Adam's Apples
Even during New Eden time, during which there is much goodness and happiness, evil yet lurks in the hearts of some New Edons. Usually those with evil in their hearts and mischief on their minds grow old more quickly than those with pure hearts and pure minds. Thus, with age on their faces at an early age, disobedient New Edons are known and swiftly judged under the Great King's perfect justice.
Two such Glorainians listened with great interest while Adam Beam's Exploretime classmate talked excitedly to his older brother.
"They brought seven apples with them that came from the Garden of the First Time!" the boy said to his older brother while Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt listened from behind the hedges they were supposed to be trimming. "Those apples were given to Adam...not Adam Beam...but to Adam, the very first man."
The boy telling the story continued, his voice rising dramatically. Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt put their nosy ears closer to the hedge to better hear the story being told on the other side.
"Evil ones stole the apples from Adam. ...Not Adam Beam...Adam, you know, the first Adam. And Adam Beam went back to the First Time during his Dream Doors Adventure and stole the apples back from the evil ones."
Lester Mudd's eyes narrowed while he listened carefully to the boy's words. Castor Groutt, who really wasn't paying attention to what he was trimming on the hedge, let the hedge eater he held in his hand get too close to the seat of Lester Mudd's pants. The machine bit into Lester's trousers and quickly began eating the cloth.
"Ouch!!" Lester Mudd jumped when the hedge eater bit him.
"You bonehead!" he yelled at his careless hedge-trimming partner, then whacked him on the top of his head with his own hedge eater, driving the cap he wore down over Castor Groutt's ears.
"Hey! What was that for?" Castor Groutt whined, rubbing the top of his head.
"Be quiet," Lester Mudd whispered, putting his ear next to the hedge again. Castor Groutt did the same.
"And now Adam Beam, his sister and his mom and dad have been called by the Great King. They must take the seven apples to the Great King. I bet there'll be a great reward."
"Why do you think there will be a great reward?" the boy's older brother asked.
"Because these apples are to be used for some great future purpose...Adam, not Adam Beam but the Adam ... from the First Time, told Adam Beam that the Maker of All Things told him that these apples from the Garden of the First time will serve some great purpose in the future."
Lester Mudd looked at Castor Groutt with a squinty-eyed look full of mischief. He had already dredged up his dark plot from deep within his mean thoughts. If there were going to be a reward, it would be his-not Adam Beam's.
The brightons walked through the wall and into the Beam family's home. Even though Bud Beam's family was expecting the visit, the sudden appearance startled them. The brightons' dazzling white clothing and shining faces and hands made them appear much like the lightons. And brightons all looked much alike-that is, they looked much like each other. Yet at the same time they were very different in appearance.
They looked to be much like the people of New Eden. But unlike the Edons, brightons could walk through solid rock or solid walls. They could suddenly vanish without the help of a dream doodler, then reappear at any time. Brightons could instantly, as they chose, travel to any planet anywhere in the universe.
Brightons had been at one time like the humans of New Eden. Like the Edons, they had needed food, and they had needed to sleep because they got tired. But like the humans of New Eden who, because of the life-giving fruit and living water, enjoyed great health and long life, the brightons, before they became brightons, had lived not much beyond seventy years. They were the humans of the Before Time. Old age, sickness and death were their enemies. That is, old age, sickness and death were their enemies until one fantastic moment in time--the Great Taking Away. The people of that Before Time had in that fantastic moment been made brightons. They now no longer endure old age or sickness or death. They are one with--and are very much like--the Great King, whom they serve with all their hearts.
Adam Beam remembered well the lessons he learned about the brightons during Exploretime. The brightons, he knew, loved all of the children of New Eden, as did the Great King. Because they themselves were once children-during the Before Time and during the Trouble Time-brightons always knew exactly how to make the children of New Eden Time happy.
The brightons had invented the dream doodler and the Dream Doors with, of course, the blessings of the Great King.
After they had walked through the wall and into the Beam family gathering room, the brightons stood smiling down at Adam and Zonia. Toby, immediately in one bound, came to the brightons and began rubbing against them much like would a happy house cat.
"Toby! It is so nice to see you again!" one of the brightons said, laughing and patting the big tiger between his ears. Toby made sure the other brighton was given an equal opportunity to pet him. The tiger snarled loud, purring snarls of delight while the petting continued.
"Adam, Zonia, we have come to you from His Majesty's throne. The Great King has sent us to summon you on the matter of your bringing the seven apples back from the first time. He is most pleased."
The brighton who spoke seemed to glow even more brightly as he knelt on one knee in front of the two children and hugged them both.
"Will you come tomorrow with your mother and father? And, of course with Toby?"
The Great King! Why would anyone NOT want to go to the Great King! Both Adam and Zonia thought, their wide smiles and bright eyes giving the brighton his answer even before Zonia spoke the answer for both herself and her brother.
"QUANTUM!"
Both brightons laughed heartily, amused at the little girl's expressive answer.
"I take it then that your answer is yes?"
"YES!!" Adam and Zonia shouted almost at the same time.
Both Bud and Molly Beam beamed happily, seeing the happiness on their children's faces.
Toby didn't know exactly what it all meant, but he nevertheless snarled a pleased snarl, his long, thick striped tail brushing against and curling around the brightons' legs while the tail swished back and forth.
One of the brightons stuck his hand out with the palm of his hand up. "Here is the sack with the seven apples." The sack with the seven apples suddenly appeared in the outstretched hand. "We felt it is only right that you and Zonia present these to His Majesty tomorrow."
