Only Two Inches
Two inches away …
Snap!
Squeak!
A puff of light smoke,
When the wind comes,
Turns into wisps,
Dissolves into air,
Never to be found.
Only two inches,
Only two inches.
Every little imp in Ball Imp Valley sang this song.
Ball Blue hummed softly as he stepped out of his ball-shaped house, pulled a tiny tape measure made from grass stems out of his pocket, and measured straight ahead of him. Two inches away stood a wild lily with dewdrops on several petals. He shook the stalk, raised his chin, and let the droplets fall into his open mouth.
Dew is the only food of Ball Imps.
Not far away, Ball Purple was drinking dew from a hyacinth. She also stood two inches from her ball-shaped house, feeling a little bored.
Ball Imps were not supposed to go more than two inches from their own ball houses. Every imp in the valley knew this rule.
Only two inches, no further.
But beyond two inches what would happen? “Two inches away … Snap! Squeak! A puff of light smoke, when the wind comes, turns into wisps, dissolves into air, never to be found. Only two inches, only two inches.” Wasn’t the answer in the song?
Whoops! Ball Purple looked at her wristwatch. Her nineteen seconds was almost up! She ran back into her house as Ball Blue dashed back into his.
Ball Imps are not supposed to leave their ball houses for any longer than nineteen seconds. But after nineteen seconds, what would happen? “Two inches away … Snap! Squeak! A puff of light smoke, when the wind comes, turns into wisps, dissolves into air, never to be found. Only two inches, only two inches.” Wasn’t the answer in the song?
The blue ball house rumbled and rolled upward, and the purple one rumbled and rolled forward.
“Not good!” they cried almost in the same instant. Instantly the two houses stopped, exactly six inches away from each other.
It was exactly six inches—take their grass rulers and measure it if you don’t believe me. The imps themselves are always measuring, and their eyes are as sharp as their rulers.
No ball house in the valley is allowed to be within six inches of another. Any closer than that, and “Snap! Squeak! A puff of light smoke, when the wind comes, turns into wisps, dissolves into air, never to be found.” Wasn’t the answer already in the song?
Normally they would have switched directions and rolled their houses apart, but today they both chose to stick their heads out of their tiny little windows.
Blue saw Purple. She had a pair of very long lashes that fluttered like the wings of a butterfly.
Purple also saw Blue. He had a mark like a star on the left side of his brow.
The inhabitants of Ball Imp Valley look much like we do, except that they are an inch or so tall, plump and pink, and have very round faces and huge eyes. Purple’s hair was purple, and Blue’s hair was blue, which matched the colors of their ball-shaped houses.
Purple’s eyes glinted, and she cried, “We—we seem to have been born together.”
Ball Blue shook his head. He didn’t remember the day he was born, when he and his house rolled down the rock together. Who knew how long or how far he rolled? He stopped in a place where there were many white ball-shaped houses rolling and hopping around, but none of them paused to take care of him. After a long time, a hoarse voice sang,
Two inches away …
Snap!
Squeak!
A puff of light smoke,
When the wind comes,
Turns into wisps,
Dissolves into air,
Never to be found.
Only two inches,
Only two inches.
Who on earth would sing such a horrid song? Blue looked out his window and saw a red ball house with an open window.
A wrinkled face appeared in the window. “Remember, remember! No further than two inches! No longer than nineteen seconds! No closer than six inches between ball houses! And take a ruler with you, take a ruler.”
Later, Blue learned that she was the oldest imp in the valley, and taught every newborn imp her song, which explained the hoarseness of her voice. Purple had taken her classes too.
Ball Imps have no mother or father—they are born from a big rust-colored rock above the valley. After the first spring rain of each year, several balls no larger than a grain of rice emerge from the rock and grow a little with each subsequent rainfall. When the seventeenth spring rain ends, the balls start rolling downhill, and the little imps fall asleep inside, as they roll right into the arms of Ball Imp Valley. If there are fewer than seventeen rains in spring, however, the balls all shrivel up and disappear. And as we know, very few springs have as many as seventeen rainfalls. Unsurprisingly, the number of Ball Imps is quite small.
Purple, who had kept her eyes open when she rolled downhill, saw a small blue ball house roll past her. She tried to chase after it, but it disappeared very quickly, and she did not find it again.
“You’ve really never seen me before?” she asked anxiously.
Blue continued to shake his head.
“We were still born together, anyway. I’m Purple!” Purple got overexcited and quickly rolled forward, frightening Blue, who hastily retreated.
“Please keep your distance!” He sounded rather panicky.
Purple paused. “Oh … right. We’ll disappear.”
The blue and purple ball-shaped houses stayed six inches apart, and the two imps poked their blue and purple heads out from their respective windows.
“Why is there a star on your forehead?”
“It’s a scar. I knocked my head on the doorframe.”
