Mass Movement

"I can't believe you slept through the night!" Mom exclaimed as she hoisted Maizy out of the blanket dimension—like she was just the perfect little prize in a crane game. "Breakfast time!"

Maizy had been having the strangest dream about a cookie that self-destructs to keep from falling into the wrong hands.

She was placed in front of a plate of wriggling larvae and stretched her body before Mom's curse of a healthy breakfast. She was quite hungry, so she gobbled them down without any fuss. Then Mom told her to hand over the plate.

She obliged—and there was a cookie under it! It disappeared faster than an insecure cookie jar. Which, Maizy noticed, was no longer present after she ate the cookie.

In its place was some sort of solid, wooden bucket-like container suspended from the ceiling on a pole. Where it attached to the ceiling was something that looked exactly like the old pedestal—except it was upside down.

Hmm.

Mom caught Maizy looking at the new contraption and grinned with sinister intent. "I dare you to try getting a cookie out of that!"

Next time I'm alone, I will! Maizy thought to herself. No reason to give Mom the satisfaction of seeing her fall victim to whatever devious tricks she’s integrated into this device.  It’s probably got louder cicadas, a more powerful ejection mechanism, AND inflicts a curse that will turn my fur green.

"Guess what you have to do today!" Mom said with so much fake enthusiasm that Maizy’s internal suspicion meter moved into the red zone.

Maizy squinted at Mom. "What?" she signed.

"You're going to work! Five days out of the pouch, and you're already off to the Post Office." She shrugged. "I don't know if I should be proud or horrified."

"Branch should be by any moment to take you up to the Post Office, where the Postmaster promises me you will be spending time testing 'the latest delivery technology.' Whatever that means." Mom rolled her eyes. "The Postmaster is very excited about it—and if I know her, she just wants to play dress-up—with you."

Mom sighed. "Be prepared to try on lots of bows and ponchos and who-knows-what else." She then gave Maizy a serious look. "If you can keep her playing with you in the Post Office, that's your ideal scenario. Because then you won't be using up all your energy climbing all over the tree."

"Take all the help you can get, my little kaydee. You're going to need it."

That sounds rather... Ominous. It's just sorting and delivering letters. How hard could it be?

Mom looked nostalgic for a moment. "My sister and I had each other when we started our mandatory Post Office duty. You, on the other hand, are all alone. Make friends—but more importantly—allies.  The more people that owe you a favor, the better off you'll be."

"ASSERT DOMINANCE! And don't expect your cousins to be any help. I swear, Brook works at the Post Office just so she can torture kaydees and coddle keedos."

What fate have I been consigned to!?

She then reached down and patted Maizy's head. "The Postmaster isn't dangerous, she's just a bit of a slave driver. The more keedos and kaydees she can get into her claws, the less work she has to do."

Mom then considered something. "I suppose that's why we elected her! I mean, ever since she took over, I've never once heard of a letter being late or lost or anything like that. I mean, unless the kad got eaten by a plant or something." She threw her hands up in a weirdly complacent shrug.

WHAT!?

Then there was a knock at the door.

--------------------------------------------

"Hey Maizy, ready to go?" Branch asked as Mom adjusted her ribbon, then placed her on Branch's back.

"She's ready," Mom stated. "Nice job with the hawk the other day, by the way." She punched Branch in the shoulder pretty hard, but he didn't budge—not even a microsmidge.

This keedo is tougher than hardwood! What is Petal feeding him?

Then Branch shot up the tree like a rocket. Mom thought she could see a hint of pink light in her vision as he zoomed away.

"Wow, Maizy! Are you making me light?" Branch asked. Maizy just giggled.

"This is awesome! Haha!" Branch laughed past the doctor's office, the big branch with the uppee, and several other buildings as he shot up the tree.

Kads looked on in shock as he zoomed past. Some kaydee wearing a black ribbon called out as they shot by, "Hi, Branch!" Maizy thought she looked to be just a little older than Willow.

Branch stopped, then turned around and ran back down the tree. He stopped just above that kaydee with the black ribbon. "Hi, Brook." Then a sinister grin beamed across his face. "Grab my tail and hold on tight!"

Ooh, good idea! I want to see how far my gift goes. We should get more people to grab on!

Brook would never pass up an invited opportunity to touch Branch, so she grabbed hold immediately.

