A week had passed since they had arrived on planet L91. It was a week of worry, busy activity and testing of various plants and roots to see if they were edible. The bluish-green berries tested well, and proved to be edible and very tasty. In spite of their color, they tasted almost like watermelon. The reddish plump fruit had some toxins in it, so the Protector warned them not to eat it.

Meanwhile, the Protector found several different varieties of roots and a few other berries that were edible, some of which tasted quite good. For George, even the blandest, least desirable of the edible roots they found tasted far better than the teddy bear food. They would cook the roots in the teddy bear version of a microwave, and the results often tasted surprisingly good.

As for engine number 2, they were still uncertain whether it could be fixed. The Protector had spent the entire afternoon of their first day dismantling it and carefully analyzing each piece to see what was wrong. In the end, he had thrown his hands up in despair, declaring he would have to study the engine manual in tedious detail to figure out what the problem was. And that is what he had been doing every day since—with a good deal of cursing, complaining and grumpiness thrown in.

While the Protector worked on the engine, George had gone exploring every day in the woods. The Protector had found a set of direction finders in the ship, and so there was no longer any fear of getting lost. The finders would point the way and guide him back to the ship, no matter how far away he wandered. George would often go for hours at a time, simply exploring and seeing what there was to see. Emberly would sometimes join him on these expeditions, riding in his pocket and chattering away at everything she saw.

George’s father however, rarely joined him in his wanderings. George was worried about him. He rarely went out, and kept to himself in the ship, often saying he didn’t feel well. He would spend hours, lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He never ate with the others, even when they prepared him a special dish of whatever new root or berry they had found. He said his stomach was still recovering from his experience with the Grak, and so he would snack in the kitchen at odd times. But George had to admit, he had never seen him eat, not even once. And no matter how hard he tried, he could never get him to try even a bite of anything. It was very strange.

Yet, in spite of not eating, his father continued to look about the same as always. He didn’t lose weight, or decrease too much in energy. But he would rarely go out of the ship, and then only on cloudy days. He seemed to have an unusual fear of the sun.

At night, the clearing was very dark. Out the window, they could see a rich display of stars rising above the trees of the clearing, but when they looked into the woods there was no light at all. They looked dark and forbidding. However, they were also oddly silent. George was used to hearing crickets or other insects at night, but there was no such sound here. The quietness was eerie, and seemed to intensify the sense of isolation each one of them felt when night fell. George was always grateful to greet the rising sun of a new day.

One of the most unusual and intense things about planet L91 was the vividness of their dreams. On his first night, George dreamed of being back in the zoo of the teddy bears, with all the watching crowds. The sights and sounds and smells were so real that it seemed like he was actually there. In commenting on his dream the next morning, he was surprised to learn that the Protector and Emberly had also had vivid dreams, although his father hadn’t. “It’s probably just the rich oxygen on this planet,” said the Protector off-handedly. “Nothing to worry about.”

While rummaging through the ship on the day after their arrival, George was surprised to find a copy of the earth book ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ The Protector said the teddy bears must have taken it from earth, to put in his zoo cage. Since there wasn’t much else to do other than explore or watch the Protector sweat and curse over engine number 2, George started reading it. It was a simple book, and didn’t take him long to finish.

Strangely enough however, for the next several nights George dreamed about the unusual china country in the book. This was a part of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that wasn’t in the movie, and isn’t very well known. Dorothy and her friends at one point enter a strange little land where all the people and houses and everything are made out of fine china—the same thing that fancy dinner plates are made out of. Dorothy and her friends had to walk carefully among the china people to not scare them into running, since they might fall and break themselves.

In George’s dreams, he often saw himself looking over the protective china wall into this bizarre china country. He would see the clown from the book, who was the only one unafraid of being broken because he had fallen and been broken and glued back together so many times. He had cracks and seams all over him. In George’s dreams, the clown would often stand on his head, and fall over and break himself again.

Other times, George would see the strange china cows in his dreams. They usually stayed safe in their China barns, munching impossibly on china hay. George had no idea why he dreamed of this place. He started telling himself before going to sleep that he needed to dream about something else. But his dreams still always ended up being about this bizarre country of the china people.

On the morning of the eighth day, George packed a few of the tastier berries in a small travel bag he often carried with him when he explored. He was feeling restless and uneasy, and thought he would try a new direction from the ship today that he had never gone before.

No one else seemed to want to go with him. “How long are you going to be gone?” asked Emberly in her usual blunt manner.”

“Oh, quite awhile, I think,” answered George. There wasn’t much to come back to, anyway. He had long since finished reading ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ and there were no other books to be found on the fuzzy ship.

