Tommo dreamed; Tommo wished, and Tommo believed he could Walk On Air. One day, Takli, Tommo's best friend, made it happen! And for both! She had the power. Takli's Chinese grandfather had left her with the ability to perform wondrous things. Nica, Takli's other best friend, a Chinese whistling duck, taught himself to whistle speak by watching Harpo Marx, of The Marx Brothers. Harpo spoke to his TV brothers in this manner. Tommo and Takli eventually understood every word Nica whistled. When it happened! When the fog surrounded them, Tommo and Takli were walking above a forest of Maples while Nica flew. They felt lost until they saw the golden escalator. Stepping on, they rode it to The Land of Sweet Illusions. This land, made from candy and ice cream, was ruled by King Hagen Das and Queen Bunny Blue. There, the trio met characters from fairy tales and plays: Until-The Sultan of Sour from The Land of Sour tried to overthrow King Hagen. Nica became everyone's hero, wreaking the Sultan's plans and driving him away while all others sat hypnotized. After saving King Hagen's kingdom, Tommo, Takli and Nica left to find the golden escalator that would take them home. Success! But it stopped, OMG in the Land of Sour where everyone and everything was pickley green and mean. There they met two witches, happy Abra and miserable Kadabra. They were then taken by the Cheesed Off Police to the Sultan of Sour. They couldn't leave until they had made all greenies smile and giggle and laugh-an impossibility. But-with the help of Abra and Kadabra and a plan, Tommo, Takli and Nica made 'em laugh and were allowed to go home. Was it an illusion? Was it real? Only Tommo and Takli knew for sure.

The Boy Who Would Walk On Air

By KD GROETHE

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 KD Groethe
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4772-9165-8

Contents

Chapter One Side by Side.....................................................1Chapter Two Walking on Air...................................................11Chapter Three From the Other Side............................................22Chapter Four Meeting King Hagen and Queen Bunny Blue.........................35Chapter Five The Carnival....................................................42Chapter Six The Coup d'État versus the Peeking Duck.....................51Chapter Seven Halfway to Terra Firma?........................................58Chapter Eight Not One Funny Sound............................................66Chapter Nine The Palace of Make-Believe and Conspiracies.....................72Chapter Ten On with the Thinking Caps........................................81Chapter Eleven Questions? Questions? Questions?..............................91Chapter Twelve Lucky for Some................................................97About the Author..............................................................111

Chapter One

Side by Side

Tommo liked his dream, the one that made him feel good. Just by bending his knees and giving a little jump he could vault himself high above the ground—in his dream. He thought about his dream and wondered if one day he would actually be able to do it.

Tommo liked Takli too, and he knew she wasn't a dream. He also liked the name she had given him. Officially he was Thomas Malloy Granger, but she called him Tommo and it stuck. How she came up with it didn't really matter. She could have called him Sluggo or Buggo or any name that ended with an o, and he wouldn't have cared.

Takli, the daughter and only child of Jerry and Chanming Shanahan, lived next door, and she liked Tommo too. They were neighbors, classmates and best friends—she was his; he was hers—but in spite of what was true, Takli had another best friend.

On this particular morning Tommo awoke from the latest installment of his dream, discouraged. He'd been walking on air again. The extent of this stroll was longer than usual. In this dream he was walking above his friends, not with them, and he was delighted, f-e-e-e-e-ling good. But to his astonishment they weren't in the least astonished. Awakened but with lids still shut, Tommo grumpily mumbled the word "Why?" before allowing in the morning light. Not knowing what came next was—well, really yucky!

Sometimes he would try to go back to sleep, but just closing his eyes and imagining he was high off the ground wasn't really a try. Today, though, he hadn't time for all that, so he got up, went into the bathroom, got ready and noisily bounded down the stairs. His mother was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Mom.... Do we have any Cocoa Puffs?"

"Yes, I'll get them."

"No, I can do it. I am ten, you know."

"Sorry."

"Thanks, though."

