After travelling for a little while along the tunnels under the corn maze, I eventually found an opening and drove toward the daylight. It was at first nice to be breathing clean air again, falling through that trapdoor in the corn maze had been surprising, and a little bit scary. Meeting the giant, talking mice had been similarly odd, but I had learned from my adventuring in strange worlds that being brave and being understanding were great traits for a young adventurer. Being back above ground again, I could start my search for Boo, the apricats, Billy, and of course, most of all my friend Jess. We were on this adventure together, and together we would defeat The Amazing Antonio, the evil puppet master who had turned all our classmates into his marionette puppets. I did not want to sing or dance, and this puppeteer was forcing anyone and everyone he enchanted under his spell to do both. I had to find Jess and I had to find her quickly. There was no knowing when the puppeteer would suddenly appear.

I scanned the horizon and was very glad to see that there was no sign of the corn maze. Thankfully we had travelled far enough along those dark tunnels that we have driven all the way under that confusing place. I hoped that we had not driven past the place where we were supposed to get all the things that the Stuff was going to give us, or that we were planning to borrow from that creature. I was still a bit confused by what Maddy and her sisters were planning to do. There would be claws involved, of course. Every cat plan involved claws. Why would an apricat plan be any different.

"What is that sound?" Felix, the apricat, asked me.

He turned around to look behind us, and his mouth fell open in utter surprise.

"What is it?" I asked. "What do you see?"

As I turned around in my seat too, I could not help but cry out in shock.

My friend Jess was riding toward me on the back of a unicorn which looked like it was made from corn stalks, with a bright golden cob as a horn in the middle of its horsey forehead. Beside Jess, another uni-corn raced with Boo the rac-corn clinging to its back. Impossible to believe, on the flank of each uni-corn sat all of the apricats, Maddy, Gabby, Tilly, and Livvy. They were all clinging on for dear life, either to the uni-corn or to each other. Every good cat plan involves claws. Bouncing behind them all as if he did not want to be left behind was Billy the watermelon buffalo. Behind all of them, I could see a gigantic beast of a draconic lizard, it too made up of corn, but there was something happening to the majestically mythical beast made from corn stalks, leaf, and cobs. The orange-a-tan had wrapped puppet strings around one wing while birthday girl, Tammy Tolittle, was wrapping her own strings around the other wing. I was witnessing the transformation of the dragon from a creature of beauty to puppet master's monstrosity just as my friends were all racing toward me.

"What do we do?" asked Felix the apricat, brother of Maddy, Gabby, Livvy, and Tilly, as well as I knew not how many more.

Felix and I were sitting in the Controlled Attack Tank (or C-A-T for short). Felix was still nibbling on his salmon, the satchel which contained the fresh fish sitting beside him, his claws taking the occasional swipe like he was at the cinema and the scene of chaos we were watching speed toward us merely something on the silver screen.

"We need the C-A-T to swish the puppeteer and all of his puppets away so we can save that dra-corn," I said.

"So, no BOOM?" asked Felix.

He seemed genuinely disappointed.

"No, Felix," I said. "We cannot make the dra-corn go away, not at least until we find out if it is a friend."

"Oh, alright," said Felix. "If you don't want BOOM then just say SWISH."

"Get out of the waaaaaaaaaaaay!!" called my friend Sam as he, and Boo, the rac-corn, all the apricats and of course Billy the watermelon buffalo all came within ten yards of Felix and me sitting in the C-A-T.

"If you are going to make the C-A-T go SWISH then you had better do it now," Felix suggested, before stuffing another paw full of salmon into his mouth. "By the way… This is so exciting," he added, mouthful of fish.

"SWISH!" I shouted.

Nothing happened.

"SWISH… SWISH… SWISH!!!"

Felix giggled.

"Silly… You need to wave your paws in the direction you want the things to swish if you wish for the swish to happened," the cat explained.

"SWISH!" I shouted, waving my arms frantically to the left.

The two uni-corns and their passengers tumbled to the left, bouncing and rolling, but not slowing down.

"SWISH!" I cried again.

This time my arms waved to the right.

Tammy and the citrus orange-a-tan both flew in that direction, the puppeteer strings they had tangled around the dra-corn's wings snapped and waved wildly in the C-A-T-caused breeze.

"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!" I yelled with all my might.

This time my hands went crazy, waving all sorts of ways; up, down, left, and right. The C-A-T did its best and the crazy tank's power of word and action association scattered all the marionettes. Wooden copies of my classmates and Jess' flew up into the air only to come crashing down again.

