Evelyn In Wonderland

They had been walking through the forest for some time with very little conversation other than calls for the little lizard, and though Evelyn truly did want to help find Pilip she found the constant trudging very dull. However, Evelyn was much too intimidated by the strange creatures to start a conversation herself.

But when she felt she could hardly bear a second longer, she told herself very sternly to not be so silly over it, and so she turned to Orvil and asked, “How did Pilip come to be lost in the first place?”

But before Orvil could get a word in, Philip answered in a voice full of outrage “Oh it was one of those pesky, little Dusts! Came right down and scared Pilip half to death! He’s never liked them, they set him on edge, and there one was right in front of his little face! Of course he would run away! But now he is all alone and lost and will be ever so scared!”

“Oh, good gracious!” Evelyn exclaimed, “That sounds simply dreadful for poor Pilip! But... what is a Dust?”

“Never heard of a Dust!” Ervin cried in shock, “Why how can you not have heard of a Dust? There are only hundreds above our heads right now!”

Evelyn looked up but all she could see were the trees and the stars, not even a cloud to blot them. “I’m not sure I know what you mean. I can’t see anything there but the stars!”

“Stars? What are stars?” asked Orvil.

“Stars! Everyone knows what stars are! Look, they’re in the sky above us right now!”

Orvil looked up, his beady eyes narrowed.

“There are only Dusts up there, child! You are very strange indeed, talking of nonsense things. Look, here comes one now.”

Evelyn looked to where he was pointing and saw, to her utter amazement, a star flying down from the sky towards them.

And as the star drew closer and closer, she saw to her astonishment that it had eyes and arms and tiny little fingers! And toes and a mouth and a tiny, little tongue sticking out at them!

It came so close that Evelyn could see all of the little knots in its matted, tangle of hair and she was almost forced to bring her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the shimmering silver-blue light surrounding it.

“My goodness!” cried Evelyn, “I have never seen a star up close before, how beautiful it is!”

“Beautiful? Dusts aren’t beautiful, they are mischievous, little devils!” cried Philip.

“Yes, they are certainly very annoying at times.”Orvil conceded, “They’re really called Sidusmallums, you know, but no one ever calls them that, just Dusts. They will either be up in the sky or down here causing mischief, some people wanted to banish them but we really do need their light down here in the forest.” Orvil explained to Evelyn.

Suddenly, a very shrill sobbing noise came from the forest ahead of them. The Dust in front of Evelyn broke into an impish grin and flew off in the direction of the sobbing.

“PILIP!” cried Philip, “After that Dust! Don’t let him get Pilip! I’M COMING, PILIP, I’M COMING!”
Philip dashed through the undergrowth after the Dust and the rest of them followed him hurriedly, the bawling noise growing louder the further they ran.

Eventually, they caught up with Philip who was in the process of angrily swiping at the Dust who was just laughing at him hysterically, swooping around his head. Evelyn looked down to the ground where she saw what she took to be Pilip.

He really was the very picture of pitiful, he was sat on the ground with his arms hanging limply by his sides, his shoulders and chest were heaving in unison with the great racking sobs he was shuddering out. His face had the impression of having melted slightly, with all of his features drooping downwards in sorrow.

Orvil hurried over to help Philip with batting away the Dust while Erwin came and stood behind Evelyn, looking sadly at Pilip.

“Poor mite, he’ll probably never get over this. Mental scarring, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological turmoil...” he droned on in this way, coming up with increasingly imaginative and awful after effects for Pilip to suffer from while Evelyn tried to comfort the poor little lizard until Phillip and Orvil rushed over after getting rid of the Dust.

“PILIP! Oh, Pilip! Are you alright?” Philip fussed, “Don’t worry, the Dust is gone! You’re all safe now!”

Pilip stopped sobbing when he heard Philip's voice (though he was still hicupping slightly) and blinked up at them all deplorably for a few moments before scuttling straight into Philips waistcoat pocket looking distinctly content once he was there.

“Safe and sound! I’m glad we got that in order!” boomed Orvil, “Let’s set off home then shall we?” And he marched back in the direction they had come before Philip (with Pilip) and Erwin followed him.

Evelyn stayed where she was; she wasn’t sure whether it would be rude to follow them, if it would seem she was inviting herself into their home.

But before she could dither for much longer, Erwin looked over his shoulder and waved a fin to her, “Come along now Evelyn, don’t be all day about it!”

And Evelyn gratefully scampered along after them.