The Adventure of Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink
Written especially for my great nephew, Kyran.
In the
Land
of
Zepooharia
lives the spirits of those to come. Everyday before the brightness of the new day arrives the spirits go to the Field of Hopes, Dreams and Last Chances. When the first warm stream of light touches the tip of the gilded edge of the gate, it opens and all of the spirits of Zepooharia rush in and fill up the entire Field. At the same time, the hopes, dreams, fears and tears of mommies and daddies who want to have a baby fill the sky above the Field. When the spirits first enter the Field, they enter into the Place of Hopes; this is where the littlest spirits go. Those who are strong enough or big enough to get past the Place of Hopes enter into the Place of Dreams. The spirits who get past the Place of Hopes and the Place of Dreams enter into the last part of the Field. It is called the Place of Last Chances, only the strongest, quickest and the bravest spirits get to go into the Place of Last Chances.
Throughout the Field, the thoughts and cries of the mommies and the thoughts and whispers of daddies are transformed into pictures and displayed across the sky of the entire Field, just like they were on a movie screen. All of the spirits of the Field study the sky and pick a baby they want to become and a mommy or daddy that they want to connect with. When a mommy or daddy cries their tears fall onto the Field. Each spirit has a special scoop, called the Ladle of Life that they use to catch the fallen tears. Once they have captured the tears, the spirits must purify the tears and find the purjas. Purjas are the strengths of the ancestors that have been buried in the underground tunnels of the Field of Last Chances. Only the strongest spirits can lift the purjas. Once found, the spirit must crush the purjas by the strength of their hands. They must grind the purjas into a fine powder and mix the powder of the purjas with the sweat of their hands and the tears they have captured. When the sweat, tears and purjas mix to form a thin paste, the spirit must circle the Field ten times. They must circle the Field so fast that before they make the first step into the tenth round, they are lifted high into the sky. Before they take the last step of their tenth round, they must reach and touch the mommy or daddy who shed the tears and use the purjas paste to dry the tears, which will mend the broken heart of the mommy or daddy. If they can dry the tears and mend the broken hearts then a new baby is created at that very moment. If their purjas paste is not mixed properly, it will not dry the tears or mend the broken heart and the mommy and daddy must continue to wait for a new baby and the spirits disappear in the
Land
of
Lost Souls
and Spirits and they must wait a thousand years for the time of the returning spirits.
If two spirits collect the same amount of tears in their Ladle of Life, they must go to the Humming Edge and compete for the right to connect to that mommy and daddy. The Humming Edge is that part of the Field where the ground and the sky touch. The spirits compete by running so quickly around the Field that they are lifted into the air by their own speed. As the spirit is lifted into the air, it must create so much wind that both the spirits of the mommy and daddy are drawn together and connected to each other and then the spirit baby must connect to their spirits. When that connection is completed, the spirit enters the bubble of life and creates the essence of the new baby. Sometimes competing spirits end in a tie. When that happens all of the spirits that connect to the mommies and daddies become new babies. That means that two or three or even more babies are created all at the same time and are born seconds or minutes apart.
Thousands of years ago Zerwinkerbink, the littlest spirit of that time ever to go to the Field, saw and touched the tears of one of the mommies before it flowed into the place of Last Chances. Zerwinkerbink and other little spirits were too small for any other place but the Field of Hopes. He wanted very much to connect with that mommy and he thought of ways that he could become bigger and stronger so that he could be the one to gather her purjas and mend her heart. Everyday Zerwinkerbink thought of something different and new, something that no other spirit baby had every tried before. Zerwinkerbink was mocked and scolded by all of the other little spirits. They called him names and resented him for trying to be something that he was not. They were all proud of being small and they didn't understand why Zerwinkerbink didn"t want to be small like them. Zerwinkerbink still worked very hard to become faster, bigger and stronger no matter what the other spirits did or said.
One morning when the gate opened, Zerwinkerbink went to the Place of Hopes but something was very different. Zerwinkerbink was much quicker and stronger than all the other spirits. He was not bigger but he certainly was quick and strong enough to go to the Place of Dreams with the medium sized spirits and before he knew it, he was faster and stronger than all of the spirits in the entire Field, even those in the Place of Last Chances. Ever since that day some of the smaller spirits tried to become stronger and bigger, and even though they would never admit it, they also tried to become bigger. They tried everything they knew but alas most were too lazy to do the real work it would take to become stronger and faster. Many of them gave up and a few of them did become stronger but not enough go to the Place of Dreams. When they spoke about Zerwinkerbink, they talked about him as though he were a myth that never really existed. Zerwinkerbink became a legend in the Field and none of the other spirits tried to become stronger, faster or bigger, until Hounchiepoounch.
