“Well, duh, they have to be that big if their whole jobis to pull the sun into the sky,” said Brynne. “It’s not even out yet….”
“Do you think she keeps the sun in a garage?” asked Aiden thoughtfully.
“Okay, the cows of Ushas are officially cancelled,” said Aru.“Mini, WAKE UP! We gotta go! I amnotbecoming bovine roadkill.”
Brynne yanked on Mini’s arm, but the sleeping girl didn’t budge.
“It’s like she’s stuck,” said Brynne.
“She’s in the landof sleep—it’s not going to be easy to wake her up,” said Aiden.
“Shouldn’t Durvasa have told us what to do? What happened to thesageadvice?”
“Hey, he got us here, didn’t he?” said Aiden as he walked all around Mini, examining the situation. “Hmm. I don’t think we can just pull her down from there, either.”
“Got any water?” asked Aru.
“Nope,” said Brynne. She lifted her wind mace. “Let’stry a gentle breeze.”
Brynne aimed the mace and said, “Gali.” It let out a sound like a blow-dryer being turned on right next to someone’s ear. Even Aiden jumped.
Mini’s hair went streaming behind her, but she simply batted at it, muttering, “No, I don’t want to be a fairy….” She sighed. “Don’t like heights.”
“Okay, new technique,” said Aru, bringing out Vajra. She gently touched Mini’s handwith the tip of the lightning bolt.
“I’m gonna tell her you tried to electrocute her,” said Aiden.
“Shh!”
Vajra pinged Mini, who just giggled and resumed sucking her thumb.
The cows began to moo. In the past, Aru had considered this a rather gentle and soothing sound. But when the cows wereT.rex–size, everymoobecame supersonic, even when they were still fifty feet away. Aru wobbled andnearly lost her balance on the bridge. She glanced over her shoulder. One of the cows had begun to paw the ground like it was planning to charge.
Then there came an even more disturbing sound: a high-pitched giggle.
“GOOD MORNING, WORLD!”
The herd parted to allow the goddess Ushas through. As she passed her cows, she stroked each one on the forehead. Ushas wore a golden robe and fuzzy goldenslippers. Bright orange flames danced through her black hair, creating dramatic highlights. To Aru, the red-skinned goddess looked like a rich teenage girl with an epic sunburn.
Ushas snapped her fingers and two attendants rolled out a chariot of pure gold. They began to harness the cows, adjusting each strap and checking each hoof.
“Hey!” shouted Aiden, frantically waving his arms. “Give usa minute here, will you?”
But Ushas didn’t hear him. Loud music started blasting from somewhere in the clouds—a remix of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.” Ushas started singing along. The cows mooed louder. Mini’s foot tapped to the beat.
“Okay, okay. Focus, Shah!” said Aru, jumping up and down. “Mini can obviously hear.”
“Maybe she isn’t waking up because she doesn’t think all this is real,”offered Brynne. “What if we made herwantto wake up? We could shout her favorite things.”
“That might work!”
“Does she have a celebrity crush?” asked Brynne. “Look, Mini! Dominique Crenn is right behind you!”
“Who—?” asked Aru.
“She’s a chef!” said Brynne.
Mini just frowned harder.
