Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I woke up to Robbie shaking my shoulder gently. "Cendi, time to go. You don’t want to miss what’s on the other side of the door." His voice was a mix of mystery and excitement.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming," I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Jessie stood by him, her wand already in hand, casting a soft glow in the dim morning light of Doodle.

"So," I asked, my stomach grumbling. "What’s for breakfast?"

"The same thing we had for dinner," Jessie joked.

Robbie laughed. "Actually, my bet is that a door means people, and people means food. I think we’ll find our breakfast there."

"Well, what are we wasting time for?" I asked with a laugh.

Robbie nudged me and pointed toward the door in the side of the mountain. It glowed in multiple colors that rippled up the mountain. "Wow," I said. "That looks beautiful and freaky."

"That’s exactly the way I’d describe it," Robbie said.

Jessie nodded beside me. "Prepare for anything."

I pulled out my wand and nodded. Robbie did the same and the three of us began our trek toward the door. Today, I realized, there was a little less enthusiasm and excitement, and more grim determination. But, I guess, a night spent on the ground with no dinner has a way of sobering people up.

We walked for hours, the side of the mountain growing steeper with each step. My breaths came heavy, and I promised myself, between gasps, that I'd start exercising more when we got back, if we got back. For now, though, I’d have to try to ignore the way my knees and thighs were aching and press on. If Robbie and Jessie could do it, I had to keep going too.

Finally, we reached the door. It was unlike anything I'd seen, even in Doodle. Scribbles formed a wild mosaic of colors across its surface, a shiny doorknob looking like a blob of silver slime in the center, clearly the work of a child's hands.

"Here it is," Robbie said. "Bet you can't guess where it leads."

"Knowing this place? Probably another world made of bubblegum or something," I said, still catching my breath.

"I bet it’s a place filled with cats and puppies," Jessie said.

Robbie tapped his chin. "Or maybe one filled with slime and play dough."

Jessie laughed and waved her wand. The door creaked open, revealing a pitch-black tunnel. She flicked her wrist, and a bright orb of light popped into existence, hovering above our heads like a miniature sun.

"Better than a flashlight," she smiled proudly.

"Yeah, because I wasn’t going to enter a dark tunnel without a light," I joked, although I wasn’t really joking. There was no way I could get over the creepiness of that.

"I’m not afraid of the dark," Robbie said, then whispered. "But don’t make me go in it."

We all laughed, but no one started forward. It was like we were trying to prepare ourselves for whatever was coming next. I felt like a football player, slapping the other players helmets and shouting to get my head in the game.

"Lead the way then," I teased.

Jessie grinned. "I’ll go first, since I have the light."

She entered the darkness, Robbie followed her, and I stepped into the mouth of the cave right behind them. The orb cast moving shadows on walls that looked like they were sketched with charcoal and smudged by eager fingers. Stalactites and stalagmites crisscrossed above and below, some sharp and others rounded, like they were molded out of clay by impatient, playful hands.

"Watch your step," Robbie said as we navigated through a particularly narrow part of the cavern. "These rocks don't look too stable."

"Everything here seems like it could come alive," I said, half-expecting the stones to start dancing around us.

"Wouldn't be the strangest thing we've seen so far," Jessie added, her laughter echoing off the cave walls.

The deeper we went, the more the tunnels felt like a drawing of an underground maze. And with each step, the door behind us seemed less like reality and more like a dream I was only half-remembering.

We followed the winding path through the cave, Jessie's orb of light our only guide. The tunnel opened, and we stepped out into the cool air of Doodle. Before us stood a hulking structure, its corrugated metal walls marked with splashes of color as if someone had thrown paint at it in a fit of artistic rage. Vines crept up the sides and the windows were jagged lines that looked like they'd been cut out with a rusty can opener.

"Looks more war zone than cozy cottage," I said.

"Should we split up and look around a little?" Jessie suggested.

"As long as you can show us how to make that light," I said.

So, she showed us how to do the enchantment, and then we all took off in opposite directions, promising to be careful and meet back in that room. I found myself along a long hallway. Each door I opened was a bedroom with a different theme. One looked like it was dinosaur themed, except the dinosaurs were pink and purple and had giant smiles. Another one had yellow trees with wings all over the walls. None of the beds looked like they’d been slept in for a very long time though. It was creepy. Where did the people who lived here go?

