Yungip Finds a Rock

            by Avi Samelson

 

Once upon a time there was a creature named Yungip.  He lived on the planet Yurijasd.  He was short, shorter than the average Thrupp child.  Thrupp children were like little balls covered in green fuzz with legs sticking down from the ball, and arms sticking out of the little ball.  They have two eyes, just like us and today, Yungip was wearing his favorite blue cap.

            That day, Yungip got to walk to school for the first time. 

            “take a right, then walk two throngs, then take a left, then walk down the middle of the road, when the road divides take a left and walk one thrung and there is your school.”  Said Yungip’s mom.

            Yungip walked out onto the street.  He took a right, and started walking two throngs.  He saw Thruppy different cars going by.  A red one, a really tiny one and a HUGE truck.  On the next thrug, he saw a sign that said: “THRUG CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION”. He saw two bulldozers and a dumptruck dumping a purple gooey substance called tyruik onto the road.  Yungip followed the arrow that the “detour” sign was pointing.   He took a left and kept walking and walking and walking… and walking and walking and walking. 

Suddenly, Yungip realized that he was not in a place that he had ever been before.  The air was filled with an orange haze.  The cars were all broken down, and there was garbage all over the ground. Where am I thought Yungip, I was supposed to “take a right, then walk two thrungs, then take a left, then walk down the middle of the road, when the road divides take a left and walk one throng and there is your school.”  So Fraukdfk took a left.  He turned into a cement wall, bounced off and into two very scary large Thrupps.  Yungip squirmed away from the two burly Thrupps, but the two Thrupps grabbed him, each by one arm.

The men took Yungip to a small room, with no windows.  They turned off the lights and left him there.  Yungip wondered what he should do.  He walked along the walls, feeling for any doors.  He did not find any.  He was sad.  I wish that someone would at least come talk to me.  Yungip thought. 

At that moment, a Thrupp walked into the room.  He started to talk to Yungip. 

“So, little one” he said in a creaky old voice “Why are you here?”

“I thought that you brought me here” Yungip said, curiously.

“You are a smart Thrupp then, although you are young.  Perhaps I can tell you a story.”

“I would certainly like that a lot” said Yungip, not wanting to disrespect this old Thrupp.  “But, perhaps, you could tell me why I am here?”

“That, I could also do”

“That would be very kind of you, sir.”

“Well, a long time ago in a far off land, there was a small little young Thrupp.”

“A young Thrupp?”

“Do NOT interrupt.”

“Okay, I am very sorry.”

“Anyways, there was a young Thrupp and he found a very special rock.  This rock had power beyond all belief.  If he touched it to one of his toys, it would come alive.  He would touch it to small plastic dinosaurs and they would start walking around on his own.  His room became a small jungle.  But when he heard his parents coming he would say a secret word and they would stop moving.  If he touched his trains to the rock, they would start moving on the tracks by themselves, and billowing smoke. 

 

The strangest thing of all was what happened when he touched living things with it.  They would stop moving all together!”

Yungip marveled at this story, wondering what this strange Thrupp would tell him next.

“Once, his dog jumped on his bed and lay next to him as his mother read him a story.  This young Thrupp loved sleeping next to his dog.  His dog was warm and cuddly.  So when his mother left, the young Thrupp reached under his pillow and pulled out the magic stone and touched his dog with it.  His dog stayed there the whole night.  When the young Thrupp woke up, he touched the dog again and the dog got up from his bed and walked downstairs!  No one knows how this worked, and no one knew where the rock was.  Until now.”

“But mister, what happened to the young Thrupp?”

“Well, it seems that the young Thrupp got to be a grown up and the rock just stopped working.”

“But why is that?”

“Enough questions.  You should be more curious why you are here.”

Yungip was a smart thrupp and he knew why he was there.

“Am I here because of the rock?” Yungip said quizzically.

“Yes, I can see that you are very intelligent.” 

And with that, the dark, dark room became very, very light.  It seemed that the room was covered in black curtains, or maybe duct tape.  Now it seemed that below the windows there were 159834 doors. There were some tiny doors, some really big doors, and some medium sized doors.  Some doors had handles, some had knobs, and some had no way to open them.  The Thrupp got up and Yungip followed him.  He went up to a door and with a wave of his hand, the door opened.  They both walked into a huge hall.  There were trees and a river flowing down the middle.  Birds were chirping and there was a little Thrupp, riding a pony. 

The old Thrupp started talking again: “This is a building made a long time ago.  It housed all sorts of things.  From ancient plants to weird creepy bugs, and even dinosaurs.” 

The little Thrupp and big Thrupp both hopped onto a ferry and  sailed down the creek.  At the end of the room they jumped off the raft, Yungip laughing at the colored butterflies.  The two Thrupps walked through the another door and into a room.  The room was full of sapphires.  The walls glowed blue, the ceiling had uncut sapphires all over it.  It was the most spectacular place Yungip had ever seen.  In the center of the room, on a sapphire pedestal, was a rock. 

“This is the rock.   I cannot use it, because I am not old enough, but you, you I think can make it work.  Go over to it! GO!”

Yungip walked toward the rock.  All of a sudden, he heard a voice in his head.  The voice was of a little Thrupp, not much older than Yungip was.

“That Thrupp plans to do evil with you and the rock.  You must keep it away from him.”

Yungip thought, and thought, and thought.  The old Thrupp yelled at him: “What are you doing?”

Yungip rushed over to the stone.  He picked it up and ran over to the old Thrupp. 

“Here you go!” Yungip said cheerfully.  He touched it to the old Thrupp.

“Sto-” the old Thrupp began, but he was already frozen.

Yungip ran to the otherside of the sapphire room.  He ran through a little door in the corner of the room.  An alarm sounded, but the voice that Yungip hard heard earlier told him the way out.

Once Yungip ran out of the place that had the stone, and out of the old Thrupp’s compound, he ran to school.  Only, he did not know the way.  He asked a stranger on the street who said: “Yes, I know where your school is, go down that way two throngs, and cross the street.  There will be your school.”

Yungip thanked him and ran two throngs down the street.  He looked both ways and then he crossed the street.  He ran to his classroom, not noticing the empty halls.  His classroom door was locked.  Then, he looked up at the clock.  It was already 4:30!  School had been over for an hour already.  He ran home, this time, asking people on each block where his house was.  Each time, the stranger pointed him in the right direction.  First he asked a mail-Thrupp, who told him: “Cross the street down that throng.”

Next he asked a Thrupp carrying groceries home: “Turn left at the throng down there, then cross the street.”  She pointed at two throngs down.

Yungip did as he was told, and to his surprise, the construction was finished!  They had repaved that road, and the tyruik had dried perfectly!  Cars were zooming by.  He finally reached his house, where he ran up to his room and touched his favorite pet dinosaur with the rock.  It growled, and then spoke to him: “Hello!  I am Triceratops, what is your name?”