Cameron in the Paperverse: Practice Battle: Earth Sense and the Universal Language

I felt the thing first, heard it second, and then finally saw it: a jiggling, wobbling green slime. I sucked in my breath and ducked behind a tree. 

 

Then I poked fun at myself. Running from a gelatin mold? Typical. I’d never been a fan of artificial lime flavoring, I reasoned.

 

But I was struck by something then. A thought - not the slime. How had I… felt it? How did I know there was something nearby before I even heard it slurping and slorping along its merry way? The longer I remained in this place, the more I could see without seeing. As long as my feet were on the ground, I could sense with more than just my eyes and ears. The ability seemed further amplified out here in the wilds between towns and cities. 

 

I heard a soft ‘slurp, slurp’ moving in my direction. I peered around the tree, and the slime was bobbing excitedly a few feet away.

 

“Heyyyy buddy,” I ventured. “You’re, uh, kind of a little earth-spirit dude, huh?”

 

Slorrrrp. Slorp.

 

“Okay? Well, I’m kind of earth-oriented, I guess. So how about we come to an understanding?” I dipped a hand into my pocket and fished out the gummy rice candy I’d bought from the last traveling merchant I’d passed. I tossed a few pieces at the slime. The candy landed squarely on its dome-like apex and then sank into the membrane.

 

Slorp, slorp! It bounced twice and then settled.

 

“Pretty good, right?” I watched as the candy pieces sizzled away deep inside the slime and decided that counted as a ‘yes’. “Sooo… mind if I pass by?”

 

The slime bobbed once or twice again and then oozed off in the opposite direction. I smiled as I watched it go.