Hi there fellow TTA fans! My name's Sean Campbell (aka Martin Doyle aka Dr.
Finbar Zapek Solar) and I've been a huge TTA fan since 1994 when Irish television
first showed The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain. Although I have been writing
short stories for quite some time now, this piece marks the first occasion that I have
attempted to use someone else's characters within the narrative.
This story won't please everyone because it lacks the humour of TTA and is told in
a serious style. A previous attempt to write a comedy piece turned out to be a
complete disaster so I thought it best not to try anything like that again. It's also a
tale of the crossover variety, featuring several supporting characters taken from
books and film. A full list of copyright details can be found at the end of the story,
along with an explanation of where these characters come from for those who don't
know.
If you have any opinions or questions about this tale then don't hesitate to contact
me at FinbarZapek@Ireland.com. Whether your opinion is good or bad I'd love
to hear from you.

Note: Because I live in Ireland, some of the words contained use European style
spelling ie. Colour instead of Color. I've done this because my spellchecker would
have been driven mad otherwise.
Fifi's dialogue was bad enough...

So without further delay, here it is.






                           DANCERS AT THE EDGE OF ETERNITY




PROLOGUE

     I washed myself twice in the coldness of the Dragol, wet hands held to a
dripping and heavily bearded face as I immersed myself fully into the calm waters.
The sun gleamed dully from a sky still streaked with the redness of dawn, a cold
breeze blowing across the grassy plain from the far north. In the distance, the
sweeping forest that carpeted most of the area continued up along the inclines of a
series of low hills, appearing as a bed of flattened moss to the naked eye.  I enjoyed
my quiet moments of solitude, the sensation of insignificance in comparison with
the wonders of nature. It was something that had filled me with an extremely odd
delight since childhood, a childhood that now seemed almost an eternity away.
Surfacing, I glanced towards the distant Kalmar mountains, their mighty peaks
snow-capped as was the case all year round. Taking several deep intakes of the
cool, fresh air, I smiled.
     Wonderful... Simply wonderful.
     "Larry!" I heard Fifi's voice from just beyond the nearer trees, a distinctly
worried tone fairly apparent. Making my way to the riverbank, I grabbed a hold of
my cloak and spear, donning my brass coloured helmet in preparation for her
arrival.  She appeared a few moments later, majestic as ever in her peacock
feathered head-dress and robe, her purple tinged irises glowing in the light of the
rising sun.
     "It ees Zanzi," she said with a trembling voice. "It may be tres serious zis time."
     I stood in silence for a few moments, cold water lapping around my ankles. I had
been expecting this moment for quite some time but I had never imagined it would
happen as suddenly as this. I thought that I had prepared myself, thought that I was
ready. But even as I grabbed the remainder of my clothes I felt my heartbeat
intensify, my hands starting to shake.
     "Oh Zanzi," I muttered. "You knew this day would come too..."
     Staggering away from the river I followed swiftly after Fifi, both of us breaking
into a run.
     The forest flew by us in the space of a couple of minutes, the Looniversity clock
tower eventually coming into view above the higher branches. But no matter how
fast we moved it never seemed to be any closer. It was almost as if time itself was
slowing down. From within my chest  came the beating of a heart which was now
thumping uncontrollably.
     I was wrong... very wrong. I had never been prepared. I hadn't the courage to
face this moment.
     "Zanzi," I cried. "Please... Please be all right."



     PART ONE               BEYOND THE EDGE OF THE WORLD



     "Some kind of bird you say?"
     Joseph was standing directly above the spot where Brian lay quivering on his
knees, the waves lapping almost silently against the nearby seashore as a warm
breeze thrust his long, greasy hair out behind him like a dark veil. Despite the heavy
cloud cover all three of us were sweating, Brian more than Joseph and myself put
together. We had warned him not to stray off on his own but ever the adventurer he
had ignored us, trying to make his way through the forest without any help. After
almost an hour away he had returned in a state of sheer panic, eyes open wide in
fear and confusion. It had taken us close to twenty minutes just to calm him down,
another ten to finally get him to talk some sense. Only now did he seem ready to
recount his tale.
     "It was a bird all right," he whispered after a few moments. "Small with green
feathers. There was a strange sort of crest on its head... Looked a bit like an open
umbrella."
     "Hardly something to get hysterical about," continued Joseph. "How big was it?"
     "Only about a foot or so high," expressed Brian. "But stranger than anything I've
ever seen before. It didn't look like a real bird should. It looked almost like..."
     He paused briefly, holding one hand to the side of his head and staring towards
me. "Almost like a painting come to life."
     "You can't be serious!" I exclaimed. "You must have imagined it."
     "Imagined!" shouted Brian as he rose to his feet, black jeans encrusted with
white sand.
     "I imagined nothing! The thing was real I tell you. I'll never forget those black
beady eyes and the way they looked at me."
     The three of us remained silent for the next five minutes or so, all feeling the
same distinct sensation of fear. It had been almost six hours now since our arrival
on this deserted stretch of beach, an arrival made all the more frightening by virtue
of the fact that none of us could remember the journey. One moment we had been
enjoying a quiet drink on the train bound for Dublin, the next, finding ourselves
face down in warm, white sand.
     It seemed as if the change of location had been instantaneous but all of us agreed
that this would have been impossible. We couldn't have just appeared here. It
wouldn't be feasible.
     Yet here we were with nothing but the clothes upon our backs, jeans and short
sleeved shirts against the harshness of the wild. If there were miracles in the world
then it would appear that we had just unwittingly encountered one.
     It was Joseph who broke the silence.
     "Regardless of what you think you saw, we need to find out where we are and
that means getting off this beach and trying to make our way through that forest.
We'll have to come across a road or something sooner or later. I say we move fast
because it can't be long till nightfall."
     "What about following the shoreline?" I suggested.
     "And face those cliffs?" he expressed, pointing towards the monoliths of rock
that lay in both directions. "You must have a death wish Larry."
     I said nothing, realising that he was right. It would seem that a passage through
the forest was indeed our only option.
     It came as no surprise that Brian wasn't eager for a second journey. Shaking his
head from side to side he rose slowly to his feet and started walking towards the
breaking waves where he stood in silence and stared blankly at the misty horizon.
     "We're all dead," he said after a short while. "The train probably derailed or
something. I bet the police are digging our bodies out of the wreckage right now."
     "Shut up," I shouted. "We don't know what's going on and you shouldn't be
making wild guesses like that. We'll be hysterical within an hour at this rate."
     Brian simply laughed, casting his eyes downward. It seemed pretty clear to both
Joseph and myself that he was close to a breakdown.
     "We'll have to get him moving Joe," I whispered. "I don't know what he saw in
that forest but whatever it was it scared him pretty bad."
     "Give him an hour," replied Joseph. "If he hasn't calmed down by then we'll
have to leave him behind... We can always come back for him later if we find
someone."
     All I could do was nod.


     As heartless as it may sound we initially set off without Brian, both of us
assuring him that we'd be back as soon as we found help. About five minutes after
entering the darkness of the forest however, we heard some rustling in the
undergrowth behind us and turning around we saw that he was following. In his left
hand he held a long, twisted branch, his face so devoid of expression that it was
remarkable.
     "We're all in this together," he declared. "I won't be left behind."
     And without a further word he simply continued on after us.
     For the next half hour or so we gradually worked our way deeper and deeper into
a maze of trees and tight clumps of foliage. A number of times we disturbed small,
brown furry animals that would dart swiftly away before we could get a good look
at them. About the size of mice, they made a slight squealing noise as we
encroached on their territory. They were far too small for us to be bothered by their
presence however, the encounters finally becoming so frequent that we came to
simply ignore them.
     The trees extended upwards to a height of perhaps sixty feet or more, a thick
canopy of branches reducing the sunlight to a series of intermittent flickers
whenever there was a sizeable gap in the leaves.
     Joseph was in the lead by about ten feet, myself following on behind and Brian
by my side. He had calmed considerably over the past while and was now
walking at a slow but steady pace. He held the branch firmly within his grasp, using
it to thrust aside the thick vegetation and occasionally smacking it against the side
of a tree as a form of stress relief.
     It was only as we found ourselves approaching a sizeable clearing that I saw
some of his old fear return.
     "This is the place," he said to me. "This is where I saw it."
     The clearing was perhaps fifty feet across, a small stream flowing along the
centre and surrounded by a heavy covering of thick grass. Here and there were
clumps of thin yellow weeds, a couple of odd, blue coloured flowers providing
some variety.
     Once again walking ahead of us, Joseph approached the stream with caution,
getting down on his knees and dipping his hands into the coldness in order to get a
palm full of water.
     "Fresh," he expressed. "Tastes a bit strange but we haven't really got much of a
choice."
     We all drank several mouthfuls, sitting idle for a few minutes afterwards as we
allowed our sweat to dry up.
     It was still daylight, not quite as bright as it had been but light enough for us to
see our immediate surroundings. We were surrounded by trees on all sides, the only
sound coming from the rippling water. The stream was perhaps a foot across and
pretty fast moving, green weeds floating by from time to time but no sign of any
fish. It was this realisation that suddenly reminded us of just how hungry we were.
     "I suppose we could try some berries or something," suggested Joseph.
     "And poison ourselves!" I exclaimed. "We can't just stick anything in our
mouths you know."
     We started to debate the possibility of climbing a tree to get at some fruit when I
suddenly stood up and hushed him into silence.
     "Did you hear that?" I whispered. "There's something moving about in the
bushes."
     Silence came over the clearing as we all quickly glanced around, Brian standing
up and holding out his branch as a knight would his sword.
     "What did I tell you?" he said. "It's here... It's watching us."
     There came what sounded like a babble of voices from somewhere nearby, the
sound of a breaking twig as something large shifted it's position.
     "We know you're there," I shouted. "Show yourself."
     Joseph was on his feet now, glancing all around and visibly frightened.
     There came another rustle and I thought for a moment that I saw a flash of
lavender fur through some thin leaves.
     Even a quick glimpse was enough to tell me that whatever it was, it was fairly
big.
     "Come on," hissed Brian. "Come on out.. Let's see you."
     There came another flurry of movement and this time I definitely saw
something. It was only for a second and mostly hidden in darkness but the shape
was pretty clear. Whatever it was it had a long, wide tail, a biped with two glowing
eyes that stared towards us like light bulbs.
     My heart missed a beat. Behind me, I heard Joseph shout quite loudly.
     "Let's make a break for it... back to the beach."
     As he spoke the leaves of a nearby bush suddenly parted, an eternity seeming to
pass before the strangest creature that I had ever seen strode into view.
     It was perhaps three feet in height and very obviously female, a thick covering of
lavender and cream fur blanketing it's entire body. Behind it lay a long, fluffy tail
and just above the left ear there was a large pink bow. It's eyes were extremely large
and had an almost hypnotic quality, purple tinged irises beneath long, dark
eyelashes. But perhaps the most amazing thing about the creature was that it didn't
look real. It was just as Brian had described the green bird earlier on, like a painting
come to life.
     For a period of about a minute we simply stared towards the newcomer and it
stared back towards us, a loan moan coming from Joseph as he took two steps
backward. My heart was thumping faster than it had ever done in my life, fear
filling every fibre of my body. The creature didn't look threatening in the slightest,
in fact it looked quite cute. It was just the strangeness of it... the distinct air of
unreality that had suddenly filled the air.
     Nothing could have prepared us for what happened next.
     "Who are vous et why ave vous brought us to zis place?"  The creature spoke!
     I think I screamed.
     Seemingly bemused by our reactions it spoke yet again.
     "Vous will not get away with zis. Send moi et moi friends back to where we
belong at once!"
     Joseph fell to his knees and began to crawl away quite slowly. Brian was
seemingly so frightened he had dropped his branch, his face white as a sheet. I'm
pretty sure mine was too. The last thing I remember was the creature turning it's
back to me and raising it's tail high. Then there was some kind of mist, a thick
purple smog that seemed to come out of nowhere. Finally, in the moment before I
lost consciousness I became aware of what was quite possibly the worst smell that I
had ever encountered in my life. I think I was out cold before I hit the ground.


     I became dimly aware of my surroundings long before I was fully alert. The
ground was cold but level, my fingers resting upon what felt like recently polished
ceramic floor tiles. Through half opened eyes I could vaguely make out that they
were set down in a chessboard pattern of distinct blacks and whites, running
towards a nearby wall where a series of red metallic lockers seemed to stretch as far
as I could see. A short distance away from me, a drinking fountain was set pretty
low down between two of the lockers, a long, high window betraying the fact that it
was dark outside. From the flickering nature of the lighting, I made the assumption
that the place was lit by candles. There was something wrong, something very
wrong. It took me several seconds to work out what it was.
     And then it hit me.
     Just like the tailed creature that had appeared before us in the forest, everything
looked as if it were drawn. The tiles, the lockers, the drinking fountain... Everything
had the same unnatural quality, everything looked as if it had been drawn. With
memories of the recent past flooding back I tried to sit upright, a flurry of
movement to my left as I moaned loudly.
     There were three creatures standing only a few inches away from me, the
lavender furred one that I had already encountered and another one of around the
same size that looked like a white female duck. She appeared to be wearing a pink
sweater and had a sizeable mop of yellow hair, her eyes wide and intense. Standing
directly behind her was another duck, this one green and dressed simply in a white
vest. All three of them were looking towards me as if I was some sort of freak.
     I tried to clamber to my feet but my legs gave way and I fell backwards, head
smacking painfully off the tiles and my eyes rolling back in my head to find
themselves staring directly upward at a high, white painted ceiling.
     "Somebody help me," I whispered.
     "Do you zink he knows anyzhing?" said the lavender furred one.
     "I really don't know Feef," replied the white duck. "From what I can tell he
seems to be like, totally afraid of us."
     "Ha!" expressed the green duck. "Don't believe that rouse for a minute Shirl.
Look at the evil look in his eyes. He's out to get us for sure. Just you wait and see!"
     Ignoring him, the white duck looked directly into my eyes and smiled.
     "Hi," she said. "I'm Shirley. What's your name?"
     I wasn't too sure what to do, my head still spinning.
     "Larry," I said after several seconds. "Larry Sullivan. Who... What are you?"
     "Zat is what we were going to ask you," replied the lavender furred one.
     "Perhaps we should introduce ourselves kay?" said Shirley. "This here is Fifi
LaFume and that dubious specimen behind her is Plucky. You'll have to get used to
him."
     "Jeeze!" he muttered. "Maybe he is a killer but can't the guy make up his own
mind?"
     "May as well save him the bother Plucky," she laughed.
     "But you all look like... You all look like cartoon characters."
     I spoke with a voice filled to the brim with panic, eyes darting from one creature
to another as I tried desperately to keep my nerve.
     "Never seen a toon before Jack?" asked Plucky.
     "Well yes," I replied. "But only on the television."
     The three individuals before me seemed highly confused by my words,
exchanging glances and shrugging.
     "Larry!" came Brian's voice from the far end of the corridor. "You have to see
this place... It's unbelievable!"
     He was looking directly towards me and smiling broadly. Standing on either side
of him was a cartoon rabbit, a pink female one in a yellow pullover and purple skirt
and a blue male dressed in simply a red pullover.
     They were each about waist high in comparison with him.
     "Buster and Babs here have been showing me around," he said. "It's a school of
some sort. Not like any school we went to though."
     "You've recovered very quickly," I said, finally managing to get up on my feet.
     "You've been out for almost eight hours," he replied. "Thought you were gone
into a coma or something."
     "Eight hours!" I cried.
     Staggering down the corridor I grabbed a hold of his arm.
     "What have you found out?" I expressed. "Why are we here?"
     "It's a long story," he replied. "And a very strange one at that. I think we all need
to have a very serious talk."


     About an hour later we were all sitting in a darkened classroom, my two friends
and myself sitting on three tables and seven toons sitting in various positions around
us. The only source of light was a long thin candle on a desk in the centre of the
room,  our shadows dancing as distorted monstrosities against the white painted
walls.
     From what I could ascertain our company consisted of the two ducks and the
skunk that I had already spoken to, a pair of rabbits named Buster and Babs, a
coyote named Calamity and a strange green bird with an umbrella affixed to it's
head. In addition to these strange creatures there were also two humans much like
ourselves, an elderly looking man dressed in Edwardian style clothing and a teenage
girl wearing fashions that seemed to come straight from the early 1960s. The former
held a long wooden walking stick, a glint of light coming from the large blue stoned
ring on middle finger of his left hand. He stood silently by the door, holding his
fingers to his lapels and staring intently towards me with intense hazel eyes. As I
had expected, he was the first to speak.
     "For the benefit of our new friends I think I should introduce myself. I am the
Doctor and this young lady by my side is my granddaughter Susan."
     "Pleased to meet you," she smiled.
     "And like everyone else," the Doctor continued, "we would appreciate an insight
into our current situation."
     He looked directly towards me once again and held out his walking stick.
     "So what is your story young man?" he asked in an authoritative manner.
     His voice was so commanding I didn't think twice about answering.
     "We just found ourselves on a beach," I explained. "We don't know how or why.
Brian here decided to go exploring and he came back ranting about some strange
green bird".
     "At your service!" expressed the green bird in a high pitched voice as he leapt
onto a table. "If you're scared of me you're Cuckoo!"
     I looked towards Joseph, unsure of how to react.
     "But what about ze journey?," asked Fifi. "Do vous recall anyzhing about eet?"
     "Nothing," I answered. "Nothing at all. One moment we were sitting on a train,
the next... we were just here. Can't remember a thing."
     "We cannot recall anyzhing either," continued the skunk. "One moment we were
in class and ze next... we looked out ze window and ze Looniversity had moved!
Quelle strange."
     "Not only that," said Babs. "All of our friends and teachers have vanished. Only
a few hours ago there were hundreds of students here... Now there's just the seven
of us."
     Buster held her hand tightly as she spoke, a distinct glint around her eyes
betraying the presence of repressed tears.
     "We can't do wild takes anymore either," he said after a few moments. "I've tried
but it just doesn't work. I don't know why."
     I had no idea as to what a wild take was but I said nothing.
     As the rabbits spoke Calamity held up sign with "I don't understand any of this
and I'm supposed to be a genius" written on it, an action that only served to confuse
me even further.
     "Grandfather and myself suddenly found ourselves in the forest out there," said
Susan after a few moments. "There was no sign of our friends Ian and Barbara or
even the Tardis... just us alone in the woods. We saw the clock tower of this
building and made our way here. We met Shirley and Plucky soon afterwards."
     "So what you're all trying to say is that no one here has any idea as to what's
going on," said Joseph.
     "Fer sure," replied Shirley.
     "Is there anyone else but us?" I asked.
     "Nada," replied Plucky. "Just what you see."
     I looked towards Brian and Joseph and they looked back towards me. It would
seem that we were in serious trouble.


