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It was almost midday when he woke up . He had spent dawn flying from a corner to a corner into the room trying to control the magic stool with the powder horn . He patted his head and his whole body trying to feel the hurts and wounds of the previous hours . When he felt ease , he stood up and took the stool . He dismantled it and put it carefully in a bag that he found in the attic of the cottage . He , then , inserted the horn under his belt , tightly to his waist . At that time he tried to recall something : “ The hunchback sent me to fetch a crystal ball . Where is it ? ” He leapt and looked here and there . He searched for it everywhere . He found it in a wooden casket among moldy clothes . He fixed it . The glass looked soft and fragile but he thought it might hurt since it was the hunchback ’ s . However , he had to handle it . He took it out carefully ; re-wrapped and joined it to the stool . The clock struck midday . It tickled and wriggled inside him . He shook and grumbled . He shivered , sweated and fell down . He moaned , wallowed and yelled . Minutes elapsed before he restored his spirits . He was lying on the floor all wet . He got on his feet and ran his fingers through his hair . He closed his eyes and made his way toward the mirror . He walked and kicked . It was the table . He stretched his hand forth and patted the mirror . “ Mirror ! Mirror ! Show me the best of me .” said he in a muffled voice . When he opened his eyes , he leapt and cheered : “ This is me back ! Dinkykindy .” He lay on the sofa fixing the ceiling , trying to find out the way he had been through that dawn . He yawned and stretched his legs . His eyelids were about to flex when he got up with a start . “ I ’ m going out !” said he firmly . He stepped out of the cottage and stood his back to the door . Noon sun stood still . It was warm . He turned round the cottage looking for the Housh . Was it on the right or on the left ? There or over there ? There was no sign at all . He followed the path he believed he had the night before looking for the stream and the oak and the owl nest but found nothing as if he had been dreaming . He told himself : “ Everything was a fake . A hallucination !” However , he could hear sounds , not similar to the owls of the night before but he could hear them . He peeped through the branches and loathed the scene . There were two masked men . One of them was bending over a girl and smiting her . He raised his hand and slapped her so violently that Dinkykindy could imagine her teeth colliding . She staggered , fell to the ground and lost conscious . “ Water , man !” yelled the tormentor at his mate . “ Go easy with her , Boss .” roared the accomplice , “ You ’ re going to kill her .” “ The treasure is here . The ground rumbled when she stepped here . It is hers so she must speak .” explained the boss . The other man nodded and handled him water . “ We ’ ve been through an exhausting walk till we get to it .” added the boss . “ We ’ re tired , Boss . Let ’ s have some rest until late in the night . She will speak . She fears dark .” The man managed and convinced his boss to stop torturing and leave her alone , “ It ’ s high time ,” whispered Dinkykindy from behind the branches . “ I have to intervene .”
To be continued
" Grasshopperboy " By Ezzeddine Cherni