In a Weary World

Chapter XXVI: Trial and Error

"But I haven't even made it move yet," Solvej objected. "Wait a minute and you'll see."

"I don't want-- Argh!" Hjalmar let out a shriek as the carpet moved forward. It only moved about an inch, but he still clutched the edge and held on for dear life.

Solvej's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "Are you scared of heights?"

"Of heights? No. Of falling? Yes."

The ghost sighed. "I've told you, there's no danger of anyone falling off this carpet."

Hjalmar said nothing. He clung to the carpet, kept his eyes tightly closed, and wondered how he had ended up in this predicament.

~~~~

"No. No. Nonononono--"

"What are you, a toddler?"

"I'm not getting on that thing!"

Solvej took a deep breath and counted to ten. What was it about flying carpets that made Hjalmar so terrified? "You've already been on "that thing", as you call it, and it didn't hurt you, did it?"

Hjalmar folded his arms. The look on his face suggested he would have pouted if his dignity would allow it. "No, but--"

"Then what's the problem?"

The flying carpet hovered in mid-air less than a foot above the soft grass of the palace garden. It looked perfectly innocuous, if somewhat out-of-place. Solvej could certainly see no reason why anyone would be afraid of it. But clearly, she and Hjalmar would have to agree to disagree on this.

"I don't trust it!"

Solvej blinked. She looked at Hjalmar. Then she looked at the carpet. "It's a carpet. How can you trust a carpet? It's a thing, not a person!"

"That's why I don't trust it!"

No doubt that sentence made sense to Hjalmar. It made no sense whatsoever to Solvej. She gave him a look that was just as baffled as some of the looks he'd given her.

"Look, it's perfectly safe." To prove her point, she sat on the edge of the carpet. It obligingly stayed as steady as any chair. "And I can assure you there's no chance of you falling off. I've already assured you of that, actually. Now get on it and we'll go for a test flight!"

Hjalmar looked at the flying carpet with the same fear and alarm one would show a man-eating tiger. Apparently no amount of proof that it was safe would convince him.

"All right then," Solvej said, moving to the centre of the carpet. "I'll go myself."

She willed it to move forward. The carpet drifted lazily through the air. She willed it to move faster. It sped up. She willed it to slow down. It slowed almost to a stop. Out of curiosity more than anything else, she willed it to do a loop-the-loop.

Seconds later, the carpet was still hovering in mid-air. But Solvej was sprawled in the middle of a flowerbed, and the lives of the flowers planted there had been cruelly cut short.

"Perfectly safe indeed," Hjalmar observed dryly.

The ghost struggled to her feet, brushing camellia petals off her clothes. "I put a spell on it to stop people falling off the sides. I forgot to extend that spell so no one can fall off the top," she said with a sheepish grin.

Hjalmar raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

"I know," Solvej said, dusting off her trousers. "This hasn't increased your confidence in its safety."