Pixie 2 - Harpy Trouble

 

            Barty flew through the woods that were his home, in a hurry to get to where Joshua was currently camped. He looked down on the sleeping boy and lazily flicked the end of Joshua’s nose, and Joshua woke with a start.

            “What was that for?” Joshua asked angrily, rubbing his nose and glaring at the pixie.

            “I have a job for you to do,” Barty asked, zipping through the air.

            “I’m already doing the job that you asked me to do. No one has gotten past me into the forest.”

            “Yes, yes, you’re doing a marvelous job about that.” Barty waved the rest of Joshua’s explanation away. “I need you to go and round up the baby harpies.”

            “The what?” Joshua asked, confused.

            “The harpies have escaped and are causing havoc in the village.”

            “What are harpies?”

            “Mean, spiteful things that will do anything to get their own way. You may have heard the legends that say that they’re basically birds with women’s heads. Baby harpies are much smaller and more erratic.”

            Joshua’s eyes widened as he thought about that.

            Barty continued on. “They may look terrifying in their true form, but they don’t usually show themselves to humans. All the humans can see are big birds, but the babies look more like moths because of their small size.”

            Joshua started as he remembered something. “I saw a cloud of moths last night head through here toward the village.”

            “Yes, that would be them,” Barty nodded, his small pixie body bobbing around excitedly. “I need you to go and bring them back.”

            “How?”

            “I’ll do the hard part, but I need you to keep them contained until we bring them back to the rest of the harpies.”

            “Um, okay,” Joshua agreed slowly. Barty had helped him escape his previous slave life, so he felt he owed him. These harpies, however, didn’t exactly sound like something he wanted to be around.

            “Come on then,” Barty said as he flew off in the direction of the village. Joshua had to run to keep up. They crested a hill and looked down on the village below.

            Joshua turned to Barty and was surprised to see a small green hummingbird instead. He looked around for Barty, but then he heard Barty’s voice come from the tiny bird. “Okay, here’s the plan,” he said, ignoring the shock on Joshua’s face. “The baby harpies are always wanting to play tricks on others, so I need you to go in a let yourself be tricked.”

            “Wait, I’m the bait?” Joshua asked, not liking where this was going.

            “Well, yes. But don’t worry. I won’t let them kill you or anything. They’ve probably already lured away others toward the village well or something.”

            “What?!!”

            “I’ll be right by you, so they won’t go too far. Stop worrying.” Barty twirled around in a fancy loop-the-loop as he flew ahead.

            Joshua was nothing but nervous now as they reached the village. A man with a panicked face ran up to Joshua and asked, “Have you seen Sylvia, my little girl?”

            Joshua shook his head no as the man moved off to ask someone else. As soon as he left, Joshua made a beeline to the well, which was on the other edge of the village. He really hoped that Barty was wrong about leading people into a well. When he got there, he saw a cloud of furry black moths moving toward the well. Joshua could just make out some shoes and the skirt of a dress poking out of the bottom of the mass. He immediately rushed over to the insects and reached inside the dark cloud. He felt a hand and started to pull before the ugly bugs surrounded him too.

            Joshua became totally disoriented as the moths swarmed around him. He kept hold of the little girl’s hand as they were both pushed along the path. “Barty!” Joshua shouted before the bugs covered his mouth and cut him off. Joshua could now barely breathe and thought what an awful way this was to die.

            Just when he thought he was totally lost, the moths surrounding Joshua froze in the air. He immediately pushed them away from his face and pulled free, tugging on the small girl’s hand. She emerged from the mass of creatures, but her face showed nothing but terror. “Sylvia?” Joshua asked her softly.

            The girl nodded and then burst into tears. Joshua patted her awkwardly on the shoulder and then said, “I think your father is looking for you. I saw him on the other edge of town, near the road that leads to the woods.”

            The girl needed no urging as she ran toward the direction that Joshua had indicated. Satisfied, Joshua turned his attention back to the moths. Barty the hummingbird was pushing them into what looked like a large picnic basket. “Help me, would you?” Barty asked hurriedly.

            Joshua started shoving the furry things into the basket. There were so many of them, but they all fit into the basket easily.

            When they were all hidden away, Barty said cheerily, “Now that’s what I call teamwork!” The hummingbird flew happily around Joshua’s head. “We should probably hurry back now. The freezing magic won’t last that long on the baby harpies. Don’t want them escaping again!”

            Not needing to be told twice, Joshua picked up the basket and followed the hummingbird back through the village. They passed Sylvia and her father being joyfully reunited and Joshua smiled.

            As soon as they were out of sight of the village, Barty appeared in his true pixie form and Joshua could see how happy he looked. “What an adventure, right?” he asked grinning.

            The picnic basket started to jerk and move in Joshua’s hands. “Yeah, a great adventure,” he agreed. “But I think it would be even better once we get these back to where they belong.” Joshua followed Barty deep into the forest to deliver the creatures back to their home. Great, black birds landed around Joshua to relieve him of his burden. He was only too glad to be rid of it as the birds carried off the basket that was now jerking violently.

            Barty remained cheerful as they headed back. “Thanks for your help, friend,” he said as they reached Joshua’s camp. “You did an amazing job. Most humans would probably be in shock right now."

            Thinking back about what had happened, Joshua shuddered. “Well, let’s hope that they don’t escape again. I don’t think I ever want to so much as see a moth ever again.”

            Barty chuckled as he flew away. Joshua was a little disturbed by the experience, but happy that it had ended so well. He was, after all, the only one who really knew what lived deep in the forest.

Maelstrom!

 

            Captain Grayson grinned into the wind as it sailed past his face. He loved being out here on the deck of his ship, The Crabwalker. He had only been captain for a little over a year, but this was his ship. He had sailed under the previous captain, Captain Fritz, for seven years as first mate. This ship was his home.

            Today, he had another reason for grinning. He had finally figured out the secret of the mysterious treasure map that they had picked up weeks ago from a less than reliable source. The woman who had sold them the map claimed that it led to fabulous treasures and wealth. At the time, Grayson found it hard to believe, but had paid the pittance for the map. What if it was a real treasure map?

            The map was in some sort of code, and Grayson had spent weeks working on it before finally figuring out its secret. Now they were headed southwest, straight to the treasure.

            He wasn’t exactly sure what he would find there when they reached the place. All of the other maps that Grayson owned showed that there was absolutely nothing there, just open water. But, if this all turned out to be a ridiculous goose chase, Grayson had other business opportunities nearby.

