The journey home started off well enough for Little Lauryn Lollipop. She and her seven big brothers had spent the day with their mom selling grumpleberry pies at the market. One-hundred-and-fourteen grumpleberry pies to be exact.
Not a bad day at all, she thought.
However, Lauryn would soon be reminded how quickly “not a bad day” could turn into “a very bad day indeed.”
Their wagon bounced along the rutted dirt track above the high banks of the Rutabaga River. Lauryn’s brothers slept under the canopy, snoring so loudly you could barely hear the rushing waters below. To get away from the racket — at least a little bit — Lauryn crawled to the very back of the wagon, dangling her legs over the edge and enjoying the crisp night air.
The road they travelled was one pothole after another, forcing Little Lauryn Lollipop to hold on tight as the wagon lurched and rattled its way forward.
Not tightly enough, as it would turn out.
Because as the family mule pulled them across a particularly rickety bridge, one of the boards snapped loose. The wagon bucked wildly as its wheels rolled across the gap, launching Little Lauryn Lollipop from her precarious perch.
Unfortunately, her wails came at the exact moment a yowly owl decided to yowl, which — when combined with her brothers’ snores and the sound of the roaring river — drowned out poor Lauryn’s cries for help.
Down she tumbled, splashing spectacularly into the river below.
And what a river it was! The powerful current picked her up like a cork, sweeping her downstream as fast as a flash.
After what seemed like hours, the frothy waters finally slowed and deposited Lauryn on the riverbank, significantly soggier than how she started her evening.
It didn’t look good, being here (wherever here was), all alone in the wilderness. But Lauryn quickly realized she was not as alone as she initially thought. Because sure enough, Lauryn had washed up on the front lawn of a lompa-kazoo, who was returning to his hidey-hole after collecting some crinkle-leaf for his bedtime tea.
“Oh, hello,” said the young lompa-kazoo.
“Hello,” said Lauryn.
A long silence followed as the two stared at each other.
“Crinkle-leaf tea?”
“… That would be lovely,” said Lauryn, her teeth chattering from the cold.
Three piping mugs of tea later, Lauryn had warmed up enough to explain her unfortunate predicament to the lompa-kazoo — whose name she learned was Pico.
“I’d very much like to go home,” said Lauryn. “But I’m afraid I don’t know the way.”
“That’s OK,” replied Pico. “I don’t know the way either. But you want to know the good news? There is no the way. There are all sorts of ways. So what do you say we go find ours?”
With that, Pico ran out of the room, returning a minute later carrying a battered old suitcase with rusty hinges. “Ready when you are, Miss Lollipop.”
And so their adventure began. And while Little Lauryn Lollipop was very scared about the long road home that lay ahead of her, she was very glad indeed that the raging Rutabaga River had decided to spit her out here, on Pico’s doorstep.
.
Ideas for your own journey!
Obstacles come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes you can see them coming — like a big assignment that’s been on the calendar for weeks. Or a project at home you’ve been planning for ages.
Other times, you’re like Little Lauryn Lollipop in the Rutabaga River: facing challenges that come out of the blue. A global pandemic. The sudden loss of a loved one. An unexpected thunderstorm turning your camping weekend into a muddy mess.
Whatever it might be, those experiences can leave you feeling sad, scared, confused, stressed, alone and helpless.
But as Lauryn learned when she met Pico, you’re not as alone as you might think. The world is full of people eager to lend a hand. And as Lauryn will soon discover as she embarks on her long journey home, you’re also not as helpless as you might think.
Whatever obstacle you’re facing, it’s important to remember that you are not a passive passenger. You have the ability to be an active participant in your journey, to change your focus from the problem to your response to it.
It’s about recognizing that it’s not the size of the obstacle that matters. It’s how we face it — and who we face it with — that makes all the difference.
And as Pico pointed out, you don’t even need to know the way to the other side of adversity. Because more often than not, there is no “the way.” Every journey is unique and filled with twists and turns. So a path that one person takes might not be the right path for you. And that’s OK!
Like Lauryn, all you need to do is get up and get started.
NEXT: CHAPTER 2 — THE DESERT OF MOURNFUL MEOWS
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Little Lauryn Lollipop & The Long Road Home | © Josh Martin 2026