“That’s a very pretty scar.” Purple’s face was full of envy.
Blue laughed. “You’re so funny.”
The two of them talked for a long time. Well actually, they yelled. Since they had to keep six inches apart, it was hard to hear if they spoke softly. They shouted to each other even after their voices became hoarse, until at long last they could only see each other’s mouths opening and shutting.
Perhaps this was why Ball Imps so seldom spoke to each other—it was far too exhausting. Thus, solitude had become the most common way of life for them. They kept both joy and sadness to themselves. And their best friends were their rulers.
“Are you happy?” Purple shouted.
Blue yelled back, “I don’t know!”
“Do you ever feel lonely?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you get bored very often?”
“I have no idea.”
“Why don’t you know anything?” Purple shouted.
“I know I have to drink dew every day, I know I can only venture two inches from my house, I know I’m not supposed to stay outside longer than nineteen seconds, and I know that our ball-shaped houses have to stay at least six inches apart. Don’t I know enough already?” Blue asked.
Purple gave a discouraged sigh. “Oh, my.”
“…”
Tired from talking, Blue and Purple took a nap in their own houses and gave their voices a rest. They awoke at the same time, poked their heads out of their windows and began chatting again. But speaking this way took too much effort, so Purple came up with a good idea.
The doors of their houses faced each other, so they opened their doors at the same time and each walked two inches toward the other. Then they were only two inches apart and talking was much easier. But they soon found that this method also had problems, since they couldn’t leave their houses for more than nineteen seconds at a stretch and walking back and forth took four seconds. That left only fifteen seconds for talking.
“I don’t think the life of a Ball Imp is all that interesting,” Purple began.
“Why?” Blue asked from two inches away.
Purple said, “There are so many rules, and—”
She was only halfway through her words when Blue gave the time warning. “Quick, time to go!” So they both turned and ran into their houses, rested for a second, then darted back out again until they were two inches apart.
“What were you saying?” Blue enquired.
“I was running—I forgot,” Purple answered.
“I forgot, too.”
“I want to touch the star on your forehead,” Purple begged.
“Okay.”
Purple reached her hand out, but their time was up and they hurried back into their houses.
They ran back and forth, but Purple was never able to touch the star on Blue’s forehead. Even though they were only two inches apart, her arm wasn’t half that long. There was nothing to be done.
“Do you believe that song is true?”
“I guess so.”
“But I’ve never seen anyone turn into smoke and dissolve into air,” Purple said.
Blue answered, “That’s because everyone is so careful. They all carry their rulers.”
They ran back and forth to continue their conversation.
There was really not enough time to talk, so Purple came up with another idea. “If we run a little faster and cut our time to only one second out and one second back, that leaves two extra seconds for talking, doesn’t it?”
Ah. There wasn’t any better idea, was there?
“Ready.” Blue and Purple stood in their doorways, crooked their legs, leaned forward, and bent their arms. “Set. Go!”
They ran so fast they heard only the wind past their ears, so fast they couldn’t stop. When they finally managed to halt, Purple had run smack into Blue’s house, and Blue had crashed into Purple’s.
They had gone further than two inches.
Two inches away …
Snap!
Squeak!
A puff of light smoke,
When the wind comes,
Turns into wisps,
Dissolves into air,
Never to be found.
Only two inches,
Only two inches.
They froze. It was too awful for words—to turn into smoke and dissolve without a trace? It was just too dreadful to imagine. Fear gripped them tightly, and together they shut their eyes. One second, two, three …
Their eyes slowly opened. They looked at each other, waiting quietly, waiting for their houses to disappear with a snap and themselves to vanish with a squeak.
One minute, two, three …
They stepped forward and slowly walked toward one another, until they were half an inch apart. Purple touched the star on the left side of Blue’s forehead, and said with satisfaction, “There, I did it. In fact, even if we disappear, it’s not so terrifying, is it?”
Blue agreed. “I’m not afraid.”
One hour, two, three …
Perhaps they wouldn’t disappear after all. They walked hand in hand through the tall grass.
One day, two, three …
They really hadn’t vanished! They walked hand in hand through Ball Imp Valley.
One month, two, three …
Every day, more ball houses followed them. At last the other Ball Imps came out of their little houses and, one by one, walked further than two inches.
But why did nothing awful ever happen, not even a little bit? What in the world was going on?
Remember that oldest Ball Imp with the rattling voice? She got it all wrong—the song was supposed to go like this:
Two inches away …
Snap!
Squeak!
A puff of light smoke,
When the wind comes,
Turns into wisps,
Dissolves into air,
Never to be found.
Only two inches,
Only two inches,
Is not very far—keep going.
Go further—it’s really all right!
You see, she had completely forgotten those last two lines.
Ha! How could there be such a strange song in the world? Of course, there must be—otherwise what would the Ball Imps sing?