Cassia and the Wall
9. The Diamond
The girl stepped out onto the rich carpet and found herself inside a lobby. A large staircase led the way up to two glass doors through which the flickering flames of candlelight could be seen. To the right of the stairs there was a small table with a large leather-covered notebook on it; behind the table sat a small pink bear that was wearing a crimson bowtie and looking very huggable.
“Hallo Cassia,” he greeted the girl. “Would you mind signing the guestbook for me before you head inside?”
Cassia sauntered up to the table, put down the umbrella and in its place picked up a feather quill. Signing her name carelessly in the first available place, she glanced at the page; it was littered with paw prints of different shapes and sizes. There was only one other word written, in familiar printing, on the huge page and that was “Cassia”. The girl wondered if she would meet the other Cassia once she went inside.
“I’ll take your umbrella for you,” the bear told her. “You won’t need it anymore. Enjoy the party.”
The girl smiled at the bear and then ascended the staircase; the great glass doors opened on their own when she reached the top. The soft music of harps reached Cassia’s ears and she could feel the diamond shaking in her pocket again. Cassia took it out and held it in her pink hand in an attempted to comfort the gem.
She entered an enormous room where candles glowed for chandeliers and animals filled the room; Cassia appeared to be the only human present. A large orchestra sat in far right corner providing music for the party, and anteaters walked about the room carrying large trays of appetisers and peach juice in champagne glasses. Cassia had just picked up one of the glasses when a dozen of the trumpets in the orchestra let out a blaring fanfare that resonated throughout the great room. The egg-sized jewel in her hand cracked slightly just as the doors reopened. A blue and black butterfly fluttered into the room; on its left wing it wore a bright yellow bow. Below, an odd-looking creature was waddling into the room; it looked rather like a beaver but had a black beak protruding from its face. In front of one of its gentle eyes it sported a monocle, which would have looked absurd if not for the top hat it wore on its head.
The orchestra began to play a soft melody that wafted into Cassia’s ears and left her feeling warm and fuzzy inside. The butterfly fluttered down towards the ground and the strange creature (which was a platypus, though Cassia did not know it) stood on its hind legs, taking one of the butterfly’s twiggy legs in its webbed foot. The two waltzed around the room, their feet sometimes barely touching the ground as the winged partner fluttered her coloured wings.
Cassia took a sip of her peach juice as the band began to play an upbeat swing song. The diamond in her hand began to crack further and the girl was sure it would crack open any minute to reveal some unique bird. Sure enough, as the song ended and the cymbals clanged, the top of the egg flipped open to reveal a furry white ball.
“I must be the strangest bird you have ever seen,” Morris the mouse said to Cassia as he climbed out of the egg. “I must say that was quite the way to travel.”
“It’s nice to see you again,” Cassia told him.
“I arrived just in time. I’ll have to show you your way back to Primoris soon. I was wondering, though, if it was possible for me to have a sip of your peach juice before we leave? It was very hot and dry inside that egg.”
Cassia tipped the tall champagne glass so that the mouse could reach some of the liquid. He had a quick drink and then hopped down from Cassia’s hand and ran out of the ballroom, the girl not far behind.
Morris stopped at the table where the bear was sitting. “Do you have Cassia’s dress?”
The bear pointed to a door just behind him. “Lentus dreamed it into that room. She can leave the tuxedo there when she’s done and I will make sure it returns to Commander Dux.”
Morris nudged Cassia’s foot. “Go change back into your dress. Do it quickly, though, there isn’t much time left!”
When Cassia re-emerged she was once again wearing her peach dress and her feet were bare. She was panting from moving so quickly but Morris did not give her a chance to catch her breath. He bolted outside and when Cassia followed she found herself once again in a parking lot lit by twilight. The pair only stopped running when they reached the bottom of a very tall wall where there was another lime green door.
“Have we returned to Pessum?” Cassia asked.
The mouse shook his head. “We’re still in Tripudio. The parking lots just look very similar. Anyways, it’s time for you to leave.”
Cassia nodded and tried to open the door but found it was locked. Then she remembered Parvulus telling her she couldn’t return the way she left. “What do I do?” She asked the mouse, who had moved a few feet down the wall. He glanced up.
“Climb this ladder.”
Cassia shrugged and walked over to where the mouse was standing. She took a rung of the ladder in her hand. “Are you staying here?”
“No, I’ll return to Primoris with you. Could you put me on your shoulder, please?”
Cassia did as the mouse asked and then began to climb the ladder. They were silent for a while, and then she asked a question of her companion. “Morris, how come everyone in the different worlds already knew my name? I’ve never met any of them before.”
“But they’ve met you,” the mouse replied. “Time is strange in the different worlds. With each consecutive place, the day gets earlier. You’ve essentially been travelling back in time – but since you also spent time in each world, things have evened out. You will arrive back in Primoris at about the same time you left. Yet the creatures in the other worlds haven’t been travelling back in time along with you. Time continues as normal for them so they’ve all met you a number of times now and will continue to do so in the future. And that’s the best I can do to explain it, because I barely understand it myself.”
Cassia nodded though she was still confused. They were almost at the top of the wall now. She climbed up the last couple of rungs and pulled herself over the top of the wall.
“Farewell,” Morris said, before scampering off into the darkness.
The girl glanced towards the top of the stairs that led to Pessum just in time to see a bit of peach dress disappear behind a lime green door. Cassia hopped down from the wall and shrugged her shoulders one last time.