Lester Mudd tiptoed in the darkness, creeping along the hallway that led to the Exploretime cube. He stopped suddenly when he heard a noise, causing Castor Groutt to crash into him and nearly knock him down.
"You bonehead!" Lester Mudd hissed in a whisper, slapping his partner on the top of his head, driving the cap Chester Groutt wore so far down on his head that his ears stuck out.
"Hey...what was that for?!"
"Shut up! Do you want us to get caught?" the shorter, fatter man said.
Satisfied that the noise was of no importance, the men began creeping along the darkened wall. They fumbled in the darkness once they reached the Exploretime storage room just behind the Exploretime cube. Castor Groutt tumbled over a small chair and fell into several others, causing the whole room to explode with unwanted noise.
"You bonehead!" Lester Mudd said, again popping his partner in crime on the top of his head. This time with the flashlight he held in his right hand.
"Hey! That hurt!"
"What's wrong with you?...You want to get us caught?" the leader of the ne'er-do-well pair said.
Finally they found the object of their search. A cabinet in one corner of the Exploretime storage room.
"Now this here is where they keep the dream doodlers...at least this is where they use to keep them when I was here," Lester Mudd said, opening the cabinet door.
"I almost flunked dream doodling," Castor Groutt said, as if to himself.
"How does anybody flunk dream doodlin'?" the shorter fatter Lester said crankily.
His fingertips found a dream doodler handle in the darkness. "Yeah! Yeah! Here they are..." Lester said. "Now, let's get out of here..."
The taller, lankier Castor Groutt continued to fumble through the cabinet.
"I said, let's go! What's wrong with you? Why are you making all that noise?"
"We need a dream doodler holster to go with that dream doodler," Castor answered his partner.
"No we don't! Now let's get out of here."
Lester Mudd pushed the cabinet door closed before Castor Groutt could get his fingers out of the cabinet. "Hey! Watch it! You almost broke my fingers!"
"You bonehead! You are going to get us caught yet!" Lester Mudd said, grabbing Castor Groutt by the shirt and dragging him away from the cabinet. "You just don't want one of those holster and belts because we couldn't find one to fit..." Castor Groutt said unhappily.
"Look, you bonehead...we ain't got time to play no kiddie games..." Lester said, pulling his partner along the darkened hallway.
"Now...what is it that we're going to do again...What's the plan?"
Lester looked at Castor in disgust, then explained for the one hundredth time. "We are going to take this here dream doodler and with it we are going to dream draw the sack with them apples into our hands," he whispered. "We then dream doodle ourselves and them apples backwards in time to the First Time where they came from. Them people back in the First Time will be so happy to get the apples back that they'll give us a reward...you know...some gold or something. They had lots of gold back then."
"But what about them ... them watchamacallits...them evil things?" Castor Groutt asked.
"There ain't no such thing...You seen any of them evil things around here?" Lester Mudd asked in a mocking voice to his ne'er-do-well partner, who said nothing.
"When we get all that gold and silver and whatever from them people, they'll be so happy they'll probably make us a king or somethin'."
"Yeah! And I can have one of them swords and maybe a white horse...and..."
"Shut up! You bonehead!" Lester rapped Castor's head with the flashlight again.
"First we've got to get them apples before them lightons and brightons find out about it."
All of Glorainia darkened with the veil of nighttime. The great palace atop Mount Zionia sparkled. Adam Beam's father looked out the window while he stood beside Adam's bed.
"Are you excited about going up to the Great Palace, Adam?" Bud Beam took one last glance out the window at the twinkly palace, then walked to Adam's bedside and sat on the edge."
"I can't wait!"
Adam touched the sack with the seven apples sitting on the nightstand beside his bed. After all that had happened, he wanted to make sure the apples were safe. He must not disappoint the Great King.
"Dad...why do you think the Great King wants to talk to us?" he asked with just a little bit of worry in his voice.
"The Great King loves you, son. Whatever he wants to talk to you about, it will be wonderful!"
Mr. Beam reached to pull the covers up around Adam's neck, then bent to kiss him on the cheek.
"You and your sister did a very fine thing by bringing the apples safely back with you. The Great King probably just wants to thank you."
"But the Great King deserves all glory and power and honor!" Adam said, amazed that anyone would not do the same to help the Great King. "The Great King deserves all praise!" Adam said, his heart full of love for the great King.
"That's true, son, and you and your sister have honored him greatly by bringing the apples safely to Glorainia," Bud Beam said, feeling very proud of his son's modest attitude.
Toby pushed Adam's bedroom door open with one big paw and walked over to the bed, where Mr. Beam was adjusting the covers for Adam. The tiger snarled a snarl that asked for a goodnight pat from his pal Adam.
Adam sat up, then grabbed the tiger's neck in a loving hug.
"Good night, Tobe," the boy said, kissing the tiger's furry cheek.
The two men skulked into the dark basement through a steep stairway leading underground. Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt made the basement their home as well as their hideout for the dimwitted deeds they often did. The basement was shadowy and smelled just a bit dank because it had not been cleaned for months. They preferred it that way.
Lester Mudd pulled the light cord that switched on a single light bulb near the center of the room. He unfolded a brown bag they had carried with them since leaving the Exploretime cube fifteen minutes earlier. Castor Groutt reached to pick up the dream doodler. Lester Mudd smacked Castor's hand with the flashlight.