Zerwinkerbink was a hero and a legend in the Field, but that was thousands of years ago and the legend faded and changed over the years. Most of the spirits didn't even believe the story anymore. Again, that was until Hounchiepoounch! Hounchiepoounch made the other spirits tell her the story over and over and over. She was excited because this was the year of Zoilie...the 2000th year and the year of the returning spirits. Hounchiepoounch was a very special baby spirit. She was the littlest spirit that lived in the
Land
of
Zepooharia
. She didn't know it but she was just a tad bit smaller than Zerwinkerbink. Hounchiepoounch knew that Zerwinkerbink was due to return so after she got back from the Field she went to the
Land
of
Jsuspheria
to try to find him. She wanted desperately to meet Zerwinkerbink. Even though it was forbidden, she went to the
Land
of
Jsuspheria
everyday after she left the Field, looking to see if she could find Zerwinkerbink. Zerwinkerbink's return would be surrounded by a golden glow that would break the darkness of night. Hounchiepoounch had gone to practically every part of Jsuspheria without ever seeing the glow. One night after a frustrating and exhausting search for the glow, Hounchiepoounch started back to the
Land
of
Zephooria
. She was so sad that her whole body filled with so many tears the weight of the tears made her head lean forward as they spilled out of her eyes. When she finished crying all she could do was hang her head in disappointment. Her eyes were almost closed and were beginning to fill with tears again when she noticed that there was a golden glow surrounding her. "What could this mean?" she thought. Zerwinkerbink was nowhere to be found. Anxious and nervous, she opened her eyes wide and leaned forward so that the few tears that were gathering would fall out. Then she closed her eyes and stretched her head back as far as it could go. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up into the sky. Directly above the place that she stood was the golden glow and it was descending from the sky. Hounchiepoounch couldn't believe her eyes, the 2000th night was this night, and this was the night of the return of Zerwinkerbink and the other returning spirits.
The sky glowed in varying hues of colors like a rainbow as the returning spirits descended back to the
Land
of
Jsuspheria
. This was the most beautiful sight Hounchiepoounch had ever seen. She was very excited. She laughed and jumped up and down with joy. She was going to meet Zerwinkerbink, the infamous one who had gone beyond his Field. Zerwinkerbink, her hero...the one who made it possible for her to go beyond her Field! The closer Zerwinkerbink got to Hounchiepoounch the more excited Hounchiepoounch became. She began to jump up higher and higher in hopes of touching the glow of Zerwinkerbink. Zerwinkerbink was still high up in the sky but Hounchiepoounch couldn't wait to meet him so she jump higher and higher, and higher and higher, and finally she stooped down very, very low to the ground, took a deep, deep breath and jumped so high into the sky that she touched his glow. When her hand touched the glow she was swallowed up into the Zerwinkerbink's protective bubble. The glow around Zerwinkerbink began to spin around, it spun so fast that instead of floating gently downward, it spun on its side and turned upside down and began to spin back up into the sky. Hounchiepoounch was looking face to face at her idol, her hero, the one and only Zerwinkerbink. Zerwinkerbink did not look back at Hounchiepoounch Zerwinkerbink continued to sleep. He was in a deep, deep sleep.
Hounchiepoounch was amazed that Zerwinkerbink was still very, very small. He was as tiny as Hounchiepoounch, herself. She reached out to touch him, but right before her finger touched his face, she drew her hand back. She did this several times. Finally, she closed her eyes, reached out and touched his face. Her finger felt warm...a fluttering like they were being tickled. At the same moment that she touched his face, the bubbled began to shake and move in a torrid, waving motion and Zerwinkerbink opened his eyes. Hounchiepoounch was afraid but she was still eager to speak to Zerwinkerbink. She opened her mouth to speak but the bubbled was changing shape so quickly and moving so fast that she couldn't get the wind to speak. Every time she tried to speak, the wind was sucked out of her so she had to keep her mouth shut. Zerwinkerbink knew that he was returning to the
Land
of
Jsuspheria
but only had a mild idea of what Hounchiepoounch was doing in his bubble. When the bubble stopped spinning, it landed and burst in the center of the Field in the Place of Last Chances.
The spinning and torrid motion of the bubble took a lot of energy out of both Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink. Once a spirit touches the ground of any field, that spirit is required work in that field until its destiny has been completed...either become a new baby or become a lost soul. That meant that Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink had to find purjas, touch a mommy and a daddy, make a paste and mend their hearts. Hounchiepoounch was afraid because she didn't know if she was strong enough to go on. Zerwinkerbink was tired and didn't want to have to go through the Field this soon. He was entitled to a 100-year rest, and he wasn't going to get it now. He wasn't going to get his well-deserved rest because Hounchiepoounch intruded upon his time. He wasn't angry but he demanded to know what she had done to prepare for the journey they were about to take. What Hounchiepoounch didn't know is that when she touched his glow, she became his twin spirit and that they both must connect to the same new mommy. That meant that they must do everything at exactly the same time or within microseconds of each other; or, one of them will be lost in the
Land
of
Lost Spirits
and Souls forever and the other would never be complete. The incomplete spirit would become a lost soul on earth and it would spend its human life trying to fill of the void of its twin.
