Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Little Dreamers




All Hallows Eve - Part Two

If you were almost seven years old, Dear Readers, and your friend was having a Halloween Princess Party and everyone was going to dress up like Princesses, well at least the Girls were, and go to a Costume Ball at the Castle, would you be Excited? So excited that you didn't even mind that your Younger sister was coming too... and that your Mother had dressed you both in Sister dresses that made people think you were Twins even though you were more than a year older? Well, such was the case this All Hallows Eve. Fleur's daughter Juliet was having a Princess Party and had invited her friends Amber and Beth and Beth's younger sister Amy too. Juliet's Mother was not dressing as a Princess, but as a Maid because she knew all these Little Princesses were going to require at least One servant to attend them!
When they arrived at the Castle the first thing they found was a Gypsy telling Fortunes with a crystal ball.

Of course, this was just Daphne dressed up as a Gypsy, pretending to be a Fortune Teller, but that was all part of the entertainment, so the girls stepped up to hear their Fortunes...

Imagine everybody's surprise when right before their eyes 
the Crystal ball suddenly began to glow 
and grew to more than Twice it's size.....

And suddenly a face appeared in the Crystal Ball and Spoke.....

"Daphne..." said the disembodied voice...... 
"Daphne.... This is your Mother...... 
I have to tell you something Very Important..."
Everybody was listening and staring in shock.....
"Daphne..... you must help us save the Wizard....! 
He is Frozen in Time in the Caverns below the Castle!" said the eerie voice.
"There is One Among you who will Find the Boy who is Carrying the Magic Seed.....
It must be taken and given to the Wizard.... but the Boy cannot go.....!" she said.
"The seed MUST be carried by a Girl child....."
"You must help us find this child, Daphne...." said the voice... and then the Face disappeared.
 

There followed a moment of stunned silence!
"Well, that was Very well done, Daphne," said Fleur! 
"You have a real talent for this sort of thing!"
Daphne just stared in shock. 
"That was my Mother..." she said, a puzzled expression on her face. 
"I have No idea what she was talking about...."
But the Little Dreamer, Beth, was staring fixedly at the Crystal Ball. 
She had heard and Believed every word!
Somewhere in this Castle was a Boy with a seed.... 
and it had to get to a Wizard in a Cave.....
It was JUST like a Fairy Tale!
Or a Scavenger Hunt! 
She was Good at scavenger hunts!

The Party was getting under way and the Castle was filling with people dressed in costume....

You may recognize some of our friends....
Arthur and Pollyanna are back from their Travels around the Globe....


Helen and Charles are Dancing while the floor is not too crowded....

Sally May and Chip and Annabelle have arrived....
Chip doesn't like to wear costumes.....
he says "I'm dressed up as a Regular Guy..."
Annabelle is a fairy....

And the "Deadly Nightshades" are striking up the music.....

But meanwhile.... 
In Another Time and in Another Place.....
Tommy has taken the seed given to him by his sister Beatrice and carefully put it in his pocket.
He feels that somehow this seed is causing all her illness and he is Determined to do what he can to return it to the Wizard just like Beatrice asked. He took his pony, Prince, and set off for the Castle.

It is late afternoon as they set off for the Castle. 
He has been there several times before 
so he is confident he can get there and back before it gets too dark.

It is a lovely afternoon for a ride....
But this Time, they don't meet up with the Castle Horses....
And when they arrive at the Castle... the stables are Deserted....


Tommy frowns. But he is sure that he will find someone if he looks around.
He ties Prince in the stable and looks into the next rooms....
But they, too, are deserted. 
When he gets to the kitchen all he can see is a pile of old rags in the corner.
And what's worse... he is starting to feel strange....
He decides to sit down and think....

He is having a hard time remembering... 
but he thinks the kitchen was where he found Henry and Belle... 
and Old Meg....

Meanwhile.... At our Halloween Party.... 
the children are starting to play in the Castle....

While the grown-ups are Dancing... 
the children will explore.....

Beth and Amy find their way down to the ancient Kitchen.
They are not surprised to find an oddly dressed boy sitting there....

"Are you the Boy with the seed?" asks Beth.....
Tommy is only a little surprised..... 
"I am supposed to take it to the Wizard" he replies.... 
hoping they don't think he is crazy to be talking about Wizards....
"The lady in the Crystal Ball said you can't go to the Wizard..." said Beth.
"She said the seed had to be carried by a Girl child...."
She took a deep breath and then said "I will take it to him if you give it to me..."

