprised, their eyes wide open, then they both smiled.

Egroj closed his eyes and looked very peaceful, so did Eel.

Then suddenly, Eel's face became red as an Otamot.

The End

Tales of Egroj - The Gniklat Sea

Leafar the Smart and Egroj had just finished eating some Azzip Revotfel, and had just sat down on Leafar’s very comfortable Chuoc Rethael.

“Well, I’ve never been there, I’ve only read about it in old books, but it’s supposed to be very beautiful,” said Egroj. “Why?”

“I’d like to show you something,” stated Leafar.

Leafar the Smart stood up and motioned to Egroj to follow. Leafar stepped out of Egroj’s way and nodded, extending his hand toward the door. Egroj walked past him and they walked toward the Denetyrf Forest.

On the way, Leafar pointed out many things that were true about the trees, bushes, rocks and wind that passed them.

“Egroj, a Tephorp has told me that something is going to happen to our town,” said Leafar. “But he didn’t say what it was…if it was good or bad.

Egroj was listening.

“I need you to find out for me,” said Leafar.

“How can I do that?” asked Egroj.

Before Leafar could answer, if he was planning to answer at all, the forest cleared and they reached the shore of the hidden and mysterious, legendary Gniklat Sea.

“This really is beautiful,” gasped Egroj, forgetting what Leafar had just said.

Leafar let him enjoy the view.

Egroj started to take off his clothes. This was normally not something to be alarmed about, Egroj was known to take off his clothes…usually for some complicated and purposeful reason, but Leafar knew Egroj’s intentions.

“Egroj,” said Leafar calmly. “Do you see the signs?”

Egroj had just untied his Jolly Sack when he turned his head and noticed a sign that he didn’t think was there when he arrived. Egroj read the sign.

“PLEASE DO NOT SWIM.”

Suddenly it seemed there were many of these signs all along the shore. In fact, Egroj realized that the whole shore was packed with the signs. Somehow he had missed them as he walked up to the shore. He figured that he had been so focused on swimming that he hadn’t even see them.

“If it is such a big deal to not swim, then why is there no fence?” asked Egroj. “Or why is this place not better hidden?”

“Egroj, a fence would take away the beauty of this place,” said Leafar.

“And the signs don’t?” demanded Egroj.

“You will not see the signs when you can see past what they are declaring,” said Leafar. “You are angry and frustrated right now, and so the signs are obvious.”

Egroj started to count the signs.

“There is no need for the signs,” said Leafar. “They merely point out the fact that you want to do the opposite. They will disappear in time.”

Leafar looked at the sun.

“I must leave you.” He said, and he left.

Egroj didn’t question Leafar’s need to leave, of his haste in leaving.

Egroj quickly turned back to the beautiful Gniklat Sea. It was a fantastic view. The Eguh Trees surrounding it so tall and majestic. The Deppac Wons Mountains on the horizon framing the breathtaking scene. The water so calm and inviting.

The signs weren’t very pretty though. And there seemed to be more and more of them at every moment. Egroj was strategising on how he could get past them

Egroj finished taking off the rest of his hot, sticky and sweaty clothes, and ran toward the sea. His plan was to dive in, but signs kept popping up and getting in his way. They seemed to be slapping at him and trying to trip him, but he prevailed…barely.

His toe made it into the water. For a moment, it was nice…just as he had expected, but then immediately, it felt like he had just eaten an Oñepalaj fruit. He was burning up inside.

As he backed away from the shore fanning himself, he noticed something happening to the sea.

The water had turned orange, and was bubbling and rolling like an overflowing pot of Klim.

Churning, waving, spewing.

Then something even more strange happened. Animals from the Gniklat Sea began popping out of the unconcealably orange water.

They were piling up on the shore. Hundreds of them.

Egroj recognized some of them from his schooling. No one had ever actually seen them before. Mostly it was just a theory that the animals existed. But apparently someone had either seen them or dreamed about them or something, because here they were.

He began to hear what sounded like voices. Yes, angry voices…coming from all around the seashore.

One of the sea animals, which had landed uncomfortable close to Egroj’s foot, began to speak directly to Egroj.

“We put those signs up on purpose,” it shouted. “You are a Tlusni!” it yelled.

“He’s over here,” it yelled to the other animals on the shore.

“You are a Tramston!” Yelled another.

