 | Over the next few days Peaches wandered over to the Music player again and again. Sometimes Stephanie would be there. Once Stephanie took Peaches down to see a Bigtoy called a Flibberty-Gibbet. Peaches felt like she had missed out so much in life by not coming here sooner. | |
 | Another day the Grenorn was there. This time Peaches found out that her name was Sheena. Sheena took Peaches for a ride on a mover that passed directly below the garden. Peaches thought that was so amazing! | |
 | Some days, though, were not much fun. Once Peaches was horrified to see a swarm of big green frogs. | |
 | She became frightened and ran back home to the safety of her garden. | |
 | Yes, life was full of uncertainty now. Peaches was never sure if she was happy or sad or frightened. She knew that she would be safer in the garden but now that she had seen a bit of the outside world she felt compelled to see more. She knew that her parents were very worried about her but she just couldn't resist exploring more and more of Albia each day. | |
| | One day Sheena said, "Hey Peaches, let's go get some pears," and she laughed. Peaches wasn't sure if Sheena was laughing at her because her name sounded like a fruit or because Sheena thought she was so naive that she had never seen the Pear Tree before. Peaches wanted so much to be accepted, but she was never sure if Sheena was really her friend or not. | |
| | "Okay, let's go," said Peaches trying to sound casual. She didn't want to let on that this was yet another new adventure for her. | |
| | Peaches had tasted pears before, but pears were very rare delicacies. When she was younger, her parents had warned her that overripe pears could make Creatures sick, and went on about how dangerous it was to pick pears. Only the bravest Norns ventured that close to the dreaded Grendel tree! Grendels were horrible beasts, and her parents told her to never go near any of them. | |
 | When they got there Peaches was delighted to see the pretty flowers and luscious fruits on the Pear Tree. As she and Sheena munched on the delicious pears, Peaches heard a low grunt coming from the large tree above them. | |
| | Peaches wanted to jump up and run home, but Sheena just sat there as if nothing unusual was happening. When Sheena noticed Peaches glancing up nervously, she said with nonchalance, "Oh, don't mind them. That's just the Grendels."
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| | Just then Peaches saw the long blue tail of a large Creature in the tree. She tried not to stare. She remembered the lesson about Grendels from the Super Speech Toy and the long lectures from her mother and father about how dangerous and awful those Creatures were. But she couldn't help thinking that those magnificent scales were beautiful as they reflected the soft light filtering through the leaves. | |