Visit to the Blueberry Town part 1 (Patreon)

Visit to the Blueberry Town.

Carien flung the door to her house open. “Sarah, I am home.” She walked inside and stretched her arms. “You are not going to believe the vacation I had to endure.” She threw her new sleek jacket onto the kitchen table. “Talk about a crazy experience. So there I was on a boat sipping some expensive wine.” She walked into the living room. “Sarah?”

Carien scratched at her dark hair. “Just where are you?” She hurried towards the stairwell. “Hello?” She rushed up to the second floor of the house. “You aren’t taking a nap, or something, are you?”

She flung the guest bedroom door. “Got you. Huh?” The room was empty. “Where is she?” Carien took a few steps inside. “And what happened to all of her stuff?” As she walked up to the bed, she noticed the piece of paper.

Carien. Sorry, but you were out of town, and I didn’t know how to reach you. I finally was able to get my own place. Isn’t that great? I just hope that the crazy nut jobs at Fredricks Fancy don’t find out about this one and track me down here.

Thank you again for letting me stay with you, and I hope we can continue our relationship. When you get back, please call me. I hope to hear from you. But again, I am sorry for not telling you sooner. I have been trying for so long for this, and I just had to jump at this chance.

Love,

Sarah.

Carien sat down and sighed. “So she is really gone?” She looked around the empty room. “And I was going to tell her about how I just escaped from Fredricks Fancy after having a severe growth spell. Oh, and having to put up with multiple other giant people as well.”

She sighed and dropped the letter. “Well, I guess I should try and calling her.”

She pulled out her cellphone. “I am guessing she is expecting me.” Carien tapped her foot as the phone rang. “Why isn’t she picking up?”

“Hello, this is Sarah Collinsworth. I can’t get to the phone right now. Please leave me a message.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Sarah. I don’t know what is going on, but when you get this, call me back. Ok. I have been through hell and back only to find out you are not here. I need to see you. Please call me. It’s Carien.”

She hung up. “Well, now what?” She turned her head at the sound of the doorbell. “Oh wow. Maybe that is Sarah.” She rushed out of the room. “Maybe she is here to pick up something she forgot. What am I going to say to her? Oh god, I need her new address.” She pulled to a stop at the front door and took a deep breath. “Just stay calm.”

Carien slowly opened the door. “Hello, Sarah.”

Tess narrowed her eyes. “Umm, what?”

Carien’s cheeks turned red, and she gulped. “Oh, hello, Tess. I am sorry. What are you doing here?”

She pushed her way inside. “I have a bit of an offer. A road trip offer.”

Carien crossed her arms. “Tess, I just got home from a vacation. I want to spend some time at home.”

“Look, I need someone I can trust on this to help me out. I am going to open a dealership in a place that has been having some slight issues lately.”

“What are you talking about?”

Tess pulled out her phone. “Look. This is where Penny wants me to open my shop. BurnsBerry. But there are rumors that people have been turning into blueberry’s there.”

Carien laughed. “That is absurd. People can’t turn into blueberries.”

Tess shook her head and blinked her green eyes. “I mean it. Look at this.” She started a video on her phone.”

***

“Your skin. It is turning blue.”

“Blue!?” She looked at her hands and the creeping violet color that crept up towards her fingertips. “What is going on?”

“You tell me. What kind of prank is this?” He grabbed her by her shirt. “You think this is funny to pull for your first time on live television?”

She pushed him away. “Let go of me. I have enough issues. Look at me. My skin is all blue.” She ran her hands all over her body. “Ugh, and I feel all bubbly all of a sudden. I need to go use the restroom.”

Garry grabbed her arm. “Not until you finish your report.”

Her eyes widened as her entire pupil turned blue.

“You have got to be kidding me. There is something wrong here, and all you are concerned about is your story?”

“Yes, now sit your butt down and tell everyone about it. The sooner you do, the sooner you can go and figure out what is making your break out in blue.”

Sandra sighed and turned towards the camera. “Well, umm, there wasn’t too much else to report. So me and my cameraman Henderson arrived on the scene, and we just couldn’t figure out what had. . . Ugh.” She put her hands on the desk. “It feels like my insides are swirling.”

***

Carien blinked her eyes. “What in the world did I just watch?”

Tess pulled her phone away. “It was a news coverage a few weeks ago. One of their casters turned into a giant blueberry right on camera. Look, I want someone I know to come with me when I go to this place.”

“Tess. I don’t know.”