"Hey… While you swish and swish could you possibly wish for more fish?" asked Felix. "It seems I have run out."

Taking my eyes off the chaos for a single moment, I looked down and could see that indeed the satchel which had once been full of fresh salmon was now quite empty for all but the fishy smell. Felix on the other hand had a nice round bulge in his tummy area.

"Are you still hungry?" I asked, quite surprised.

Before the apricat who sat beside me could answer, I heard the eerie song again, the song that I had learned to dread ever since first hearing it at Tammy Tolittle's birthday party.

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

"It is over!" I yelled. "We have discovered the way to defeat you, puppet master!"

The strange man, a shadowy figure, dressed in a suit of red velvet with a black top hat upon his head, jerked his right hand up and then pointed toward me and Felix. The Amazing Antonio was casting his spell, sending his enchanted strings in our direction.

"SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!" I shouted.

"Wish for fish!" Felix shouted, even louder than I was.

My hands waved about crazily in every direction. The strings that weaved toward us snaked through the air, trying hard to find purchase in my hair. I continued to scream, and the C-A-T continued to blast its wild wind, but The Amazing Antonio was also determined and so those cursed strings of his continued to get closer.

"More fish!" screamed Felix the apricat beside me.

He no longer sat in the seat. He was now clawing his way up my arm.

"Wish for FIIIIIIISSSSSHHHH!!!" the apricat screamed, right in my face.

Eyes to eyes. Nose to nose. I could smell the stinky smell of fish on his breath. I wondered at that moment why he did not just wish for the fish he wanted himself. I had witnessed that the C-A-T would obey the instructions of all who sat within the cockpit. Maybe Felix had just resorted to the master and slave mentality the moment he met me, he being the master of course, as every cat believes that it is the master of its human. Master of the domain where it chooses to reside.

"Swish…" I whispered, flicking my index fingers to the right.

Felix vanished from my immediate vision, just as I witnessed the puppet master's strings wrapping around his whiskers.

Puppet on a stri… iiiiiing!

A wooden version of the manic attack cat suddenly tumbled out of the C-A-T. The poor marionette version of Felix caught up in the wild blast from the tank's power of word association.

"Brum!" I urged and the tank began rolling forward, toward the puppet master.

"Brum faster!!" I yelled.

The tank's gun pointed straight at The Amazing Antonio.

"Bang," I whispered.

Then holding my breath, I witnessed in slow motion as the tank nozzle fired. The blast hurtled straight at the shadowy figure we had tried to flee from and then defeat. I hoped beyond hope that this was going to be the end. And then, I watched in horror as the puppeteer's wriggling strings wrapped around the powerful blast and turned it into a weapon that could be fired against me.

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

I could hear it in front of me, also at my rear. I felt stuck in the middle. Felix was clawing his way back, wanting me to join the dance. The powerful blast was whirring around like a cannonball sized spinning top, waiting for the puppet master to let it go. I felt like there was nowhere I could go. Nowhere was safe. All was lost. I would be dancing forever. Looking at that face beneath the rim of that black top hat, I saw Antonio smile. Then I smiled too. There was one way I had not thought of yet. That way was up.

"Fly!" I commanded.

To my delight, and to the puppeteer's surprise and disappointment, the C-A-T flew up into the air.

"Brum!" I next said, quickly, and it worked.

Through the air I began to drive.

"Fly! Brum! Fly! Brum!" I repeated, and the C-A-T obeyed.

Below me I could still hear that awful chant. That eerie song we all feared so much.

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

But it was growing fainted and more distant as the strange tank seemingly drifted through the air, as impossibly as a bee. I scoured the land below, searching for my friends, and of course the dra-corn. All I could see was a very angry Antonio wiggling his fingers, but I had already flown beyond the range of his nasty strings.

"Sam! Sam!" called a familiar voice. "We are down here!"

It was my friend Jess.

I looked around but could not see them anywhere. What I could see though was a clicky, clackity, wooden dragon, half made from corn, and half made from the puppeteer's slavery. It had gigantic jaws, opened wide, and it was headed straight for me. In its gruff, draconic voice it was mumbling a song…

Puppet on a string

My puppet on a string

I will teach you to dance

I will teach you to sing

And then all the children

Who like to run

I shall catch with my strings

Make each one join the fun

Puppet on a string

My dear puppet on a string

"FLY!" I urged. "BRUM!"

But I could not know if I would ever be fast enough. For what, if anything can fly faster than a dragon? Before this adventure I did not know dragons or dra-corns were real. Now I knew with utter certainty that I was going to be eaten by one.

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