It had been fifteen days since Professor Cobblebuck landed in the mysterious land of Mushyville and was captured and held prisoner by the Luminess. The landing process had destroyed his travel pod, leaving him without any means of communication with the outside world.
The prison cell he was in was made of some sort of slimy, translucent substance that seemed to pulse and breathe with a life of its own. Even though he was in prison, he could see the outside world from within his cell’s bars. He noticed that this world was nothing like what he had ever seen before.
For fifteen days, the sun hadn’t risen, and the only source of light seemed to be coming from within the trees, the gigantic mushrooms, and the strange glowing flowers that dotted the landscape. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. But on the other end, he could see dry land with no light.
“Let me out of here, you miniature goblin!” he yelled at the four-foot-tall creature standing in front of him.
“I am sorry, sire, but if I were to do such a thing, Master Olivis would send me off to the Mushy Wasteland,” the creature said.
“What the hell is a Mushy Wasteland? I need to get back to my travel pod at once.” Cobblebuck continued to yell. “Let me out,” he pounded.
“Fernis!” a woman called out, appearing from behind the cell. “What’s the purpose of this commotion?”
Fernis and the Professor both turned to see another four-foot creature with blue hair and purple eyes standing there.
“Great, great!” the professor said, rolling his eyes and turning away. “Another miniature goblin,” he said, adjusting his glasses and sitting down on the chair made of twigs.
“I beg your pardon, sire, but I am no… goblin or whatever that might be!” she said, pulling her silky, shimmery shawl closer around her. “I’m Thisbe, sister to our ruler, Olivis, and we’re the Luminess. I would expect you to show a little bit more respect,” she said softly, staring back at him.
“Respect?” he yelled. “You, miniature Luminess, or whatever the hell, locked me up and destroyed my travel pod!”
“Travel pod?” Thisbe spoke, rubbing her chin. “I thought it was the thing that birthed you.”
“Are you serious? Humans are not born this size; we are born this big,” he argued while showing the size of a baby with his hands. “And now I demand to be released immediately,” he said, crossing his arms defiantly.
“Hmm, that’s interesting. Well, we cannot let you go until we figure out what you are or why you are six feet tall. If I am honest, we’ve never seen someone this big before,” she said. “Fernis! Keep an eye on him. I will be back later.”
Fernis stood short, clutching his spear, and nodded as Thisbe walked away.
Hours had passed, and Professor Coddlebuck had been restless. He hadn’t sat still doing anything for as long as he could remember.
“Professor Coddlebuck,” Thisbe said and he jumped from his slumber. “I’d like to invite you for a walk, but just between the two of us. My brother cannot know of this.”
Fernis opened the door, then stepped out. He walked with Thisbe throughout the land, mesmerised by all the wonders of this new world.
“I never thought my science experiment would have led me to discover a whole new world,” he said, staring at the houses that were built within the trunks of the tall mushroom trees.
“Science experience?” she asked.
He nodded. “I was experimenting with time travel when I accidentally opened up a wormhole and fell onto this planet. What is this place anyway?”
“My apologies for not giving you a proper introduction. We’d never had anyone visit our world before, and my brother thought it was best to keep you locked up. He’s a fearful one!” she said with a smile. “This is Mushy Ville, as you can tell from all of the mushrooms that grow here.”
“Mushy Ville?” he said, peering down at her. “Nice! And what is the light that illuminates from within the plants and trees?”
“Oh, that,” she said hesitantly. “That is our world’s life force. The light keeps the trees and mushrooms alive.”
Professor Coddlebuck reached out, touching one of the mushrooms. “Ohh, it’s quite warm!” He said, rubbing his hands on it. “It exudes a sense of warmth, like the sun.”
“Sun? “What is the sun?” she asked.
“It’s a big ball of fire in the sky. It provides light and heat to our world,” he explained. “Just like the light within your plants and trees.”
“Fascinating,” she said, looking up at the sky in wonder.
Professor Coddlebuck couldn’t help but marvel at the land and its mysterious life force. The petals of each flower glowed with a purple light and the houses built within the mushrooms were adorned with beautiful carvings.
They came to a part of the land that had only plants, trees, mushrooms, and rivers. The Luminess were hard-working people. Their attention to tending to their land was evident in the lush greenery and vibrant colours surrounding them. Each member of the community seemed to have a deep connection with nature.
As time went by, Professor Coddlebuck and Thisbe grew fond of each other. She trusted him, and they were good friends. They shared knowledge and learned from each other. With each passing day, Thisbe’s curiosity about the sun and its role in their world grew.
However, news of her touring the land with the professors quickly reached Olivis’s ears, and he now forbade her from seeing him. But that didn’t stop her; in fact, she was considering trusting him with their most precious secrets.
“Professor, can I trust you?” Thisbe asked as they stood outside of a door.