They only had a short time to prepare for their journey so Zerwinkerbink made Hounchiepoounch run all the way around the Field everyday. He made her carry heavy storkas or rocks while she ran. She had to run until she could run as fast as Zerwinkerbink. Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink were the only baby spirits who could climb all the way to the other side of the Tunnel of Winds and Rains. Zerwinkerbink was a baby spirit but he had a restless spirit, thanks to Hounchiepoounch, and now an old soul because he never had a chance to deposit the soul that he carried back into the Jsuspheria resting place. Everyday they climbed into the Tunnel and went farther and farther until one day, they climbed all the way through to the other side. Hounchiepoounch did a bazillion jumping jacks, lifted anything heavy that she could find, and she danced on the edges of the blades of grass every single day. Zerwinkerbink had already done those things so he danced on the tips of the blades of grass and supervised Hounchiepoounch. She did all of these things to make her lungs and heart strong and so that she could be muscular, small and flexible enough to survive all of the known problems that the new mommies experience.
Hounchiepoounch practiced holding her breath for long periods of time. One thing bothered Hounchiepoounch, and that was that Zerwinkerbink looked so funny. Zerwinkerbink was almost clear and Hounchiepoounch could see right through him. She could see the tall blades of grass and the beautiful flowers that moved as the wind blew behind him. Zerwinkerbink had funny, big round eyes that had stars and clouds floating around in them. His nose was small and round and the tip of it glowed with a rosy, red huge. He was probably as small, if not smaller, than Hounchiepoounch, she thought. Zerwinkerbink knew that Hounchiepoounch was laughing at how he looked and he started laughing too. Hounchiepoounch stopped laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Hounchiepoounch asked.
"Why, I'm laughing at you." Zerwinkerbink replied.
"What are you laughing at me for?" Hounchiepoounch didn't understand what Zerwinkerbink thought was funny about her.
"I'm laughing at you because you are laughing at the way I look." Zerwinkerbink said while he tried to hold back his laughter.
"So, what's so funny about that?" Hounchiepoounch quipped.
"I'ts funny because I look exactly like you." Zerwinkerbink replied.
Hounchiepoounch couldn't believe her ears. She never thought about what she looked like, there were no mirrors in the Field of Hopes, Dreams and Last Chances but there were streams and lakes that she could have looked in to see her reflection. Hounchiepoounch spent so much time getting ready for a new mommy that she never took the time to look at herself.
"Well, I can see right through you." Hounchiepoounch said. She looked closer and said, "And, your eyes have stars and clouds in them. How about that?"
"Well, Zerwinkerbink replied, "I am a spirit and so are you. When you entered my bubble, the skins of self-indulgence were stripped off of you so you are clear now too. And now, we know all of the secrets of heaven and earth. That's why we work out so hard everyday...to prepare ourselves for the things that lie ahead. It will be rough getting born to our new mommy and we will have to bring a survivor's will with us and help her, right?"
Hounchiepoounch was very surprised and she was also a little sad when she said, "You are right. I am working very hard this time to connect to a mommy of my own."
Zerwinkerbink knew that Hounchiepoounch was sad because she thought that nobody wanted her, but that was not why she hadn't been connected in the past. Then he said, "You were not left here because you were not big or strong enough. There are no mistakes, Hounchiepoounch; we are here because we have been selected for a very special mommy. They didn't bypass you; they saved you because you are the most special baby spirit in the Field of Hopes, Dreams and Last Chances and we were meant to go to our new mommy together. Remember, there are no mistakes made."
Hounchiepoounch held her hand out to touch Zerwinkerbink but again, all she felt was a fluttering, tickling, warm feeling on her fingertips. "That's funny, said Hounchiepoounch.
Zerwinkerbink replied, "That felt funny to you because we are both spirits, our energy forces are pulling and it tickled and felt warm. Does that answer your question?"
"Yes," Hounchiepoounch said and then she continued, is there anything else that you know about me that I should know?"
"Yes, you are the answer to this mommy's prayers. She always wanted you, I will be a surprise to her but she prayed for you," said Zerwinkerbink.
Hounchiepoounch was so excited that her whole body turned upside-down. "When your energy is heated up like that you defy gravity and are lifted into the air," explained Zerwinkerbink. When she turned right side up, she danced on the tips of the blades of grass and sang a song.