            Grayson checked the treasure map and saw that they should be getting close to their destination. He called up to the lookout, “Hey Max, is there any sight of land?”

            “No, sir!” Max shouted down.

            Grayson took out his spyglass to look ahead. “Nothing but water,” he murmured, slightly disappointed.

            They continued to sail toward the map’s location, while Grayson’s hopes continued to fall. Then, just as he was about to give the order to set a new course, Max gave out the long awaited call, but it wasn’t exactly what Grayson expected. “Massive maelstrom up ahead, sir!” Max shouted in a panic.

            Grayson hurriedly took out his spyglass again, and saw the disturbance in the water. “Hard to starboard!” he shouted hurriedly.

            The crew jumped to obey the order, but the ship was slow in responding. Watching through his spyglass, Captain Grayson saw the giant whirlpool getting closer and closer. The ship was moving faster now, being pulled toward the swirling waters up ahead.

            Captain Grayson stomped down his fear as he shouted, “The whirlpool’s got us lads! Our only chance is to ride the currents around it and hope that it spins us back out!” He now ordered his crew to sail towards the maelstrom. This was a very risky maneuver that Grayson had never had occasion to use. Sweat poured down his face as he continued to bark out orders to the crew. “All hands on deck! We’re going to ride around it!”

            They were now moving so fast toward the maelstrom, that the helmsman needed help to keep the ship turned the right way. The current kept threatening to turn the ship and suck it into the middle of the whirlpool.

            Every sailor’s face was set with determination as they neared what now looked like a hole in the ocean. Captain Grayson helped hold the wheel to keep the ship on course. “Hold steady lads!” he shouted, trying to make himself heard over the roar of the swirling whirlpool of death.

            The ship groaned and creaked as it reached the maelstrom and caught the swirling current that should allow them to sail away. Then the ship gave an almighty lurch as they passed right on the edge of the storm. With his heart in his throat, Grayson looked to the whirlpool’s center. “What was that?” he said to himself as he thought he saw a glimmer of gold, far beneath the waves.

            The ship continued to sound like it would break apart, but then it suddenly righted itself, and they were sailing quickly away from the dangerous maelstrom. Captain Grayson let out the breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He gave the orders to continue away from the storm. The crew let out a cheer as they realized they were safe.

            Captain Grayson stayed on deck long enough to make sure they were truly out of danger before he went to seek the solace of his cabin. Closing the door, he took in great gulps of air as he pulled out the old map. That this was a treasure map, there was now no doubt. Grayson knew what he had seen in the center of the whirlpool. Riches beyond anyone’s imaginings, but anyone who sought that treasure would only find death.

            Grayson picked up his quill and carefully got out a bottle of ink. Dipping the quill in the ink, he then made a large X over the location of the treasure. He wanted to discourage anyone else that might try to use this map. Not many other sailors would be able to figure out the complicated code, but a large X should let them know that it wasn’t worth the trouble.

            Hundreds of years later, a new sailor captain came into the possession of a strange map that was said to lead to a vast treasure. Captain Taylor knew it was a genuine map, because there was a large X at the end location, and all sailors knew that X marked the spot for treasure. The rest of his maps only showed open water at that location, but he wasn’t worried as his crew sailed blithely toward a furious maelstrom.

Night on the Cliffs

 

            Aria looked down with pride at her clutch of four dragon eggs. After gently breathing fire on them for weeks, they were finally ready to hatch.

            Her mate, Elton, was no less proud as he waited by Aria’s side. “Is it going to be soon?” he asked impatiently.

            “It should be sometime tonight,” Aria said with a smile. Aria and Elton were first time parents, but dragons always hatched exactly five weeks after being bathed in their mother’s fire. Aria had first fire-breathed on her eggs near midnight five weeks ago. It couldn’t be much more than an hour that they had left to wait.

            Aria surrounded the nest protectively, while Elton stood guard on their rocky plateau. It was a clear night, and the hot summer air had turned pleasantly cool. Suddenly, Elton sniffed alarmingly and cried, “I smell humans!”

            Aria immediately drew closer to the eggs and prepared her fire, just in case she needed it to drive off the humans.

            Elton stood at the edge of the cliff and gave off a warning growl as a grappling hook suddenly appeared at his feet. He snapped at the line with his powerful jaws and was rewarded with a startled yelp.

            More lines appeared over the top of their cliff, and Elton started to cut those lines as well. However, there were too many, and men dressed all in black started to appear. Elton took care of them easily with one swipe of his mighty tail, but these humans were determined. More and more humans appeared, and Elton did his best to fend them away from their nest. However, Aria noticed a small group of them circling behind Elton from her position by the eggs. With a snarl, Aria ran to defend her mate, and roared out her fire on the humans.

            Soon, Aria and Elton had cleared their plateau of all the pesky humans. They both roared out their challenges as the relentless creatures finally stopped appearing over the top of the cliff. “Are you all right my dear?” Elton asked Aria with concern.

            “I’m fine, thank you,” Aria replied. “But what about you?”

            “Not even a scratch,” Elton said, totally unconcerned. “I don’t know what they were thinking, attacking us like that.”

            Suddenly, Aria let out a frustrated shriek. “One of our eggs is missing!” she screamed in a panic.

            Elton looked over to check on the nest and saw that there were indeed, only three eggs nestled together. He took a great sniff and growled out, “Humans!” He told Aria, “Stay with the other eggs, I’ll be right back with the missing one.” He launched himself into the air with his great powerful wings and flew off into the night.

            Following his nose, Elton picked up the human scent easily. He also caught the faint scent of the dragon egg. Furious, he followed it, and quickly caught up to the small group of humans that were left from their previous attack. Elton descended out of the sky with a roar and breathed out his hottest fire directly onto them.

            Cries and screams rang out as the humans scattered. Elton followed the scent of his egg, and quickly located it, hidden away in a rocky outcropping. Laying more fire about him, he carefully retrieved the egg with his massive talons and flew off back to Aria.

            Aria was truly relieved when she saw Elton returning with their egg. “You’ve got it!” she cried happily as Elton gently lowered the egg to lay next to its fellows.

            “Silly humans,” Elton grunted, annoyed. “Why would they try to steal one of our eggs?” 

            Aria mused for a moment before she quietly answered. “I’ve heard stories from the other side of the mountains about humans stealing eggs and raising dragons themselves. Then they use them as slaves to carry them about everywhere.”

