The next afternoon, Wilber struggled down the trunk of the
tree, making his way toward the rocky ground.
When he reached the ground he was panting hard. He looked around
for a place to rest. Having not found a suitable one, he leaned
up against the
trunk of the tree and tried to catch his breath.
The wind restled the leaves in the large tree. The branches swayed,
droping a bunch of leaves to the ground.
"Hey!" Wilber shouted as a left droped on his head.
He stared at the green leaf for a moment, then kicked it away.
Wilber looked down at the leaf again, remembering his journey,
the journey to find his parents, his clan, his family.
"Now where's that grasshopper?" Wilber asked himself
as he got up from the tree and looked around.
After walking a few steps, he saw a grasshopper making his way
slowly down a path that led into tall grass.
"Excuse me! Wait!" Wilber cried. The grasshopper didn't
look back, but kept on walking straight ahead. "Can you hear
me? Hello?" Wilber called. The grasshopper picked up speed.
"Wait!" Wilber cried, trying to keep up with the grasshopper.
The grasshopper kept walking away, ignoring Wilber's shouts.
Wilber picked up speed, crawling as fast as he could after the
grasshopper. As he chased the grasshopper, he remembered what
the ant had said about the grasshoppers.
"You can't count on them for anything." The ant had
said.
"I guess he was right." Wilber said aloud. He looked
in front of him to find that the grasshopper was gone.
Wilber stopped and slumped up against a tree.
"Now I'll never find the way to the path." Wilber whined.
He looked around the grassy field he had wandered into.
As he looked around, he heard a sound, like a chirping sort of
sound, but not bird like.
"Who's there!" Wilber called.
No reply.
Wilber looked around for the source. He began to follow the sound.
As he grew closer to the sound, it became louder. He stopped when
he a cricket on a rock rubbing his legs together.
"H-hello." Wilber stammered.
"Hello," The cricket said. "How are you this fine
day?"
"Not too good, you see, I need to find this path toward this
group of trees, but I don't know how to get to it." Wilber
said wearily.
"That does sound like quite a problem." The cricket
answered. He hopped down from the rock and took a step toward
Wilber.
"I was supposed to ask this grasshopper," Wilber continued.
"but the grasshopper didn't care. He just went along on his
merry little way." Wilber said rolling his eyes.
"You were asking a grasshopper for help?" The cricket
asked, his eyes
growing wide.
"Pretty dumb huh," Wilber said snickering. "but
I needed the help, and this Owl told me to find a grasshopper."
Wilber said shaking his head.
"Looks like you didn't find one." The cricket said,
studying Wilber.
"Can you help me?" Wilber asked. The cricket shook his
head.
"All I can do is give you some advice." The cricket
said. "The road is too long for your journey, but you've
got to keep on going till you reach your destination." The
cricket said hopping back up on the rock.
"Thank you." Wilber said. The cricket nodded.
"You better get along on your journey, it seems like a long
one." The cricket said. Wilber nodded and started out of
the field.
As Wilber neared the edge of the field, he became tired. He laid
down on a rock and pulled a leaf over him.
"Wilber, can you hear me Wilber?" His mother asked.
Wilber, shocked, couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Who are you?" Wilber asked.
"I'm your mother, dear." The mother said happily. Wilber,
thinking about it for a moment, didn't know what to say.
All was quiet for a moment.
"Wilber, it's me, your father, can you hear me?" His
father asked. Wilber nodded.
"I'm here dad. What happened to you guys? Where are you?
I can't see you." Wilber said.
"You're dreaming Wilber. We can communicate with you through
your dreams." His mother said.
"Wilber, can you hear us!" Another butterfly called.
"Wilber, where are you! We miss you!" Another butterfly
called.
Wilber woke up, startled.
"That was wierd." Wilber said. He looked around and
heard a loud rumbling. He felt a rain drop fall on his head.
Wilber got up and looked around. He realized that he was on a
leaf, and was being carried away.
