Stuck

Photo by Adrian Dascal on Unsplash

For previous fun with the road-tripping goblins, see Road Trip and Diner Time.

“What in the name of the Great Boggle is this?” Khorlax the Florginator roared. It was his turn at the wheel, and normally he would’ve gunned it and torn down the road, speed limits and peace officers be damned, but in this case he couldn’t because the road was packed with cars all the way to the horizon.

“Huh,” Lurgis Forks said, looking up from the map he’d borrowed from Charles. “Lot of elves, I notice.” The sea goblin scowled. “I don’t much like elves.”

Charles, in the back along with Lurgis, sighed. They were at a standstill anyway due to the traffic; he decided that he might as well ask the obvious. “Would anyone like me to get out and see what’s going on?”

Lurgis shrugged and Khorlax grunted. It was as close to encouragement as Charles would ever get from the other goblins, so he reluctantly unbuckled, popped open the door, and stepped outside.

The first thing he noticed was that very few of the cars, if any, were honking. Usually in a big traffic jam there’d be people honking and yelling as if by sheer indignation they could make the cars go, Charles had noticed, but there was none of that here. It was almost as if the drivers didn’t mind. He walked up to the nearest car, a sky-blue four-seater just behind the goblin’s van. “Scuse me,” he said, “You know what’s going on?”

“Oh,” said the Elf in the front seat, rolling down his window eagerly, “It’s EntCon!”

“WhaCon?” Charles said.

“EntCon!” the Elf repeated. “It’s a meeting where Ents from all over come in to share stories and talk about things, and each meeting takes so long that we all come along too and listen in and make a day of it! They make really wonderful speeches, you know, it’s quite soothing! Farathranabrandoril is presenting a discourse on the Evaporation of Rain!”

“Oh,” said Charles.

“And,” continued the Elf, “this year they’ve got a special appearance by the One Purse! It’s the first time they’ve ever done a show at EntCon before, and believe you me, Ent bands don’t do very many shows in the first place, so to hear them now at EntCon is a real treat!”

“And that’s why everyone’s on the road,” Charles summed up. “Because of-”

“EntCon, exactly!” said the Elf.

Charles trudged back to the van, got back in, and slumped down in his seat. He suddenly felt very tired

“Well?” demanded Klorlax the Florginator.

“We’re going to be here a while,” muttered Charles.

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This story inspired by

Scoot

‘s prompt: You’re on a trip with a bunch of fans for something you don't have any clue about.

Crunch: The Road Trip