18. The Blue Christmas Ball
Stellaria dashed through time and space like a white bat, holding tight to the starlight lantern she had snatched from the portkeeper’s booth at a moment’s spur. The portkeeper had a row of lanterns there that he lent to travelers and chances were he wouldn’t notice one was missing. Starlight lanterns were special, they showed you the way to whatever place you needed to go to. And since Stellaria didn’t exactly know where she was going, it had been a brilliant idea to take one. She couldn’t help feeling a little guilty, though; but there were things you simply couldn’t avoid doing in order to get something else done. Something important.
The space around her grew even murkier as she fell further away from the shimmering glow of Cloud Thirteen. But as her eyes became accustomed to the dark, tiny specks of light started appearing here and there. Soon she found herself in the middle of a sphere dotted with silvery pinholes, as if she were floating inside a pin cushion with all the pins removed. What if someone stuck them back? She shivered from the thought sharp pins piercing her skin. No, it must be from the cold. It was time to put her wings to work. Cloud Thirteen had fallen out of sight. Stellaria beat the fabric of space with her wings and she felt warmth return to her body. Flying free was so exhilarating that she couldn’t help making somersaults, and after one more loop it was suddenly there: a blue and green globe rising right in front of her eyes. It was the most beautiful Christmas tree ornament she had ever seen. It was Earth.
Half of the planet was light and half was dark. Which side should she pick? Stellaria had no idea where the band toured. She decided to circle the planet and look for cues so she descended into a lower orbit. She was mesmerized by the outlines of lands and seas and mountains, all the details popping up as she got nearer. She was so fascinated she made another somersault — and the starlight lantern slipped from her hand.
Stellaria dived after the lantern but was too slow to catch it. The lantern fell faster than she could fly. Suddenly there was a tempest and she was thrown off course. She lost control of her wings and began to spiral down. All went fuzzy around her and she fell, and she fell, and she fell. Till all stomach-wrenching movement came to an end with a thud.
*
Two rough-hewn men had aborted their mission midway and were returning home. Snow had piled up in the mountain pass but their footprints were still visible on the path leading up to their cave.
“Don’t you think the boss will blow his fuse?”
“Naah, don’t have electricity.”
“Don’t you think the boss will fry our asses in butter then?
“Naah, ain’t got no butter.”
“There’s no butter on the robbing list. See?” The fatter man pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and showed it to the other man in the flickering light of his candle-lantern. “Should I add some butter there?”
“Shut up, will you. All the boss cares now is to hear about the band. The sooner the better. First we’ll make a hash of things, then we’ll cash in. Got it?”
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