Charlie B. Dinkle's Delightful Adventure

Ch. 7 ~ Mount Balloon

Chapter 7

   All the striped squiggles - who have quickly become friends with Charlie - had now started talking very excitedly amongst themselves. They were very noisy.

   "Quiet!" shouted Squiggly B. Immediately, all the squiggles became quiet. Charlie was beginning to realize that Squiggle B might be the striped squiggle leader. Or at least, something like that.

   "Squiggles!" he announced. "All of you get in your positions, and wait for further orders."

   They all bustled. Soon, each squiggle was standing next to its own underground hole. It was very orderly, the way the squiggles quickly went to their own hole. As if each one was assigned to its own hole, its own tunnel.

   How exciting, thought Charlie B. Dinkle.

   "C'mon, Charlie," called Squiggle B. He was standing next to his own hole, which was the largest of all the scattered holes. "You'll ride with me."

   "OK," replied Charlie. She climbed onto Squiggle B's comfy, soft head and held onto its fuzziness.

   "When I give the signal, my friends!" said Squiggle B. "We all go under and meet at Mount balloon, alright?"

   "Alright," they said.

   Squiggle B looked up at the little girl on top of his head. "Don't be scared, OK?"

   "I'm not scared," said Charlie. Her fuzzy friend nodded and turned his attention back to the rest of the squiggles that were awaiting his orders.

   "One... two... Wiggle the Pickle le jiggle!" Squiggle B gave the signal, and every single super-worm jumped high into the air and dived back down into their hole.

   Charlie B. Dinkle wasn't scared this time, just like she said. Instead, she squealed in delight while her ride dug through the dirt. She heard the other squiggles digging their way through the dirt behind her.

   Charlie remembered Squiggle B saying something about a mountain called Mount Balloon. Boy, she thought, she wondered what that looked like.

   Charlie didn't know how much time they stayed underground. It was like, to Charlie B. Dinkle, as if time didn't exist in this magical world. She couldn't wait to name it.

   The squiggles popped out of the ground. Wherever they were now, it certainly wasn't a mountain; the now grassy ground was too flat. She slid off Squiggle B to get a better look around her.

   As if he read her mind, Swaggy Swiggy came next to her and said, "We're beside Mount Balloon. It's to your right over there."

   Charlie B. Dinkle didn't think she could get anymore shocked than she already was unless she met a unicorn. However, the mountain shocked her plenty. It was literally a mountain of balloons. Colorful balloons were stacking over each other the same way they do if someone takes all the strings and holds it in his/her hand. The pile of balloons was as large as a real mountain.

   Then Charlie B. Dinkle noticed that all the strings of all the balloons were tied down with one nail in the ground. Some balloons had short strings. Some had long strings. Again, it was a mountain literally made of balloons.

   "How are we going to climb that?" asked Charlie, still staring at the magnificent Mount Balloon.

   "Not climb," corrected Swaggy Swiggy. "Jump."

   All the squiggles jumped into the air. They were very good at jumping, Charlie noted. This time, instead of diving into the ground, each one jumped on a balloon attached to the mountain. Then they jumped from that balloon to another one a bit higher up. Then another. Until every squiggle was jumping its way up the mountain from balloon to balloon.

   Those balloons must be awfully strong and big not to pop under the super-worms, thought Charlie.

   "What are you waiting for?" shouted one of the squiggles to a standing Charlie B. Dinkle. "Jump!"

   So she did. And Charlie found that is wasn't hard at all, jumping from one top of a balloon to another, but very fun and exciting. If Charlie B. Dinkle was going to have this much fun here every day, then she never wanted to leave.

   On the top of the mountain, you still had to balance yourself on the top of a bunch of bumpy balloons, so Charlie was extra careful where she stepped/jumped.

   When Charlie B. Dinkle and the rest of the squiggles reached the top of Mount Balloon, Squiggle B gave his next instructions.

   "Every squiggly!" Squiggle B said, "Here is what you do now! In order to fly to Cuddle Crunch Cloud, each one of you will grab exactly twenty balloons with the end of your tail, OK? And when the balloons help you float high up in the air, blow the balloons to the right so that you will drift to the right. And when you need to go left, blow the balloons to the left."

   Every striped squiggly grabbed twenty balloons from the mountain with the end of their tails. Charlie used her hands to grab twenty balloons, since she didn't have a tail. Then, when all twenty balloons were in her hands, Charlie B. Dinkle's feet left the ground. She was going up, all the way up to Cuddle Crunch Cloud.

   Now, let's take a moment from all the excitement and imagine you were a happy little beaver, minding your own business on the ground. And all of a sudden, your tiny self sees a bunch of gigantic, striped, fuzzy worms flying in the air. And each fuzzy worm was holding a bunch of balloons to make it fly up in the blue sky, heading towards the clouds. Why, your poor beaver self would probably feel quite dizzy by the sight.

   And like that wasn't enough, a little girl was flying with them, right in the middle of the floating crowd. She was holding balloons in her hands, too, and had the most exciting hair any beaver has ever seen. It was long, orange and curly, bouncing behind this little girl's back. And even from afar, your little beaver self could admire her deep blue eyes, which looked like the ocean. Her dress was quite pretty and nice, too. All purple and fluffy.

   Well, it just so happens there was a little beaver watching Charlie and her friends as they slowly floated across the sky. This beaver's name was Linda, and she was beginning to feel quite dizzy from the view. Why, in all her exciting life, she had never seen anything quite as exciting as this! So, Linda the beaver went scampering back to her home, and told her husband. Her husband was amazed, too, and went to tell the carpenter at a small town.

   The carpenter had never heard such news, and told the people in his town. The newsletter heard and published it in the newspaper. It was the most exciting news the town had ever printed. A dwarf that lived with his friends in the forest bought a copy and read about Charlie and the flying squiggles. The dwarf showed it to his friends and soon, everyone around wanted to know what Charlie B. Dinkle and the squiggles were doing.

   "What is this queer group up to?" everyone asked.