Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Now....Or Never....


Fear Not.... The Time Has Come.......!

I am Sure you will Remember, Dear Readers, that Tommy's little sister Beatrice was always following him wherever he went, and this afternoon was no exception! She had something she really needed to tell him, and he hadn't bothered to wait for her. She knew he had headed to the Castle Ruins so she set off after him. But her legs were short and she quickly grew tired. She knew it was a long walk to the Castle and wondered if she should turn back after all.


 You can imagine her surprise when she spotted
 a pony with a furry rider just ahead!


She was even more surprised when the Furry fellow
 came right up to her and said "Hello"!


"My name is Sir Orion..." he said bowing politely.
"I am a Fairy Bear and I help Adventurers when they get tired."
Beatrice didn't know what to say, so she said nothing.
"Would you like a ride to the Castle...?" asked Sir Orion.
Beatrice could only nod her acceptance...


and before she knew it 
they were both on the pony's back
 and away he ran!

And I hope you will recall that the Little Dreamer Amy
 was also riding as fast as she could 
towards the Castle trying to find the Wizard.


The Wizard was telling Perry, their brother, 
that he must help to find the missing Little Dreamer Beth.


"When you find her, you must bring her to me" he said.
"And you must remember that many are seeking her
 and might need your help!"


The children had barely left when Old Meg appeared.


"Don't go far..." she said. 
"They will need a potion...!"


Meanwhile, Tommy was the first to arrive at the Castle, 
and he was relieved to find the stables were empty and deserted.
 This let him hope that he had arrived at the right "Time" 
to return the Sword to its rightful place,
because when he had taken the sword, 
the Castle had been empty.


He headed through the kitchen and was glad to find it empty.
Sometimes when he came the kitchen was busy
 and Henry and Belle would greet him.


When he reached the Hall, it clearly was not empty.


But he kept going anyway...
 hoping it would be empty upstairs.

But his heart sank when he reached the room
 where he had found the sword in the first place.
It was not empty and there was no old wooden
 chest where the sword had been found...
Something was wrong! 
He headed back to the Kitchen, 
wondering if he was supposed to leave the sword anyway...


When who should he meet but that other boy...!
"Oh, it's You! " said Perry.


"Hey, what are you doing with that sword...?" he added, accusingly.
"I'm trying to put it back..." said Tommy... 
"But the room is all wrong...
 there's furniture and stuff and no chest!"
"I'll take it..." said Perry....
"No!" declared Tommy. 
"The Gypsy said it mustn't be used at all
 unless it is to help the Little Dreamer!"
"Whoever that is!" he added.
"She's our sister and we're looking for her..." said Perry.

 
Just then Beatrice arrived in the stables.
 She could hear voices in the kitchen, 
and she was sure Tommy's was one of them.
When she reached the room, the other boy was saying
 "she's our sister and she's missing..."

"I know where she is!" said Beatrice.

They all turned and stared at her.
"Who are you?" said the other boy.
"She's Beatrice. And she's my sister..." said Tommy.
"What are you doing following me...?" he declared.

"I came to tell you I know where the Little Dreamer is!" declared Beatrice.
"You wouldn't listen to me, but she is very very Tiny
 and she is upstairs in the Castle!"
"The Tiny Fairy told me..." she added.
"Fine, said Tommy.... show us where she is."


I Hope you will not be alarmed, Dear Readers,
 to discover that the Hall was a completely different place
 when the children crossed it this Time!


Nobody seemed to think it strange 
to see a parade of children pass through... 


or even seemed to notice them at all!
Which suited the children just fine!
So they reached the chamber undisturbed.

And found it just as Tommy had said.


 "See...." said Tommy...."There's no chest...
 and all this stuff that wasn't here before!"
"We could leave it here anyway..." said Perry frowning.
"If we're supposed to leave it...." he added.


Nobody even noticed the black cats by the hearth.
The larger one heaved a big sigh. 
"They're never going to figure it out" he groused.
"We're going to have to help them." he added.


"Spook..." he said to the little one... 
"You'll have to go catch the Tiny Dreamer
 and bring her here..."
"Why me...? whined Spook. 
"You know I never hurt a thing, Mephisto..!" 
"That's why.... said Mephisto.
 "I might just bite her... by mistake!" he added.
"Now hurry up... go!"