Tommy gives her the seed. 
He is relieved to no longer be carrying it....
but he wants to make sure it will get delivered.....
"You mustn't lose it..." he said....
"The Wizard is trapped...."
"I promise....." said Beth
And almost the minute her hand touched the seed, the boy was gone....
They turned around and realized they were not alone....
In the corner was an Old Crone....

"Do not be afraid, Dear Children," she said... 
"I am here to tell you how to find the Wizard...."
"Only One of you can carry the seed... but I am glad to see you are not alone..."
"You will need to leave the Castle from the Stables and follow the path down the cliff.....
It will bring you to the Wizard's cave..."
"Whatever you do, you must not leave the path..."
It sounded harder than it was... 
the path was well lit by the moon 
and soon they were entering the crack in the Earth where the Wizard Dwelled...

They had never even Dreamed that such a place existed!
And there before them they could see the Wizard....

Standing Motionless.....

Beth approached him slowly.....
Not quite sure what she should do.... 

She carefully placed the Magic seed into his open hand.....
There was a sudden Trembling of the Earth....

The Wizard is knocked nearly to his knees..... 
as though the seed is too heavy to hold......
as though it carries with it the Weight of all that Time....
The Wizard takes a deep breath....

His voice a rusty whisper...

"I must Beg of you..." he says haltingly...
"I must Beg that you will eat this seed...!"

As though she has no will of her own..... 
Beth reaches to take the seed from his hand...

And she eats the Enchanted Seed!
A sudden gust of wind rushes past and a terrible grinding noise erupts.... 
as if heavily laden crates are dragged across a rough floor...
And then all is quiet once more...!


The Wizard stands again ... 
free to move once more...

But as he rises... the little Dreamer staggers back.....
A Distant and unfocused look in her eyes....

The Wizard turns to her Sister and says 
"Now it is your turn to be strong... you must help your Sister to get home..."
"I will give to you this Wishing Star.... hold onto your Sister's hand and don't let go...!
Your heart will lead you where you need to go...."
And before Amy even had a chance to Think about it....
Her Wish burst forth into her mind.....

The wishing star suddenly burned brightly ..... and then everything changed....


They were rushing through the night on the backs of wild ponies.....
and before they even blinked... they found themselves tucked into bed....

With moonlight streaming in through the window......
Were they Dreaming...?
And did the Party continue at the Castle.....?
 
Well, the last I checked.... 
the "Deadly Nightshades" were still playing away.....
 
The dance floor was crowded with couples dancing.....
And Nobody seemed to Notice the Time Passing.....
This All Hallows Eve...
Except perhaps for the Little Dreamers....
 
Are they Dreaming Still?


The End..... (For Now....)


Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Time Was Frozen.....




All Hallows Eve.... Part One...

Did you Notice, Dear Readers, that Time was Frozen..... that Nothing was Happening... well, except perhaps in our Minds where the endless Squirrelling of thoughts chase each other around, but that didn't really count... that is an Illusion, because Nothing that mattered was moving Forward.... Time had become Stuck somehow when Last the Gates were opened between the Worlds!
 The Wizard knew right away that Something had gone Terribly Wrong.... but he was Powerless... caught between the Worlds.... neither Here nor There.... Frozen in that Moment.


 So There he stood and pondered the cause of his miscalculation... Wondering what could have produced this suspension of motion? And even more Importantly, What could undo it! Not everything was equally affected... there was Water still pouring from the Spring of Dreams into the Obsidian Basin.... and he could see the slow proliferation of the lesser creatures... those Slimy crawling low forms of life that slunk about in dark places... they were becoming Bold and Dangerous without his constant vigilance in keeping them contained in the Nether Realms.... he could only watch as they Slithered out of the pool....

He was fairly Certain that Most would think nothing was wrong.... they would pursue their daily rounds and never Notice that nothing was Staying.... nothing was moving Forward..... Change could not Stay..... But he was Powerless! So he Pondered the Misbegotten Spell.... and recalculated a Thousand Times the steps he had taken.... Where had he Erred?

The Owls were the first to Notice... they came looking for him as the Time of year Approached that the Veils of Time grow Thin.....

They tried to draw his attention.....

But they only succeeded in Rousing Those that should not be waked.....

Something was Terribly wrong! They knew that they would need to go for Help!

They flew as fast as they could over Rivers and Mountains to a place that was neither There nor Here and came at last to a High and lonely Moorland. There they found a Lonely old cottage, overgrown with Vines and surrounded with Otherworldly Weeds....