            Elton felt a shudder go all the way down his back to the tip of his tail. “Well, that’s not going to happen to us!” he said protectively.

            A loud crack rang out in the night and Aria said excitedly, “They’re hatching!”

            Both dragon parents looked on proudly as their four hatchlings broke themselves free of their eggs. “They’re beautiful!” Aria cooed as she breathed warm flames on them.

            Elton sat up tall as he looked on his family. No humans were going to steal any of his hatchlings. The proud parents nuzzled each other as they stared down at the next generation. The Earth shook as they both roared out their happiness to the night sky.

Transformation

 

            Mayzie looked up at the full moon above her. Tonight was the night, finally, that she would be given her hourglass. This was the whole reason that she had agreed to train to become a witch in the first place. She wanted to be able to transform herself into other animals or creatures. She probably could have done it with her own magic, but it was so much easier and safer with an hourglass.

            There was a scuffling sound behind Mayzie, and she turned to see Tabitha, her mentor, shuffling over toward her. Mayzie couldn’t stop the grin from spreading over her face when she saw the small hourglass filled with glittering stardust. Tabitha held it out to her by the chain that was attached to it, and Mayzie eagerly grabbed it and put it around her neck.

            “Repeat to me the rules of transformation,” Tabitha said brusquely.

            Mayzie took a deep breath and recited, “Always wear the hourglass in a way that won’t allow it to fall off.” She attached the chain to a special clasp on her shirt. “The total time that I have for transformation is a maximum of two and a half hours. After that, I will return to my human form no matter where I am or what I’m doing. Lastly, never allow normal humans to witness any transformation.”

            Tabitha nodded and said, “Correct.” She tilted her head curiously and asked, “What will you become tonight?”

            Mayzie didn’t even have to think about it as she said, “A cat.” Cats had always been associated with witches, and that was almost always the first choice for new hourglass users.

            Tabitha nodded again and said, “Stay out of trouble, and make sure you return to yourself before the glitter runs out.”

            Mayzie had to really focus on not rolling her eyes. How many times is Tabitha going to tell me that? she thought. “Yes, ma’am,” she said instead.

            Tabitha stood watching as Mayzie very carefully turned over the hourglass on her chain necklace. Then she closed her eyes, and focused her magic on turning herself into a cat.

            When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was how tall Tabitha was. Then she looked down at herself to see four furry feet and a tail swishing behind her. She immediately sprang away toward the forest while Tabitha shouted, “Good luck!”

            Everything looked so much bigger as Mayzie moved through the trees. She easily scaled a tree to look around and get her bearings. The night air felt wonderful on her furry face, and she slowly breathed in the crisp air. This made all of the training with Tabitha worth it. Tonight, she was a cat, but she could be anything.

            Mayzie climbed back down the tree with the help of her powerful claws and continued through the dark forest with her cat’s tail held up high. Her feet padded along silently, and her black fur made her nearly invisible. The forest sounds were magnified in her ears, and her night vision made everything really easy to see.

            Soon, Mayzie reached a lone barn near a farmhouse and went to investigate. She smelled the dog before she saw it, bounding toward her with great, booming barks. She darted away, and was easily able to leave the barking dog far behind her.

            In a large, grassy meadow, Mayzie spent some time practicing her pouncing on a family of field mice. Then she used her magic to see how much time she had left on her hourglass, and decided that she had better start back. She got on her way, but was distracted by some moths that were fluttering by. She was stalking them before she realized that she was following her cat instincts. By the time she remembered that she had to get back, she realized she only had fifteen minutes left of being a cat.

            Mayzie looked frantically around her, and she didn’t recognize anything. Knowing Tabitha would not be pleased, she climbed up another tree to figure out where she was. “There!” she meowed softly as she spotted Tabitha’s house. She shot down the tree and sprinted full out until she reached Tabitha, where she immediately transformed into herself again.

            “Cutting it a little close, aren’t we Mayzie?” Tabitha asked, eyebrows raised.

            “I made it back, didn’t I?” Mayzie asked innocently.

            “Well, come on inside and tell me all about your adventures,” Tabitha said as she smiled good naturedly.

            Mayzie followed her, already thinking about what she was going to change into for her next adventure. Something really exciting – like a dragon, she thought with a smile.

Bunny Brothers

 

            Bobby looked down the long row of carrots that he had been working on in their garden. Neat stacks of carrots lay in piles along the row. It felt good to finally see the harvest of all his hard work.

            He looked ahead to what he still had left to do. Only four more rows he thought with satisfaction. He called over to his brother Percy, relaxing in the sun. “Hey, Percy! Is there any chance that you’ll be coming to help me?”

            “No,” Percy said as he idly flipped a page in his magazine, The Jogger’s Digest.

            Bobby wasn’t surprised. His parents had sent them both outside to work in the garden. Percy insisted on supervising while Bobby did all of the actual work. While Bobby planted, weeded, and harvested throughout the summer months, Percy sat in his chair, dreaming about winning the Annual Bunny Race. He insisted on “studying” for the race by reading all the running magazines, so he was always too busy to help.

Percy had won the race last year, and thought that he could easily win again this year. But he couldn’t be bothered with doing mundane work like gardening. So, he left that to Bobby.

            Bobby paused to stretch his back and legs. His long ears helped keep the sun off of his back, but it was hot. He took a break to hop over for a drink. The cool water felt so good in his mouth that he splashed some on the rest of his body. Refreshed now, he got back to work.

            An hour later, Bobby put the last of the carrots into the cellar for storage. He looked at the large stacks with pride, knowing that he had done all of that work. Going back outside, he checked the position of the sun. Still time to go for a quick run, he thought happily.

            Percy may have won the race last year, but Bobby had been running every day to help improve his speed and endurance. This year, he wanted to win. As always, he invited Percy to go with him, but his older brother said he was too busy. Bobby looked at what Percy was busy with. Of course, another magazine, he thought. This one was called Runner Bunny.

            A few days later, it was time for the big race. Percy and Bobby went to register for the race and get their numbers. Percy picked up his number and attached it to his t-shirt, all the while looking condescendingly down at Bobby as he did the same with his own number. “Don’t be too disappointed if you lose today, little brother!” Percy said with a smirk.

            Bobby ignored him and started stretching out his long, powerful legs. He did a few little practice hops to warm himself up.

