He shook it upside down over the counter. Out spilled a sleeve of Oreos (Aru felt an indignant flare ofYOU-HAD-THOSE-THE-WHOLE-TIME?feelings), a first-aid kit, a roll of gauze, a bunch of Boy Scout key chains (which made Aru raise her eyebrow), and the wrapped sprig of youth. The raksha scanned them with his eyes as he listened to someone talking in his earpiece. Then he pressed a small button on the lapel of his jacket and muttered, “Copy that. No sign of the godly mounts.” He swiped the contents back into Mini’s backpack and handed it to her. “Next.”
Boo fluttered to his shoulder and whispered in his ear. The raksha’s eyes widened for a moment.
“Sorry to hear that, mate. That’s some rough luck. You may proceed.”
Boo harrumphed and soared through the gate.
Next was Aru. She put the golden Ping-Pong ball in the basket and stepped forward, only to have the raksha stick out his hand.
“Shoes off as per Otherworld Transportation Security Guidelines.”
She grumbled, took off her shoes, and placed them in a bin. She stepped forward, only to have the raksha stop her.Again.
“Miss, are those your feet?”
“Are you serious?”
“Does this job look like something that encourages humor?”
Aru considered this. “No.”
“Then yes, I’m inquiring as to whether those are, in fact, your feet. You will notice on the board to your left that any removable body parts, yours or otherwise, must be registered as per Otherworld Transportation Security Guidelines.”
“Dude, these are my feet. It’s not like I’m hiding cloven hooves.”
“Why did you specify cloven hooves?”
“It’s just a joke! That’s what we say in Georgia when we don’t like someone! And then we addBless your heartafter!”
The raksha spoke into his lapel again. “Yup. Copy. Potentially small, unregistered demon.” Then, after listening to his earpiece: “Nope. Unthreatening.” He looked at her. “You may pass.”
Aru felt insulted.I cantotallybe threatening!But now was definitely not the time. She stepped through and glared at the raksha until he handed back her ball.
“Welcome to the Night Bazaar,” he said. “On behalf of the gods and storytellers around the world, we hope you leave with your life intact and your imagination brimming.”
Now that she’d stepped through the archway opening, the Night Bazaar truly unfolded around her. The half-torn sky of day and night glistened. And thesmells. Aru wanted to roll around in them forever. It smelled like popcorn dripping with butter, cookie-dough ice cream, and fresh-spun cotton candy. She made her way to Mini and Boo, her head whipping back and forth so fast trying to see everything—the trees that weren’t made of bark at all, butglass; the stores that seemed to literally chase after clientele—that she almost tripped.
“It’s something else,” said Mini, grinning. “And it smellssogood. Like a book! Or vanilla!”
Aru was about to ask if Mini’s nose was working right, but Mini kept talking.
“Only my brother has seen this place, but I don’t think he remembers it.”
“Your brother? Why?”
Mini’s face turned as red as a tomato. “They thought he was the Pandava brother…not me.”
“When did they find out it was actually you?”
Mini turned even redder, now looking like a tomato’s mutant cousin.
“Last week?” she said, squeaking on the wordweek. “Pandavas are supposed to sense danger and sometimes even react to it before they have full control of their abilities. Every time my brother did something that we thought was a miracle, I guess it was actually me doing it, because I was nearby and got scared, too. Last week, our car skidded into a ditch on the side of the road on the way to my brother’s track meet. I must’ve freaked out or something, because I…I lifted the whole car.”
“Youwhat? I wanna do that!”
Mini looked horrified. “Really?”
“Mini, you lifted a car, when you’re so small that I don’t think you even register on—”