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As Wilber got carried away, he ended up in a stream, and
from there he was carried into a river.
"What's happening?" Wilber asked. He looked around.
All he could see was water, all around him.
The thunder grew louder as the leaf rocked back and forth and
was carried farther and farther down the river.
"Help!" Wilber cried. He could feel the rain falling
on to his back.
Suddenly the whole sky lit up bright, but only for a moment before
it grew dark again.
Wilber sailed on, and as he did, he could her a rushing sound,
the unmistakable sound of a waterfall.
He cried out as he saw the river end. He could feel the current
pulling him closer and closer to the edge of the river.
"I'm going to die! No!" Wilber suddenly felt as if he
were going to die, that he had the fear of dying, that he would
never finish his mission.
He looked again at the edge of the great river, and realized that
he was just a few inches from the edge.
"Help!" Wilber cried. But it was too late. He was falling.
Down, down the waterfall.
The air rushed up and hit the bottom of the leaf. He could feel
himself falling through the air, down to the pool beneath the
waterfall.
Suddenly, he heard a splash, then he felt pain shoot up through
his body.
As he hit the water, the leaf became tipsy.
Wilber opened his eyes and looked around. He could see a bright
light over the water that blinded him for a moment, then he realized
that the sun was right above him.
"What happened?" Wilber asked, not really expecting
an answer. He brushed himself off for a moment, then stopped.
"I'm alive!" He cried happily.
Wilber, now feeling hungry started to eat the leaf. He ate the
edge of the leaf until he realized that if he ate leaf, that he
was going to die, because the leaf was the only shore that he
could see.
"I'm so hungry though," Wilber thought aloud. He ate
the leaf until he could eat no more. He could feel the leaf become
a little tipsy as a wave came from behind and pushed against the
leaf.
Wilber, shocked, didn't know what to do. He was now being carried
toward a sandy shore, that was still a few feet away.
"Hey, what's up little dude?" Something said from beside
him. Wilber turned to see a beetle standing on a piece of wood
next to him in the water.
"Hey," Wilber said uncomfortably.
"Hey, Benny, come on dude, show us what you got!" Another
beetle called from the shore.
"Okay man!" Benny shouted. He looked over at Wilber
and winked, then he started to ride toward a wave and fell over.
A few beetles on the shore began to laugh.
"That was so totally awesome man!" One of the beetles
called,
sarcastically, from the shore.
"Let's see that little green thing do better!" Benny
shouted. Wilber looked down at the leaf, then at the shore, where
all the beetles were staring at him.
"Um," Wilber started, clearing his throat.
"Come on, man, show us a totally awesome show!" One
of the beetles called.
Wilber sat up on the leaf and felt something push from behind.
Before he knew it he was riding on top of a wave. He didn't move,
he was too afraid to move, because of not knowing what was going
on.
He closed his eyes and cried out as he hit the shore. He could
feel his head aching.
"Ouch," Wilber said, just above a whisper.
"Whoa, totally awesome man!" Benny cried. He ran over
to Wilber. He rolled the face down Wilber over to face him.
"Are you okay little dude?" Another beetle asked. Wilber
opened his eyes and looked up at the four beetles that were crowded
around him.
"That was a totally awesome ride!" Wilber cried. He
sat up, but instantly regretted it when he felt pain shoot up
his body.
"Man, you must be a pro, little dude." Benny commented.
"Yeah, sure." Wilber said smiling. "I'm a totally
awesome pro!"
"You wanna join us at the surf championship tomorrow? It
would be so dudish, little dude." One of the beetles said.
"I can't, I'm sorry, I gotta get going." Wilber said,
getting up. "Thanks for the totally awesome experience!"
Wilber called as he made his way across the beach.
Wilber kept crawling across the hot sandy beach, sweat dripping
from his forhead down onto the sand.
Wilber looked around, but could no longer see the trees he was
supposed to go to. He no longer remembered where he was supposed
to go.
As he crawled, he became hotter and hotter. He could barely think,
he was too hungry, too thirsty, too lost.
