Summoning as much courage as she could muster, Sarah sat up a little, looked towards where she thought the cry had come from, and shouted, "Dipity? Is that you?"

It wasn't quite a shout, though. With all the popping sounds still going off, and Sarah feeling more than a little bit frightened, she realised she had hardly even whispered. She tried again and startled herself with another "Dipity?!" that this time came out louder than she had intended.

But there was no answer.

After another minute, which felt like 10 minutes to Sarah, she decided that she couldn't wait there anymore. It had seriously sounded like Dipity, and what if she were hurt somewhere close by and unable to reach her?

^{Photo credit: bbc.com}

What kind of giant would I be if I just cowered here, too afraid to move? Sarah thought to herself. And the popping/rushing sounds were getting more distant now, too.

Decided, she got up onto her feet and set off, breaking off one of the oddly light but firm spiky bits off of a blade of grass for self defence, just in case.

At first, she moved slowly, only taking a few small tentative steps at a time, stopping at every sound. But as she moved through the (rather beautiful, she thought) foresty-jungle-like grass blades, with the moonlight shining on everything, truly bringing out the magic of the Garden that she had always dreamt about, she started feeling more confident, especially when she heard Dip's voice...

Dip's voice, and her... laughter?

She couldn't be sure though - it sounded quite far away. She thought about turning back but imagining Dipity out there, hurt, or even worse, laughing and having a good time without her, steeled her resolve and she continued on.

After a few more minutes of walking, having to duck under and climb over a great variety of obstacles, and once giving herself a near-heart attack when she startled what she was almost sure was an aphid (she tripped and had grabbed onto its leg), she finally heard Dip's voice for sure, talking softly, and another voice, talking back!

She couldn't believe it! How could Dip be there, chatting away to someone as though nothing had happened, after leaving her in that spot to wait, alone and scared?

She approached carefully, still not trusting the situation, until she could see the back of Dip's head, with her green cap and orange hair shining in the light of... of a fire! And whoever she was talking to was sitting opposite her, so that Sarah could just see what she thought was the tip of a long... ear? A long, pointy, grey-green ear...

^{Artwork by theroyallypurple on deviantArt}

Suddenly, Sarah's foot snapped a twig.

Before she could think, everything around her suddenly whipped away, so that her hiding place was no more. Dipity was looking at her with a fierce expression, full of angry concentration, and whatever the creature was that Dip had been talking to was now nowhere to be seen.

A second later though, Dipity's expression softened as she said, "Oh fleez - Sarah! It's only you! You coulda warned us! You're lucky I didn't pop you high up into the air!"

Sarah stepped forward, into the small clearing, feeling quite indignant. She was very happy to see Dip unhurt but wasn't about to show it.

"Dipity, how could you? You told me to wait and I did but then I heard you cry out so I was worried and came looking for you, scared out out of my mind, and here I find you laughing and chatting around a fire?" she said, almost in tears.

Dipity just looked at her, perplexed, before saying, "Uhm... I... You, were worried? I was gonna... Oh, bah! You're an impatient one, aren't you?" Her bashful face contradicted her final outburst, and Sarah just continued frowning at her. "Ok ok I'm sorry! - I was just about to come get you though, I swear! You can ask Raggy here, I was just telling him how-"

Just then, Sarah cried out, "Dip, watch out!" as something appeared out of a hole in the ground behind Dip. She threw her grass spike at it, missing by a hair's breadth.

A creature of a leathery, grey-green complexion, with small, dark eyes, a bulbous nose and white hair ducked back into the hole, then slowly re-emerged. "Hey now! That's no way to say hello to a new friend!"

"Woah, Sarah! Don't! This is Raggy! Don't worry, he is a friend."

"Oh! I... I'm sorry..." said Sarah, though still looking at Dip uncertainly.

"That's okay, right Raggy? How could she know? And I mean, you are rather ugly," Dip said, grinning from ear to ear, "I'm not surprised at all she wants to throw things at you..."

"Gah! Insufferable pixie!" Raggy answered. Addressing Sarah, he continued, "Ragabarr Gabojath at your service, m'lady. Yes, I'm perhaps not as pleasant to look at as my insolent young friend here, but you'll find me a great deal wiser, and more reliable."

"And extremely humble!" retorted Dipity with a wink.

"And before you ask", Raggy continued, ignoring Dip, "yes, I am a goblin."

^{Artwork by artdeepmind on deviantArt}

"A... A goblin?" was all Sarah managed to get out. She also knew she was being rude but couldn't help but stare at Raggy. He was half her size and looked quite old, with a pipe in his hand.

"Yes yes, he's a goblin." said Dip. "There's a lot you don't know, so let's sit down quick so I can fill you in. We don't have much time."

