His simple words flowed like poetry, and I knew that he, like me, had come a long way to reach the point he had found. "You are a traveler, like me, aren't you, Minstrel?" I asked. "I can tell you come from far away. What brought you here?" He smiled knowingly. "I'm just wandering on the face of this earth," he said. "I took a road I'd never been. I met a stranger by the way. His coat was torn but his eyes were clear. He told me where a river flows. He showed me how the apple grows. He told me of a magic stream. His face was worn but his eyes were clear--"

"The Magician!" I gasped. "Yes, I met him too when I first entered. He brought me to the other side in the Golden Galleon." The Minstrel nodded. "I went along just for the ride. Suddenly I began to slide. The air raced by, there was no sound. We drifted high above the ground. And then he said, 'You know this place,' and then a smile lit up his face. I turned my head and I looked below, and there was something there I know. Suddenly I began to fall... He had me falling through a time zone. I looked around and tried to call. 'Help me please,' I thought I said. Then something happened in my head. Music came from all around, and I knew what I had found."

I smiled. "You found a home here," I realized. "You never found the King, but you made the best of what you did find." "Turned round to see where we've been and what we believe: in life, love... Take a chance, see it through. You'll be glad that you came too-- there's no escaping from the love we have seen. I can see your face on a piece of tomorrow. So come with me, turn night to day. Lean on me, I'll be there whenever you need someone. I'll be forever yours. The Northern Lights, the Southern Cross I'll give to you till tomorrow."

"You are very kind, Minstrel," I said, "but I can't stay. I really must find the King." He shrugged. "If you must. But I wish you wouldn't go. You would be much happier here with everyone else." Then he indicated the people behind us. "I must continue to play for this crowd." I shook his hand and then stepped aside to let him and his followers pass. As he wandered on, out of sight, behind the tightrope act, I heard him singing: "Isn't life strange? A turn of the page can read like before? Can we ask for more? Each day passes by... How hard man will try... You know it makes me want to cry..."

The din around me grew louder now that I stood alone, and I fought my way through the crowds once again, as clowns tripped across my path, and a fire-eater strolled about. I never felt so lost, and I cursed the day I started on this journey. Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice in a nearby booth: "I've been doing my best... What else can I do? Is there something I've missed that will help me through? I've reached the top of my wall, and I've found another way to fall." I approached the booth and saw the Jester doing a handstand. Other passers-by had stopped and were watching his antics. By the time I reached the booth, the others had moved on. As he righted himself, he caught me out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at me. "Oh, it's you again!" he said happily. "Have you found what you were looking for?"

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