“And a Nam Yllis,” yelled another.

Many other angry animals flopped over to where Egroj was standing. They were all yelling angry things at Egroj. Some he had heard before, but most had never been directed to him.

He began feeling very bad.

So bad, in fact, that he ran away. Away from he shore and all those yelling animals, and into the Denetyrf Forest. He ran straight through Leafar’s town, which seemed to be abandoned, and into the Desert of Noisser Ped. He found an Evac deep in the dessert and hid himself.

The thing about the Dessert of Noisser Ped is that Regna ruled there, and once he knew you were in his dessert, he would fill your mind with his thoughts. This was a place where true feelings were silenced by Regna. This was also a place where Emit visited often.

Emit would fool the observer into thinking that he had just arrived, while Ragna would occupy his mind with pointless ideas that were not true at all, or so twisted and complicated, that they did not resemble the truth anymore.

Egroj was stuck there. He was stuck there for a long time. Long enough for the Sreitp Menwot to come and force the good people of Leafar’s town to leave. Long enough for the remains of the town to become hills and fields and shrubbery.

Egroj became distracted by a white Kud. This Kud had been trying to convince him that he was carrying a plate of Azzip, and Azzip was Egroj’s favorite food. Egroj was not convinced. In fact, he was arguing with the Kud that he in fact was not carrying a plate of Azzip. Kuds don’t have arms, so Egroj thought his argument was better than the Kud’s.

Suddenly, a thought of Princess Eel came into Egroj’s mind. Last time this happened, Emit and Regna took it right out, but Egroj figured out a way to hide it from them this time.

Egroj pretended to be watching the Kud, and stood up and began walking.

Emit and Regna must have been sleeping, and Egroj had gotten really good at not waking them with Snoitome. So the Kud followed Egroj, and Egroj kept walking.

The thought of Princess Eel led Egroj to the edge of the dessert. As he stepped out of the dessert, he could hear the sea animals again, and that frightened him. He could feel his mind clearing up a bit.

The Kud had stepped out of the dessert as well.

Egroj’s mind was still spinning. He needed to travel to the town of Retfal. That would fix everything. But he couldn’t remember how to get there.

“Egroj,” Said a sweet smelling voice.

Egroj looked up to find that the Kud had turned itself into a wrinkled, slouched and wobbly old woman.

“Are you the Kud?” asked Egroj, looking around for the Kud.

“Not exactly,” she said. “I am Eel. Appearing to you as a Kud was so you would be distracted.”

Egroj was confused. He squinted his eyes at her, then looked around her.

“So where’s the plate of Azzip?” asked Egroj, still foggy.

The Princess didn’t acknowledge his silly question.

“When I heard that you had run into the Dessert of Noisser Ped, I went in after you,” she said.

“I battled Emit for a long time,” she said as she looked to her wrinkled hands. “But I was able to bind him momentarily so you could hear me calling you.”

“It’s really you?” asked Egroj, and he hugged her hard. He was so happy to see her.

“I’m so happy to see you,” he said.

“I know,” she said with a little smirk. “You always are.”

Eel flicked the long white hair out of her face.

“Egroj,” she asked. “Do you have the Vial of Revasyad?”

“Yes,” said Egroj. “It’s in my…” Then he realized that he had left his jolly sac on the shore of the Gniklat. In fact, he was in such a hurry he had run off without putting his clothes back on.

“You have to go back,” said Eel. “Not just for the vial.”

“I know,” said Egroj. “I know.”

Egroj stood motionless for a moment.

“Can you get it for me?” asked Egroj trying to look as pathetic as possible.

“You know I can’t,” said Eel. “Plus, I need a nap.”

Eel collapsed next to a Retropsnart tree and was asleep before she hit the ground.

So Egroj left her, walked through the empty landscape that used to be Leafar’s town, and ducked into the Denetyrf Forest, the whole time trying to block out the angry yelling of the Gniklat sea animals.

He reached the edge of the forest and had to shield his eyes from the bright orange that was the Gniklat Sea. The animals were all there. The Eguh trees were all wilting…things were not happy here. They smelled him right away and began hurling their words at him again.

He tried to hide behind a Gnidih tree, but the angry words went around it, and right into Egroj’s ears, giving his ears quite a Knaps.

He could see his Jolly Sack, and his clothes, but he couldn’t reach them without going out into the open, and those angry words hurt when they hit him.