"Hah! Look at that! Dip actually talking some sense!", Raggy exclaimed with a mischievous grin. "Yes m'lady, let's sit down and maybe you can help us with our little disagreement after you know a few things."

So the three of them sat down around the fire, which Dip livened up a bit with a quick flutter of her fingers. Then she took a deep breath, and started talking.

"Ok Sarah, so, I'm going to tell you a lot now but we really don't have much time so please pay careful attention so I don't need to repeat anything, okay?" Dip had her serious face on so Sarah thought she'd better do just that, and nodded.

"Ok then," Dip continued, "So right now, we are being chased by Raggy's people, the Goblins. We're not sure why exactly but we've made a pretty good guess: You're a giant, and whoever gets a giant on their side will have a very big advantage here in the Kingdom. Not that Goblins need much of an excuse to go chasing things, mind you! Anyway, I already know of one very happy hummingbird that adores you giants now because of a giant honey water dispenser someone left out for them."

"Ooh, really!?" Sarah interrupted, "That was me, that was me!" she beamed, but Dip quickly shushed her.

"No interruptions please! So yes... Everyone's gonna want to capture you and then want to be your friend now, you see. Raggy here was on guard duty at one of the goblins' main tunnel-ways here in the grass when I accidentally shrunk you, and unfortunately, the three other guards that were with him saw everything too, and reported it to their masters. That's how they all found out. There are about one hundred goblin ant-riders out there right now, looking for us. I sped all over the place, creating time-delayed decoy bubbles which lead them way towards the house, but now I'm so exhausted, I can barely keep this fire going..."

For the first time, Sarah noticed that the fire was not actually burning any wood or anything. It was just floating there, a tiny bit off the ground.

"That was why I cried out earlier, actually..." continued Dip, "I was so spent from all the speeding around and bubble-creation, that I ran out of energy right up there," she pointed to the top of a nearby blade of grass, "and tumbled down here. Just as I was thinking 'Lucky nobody saw that', this fleezing goblin starts cackling with laughter from a hole, making me yell and nearly scaring me to death!"

Raggy just grinned again, relishing the memory.

"Anyway... Those fleezing antriders are soon going to figure out that they've been tricked, and might turn up here again at any moment."

Sarah looked at Raggy, at Dipity, then back to Raggy again before saying, "Sorry, can I just ask one thing? How come if you're a goblin, you're helping us? Are you some sort of..." she couldn't help hesitating before saying "... traitor?"

This set Raggy off cackling again, and Dip just smiled.

"My kind might think so," Raggy said, still laughing a bit, "but no... I love Goblinkind. I just disagree with their current policies, that's all. 'Have done ever since the beginning of the Great War, which we lost." Suddenly he was very solemn, as though remembering something very sad.

"Anyhow! The point is Raggy is more like me... Not a traitor as such, more of a rebel... An agent for change, you could say! And he's not the only goblin I know!"

"C'mon, Dip, you're rambling now." Raggy said, "Get to the point."

"Right! Sorry. So, here's the thing, Sarah. Raggy here thinks that the best thing right now would be to lay low, right here. He knows of a way he can hide us from the antriders, using goblin magic. Some kind of dirt cocoon that we'd hide in until morning. Don't ask me how - I have no clue how their flavour of magic works."

"It would be a simple calcium carbonate egg-shell like substance, only harder, that would -"

"Not now, Raggy! ... Anyway, my idea is that we follow Raggy down into the goblin tunnels and let him lead us all the way to the base of the mountain I mentioned earlier. It's actually more of a Great Wall. And with his kind of magic, he could help us go over it, or even under it, too! The goblin tunnels, you see, would be much faster than going through all this grass without me being able to use magic..."

"Yes, Dipity, but you failed to mention that there are other things besides goblins to worry about in our tunnels... Some of which I wouldn't be much protection against. Not by myself. We goblins have survived under ground all these decades only because we've stuck together."

"But Raggy! If we wait 'til morning, all the goblins will be back in this area again and you wouldn't be able to help us! And who knows when I'd see you again? I miss you, you know."

^{Image credit: videohive.net}

Raggy's face softened at Dipity's emotional appeal, and said "I miss you too, my dear Dip, but such is the times. I might be able to guide you both safely through the tunnels, but it is a long way, and a big risk. My egg-shell cocoon would keep you both safe until morning, when my kind will have given up the search in these parts, thinking you long gone. What do you think, little giant?"

Sarah looked at them both, trying to absorb all this new information. She was so excited (this is all real, like she had always imagined!) and as she looked up, thinking, she realised the sky was more beautiful than she'd ever seen it. But she also felt the weight of responsibility as Dip and her goblin friend looked to her for the final decision...

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