Every Now And Then....

 

 

Magic Awakens.... 

I Hope you can Imagine, Dear Readers, that our friend Hamish Harry flew as fast as he could up to the Cloud Palace to share his news with EveryBeary up there. It was still late afternoon when he arrived, but the shadows were beginning to spread as the sun sank in the sky. He was a trifle out of breath as he burst into the  room. 

 

"Ach, ye'll never belieeeve what I just saw dooun at the Castle Rocks!" he declared.

(His accent was always a little stronger when he was excited.)

"It was a Beyooutifuul Great Shee-Drrragon!" he declared, 

without waiting for anybeary to ask. He was that excited!

"A She-dragon?" asked Sir Orion.

"Are you sure she is a 'she'?" he added.

"Ach, Aye I'm that suurre!" he replied, a trifle offended.

"I know a puurty Lass when I see one...!" (And then he blushed.)

"Begging youurr Parrdon, Ladies...!" he said 

to the Lady Fairy Bearys in the room.

"She was Rrraspberry Pink and she said her name was 'Lucy'" he added.

 

 

"Goodness,"said Blue, the Blue Fairy Beary...

"I wonder if she will be nesting in the Caves...?" she added.

"I do hope she will not Trouble the children..." she said.

"It is Halloween, after all!"

"I think I better go keep watch ....."

And off she flew to the top of the Lookout Tower.

 

Sir Orion came too. He liked to be on hand

 in case any rescuing was needed!

 

It was such a Lovely spot up there in the sky!

 

Meanwhile, back at the Castle, our Host, Ken,

 has begun to decorate the Great Hall for the Halloween Party. 

He has set up the refreshment table

 and has invited a few of his old friends to 'hang around'.

 

Up in the Minstrels Gallery, everybody's favorite band

 "The Deadly Nightshades" are rehearsing.

Monster Mash is first up...

"Dem Bones..." is not far after....

But Time is passing, Dear Readers,

 and not far away but in another Time altogether,

 the Little Dreamer Beth had found the Gypsy Healer

 and brought her to the Wizard's Cave.

As they neared the Cave, the Gypsy started to feel a little faint.

"You will have to take me by the hand..." she said to Beth.

"I have never done this before... drifted so far away in Time..." she added. 

" I do not feel altogether myself... if you know what I mean."

Beth took her hand and pulled her into the cave. 

She didn't have any idea what the Gypsy meant,

 but there was no time to waste with explanations.

The Wizard lay unmoving in the Cave!

"He needs your help!" she said to the Gypsy.

"Old Meg said to find you... you have to wake him up!" she cried

 

 

The Gypsy, Rowena, reached out to touch

 the Wizard where he lay unmoving.

She could feel the power deep inside. But he was cold.

And Old. And he had drifted far far away....

Was there anything at all that she could do?

But then she felt a faint stirring .... a tendril of thought...

She gasped, and turned...

 

When she spoke her voice was not her own,

 but seemed to come from somewhere very far away...

"He will not die today.... but he cannot long stay..."

 

 

"Unless a She-dragon's Tears can free his Heart of fears..."

 

 And then suddenly... right before their eyes....

she began to fade away...

 

AS if she never had been there....

Fainter and fainter....

And then she was gone!

Beth stood for a stunned moment, 

staring at the empty spot where the Gypsy had been.

But there was no time to lose! 

She turned to Perry and Tommy.

"We have to find a She-dragon!" she declared.

"Does anybody know a She-dragon?" she asked.

 

 Both the boys shook their heads.

"Slitherwing is a He-dragon" said Perry.

"Everybody knows that!" he added.

"Oh.... "said Beth, desperately,

"I Wish I knew where to find a She dragon!"

And suddenly, she felt a glowing star appear in her hand.

She knew what it was... it was a Wishing star!

And there was Blue, the Blue Fairy Beary....

 ready to grant her heartfelt wish!

"I can take you to the She-dragon, if you wish..." said Blue.

And because The Little Dreamer wished it with all her heart,

 she didn't even need to speak it.

In the blink of an eye,

 they were standing on the rocks 

by the cove below the Castle....

And there before them was a gloriously Pink She-dragon!

The waves were crashing on the shore

 and the sun was just about to go down, 

casting a rosy blush on the She-dragons wings.

