The Pea That Got Away

“Careful, Val, he’ll hear us and look up,” whispered Eddie, as he and his life-long friend positioned themselves to roll off the giant seven-foot cliff and, with luck, land in the top left pocket of this giant’s shirt. Suppressing a giggle, Val rolled off the edge of the precipice and bounced neatly into the shirt pocket of the unwitting Human, followed almost immediately by Eddie. They both executed the drop perfectly, and would be able to travel much greater distances more rapidly, if only they could get the man they were hitching a ride on to cooperate.

These peas had used the Humans as transportation in the past, and, through their well-honed mental skills, had met with nominal success in controlling the Humans’ behavior. Telepathy came naturally to them and they could put ideas in people’s heads and distract their attention, but could not, as of yet, give them direct orders. The two young peas hoped that the innkeeper would give the other peas to the westward bound traveler but they could not take the chance that he would leave without them. Stowing away was the surest way of getting further west before the winter’s freeze, and this Human would probably be their last chance.

As you may have guessed, these were not your ordinary, garden-variety peas. These peas were from the Ogelsby farming region in the East and had indeed traveled there with the innkeeper the previous week.  Stopping only to rest and find more suitable passage farther west, it seemed to the pair of peas that they’d accomplished that nicely.

Ogelsby is said to be a region where magic abounds. It is the last kingdom before the edge of the world and not many folks live that far out. It is an arduous journey full of many perils and bad roads throughout the whole of Oglesby. The natives are standoffish at best, distrustful of strangers and neighbors alike.

Frequently what seems magical to some seems ordinary to others, and these peas came from what they considered to be a traditional background. They had grown up in a pod in a garden on the other side of Oglesby. Raised by the old wizard of the woods, the peas had acquired powers that other varieties lacked. The peas could use their mind’s eye to influence other species of animals and to deceive those who would harm them. The talent, which was a gift from the wizard, was just enough to give them an edge and had saved their skins many times.

Longing for a place where they could put down roots and raise some pods of their own, Val and Eddie followed their instinctual need to survive and spread their unique species through out the world. This would be their last ride on a human being if the two peas had their way about it.

They were a long way from the Wizard’s Garden in the seclusion of the Secret Mountain Hills. It had been the only home that they’d ever known and the home of the Grand Old Vine from whence they’d sprung.

Val and Eddie both missed the gentle, kind words of their mother, Viney May, whose wisdom, beauty, and courage guided them frequently on their pilgrimage. Many were the nights that Viney May sang to them and regaled them with stories of the Good Earth where they had grown and the Better Earth where they would ultimately reside one day.

Val and Eddie were determined to find a place where the Humans would not eat every last, delicious pea that sprouted on their vines. They knew their destination was where they would be able to spread out over acres and acres and live happily ever after. The legends of just such an oasis where it was never too dry and never too wet; never too cold; always nice and warm and sunny were told to them generation-after-generation for as far back in “Pea-story” as any pea could remember. The wizard had predicted that the Promised Land would be found in the Far West. It would be past the vast meadowlands and over the mountains of Babbage in the regions beyond.

It was nearly the end of Eddie and Val’s family and all their kind not so long ago. The stupid Humans were gluttonous fools, who loved the taste of this unique variety of pea so much that they saved nary a one for the seed crop. If it were not for the torrential rains of the last year or two, the most succulent variety of pea that had ever grown in the world would have been lost forever; extinct!

Torrential rains had washed some of the peas down a gorge and out into the wilderness where one or two seeds found purchase and took root. Growing wild on the plains near the stream, the peas survived relatively unmolested except for the occasional squirrel. The squirrels were, at least, smart enough to not eat every last pea on the vine. They would scurry about burying them and eating them, but the peas found that they could live with the occasional scavenging rodents.

For the most part, this area of the forest was uninhabited by the Humans but for one lone soul who walked the woods constantly muttering to himself. It was a mystery to the peas why this solitary creature lived there amongst them in the wilderness although they considered him to be their friend.  But he had a secret.

The wizard lived in the beautiful solitude of the woods. He rarely missed the company of people, and had lived alone for so long that he frequently had trouble remembering how to speak at all. The half-dozen or so languages that he’d once used fluently in his travels seemed like a vague memory. He had wandered these woods for many days taking sustenance from them. His only friends were the plants, trees and the wildlife that lived in abundance there. In those years he honed his skills and fine-tuned wizardly arts until he was skilled beyond any sorcerer in the land.  All but one.