Arthur accepted Clark’s offer, following him through a windy wooden trail to where he would eventually end up; the village of Fletcherville. It had the appearance of a fairly small town and it looked almost improvised due to the way the residences and buildings were built; there were lots of small wooden shacks with the odd one-story ranch house interspersed here and there. Yet the village did not look derelict; the buildings were all decorated with plants, some even being used as important parts of the structures, such as the thick ivy roof in the doctor’s office Clark had led Arthur inside of.

The more unusual part, for someone not used to such things, was that the cricket’s “people” were actually a variety of different human-sized bugs. Butterflies, ladybugs, and spiders were among the different ones Arthur saw, and this included the man he was now talking to while Clark sat nearby. Doctor Smith was a centipede. An educated centipede that had given the amnesiac man a physical earlier and was now finishing asking him a series of questions.

“And you don’t feel light headed at all?”

“No. Like I said, I was hungry and thirsty earlier, but that’s it.”

“Well Arthur, the good news is I don’t think the memory loss is from disease. You’re perfectly healthy. The bad news is that I can’t cure your memory myself.”

The man felt dejected at the news. “Nothing at all?”

“I said ‘myself.’ There might be a way to do it, but it’s a long shot.”

“How?” Arthur felt at this point he would do anything to know who he was.

“There’s a fruit called a Sun Berry. It’s in the shape of a small sphere, the size of a grape, and is an extremely bright white color - hence the name. It’s said that when one is eaten, it gives the eater extreme mental clarity, like sunshine after a storm. Based on what I’ve read of people who ate it, it will likely restore your memory.”

“That’s great!” A lead was finally in sight. “Do you know where I can get one?”

“No. I [i]literally[/i] just said I can’t cure your memory myself.” Arthur couldn’t tell, but he thought he saw the doctor roll his eyes as he was going through a nearby cabinet. “The berry is extremely rare, so it’s not like you can just buy it at the store.”

“What should I do, then?”

“Well, you can start by delivering this.” Finishing his words, the centipede gave the man a jar the size of a dictionary filled with some kind of red powder.

The doctor had just made a big deal about what he couldn’t do, so this confused Arthur. “…how will this cure my memory?”

“It won’t. My time isn’t free and I know neither of you have gold, so you and Clark can deliver that to my patient instead. He lives in the [i]human[/i] town and this is cheaper than mailing it.”

For the first time in a while, the cricket spoke up. “Wait, why both of us? I-”

“Can you read the word in my mind right now?” the centipede asked scornfully. He looked at Clark, waiting as long as he needed to get the point across.

After about a minute, Clark sighed. “Fine, I’ll guide him there. Who are we giving this to?”