            Soon, the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the Annual Bunny Race would be starting in a few minutes. Bobby felt ready as he glanced over at Percy. His older brother was built bigger than him, while Bobby was a little more lean. Percy’s face showed that he was totally confident that he would be bringing home the win two years in a row.

            The crowd gathered around as the loudspeaker boomed, “Ready, Set, Go!”

            Bobby exploded from the starting line with a gigantic hop and took off running. The course that they would be following meandered around Bunny Town and ended up being about five miles. Bobby quickly settled in to an even pace that he knew he could keep up over those miles. He had practiced this same route every day for weeks.

            Nearly 50 bunnies had registered for the race this year. Most of them started off at a faster pace, but ended up slowing down as Bobby’s feet easily ate up the miles. He passed other competitors with a friendly wave, and kept running along. Percy wanted to lead the pack and had started off super speedy, but he couldn’t keep up his original breakneck pace. He managed to stay in first position for quite a while, but Bobby slowly closed the gap between them. Breathing easily and evenly, Bobby passed his older brother, who was gasping and panting. Bobby smiled at him as he ran past while Percy shot him an angry, sweaty look.

            The finish line was now in sight, and Bobby was out in front. He put on an extra burst of speed and crossed over with a big grin on his face.

            A few minutes later, Percy crossed the finish line, huffing and puffing. Glaring at Bobby, he asked, “When did you get so fast?”

            Bobby thought for a minute and then said, “It must have been when you were laying back, supervising.” He grinned, then moved away to cheer on the rest of the racers as they crossed the finish line.

Pixie

 

            Joshua collapsed in a heap on his sleeping pallet. It had been another long, long day. He missed his life before he had been forced to become a slave. Now, he always had an unbelievably long list of things to do. He had to finish it too, or else those things would just get added to tomorrow’s work. Today, he had cleaned out the stables, weeded one of the manor’s many large gardens, and polished the carriage from top to bottom.

            Now, it was long past nightfall, and Joshua’s stomach grumbled in spite of the pitiful supper he had eaten, just a few minutes before. He thought, once again, about making a run for it, but decided against it when he thought of his previous failed attempts. All that had gotten him was more work and unpleasantness.

            Joshua groaned and turned over onto his side where he came face to face with a small creature with wings, barely five inches tall. Joshua let out a muffled yelp as he scrambled to back away from the creature. He wondered if he had started hallucinating because of overwork.

            The creature spoke. “Hi, Joshua!” it said cheerfully, flying around to land on his shoulder.

            Joshua was so surprised, but he also had about a million questions. His mind became overfull as he thought about which one to ask. Finally, he spluttered, “W-what exactly are you, and how do you know my name?”

            The creature flew down in front of him, straightened his tiny jacket over his overalls and said, matter-of-factly, Barty’s my name, and I’m a pixie.”

            “What’s a pixie?” Josh asked curiously.

            “Oh, you know,” Barty waved his hand vaguely. “It’s sort of like a fairy, but pixies have a lot more fun.”

            Joshua’s mind seemed to turn to mush as he tried to process this. “But fairies aren’t real,” he said finally.

            Barty had been darting around, looking at the few things in Joshua’s cell when he stopped and said, “Of course they’re real.” He let out an irritated, “Harrumph.”

            “But I’ve never seen one before,” Joshua said, somewhat angrily.

            Barty looked straight into Joshua’s face as he said, “Just because you’ve never seen something, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Besides, fairies only show themselves to people if they feel like it.” He paused and made a disgusted face. “Usually, we don’t feel like it.”

            “Why are you showing yourself to me then?”

            “I’ve been watching you, and can tell that you’re different from anyone else.”

            “I’m just a slave,” Joshua said bitterly. “There’s nothing special about me.”

            “Slaves are usually adults, and you are just a child.”

            “I’m 13!” Joshua said angrily.

            “Well, 13-year-olds aren’t usually made slaves, and even more unusually, you keep trying to escape. After once or twice, most slaves just learn to keep their heads down and get on with their work.” Barty looked up at Joshua admiringly. “You have a lot more fire in you than they do.”

            “I’m not supposed to be here!” Joshua nearly shouted.

            “Where are you supposed to be then?” Barty asked calmly.

            Joshua huffed and said, “I was doing just fine on my own before I got caught on someone’s private property and was eating their precious wild strawberries. How was I supposed to know that they weren’t just wild plants when they’re in the middle of the woods with nothing else around? It’s not like there was a sign or anything!” Joshua grew angrier just thinking about it.

            Barty, however, kept the same smile on his calm face. “That’s why I’m going to get you out of here, Joshua.”

            Joshua looked at Barty carefully. “How are you going to do that?” he asked, feeling a tiny bit of hope.

            “Easy. I have magic,” Barty answered lightly. “But I’m not going to do this for free, you know.”

            Joshua snorted. “Of course not. How am I going to pay you?”

            “Not with money, obviously.” Barty glanced at the ragged clothing that Joshua had been wearing since he had become a slave. “I actually have a job for you to do.”

            “What sort of job?” Joshua asked warily. “I already have an unpleasant job here. I don’t need another one, thanks.”

            Barty chuckled and said, “It’s not a job like this. I want you to keep the humans out of our forest.”

            “That’s all?” Joshua asked incredulously.

            “Don’t judge too quickly,” Barty said, holding up his hand. “As soon as we frighten one group of humans away, more humans show up. They are relentless, and so I figured that we should have someone relentless on our side.”

            Joshua thought about this and decided that it couldn’t be any worse from his current situation. “All right,” he said, nodding to himself. “I’ll do it, just get me out of here.”

            “Done,” Barty said as he snapped his fingers. He walked to the door, and looked back at Joshua, waiting. “Come on then!”

            “I can’t just walk out of here!”

            “Why not?”

            “Because there’s guards and even when I do slip past them, they’ll find me tomorrow morning and bring me back.” Joshua’s face turned sullen. “They always do.”

            “You don’t need to worry about that, anymore,” Barty said unconcernedly. “They’re all asleep, and I’ve made them forget all about you. No one will be coming after you now.”

            Joshua felt his hopes rising again as he got up and carefully looked out the door. The night was very quiet as he slowly walked out and Barty zipped right by him. “This way!” he called back to Joshua.

            Heart hammering, Joshua followed the glowing form of Barty. It was as easy to escape as Barty said it would be. He wasn’t sure what he was running to, but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind. Besides, now it seemed like he’d be able to live in the woods again, back where he wanted to be in the first place. He was excited for this new opportunity.