She screamed as Branch ran up the tree as fast as he could—which was quite fast. As they ascended, Brook's voice gave nearby kads a loud, practical demonstration of the Doppler effect.

They reached the courtyard outside the Post Office, but Branch just leapt up as hard as he could. His momentum carried him upward while Brook held on.

Maizy giggled. Then Branch laughed, followed by Brook, as they floated upwards into the canopy above.

"Cousin! Your gift is amazing!" Brook seemed to be having a good time—though it probably had nothing to do with Maizy's gift.

Maybe she's not as bad as Mom thinks?

They made it to the highest part of the canopy above, and Maizy could see tree frogs of all sizes hanging around on the leaves and branches. Many had crawled on top of each other in stacks of three or four to get a good look at the strange situation rising past them.

"Maizy, how many do you think we could carry?" Branch asked. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew he was smiling. Reaching around, she opened her hand. Branch took it as, "I dunno."

"Let's find out, then! Haha!" Branch was giddy. "OK, everyone, hop on! Let's see how high I can get with Maizy's gift. Only those who can safely glide! Just in case she runs out of magic."

Dozens of young hoppers and adult tree frogs latched their webbed feet onto Branch, Maizy, and Brook. Branch began to sink, but grabbed a twig and used it like a springboard.

This is awesome!  Maizy was elated and—surprisingly—didn't feel tired at all.

Up they went, and dozens more tree frogs crawled up the tree and latched on. The entire canopy of tree frogs was now lazily dangling from Branch like some crazy, upside-down tree frog tree.

"Hopping Hopperton! What is going on!?" Mr. Un's booming voice could be heard from below.

"Just doing a quick test of Maizy's gift, Mr. Un. Nothing to be concerned about! The young hoppers volunteered," Branch shouted back. "Maizy, that's probably good enough. Can you increase our weight just enough to lower the young ones gently back down?"

Maizy nodded and reduced the amount of magic going to her tail—it did the trick. They started slowly floating back toward the canopy, and the frogs hopped off one by one. Mr. Un thought it was one of the cutest things he'd ever witnessed.

"I. LOVE. KADS!" Mr. Un boomed. He started swinging himself in circles around a branch.

"You can let go now," Branch said to Brook, who was still holding on to his tail like it was the most precious thing in the universe.

"Do I have to?" Brook pleaded. "It's fine! You can fall into my arms as I embrace you from below."

Maizy could feel Branch's eyes roll.

"Don't forget: I have a tiny little kaydee on my back. I need to land normally."

"Oh, alright." Brook let go and started gliding down toward the Post Office. She landed on one of the balconies and walked inside.

"Okay, Maizy, let's see if you can get the weight juuust right for us to have the smoothest landing possible." Branch grinned. "Just enough to give me fine control, but not so much that I do my usual slam. I'm pretty heavy, haha."

Maizy nodded. Then a fantastic plan started forming in her head. She made them heavier.

Branch gracefully descended and was about to land on the balcony when Maizy made him nearly weightless again.

"Maizy! You can turn it off now!" Branch pleaded, but she had a better idea. He started to swiftly float into the Post Office, and Maizy couldn't stop herself from laughing. "Ki ki ki ki!"

Then Branch glided right into Brook, who beamed. She spread her arms and caught him, falling backward with Branch on top.

I KNEW she'd be standing there, waiting for Branch!

Sorry, Willow!  Maizy would have to make it up to her later. Mom did say Maizy needed to make friends and allies!

Maizy hopped off Branch—who was now lying on top of Brook, staring her in the face. She winked at Brook, hoping she could see it.

"Sorry, Brook," Branch said as he lifted himself up. "I guess Maizy and I need to work on our landings." Brook came right up with him—and kept holding on, a bright smile on her face.

Haha, I was pretty smooth with that. She'd better appreciate it.  Maizy suddenly had visions of her and Brook getting along like peas in a pod.

"BRANCH!" The Postmaster yelled from the next room. Then she walked in. "Oh, you're here." She spotted the scene and tried to hide a smile. "Stop flirting with the kaydees and bring Maizy to the lab."

"You need to let go now, Brook," Branch pleaded, and she frowned but complied.

"L A B?" Maizy signed.

"Yeah, it's below the sorting room—two floors down." Branch smiled. "It's inside a pocket dimension. Like the Proscribrary."

WHAT!?