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Ewetopia, A Land Far From Normal - Chapter 3
By Marie Ellen Pacha
Shepherd, Eddie, Mumm and Bob were busy in conversation, while Lamby was busy eating every crumb left on the table. Her bell had been removed during her bath and no one noticed when she slipped quietly (unusual for her) out of her chair, Indeed it was not until one of the flamingos came running up to the table, wings flapping in apparent terror that they realized Lamby was missing.
"WHAT IS THAT THING?" the flamingo blurted out. "We were quietly napping when this multicolored creature started leaping at us. I think it pulled out one of my tail feathers!!" the flamingo said indignantly.
"Uh oh," the group said at once, and looked at one another.
"LAMBY!!" Shepherd yelled, and she came bouncing around the side of the house from the direction of the pond. Her hooves and lower legs were covered with mud and she had a flamingo feather (pink) stuck in the fleece behind her ear. "Lamby!!!" and they all gasped in unison.
"What?" she asked, with her best innocent look on her face. For some reason no one was buying it though. "Uhhh...you called?"
Shepherd looked at Eddie and Mumm who sighed and headed back to the house and began filling the tub again. Bob was silent except for occasional bursts of laughter.
"Back to the tub with you, and please give the flamingo her feather back. It's not polite to take them without permission."
"OOOOH....another bath," Lamby exclaimed with delight..."but must I give the feather back? I do apologize for taking it without asking," and this last she directed to the flamingo.
"Hmmmph!" the flamingo answered. "It won't do me much good now, but see that it doesn't happen again."
Lamby curtsied thank you and started to head into the house. Shepherd grabbed her around the middle and carried her at a distance from his body until he deposited her in the tub.
"Please make sure she is wearing her bell before she leaves the house again," he asked Mumm and Eddie. They assured him, they would. He heard the sound of splashing as he went back outside to talk to Bob.
"She's only a little lamb, Bob....how could she be so very busy?" Shepherd asked bemused.
"She's a bright one, curious, and she's going to keep you busy. I suspect she will keep us all busy. Life will never be too quiet with Lamby around. Unless of course she is eating."
Eddie and Mumm emerged from the palace, somewhat damp and explained that Lamby had finally nodded off for a nap.
"I think I need one too, Shepherd," and Mumm nodded in complete agreement. "I must be off as well," said Bob. "Almost time for the dinner crowd to show up."
And off they all went...
Shepherd peeked in at Lamby and made sure her bell was firmly attached before taking his cell phone and going outside to call Sisyphus, regarding added on to the palace. He felt somehow that he was going to need more room, most specifically a place for a pillow of his own.
Sisyphus arrived very shortly, with his backhoe, as he was excavating a new root cellar that day for Bob. He parked it at the front of the house and went around to the picnic table where Shepherd was waiting.
After greeting one another, Shepherd began listing his plans. "I need to add on to the palace, Sisy. I need a proper bathroom, one that can be hosed down ceiling to floor, in the event of splashes." (He was thinking of the dye mark that stubbornly had not come off his ceiling.)
"And we shall need a couple of extra bedrooms, one lamb size with miniature furniture. And perhaps we should line the pond with cement. And......"
Suddenly they both heard the roar of a backhoe started, and Shepherd heard a soft jingle. "OH NO, LAMBY!!," he screamed and they ran to the front of the house, just in time to see Lamby atop the backhoe, heading straight for them.
"Look at me Shepherd!! I CAN DRIVE," and she waved. At the very moment the backhoe hit a bump, Lamby's hoof knocked into the shovel lever, dropping it to the ground, and the gas pedal stuck as Lamby flew off and into the air. Shepherd dodged the backhoe, and adroitly caught Lamby, and he, Lamby, and Sisy watched as the backhoe dug a perfect trench around the house. It continued in slightly widening circles until it ran out of gas.
"Thank you Shepherd, for catching me," Lamby whispered, suspecting she was in just a tad bit of trouble. "I'm sorry."
No one was hurt, and Shepherd was relieved. The entire town had by now gathered and was staring in awe at the hole. Shepherd turned to Sisy and said, "Add plans for a moat to that blueprint. It would appear we already have the hole."
And then he turned to Lamby, who was scuffing at the dirt with her hoof, a smudge of oil from the backhoe on her nose. "Lamby," he started. "Yes Shepherd," she smiled up at him, and batted her eyes. "We have to set some rules for you," he said quite seriously. "Of course Shepherd, Ewegenia told me all about rules. We had rules where I could go and where I couldn't. Who I could go with and who I couldn't (skunks were not allowed, and of course not wolves). Though I once met a very nice skunk who I wanted to take home for dinner. But the other ewes got a bit upset. And then there is a rule about no ice skating, and one about sleeping in poison ivy. Do you have more?" she asked with apparent innocence.