"Oww!...Hey!" The lanky Castor said, rubbing the top of his head and frowning with pain. "Why did you do that!" He whined, continuing to rub the hurt hand.
" 'Cause you ain't got no business fooling with that doodler...you flunked dream doodler, remember?" Lester said in a smart-aleck tone.
"I said I 'almost' flunked..."
Lester Mudd ignored his pal's correction. He picked up the dream doodler and examined it carefully. "Yep, it looks just like the way I remember," Lester said, holding the dream doodler near the light bulb. "See here," he said, pointing to the "DREAM DRAW" button, "this here is what you draw your pictures with."
"Yeah? Lemme see." Castor Groutt started to take the dream doodler from his partner's hand.
"Don't touch! Just observe!" Lester said, pulling the dream doodler out of Castor's reach. "I ain't takin' no chances with some amateur like yourself pushin' the wrong button."
"See here...this here button makes you whatchamacallit, you know...disappear." He pointed to the button marked "DISAPPEAR DAZZLER" on the bottom of the dream doodler handle. "Yeah...I forgot about that one," Lester Groutt said, squinting to see the small button.
Lester Mudd punched the button and instantly became invisible. Castor Groutt stumbled backward watching his partner vanish. He fell over several stacked cans of paint, which spilled onto the basement floor and onto Castor himself.
A second later, Lester Mudd reappeared, at the same time chuckling a cruel though cheerful chuckle.
"Scared ya, huh?..."
While Castor Groutt got up off of the floor and looked down at the globs of paint soaking into his clothing, Lester Mudd looked at the dream doodler with a mischievous look of glee.
"Now we can do a lot of stuff with this doodler, and to start with we're gonna get them apples..."
Castor Groutt watched Lester Mudd fidget with the dream doodler. Castor's curiosity got the best of him and he reached to touch a button.
Lester whacked Castor's hand with the dream doodler handle. "You bonehead! Don't touch nuthin! Anybody that flunked dream doodlin' shouldn't be foolin' around with these things."
"I didn't flunk...I ALMOST flunked," Castor said with irritation in his voice.
Lester Mudd noticed a large mirror hanging on the wall next to them. He, Castor Grout and the dream doodler were nowhere to be seen in the mirror's reflection. They had disappeared when Lester had slugged Castor on the head with the dream doodler handle.
"Now see what you done...you made us vanish," Lester said, starting to whack Castor again but thinking better of it.
"Now, let's see here...what button do I push?" Lester said, examining the dream doodler handle. "Oh yeah."
He pressed the "DISAPPEAR DAZZLER" button and the two men reappeared in the mirror.
"Hey! Quantum!" Castor Groutt said, seeing himself and Lester Mudd pop again into the mirror. "Do it again!"
"Shut up! We ain't got time for no stupid playin' around with no dream doodler...we got bus'ness to take care of."
The shorter, fatter, Lester Mudd squinted in concentration. "Now, what we gotta do is get to that kid's house...what's his name? Oh yeah, Adam Beam. We've got to get to Adam Beam's house."
"You know where he lives?" Castor asked.
"Nope. We don't have to know where he lives. This here dream doodler will find his house for us."
"Now what I'll do is just ... lemme see...yeah. I'll just think about this kid and that sack of apples, so don't bother me. I've got to think."
Lester Mudd stroked his chin with his thumb and fingers and shut his eyes.
"What you thinkin' about, Lester?" Castor Groutt asked.
"Shut up! You bonehead! Can't you see I'm trying to think?" Lester said, then again shut his eyes to concentrate.
"Here...touch my arm while I do this so we can go together."
Castor Groutt did as he was told and when Lester Mudd pushed the "DREAM DRAW" button, a Dream Door suddenly appeared in the center of the room. Lester chuckled an evil chuckle. "Come on. We've got apples to pick."
"It's awfully dark," Castor said, looking at the totally blackened dream drawing hanging in midair.
"Of course! You don't think I'd be so stupid as to think of someplace bright where we would be seen, do you?"
Castor Groutt nonetheless approached the Dream Door portal very timidly. "Come on, jump into this thing before it closes!" Lester grabbed his taller, lankier partner by the arm and together they jumped into the dark dream drawing.
When they landed in the dream drawing, they both stumbled over something and tumbled to the floor. The noise from the fall finally stopped when the things they had stumbled over stopped falling.
"Now look what you done!" Lester said, whacking his partner on the arm.
"Me! It wasn't my dream doodle!"
"Ssshh!...You wanna get us caught?" Lester said in an irritated whisper, getting to his feet as quietly as he could.
"Where are we?" Castor said, feeling his way around in the darkness.
Several more things fell when the men bumped against them. Finally, Lester's hand found a doorknob. "Hey! Here's a door." He turned the knob as slowly and quietly as possible. The men crept through the door and into Adam Beam's bedroom.
"It's a closet! You dream doodled us into a closet!" Castor Groutt said much too loudly.
"Shut up, you bonehead! This here is the kid's bedroom. Look...I bet that's them apples in that sack over there," Lester Mudd pointed to the sack on Adam's nightstand.
The men tiptoed to the nightstand and Lester quietly lifted the sack of apples from the table's top.
"Now let's get out of here..." Lester whispered.
He shut his eyes and pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button. His concentration was interrupted by Adam Beam's stirring in his bed. "Hey! Who are you?!" Adam said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes while he looked at the two men who stood gawking at him with their mouths open.
