Into the ‘Peculiar World’ of Ransom Riggs

I’ve traveled to many places.

I’ve visited the ancient Mayan Pyramids, went horseback riding in the outskirts of Moscow, skied down the slopes on Swiss Mountains, and went backpacking to Son Doong Cave . But my years of travel did not prepare me for my next expedition. Pinpointing my next adventure is an easy task. Traveling to the impending destination is also a snap of the finger; but finding Cairnholm, Wales, a remote island off the coast of Llanberis proved to be more than just an arduous task.

So I’ve finished my latest novel. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by it’s up and coming author, Ransom Riggs, paints a world too vividly dreamy to be true. It’s about a young lad, by the name of Jacob Portman, who’s off to investigate the death of his grandfather on newer grounds. With vigor and determination, the youngster flies to a small island, which is parallel to the Galapagos islands; where there are thousands of bird species, many unknown to man, who inhabit the land. There he uncovers a time loop where he meets a set of peculiar children, characters that have literally come to life from Jacob’s grandfather’s bedtime stories.

Now, after I’ve read the last page, I’ve been up all night trying to do some little research. There’s no such place as Cairnholm in Wales, or a place that inhabits a bird paradise. But my curiosity was simply pulsing with its regular adrenaline, so I had no choice but to keep on searching. I’ve even gone so far to contact the author for some extra details of the supposed island.

We sat down for a spot of earl gray, and he gave me this knowing, but mysterious smile. Riggs pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to me. I unfolded the scripture to reveal a google maps printout of Llanberis, and a handwritten address that read ‘32 BuestBeer Av. Pippinhire,

Llanberis, Wales, UK.’ he told me that my best clue was the tiny scrawled address.

And so, my expedition began. I flew over to Wales, and bought myself a one way train ticket to Llaberis, (not without pouring myself some of their spring wine of course.) I spent a day resting at the hotel, before biking all the way to 32 BuestBeer Av at Pippinhire. What I found was a small, cobblestone cottage that housed a laundress and her 20 year old son.

After some initial background, I managed to convince her to show me the location of the time loop (where it houses the peculiar children). But she tells me that she won’t be my escort. I assumed it was because of her old bones, but her stiff face told me otherwise. Her son told me he was too busy. But she did tell me to say “Cousin Bird sent me” if I ever came into contact with the children. So I took off with only her directions to the mysterious time loop. Now I know that if I do uncover this loop in space, that I would probably be the first one to go inside one. I would report it to NASA, I would become the most famous explorer, I would own all the riches of the world; but alas dear reader, the thrill of life, is sometimes found within a thrill of a secret.

Pippinhire is closely paralleled to the fictional world of Cairnholm. The bird viewing dock isn’t close to Jacob’s hotel, but near the swamps; but the group of boys that Jacob befriended were based on true characters, I think. I saw a group of ruffians in multicolored snapbacks rapping about ridiculous things. I suppose Riggs changed a few of the details to hide the location of the peculiar children. Somehow, Riggs trusted that I wouldn’t uncover anything.

What I found is what I guess is what Jacob saw during his little adventures. I had to travel deep into the wet forest, and take an unpaved section of the greenery to uncover an old, decrepit house. I treked further, batting mosquitoes and shoving branches out of my way, to find a tunnel hidden by a curtain of moss, and slightly blocked off by a massive boulder, It looked like a lone sewage tunnel in the outskirts of town. But before I could hardly take one step into the tunnel, I was knocked out.

Then I woke up to find myself in a locked room. I think it was a little girl’s room, since it had a bed fit for a 6 year old, and had dolls and knick knacks littering the shelves and the floor. My hands were tied behind my back, and I was sitting upright in the tiniest chair. My head throbbed and my wrist stinged from the tightly bound strings, I think I was there for a good ten minutes before the door flew open. There, beneath the doorframe, revealed a teenage girl with her face scrunched up in, what I guess was supposed to be fierce determination. Beside her was a taller lad, whose face seemed more relaxed, but his posture more on guard. The girl flicked her wrist to reveal a flame, while her friend quickly whispered something, and she turned off her fire as if she was turning off the stove.

I quickly shouted “Cousin Bird sent me!” and after a few exchanges of skepticism and whispered discussions, the girl of flames-or what I presumed to be Emma Bloom, left the room, and fetched a scary looking women, or who I guessed to be Miss Peregrine; and quickly explained everything. After some more exchanges of skepticism, whispered discussions, and some bickering from Emma. We managed to come to a truce.

I think I stayed there for a good four hours. I managed to meet all of the characters, and I witnessed all of their peculiar powers. It was like I was fictional myself, and I turned into on the characters that Riggs wrote. When Jacob and I were alone, I managed to ask him a few questions, some being questions that Riggs asked me to inquire Jacob.

