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Photo credit: Bill Beck
Elliot had been intent on King Arnie the Former’s face as he stood with closed eyes, silently remembering whatever it was that sweet voice had said to him.
Now, through the tears welling in his eyes, King Arnie of Bog contemplated the vast landscape spreading before them like a rumpled carpet.
Elliot ventured a quiet question. “You let her go?”
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Photo credit: Ryan Ford
“We need to talk.”
Persephone’s joy vanished while the four words portending Relationship Doom hung in the air.
Not wanting to believe it, she curved the corners of her mouth upward into a tight, frightened imitation of a smile. “Arnie? Is something wrong?” Each word passed her lips through a slog of reluctant molasses.
Prince Arnie stiffened and tried to avoid her searching eyes. He still had his arm around her, the smooth delicacy of her enticing and fragile shell a cruel reminder of how easily she could be crushed.
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Image credit: S.T. Ranscht
“Arnie!” Persephone called, “Come up from there, I have something to tell you!”
Sluggishly, the Prince paddled to the bank and dragged himself ashore. His lady love was so excited, she didn’t notice his reticence.
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Photo credit: S.T. Ranscht
Elliot came to beneath the dusky rising moon with his tail wrapped in silk. At his side, Cassandra lay with her head on his chest. The King sat dozing at his foot. Barry was nowhere to be seen.
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Photo credit: J. Blough
“When the Party ended,” King Arnie confided, “the trouble began.
“Everyone in Bog lined up to watch the Suns of Glory lead the residents of Fen back home. My critics grew increasingly restive as the Lady Persephone-less parade passed them by. When the last of our Fen friends had crossed the border and she still hadn’t, the whispers spread.”
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Photo credit: Cooke
“We won that war, and the Knights and the Suns of Glory set about repairing the havoc the Marauders had wreaked. Lady Persephone and I took on the task of helping Bog’s citizens heal. We broke our fast in a different medical station each morning, visiting the injured warriors and their families and friends. We spent each afternoon delivering food and supplies to the regular folks who had suffered other kinds of losses. Each evening, we held a community dinner in a different region.”
King Arnie peered at Elliot’s face. “We should head back to the others. Do you need assistance?”
Elliot stood as tall as he could. “No, Your Greatness, as long as we go slowly. I want to hear the rest of your story before we get back.”
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Photo credit: Matt Suess
Barry’s powerful frog kicks launched them forward so quickly, in moments they had left the burning woods and its evil spirit behind. They streaked on in utterly dark wetness.
Elliot had no idea how far they were below the surface nor how soon — if ever — they would rise to the top. The bubble trapped in his shell gave little buoyancy under the weight that compressed his world into a compact snail-shaped hole in the river.
If I felt like this on dry land, I would break out in a cold sweat. I hope my dear Cassandra doesn’t suffer in the same way.
Would he live to find out? The gash in his tail seared like molten lava. Speckles were beginning to float before his eyes, and he feared the coming of a darker shade of black.
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Photo credit: Hendy Mp
“Please allow me to introduce you to a few Members of the Brotherhood of the Holy Mansion. They are here to collect your Donation.”
Scritchy-scratchy tiptoes scraped from every crack and crevice as tiny green versions of the large orange stranger closed in on Elliot in a creeping, tightening circle. He swiveled his eye stalks wildly searching for Cassandra. He didn’t find her. She must have escaped, he thought. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her! But he kept looking. He needed to be sure.
The stranger stepped up onto a rocky outcrop against the far granite wall beneath a sheltering overhang, and observed the scene with a look of beneficence.
“Little Brothers!” he called, “The Great Spirit Man’Tis, Granter of Prayers, is well pleased with the Work you have done so far. Now, in answer to our Prayers, he brings us yet another Gift — a fine, if smallish, Donation of Construction Materials! This Child of the World, heavy with the World’s Burdens, has come here of his own Free Will. It is your Job to relieve him of the Weight he bears and transfer it to our Hallowed Hill of Shells.”
“Wait!” Elliot yelled. “I’m not giving you my home!”
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Photo credit: Grayson Hartman
Side by side, Cassandra and Elliot followed the lowering sun. They laughed their way through a grassy meadow, slipping over broad ribbons of green, sharing stories of childhoods so vastly different Elliot knew they created an entirely new world by weaving their tales together. The future spread before them, a blank tapestry awaiting their design.
He was happy. Every breath was blissful proof that love was more than an ideal to dream of; it was as real as life itself, and he deserved Cassandra’s gift of eternal love just as surely as it was his destiny to bestow his unending love upon her.
Nothing would ever part them.
“Excuse me, my young friends,” a silky voice called to them from the lengthening shadows. “Might a weary Traveler trouble you for a little assistance along the Road?”
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Photo credit: Neomi Zehavi Goldshtein
“There’s something I must do before we leave,” Cassandra announced. “Would you mind making one stop?”
“Of course not! Just tell me which direction to go.” Elliot couldn’t believe his recent trials had led him here. There was no way he was going to mess this up.
“Just beyond the mossy knoll, and then behind the fern, you’ll see a tall stalk not quite ready to bloom. That’s where we have to go. I need to say goodbye to my mother.”
Elliot was glad Cassandra couldn’t see his face; his smile had disappeared as he bit his lips, nervous about what her mother might say. Would she think he was a cad and a bounder? Would she try to talk her daughter out of going with him? Would she take away his one chance for love? Would she ruin his life?
Space, Time, and Raspberries 
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