Keeping Fantasia: The Third Book of the Fantasia Series

Chapter 139: Rainbow Staircase

Chapter 139: Rainbow Staircase

Jim vaguely remembered The Darling's having neighbors, but he had no recollection of the house seated to 1953 Kensington's right.

It was a charming little house, made of wood, and painted yellow, green, blue and pink.

Jim thought he would have remembered a house so unique, but he didn't. It literally seemed the house had dropped from the sky. He didn't remember the white mailbox with faded handprints, and he didn't remember the people whose names were painted alongside them: Carl and Ellie.

He also didn't remember the cranky-ass neighbor.

"Stay on the sidewalk!" An old man hollered from the porch. "Mind my azaleas!"

Jim assumed this was Carl.

"Sorry." he said, adjusting a heavy cardboard box in his arms. "Are you Carl?"

"That's Mr. Fredrickson to you!"

"My bad."

"You bet your bad, buckaroo. You planning on keeping that deathtrap parked in front of my house?"

Carl waved his quad-cane at Jim's solar surfer, which was hovering dangerously close to the aforementioned azaleas.

Jim backtracked. He flipped up the kick stand.

"Sorry." he repeated, in a tone which indicated he was not. Gliding the solar surfer across the pavement, he nodded at Wendy's home. "My sister is moving in today. We're expecting a few cars. I didn't want to block her driveway."

"So you decided to block mine?" Carl scowled at the Pan's newly renovated home. "Moving in, huh? Shifty business if you ask me. Loudmouth dwarves, pounding and hammering all night! I'm pert near deaf and all I could hear was Heigh Ho til dawn! And for what?"

Stiffly, Carl tried to stand -- (failed) – then leaned into his quad-cane and hobbled into his house.

"Just so a dirty shadow worker can move in with her hippie husband. Neighborhood is going to the dogs!"

Carl slammed his front door. Several locks clicked.

Jim made a face. "He's a treat, huh Morph?"

"Old fart!" Morph chirped, twisting into a quad cane with pink tennis balls. "Get off my lawn!"

"No kidding." Vindictively, Jim steered his solar surfer over the azaleas. "Let's say hi to Wendy before Mom, Ariel, and Melody get here."

Morph reshaped excitedly into a gumball machine. Jim smiled: they had allowed Melody to pick a housewarming gift for Peter, and she had selected a gumball machine (which Ariel was purchasing now).

Jim had created Wendy's gift (it was in the cardboard box), and although he knew she would love it, it was hard to predict which Pan would like their gift more. Jim's present was good, but a gumball machine for Peter was pretty perfect.

Jim set the box on the doorstep. Nodding to the Seven Dwarves (they were dusting the brickwork), he pressed the doorbell.

The sound surprised him. Three flutey notes filled the house, instead of the traditional diiing-dong. Intrigued, Jim rang again. The three notes were simple and sweet, reminiscent of a pan pipe.

There was a rumble inside. Someone was rushing.

Abruptly Wendy opened the door.

"We have a rainbow staircase!" she squealed.