The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

The Kind One realizing she was lost in the dark forest at night, cried out for Arial. A spectral ghostly faerie appeared in the mist. The faerie whispered, and promised to take The Kind One to safety. It was just a ruse to give the being a chance to lull her with mind-numbing spells. The Kind One was drifting into unconsciousness and breathing with great difficulty. She was dying.

At the very last moment before she totally succumbed, golden lights like fireflies drifted through the mist and landed on her outstretched hand. Then they gathered and formed a large orb of golden light which catapulted straight at the misty faerie. She shrieked, as her true self was revealed. This was no faerie at all, but some evil creature with black eyes and leathery wings.

~~~~~~

I hit the mossy ground hard. The beast, now devoid of all life was spiraling out of control and heading,  face first straight toward the spot where I had landed. I could hear its wings whistling through the sky as it plummeted earthward. I knew I would be crushed if I didn’t move fast but my brain wasn’t sending the message to my legs so I just sat there, watching the large, bulky body growing ever larger. Blocking out more and more of the sparkling orbs as it fell.

I was jerked, unceremoniously, behind a towering oak tree at the last minute. The lifeless body of the enormous creature hit the ground hard, making a huge crater in the soft earth. The impact shook the surrounding forest like a bomb, sending dirt and debris flying in every direction.

“Whoa!” I shook my head and rotated my shoulder. The feeling was beginning to return causing it to ache and throb. “I could have been totally smashed!” A young woman with long fiery red hair stepped out from behind the tree and stood by my side. “Yeah, you really could have. Good thing I dropped by.”

I jumped back at the sound of another human voice. Keeping a small bush between us (I don’t really know what protection a small bush would afford but it was all I had) I stared at the stranger in shock and amazement. “Who are you!? And where did you come from?” I was having a hard time keeping the stress of my recent brush with death out of my voice. I shook a half closed fist at her. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll, or I’ll…”

“Or you’ll what? She brushed her hair back away from her face and smiled. “Is that any way to say thank you? I just saved your life.”

I pulled up my tattered gown and sat down on a soft patch of moss and indicated for her to sit beside me. “I’m so sorry, I have had a really bad night. Seeing someone else in this forest, alone, gave me a quite a fright. You can’t really trust things to be what they look like in the fairy realm.”

“Oh, I understand, I have had so many adventures that nothing surprises me any more.  But I’m not alone.” She leaned back and reached behind a small tree. “You can come out now.” I watched as a small fury creature with large owl eyes and hands that look like they were borrowed from a spider money crawled from under a bush and onto the girls shoulders, wrapping its thick, bushy, tail around her neck. “Let me introduce myself. I am Ember Innocenzi and this is Perhluna, my traveling companion.” Perhluna waggled hello with flat tipped fingers. “As for where we came from…that’s complicated. But I can tell you that we were dropped here by a very accommodating dragon by the name of Illustratia.”

“I’m afraid that you haven’t had a very warm welcome. The faerie realm is a lovely place and the gardens around the queens palace are very peaceful. But the dark wood can be dangerous at night. I think we had better stay put until first light. Maybe Arial will have found us by then.”

I leaned my head against the oak tree and closed my eyes, aware of Ember’s curious stare. Without opening my eyes, I asked the question. “Yes?”

Perhluna disentangled the furry tail and went off in search of something to eat and Ember laid down on her side, propping her head in her hand. “Who is Arial?”

I pictured Arial in my mind and smiled. “Arial is my traveling companion, and so much more.” I wiped a single tear from my cheek. “Formally she is known as Princess Arial, Daughter of Queen Orlaith, the High Queen of the Frost Faeries and ruler of the winter realm.” I opened one eye and glanced over at Ember, who had scrunched her mouth to one side in quizzical disbelief. “Yeah, I know. You have to spend some time in the faerie realm to get the full impact”

We both laughed out loud then clapped our hands over our mouths out of fear that we might attract some deadly attention. Nudging each other back and forth with our shoulders and sniggering softly, we waited for dawn.  I knew I had found a new friend.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009-2010

While The Kind One was rushing headlong through the dark forest to get home and save her loved ones from whatever disaster loomed from the breach in the portal, her husband, Bill found himself in the grip of panic. He didn’t know why until he looked from the kitchen window and saw a beam of green light, like a laser, striking the outer leaves of the ivy hedge. Where the light touched the leaves shriveled and burst into teeny specs.

He didn’t know what it was, or where it was coming from, but he felt sure that it was something bad, something very bad. Bill ran through the house gathering the chihuahua’s and their kennels and ran to the back door to escape. A small strident voice coming from the floor demanded that he not leave without them. For the first time, in his memory, he was confronted with the two ankle high gnomes living under their sink. The Kind One said they were there, but he didn’t believe her, until now that is.