     I made an attempt to sleep fully clothed on a pile of cushions in the staff room
but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't drift off. By the break of dawn I was
already up and pretty restless, wandering barefoot through the near deserted
corridors of the Looniversity in a half dazed state. The amount of light coming in
through the high windows wasn't particularly generous but everything was clearly
visible in a pale outline of blue. Although the world about me still felt like some
mad, distorted dream, I was now firmly of the opinion that it was all very real. I ran
my fingers along the cold metallic surfaces of the lockers as I passed, the very
texture of the red paint work against my skin confirming the reality of the situation.
From all around came the scent of melted wax from the now extinguished candles, a
cold chill brushing against my face from somewhere further ahead.
     This was definitely no dream. Perhaps I had gone mad.
     Checking on Brian and Joseph in their respective sleeping places, I saw that they
obviously weren't suffering from the same insomnia as myself.  Both of them were
out for the count, Brian nestled under a desk in one of the classrooms and Joseph
sleeping on top of a snooker table in the teacher's lounge. I didn't bother to wake
either of them.
     It was on a table in the corner of the teacher's lounge that I came across a bowl
of strange looking fruit, a collection of yellow ovals each about the size of a tennis
ball. The skin was quite hard and hairy in places but they peeled easily enough and
such was my hunger I ate three in a row without considering the consequences.
They tasted slightly too sweet but they were passable and I placed another in my
pocket before continuing my wanderings.
     Traipsing into what looked like a wide reception area I saw the main entrance
and daylight beyond, realising that the chilly breeze was gently blowing inwards
from the half open door.
     Outside lay a downward sloping flight of red stone steps, two massive statues on
either side of the subsequent lane way. Like the inhabitants of the Looniversity the
statues were of toons, a rabbit and a duck dressed in teacher's robes. Wandering into
the morning air, I felt the coldness of the breeze against my face, closing my eyes as
I took several deep intakes of breath.
     Seen from the outside the Looniversity was pretty large, at least three stories
high with a clock tower rising about seventy feet or so in a central position. I
noticed that the hands upon the face of the clock seemed to have stopped in the five
to three position, a large grey bird that looked a bit like an oversized owl perched
just above it. It seemed to cock its head to one side as it observed me, a few
moments passing before it extended its wings and fluttered away silently into the
dull, cloudy sky. Drawing my eyes away from it, I sat myself down on the steps for
several minutes, watching my breath drift away like heavy steam and feeling my
muscles ache from tiredness. Beyond the statues, the thin lane way stretched away
for perhaps twenty feet or more. After that it got lost in thick bushes and eventually
dense forest. What lurked beyond I had no idea. The dark, twisting forest was a
breathtaking view of nature at it's most splendid but at the same time it was
strangely threatening, an object of beauty which disturbed the watcher with its sense
of mystery.
     "Trying to work out where we are?"
     I turned my head to see Buster standing beside me, the dazed look in his eyes
indicating that he hadn't been able to sleep either. He was now dressed in a grey
night-shirt, a sleeping cap hiding his long furry ears from view. I didn't bother to
ask how he had come by his change of clothing.
     "I couldn't sleep either," he yawned, sitting down by my side. "So I went for a
walk too".
     Although still slightly bothered by the fact that he was a three foot tall rabbit I
found myself speaking to him as if he were any other person.
     "I know this place is called the Acme Looniversity," I said after a few moments.
"But what is it... a school of some kind?"
     "Sure it is," replied Buster. "The best school for toons there is. You see the statue
there, the one of the rabbit?  That's Bugs Bunny, the best teech we had. He was my
mentor."
     "Bugs Bunny?" I muttered. "Surely not the same Bugs Bunny from those old
cartoons?"
     "The one and only," replied Buster with a broad smile.
     "But he's not real," I expressed, clambering to my feet. "He's a fictional
character- just imaginary."
     "You really think that?" asked Buster with a look of surprise. "I know him well
and he seems pretty real enough to me."
     "But..."  I couldn't say any more, sitting back down and feeling an odd chill run
through my bones.
     "Hey," said Buster after a few moments. "Where do you come from anyway?"
     "Dublin," I muttered. "I'm Irish. I was on my way home on the train when all this
happened. Me and my friends had just been on a long weekend in Co. Cork. Believe
it or not we actually thought we had experienced the strangest three days of our
lives while we were there. We got caught up in a bank raid and were held hostage
by a gunman for almost ten hours. Joseph saved the day in the end. He managed to
wrestle the gun away from the guy after tricking him into believing he would help
him get the money out of the country. Brave man indeed."
     "Wow!" expressed Buster. "Sounds like the plot to a movie of the week."
     "I know," I laughed.
     The rabbit's expression suddenly changed to one of confusion, staring directly at
me with his huge, saucer plate eyes.
     "Don't they have toons in Dublin?" he asked slowly.
     "Toons aren't real where I come from," I maintained. "I don't even know how I
can be talking to you now. This is far too real to be a dream."
     "I'm pretty sure I'm not a dream," said Buster, grabbing a hold of my hand and
placing it to his wrist.
     His fur was quite soft and carefully brushed, holding within it the distinct feeling
of warmth which could only come from a living creature.
     "There," he asked with a smile. "Can't you feel that pulse?"
     I nodded.
     "I'm just as real as you then," he continued. "We're all real. Me, Babs, Fifi,
Plucky... Nothing fictional about us at all."
     "What about those other two humans here- Susan and the Doctor?" I asked.
     "Real too I presume," expressed Buster. "Although Plucky seems to think he's
seen the old man somewhere before."
     "Up bright and early I see," came a voice from behind us and both turning
around we saw Shirley standing just inside the doorway. "Out to watch the sunrise
or some junk?"
     She was still dressed in her pink sweater, her yellow beak curled into a kindly
grin.
     "Out for a breath of fresh air," I expressed. "I don't know why but I had the
funny feeling that I might just find some answers out here."
     Then, glancing upwards I suddenly thought of something.
     "Does either one of you know how I can get up on that clock tower?"


     About ten minutes later I was enjoying a panoramic view of the entire area from
seventy-five feet in the air.  It was a fantastic spectacle but at the same time there
wasn't much to see.
     I clawed at the grey brickwork of a support pillar with both hands as the wind
blew harshly against my body, blinking twice before focusing in on the surrounding
countryside. In front of the Looniversity lay the forest, a massive dark area of tall,
closely knit trees and beyond that, a grassy plain that stretched far and wide into the
distance.
     Far away to the left was the shoreline and the golden glimmer of the rising sun
upon the surface of the ocean. I tried to follow the arc of the coast as far as I could
see, noticing that it curved northward about four or five miles away, stretching into
the misty distance and eventual invisibility.  A range of mountains shimmered on
the horizon, a thick dark band that was a flowing river clearly visible just beyond
the boundary of the forest. There was no sign of life anywhere. No buildings, no
roads, not even traces of smoke. Just clean wilderness extending in all directions
except out to sea. Moving to the opposite side of the tower I saw that the view was
mostly the same, no mountains this time but a series of low hills in the distance and
a large shining area that I took to be a sizeable lake. Wherever we were it was a
pretty big place, obviously not an island or peninsula. I wondered where it was.
Alaska?  I'd never been there but I assumed it would be a lot colder. Russian Tundra
perhaps? Some part of Australia or Asia?  I brushed each suggestion aside with
growing apprehension. It could be that it was none of those places.... Maybe it was
nowhere.
     I looked up into the dull morning, glancing towards a large break in the cold
cover and the glowing blue that was the sky beyond. No sign of any vapour trails.
     Brian may have been right when he suggested we were dead... Was it possible
that this could be some sort of extremely distorted afterlife?
     I was distracted in my thoughts by the arrival of Shirley and Buster, both of them
standing by my right side and staring into the distance.
     "If we were still in Acme Acres the city would be about there," said Buster as he
pointed a white gloved finger towards the gleaming lake. "My burrow right in the
middle of those trees and the local Weenie Burger's slam bang in the centre of that
hill."
     He stopped talking at the sound of a low sobbing and turning around I saw that
Shirley was holding a handkerchief to her beak and choking back tears.
     "We're never going to see home again," she whispered, rubbing a white
feathered hand across her large, blue eyes. "My parents... I'll never be able to talk to
them again. I don't even have a photo to remember them by."
     Buster drew her close and held his hand to the side of her bill.
     "Dry those eyes Shirl," he said. "You'll see them again. I'm sure of it."
     Shirley looked at him and tried to smile.
     "You forget I'm psychic," she said.
     He cuddled her tightly as she once again began to cry.


     In the Looniversity science lab I came across the Doctor, Susan and Calamity.
The Doctor was examining something that looked like a silver coloured the
telescope, a monocle clasped tightly in his right eye. Calamity was standing next to
him and whenever the old man would hold out his left hand, the coyote would pass
him a tool of some sort.
     There were bits and pieces scattered all over the workbenches, a box full of
screwdrivers perched perilously close to the edge of the nearest table to me. Sliding
it into a somewhat safer position I glanced towards Susan who was sitting on a
small, three legged stool.
     "What are they playing at?" I asked.
     "Grandfather thinks he can find out where we are," she replied. "He says there's
enough equipment here in this lab for him to build more or less anything."
     "Such as?" I queried.
     "A Radionscoper young man," expressed the Doctor without looking upward.
"When I get it working there's no reason why I won't be able to tell you our location
immediately."
     "Have any theories?" I asked.
     "I never speculate about anything Mr. Saunders," he snapped. "I'll tell you when
I'm sure."
     Not bothering to point out the fact that he got my name wrong I turned towards
Calamity. "What about you?," I asked.
     The coyote remained silent, both hands full of tools.
     "Don't you talk like the others?"
     "I don't think he can," said Susan with a smile. "He usually writes all his answers
on a sign."
     Suddenly pausing in his actions, the Doctor put down his tools and looked
directly towards me with a look of intense curiosity in his eyes.
     "What may I enquire young man was the year when you got into that train?"
     "Nineteen eighty five," I replied. "March 19th."
     "The toons seem to be of the opinion that where they come from it's 1990," he
said. "There's a few calendars around that seem to confirm it too. What does that
suggest to you hmm?"
     "I don't know," I muttered. "What's it supposed to suggest?"
     "I'll tell you then," he said with a slight hint of laughter to his voice. "We've all
been taken out of time that's what. The only question now is why?"
     "What year is it where you come from then?" I asked.
     "It's a long time since Grandfather and I have been tied down to one time zone,"
answered Susan after the Doctor failed to reply. "We're travellers in time and space.
Of no fixed abode you might say."
     "You mean you have a time machine?" I exclaimed.
     "Oh the Tardis is much more than just a time machine," she responded. "We can
go anywhere in the history of any planet in the universe. Well, we would if
Grandfather would take more time to master the controls."
     "I know all there is to know about the ship," the Doctor said loudly without
looking up from his tinkering. "It just doesn't know all there is to know about me."
     Susan simply grinned, shaking her head slowly from side to side.
     "You'll have to excuse Grandfather," she whispered. "He's gets just a little
cranky from time to time."
     I accepted their claims of time travel without so much as blinking, mind now
fully open to more or less anything. If ducks, skunks and rabbits could talk then I
could just about believe anything and smiling, I wandered out of the lab.
     As I exited the Doctor held out his hand once again, Calamity placing a small
hammer into his outstretched palm.
     "Quite the young genius aren't you my boy?" he smiled at the coyote. Silent as
ever, Calamity simply nodded.


     I met Fifi in the corridor, a slightly worried look appearing on the young skunk's
face as she saw me approach.
     "Eet is Larry non?"
     I came to a stop, nodding as I looked down at her.
     "I ave to tell you zat I am tres sorry about what happened yesterday," she said
with a slight hint of guilt in her voice. "I did not mean to spray you but I was, how
you say, tres frightened non?"
     "Don't worry about it," I replied. "I was pretty scared too."
     "I heard zat you were unconscious for a very long time. It will never happen
again, I promise you zat."
     I knelt down by her side, placing my right hand on her soft furry head and gently
stroking her left ear with my thumb. I could clearly see that the worry had been
playing on her mind for some time.
     "It's okay," I said with a smile. "I was hardly mortally wounded now, was I?"
     She gave a slight giggle and her eyes seemed to light up.
     "I was so worried zat you would not like me," she said. "I try to make ze good
impression whenever I am able."
     "I notice that you've got a French accent," I asked after a few moments. "The
others seem to be American... Shirley especially. Was the Acme Looniversity
multicultural or were you just a rare case?"
     "I zink zere was an Otter from Norway in ze year below moi but aside from zat I
was as you say, ze rare case."
     "Well then," I laughed. "I think us European citizens should stick together, don't
you?"
     "Oui," she replied, a broad smile forming just below her pink coloured nose. "I
do indeed."


     After I had stopped off to get my shoes, Fifi and I made our way outside,
walking towards the fringes of the forest to where my two freshly awakened friends
were gathered along with Babs and Plucky. They were all staring upwards and
following their gaze I saw that their eyes were fixed on a series of orange and red
spheres that were gathered in groups of five amongst the uppermost branches.
     "What's the story?" I asked as I came within speaking distance.
     "Looks like we've found our food supply," answered Joseph. "Not much variety
but I suppose it'll have to do."
     "I already tried some this morning," I said. "The taste is a bit strange but I
suppose it's the best we're going to get."
     "There's always those things in the forest that looked like mice," said Brian. "I
suppose we could stoop to that level if we get desperate."
     "I saw a river from the clock tower,"  I said, pointing into the distance. "A lake
too. They both look about ten minutes walk from here but at least we'll have
drinking water."
     "We already know about the water," expressed Plucky with a hint of annoyance.
"Pink ears here made me carry three bucket fulls back to the Loo yesterday. She
said she'd help me cheat on my next maths test but I reckon she lied."
     "Let's just hope there is a next maths test," countered Babs. "I don't want to be
stuck in this place for the rest of my life. You guys are talking as if we're here for
good. What about my family? What about my career?"
     "How tragic!" snarled the green duck. "I'm sure the world will never survive
without Babs and her brilliant career."
     "I never thought even you could be that callous Plucky!" she shouted. "Aren't
you afraid that you'll never see your family again? What about Hamton? He was
your best pal and now he's gone. Aren't you even the slightest bit upset or bothered
by that?"
     "I still have Shirl," he replied.
     "I'm sure that's a great consolation for her," hissed Babs.
     "Shut up ze pair of vous!" screamed Fifi. "We ave to try and keep our heads
togetzer."
     "I agree," I said. "The last thing we need is to be at each other's throats."
     "She started it," muttered Plucky. "Don't look at me."
     I shook my head slowly from side to side. This didn't bode well.
     "Where's the Dodo?" I asked after a few seconds in an attempt to change the
subject. "I haven't seen him all morning."
     "He likes to keep to himself," answered Fifi. "He ees probably gone off
wandering. Eet was he who discovered ze fruit here yesterday and got eet down
from ze trees."
     "I reckon we've all got little skills that can help us out," I continued. "Gogo can
climb obviously. The Doctor and that coyote seem to be pretty smart so they might
be able to find out where we are."
     "Shirl can read minds," muttered Plucky. "Much to my dismay of course."
     "And Fifi here has that scent," I added, patting her head gently as if to show that
there was no offence intended. "As I know only too well."
     "Is there some point to all this?" asked Plucky with a look of extreme boredom.
     "I just feel that if we all work together and get along then there's a pretty good
chance of survival," I answered. "We don't know how long were going to be stuck
here so we better plan for the worst and the best way of starting is to avoid conflict
whenever possible."
     "A good idea non?" said Fifi, looking towards everyone.
     To my great surprise they all nodded.
     "You might just have a point there Larry," said Brian. "You might just have a
point indeed."


     I think we all spent those first few days living in the constant hope that we would
wake up one morning to find ourselves back in our own beds at home. But as these
days ran into weeks it soon became apparent that no such miracle was imminent
and the more cynical amongst us began to suspect that our stay here was destined to
be a very long one. I have to admit that I was such a like minded person. I inwardly
knew that everything wasn't going to work out, that it was extremely foolish to
expect such a neat tidying up of our troubles. I think I had known it since those first
few moments on the beach.
     Perhaps this was why the others started looking up to me like some kind of
leader. Without giving time over to hoping for a safe return home I was prepared to
concentrate on our immediate survival. Together with Fifi and the Doctor, I began
to draw up a series of tasks that would have to be achieved in order for us to live as
normal a life as possible. The first of these was the regular provision of food and
water. It was decided that at least two of us would travel into the forest each and
every morning in order to gather fruit and berries, a task that in later days would be
expanded to include hunting game. Buster and Babs fashioned long spears for such
a purpose from the longer branches, an armoury that was soon augmented by the
inclusion of bows and arrows.
     Our first samplings of meat came from a creature that we came to call
foresthogs. These animals were quite small, no bigger than a rat and they moved
slowly enough for us to capture them easily. The meat tasted quite similar to mutton
and for almost three weeks it formed the best part of our diet. After both Calamity
and Susan became violently ill from eating it however, we decided to cut down on
our consumption, our meals gradually becoming vegetarian in nature as the days
progressed.


     Early in the fourth week, Buster, Babs and myself began construction of a deep
trench in the earth just outside the Looniversity's main entrance. Within ten days we
had succeeded in our objective, to make the trench both long enough and deep
enough to carry water from the nearby river to our doorstep. We named the river the
Dragol and as time went by it became the life and soul of our little community, a
place from which we drank, washed and had fun. Although swimming was the only
real recreational activity that we could all enjoy, both Joseph and the Doctor
enjoyed exploring the surrounding area. On each little expedition they got further
and further away, sometimes reaching distances of up to ten miles or more. They
would always come back with the same news however. No sign of anyone or
anything, nothing but wild countryside as far as the eye could see. I think Joseph
put it best when he said it was almost as if we had fallen off the edge of the world.
We were nowhere. No time or place but simply nowhere, lost in a world that had
swallowed us whole.


     Despite his claims that the radionscoper was working correctly the Doctor never
did work out where we were but he did come up with a belief that scared us all.
Apparently the stars were in the wrong position for us to be still in Earth's part of
the galaxy. I was no astronomer so I couldn't verify this but according to both
Calamity and Shirley he was correct. If this were indeed the case then it would
seem that we were in very serious trouble indeed.
     It was a idea that none of us liked to think about.