So Spook headed for the Hall... 


to catch the Tiny Dreamer... 
who was just saying to Tiny Alice
 that she thought she'd like to have look around...


Only when she looked around,
 she saw an Enormous Black Cat
 staring hungrily at her!


And before she could even blink,
 the cat had caught her in its jaws!


And then carried her away!


Spook carried her right up to the children
 who were still arguing about the sword....
But they didn't seem to see her...


Mephisto came over to lend his support...
"You better put her down..." he said....
"We won't let her get away..." he added.

The Tiny Dreamer Beth was so shocked
 she could not find her breath...
 but out of the corner of her eye
 she could see the handle of a sword...
 and her only thought was
 "If I could only reach that...."


And in the blink of an eye... 
she leapt for the sword and grabbed it with both hands
 and swung around to face her demons.....
And for a moment nobody breathed at all....


And in the next moment,
 Everything had changed!


"I see you have Awakened..." said the Wizard.
"You can put down the sword now..." he added.


Beth lowered the sword and looked around....

Wordlessly, she gave the sword back to Tommy....


Who sheathed it and returned it to the chest...

Alas, he thought... he still had not
 had a chance to use the beautiful sword...
But it was getting late...

"It is Time to take your sister home..." said the Wizard...
"You will find your pony in the stables..."

Tommy didn't want to admit it,
 but he was awfully happy to find Prince waiting for them....
 and he was even glad Beatrice was with them!
It was much easier to travel in the dark with company!

But I am sure you are wondering, Dear Readers,
 if we will Ever get to the Party?


Well, I hope you will Not be surprised
  to learn that the Party is just begun!
Helen and Charles are checking out the decorations...


Victor and Chip are checking out the libations....


The girls are all checking out the
 Gypsy fortune Teller's predictions....


And high above the rafters, in the Minstrels Gallery,
 everybody's favorite band "The Deadly Nightshades"
 are setting the night atrembling 
with their rendition of "Wherewolves of London"....!

So Fear Not....! It's Now or Never.... 
The Time has Come to Party! 
Happy All Hallows Eve!

Monday, October 28, 2019

Every Now And Then......








Darkness......Takes Over....

It Was no longer Now, Dear Readers, it was Then. And the Darkness was growing stronger with every hour, stealing Light from both ends of the Day and chasing the sun to Southern shores. But Tommy was not paying any attention to the Time of day or the Disappearing hours as he rode out on his pony Prince, because he was dreaming of feats of valor and adventures bold and daring, and maybe even wishing he could find that sword... the one he was fairly sure he had lost a while ago.


And as was often the case, he was headed for the Castle ruins, 
            where he knew he was not supposed to play, 
                                                       but where he went whenever he could.


He was quite startled to look up from his dreams 
and spot a Gypsy wagon across the meadow,
 and even more surprised
 when a beautiful Gypsy lady approached him!


                      At first he was so surprised, that he did not notice what she was carrying... 


 Until she was very close and spoke to him....
"I believe you are the Young Man who took this sword from the Castle.." 
she said in a clear and beautiful voice.
Tommy could only nod his agreement.


She handed the sword to him and said 
"You must return this sword to the Castle straight away."
And then she added very firmly 
"You must Not use it for any reason
 except if it is to help the Little Dreamer."
Tommy nodded again... 
he was not entirely sure he was not dreaming still....
But he could not remember who the Little Dreamer was!


But he knew where the Castle was, 
and he was headed that way already...
 so perhaps it was best if he take the sword back at once!
If he wasn't Dreaming after all... 
it would be best to get it over with.
So he rode on his way heedless of the gathering gloom.

And I am sure that some of you will not be surprised
 to learn that Time was being fickle...
Those who arrived at the Castle could never be sure
 what Time they would find.
Sometimes it was the Medieval Times... 


 When the kitchen was kept always warm....


And Old Meg sat by the fire keeping watch through the Ages.

And sometimes it was neither Now nor Then....
but sometime in between...

