Tourist Trap

Chapter 20

"What's that?" Zeke asked. 

"Sexual reproduction capabilities!" the flower that was apparently known as Ralph shouted out. 

"Would you shut your trap?" the red flower said icily. 

"Sorry, boss," Ralph replied. 

"No the one thing we'd like more than anything is the gift of mobility. It gets tiresome being rooted to one spot all the time. Especially when you're stuck in the company of morons." It glared at Ralph again. 

"Where is this sculpture located?" Zeke asked. 

"Not too far from here is the mushroom forest. Rumor has it, it lies somewhere in there. Bring us the sculpture and we'll tell you how to get back to the city." 

"All right," Zeke nodded. "I'll get it for you. What about my friend? Can he come along?" 

"He'll remain here as collateral," the flower replied. "Now off with you. It shouldn't take you very long to get there, but don't return without the sculpture or you're both dead. Got me?" 

"Yes sir," Zeke said as he retrieved the torch and took off in the direction the flower had indicated. 

He briefly considered simply abandoning Daedalus and attempting to find his way back to the city on his own. After all, he didn't really know the guy all that well and he had threatened to eat him. On the other hand, he realized he probably wouldn't have escaped from the barbarians without his help and still might not survive the dangers of the jungle on his own. He decided it probably was for the best to try to retrieve this sculpture, although he wasn't sure exactly how he was going to accomplish this task either.  

On the plus side it appeared the mushroom forest wasn't too far away at all. He began noticing an increase in fungal growth after just a few minutes. Pretty soon they were sprouting up in full mushrooms that grew increasingly larger as he continued to walk and the ground became increasingly soft and sponge-like under his feet. He was impressed when he first encountered an automobile-sized mushroom but soon these became numerous and before he realized it he was surrounded by mushrooms that towered over his head, as tall as the trees that had previously dominated the environment.  

"I guess this must be the place," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't see any sculptures just laying around anywhere. I didn't really figure it would be that easy anyway, I suppose." 

Zeke held his torch out and looked around as he tried to determine if any one direction looked more promising than any other. He realized he might be able to get a better lay of the land from a higher vantage point, so he decided to climb one of the tree-sized mushrooms. He clasped his arms and legs around the huge stem and shimmied his way upwards. It took a little maneuvering but he was able to pull himself over the edge of the cap and on top of the mushroom which was bright purple with blue polka-dots.  

He began to grasp the sheer size of the mushroom forest as he surveyed the landscape. Giant mushrooms like the one he stood on stretched out as far as the eye could see in every direction except the way he'd come from. This didn't exactly fill him with confidence about the prospects of succeeding in his quest. He pursed his lips and continued to stare at the apparently limitless growth in front of him. 

Off to the right he noticed a sizable gap in the mushroom growth pattern. Lacking any better leads he decided to investigate why there was an apparent clearing in that spot.  

He thought about leaping from mushroom top to mushroom top but realized the ground was a considerable distance below him and a fall would be somewhat nasty. Getting down looked like it was going to be tricky regardless. He had to hang onto the edge of the cap with his hands and swing his legs back around the stem before he could inch his way back down.