     Because we had no electricity we were forced to make candles on a regular
basis, a skill that Calamity soon made his own. After a few weeks he had managed
to construct a small, hand operated device that would mix the relevant materials and
then cut the newly manufactured wax into suitable shapes. Although he couldn't
make nearly enough to light all of the Looniversity at any one time, what we did
have was sufficient to keep the fear away during the long hours of darkness.
     There were enough rooms in the building to ensure that we all had our own
private quarters and after spending the first few nights in the staff room I quickly
adopted it as my own.
     It was pretty spacious and over a short period of time it gradually filled with my
trinkets. These included a candle holder that I had carved from wood, some unusual
seashells that I had found on the beach and perhaps my most treasured possession, a
strange painting that Shirley had drawn with materials from the art room. It was an
odd self portrait, a close up of the duck's face with a large, dark, owl like bird in the
background. Both her eyes were closed tightly, an odd glow permeating from her
forehead. When I had asked her what it meant she said she didn't know, it had
apparently just come to her. Regardless of meaning I quite liked it, hanging it just
above the pile of cushions that served as my bed. It made for a welcome splash of
colour.
     As time went on I gradually got to know all our companions on a personal basis,
many hours spent discussing our pasts and our hopes for the future. I became very
close to Fifi over this time and she would often tell me about her life back in Acme
Acres and before that in her native France. Sometimes she would talk for hours on
end, continuing on for long after everyone else had gone to sleep and there were
many occasions when I would wake up in the mornings to find her curled up in a
corner across the room, her long striped tail serving as a natural pillow.
     This became such a regular occurrence in time that on the rare occasions when
she was absent I would go straight to her room to make sure she was okay. It soon
began to dawn to me that if I ever did manage to get home someday I would miss
her very dearly indeed. We were all growing very tight knit and seemed to have our
individual favourites. Brian spent most of the time with Buster and Babs, Joseph
with Shirley.
     The Doctor, Susan and Calamity became natural companions. The only loners
amongst us were Plucky and Gogo. The dodo was odd by nature and his constant
disappearances were according to the other toons quite normal.  Plucky's behaviour
on the other hand wasn't. Most of the time he would wander the corridors alone,
spending many hours by himself in his room or exploring the forest. Despite his
well maintained front of bravado it was quite clear that he was the most frightened
of us all. There were many times when I could clearly see pain in his eyes but he
never seemed  to want to talk about it. Always exploring, always hiding himself
away...  It was as if his mind was filling up with everyone else's suppressed
emotions. He really did miss his family and his good friend Hamton. He missed
them all so badly that on many occasions he seemed to be on the point of tears.
     "He'll get over it in time,", Buster had told me. "We all will".
     But I wasn't so sure. Until the day when we all found out exactly where we were
the inner worries would never desert us. We could try and hide them deep down
inside but they would always surface, always be ready to appear at any moment.
     Despite the differences in physical appearance we were all the same within.



     PART TWO                A WIDENING CANVAS



     It was late in the third month when Joseph approached me with his suggestion. I
was perched high up in the clock tower as I was prone to do in the mornings,
sniffing in the fresh air as I surveyed the little patch of civilisation that we had
constructed. The early morning light flickered off the wide stretch of water that was
our reservoir, a fifty foot in diameter lake that was perhaps our crowing
achievement. It had taken all of us almost five weeks to construct, small tributaries
flowing away here and there which served as areas where we could drink, wash and
swim. We also had a small pool for the purposes of going to the bathroom, a thin
stream that connected with the one in the forest and eventually led to the sea.
     Beyond the reservoir lay a wide vegetable patch, an exercise that had been
mainly overseen by Shirley. She had discovered some large, potato like vegetables
while out walking through the forest one day and had taken some of them back to
the Looniversity in order for us to try them out. They tasted good and thankful of a
change from fruit and berries we planted a large amount of the roots within a short
distance of our dwelling. Two weeks had gone by since that day but nothing was
showing yet despite the recent rainfall. It was evident that I wasn't a very patient
farmer.
     I became aware of Joseph's presence as he appeared by my side, his brown eyes
focusing in on the distant mountain range that we had come to call the Kalmars.
     "Do you ever wonder what's out there?" he asked me. "Beyond those mountains.
Beyond the horizon?"
     "Every day," I answered. "We all do. You know that."
     Suddenly turning to look directly at me, he smiled.
     "I have a proposition then".
     I didn't answer but I think my expression clearly displayed my interest.
     "We've all been working hard this last while," he continued. "We finished the
reservoir and the vegetable patch and we've built up enough supplies of candles and
weapons to last us at least a hundred years. I think the time has come for us to try
and get some answers."
     "Care to tell me how?"
     "An expedition of course! Me, Brian, the Doctor, Buster and Babs. We'll set out
on a journey- travel as far as we can and see what we find".
     "But you'll never survive out there!" I exclaimed in shock.
     "We've survived here," he answered. "We know how to hunt and protect
ourselves. We know which berries and fruits are safe to eat. Survival won't be a
problem."
     "But we need you here. We all have to work together just to stay alive. Our little
system will fall to bits without you."
     "Rubbish!" he exclaimed. "There'll still be seven others here. If you all work just
that little bit harder you'll have no problems whatsoever."
     "I still say it's a bad idea," I continued. "What if something happens to you?"
     "We're going to have to start taking some risks sooner or later," he said. "We
can't just sit idle in this place forever. The others have already agreed and the
Doctor seems to be pretty excited about it. The bunnies think it's a great idea too."
     "What about Brian?" I asked. "After that day on the beach I'm not too sure he
could go through an ordeal like that."
     "It'll do him some good," replied Joseph. "Besides, he gets on great with Buster
and Babs. They're best pals at this stage."
     I said nothing, staring down towards the reservoir and feeling the cool chill of
the breeze on my face. Joseph was right. We couldn't just stay here forever. One
way or another we had to find out what was going on.
     Slowly turning to face my old friend I said nothing, the silence telling all.
     "We leave in two days," he smiled, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry
Larry, we'll be back. If we haven't found anything within two weeks we'll turn
straight around."
     "Is that a promise?"
     He nodded slowly, smiling as he turned to face the distant Kalmars.
     In a small way, I felt slightly better.


     The day for departure came quickly and as the sun began to rise the five
companions stood ready to face the elements. Carrying backpacks they had found in
the Looniversity they faced  the dawn each with a steely gaze of determination, the
Doctor standing out in front with his cane held firmly within the grasp of his right
hand and the sunlight glinting off his blue ring.
     Susan was beside him and looked very upset.
     "It's okay my child," he told her. "I've been in some bad situations before haven't
I? This is relatively mild in comparison to what happened to us on Skaro or Marinus
and we came out fine in the end on both those occasions."
     "But you don't know where we are this time," she sobbed. "We haven't even got
the Tardis anymore."
     "The only way for us to get it back is for me to go on this journey," he replied,
rubbing his hand against her cheek. "You know that makes sense don't you?"
     She nodded, tears clearly visible as she brushed her fingers across her eyes.
Shirley stood by her side and squeezed her hand gently, great sympathy clearly
evident.
     Surprisingly, Plucky had turned up to see them off, a blank look on his face as he
gently shook hands with Buster and Babs.
     "Try and take care of yourselves okay," he said. "I wouldn't want to have to deal
with any insurance complications or anything."
     "You better be careful Plucky," expressed Babs. "We might actually start
thinking you like us."
     "Get real long ears! I'm just thinking about the five dollars you still owe me."
     "Of course you are," smiled Buster. "Of course you are."
     We all said our goodbyes relatively quickly, Fifi standing closely by my side on
the Looniversity steps as we watched the five adventurers begin their journey into
the unknown.
     "Will zey be safe do you zink?" she asked as they disappeared one by one into
the trees.
     I couldn't reply, gripping her furry hand tightly as my eyes simply focused on the
spot where Joseph had vanished into the undergrowth. I stared for quite a long time,
almost waiting for him to reappear. But he never did. It was a good thirty minutes
before it actually hit me that it was quite possible that I'd never see any of them
again.


     The next month was without a shadow of a doubt the slowest and most terrible
that I had ever experienced. Every morning I would stand on the Looniversity steps
staring towards the forest, praying for the moment when our friends would return.
On many occasions Fifi and Shirley would join me, both of them clearly just as
worried as myself.
     Just to keep my mind occupied I volunteered to do all the foraging for the
foreseeable future and every day I would spend five or six hours wandering through
the forest in search of fruit and berries, a spear grasped tightly in hand as I rustled
my way through the undergrowth.
     From time to time I would cross paths with Plucky. He seemed to enjoy resting
in the small clearing where I had first encountered Fifi, spending most of the time
sitting by the side of the tiny stream and staring at his rippling reflection. It was
quite clear that he was going through a major patch of depression. Sometimes I
would stop to talk but he didn't seem interested, listening to what I had to say but
rarely answering back. Whenever he did speak however, he usually mentioned
Shirley and on one occasion he even told me that he was in love with her.
     "Why don't you just tell her?" I had asked .
     His only response was that she wouldn't believe him.
     I felt really sorry for the little duck and tried to be as nice as possible to him
whenever we met but it did little to no good. Eventually, I gave up trying to talk to
him and simply concentrated on the job in hand.
     Two weeks went by, then three. If they haven't found anything they'd be on their
way back by now I told myself and all during the third week I gathered twice as
much food in preparation for their imminent return.
     The fourth week arrived with still no sign, then the fifth.
     I grew very scared, convincing myself that a terrible fate had befallen them all.
     I found it difficult to eat or even concentrate during the day, mind always
working on horrible possibilities. Joseph and Brian were my only links to home, the
only tangible evidence that it had actually existed and was not some distorted
figment of my imagination. If I was to loose them I would be loosing practically
everything. I feared for the safety of my new friends too. Buster and Babs may
have seemed strange to me at first but I had grown very fond of them over the past
three months and had come to accept them as almost family.  The Doctor may have
been very easily irritated and on many occasions spoken down to me as if I were a
child but I still liked him, had adopted him as a surrogate Grandfather so to speak. I
think we all had by this stage. It wasn't unusual for such a tightly knit group as our
own to grow very fond of one and other.
     At night I would sit talking with Fifi for hours on end, sometimes not sleeping at
all for fear of bad dreams.
     She was scared too and would often cry openly in my presence, letting all the
bottled emotions of the past few weeks out in waves. Sometimes we would cuddle
each other to sleep, her long and furry tail oddly comforting in my hours of need.
She reminded me of an old teddy bear I had once had and when I told her about this
she laughed for the first time in days.
     "You miss your mother non?" she asked when the giggles had faded.
     I told her that my mother had been dead for eight years and that I lived with my
father in a two bedroomed flat near Dublin's city centre.  He had been unemployed
for as long as I could  remember and I was paying most of the bills. How he would
ever survive without me I didn't know.
     "He will manage," she said. "I am sure zat he will."
     I hoped she was right.
     "What about your family?" I asked.
     "I ave not seen zhem in a long time," she replied. "I used to call France long
distance now and again to see how zey were doing. My Sister Anne would
sometimes send moi a letter from Austria. She is studying how you say, journalism
zere. I ave a brother living in London too but I hardly ever hear from him. We never
really got on zat well."
     "It must be hard on your parents with all their children living so far from home,"
I said.
     She didn't reply, staring towards the floor with a face that had suddenly become
quite ashen.
     "And now zey have lost a daughter," she whispered after a few moments.
     I moved over and laid a hand on her shoulder.
     "We need to cheer ourselves up," I said. "We all do. Let's forget about work
tomorrow and have a party down on the beach."
     "What about ze food?" she asked, eyes lighting up.
     "I've been collecting more than usual the past few days," I replied. "We may as
well use it."
     And smiling once again she nodded.
     "A party would be tres ideal," she laughed. "It has been quite a while since we
ave had some fun."


     By early the following afternoon all seven of us were sitting on the beach, the
seemingly endless sea stretching out towards the horizon and the crashing of waves
against high cliffs from about a mile to the east accompanied by steam like
explosions of spray. It wasn't quite as warm as it had been the past few days but it
didn't matter. For the first time since our arrival in this place we were actually
enjoying ourselves. Even Plucky had turned up, although this was probably due to
Shirley's presence more than anything else.
     The two of them were standing ankle deep in the water, not saying a word but
simply staring towards the horizon. Gogo sat perched on some rocks nearby,
pointed snout darting from side to side as he surveyed the area. His umbrella was
wide open, sheltering him from what little sunlight there was. I reckoned that even
if I lived to be a thousand years old I would never be able to fully understand that
creature.
     We had set up three small tables in the sand with bowels of fruit and a couple of
bottles of berry juice on each, Calamity and Susan doing most of the work.
     The coyote was now relaxing in the shade at the fringes of the forest and I
wandered over to him while munching on a piece of fruit.
     "How's it going?" I asked as I sat myself down beside him.
     He shrugged, holding up a piece of card with "As well as can be expected"
written on it.
     "He misses his petite friend," said Fifi as she walked towards us. "Ze nerdy
coyote et Little Beeper were almost how you say, a set no?"
     "Little Beeper?" I asked. "Let me guess. A roadrunner perhaps?"
     Calamity nodded and smiled, standing up and pretending to snarl with his hands
fully outstretched before him.
     "And I bet you could never catch him," I continued.
     Calamity looked at me and frowned. He was about to write something but
stopped with his pen grasped in hand, shaking his head slowly and putting the card
away.
     "Thinking about his little friend again?" said Susan, approaching from the
nearest table.
     "I guess so," I replied. "I suppose we all have someone we miss."
     "How far away do you think they are by now?" she continued, the conversation
drifting onto a subject that I had hoped to avoid today. "Grandfather is usually adapt
at any situation but I'm really worried about him this time. He has no idea where we
are."
     "I am sure zat zey are fine," said Fifi. "Buster and Babs can handle anyzhing."
     "Have you and your Grandfather been travelling for long?" I asked.
     "For many years now," replied Susan. "We make ideal companions you know.
We're both explorers by nature I suppose. We must have been from one side of the
universe to the other by now."
     "So there's life in outer space then?" I asked.
     "Of course," she smiled. "You're talking to me aren't you?"
     It took several seconds for the words to sink in.
     "Then you're not...."   I trailed off into silence.
     "I thought you knew," she said. "My home planet is called Gallifrey. My
Grandfather is a Time Lord."
     I suddenly burst out laughing, holding my hands to the side of my head.
     "Don't you believe me?" she asked.
     "I suppose so," I answered after a few moments. "It's just that I got on that train
with the intentions of going home and now here I am on a beach that's God knows
where... surrounded by a bunch of cartoon characters and an alien woman. This
wasn't mentioned in the Irish Rail brochure."
     "It was how you say, a real magical mystery tour no?" laughed Fifi, laying a
hand on my shoulder.
     "Oui," I smiled. "It was indeed."
     "Hey you guys... Look at that!"  Shirley was pointing towards us, leaping up and
down in agitation as she struggled to get our attention.
     Within a second we had all made our way over to her, each of us feeling a
sudden wave of fear as we followed her gaze.
     About half a mile down the beach an enormous creature had suddenly burst forth
from the forest, a massive green scaled beast that supported itself on four, tree trunk
sized legs. It's long neck gave it a look reminiscent of one of the larger, sauropod
dinosaurs, a long writhing tail still half hidden in the foliage and a huge
multicoloured frill around it's neck.
     As we stood in a combination of both fear and awe it opened its mouth to reveal
a set of jaws that gleamed like sabres, brown oval eyes that must have been at least
two feet across fixed on the rippling waters.
     But perhaps the most distinctive feature about its body was the massive pair of
wings that lay folded up on top of it's back. They were a lighter shade of green than
the rest of the body, thin skin stretched across extremely long, narrow bones.
     "A dragon," I whispered. "It's a bloody dragon!"
     We were all stunned into silence as it dipped it's head into the waves, the frill
glowing bright red as it pulsed with blood.
     "You guys stare at it all you like... I'm out of here!" exclaimed Plucky, preparing
to make a dash for the trees.
     Before he could move however, Shirley had grabbed a hold of his arm.
     "If we run we might attract its attention!" she exclaimed. "Let's all just stay
perfectly still kay."
     I felt my right leg grow uncannily warm and I realised that for the first time in
over twenty years I had wet myself.
     Fifi gripped my hand tightly, so tightly in fact that it hurt.
     "It must be over a hundred feet long!" whispered Susan. "Just look at those
wings!"
     As she spoke the very wings that she had referred quickly unfolded, stretching
out at least forty feet on each side of the monster's body. Then, withdrawing it's
head from the water it momentarily looked towards us, my blood running cold as I
felt its gaze run over our relatively puny forms.
     There came a brief moment when every one of us thought it was the end, Plucky
closing his eyes and calling out for his mother.
     Then, in almost total silence the wings began to flap ferociously, a cloud of
windblown sand rising around the beast's body and momentarily hiding it from
view.
     I heard a low scream from my side, the usually dumb Calamity seeming to have
at last found a voice.
     Then, as we stood frozen in fear, the beast rose slowly into the air, a fantastic but
terrifying sight if ever there was one.
     For one horrible moment we all thought it was going to swoop towards us and
Susan covered her eyes in fear. But then, just as it seemed the end was at hand it
glided out over the waves, tilting away from us and making it's way towards the
distant cliffs. Just before passing out of sight around the headland it swooped low,
front legs entering the water in a massive shower of spray. When they emerged
there was something clasped in it's claws, a large, black writhing object that looked
like some kind of snake. Before we could get a good look it was gone, vanishing
into the distance like a dream forgotten.
     There came a single residual scream, a high pitched wail that must have echoed
for miles. Then there was nothing but the crashing waves, a light breeze chilling our
quivering bodies.
     It was Shirley who spoke first.
     "Wasn't that like totally cool fer sure?"
     We all looked towards her with an expression of disbelief.
     "Sorry," she shrugged. "But you don't see things like that every day."
     "Is it safe to assume that the party's over?" asked Plucky.
     I looked slowly towards him and then towards the others.
     I think we all started running towards the forest at the same time.


     An hour later we were all sitting around the snooker table in the teacher's lounge,
Fifi and Shirley both perched on high stools that brought them up to eye level with
Susan and myself. The atmosphere was tense to say the least. None of us quite
knew what to say but we could tell from the expression on each other's faces that
we were all terrified. All except Shirley. She seemed genuinely overawed by
the experience, looking for all the world as if she had actually enjoyed it.
Predictably, she was the one who broke the silence.
     "That was like, totally fantastic!" she beamed. "The magic of the moment was
like the merging of a thousand constellations or some junk!"
     "We are all glad you feel zat way Shirley," whispered Fifi with a clear hint of
annoyance. "But for us eet was not exactly a tres wonderful experience."
     "I agree," said Susan, her hands still visibly shaking. "I don't know how we're
going to be able to relax knowing that there's a thing that size roaming around the
place."
     "But I felt no mondo negatory vibes," continued Shirley. "It wasn't interested in
eating us... We're probably too small for it to take an interest."
     "Hostile or not it was bloody huge!" I expressed. "I think from now on we
should try and stay as close to the Looniversity as we can and at least two of us
should be on watch at all times. I'll stay up tonight... who's with me?"
     Calamity raised his hand and nodded.
     "We ave to defend ourselves also," said Fifi. "We ave a few spears and arrows
but I zink we will need a lot more. We should spend ze next few days building up
our arms."
     "We need to defend ourselves?" asked Plucky with a look of put on
astonishment. "Well done Sherlock LaFume! Of course we need to defend
ourselves! Did you get a look at that thing's eyes? Hungry for blood it was. I bet it
especially enjoys roast duck."
     As he spoke his voice rose to an almost hysterical level, Fifi hiding her face in
her hands as she started to cry.
     "It was starting to go so well," she sobbed. "And now ze fear starts all over
again."
     "I'm telling you guys it wasn't a threat!" expressed Shirley, placing a friendly
hand on the young skunk's shoulder. "We're just like, relatively small in comparison
with the wonders of the natural world kay."
     "I saw a Tyrannosaurus once," muttered Susan. "Northern Colorado during the
lower Cretaceous period. It wasn't half as terrifying as that thing."
     We all sat in silence for several minutes, our minds running over the experience
again and again like a constantly repeating spool of film.
     During this time, Gogo wandered into the centre of the snooker table and
prodded the white ball with his nose, potting a red in the process and coming so
close to me that his tail feathers brushed against my nose. Although he didn't act
much like the others he was clearly just as scared, his eyes open slightly wider than
usual and his movements unsteady upon quivering feet. Even his umbrella seemed
folded up.
     "These things must be rare," wrote Calamity. "We would have seen one long
before now if they were the dominant life form in this place."
     We quickly thought this over, feeling slightly comforted by the logic of the
statement but at the same time still wrestling with our primal fears.
     We were all thinking the same thing.
     What of our distant friends?  Had they long since been attacked and killed by
such a beast? It was a possibility that didn't bear thinking about.


