Between Thursday

                                                                                                                              CHAPTER NINE     D octor Oliver Pinion lived in a small hut located at the base of a rocky outcropping.  No sign of any other structures or life other than a rickety, split log rail fence next to the hut surrounding it’s sole inhabitant - a donkey. Acer and I rode Sir Noble right to the front of the hut, Acer leaping off to the ground with ease, while I climbed precariously down the rope ladder, made even more difficult by Sir Noble’s heavy breathing and prancing around as he rid himself of the adrenaline from the fast pace we’d kept him to. I noticed a water trough peeking through the log fence so I led Sir Noble to it and let him drink his fill. The donkey shook his head at us and meandered over to cautiously sniff at the horse. Acer pounded on the door to the hut.  There were no distinguishing marks on the structure to announce that this was the of

                                                                                                                          CHAPTER EIGHT     A grand estate came into view, a massive lodge like building at the center, built of stone and wood beams, with two enormous wooden doors at the front.  Several large silos towered in the distance behind this main building and a variety of shrubbery and flowering plants landscaped the walkway and porch leading up to the doors. It was here that we led the unconscious Karo, still flopped over on his horse and once we had pulled to a stop, Acer instructed me to carry Karo’s legs by the ankles as he hefted Karo’s top half from beneath his arms. We got him to the doors and Acer began pounding on them as loudly as he could but after several moments of being met by silence he let out an exasperated huff and checked the door handle and found it to be unlocked. “This situation is too serious to just wait around on the porch for someone answer our k

I wasn’t really sure where to find Acer, the Canadian and self proclaimed Royal Mounty that could be found riding over the hills of Sunday on his very high horse ‘Sir Noble’.  I hoped that if I stuck to the path making my way towards the Monday Mountains that we would cross paths since that is how I came to meet him last time. As it turned out, I didn’t have to worry about it for long as just as I was reaching the top of the very first hill, breathing in the warm, flower scented breeze, I spotted the leafy haired man in his red and black uniform, sitting on the grass with his horse grazing by his side. “Acer!”  I called out giving a friendly wave. He looked up startled, but seemed to recognize me at once and sprang up, hat in hand and jogged over to greet me. “Well, Miss Smidge is it?  Hello!  Oh, dear, are you needing a rush trip through Sunday again?”  Acer asked, still grinning. “Hello Acer!  No, not this time.  Today I’ve come to visit everyone I met through here last year

                                                                                                                          CHAPTER SIX     E ntering Saturday, I headed straight for the tall metal building with the smoking chimney that I had happened upon last year and where I had first met the town mayor assisting the building’s owner, a man named Tinny Tim who was a metal fabricator. I rapped on the door and let myself in to see the large, burly man, with his curly black hair, fastened into several braids with bits of tin and wearing his tin apron, visible through the window of a door behind the front counter.  I pushed through the door to see that he was working on a large metal sign, outlined with lights.  The sign read,                                                                 ‘Live the Shelf Life in Saturday!                                                 A Place for Everyone and Everyone in Their Place!                                                               

                                                                                                                      CHAPTER FIVE     W e landed the balloon in a small clearing outside of the wall and the large gate.  Now that I was on the ground, I could see that the wall and gate were not as large as I’d thought from my vantage point in the sky.  They were still too large for me to just hop over though, so I walked to the gate to see if we could get in. The gate was made of iron indeed and chained shut with a large metal padlock securing it.  The hinges were rusted but still intact and none of it would budge when I shoved on it. “Should we call for someone?  Or, how do we get in?”  I asked Dashing. He finished tying off the balloon to a nearby exposed stump root and jogged over to me. Letting out a breath he said “What’s that?  Oh, getting in.  Yes.  Should be a doooor ...”  He kicked some loose stones aside and pushed back some shrubbery from the wall, sliding his other h

                                                                                                                CHAPTER FOUR     F loating further and further from the town of Friday, we began to sail along the breeze, over fields and the occasional small pond, ringed with shrubs and cat tails.  “You’re very good at flying this.”  I commented  “What a skill to have.  If I had a hot air balloon, I think no one would ever see me again, I’d be out flying every day!” “Yes, I do enjoy it. It’s all about raising the balloon up and down to catch the proper breezes to maneuver us in the direction we wish to go.   Operating the well takes up a lot of my time though as it’s a favorite gathering place for everyone in Friday Square.  It’s where they get their daily news, socialize and of course, the best water in the world.”  Dashing explained winking at me. “How did you come to be the one to operate the well?”  I asked, opening up the bag of food we’d packed and handing him some cheese

                                                                                                                CHAPTER THREE     I headed down the dirt path, winding through the grove of colorful trees and out the other side where the path became stone and Friday Square spread out ahead of me.  I walked further into the square central where I knew the well to be and hopefully Dashing, the well operator. It did not take long before I reached the base of the well as it towered above me.  This well was not dug into the ground like most wells, but built up into the sky, which is why Dashing, the operator of this well was usually found walking on stilts. He explained all of this when I passed through the first time.  He needed to be tall enough to reach the top of the well to lower the bucket. I peered around the side of the well and nearly walked straight into a pair of stilts. Jumping back, I looked up to see, not Dashing , but a complete stranger.  A thin, lanky man with mou

                                                                                                                  CHAPTER TWO     I awoke rather late, choosing to sleep in before taking on the evening shift at Royal Curmudgeon’s Haberdashery, as I had exactly one year and one day ago. New Year’s Day had been on a Thursday last year and was a Wednesday this year.  I wanted to be sure to begin my journey on a Thursday to visit my friends as this was the only way I knew to get to them.  You see, the entrance was through an armoire in the back of the haberdashery and the exit was out onto the green grounds of Thursday. I wasn’t certain if I would be able to access Thursday from Wednesday, this side of the armoire so waited until Thursday to offer to work the evening shift.  Mr. Curmudgeon readily accepted my offer so that he and Ms. Ledger could enjoy a night out together before bogging down with the final wedding plans and ceremony itself. Once I’d eaten a breakfast of bluebe