“Great!” Tonic cheers; although the gnome doesn’t feel completely joyful yet, the appreciation is genuine. “Thank you both for your hard work. Atcher, your pictures of the path and Orchard really helped jog me out of my funk. Prism, you responded quickly and efficiently. I don’t think we ever would have gotten out without working together!” 

Prism keeps a weather-eye out and leads the way through the dreary, dense clumps of forest while Atcher makes course corrections using the Stratigraphy Skirt.

As they emerge from the dripping, shadowed forest tangle, a Librarian with ink-embellished skin and short, straight, parchment-white hair is tending some trees. The Librarian greets them, “Hello. I go by Vellum. I am one of the Librarians here in the Ideas Orchards. How can we assist you?” Mushroom stands by the librarian’s feet, chirruping happily. The orchard has bright, hot, midday light in the open areas, and pleasant pools of shade beneath the trees. 

“What was that awful swamp-forest about?! Why did Mushroom leave us? I think we were nearly lost forever!” Prism bursts out.

Vellum tends to some scrollwork leaves on a tree, checking for any signs of ill-health in the plant and distractedly responds, “Ah, yes. The Preconceived Woods are perilous. Many get lost in their own thoughts, trapped in their old ideas, and never make it out. You are lucky you had such a helpful unicorn to lead you so far. I believe your self-absorption caused you to lose sight of your guide. You must have a good friendship to have stayed focused nearly the whole way here. The forest around the orchard reminds us that we must work through our own fears and preconceptions before we are ready to learn new ideas. I find it best to work together, stand up for each other, and say NO to bad thinking while there. Be willing to admit when you are wrong, and listen to what others tell you. It helps immensely.” the Librarian turns toward the biggest trees, carved and sculpted into a magnificently towering structure, “Briony! Please bring some new ideas for our guests.” From a treetop window, a young figure with many braids is seen to scurry, arriving shortly with a stack of books, then hurrying off again.

“We need to learn about forgotten places.” Atcher volunteers.“We are helping Tonic on a Wanderlust, and need to travel...what was it?”

“The World’s Between. Nightshade recommended we ask here” Tonic finishes.

“Ah” Vellum replies. “Walk with me through the Ideas Orchard while I work on a list for you.”

Vellum leads the group, softly sharing the life and habits of the Orchard. The Librarian’s love of the Ideas Orchard, though quiet, is unmistakable. Vellum’s voice becomes suffused with joy when talking about the Orchard.

Gesturing at the wide variety of trees in the orchard, all spaced neatly and evenly for maximum growth and nutrition, Vellum says, “All around us are the Book Trees. Gather close! See the small word buds? They are smooth and easy to use. Touch them; aren’t they comfy? These word buds are perfect for beginner Librarians. We start our training as soon as we can stand up, and word buds are often low on the tree, within easy reach for young hands and minds. If encouraged to flourish, the word buds will grow into fantastic, and often loquacious elegance.” 

Atcher pats some of the small word buds, thinking about all of the things they could become. “What a fascinating way to create!” the brownie enthuses “It is much like crafting and inventing. These are the building blocks and gears needed to realize something more elaborate!” Vellum smiles and encourages Atcher to keep a word bud, which the brownie gratefully presses into the birchbark journal.

Walking in the soothing shade of many different trees, Vellum points out more parts of the orchard, “Here are some curious leaflets, they encourage the tree-tender to keep asking and searching. A curious leaflet can go a long way towards helping you complete research; they often have surprising, interesting facts, and they lead us to explore more. These are very useful for those needing to hold or gain interest.”

Prism lets Undertow play in the curious leaflets, and the Wind Rabbit races through the tree, wildly rattling leaflets and notions. Turbine and Steam soon wake and poke their noses out of Atcher’s bronze bag and Tonic’s travel teacup. The sociable Zephers join the Gale, playing a game of tag all through the tree. 

“That’s enough, you three. Don’t shake the young leaflets off!” Prism admonishes with a laugh. The Wind Rabbits flow out of the trees, whirling and bouncing between the group’s ankles instead.

Vellum continues to show more of the orchard, explaining differences in leaf shape, trunk patterns, growth habits, and nutritional needs of the trees. After some time, the group comes to a new section of Orchard. The Librarian grins widely and announces, “Over here are words ripe for picking.”

Each guest gets to try a word. Atcher has “plethora” Prism chooses “indubitably” and Tonic picks “prodigious.” Sharing their fantastic new words, the friends agree that the Ideas Orchard is magnificent.

Vellum skips along a short way, to even larger trees, spaced further apart. “Ripe books are stored in the shelf-like hallows of Book Trees. These are where we store the majority of our finished works. Scrolls live in smaller trees, tomes in sturdier ones. Our filing system is largely bark. You can tell a Book Tree’s contents by the words grown into the bark. This one here is traditional poetry on scrolls; see the words formed repeatedly in the bark?”

Happy to share knowledge and guide a tour, the Librarian is full of joy showing the group “Over here we have a small quarry for refining glimmering nuggets of an idea. These little gems form from the crystalized resin when a tree is wounded. Excess letters and grammar can be used here to scrub and grind crystalized ideas, sloughing off biases and hypocrisies to refine the ideas.” Atcher lingers to admire the beautiful polished resins.

An area rich with dark earth, and dotted with mounds comes next. Tonic is excited to see such healthy compost piles, knowing how important decomposition is for plants to gain nutrients. Vellum explains, “Sometimes ideas become outdated, and the books get squishy and overripe. These books must be unshelved and planted so new ideas can grow out of the old. These books will rot and decompose, creating fertile ground for the seeds of new ideas.”

The three friends are agog with wonder at the Ideas Orchard, and had almost forgotten the reason that had come there when Vellum says “Those with a strong connection to the World’s Between, we call them Wildlings. Have you ever felt a longing for a place you’ve never been? Have you been truculent, recalcitrant, or stubborn? Looked up the meaning of a word just because you liked how it felt on your tongue? Have you felt a Wanderlust so strong, you just had to go, but you didn’t know where? Have you felt different than those around you? These are all aspects of being a Wildling, and of the ability to travel the World’s Between.”

Tonic gasps to hear such experiences described so exactly. 

Vellum reads from a book titled “Curious Rituals of Uncommon Folk” and says “I have here a copy of a Wildling’s first-hand account. It says here the author, Graeme, called those from other realities “Oburoni” and said this beautiful word means “someone from over the horizon” in a place called Ghana.”

The Librarian closes the book, saying, “The Oburoni live among us. They are real. We don’t see them, because they live… sort of next to us, invisible, and insubstantial. But we can get to them, although nearly everyone has forgotten how. There used to be many Wildlings, many who knew how to travel the World’s Between.”

Prism, Atcher, and Tonic stand still, marveling.

Briony walks up with a single scroll, orchard light dappling on freckles, muscular arms, and bouncing mahogany hair braids. Vellum speaks to the friends as Briony hands them the scroll. “Here is a list of forgotten places within travel from here: The Tree Beyond the Garden, The Hole in the Bottom of the Sea, The Witch of the Westmoreland, Walking Grass on the Heath, the Bog of the Dead Moon, and the Scent from Childhood. There aren’t many options anywhere nearby, I’m afraid. You will need to seek out the forgotten places, because realities grow thin and touch there. Find a forgotten place that makes your blood sing and your senses glow. There will be a Lintel of the World’s Between close by. You have your list. Where will you choose to go?”