The lights came on and the whole group of puppets popped out from behind the furniture. “SURPRISE!” they all shouted. A few popped off confetti wands. Dan and Ron stood in the doorway, frozen in an intimate embrace. 

“Happy anniversary!” the crowd said. 

“Did you plan this?” Dan asked and Ron shook his head. They let each other go.

Five years of shared friends and families pulled the pair into the room and brought them to the dinner table extended with several more tables brought in from other houses. The small, two-person apartment was near full capacity. 

“Can you believe it?” Haley asked, putting a crown of flowers on Ron’s head. “Five years!”

Ron’s mother put a crown on Dan’s head. “So happy to have you as my son-in-law,” she said and held his head in her huge paws. She was a pink and purple dragon with a blue mouth. “Every moment with you is a joy.”

Dan’s eyes filled with tears and caught in his fur. “I don’t know what to say.” 

The party commenced with gifts, food, and fun tales of the pair. Some recounted how they knew all along the pair would end up together. 

As the hour continued into two, Dan slipped away into the hallway to collect himself. Ron caught up. “Let’s go in the bedroom,” he whispered.

Dan glanced at the crowd, “But?”

“I think they can entertain each other for a bit. I have a surprise for you.” He motioned Dan to his bedroom. The pair kept seperate bedrooms and usually planned “sleepovers.” 

His room was part greenhouse, part mechanical display, and part bedroom. Plants that Dan saved from his plant botique crowded around the window, while along the wall next to them were displays and a workbench of his minature vehicles, devices, and trains. His bed was in a nook inside huge shelves and drawers. 

He opened one of the drawers and produced a small, cardboard box with a bow on top. “Open this.” 

“What? I thought we weren’t going to do anything -” 

“I know, but with the surprise party and everything,” he lowered the flower crown from his head and fiddled with the flowers. “I couldn’t help myself. I was going to wait. But open it!” 

Dan opened the box and read the two tickets inside. Underneath was a folded brochure. “You got tickets to Eloranos?” 

“Yes! And look inside the brochure!” 

He gingerly opened it and a letter fell out. He picked it up and gasped, “You reserved a sailboat?”

“We’re clear to go see the horizon gates and I planned out a little pilgramage to each one with plenty of stops at -” Dan threw his arms around him and kissed him. 

“When do we go?” 

“Fall,” Ron answered with a smirk. “It should give us time to plan and everything.” 

“And we get to see the changing trees and awesome weather!” 

“I hope!” Ron grinned. 

Dan closed the box and sighed as he took both Ron’s paws, “Can you believe it’s been five years?” 

“Feels like months, honestly.” Ron had to get on his knees to lean close to Dan. Thier foreheads met for a moment and Dan pulled back his curled bangs to show his four eyes lovingly staring up at him. 

Dan suggested, “You think the party could keep going without us? For a bit?” 

As if to answer, raucous laughter came from the other side of the far wall. 

Ron said with a smirk, “I think they won’t mind. I happened to grab some condoms from a fancy brand and a certain toy -” 

“The schworp?” Dan squeaked and stood on his tip-toes in excitement. 

Ron waggled his eyebrows and answered, “None other!” He was drowned in kisses and loving praise as the party continued without them.

Chapter Three

Dan snuggled deeper into his sweater as he sat outside the coffee shop with a book in his lap. It remained open on a new chapter, but his eyes remained on Ron. The monster puppet’s teal fur stood out against the fall colors around them and his orange jacket. 

Ron leaned against a lamp post as he talked on his cell phone. “ … thank you.” He hung up and shoved the phone in his front pocket with a sharp sigh. Dan watched as Ron’s square body softened around the edges. 

Ron dragged his feet as he walked back and sat next to Dan. “That was the sailboat captain. She said she can’t take us.” 

“Did she say why?” Dan asked.

“The boat isn’t clean enough,” Ron said with a shake of the head. Dan’s jaw dropped. “No more than that. We could go to the harbor and see if anyone is willing to take us to an ocean Horizon Gate.” 

“We could always go to one on land first,” Dan said, trying to lift Ron’s sails a bit.

“No,” Ron said. “I want our first one to be stunning. Ocean Gates are supposed to be beyond beautiful.” 

The perfectly box-shaped cars clanked by, filling the silence as Dan closed the book. “Ronnie, I’m happy just being here with you. And getting to see the ocean with you alone is all I could ask for.” 