"It's okay, kid..." Lester Mudd whispered. "Just go back to sleep."
Lester pointed the dream doodler at the center of Adam's room, shut his eyes, and pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button. The dream drawing suddenly appeared in midair. Lester, followed by Castor, leaped through the Dream Door portal. Adam watched the dream drawing vanish, along with the two men.
Adam looked at his nightstand. The apples! They were gone!
The two apple thieves reappeared in their basement hideaway just as quickly as they had disappeared from Adam's bedroom.
Lester Mudd moved to the center of the room near a table, plopped the sack on the table then opened the dark brown sack. He chuckled a loud, evil chuckle. "See here! I told you we'd get them!" he said, chuckling an evil chuckle again.
Castor Groutt moved closer and peered into the sack that his partner held open. Castor reached in to get one of the apples. "This looks really good," he said, opening his mouth to take a bite.
Lester Mudd thumped him on top of his head with the flashlight he picked up off the tabletop. "You moron! What's wrong with you, anyhow?! ... Them apples ain't for eatin'."
Castor stood rubbing the top of the baseball cap he wore, under which was rising a knot from his head. "Well, I ain't had nothin' to eat all night."
"Look, you bonehead...there'll be plenty of time for eatin' when we've got all the gold these here apples are going to bring."
Lester folded the dark brown sack shut. He squinted his eyes upward while tapping his closed lips with his fingertips, making plans in his head.
"You don't think they'll catch us, do you?" Castor Groutt said.
"Them brightons and lightons...they're bad about getting people who steal stuff."
"Shut up! Can't you see I'm thinkin'? ...Look at all the stuff we've gotten away with...we're smarter than they are. Besides, we'll be long gone before they even find out we've got the apples."
Zonia was crying and her brother was about to cry. Toby snarled a very upset snarl.
"Now, now, Sunbeam," Mr. Beam said, holding his daughter tightly and kissing her cheek. "We'll get the apples back, don't worry. They won't get away with stealing them."
"But the Great King...he will be so disappointed..." Zonia said, choking back her tears.
Zonia's mother kissed her daughter and patted her cheek. "The Great King knows how very hard you and Adam tried to get the apples safely to him. He will be pleased, no matter what."
Neither Adam nor Zonia slept well that night. Toby paced back and forth more than usual before finally settling down for his night's catnap.
The Glorainian morning broke as beautifully as ever. How could it be so? How could Glorainia still look so bright and beautiful with the apples missing, the apples that belonged to the Great King...
Adam and Zonia sat quietly at the kitchen table. The gloominess of the night before had not lifted. The usually delicious breakfast from the manna manger did not taste as good as usual. Even Toby ate only two fruitons and one helping of catvage.
"There's nothing to be unhappy about," Mrs. Beam said, hugging Adam from behind while he sat in front of his breakfast. "Everything will work out fine, you just watch."
The kitchen suddenly filled with brilliant light, which lessened and lessened until Adam, Zonia and their mother could see clearly again. A lighton! A lighton, the top of whose head almost touched the kitchen ceiling!
He smiled widely, his golden eyes flashing and sparking powerfully. "You must not be sad, little ones. I am come to personally take you to the Great King!"
The short, fat man looked up at his partner. "So, do you understand? I ain't told you but a hundred times..."
"Let me see..." Castor Groutt said, taking his baseball cap off and scratching the top of his head and then putting the cap back on.
"You're gonna doodle us back there into the First Time...then we're gonna hide the apples, then I don't remember what happens next..."
"You bonehead!" Lester Mudd swatted the taller Castor Groutt with the cap he had pulled from his own head. "I'm gonna tell you again...and this is the last time."
The roly-poly thief slapped the cap back on his head and started explaining again, touching one fingertip to his other fingertips as he did so. "Now, one...I dream draw us back into the First Time. Two...we hide the apples."
"Now tell me again why we hide the apples..." interrupted Castor.
"Listen, will ya? ...We hide them apples so they can't take them from us. If we have the apples with us when we ask them for their gold, they will just take our apples from us. Do you get it?"
Castor Groutt scratched his head while he turned his eyes up toward the ceiling, straining to understand. "I guess so."
"Three...we find the guys who that kid, that Adam Beam kid, stole them apples from. Then well tell him that we got them apples and if they want them back, they're going to have to give us a bunch of gold and stuff."
Lester Mudd touched yet another finger. "Four...they give us the gold, and five...we tell them where they are hidden..."
Lester Mudd paused, his face becoming almost sinister as he grinned a devious grin. "But get this...we tell them the wrong place."
"Why do we do that, Les? ... They already gave us the gold and stuff..." Castor said.
"We tell them the wrong place because instead of giving them the apples, we're gonna bring them back with us."
"How come?" Castor said, genuinely confused.
"Now get this...we bring them because we are going to get the reward that that kid...that whatshisname...would have gotten from the Great King," Lester grinned a wide, devilish grin.
"You see? We get rewarded twice for them seven apples!" he said, chuckling.
Castor Groutt said nothing, but took his cap off and scratched his head, trying to figure it all out.
"So anyhow, we fool them yokels back in the First Time. Then six," he touched yet another finger, "we immediately jump through the Dream Door, which I will, as usual, draw for us back here in our own time."
Lester Mudd cocked his head to one side, his eyes wide, his eyebrows raised. He nodded, asking without asking out loud if his partner in crime understood.
