Mak Pays A Timely Visit

 

A view of the Baker Snoqualmie National Forest in fall.

            “Hey Ramona,” said Ralph one afternoon, when it was getting toward fall, and the air was cool, and the light was dim in the forest, “I noticed a funny thing today.”

            “Oh?” said Ramona, switching Cherry to the other side thoughtfully.
            “I was out on my log, letting my mind out on a long string, just thinking.  You know. About everything. And I started thinking about what that Physics kid said. Then I started trying to just feel the space between and within my atoms. I might have been half asleep. But then I started feeling invisible! I was made out of space, not stuff! I thought I was made out of muscle and bone and hair! Not air, or even less than air!
            “That was a very spooky feeling, let me tell you,” said Ralph. “It was different from just hopping a couple of portals, baby, or giving somebody the old invisible slip. Way different. I kinda like thinking that I am solid, you know?”
            “You look solid to me, Big Fella,” said Ramona agreeably.
            “What Physics kid? I don’t remember any Physics kid,” she added less agreeably.
            “How do you think I get beer out here, Buttercup? The kid that brings me a couple of sixpacks once in a while is a Physics major at the U. down south. He likes to talk.”
            “I don’t know Ralph. That sits kinda funny with me. What does he get out of it? I wonder why he would come up here, deep in the forest to bring a possibly imaginary character, you, beer,” said Ramona.
            “Oh, never mind him, I think he’s a writer or something flaky like that. He writes crazy stories. He likes to pick my brain. He likes to combine science and baloney. It is a rare privilege to pick my brain. I let him and he brings me some beer.” Ralph seemed pleased with the arrangement.
            “But, Ramona, baby, I haven’t told you the weirdest part yet,” Ralph kinda grimaced.
            “Well, now you have my attention,” she said.
            “Two things happened while I was un-solid. Twigg and the pumas came out to my log to find me, and they did not see me!  I was right there, and they did not see me! I tried to talk to them, but they didn’t hear me either.
            “I was starting to wonder if I would ever be there again, but also wondering if a person could use this somehow.  You know?  Anyhow, that’s just wondering.
            “The second thing that happened is hard to explain.”
While he was talking, Maeve swooshed down to sit on his left shoulder. You know, just to hear what the second thing was. She’s curious!
            “You remember that guy who crashed Cherry’s birth party to kill the Unknown/Unnoticed?” asked Ralph. “I don’t mean those four jokers who showed up to party and take a look at Constance.”
            “Wak! I remember,” said Maeve. She posed and ruffled up her throat feathers and looked satisfied with herself.
            Ramona said, “yeah, I won’t forget that. It was like a waking dream. An imaginary thing made real. I will never forget the little man and his machine. I won’t forget the four jokers either.  Ferdy is like a relative who won’t leave. Maybe Constance should just marry him and be done with it! That was quite a day!”
            “Okay. But get this. While I was dematerialized, he showed up again. In the distance, in a sort of brilliant haze, I saw his vessel approaching. What does this mean? Is size irrelevant to him? Can he slip between atoms, or is that a nonsense question?
            “But there’s an apple in this onion soup, my love. As I was musing there, the little space/time/dimension hopper halted near my questioning point of vision and the lid popped open. Mak, himself, spoke to me. He said he was looking for a Forest Man named Hofel. He thought maybe I might know him, and where he is, in all the worlds and times,” continued Himself.
            “I said, ‘there is, was, or will be a Hofel. I know where, but I am not sure when. I can tell you where, Mak, but when is up to you.’ So, I explained the way he could know where it was, more northernly from here, Ramona.”
            “Did he say why he wanted to find Hofel,” asked Ramona.
            “Something about a little girl. A human child. He didn’t say why he sought her, or Hofel, and I have no idea why I said what I did to him. I felt as if somehow I embodied knowledge that I had not known!”
            “Isn’t life mysterious,” said Ramona, putting Cherry up on her shoulder and patting her bottom, as all mothers do, to help the little being burp.
            “But how did you get back,” she asked. “You seem to be right up to speed right now.” She poked him in the ribs a little, just to prove how solid he was, to her.
            “Well, I sat up. I started to see natural things appearing in the odd light, the trees started to come back, and the sky, and I started to hear things again, like Twigg and the cats hollering down by you.  Then I put my feet on the ground, and it all came back in a flash. I thank the Maker!”
            Ramona just smiled at him, handing him his daughter to hold, and going to see about some kind of lunch for everybody, even Maeve, who ate with them quite frequently.