Reaching the end of the hall, I turned around and came back to the central room where I’d split off from Robbie and Jessie. Neither of them were there. I tapped my foot and waited, growing nervous and impatient when they didn’t arrive. I was about to start shouting for them when I saw two distant lights coming from their halls.

Relief sung through me as they came into view. "Found anything interesting?"

"Nothing," Jessie said, seemingly frustrated .

"I think I might have found a few things," Robbie said, excitement in his voice.

We followed him down his dark hallway, but he ignored most of the doors we passed. I stared at his back, wondering what he was so excited about. Could it be a portal room to take us right home? No, that would be too easy.

"Found this place while searching," Robbie pushed open a door that creaked on hinges. "Come on."

Inside, our footsteps echoed off the empty walls. We entered a room where shelves were lined with cans and boxes, their labels a scrawl of imagined brands and food items. There was a stack of water bottles, the plastic looking as though it was molded from a lump of clay.

"Safe to eat?" I asked, picking up a can.

"Tested by yours truly," Robbie popped open a bottle of water and took a swig.

"It’s the only thing that looks safe to each since we got here," Jessie said, her voice bouncing around the barren room.

I grabbed what looked like beef jerky, hoping it wasn’t one of those creatures with googly eyes. Chewing cautiously, I was relieved it tasted familiar. Definitely not beef, but something sweet and soft, which is nice.

"There’s another room too with something interesting," Robbie said after we finished our makeshift meal.

"Lead the way," I said.

In another room down the hall, stuffed with crates and barrels, a large map dominated the wall. It was faded, the edges curling. Jessie waved her wand, and the room lit up, shadows dancing between the clutter.

"Look at this," she brushed dust off the map with her sleeve.

We huddled around, tracing lines and shapes with our fingers, looking for clues. Our location was marked by a red 'X' in paint, while other outposts dotted the landscape in smudged charcoal. Which meant, there might be other places we could go with people. Places that Jaylyn might have gone. Places we might be able to find a way home at.

"Having a map will help heaps," I said, relief washing over me.

"Can't peel it off," Robbie tugged at the corners.

"Let me help," I said, grabbing ahold of it.

"Me too," Jessie said.

We each grabbed an edge and started pulling. When the dang thing didn’t move, I braced my feet on the wall and yanked with all my might. Still, nothing. Huffing and puffing, we stopped, staring at it like a new foe.

"Sketch it then?" I said.

Jessie gave me a look. "Do you want to do it?"

I laughed. "No, oh no, definitely not me, but Robbie is an amazing artist. I know he could do it."

"Can do. Just need to find something to sketch with. Be right back."

He left, the glow of his light going with him. When he was gone, silence swallowed us, and I glanced at Jessie. She looked as nervous as I felt.

"We’re going to get back home."

Her head jerked toward me. "What?"

"We’re going to find a way home."

She gave a shaky nod. "Yeah, I’ve just never done something like this before."

"Same," I admitted with a laugh. "Jumping through portals into other worlds is the kind of thing other women do. I prefer to stay at home with my cats.

She laughed, but then her gaze grew more somber. "I wonder how Jaylyn is doing, all alone in this world."

I wondered too. "She’s tough. She’ll be okay."

Robbie returned with a wide grin and pulled out a notebook and pencil. "Score!"

Jessie glanced around us. "What should we do while you’re busy with that?"

"Let's rest while he works," I proposed. "Take turns."

"Sounds good," Jessie settled down on a crate.

Robbie sketched diligently. His movements quick and focused.

I blinked away the grogginess as Jessie's wand flickered brighter, casting a warm glow over us. Robbie hunched over his notebook, the map taking shape under his steady hand. I leaned in closer, trying to make sense of the lines and shaded areas he had recreated.

"Think Jaylyn could've headed toward one of these outposts?" Jessie said, her finger hovering over a particularly dense cluster of marks.

"Maybe," I squinted at the map. "If she did, it looks like rough terrain between here and there."

"Try the finding spell and see where it points, maybe then we’ll be sure about her being at the outpost," I suggested.

"Good idea," Jessie said. She waved her still-glowing wand and moved about, but the wand simply made that weird electrical sound. Putting her wand down, she shook her head. "No go."

"Darn."

Jessie found a blanket on a shelf and laid it in a corner. "Proper rest?" She asked.

"Good idea," I said. "You go first."