"Yeah...Yeah!" Castor said, his own eyes widening with understanding. "Yeah! Gee, Lester, that's quantum!"
"Okay...it only took me all night to explain that to ya. Let's get outta here."
Lester Mudd grabbed the sack of apples from the tabletop, held the dream doodler toward the center of the basement room, shut his eyes, then pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button. When a beautiful landscape dream drawing appeared in mid air, both men jumped through the Dream Door portal and back into the First Time.
Adam and Zonia rode upon what seemed to be a spinning cloud of bright white electricity. Faster and faster they flew, the colorful rolling ball of light beneath them sweeping them upward, ever upward toward Mount Zionia.
The great temple-palace radiated its own glow of many rainbow colors. So bright was its aura, the glow that pulsed from the Great King's palace, that Adam and his sister almost had to shut their eyes to look upon it.
Magnificent laser light streams of red, yellow, blue and every combination of those colors flickered and shimmered and sparked and flashed from the high walls made of diamonds and rubies and emeralds and every other precious stone.
Zonia was mesmerized by the great temple's beauty while the lighton moved closer ever closer. Adam blinked in amazement while he and his sister were whisked upon the rolling sparking cloud of energy toward the palace's high, massive gate of pure gold.
Just when it seemed that the lighton's energy cloud would run Adam and his sister into the gate of solid gold, the monumental gate opened. The boy and girl riding atop the lighton flew through the gate opening into the temple-palace.
Never had Adam or his sister seen anything so wonderful! As magnificent as the outside walls of the palace were, the inside of the great temple sparkled even more gloriously. The bright cloud of energy flew the children more slowly inside the palace's shimmering walls. Finally, when the fluffy rolling ball beneath them stopped, its form changed to that of the huge lighton, who now held Adam and his sister each in one powerful arm.
The lighton gently placed each of the children upon the palace floor of gleaming gold. He held their small hands in his massive ones. "Let us go into the Great King," the lighton said. Though he spoke softly, his voice thundered within the great hallway.
A door as large as the palace gate and made of diamonds, rubies and emeralds, opened slowly and the lighton, holding Adam's and Zonia's hands, walked into the Great King's throne room.
Lightons, many, many of them, all glimmering and glittering more brightly than the massive golden gates of the temple-palace, bowed before the throne. Many, many more brightons, their white robes glistening in the Great King's radiance, surrounded the king's throne.
The lighton, holding the children's hands, stopped in the middle of the throne room and bowed on his knees before the Great King. The children, one on either side of the gigantic figure of light, bowed also toward the Great King.
Indescribably wonderful music grew louder and more beautiful. Suddenly the music stopped, causing Adam and Zonia to look toward the Great King's throne.
The lightons who had been on their faces before the great king now formed a pathway, many of them on one side and many of them on the other side while the Great King walked between them toward the children.
The lighton who had brought them to the temple palace moved away from the children to join the other lightons.
Now the figure in dazzling white clothing stood over Adam and Zonia, who were almost afraid to look at him. When the Great King put His hands upon them, one on Adam and one on Zonia, all their fears melted away. In the place of fear they felt love beyond any love they had known before.
"Adam, Zonia...How wonderful that you have come to me!" the Great King said, bending to one knee in front of them and hugging them with gentle loving hugs. "We shall be the greatest of friends forever, my little ones."
When Adam and Zonia looked into his soft eyes filled with great love for them and for all the children of New Eden, they knew that indeed they could have no better friend than this Great King.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Zonia said shyly. "But someone took the apples..."
With his fingertip, the great king wiped away the tiny tears that trickled from Zonia's eyes. He lifted with one finger beneath Adam's chin the sad face of the little boy who had been looking down at the floor with disappointment.
"You have done the most splendid thing for me, Adam, Zonia. Well done, my little ones. Well done, indeed!"
The Great King rose to his feet and, like the lighton before him, took one of each of the children's hands in his hands and began walking slowly while he talked to them.
"Let us go and see what I have prepared for you. You will, I think, be quite pleased."
Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt landed back in the First Time feet first. But instead of solid ground, both men felt the squish of something soft and wet. They had plunged into some sort of very watery mud. All the way up to their waists!
"Help! I'm sinkin'!" the shorter, fatter Lester yelled while flopping his arms trying not to sink, yet at the same time holding the dream doodler and the sack of apples above his head.
Castor Groutt, who was near the edge of the bog, was able to grab a tree root, and after a short struggle, pulled himself free. He turned to his partner who continued to sink.
"Help! Help me you bonehead! I'm in quicksand here!"
Castor got to his feet and looked down at his mud-caked clothing. "Aw...gee whiz...now I'm gonna have to take a bath," he whined.
"You moron! I'm dyin' here and you're worried that you'll have to take a bath. Get me outta here!" Lester Mudd screamed, now up to his chin in the boggy mess.
"Oh yeah...okay...just hold on," Castor Groutt said looking around for something with which to pull his chubby friend out of the bog.
He found a long tree branch that had broken off. With it, he reached to Lester.
"Pull! Pull!" his stuck partner yelled.
Within a minute or so, the mud-caked Lester Mudd sat in the grass near the quicksand looking down at his mud-caked clothing. Neither man said anything for a few seconds, then Castor Groutt spoke. "Looks like you'll have to take a bath, too, Les."
"Ssshh! ...You hear something?" Lester said, turning his ear toward the sound he thought he head heard.
"Nope," Castor said after listening for a second or two.
