Chapter Seven – The Way of the Raccoon

Dana reached down and picked up Jeremy, "Not at all. Everyone has their own taste of music Jeremy. What is normal to you is bad to someone else. Didn't you learn anything while we were there Jeremy?" She put Jeremy back on her shoulder.

"I guess not. At least she gave us free crackers." Jeremy said while still holding one. "On top of that, we dodged the Great Dane by hanging out in Granny's house. So where were we? What were we doing before we went into hiding? Oh yeah, we need to find a map. So, we can see where your stone building is. Don't head back toward the Great Dane. We have had enough problems today."

Dana agreed with Jeremy. No need to take any chances that the Great Dane was still be there. She headed out of the dead-end and in the opposite direction. The deep jungle away from the rivers was mostly unpopulated. Dana only saw an animal occasionally here and there. But before too long Dana found another river. There were more animals walking up and down the riverbank. Dana did a quick check for the Great Dane. Luckily, he was nowhere to be seen.

Dana looked left and right. She had lost her sense of direction. She looked at Jeremy, "I wish I knew where to go. All the rivers look the same to me now."

"You seen one river you seen them all. They are not much to look at really. It's the stuff next to the river that you need to remember." Jeremy looked around for a second and pointed. "There! That place is important."

Dana looked in the direction Jeremy was pointing. It was a massive bush with colorful flowers on it. It was at least 100 feet long and over 30 feet high. She looked confused but Jeremy nodded to confirm it was the right place. Dana asked, "What is it?"

Jeremy replied, "It's a Garden. Don't tell me you never been there before. That is the place everyone goes for food. They got carrots, peas, lettuce. Everything. Let's go there. Maybe we can find a map there." Dana waited by the river until the path was clear. Jeremy nodded and smiled knowing that he taught her that. Getting to the other side of the river Dana looked at the large field in front of the Garden. Many bananas, blueberries, and raspberries with wheels were left here. She thought, where are their owners? Are they all inside the Garden? Before she could say anything about them Jeremy urged her to move forward, "Come on hurry up. The doors are the best part."

As Dana approached the entrance to the Garden, she saw a pair of snakes standing together. They were nearly motionless. Until she got close enough. Without warning each snake pulled back the leaves and branches exposing the entrance to Dana. Shocked by this she stepped back. Jeremy laughed a little under his breath. Dana glared at him angerly, "Did you know they were going to do that?!" Dana took another step back and the Snakes released the branches closing the entrance to the Garden. Dana was intrigued. She stepped forward and as quickly as before the snakes pulled back the leaves and branches. Dana repeated this several times.

"Okay, snap out of it." Jeremy snapped his fingers to get Dana's attention, "You can play around later, we are on a mission right now." Dana walked past the snakes into the Garden. A sudden blast of cold air hit Dana in the face. It was so cold in here. It felt like she had walked into a blizzard. But that thought was quickly pushed to the back of her mind. The sight of all the food was overwhelming. There was SO much of it. Dana looked at the rows. Each row of food was longer than a house and stacked two to three times her height. An unbelievable amount of food, more food than a single person could eat in a lifetime. Several people were walking around pushing wagons full of food.

Jeremy looked at Dana as she was shocked by the Garden. Then he said, "You have never been here before? How is this possible?"

Dana snapped out of her trance, "No, well, I mean I have been to places like this. But they were called Grocery stores. I used to go there with mom." Suddenly the pain came back Dana touched her head.

"You okay?" Jeremy tried to get her attention, "Hey kid, snap out of it." Jeremy pulled her hair to get her to look at him. "What is wrong? Headache?" Dana nodded. Jeremy scratched his chin and said, "Does this happen a lot?"

Dana finally answered him, "No, only when I think about my parent."

"Well focus on me. The pain should go away." Jeremy waved his hands at Dana. "Look around for a map, that should help." Jeremy looked around but he almost immediately said, "There it is!" Jeremy pointed to a small tree with large leaves.

Still holding her head, Dana approached the tree. She noticed that this was a funny looking tree. The leaves grew right off the stem. There were no branches, just leaves and a stem sticking up 6 feet or so. At the top was a bright yellow flower. As the pain from her head subsided Dana realized it was a sunflower. Jeremy gave further instructions, "Grab a leaf and pull it off." Dana did so. The leave snapped off the tree with little effort. One side of the leaf green while the other side had information on the jungle. Locations and historical monuments. Also, each river was named! Jeremy read it as Dana did. Then Jeremy said, "This is exactly what we need."