"Hello there!" called Beth.

 "Hello, Ms. Dragon....!" she called again, a little louder.

"We need your help! Please!" she added hopefully.

"Whyever would you need My help...?" the She-dragon asked.

"The Wizard is very ill and the Gypsy said he needs

 'the Tears of a She-dragon

 to chase the fears from his heart!'" Beth replied. 

"You are the only She-dragon we know" added Beth.

"Oh, Please please please come help him!" she cried.

"Well..." said the She-dragon... is he a good Wizard...?" she asked.

"Does he like Dragons...?' she added.

"Oh, I am sure he would like you very very much!" said Beth.

(And she believed it with all her heart!)

"I suppose I could come have a look... " said the She-dragon.

"I don't shed Tears for just anybody, you know!"

"And my name is 'Lucy'... 'Lucy Silverwing'" she added.

"My name is 'Beth'" said the Little Dreamer.

"But we need to hurry...!" she added.

They hurried back to the Wizard's cave.

The Wizard still had not moved at all.

"Is that Him...?" breathed Lucy.

Beth was suddenly aware that she could smell Roses...!

"Yes, "said Beth. "He needs you to go over and give him your Tears."

Lucy crawled closer.

"He won't put a spell on me... will he?" she asked.

"Oh, no!" said Beth. "He's not like that!"

"He's a wise and kind Wizard and we need him to stay alive!"

So Lucy wept for the Wizard. 

He had been far far away.... lost in the deepest dark places...

But suddenly he smelled Roses... and the warmth of spring breezes...

And his heart wept for Joy!

Love! 

Love suddenly washed into his Heart

 and stirred his senses back to life.

How could he have forgotten about Love?

But here it was again.... 

and he waked in some surprise and sat up...

But what was this....?

He was surrounded by a group of children...

 and a Rosy She-dragon!

"Well... " he said with a laugh...

"I seem to have an audience!"

 

"We were worried..." stammered Beth. 

"You didn't wake up...." 

"We thought you needed help!" she added. 

"Rosy She-dragon...!" muttered Lucy.

"My name is 'Lucy'..." she said shyly.

 

"Well..." said the Wizard... 

"It seems I have a lot to thank you for!"

"And now I will take you all back to your own Time!"

 

 

But Before you leave, Dear Readers, 

I must remind you that it is All Hallows Eve ....

And there is a Party at the Castle...

Ken is just finishing with the preparations....

And now that the Sun has gone down...

Some more guests have arrived...

 

Well, you know these folks aren't guests...

 they live in the Castle in the Medieval Times.

They are not planning to go to the Party.

And when Guard Ian passes through the Great Hall

 on his way to the Guard Room...

 

He does not notice anything at all amiss...

 

Not a shade nor a shadow crosses his path...

And in a later age...

 

You might see some friends you know...

Great Aunt Agatha is keeping watch by the Great Hall Hearth...

 

Lady Athena has been inspecting all the entrances...

They are determined to keep Evil at bay...!

Madame Durant is admiring the Magical Pumpkins...

 

And Lady Cassandra I keeping an eye out for Ghosts...

They can be easy to miss...!

And if you are wondering, Dear Readers,

 if any of our other Friends are coming to the Party...

I'm afraid I can't say...

It might just depend on When the Party Is!

 

Now it's gotten Late... 

I've run out of Time...

But every Now or Then... 

Magic Happens!

So I hope you can stay and enjoy the Party!

Happy Halloween!

 

The Dark Times.... Take Over....

 

 

The Magic Is Gone....

The Wizard lay Unmoving in the Cave, Dear Readers, the Darkness was Absolute. He knew not how long he had lain there, growing colder and weaker by the hour. He could not move and had no will to try. He knew the Old Year was dying, and he thought maybe he had as well. Except he had always thought he would know the minute he left this mortal coil, and this emptiness in his bones did not feel like Heaven to his soul. And every now and then he thought he heard Whispers echo around him. Perhaps it was the bats come to roost. Then again, Time had left him behind, for here it seemed, nothing changed at all. And then he heard it again... the sound became stronger... a whisper that wasn't the wind or the tides... but sounded like children bent on mischief. How had he forgotten about the children...?

