The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

Unlike the faeries of Winter and Summer, the more subtle faeries of Spring and Fall choose a quiet, unassuming nature when it comes to the changing of the seasons. Bulbs are coaxed silently from the ground in the spring. New buds form on branch and bow. When summer gives way to winter, it is the autumn faeries that instigate the slow but steady bronzing of the leaves as the plants prepare for hibernation.

Upon our return, Arial and I were greeted by a shower of golden yellow leaves falling from the Hawthorne trees. The fall faeries have been very busy in my backyard as well as in the forests around the Realm. I reached into my pocket to make sure that I still had the summer queens gift. How appropriate that the fire faeries gift would be lightening. The little box issued an uninterrupted vibration.

There was a sudden rustle of leaves in the branches above us and I looked up to see several faeries jumping up and down in the tree causing a basket full of fresh leaves to cascade down on our heads. “Hey! go easy.” I brushed the fallen leaves out of my hair then turned to see Warren and Odette shuffle up each with a tiny rake in their hands.

Odette was first to reach me. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes Missus, been gone a while now.” She brushed a leaf off of my shoe and smiled up at me. “Not that the Mister would notice. Warren and I have been helpin’ with the cleanup. The toad is in hibernation already, goin’ to be an early winter I think.”  Odette always gives me the update on what has been happening around the house as soon as the sparkles dissipate.

My Chihuahua’s had been nosing around the ivy, investigating the strange smells and nosies that only they can detect, but as soon as I reappeared, they immediately surrounded me, tails whipping, whining impatiently to be picked up. Hearing all the commotion, Bill stuck his head out of the back door. “Hey, there you are. I have been looking all over for you. Have you been to the store?”

I’ve said it before, but it never ceases to fascinate me how time is so divergent between this world and the realm of the Fae, and  Bill’s naivete’ when it comes to my fairy friends is very charming.

Giving Arial a “what am I supposed to say” look,  I walked over to him and circled his neck with my arms. “You are so intuitive! That’s exactly where I’ve been, why don’t you go in and I’ll run out to the car and get the bags.”

His smile got even brighter. “Great, but don’t you need help?” I motioned to Arial to meet me around the corner as I walked him to the door. “No hun, they are small, I’ll get them.”

As soon as the door closed, I darted around the corner of the house and nearly collided with Lilly, my neighbor from down the street. ” Oh! Hi, I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to be standing there!” Arial was hovering a little above and behind her with one finger over her lips. “I was.. ah…just going to the car…to get some… groceries, yeah, that’s it, groceries.”

Lilly’s eyes twinkled. “Yes dear, I know.” She patted me on the shoulder and handed me a bag. “I have been cooking all day and I made so much more than I could possibly eat and I thought, I’ll bet that nice couple up the street would love some fresh, hot pot roast.” She peeked in the bag. “There’s potatoes and carrots in there too. I think you’ll find that they are done just the way Bill likes.”

I looked from Lilly, to the bag, and back. “Why…thank you… I guess. How did you know that I… At this point I was totally confused. From the first time I had met Lilly I had the feeling that she was somehow different. Charming, but different.

I continued. “Lilly, I can’t take this, it’s to much.” I tried to hand the bag back but she would have nothing of it. “Nonsense dear, like I said, I was cooking anyway.” She gave me a wink, then gently turned me around by the shoulders and gave me a slight nudge. “Go on then, Bill’s waiting for his dinner.”

I took a step or two then turned to thank her once more thinking, he might be expecting his his dinner, but fully cooked from the bag? but when I looked, she had disappeared, leaving a slight scent of roses lingering on the breeze.

You know, I am going to get to the point that nothing will surprise me anymore. Looking up I noticed Arial with a sheepish grin on her face, swaying a little and wringing  her hands. I had to ask,”what was that all about?”. Before she could answer, Bill stuck his head around the corner. “You coming?”

Startled, I jumped, then made my way quickly up the steps. “Yes, yes, here I am. I hope you’re hungry!”  I was hoping that I sounded nonchalant. He took the bag and took a deep breath. “Smells great, lets eat!” To my astonishment, he didn’t find it at all odd that I had brought home a fully cooked roast dinner.

Warren and Odette shuffled quickly along behind us, smacking their lips. “Can we come to dinner?” I noded, and wondered as we all went in to dinner just how Lilly knew Bill’s name.

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

With Arial’s help, I have found my way back to the mortal world, and my garden. I have never been to a midsummer faerie festival and I’m here to tell you that it can take a lot out of a person, even a person like me with faerie blood flowing in her veins.

The summer season is progressing and I can feel a touch of fall in the air, Lughnasa, which marks the beginning of the harvest (Aug. 12th) has come and gone and we are quickly advancing on Mabon.

Mabon is celebrated on the Autumnal Equinox, the time when day and night are equal and is sometimes called the second harvest, the Festival of Dionysus, or the Feast of Avalon. In times past, a good harvest meant surviving the cold winter months.