Smiling, Mrs. Granger, Molli to her husband and friends, got up and as she passed by, gave him a quick kiss on his head, a quick one because she worked as a waitress at Shady Glen, thus requiring another turn in the bathroom. Her hair and makeup needed a renewal. She left the door open, allowing them to talk.

"What are you doing today, darling?" she asked loudly as her lipstick made its final pass.

"I thought I'd go fishing down at the creek this afternoon, Mom, if that's all right with you?"

The doorbell rang, interrupting his train of thought. Tommo could see through the screen door that it was Takli. He gobbled down his last spoonful of Cocoa Puffs before running to unlock the door for her. Once she stepped into the living room, Tommo couldn't take his eyes off her. He tried to, but—

She was all dressed up, wearing brown silk slacks—at least he thought they were silk—flared at the bottom like a sailor suit—an orange blouse and orange shoes. All that, coupled with her black hair and blue eyes, a gift from her Irish father, made him see her as nothing short of amazing. But his thoughts were sealed inside his head. At his age he wasn't about to say what he was really thinking.

"Hi, Takli," Mrs. Granger said as she walked from the bathroom to the living room. "My ... don't you look lovely."

"Thanks, Mrs. Granger. My family and I are going to my uncle's funeral. That's why I'm all dressed up."

"Oh my, I'm sorry. Was he very old?"

"He was ninety-four, Mrs. Granger."

"I hope I can last that long, if my health is good, of course."

"He was never sick, not even for a day—ever. My mom said he simply went to bed and didn't wake up."

"Did you know him well?"

"No ... I only remember seeing him once when I was little. He lived in West Hartford and never came out our way much. All of his family lives there. Everyone he loved. That's why we never saw him, I guess."

"Is that where you're going?"

"To West Hartford? Yes.... I really don't want to go, but Mom said that we had to, out of respect to the rest of the family. He was my grandfather's brother."

"Have we ever seen him?" Mrs. Granger asked.

"Who ... my uncle?"

"No, Takli, your grandfather. Have either of your grandparents ... I mean your mother's parents, ever been to your house?"

"No, Mrs. Granger. My mom's mother died before I was born, and my grandpa, my Chinese grandpa, died just before we moved here."

"So your only grandparent is your Lala?"

"Yes, but my grandpa gave me my name. He changed his Chinese name to Makan, and he named me Takli so he'd always be a part of me. At least that's what my mom told me. I was five when he died, so I don't remember him very well."

"Anyway, I thought I should let Tommo know where I was going in case he was planning something interesting for this afternoon. You haven't, have you?" Takli asked, turning to her friend.

"No...."

"In any case," Mrs. Granger said, "you certainly look lovely in that outfit. Doesn't she, Tommo?"

Tommo silently agreed, but what passed his lips was a feeble, "Yeah, I guess."

"I've got to go now, but Mom said we should be home after twelve. What are you going to be doing, Tommo?"

"Well ... this morning I'm going to clean my room."

"I've already done that."

"And then I'm going to do my chores. I have to take out the garbage. It's my job."

"My dad does that," Takli replied.

"Yeah? Then I'm going to practice my guitar for my lesson on Monday. Mr. Landsberg gets kinda cross if I don't practice. And then I'm going to go fishing down at the creek. I'll probably be there when you get home."

As Takli pushed her back against the screen door, partially opening it, she said, "Nica and I will meet you there."

"Yeah, okay." Tommo couldn't say what he wanted to say in front of his mom, but it would have been more than that. "See you, then.... Bye."

"Bye, Mrs. Granger."

"Bye, Takli," Tommo's mom answered.

When Takli stopped backing up, the screen door slammed shut.

* * *

Summer vacation had just begun when Takli rushed over to Tommo's house to show him her new pet. She had a loose collar fitted around its little neck and the collar was attached to a leash. Tommo thought this looked kind of funny. Still, as soon as Takli let him pet Nica, he decided that he or she was really neat. Takli named him Nica after the last four letters of its nearly unpronounceable Latin name, Dendrocygna javanica. And even though her father told her that the duck was a drake and his name...