" -- Oklahoma. He wouldn't buy me the pair of socks I wanted, so I stuck him in a fridge. Then I stuck the fridge in an oven. Then I turned the oven on, and stuck it in an ice-chest. I wonder if he's hot or cold right now?"

~Riella

Jen wrinkled her nose. "Your gross."

William laughed. "Not as gross as me!"

Everyone began to realize that the very ground they were standing on was sinking.
They were in a melting pond of ice- no wait they were on a melting ocean of ice!!!

Then William started laughing evilly "HA! I've got you now! No longer will you creeps bug my every living day!"

Jen, shocked and angered by his words, snapped "You really are gross!"

But before anyone could stop him, he vanished into thin air, while Sam muttered "So Jen's sister's boyfriend is a villian, and now we'll all drown if we don't do something!"

Suddenly a great big Whale floated over to them.

"Clim on my back," it said, "And I will carry all of you to safety! You must meet my Master, and we will eat hardy. You will never forget Him once you meet Him."

They all did as the whale said.

"So.. who is this Master of yours? And how does hhe know who we are? And why does he want to help us?" asked Jen.

~Riella

"My Master," said the whale, "Is a man named Fergious. He doesn't know who you are, but He welcomes all to His table. And He wants to help you because you are all His servants, or will be, if you agree to come serve Him."

"Oh," said Jen, "But what if don't serve him?"

"Then He will not be able to help you any further." said the whale sadly.

Jen felt confused. "Who or what is he exactly? Is He... good? What are his purposes? And how can we serve him?"

~Riella

"He is a man, and the ruler of these lands, King of all free talking beasts and people. I don't rightly know what you mean by good, but He is just. His purposes are His own, you will just have to trust Him; He has never let anyone down yet. You serve Him by pledging yourself to Him."

At this time they had pulled up beside an enormous castle and the whale let everyone off.

"Ah, doesn't the land look lovely?" the whale signed dreamily. But all the others saw was ashes, dry land, and no sign of living plants or animals.

"If this is what the land looks like, I'm dying to see the inside of the castle," Aaron muttered.

"Goodbye, everyone, and hopefully my master will be pleased with me this time!" the whale called, then returned to the waters.

Aaron looked around again and said, "Why on earth did that whale say the land looked lovely?"
"I don't know," Jen replied; "It's like he saw things differently than we do. Like... he could see things we couldn't. Perhaps it has something to do with serving that Master of his. Perhaps, once we follow his Master, we'll see the world in a different light too."

~Riella

Everyone went inside the castle and saw the dreary, dark halls.

"I can't stand this place!" said Jen "It's hopeless!"

Then they saw Fergious (they knew Him at once), and they came over to him.

"Sir," began Tom, "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm going to serve you!" Then suddenly Tom cried "What a beautiful castle! What tapestries! What courtyards, what halls!!"

Jen looked at Tom in shock. "Can't you see who we are in the presence of? Truly we are before someone much greater than we imagined. Is your surroundings all you can concentrate on?"

~Riella

"No, no; Master is all that my eyes are on now!"

Jen looked at Tom, and it was true.

"Come forward, my son." said Fergious.

Tom did without hesitating, and bowed to him. Sam, Jen, and Cayley immediately joined him with strange, enchanted expressions on their faces.

"Oh, Master! What may we do for you?" Jen squealed in a sweet yet sickly voice.

Aaron, the only one not affected this way, began to wonder what was going on. "Who exactly are you, Fergious?" he asked skeptically.