With everyone seated, Norman began his tale:
“Seven years ago, Frinty, Mugber and I landed here by the Eastern edge of the Southern tip of the black sea. We thought we were going to land on the moon, but as soon as we stepped from the spacewaffle door, it was evident that we hadn’t. I must admit, I was enchanted with the strange scenery, so new to me and wonderful in its newness. I had bent down to touch the water, blacker than coal and colder than ice. I had hesitated for a moment, then dipped my finger into the water.
“A strange sensation flooded over me as I touched it, but before I could think anything of it, I was being carried away by many unfamiliar hands. I was confused and startled, but after I yelled back to Mugber and Frinty, an odd, sleepy peacefulness came over me and I felt as though I were in a dream. What happened then is fuzzy in my memory, but I do remember waking up the next morning feeling rather sore and achy all over.
“I found myself lying on a couch with an unusual green fire cooling me from across the room. I lay there dazedly for a couple of minutes more, then the door opened and three pancakes entered. I felt a hint of misgiving as they came in, but in my confused state, I could not figure out why.
“The pancakes stood about as one of them reached down to touch my forehead.
“‘How is he doing?’ Came a sweet voice from one of the other pancakes.
“The pancake who had touched my forehead looked back at her. ‘His fever is gone.’ He said. I was befuddled.
“‘What fever?’ I asked. The pancake straightened and looked me in the eye,
“‘You,’ he said, ‘have been poisoned.’
“‘What!?’ I responded in shock. ‘How?’
“The pancake held up his hand, ‘Calm down. I was just about to explain.’ I nodded and he went on. ‘The Black Sea is home to a creature, a creature of magnificent size and proportion. Although this creature, known to us as “Fmawgy”, is strong and terrible, it is fully a coward and it lurks in the very deepest depths of the Black Sea. Yet even at those unreachable reaches, it fears something and so it fills the water with poison that it produces from the tip of its left pinky toe. It is this poison that fills the water, turning it as black as night, and as poison as something that is really poisonous. Oh, I forgot to say that the Fmawgy is also terrified of light, so the blackness comforts it.’
“By the end of this explanation, I was very confused, and I said so. ‘I thought I saw all the pancakes splashing through the water last night. How come they didn’t all die?’ The pancake nodded his head, acknowledging my correctness.
“‘That is true’ He said, ‘After a time, one may build up immunity to the poison if they are exposed to it every day in enormous amounts. But just a slight touch is enough to kill you if you’ve never experienced it before.’
“I was intrigued and asked how I could teach myself to be immune. ‘You must swim thrice daily in the black water, and drink seven cups of it every day as well.’ I determined to begin as soon as I was able.
“I conversed with the three pancakes for a while longer and learned much. I learned that one of my three visitors was with the royal guard, he was tall and muscular, and his name was Koombo. The one who had explained the lake to me was the royal healer, his name was Kifoeno. And the beautiful, kind one was a royal healer and garden maker, named Kisyoo. Something that’s interesting about the pancakes is that everyone has a special skill that they perform, but they are all called princes and princesses, no one is above or below another pancake. Their names also all start with K, I became known as Korman. I learned something of their ways and then Kifoeno told me to sleep. I slept for a long time – a couple of days – and then, feeling quite recovered, I went to see what I could do.
“The moment I stepped from the house, I was amazed. These pancakes were nothing like our waffle-world myths and legends portrayed them. They were creative, cultured, intelligent, and above all kind and friendly. They toured me around their village and taught me their ways. One pancake in particular, Koombo, became my best friend. He taught me how to travel through the jungle noiselessly, how and where to harvest the juiciest fruits, how to make friends with the wild animals and, most importantly, how to find fresh, pure water.
“Koombo and I became very good friends and I spent a lot of time with him and his family. He had a lot of siblings and they made me feel like one of them. I went on many adventures with Koombo and his brothers and my other pancake friends, and over the years, I’ve learned much and had a great many interesting experiences. There are too many to tell just now, but I’ll tell you one of my favourites. This was just two years ago.
“Koombo and I were walking together in the forest, searching for the purple spikes that grow out of the ground. These spikes mean there’s fresh water underneath. Although we all drink the black water, fresh water tastes much nicer and we drink it on special occasions. The next day there was to be a special celebration, and the village had run out of fresh water, so we were looking for more. The celebration was a party that happens every year when all the courting pancake couples come forward and announce their engagement to the whole community. It’s a very exciting day and we always drink lots of fresh water to celebrate.
“As we walked, we talked about the upcoming party, we were both especially excited about this celebration day because Koombo’s sister Kisyoo and I were going to announce our engagement. You see, I had fallen in love with Kisyoo the very first time I heard her gentle voice, but I’d only worked up the courage to ask her to marry me six days before this great celebration! She said yes, because she had fallen in love with me too, and the whole family was incredibly excited about the announcement.
