Mythlands: THE HEIST

The Wheels on the Bus

Many months ago.

The Magic Mirror shuddered as one of his visions came upon him. He heard the tinkle of music, then flashes of faces and a distant thunder. Louder and louder, sharp and jagged ... it was a bad one and he shuddered to his very frame. The staccato tap and roar of disjointed flashes of the future ... the pain filling his glass like the worst headache ever combined with nails scratching his surface.

'The Wheels on the bus go round and round ... round and round.'

The juxtaposition of childlike melody, with the visions, disorientated The Mirror. He saw things, past and future.

A scatty looking monkey and an even dumber looking dog, waiting in a coach station.

'Well dang it all Jip, ol fella, ol pal ... Emerald City here we come. The Doc'll be proud o old Chee-Chee an good ol Jip, an no mistake! We're gonna make it big in the big city an ... consarn it Jip, ya got the wrong tickets! These here are for Domain City!'

'Yip yip, yiiiiipppp.'

'Whaaal, I guess yer right Jip ol puppy, one cities as good as another. We'll get us some jobs an write ol Doc Doolittle an he'll be proud no doubt about it, yassiree!! Here comes our bus.'

'The Wheels on the bus go round and round. All day long!'

Jessica Bunny was fuming. Two marriages ... Two! Why couldn't she meet a guy who dealed it straight ... Straight! What a laugh. Her second hubby was worse than her first ... at least Rog was a good old fashioned cheat and not using her as a beard while he tried to deny his own ... B was probably shacked up with Elmer now ... or the duck. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen the signs sooner. 

She ought to leave town, get a fresh start. One last drink and ... what do you want? Damn it Jess, no more men, especially of the cony kind. She ought to turn away, finish her drink and go, but ... well he was kinda cute. Long ears, fuzzy down on his cheeks and whiskers had always made her hot. He was coming over ... touch up lipstick. One more drink couldn't hurt ...

'The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish.'

The Tortoise considered the implications of what he had been told. He fanned himself with his panama hat and took another sip on his tequila and then looked over the table at Zeus and Odin. 'Gentlemen, I ... uhhh ... agree. The ... ermmm .... security of the ... realms is ... uhhhh paramount. I shall .... uhhhh .... be the .... uhhh .... one man who knows the ... urrrr .... location.'

'The driver on the bus goes Move on Back. Move on Back.'

Loki suspected the nature of the secret that his father and the other godheads were keeping. It all made a certain logical sense, but the question remained, should he leave well enough alone or should he at least find out if it was what he suspected and then decide what to do with that knowledge!?

'The people on the bus go up and down. Up and down.'

The Glass Cat pored through more scrolls, searching, ever searching. The answers to the great questions were out there and he would read every story, find every origin and visit every land until he knew. He had to know. It was in his nature.

'The horn on the bus goes beep beep beep. Beep beep beep.'

The Hare had a choice to make. He only prayed it would be the right one!

'The baby on the bus goes wah, wah, wah. Wah wah wah.'

Chicken-Licken looked up as the thunders erupted overhead. 'It's coming true! It's all coming true!!! The SKY IS FALLING!!!!' 

'The parents on the bus go shhhh, shhhh, shhhh. Shhhh, shhhh, shhhh.'

The Magic Mirror groaned as the melody combined with the crashes of thunder in his head. He felt his frame would surely tear apart!!

Then the cacophony of sounds and images shrieked into one last terrifying crescendo of noise, terror and fury.

He saw it then ... he saw the different paths trodden and the inevitable, inexorable conclusion that the future would surely bring about unless events were altered and choices made differently. He saw the end ... the end of everything!!!

'... and the wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and Round. And the wheels on the bus go round and round ... ALL ... DAY ... LONG.'