He had eatten the rest of his only food, the leaf, the leaf that
he had surfed on, the leaf that had saved him from the storm was
now gone.
As Wilber crawled further and further, he could hear a sound like
a waterfall. He stopped for a moment and listened to the sound.
"What is that?" Wilber asked weakly. He began to follow
the sound until it stopped suddenly. He stopped and looked around.
"Who turned the waterfall off?" Wilber asked. He began
to look around for something to eat and spotted a hill with grass
on it.
As Wilber neared the hill, he felt his stomach growel.
"What was that?" Wilber asked himself. He shrugged and
took a bite of the grass. He instantly spit it out and made a
disgusted face. "Yuck!" He said aloud. He shook his
head.
He breathed in deeply and could smell the sweet scent of pie.
"Yum," Wilber said, feeling even more hungry. He followed
the scent until he was face to face with a big wicker basket.
The basket was at least a dozen times taller than him.
Wilber stepped onto a red and white blanket and looked down at
it. This is the worst looking ground I've ever seen, Wilber thought.
He looked up at the basket. That's the wierdest looking tree I've
ever seen, Wilber thought.
He saw a pair of teenis shoes that had writing on them, a heart
and a skateboard.
He shrugged and made his was to the top of the basket. As he made
his way up the side, he could feel his stomach growl again.
Wilber reached the top of the basket and looked around. He could
feel the wind blow against his back, blowing him into the basket.
He fell, down, down into the basket.
top of page
As he hit the bottom of the basket, he could feel his body
grow weak. He felt pain, but the smell of the cheery pie helped
him over come his pain. The pain felt just like the pain he felt
when he fell from the tree, the uncontrollable pain.
He felt dizzy for a moment, as if he were stunned in place.
After a while, he began to crawl toward the cheery pie, and as
he did, the lid closed and all became dark, but the darkness didn't
stop him from crawling toward the cheery pie. The smell of the
pie was so strong, so sweet, he couldn't resist.
He crawled on top of a book and sniffed the air. Cheery pie stained
the pages of the book, little drips all over. He began to taste
the pages, eating the sweet pie that was dripped on the pages.
The cheery pie tasted so sweet, he had never tasted anything like
it. All that he used to eat in the forest were occasional flowers
and leafs and plants. Nothing that tasted like this.
As he ate, he could see little pictures in his mind. Pictures
of outerspace, of stars and planets. He then could hear words,
words that made no sense to him, that sounded just like mumbling.
He fell asleep, dreaming of the cosmic scenes. He flew, through
the sky, out of the atmosphere, to a brightly lit star. He could
see comets shoot across the sky. He saw the sun burning bright,
but felt no heat at all and he flew closer and closer.
Wilber slept, dreaming about the book, about the pictures. Dreaming,
and seeing pictures of the book, he felt as if he were floating,
as the basket was carried away.
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When he awoke, he was laying on the book. After stretching,
he looked around him at the modern furniture of the house. The
lamps, tables, couches, chairs, the fireplace with a fire started
and burning bright, and the clock up on the wall.
"Where am I?" Wilber asked himself. He shrugged and
made his way to the edge of the table, which the book was laying
on. He realized that he was no longer in the basket, and that
he was no longer in the forest. He could no longer see trees,
grass, plants, flowers, or rocks.
"Who goes there?!" Someone called out from behind a
vase. Wilber spun around to see a roach behind him.
"H-hi," Wilber said startledly. "I'm Wilber."
Wilber said. The roach walked toward him.
"This is my apartment, don't even think of trying to take
over, I have been here too long, and know all the secrets of-"
The roach stopped and looked straight at Wilber. "The couch."
The roach said, in a machine type voice.
"What's a couch?" Wilber asked. The roach moved closer.
"Um, well, it's like sort of big, and white, and-oh nevermind!"
The roach said slapping his head.
"Who are you?" Wilber asked. The roach looked at him
for a moment, then grabbed a piece of wood with wheels.