In your life, before you found out that you were peculiar, did you have any suspicions that you were peculiar in the past?

“Yeah, definitely. I mean, I always thought that I was weird but not ‘weird enough to almost get you killed” weird. When I was about six in my kindergarten class, I was convinced that I had a real ‘imaginary friend’. Looking back at it now, my friend was in his late twenties, his name was Steve and he had this intense look on his face. His eyes were wild as if he just killed someone, but being a six year old, I thought he was just really excited about something. Anyways, I always saw him in my class, and even though I told my teacher and my classmates that he was in the room with us, no one ever believed me. My persistence turned me into a class freak and everyone thought I was going crazy. The teacher even called my parents to suggest that I see therapist. I remember the day in which we moved out of town, and that was the last time I ever saw Steve.

Oh! And I remember the time I had my first girlfriend as well, and she literally almost killed me. Her name was Carly, and even though she was the senior bombshell at my high school, she was extremely odd. She made me swear ‘commitment oaths’ and always demanded where I was, and who was I with. Carly said that she only wanted me safe, and made up this rumor that a girl got kidnapped in the girl’s washroom, and that there was a serial kidnapper on the loose. Being a dumb, hormone riddled teenager, I believed her. She said that she spills all of her information about my whereabouts to her father, which was the deputy officer. One day, she told me that her father wanted to meet me. I thought it was finally the time in which I would introduce myself as Carly’s boyfriend in front of her parents for the first time. But she made sit in a dark room (she told me that the light fixture was broken) and had me wait for her father to come in. She told me to turn around, and made up this excuse that it was a ‘trust exercise.’ Carly left the room and I was alone. All of a sudden, the temperature dropped, and I felt a sharp jab on my neck, as if someone wanted to eat me. Creeped out, I darted out of the house and never saw Carly, or her father, ever again.

I’ve had multiple occasions in which I’ve met weird people who did weird antics around me. Especially my bus driver *shivers. I thought that they thought that I was weird, and I led myself to believe that I was just an odd kid.”

Do you feel that it’s weird dating your grandfather’s girlfriend?

“Sort of? Kind of? I have no idea. After I discovered the time loop, and found out that Emma was a longtime girlfriend of my grandfather, I just decided to distance myself. I mean, I only wanted to be friends. I thought that it would be weird to date an 88 year old who used to frolic with your granddad, but man, I can’t think of her as an old woman! I mean, look at her! She acts, talks, and looks like a freaking 16 year old! But my mind decided to forget about her initial age, and the fact that she was into my grandfather. I guess I let her in. She got really close to me, and I got really close to her. Sometimes I would think that the only reason that she would be interested in me, is because I bear some resemblance to my grandfather; but I hope that’s not the case.”

Why did you decide to stay with the Peculiars?

“I knew things were never going to be the same if I went back home. Sure, you could say that I was leaving my parents, friends and my home for a couple of kids that I only knew for a couple of weeks; but this was a matter of survival. I knew that I wasn’t prepared to fight of wights or shadow people like my grandfather. And I needed to know who I truly was, and how to hone my ‘peculiar power’ in order to protect others, and most importantly, to protect myself. Besides, it would give my life a little zest. How would I live if I stuck in a boring suburban neighbourhood with boring people, knowing that time loops, and superhero powers exist? God, I would be stuck in that stupid pharmacist store and would have to endure my manager’s stares all year round. I think I would’ve gone insane.”

What advice would you give to someone if they recently found out that they are peculiar?

“ DON’T FREAK OUT. That’s the best thing to do. Just try to remain calm, and act as if nothing happened. You will eventually meet people who will treat you odd, those are called wights and you can never distinguish them from a real person. They can be your next door neighbor, your bus driver, your teacher, or even your best friend. They will do anything to gain your trust, and have you stay by their side forever. You must act indifferent, and if you can, stay away from them as possible. Make up excuses if you can. Wights work for the shadow people, and the shadow people are the ones who want to eat your soul. If you attain some sort of unusual power, make sure to hone your powers by practicing, but NEVER do it in front of anyone. Not your best friend, not your parents, not your doctor, and not even you dog. You don’t want that kind of information leaked, it may drive wights closer to you.

There’s something called a time loop, in which you will find people like you. Before you go looking for it, you have to go through a difficult decision, whether you stay in the loop or leave your home. But if you are persistent in finding the loop, Miss Peregrine told me that birds like her go all around the world in search of peculiar kids. You’re going to have to catch their attention by leaving a silver bell on top of your house, it may not seem convincing, but trust me when I saw they scour everywhere. When you start to see a peregrine bird outside your bedroom window, she will give you further instructions on how to find the time loop.”

