Myth and I strolled away from the craggy summit of Boyle’s Mountain. We reentered the woods and kept walking until we reached a sunny glade.
Myth halted and stood there a moment. “Do you hear that, Izzy?”
I closed my eyes and listened for the sound that Myth had picked up. Silence—I did not hear anything, not even the wind.
Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly,” said Myth. “Those fools are too far away for us to hear them. Now, we can relax.”
Myth pulled her pack off her back and dropped it. Then she lay upon the ground, placing her hands behind her head to serve as a pillow. “Ah!” she exclaimed. “The sun feels nice.”
I lay down beside her. And for a spell, we just lay there—saying nothing because nothing needed to be said.
The breeze began to blow more swiftly, causing the grass to dance. Overhead, a cloud slowly altered its appearance, turning itself into a tortoise.
“Isn’t it funny how clouds can look like animals and other things?” I said. “Maybe they’re playing a game with us: can you guess what I am now?” Pointing at the tortoise, I said, “There’s a tortoise. And over there”—I pointed at a different cloud—“is a duck.”
“A duck?” said Myth. “It looks like a frog to me.”
“Don’t be silly, Myth,” I replied. “That’s a duck. It has a bill. See.”
“Hmm,” said Myth as she gazed at the clouds. “Nope, still a frog.”
I looked at her and declared, “You need to have your eyes checked, Missy.”
“Well, that’s what makes clouds special, isn’t it?” said Myth. “You can see things that no one else can see. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to clouds. There’s just your imagination—your unique imagination.”
“It’s still a duck,” I replied.
We fell silent, content to watch the heavens together.
The duck turned itself into a snowflake. And the tortoise became a fish swimming through the sky.
“I wonder what clouds taste like,” I said at last.
“What!” exclaimed Myth.
“I bet they taste sweet,” I said, “like sugar.”
Closing her eyes and holding her tummy, Myth laughed for a while. Once she calmed down, Myth said, “Izzy, only you would think that clouds taste sweet. Sunshine and rainbows—that’s how you see the world, isn’t it? Nothing but sunshine and rainbows.”
I turned towards her, using my left arm to prop my body off the ground. “What do you mean?”
“Back in Narrows,” said Myth, “remember how you thought that slapping Ronnie Bridge would solve everything?”
“Yes,” I said, nodding my head. “And I still think a good slap would have convinced him to behave. No one would choose to be that despicable—he just forgot how to be nice. A hard slap would have reminded him that goblins are people, too. And then he wouldn’t have acted like such a bulbous bully anymore.”
“That’s my point, Iz,” replied Myth. “When you look at Nisse Cul Tairna, you only see sunshine and rainbows—things that make you happy. So you cannot fathom why someone would choose to be cruel.”
“What’s wrong with that?” I said, feeling a bit defensive.
“Nothing,” said Myth. “Being able to find the good—the sunshine and rainbows—in every person and situation is a remarkable gift. I wish I could do that. But as you like to say, I’m too fussy—too much of a grumpy realist.”
I beamed at her. Lying back down, I said, “My world may be full of sunshine and rainbows, but I need a grumpy realist in my life. Too much sunshine burns my freckly skin. And chasing rainbows doesn’t always lead you to a pot of gold.”
Myth chuckled. “Okay. I’ll make sure that the sunshine doesn’t burn you and that the rainbows are worth chasing. But in return, you have to lend me some sunshine and rainbows from time to time.”
“Deal,” I said.
We fell silent again.
Up in the sky, the snowflake twisted and turned until it became a tree. And the fish dissolved into several amorphous blobs.
“Will you promise me something, Izzy?” said Myth.
“What?”
“Promise me that you’ll always be yourself,” said Myth. “Nisse Cul Tairna needs all the sunshine and rainbows it can get.”
My heart fluttered, giggling in my chest…
Buster, it’s marvelous to meet someone who appreciates you just because you are… well, you. It’s the most wonderful thing in the world. I know I tease you a lot, but I want to say something I truly mean: I hope you meet someone like that. I really do. I want you to find your Myth.
Now, let’s get back to my story…
“Don’t worry, Myth,” I said. “I promise that I will always be Izzy.”
The tree decided that it wanted to become a fat, little man. And two of the blobs wandered side by side beyond the horizon.