“So, Koombo and I were walking along, chatting about the next day. Koombo, having always been something of a mentor to me, was giving me advice and instruction for the celebration, even though he had never been engaged himself. Suddenly, both our eyes were drawn to a huge patch of massive purple spikes. We looked at each other Athen rushed forward, “Water!” We yelled in unison. We got to the spikes and were amazed at how big they were. You see, most of the time, the water spikes are no taller than your big toe, but these ones towered high over our heads.
“We pulled out our diggers (not exactly shovels, but similar) and started digging. We dug for hours, and when we still hadn’t reached water, we stopped to assess our situation. We looked upward at the long pit we’d dug, then looked at each other, bemused. ‘I was certain there’d be water down here.’ Koombo told me, ‘Lots of it. Actually, I was thinking that maybe since the spikes are so tall, their roots would be deeper, and the water further down, but we’ve been digging for hours and I see no water.’ I nodded and stomped the ground partially out of frustration and partially to see if any water would sprout up beneath us. The dirt floor underneath us fell away and we fell with it.
“I didn’t realize what had happened at first, but I soon concluded that we had been standing on a thin layer of dirt which had broken when I stomped. Dirt in this world is extremely unpredictable and temperamental.
“We fell for what felt like five minutes but was probably only five seconds before we landed hard on solid rock. Koombo and I stood up and dusted ourselves off, looking around for information about where we’d landed. It seemed to be a massive stone cave, the rock glowed slightly with a salmon hue, and above us gleamed the luminescent turquoise roots of the trees above. We stared up at the ceiling, marvelling at the intricately woven roots and the wonderful contrast of glowing pink and turquoise. As I stared up at the ceiling of this strange cave, I lost my balance slightly and took a step back to steady myself. My foot splashed into cool, deep water and the rest of my body quickly followed. There was a strong, swift current and it started pulling me speedily away. “Water!” I yelled at Koombo, splashing and laughing in delight, for this water was clear and pure, not a trace of poison. It flowed smooth and fast over the glowing pink river bed and small, yellow flowers that grow only in the purest water could be seen rushing along just under the surface in droves.
“Koombo whooped and jumped in after me. We floated blissfully down the underground river for a while and slowly started wondering more and more what we should do next. We looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing. We both wished to see where this water went, so we relaxed on our backs and continued floating.
“After a long time, we had almost fallen asleep, lulled by the serene flow of the water and the muted sounds of the water. Then both of us were fully wakened as we became aware of the sound of rushing water getting louder and louder. It could only be one thing: a giant waterfall. Koombo and I shouted and struggled to reach the riverbank, but it was all in vain. The sound became deafening and then… we were plunging down the waterfall into the unknown.” Norman, or Korman, as we will now call him, paused his story and smiled at his audience. Frinty and Mugber were sitting on the edge of their seats in agitated anticipation. “What happened next?” Exclaimed Mugber. Frinty chewed her fingernails, “Oh, I hope you both make it out alive!” She said this with the utmost sincerity and Norman and the pancakes laughed. Koombo said in his deep voice, “I think we’ll be alright.” Frinty looked at him for a second, then, realizing what she had said, joined in the laughter. “Well,” Said Korman, “Shall I finish my story?” “Yes please!” The two other waffles replied.
So Korman went on:
“Koombo and I splashed up through the surface and both took some huge breaths. After making sure we were both fully alive, we looked around us and were amazed by what we saw. We were floating in a huge underground lake in a massive glowing pink cave. In the centre of the lake was a big island. Koombo and I swam quickly towards this. Once we were up on land, we again feasted our eyes on the spectacle surrounding us. The smooth, rounded walls of the cave were striped with hundreds of channels of water flowing from other hidden water sources. They looked like water slides and Koombo and I promised each other that if we made it out alive, we would come back and slide down those slides.
“The island we stood on had many interesting and multi-coloured natural rock formations on it, and we noted to each other that it was big enough to hold the entire pancake community in our forest with plenty of room to spare. We both looked at each other knowingly and continued to search for an exit. We finally found one and were surprised to find that it led almost directly into the biggest village in the forest. It was actually quite large, but it was hidden behind rocks and trees in such a way as to be completely invisible to someone outside.
“Koombo and I went directly to the main square in the village, where the big celebration was about to start, we stood up on the stage and told everyone about the cave we’d found and our idea to hold the celebration in the cave. All the pancakes loved the idea and we had the most amazing engagement celebration day in all of pancake history, and Koombo and I were very honoured for finding the unlimited reserve of clear water.
“So, Kisyoo and I announced our engagement, a week later we married, then we had our four children, and here we are now!”
Everyone clapped and cheered. Frinty and Mugber were so happy and excited. They couldn’t wait to learn and see everything, but now it was very late and everyone said goodnight and went off to bed.
THE END. For now at least.