     Despite Shirley's continued insistence that the creature was harmless, we spent
the next few days in a state of catlike readiness, over fifty new spears and various
carved weapons joining our armoury in an amazingly short space of time.  Calamity
and Plucky made most of them,  sometimes working long into the night only to fall
asleep next to their varying contrivances.
     The rest of us busied ourselves planting clumps of spears into the soft earth at
various points around the Looniversity grounds. Each one was roughly five feet
long, carved from a branch of sizeable thickness and pointed directly upwards at the
cloud streaked sky. If any flying creature tried to land within a hundred feet of the
building it would soon get a severe taste of pain.
     The clock tower was manned by a watcher at all times, someone ready to sound
the alarm at the first sign of danger and at night we lit several fires at intervals of
perhaps fifty feet or more, the protective flames filling the smoky air with a
flickering, orange glow.
     No one went into the forest unless they had at least two companions with them
and all recreational activities were temporarily halted. We weren't prepared to take
any chances.
     Plucky abandoned his hermit like existence and resumed eating and speaking
with the rest of us. It was clear that he was scared, very scared indeed. I think we all
were.
     But after two weeks had passed without another sighting of the monster our fears
began to dissipate and we soon came to realise that Calamity had obviously been
correct in assuming the creature to be a rare specimen.
     Despite this, we were glad that our dwelling was now well defended and we
decided to keep lighting the fires at night for as long as possible. Over time these
fires were reduced in number to a mere two, a noticeable thinning of the forest in
several spots where we must have felled at least fifty trees or more. The distinctive
smell of burning wood permeated the candle lit corridors of the Looniversity every
night, helping us all to sleep just that little bit easier by making us feel that we were
safe. But I think deep down we all really knew that if a creature of that size was
determined to attack us, we wouldn't last five minutes.


     It was late one afternoon, roughly six weeks after our sighting of the dragon that
the clock tower bell suddenly began to chime.  I was checking on the progress of
our vegetables with Fifi at the time, both of us instantly looking upward in surprise.
     "Ze bell!" she exclaimed. "Monsieur Plucky must ave seen somezhing!"
     We raced to the Looniversity steps where the others were already gathering, all
of us looking upward towards Plucky who was leaning over the edge far above and
pointing into the distance.
     "I don't know what it is but it's big and probably very angry!" he shouted.
     We all held our spears high, Fifi grasping her bow and arrow tightly and aiming
in roughly the direction that Plucky had pointed to.
     Shirley looked upwards at her green feathered counterpart and frowned.
     "Like don't spare us the details Plucky. What is it? Another flying monster or
some junk?"
     "Can't see," he called back. "Whatever it is it's hiding in the trees. The branches
are swaying from side to side like mad. A surprise attack!"
     "Is everyone here?" I shouted.
     "All except Gogo," answered Susan. "I haven't seen him all day."
     I gripped my spear as hard as I could, the various terrible possibilities that had
filtered through my mind over the past few weeks now returning to haunt me.
     Fifi's tail rose into the defensive position, her eyes open wide and clenched teeth
showing.
     "Prepare for ze attack!" she hissed.
     Slightly to the left of us, the taller trees began to sway from side to side. At the
same time we all realised that the ground was vibrating ever so slightly beneath our
feet. Something was coming all right, something big.
     Even Shirley seemed scared this time, eyes focused on the fringes of the forest.
     "I'm starting to get some very strange vibes," she muttered. "Whatever it is
there's more than one."
     As she spoke a nearby clump of bushes was suddenly thrust aside, a tall, thin
creature emerging so quickly we all jumped back at least one pace. It must have
been at least eight or nine feet high, body similar to that of a kangaroo but with tiny,
seemingly useless forearms. It stared towards us with large pink eyes, it's fur a very
dark shade of brown and extremely tangled, loud snorting noises emanating from
it's pig like snout. Behind it came another and then another, twelve of the animals
eventually appearing before us within the space of ten seconds. Then, seemingly as
one, they all came to a sudden, regimented halt.  With a high pitched wail Fifi shot
an arrow high into the air, the sharpened stick plunging into the soft ground some
six feet from the feet of the nearest creature. It snorted loudly but didn't move,
shaking it's head from side to side as if confused by our presence.
     Susan screamed.
     I was about to hurl my spear when I instantly froze, eyes opening wide as I
suddenly noticed something that in my panic I had previously ignored.
     Sitting on the back of the nearest creature was my old friend Joseph!
     Like myself, he now had a heavy beard covering his face, shirt and jeans torn
badly and covered in patches of dirt but despite this there was no mistaking him. It
was definitely Joseph all right... returned as if from the dead!
     "I wasn't expecting this kind of welcome!" he beamed.
     On the creature behind him sat a similarly weathered Brian, the rest of our
friends spread across two other beasts.
     With a squeal of delight Fifi skipped across the grass towards the animal that
carried her two rabbit friends, hugging Babs tightly and kissing Buster full on the
mouth.
     "I knew you would return," she cried. "Please do not go away like zat again!"
     Susan followed quickly after the skunk, trembling as she took a hold of her
grandfather's hand. Unlike my two friends, the Doctor was still clean-shaven if a
little dishevelled in appearance. His black frock coat was torn at the shoulder and
his blue ring seemed to be missing but aside from that he was still energetic as ever
for such a seemingly old man, his wide eyes full of the adventurous spirit that the
past two months must have given him in more than generous quantities.
     I was just about to run over and greet my friends when I suddenly froze in
amazement. For right behind them, dismounting from their animals and staring
directly towards the Looniversity were two strangers. The closest one to me was
dressed in the tattered remains of what appeared to be a late nineteenth century
British army uniform, a dirtied face and two wide brown eyes staring towards me
from beneath an unkempt mass of greasy black hair.
     The other was slightly shorter but considerably more unusual in appearance.
Clearly oriental, he wore what looked like light blue samurai robes, a distinct gleam
reflecting from the long sword that lay clasped at his side. His face was cast in an
intense expression of surprise, a thin beard and a mass of black hair tied into a
topknot completing the image.
     Both newcomers seemed intrigued by the Looniversity and its inhabitants, their
eyes moving from one toon to the other as if not knowing quite what to do. I
remembered this feeling quite well.
     "I told them that they'd find this a shock," laughed Brian. "It took them over a
week just to get used to Buster and Babs!"
     I was far too stunned to comment, simply walking unsteadily towards my friends
with an intense feeling of disorientation. Joseph's creature gave a loud snort as I
approached, a large, three toed foot gently pawing the ground. Strangely enough, I
felt no fear at all.
     "What... What is it?" I eventually managed to ask.
     "Just one element of an extremely long story young man," answered the Doctor.
"One that is probably best told over a good meal."  I nodded slowly, head still
spinning.


     Predictably, the two newcomers were in shock for a couple of hours.  By the
time everyone else had washed up and were ready to discuss their adventures in the
candle lit comfort that was the teacher's lounge however, they had calmed
considerably and were more than willing to join in on the meeting. The man in the
army uniform simply referred to himself as an Artilleryman, claiming to have been
alone for so long that he had forgotten his real name. He spoke with what seemed to
be a London accent, some of the words and expressions he used being slightly
antiquated. This was somewhat explained by the fact that he was convinced the year
was 1898, a belief that he refused to be shaken on despite our continued protests.
He seemed kindly enough if a bit strange, his intense brown eyes sometimes staring
into space for very long periods at a time, sudden and jerky bodily movements
reflecting the fact that he had been acting on a pure animalistic survival instinct for
the past three months. Whenever he heard a noise that he couldn't identify his head
cocked to one side and his body seemed to brace itself for action. On several
occasions he rose from his stool, walking with an almost aimless motion around the
room for up to ten minutes or more. There was clearly a lot more to him than met
the eye.
     Sanjuro was another case entirely. Clearly a samurai of some description, he had
apparently leaped out in front of the wandering group as they had been making their
way through a narrow, mountain pass. With his sword high and bellowing at the top
of his voice he had seemed at first to be a pretty formidable opponent. It had taken
several minutes to calm him down, a task made considerably more difficult by
virtue of the fact that he didn't seem to be able to speak any English. Once he had
put the weapon down however, he had seemed very happy to see them. Much like
the Artilleryman, he had evidently been on his own for a considerably long time.
Naturally, he was amazed by the sight of Buster and Babs but within a few days he
had come to accept their existence without question. Although we couldn't be too
sure, it seemed obvious that he had seen some strange sights during his enforced
isolation, the presence of two talking cartoon rabbits not really adding up to
anything that he hadn't already witnessed. The only thing he had been able to tell
them was his name and no one was really sure if it was his real one or not.
     But curious as we were to learn about the newcomers there were far more
pressing things on our minds.
     "So," said Fifi after a long pause. "You travelled quite a good distance non?"
     "I would estimate four hundred miles," answered the Doctor. "And that's not
taking into account the two weeks we spent following the shoreline."
     "Shoreline!" I exclaimed. "So you reached the other side of this place then?"
     "Of course we did!" beamed Babs. "You didn't think we'd give up now did you?"
     "Then like, what's the deal with this mondo bizarro world?" asked Shirley.
     "Well for one thing we're not alone," replied Joseph. "Just beyond the mountains
there's a group much like our own, slightly larger in fact, about fifteen of them. A
very strange bunch indeed. They live in what looks like a castle of some sort"
     "There's even a couple of toons!" exclaimed Buster. "One of them was only a
baby so he couldn't tell us what his name was but the other one was Slappy
Squirrel."
     He looked towards Fifi and Plucky with a broad grin.
     "You remember Slappy don't you?"
     "Vaguely," replied Plucky with a shrug. "She wasn't very good."
     He suddenly developed a nervous look, glancing over his shoulder quickly.
     "Hey! You didn't bring her back with you did you?"
     "Don't worry Plucky," laughed Babs. "Your life is safe for the time being. She's
staying on with the other group. In fact I think she's taken quite a shine to the guy in
charge... Roger Thornhill I think he said his name was."
     "Lucky for him," muttered Buster with a distinct hint of sarcasm.
     "The rest of the group's pretty mixed," said Brian. "Mostly humans but there's a
couple that were really strange. One of them's a female chimpanzee called Zira.
She's at least five foot high! Speaks perfect English too which I thought was
incredible. There's another one, a creepy sort who seems to keep to himself.
Chamberlain he called himself. I don't know what he is but he sure is ugly, like a
vulture or something."
     "I remember him well," said the Doctor. "A bird of some sort with dominant
reptilian characteristics. I think he said he was a member of the Skek...  Now what
was that name?"
     He thought for a moment before remembering.
     "Oh yes. Skeksis is the word I'm looking for. As to what it means though I'm
afraid I have no idea."
     "You stayed with this group for a while then?" I asked.
     "About a week or so," replied Joseph. "They're in more or less the same situation
as ourselves, eating fruit and berries. None of them can remember how they got
here."
     "After we left them we moved south for a few days," said Buster. "Made our
way through another mountain range, a much bigger one than the Kalmars. And
then we saw the red weed."
     "Ze red weed?" enquired Fifi.
     "It was everywhere," continued Buster. "Looked like a cross between the
contents of a Weenie Burger and a cactus. The whole landscape was covered in it.
That was where we met the Artilleryman."
     The Artilleryman nodded as he was mentioned, standing up and staring at all of
us. There was a grim expression to his face.
     "I was on my own for what seemed like an eternity," he said. "Hiding out in a
house a few miles from London. The Martians were everywhere. They brought the
red weed with them and it was steadily choking the local plant life to death. Most of
the people were either dead or running wild, the Martians hunting as many of us
down as they could. I wasn't scared though, I had a plan. I was going to dig beneath
the ground see. There's miles and miles of sewers under London, plenty of space to
hide from them. Enough space for humanity to start all over again. I reckon I could
have done it too were it not for the fact that one morning I woke up to find myself
in this place."
     "Martians?" asked Shirley. "You mean like, guys from Mars or some junk?"
     "You haven't heard of them?" he asked in surprise.
     Those of us that hadn't been on the trip shook our heads.
     "They travel around in massive metal machines," he explained. "Huge tripods
nearly a hundred feet high that move like they were alive. The Martian sits in a
hood on top, controlling a weapon called a heat ray. It's so powerful it can cut
through steel. I've been in the army for years and I've never seen anything quite as
horrible."
     I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. I had heard about these Martians
before, I was sure of it. But try as I might I just couldn't place the memory. I could
see from the look on the Doctor's face that he felt the same way.
     "Are zhese Martians here too?" asked Fifi to Babs.
     "We saw three machines in the distance one day," she replied. "They were very
far off but we could hear them."
     She suddenly jumped up on the table and made a thoroughly horrendous noise.
     "Ulla! Ulla!"
     "A most excellent approximation young lady," said the Doctor with a grin,
clapping his hands at the same time. "Extremely accurate indeed."
     "We didn't stick around there for long," she continued. "It took us two days to
reach a spot where the red weed didn't grow anymore, a distance of about thirty
miles. It was only then that we knew we were safe."
     "You only saw three machines though?" asked Susan. "Is it possible that's all
they have?"
     "Maybe," replied Babs. "I really don't know."
     "We reached the coast a few days later," said the Doctor. "We followed the
shoreline for at least another fifty miles and met a second group. They were
gathered around a beached ship. There was only five of them, four humans and a
small creature with hooves and horns who called himself Mr. Tumnus. Although we
didn't travel any further they told us of an nearby island, a place where there were
giant intelligent reptiles known as Mahars."
     "Needles to say we didn't go that way," continued Joseph. "But we were
intrigued by the animals we found wandering nearby, the ones we rode home on.
They're remarkably tame considering they've most probably never seen a human
before. We only had to give them some food for them to trust us. We call them
Roomounts... It was the Doctor who came up with that. Just as reliable as horses.
Not quite as fast however but considerably stronger. We set out for here soon
afterwards, the return journey taking almost three weeks less despite the fact that
we bypassed the Martian area by a good twenty miles or so".
     "We had a bit of excitement here while you were gone," I muttered. "A few
weeks back we saw what looked like a dragon down on the beach. It was huge.
Over a hundred feet long".
     "Nothing would surprise me anymore," said Brian. "We saw lots of strange
things. Giant owls, plants that seemed to be able to move by themselves... the list
goes on."
     "But you survived and that's all that matters," said Susan, hugging the Doctor.
"Don't ever go off like that again."
     "No fear my child," he replied with a smile. "For the time being I don't want to
do anything else but relax."
     I think we were all in agreement.


     It was late in the night when I came across the Doctor. As always, I was having
considerable trouble falling asleep and had decided to wander around the corridors
for a while in an attempt to tire myself out. As I was passing the science lab I
noticed that there was a candle still burning inside and popping my head around the
door I saw the Doctor sitting at one of the benches, his right eye seemingly glued to
the lens of a microscope.
     "Burning the midnight oil?" I asked.
     He quickly looked upward, his eyes clearly reddened from the strain of staring
into the tiny lens.
     "I rarely sleep," he answered. "Especially not when there are important secrets to
uncover."
     "Such as?" I asked.
     It took him quite a few seconds to respond, his eyes fixed on me and an odd
expression crossing his face. Finally, after rubbing his forehead with a white
handkerchief and taking a deep breath, he spoke.
     "I take it that you are a reasonable young man?"
     I nodded and smiled. "I hope so."
     "Then sit down a moment," he continued. "There's something I think you should
know. Something that might very well effect us all."
     Intrigued but at the same time oddly disturbed I sat myself down on one of the
stools, staring directly at the Doctor and the flickering candlelight that played upon
his elderly features.
     "Well?" I asked. "What is it?"
     "Before I start I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone else about this just
yet," he answered, his ringed finger pointing towards me. "I don't think the others
would take it too well."
     I nodded slowly, a chill running down my spine.
     "Very well," he continued, lowering his hand. "But don't tell me that I didn't give
you due warning young man. You might never sleep soundly again knowing what I
know."
     My heart rate instantly increased, hands starting to shake mildly. But despite my
growing apprehension I needed to know what he was going to say, needed to know
the truth.
     "As you are no doubt well aware I have spent the past few weeks exploring this
land," he whispered. "Making my way from one side to the other... A pioneer if you
like. And as you were told earlier on we met two other groups while on our travels,
one larger than our own, the other smaller."
     "I know," I said. "I assume we were told everything that there was to be told at
the table."
     "Most of it," replied the Doctor. "But what I failed to mention was the fact that I
was taking notes all the way, drawing maps of the landscapes we travelled through
and more importantly, taking account of all those that we encountered." As he
spoke he withdrew from his pocket a battered  brown notebook, thumbing his way
to the last few pages and showing me the list that he had scribbled down.
     "Some twenty two individuals of varying species," he said, handing me the
notebook. "Do you notice anything about them hmm?"
     I scanned the list, noticing that some of the names had been underlined in red
pen.
     "You've highlighted some of these," I enquired. "Why?"
     "That is what this conversation is all about young man. Those names have been
underlined because those names are the ones that I recognise."
     I looked up in silence, not even blinking as I shook my head slowly in confusion.
     "Oh yes!" he exclaimed. "I recognised them all right. Our friend the
Artilleryman, a Dr. John Watson, a Mr. Bounderby, the Mahars, the Martians and
their tripod machines. I recognised them all because I had read about them in books.
They're all fictional characters!"
     "The War of the Worlds...," I muttered. "I knew I'd heard about those Martians
before but it's only now that you mention them that it's come to me. Good Lord!"
     "That's not all," continued the Doctor. "The very fact that our friends here in the
Looniversity are cartoon characters would seem to imply that their fictional too."
     "No...," I whispered. "They're real. I've even felt Buster's pulse."
     "I'm not disputing the fact that they're alive," replied the Doctor. "I've run some
tests on Calamity that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are living,
breathing creatures. I am just making it clear that they have somehow been born out
of a fictional universe."
     Falling silent he leaned towards me, his face becoming darkened as it fell out of
the candle light.
     "Which leads me to the rather disturbing conclusion that maybe we're fictional
too."
     I stood up, shaking my head and laughing.
     "Impossible!" I cried. "That's just impossible. I'm not fictional. I'm real!"
     "I've been thinking back over my life these past few days," continued the Doctor.
"Remembering all the adventures and narrow escapes that I've had, remembering
my voyages through time and space. They're all far too fantastic to have been real
you know. The more I think about it the more I come to realise that they most
probably never happened at all."
     "No!" I hissed. "You can't expect me to believe this."
     And then, in a sudden horrible moment I remembered what Buster had said to
me when I told him about the hostage situation I'd been involved in.
     "Sounds like the plot to a movie of the week."
     I held both hands to my head and then clenched my fists tightly.
     "No..." I muttered. "It's not true. It can't be."
     "I'm very much afraid that it is my boy," expressed the Doctor. "There's nothing
we can do now but come to accept it."
     "Shut up!" I shouted at the top of my voice. "You're a madman. You're just
trying to scare me. Trying to drive me insane!"
     He shook his head and sighed.
     "Obviously not a reasonable young man at all."
     Too disturbed to comment, I quickly fled the lab.
     Of the next few minutes I remember hardly anything, only the coldness of the
floor tiles beneath my feet as I staggered through the corridors at great speed. I was
trying desperately to escape the truth, to outrun the horrible realisation that the
Doctor was right. My home. My family. Had they ever really existed at all? Was
that day on the beach perhaps the first real day of my life? I knew it was true yet at
the same time I was refusing to believe it.
     "I'm real...," I kept repeating over and over again. "I am real!"
     Turning a corner I ran straight into Fifi, the two of us falling backwards with the
impact.
     "Sorry!" she squealed, struggling to help me up.
     But I wasn't listening. Reaching out I threw my arms around her and hugged her
as tightly as I could, feeling her warm tail coil gently around me.
     "Larry!" she whispered. "What ees it...?"
     But I couldn't answer, tears now rolling down my face.
     "I am real," I whispered. "I know I am."
     As I spoke the candle closest to us blew itself out.



