The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty (27 page)

“Well I guess it was when I saw you at lunch that day. Yes, that was when I decided to find out your name,” Candi said.

“Excellent,” said Lenny, as he began paging through his notebook looking for last Thursday. “It must have been the star-crossed tawalla seeds,” he announced with a happy smile.

“They always worked pretty well for me,” Candi said slowly as she looked again at Lenny, as if for the first time.

Lenny and Candi stared at each other for so long, it became uncomfortable for Bernie and Suzie. Finally, Lenny said, “We should talk.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Candi said as she picked up her tray.

Lenny picked up his tray and followed her to an empty table.

“It looks like Lenny’s charms are finally working,” Bernie said with a smile.

“Or else hers are,” Suzie observed with considerably less optimism.

Burn, Baby, Burn!

The first thing Billy noticed after his return was Bernie had begun staying behind as the others left for the day. He pretended to be working, but he was just making sure Billy left before he did. That didn’t mean Billy couldn’t come back later, of course, and that is what he did.

When he got his first look at Bernie’s world, he couldn’t help but smile at the big trench that circled the globe just above the coast of the main continent. Bernie must have done that to stop the tsunami. It must have worked; he couldn’t see any evidence the water had reached the continent. Surprisingly, Billy wasn’t disappointed. He liked seeing the gashes and gouges on Bernie’s planet. It showed Bernie was sloppy and careless, which were two things Uncle Shemal would never tolerate.

Billy would never admit it, but he was nervous. Spending the last week in bed had made it clear the stakes in this game were higher than anything he and Bernie had played for back in school. He was convinced Bernie had done something to prevent him from using his time lever in this universe. Who knew what other tricks Bernie may have set up? He would have to be careful.

Very careful.

* * *

It had taken time for his plan to mature. For several days now, Billy had returned to the office late at night. Each time, he removed all the moisture in the atmosphere above Bernie’s world. That was why it hadn’t rained for days. That was also why the forests were so very, very dry.

Tonight, the young god was ready for something different. Tonight, he was ready to make the cloud. He could have made it easily by creating a volcano, but he wanted no trace of his handiwork. He began by warming the air above the surface of the planet. At the same time, he created a thick layer of moisture high above. As the hot air rose, it mingled with the moist air above. It swirled and thrashed as the competing forces fought with each other.

Billy made adjustments as he strengthened his creation. Soaring thousands of feet above the ground, it was the largest pyrocumulonimbus cloud ever formed on the planet. Billy tweaked the cloud to keep it from touching the ground, and once more to keep it from releasing the moisture from which it drew its energy. He wanted none of its strength to be lost through rainfall.

As the cloud’s power grew, lightning and thunder lashed out in all directions. Billy forced all that destructive energy back inside. The cloud turned inward, feeding on itself until its fury nearly matched the anger of the god who had created it. Then it was ready. And Billy released it onto the world.

Lightning tore from the angry cloud downward, seeking the tallest of trees in the forest below. When it struck, it did not leave a smoldering branch. It left a tree engulfed in flames. And those flames reached out hungrily for nearby trees.

This was exactly what Billy wanted. So he made more. When he finished, seventeen fire clouds raged above the long continent. Before Billy withdrew, each cloud had proven its ability to bring fire to the world.

And they were just getting started.

Candi and Lenny

Candi looked forward to lunch. She was eager to show Lenny her new talisman. They’d been sharing their greatest discoveries with each other for days now. She never dreamed of talking about her finds with anyone else. First of all, gods don’t talk about lucky charms, and even if they did, no one would ever admit to believing in them. Second, she put much effort into finding charms that worked. Why would she ever tell someone else? Let them figure it out for themselves. But Lenny was different.

That’s funny
, she thought.
Calling Lenny ‘different’ is the biggest understatement of the year. Lenny is the most fascinating god I’ve ever met. One thing for sure, though, is a charm-based relationship is an interesting dilemma. We’ll have to talk about it someday.

