Blackberry Bun's Journal: Chapter 22

[Blackberry Bun]

Chapter 22: In 80 Minutes


"You really can't do anything?!" Peppermint shouted as Blackbird flew at maximum speed towards South Pole.

"I can't! It has set the next stop as South Pole and I can't cancel it!" I replied.

"Ohh, I should have stayed home!" she said.

I didn't reply at all, and the flight continued for the next few minutes until Blackbird finally deccelerated. After the decceleration, Blackbird went down and landed roughly on the icy surface. After that the engine stopped working and I couldn't turn it back on. Because we were in the South Pole, of course the weather was freezing and the fact that we weren't wearing warm clothes didn't make things any better. Not to mention the blizzard outside.

"Can we just get out of here? It's freezing here!" Peppermint said.

"Nothing is working! I'm trying but..." I said, then I noticed something ahead. "Look, there's a house."

"A house? In this kind of place?" she said. "And it's made from... ice blocks? Yeah right."

"Let's try going there. It's much better than staying here anyway," I said.

The two of us left Blackbird and walked to the house I had just seen, while bracing ourselves from the cold, freezing blizzard. When we were getting closer, someone opened the door. It was a girl dressed in a seemingly very warm clothes.

"Come inside quick!" The girl shouted, and both of us ran into the house. After we were in, the girl closed the door.

"Thanks for the shelter," I said, trembling from the cold.

"It's no problem. Now please sit by the heater and use the blankets there," the girl replied. "I'll make hot chocolate for you both."

Both of us then sat down by the heater and covered ourselves in blankets. Soon after, the girl came to us bringing two glasses of hot chocolate. After drinking some sips of it, we felt much better than a few minutes before.

"Feel better now?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, thanks for the help," I replied.

"Yeah... thank you..." Peppermint said.

"Oh, we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Blackberry Bun," I said.

"Peppermint Fizz..." Peppermint said.

"I'm Frosty Puff. Welcome to Niceland," the girl said as a penguin came to her. "And this is Freezer Pop."

"It's nice to know you both," I said.

"Where are you from? You don't look like anyone around here," Frosty asked.

"A place named Strawberryland," I replied.

"Strawberryland? The place mentioned in this letter?" Frosty asked, taking something from her pocket and showed it to us. It was indeed another of Strawberry's butterfly letters.

"That's right," I said.

"You wrote the letter?" she asked.

"No, it was our friend," I replied.

"I'd like to come there. But you see, I can't go out in this blizzard. This will last for one more week I think," she said.

"What?! So now both of us are stuck here, inside these blocks of ice, for one week?!" Peppermint said. "Ohh, I really should have just stayed home!"

"Well, maybe not," I said, searching inside my pocket.

"Great! You still have that dimension door thing, right?" she asked in excitement.

"Unfortunately no. I filled my pocket with my tools when making Blackbird. I left all my devices home," I replied. "I'll repair Blackbird and then we can go."

"No, no, no. The blizzard will freeze you. Forget all I have said," Peppermint said, surprised.

"She's right, Blackberry. I don't know what you were talking about, but please don't go out from here until the blizzard let up," Frosty said.

"Hmm... yeah, I guess you're right," I said, looking at the blizzard outside.

So, both of us decided to stay in Frosty Puff's house until the blizzard let up around one week later. During our stay, Peppermint's feeling towards Frosty Puff was at first the same as the one she had had towards Rainbow Sherbet, but she gradually started to like Frosty Puff and at the end they became close friends. Peppermint also drew a picture of Frosty and another of Tangerina to put in the clubhouse for everyone else in Strawberryland to see. After staying for five nights, the blizzard finally let up and I decided to repair Blackbird immediately.

"Wear these. They will keep you warm," Frosty said, giving me her extra mantle, gloves, and boots.

"Thanks," I said and I wore those.

I then went out and found Blackbird covered in snow. I immediately cleaned all the snows from it, which took half an hour, and then started to clean all the sand from the engine. After I was done cleaning the engine, I did a check on the engine to see if there was any more problems. Once I were done, I moved Blackbird right in front of the door of Frosty Puff's house.

"How's the plane?" Peppermint asked as I came in.

