Billy Gets Scared
Billy’s mother warns him against venturing into the forest with tales of horrifying creatures. But Billy has a unique condition in which he is visited upon only by a shoulder Devil—there is no shoulder Angel to reinforce his mother’s warning—and before you know it, the Billy is out the door and following the Devil’s advice to go forth and search for wild strawberries because, the fiend claims, the whole floor of the forest is just a red carpet made of the sweet fruit. It doesn’t take long for the warning of Billy mom to come flooding back, however, and intensified by an ominous sound:
“Every second it was growing louder, and suddenly it was no longer a small wind, it was a freasom swooshing whooshing whiffling snorting noise that sounded as though some gigantic creature was breathing heavily through its nose as it galloped towards him.”
The Minpins
Billy’s first introduction to the diminutive forest creatures inhabiting hollow trees called the Minpins arrives in the form of a Don Mini who is not, despite the name, a member of the Minpin Mafia. He is, instead, almost a kind of Yoda figure (in appearance if not necessarily wisdom, powers or speech) who becomes the de facto spokesman for his people:
“This ancient miniature face was staring straight at Little Billy with the most severe expression on it. The skin on the face was deeply wrinkled all over, but the eyes were as bright as two stars.”
The Gruncher
Turns out that Billy’s mom was right: there are monstrous creatures in the forest, although it does not go by the same name. The Minpins call it the Gruncher for short because it has a much longer name having to do its most definitive characteristic: heat. The means by which the Gruncher can be overcome is explained to Billy via metaphor:
“The only time a Gruncher dies is if he falls into deep water. The water puts out the fire inside him and then he’s dead. The fire to a Gruncher is like your heart to you. Stop your heart and you die at once. Put out the fire and the Gruncher dies in five seconds.”
The Forest
The forest which Billy’s mother warns against intruding upon and which is described as a strawberry dream come true by the Devil whispering in Billy’s ear is not your average woods. It is endowed with a metaphorical property suggestive of something truly majestic in its awe:
“Here and there little shafts of sunlight shone through gaps in the roof. There was not a sound anywhere. It was like being among the dead men in an enormous empty green cathedral.”
Skylarks and Ravens (No Mustangs)
The Minpins are spectacularly tiny. Just trying to get from one tree to another would be a major journey on foot, but taking a journey on foot is insane since the Gruncher can smell them from the other side of the forest. And so a more efficient and protective means of transportation is required for this little civilization:
“The birds are our cars. They are much nicer and never crash.”