The sudden shuffling sound, followed by several loud hisses, made the men get to their feet and look around. A huge, greenish colored lizard suddenly appeared just over one small hill, its long red tongue flickering in the air. It screamed another loud hiss and the two men, their mouths and eyes wide open in terror, ran in the opposite direction, mud from the bog flying behind them while they ran.
They ran finally into a small forest of trees and bushes. But they could see that their surroundings were not thick enough to hide them from the lizard, which continued to come after them.
"What are we gonna do?!? That thing's gonna eat us for sure!" Castor Groutt said.
"Shut up! We got the dream doodler...that's all I need!" Lester Mudd said, pointing the dream doodler, shutting his eyes, then pushing the "DREAM DRAW" button. The dream drawing appeared in front of them and both men jumped through the Dream Door portal.
They landed in darkness, both men hitting with loud thumps against solid rock. They sat for several moments, stunned. Then they slowly regained their senses.
"What happened?" Castor asked, rubbing the growing bump on his head.
Lester Mudd could not yet speak. He could only groan and hold the knot growing on top of his own head.
"Lester...Lester!?" Castor Groutt said almost in panic, reaching in the blackness to try to find his partner. But all he heard was Lester's groaning.
"Lester!....Is that you?"
Finally, he found Lester Mudd, who continued to rub his head and groan.
"Hey, Les! ...Are you okay? ..."
After another minute or two, Lester spoke. "Who turned out the lights?" he said, having not quite regained his senses.
"You dream doodled us into this cave ... or something..."
"A cave? ...Oh yeah, I remember. We had to get away from that big lizard, or whatever it was."
"I can't see nuthin', Les. Let me have that dream doodler and I'll doodle us outta here."
"No, you bonehead," Lester Mudd said, but not too loudly. "There ain't no tellin' where you'd doodle us."
Both men sat in the darkness, their heads aching. Finally, Castor Groutt said, "How 'bout lettin' me eat one of them apples? I'm hungry."
"The apples!" Lester Mudd said, searching frantically around him for the sack. "Oh, good." He found them, then tucked the sack next to him.
"How about it, Les? Just one?"
"You dope! These apples ain't for eatin'."
"Then what are they for?" Castor Groutt said, his stomach rumbling with hunger.
"These are for....well I don't know what they are for, but I do know they are not for eatin'!"
Lester Mudd got to his feet, but was so wobbly he almost fell down. He steadied himself then said, "I'll tell you one thing them apples are for. They're for makin' me rich. We've gotta find those guys that Beam kid stole them from in the first place."
Chester Groutt said, "How are we gonna find the guys who want the apples back?"
"I'll just think of some guys looking for this here bag of apples and then I'll push the 'DREAM DRAW' button and .... Poof! There they will be!" Lester said as if it were already done. "But first we've gotta hide these apples right here in this cave...somewhere. Those guys will have to give us the gold and stuff we want or else we won't give them the apples," Lester said with an evil chuckle, knowing that he never intended to hand over the bag of apples to those who would pay the gold. There was a reward to be had from the Great King for the apples' return.
"What if we can't remember where we hid the apples?" Castor said.
"I'll just think real hard where the apples are and dream doodle us right back here to them, you moron."
"Yeah...yeah! That should work..." Castor agreed.
"What a bonehead!" Lester Mudd said.
No one could possibly describe the indescribable things that the Great King prepares for those who love and serve him. Therefore, it cannot be told the many wonders and the great joyfulness Adam, his sister, his mother and father, Mrs. Levin and Adam's Exploretime classmates celebrated with the king of all kings that day.
And the very special guest of honor was, of course, Toby, who growled a growling roar of thanksgiving to His Royal Majesty.
The Great King stood in the midst of all those who celebrated with him. The very air about Adam, his family and friends sparkled splendiferously with every color imaginable. The high, glittering, jewel-encrusted walls of the gigantic palace room reflected the brilliant rainbow display.
"Now there shall be a very blessed thing for you, my special friend, Adam," the Great King said, looking into the boy's eyes with love far exceeding any other. With one wave of his shimmering hand, His Royal Majesty unveiled a viewing portal more spectacular than even the best dream drawing ever.
"The apples are not lost. Watch and understand as their purpose becomes clear."
So transfixing was the scene on the huge viewing portal in front of them that the children sat in absolute silence. Only Toby's growling purr of contentment could be heard while they watched.
Having hidden the sack of seven apples in the dark cave, Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt set out to find those of the First Time who might pay a ransom. They trudged along a well-worn pathway with the taller, lankier Castor right behind the short, roly-poly Lester Mudd. The pathway seemed to go on forever.
Lester Mudd, growing impatient and seeing that there was no living thing in sight except for himself and his partner, said, "We ain't gettin' nowhere here." He stopped and took the dream doodler from where it had been stuck in the belt line of his pants. "I'm gonna dream doodle us to where the action is."
"Where is that, Les?" Castor Groutt asked.
"How should I know?! I'll let the dream doodler figure that out."
Lester Mudd shut his eyes and thought and imagined as hard as someone like Lester Mudd can think and imagine. He pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button at the same time. Lester shouted, "Let's go!" When the dream drawing suddenly appeared in mid air, the two men jumped through the Dream Door portal and instantly landed near the middle of an opening somewhere in the deep woods.
"What's that sound?" Castor Groutt asked, hearing a bubbling, boiling sound behind them.
The men turned to face a pool of hot gurgling water with dark stones surrounding it.