“I think I’ll stay here then,” replied Emberly. “I don’t want to be away from the fridge too long.”

George rolled his eyes. Emberly spent most of her days in the kitchen, munching almost incessantly on the teddy bear food she found so appetizing. She had gained several ounces, and was beginning to look a bit roundish.

“Don’t go too far,” said his father, giving him a meaningful look. He didn’t approve much of George’s wanderings. “There still could be dangerous creatures on this planet that we don’t know about.”

“I’ll be all right, Dad,” George said off-handedly. His father seemed to be worrying about his comings and goings almost as much as his mother used to, back in California. If cell phones would have worked on L91, he was sure his father would be calling every hour he was out exploring, just like she had.

“Go and find some more berries for us to eat,” said the Protector, his face so buried in the engine manual that he didn’t bother to look up. “I think I might finally be making progress with engine number 2, so I won’t join you today.”

And so, George set out alone. He headed off to the left of the ship, in a direction that he had never taken before. Right before he left the clearing, he looked back and saw his father standing inside the teddy bear ship at the window. He waved cheerfully. His father waved back, and forced a smile.

Then George plunged into the thick undergrowth of the woods. He was no longer as concerned about insects as he had been at first, since he had seen very few since their arrival. He simply pushed ahead through the thick undergrowth, swatting the branches and leaves aside, and making a great deal of noise.

After a time, the earth sloped gently uphill. The ground was rougher, and George frequently stumbled and nearly fell. The woods were quiet, reflecting little sound other than the noise he was making himself. In a way, George felt like an elephant bungling his way along, he was making such a racket.

Coming to the top of a small rise, George peered down into what looked like a small valley. It looked no different from the rest of the woods, being almost a solid wall of green foliage and trees.

He started down. He filled his lungs with the rich, invigorating air. These walks through the woods were often a bit boring, yet at the same time, were also strangely invigorating. His heart beat strongly, and he felt so very much alive!

George stumbled over a tree root, and lost his footing. He sprawled headlong on the ground. He smiled ruefully. Now he had the rich, black earth all over his hands. Flopping over on his back, he looked up at the green leaves of the trees, far above his head. It was so peaceful here. In a way, it was just like home.

Suddenly, George felt something hard and cold beneath his hand. Turning, he was shocked to see something white, half buried in the black earth. Quickly he dug it out, and was amazed to find himself looking at what could only be a broken piece of china, as if it had come from a dinner dish. What on earth was it doing out here?

George scrabbled around in the dirt some more, looking for more pieces of the dish. There were none.

He stood up, and looked closely at the china piece he held. Now that he looked at it, it didn’t look like it came from a plate after all. It had an odd shape, sort of round on one side. One thing was for certain—it was not a natural thing. Someone had made it.

So they were not alone on this planet after all! His father had been right! His father and the Protector would be fascinated at his discovery—but of course, his father would also be very worried, and would probably not allow George to wander anymore through the woods. Should he tell them? On the other hand, dared he not tell them, considering how important this discovery could be?

Suddenly, George heard a sound. Whirling around, he stared through the trees in the direction it had come from. He saw nothing. He stood perfectly still, waiting to see if he would hear it again. He wasn’t sure what it had been. All he knew was that it sounded familiar somehow.

There it was again! It was a little louder this time. And it sounded exactly like the mooing of a cow!

This was impossible! There couldn’t be any cows on this planet! What was going on?

George crept forward, trying his best to go slowly and not make any noise. It wasn’t easy. The undergrowth was so thick, and the bushes and branches so dense, that he had to constantly push them aside to make his way forward. The rustling this made was unavoidable.

There was the sound again! This time there could be no mistake—it was definitely the mooing of a cow! And with it was something even more amazing. Someone was laughing!

George crouched down and peered carefully through the thick undergrowth. There, up to the right—what was that? It was shiny and white, and completely out of place in the thick, green undergrowth spread all around George.

He knew he should go back. There could be danger here. He should go tell the Protector, and the two of them and his father could come back and see what this was all about.

But at the same time, he felt himself being drawn irresistibly forward. It was as if something was pulling him. Something familiar, that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

He reached down and pulled the echo gun from his pocket. Best to be prepared. Holding his thumb over the yellow trigger that would fire the gun, he crept cautiously forward.

The white, shiny thing was plainly visible now. It was quite large, and seemed to stretch off in both directions. It stood almost as tall as George. And as he approached, he knew what it was.

It was a wall. A long wall made of china. And as he approached, and heard more of the mooing and laughter and talking, he knew what he would see on the other side when he peered over it.

It was the china country from the Wizard of Oz. It was exactly what he had dreamed about every night for the last week!