Or maybe he was just Dreaming again... 

and those were the voices of his fevered mind...

And yet, they sounded stronger and more insistent now...

They were arguing about dragons....

"I think the path to the Dragon cave is back here..." said Perry

 as he inched forward through the dark cave.

"I thought we would be able to see in here..." added Tommy.

"The fire is gone out..." said Perry.

 But there was still a faint shaft of light from the cave entrance.

"I wonder where the Wizard is..." he added.

Just then he heard a low moan from the back of the cave.

They stopped in their tracks.

"I think that must be the Wizard..." whispered Tommy,

 suddenly not sounding so brave.

"It is..." said Perry. "I think something must be wrong with him!"

He moved a little closer to the sound and could just make out

 the shape of the Wizard lying at the back of the cave.

There was another moan... 

but other than that, the Wizard did not move at all.

"We need to get help!" he declared.

Just then the Little Dreamer Beth arrived in the cave.

"I knew I would find you here..." she said.

Perry didn't give her a chance to say anything more.

"We need to get help" he said. 

"There is something wrong with the Wizard!"

"He's not moving..." added Tommy.

"I'll go find Old Meg..." declared Beth.

"She'll know what to do."

"There's nobody in the Castle..." said Tommy. 

"We already went through the Kitchen" added Perry.

 

 

"I'll go look anyway..." said Beth... 

"She's always there!"

 

Sure enough, when Beth reached the Kitchen

 it appeared at first glance to be empty. 

But there was a pile of old rags in the corner by the hearth.

As Beth approached, she could see

 the figure of Old Meg amongst all the "rags".

"We need your help!" she declared.

"Please." she added.

 "There's something wrong with the Wizard... he's not moving!"

"Perhaps it's his Time to die..." said Old Meg.

"I don't stand in the way of Death..." she added.

"No!" declared Beth.

"He's not dying!"

"He just needs help!" she insisted.

"Ah... well then!" replied Old Meg.

"You better go find the Gypsy Healer."

The Little Dreamer turned to go.

She didn't know how long it would take to get to her,

 but she remembered seeing the Gypsy Wagon

 as she was heading to the Castle.

Meanwhile, Dear Readers, Not too far away and not too long ago, 

on the rocks below the Castle, 

our Fairy Beary friend Hamish Harry Hotcakes McCloud

 could be spotted enjoying an afternoon of fishing.

It was one of his favorite places to come.

Sometimes he just pretended he was fishing... 

while he really was just Daydreaming the afternoon away.

This was that sort of afternoon.

He had not a care in the World!

The sun was shining and the seas were calm.

He almost didn't notice the sudden arrival of a visitor nearby...

"Heavens above!" thought Harry... 

"I do believe that is a She-dragon!"

"Why, I'll be blown over...!" he thought...

"I've never seen one before!"

"Wait 'til I tell the Beary Gang....!"

 "What a fine specimen!" he thought.

 

 

And then she spoke....

"Hi There....!" she said.

"My name is 'Lucy"... 'Lucy Silverwing' "

 she added as she flapped her huge wings. 

"Who are you....?" she added.

"Ach... I'm Hamish Harry..." he replied...

"I'm Cook at the Cloud Palace..." he added.

"'Tis a pleasure to meet you for sure..." he stammered.

"But I'll just be going now... have things to do...." he said. 

And off he flew.

"Well!" thought Lucy.

"How rude!"

But it was too nice a day to be annoyed.

And she had just found herself a Lovely Old Treasure Cave!

And in case you were worried, Dear Readers, 

the Little Dreamer Beth had hurried back the way she had come.

The farther she went from the Castle, the brighter the day became.

 Before she had gone very far,

 she spotted the Gypsy wagon in the meadow.

She had seen the Gypsy Fortune-teller

 at the Castle Halloween party.

She didn't know her name,

 but she wasn't afraid to talk to her.

Beth called out to her as she approached.

She was a bit winded from running...

"Please, Ma'am...." she gasped...

"We need your help!"

"The wizard might be dying...!" she cried.

"Please... we need you to Heal him!"

Well, Dear Readers, 

We will have to wait to see what happens next.

Sometimes the Dark Times Overtake us...

And we need to find help!