“You deserve the best,” Ron said, face downcast. “I wanted it all to be perfect.” 

Dan turned in the bench and gripped Ron’s arm. “Ronald,” he paused to temper himself as frustration and anger rose in his chest. “Ronnie, listen: Let’s focus on going to the harbor and checking things out there. If we get a boat or not? I just want to be with you. I love you.” 

Ron’s face lightened a little and he lifted his arm to hug Dan close. “I love you, too. I bet the ocean is beautiful.” 

“And we should check out the shops! I bet there’s a ton of coffee shops and mugs waiting for me to snag!” 

The pair moseyed along the sandy beach, Ron looking for creatures and Dan picking up shells and baubles. The happy sun above shone down between the clouds, casting rays of light like curtains that graced the grey ocean. 

“Hey,” Dan said. “Some boats.” He pointed to a huge, stone and concrete structure jutting out into the ocean with wooden walkways between the ships. “Is that a harbor?” 

“Maybe it’s a barge?” Dan suggested. Then added with a smirk. “Or maybe a tribuche.”

Ron paused, scanning the boats. 

“Ronnie, come on. I doubt anypuppet will drop everything to take us to a gate.” 

Ron looked to Dan with big eyes and a quivering lip. “Pwees?” he whimpered. 

Dan inhaled deep, closed his eyes to gather himself, and finally said, “Okay. But 20 minutes tops! I got sand all in my fur already and I’m getting tired.”

Ron scooped Dan and his tote of shells up and rushed to the docks. Closer to the shore was an empty building with a sign on the outward-facing counter “OUT FOR BEER.” To their left was a red gate leading onto the walkway.

“Well, I guess no Horizon Gate today.” 

Ron pressed his face against the window looking inside, hands on either side of his head. He scanned the inside with a frown. “There’s some keys with tags on them. Maybe keys for the boats? We could go joyriding in one.”

“Do you know how to drive a boat?” Dan asked with as much fasiciousness as he could to punctuate his point. Ron opened and closed his mouth, expressions fluctuating and Dan pointing a finger at all expressions. “No, no, don’t. We wouldn’t be here if we knew how to drive one, you silly goat.”

“Can I help you two?” A voice to their right asked. A tall orange and yellow bird stood there, wiping it’s paws at the end of its wings. They wore dirty, ragged khaki pants and a black vest. “Need a boat?”

“Oh, yes!” Ron said. “We’re looking for a captain to take us out to the Moore’s Horizon Gate.” 

“Well, damn! I can get you out there. I’m Forgie, he/him.” He held out a downy paw for the pair to shake. Dan felt something off when the puppet look at him - something about the puppet’s smile and eager head shaking. Forgie’s eyes were searching for something in Dan’s frame. “I can take you.” 

He lowered his head as he opened the gate and let the other two through. Dan scanned the boats - all different shapes and sizes. There were big, pointed ones, small ones with seats, and others with rounder bellies. The Good Neighbor show only talked about being a guest on a boat and how to conduct yourself. 

Forgie followed the duo and stepped ahead of them as they neared his boat with a red band along the top of the hull. “The Bobbie” was written on the side. 

“What’s the boat named after?” Ron asked. Dan remembered the Good Neighbor’s social tips host’s calm voice saying, “Always ask about the boat’s name. A captain usually has a story behind it.”

“Named after my brother,” Forgie said as he climbed up the stairs and started messing with ropes along the side. He glanced at the pair. “You coming aboard?” 

Ron walked up the steep stairs with Dan waiting and taking in the view. Ron turned around and chuckled, “You like my butt?” 

Dan put a hand on his hip and sighed, “No sunset or lunar eclipse could compare to the majesty of your behind.” 

Ron shook his head, grinning, and leaned down to help Dan up the stairs. With the duo aboard, Forgie raised the stairs and set to opening the sails. 

The pair sat on one side of the boat, hold hands and watching the sea pass. The wind was favorable today. Forgie quietly set to work steering the boat closer to the back. There was enough room to move about, but there weren’t any below decks like Dan had seen on the Good Neighbor. 

Seagulls above with quivering googly eyes and laughing calls soared above. Boats dotted the area. According to the map, Moore’s Gate (so named after the Moore Tribe who showed it to cartographers at the time) was northeast of the harbor. Dan gripped his satchel to his stomach, the tote of shells tied to one of the straps. He glanced at Forgie, who kept his eyes on the couple.