~~~~~~

The ghostly faerie in the  mist appeared just after my heartfelt plea to Arial had left my lips. I rationalized that this must be how Arial intended to get a message to me in her absence. The mist spread silently through the trees, crawling over the ground and sending wispy curls up into the lower boughs of the dense pines. It spread quickly toward me, completely surrounding my legs up to my knees. With her long white hair swirling around her face in slow motion, the faerie moved closer, always staying inside the mist. When she was just feet away, she held out her hand so that I might come forward to grasp it with my own.

I stood, mesmerized, all the fear and panic melted away. Even my thoughts were as foggy as the mist. Wasn’t there something I needed to do? What was it? I remember running…running away from… someone? Something? I just can’t remember now. I looked up into the large dark eyes of the spectral faerie hanging in the air before me, her translucent white hand stretched out. She smiled and spoke in a soft, melodic voice. “You escaped from their clutches just in time my dear, you would have been dinner for the Undak by now. Come, take my hand and I  will carry you to safety.” The air around me grew thick, making it hard to breathe and I found myself swaying to the faerie’s seductive promises. The forest took on a dream-like quality. I rubbed my eyes and spoke into the darkness, “What was I thinking?” My slurred words sounded like they were bubbling up through soft, thick, mud.  “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway does it, I’m safe now.” The mist sent soft, caressing fingers sweeping through my hair and around my head. The faerie’s eyes held mine and I raised my hand to grasp the thin white fingers.

Our hands clasp and a sharp, momentary, jolt of pain shot through my arm, pushing the euphoria I felt out of my mind. I tried to scream but shock and pain had taken my breath away. The only sound that came out of my mouth was a stunted gasp. My arm went numb and I was jerked off my feet and into the center of the glowing mist.

The foggy white tendrils that had been weaving silently through the trees pulled back suddenly, like weird alien beings returning to the mother ship. Then the light went out, plunging me back into total darkness. I couldn’t feel the ground and I couldn’t feel my arm but I felt the rush of air on my face so I knew I was moving, and moving fast. Every now and then the tips of leaves would brush through my hair or a branch would scratch my cheek. I tried to struggle, to pull away from the thing grasping my hand but every time I tried, I just ended up swinging wildly back and forth. And each time I would hear a deep crackling laugh, as if my frantic attempts to free myself were somehow amusing.

I was growing weaker, I could feel the last of my strength evaporating like mist in sunshine…sunshine, how long had it been since I had seen sunshine? I couldn’t hold my head up any longer and it lolled to one side. I…must…stay…conscious. Arial, where are you? I must… get back to…Bill.

Suddenly, a shower of tiny golden orbs lit up the sky. They fell through the forest canopy and darted right for me like they had a mind all their own. “Oh…look… fireflies. They’re beautiful!” My voice sounded faint and far off. Holding my free hand up I let the shimmering points of light surround my finger tips. They moved over and around my hand and swirled down my arm  making my skin glow translucent pink. To my dazed mind it felt like they were sniffing me, like my Chihuahuas do after I have been scratching an unknown puppy. It tickled.

“Hi.” I wiggled my fingers. “Hi there little lights.” My new shinning friends stopped and pulled back, I watched as they merged together into one large, pulsing ball of fiery light. “Oh man, I’m sorry, did I scare you?” I don’t think at t his point I would have been surprised if they had answered me. The sphere had grown razor sharp spikes and now each tip was pulsing. “That’s pretty too…”

The creature clutching my hand came to a jarring halt and spun around to face the blinding ball of golden light. An angry shriek of defiance pierced the blackness as the spiked orb catapulted toward its mark.