She grabbed Carien’s hands. “Please. You just have to stay until I get the building up and going. Possibly until I get a few people hired and I get out of that place. I wouldn’t ask this of anyone I didn’t trust.” She pulled out a wad of cash. “I will pay you if I have to.”

Carien sighed. “Put your cash away. I will help you, Tess.”

She hugged Carien. “Oh, thank you so very much.” She stepped away and adjusted her suit. “So, umm, we will be leaving here in just a few minutes, so I guess when you are ready.” Tess turned around and walked out of the room.

Carien shook her head. “Doing the right thing is hard.” She tapped her fingers on the side of the table. “Sarah, I hope we can get back together soon.”

“Carien, come on. I am wasting gas.”

She grabbed her new jacket and rushed outside. “Ok, I am coming.” She made her way open over to the passenger side door and slid inside. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Don’t worry.” Tess waited for her to buckle up. “Are you ready?” Carien gave her a thumbs up. “Great.” She pulled out of the driveway and turned onto the street. “Here we go.”

***

Carien watched as rows upon rows of pine trees passed along the road. “Just how far away is this town?”

Tess rolled her shoulders. “We should be there in another fifteen minutes. But, don’t worry, everything will go alright.”

Carien raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say I was worried.”

“Well, stop worrying then.” She tightened her hands on the wheel. “We don’t need to be worried and all that, do we?”

Carien put her hand on Tess’s shoulder. “Hey, no one is going to turn into a blueberry, ok.”

“Right. We just go, get this car dealership started and get out.” She pointed down the street. “See, there is the turnoff. We are almost there.”

Carien looked up to see a road sign that read BurnsBerry Township. Swell to know you.  “What an odd moto to have for people who have a blueberry problem.”

“You think they are doing this intentionally? Like growing giant blueberries or something?”

“Tess, just calm down.”

“I am sorry. I am just so worried.”

“Look, the town is starting to come into view. We will look a bit crazy if you are freaking out about blueberries.” Carien gasped. “Oh my.”

Tess slammed on the breaks. “What the hell?” In the middle of the road was a gigantic blue ball. Multiple people stood around it scrambling like chickens with their heads cut off while a few others tried to push against the giant blue ball, forcing it off the road. “What is that thing?” Suddenly the sphere moved, and Carien could notice a small head near the top.

“Umm, Tess, we should just drive on. Let’s go.”

“Is that a person?”

“Tess.”

“We haven’t even gotten into town.”

Carien grabbed onto her arm. “Calm down, Tess.”

“We are out of here.”

The car suddenly shot toward the giant blueberry. “Tess, slow down.” The hood of the car slammed into the blueberry, sending it skyward. “Tess!”

She zoomed forward and laughed. “This is just a crazy nightmare. And I will wake up soon. That is right.” She slapped herself on the side of her face. “I am just sleeping.”

“Tess, snap out of it before we crash.” Carien pulled at the wheel. “Now.” She slammed on the brakes and forced the vehicle to a halt. Carien then shook Tess. “Get a hold of yourself.”

Tess took deep breaths. “I umm, I don’t know what came over me.”

The giant blueberry person landed on the hood of their vehicle and rolled down the street. Tess slowly looked forward before screaming. She shifted the car into reverse and slammed her foot onto the break. “I am out of here. Oufffff.”

Carien fell forward as the car slammed into the vehicle behind them. Tess shook her head as she tried to start the car again. “Come on. We can’t be stuck.”

Carien grabbed Tess’s arms. “Tess, stop. Before we get into more trouble than we already are.” She turned her head as she noticed the people on the road before approaching. “Now turn off the engine. You already wrecked the vehicle.”

“But. . .”

“Tess!”

She gulped and turned the key, shutting off the engine's roar. As she pulled the key out, a young man knocked at the window, causing Tess to jump. “Oh god.”

“Just roll down the window.”

“Right.” She used the hand crank. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you have any idea what you just did?” His dark hands grasped the side of her vehicle. “Now, we will have to chase her into the woods, thanks to you.”

“Hey, I just want to get out of here.”

The strange man reached in and grabbed Tess’s shirt. “Oh, you will be leaving all right.”

“Hey, stop that.” Carien raised her voice. “My friend here is scared half to death, and you threatening her isn’t going to help.”

He sighed. “Look, we have had a hell of a day. Suzi was the third person this week to turn into a blueberry. I will forget this little mishap if you help us find her and roll her back into town.”

Tess shook her head. “No, no, no. I don’t want to get mixed up in any of this blueberry business. I don’t want to—

Carien cut her off. “We would be delighted to help. Don’t worry.” She unblocked her seatbelt. “We will be out in just a moment.”

