The Book of Zorb

By Jeremy Nippard

“What would you draw if you had the power to create whatever you wanted, just by putting a pen to paper? Perhaps a better question is, why hasn’t it been drawn yet?”

An Unseen Power

Chrysti and Carver are just two ordinary children living out their story on the extraordinary, unexplored world of Zorb. A series of smelly and unlikely events leads them outside the safety of the Complex, where they discover the untamed power of imagination, friendship, and faith in a world full of magic and looming danger.

A World in Peril

When the evil Takers threaten to swallow all of Zorb with their army of fearsome creations, will the citizens of Zorb retreat to the comfort and slavery of their technology, or will they choose to embrace the beautiful unknown of courage, creativity, and adventure?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Word Alive Press
• Release date: Apr 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781486615131

Book preview

Author

Acknowledgements

It takes a community to give birth to a book. Fortunately, I spend my time surrounded with people who love me, and who are much wiser, kinder, and more intelligent than I. First and foremost, thanks go to my wife, Cheryl, for putting up with my 3 AM writing spurts, encouraging me in this enormous investment, and loving me in my insanity. She loves me like God loves me: in a way that is completely disproportionate to my merits.

Special thanks go to Burton Janes, who took the time to read my early ramblings and encouraged me to go the distance. I am also extremely grateful to everyone who inspired, read, or made suggestions to improve the manuscript: my family of writers and creators, PSop, my church, my colleagues, and especially my kids, since this project began as a collection of bedtime stories for them. To Rachel Barnes, for helping to bring these beautiful characters to life. To Sylvia, Matt, and the whole team at Word Alive Press, thank you for your honesty, patience and professionalism, and for doing the heavy lifting on this project.

Finally, to Joshua, without whom there would be no story worth telling. SDG.

chapter 1

Polka Dot Pie

The pegysis named Polka Dot Pie opened her chestnut eyes wide, fluttered her long eyelashes, and tossed her sparkling, purple mane. She always laughed at the name her designer had given her; it was funny because she hadn’t one polka dot on her entire coat. In fact, she had not a stripe or scratch or hint of any colour. Instead she glowed a brilliant white.

It was almost a perfect day. The sky was blue, butterflies fluttered freely in the field, and the ground felt soft and cool under her pink hooves. There was only one problem: she was only alive in one small corner of a little girl’s imagination.

Chrysti opened her hazel eyes just a crack, and groaned as she rolled out of bed and hit the floor with a loud thud! She would pay for that later. The Caretakers didn’t like bruises, and they really didn’t like it when workers slept in until...ten minutes to eight! There was no time to put her long brown hair in a ponytail, much less for breakfast.

She threw on one of the grey gowns from her closet and ran as fast as her legs could carry her to the workstation upstairs. She ran down a long grey hallway, and into a cramped elevator filled with other workers (we would call them children). Upstairs, she bolted through the large doors that served as the entrance and exit for worktime.

As usual, the tall, skinny, blue-faced Caretakers stood just inside with their noses buried in their tablets. They were busy typing information about the workers with their fourteen skinny fingers.

She couldn’t help but notice the note next to her name: late and unkempt. She didn’t know what unkempt meant, but it couldn’t be good. It was probably another way of saying less playtime.

Chrysti’s thought was interrupted as a small, golden-eyed boy with a tuft of dirty blonde hair, in even worse condition than hers, burst through the door.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrgh! Carver yelled.

He was late again, but obviously hadn’t missed breakfast. There was slimy blue gropel all over his face, and even some stringing down from his hands.

A short Caretaker sighed loudly and took him by the hand to the washstation. We would probably compare it to a small car wash on our planet. The Caretakers took great care not to harm the workers. As far as safety goes, the workers were pampered.

Carver laughed and squealed with delight as the scrubbers fluffed his hair, but Chrysti was already too busy to take much notice. Within five minutes of her late arrival she was plugged in. To the workers, it felt a little like how being in school feels for us earthlings.

Although they were learning, the real purpose of the work was to create enough energy to power the great Complex of Zorb. To the workers, the Complex was the entire world. As they learned, their brains pumped energy