"I am DJ." The roach said standing on the wood.
"What does that stand for?" Wilber asked.
"It stands for Dangerous J." DJ said.
"What's that?" Wilber asked, pointing to the wood.
"It's a skateboard, wanna watch me to a 360!" DJ called
aloud. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped up in the air
and fell flat on his face.
Wilber began to laugh.
"Totally awesome move." Wilber said sarcastically.
"I just can't do it while you're watching." DJ said.
He tried again, but failed and fell back against the vase.
"Got anything to eat around this totally awesome place?"
Wilber asked. DJ shrugged.
"Want dirt?" DJ asked. Wilber laughed.
"I guess I'll have some more of this book, it was totally
awesome." Wilber said. He crawled toward the book, DJ followed.
"You like the phrase totally awesome, don't you?" DJ
asked. Wilber shrugged.
"I don't know, the phrase is totally awesome." Wilber
said. DJ and Wilber began to eat the book, but spit it out instantly.
"Yuck!" They said at the same time, looking at each
other.
top of page
Wilber was beginning to open his eyes, when he realized
that he was being carried. He opened his eyes and looked around.
There were people walking around, sitting at tables. There was
bookshelf after bookshelf in neat rows.
Wilbers eyes grew wide as he saw other books in the library. He
saw hundreds, maybe even thousands.
"Wow," Wilber said, amazed by all the books.
He felt a sudden thud as he hit a shelf with books on it. He looked
up to see a girl setting a book down next to the book Wilber was
sitting on. She turned and darted off across the library.
"Man, I'm so hungry." Wilber said, rubbing his stomach.
He took a bite of the book the girl had set down and spit it out.
"Man, this one isn't as totally awesome as the last book."
He said. He shurgged and began to eat it anyway. As he ate, he
began to see the pictures again. He could see pictures of space,
then just words.
After eating through most of the edges of the books on the shelf,
he realized that he had a bigger perspective, that he knew more
than when he entered the library.
He leaned over the edge of the bookshelf when he began to hear
voices. He saw an old man with black curly hair, with intense
dark brown eyes. He also saw a boy, about 18 years of age, sitting
across from the old man. They were sitting at a table, books were
spread across it, and they were engaged in an intense conversation.
"The closer you are to the light, the more you see the light."
The old man said, leaning closer to the young man.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The young man asked.
The old man's expression remained solemn.
"Well, you asked me how to become brilliant." The old
man explained.
"Well," The old man started.
"Well, brilliance is letting the light go through you."
The old man explained.
The young man remained confused.
The old man, aware of the young man's confusion, nodded.
"Well, it's like the laws of sucess." The old man explained,
studying the young man's expression.
Wilber leaned closer, from on the bookshelf. Wilber realized that
he knew exactly what they were talking about, from eating all
the books.
"The first law is 'All Possibility.'" The old man stated.
"Does that mean you can have anything you want?" The
young man asked, crossing his arms.
"The second is 'Free Will of Choice.'" The old man continued.
"If you know exactly what you want?" The young man asked.
The old man ignored the question and continued.
"The third is 'Persistantly Determined.'" The old man
said, studying the young man closely.
"You mean, persist till you suceed?" The young man asked,
knowing that he wouldn't get an answer.
"The fourth is 'Balance Compansation.'" The old man
continued, still studying the young man.
"You have to be willing to pay a price?" The young man
asked, uncrossing his arms.
"You get nothing for nothing, and something for something."
The old man explained.
The young man nodded and sat back in his chair.
"The last is, 'You Live in Expectation.'" The old man
said. The young man looked confused.
"What do you mean by that?" The young man asked. The
old man leaned closer, not answering the question.
"Well, if someone owed you money, wouldn't you look for it?"
Wilber asked from on the shelf, rolling his eyes. "This guy
is dense." Wilber said shaking his head.
Suddenly a bell rang and people started heading for the exit.
The lights went off after everyone was gone and all was still.
top of page
Chapter Fifteen: Passing It On
The library was closed, and Wilber was all alone.
