Chapter
Two. Weather Witch
Sogwa said,
“First, some spare skins, just in case.”
So she went
to the toy store. There she found two bean-bag cat dolls just her size, color
and shape. She bought them and took them home.
Once home,
she slipped out of her old doll and into one of the new ones. It felt good,
like stepping into a new pair of shoes. She yawned and stretched. “Now, let’s
see, my name is, oh yes, Sogwa.” Remembering one’s name is always the hardest
part of settling into a new skin. Sogwa looked at the old Sogwa doll. It looked
worn, so she put it in the blue basket with the other Old Favorites, in Sleepy
Baby’s arms.
“I’ll wear
you again later,” Sogwa promised. “But in the meantime, I’m off to visit the
big kids, and they play rough. You keep safe,” she told her old skin.
Sogwa put
the second spare doll in her backpack, along with a Swiss Army knife and a
necklace with pendant. She took her backpack and her vacuum cleaner outdoors.
She hung the pack on the vacuum cleaner, then she got on too. She turned the
vacuum cleaner on full reverse, and it blasted into the air like a jet-pack.
Flying a
vacuum cleaner is noisy and dizzy, but cool. It’s way more modern than brooms.
Sogwa flew
long hours until she reached Lake Chimpy, the toxic waste dump formerly known
as the City of Olde Phillippe. She landed on a muddy patch of ground at the
shore of Lake Chimpy. With her Swiss Army knife, Sogwa cut a branch of weeping
willow. She carved it into a magic wand, and she cut a notch in its side, so
she could break it when the time came.
Sogwa put on
her necklace. Its pendant was a tiny empty bottle, just big enough to hold a
single drop of water.
Sogwa drew a
wide circle in the muddy ground with her willow wand. She said, “I invoke the
Four Elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water!” Then Sogwa drew a six-pointed star
inside the protective circle. She said, “I invoke the Six Compounds: Fog, Dust
and Neon; Ember, Booze and Mud!” She stood in the middle and planted the willow
wand in the ground. She said, “I invoke the Void!” The wand, circle and star
all flashed green, and Sogwa heard a loud
BEEP!
A voice from
the air said, “Welcome to Gaia Wireless. Please enter your P.I. Number.”
“Three point
one four one five nine two six five three five eight nine seven nine!”
The voice
said, “Correct to fifteen digits. Please enter your party’s extension.”
Sogwa
crooned, “Coreeeeenaahhhh!”
The voice
said, “Please hold while I transfer your call.” Muzak sounded.
Mist rose up from Lake Chimpy and swirled
towards Sogwa. It curled around the protective circle, faster and faster. It
became a whirlwind, a small storm, and Sogwa’s circle was its calm eye. The
wind buffeted, but the circle held, because Sogwa’s P.I. number was correct to
fifteen digits. The Muzak stopped.
The
whirlwind loomed over Sogwa. It was Coreena.
She
bellowed, “YEAH, WHAT?”
“Hi there,
I’m Sogwa the supercat, and I have information about Chimpy.”
“CHIMPEE?”
Coreena roared.
“Yeah, but
please tell me something first!”
The wind
toned down a bit. “Whatcha wanna know?” Coreena grumbled, in a voice loud enough to shake window panes.
“What is it
between you and Chimpy?”
“AN’ HIS
BUDS!”
“Okay,
you and him and his buddies. What’s the beef?”
“Ah’m mad on
accounta WHAT THEY DONE TO MA MOMMA!”
“That’s
terrible!” said Sogwa; for Coreena was a daughter of Mother Nature herself.
“Yeah, it
is...” Coreena grumbled.
“But what
did they do?”
“They try ta
FOOL her! AN’ THAT AIN’T NICE!” Thunder
rumbled. Then Coreena remarked, “ ‘sides, ya cain’t do it. MA Momma SEEN a
thing er two! SHE bin AROUND! HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH!”
“Good old
Mom.”
“Thass
rite!”
“But you
got fooled.”
“WHADDAYA
MEAN?”
“You got
fooled! Look; did you find Chimpy?”
“NO! WHEAH
THEY HIDIN’ HIM?”
“They
weren’t!”
“HUNNH?”
“They
weren’t hiding him! They didn’t have him!”
“BUT MOMMA
DONE TOLE ME CHIMPY HUNG OUT IN THAT OLE TOWN HAVIN’ A HAH OLE TAHM!”
“That was
years ago! Your information is out of date!”
“NOOO!”
“Yes! You
were looking for Chimpy in all the wrong places!”
“NOOOOOOOOO!”
“Yes! And
the people in that town you smashed up, they don’t even much like
Chimpy!”
“SAY IT
AIN’T SOOOOOOOOO!”
“Sorry, it’s
so! You messed up, big-time!”
“OHHHHHHHHH
NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
“Oh yes!”
Sogwa yelled. “You and your Judgement Day! I call it Snap Judgement Day! I call
it Bad Judgement Day! You showed bad judgement!”
“BUT - BUT -
BUT - AH DINT MEEEEN TOOO!”
Sogwa
yowled, “You silly monster! You drowned the wrong people!”
Coreena
wailed, “AHHMM SOOOO SORRRREEEEE!!!” She burst into a torrent of rain.
“Alright
already!” Sogwa cried. “Don’t drown me too!”
Coreena
tried to hold back her great hot raindrop tears, but she couldn’t. She was a
giant, with giant emotions. She blubbered, “FERGIVE MEE, AH NEWW NOT WHAT AH
DOOO!”
“That’s just
it, you didn’t know!” Sogwa yelled, spitting mad. She was drenched, and cats
hate to get wet. “You know what your problem is?”
“WHAAAAHHH???”
Coreena asked, and cried, and rained.
“You’re just
plain ignorant, that’s what your problem is! And you know what you need?”
“WHAAAAHHH???”
“You need an
education!”
Coreena
jumped outwards ten feet. “WUH YOU SAY?!”
“You heard
me, an education! And lucky you! You’ve come to just the right supercat!”
Sogwa took
the tiny bottle off her necklace. She opened it and captured a single raindrop
from Coreena’s stormy eye. Then she stoppered the bottle and put it back on her
necklace.
Sogwa said,
“Can you see?”
The rain
stopped. Sunlight broke through the swirling clouds, shining on Sogwa.
Coreena said, “CLEAR AS CRYSTAL.” The raindrop
on Sogwa’s necklace gleamed like a diamond. And since that raindrop was from
Coreena, and of Coreena, everything that drop of water saw or heard, Coreena
saw and heard too.
“And now
I’ll show you around,” Sogwa told Coreena. The raindrop on her necklace winked.
“Now you can see things from ground level.”
“MOMMA’S
LEVEL,” rumbled the whirlwind.
“And that
will be educational.”
“YES,
MA’AM!”
“And I
promise to look for Chimpy. And I’ll find him, and his friends.”
“YES!”
“And we’ll
see them, face to face.”
“YEESS!!”
“And if he
deserves it - ”
“HE DOES!!!”
“I’ll be the
judge of that!”
“YES,
MA’AM!”
“But if he
does - ”
“YEESSSS!!
“ - then
I’ll call you up - ”
“YEEESSSSS!!!”
“- and we’ll
decide what to do.”
“YEEEESSSSSSS!!!!”
Coreena roared.
Sogwa said,
“Break?”
The
whirlwind cried, “BREAK!”
Sogwa broke
the willow wand in two, and the whirlwind flew outwards in every direction at
once. The storm cloud dissolved into clear air with a hiss.
A voice from
the air said, “Thank you for using Gaia Wireless.”
BEEP!
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