The Quest continued...

At dawn, the animals in the Land of the Flowered Bed stood lined up at the dresser. Each had filled a small pillowcase with what they considered the absolute necessities. For the seals, that included cans of tuna and salmon and two water guns to keep themselves amused on the journey. For Pumble, his knapsack was stuffed with granola bars, gummy bears, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and mints for fresh breath. As Cookies inspected the rest of their knapsacks, he rolled his eyes but said nothing.

"We march!" Cookies bellowed as he waved a ruler he had duck-taped a broken eyeglass from a pair of sunglasses to.

"What is that?" Hairy asked in curiosity.

"This is my scepter with it's magical seeing eye," Cookies said, fluffing his chest up in importance.

"Right,"Pumble snorted. That's why it's got rhinestones across the eyepiece." The seals giggled, and Cookies narrowed his eyes at Pumble. He opened his mouth to retort when something else distracted him.

"What are you doing here?" he bellowed to the three ducks, who had left the Spa to come on the adventure.

"We're coming too!" the first duck said proudly, sticking out his feathered chest.

"How dare you leave us behind!" the second duck scolded with his bill in the air.

"Arrrrr maties!"the third pirate brandished a wire hanger at Cookies. When Cookies simply stared at him, he grinned sheepishly. "I know it's a bit feeble for a sword, but beggars can't be choosers mate." The seals pulled out their water guns and nodded in agreement.

The group set out down the Hallway of Despair. "Now, be careful," Cookies whispered as the crept down the Hallway. "The Hallway of Despair is right by the washer and dryer, so it is littered with dust bunnies."

"What could possibly be bad about dust bunnies?" Pumble asked, tearing open a bag of gummy bears as he walked. Ten minutes into the journey, and he was already hungry.

"Dust bunnies are the most wicked of creatures," Cookies said. "They will come and bounce on your nose, their fluffy tails sending dust flying in the air that settles on you. This dust is magical in that it can never be cleaned, so you sneeze for eternity. You essentially have a cold forever, and you must always carry a box of tissues with you because your nose and sinuses perpetually leak snot."

The seals, who had been excited about making friends with dust bunnies, decided to quietly follow behind the group. Soon they were out of the Hallway of Despair and into the Great Open Room. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do we have to watch for here?" Hairy asked nervously as he waddled along. He had swaddled up his feet with socks to protect his sensitive toenails, and now looked liked a penguin when he walked.

"Nothing," Cookies said authoritatively. "Nothing can survive here. The land is all carpet and little dust. Nothing can grow or eat." Pumble reached down and grabbed a handful of carpet fuzz and popped it in his mouth. He grimaced and spit it out on one of the ducks, who quacked in protest.

"Ew!" the first duck squealed.
"Gross!" the second duck made a face.
"What did it taste like?" the third duck asked curiously.

"Sand," Pumble said, munching on a peanut butter sandwich.

"You really should conserve your rations," Hairy said gently. "You'll be hungry before we finish the quest."

"I'm sure there's some kind of grocery store around here," Pumble said confidently. "We're in the Land of the Flowered Bed, after all!"

"They don't have anything," Cookies said over his shoulder. "Save your food." Hairy looked at Pumble sympathetically, who shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth defensively. He stuck his jelly covered tongue out at Cookies and continued shuffling behind the group.

After they left the Great Open, they hopped across a rainbow that crossed the Brown Stone River that took them across to the Other Side safely. The seals wanted to play in the river, but Hairy held them tightly in his arms so they couldn't wiggle away. The seals were not happy.

Finally, the reached the bank of the other side and stood in awe. Three different rooms and three different paths lay before them.

"Which way do we go?" Hairy asked.

"The way where there's food," Pumble grumbled.

"This is how we're going to do it," Cookies bellowed bossily. "The ducks from the spa will go check out the middle path. Hairy and Pumble will check out the left path. The seals and I will check out the right path. Then we'll all meet back here and talk about which way to go. Deal?"

"Deal," they all chorused. They all split up in different directions and hopped off to their chosen room.

"This room is boring," Pumble grumbled as he and Hairy crept to an open doorway. "We should name it the Boring Room and we'll give it a grey flag, for the national symbol of dullness."

"I'm sure there's nice things in here," Hairy said kindly as they crept inside. He smacked Pumble in his robust chest and pointed. "Look at that giant red thing over there! That must be a volcano!"

"And those boxes must be a space center of some kind," Pumble said excitedly. "They have a launch pad and everything!"

Hairy gasped and clutched Pumble's arm. "Pumble look!" Pumble turned the direction Hairy was pointing and gasped. "Aliens!" A furry stuffed dog and three strange looking ladies were staring at them and waving their arms. Hairy couldn't tell if they were saying hello or telling them to go away.

"Excuse me," Pumble called, "Do you have any food?" Suddenly, the creatures began to run toward Pumble and Hairy.

"Well, how rude," Pumble griped as Hairy jerked his arm. "Run!" They took off running out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

Meanwhile, the ducks had headed off down the middle path. When they reached the doorway, they gasped in delight.

"A new pond!" the first one cried.
"Just for us!" the second one cheered.
"I don't think they think so," the third one warned, pointing to three ducks who were peering down at them from the edge of the bathtub.

"Let's get them!" the first duck said, running into the bathroom.
"We shall overtake the strange pond!" the second duck cried, following after him.
The third duck shrugged. "Why not?" he thought. He ran after his two friends.

While the ducks battled it out with the Other ducks, Cookies and the seals had reached the doorway of the third room.

"Someone needs to learn the term decorating," Cookies said snarled as he surveyed the barren landscape behind him. "And wall color." The seals began to squeal and point as they hopped up and down.

"What is your problem?" Cookies snapped as he tried to see what they were pointing at. "Is it true? Could it be?"

Cookies took a few steps closer and gasped. "It is true!" he cried happily. "We've found the Rose glasses!"

To be continued..............