     PART THREE                 CHANGING TIMES



     The sun beat down from a clear blue sky as I rode my roomount across the great
grassy plain.
     It had been quite warm the past week or so, a sign of a rapidly approaching
summer. In many ways I was glad. The winter had been very harsh indeed, snow
covering the ground for weeks on end. There had even come a time when we were
convinced it would never thaw at all.
     Thirsty, I came to a stop by a small, trickling stream, dismounting my animal
and dipping my self constructed flask into the cold water. The mountains were very
close now, only about another hour's ride. I looked upwards at the mighty rocky
peaks, the heavy covering of snow upon the upper slopes gleaming in the bright
sunlight. A fantastic sight yet at the same time oddly foreboding. I hated the journey
through the valley. This would be the third time I had been this way in the space of
eight months and it was always the same. The huge cliffs towered above you on
both sides, your mind already letting you see the inevitable rockfall that was bound
to happen at some stage or another. It would be just my luck for that rockfall to take
place today.
     Hearing the heavy tread of another roomount behind me I looked up to see Fifi
finally catch up with me. This was the first time she had undertaken the journey to
the second colony and the look on her face clearly betrayed the fact that she was
highly surprised at the distance involved.
     "How far now?" she called to me.
     "Before sunset," I replied. "About an hour or so."
     Behind her followed a third roomount, several bundled up packages upon it's
back.
     It was now almost three years since we had found ourselves in this place and
trading with the second colony had become a vital need for our community. There
was about eighty miles or so between the Looniversity and their castle and every
month two people would undertake the journey in order to barter our vegetables and
candles for whatever they had to offer.
     On this particular occasion we were looking for clothes.
     The second colony had a large amount of cotton in their possession and two of
their members were quite adapt at making clothing from it. At the present moment I
was making do with a jacket that I had put together from some old sheets, a small
pair of badly cut shorts being all that remained of the jeans that I had arrived in. I
had stopped wearing shoes well over a year ago and my feet had by this stage
become well accustomed to being uncovered.  The skin of my souls had thickened
considerably and it had now come to the stage that even walking over hard rock
caused little to no pain.
     "You don't know how lucky you are walking around naked all day," I laughed as
the young skunk dismounted. "Although it must get pretty difficult during the
winter."
     "I ave moi fur," she giggled. "Even back in Acme Acres I only wore clothes for
how you say, ze formal occasions no?"
     I fell silent, Fifi's reference to her past life sending a cold chill down my spine.
     About a week after he had told me his theories, the Doctor had made it clear to
everyone that it was quite possible that we were all nothing but fictional characters.
Predictably, everyone had responded in much the same way as I had done. No one
wanted to believe that we had no life outside of our present predicament, that our
memories held nothing but fabricated lies.
     But as time had moved on we had all come to realise that it was most probably
true. We were all definitely alive now, that was for sure. But as to how we had
come to be here we were still very much in the dark. It had been so long now since
our arrival that we had stopped trying to figure it out and had simply begun to
concentrate on the here and now.  Maybe we had once been fictional but by some
unknown means we were now living beings and had to live our lives as such. That
was all that really mattered.
     I shook my head of disturbing thoughts and attempted to smile.
     "Let's try and get this over and done with as soon as possible," I said. "If we play
our cards right we might be back at the Looniversity by the day after tomorrow."
     I looked directly towards Fifi, noticing that she was staring past me with a look
of confusion on her face.
     "Who ees zat?" she asked, pointing into the distance.
     Spinning around, I strained my eyes and tried to focus in on a dark shape that
appeared to be shuffling towards us. It seemed to be an oddly hunched form, still
about half a mile away but progressing steadily across the grass.
     "I don't know," I muttered. "But whoever it is they seem to be in quite a hurry."
     It took over five minutes for the individual in question to come close enough for
us to make out any details and when he did, I winced in disgust.
     The creature that approached us was just a little under five feet high, a
misshapen vulture like head atop a thin, scrawny body that was mostly hidden by a
dark coloured robe.
     "It's Chamberlain," I expressed. "What's he doing this far away from the castle?"
     Fifi stepped back a few paces, a look of extreme worry filling her face. She had
met Chamberlain only once before but the experience had still managed to scare her
badly.
     "Has he seen us?" she whispered.
     "I think so," I replied. "Let's just be calm about this."
     A couple of minutes later it became clear that he was extremely agitated, his
exceptionally high voice filled with what seemed to be fear.
     "Attacked!" he screeched. "Attacked by the three legs!"
     Then, finally reaching us, he collapsed in a heap on the ground and buried his
lumpy beak in the water of the stream.
     "What do you mean attacked?" I asked after a few moments.
     He withdrew his beak, droplets of water dripping from his nostrils.
     "Three legs!" he screeched once again. "They attacked us in the night. Destroyed
our home."
     I bent down, grabbing him by the arm.
     "The castle's been destroyed?"
     "Yes," he replied. "The Martians. They came in the night."
     Then, seemingly losing consciousness he fell face down into the stream.
     I pulled him up and left him lying on his side in the grass, glancing towards Fifi
with a clearly whitened face.
     "You... You better turn around. You better turn around right now," I stammered.
     "What about you?" she whispered.
     "I have to see what's happened. I have to go on ahead."
     "Then I am coming also!" she exclaimed.
     I looked at her in silence, trying to think of something to say but nothing coming
to mind.
     "O'kay," I muttered after about a minute. "But we're only going as far as the
mountains. If we climb halfway up the side of the largest one we should be able to
get a good view of the castle."
     "What about Chamberlain?" she asked.
     I glanced towards the ugly heap in the grass, water droplets still running down
his beak.
     "We'll have to take him with us," I replied. "We can't just leave him here."
     I grabbed a hold of him, finding his body to be light enough for me to hoist it up
onto the back of my roomount without much of a struggle.
     He groaned slightly as I carried him, one of his claw like fingers scratching my
arm.
     Ignoring the mild pain, I slung him belly downwards across the roomount's back.
     Then, removing the packages from the third roomount and placing them
carefully onto the ground I climbed up onto it.
     "Come on," I expressed. "We've only got an hour or so till sundown."
     We reached the inclination of the mountain within twenty minutes, both Fifi and
myself dismounting and making our way steadily up the slope. Chamberlain had by
this stage resumed consciousness and was now sitting bolt upright upon his carrier,
staring at us but refusing to follow.
     Ignoring him, we continued on our way.
     It was a long climb, the inclination becoming steeper the higher we went and by
the time we reached a suitable position we were both panting badly. I opened my
flask and we both drank heartily, water running down my chin as I took in several
deep lungfulls of much needed air.
     The sun was hanging low in the sky, some of the brighter stars already glinting
in the heavens and a creeping darkness that was the rapidly encroaching veil of
night prowling steadily towards us from the distant horizon.
     Below us lay a panoramic view of the area directly beyond the mountains, a
spectacular landscape of hills, trees and lakes that stretched as far as the eye could
see. But it was not this landscape that we set our eyes upon, it was the pillar of grey
smoke that was rising high into the air from the spot where the castle used to be.
     I couldn't make out much detail in the growing darkness but it was very apparent
that the building had been completely levelled.
     "Ees it true?" asked Fifi slowly.
     I simply nodded, my eyes now coming to fix themselves upon the three huge
shapes that stood above the ruins like terrible omens of doom. Two of them were
gigantic tripods, the third a smaller, spider like machine with five legs and two huge
articulated claws.
     All three of them combined to form a truly terrifying sight, a fearsome display of
power that made me feel completely and utterly helpless.
     "Martians," I hissed after several moments of silence. "Why did they do it?"
     "Let's go home," squealed Fifi, grabbing a hold of my arm. "Let's go home
now!"
     I stared towards the Martian machines for another few seconds before nodding in
agreement, following swiftly behind the young skunk as she half ran, half slid down
the rocky slope.
     We reached the roomounts within a few minutes, finding Chamberlain to be in
the same position we had left him in.
     "You see!" he squealed. "I was right! Right all along."
     I didn't answer, simply mounting my animal as quickly as possible and kicking it
into motion.
     "Straight back home with no stops," I shouted. "We'll be there by tomorrow
afternoon." And without a further word between the three of us, we set off at
great speed.


     We moved much faster than I had anticipated, arriving back at the main entrance
of the Looniversity long before midday. Our roomounts were so tired they almost
collapsed under the strain and we left them panting by the reservoir as we ran
quickly inside to tell everyone the bad news.
     The Doctor seemed to already know what we were about to say.
     "It's the Martians isn't it?" he asked. "We all knew that this might happen."
     "The entire place was destroyed," I explained. "Just ashes left behind."
     "What about survivors?" asked Babs in a near frenzy. "Who else got out besides
Chamberlain?"
     "I was outside at the time," answered Chamberlain calmly. "I only saw the attack
from the distance."
     "And you didn't go back and try and help anyone?" she hissed.
     "What could I do?" he continued. "They would have killed me too."
     "I know the Martians well," replied the Artilleryman. "The guys from the castle
would have been lucky if they died instantly. I've seen how those monsters feed."
     I think we all shuddered, the Artilleryman's stories of how the Martians
consumed the blood of other creatures coming back to haunt us.
     "They must have used up all the resources in their area," muttered the Doctor.
"They've only started on the territory beyond the mountains so that gives us quite a
while before they head this way."
     "And what can we do once that happens?" asked Plucky. "We might as well dig
our own graves now."
     "We can't panic," I expressed. "We have to keep our minds clear on this."
     Joseph and Shirley nodded, fear clearly showing on their faces.
     "I knew there was a strange presence nearby," said Shirley. "I warned you before
you went."
     "Oui, I remember," answered Fifi. "I am so sorry zat we did not take you more
seriously."
     "Shirley," I asked after a few moments. "Can you tell us if there's any survivors?
I mean, can you use your mind powers over that kind of distance?"
     "Hold on," she replied, holding both hands to the side of her head and sitting on
the floor in a lotus position. Then ever so slowly she began to rise upwards.
     We had all seen her levitate like this on many occasions but it never ceased to
amaze, our eyes fixed on her seemingly weightless form as she began her familiar
chant.
     "OhwhataloonIam.... OhwhataloonIam."
     After several minutes of this she returned to the floor, opening her eyes to reveal
pupils that were glowing white.
     "Yes," she whispered. "There are survivors... seven of them. They're hiding
rough and they're very scared."
     "Can you tell us who they are?" asked Buster. "What about Slappy?"
     "I don't know," she replied. "I can sense the emotions but I can't tell who they're
coming from."
     "If seven of them made it then I bet they'll try and make their way here," said
Brian. "We should light some more fires over the next few nights to try and guide
them in."
     "And attract the Martians!" shouted Plucky. "You must be crazy."
     "The Martians are on the opposite side of the mountains my boy," said the
Doctor. "From what the Artilleryman has told me they are logical beings. They
won't stray out of the area they're in unless they really need to."
     "Can we take that chance?" asked Plucky harshly.
     "For the seven poor souls out there we can!" shouted Babs.
     The two toons stared at each other coldly for the next thirty seconds, both of
them looking for all the world as if they were about to pounce. Then, in silence,
Plucky cast his eyes downwards and Babs smiled.
     "You see," she said with a smile. "No need to shout."


     We reckoned that on foot it would take the seven survivors about four days to
reach us,  assuming of course that they'd considered that option. After a week had
passed without any sign however, it was generally assumed that they hadn't.
     Although we had hardly known the other group we mourned for them greatly,
even to the extent of having a brief service for them. Although none of us were
highly religious we made an effort to make the ceremony as solemn as possible, all
of us holding candles and praying quietly as Brian and Joseph erected a small
wooden cross near the fringes of the forest.
     Even the elusive Gogo turned up, remaining both quiet and still as he watched
the proceedings from a distance.
     Afterwards, we all re-entered the Looniversity and ate our evening meal in
silence.
     I had noticed during the service that Plucky and Shirley were holding hands, not
saying anything but simply standing in silence together. Despite their frequent
disagreements it had become quite clear over the past year or so that they cared very
deeply about each other and although they never spoke about this relationship, I
think everyone knew. If nothing else, this new danger from the Martians seemed to
have strengthened their bond.
     Unlike our sighting of the dragon however, our fear of the Martians never grew
to such an extent that we found it interfering with our daily lives. In the first few
days after the massacre of the second colony we went about our regular business
exactly as we had for the past three years, no deviation to the daily proceedings at
all. We had all come to live with constant danger while in this place and the
possibility of a sudden and terrible death no longer filled us with the same fear that
it once had. In many ways I likened it to living back home. We could have died in a
car wreck any day of the week but we didn't avoid cars because of this fact. Here
we had dragons and Martians instead of motorised transport but the risk was no
different. Death could come at any time, you just had to take it in your stride.
     Despite the non appearance of the seven survivors, Shirley was adamant that
they were all still out there. At one point Joseph suggested heading out on a
expedition to find them but through a combined effort we finally managed to
dissuade him. They would have to find us, it was as simple as that.
     It took nine days for the first of them to show up, the female chimpanzee known
as Zira simply bursting forth from the foliage one day and collapsing into the grass
by the statue of Bugs Bunny. Dragging her unconscious body inside, we made up a
bed for her and tried to help her out as best we could. She was quite delirious
however, slipping in and out of consciousness for several days. It was almost a
week before she had fully recovered but despite her ability to answer questions she
had no idea as to the whereabouts of her fellow survivors.
     Then, about two days later, another arrived. The newcomer was a middle aged
man with a Welsh accent by the name of Tom Price. He was very dirty indeed,
having lived in the rough for quite a while but despite this, he appeared friendly
enough if a bit lazy. He rarely helped out with the work, preferring to stay in his
room or hover around the teacher's lounge eating, a mannerism which soon began to
annoy us after a few days. Asking him if he had any special skills, he told us that he
had once been a very adapt trapper, telling us many stories of how he used to catch
rabbits in the Welsh hills. Although Buster and Babs obviously didn't take kindly to
this, the rest of us decided he was probably the best man to help us start catching
game again and we told him to start pulling his weight by doing a bit of hunting for
us.
     This he did, although as Susan and Calamity had both experienced problems
with the foresthog meat before, it was decided that that particular animal should be
avoided.
     Tom seemed to specialise in a larger, badger like creatures that due to their
intense, glassy eyed stare we simply called watchers. They averaged out at just over
a foot long and although the meat had a near identical taste to that of the foresthogs,
we experienced no health problems whatsoever.
     Within a week, watcher meat had become the dominant part of our diet.


     It was quite early in the morning when the Artilleryman and myself were both up
on the clock tower, our eyes fixed upon the rocky slopes of the far off Kalmars.
Although a considerable distance away I couldn't help but feel that they were still
too close for comfort. Over the past few days we had begun to notice a faint trace of
scarlet upon the lower slopes, the creeping presence of the red weed clearly evident.
We had yet to spot any Martians but it seemed certain that they were still at large.
     "What exactly is that stuff?" I asked without drawing my eyes away. "It's a plant
of some sort isn't it?"
     "As far as I know," he answered. "It seems to follow the Martians wherever they
go. Perhaps they use it as a substitute food source."
     "You mean other than blood," I muttered.
     He failed to answer, his eyes fixed on something in the sky.
     "Look at that!"
     Following his gaze I froze in shock, my eyes focusing in on an enormous object
that seemed to be sailing through the distant clouds. It was well over a hundred feet
long, an enormous wingspan that would have dwarfed many a jet aeroplane.
Despite the length of time it had been since my last sighting of such a beast, I still
remembered it like it was yesterday.
     As I watched, the creature vanished behind a massive cloud bank and never
emerged.
     "It's back..." I whispered once I had finally got over the shock. "We.... We have
to tell the others."
     "So that's the famous dragon I've heard so much about," he expressed. "I would
have expected something far more terrifying."
     Not responding, I quickly made my way towards the stairs.
     I met Calamity and the Doctor at the foot of the steps and quickly babbled out
something that they failed to understand. I shouted the same thing in Buster and
Bab's direction as I passed them by. It was only once I had gathered everyone
together in the reception area that I found myself able to talk properly.
     "It's the dragon," I exclaimed through shortness of breath. "It's back... saw it
from the tower."
     "Are you sure?" asked Susan. "How far away was it?"
     "A good distance," I replied. "Looked like it was moving away from us."
     "I knew he was back!" exclaimed Shirley.   We all turned our gaze towards her,
not quite understanding her obvious delight. Noticing that we were all looking at
her she fell silent, a strange expression of guilt crossing her face.
     It was Brian who spoke first.
     "Forgive me if I'm wrong here but it seems to me that you're ever so slightly
pleased it's back."
     Shirley remained silent, casting her eyes downward.
     "What are you not telling us Shirl?" asked Buster.
     Finally she looked up towards us, clearing her throat in readiness for an
explanation.
     "There's kind of something that I haven't like, told you guys about."
     We all remained silent, awaiting the rest of her confession.
     "Well," she said. "I've sort of been in telepathic contact with the dragon for a
while."
     We all exchanged glances, trying to figure out if what we'd just heard was
correct.
     "How long?" I whispered.
     "Ever since that day we saw him on the beach I guess. His mind was so big and
powerful I sort of just couldn't help it."
     "Ees this some sort of joke?" asked Fifi.
     "Fraid not Feef," answered Shirley with a slight hint of annoyance. "I know I
should of told you guys this long ago but you were just like, far too scared of him.
We can't all be perfect kay."
     "Well now that you have told us young lady what else do you know?" asked the
Doctor. "Is the creature intelligent?"
     "Not really," replied Shirley. "Certainly no more intelligent than the average
large animal. I was right about him not wanting to hurt us however. He only likes
fish... gets them far out to sea or some junk."
     "Are you trying to tell us that you let us spend days defending this place when
you knew all along we were safe?" asked Susan.
     "I tried to tell you guys at the time. You just wouldn't listen."
     "I suppose we didn't," I muttered.
     "Well," said Brian. "I guess we should thank you for finally setting our minds at
rest about this issue... Even if it is three years too late."
     Plucky drew Shirley close and kissed her on the cheek.
     "Don't worry baby," he smiled. "I forgive you."  She grinned and kissed him
back.
     It was the first time that they had shown their affections this openly.
     Then, hand in hand they walked slowly away from us.
     I looked at the others and they looked at me.
     "Do you really believe that?" I asked.
     "At this stage I'd believe more or less anything," replied Buster. "Who else is up
for a dip in the reservoir?"
     There was an unanimous show of hands.