At Mabon, we  reflect back on our accomplishments of the year and give thanks for all that we have achieved. We plan for the dark cycle of the year, but look  forward to the future and the promise of spring.

In looking back, I am proud of my accomplishments but it is Warren, my little gnome friend, who surpasses me . This year, I decided to grow a garden. In the spring, Bill surprised me by digging up some stumps so that I could plant a faerie cottage garden. Warren helped where he could but kept getting under foot so I insisted that he just watch. I planted several different  perennials and some herbs, and when the weather warmed up a little, I planted some snapdragons and petunias.

When the cottage garden was planted and happily growing, I turned my attention to the vegetable  garden. I planted tomates and cucumbers, green peppers and zucchini.

After all the starts were planted, I had one little tomato plant left over. It was the smallest plant of the bunch and I thought that I would just throw it away but Warren ask if I might let him have it. I didn’t know where to plant it so I just stuck it in my flower garden. I put a cage around it and left it for the gnomes to tend.

August has come and the tomato’s are ripening. Mine are having some difficulty, the spring was wetter than usual so I have been fighting powdery mildew and blossom end rot. Warren’s tiny tomato plant on the other hand has grown into a gigantic vine and has taken over the entire flower garden! I knew gnomes had a way with gardens, that was one of the reasons I asked Warren and Odette to come and live in mine, but this is amazing. I have never seen a tomato vine get so big.

It has grown up and over the cage, then down and over all my perenials. Warren loves teasing me, he is very proud of his work and has offered his expertise for our garden next year. I think I will take him up on his offer, but if all my tomato’s grow this big, I will have to have more space.

The days are getting shorter and soon the fall faeries will arrive to help usher in the hibernation of winter. As much as I love the fire faeries of summer, I can’t wait to see my winter faerie friends again. Arial has been  spending a lot of time lately looking toward the north in anticipation. As I watch her now, I wonder what the dark winter nights have in store for us…it has been to quite at  Mrs. Shunner’s house.

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

The other day I walked into my magic room to find a couple of rather nasty goblins under my desk. They were hunched over and chewing on my computer cables. After chasing them around the room for a few minutes I called Arial to help get rid of the nefarious creatures. “Arial! come quick! There are sneaky goblins reeking havoc on my computer!” Arial shot into the room followed by two glowing fire fairies. They formed a triangle around the two little slimy green beasts, pointed their wands at at the center and chanted:

“Goblins green in face and arm

Here to do the Kind One harm

Be ye gone by count of three

Lest we fairies clobber thee”

Streaks of bright green light flashed from the fairie wands and surrounded the offending pair of goblins in a glowing bubble, then vanished in a burst of sparkles leaving only a  faint trace of footprints. Arial checked around the room to make sure that there were no more intruders. “That should do it. I think that it will be a long while before those two decide to come over again”

I turned on the computer and tried to get on the internet. “Shoot! They have fried the modem cable.” I checked to see if the lights on the router were flashing, nope, all dark. “Oh no, they wrecked the router too.” I looked over at Arial and the other fairies. “It’s going to take at least a week before I have this all replaced, what are people going to think if I don’t keep them up to date on the fairie happenings?”

Arial landed on my shoulder, her usual place, and whispered in my ear. “If you write it, they will come.” Yeah, yeah, I know, ever since Arial discovered videos she spends entirely to much time watching TV. She is a HUGE fan of Kevin Costner. I had to think for a minute. “I guess I could try to tweet on my cell phone until my network is up and running again, it won’t be the same, but I guess it will have to do. I wonder how they came through the portal, isn’t it invisible anymore?”

The three fairies put their heads together in a huddle then Arial floated back to my shoulder and stood with her hands behind her back. “It is the opinion of my colleagues that they came through the night you came back from the Midsummer celebration. Honeyed mead can make fairies a little, oh, how shall I say it, light headed.” I frowned at her. “So what you’re saying is that no one noticed that we had two to  many people in our group?” She giggled.”We do love our celebrations.” She stood a little taller and flipped her wings. “But we are now focused on the task at hand once more, never fear.” The two fire faeries slid up beside her, nodding agreement.

“Well, the damage is done, there is nothing else to do but go forward from here. Just make sure that the emerald guard is watching the portal.” I thought back to the day the trolls hairy arm came through the ivy. “It could have been a much scarier creature.” The three of them spun around my head, smiling and whispering words of consolation, then they winked out of sight. I have noticed something about the fire faeries, the air shimmers around them. The more determined they get, the more defined the shimmer becomes. When Arial and the two fire faeries winked out, the fire faeries had a very heavy shimmer around them.

I looked out the window to see Lilly heading down the street toward her little white house, it looked like she was talking to someone, but there was no one with her that I could see. I squinted my eyes and looked harder, nope, there wasn’t anyone else with her, not that I could see anyway. There is something more to her than she is letting on. I made a mental note to visit her again, maybe I can figure out what it is.

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