Chapter 2: The World of the Pudzels

“More cream?” The drabbit asked.

“No, thank you.” My mom said.

“Yes, please!” I asked. The dinosaur-robot-animal-block-iguana-troll poured me lots just like I like.

“Excuse me.” My mom set her cup down. “This tea is lovely –“

“Thank, you.”

“And I don’t mean to pry. But who are you? And where are we?”

“Oh, my manners.” The drabbit sat down, shocked, a couple small pieces fell off his back with the thud and crawled away. “I’m Quincy Blockus, and this is my humble house. Welcome.”

“I meant –“ She was turning red in the face like, “I meant what are you. And what world is this.”

“He drabbit.” I informed her. It was obvious. I drew pictures of them all the time. I even showed her pictures of them.

“A drabbit?”

“Yes, your daughter is right.” The creature smiled. “Elizabeth, was it?”

“Yes, I bigger girl.” I looked over to my sisters. “Abry not big. Klara small. Mommy big.”

“Hello then, Mr. Quincy.” My mother introduced herself. “I’m Mrs. Pearl. But you may call me Jen if you like.”

“No, not Jen, mommy.” I looked at her, puzzled.

“You can call me mommy.” She ruffled my hair. “But I’m not Mr. Quincy’s mother. I’m your mom.”

“My mom, yes.” I smiled.

“Mr. Quincy, I don’t need to be rude, but I have more questions.“ My mom was always extra polite at tea parties; she said it was a rule.

“No bother at all.” Quincy put some little white cubes out, each decorated with a pretty flower. “Sugar?”

“No, thank you.” My mom said. Even her ears were red now, too.

“Yes, please!” I took three. “They delicious!”

“Aren’t they?” Quincy handed me another.

“It’s just – what exactly is a drabbit? How did we get here?”

“No need for embarrassment! Ask all you like. A drabbit is a type of construct. All constructs are pudzels. And this realm, Pudzelia, is the land of the pudzels. Well, mostly. There are a few outsiders, like you, but mostly pudzels.”

“But what’s a construct –“ Mommy had little tears in her eyes now.

“It O.K. mommy.” I looked around. The shelf behind me had paper and crayons. “Don’t be frustrate. I show you.”

I grabbed a purple crayon and drew as fast as I could. “This Quincy, he’s drabbit. Big dinosaur mouth, roar! Only he like tea. Clicky robot arms to make tea and cake. Sticky cat tongue, he like cream like me.”

“Wow, that’s…” Mom was studying my drawing and Quincy intently.

“Not done.” I pointed as I described him. Mommy needed help to understand. “Pretty lion mane, long iguana tail. Strong legs like troll to stomp and dance. Made from blocks. If he fall part, put self together. He like purple.”

“Such a wonderful drawing!” Mr. Quincy complimented her. “So imaginative! May I keep it?”  

“Course!” I handed the sketch to him and he put it in a frame.

“Interesting.” My mom said after a moment of quiet. “Did my daughter make you up?”

“You understand!” Mr. Quincy clapped, robot hands clanging together. “The best drabbits are made by children, combined from things no adult would think to put together. We are the mash-up doodles of a strong imagination. We come to life in the Pudzel Ocean. I spent a few months floating around there before I got some crayon legs. And eventually I was strong enough to crawl out on land and begin the journey to find my home. The pudzel world itself makes a home for every pudzel, we just have to follow our heart and find it.”

               “So – if drabbits are one type of construct, then there are other creatures of imagination as well?”

               “Right again.” The drabbit poured us more tea as he explained. And gave me more cream. “Mashup doodles are only one type. Sketches of your ‘real’ creatures don’t do a lot of course, since pudzels are only born from imagination, but sometimes a child, or even adult, designs a special animal with name and character. Those are Anipals: talking beavers, cats with clothes, loyal dogs, curious monkeys, and the like. And you’ll find the Tories, Toys become Real, throughout Pudzelia as well.”

               “And Zibbits!” I suggested.

               “Yes, of course.” Quincy handed me another sugarcube. “Your daughter is really very smart, you know.”

               “She is clever!” Mom smiled, and her redness was gone. She seemed to be having fun now. “But dare I ask what a zibbit is?”

               “Mechanical animals.” Quincy explained. “Clockwork nightingales and the like. And there are many more types of constructs, but I take it you would like to know more about Pudzelia itself.”

               “Yes, please.”

               “Then follow me outside, please.”

               “Let me check on the girls, first.” Mommy got down some more blocks for Abry to add to her stacking, and scooped up Klara on the way to the door.

               Outside was so colorful! Rainbows crossed the sky, and flying constructs zoomed through the air making shapes together like stars and circles. We heard buzzing and mooing and humming from all around us. Several constructs, a few of them drabbits of various sorts, peeked over at us from their own houses and fences. Every house seemed to have a different shape: Mushroom, shoe, treehouse, basketball, and others. Quincy’s house was shaped like teapot! Some little creatures of varying forms kept flashing in and out of view, appearing to trim a tree or water a flower before flashing back out of sight. It made the air seem sparkly.

               “Wow!” Mommy and me said at the same time.

               “It’s a lively place.” Quincy bragged. “It’s our safe haven, or, it used to be.” His big dinosaur mouth drooped.

               “What wrong?” I asked, “You O.K.?”
               “Let me show you the backyard.” He said, and led us around the yard. It was still colorful, so I didn’t see it at first. “Black spot.”

               “Yes.” There was an icky black spot on the horizon, and near it the sky was grey and the colors brown. There were no rainbows or flying constructs over there.

               “What is it?” My mom asked.

               “Not all outsiders are nice, like you.” He said. “A year ago we had a visitor. He toured the realm, everyone wanted to meet him. Some of us helped him build a castle in the mountains – a place not created by the magic of Pudzelia itself, but the first home the inhabitants built for someone. We were proud of it. Some of the constructs even stayed nearby to make new homes of their own, including my brother Thomas. They left their own houses empty – others decided to trade their own places for those ones.”

               “That bad?” I asked.

               “It wasn’t at first.” Quincy said. “There was a bit of excitement, trying new things, judging for ourselves what house would be best. But we didn’t know that taking from the land left what it built without connection to Pudzelia. And abandoning one’s home for too long drains the creature of its  connection to Pudzelia. So the lands around the castle are dying, and the pudzels who moved there have gone wild. They don’t remember their purpose. They don’t know how to get home. Thomas is lost in that place.”

               “Not Thomas! He’s favorite drabbit, bunny-robot-troll-monkey.”

               “That doesn’t sound good.” Mommy hugged me close.

               “It’s not just my brother or the other workers - it’s spreading.” Quincy tapped his tail on the ground. “The houses there lose their color and shape over time, becoming dull buildings. The wild pudzels then don’t like them anymore, and seek new houses in lands that are still green and bright. It doesn’t matter that those homes are already taken – the wild pudzels drive the home pudzels out. Then the displaced pudzels slowly go wild, those houses go dead and brown, and the cycle continues.” He handed us each a spyglass to look through. Mommy had to rearrange Klara to get a hand free and look through hers. “Every day it grows worse and the dark patch comes closer.”

               “How horrible!” Mom said.

               “Travesty!” I agreed, using mom’s favorite word for disaster. “We help?”

               “That’s why one of the gatekeepers summoned you.” Quincy informed us. “None of us constructs can leave our homes for long periods, only outsiders can really travel the realms. We need you both to save our world.”