He could hear some of the mother animals crying for their babies. He could hear baby animals crying for their mothers. He could hear father animals trying to comfort their families.

Egroj began to cry. He had done this. All because he wanted to swim.

Egroj looked up at the piles and piles of angry and helpless Gniklat sea animals and whispered, barely audibly: “I’m sorry.”

The yelling suddenly stopped. The orange sea turned clear again. The trees perked up and the signs started disappearing.

The closest sea animal, which was also the loudest, said to Egroj, “Oh, no worries, have a great day.” And he hopped back into the pool, as did the piles and piles of animals that had gathered on the shores.

The sea was calm again. It was quiet. Everything was back to normal. Oh, except Egroj needed to get dressed.

He got dressed, strapped on his Jolly Sack, and ducked back into the Denetyrf Forest, but only after taking one last look at the beauty of the Gniklat Sea. It was so beautiful with all signs gone.

As he stepped out of the forest, Leafar’s town appeared. Egroj was confused.

“Egroj,” called Leafar.

“Leafar?” said Egroj. “Why is your town here? It was gone.”

“What do you mean,” asked Leafar. “Did you go swimming?”

“How did you know,” asked Egroj.

“Swimming the the Gniklat Sea is a mysterious adventure. The sea is the Noitacav home of Emit, so the swimmer is plunged into Emit’s world for a moment, and as you know, a moment for Emit could be whatever he wants.”

Egroj was processing.

“So, you passed through our town during your adventure with Emit?” asked Leafar.

“Yes, I did,” remembered Egroj, a bit embarrassed.

“Did you see anything you can tell me?” asked Leafar.

Egroj thought about having run though the town without clothes on. Then he thought about how it appeared abandoned, then he thought about the Sreitp Menwot.

“Oh, yes,” said Egroj. “The Sreitp Menwot are coming.”

“Thank you for the warning Egroj,” said Leafar. “I must warn my people.”

Egroj said goodbye, and then immediately wondered if Eel would be waiting at the edge of the dessert where he had last seen her.

He could see a figure leaning onto the tree. It was Eel. She had picked a fruit from the Retropsnart tree and was taking a bite.

“Don’t eat that,” yelled Egroj as he accelerated his step.

But it was too late. The beautiful, flowing, sweet smelling Princess Eel had disappeared into nothingness. Well, she wasn’t gone, she was just somewhere else. That’s the effect of eating the fruit from the Retropsnart tree.

They would find each other again, they always did.

So, now Egroj had to figure out what to do next. He adjusted his Jolly Sack and wandered toward the next town.

The End

Camel Notices Something

Once there was a camel who ran free in the desert, feeling lighter than air, fully refreshed and rejuvenated, his thirst completely quenched and more purposeful than ever.

But he wasn't always like this. Let me start the story over.

Once there was a camel who lived in the desert. He was fairly content. He like the way the sand dunes moved a few feet every year. He liked the adventure of looking for and finding water. He liked the way the land in front of him sometimes looked like it was a mirror.

He didn't necessarily like it when he came across his own footprints in the sand, and he didn't like it when other animals pooped in the watering holes.

Well, one hot and dry day, he awoke to find himself with a load on his back. The truth is, the load had always been there, he just didn't always notice it. You know how that is, like when something stinks, but after a while your nose sort of turns off and you don't smell it anymore.

But today, the pack seemed heavier. He didn't actually know what was in the pack, but something was jabbing him in the side, and he could hear toys and games clinking and sliding around as he walked, and some tinkling He couldn't remember if there was anything of use in the pack, but he carried it nonetheless. It's all he knew to do.

Camel stood up, grunting under the weight of the load, and decided it was time to find water.

He knew of a couple of places in the vicinity that had water, but he was up for an adventure. So he decided to brave the large dune to the East. He had heard of an Oasis a couple of days walk over the dune.

The first few hours were easier than the next few hours, and the first day was easier than the second day, but he trudged along, knowing that the water was waiting for him.

As he reached the peak of a smaller dune, he noticed a figure far off in the distance. He knew not to get excited, it would be hours before he would even know if they were walking toward each other, and then another few hours before they would meet. So Camel occupied his mind with counting games his father had taught him.

