“Yes! Very clean! Gels, you know.”

  “You keep gels?!” Siouxsie asked with some excitement. “I keep gels too!” Siouxsie proceeded to grab her lift hat on the spots above her shoulders and lift straight up. Everyone at the table save for Robert looked surprised as she revealed that a bright orange glob the size of a fist was soundly seated atop her head. The prince’s eyes bulged at the sight as the orange tinted globule blinked to life and appeared to have a pair of small black dots for eyes.

  “What…is that?!” he pointed at it with some shock.

  “This…” Siouxsie said, holding her hat with one hand while reaching up with the other to scoop up the glob. “Is my pet gel, Pumpkin!” She held it out for him and everyone to see. “Pumpkin, say hello!”

  “Pumpkoo!” the gel chirped as it jiggled in her hand

  “It? It talks?” The prince asked

  “No, but I’ve been trying to teach it to say its name. They can mostly follow simple commands if you train them. Gels are great! They eat anything dirty or impure and some even sing if you can train them properly. ‘Every day with a gel is a day that’s swell’ I always say.”

  “You don’t have a gel?” asked Morell.

  “You have one?” Hoxley asked.

  “Yes, right here.” He dug a dark purple colored gel out of his pocket and held it up in the same fashion. “This is my gel. I named him ‘Jam’ like the jelly. I use mine to clean the mushrooms we eat.”

  “Ew.” The prince said with a grimace. “That thing had my food in its mouth before I did?”

  “It had all of our food pass through it.” Morell said. “They eat impurities and leave the rest. It really is the best way to clean your food.” When he held it closer to Pumpkin the gels saw each other and made a tiny “pip!” sound. “See? They recognize each other and make those little sounds when others are near.”

  “Bohga? Where is yours?” Hoxley asked. This made the cyclops laugh.

  “Both of you with your gels,” he said as he scooped some fish into a bowl. “Hold them in your hand high above your heads.” Confused but willing, Siouxsie and Morell held their gels aloft and after a moment, a small noise began to appear high out of sight where shadows had gathered.

  “pip!” something in the dark said. Pumpkin and the other answered. “pip!” “pip!”

  “pip pip” the sound echoed again, causing all the guests to crane their necks to see where the peeps had come from.

  “Oh!” Siouxsie exclaimed. “There’s more than one!”

  “Far more than one.” Bohga raised his right foot and brought down with such force that the whole cave trembled. Plates and utensils threatened to fall off the table and each of the companions held onto their seats with both hands to keep from tipping over. For a moment the cave went silent…

  Then it happened.

  A gel fell down out of the darkness above and landed squarely in the middle of the dinner table. “Pwip!” Its’ round glob-like form flattened into a disc as it landed then immediately popped back into its roundish, oval shape.

  “There it is!” Siouxsie pointed.

  “Pip!” it peeped. Siouxsie and Morell held their gels toward the new one. “Pip!” “Pip!” “Pip!” “Pip!” They chatted. But then, without warning, a second and third gel flattened themselves upon the table before popping back up.

  “You have three?” Hoxley asked Bohga. As the words left her mouth, a veritable flash flood of gelatinous globules fell from the shadows above. Three, then twelve, then twenty, then thirty, then fifty! There were too many to count as they rained down upon the guests. It was a gel storm!

  “Wheeeee! This is fun!” Siouxsie laughed with glee and clapped her hands as gels landed in her lap and in her bowl and cup. One landed squarely between Hoxleys horns atop her head. It didn’t hurt, but felt like being pelted with a small snowball. With care, she reached up and removed it, casually plopping it on the table. Morell’s reaction was the same as Siouxsie’s in that his face was full of delight and didn’t mind being pelted by the cute fist-sized blobs. The prince however looked mortified and appeared as though he might jump out of his own skin to get away from the gels as they landed upon him. He skittishly pitched them aside and batted them off the table. Robert, as per usual, sat in silence and rolled his eyes as the gels landed on the brim of his hat. Siouxsie was beside herself with delight and quickly began snatching up gels and masterfully juggling them, tossing them high in the air only to catch and repeat.

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  “Ahhhh there they are.” Bohga said with some satisfaction. “I was certain they were nearby.”

  “I’ve never seen so many gels in one place.” Said Hoxley as she plucked one from the table and held it in her hand to inspect the glob looking back at her with its two tiny eyes. “I knew they existed, but never so many collected at once.”

  “The gels are an important part of our world. We all should learn to be more like them and the world would be a better place if we did.” Bohga said, brushing a few onto the floor to make room for the large bowl he was placing in the center of the table. “They do not speak ill of anyone, they do not want for wealth or power. They are content and eager to make the spaces around themselves more suitable. They filter out the unpleasant parts and leave things better off wherever they go. They delight and enhance the lives of those around them without a word or curse. They simply are. Imagine a world if we all lived in such a way.”

  “That’s beautiful.” Hoxley said. “I’ve never thought of them that way.”

  “Few do.” Bohga said, taking Robert’s dish and portioning out some of the spiced fish onto it. “But it is important to seek those like the gel and imitate their habits.” Bohga stepped around the table serving each of the guests before making a second pass with an urn that put fresh drinking water into their cups. When everyone had a full plate, the cyclops sat in his place and served himself. Eat up, everyone. Quickly now. Do get your fill. We have much to do tonight before we turn in. Tomorrow is a big day.”

  “What do you mean?” the prince asked. “What must be done tonight?”

  “Everything will be explained.” Said Bohga, “Pease enjoy your food.” The companions exchanged curious looks before digging in. Their dishes of spiced fish were magnificent. Huge chunks of the freshest fish had absorbed the spicy broth and made it irresistible when its aroma was inhaled. No one spoke as they each hunched over their bowls, slurping and smacking. They stopped only to smile and nod in agreement at one another as they chewed. Bohga ate ravenously and gels could be seen silently moving across the floor and up the walls. When the cyclops finished its bowl, it filled it again and emptied it again in quick order. When that bowl was gone, he got up, removed his bowl from the table and returned from the fireplace with a pan of bread so large that it rivaled the diameter of a witch’s hat.

  Once set upon the table, the room filled with the heavenly aroma of fresh pumpkin bread.

  “Eat.” He said as he left the chamber to go into his bedroom. “Fill yourselves. I have things to attend to.” The others ate and carved wedges of bread from the pan with their utensils. Loud noises and hard thumps of large heavy items being moved about echoed throughout the cave. Some gave concerned glances while others kept their attention upon their meal plates. Soon, the cyclops emerged dragging an iron trunk big enough for Hoxley to fit in. He didn’t stop but carried it into the main chamber before returning to his bedroom where more clanking and thumping rang out.

  Hoxley had eaten to her contentment. Everything was so good that she knew if she continued, she’d make herself sick. She pushed herself away from the table and investigated the room while the others ate their fill.

  On the far side of the dining chamber was a smaller corridor big enough for the five of them to fit though but far too small for Bohga. When Hoxley moved closer to look it over, she noticed a faint but rank smell emanate from the opening. The heat coming off of it suggested a natural spring venting heat. She didn’t want to bother Bohga in his room so she quietly exited to the main chamber. Everything was it was before with artifacts hanging on the walls. High on the wall an elaborately stitched quilt decorated in a mosaic covered everything in a full circle around the wall of the cave. It was so massive that it must have taken forever for a multitude of people, let alone one cyclops to finish in a lifetime. Now that she knew to look for them, she noticed the almost invisible gels moving across the floor and walls. Curious, she bent down to pick one up and held it close to her face. Two tiny black dots blinked back at her. “pip!” it squeaked.