However, his excitement was quickly interrupted. "Hey, are you going to pay for that?" Dana turned to see a skunk walking over looking at her. She quickly covered her nose and mouth. She knew the smell would be terrible. The skunk stopped a few feet away from her and squinted his eyes. "You hear me? Hello?" Dana did not speak. She continued to hold her breath. The skunk reached down and took the leaf out of her hand. He returned it to the tree and said, "No 5-finger discount here, kid. Go find your parents and get a dollar from them. Go on get lost!" Dana needed to take a breath but still she did not move or breath. The skunk also didn't budge.

Finally, Jeremy pulled Dana's hair and said, "Come on, this stinker is going to start asking questions. Let's just do a lap around." Still holding her breath Dana walked away from the skunk and walked deeper into the Garden. She kept looking back at the skunk while walking. He was keeping an eye on her as well. He had a death stare. The kind that parents throw at their kids when they are up to no good. Once far enough away Dana final let her breath out. She took a second to take in some air. Jeremy looked at her like she was playing a joke, "Stop fooling around. Were you holding your breath that whole time?" Dana nodded as Jeremy spoke, "You are going to draw attention to us when you act like that. We need to act like we belong here. Got it?"

Dana straightened herself up. She started to walk around looking at the tasty foods. The Skunk was still watching her. Dana could see him out of the corner of her eye. She whispered to Jeremy, "He is still watching us. How are we going to get away from that skunk?" Dana walked to the end of a row of food and waited. She peaked around the corner looking for the skunk. He was gone or at least it looked like he was gone. Dana started to walk back to the sunflower but then she saw him again. He had only moved 10 feet away, but he was still watching for her. Dana ducked down out of sight. She looked at Jeremy and said, "Now what? He is still here."

Jeremy looked at the skunk and said, "He works here. Probably just doing his job. They don't let people just walk out without paying. That's fine. We can play it his way. How much money you got on you?"

"I don't have any money."

"Yeah, me neither. I left my wallet in my other pants."

"You wear pants?"

"Everyone wears pants." Jeremy adjusts his cape. "But not everyone has a cool cape like mine. This conversation isn't helping us at all. We need a map, and that skunk isn't going to let us walk out with one for free." Jeremy thought for a second then fired out another three options, "Ok, new options. To get the map, we can Steal it, Buy it, or Barter for it."

Dana asked, "What is Bartering?"

"Bartering is Stealing but with words. What is your choice, Dana?"

Dana though for a moment then said, "I don't' want to steal it. We need money."

"So, we are going to steal some money?"

"NO, no stealing Jeremy. We only need a dollar. Can you create a dollar with magic?"

Jeremy was disgusted by this, "No, magic is not used in such ways. Let's go back outside. Maybe we can find a dollar out there."

Dana walked past the skunk and raising her nose to him. The skunk gave her the eye again. But she didn't give him a second glance. Back to the entrance the snakes pulled the door open again. With a quick temperature change Dana and Jeremy were back outside. Dana looked to Jeremy and said, "So how are we going to come up with the money we need?"

Jeremy looked at the sun through the trees. "It is mid-day. We need to find a map, water, food, and..." Jeremy trailed off for a second as he looked across the field. Then Jeremy said, "Bingo."

Hearing this Dana eyed Jeremy but then followed his gaze across the field. On the other side was a raccoon pushing a wagon of some kind. Dana didn't think anything of him but said, "Who is he? A friend of yours?"

"No, but let's go talk to him anyways."

"The Raccoon? Why?" Dana questioned him.

Jeremy smirked, "Raccoons are resourceful. You ever heard about them?" Dana shook her head no. Jeremy continued with, "It's not important. But I like Raccoons. They make questionable choices. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. But regardless they are resourceful. Go over there and talk to him before he leaves."

Dana walked over to get the Raccoon's attention. But he just kept walking. She followed him and looked at Jeremy, "What is this giant Raccoon going to do to help us?"

Jeremy said, "He is an adult. He has access to things that we cannot. Including money... and that is about it." Jeremy whispered in her ear, "you are going to have to do all the talking. He might be afraid of mice. Just follow my lead. Okay?"

Jeremy whispered in Dana ear, "Start with, excuse me Mister. Can I ask you a question?"

Dana copied him, "Excuse me Mister. Can I ask you a question?"

The Raccoon stopped pushing his wagon and looked back at Dana. He chuckled a bit then said, "You just did, Darlin."

