The Darkness Comes....
The Wizard was Deeply disturbed, Dear Readers, by what his eyes had shown him as he wandered through the ancient Castle. He had trod these halls many a time, in many different Ages, and never before had he seen no skin on the bones of those to whom he spoke! He knew they were not yet dead.... and yet.... the life did not seem to cling to them as it ought... or perhaps it was only his eyes that were no longer telling him the entire truth... that saw only bones where clearly flesh should be!
He stood by his fire and pondered the mystery for hours on end.....
Even the fire no longer warmed his bones....
It seemed the Darkness was creeping into his very soul....
And he could not sleep.
He could no longer remember the last Time he had slept.....
Or was it that he could not remember the last Time he had waked....
And was he Dreaming still....?
And how was one to tell...?
And while he pondered that unanswerable mystery,
You might recall that
The Little Dreamers had remembered their
Tiny Dolls... Little Rose and Sweet Pea....
And decided to see if they could find them
where they had last played with them on the Distant Briar Moors.
They would need to leave the Far Forgotten Isle
where Hardwick Hall sat perched on the shores of the sea.
It was a gloomy day, with almost no sun showing
through a gray Autumn afternoon.
Perhaps there was a storm brewing, but the sea was still
a smooth and shimmering silver under the leaden sky,
and the breeze was fitful rather than rough.
The little boat would easily carry them all to the distant shore....
"Here, you carry Laurel" said Beth
as she handed the little doll to Amy.
"I will push the boat to the water..."
The boat was soon bobbing gently in the froth of the sea.....
"You can climb in now...." she calls to Amy.
Amy and Laurel settle onto the forward bench....
Beth gives the little boat another shove and jumps aboard...
The breeze catches the sail and they glide into the waves....
Beth knows to keep her eyes on the sail.....
The breeze stiffens and the little boat dances on the swells....
The afternoon sky darkens quickly.... it might soon rain.....
but the breeze is hurrying them on their way!
Meanwhile, Dear Readers, you remember that
Tommy had set out from the Castle with his "borrowed" sword.
He was beginning to worry about where
he would hide the sword so his sisters
Beatrice and Caroline would not see it....
They would just tell on him.....
perhaps he should hide it in the woods
and only use it when alone....
Tommy was not paying any attention to where he was going...
Prince knew the way home, after all,
and seemed more eager than usual to get to his stable.
But suddenly something spooked him.... he gave a start....
Tommy lost his balance and toppled to the ground....
and hit his head hard on a log....
And Prince raced off in the direction of home.....
Leaving Tommy lying on the ground.....!
And Lest you were worried for the Little Dreamers in the Tiny boat...
They made it safely to shore and headed inland towards the Distant Briar Moors.
They hadn't traveled very far before they found themselves in an old Garden...
There was an old Conservatory that looked a bit familiar....
"I think we came by this once before...." said Amy.
"There's nobody here..." said Beth looking inside.
"We should keep going" said Amy.....
"The dolls aren't here."
It was only a little ways farther, over the next hill
that they came to the Lovely Old Dollhouse.
They had been here often before,
and so they knew they were going in the right direction.
"Let's see if the dolls are here..." said Beth.....
"Since we're passing by..."
They stepped into the Hall
and were greeted by an old bear sitting by the door.
"Oh Hi! It's you again!" he said.
"There's nobody here" he added.
"They've all gone out and left me here to give out the candy..."
"We're looking for Little Rose and Sweet Pea..." said Beth...
"have you seen them?"
"Never heard of them!" said Teddy.
"Well, I think we should have a look anyway...." said Beth.
"I'll look upstairs... Amy, you can look downstairs..."
It seemed Teddy was right... nobody was home...
but it was still best to check....
She looked into the bedroom at the top of the stairs....
It was a lovely room.... but nobody was there.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Amy looked into the Parlor...
It was empty....
She looked into the kitchen.....
It too was empty...
"Beth, there's nobody here...." she called up the stairs.
"We should go now!"
But Beth didn't answer.
When Beth stepped back into the hall from the bedroom, she gasped.
She had never seen such a Beautiful dollhouse!
She stepped up close and peered into the windows....
First one side.......
And then the other....
There were even furnishings inside....
Chairs and tiny books!
There was a Christmas Tree.... and gifts.....
and even a little dollhouse's dollhouse under the tree!
"Oh.....!" she whispered..."I just want to be in there....!"
When Beth didn't answer right away,
Amy followed her up the stairs...
and saw what had caught her attention....
She could see what a wonderful house it would be
to play with..... if they had Time!
"Bethy..... we should go..." she said....
"It's getting dark out..."
But Beth didn't answer.... and didn't move.....
She was so absorbed... it was as if she wasn't standing there.....
but had disappeared into the dollhouse....!
Amy was frightened!
She needed help!
"I need to find the Wizard..." she thought....
"He might know what to do...!"
And she hurried down the stairs....
Leaving Beth to her Dreams.....
She reached the doorstep...
but wasn't sure which way to go to find the Wizard... !
Dusk had settled... soon it would be completely Dark...
"Help!..." called Amy.....
"Help!..." she called into the empty Dark!
Well, Dear Readers, I hope
you are not too lost in these Dreams....
As the Dark Descends....
And I hope you will stick around....
as we try to discover Who is Dreaming Now?
