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.

Since the departure of the frost faeries for points north, it’s been very quiet. Arial has been spending a lot of time through the ivy hedge with the emerald guard, helping to secure the portal and making sure that the dark unseen forces of the faerie realm can’t seep through to reek havoc in the mortal world. Sometimes, when it’s quiet, I can hear rustling sounds coming from the other side, accompanied by animal-like snuffling and growling.

It’s  at those times that I swear I can see the protective energy field around the portal waver and bow out, distorting the ivy and making the whole hedge look like it’s a shimmering bubble. If the dogs are outside, they will whimper and back away with their tails tucked between their legs, refusing to go any closer than the edge of the patio. Arial assures us that the protection charms will hold and that the trolls won’t be able to find the portal again, but when I hear those eerie,  noises coming from the parallel world on the other side of that hedge, well, lets just say that I have my doubts.

With the weather getting warmer, I find myself filled with trepidation. The neighbors are outside more, waving to each other, or stopping by to say hello and catch up on the newest gossip. This social interaction isn’t anything new, and normally I would welcome it, but this year is different and I will have to be careful not to get caught up in a conversation that betrays the confidence Orlaith put in me, or that makes anyone suspicious.

There have been so many strange things happening in my backyard, quick flashes of colorful lights, mist that comes up suddenly and surrounds only my house, the eerie noises. You know, the kind of things that are normal in the land of the fae, but it’s like Halloween all the time when it happens here. People are starting  to get curious.

We have a neighbor, Mrs. Shunner, she lives in the house just to the west of us, her front walk borders our driveway so she has an unobstructed view of the large black iron gate leading to our backyard. Normally, the Shunners keep to themselves, choosing not to get involved with the rest of us on the block, but I noticed when we were watching the exodus of the faeries last week that the draperies at her front window were being held back just enough to give her a good look at what was going on in our driveway.

I know that she must have seen me conversing with Arial, and knowing that she can’t see my faeries, I can just imagine what she must have been thinking when she saw me talking to my own shoulder. I smiled and waved in her general direction and was relieved to see the curtains swing closed abruptly.

Yesterday, as I was leaving to do some errands, I turned the corner leading to the garage and came face to face with Mrs. Shunner, she had her hand on the latch to the gate. We stood there, staring at each other and though I’m sure that the look on my face was comical, it was nothing compared with the shocked surprise on hers.

I was the first to regain my composure. “Hello Mrs. Shunner, nice day, is there anything I can do for you?” I put my hand out and grabbed the gate to keep her from pulling it opened. She starred at me a split second longer, and started to stammer as she released the latch, pulling her hand behind her back.

“I…you see it’s my…it’s just that I think…” She stopped to catch her breath, her eyes bulged out of their sockets like warts on a frog (maybe I’m being to graphic here). When she had collected her wits about her, she spoke again. “I saw my cat come back here and was just coming to get her.” She swallowed hard and continued. “My! but you gave me such a scare! I didn’t know you were home or, or I would have come to the front.”

In my mind I pictured myself as calm and composed but I knew that on the outside I probably looked just the opposite. “Maybe you should have tried that first, Mrs. Shunner, you know, just to be on the safe side, not that I think you were trespassing or anything like that.” (I know, but I just couldn’t help using the “trespass” card) She needed to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I would not tolerate her helping herself to my backyard under any condition.

I was sure that she felt thoroughly reprimanded and could have let her go off  without another word between us if it weren’t for the large sneeze that erupted from under the Laurels just as I was finishing my sentence…

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

I’ll bet you have never seen a faerie with her wings covered in scouring cleanser. The natural “glow” that is always evident, and the sparkle that reflects off of every angle and tip of the wing is just, gone. Pip pointed her wand at the cleanser, a flash of green light shot out of the tip, and the can was turned into a huge choking cloud of cleanser dust.

The surprise on Pip’s face was classic, if her eyes got any bigger they would pop out of her face. The only thing I could see was a tiny white statue, with drooping wings and two wide open eyes . I cupped one hand over my nose and reached in with the other to grab Pip by the collar before she suffocated from the dust. It was everywhere.

Holding Pip up, I turned around to get the vacuum. Every time I shook my hand, cleanser would fall off her wings. What a mess! Reminds me of the time when my son was three and decided to get himself out of the bath tub. He got out, dried himself off, then proceeded to dump a brand new can of baby powder all over himself, the bath mat, and the floor. He then ran happily through the house in his birthday suit leaving powdery foot prints on the carpet everywhere he went. He was so proud.

I am allergic to the smell of baby powder to this day. Behind us I saw that there was a panel of “judges” lined up along the edge of the counter watching the scene unfold, and roaring with laughter. Warren, Odette, Ferne, Arial, Sunny, and Bella each held up their score cards: two 10′s, one 7, two 9′s, and a 4 (Bella thought that Pip could have done better, maybe break the Windex bottle with a ray that ricocheted off of the drain pipe, causing the two items to mix and become a gooey paste) Thinking about it, I would rather have the gooey paste to clean up instead of the powder.

“Didn’t your mother ever  tell you not to use magic around chemicals?” (tell me I didn’t just say that) Makes perfect sense to me, but since faeries live in nature and don’t know anything about chemicals, I guess I’ll give Pip a break. Everybody helped clean up, Odette went out a retrieved a couple of brooms from under the patio table, Arial and Sunny help by using some old toothbrushes that I keep under the sink for cleaning small things, and I tried to avoid sucking anyone up with the vacuum.

When we had all evidence of the offending scouring powder removed, I readjusted the rest of the supplies to one side of the cabinet, leaving plenty of room for the pumpkin house. “See, Pip, you can achieve the same results without resorting to waving a wand all the time.” I placed the little house at the back  leaving space for a “front yard”, where Warren immediately placed two small rocking chairs and a table. Odette completed the grouping with a lace scarf and a small candle that she put in the middle of the table. We all stood back to inspect the entire scene. “Not bad.”

The dogs needed to go “out” so I closed the cabinet doors leaving the gnomes and faeries inside. “Be quiet, lets see if they will know you’re under there.” (yeah right)  I walked down the hall, checking as I went to make sure that there was no tell-tell- signs of my little friends, when I was satisfied that no personal effects had been left laying around, I opened the door.

Thundering feet, (yes, even three little Chihuahua’s can sound like a herd of elephants) flapping ears, and high pitched, frantic, yelps burst out of the room. They shot completely past the kitchen, slipping and sliding under the archway into the living room, and headed for the front door where they came to a screeching halt and began to sniff. They sniffed everywhere, then began to back track toward the kitchen.

By the time they were half way through the dinning area they were beginning to lose interest, so I invited them to accompany me to the back yard. We were almost to the door when I heard a small “AAAHCHOO!”…I knew things were going to good.

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