“Ok. I don’t think she could have rolled too far off.” He stood up and dusted the loose berry juice off his jacket. “Have a good rest of your day.” He adjusted his grey cap and walked down the road.

After he was gone, Tess turned towards Carien. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to keep us from getting into any further trouble than we already are.” She pushed the door open and stepped outside.

“Any further trouble?” Tess unbuckled herself. “We are chasing after a giant blueberry woman. What if I am next, huh? Did you think about that?”

“Did you think about that if we don’t do this, you might make it more challenging to open your shop? This is the chance to make some goodwill with the townspeople. Especially after you wreaked some of their vehicles on the road.”

Tess crossed her arms as she began to walk down the road. “You can’t prove that I did that. They could be any who is just traveling.”

“Do you really want to take that chance?”

Tess gulped. “Fine. We find this giant blueberry person and get her to town. Open my shop and leave.” She pulled out her car keys and locked her vehicle. “Oh, and have someone get my vehicle to a repair shop. I am not leaving it out here in berry country.”

Carien rolled her eyes. “There are much worse things to happen.” She rolled her shoulders. “How do you think we are going to find this giant blueberry person, though?”

Tess sighed and pointed at the ground. “Follow the berry blue trail, I guess.”

They hurried down the road, following the blue goo puddles in the street. Tess put her hand over her nose as they walked. ‘Ugh, that stench is overwhelming. I am guessing we will know when we get closer as we can smell her.”

“Why are you so afraid of blueberries? You have seen gigantic people back home, and I haven’t seen you this afraid before.”

Tess sighed. “I don’t know; this just seems so weird.” She held her hands up. “I don’t know where all of that fluid or juice would be going to. It doesn't seem right. When people grow or shrink, that makes sense. This doesn’t, and I don’t want to have to figure it out first hand.

I am scared of things I don’t understand.”

Carien put her hand on Tess’s shoulder. “Look, it will be alright.” She pointed down the road. “Look at that break in the trees. I think our berry woman turned off there.” Just up ahead, they could see a gap in the trees with blue stains, almost as if something had knocked the gentle giants aside. “Let’s go.” When Tess hesitated, Carien grabbed her arm. “Let’s go.”

They rushed off into the woods, following the blue trail. The blueberry stench slowly became more robust as they made their way deeper into the forest. They crossed a small stream before they finally spotted a massive blue ball in the distance and the sound of someone crying. Carien waved her hands. “I think we finally found who we are looking for.”

“Great, now we can head back and tell the others.”

“Come on.” They hurried down a small hill and towards a massive blueberry woman.

Carien ran her hands through her hair. “Wow, she must be fifteen, no eighteen feet tall. Goodness knows how wide.”

A bubbly voice came from above them. “Hey, can you not be so rude down there? I am not that big. I am just a bit bloated because of something I ate. Everyone experiences bloating.”

“I have never had such bloating as that.”

Carien turned her head. “Tess!”

“If I could move, I would slap you for that. Whoever even said that. Ugh, if only I could move.” Carien heard a sniffle. “Why did someone have to hit me with their car? I think it made the juices bubbling inside of me even worse.”

Tess took a few steps back. “Umm ya, you can take things from here, Carien. I will wait by the car.”

“Tess, help me out here. This woman weighs a ton. Ugh.”

Tess pulled at her sleeve. “But Carien I. . .”

“Tess!”

She hurried over and put her hands on the giant blue woman. “Ugh, she is dripping blueberry juice. Gross.”

“Let’s hurry up and roll her back onto the road.”

“Hey, she is surprisingly light. This will be easy.” So they rolled the giant blue woman back up the hill towards the interstate. Carien kept a constant eye on Tess to ensure she wouldn’t bolt, but her friend seemed pretty content with herself despite being around a giant inflated berry woman. After a few minutes, they found themselves back on the main road where a small crowd was waiting for them.

“Hey, you found her.” The man who had yelled at them for hitting their car before rushed up. “Thank you so much for the help.”

Carien sighed as she wiped the sweat from her face. “No problem.”

He extended out his hand and shook hers. “I never got your names before.”

“I am Carien, and the timid one here is Tess.”

“I am Ronold. Are you two just passing through? If you are, you sure as hell didn’t need to help us out here.”

Carien blushed. “That is quite alright.” She pulled Tess in close. “Tess, here is with umm. What is the company again?”

“Penny’s Auto Service.”

“Right. And they are opening a new dealership here in town.”

Ronold nodded his head. “Ya, I heard about that. Real crappy timing if you ask me.”