He put a paw on Ron’s arm. He said in the pair’s secret language called backlang, “Ronnie, something’s up with that puppet. I don’t know why, but I’m worried.” 

Ron put an arm around him. “I don’t see what you’re seeing, but maybe he’s nervous too?”

“No, something - I don’t know. I think he wants something.” 

Ron gave him a reassuring squeeze and said, “Alright. We should have looked for more tourists to travel with, huh? Let me talk to him and see if I can figure out his deal.” Ron sauntered over to Forgie to lean on the railing and chat.

Good Neighbor travel tips 101: Travel in a group at any time possible.

Dan dug around in his satchel and pulled out the book he’d been reading. He pretended to be interested in the summary as  he tried to listen over the whipping wind.

“Why … named … brother?”

“He loved sailing,” Forgie said over the wind. “Loved it a lot. I lost him to an accident. Boat crashed during a storm.” 

“I’m sorry, captain,” he said. “By the way, we hadn’t discussed payment for the ride. We have money reserved for the previous captain that ditched us.” 

Forgie shook his head. “No honor, huh? Shame. I don’t need any payment. Helping you two is all I need.” 

Ron walked back, confusion plain on his face once he had his back to the bird puppet. “You’re right,” Ron said, taking the book and pretending to read the inside jacket. “I can’t pin it either, but yeah.” 

“Think he’s lying about the brother?” 

“Something like that.” 

Dan took Ron’s hand and put the book away. “Don’t leave me again,” he said, squeezing the puppet’s hand as fiercely as he could. Ron nodded and a squeal off the side caught their ears. A group of dolphins swarmed around them, splashing and squeaking. Dan and Ron laughed, a momentary respite from their fears. 

The duo occupied themselves away from Forgie, throwing pretzels to the seagulls and whistling to the dolphins. Eventually, they saw it on the horizon: the Horizon Gate. 

Throughout the world were several perfectly circle stone structures built in the middle of nowhere. Its said they were gateways for the multiple gods to pass through. Looking through them was like looking into another world. The boat headed straight for it.

“Wow,” Dan gasped and tossed the last of his pretzels overboard. Ron ate his and nodded. “It’s pretty cool,” he said. 

Dan never saw one on the ocean before. There was one near Jimstown, in the forest at the foot of a mountain, surrounded by villages that kept watch over it to this day. The ocean one they approached, however, was worn by the sea. The feet of the structure widened out as it disappeared underwater. Somehow, the thing still stood, despite the centuries of salt water and storms. Its as if it was defying the very ocean and time itself. The sun itself peeked at them from under the arches as it was descending under the horizon - a key feature of the gates facing important celestial bodies.

A tone of worry came into Ron’s voice, “We’re going awfully fast, aren’t we?” 

“Maybe he’s getting really close?” Dan suggested, but he squeezed his satchel tight all the same. The wind was whipping more furious here and rattled the pullies and hitches of the boat.

“People aren’t allowed within ten feet of those things,” Ron said and then to Forgie, “Hey! Aren’t we supposed to slow down?”

“FORGIE!” a voice on a megaphone shouted. “DON’T DO THIS! FORGIE!” The pair looked around and saw a coast guard boat speeding towards them. A puppet at the tip of the boat’s nose was waving orange flags. “FORGIE, COME ON!”

“No!” Forgie shouted to the coast guard and pushed the engine into full throttle. The pair fell back onto their butts as the boat lurched forward and a wave made the boat leap upward before half-soaring, half-bouncing on the waves in a mad dash for the gate. 

“IT WON’T BRING BOBBIE BACK, FORGIE! PLEASE!” The coast guard’s voice was almost drowned by the noise of the engine and wind. “FORGIE!” 

“Hold on!” Ron wrapped his arms around Dan and squeezed him tight. For a moment, all that Dan could focus on was on Ron’s olive green overalls and that there was a stitch loose in his chest pocket. 

Forgie let out a scream, “GODS! LET ME THROUGH! YOU BROUGHT ME A SUITABLE SACRIFICE AND I ANSWER YOU IN TURN!” 

The couple chanced a peek. The Moon Gate was two, maybe three, stories high. When they came within it’s shadow cast by the setting sun, the waves and wind ceased. All sound and sensation was numbed. Dan felt like he was disassociating, but was completely present as he looked about. Ron’s face was full of fear as he tried to stand, but he struggled. Dan looked at the bird holding the lever with both hands now, his scream fading as they came closer to the gate.