Lady Athena spent a great deal of Time in the Castle...
 at one time it was her home.
And she entertained her fellow Witches frequently.
Recently her twin sister Cassandra had joined her there...

Cassandra's own home was undergoing some much needed upgrades,
so she had come for a while and she had brought her latest favorite project...

 
A tiny dollhouse!
But the Witches were paying it no attention today. 
They were preparing for the onset of the Dark Times....


 "By the way..." said Cassandra quietly, 
"I don't know whether you heard
 there will be a party here on All Hallows Eve?"
"There always is," replied Lady Athena.
"We might have to roll up the carpet."


But Somebody, Dear Readers, was not paying attention
 and left the Tiny Dollhouse open just a small bit...


And when the Witches were all somewhere else...


If you looked really closely you might see 
inside the house to where an even smaller dollhouse stood
 under a beautiful Christmas Tree!


And if you waited long enough.... 
you might just spot a Teeny Tiny Little Dreamer 
as she climbed out to have a look around!


Certainly the Mischievous little Fairy noticed!


He had been hanging around Forever waiting to have some Fun!


Meanwhile, across the room in front of the Pier Glass, 
another Tiny Person appeared.


She came and went from time to time.....


The Teeny Tiny Dreamer had found her way down to the floor....
 this seemed to be mostly a matter of a leap of Faith....
but there she was, no worse for wear!


"Hullo..." called out the Tiny Alice...
 (for I am sure you have seen her before...)
"Did you come in through the Looking Glass too....?" she added.

 
"Um... no...I came in the Little House..." 
said the Teeny Tiny Dreamer.
"Oh... you had a whole House...!" said Alice with a touch of envy.
"Not really....!" declared the Teeny Tiny Dreamer. 
"The doors didn't work and there were no stairs. 
If I were to make a House I would be sure to have stairs...
 and real doors! With hinges!" she said emphatically.
"And food in every room...  just to be sure" she added.
"Oh... I would not eat anything if I were you!" said Alice.
"How do you think I became this small...?"
"It's not easy finding your way back, you know..." she added morosely.


"Oh Dear...." gasped the Teeny Tiny Dreamer looking over Alice's head.
"Are you the White rabbit....?"
"No... I am only Harriet Hare..." she replied.
"Don't worry.... I am vegetarian... I don't eat Little People."
"But watch out for the cats... " she added.


Well, Dear Readers, we will have to leave them here for now,
 as the fire burns low and the darkness grows.
I am sure we could play for hours, 
but there are other matters to attend.
For the Little Dreamer Amy was not content
 to just wait for her sister to arrive.


She had decided she must go get help!


It was not a sunny day.
 In fact it was quite gloomy... 
and already getting late...
she knew she must hurry!

She was ever so happy to see her favorite pony appear over the horizon...


Ginger Snap came right up to her... 
she knew what was needed!


Little Dreamer Amy climbed right on...


And they were off .... flying like the wind... 
Whisper running with them too...


Heading straight for the Castle and the Wizard's Cave!


 Where the Wizard stood... staring into the fire.
He was sure he was no longer Dreaming...
But clearly not All had awakened!


    The Little Dreamer Beth was missing... 
and none knew where she had gone!  


He would need to summon all the help he could find....
starting with her siblings...

But that is not all, Dear Readers, 
because I am sure you are aware 
that there will be a party at the Castle
 this All Hallows Eve!  


 The local folk were all donning their favorite costumes...
Pollyanna is going as a Witch, and Arthur as a Wizard.


Joanna is going as a Fair Lady and Victor as her swain.


Annabelle is once again the cutest Fairy...
while Sally May, like her sister is a Witch.
Her husband Chip always prefers to dress as an "Ordinary Guy".
They are waiting for Helen and Charles...

and Helen is worried that her costume is not good enough.
She chose a different gown...
"You look Beautiful, my Dear!" declared Charles.
"Let's just get your wrap...."


"Shall we be off now...?"

"You look Lovely!"confirmed Victor.
"Everyone is ready..."

But was the Hall ready...?


Ken had certainly thought it would be ready!

Well, Dear Readers, we will have to leave you here,
Because Every Now and Then,
 the Darkness Descends...
Ready or Not!
I do hope you will come to the Party!

(to be continued....)