At that very moment, the sky above Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink started swirling and streams of light and colors picked them up into the air and filled their entire bodies. Hounchiepoounch had a rainbow of colors inside of her. Each color had a life-saving element in it and each one meant something special. She felt the same force pushing against her that she felt in the Tunnel of Winds and Rains. She was determined to get to the other side of this tunnel at the same time that Zerwinkerbink got through. This time, they couldn't just go through the tunnel she had to pick up heavy cajas and take them to the other side. Cajas are spirit rocks that contain characteristics of the new mommies' and daddies' ancestors. She realized why Zerwinkerbink made her carry the storkas when she ran. The cajas were heavy like the storkas and it was not difficult for Hounchiepoounch to carry them through the tunnel. At one point in their journey, the force became stronger and stronger. Hounchiepoounch knew that it would be impossible for her to move through it so she squeezed into one of the cracks in the tunnel and waited until the strong force passed her. Zerwinkerbink could withstand the wind so he stood right next to Hounchiepoounch to further shield her from the force of the wind while she shrunk into the cracks of the wall. He endured the strong winds of the tunnel while Hounchiepoounch stayed in the crack in the tunnel until the force weakened and almost stopped blowing. Zerwinkerbink pulled her out of the crack and they continued their journey until they reached the other side.
Once they got the other side, they started to float aimlessly. They had to hold their breath for a very, very long time and they held their heads down and stretched their arms out straight ahead to guide themselves through the long tube of the mommy. Once they got through the tube they had to pick up the daddy's cajas and mix them with the mommy's cajas. That meant that Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink had to run around in circles so fast that the cajas would break open and the spirits of the ancestors would blend together from the force of the speed. That was the only way the spirits would mix. They ran, side by side, so fast that not only did the spirits of the ancestors stay in place like they were supposed to, but they mixed together perfectly and then they enveloped Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink.
Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink had made it through the first part. The mommy was now carrying twin babies in her tummy. Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink's mommy had tried to have babies before but could not carry them when they started to grow because they became too heavy for her, Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink were very small and light, yet they were strong enough to handle any problems that their mommy was going to be faced with. Their mommy's doctor told her that she could never have a baby but she wanted a baby and deep in her heart she believed that she would have one. Each time she thought about having a baby she prayed and then she thought about what her baby would look like. She imaged every aspect of her baby girl. She imagined which ancestor the baby's eyes, hair, smile and skin coloring came from. She imagined herself playing with her little girl until the little girl became real to her. One day the image of her baby was so strong and deeply embedded in her mind that she reached the Field of Hope, Dreams and Last Chances. That is when the picture was completed. The completed image of Hounchiepoounch was in tact in her mind, in her heart and in her soul...and that is when she saw her baby girl, clearly, for the first time. What she didn't see or know was that there were two of them, Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink. She had to wait until Hounchiepoounch was finished with all of her training and exercises before she could become her baby. Zerwinkerbink was already strong and Hounchiepoounch was becoming stronger.
When Hounchiepoounch's mommy saw the image of Hounchiepoounch in her mind, Zerwinkerbink was preparing to return to Jsuspheria. Zerwinkerbink was on of the most special spirits ever to grace existence. He became a good son, and for almost a thousand years after he left the earthly realm as a human, his spirit guided humankind toward their greatest achievements. He was the voice of humanity and he spoke to very special humans. The mommy who prayed for Zerwinkerbink was the last human he visited. The only condition this mommy had to fulfill was to keep her faith! She had to believe in the vision in spite of what other people around her said. She had met that condition, her faith was strong and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would, indeed, have a baby. After learning that she had met the only condition, Zerwinkerbink whispered in the mommy's ear, "You have seen your baby...she will be here soon." The mommy heard Zerwinkerbink but she wasn't sure if she were hearing a real voice of if it was dreaming. Despite where the voice came from, she believed what she had seen and then heard and that is when the desire of her heart was granted. Zerwinkerbink watched over her and made sure she knew how to do all of the things that new mommies would need to do; like eating the right foods, exercising and keeping her doctor's appointments, and then he continued his journey back to the
Land
of
Jsuspheria
where Hounchiepoounch intercepted his return and brought him on this new journey.
Zerwinkerbink and Hounchiepoounch were in the mommy now but the mommy didn't know it. When she found out that she was truly having a baby, she took very good care of herself and did all of the right things, the things that Zerwinkerbink had inspired her to do in her dreams. Only July 3 of last year, Hounchiepoounch and Zerwinkerbink were born to the proud parents of Warren and Sara Nadall. All of the doctors said that it was a miracle, but it was her unshakable faith. This was meant to be…there are no mistakes! Hounchiepoonch and Zerwinkerbink were meant to be here! The only thing is, they are now affectionately called Toot and Pumpkin instead of their spirit names of Hounchiepoonch and Zerwinkerbink! And so ended the adventure of Hounchiepoonch and Zerwinkerbink and began the many adventures of Toot and Pumpkin!
