Percival Plum's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Percival Plum stood at the edge of his burrow with his bag packed and his boots tied tight. He was a purple panda-bear, small and round, with a floppy sun hat and reading glasses that kept sliding down his nose. Today he would see the whole world. He wanted mountains, rivers, and strange new snacks he could not yet name. He pushed his glasses up and grinned. "No map needed," he said out loud. "Adventure finds brave explorers. It always does." He marched forward. He did not know which way led to the mountains. He did not know which way led anywhere. He walked until the trees thinned and the grass gave way to cracked, dry earth. The sun pressed hot on his hat. By midday his water bottle was empty, and the world looked exactly the same in every direction. Percival turned in a slow circle. Behind him, his own footprints had vanished in the dust. Ahead, only more flat, burnt ground. His confident grin faded. His stomach growled. He sat down on a flat rock and pulled off one boot to shake out a pebble. "I think," he said quietly, "adventure got lost too." A voice answered from behind a dead shrub. "Statistically, you are the one who is lost. Not the adventure." Percival jumped and dropped his boot. A robot stepped around the shrub. It stood about his height, with a smooth white head and round glowing eyes, one orange and one blue. A green backpack hung from its shoulders, stuffed full and heavy. It tilted its head and studied him with open curiosity. "I'm Cal," the robot said. "You left tracks for two miles. Then you stopped leaving them, because the wind erased everything. You have no map. Correct?" Percival felt his ears go warm. "I thought adventure would just... find me." "It found me instead," Cal said. They crouched, picked up Percival's boot, and handed it back. "I collect things. Rocks. Plants. Lost travelers, apparently." Cal opened the green backpack. Inside, Percival saw jars, tools, and a folded square of paper. "I have water. And half a map. The dry lands end somewhere north, near a grove full of flowers. I was going there to study them." Percival shoved his boot back on and stood. "Flowers? Are any of them... snackable?" Cal's eyes flickered, amber and blue. "Unknown. That is exactly why I want to see them." Percival's fear melted into something brighter. He had wanted the world. Now a curious stranger stood ready to share part of it, with water and half a map he badly needed. "Then north," Percival said. He straightened his hat. "Together. I bring the courage. You bring the water." "And the map," Cal added. "And the map," Percival agreed. They set off across the cracked ground, leaving fresh tracks the wind had not yet touched. Percival no longer walked alone, and he no longer walked in circles.