Poking the Swamp

Petra rolled closer, poking the glowing ball with their head. Then, when nothing happened, Petra bumped into it harder. Still nothing. Petra bumped it into one more time, and the ball squashed under the pressure, releasing a sweet-smelling liquid. Petra giggled as it started to coat them.

“I broke it! I wonder what this is? It feels weird…”

The liquid was sticky on Petra’s body, which didn’t feel so good. Petra rolled in the sand, trying to get rid of the feeling. The wet sand, now almost like mud, just stuck to their body, clinging uncomfortably.

“Not everything should be poked,” Petra said wisely, as though they hadn’t just poked something until it exploded.

Petra watched the other blob eagerly to see the results of the tasting experiment, but nodded when she confirmed that it didn't belong in mouths.

"Maybe! We should keep moving."

So Petra rolled along. The patches of earth weren't the only kind of ground here, though. Petra found that out the hard way, as they rolled straight into a soggy patch of land that started to sink beneath them. They tried to roll back, panicked, but there was nothing to get a grip on.

"Help! I'm stuck, I can't get out on my own!"

Petra spun wildly as the sweet, sour stench of the water surrounded them.

When the other blob failed to reach them and asked them to hold on, Petra tried not to panic more. They didn't know if they should move more, or move less. Would they sink faster if they flailed about? Or was that the only thing keeping them afloat? Everything felt sore and it was difficult to move.

When the black blob finally tossed a vine over the edge, Petra grabbed it in their mouth. Not able to speak around the vine, Petra held onto it as tightly as possible. There was nothing else they could do besides wait to be rescued from this awful morass.

When the black blob pulled on the vine, Petra gratefully went up with it. Luckily, Petra was lighter than the other blob, and the final tug got Petra onto solid enough ground to finish escaping the rest of the way on their own.

Petra rolled up to their friend, saying, "Thank you so much for the help. I didn't know if I could have climbed back out without you!"

Petra looked at the swamp ground suspiciously. Any of it could give way under the pressure of two blobs walking together. Petra decided that they could move through the wet, stinky place slowly, looking carefully to make sure they did not misstep.

"We should keep going in just a minute. Let's rest here for now, and look around."

So Petra did. Here, unlike the sandy area they had left, there was a breeze carrying the strong smells of the swamp with it. The air was humid, which Petra liked more than the dry air from before. It made their skin prickle. Petra wondered if there were any living things to poke here, too, like the furry long things from the sands.

Petra scrutinized the vine and the glowing balls as well. They burst open, which made them stop glowing. Now, just sitting there, they were glowing less too. Maybe that meant they would burst open now? Petra backed away from the balls.

“Keeping it seems smart,” Petra agreed. “I don’t know about the balls. Poking them makes them explode or stop glowing. We should poke them differently so they do something else.”

What other ways did they have to poke these balls? Petra pushed one of the balls along, trying to see if it would explode if they moved it cautiously. When it didn’t, Petra found that they were bored. Poking these glowing balls was less fun than poking their friend had turned out to be. Poking blobs was just better than poking things.

“We should find more things that talk,” Petra concluded. “Or more things that move, like the long furry ones from the sands.”

Petra rolled along carefully. Most of the ground here turned out to be ephemeral, lasting only as long as no one or nothing disturbed it. The second Petra or their friend put their weight on it, it would start to collapse. Other parts of the ground were more stable, but no less boring. Petra was not looking for more ground, even if it was more solid. Petra was looking for living things to poke.

As the search continued, Petra moved more carefully than before. After how scared they had been while they were sinking, they had realized how much they needed their friend right now. They couldn't do anything to get out of the mud once they were stuck. Petra didn't like feeling helpless. Maybe on this search, they would find someone or something that could help them stay safe in this strange, liquidy landscape.

Finally, Petra saw something moving in the distance. It skittered along the ground glowing all the way. Petra thought it might be another living thing by how it was moving; the glowing balls didn't move like that, or the tall black things. Before Petra could try to follow it, though, it fled from sight.

At their friend's question, Petra perked up. Being asked for their opinion felt nice. Petra wanted to contribute, too, after how embarrassed they had been at having to be rescued. Now they could do something in return for the help.

"Hummmm is a great name. Say it more so I can remember it. I'm Petra," Petra reminded Hummmm, because it had been a while since they told Hummmm their name and they might have forgotten. "Also, let me know if you see any little glowing things. There was one on the ground that kept moving too fast for me to see it. If we get close to one, we could see what it is."