“Why, yes, mam,” he said.
“Beyond this door is something that we Luminess hold sacred. Will you promise to keep it safe?” Thisbe asked, her big eyes filled with a mixture of hope and uncertainty.
“I do,” he answered, peering down into her eyes.
With a click, she pushed the door open, and light instantly seeped through the crack, illuminating the room with a warm glow.
A flower in the middle of the room was all too familiar.
“Hey, it’s a sunflower!” Coddlebuck exclaimed as they approached the flower.
“You’ve seen this before?”
“Why, yes. On Earth, we have fields of these flowers. They grow in abundance during the summer months,” he said.
“This flower is the most sacred of all. Long ago, Mushy Ville was nothing but darkness and chaos. We had no light, only fire, and our food was scarce. Then, one day, an outsider, such as yourself, appeared, and he brought with him this flower. As soon as the plant touched our grounds, seeds grew, and the mushrooms flourished to the sky. The sunflower brought light and life to our world, and we have cherished it ever since.”
Coddlebuck listened in awe, realising the significance of the sunflower in Mushy Ville’s history.
“But now the flower is dying. Its light growing weaker by the day.”
“Is that why that north side of the land is dry and lifeless?” he asked.
“Yes, that land was once alive and thriving with many flowers. But now it is barren and desolate,” she said, bowing her head. “We fear that if the sunflower dies completely, Mushy Ville will suffer the same fate as it did thousands of years ago.”
“What do you want me to do?” Coddlebuck asked.
“We need your help in keeping the sunflower alive.”
Coddlebuck approached the flower. It seemed like any other sunflower to him.
“It seemed as if the sunflower absorbed the light of the sun in some way, and it powered this world in ways we cannot understand,” he said. “I will do everything in my power to save it.”
“Please, I beg of you,” Thisbe pleaded, her voice filled with desperation.
“I need to fix my travel pod first.”
Thisbe nodded and she ran to her brother immediately. She told him that Coddlebuck could help save the flower but he trusted him not. Instead, he doubled the security around his prison cell, forbade his sister once again from seeing Coddlebuck and urged her not to trust him.
However, she knew she had to act quickly in order to save their land. She had no other choice but to trust him.
She secretly devised a plan with Coddlebuck to help him escape in order to fix his travel pod so the two of them could travel to Earth with the sunflower and charge it by exposing it to the sunlight.
Thisbe managed to successfully free Coddlebuck with the help of Fernis, who brought him to his travel pod. Thisbe, on the other hand, stayed behind to stall her brother and ensure he didn’t discover the plan, but her unusual behavior caught his attention.
The guards caught her as she secretly attempted to leave the mushy palace to steal the sunflower and meet Coddlebuck at his travel pod.
She managed to escape their grips and ran to the mushy, dry lands where the travel pod was. Coddlebuck had managed to fix the pod and was waiting for her. There was no time to waste; the pod was ready to leave.
“Hurry now!” Coddlebuck shouted, holding the door open as he watched her run with the guards chasing after her.
“Please wait,” she pleaded. “I am coming.”
But before she could reach the pod, her brother stopped her in her tracks.
She looked up, her eyes filled with fear and desperation, as she realised she had failed. Coddlebuck’s pod vanished into thin air.
“I told you not to trust him! See? He left you,” Olivis said as he had Thisbe arrested and imprisoned.
Days went by, and the sunflower died. Darkness enveloped the land, erasing all hope. Thisbe’s heart sank when she realised that Coddlebuck had betrayed her. He left and never came back. The plants, trees, and mushrooms died as well.
Thisbe sat in her prison cell and cuddled herself. Tears streamed down her face as she buried her face in between her knees, feeling utterly alone and abandoned. The once vibrant and colourful world around her had turned bleak and lifeless, mirroring the emptiness she felt inside.
With her eyes closed, she felt this warm sensation around her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw lights all around her, illuminating the darkness. As she got up and looked around, she could see hundreds of sunflowers on the land around her. The sunflowers were swaying gently in the breeze.
A smile crossed her face, and she knew Coddlebuck was back! The land was brighter than she had ever seen before, with light reflecting off the rolling hills in a dazzling display of colour. The plants, trees, and mushrooms sprung back to life as the vibrant hues of wildflowers danced in the gentle breeze, filling the air with a sweet, intoxicating fragrance.
As she marvelled at the scene before her, she felt a sense of peace wash over her.
“You thought for a second there that I wasn’t coming back, didn’t you?” Cobblebuck said, startling her from behind.
She turned around to see him standing there with a mischievous grin, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “I knew you’d come back,” she replied with a smile, relieved to see her friend.
Without a moment to waste, the guards released Thisbe and she ran towards Cobblebuck, enveloping him in a tight hug. “I couldn’t leave you behind,” he whispered, his voice filled with sincerity.
The end!