They had walked for a great distance - at least that was how he felt - when there was a screech. He looked up and saw that the pencil army ahead had stopped and were looking around expectantly. They stood perfectly still and silent and Arnie wondered what was going on. His feet ached, his stomach rumbled and he longed for this journey to end. He was so exhausted, he couldn't even muster any fear.
Another screech rent the air. It came from the left hand side of the path - in the trees. Here the trees were thick and it was difficult to make anything out. The screech was followed by another similar screech on the other side. The pencil-soldiers on the front and perimeter fell backwards, landing on their backs. Arnie was astonished when he noticed that their companions picked them up and held their sharp graphite tips up as a spear-type weapon. There were several screeches again and a rustling, which shook the transparent, shimmering leaves, making them sway momentarily.
Quite suddenly, several creatures burst out from both sides and collided in the middle of the path. They turned there large, round, silver heads and looked at the army of pencils. Arnie noticed their round heads were curved inwards. They had huge, wide eyes and a small "o" shaped mouth. The creatures froze, a look of terror on their shiny faces. Arnie realised with only slight surprise that they were spoons. Three metal dessert spoons and a couple of tea spoons. Of course they had arms and legs, but they were spoons.
The spoons screamed loudly. It was high-pitched, even higher than the pencil voices, and it sounded terrified. Altogether and very quickly they sprinted off into the trees. He could hear them shouting as they went, their voices ringing out in a sort of terrified song.
"We scoop, we scoop!
"We do it as a group!
"Please don't harm our shiny head
"For we don't wish for any dead
"We only wish to scoop!"
The sound dwindled into the distance and the pencil soldiers resumed their previous marching positions. Flimgog appeared by his side and spoke.
"That is merely the spoons, they mean no harm. We have almost arrived. Do not insult the leader, speak only when spoken to and behave."
Arnie replied, feeling the dryness in his mouth, "Okay."
It was all he could manage.
After a brief march, he saw a village coming into view. It was a collection of small, gold buildings. He presumed they were made from the trees of the forrest. There was a wall surrounding the place, low enough for him to see over, but high enough to protect against small beings such as those he had so far encountered. As they approached, a gate opened and he was led in and down the yellow path that wound through the village until they reached the largest building of all. It looked the same as the rest, except that it was a lot bigger. In fact, the open doorway was big enough for him to walk through if he crouched only slightly. The rest of the village looked fairly normal to him, with the exception of it's small size and strange colours.
"Go through there. I leave you here. You will be guided from once you enter. It has been my honour to guide you." Flimgog bowed - which meant his entire pencil body went over as the joints to his legs stayed still - and then he scurried off back down the path - his soldiers following.
An honour? Arnie thought. What a strange thing to say.
He crouched down, and ducked through the doorway, entering the home of the leader of these people. He was more than a little nervous, and still confused about Flimgog's goodbye.
Please remember to vote if you like it! Let me know your thoughts so far by commenting too!