Pockets

 

            Katie had things to do, and no time to waste. The wild raspberries were ripe, and she wanted to get some before they got eaten by the forest animals. The raspberry patch was more than a mile from her home, but the hike was worth it to get the biggest, juiciest berries that grew around here.

            Katie’s husband, Sam, was out working in the fields today, so that meant that Katie would be bringing little Thomas with her. Thomas was nearly four months old now, but he was still small enough that Katie didn’t mind his weight in the special pack that she carried on her back.

            After gathering all the things that she would need, she put everything in her spacious apron pockets. These pockets were magically expanded inside. It was still a time when magic was common and pervasive. Everyone felt its effects. In 1,000 years, this wouldn’t be the case, but for now, magic was still part of life.

            Katie walked out the door with little Thomas on her back, and Benji, the family dog, trailing behind her. She set off on a well-worn track that led into the woods. With her goal set, she moved quickly and covered a lot of ground. She stepped a little too close to a lonely fairy’s house. The fairy in residence came out and shook her fist at Katie.

            “Sorry about that!” Katie cried cheerfully, as she continued on. She startled a pair of beavers as she stomped by their lodge. The beavers shot out and into the river. More than one deer bounded away from her as she hurried on her way.

            When Katie reached the raspberry patch, she smiled. There were still plenty of plump, juicy raspberries for her to pick and take home. “I think we’ll have enough to make jam,” she said happily. Benji barked to show that he was listening, and Thomas cooed as Katie gently removed the pack from her back.

            Sticking her hand into her apron pocket, she drew out a small quilt and laid it out on the ground near her. Carefully getting Thomas out of the pack, she set him on the blanket. She turned to Benji and instructed, “Now you watch him, Benji. Make sure he doesn’t roll off anywhere.”

            Benji obediently sat down close to the blanket to watch his small charge.

            Satisfied, Katie removed a few bowls from her apron pocket, and started to pick the raspberries. Most of them were just right for picking, and Katie moved quickly among the bushes. A few went into her mouth. Just to test them, she told herself.

            It wasn’t long before one of her bowls was full. She set it down on the ground and grabbed another one. Soon there were three large bowls filled with raspberries lined up in a row. “That should be plenty,” Katie said, nodding. She drew out three small towels to cover the raspberry bowls and then put them all back in her pocket.

            Benji looked up at her as she came back over to the blanket where Thomas still lay, sleeping peacefully. Not wanting to disturb the baby just yet, she lay down with her head on the blanket and closed her eyes.

            Katie slept until Benji woke her with one of his loudest barks. Disoriented for a moment, she looked wildly around to see why he was so upset. Then she saw the small fox as it darted away from their small clearing.

            Thomas was awake and ready to eat. He also needed a new diaper rag. Once again, she reached into her apron pocket to get out the things she needed. After taking care of the baby, she packed everything back up and they all set off back the way they had come.

            Katie thought about how easy it was to carry everything that she needed along with her. If Sam had come instead of her to pick raspberries, he would have had to carry a lot more since men’s pants pockets couldn’t be magically modified. She thought how silly that was. Women’s pockets looked small, but they held so much, thanks to a woman’s magic.

            Men, on the other hand, couldn’t perform any magic, so their pockets were sewn much larger, but held so much less.

            Katie laughed softly to herself as she walked home to make her raspberry jam.

            More than 1,000 years later, Katie’s 40^th great-granddaughter, Shelly, was left wondering why men’s pockets held so much more than women’s pants pockets. Women’s pockets were always sewn so small, that you could only fit half of a cell phone in it. Men’s pockets, however, were much roomier. They were able to fit their phone, keys, wallet, and whatever else they needed to carry.

            Magic had disappeared centuries ago, and Shelly had no idea why pants pockets are made the way that they are today. But you, reader, now know the answer to this great mystery.

A Knight's Quest

 

            Chase was excited. He finally had a chance to become a real knight. For years, he had practiced and trained with the sword in the Junior School of Knights. Now he was graduating, and he ranked number five in his class. The top five graduates then had the chance to complete a quest for the king. If they each completed their quest successfully, they would become true knights and work to protect the kingdom.

            As the graduating ceremonies commenced, Chase tried to slow his pounding heart. His whole life had been building up to this moment. The school’s headmaster seemed to give a much longer speech than usual, but finally he said the words that Chase was waiting to hear: “And now our top five graduates will come up to accept their new quest.”

            Chase felt a thrill as the headmaster said his name. He walked as quickly as he could to the podium, but when he got there, his mouth opened in surprise. Jason, the class bully, had reached the headmaster before Chase and taken Chase’s place. Jason smirked as he accepted the quest scroll from the headmaster.

            “Nooo!” Chase shouted angrily. “That’s mine!” He ran to where Jason had been standing, but he was gone. Chase tried to explain to the headmaster what had happened and to let him have another scroll.

            “Sorry, lad,” he said sadly. “Jason may not deserve it, but he has the scroll now. There’s nothing I can do. If he fulfills the quest, he’ll be made a knight.” He looked at Chase kindly. “You have performed remarkably well at this school, and I know that you will make a remarkable soldier for our kingdom.”

            The unfairness of it made Chase want to scream. “Can’t you at least tell me what the quest is, so I can get a fighting chance?”

            The headmaster looked at him thoughtfully and said, “Yes, I don’t think that would be against the rules. But I must warn you, that whichever one of you completes the quest first, and brings back the scroll, will get the knighthood.”

            Chase took a deep breath, like he was preparing for a race and said, “Okay, I’m ready.”

            “The quest is this: defeat Remalkion, the giant spider, and bring back his head.”

            Chase nodded, resolute, as he said, “Thank you, sir.”

            Chase headed to the stables as quickly as he could and saddled his horse, Grayson. He grabbed his pack that he had prepared earlier and set out. Not really knowing where Remalkion, the giant spider was, he started out on the path that would lead him toward the Old Forest.

            Chase rode all day, and by nightfall, he had reached his destination. Forest Inn was still a few miles outside of the Old Forest, but it would be a safe place to rest and get information.

            Making sure that Grayson was being properly cared for, Chase went inside. He rented a room and chatted with the innkeeper for a few minutes, trying to find out anything about Ramlkion. “Have you heard of any giant spiders around here?” he asked the old innkeeper seriously.