Do you think that peculiars do not enjoy the aspects of today’s society, since that they are stuck in a time loop?

“Absolutely. I remember the first time meeting the peculiar kids, and how fascinated they were with ‘NASA, cell phones, and cronuts.’ They are definitely missing a lot in the real world; and it’s sad to think that they are reliving yesterday over and over in the time loop. For instance, I’ve tried teaching Horace, my friend, what a cell phone was. Miss Peregrine told me that I couldn’t them anything that I was experiencing since it may persuade them to leave the time loop. On one hand, I sort of agree with Miss Peregrine because sacrificing your life for a stupid cellphone is insanity.”

Would you ever give up being peculiar?

“Sometimes I wished that I wasn’t peculiar, but as I thought more about it, I need to become peculiar. I have the power to see shadow people, and it might seem like a miniscule power, but everyone depends on me for their safety, Heck, if I never discovered Miss Peregrine and the peculiar children, they would be in trouble. The population of wights over the years have increased dramatically, and they are becoming more smarter in finding the time loops and the children. Even though my grandfather left the time loop to serve in the war, and never came back, I don’t think I’m going to be like that. I’m not the type of person to just abandon someone who might be in danger.”

How long did it take you to adjust your life in the time loop?

“It took me a good week. Every morning, the sun always rises at 5:01 sharp, and the birds start singing around 5:58. When the children and I get out of house and into the town; the townspeople always do the same thing. I had to constantly remind myself that they are on repeat every single day. On the third day, my brain had not yet grown accustomed to the time loop, so I started asking stupid questions like ‘why is she doing the laundry again?’ or ‘isn’t it weird that when the farmer lets the cows go, the cows move in the same direction like yesterday?’ I mean, the children make use of the time loop, and go on these little ‘expeditions’ to cause mischief for laughs and giggles, well, except for Emma and I. For instance, there was this one time in which Olive pushed a woman carrying a dozen eggs, the eggs go flying, but Millard, having the superpower of being invisible, catches five of them with the misfortune of the splattered sixth one. All of them went hysterical when they saw the woman’s reaction.”

Combined with the powers of your friends, do you think that all of you are strong enough to battle the shadow people and the wights?

“Everyone has already honed their skills, but they don’t have enough experience in using them for battle or in defense of wights. My girlfriend Emma can make flames with her hands, Millard’s invisible, Olive can levitate, Fiona can manipulate plants, Horace can see into the future, Bronwyn is unbelievably strong, and Enoch can revive the dead. I don’t have anything to defend myself with since my ability is to see what others can’t. When we first bumped into a wight, we almost died. We really need to train ourselves in order to protect the group; and I really need practice on aiming with a gun.”

Is there anything you want to say to your parents and your friends back home?

“Hi Mom, Dad, grandmother, and Ricky. I miss home, and you guys so much. I know that you guys are probably hysterical right now, but I’m on the way to revenge my grandfather’s death. I can’t come home because it’s not a safe place for me anymore. I learned that I’m peculiar, and the more I am exposed to the public, the more danger I’m in. I’m okay here, I’ve met a couple of friends that are like me, and I even got a girlfriend, (and no Ricky, I’m not asking her if she has a hot best friend) It seems as if I’m fleeing from something dangerous, but I can assure you that I’m okay, and I’m going to be okay. It may seem that I have forgotten you completely, but I cry myself to sleep knowing that I can never go back to things as they were. Mom, make sure to feed Sandy and change her tank every once in awhile. Dad, make sure you set your alarm clock every night because you always sleep in. Grannie, make sure you remove your dentures before you go to sleep. Ricky, please get a new car, your old one is literally falling apart. Oh and Stella, I’ve always hated working at the pharmacist store, so you can go ahead and tell the manager that I’ve quit. I love you guys, and you’re always in my thoughts”

Is there anything you miss about leaving home besides your parents and your friends?

“Probably the internet. I’m going to miss streaming videos online and playing indie games on my laptop. Miss Peregrine will never let me bring anything with me when I stay in the time loop, so when I’m 89 and still stuck in a 16 year old body, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook will all probably be dead, and robots will take over.”

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And after the fifth hour, it was time to hit the hay. I said goodbye to the children and Miss Peregrine, and said hello to the mattress I would be sleeping in for the next couple of days. I don’t usually have expeditions this unique before; and hopefully I’ll be the first to uncover other ‘fictional’ universes in the years to come

Thanks to Sophie Diego @PeregrineIsle, and co owner of Peregrine Publishing Company for reccomending this book, and aiding in my little expedition to find the peculiar children.