This was the time that Figaro asked me to help him out with an old Lavender Hover Scarf prototype that he found in his grandfather Figment’s storage chest. To my surprise, Figment wasn’t always a pizzaiolo, or a pizza maker. In his younger days, he dabbled in the fine arts of scarf inventions mixed with a bit of skillful alchemy.
He’s made the trusty Scarlett Rope Scarf, which can unfold into a long rope that you can use to lasso things or tie up your tent. Then there’s the powerful Grey Battle Scarf, which is as light as a Turmeric Sky Spore but tougher than dried up Apple-Tight glue. It can be used as a great shield to protect you from falling rocks or harden snowballs in a snowball fight! Another scarf of his is the unpredictable Yellow Sling Scarf, which you can form into a giant slingshot to spring yourself high up in the air! This wasn’t very popular, as no one has yet figured out how to land safely, unfortunately.
Being a dutiful grandson, Figaro has spent many of his days helping his grandfather test scarves. His natural knack for analysis have proven invaluable to Figment’s scarf inventing success. Some have become legendary, while others have disappeared into forgotten memory. The old Lavender Hover Scarf was one of those forgotten inventions, and Figaro was eager to test it out. If he had to, he wouldn’t mind fixing up the old scarf if it did not work the way it was intended. At the same time, Figaro wanted to gather some data to make sure the invention was the safest it could possibly be. So, we headed down to the vast, wide open sandy hills of the Echo Quartz Desert. It’s the perfect place to test Figment’s inventions without worrying about harming anyone else!
After we arrived, I took out Fig’s custom Pinewheel device, which measures all sorts of statistics relating to wind (I won’t get into it because my head would hurt thinking of all the math involved!). We traveled all the way to the east side of the desert, where we would be the least bothered by any creatures of Punny Garden. Figaro proceeded to activate the Lavender Hover Scarf, while I adjusted the Pinewheel and held it up in the air. Figaro frowned as he stared at the spinning wheel meter. “Funny, it looks like the wind is getting faster and faster… very unusual…” he grumbled.
At this point, I must admit, I truly didn’t know what the scarf was going to do. My guess was that Figaro was going to hover or even fly in the air! If that happened, then I planned on pleading with Figaro to let me have a turn as well. Imagine floating in the air without a single care! However, despite my hopes, this definitely did not turn out to be the case.
Figaro started to say “Wonder what-”, when suddenly the scarf released a burst of glowing purple light into the sky! Tumbleweeds of various different sizes started to float upward into the air and collect at a point high above Figaro’s head. It started to get bigger and bigger, until it was just about the size of my giant red beet house! Figaro’s face turned a pale ghostly white as he looked nervously above us. He would soon realize the old adage of “What goes up … must come DOWN!”.
PSHHHHHHEWWWWWW! BOOM! BANG! CRASH! The huge collection of tumbleweeds dropped out of the sky! It landed near us and started to roll! We ran as fast as we could to get out of its way. With a rumbling roar, it started to bounce as it came towards us. Fig and I SCREAMED and hastened our getaway! Fortunately, our lives were not in any real danger. However, many Echo Quartz tumbleweeds have a small collection of all sorts of prickly thorns that are not so nice. Now, imagine a HUUUUUGE tumbleweed full of thorns, needles and prickly dried vegetation coming at you in such a ferocious way! Wouldn’t you scream too, if you were in our place? And wouldn’t you wish Figaro had brought the Grey Battle Scarf so that you can be fully protected from being poked and pinched while running away?
Nervous sweat popped out of both our faces as we saw the enormous tumbleweed run over tons of cacti and rocks! You’d think that this would slow it down, but in fact, all the debris only added to its size! It even sent a sturdy Cone Turtle flying a few hundred steps away! Poor Cone Turtle! (Since it was our fault, we managed to help the turtle find some delicious Feriseo seeds) Figaro quickly took off the Lavender Hover Scarf and cast it to the side, hoping that it would help quell the chaotic situation. After a few moments of running away from it, the wind started to calm down. Surprisingly, the mighty tumbleweed did not slow down at all. In fact, it felt as if it was moving even faster and even chasing us!
When we had just about enough of running, Fig and I dove for cover underneath a huge rock, right as the tumbleweed turned around and steamrolled away in the other direction. I looked back and thought I saw three tiny hamsters running on top of the tumbleweed. It looked as if they were powering it, like a gigantic hamster wheel. I told Figaro, but he didn’t believe me. “What!” he said, re-adjusting his crumpled leaf in disbelief. “A laid-back brown one, a chunky white one, and a speedy pied one? How can three little hamsters roll around THAT giant tumbleweed? That’s just a figment of your wild imagination!”