20. Stuck
“So, why were you pretending to be a heap of snow?” Stellaria asked the sheep.“
I’m following a star,” it said.
“Why?”
“To make a wish.”
“Why don’t you make a wish without a star?” Stellaria asked.
“I don’t know what to wish for,” Flammulina said.
Then why bother, Stellaria thought. This sheep wasn’t really bright.
“I have to find out what to wish for, that’s why I’m following the star,” Flammulina continued, as if it made the thought any clearer.
“You can’t follow a star in this weather,” Stellaria said. “You can’t see a thing.”
“I can smell it.”
“Stars don’t smell like anything,” Stellaria said. “I know.”
“This star smells like a dandelion,” Flammulina insisted. “You can follow me if you like,” it sad.
Flammulina clearly had a mindset of its own. Stellaria wasn’t going to waste more of her time. She was about to thank the sheep for the company, but feeling her frozen wings and thinking of the deep snow, she came to different thoughts. How much easier it would be to walk in the trail of the sheep. It was like a massive snow plow.
Stellaria stuggled trying to fit her boots into Flammulina’s footprints, for though the burrow that Flammulina’s body made in the snow was wide, its hoofprints were small and round and went all the way to the bottom. She kept her eyes on her feet for most of the time, so it took her a while to register a faint glow that radiated from some distance away on their left. It must be the lantern! Stellaria called out to Flammulina to stop, but the sheep kept on plowing into the snow steadfastly. Never mind the sheep. Stellaria plunged her boots into the deep untouched snow, sank almost waist-deep, and began to trudge towards the light. It had dropped behind a rock and lay buried under a pile snow. If it had been an ordinary lantern, it’s light would have been put out a long time ago.
Now that she had found the starlight lantern, she didn’t need the sheep any more. Flammulina could go her own way in search of whatever it was he wanted. Stellaria brushed off snow from her clothes, ruffled her wings and jumped into the air to fly. But her wings stalled after just a few flaps and she flopped down into the snow her face down. Her wings were hopelessly frozen. She had forgotten that.
Walking seemed to be the only option. She had go back to the path that the sheep was plowing.
“Flammulina, stop! Wait for me!”
But the sheep had gone further and didn’t seem to hear. In frustration Stellaria took some snow, formed a snowball in her hands and threw it after Flammulina. The sheep was too far away, and anyway, the snowball landed just a few feet from her own self. But something else took flight and soared over the cliff and down into the dark night. The starlight lantern. Stellaria couldn’t believe her bad luck. This was the second time she had dropped the lantern. And this time she could blame no one but herself.
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