Chapter 8 - Pasta Vazoo!!

Chapter Eight: Pasta Vazoo!



"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Stephanie asked. She was getting tired, especially walking under the warm sun.

The small faery buzzed in front of her face. "Of course I know where I'm going. I'm a faery!"

"Sorry, it's just that it seems like I'm not getting anywhere," Stephanie sighed as she stopped and rubbed her left ankle. She continued walking down a small path. Stephanie was about to pass between some trees when a leg clad in black with a black knee high boot shot out from behind a tree to another, blocking her way. She looked to her left. The faery gasped and flew away to hide in the nearest tree.

There leaning against a tree, arms crossed, was the Goblin King; a small folded piece of paper in one hand. His face was expressionless as he tilted his head to one side. Stephanie looked at him with her brown eyes. He then tossed the piece of paper down at Stephanie's feet.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Something from your friend," he mumbled.

She looked at him questionably, and bent down to retrieve it. She quickly opened it and saw a red Life Saver. She then took a second look down at the piece of paper and saw 'Pasta Vazoo' written in really large messy letters.

Stephanie smiled, and folded the paper with the Life Saver still in it, saving it for later. As soon as Stephanie had seen the letters written in that piece of paper, she knew what it had meant. "Pasta Vazoo" was an expression she used, it had the same principal as "damn", and Chantal had used it to tell her that she was all right.

"Thanks," Stephanie said as she tried to pass. She looked off to the side for another way.

"Where are you going?" he asked the girl, still standing in her way.

"To see the wonderful Wizard of Oz," she half sang trying to keep a straight face. A puzzled look crossed the Goblin King's face. Stephanie sighed. "To the castle, where else?"

"You will never make it there in time," he told her.

Stephanie looked up at him. "Oh really?" She said in a challenging tone, her humor gone. "You're not going to make things unfair, are you, Jareth?"

The smile faded from his lips.

Somewhere at the other side of the Labyrinth, Chantal got a chill.

O O O

Chantal shivered as she felt a chill run down her spine. "What the hell was that?" she asked aloud.

She looked off in the distance, but all she could see was more trees. She wondered if the Goblin King had kept his word and had given the note to Stephanie. She hoped so.

Serek unwrapped his tail from around her neck and sat up on her shoulder looking around. Chantal kept walking down the trail. She began to drag her feet in the dirt again, while staring down at the path as she walked. Serek squeaked and Chantal looked up. Up ahead there was something that looked like a bridge over a canyon. As Chantal approached the bridge, she saw that the road split in two. One lead to the left and the other across the canyon.

Before Chantal could decide which way to go, a bird like creature popped out, blocking her path. The creature was waist high and scrawny looking, bright colors; orange, red, pink; seemed to have been splashed unto its odd plumage. She stopped and stared at the creature. The creature tilted its head at her and stared back.

"The green moon is made of cheese," the bird like creature squawked.

Chantal's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Fireys sometimes walk on their hands," it continued.

"Chantal shook her head. "You make no sense bird!"

"Beware the white owl," it said tossing its head from side to side.

"I could have told you that," Chantal sighed, then turned to Serek. "This bird sure is a pain in the a--"

"Pain is nothing a downpour won't erase," The creature cut her off.

"Hold up!" Chantal said glaring at the bird. "What did you just say?"

The bird just tilted its head and looked at her.

"If I just heard what I thought I heard, that was a line from a Delirium song," Chantal eyed the bird creature. She then looked up and across the bridge. Another section of maze could be seen on the other side. "Okay, this place is really starting to freak me out. I want to get out of here and fast."

"Shortcuts can be found in crystals," the bird creature began again.

"Yeah, yeah...whatever!" she said waving her hand at the bird as she walked past it.

"The unreal is the real and the real is the unreal," Chantal heard it say as she started going across the bridge.

O O O

Stephanie continued to stare at the Goblin King.

"Unfair? I wouldn't dream of it," Jareth replied in a dry tone.

Stephanie stepped forward trying to pass, but he still blocked her path.

"Let me pass," she said calmly. Jareth stepped aside and gestured for her to continue on her way. She glanced at him as she passed, not taking her eyes off him until she was in safe distance. Taking a few steps forward down the path, she suddenly felt something behind her. Turning around, Stephanie realized that the Goblin King had disappeared. She shrugged, turning around to continue. Suddenly a small object buzzed in front of her face.

"Whoa!" Stephanie yelped.

"Are you crazy? That was the Goblin King!" the small faery informed her.

"I know that was the Goblin King," Stephanie snapped at the faery. "And where did you go?"

"Ummm...ummm," the faery stammered, trying to think of a reason while fiddling with her fingers.

"Let's just go," Stephanie groaned as she walked away. She walked down the path, the small faery right behind her.

Slowly the path began to widen. "Hee hee!" the faery giggled. "There is the bridge! We aren't far from the castle now," she pointed off in the distance.

"Bridge?" Stephanie asked. She frowned. What she knew about this place and bridges was that it always means trouble.

"Yeah, the bridge over the canyon."

"The canyon?"

"Yes!"

"Pasta Vazoo!" Stephanie sighed and nodded not surprised. Stephanie stopped and stared down the path. She wasn't afraid of heights but seeing the construction of the bridge ahead, made her uneasy, especially one over a canyon. The faery buzzed in front of her face.

