Chapter 8: Weary Mount Quaffle

Soundtrack: Super Mario Bros. 3 - 'Of Mind and Body' by Evahn

With every step that he took, Abner's misgivings grew in indirect proportion to his willpower to keep going. The two had been walking in silence for hours, but they didn't seem to be making any progress; the mountain just seemed to go on at this level for all time.
"Surely something has to give," Abner thought to himself. "Otherwise Herringway wouldn't have-" And then it hit him like a proverbial ton of bricks; an urge to sleep so bad that he found it nearly irresistible. Noting that there wasn't much point to resist anyway, Abner fell asleep mid-step, collapsing on the snowy trail.

There was a sharp tapping. Not wanting to wake up, Abner pulled the blanket over his head. Louder tapping ensued, followed by a warm, most familiar voice.
"Ab, dear, it's time to wake up." Bewildered at what was happening, Abner could only continue to lay under his blanket in a complete state of flabbergastment. When no sound of him rising could be heard, he could hear his mother opening the door and making her way to his bed. Gently grabbing the covers, she pulled them off and looked down. She was just as pretty as she always had been, with long, shiny black hair, a kind smile and the most loving green eyes Abner had ever seen. Still in complete shock, Abner didn't even notice the black, formal attire she was wearing today.
"Honey," his mother said as she sat down next to him, looking him full in the face, with a warmhearted smile across her lips. "I know what you must be feeling; you loved your nana, and she loved you back with all her heart, so facing the world and all of its crap seems even doubly hard today. And seeing the rest of your father's side of the family today certainly isn't going to help matters. But as comfortable and warm as this mattress is, as appealing as it sounds to give up and lay here forever, it's simply not an option. If it were up to me, you'd never have to feel this kind of hurt, and having anyone to deal with this pain, let alone an eight year old, is no small thing to ask. But Ab baby, just remember; there are always reasons to stay and avoid all the pain, but there are even more reasons to fight through it and go out into the world to make your own happiness."
As his mother hugged him, Abner realized where he was - it was the week after his 8th birthday; the birthday when his mother had received the phone call that his grandma on his dad's side of the family had passed away. Today was the funeral.
Abner hugged his mother back with all his might. How he had ever taken her for granted over the years, and even treated her so badly in his early teen years, he could not answer. If he had known what was to happen to her, he would have done things differently, certainly. But what did it all matter, when she was here with him now? With a crushing realization, however, Abner knew that this was all just some dream; his real body was on Mount Quaffle somewhere in the middle of the North Pole, probably freezing to death.
'What does it matter?' Abner thought to himself. 'Just because all of this is happening in my head doesn't make it any less real.' But then he thought of all that his mother had just told him; how he had to confront the sadness in his life in the hopes of finding new happiness. Sure, staying here with a shadow of his mother in the past was an option, but in giving in and sleeping while the rest of the world carried on, how much else would he have to give up? All of his friends were waiting for him back home, not having a clue of where he was. Not to mention his penguin companion Bumpty, who was surely trying his hardest to save his body from frostbite. And then there was his real mother, who was slowly but surely dying even as he sat here, and the whole reason he had come to find Santa Claus. Letting all of this sink in, Abner was suddenly consumed with a manic energy to finish what he had started, no matter how hard things were going to get. And as this final epiphany hit him, his surroundings started to become white and fuzzy.
Abner hugged his mother even tighter, trying to put all of his love for her into his embrace. And it seemed that she understood, as she held him even tighter, and as the last of this image dissipated, he thought he could hear her sniffle.

Opening his eyes, Abner saw that he was not alone; Bumpty was sitting in front of a fire a few feet away. Noticing that he was stirring, the penguin hurried over.
"My dear boy!" Bumpty exclaimed. "You gave this old ticker a terrile fright indeed!"
"What happened?" Abner asked, not sure of where he was; they seemed to be in a cave.
"You just collapsed as we were walking; I thought something had happened, but you were still breathing; it was as if you were in a deep sleep. So I picked you up to carry you, and almost immediately the path lead me to a cave in the mountain. I carried you inside a ways, and when we were far enough away from the entrance I set you down and made this fire."
"Ugh," Abner groaned, trying to sit up but giving up the prospect immediately. "How long was I out for?"
"Only about an hour," Bumpty replied, looking concerned. "Look, neither of us has had much sleep as of late, and I think scaling this ridiculously named mountain is what did it, Abner. Why don't we call it a day from here, so you can recollect your strength and we can press on tomorrow?"
"All right, that sounds great Bumpty," Abner responded gratefully; he didn't think he would be able to stand up if his life depended on it. As Bumpty unpacked more supplies from Abner's pack, Abner laid there, thinking to himself.
'Bumpty's right; climbing the mountain is what made that happen, but not in the way he thinks it did. What Herringway said about the things on this mountain being spiritually and emotionally taxing was right. But then what else is Mount Quaffle going to show me before I can get to Santa Claus?'
And with these quandries in mind, Abner fell into a much more restful slumber than the one he had just come out of.