Story 3. The secret of the Island with the Palace

We slept and dreamed wonderful dreams. Just the two of us sharing them. Of distant worlds, of magical cats… and of trams, snails and golden trees too.
 
The morning of the new day was marvellous! It turned out they weren't dreams at all, but a real journey with my friend Muss through his world and other worlds from our dreams. To be honest, I was a bit afraid that when I woke up, all my transformations and new friends would vanish like smoke. As if they had never existed. That would have been such a pity. But no! Reality turned out to be far more pleasant.) Not only was the promised tea and other treats waiting for me, but my ability to transform hadn't gone anywhere either.
 
And the tea, I must say, was delightful! I can't even imagine what herbs were in it, but their extraordinary aroma set just the right mood for Muss and me. It's in such a wonderful mood that one should set off on new journeys! How else?
 
As a warm-up, we decided to fly over the city.) Goodness, how I'd missed such a simple and effective way to get inspired! I immediately wanted to draw everything I saw below. But flying and drawing – no, I haven't reached those heights yet…
 
Muss, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying flying and transforming at the same time. One moment he'd grow pearlescent wings, the next he'd become huge, filling half the sky. Lucky him, he'd been learning such things since childhood.
 
'This is what children should be taught from an early age,' I thought. 'Then such kids would eventually grow up to be very interesting adults.'
 
Oops, Muss's rainbow wing fell off! – no matter, he'd grown them just for fun, to cheer me up.
 
The city where Muss lives is wonderful, no doubt about it, but it was time to go see other places in this world. So, where's our friend the Tram?
 
As we rode along, a little song came to me all by itself:
 
We're going, going, going to lands so far away…
And there upon the shore our friends are waiting, I dare say.
They'll treat us all to tea and sing a song with glee,
Introduce us to new faces
And prophesy encounters in far-off, distant places.
 
Hmm, that turned out to be an interesting little song… It sounds more like a prophecy). Oh well, we'll see.)
 
The tram brought us to the coast. Somehow, I hadn't expected this world to have a sea. Silly of me, of course. It probably has more than one. But this!!! – This was a real Sapphire Sea! Have you ever seen liquid sapphire? – No? Then you absolutely must learn to travel between worlds and visit this coast. I assure you, it's worth it!
 
At the stop, we were met by our new friend – the Keeper of the Turquoise Coast.
 
'Wow, how much he looks like Hayao Miyazaki,' I thought. 'Or maybe it really is him? Or some magical form of him? After all, he must get the plots for his films from somewhere. That must be it…'
 
The Keeper treated us to tea with delightful little cakes and advised us to be sure to visit the Island of the White Palace, for there we would learn secrets the likes of which the world had never seen. Well, that I had never seen, anyway.)
 
Yes, that man certainly knows how to intrigue, I must say! Perhaps after such a send-off, we should fortify ourselves with more tea and cakes! You never know…
 
The Keeper also introduced us to his helpers – a cat-girl and a boy white cat (I wonder, is Muss a cat or a boy cat too?) and said we would meet them again at the right time and in a Special place. He's not just a Keeper, he's a Master of Intrigue!) In the best sense of the word, of course.
 
While Muss and I were fortifying ourselves before the journey to the Island, Muss regaled me with fascinating stories about this amazing place. To get there, you have to wait for rainbow clouds to appear in the sky – that means it's time to meet the Keeper of the Island of the White Palace. And as soon as a Rainbow appears in the sky, we can cross it to the Island. You can always see it, but you can only get there at a special time, via the Rainbow, and only with the Keeper's permission. And there, something AMAZING awaits me!
 
I love mysteries! They make you want to fly. Luckily, in this world, that's possible.
 
And here comes the Keeper! She emerged right from the sea, greeted us warmly and allowed us to visit the Island. She said that guests like us (and what kind are we, exactly? Are we so special?) would be welcome on the Island and it would surely reveal its secret to us. As I understood it, any secret is like a house (I don't know what else to compare it to); you have to look after it and air it out regularly, so you always need to reveal it to someone. But not just anyone, of course, only to the right person. It makes the Secret merrier and helps it grow.
 
I really liked the idea of cheering up the Secret so it could grow a little. The question is, will I manage? Oh well, if you don't try, you'll never know. We'll do our best to cheer up the Secret!
 
We said goodbye to the Keeper and went to look at the sea. You can look at the sea forever, and even more so at the Sapphire Sea!
 
But now the rainbow clouds are beginning to appear, and soon the Rainbow will show – time to visit the Island and cheer up its Secret.)
 
Mmm… I can hardly wait!
 
The Secret – that's what they call the Radiant Sapphire living (yes, living!) on the Island. I'm still finding it hard to get used to the fact that everything in Muss's world is alive. I wonder how it is in our world? For some reason, I think it's the same. The world is alive, and everything in it is alive, isn't it? Then why aren't we taught the most important things in school, huh? Although, something tells me it wasn't always like this. People used to know more about the nature of the world they lived in. And so both the people and the World lived more harmoniously and were friends. Not like now…
 
But I did find out that it's the Radiant Sapphire that made the sea Sapphire. It turns out that names here reflect the true essence of things, which is why they're capitalised, so that everyone (including travellers from other worlds like me) can understand. What commendable foresight!
 
The Radiant Sapphire crystal was overjoyed at our visit. And it started to laugh. The Sapphire's friend – a huge white cat named Shipunshsh – explained that until the Sapphire had finished laughing, it couldn't talk to us. I could certainly understand that – how can you laugh and talk at the same time?
 
I asked Muss and Shipunshsh why there are so many white cats in their world and if there are any others. They exchanged sly glances, and Muss explained that, firstly, white is a very convenient colour for those who have to transform often; any other colour would be too fixed, whereas white has a certain ambiguity. And secondly, it's better for those who often have to appear in the dreams of living beings from other worlds to be white, because all worlds are full of silly prejudices (like our prejudice against black cats) and it's not worth spending time and energy overcoming them – it's hard enough having to appear in someone's dream, then materialise, and then invite them to your world or somewhere else. As I understood it (and Muss and Shipunshsh later confirmed), white cats in this world serve as Guides. But I was told I'd find out more about that a bit later.
 
Meanwhile, the Radiant Sapphire kept laughing. And it laughed so infectiously that soon everyone in the palace was laughing along with it. And I was so happy I even soared into the sky like a bird!
 
Later, Muss told me that this often happens to people from other worlds who possess certain abilities, but he wouldn't say exactly what kind. He said I'd find out everything in good time, gradually. Another master of intrigue.)
 
Oh well, I'll take his word for it!