As she set her lunch tray down, she carefully positioned herself so Lenny would view her from a westerly angle. She also gave her bracelet a quick glance to make sure her bonny charm was properly displayed. She smiled. She was ready.

Lenny sat down moments later. He was smiling too.

“Wow! That one packs a punch. I want to jump over the table and ravish you. Is it the barrette?”

“No. It’s the bonny charm here on my bracelet.” She pointed out the cause of his intensified infatuation.

“Is there anything you can do to control the intensity? We could get written up for unprofessional behavior in a public area,” he said with a rakish gleam in his eye.

“Oh, I suppose I can tone it down for you, Lenny. I wouldn’t want you to forget to eat,” she teased.

Lenny looked different today. He had gone from ectomorph to mesomorph overnight. His normally thin body showed strong, well-defined muscles. Even his shirt seemed stretched tight over his chest.

“That’s very impressive. It looks like you’re about to burst through your shirt.”

“I’m glad you like it,” said Lenny. “It’s a pocket charm. Works from every direction too. It works on 60 percent of females,” he said as he took out a small green walnut with a yellow feather hanging from it.

“I’m hearing a strange sound again. Is that coming from you?” Candi asked.

“Oh, that’s Sissy. I don’t know what’s wrong with her lately. When she gets upset she makes a clucking sound. It usually means she’s warning me about something, but lately, she’s been doing it all the time. None of my other prognostication charms are sensing any danger, so I’ve been ignoring her. She usually stops after a few days.”

Candi bent forward and looked closely at the small fur lump with the golden chain on Lenny’s shoulder.

“Hello, Sissy. How are you? Are you taking good care of Lenny?” Sissy’s clucking continued. Candi moved her finger closer to Sissy, only to find Sissy backing away and the clucking sound louder.

“Don’t take it personally,” said Lenny. “She doesn’t like females. The only women I’ve ever seen her friendly with are my mom and Suzie.”

“Well, I’m sure someday we’re going to be great friends,” Candi said to Sissy, but the sounds coming from the little creature didn’t suggest any imminent Kumbaya moments.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. There was a big question on both their minds. Neither of them wanted to talk about it. But silence has a funny way of bringing up things that are otherwise content to remain hidden. Finally, it was Candi who broke the code of silence.

“Have you ever wondered what I’m really like?” she asked. She’d used charms for so long, she wondered if even she knew the answer to that question.

“Ah… Yes,” said Lenny, knowing where this conversation was leading, and doubly afraid because of it.

“We both know we’re not the people we appear to be,” Candi said as she stroked Lenny’s well-muscled arm. “But when I look at you, I can’t tell the difference. I know tomorrow you may or may not have muscles or you may be taller or shorter than you are now. Or you may have a hypnotic gaze or a way with words you don’t have today. I know it isn’t real. What I don’t know is whether it should matter.” She looked questioningly at Lenny.

Lenny looked back, reached deep inside, and pulled up his own confession. “I’m afraid I’m manipulating you. I know you wouldn’t like me if it weren’t for my charms. And I’m using them to make you see someone else. It’s just an illusion. Whenever I do something that makes you happy, I feel like I’ve tricked you, and it’s all going to unravel. And when you see the real me, you’ll be disappointed and angry.”

“I have the same fear, Lenny. If you knew the real me, you wouldn’t want me either.”

“That’s crazy! I like everything about you. You’re smart and beautiful and fun and lots more besides.”

“But, Lenny. I have a charm for every one of those. What if you saw me without any of them? What would you think then?”

As they thought their own thoughts, the only sound heard above the silence was a soft clucking.

It was Candi who moved them both forward. “If we left our charms behind, and we got to know each other, I’m not sure what that accomplishes.”

Lenny looked at her and cocked his head in a quizzical way.

“Our charms are part of who we are. They make us unique. I’m not sure what purpose would be served trying to figure out what we’re like without them. I don’t intend to give mine up, do you?”

“No.”