"What?"

"That's another question." The Raccoon smiled, "You wanna go for three?"

Dana began to speak but Jeremy stopped her, "Ask him, do you have any money? NO wait, that is too forward. Ask him his name first."

"What is your name?"

"Darlin, my name is Charles. What's your name?"

A flash of memory hit her. Dana remembered this. Dad said this is the proper way to meet someone. This is the handshake. She held out her hand and said, "I'm Dana. Nice to meet you."

The Raccoon wiped his dirty paw on his fur and held it out to shake Dana's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Dana. You are an interesting one that is for sure. Most people avoid me like the plague. Unless they are telling me to go away. What can I help you with today, Dana?"

Jeremy whispered to Dana. Dana listened then spoke, "I need to buy a map, but I don't have any money. Can you help me out?"

"Ah, money. Darlin that is called a medium of exchange. Or as some people call it, The Root of all Evil." Charles pushed his wagon over to the side before turning back to Dana. "We all need money little friend. My pockets are empty. They have been for a long time. Sorry. I remember a time when you didn't need money for anything. You could grab a basketball and play with your friends all day. If you get thirsty you could drink from the fountain. It was free. If you get hungry you just go home and eat lunch, then back out and play with friends. And all of it didn't cost you a dime! Those were the days. Now everything cost money. You can't drink the water out of the tap anymore. They put chemicals in it to mess with your brain. So, you have to buy bottled water if you want something to drink. A bottle of water will cost you north of two dollars now and days. Things just aren't what they used to be. Everything revolves around the almighty dollar."

Dana patiently stood there listening to Charles's story. Then she said, "I don't need an almighty dollar. I just need a regular one. Can you help me?"

"Yes and no." Charles smiled sheepishly, "As long as you are willing to work for it. Have you even heard the phrase, give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for life?"

"No."

Charles continued, "Well Darlin, in that story imagine you are the man, the dollar is the fish, and I am the teacher. How about that?"

Dana was so frustrated that this raccoon couldn't give a straight answer. Jeremy seemed equally annoyed. After a moment Dana said, "Sorry to have bothered you. You are an adult and I thought…" She paused for a second, thinking how to word herself. "I just needed a dollar."

Charles looked at his wagon then back to Dana, "How about I give you something just as good?" he reached in his wagon and pulled out a large empty bottle. It was green tinted glass with a wine label on it. He handed it to Dana and said, "What do you think of this?"

Dana held the bottle and looked at it. "Umm, it's very nice. But is it as good as a dollar?"

"No, it is better. Darlin, people don't see the things they put in the trash. Everything has value to someone!" Charles smiled as he told her, "How about you become my business partner for the day? We can collect some things and make some money together. Interested?"

Jeremy whispered in Dana's ear, "Why not, maybe he isn't as crazy as he looks. Tell him yes."

Dana nodded to Charles. Charles smiled and took the bottle back from Dana. He put the bottle back in his wagon and said, "Alright, let's get started. He began pushing his wagon again. Dana followed closely behind. Walking behind Charles, Dana noticed he had a powerful smell about him. It was not the smell of dirt, or trash, it was something else. She looked at his cloths. They were unwashed, maybe his cloths smell bad? Regardless she needed his help to pursue the almighty dollar.

Charles walked for a few minutes until he found some large trees. But the front was not his interest. Charles pushed the wagon to the back. He stopped near several Portals to Nowhere that were right next to the tree. Charles looked to Dana and said, "This is it. Grab anything that is aluminum, glass, or tin." Charles flipped open one of the containers dropping the lid. It made a loud thud as the lid slapped the side of the container.

Jeremy was appalled. "What? He is stealing from the Nowhere portals? How absurd." Jeremy looked away in disgust.

Dana watched as Charles pulled several cans and bottles from the container. He threw them into his wagon. After a few more cans Charles looked at Dana, "You interested in helping or are you just going to gawk at me?" Dana snapped out it and walked over to one of the portals. The top was almost over her head. Charles reached over and opened the lid for her. Dana could barely see in the large can.

From her angle Dana could see a few cans but before she could move Jeremy pulled her hair. He had fury in his eyes when he said, "That is enough of this! Dana, you are not seriously going to destroy my life's work? Each of these portals was put here by my hand. What is going through you head girl?!"