Zonia, sitting with the other children in the temple-palace, blurted out loudly. "Adam! That's the pool! That's where the evols almost got us!"
Sure enough, as Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt walked closer to the hot pool of water, many darkly hooded evols emerged from between or passed through the thick trunks of the surrounding forest trees.
While the evols floated above the ground, their bony white fingers outstretched toward the two men, a number of muton giants followed, grunting and growling, their red eyes bulging.
"Les...Les...Lester! Do something!" Castor Groutt yelled, backing so far backward that the back of his legs tripped over one of the stones surrounding the hot pool. He landed with the seat of his pants plopping in the boiling water.
"Yeoowww!!" he shrieked, feeling the hot water soak through his pants. He stood rubbing himself, but quickly forgot the pain when he saw the evols and the mutons closing in.
"See here...We got somethin' you guys want!..."Lester Mudd said, trying to sound bold and business like.
"Now what could you ... gentlemen...possibly have that would interest us?" the evol who led the pack of evols and mutons said with a cackling laugh.
Lester swallowed hard, his eyes wide with terror. But he managed to get out the words, "We got the apples...you know...them apples that kid Adam Beam stole from you guys..."
"Give them to us, then," the evol said sternly.
"Okay, we'll get them for you," Lester Mudd hesitated, then said, "...only first we want some gold or silver or jewels."
"Gold? Silver? Jewels?" the leader of the evols said while the pack of evols and muton giants gathered closer around the two men and the pool of boiling water. The evol voice was mocking. "He wants gold and silver and jewels," the evol said, causing the other evols to cackle hideous cackles of laughter. The muton giants only grunted and growled and gnashed their sharp teeth.
"Give us the seven apples ...now! Or else you won't need gold, silver or jewels!" the evol said in a calmly angry voice that echoed within the opening surrounded by the trees.
The evols and the muton giants moved closer and closer until they were only several feet from Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt. The evols all stretched their bony white fingers toward the two men, who felt their knees go weak with fright.
"Give us the seven apples! And we might let you live!" the evol cackled a sinister cackle.
Lester clutched the dream doodler tightly. "Okay! Okay!" Lester said in a shaky voice. "I'll get them...just give me a second, okay?"
Lester Mudd gripped the dream doodler, shut his eyes and imagined as hard as he could imagine. He pressed the "DREAM DRAW" button and he, the dream doodler, and Castor Groutt instantly disappeared in front of the evols. Just as suddenly, Lester and Castor reappeared in the darkened cave. "What happened?" Castor Groutt asked in amazement. His partner chuckled a mischievous, devious chuckle. "Lester Mudd still has a few tricks left."
"They almost got us, Lester! You said there was no such thing as them evil things...but they almost got us!"
"Shut up, you bonehead! We got away, didn't we? Let's get them apples, then I've got to figure out a way to make them creeps pay us for them."
"I just wanna go home, Les. Let's just leave the apples and go back to our own time...I'm real hungry," Castor said, his knees weak from both his fear and his hunger.
"No way! Those creeps don't scare me!" Lester Mudd said, his own knees still knocking from the close encounter with the evil creatures of the First Time. "This here sack of apples is going to make us rich," Lester Mudd said while he dug in the several stones piled upon each other trying to find the sack with the apples.
When he found them, he pointed the dream doodler toward the center of the almost totally darkened cave. Before he could imagine the dream drawing, the cave suddenly exploded with blinding light!
Neither Lester nor Castor could see anything, so brilliant was the burst of energy. The radiant light dimmed in a moment or two until the light became the form of a lighton-like being.
"Slegna!" Adam Beam said before his sister could say it. The children watched in amazement while the fantastic figure of light glowed like flames in the night. The lighton-like creature with eyes that burned like white-hot steel roared angrily.
"You fools! You know not what you have in your possession!"
The cave shook and quaked and rumbled. Large pieces of the ceiling and walls cracked and tumbled to the cave's floor while the slegna's voice echoed. "The seeds for knowing good and evil shall never return to that Future Time! New Edons shall never eat of the fruits grown from the seeds within the apples taken from the Garden!"
Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt were so terrified they could not move. They stood before the raging figure of light, their unblinking eyes wide open, their unspeaking mouths agape.
"Should the people of New Eden eat of the fruit produced from the seeds of these apples, never again would they do evil. Therefore, the seeds that would bring forth such fruit shall never be planted in New Eden!"
The children in the temple palace watched in wonder while the gigantic lighton-like slegna said in a thunderous voice, "I will now destroy the seven apples, thus forever changing the future for all creation!"
"No!" All of the children in the sparkling palace chamber cried as one voice while they watched the flaming slegna move closer to the sack of apples Lester Mudd held in his left hand.
"Here is the belt and holster from which the two thieves took the dream doodler instrument," the brighton who knelt beside Adam said. He handed the holster and belt to the boy. "I believe you know what to do." Adam looked at the dream doodler Lester Mudd held in his right hand, then he looked at the belt and holster he held in his own hands. "Of course! That's the answer!" Adam thought, then quickly moved his finger to the buckle of the belt.
All of the other children had heard what the brighton told Adam. They didn't know what Adam could do to save the sack of apples from the slegna, but somehow someway they knew Adam had the answer.
Adam pushed a small button hidden behind the belt buckle. Instantly, Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt disappeared from the large spectacular viewing portal, as did the dream doodler and the sack of seven apples! At exactly the same time, the dream doodler slapped into the holster hanging from the belt Adam held. Lester Mudd's hand still gripped the dream doodler handle so tightly that the brighton had to pry his pudgy fingers loose.