Great Aunt Agatha was sitting in the Front Garden enjoying the Starlight.
She was not surprised to see the Owls, Because they always came at this time of the year...


 but what they had to Report was Very Disturbing!


"Hazel!" Called Agatha. "Hazel! Come here quickly!" She hollered again....
(She is a Tiny bit hard of hearing...)
"The Owls have some Terrible news!"


"They say the Wizard has been Stuck in Frozen Time...!"
"Well.... I never..." said Hazel... "What are we to do...?"
"We must call our Sisters...." said Agatha..... 
"Perhaps Old Meg will know what to do..."


They went to the Well that stood in the yard and peered together into it's depths....
If they looked for their Sister Witches in these Mystical Waters of Seeing... 
They would appear....


The first to appear is Madame.... Artemis to her friends....


The next to appear is Prudence......

And Together they look for Old Meg.....

She is not altogether surprised to be summoned!


She had Felt the Draft that was leaking through the open Gate in Time.....
And she had Suspected what was coming....

But she needed to Gaze upon the Waters to be Sure.....

 What she saw was what she Thought she would see.....


 Trouble had been done.... and it would not easily be Undone!
"We Must retrieve the Uneaten Enchanted Seed....!" she declared!
She looked up.... and stared at Prudence....


"You must Contact your Daughter..." she said
"She is our Link on that Realm."
"She must Find the Young Dreamer...."


"We must Find that seed and get it back to the Wizard!"
"I will go visit with the Little Creatures and see what I can find..." said Hazel....
"I know where to find them..."


And before anyone could Blink... 
she was at The Folly looking off the front porch towards the Large Tree at the side of the House.


She went right up and knocked on the Tiny door tucked between the roots.....


She was not at all surprised when Samuel Whiskers answered her knock!

"I beg your pardon," she said, 
"But I need to retrieve an enchanted seed that was not eaten when the Child was last here..."


"But we gave them ALL to the child!" said Samuel.... a trifle indignantly.
"We would not Dream of keeping them!"
"Well, the Child did not eat them ALL" replied Hazel..... 
"and it is Imperative that we find the last seed!"
"Are you certain that one wasn't left in your kitchen?"
"I will ask Anna Maria" replied Samuel and he went back inside.

"I found no stray seeds..." replied Anna Maria.....
"The Child must have taken the last one with her!"
"I know I watched her put each one in her mouth.... 
at least I thought she put them all in her mouth..."
"We will have to go question the Child" said Samuel Whiskers.....
"There is no other choice... and I know where they live..."

You may be saddened to hear, Dear Readers, that Beatrice had been unwell a lot recently. 
In fact the whole family was quite concerned for her health.


Mrs Butterworth cooked her favorite foods, but Beatrice hardly ate anything.
Charlotte was worried but the Doctor assured her Rest was all the child needed.
Snowy rarely left her bedside.

But even he had to go out Sometimes....

Samuel Whiskers waited until Snowy had been let out before he sneaked in....

"I beg your pardon, Miss" he said.... 
"but the Wizard is stuck in Time because you didn't eat all the seeds we gave you.... 
and now we have to get the seed back to the Wizard.... or else.....
That was as far as he got before Snowy came bounding back in....

Samuel Whiskers backed quickly away....

And turned tail and ran as Snowy jumped after him.....
But Samuel was too quick and made his getaway....

Snowy was Sure he had saved the day!
"Oh, Snowy" said Beatrice.... "What am I to do...?"
Just then Tommy came in to collect Snowy and take him for a walk....
well, he was really worried about Beatrice... 
but he Said it was to take Snowy for a walk....

Beatrice just looked at him and said 
"Tommy, I have done a Terrible thing and now 
the Wizard is in danger and you must help me!"
Tommy had met the Wizard several times... 
so he knew that Beatrice was not entirely mad....
She held out her hand and said 
"You have to take this seed to the Castle and give it to the Wizard!"

Tommy took the seed. 
He told Beatrice he would make sure it got back to the Wizard. 
He wanted his sister to feel better. 
He didn't want her to worry.
Somehow he would get it there!

Meanwhile... in another Time.....
Ken is preparing to host his Annual Halloween Party at the Castle.
He has been decorating.....

In preparation for all his Guests....

He even hired your Favorite Dance Band....
"The Deadly Nightshades".....

It is sure to be a Hot night of Dancing....
Even if Time is Frozen.....
This All Hallows Eve.....
(To Be Continued....)