"It's fine. We can go anytime," I replied, which excited her. "Although..."

"Although what?" she asked as her excitement stopped.

"The sand has broken the recharger, and I can't fix it here," I replied.

"Recharger?" Peppermint asked.

"To make it simple, it no longer can refill its energy. We can only use the remaining energy and that's it," I said.

"What?! How much do we have?" Peppermint said, seeming worried.

"Don't worry so much. Its energy is still enough for 80 minutes of flight. Still more than enough to go around the world if you want," I replied and Peppermint calmed down.

"Okay, that's good to hear," she said.

"So, you are leaving now?" Frosty asked.

"Yes, we have stayed here long enough," I replied. "I'm sure we will meet again in Strawberryland."

"I will come for sure," she said. Suddenly the blizzard came again, although not as hard as the previous.

"Again...?" Peppermint said.

"No worries. Blackbird can endure this easily," I said.

"Once the blizzard stops I will send a reply letter," Frosty said.

"I'm sure everyone will be waiting for that to come. Bye for now," I said.

We then left Frosty Puff's house and got onboard Blackbird. I turned the engine on and the monitor in front of each of us displayed the world map, current position, as well as a timer of 80 minutes which immediately started to count down.

"So, are we going home now?" I asked.

"Well, I sorta like this trip and don't want it to end so soon..." Peppermint replied, pausing for a moment. "But if you say so, go right ahead."

"Like I said before, the remaining energy is still enough to go around the world before going home. How about going to the other side of the planet first?" I asked.

"That would be great," she replied.

"Okay, then let's go... here!" I said, touching one part of the map, which immediately displayed the name of the place. "Great Wall of Chocolate... Hit it, Blackbird!"

Blackbird then floated high and accelerated towards the place. As usual the high acceleration pressed both of us to our seats, but it later ended as Blackbird reached its maximum speed.

"35 minutes and we're there," I said.

"Are you sure we will have enough to go home?" Peppermint asked.

"Yes I'm sure of it," I replied. "Just relax and enjoy."

The flight continued without any trouble. Later Blackbird deccelerated and stopped right in front of a very long wall made from chocolate, which both of us assumed as the Great Wall of Chocolate. Because we were on the other side of the planet, it was starting to get dark while in Strawberryland we knew it was still morning over there. The sunset view we saw was so breathtaking that I regretted for not bringing a camera.

"Nice view isn't it?" I said.

"Yeah, sorta," Peppermint replied.

"Let's try landing and see if we can meet another new friend here," I said, switching Blackbird into manual control.

"As long as we still have enough to go home," she said.

"Don't worry about that. And look, there's a house there," I said, pointing at a house below. We then landed on an open field near the house and got off. Then we walked towards the house with a hope of meeting a new friend. However, when we came closer, a voice was heard from behind.

"Hey, who are you and what are you doing here?" the voice said. We looked on the source and saw a girl in red clothes looking at us with angry face.

"Umm... we just came to visit," I replied, then we heard another voice.

"Don't be so harsh, Mint Tea. They are my guests," the voice said. We looked back and saw another girl right in front of the door of the house we had been walking to. "Please come in!"

"Hmph!" Mint said as both me and Peppermint went into the house.

"Please have a seat. I'll talk with her," the girl said and she went out. Then both of us heard a conversation right behind the door.


"There's something wrong with those two."

"Something wrong? But what..."

"They're different! That's what."

"Mint!"

"The way they look, the way they came, just about everything! I don't want to be their friend and you shouldn't either!"

"Mint! Don't say that right here! They will hear!"

"So what? The sooner they leave the better. That's all I want to say!"

"Mint..."

"Oh, and consider my words again about you going to that place!"


As we heard the conversation, I noticed Peppermint starting to leak tears. I knew that the whole conversation hurt her feeling, so I approached her and tried to cheer her up although I knew it wouldn't work.

"I know it hurts, but please be strong," I said.

"No... that's not it..." she replied, wiping her tears.

"Huh?" I asked.

"It's because..." she replied, but stopped because the girl who had the house entered.

"Please forgive Mint Tea," she said. "She has difficult times to accept new people."

"It's fine. By the way, I'm Blackberry Bun," I replied.