            The innkeeper’s face turned dark and said, “Aye, there’s been more reports of people going missing lately. Usually, the giant spider webs have been deep in the forest, but they have grown bolder lately. You’ll find some of their webs scarcely two miles inside the woods.”

            Chase thought about this and said, “Have you ever heard of Ramalkion?”

            The innkeeper’s face turned white and panicked, as he said, “Don’t say it out loud! You’ll curse us all!”

            It was a few minutes before the man could calm down again. When he did, Chase asked, “Where can I find him?”

            “If you go looking for him, you will only find death, but if you follow the spider webs, they’ll lead you right to him.”

            After that, Chase couldn’t get anything else out of the old man. Saying good night, he turned to go to his room. To his surprise, his way was blocked by the young lad who had taken care of Grayson. His face was earnest as he pled, “Don’t go after him mister!”

            “I’m on an errand for the king,” Chase replied calmly.

            “Well, at least bring plenty of light with you. The spiders hate light and fire.”

            Chase thanked the youth and went to bed.

            The next morning, Chase saddled Grayson and they headed to the forest proper. Along the way, Chase stopped to gather several stout branches that he would use for torches. He wanted every advantage he could get against the spider.

            Twenty minutes later, Chase saw the first evidence of the giant spider. Thick spider webs were strewn all over the area. Chase paused a moment to light one of his makeshift torches with flint and tinder. He followed a path that was littered with broken spider webs.

            Not long after, he came across a man lying face down in the path. Chase held up his torch high in the air and peered at the woods all around him. Seeing nothing, he dismounted to get a closer look at the body. Gingerly, he turned the body over and saw Jason’s face staring blankly at him.

            Jason had been the Knight School bully, and Chase had never liked him, but a death was still sorrowful. Chase carefully moved the body off the side of the path. As he did, he noticed the scroll poking out of Jason’s pocket. Seeing it, Chase took it and said, “You see Jason, that’s what happens when you don’t follow the rules.”

            Mounted once again, Chase continued to follow the spider webs, which were getting thicker. Chase had to raise his torch higher, because darkness seemed to be closing around him, even though it wasn’t even mid-day yet.

            Suddenly, Chase heard a rustling noise that sounded like it was made by something big. With the torch held in his left hand, Chase unsheathed his sword with his right. Looking behind him, Chase saw something that made his whole being fill with fear. At least 15 enormous spiders blocked the path. Chase waved the torch around wildly and uttered a savage cry. The spiders backed away a few paces, but didn’t leave.

            Behind Chase, a voice spoke, filled with malice. “How dare you bring fire here!” it said, scathingly.

            Chase whipped around and saw an absolutely gigantic spider that was at least twice the size of the others. This one had to be Remalkion.

            Surrounded now by spiders, Chase gave out a few more battle cries as he waved the torch around to keep the spiders at bay.

            Suddenly, there was a spark as Chase’s torch got too close to one of the webs. It immediately grew into flame that began to devour the spider webs and spread quickly. All around him, there were angry clicks from the spiders and Chase found himself using his sword now as the spiders attacked.

            Chase hadn’t been one of the top five in his class for nothing. As Chase started fighting, his training took over. From his position on Grayson, he had a significant height advantage and took down eleven of the smaller spiders before he was knocked out of the saddle.

            Chase rolled until he came to a stop and immediately jumped up to fight more of the spiders. Finally, he slashed the final spider through its hairy body as it collapsed in front of him. Then Chase turned toward Remalkion.

            The menacing voice was now filled with fury as it shouted, “You will pay for this!” The huge spider thundered toward Chase, who met it head on with a slash from his sword. It barely made a mark however, and Chase had to retreat a few steps. He almost tripped over the torch, which was still burning where he’d dropped it in the earlier fights with the spiders. He picked it up as he met Remalkion’s next attack with a spinning sword move. The sword again barely nicked the spider, but the flame from the torch had caught fire in the hair that covered the spider’s body.

            Remalkion now stumbled around in a screaming inferno as it tried to escape the flames. Chase stood back and watched, stunned. After a few minutes, the giant spider collapsed and went still. Before the body was entirely consumed by flames, Chase hacked off the creature’s head as proof that he had fulfilled the king’s quest.

            Rain started to fall and smothered the dozens of small fires that had started to spread. Chase found Grayson, who was miraculously uninjured. He started the journey that would eventually take him back to the castle where he would show that he had fulfilled his quest.

            Finally, Chase had proven that he was worthy to be one of the king’s knights. Nothing was going to stop him now.

Dragon Eggs

 

            Ben couldn’t believe it. “What did you say?” he asked his best friend, Chance, incredulously.

            “Our dragon laid eggs, and my Dad said that we’ll be selling them as soon as they hatch,” Chance answered. “I wish we could keep at least one, but Dad says that having Freida is dragon enough”

            Ben’s mind raced as he took this in. He had always been slightly envious of Chance and his dragon, Freida. Dragons were the coolest pets, and nearly everyone had one. That is, except Ben and his family. “How much is your Dad selling the hatchlings for?” he asked curiously.

            “$500,” came the response.

            “$500!” Ben said in dismay. “When will the eggs hatch?”

            “About six weeks,” Chance said, looking at Ben curiously. “Do you want one?”

            “Heck yes!” Ben answered excitedly. “I’ve got a little money saved up, but I’ll talk to my Dad, and see if we can buy one.”

            Ben thought of nothing else as he sat through the rest of the school day. Chance kept telling him all about the eggs and how they were all different colors. Pet dragons made very faithful pets, and Ben wanted nothing more than to get one for his very own.

            When the bell finally rang, Ben ran home in record time to find that his house was empty. Both of his parents were still at work, and his older sister, Jessie, was babysitting over at one of the neighbor’s houses. Ben ran upstairs to his room and pulled out the jar that held all of his savings. Dumping it out on the bed, he counted it. “$120,” he breathed slowly. His weekly allowance was $10, so in six weeks, he would have a grand total of $180, not nearly enough for a dragon. He would have to ask his parents if they would help him pay for it.

            Ben flopped backwards onto his bed. The chances of him getting more than $300 from Dad were slim, but he had to try. Slowly, he got up and went downstairs to wait for his family to get home. He should have done his homework, but Ben couldn’t focus on his seventh grade math, and ended up watching a game show instead.

            Five o’clock came, and Ben got up with an idea. His parents and sister would be home soon, and if Ben was going to ask for money, he should probably do something to show that he deserved it. He started to make dinner. All Ben had to do was warm up yesterday’s leftovers, so it wasn’t hard. He set the table, and started to do the dishes that had been sitting in the sink since breakfast.

