
his, "that you would have noticed the change before this, but 1 suppose readjustment takes more time
when it occurs immediately upon awakening."
"Readjustment?" He was very near panicking. "What the hell's going on? What's happened to you?
What happened to Sorbl? What . . . ." He started to gesture with a claw, and as soon as he saw it
hovering in front of him, he quickly drew it back against his body as if the very movement might make it
disappear. "What's happened to everything?"
"Well, my boy." The wizard spoke while nonchalantly preening one eyestalk with his secondary claw,
acting as though it were a task he performed regularly every morning. "It would appear that we are
confronted by a problem of grave dimensions."
"Oh, no," Jon-Tom moaned. At least, he thought he moaned. It emerged as a kind of sibilant hiss. "Why
must it always be a problem of grave dimensions? Can't we ever be confronted by a problem of
lighthearted dimensions? A problem of mild dimensions? A problem requiring only simple,
straightforward solutions?"
"You are becoming hysterical, my boy."
"I am not becoming hysterical," Jon-Tom snapped. "Sarcastic and mad and maybe a little crazy, but not
hysterical."
At that moment the enormous blue crab, which had been listening patiently to him, vanished. So did the
algae- and kelp-strewn wall of the cave, and the roar of the ocean outside, and the thick tangy odor of
salt spray. The purple and green light that had illuminated the chamber was replaced with a warm,
indistinct transparency. Clothahump the wizard, the real Clothahump, was sitting facing him on a stool not
six feet away and regarding his young guest calmly.
Behind the wizard was the soft blond-brown wood that formed the interior walls of the great tree. The
cave, too, had gone, to be replaced by the familiar surroundings of his own room. There was his bed,
there his desk and chair, over in the corner the simple washbasin and spigots. Rising on shaky legs, he
crossed to the basin, turned the cold water tap on full, and splashed it freely over his face and arms. As
he dried himself he felt with relief the soft smooth skin that covered his arms. The hard chitinous shell was
gone. He touched his head, felt the recently washed shoulder-length hair.
I am me again, he thought with exquisite relief.
The world was normal once more. Or was it? What of the problem the wizard had alluded to? Jon-Tom
knew that the turtle did not refer to such matters lightly, and he'd already been subjected to an intimate
illustration of the seriousness of the problem.
Well, no matter. They would handle it, as they had handled such matters before. Clothahump would
know how to cope, what to do. Oh, he would moan and groan and gripe about the loss of his precious
time, but he would take care of things, and Jon-Tom, as always, would learn from the experience. Surely
any sorcerer who could conceive a strategy for defeating the Plated Folk at the Jo-Troom Gate and who
could provide hot and cold running water in the heart of an oak tree could cope with this small matter of
waking up in another world in the body of a giant blue crab?
Only-what if it happened again?
With some amazement he saw that his hands were trembling.