How many breaths it took to reach a certain number of steps, then multiply that by the number of heartbeats that took place for every four steps, then divide that by the number of birds he saw flying around, which would change the whole equation every time he saw another bird.

He had another one that included bones and blinking, and another that had to do with how many times he thought of the word "Mochila", which wasn't very often, but you'd be surprised...it did come up. This made for an ongoing proccess where he had to remember how many times he had heard the word. I think he was at 7. Mostly it was when he heard someone say it, although when you are by yourself for long periods of time, words can get stuck in your mind where you say it over and over, and if that happened to "Mochila", that number could climb to 500 easy.

All those hours came and went, and Camel found himself off in number land when the figure he had seen hours earlier was standing in front of him.

It was Jackal.

"Hello Camel," said Jackal. "It's been a long time."

"Yes it has," said Camel. Camel didn't like Jackal. He couldn't remember why, though.

"I see you're still carrying the load I gave you," said Jackal.

Camel suddenly remembered why he didn't like Jackal.

"Hmmff," grunted Camel as he started to step to the side to get around Jackal and keep going.

"It looks like it's made you strong and confident," said Jackal. "And happy?"

Camel though about it and he did feel stronger. And he in fact did feel confident in his abilities.

"I don't know about happy," said Camel.

Jackal laughed a little.

"Then I have something for you," said Jackal. "Something that could remind you to think about being happy."

"I don't need anything else from you," said Camel, still trying to get away.

"Well, it's obvious that you do," said Jackal as he pulled out something wrapped up in a very colorful cloth. "I'll just attach it to your Mochila."

Before Camel could protest any further, Jackal had jumped up onto the load, and attached some sort of jingly bell or something onto the load, then crawled over to the other side, scratched around a bit, lapped at what sounded like a bowl of water, and then jumped down again.

"What did you do?" asked Camel. "What is that jingling? And is there water up there?"

"It's just a little something to remind you to think about being happy," said Jackal. "every time you hear the bell, it will remind you that you are very fortunate to have a load so large and wonderful on your back. Many are jealous of your beautiful and grand Mochila."

Camel couldn't help feeling a little proud of his load, but the jingly bell was already annoying him.

"I will see you later," yelled out Jackal. He was already many meters away.

Camel was glad that he was gone. Jackal took what he wanted, and only gave if it benefited himself. He was not pleasant. Camel stood very still so the bell would stop.

Then he thought about his quest for water, and cringed at the sound as he took his first steps.

After a few hours, the bell sound would come in and out of his mind, and it was not making him think of being happy, it was distracting him from his numbers. He tried to count the jingles, but they were uneven and seemed random.

And he was nearing 100 with "Mochila". It was all he could do to think of other things.

Finally, he reached the oasis. It was fairly small, but it had shade, and water.

He got to the water's edge and gazed into the sweet, cool pool. It was beautiful. He lowered his head to take a drink, and with a loud jingle, his load slid a bit toward his head, which made Camel jolt his head upright to catch the load from falling.

Every time he tried to take a drink, his load would slide, almost falling off, and Camel would stand upright again to keep the load from falling off.

Every time, with a loud, obnoxious jingle.

Camel was getting frustrated. He would have cried if he had any tears, but he hadn't had any water for some time now.

He considered turning back and getting water from that tank of water where the level was a bit higher and he wouldn't have to lean so far over, but he knew he wouldn't make it back.

He turned back to gaze into the pool. He had a feeling this was the last thing he would ever see.

He hung his head and sighed. That's when he noticed something at the bottom of the pool of water. It looked like...he wasn't certain...yes...toys? Games? Some useless objects and small pieces of fabric? There were hundreds, maybe thousands of Mochillas sunk at the bottom of the pool. Well, maybe not thousands, but Camel was excited, and you start seeing things when you get excited.

Camel immediately had an idea. He was, after all, a very smart Camel. Without hesitating, he leaned over and let his Mochila slide off his back, and with a gurgling Jingle, watched it sink to the bottom.

He drank and drank and drank. Oh, it was really good. It was fantastic. It was the best.

As he drank, between the ripples of cool, quenching water, Camel saw that each of the Mochilas had their own little bell.

All of them were silent.

---

So, this gets us back to the part where Camel is running all happy...let's see:

Once there was a camel who ran free in the desert, feeling lighter than air, fully refreshed and rejuvenated, his thirst completely quenched and more purposeful than ever.

The End