The Dark Crystal by A. C. H. Smith

glimpse of what had been an opening in a clump of ferns snapping shut. He rose and cautiously parted the ferns, edged his head through, and looked around. No creature was there.

    Then he noticed something on the ground. In the mire there was a print, slowly filling with a trickle of muddy water. As he watched, water filled and obliterated it.

    Jen withdrew his head and again peered keenly around him. There were many clumps of ferns, rushes, and swamp-rooted trees behind which a creature might be lurking. Then he detected another flash of movement behind another clump of ferns, and this time he distinctly heard the sound of something scuttling away from his gaze. From the sound of it and the size of its print, it could not be anything very large. Feeling bolder, Jen moved as quickly as he could through the mire to the place where he had glimpsed the animal.

    Again there was no creature to be seen, but there was a spoor. It led to a patch of firmer ground, where toadstools grew thickly. Through the toadstools, a trail of broken caps pointed directly to the open end of a fallen, hollow trunk.

    Stealthily, Jen circled around to the farther end of the trunk and crouched beside it. From somewhere he heard a sound much like his own laughter. His body tensed as he looked about uneasily. The swamp was full of noises.

    He leaned forward around the end of the trunk. Staring out at him was a monstrous face covered with fur. It was uttering a low, very menacing growl. Then it opened its mouth, revealing several rows of teeth, and let out an enormous, terrible roar.

    Jen jumped so violently that he staggered backward. Losing his foothold on the slippery ground he fell, and landed sitting in a boggy patch. Neither his hands nor his feet could find a purchase he could use to haul himself out of the mire.

    Again he heard laughter, this time behind his shoulder. He craned his neck around. From behind a tree, a Gelfling girl stepped out. She looked at him with a broad smile and laughed again.

    Jen was aware of the ridiculousness of his position, but he was much too stunned by the girl’s appearance to improve his dignity or to care that she was laughing at him or to feel anything at all except amazement. His open mouth made him still more a figure of fun.

    From the hollow log, the fierce growls continued, interspersed with yaps. Jen glanced anxiously in the direction of the furry monster.

    The girl followed his glance, then gave a whistle. From the log, the face with bared teeth skipped out, revealing that it was virtually nothing but face. Its body was a tiny ball of fur, nothing more.

    “Don’t be afraid of Fizzgig,” the girl told Jen. “He won’t hurt you. He’s a terrible coward.” She looked at Fizzgig, who was scurrying across to hide behind her. “Aren’t you?” she asked affectionately.

    Fizzgig looked up at her with devotion.

    The girl was the most beautiful thing Jen had seen in his life: beautiful in herself, and beautiful in existing at all. Her hair was longer and fairer than his, her eyes were larger, and the tunic she wore was brown while his was a pale, creamy color: but there was no doubt what race she belonged to – the same wide cheekbones as Jen’s, the small chin, the pointed ears. When he found his voice, he said, “You are Gelfling.”

    “Yes,” she answered.

    “But…” Jen shook his head. “I thought I was the only one.”

    “So did I.” They smiled at each other, astounded, delighted.

    “I have been hidden all my life in a village near here,” she said. “I live with the Pod People. My name is Kira.”

    “I have lived in a valley with the urRu,” Jen told her, “a long way from here. I am called Jen.”

    He tried to stand up but found he had settled more deeply into the bog. His movements caused another round of growling from Fizzgig.

    “I seem to be stuck,” Jen said.

    “Here,” Kira said, “take my hand.” She knelt down at the edge of the mire and reached out to