Wilber crawled down the side of the bookshelf to get to a lower
shelf so that he could eat and read more books. He suddenly realized
how much he knew, how smart he was getting from all the books.
As Wilber crawled down to the lower shelf, he notices another
worm crawling toward him. Wilber dropped down on the shelf and
studying the worm.
"Hello Wilber," The worm said. Wilber backed up until
he was against the edge of the bookshelf. "I've been watching
you all along, and I've seen you consume many books." The
worm said, studying Wilber.
Wilber was now stunned and in awe because the worm was glowing.
"And I noticed your mind light was getting brighter. And
I can show you how to consume books without making those holes
in them." The worm said, studying Wilber closely. Wilber
raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?" Wilber asked, then he
suddenly added. "Oh yeah, how do I do that?" Wilber
asked. The worm nodded and moved closer to Wilber.
"This is the first and last time you'll ever see me."
The worm explained. Wilber's eyes grew wide. "You have been
chosen by the great one and your clan." The worm said.
"The great one?" Wilber asked, laughing to himself.
"Yes, I'm going to introduce you to him now." The worm
said.
"And he's-"
"Close your eyes, Wilber, and focus in your mind." The
worm said. Wilber rolled his eyes and did what the worm did.
"Yeah...?" Wilber asked, his eyes still closed.
"See these colors:" The worm said. "Red, Orange,
Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, Gold, and now see White."
The worm said.
Amazingly, Wilber saw those colors brightly in his mind, he could
barely believe it. Is this guy some magician? Wilber asked himself.
Wilber now began to feel as if he was drifting toward the light
somehow.
Dude, what's happening? Wilber asked himself. He shilded his eyes
as the bright light grew lighter.
"You are chosen, and you must keep following your path. You
must continue on your mission." A voice said.
Before Wilber could reply, the white light was gone.
"Whoa, that was a totally awesome experience. I met darth
vader!"
top of page
Wilber woke up and began to stretch. He felt so refreshed,
as if he had had the best night sleep in his life.
He looked around the library to find out where the worm was, but
couldn't find him. After looking around for a couple of minutes,
he spotted a pair of glasses and a hat.
"And what do we have here?" Wilber asked. He started
to walk toward the glasses and realized that he had legs, and
that his body was growing fur.
"I guess nothing stays the same around here." Wilber
said, lifting a leg.
He picked up the glasses and put them on. He looked through them
and could see farther and clearer than he did before. He then
put on the hat and realized that he was smarted.
"Totally awesome." Wilber exclaimed. He looked around
then realized that the worm had left the glasses and the hat to
help Wilber on his mission.
Wilber walked over to the edge of the shelf.
"I've got to find those trees." Wilber said. He walked
to close to the edge and began to fall. Wilber cried out as he
hit the ground. He felt the ground begin to float, then he realized
that he was on a skateboard, just like the one he had seen when
he was with DJ.
He looked around the board to see two shoes. He could feel the
wind blow against his face as the board slid easily through the
double doors and out of the library.
"Wow, this is totally awesome." Wilber exclaimed. The
skateboard rolled ruffly down the stairs. At the end of the stairs,
Wilber fell off of the skateboard. He hit the ground hard and
laid back for a moment. His body became numb.
Wilber sat up and looked around. He could see dozens of feet walking
toward him. He quickly rolled out of the way, and ended up facing
a piece of paper that was open wide.
"That was a totally awesome ride." Wilber said climbing
to his feet. He crawled on top of the map and stared down at it.
He could see a skateboard and of roads.
He shook his head.
"No map in the world is going to help me, I have to do this
by myself." Wilber said shaking his head. He looked around
and spotted the teenis shoes he had seen when he was climbing
up the wicker basket to eat the cherry pie.
He started to walk toward them.
"Maybe if I climb on those shoes, I can find out where the
basket is." Wilber said. He jumped up on the shoes and climbed
into the cuff of the pants above the shoes, hoping to find the
trees.