Page 12

"Oh, no, the sparkly isn't gold!" the girl cries. "You must be...colorblind!" The crowd emits a collective gasp of horror.

"But don't worry," the girl says soothingly. "I know someone in this very fair who can fix you right up. He's a world-renowned doctor, and he can cure anything!"

And before you can protest she takes you by the hand and pulls you through the rest of the crowd.

"Don�t you have a show to put on?" you mumble, but your words go unheard.

The girl drags you up to a booth and shouts, "Doctor Krebibble! Doctor Krebibble! I need your help! I have a patient here who is colorblind!"

"Oh, is that all the trouble, lassie?" the doctor asks. "Why, I have a potion that'll cure them right here; won't take five minutes. Bring them around the back!"

The girl pulls you around to the back of the booth, ignoring your cries of "Hey, hey, I can walk, okay?" She seats you at a stool across from the doctor.

"Well child, what's your name?" the doctor asks.

"Renn," you reply a bit grouchily.

"And you're suffering a little bout with colorblindness, yes?"

You shrug. "I guess so."

"All right then." He pulls a bottle out from inside a black leather bag, and uncorks it. "Drink this right down," he tells you.

"Then can I go?" you ask.

"My, my, you're a feisty patient, aren't you?" the doctor laughs. "Drink that and you'll be cured of your colorblindness within the hour."

So you pick up the bottle, eye it a little warily, then drink it down quickly, trying not to taste it.

Many colors swirl before your eyes, but with no particular pattern to them. "Rest easy for a few moments," the doctor reassures you. "The colors will settle onto their proper objects in a few minutes. In the meantime, for payment. That will be five hundred and eighty-two shrin."

Your mouth drops open. "Five hundred...but I don't have any money at all!" you cry. You look up at the girl.

She shrugs helplessly. "You think I carry money in this outfit?" she asks.

"It's okay," says the doctor. He reaches his hand out and grasps the medallion hanging in front of your chest. "I'll accept this as a payment." The doctor lifts the medallion and its chain from around your neck.

"Hey, no, I want to keep that!" you argue, but with the colors swirling you can't tell where the medallion is to reach for it back.

"Off with you now," says the doctor. "Enjoy the world in color!" And he leaves.

You sit glumly on the stool, still unable to see very well. The girl sits down where the doctor had been.

"I'm sorry he took your sparkly," she says. "It was very pretty."

"Yeah, no big deal," you say, shaking it off.

"Hey, you're going to need a guide for awhile, until you can see clearly again," she says. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

You have lost the medallion.
If you want the dancing girl to stay with you, turn to page 16.
If you think she's been nothing but trouble and want her to go away, turn to page 23.