Train to Kalambaka
Nimbin returned to the Toy Maker’s model.
Someone was waiting.

He wore Opera Glasses with one red lens and one blue.
“It’s you.”

“Everybody here was afraid of the glasses.”
“So I gave them another way to see.”

A tiny train station stood there.

“In a few days, they will crown me Puppet King.”
They climbed aboard.

By evening, blue stone towers dotted the hills, each with a red house swaying on top.
“The towers are one,” he said. “The houses feel separate.”

The train stopped.
Thira, a fairy with bark skin and leafy hair, waited on the platform.

They walked toward the towers.
One house was shaking.

Nimbin took the Opera Glasses.
“Let me try.”

Thira waved her hand.
Wings grew on his back.

He flew up and held the glasses to the window.

The house grew still.
He flew back down.

Nimbin returned the glasses and his wings vanished.
“The trick is to be there when they’re ready.”
The End.