Without a word, Dana began to pick up the cans and bottles from the open container. She looked at Jeremy then whispered, "Sorry Jeremy, but Charles says this is a fast way to make a dollar. We need the dollar to buy the map. We need the map to get to the courthouse. So don't worry about it. We will fix it when we get done."

Jeremy jumped off of her shoulder and down to the ground. "Not on my watch you won't." Jeremy began to walk away but then turned back, "If you need me, I will be at the Garden."

Dana was shocked by his refusal. She pleaded with him, "Jeremy?" But her words fell on deaf ears.

As Jeremy walked away, he pulled his wand and said, "Invisico". Within seconds he was completely invisible and out of sight from Dana.

Charles noticed Dana talking and asked, "Darlin, did you just call me Jeremy?"

Dana looked at Charles and said, "Oh no, I was just thinking of something else." Dana quickly changed the subject. She said, "Hey look, I found a bottle and three cans in this one!"

"There is more than that, keep looking." Charles urged her on.

Dana reached further into the portal to drag out more trash. This was not a glorious job. She thought, this stinks. Literally. Dana was even more that she was doing a stinky job and in doing so she had lost a friend too. After pulling out a few more cans she looked back to Jeremy, but he was long gone. A great feeling of emptiness overtook her. Jeremy always had the right answers, she felt lost without him. Dana shook her head and began digging further into the portal. But there was nothing more. Frustrated she stood up and pulled the next crate over. It hit the ground with a huge crash. Several items came rolling out the top. Dana picked them up and returned them to Charles's wagon. Without looking deeper into the second crate she pulled over a third one and repeated herself.

Charles looked at her with shock and awe. Dana was absolutely ravenous. Never had he seen someone so dedicated to his craft. After a few seconds he said, "Be careful and try not to make too much of a mess, little one. We will have to pick this up before we go."

Dana looked around at the huge mess she had made. "Oh, we have to clean this up?"

Charles nodded, "Yes, if we leave the trash laying around like this, they will know we were here and then we can't come back. Makes sense, right?" Dana agreed but looked around to the massive mess she had made.

Charles returned to searching his crate while Dana searched the third crate. With all the bottles and cans collected Dana began cleaning up the mess she made. The crates were too heavy for her to push back up, so Charles came over and helped her set them upright. Once he was close by Dana noticed that his terrible smell was gone. Or maybe it wasn't gone, the smell of trash covered up her ability to smell him. It all made sense now. His smell and his chosen profession… Were one and the same. Dana was going to tell him what she just figured out, but she held her tongue.

Once all the trash was picked up Charles returned to his wagon, "Nice haul. Next!" Dana followed him as he pushed the wagon back to the river and around the next tree. The next area only had one portal to nowhere in it. Charles looked it over quickly and grabbed a few items. "Not much in this one. These guys rarely have anything good." Charles said as he closed the lid to the crate. "So Dana, you live around here? Or are you just visiting?"

"Visiting…" Dana said but before she could say anymore a door on the tree opened up. From the door came bear. Black fur and with razor sharp claws. Dana's heart sunk for a moment. The bear ran over and grabbed a hose off the ground and pointed it at Charles and Dana.

Charles yelled, "RUN!" as he turned the wagon back toward the river. His efforts were in vain though. The Bear sprayed water all over Charles, Dana, and the wagon. Dana helped push the wagon faster, but this only added to the water she got sprayed with.

Once they were out of reach the Bear put the hose down and shouted at them, "What did I tell you? Huh?! I told you to stay off my property bum!"

"Thanks a lot jerk!" Charles shouted from the river.

Emulating Charles, Dana waved to the bear and said, "Thanks jerk."

Charles pushed the wagon to the next corner then brushed some of the water out of his fur. He looked at Dana and said, "Darlin, don't worry bout that guy. Not everyone sees us as helpful members of society. Like that guy. Probably born rich, his daddy bought him that business. He doesn't understand the day-to-day struggles on the streets like we do." Charles took a moment to look over the items they had collected. "Well, we should go turn in. We need to air out anyways."

"Turn in?" Dana asked.

Charles nodded, "Yeah, we got a pretty good haul. Before you came along, I had been collecting most of the morning. So, we have quite a bit in here." All the bottles and cans rattled as Charles shook the wagon. "You don't want the wagon to get too heavy. You will just wear yourself out pushing it around." Charles waited until the river cleared up and walked across with Dana following shortly after.

Dana was afraid to offend Charles, but she was too curious not to ask, "He seemed really mad. Are we stealing?"