     It was late in the Autumn when Sanjuro spotted the tripods. He had been helping
Tom set up some snares when he noticed the giant walking machines through a gap
in the trees. The first we heard of it was when he ran shouting and screaming
through the corridors of the Looniversity, waving his sword around dangerously
and babbling quite inconsistently. When we had finally managed to catch up with
him and calm him down he explained what he had seen as best he could, using hand
mannerisms to cover the sections where his limited English failed him.
     "Martians!" he exclaimed. "To the north. There were two machines."
     He had been a quick learner, having developed a reasonable mastery of the
language over the space of about eight months or so and because Shirley had been
his principle tutor, he had gained her accent and mannerisms.
     "How far off?" asked Brian.
     "Very far," continued the samurai. "Several miles or some junk."
     "Could be just a scouting party," I suggested. "They mightn't be necessarily
moving towards us."
     "No," replied the Doctor. "If they are indeed checking out this area then I'm very
much afraid they're about to move. I think we now have to face our worse case
scenario."
     "Let's get out of here!" shouted Plucky. "The whole lot of us. We'll move down
the coast."
     "After all we've achieved here," I shouted. "We can't just run out."
     "But we'll die if we stay here," continued the green duck. "Those things will
blow us to smithereens or worse."
     "Larry ees right!" shouted Fifi. "We cannot just abandon zis place, not after all
ze work we put into eet."
     "I'm not prepared to die over this building," said Buster. "For once I agree with
Plucky."
     Babs nodded to signal her agreement also.
     As she did so I was horrified to see that Brian and Joseph were nodding too.
     "They're right Larry," said Brian. "This place ain't worth it. We have our lives to
think about."
     I was speechless, turning to the others for help only to see that they were all
equally divided.
     "I agree," exclaimed Chamberlain. "Let the Martians overrun this place. We
shall be long gone by the time they arrive."
     I glanced towards Fifi but she seemed just as helpless as myself, watching in
consternation as the differences of opinion within our community were made quite
clear.
     Within a minute we had formed into two groups on either side of the corridor,
each trying to convince the other of the sanity of it's argument.
     There were eight who wanted to leave, the two bunnies, Plucky, Chamberlain,
Zira, Brian, Joseph and Tom Price glaring at the rest of us from across six feet of
floor tiles.
     The remainder of us had huddled together as one, unsure of what to do.
     "All right then," said Joseph after a few moments. "It's quite clear who's got
common sense here. We leave in the morning."
     "And just where will you run to?" asked the Doctor. "No matter where you go
the Martians will turn up there eventually. We have to face them here and now."
     "Forget it old man," said Brian. "We haven't got a chance against those things."
     "There's always a chance as long as there's hope," he replied.
     "Save your hope," said Tom. "I've seen those fighting machines in action and I
know we'd never survive."
     "Go then!" I shouted. "Get out of here the lot of you! We're better off without
pessimists."
     Even as I spoke I realised I had made a grave mistake in letting my emotions out
so aggressively.
     Brian looked at me long and hard, seemingly trying to formulate a clever
response. After a few moments however he gave up, shaking his head slowly as he
walked quietly away. Within a minute, the rest of them had followed suite. I turned
to look at those who stood with me, the look of sorrow in their faces clearly evident.
     "They're probably right you know," I said finally. "We're mad to even think
about staying here."
     "Madness and bravery walk hand in hand," replied the Doctor. "Don't worry my
boy... We'll survive."
     "I hope you're right," I muttered. "For all our sakes I really hope so."


     I spent most of the night hoping that the others would change their mind about
leaving, just waiting for the moment when either Brian or Joseph would enter my
room and say that they had reconsidered. But as the hours of darkness wore on I
began to realise that this wasn't going to happen.
     Fifi and myself sat staring at each other across a low table with a single candle
between us, both feeling the same pain but being quite unable to put it into words.
     We spoke as we always did, telling stories from our childhood in order to keep
our minds occupied and free of fear. But this time it wasn't working. This division
within our group was the greatest threat we had ever faced and somehow it seemed
that things could never be the same again.
     Neither of us slept, falling silent from time to time but never fully drifting off.
The flame between us flickered and danced, distorting our shadows and throwing
them high up onto the white painted walls that surrounded us.
     Then, in the early hours of the morning I quite suddenly and uncontrollably
began to sob. Within a moment, my furry companion had followed suite.


     The dawn came quicker than expected, some loud noises coming from the
surrounding rooms in the early hours as the others packed for their journey. By the
time I had made my way to the main entrance they were already gathering upon the
steps, babbling amongst themselves but falling silent as I approached. I could see
from their reddened eyes that their night had been just as restless as my own.
     "Are you sure you won't come?" asked Brian after a few seconds. "The more of
us there are the greater our chances."
     "I... I can't," I replied. "They need me here."
     Then, laying a hand on my shoulder he nodded.
     "Take care of yourself okay," he said, glancing up at the clock tower. "I'm really
going to miss this place you know."
     I nodded slowly as the group moved down the steps, Brian giving me a final,
sorrowful glance as he disappeared into the forest. It was just like their expedition
of three years ago except this time they really weren't coming back. I stood upon the
steps for several minutes, trying desperately to hold back the tears. Then, unable to
take it anymore I simply sat myself down, roaring and crying as I rocked myself
gently backwards and forwards with both hands pressed tightly against my temples.
For the first time in my life I found myself loosing the desire to live, emotions
spiralling out of control despite my best efforts.
     "Come back," I whispered to myself. "Please come back."
     From the forest there came nothing but silence, a cold breeze upon my body and
the equally cold pinpricks of stray raindrops.
     And then, like the hand of an angel I felt someone lay their fingers upon my
shoulder. Opening my eyes and looking up I saw that it was Plucky. Beside him
stood Shirley and Fifi, a look of extreme sadness in their eyes.
     "Plucky," I whispered. "I thought... I thought you were leaving too."
     "Shirl wouldn't come," he replied. "I couldn't just abandon her now, could I?"
     Through my tears I suddenly smiled, some of my former strength returning.
     "You're a much better person than I've given you credit for," I said, grabbing
him by the hand. "A much better person indeed."
     His only response was a smile, his free arm drawn tightly around Shirley and
holding her close.


     "If what the Artilleryman tells us is indeed correct, the Martians are more or less
helpless creatures once stripped of their technology."
     The Doctor spoke as always with a voice filled with authority, a slight twinkle to
his eye as he stared towards us each and every one.
     "As far as we know they only have four machines, three of which are the large
scale tripods and the fourth some manner of construction device. Much like the
bigger machines, it too is fitted with what the Artilleryman so colourfully refers to
as a heat ray but aside from that it doesn't seem half as well armoured."
     He had drawn some rough sketches of the machines in question upon the
blackboard in one of the larger classrooms, walking stick held in hand as he
addressed us as a teacher would his pupils.
     "So what can we do?"  He looked directly at Plucky as he spoke, pointing his
stick in the young duck's direction.
     Plucky gulped, glancing towards Calamity for help.
     "You have to think for yourself young man," frowned the Doctor. "You may not
have your friends to help you once the moment arrives."
     "We could... We could dig trenches," spluttered Plucky. "It might trip their war
machines up."
     "Very good!" exclaimed the Doctor. "There's hope for you yet."
     As the old man turned away Plucky gave the coyote a savage glance, pointing
towards the Doctor as he did so.
     "This guy's worse than Foghorn!" he whispered.
     "Trenches might work," said Susan. "We could also try and spread lengths of
chain between the trees for the same purpose. If we kept them well hidden it might
take them by surprise, give us a fighting chance."
     "We could try and cut off their fuel supply," I suggested.
     "A good idea but alas we don't know what fuel source they're using," answered
the Doctor. "I assume it's something they refine but as to what it is I have no idea."
     "Ze refining would be achieved by ze smaller machine no?" asked Fifi.
     "Almost certainly," said the Doctor. "From what I've heard of it, it appears more
than well equipped for such a task."
     "Zhen I suggest we attack zat one first," exclaimed the skunk, standing up and
facing us all. "It is ze smallest of ze four. We can do it easily."
     "Are you mad!" I asked. "It may not be well armoured but it's always got at least
one of the big tripods with it."
     "I suppose we could like, create a diversion or some junk."  All eyes turned
towards Shirley. "We could try and draw the tripod away before attacking the
little one," she continued. "We could use the roomounts. It would work fer sure."
     Sanjuro smiled as he listened, not understanding half of it but getting a fair idea
of what we were discussing.
     "I shall go," he said after a few moments. "I am like, a totally fast runner. I'll
draw the big guy away while the rest of you make your move."
     As he spoke he scratched the back of his head, twitching slightly in his position
as he awaited our response.
     "Are you sure you could do it?" asked Shirley slowly. "You could be killed."
     "I've almost been killed many times," he replied. "Once more won't be much of a
problem."
     The Doctor put down his stick on the teacher's desk, walking over to Sanjuro and
running his eyes up and down the samurai's body.
     "You seem extremely fit," he said after a few moments. "More than any of us
that's for certain. You're probably quite a fast runner."
     Sanjuro nodded and smiled.
     "I would not have reached the age I am now were it not for my fitness," he
replied.
     "Even if he does go, what about the construction machine?" asked Susan. "It
may not be well armoured but it's still more than we can handle."
     In response, Calamity walked up to the top of the class, taking out his trademark
piece of card and scribbling something down quickly.
     Then, holding it up he showed us the message that he had written in bold red ink.
     "Did any of you ever hear of a petrol bomb?"


     Calamity used some petrol taken from an old generator that he had discovered in
one of the storerooms, pouring it into some empty milkbottles taken from the arts
room.
      There was only enough of these for ten bombs but according to the small coyote
that amount would be more than enough.
     Each device was about fifteen inches high, filled to the three quarters way point
with petrol and with an oily rag stuffed in the maw.
     Other than these, it would appear that our only weapon would be surprise.
     Then, after two days of carefully preparing ourselves, all ten of us set out
towards the mountains on our roomounts, Gogo included. None of us had the
courage to stay behind counting the hours in wait. This time we all wanted a piece
of the action. Fear seemed to have deserted us, replaced with a basic desire to live.
It no longer seemed to matter that the mission was highly dangerous, all that we
now cared about was living the rest of our lives free of the Martian menace. We had
to succeed. If we failed life would become next to unbearable.
     Ever since he had admitted his love for Shirley, Plucky had become a new
person. Gone was his self centred personality and extreme cowardliness. All that
remained now was a young, determined toon with a simple desire to protect his
lover. He took the lead as we moved across the grassy plain, sometimes venturing
out maybe a mile or more ahead of us in almost feverish anticipation of our ultimate
encounter with the Martians.
     In many ways, he was the bravest of us all.
     It took a day and a half for us to reach the lower slopes of the mountains, hiding
our roomounts behind a large outcropping of rock before making for the entrance to
the valley. Red weed carpeted all the surrounding foliage, thick scarlet fronds
creeping across grass and stone alike like glistening veins. Here and there, large
cactus like plants sprouted upwards from the alien sea, quivering in the cold breeze
as we passed as silently as possible. Then, while moving around a small clump of
trees Plucky froze, holding his hand up as a signal for us to halt.
     There, standing amongst the red weed less than a mile away stood the glittering
form of a tripod, rigid against the overcast sky.
     Behind it lay our quarry, the spider like construction device moving slowly
across the grass, a tree trunk held in the clasp of one of it's mighty claws.
     Despite seeing it up close and realising how big it really was none of us so much
as stepped backwards. We all knew that there was no turning back now. The job
had to be done, it was as simple as that.
     "Is there just the one tripod?" I whispered.
     "As far as I can tell," replied Plucky, fingering the bottle within his grasp. "If
there's another it's well hidden."
     As he spoke the tripod suddenly moved away from us, a terrible noise filling our
ears.
     "Ulla.... Ulla"
     Still none of us blinked. It was now or never.
     I turned to see if Sanjuro was ready to go, noticing for the first time that he was
no longer behind us.
     It was only a matter of seconds before Fifi answered the question that I had yet
to ask.
     "Look!" she exclaimed. "He ees already moving!"
     All our eyes fell on the small form that was moving briskly away from us, the
samurai crouching down on all fours in the long grass as he neared his target.
     Then, waiting until the tripod had swivelled it's hood towards him, he suddenly
jumped up and shouted at the top of his voice, sword held high in the air.
     Whatever it was he had screamed none of us knew, it was clearly in Japanese.
     Regardless of its comprehensibility however, the tripod instantly began striding
across the grass towards the tiny human, screaming out it's war cry once again as
the samurai quickly bolted for the nearby trees.
     "Come on," shouted Plucky, lighting the rag in his bottle with a match that
Calamity had given him. "This is our only chance!"
     As one we fled towards the construction device, each one of us lighting our rags
and screaming as we held our bottles high.
     The device barely had time to turn around and face us before Plucky had reached
it, hurling his bottle towards the hood as he ran between two of it's legs. It smashed
against the cold metal exterior, falling to the grass in a shower of flames.
     "Come on!" screamed the duck. "Do the best you can!"
     The Martian tried to strike Plucky with one of the machine's huge metal claws
but the little duck was far too quick for it.
     Leaping nimbly out of the way the claw struck only earth, the entire device
shuddering under the impact. As it moved we all flung our bottles at almost the
same moment, two of them   falling inside the hood and exploding in a ball of fire.
     "Back!" I shouted. "Everybody back!"
     Before the words had even left my mouth there came a massive explosion, the
machine's limbs jerking in a spasm like motion as black smoke poured from the
now flaming hood.
     It finally managed to swivel round towards us, a flash of light as it used the
weapon that up to this moment we had only heard about. I felt an extreme blast of
heat as the beam missed my body by perhaps six feet, diving to the ground and
covering my head with dirty hands. As I fell I heard a second explosion, a loud
hooting coming from the machine as one of it's claws fell clean off, hitting the
ground with an enormous thump that sent a quiver through my entire body.
     Then, almost in slow motion, the machine's legs buckled, the hood exploding in
orange flame as the Martian within gave out a loud, drawn out scream.
     Just for a second I thought I saw it writhing in agony, a creature not unlike an
octopus with many arms surrounding a large, bulbous body.
     But before I could fully take in the image it had gone, becoming lost in a sea of
flame as black smoke poured out of the hood and darkened the sky. Struggling
upwards, I ran towards the trees, noticing from the corner of my eye that the large
tripod was already on it's way back.
     Sensing my friends close behind I plunged into the heavy undergrowth, all of us
getting down low beneath a mass of red weed as the massive machine strode by and
made for it's fallen comrade. Just as it reached the construction device the burning
machine finally exploded,  a large metallic claw slamming down into the grass less
than twenty feet away from our hiding place.
     "Let's get out of here," whispered Fifi, each word spoken between deep intakes
of breath. "Let's get out of zis place now!"
     Nodding, I began to crawl through the scarlet fronds towards the shelter of the
trees, sweat pouring down my face as I moved.
     Beside me crouched the Doctor, his face reddened with exertion. I could hardly
believe that such a seemingly old man could have moved as fast as I had seen him
do.
     By the time we reached the trees we were all together, finally standing up and
turning to view the devastation that we had wrought.
     The construction machine was now nothing but a pile of burning wreckage, a
murdered insect destroyed by the might of a magnifying glass.
     The grass was smouldering on all sides, the huge tripod standing in the
shimmering heat haze as it swivelled it's hood one way and then another, searching
fruitlessly for those who had killed it's companion.
     I think we all smiled, realising that it had no idea where we were.
     Finally giving up, it howled once again before striding off into the distance.
     "There was no real need for us to murder the Martian," the Doctor muttered after
a few moments. "We should have found some way to get it out of the machine
before it exploded. Did you not hear it's dying screams."
     "Yes," I replied grimly. "But it was either him or us. You saw how powerful that
heat ray was."
     The Doctor said nothing for a few moments, simply shaking his head as Susan
held him gently by the hand.
     "Despite the Doctor's objections I'd call that a stunning victory," smiled the
Artilleryman. "There's hope for us yet you know."
     Not responding I simply stared towards the burning machine, eyes focusing in
on the surrounding grass and trees.
     "Where's Sanjuro?" I asked slowly. "He was supposed to meet us back here."
     We all looked towards the distant trees, a very sick feeling coming over us.
     "He said he was fast," whispered Shirley. "He'll be back... He's just like, taking
his time."
     Her voice was clearly quivering, filled with unmistakable anxiety.
     None of us dared say anything, simply remaining silent as we stared blankly into
the distance.
     We were still there late into the evening.


     We reached the Looniversity within twenty hours and despite our extreme
tiredness we immediately made our way to the teacher's lounge for an emergency
meeting.
     Then, once we had gathered in an orderly fashion around the snooker table, the
Doctor spoke.
     "It's only a matter of time before the Martians figure out where that attack came
from," he said grimly. "We must be on our guard for the next week or so. Knowing
now that we constitute a serious threat they will almost certainly try and wipe us
out."
     Shirley looked up with obvious pain in her eyes, shaking her head slowly from
side to side as she cleared her throat.
     "Our friend is dead," she whispered coldly. "No matter what we plan now we
can't bring him back. The others were right in getting away from here."
     "Our friend died because he believed in what we were doing," snapped the
Doctor. "Maybe we can't bring him back but the least we can do is to honour his
memory by continuing the fight."
     "It's crazy," sobbed Shirley. "How many of us will be left by the end of it?"
     Plucky laid a hand on her shoulder and cuddled her tightly, whispering
something that was inaudible to the rest of us.
     "Running away is no option," continued the Doctor. "What could we do?
Become nomads perhaps? The Martians will keep on moving until they have this
entire land under their heel. Where will we run then?"
     "Grandfather's right," said Susan. "We have to face them now."
     Shirley continued to cry, looking up with reddened eyes.
     "Kay..," she sobbed. "I just don't want any more of us to die."
     "We won't," replied the Doctor, laying a kindly hand upon her shoulder. "If we
use our minds we will survive."
     I wished I could have had his confidence.


     We had a short service for our fallen comrade early the next morning, placing
another small cross by the side of the one we had already erected for the inhabitants
of the castle.
     We engraved it simply with his name, all falling silent for a minute as we
honoured his memory. He had been carving a spear for the past few days and I
placed it into the soft soil directly behind the cross.
     "In memory of a brave warrior," I whispered. "May he rest in peace."
     Then in silence, we all made our way back to our rooms and mourned in private.


