REGALBOP

Two eccentric people stumble into a bizarre and precarious alternate world in Wasserman’s debut novella.

Regalbop’s origins are somewhat murky. He and his parents hail from planet Zorian and now live on Earth. Regalbop sports a unique look: He’s hairless, with skin the color and texture of an avocado, big ears and feet, and a large nose. One day, that nose falls off, which draws a crowd, including the bulging-eyed, red-cheeked Pollybip. She helps to recover and reattach his nose, but later, when Regalbop’s ears also fall off, she walks away with them. This leads to mishaps with the police; before long, they’re both dodging the authorities. Amazingly, Regalbop and Pollybip pass through a mirror in his attic into a parallel world with quicksandlike green slime and scary creatures that want to eat them. The two must fight just to survive, much less pursue any hope of making it back home. Radiant details enliven both the characters and the landscape; a largely barren, pale blue desert is trailed by an atmospheric fog that’s too easy to lose oneself in. The relatively few outlandish creatures include birds with huge wingspans and a bright-red predator that stands 15 feet tall and has an even longer tail. But as exciting as this strange dimension is, it’s not quite as fun or gleefully offbeat as the misadventures the two leads have in their own world. Their bumbling is hilarious; when the police question Regalbop, he can only hear Pollybip, who still has his ears, singing in the shower (“Soon Regalbop heard Pollybip introducing herself to a police officer, and he knew she had come to the station and had his ears with her. Oh, thank heavens, he thought”). The story concludes with a somewhat abrupt ending that implies illuminating sequels will follow.

A short, enjoyable fantasy that revels in delightful quirkiness.