"Oh, perhaps a dozen or so more. It might be better if I made a list so we could remember them all." he said, contemplating a skunk as a dinner guest. "In the meantime, would you please not wander out of my sight?"
"But of course Shepherd," and she stood quite near as he continued talking to Sisyphus, about details for the construction.
By this time, the editor and photographer for the newspaper had arrived. That would be me, the town crier. This was a news story NOT to be missed. I took the details down as to the mishap with the backhoe, interviewed the town's newest resident, Lamby; and briefly discussed the additions to the palace with Shepherd and Sisy.
By the time we were finished Jack from the restaurant arrived with a cart laden with food. He had decided that since everyone in town was at the palace he would bring the food to them. Besides he was missing out on all the action. Shepherd looked about for Lamby who was nowhere to be seen, in spite of her promise, and called out, "LAMBY!!."
A small voice answered seemingly from underground, "Uhhh....over here Shepherd."
"Oh no," he muttered and moved closer to the moat, which was within his view. He looked down only to find Lamby.
"HI!", she said brightly. "I was still in your sight, just looking down in the hole, and the dirt gave way, and here I am. Did I hear someone mention food?"
Fortunately Sisyphus also had a ladder with him and Shepherd climbed down and brought Lamby back up.
"Rule #1: Stay away from holes." he spoke sternly, but Lamby was already scampering off to the table.
"Yes Sir, Shepherd Sir," he heard her answer.
"Well that takes care of one problem she could get into, but who knows what else she will find. Eddie do you think you and Mumm could manage one more bath before you leave tonight?'
Eddie was giggling into her hand as she agreed. But first they all ate dinner. Afterwards some of the residents cleaned up, Eddie and Mumm gave Lamby ANOTHER bath, and Shepherd began tuning his guitar....
Lamby's ears perked up when she heard the sound, and she squirmed while she was being toweled off, until finally (her bell back in place), she sat at Shepherd's feet while he played and sang. Others joined in as night fell. Lamby rested her head on her front hooves and fell asleep with a small smile on her face.
Everyone gradually headed home. Shepherd put his guitar away and gently picked up the sleeping lamb. He laid her on her little bed, knowing full well, he would be sharing his pillow by morning, and he lay down to sleep.
Note from the town crier:
Remember this is NOT Normal, In Normal people worked 8-5, 40 hours a week, at jobs they frequently despised. They had 2 bedroom houses or apartments, frequently exactly the same as their neighbors. They aspired to have 2 cars per family, and from they time they were 18 began planning their retirement.
This is not Whimsey either. Whimsey is full of things that simply don't exist in Normal. Dragons and unicorns, faeries, and I think they even have a troll or two. The residents of Whimsey can visit briefly in Normal or our little hamlet, but they cannot stay. Something happens and they seem to fade away. In Normal a dragon is considered part of a nightmare, in our hamlet, well, it's a wonder that we enjoy until it leaves.
Our hamlet is a special place. One of the remarkable things about our little hamlet is that no one ever seems to age. Oh one matures, and grows in wisdom. Even little Lamby will one day not be quite so rash in her behavior. But she will never be old. So of course the long term residents don't really worry about retirement, they will always be able to work as they do. Though most of them prefer to play at least as hard as they work, if not harder. Lambs and cows and all sorts of creatures live together in our hamlet, even man. The only law we have is that no one ever intentionally hurt another resident. Thus wolves and other carnivores are not welcome. People love to laugh here, they love to love too, but most of all they love to feel.
Sisyphus and Shepherd sometimes discuss such things as black holes and fractals and string theory, and parallel dimensions. And perhaps that's where our little hamlet really is. Somewhere outside the realm of the rest of the world. But we don't really care where it is.
We just know that this is where we belong.
I was thinking about this earlier this evening as I watched Lamby. Her exuberance for life and her curiosity would have made her fair game for a wolf in her valley. She wants to learn and try everything, and she is afraid of no one, nor anything (save mint jelly and wolves). There's no where else in this world that she could flourish, indeed, no where else in the world that she could survive for long. She belongs here.
I asked her when the others were busy setting the table, exactly where she had been born. She of course could not remember the spot, but said that it was on the fringe of Normal, but near Whimsey, her mother had stopped just inside a ring of toadstools in a small glade, and it was there that Lamby came into the world. Here in our hamlet we still believe in faerie rings, and I think that is where Lamby was born, and why she is the prodigy lamb that she is.
Time now to sleep, for God only knows what Lamby will be up to tomorrow.
Continue to Chapter 4
This article is © copyrighted by Marie Ellen Pacha. Any use of this article, in full or in part, is strictly prohibited without written permission from Marie Ellen Pacha.
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