     I awoke to the heavy clanging of the clock tower bell, my heart throbbing as I sat
bolt upright and stared towards the nearest window.
     It was early in the day from the look of it, the sky quite overcast with a mass of
dark clouds.
     As I watched I saw Calamity run by, a spear clasped tightly in his grasp and a
look of fear in his eyes. I didn't have to be told to realise what was happening.
     Quickly putting on my clothes and grabbing a hold of my bow and arrow I ran
through the corridors towards the main entrance, finding everyone to be already
gathered there in wait. High above, the bell finally fell silent, the distinctive features
of Gogo Dodo peering down at us.
     "They've come at last," I muttered.
     "All three of them," shouted Plucky. "They're still about five miles or so away
but they're moving pretty fast."
     As he spoke we heard a distinctive Martian howl from the distance, my stomach
churning in fear.
     "We must keep thinking straight," expressed the Doctor. "Everyone to your
positions."
     "We haven't had time to finish the trenches," I shouted. "We're not protected to
the rear!"
     "No time now my boy," expressed the Doctor. "We'll just have to take this as it
comes."
     As one, we all ran towards the fire that had been burning overnight, wrapping
oily rags around our arrow heads and dipping them into the flames. As we did so,
Calamity ran between each one of us handing out brass coloured helmets from a
large wicker basket.
     He had been hard at work for the past two days, each helmet beaten from metal
he had stripped from the Looniversity classrooms.
     I quickly slipped mine over my head, finding it to be slightly too large and rough
around the edges. I was far too scared to care though, my hands trembling as I
staggered away from the fire and took my position behind the statue of Bugs. As I
crouched down low I saw the others vanish quickly to their respective hiding
places, a cold wind bringing with it the first drops of rain.
     This was it... the moment we had all dreaded for so long. Whatever happened
within the next few minutes would determine our entire future.
     The seconds passed with a painful slowness, my heart throbbing like mad as rain
mixed with heavy sweat upon my forehead. The rag on the end of my arrow was
now burning brightly, my hands tense and ready to fire.
     Just inside the main entrance crouched Plucky and Shirley, Fifi lying low behind
the statue of Daffy to my left. I could tell from her expression that she was terrified.
     We were all terrified.
     Then, ever so slowly, we began to hear the tread of massive feet.
     "Ulla... Ulla..."
     The trees began to sway from side to side, several foresthogs running out into
the open with squeals of terror.
     The rainfall grew stronger, a distinct rumble of thunder from the distance.
     "Ulla...Ulla..."
     Then, with a swiftness that took me totally by surprise, the grotesque hood of a
fighting machine suddenly appeared above the branches. My heart missed a beat.
     Behind it appeared another, hood swivelling from side to side as the controlling
Martian observed the area through thick, green coloured glass.
     Somewhere in the distance, I heard Susan scream. My nerve on the verge of
breaking I suddenly stood up straight, rain lashing against my body as I raised my
bow high.
     As I did so the first tripod suddenly stumbled, swaying to the left as it's foot got
caught in one of our freshly dug trenches.
     This was it... The only moment we would get.
     Screaming at the top of my lungs, I fired my flaming arrow directly towards the
metal monster, watching in horror as the smoking piece of wood bounced
harmlessly off one of it's legs.
     Within a second there were over ten arrows flying through the air, all of us
emerging from our hiding places and running madly towards the striding machines.
     Resuming it's balance, the first tripod raised it's heat ray high, a sudden loud hiss
as an intense beam of heat flashed towards me. Diving to the ground, I heard a
massive crash from behind as the statue of Bugs disintegrated into a pile of molten
rock.
     "Ulla... Ulla..."
     The heat ray flashed again, the trees becoming a wall of flame.
     Getting up, I stumbled towards the fire, dipping two more arrows into the flames
and firing them towards the advancing monsters. This time one of them penetrated
the glass, the tripod tilting slightly as the controlling Martian attempted to
compensate.
     As it moved, three more arrows hit home, black smoke now pouring into the sky
as the creature within howled.
     There came a massive crunching noise as the tripod's feet got tangled up in one
of our chain traps, the entire machine suddenly tilting at a forty degree angle.
     Loosing balance altogether, it wobbled slightly before keeling over, a single
residual howl as the hood slammed into the ground less than twenty feet away from
me.
     The glass shattered inward, legs jerking like mad as it tried to get up again.
Before it had a chance Calamity had reached it, his spear held high as he ducked
inside. Several seconds later there came a scream from the Martian, the small
coyote reappearing from inside the hood with his fur streaked with blood.
     Before I had time to determine whether it was his own or the Martian's, a
massive three pronged metal foot ploughed into the ground less than ten feet away
from me, my eyes glancing upward as I fell to the wet grass. The second tripod
towered high above me, heat ray aimed at the Looniversity as it's howl reverberated
alongside a sudden crack of thunder.
     With a bright flash Daffy's statue lost it's head, the rest of it falling over and
smashing into three pieces against the ground.
     Shirley and Plucky held each other tightly upon the steps, smoke billowing all
around them as they stared death in the face.
     From the corner of my eye I saw the third tripod approach the building from the
rear, Fifi firing a single arrow in it's direction as she screamed loudly.
     I knew that there was no hope. We were almost out of arrows. Our trenches and
chain traps had failed to halt the Martian's advance. I awaited death with open eyes.
     And then, in a moment that will forever be engrained in my mind, there came a
tremendous roar from the sky, hands covering my ears as I saw a massive shape
appear out of the clouds. It was at least one hundred feet long, two massive green
wings on either side of an enormous scaled body.
     My heart almost stopped.
     As I watched, the dragon swooped down low, eyes fixed upon the Martians as it
signalled it's arrival with an ear splitting roar.
     The third tripod raised it's heat ray and fired at the rapidly approaching beast,
beam flashing harmlessly away into the sky as the dragon tilted sharply to the left.
     Then, claws held out in front of itself it slammed into the machine that stood
directly above me, the Martian barely having time to howl as it tumbled towards the
flaming trees. With a tremendous crash it slammed into the earth, the hood
exploding on impact.
     The third tripod fired it's heat ray again, this time hitting the dragon's left wing.
     Screeching, the beast flew straight into the metal monster, the two giants falling
to the ground with a tremendous concussion.
     At least half the windows of the Looniversity shattered as black smoke filled the
air, the writhing dragon barely visible through the heat haze.
     There came another crack of thunder, my body now soaked to the skin as I stared
at the tremendous sight before me in a bizarre combination of terror and awe.
     Out of the smoke rose the dragon's tail, yet another deafening roar filling our
ears as flames shot high up into the sky. About fifty feet away from me stood Fifi,
lavender furred body streaked with dirt and her bow still clasped in hand. She was
simply standing open mouthed, tail curled tightly around her body.
     There came a final howl from the fallen tripod, one of it's legs jerking as the
dragon slowly tore it to pieces. Then, raising it's scaly head high into the air the
beast's neck frill glowed bright red, huge wings extending as it prepared for take
off.
     I was now far too stunned for fear to take effect, eyes simply following the beast
as it rose slowly into the air, a large piece of the tripod's hood clasped in it's claws
as it began to glide swiftly away from us.
     It circled the area once, giving out one final roar before finally disappearing
beyond the flaming treetops. Rain falling heaving all around I glanced towards my
soaked companions, all of them carrying the same identical expression of
astonishment as myself.
     All except Shirley. She was simply staring towards the trees, a broad smile
clearly visible upon her face as she waved slowly.
     "Thank you," she whispered. "I knew you'd come."
     And seemingly in exhaustion, she collapsed unconscious to the cold concrete
steps.



     PART FOUR            THE ADVANCE OF TIME



     It rained constantly for the next two days, putting an end to the fires that had
threatened to consume the forest.
     Shirley was in a coma for almost a week and when she did finally recover, she
had no recollection of the final battle with the Martians. Despite this, we all
assumed that she had used her psychic connection with the dragon to bring us some
much needed help in our darkest hour. No one was prepared to speculate further.
     With all major dangers seemingly now in the past, we began to settle back into
our regular lifestyle as the weeks wore on. A general effort to improve our way of
life took precedence over a need to defend ourselves and as time advanced,
protective comforts such as the nightly fires and the digging of trenches grew less
and less. It was generally assumed that there were no more Martians lurking in the
distance, the massive dragon now an undisputed hero rather than a threat.
     Despite the loss of Tom and his excellent trapping skills, we continued hunting
the watchers, becoming quite expert at it the more practice we got.
     In time, our diet was expanded to include several new types of berries and
vegetables, even the odd stew made from the still to be found red weed.
     The strange alien plant had obviously been cultivated by the Martians for as
soon as they had been wiped out it swiftly began to vanish. There were still places
where it could be found for long after however, mainly gathered in clumps around
rivers and streams but even these patches were growing smaller each month.
     Within a year, it had vanished altogether.


     Plucky and Shirley's relationship grew stronger by the day and they would often
disappear into the forest together for hours on end. No one thought anything of it
when Shirley started to act slightly peculiar, getting sick in the mornings and
becoming very adventurous in her diet. It was only when the Doctor pointed out to
us that she was pregnant that we suddenly realised how foolish we had been to miss
it.
     Although none of us were quite sure how to deal with the situation, we tried to
make her feel as comfortable as possible, watching her expanding stomach with a
combination of fear and delightful expectation.
     None of us were too sure what we would do when the moment finally arrived
but Fifi convinced Shirley that all would be well. Although the school library
seemed to contain mostly academic textbooks relating to toon logic, I did manage to
find a couple of medical tomes and I tried to take in as much information on
childbirth as possible in the small amount of time that we had.
     They might as well have been written in Chinese for all the good they did me
and after I had reread both of them for the third time I came to realise that when the
moment finally arrived we would more than likely have to improvise.


     Despite the ending of the Martian threat our old friends never rejoined us at the
Looniversity.   Although they returned a few times in order to trade or simply just to
visit, they somehow seemed cold and distant, as if our time apart had driven a
wedge between us.
     Although each group was more than willing to forgive the other, they decided to
keep to themselves, having come to enjoy their nomadic lifestyle.
     At one stage Buster and Babs even tried to convince the other toons to go with
them but their only reply was a quiet no. Whether we liked it or not, the
Looniversity was now our home and we had no wish for our little family unit to be
broken up any further. After asking at least three times the two rabbits finally gave
up, deciding to respect the wishes of their old friends.
     They mostly stayed within fifty miles of us however, and on many occasions we
would run across them while out foraging. Despite our differences, a strong
friendship was retained.


     Shirley finally gave birth during the coldest month of the year, the teacher's
lounge becoming a temporary maternity ward as we all spent a period of perhaps
ten hours or more dashing around the place with hot water and blankets. Fifi
eventually took control of the situation, delivering the baby almost single handily
while the rest of us fell into a state of sheer panic.
     The child was a boy, very small with snow white feathers and intense blue eyes.
For seemingly no other reason than she had spent her many hours in labour staring
at a globe, Shirley named the child Zanzibar, her and Plucky refusing to stray away
from him even for a moment.
     According to a book I had read on toon children, the baby was extremely healthy
at three pounds four ounces, just about the average weight of a new-born duck.
     Needless to say, over the following few months his nightly screaming sessions
kept us all awake for hours.


     The Doctor and Calamity were examining some test tubes when I walked into
the science lab early one morning, the old man not bothering to look up as I entered.
     "Very interesting," he muttered. "Very interesting indeed."
     I didn't bother asking any questions, simply walking over to his side and laying
my hands on the side of the desk.
     "What is it Mr. Summers?" he asked, getting my name wrong as always.
     "It's about Zanzi," I said. "I've been thinking about him all week and about what
you told me a long time ago... About the fact that we may all be nothing more than
fictional characters."
     "There's no may about it," replied the Doctor, holding up the test tube. "These
tests I've been running show that we're all genetically identical regardless of
species. I think that suggests beyond a shadow of a doubt that we've been put here
for a reason."
     "If you say so," I muttered. "But what about Zanzi? He was born here right?
Does that make him real?"
     "I genuinely don't know my boy," answered the Doctor. "It's possible I suppose.
I'd need to take a blood sample to tell for sure but I don't think his parents would
appreciate me sticking a needle in their baby."
     The Doctor suddenly developed an odd expression, staring me straight in the
eye.
     "There is one thing however," he whispered.
     "What's that?"
     "Young Zanzibar seems to be ageing. Have you seen how big he is now?"
     "He's growing normally from what I can tell," I replied.
     "But what is normal?" asked the Doctor. "Haven't you noticed the fact that you
don't seem to have aged a day since you first found yourself on that beach? You
may have grown yourself a beard and have your hair hanging long but you're no
older at all."
     "It's only been four and a half years," I answered. "People don't age that fast
anyway."
     "Trust me I can tell," continued the Doctor. "And the urine samples that I've
been taking from all of us confirm the fact. No one in this building is ageing but
Zanzibar."
     "Are you trying to tell me that we're all going to stay young forever?" I
whispered.
     "I don't know," he replied. "Unless we die in accidents I think it may just be
possible."
     I fell silent, unsure of what to say.
     Then, after several minutes of staring into space I finally spoke.
     "Then I guess you were right all along. We are just figments of someone else's
imagination."
     "We are who we are," he replied. "You have a mind and a soul just like any real
person. We all do. It doesn't matter that our pasts never really happened... What
does matter is that we're all alive and well now."
     I nodded slowly, my gaze falling on Calamity who was smiling in my direction.
     "I suppose so," I said.


     I met Fifi in the corridor a few minutes later and instinctively hugged her,
running my fingers through her warm lavender fur.
     "What was zat for?" she giggled.
     "I don't know," I replied. "A signal of acceptance perhaps."
     "Excuse moi?" she asked.
     "Never mind," I smiled, rubbing her soft, furry head. "I think everything's going
to work out fine from now on."
     And still smiling I wandered down the corridor.


     By Zanzi's first birthday it was quite clear that the Doctor was correct. The child
was now quite big and could walk by himself, his few words spoken in a strange
combination of all our accents.
     We had a party for him down on the beach, the sun shining brightly as we
presented him with a large piece of fruit with a candle stuck in it.
     He laughed out loud as he blew it out on the first attempt, trying to join in as we
all sang Happy Birthday. Not knowing the words however he could only hum,
giggling as he saw us smile.
     I had carved him a small toy car as a present, giving it to him after everyone else
had handed him their own gifts.
     His look of confusion clearly showed that he had no idea what it was but after a
quick demonstration by myself he clasped it tightly within his grasp and began to
run it up and down the length of the table.
     "You learn fast," I told him. "You're going to be a great kid."
     Smiling, he continued on playing.


     "What is it Uncle Larry?"
     Zanzi was now ten years old and still had the little car. He was now almost as
tall as his parents and looked somewhat like a white feathered version of Plucky. I
had been sitting on the steps of the Looniversity when he had sneaked up behind me
as he liked to do, suddenly laying his hands upon my shoulders in an effort to scare
me. Although his sudden attacks had ceased to surprise me long ago I always
pretended that they did, a look on delight appearing upon the young duck's face
every time. It was only after several minutes of sitting beside me that he asked the
question about the car, his words surprising me by virtue of the fact that it was the
first time the subject had come up.
     "It's a motorcar," I answered. "I told you what it was called before."
     "I know what it's called," he replied. "What's it for though?"
     "Well," I muttered. "It was... Well it was a transport device. A real car was much
bigger than that of course, large enough to carry about six people."
     "Would a real car be pulled by roomounts or some junk?" he asked.
     "Well no," I said. "Real cars ran by themselves. They had a... had a combustion
engine."
     He obviously didn't understand the words but he seemed to know the meaning.
     "Were you ever in one?" he asked.
     "I remember being in hundreds of them," I replied. "Aeroplanes too. They were a
bit like motorcars but travelled through the sky. Like giant mechanical birds I
suppose."
     "I don't believe you," he laughed. "How would they stay up in the air?"
     "I don't know," I replied after a few moments of thought. "I never figured that
one out myself."
     "You're silly Uncle Larry," he giggled. "They're just fairy stories."
     "Maybe they are," I answered with a smile. "Maybe they are."


     By the time Zanzi was twenty he was almost twice the height of his parents and
roughly shoulder height with myself.
     No one else but him had aged, a fact that if he had noticed, he had never
mentioned.
     He simply lived his life as we did, working to survive in an unfriendly
environment.
     That said, our standard of life had improved somewhat dramatically over the
years. Using metal left over from the fallen tripods, the Doctor had constructed a
pipeline that carried water into the building and together with Calamity he had even
constructed a heater that made it possible for us to take warm baths for the first
time.
     They had also constructed a set of crude solar panels that provided us with
limited electricity.
     Although most of the old bulbs in the building were no longer working we did
get some enjoyment out of an old film projector that we had found in the vaults.
There was nothing else on offer but some old cartoons but we watched them over
and over again just the same. For Zanzi it was the equivalent of magic. For the other
toons it was a window on a world that they now knew had only ever existed in their
minds. Sometimes we would stay up all night watching them, falling asleep with the
projector still running.


     By this stage we had become quite adapt at making our own clothing and most
of our garments had been put together from the multicoloured feathers of some
strange, peacock like birds that we had found while exploring the shoreline.
     We had brought several of them back with us and they had now bred to such an
extent that there were close to two hundred of them wandering the nearby forest.
     Life was getting far easier for us, a situation that was not before time.


     Zanzi's thirtieth birthday came and went, his fortieth coming along so quickly it
scared us all.
     Time seemed to have lost it's meaning. Days flowed into weeks to become one
long, continuos blur, each year seemingly no different from the last.
     Plucky and Shirley never had another child, knowing in their heart and soul that
one day they would see Zanzi grow old and die. They never mentioned it but you
could tell from their eyes the inner pain they felt. For some the prospect of
immortality would seem to be a dream come true but we all knew the terrible truth.
Immortality was a curse unless it was given to everyone equally and Zanzi had been
dealt a poor hand.
     But Zanzi was something more than any of us could ever be. His childhood
memories were real. The good times, the bad times, they had all actually happened.
Unlike the rest of us, Zanzi could really say that he had lived a full life.
     From the age of about fifty five onwards, Zanzi would become violently ill on a
regular basis and no alteration of diet seemed to help.
     Sometimes he would become so bad that he was bedridden for weeks on end,
vomiting up almost anything that was fed to him.
     "It's his age catching up with him," the Doctor had told us.
     That was when we knew he hadn't got long left.
     No matter how much we all tried to block it from our minds the inescapable
truth that Zanzi was going to die was never fully eradicated.
     We all tried to prepare ourselves for it as best we could, going out of our way to
be as nice to him as possible. He knew by this stage that he was very different from
the rest of us. We couldn't tell him why of course because we didn't quite know
ourselves. Watching him talk to his parents was a truly bizarre sight, a fifty five
year old duck whose mother and father were still both teenagers. His white feathers
were greying at the edges now, his once bright blue eyes now dull and glassy.
     He couldn't keep up with us as we worked, having to rest for longer and longer
periods each day.
     Yet despite this he was always good humoured and kind, best friends with all of
us and going out of his way to be as polite as possible. He still called me 'Uncle
Larry', had pet names for us all in fact. He even referred to the Doctor as
grandfather. In many ways this was making it even harder on us.