"Quantum!" Adam said with a big grin.
The brighton took the sack of apples from Lester Mudd, who did not move. His eyes still stared straight ahead. His mouth still hung open. Like his partner in crime, Castor Groutt, he was still paralyzed with fright from his encounter with the slegna in the cave.
"Take the apples, Adam," the shining brighton said, handing Adam the sack of apples. "You know what to do with them."
Adam shyly took the apples and smiled an almost embarrassed smile. "These are for ... the Great King," Adam said, "aren't they?"
The brighton smiled down at Adam and nodded his head, yes.
The Greatest of all Kings to reign on any throne anywhere at any time walked toward Adam, who walked toward him holding the sack of apples as tightly as he could. The Great King smiled while Adam, on bended knees before him, held out the sack of apples.
"Well done, friend! Well done, indeed!" the Great King said, lifting Adam from the palace floor with one arm while holding the sack of apples he had just been given with his other hand.
"You and Zonia must join me at the throne this day. Together we have much to do!" he said.
The brightons and lightons, as well as all dignitaries of all of Glorainia and all of New Eden, bowed before the Great King. They and all others moved back to clear a pathway while he walked toward the great throne, which sparkled with every color imaginable.
He held Zonia's hand on one side and Adam's hand on the other as together he and the children moved to the throne. Adam held tightly to the sack of apples with which he had been entrusted for yet a while longer.
When the Great King was seated, a magnificent sparkling and many jeweled crown was placed on his head by a lighton, who then bowed and backed away from the Great King.
Adam and Zonia sat at the Great King's feet on the throne room floor of purest gold.
"Bring forth those who will come before me," His Royal Majesty said.
Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt shuffled slowly toward the throne, followed by a lighton who towered at least four feet above them. Lester's and Castor's heads were bowed, their eyes glancing upward timidly at the great king. When they reached the foot of the throne, they went to their knees. Lester held his cap with both hands just beneath his chin. He elbowed Castor, who had forgotten to remove his cap.
"Take off your hat..." Lester whispered out of the side of his mouth.
Castor quickly removed the cap and held it close to his chest, following Lester's example.
"Do you come willingly to the throne?" the Great King said gently.
"Uh-huh," Castor Groutt answered in a feeble voice.
Lester Mudd punched Castor in his ribs with his elbow again. "That ain't no way to answer our Great King," he said.
Lester looked into the all-knowing eyes of the King of all Kings.
"We come willingly, Sir."
And what do you have to say?" the Great King said.
"Well, King...we're REAL sorry for..." Castor started to say. Lester again elbowed him in the ribs.
"What he means, Your Royal Highness, is that we have been disobedient...we have done evil...we ask that you forgive us..." Lester said meekly.
"You must each answer for yourself alone," the Great King said more sternly.
"I ... I am very sorry, Your Royal Highness, and I ask your forgiveness for being such a ... rat..." Lester said.
"What Lester said...me, too, Your Royal Honor..." Castor Groutt said as best he could.
Both men kneeling before the King held their caps in both hands, their eyes downcast toward the golden floor.
"Then go and do evil no more," the Great King said gently.
"You mean it?" Lester Mudd said, jumping to his feet, his eyes gleaming with delight. He realized his actions were improper. "I mean, thank you, O Great King. We will never do evil again," he said, holding his cap tightly against his chest just beneath his chin while looking downward.
"Me, too!" said Castor. "I mean...me, neither..."
Both men backed away from the King's presence bowing and barely able to contain their glee. All present in the great throne room could see that Lester Mudd and Castor Groutt had been changed for the better by the Great King who had forgiven them.
"Give me the apples, my son," The Great King said, stretching his hand downward toward Adam. The boy handed him the sack.
The Great King stood, his majestic white and purple robe bedecked with jewels of every sort most beautiful while it flowed from his shoulders to the throne room floor where Adam and his sister sat.
Everyone within the gloriously splendid throne room-the lightons, the brightons, the dignitaries of New Eden as well as Adam's father, mother, teacher and classmates-bowed before the Great King. Even Toby lay facing the king, who began to speak.
"Let this decree go forth," he began, his eyes flashing, his voice booming with great power and authority. "The seeds of the apples Adam the first man took from the garden of the First Time shall be planted throughout all New Eden!"
The Great King's words thundered and echoed not only in the glorious throne room but throughout Glorainia and all New Eden.
"All citizens of New Eden shall eat from the fruit of the seeds of the First Time. To do so is to live life everlasting and to know to do always good rather than evil."
The Great King's eyes softened as he bent to speak to the children. "Adam, Zonia, are you willing to do yet another deed for your king?" he said softly to the boy and girl.
"Yes, Great King," Adam and Zonia said at the same time rather quietly and shyly.
"Wonderful!" His Royal Majesty said, then stood again to make the announcement. His eyes again became as a piercing laser of light. His voice boomed throughout all of New Eden. "I hereby decree that my wonderful friends Adam and Zonia shall plant the seeds of the apples of the First Time tomorrow in Glorainia! The seeds from the apples of those two trees shall then be sent to all of New Eden for the benefit of all Edons everywhere!"
Mr. And Mrs. Beam beamed brightly seeing the smiles on their children's faces. Toby, upon hearing the Great King's words, snarled a very, very pleased snarl.