            Jessie came home first and looked at Ben quizzically. “What are you doing?” she asked. Ben never helped get dinner ready. That was usually her job.

“I just wanted to help out today,” Ben said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Sure,” Jessie answered, obviously not believing him.

By the time his parents got home, dinner was ready and on the table. Everyone sat down gratefully to eat.

Mom and Dad talked about their days at work. Mom worked at a greenhouse, and Dad worked at a shipping company. Finally, they asked Ben about his day.

Before Ben thought, he blurted, “Chance’s dragon has laid eggs, and I want to get one!” Ben quickly looked down. He’d wanted to bring this up a little more casually, but he slowly looked back up at Dad and said, “Each egg costs $500, and in six weeks, I’ll have $180.” He took a deep breath and asked, “Could I have the rest, so I could buy the dragon, please?”

Both Mom and Dad stared at him for a moment, and then Jessie said with a laugh, “Oh, that’s why you got dinner ready, and cleaned up the kitchen!”

“You did this, Ben?” Mom said, surprised.

Ben tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal as he said, “I thought I could help out a little.”

Dad took a deep breath and said, “$300 is a lot of money, son. I don’t think we can afford that right now.” He put a hand on Ben’s shoulder as he said, “Maybe we’ll get one next year. There’s bound to be someone else with dragon eggs, and that would give you more time to earn some money.”

Ben felt smaller as he said slowly, “Yeah, okay Dad.”

After dinner, Ben went up to his room and thought about the dragon eggs. Dad was right, of course, but Ben wanted one now. It would take him most of the year to earn enough money. Unless, Ben thought suddenly, I could earn money mowing lawns. Every once in a while, their neighbors would ask Ben to mow their lawn, and they would pay him $10. All he had to do was mow a bunch of lawns to get more money.

The more he thought about it, the more confident he became that this would work. He would have to mow 32 lawns to get enough money, but that shouldn’t be too hard over six weeks. Excited again, he ran downstairs to ask Dad about it.

“That’s a great idea, son,” he said with a smile. “Of course, you’ll have to pay for gas for the mower, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Right, gas, he thought, surprised he hadn’t thought about that. Oh well, I’ll just have to mow more lawns.

The next day, he went to ask his neighbors about hiring him to mow their lawns. A few of them agreed, so on Saturday, he headed out to work.

Six weeks later, Ben had mowed 28 lawns and now had $415, after paying Dad for gas for the lawn mower. “So close,” he said dejectedly, after counting out the money on his bed. Tomorrow, he would have to tell Chance that he didn’t have enough to buy a dragon. He felt miserable.

Face down on his pillow, there was a soft knock on his bedroom door. Ben muffled out, “Come in.” Slowly, Ben rolled over to see who it was.

Dad stood in the doorway with a smile. “How much have you saved?” he asked.

“Only $415,” Ben replied softly. “I’m going to tell Chance that I won’t be buying a dragon.”

Dad put his arm around Ben as they both sat on the bed. “You’ve worked hard these last few weeks,” Dad said slowly. “Even though you didn’t get what you wanted, I’m still really proud of you.”

Ben swallowed down tears. “If only I had a few more weeks, I think I would have had enough.”

Dad sighed and said, “Sometimes life is like that, son. We can’t always get what we want.” He paused and then grinned at Ben. “However, I can see that you know how to work to earn money now. What if you and I worked out a loan situation?”

Ben felt his hopes rising.

“How short are you?” Dad asked.

“$85,” Ben said, unbelieving.

Dad thought and nodded as he said, “Well, I think I can loan you that amount, but I want you to work just as hard as you have the last few weeks. Do you think you could pay me back in three weeks?”

Ben barely stopped himself from literally jumping for joy. “Yes!” he cried happily, hugging Dad.

A few days later, Chance called Ben to let him know that the eggs had hatched. Minutes later, Ben was at Chance’s house, looking down at the dragon hatchlings. “Wow,” he breathed. Pet dragons didn’t grow to be larger than two feet in height, but the hatchlings were so tiny.

Ben knelt down for a closer look to decide which one he wanted to keep. There were six baby dragons, all of different colors. It was like looking at a solid, wriggling rainbow. The dark green dragon stumbled over to Ben, and Ben put out his hand to pet him. The dragon leaned into Ben’s hand and closed his eyes as he made a strange, low, growling sound.

“This is the one,” Ben said happily.

“Good choice,” Chance said, smiling.

Ben never felt happier as he paid $500 for his new dragon.

“What’s his name going to be?” asked Chance curiously.

Ben thought for a minute and then said, “Mower.”

Chance looked confused and asked, “Why…?”

Ben smiled as he said, “Because of how many lawns I had to mow to get him.”

Ben walked home, so excited and full of plans for his new dragon friend, Mower.

Curiosity Kills

 

            Police headquarters was abuzz with talk about the woman that had been found in a deep freezer. It seemed that there was always something weird happening in Bilbury City, but most of those things turned out to be silly pranks. People were always calling in about robberies and vandalism, but this was different.

            The body had been found in a vacation home, on the outskirts of the city, near the edge of the woods. The owner had gone out to do some fishing near the home, and when he came back to put his catch in the freezer, there was a woman’s body, curled up and frozen solid.

            The police were summoned, and the process started of trying to figure out what had happened. The problem that they ran into immediately, was that they couldn’t identify who the woman was. Her fingerprints, photos, and DNA had been run through every kind of database, and they had nothing.

            That’s why Clarence had been called in. He always ended up with all the really weird cases, and he had an amazing solve rate for them. He had a knack for figuring out the strange and unexplainable things that happened in Bilbury City. Now Clarence was on his way to the morgue to begin his investigation.

            Walking into the building, Clarence flashed his detective’s badge, and was shown to a room where the strange woman’s body was laid out. As soon as the sheet was removed from her face, Clarence knew immediately why her identity was impossible to discover. This woman was actually a wood nymph. Of course she wouldn’t be in any database.

            Clarence saw her wooden skin and the foliage in her hair – both dead giveaways – and knew at once that the case was practically solved. However, Clarence didn’t show any surprise, because he was the only one in the entirety of Bilbury City who was actually a Wood Sprite. Humans couldn’t see magic.