     It was late one evening in high summer, many, many years after our arrival in
this place that I sat with Fifi and Zanzi upon the cliff face, staring towards the
setting sun as the red tinted waves crashed against the shore far below us.
Sometimes, the waves would come in so forcefully that we were showered by white
flecks of spray, both Fifi and Zanzi giggling loudly whenever this occurred.
     She sat with her tail curled around the old duck, her cheek pressed against his
arm. I think she thought that if she held him tightly enough nothing could happen to
him. Of all of us, she was the most emotional about his inevitable death, sometimes
crying for hours on end when the thought came into her head.
     But on this particular day we were attempting to have some fun, a little picnic
just for the three of us.  The food lay scattered on the grass behind us, a cold breeze
chilling our bodies despite the fact that we were wrapped up well.
     I wore the helmet that Calamity had given me on the day long ago when the
Martians had attacked. It was still reasonably clean, slightly dented and tarnished
perhaps but it made for a fine hat nonetheless.  Both Fifi and Zanzi wore clothing
made from the peacock feathers, the young skunk having made herself a wonderful
head-dress that gave her a distinctly regal appearance. The feathers that covered it
fluttered mildly in the breeze, her eyes closing as she took several deep breaths. It
was the little moments like this that made us forget our hardships and simply realise
how great it was to be alive.
     It was Zanzi who broke the silence, quickly getting to his feet and pointing
downwards.
     "What's that Uncle Larry?" he asked. "Down there on the beach?"
     Fifi and myself both followed his gaze to see five roomounts heading towards
us, a dark cloaked figure seated upon the first. Whoever it was held a long staff in
one hand, the cloak trailing off behind them as a billowing cape.
     Three of the other roomounts held a similarly dressed rider, the third simply
carrying some packages.
     "No one we've seen before anyway," I answered.
     "Ave zey spotted us?" asked Fifi, her voice filling with fear.
     "I guess so," I replied, standing up. "I suppose the best thing we can do is to say
hello."
     Together, the three of us climbed slowly down the cliff face, the uneven surface
giving us plenty of handholds. It took us about five minutes to reach the beach, by
which time all five roomounts had come to a halt and their riders dismounted.
     I eyed the newcomers carefully for a few moments, wondering what to say.
Although they didn't appear to be carrying any weapons, their black cloaks and
firmly held staffs gave them a distinctly eerie appearance, like messengers of death
here to claim us all.
     The wind blew harshly against our bodies, the crashing of the waves against the
nearby rocks intermittently showering us with spray.
     Strangely enough, it was Zanzi who spoke first.
     "Who...Who are you?"  Despite the fact that he wasn't used to strangers, the
words came out firmly and with no trace of fear.
     The one who appeared to be the leader slowly walked towards us, the cloak
thrust open by the wind as we watched.
     It was a toon. An oddly familiar one at that.  Standing about four feet high, the
newcomer was clearly a female squirrel, grey fur  covering her body and a large,
bushy tail protruding from behind. Upon her head sat a extremely battered old hat,
a single wilting flower drooping to the left.
     "Slappy?" I asked after a few moments of stunned silence. "Is... Is it really you?"
     "If it ain't you better call my agent," she grinned.
     I remembered her well, an oddly aggressive but at the same time quite charming
individual whom I had encountered a number of times during those long gone days
when I used to make regular trips to the castle.
     As she spoke the others removed their cloaks to reveal a varied group, three
humans and another toon that I didn't recognise. He looked like a five foot rabbit,
orange furred and with the same intense expression that Zanzi possessed.
     "But I thought... We all thought..."  I trailed off, unsure of how to continue.
     "That I was dead?" Slappy asked. "A lot of people have told me that I look dead
but I ain't lying down just yet."
     "But ze Martians," said Fifi. "Zey destroyed the castle."
     "I can't be gotten rid of that easily," she said with another smile. "People have
been trying to blow me up my whole life but I'm still here."
     "After the castle was destroyed we moved east," said one of the humans, a tall
man that I instantly recognised as Roger Thornhill. "Along the coast we came
across another group, a party of five living in a beached ship. We moved in with
them so to speak. As time went by another two wandering groups joined up with
us."
     "Aren't you going to say hello to me Larry?"
     I looked towards the final person, a heavily bearded man that stood with his head
held high.
     "Brian!" I exclaimed, running forward and shaking his hand. "It's been years!"
     "Too long," he answered. "How's the Looniversity?"
     "Still standing," I replied. "A bit musty in places but then again, so am I."
     Smiling, Brian pointed towards the toon rabbit.
     "I'd like you to meet Buster Junior," he said. "If a middle aged rabbit can be
referred to as junior that is."
     I looked towards the rabbit and smiled.
     "How are your parents?" I asked.
     "Getting along just fine," he replied with a grin. "You know them?"
     "I used to. Fine toons, both of them. Maybe I'll see them again some time."
     "Allo Bustair," smiled Fifi. "You must be so proud of your mere and pere."
     "You must be Fifi LaFume!" he exclaimed. "My dad told me all about you. He
said you were very beautiful."
     "He did?" she exclaimed with an extremely wide grin. "I never knew he was
interested in moi."
     "It's getting late," I said, pointing towards the setting sun. "I think we should
finish this conversation indoors don't you?"
     There was a nod of agreement all round.


     We all gathered together in the teacher's lounge and talked for hours on end, the
visiting group telling us many tales of their life on the opposite side of the
continent.
     Apparently their group now numbered sixty eight, many of them ageing
offspring just like Zanzi.
     They had long since abandoned the beached ship and had constructed a small
town of perhaps ten houses or more, up to three families living in each one.
Although their life was simple it was fulfilling, everybody working together for the
common good. There were no major threats to them either, a few large animals
living in the surrounding grasslands perhaps but they were mostly harmless. They
had even learned to live in peace with the Mahars, a race of intelligent Pterodactyls
that inhabited a small island off the coast.
     "And what of this land?" the Doctor had asked. "Do you know anything about
it?"
     Slappy explained that her small group were currently on a long expedition to try
and map out the entire coastline, a trip that had so far taken eleven months. They
had come to the conclusion that the continent was over a thousand miles across at
its widest point and that at an early estimation it was at least two and a half
thousand miles in length.
     "We call it Cardonia," she had told us. "But as to why that name was chosen
don't ask me. One of the guys back home came up with it."
     "We've met several more groups along the way," explained Brian. "From what
we've seen so far I reckon there's a population of at least one hundred thousand."
     As the night wore on the conversation turned to the theme of our seemingly
ageless bodies, a subject that no one seemed to have a firm understanding of.
     Most of us simply accepted it at this stage, not thinking about the future but
simply living for the moment.
     "Perhaps it's better not to know," Brian had said. "If that sort of knowledge was
intended for us we'd have found out long ago."
     I think everyone agreed.


     The group of four stayed with us for a week, helping out wherever they could
and all the time telling us more and more about this place they called Cardonia.
     Despite their promises to return we were all quite sad to see them getting ready
to leave, especially Zanzi. He and Buster Jr had gotten along very well indeed, both
of them finding solace in the fact that the other was similarly effected by ageing.
     It really came as no surprise when Zanzi came to us and said he was going with
them.
     "I know I haven't got long left," he said to me. "It's just that I want to see some
of this world before I die. I want to see strange landscapes and meet new people.
Can't you understand that?"
     "I suppose so," I replied. "If that's what you really want to do then I'm not going
to stop you."
     "Thank's Uncle Larry," he said as he hugged me tightly. "You were always good
to me."
     I really had to struggle to hold back the tears.


     Despite our great sadness at Zanzi's decision we couldn't really say no. He
deserved this chance more than any of us. Having spent his entire life in the ten
square miles that surrounded the Looniversity he deserved a change of scenery.
Plucky and Shirley were very upset indeed but they respected his desires and even
helped him pack.
     "I'll be back," he told them. "I'm not going away for good you know."
     Despite his words they both cried for days after his departure.


     Zanzi was gone for almost two years, Plucky and Shirley standing on the steps
every day during this time awaiting his return. The rest of us were no different,
myself and Fifi sometimes standing up on the clock tower for hours on end
scanning the horizon for any sign of movement. When one day we saw three
roomounts approaching from the mountains we almost thought we were imagining
things, Fifi rubbing her eyes in disbelief.
     By the time they reached the main entrance everyone was waiting for them, a cry
of delight all round as the familiar form of Zanzi dismounted. He was visibly sick,
some of his feathers missing and an odd swaying motion to his gait but we were
still unbelievably pleased to see him, Shirley hugging him constantly for at least a
week.
     He had been from one side of Cardonia to the other, met hundreds of new people
and had had more adventures than the rest of us put together. The Doctor was pretty
envious of this. It would seem that Zanzi had in reality become the explorer that he
himself had only ever been in his mind.
     The trip had got the better of him though. From this point on he was almost
always bedridden, not a week going by when he wasn't sick. Sometimes he would
drift off into his own little world, speak to people who weren't there and cry out in
the night.
     We knew now more than ever that his days were numbered.


     It was quite soon after Zanzi's return that the Doctor came to me to say goodbye.
     He was dressed up in a heavy cloak and helmet, a belt containing various shining
gadgets attached to his waist and a heavy bag slung over one shoulder. He looked
ready for a very long journey.
     "What do you mean goodbye?" I asked slowly.
     "Zanzibar's little excursion has made me quite envious my boy," he answered.
"Makes me realise just how little travelling I've actually done."
     "But you've done quite a bit. You were on the first expedition, you were the one
who found the castle and the second group."
     "That was a very long time ago," he replied. "I yearn for adventure every day
you know, it's in my blood I suppose. In many ways I think I'd really like to become
that person my memory tells me I am."
     I looked at him for a moment, trying to think of something that would make him
change his mind.
     But nothing would come.
     "What about Susan?" I asked after a few seconds. "You can't just abandon her."
     "She's coming with me. We're both eager to see some of this world, get to know
the local populace so to speak."
     "You've said it to the others?"
     "I told Madame LaFume earlier on this morning. She understands, I was hoping
you would too."
     For a few moments I wasn't sure what to say. Then I smiled.
     "I suppose I do," I said, holding out my hand. "Just be careful out there okay."
     The Doctor grinned, clasping my hand and shaking it heartily.
     "I will my boy, I will. You're a fine young man Mr. Sullivan. Don't let anyone
ever tell you otherwise."
     I grinned, realising that for the first time in all the years that I had known him he
had finally got my name right.
     "Thank's Grandfather," I whispered. "Thanks for everything."
     He left an hour later, him and Susan riding their roomounts into a fiery sunset.


     It was early one morning as I was bathing in the Dragol that Fifi came to me in a
state of near panic.
     "It ees Zanzi," she cried. "I zink it may be tres serious zis time."
     We ran through the forest as quickly as we could, time seemingly slowing to a
crawl as the Looniversity clock tower appeared in the distance.
     My mind was already alive with horrible possibilities, my heart thumping madly
within my chest as I moved. I wasn't ready for this... I don't think I ever would be.
     By the time we reached his bedside everyone else was already tightly gathered
around, Shirley's tears dripping to her son's chest as Plucky held her tightly.
     "You don't have to cry mother," Zanzi croaked, stroking the side of her face.
"I've done everything I wanted to... I've seen things that I never dreamed I would.
Nothing can take those memories away from me now."
     "You're more than any of us could ever be," I whispered, kneeling down by the
bedside. "Your life was real. All your memories... Your mother and father, your
childhood. They all really existed, you know they did."
     Not saying anything he simply smiled, grabbing a hold of my hand.
     "I love you son," sobbed Shirley, holding his other hand. "I always will."
     And then he was gone.
     No long, drawn out death or final words. He simply closed his eyes and never
opened them again. We all bowed our heads, silence filling the room as the sad
truth finally sunk in.
     And then, seemingly as one, we all cried.


     As the sun began to set I wandered out of the building alone, making my way
through the forest towards the darkening beach. It was cold but I didn't care. Life
seemed so empty now, so meaningless. The sky above was streaked with redness,
the setting sun a vast red ball on the distant horizon. Here and there, the brightest
stars were already visible, a cold breeze whispering against my face as I stepped out
of the trees onto the sand. I stood there for perhaps half an hour or more, very close
to the spot where I had first found myself more than sixty years ago. Much like
myself, the area seemed no different. The waves crashed against the nearby cliffs,
spray shooting high into the air like giant snowflakes. The wonders of nature had
lost their lustre, become tarnished by the death of a friend. I somehow felt as if I
would never be happy again.
     I was standing there for quite a while before I felt the presence, spinning around
in alarm as I heard the crackling of breaking twigs.
     There, standing at the fringes of the forest was a very bizarre creature, a five foot
high brown feathered animal that looked somewhat like a giant owl. It had huge
dark eyes in which I could see myself reflected, two long feathered arms that
culminated in three fingered claws.
     I felt little to no fear, my feelings of sorrow blocking all other emotions.
     Somehow the creature seemed oddly familiar. I had seen it before, I was sure of
it. But where?
     Then it struck me. It had been a very long time ago, just after my first night in
the Looniversity. I had seen it perched high on the clock tower.
     "Larry Sullivan?"
     The voice came into my head without any movement of the creature's beak, a
long feathered arm pointing in my direction. Despite it's source there seemed to be a
friendly tone to the voice, a sense of concern even.
     "Yes..." I whispered. "How do you know my name?"
     "Why are you so sad?" it asked without answering my question. "Is it because
the little one has died?"
     I nodded slowly.
     "He was a good friend. A very good friend indeed."
     "You will remember him of course?"
     "Yes... I'll never forget him."
     "Then he shall live forever... as shall the ones who created you."
     I blinked, trying to decipher what I had just heard.
     "The ones who created me?"
     "Mankind," replied the creature. "You were born through their myths and
legends. We may have given you life but they were to ones who brought you into
being."
     "Are you trying to tell me that it is you... your kind who is responsible for me
being here?"
     "We are a race of storytellers," continued the creature without moving. "Over the
past million years we have travelled from one side of the universe to the other...
collected the tales of a thousand worlds. Those cultures may be long gone now but
through their works of fiction they will always live on."
     "I don't understand," I whispered. "Why... Why am I here?"
     "Your purpose here is to serve as a monument to the peoples of the Earth. You
and the other inhabitants of this continent are now all that remains of their culture."
     "The Earth is gone?" I asked slowly.
     "It's sun died more than ten thousand years ago. The last human being is now but
dust. You will live on though and as long as you survive then they will never be
gone."
     "Then I am just a fictional character," I answered. "We all are."
     "It is true that your origins lie in a work of fiction. But we have given you life...
given you what you would refer to as a soul. We have provided you with suitable
food, given you shelter. We do this so that no race ever need die. It is true that we
have made mistakes. Bringing the Martians here was one such error but despite that
we have tried to make you as comfortable as possible."
     I fell silent, drawing my eyes away from the creature and staring at the distant
horizon. The sun had now all but vanished, the sky growing increasingly dark by
the moment. Everything had the feeling of a dream, a distinct sense of unreality.
     For one brief moment I thought I was about to wake up back on the train, being
nudged into consciousness by my friends as we pulled into Heuston Station.
     But it never happened, the world about me remaining as it was.
     "Will I die?" I finally asked after several minutes.
     "Perhaps," replied the creature. "You were designed to be genetically perfect
however. It might be many hundreds of years before you begin to age."
     "Unlike Zanzi," I whispered.
     "Children were unexpected. I am sorry for your pain."
     I glanced back towards the creature, head throbbing. It was all too much to take
in, too much to believe. Was this thing really what it claimed to be?
     "Sorry for my pain?" I shouted. "Do you think you were right in giving us life?"
     "It was the right thing to do for the Earth. As long as you survive it will live on
in your heart."
     Then, as I watched, the creature seemed to glow brightly. It rose slowly into the
air, massive feathered wings extending on both sides.
     "You will understand in time. One day, perhaps when you are more prepared, we
shall meet again."
     And then, in a sudden flash of light it was gone. Creeping darkness returned,
stars shining bright as the evening finally gave way to night.
     Had it been real? I shook my head, unsure of anything.
     "Are you okay Larry?"
     I turned around to see Fifi exit the forest, her eyes still reddened from crying but
with a smile upon her face.
     "Better now that you've come along," I replied, hugging her tightly.
     Whether the creature had been real or not no longer seemed to matter. The words
it had spoken had been quite correct.
     As long as we remembered Zanzi then he would never be dead.
     And somehow, it no longer seemed to bother me that my childhood had never
really taken place.  For it existed in my mind and nothing could ever take that away
from me. Memories were part of who I was, part of all of us.
     And as this thought entered my head I suddenly found myself smiling,
experiencing happiness for the first occasion in a long, long time.
     Perhaps I had been born out of the pen of a long dead writer but that no longer
mattered.
     It no longer mattered for one good reason.
     I was alive.




                                              THE END






     That's it then. If anyone would like to add anything to this story, perhaps write a
sequel or fill in some of the details about what happened during the six decades or
so following the Martian defeat then by all means feel free to do so.


     With the exception of Larry, Joseph, Brian, Zanzibar and Buster Jr, all featured
characters in this story are taken from film, books and tv.

    The Tiny Toons gang and Slappy Squirrel you know, so no explanations are
needed there.

     The Doctor and Susan are both taken from the first season of the British science
fiction show Dr.Who. On screen, the Doctor was played by the late William
Hartnell and Susan by Carol Ann Ford. Hartnell was the first of eight actors to play
the renegade Time Lord.

     The Artilleryman, the Martians and their war machines are taken from the
classic novel The War of the Worlds, first published in 1898 and probably the best
piece of work by H.G.Wells. (Well, in my humble opinion anyway)

     Sanjuro is taken from the movies Yojimbo (1961) and it's sequel Sanjuro (1962),
both directed by Akira Kurosawa. On screen the character was played by the great
Toshiro Mifune. Both these movies are excellent and are well worth checking out if
you can tolerate subtitles.

     Chamberlain is taken from the early eighties fantasy movie The Dark Crystal, an
all puppet feature from the late Jim Henson.

     Tom Price was featured in the first season of the BBC tv series Survivors. He
was portrayed on screen by the great Welsh actor Talfryn Thomas. Along with
TTA, Survivors is probably my favourite show of all time. Pity I've only ever been
able to see season one...

     Zira the chimpanzee is from Planet of the Apes and the briefly mentioned Roger
Thornhill was the main character in the Hitchcock thriller North by Northwest.
They were played by Kim Hunter and Cary Grant respectively.

     And least I forget, the Mahars featured heavily in Edgar Rice Burrough's
Pellucidar novels, the first of which was At the Earth's Core (1922).


     THE LEGAL BIT...

     All Tiny Toons characters and Slappy Squirrel are copyright of Warner Bros.
     The Doctor, Susan and Tom Price are copyright of BBC Enterprises.
     All characters from War of the Worlds are copyright the estate of H.G.Wells
     Sanjuro is copyright of... er... Toho Studios I think.
     All featured characters are copyright of their respective owners and are used
without permission.