“Then we’re charm-people, Lenny. One package. You have to take me as I am, charms and all.”

“You don’t feel like I’m manipulating you when I make you think and feel things you shouldn’t?”

“Not at all. Do you feel like I am manipulating you?” Candi asked back.

“No,” said Lenny. Then he added, “But, I think you could if you wanted to.”

“That has nothing to do with my charms, Lenny. That has to do with being a girl.” She batted her eyelashes at him. To demonstrate her point, she caught the eye of an unsuspecting young god walking by. She turned the full intensity of her smile on him. Her victim, unable to break his gaze, stumbled into a chair, returning him to reality just in time to avoid dropping his tray. Candi hid her giggle.

Then she turned back to Lenny and patted his arm as she said, “Don’t worry, Lenny. Where you’re concerned, I promise to use my powers only for good.”

A World Ablaze

“Where?” Gondal asked, trying to keep his voice even.

“Everywhere,” exclaimed Minister Wadov. “Come see for yourself.” He led the leader of the Senate to the nearest window.

The tall billowing clouds had not been there the day before. Although they looked like large thunderclouds, in these times, it was hard to trust anything to be normal. Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating nearby clouds, and carrying the rumbling sound of thunder in hot pursuit. No rain fell. From the giant cloud high above, the sky lit up as a bolt of lightning emerged and struck a group of trees less than a mile away. Moments later, they felt the boom of its thunder.

“Did you see where the lightning hit? Do you see the flames? The tree is burning. Now, look over there,” said Wadov, pointing to the southeast. “Do you see the column of dark smoke? The lightning struck the forest near Lantor an hour ago, and now it burns. Look there and over there. You can see at least four more fires.”

“How widespread is this storm?”

“When we noticed the clouds forming, we asked for reports from nearby cities. They all reported the same cloud formations and the freakish lightning. We have to assume it’s widespread.”

“What do you recommend?”

“I don’t think we can hope for rain to put out the fires. These clouds don’t seem to have any. We have to tell people to flee. I think they should head in the direction of any large body of water or toward the coasts.”

“I agree,” said Gondal. “Get the word out quickly. We must save as many as we can.”

* * *

The savage clouds hovered everywhere. Every time the lightning touched the land, it found things to burn, and the sky grew darker with the smoke of burning forests. The town of Fonnzet, located in the foothills of the Central Mountains, was the hardest hit. Residents saw the forest burning below them, and though they tried to escape, the fire consumed the town and pursued the survivors up the mountainside. The lucky ones died from the smoke. The dead totaled 2,362 people, including fourteen children.

Fires hit eight other towns. In some, the people saw the fire coming and were able to flee. The fires left only the stone buildings, destroying anything made of wood. In these towns, the devastation was beyond imagining. The death count was estimated at 6,740 people. Although the count was not complete, at least thirty-four children were known to have died. And two lords perished in the flames.

Only one town escaped their fate. The town of Sadoban found itself surrounded by two fires. They were forced into the center of town, where the Temple stood. In His infinite mercy, the Sun protected them in the stone buildings there.

Yet, it could have been much worse. The Sun surely watched in great dismay as His land and His people burned. Hundreds of fires raged all over the continent. Then, by some miracle, one by one, the fires flickered and died. Fire after fire was extinguished, until the land went dark. Then even the lightning and the crashing thunder began to fade. Slowly, the sky appeared again. For several days, a haze in the sky reminded everyone of what had happened. Then, even that disappeared.

It was a very angry god that saved these people. The god wasn’t angry at them. He didn’t even know about them. He was angry at another god. A god named Billy.

Billy Scares Candi

It started as a beautiful morning. It didn’t last. As Candi headed down the corridor leading to her desk in Final Assembly Division, Billy came up next to her.

“Candi, we need to talk.”

“Sure. What about?” Candi pretended a calmness she did not feel. She’d been spending lunch periods with Lenny instead of sitting at Billy’s table. She knew Billy would not ignore it for long.

“We’ll talk at lunch.”