“Why is that?” Tess asked.

“Because of the Blueberry outbreak. You have heard, right?”

Tess turned towards Carien. “Yes, but we still just had to come. Didn’t we, Carien.”

Ronold sighed. “Well, I guess I can show you to town while we roll Zess in. Just make sure that you leave as soon as you can. We don’t need even more people turning into blueberries in our small quiet town.” He turned around. “Last thing we need is to be known as the giant blueberry capital of the country, let alone world.” He began to walk down the road. “Follow me.

And help the others roll Zess into down, will you?”

Carien blinked her eyes. “Hey, Ronold, do you have a car repair service in this town?”

He turned his head. “Yes. We can have someone come and get your vehicle. Don’t worry. Now come on.”

She and Tess followed the others down the road as Zess was rolled along. Tess constantly looked at the giant berry woman with a queasy look on her face. After a few minutes, the outskirts of the town came into view, and Tess finally relaxed, or until the scent of blueberries filled the air. She shivered and asked, “What is that?”

Ronold shrugged his shoulders. “Well, we have very limited options with those affected by this blueberry curse, so the smell of blueberries has permeated the town.” He laughed. “You get used to it.”

Tess crossed her arms. “Used to the constant dread of swelling into a giant blueberry? I don’t think so.”

“Hey. Excuse me, but this isn’t so bad.” Carien turned her head at Zess’s voice. “Though it would be nice if I could move my limbs, I guess.”

Tess turned her head and looked up. “I don’t see anything nice that could come out of your situation.”

“Hey, I get to go to the juicing station again. That place is so nice and grand. You would love it.” Zess sighed. “They treat you so grand, and you just can’t imagine how it feels.” Zess tapped the side of her body. “Hurry up and roll me there.”

Tess grabbed Carien’s arm and pulled her down the street towards the town. “Let’s open that store, and let’s hurry about it.”

“Ok.” She waved to the others as she ran down the street. “Have a nice day, everyone. Hope you feel better, Zess.”

They made their way into the town, and Tess pulled out her phone. “Ok, I think I can find the building from here.”

“We can always just ask someone to help us.”

She held up her hand. “Oh no. We are just going to find this place on our own, open it on our own and leave on our own.” He pointed at Carien. “You got that?” Carien opened her mouth, and Tess shook her hand. “And I don’t want any bullshit. Either you got this, or you don’t.

Carien sighed. “Fine. What about when it comes time to hire people?”

Tess chuckled. “We can do that online, from the safety of our own homes.” Carien rolled her eyes. “Now, let’s go.” She pulled out her phone. “We are here on Patterson Street, and we need to go to West Temerson. If we follow Patterson until it dead ends and take a right, we should be good.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am.” Carien’s eyes went wide as she noticed the back of Tess’s neck turn blue. “My GPS is never wrong.”

“Tess.”

“Carien, stop worrying. The worst is over now.”

“Tess we umm. . .”

“Yes, we are almost there. Don’t you worry.”

Carien grabbed Tess by the arms and twisted her around.

“Tess, I don’t want you to freak out, but I need to tell you something important.”

She blinked at Carien as her face turned blue. “What is it? I don’t want to be held up here.”

Carien gulped. “Look, Tess, your face is umm, how do I put this. Blue.”

Tess laughed. “Are you trying to scare me? Because this isn’t funny, Carien.” She crossed her arms. “Now, can we stop delaying things so we can get out of this freaky town?”

“No, Tess, I am being serious.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, if this was true, then my hand would be blue.” She looked down at her arms and could see her skin slowly turning color. “Oh my god!” She jumped a good three feet into the air. “Fuck no. Not me. Carien, make it stop.”

Carien grabbed Tess by the shoulders. “Calm down. Nothing is going to be solved by panic.”

Tess shook her head. “I need a pump, a giant pump that is it. I need to get ahead of the problem. I mean, they said something about a juicing station, so I will just do this my own home-brewed style and make sure nothing happens that I can’t fix.” She began to laugh hysterically.

“Tess, come on. We have to focus.” Carien shook her friend. “We need to get help.”

Tess shook her head. “No, we need to get to my shop. We are still opening it.”

“What!?” Carien shook her head flabbergasted. “You can’t be serious.”

“Even if I am minutes away from swelling into a giant blueberry, it won’t stop us from getting that shop open as I am not coming back here another time.” Her berry scented hand grabbed Carien’s arm. “Now, let’s go.”

Carien shook her head as she was dragged down the street. “What did I get myself dragged into?”