"You can't steal trash, Dana." Charles continued to push the wagon as he answered Dana's question. "The way I look at it, someone already discarded it. They threw it away because they didn't want it. Therefore, it doesn't belong to anyone. Like if someone threw away a twenty-dollar bill. They obviously don't want it. So, it is discarded and belongs to no one. That is, until we pick it up. Now it is our twenty dollars. Understand?"

Dana nodded but then followed up with, "Why would someone throw away money?"

Charles laughed, "I know right. People are crazy sometimes. You are too young to understand it but when you get older, I am sure you will see all sorts of crazy people. It's only a matter of time really."

They walked for a little bit. Dana was starting to get tired. She had been walking all morning and her feet were beginning to hurt. She started to lag behind Charles further and further. He noticed, stopped the wagon, and said, "Darlin, we have a long way to go, we ain't gonna get there at that pace."

Dana caught up with him and leaned on the wagon. She felt the bottom of her feet through her shoes. Then she looked at Charles, "Sorry, my feet hurt."

Charles looked at her almost in disbelief. But then smiled, "Ok you little rug rat." He took off his coat and put it over the top of the cans and bottles in the wagon. He held out his arms and said, "Come here." Dana walked over to him as Charles lifted her up. He groaned as he lifted her. "My goodness you are heavy." Within seconds Dana was in the wagon. It was rather uncomfortable but after wiggling around a bit Dana was able to sit down.

Charles started to push the wagon again, "Darlin, you are riding first class today." The ride was bumpy, but Charles's coat was soft. Dana scrunched down so her feet hung off the front and her head rested at the back. Several people walking the opposite way saw her and gave her a funny look, but Dana just ignored them and watched as the jungle pass by.

Dana was starting to feel comfortable around Charles, so she felt she could ask him, "Hey Charles, what do you call a river without water?"

"Sounds like the Rio Grande. You might not know this, but the Rio Grande isn't as grande as it sounds. The whole river looks more like a drainage ditch in the off season. I have seen it. Back when I used to be in a band. We traveled all over the place."

Dana could not see him from where she was sitting but the idea of a raccoon band was intriguing. She asked, "You used to be in a band?"

"Yes, many years ago. Before I was married. You can't tell by the look of me now, but I had it pretty good for a while. It was the American dream. Nice car, big house, and great family. I swear I had it all. My daughter, she is about your age now, wanted to be a veterinarian. Or at least that is what she said the last time I asked. Long time ago… those were the days." Charles pushed the wagon and talked while crossing a river.

Dana could hear the sadness in his voice, "Well, what happened?"

"What happened to what?"

"What happened to your American dream? Your Family?"

Dana could hear his voice crack a bit while talking about his past. But Charles didn't stop, "Well, that is not an easy story to tell. But it is a tale as old as time. Mistakes were made. My wife made mistakes. I made the mistake of trusting her. Isn't that always the way it goes?"

Dana shook her head, "No, what happened?"

Charles thought for a second then said, "You know the story. Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. Marriage happens. Children are born. Boy focuses on work to provide for his family. Girl focuses on the kids. Over time the marriage becomes stale. Then one day out of the blue, Girl gets finds herself in the arms of her yoga instructor."

Dana was shocked but answered, "I can't say I know that story. Is that what happened to you Charles?"

"No. You are too young to understand any of it." Charles shook his head as he pushed the wagon. Then he said, "Long story short, I lost it all." He paused trying to figure out how to word himself. Then he repeated, "I lost it." A few more seconds passed by then Charles said, "Have you ever heard the story of Icarus? The man who flew too close to the sun? He didn't know what he had and wanted the sky too." Charles trailed off and just kept walking. He pushed the wagon while they both thought about his story.

Dana felt bad for Charles. He had clearly been through a lot in his life. She tried to comfort him, "Sorry."

"Darlin, it's nothing to be sorry about." Charles's voice cleared up. "Everyone has taken lumps in their life. I have seen kids, even younger than you, walking around without a place to go. No school. No family. Everyone has a story. Most of the time it is sad story. That's why I don't ask."

"Everyone? Do you think I have a sad story?"

"Let's think about that for a second." Charles recapped what he knew, "We have a little girl with sore feet, wearing dirty cloths, walking around asking random people for money. Darlin, I would say she has a sad story to tell. But that's none of my business. You know what I'm saying?"

Dana listened to Charles talk but as she did her eye started to get heavy. It was almost impossible to resist. Charles was still talking as Dana's eyes closed and the rest was darkness.