She laid down on the blanket on the ground, a blanket that looked dusty, leaving her wand on a box beside Robbie, and I sat quietly watching Robbie. Within minutes, Jessie was snoring away. I smiled, glad she’d managed to get comfortable in such an uncomfortable place.

As time ticked by, I got tired of sitting and went back to the storage room. I found a can that said, "Spagetti-O-Soooo-Good," and cracked it open. Inside were little circular noodles and sauce. With no other choice, I ate them at room temperature, with my hands, then used a small amount of water to wash my hands. When I was done, I felt better, full and happy.

Returning to the room, I went back to sitting and watching, deciding not to wake Jessie. Time passed, I don’t know how much, but I startled awake, realizing, belatedly, that I’d drifted up.

"Was I snoring?"

"Don’t worry about it," Robbie mumbled, which meant I was.

Jessie snorted herself awake, wiping drool from her chin. "I-I wasn’t asleep."

Robbie didn't look up from his work, just nodded. "Almost done," he said. His pencil danced across the paper, capturing every detail of the original with impressive accuracy.

Jessie slowly rose to her feet, stretching, and I focused my attention on Robbie’s sketch. It was absolutely amazing. This man was talented beyond what anyone knew.

"Your skill is something else, Robbie," I complimented him. He shrugged, focused on his task.

We discussed our next move, weighing the distance against our supplies and the unknown variables of the land. The closest outpost wasn't too far, but in a world sketched by childhood imagination, distances were deceptive, and landscapes unpredictable.

Once Robbie put down his pencil, we all crowded around his masterpiece. The sketch was more than a copy; it breathed with potential paths and secrets hidden between its lines.

"So, now what do we do?" I asked.

Jessie stood up straighter. "My vote? Head for the closest outpost and hope she showed up there. If not, at least we might be able to reach some people that could help us get home."

"Good plan" Robbie said.

"Alright, let's take inventory and bring anything that might be useful," Jessie said. We rummaged through the provisions room, finding canned foods. 'Yummy Beans', 'Sweetish Fish', and 'Spicy Tomato Magic'. We filled our bags with these and bottles of water that thankfully seemed normal enough.

"Got a Swiss Army knife, some rope, and this... flashlight-looking thing," Robbie held up a device that glowed at the tip when he clicked it.

"Could be useful," I said.

"Let's not forget the first-aid kit," Jessie added, her practicality shining through as she packed bandages and what appeared to be healing salves in bright, mismatched jars.

Before leaving, we stood before the large map on the wall one last time, absorbing the fact that we had a direction now, a plan. The map was more than a guide; it was a promise of discovery and possibly a route to find Jaylyn.

"Ready?" Robbie asked, his blue eyes reflecting determination.

"Ready," Jessie and I answered in unison.

With backpacks shouldered and Robbie's sketch in hand, we stepped out of the abandoned station.

The cool air of Doodle nipped at our faces. The sky was a mash-up of colors.

"Which way?" I asked, squinting at Robbie's hand-drawn map.

"Northwest," Jessie pointed with her wand that no longer needed to conjure light now that we were outside.

"Northwest it is," Robbie said, as he folded the paper carefully and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

"Hope these boots are made for walking," I said, already feeling the first twinge in my calves from the uneven ground that squished oddly beneath my feet.

"Keep an eye out for anything... unusual," Jessie said, but in Doodle, 'unusual' was a relative term.

"Like that?" I pointed at a creature resembling a doodled duck with wheels instead of feet, zooming past us with a honk .

"Exactly like that," Robbie chuckled, shaking his head.

The path twisted and turned, taking us through landscapes that defied logic. Trees with leaves that looked like they belonged in a coloring book rustled in the wind, making soft scratching noises like pencils on paper.

"Watch out," Jessie suddenly shouted as a low-hanging branch shaped like a hand nearly swatted us. We ducked, narrowly avoiding a pat from the playful foliage.

"Thanks," I panted, picking up the pace. "Can't wait to see how many steps I've clocked today."

"Bet it's a new record." Robbie glanced back with a grin.

"Let's hope it's worth it," I said, more to myself than anyone else, my thoughts on the outpost and the secrets it might hold about Jaylyn's whereabouts.

"Stay focused," Jessie reminded me, her tone gentle yet firm.

"Right," I nodded. "Focus."

With each step, we drew closer to the unknown, armed with nothing but a sketch, some sketchy supplies, and hope that felt as fragile as the paper map we carried. But together, we pressed on, ready for whatever this whimsical, crayon-scented world had in store for us.