Who's Exploring...

"Here I go from a land of glistening white to a cave of dull gray," thought Lil' Boots as he sat on the rock where Nutmegg and Allspice had left him when they went to some meeting.  "If I would have known that there was nothing to do here I would have gone with them," he grumbled even though they did not invite him along.  Seeing all of the cooking gear, Lil' Boots reached into his pocket without thinking and pulled out his last Tinselly Zooty stick and started to unwrap it and put it into his mouth. 

​It was the sweet taste of honey and cinnamon that made him realize what he was doing.  Taking only one bite and then re-wrapping the stick, he put the remainder back into his pocket.  "Don't know where I will get anything like it again for a while," he reminded himself.  Oh, but boy did that one bite taste good.

Next he took out his compass.  "I should throw this thing away or trade it since it doesn't work anymore," remembering that it just went in circles while he was in the World of Whispers.  As he opened the lid and looked, he was surprised to see that the needle was no longer just spinning around and was now pointed to what it indicated was North.  Taking it outside of the cave he decided to check it again just to make sure.  "It is working," he told himself as he started to make plans.  "I don't need to wait for those other two.  I can get home myself.  I can't be very far if my compass is working again and I don't even have to wait until morning.  The moon is bright and I'm not afraid of the dark."

So, taking his compass and making sure that he had not left anything behind, Lil' Boots started off into the woods heading due North.  After several hours of walking in the dark and under the trees, he came to a large clearing.  Looking up to the stars he made an awful discovery.  "Those aren't even my stars!" he groaned.  It was just starting to sink into him that he was farther from home than he thought. 

Sitting down on an old tree stump, he again reached for his Tinselly Zooty stick and this time stuffed the entire thing into his mouth.  As he sat chewing, he heard a strange noise in one of the trees next to him.

Looking around he did not see anything until he looked up and on one of the branches sat a large owl.  "Are  you lost?" Lil' Boots asked the owl.  "Who" was the answer he got. 

"Well, I am if you aren't.  My name is Lil' Boots and I come from a place far away and want to go home.  Do you happen to know my friend Swifty the snail?"  Again the response, "Who?"

Lil' Boots just shook his head realizing that this bird might be just like the ones he knew.  "You don't understand a word I am saying do you.  Just like those dumb owls back home," he grumbled.

That comment must have irritated the owl for it ruffled it's feathers and gave Lil' Boots a stern look.  "Look fella, if you want my help you better be nicer than that," Oswold the Owl told him.  It was Lil' Boots who now jumped up from the stump with surprise!  "You talk!" he said to the Owl.

"And I sing and dance too," answered the owl, "but now I was going to get something to eat and if you can be civil, I will take you to the Sugar Plum Bakery where you can find something sweeter than that little stick you put in your mouth earlier."

Feeling the hunger pains returning, Lil' Boots did his best bow to the owl and humbly said, "Please, oh Wise One, forgive an ignorant adventurer and lead the way!"