            Bilbury City lay on the edge of Hawthorn Forest, a sprawling wooded area that spanned hundreds of square miles. This was the reason for most of the strange happenings in the city. It was Clarence’s job to protect the forest, and to keep the humans away from it.

            Keeping the humans out of the forest was easy enough, but keeping those creatures that lived in the forest away from the humans was the problem.

            Clarence looked down at the wood nymph and sighed. How did she end up in a freezer? He would have to contact the Queen of the Nymphs, Cornflower, who would definitely not be pleased to lose one of her trees. He would also have to come up with some way to explain to the police what might have happened in a nonmagical way.

            Maybe the wood nymph had crawled into the freezer out of curiosity and later became trapped. Nymphs were curious beings. It seemed likely that that’s what had happened.

            Clarence looked up at the medical examiner as he thought about what he could say. Thank goodness the only thing he saw was a woman’s body. Humans seemed to be terrified of anything different from what they knew. That’s why it was so easy to keep them out of the forest. The mysterious aura and the haunted stories were enough to keep them afraid.

            For the next half an hour, Clarence and the medical examiner discussed the case. Clarence said he would do his best to find out what had happened.

            That night, Clarence entered the forest and sought out Cornflower. He found her in her court, already awash in tears, surrounded by the rest of the wood nymphs. “Oh, Clarence!” she cried, with rivers of water flowing down her face. “Bluebell’s tree is dying, and Bluebell is nowhere to be found!”

            Clarence gazed softly at Cornflower and said, “I believe she’s the one that was found in the human city. She’s dead. I’m sorry.”

            Cornflower let out a fresh wail and said, “I knew that she must be dead, because of her tree. But Clarence, we need her body to be buried underneath her tree. Can you bring her to us?”

            “Of course,” Clarence said consolingly. He left the court and started making plans. Maybe he could pretend to turn the case over to the state and send away the body and all the evidence. He would have to falsify a large number of documents to appease the humans. They really loved their paperwork. However, he was confident that he could get Bluebell to her home in the next few days.

            A Wood Sprite’s job was never dull. Hopefully, the next time he was needed on a case would be the kind of stuff he was usually called in for. He would take a strange robbery over a dead body any day.

Watery Door

 

            The sweet night air blew across Ellara’s face and she breathed deeply. This is where I’m supposed to be, she thought contentedly. The seashore lay before her, and she practically flew over the sand toward the ocean. As soon as her bare feet touched the water, she felt at peace.

            None of the other woodland elves spent time in the ocean. Ellara was the only one who would dive and swim in the waves. Everyone else thought she was crazy. Oh, let them have their beautiful trees, she thought. Ellara used to be like them when she was younger, but the first time she saw the ocean, she knew that this would be her focus. She used to come every day to the ocean’s shores, but Ellara felt the waves of disapproval directed at her from the others. Now she snuck away every night to come here.

            The moon was full and cast its brilliant light on the water. Ellara waded in, savoring the feel of the sand between her toes. Then she noticed something odd where the moon’s light touched the water. Something golden was rising up out of the ocean. As Ellara stared, it emerged fully and she realized it was a door. The door swung open inwards, inviting her to enter.

            Like a fish born to water, Ellara swam towards the strange door. As she got closer, the ocean floor rose up underneath her until she was standing in front of the open door. On the other side, a watery scene stood before Ellara. As she watched, schools of bright colored fish swam by and seaweed swayed in the ocean current.

            All at once, an elf appeared in the scene. This wasn’t just any elf. Her upper body was that of a woodland elf, just like Ellara, but instead of legs, she had a beautiful teal-green fish’s tail.

            Ellara had heard stories of mermaids, but she just thought that they were fanciful legends. The stories all talked about horrific fish elves that would spirit away any woodland elf that came too close to them. This was the reason for most of her kinsmen’s aversion to the ocean.

            The mermaid on the other side of the door beckoned to Ellara with a smile. Ellara hesitated, worried that some of the legends could be true. As she wavered, the mermaid spoke to her. “I’ve been watching you for quite some time Ellara.”

            Ellara, shocked, wasn’t sure what to say.

            The mermaid continued. “My name is Callina, and I was once a woodland elf, like you.”

            “I’ve heard of you,” Ellara said curiously. “I thought you had moved to another woodland settlement.”

            “Is that what they told you?” Callina asked thoughtfully. “I have always loved the water, and I spent most of my time away from the forest, in the ocean. Most of our race is afraid to swim and experience the pure joy of moving through the water. I suppose they wanted to protect young elves by saying that I had just moved somewhere else. But really, I’m living my best life. I never have to leave the water now.” She performed a joyful flip, showing off her sparkling mermaid tail.

            “Are there others like you?” Ellara asked curiously.

            “Of course. We come from many places, but we’ve all made our way to the ocean.” Callina paused then and asked, “Would you like to join us?”

            Ellara thought of all the stories of mermaids, and how they captured young elves.

            Seeing her concern, Callina said, “This is a choice that is entirely up to you. Mermaids don’t actually ‘spirit away’ young elves. Everyone makes their own choice.”

            “If I go with you, will I be able to come back?”

            “If you wish, you are always free to return to the forest. It has happened before, otherwise there wouldn’t be any legends about us at all. The doorway between worlds appears when a full moon’s light touches the ocean.”

            Ellara thought about leaving the forest. Could she really do that? She thought about living her life in the ocean with other mermaids. Ever since she’d seen the ocean, her heart had been held captive by it, but she felt alone. No one understood her desire to be in the water. Now she had a chance to meet others like herself who also loved the water.

            Making her decision, Ellara nodded to herself and said, “Okay, what do I do to become like you?”

            Callina smiled encouragingly and said, “All you have to do is walk through the door, and your heart will do the rest.”

            Ellara took a deep breath as she prepared to leave the life that she knew to explore a new world. Slowly, she reached her hand through the doorway and touched the warm ocean water. As she moved through the strange portal, her body started to tingle. She held her breath and fully stepped in to her new world. She was now totally immersed in the water, and she felt at home. Looking back, she saw her old life through the doorway. She flipped her beautiful violet mermaid’s tail and propelled herself through the underwater wonderland.

            Ellara laughed happily, and found that she didn’t need air to breathe anymore. Callina smiled as she saw Ellara’s joy. Ellara was free. She swam gleefully and felt at peace.

Callina swam alongside her and said, “Do you like it? Would you like to meet the others?”

            “Yes, please!” Ellara cried joyfully. She followed Callina as they moved through the depths of the ocean, elated to begin her new life.