The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

I didn’t know if Bill wanted to laugh or cry. One thing was perfectly clear, he wasn’t at all happy about having his wife turned into a cat. He sat down on the porch step and stared at me. Arial and Cythia had each taken a protective position, hovering a few inches off the ground on either side of me.

I have noticed that when situations get tense, the faeries will hum softly. It has a calming effect, like the time my little Chihuahua, Edie, got plopped on the head with cold wet snow.  She will always let us know when she is not happy, and by the sounds of her wild screaming that day, she wasn’t happy! The faeries paralleled her every move, humming a gentle lullaby, until she stopped. Then of course she looked at us like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

Arial and Cythia were humming like that now, but this time it was for Bill. When the shock began to wear off, and the two faeries were satisfied that he was calmer, they left my side. Arial went to perch on Bill’s shoulder and Cythia proceeded to braid the strands of hair that she had pulled out of my head prior to my feline transformation.

Arial repositioned herself on Bill’s shoulder, leaning forward to observe Cythia’s work. She scratched her head, “Potions are tricky things.” Since Bill hadn’t been home to witness my metamorphosis, Arial had to do a little explaining. “Unless you know the exact magical strength of the creature you are going to change into, it is hard to gauge the length of time before the potion wears off. Obviously Mrs. Shunners cat wasn’t just a cat, or, the shape shifter had placed charms on it.”

“She won’t stay like that will she? We have dogs, and gnomes!” Bill edged a little closer and held out his hand to me. “Please forgive me sweetheart, I had no idea you were a, he gulped, cat.” I knew that I would have to make him dinner tonight, but right now I decided to play the cat role to the hilt. I turned my back and proceeded to lick my paws, glancing around to give him a detached look of disdain. “Tonight, you get tuna!” Meooow.

Cythia finished the braid and wove it into the fur on the top of my head. She moved back  waving her wand over me and chanted. Pink sparkles fell from the tip and disappeared into the thick black fur. “That should do it! Her natural DNA will recognize the strands of hair and the transition back to her former human self will begin.”

We waited. When nothing happened, I started to get nervous and began pacing around in circles. “I can’t stay this way, I can’t stay this way!” Meeeeoow, meeeeoow! Bill stifled a shudder and gently rubbed my fur. “Ah honey! Thanks for that show of support, I forgive you, you don’t have to eat tuna tonight!” Meow, Meoow.

All of a sudden I felt a tingling, it started at the tip of my tail and worked it’s way up my spine and out the tips of my ears. My eyes opened wide and I stood very still, waiting. Everyone else must have known that something was about to happen because they all took several steps away from me. For a split second, I felt as if the whole world was collapsing in on me. Everything compressed, then in a sudden explosion of sparkling pink light I materialized, and from the relieved smiles on their faces, looking quite myself.

At first no one spoke, then, everyone was speaking at the same time. “Well done!”  “Welcome back.” “I thought you would stay that way forever!” “What did it feel like?” “What’s for dinner?” (that’s my hubby, it’s all about the food!).

Faeries were buzzing around my head, Bill was hugging me. I think Warren and Odette even got in on the welcoming committee, of course, the dogs were barking madly. I let their relief wash over me, happy to be myself again, aside from a slight buzz in my head, I felt rather good.

When the celebration had subsided, and Bill couldn’t hug me any tighter, I extricated myself from his arms and stood back to look him in the eyes. With hands on hips, and with a mock tone of indignation in my voice, the first words to come out of my once again human mouth…”Shoo cat!?”

Bill’s eyes opened wide and he stammered, “You understood me?” I nodded. Not being able to hold in my happiness any longer, I pointed at him and began to laugh. “You should have seen the expression on your face!” I heard Odette’s high laugh, then Arial’s, and finally Bill.

We were all out of breath, “I don’t know about anyone else, but I need a coke, my mouth feels like it has feathers in it!” We all looked at each other and broke into renewed gales of laughter.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009.