"Peppermint Fizz," Peppermint said.

"I'm Tea Blossom. Welcome to Plum Blossom Province," the girl said as a panda came to her. "And this is Marza Panda. She's the great great granddaughter of the panda queen."

"It's nice to know you," I said, then I noticed something on the table in the middle of the room. "Hey, that letter..."

"It's a letter from Strawberryland. You know about that place?" Tea Blossom asked.

"Know about it? We live in Strawberryland," I answered. "So, what do you think about that?"

"I will surely come. It's always nice to meet new friends," she replied.

"It's nice to hear that," I said.

Then, we spent the remaining time we had until Tea Blossom needed to go to sleep. During the few hours Peppermint drew a picture of Tea Blossom, but she didn't speak much and her face expression was not so happy. Tea Blossom wondered about that and asked but Peppermint replied with an answer that she had been fine.

"It's almost your bedtime, isn't it? Then I guess we will leave now," I said, looking at the clock in the house.

"We will meet again, right?" Tea Blossom asked.

"We sure will. Everyone will be waiting for you to come to Strawberryland," I replied.

"I will send a letter once I can come," she replied, and I left the house with Peppermint.

Both of us got on Blackbird and I turned the engine on. Like before, the monitor displayed the world map, current position, and the timer which were at 39 minutes 25 seconds and counting down. I then touched one part of the map and it displayed the name of Strawberryland.

"Hit it, Blackbird!" I said, and Blackbird flew towards our home, Strawberryland.

"By the way, what did you want to say back then?" I asked.

"Huh? About what?" Peppermint asked back.

"When we heard Mint Tea..." I said.

"Oh... that..." she said, pausing for a moment. "It did hurt, but what hurt me more was that..." she continued and paused again.

"What was it?" I asked.

"I was... I was just like that when Rainbow came. To remember that I have ever been that mean... it really hurts..." she said.

"Oh..." I said, then I was speechless for a moment. "But it's a past, and now you are close friends with her. That's all that matters."

"Heh, yeah. Sorry for being a crybaby just now," she said.

"Nah, there's nothing wrong with it," I replied, and the flight continued without any more talks.

Later, we arrived at Strawberryland when the remaining time was 8 minutes 27 seconds. I immediately landed Blackbird right on the ground next to my house where it was placed before.

"Home again at last," I said, getting off.

"That was quite a good trip," Peppermint said, getting off as well.

"So, you're going to put your drawings in the clubhouse?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course," she answered.

"I think I'll go with you if you don't mind," I said.

"Hmph, why should I?" she said. "It's your call."

So, the two of us walked to the clubhouse to put Peppermint's drawings on its wall. When we arrived at the clubhouse, there were three friends inside, who were Raspberry, Apricot, and Rainbow.

"Oh, hi Blackberry and Peppermint," Apricot greeted as the two of us came in.

"Hi, Apricot. How are you today?" I replied.

"I'm just fine," she replied.

"Where have you been? I came to your house two days ago and there was nobody there," Raspberry asked.

"Around the world in 80 minutes," I answered, which made them confused.

"Uh, what? You mean 80 days? The book?" she asked.

I giggled a little and then I told them about my trip around the world with Peppermint which actually had not been 80 minutes. I had said that because the actual trip around the planet had happened in that 80 minutes. As I told them the story, Peppermint put the drawings she had made on the clubhouse's wall.

"And those three are the new friends," I said, pointing at the three drawings.

"You know..." Raspberry said, looking at the drawings. "They look kinda... different."

"Yeah, indeed," Apricot said.

"But that's what makes friendship interesting," I said.

"Yes, you're right, matey," Rainbow said.

"Don't tell anyone else about them until they come here," I said.

"Why not?" Apricot asked.

"Let it become a surprise for Strawberry and the others," I replied.

"That's an interesting idea," Raspberry said. "Okay, I won't say anything."

"That will be cool," Apricot said.

"Leave it to me, mateys," Rainbow said.

And so, all of us agreed not to tell anyone else about the new friends. I could imagine the day when all of them come to the friendship festival and all the fun that would happen. I couldn't wait for the day when the new friends come.

--End of Chapter 22--