My hand was released, and as I fell toward the ground I saw the thing that had bewitched me. It’s massive head was waving side to side in agony. The broad forehead wrinkled up in pain and its slanted black eyes glazed over as the last shreds of life pour from its hunched, bony frame. Its leathery wings drooped and it began to fall…right behind me.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009-2010

Something was wrong! I didn’t know what it was, but my heart started doing a Gene Krupa drum solo in my chest and my breathing stopped, then started with a squeak. I thought I was having a heart attack. Men my age have them, you know, but I’ve learned the warning signs of a heart attack and this wasn’t it, nor was it a stroke. I think it was a panic attack. I was panicked but without a cause. Doesn’t that seem odd?

I was looking out the kitchen window at the ivy covered back fence. I stood there shaking and grasping the sink until my physical sensations settled down. That’s when I saw it. There was a beam of light like laser pointers, only it was an icky green instead of red. It was aimed at the ivy near the round outdoor thermometer. I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. My best guess was across the street, but lasers pointed at the moon 238.000 miles away have illuminated spots that were seen from earth. If this was a laser its source could be anywhere there was a direct line of sight.

As I watched the green pinpoint started to grow and the ivy leaves scorched where it touched. I was shocked but fascinated. I had never seen anything like this and I wondered what I should do. If it grew any bigger it could cause some real damage. What if it shifted from the fence to the house? That’s when I got scared. We had to get out. We had to let someone know that our fence was under attack by, by what?

I didn’t know but I didn’t want to wait any longer to find out. I went rushing through the house yelling for my wife, but she didn’t answer. I didn’t know she was out, but she sure wasn’t in. I grabbed for the dogs who were yapping like a pack of idiots because they didn’t know what was going on. Better to yap than to be caught unprepared. The silly things ran away from me every time I tried to pick them up. I had to herd them into a couple of kennels so I could carry them out to the car. You’d think a four pound dog couldn’t put up much of a fuss, but they can. I don’t know if they were reacting to my fright or if they sensed something wrong too. They were bumping, and thumping against the sides of the kennel so hard that I could barely hold on to them. The handles on top were straining and I was afraid that they might break and they’d tumble down the stairs kennels and all. I was lucky, no breaks.

We reached the back door when I heard something strange above the caterwauling of the dogs. I know, dogs don’t caterwaul, but these three were coming very close to disproving that belief. It was loud, and obnoxious, and high pitched. I didn’t think I could hear a bomb go off in the din they created. But I heard something. It sounded like a woman shouting at me, “Mr. Bill, Mr. Bill don’t go away and forget us! We’re scared too.”

“Wha?”

It must have been the ringing in my ears and my overactive imagination. “Nah,” I thought, “I didn’t hear anything.”

Then just as I turned back to the door again, I heard it again, “Mr. Bill, don’t you dare leave this house without us!”

I turned around and there standing just outside of the kitchen were two little people only six inches tall. My eyes bugged out. I dropped the kennels, which caused the dogs to get louder if that was even possible, and I fell down hard on my butt. “Oh great,” I thought, “Here I am running around the house like a crazy person, scaring the wits out of our dogs, and the truth is I’ve gone around the bend to the funny farm and climbed the slippery basket-weaver’s tree.”

The little folk took this chance with me seated on the ground to run up my legs, scramble up my shirt and perch on my shoulder. The female said, “Hurry, we have to go. There is going to be a breach in the portal and we can’t be here when it happens.”

I didn’t move. The male of the pair slapped my ear and yelled, “Get up, yer big lug — we don’t have time for yer amazement. You can be amazed later — right now we gotta go.” With that he yanked the hair at the nape of my neck and screamed, “Go, go, go!”

So I did. Luckily the car door opened easily. In went the kennels. The tiny folks scrambled from my shoulders on to the front seat beside me. I jerked the door closed and backed the car down the drive. There wasn’t a moment to lose, I turned and shot down the street. Car, kennels, little guys and me, rushing headlong into the darkness. I glanced over at the little man and woman struggling to get under the broad seat belt and started to think. Were these the gnomes that lived under our sink? My wife said they were there, but I had never seen them. Not until today that is. What else has she been talking about that seemed too fanciful to be believed — fairies, shape shifters, and centaurs? What if it was all true? What if? The thought made my stomach queasy. I didn’t want to think about it anymore. Besides I had better figure out where we were going and what we were going to do once we got there.

© Tami Ruesch, The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry, 2009-2010