"Are you coming?" she asked. "Come on!" The small faery grabbed a piece of Stephanie's hair and started pulling her down the path.

"Ow! Ow! All right! I'm coming. Just let go of my hair." the faery released Stephanie's hair and flew down the trail. Stephanie half ran to try to keep up with the tiny faery.

Suddenly she tripped over something and tumbled to the ground. She let out a short scream. "Why does everyone keeps tripping me? It's not fair!" Stephanie whined falling onto her back.

"Clumsy feet! Clumsy feet!" squawked the bird like creature that Stephanie had tripped over.

"I don't have time for this. I have to get to the castle and find Chantal," Stephanie said as she got up and brushed off her clothes again.

"In case you are wondering, she went that way," it told her, pointing towards the bridge with a clawed foot.

"Who did?"

"The girl with the short curly hair," the bird said dancing around Stephanie.

"She did?"

"Did what?" the creature asked swinging its head from side to side.

"Went that way?" she asked pointing in the direction it had pointed before.

"Who did?" it asked as it began clawing the ground.

"The girl with the short curly hair!" Stephanie said getting frustrated.

"Can you stand on your head?" the bird asked, actually taking off its head, much like a Firey, and standing on it.

Stephanie let out a scream of frustration. "Why do I suddenly feel like Alice in Wonderland?" she asked and stormed towards the bridge. The faery was hovering in front of the bridge hands on her tiny hips.

"What took you so long?"

"Well, if every creature in the Underground didn't trip me, I would've been across that bridge already!" Stephanie snapped.

"I guess you don't want my help anymore. Farewell," the faery said as she flew away.

"Fine! I've gotten this far without much of your help anyway," Stephanie said half annoyed. She turned towards the bridge and groaned. The bridge was just boards held by ropes. "Oh man! Do I really have to cross this?" she eyed the rope bridge wearily. The boards were in terrible shape, half rotted and broken in more than one place. As she placed on foot on it, it creaked. "Oh man! Oh man!" Stephanie took a deep breath as she began to cross the bridge. She cautiously and slowly took each step as it swayed back and forth, for the wind was blowing hard and made the bridge swing. Once at the center of the bridge, she griped the rope tightly and closed her eyes for a moment.

Suddenly she heard a crack behind her. She turned around just in time to see one of the boards break free and tumble down into the canyon.

"CRAP!" she cursed as she began to run across the rest of the bridge. All of the boards kept falling just as fast as she left them. "Why do these things always have to happen to me?"

On the other side of the canyon, Stephanie had stopped running and fell to her knees, catching her breath. "No way I'm crossing that bridge again!" she said, as she looked down the trail. "Chantal can't be too far ahead of me." she told herself as she finally got to her feet.

O O O

Chantal let out a huge sigh. "I swear we are going around in circles." She looked around at her surroundings. All the stone walls looked the same.

"I hate mazes!" she yelled out to nobody in particular. Serek launched himself from Chantal's shoulder and started gliding down the corridor. "Where you going?" She asked him as she reluctantly followed him. After following Serek for several minutes, Chantal stopped and leaned against a wall to rest."Serek! Get back here. I need to rest. I haven't stopped since we got here. And you got to ride on my shoulder most of the way," she yelled after the dragon creature. "Gods! I need a drink!"

Serek came flying back around the corner and flew up to the top of the wall to perch. Chantal sunk down to the ground then looked up at him. "Good dragon!"

Chantal closed her eyes for a few minutes. The sun was hot and she was really starting to get tired. She pulled off her backpack and dug inside the front pocket for another Life Saver. "I wish I had a bottle of water in here!" She opened the large zipper and reached inside pulling out her black bandana with dragons on it, then put it on. "Gods! Where is Stephanie?" She asked aloud.

"Right here!" a voice said from around the corner. Stephanie came into view.

Chantal jumped, she then got to her feet. "Woo hoo!" she cried excitedly, forgetting about her exhaustion. "How did you find me?"

"A bird told me," Stephanie replied grinning.

Chantal shook her head. "Ack! You ran into that bird too?"

Stephanie nodded her head, then rolled her eyes.

"And what happened to you?" Chantal asked as she picked a dead leaf out of her friend hair. Her clothes were smeared with light sand.

"Apparently it's 'Trip Stephanie Day' in the Underground! First I slid down into an oubliette, landing on a pile of leaves, then climbed some vines which broke, got tripped by that bird, not to mention all the other times I was tripped, then had to cross that bridge that was falling apart, which should have a caution sign by the way," Stephanie rambled in no particular order. "I encountered a faery that looked like Jenn, ran into Jareth, who--"

"Hold up! Who's Jareth?" Chantal cut in.

"The Goblin King, whom I have probably insulted by standing up to him and saying his name."

"Stephanie!" Chantal said as she shook her head in disbelief.

"By the way, how did you find crossing that bridge?" Stephanie asked her friend.

"No problem!" Chantal said as she bit her lower lip. "I just kept telling myself 'Don't look down! Don't look down!'"

Stephanie laughed. "Well, there is no way I'm going to cross it again."

"Me either."

"Squeeee!" Serek squeaked as he glided down to Stephanie.

"BOB!" Stephanie giggled reaching out and hugging the dragon creature.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment