The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

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.

I felt a tangible shift as I stepped into the fairy ring. A soft breeze began to sweep through the meadow, it carried the sent of lavender and jasmine as it swirled around the circle. I heard the rustling of a thousand  faerie voices blowing on the breeze, soft at first, then growing louder. I spun around and peered into the gloomy recces of the tall pines looking for the whispered solicitations, then, In one gigantic explosion, the air was filled with faeries.

I couldn’t see Arial anymore, she was lost in the frenzy of the faerie celebration. At the edge of the clearing, fireflies flew in and out of the flowers on the bleeding heart bushes, making them glow a soft red, still others flickered like tiny yellow candles moving in and out of the shadows at the edge of the clearing. Mixing with the melodious voices of the faeries were the sounds of the night. Frogs and crickets added the counter point to their song.

The faeries circled and spun, diving in and out, their delicate wings fluttering through my hair. In an attempt to find Arial, I moved closer to the center, making sure not to step on any of the spiraling faeries. They were everywhere, flying on humming birds, and hiding behind flowers. I had been to the realm of the fae before but I had never seen so many different types of faeries, they were all shapes and sizes.

The rhythmic melodies of the faeries were becoming more enchanting and I found myself swaying with the magical music. I caught sight of Arial just as a legion of faeries  lifted me into the air. Normally I would have been unnerved by the sudden change of altitude, but the high pitched singing had filled my ears and I was caught up in the turbulent dance of Midsummer. It looked as if I were dancing with the stars themselves, whirling faster and faster until everything blurred together. I heard musical voices whispering to me to leave the mortal world behind.

The night passed into early morning and still we danced, twisting and leaping, until I felt as though I had merged with the fae. All memory of my mortal world was slowly seeping away. This is wonderful! I have no ties to hold me back, no responsibilities. I am grace and spontaneity! At this moment, I had given myself over completely to the faerie realm, I couldn’t even imagine going back.

I was so caught up in the euphoria of the moment that I hadn’t noticed Arial spinning close by. She had a look of understanding on her face. “Kind One, we must get back to the ivy hedge before the sun’s rays hit the meadow.”  I felt like cold water had been splashed in my face. In the east, the sky was beginning to show the first light of day. The celebration was already beginning to fade from my memory and I became aware that I was floating high above the ground.

“No Arial, I don’t want to go back, I’m one of the fae now, I’ve been invited!” Arial held her wand over her head in both hands and spoke in elvish. The wand began to glow as we slowly drifted back toward earth. Arial spoke, her words soft in my ear. “Hold out your hand.” Reluctantly, I gave in and held my hand forward. She waved her wand  and a small polished stone materialized in my upturned palm.

The stone was soft pink rose quartz that had a hole in the center. I watched as black cording twined around the stone then draped itself over my head so that the pendant hung over my heart. “This is beautiful Arial, thank you, but what do I do with it? Does this mean I can stay?”

Arial smiled. “The Fae need your help on the other side Kind One, your work and the people who love you are there. You are much to important to us to stay in the realm.”  She could see that I was having a hard time remembering. “Hold the stone up to your eye and look through it, you will understand better.”

I brought the crystal up to my eye and gazed through the center. The faeries I had been dancing with were fading into mist, their delicate hands reaching out for me. The last thing I saw was their large liquid eyes as the mist enveloped them completely. The scene was replaced with a picture of my backyard. My three Chihuahua’s were sniffing at the bottom of the ivy hedge and whining, then the scene dissolved.

I let the stone fall. “Arial, I remember! I must get home, what was I thinking? What time is it? How long have I been gone?” Arial’s countenance brightened, She held her wand up and waved it over my head just as the suns rays peeked through the pines. I held my hand up to shelter my eyes from the stabbing light and found myself standing in the shade of the old oak tree that grew by the wall of ivy marking the boundary between the faerie realm and my yard on the other side. Looking down I found Odette clinging to my ankle and thought that this was how we got here, but it seems so long ago now…

The mornings are cool in the summer, it’s the only time I can sit in the backyard and watch my faeries come and go through the portal in the ivy hedge. I’m sitting on the chaise loung and my thoughts come back to me as the memory of the Midsummer celebration fades. The wind chimes are blowing in the breeze and my little Edie is asleep on my lap. Arial is on my shoulder braiding my hair, and the gnomes, Warren and Odette are over in the garden trimming the chives

I turn my head to look at Arial. “You know what Arial? I really do love my backyard.”

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

I looked around and saw that we were standing in the grassy meadow that I have come to know so well. Funny how it has started to feel a little like home. I couldn’t help thinking, at least my life couldn’t be called boring! The Palace rose up in front of us. The last time I saw it, it was sparkling ice blue, all icicles and frost. Now, it was a warm pink. Vines of Wisteria and Honeysuckle wrapped around the columns, ferns were growing wildly everywhere. The crystal doors had be replaced with bamboo reeds that were woven together to look like gigantic butterfly wings.

Wow! The spring faeries certainly decorated different than the frost faeries. Cythia lead the way up the steps. When we reached the top, the butterfly wings parted to reveal a beautiful fairy hovering just inside the arch. Tiny pink and purple flowers were braided into her long blond hair, and her crown consisted of masses of multicolored butterflies. I looked a little closer and saw that the wings of the butterflies were constantly moving.

Before my eyes she transformed into a tall graceful elven like being, her gown was made up of layer upon layer of leaves that had been interwoven with a sheer gossamer fabric, it wasn’t a fabric I had ever seen before.

She came forward, took my hands in hers and smiled. Have you ever seen anyone smile with their whole face? It was like that, but more, when she smiled her face actually lit up, it glowed. “Welcome! Please do forgive me my bad manners. I had hoped to greet you much earlier than this, and under more favorable circumstances. Come and sit with me.” She turned and held out a hand to Cythia. “Dearest, would you please have some nectar brought for our guest?”

I was at a loss for words, I’m afraid I gave a very rude first impression but I didn’t know how to respond. Here was a faerie queen treating me like I was the royalty, and it didn’t help that Arial and the guard had retreated politely into the background. “Your Highness…”  she held up a hand to stop me. “Please, call me Alina.” Okay, if I wasn’t already feeling totally undeserving, that did it! I bowed my head, “Alina then, thank you.” I continued. “Alina, please forgive me, but I’m afraid that I’m a little confused. Cythia and Arial have been being very, how shall I say it? Mysterious. Something about things that can impact me?”

Alina sat back and sighed heavily. “Yes, that is my fault. I have instructed them both to be wary of divulging too much information. You never know if the walls have ears.” I looked around the room quickly. “I thought that saying was just a cliche.”  The queen laughed suddenly. “Oh, Kind One! You forget where you are! In the Realm, the walls can literally have ears, and I’m not to sure if that truth hasn’t spilled over into your world.”

Her mood turned suddenly serious. “We have had reports from our allies in the dark woods that there are plans to use you as barter for pardoning the shape shifter, giving her the right to return to our realm. She wants to return and meet again with those who would overthrow the faeries of the four seasons.”

“Ages past, there were beings that could change into anything they had touched, these beings came to be known as shape shifters.  They believed that because they could change form, they were superior to the four seasons of faeries and should rightfully possess the keys of the crown and rule the realm. The four clans came together and exiled the shape shifters, denying them and their descendants, forever after, access to the realm that they so fervently wanted to control.”

“The four seasons of faeries worked together to produce a potion that could change anyone into the thing they touched, leveling the playing field.” Alina cupped my face in her hands. “You, Kind One, are the only human to ever experience the  effects of the changeling potion, and you did it out of love for the fae. There is no way to ever repay our debt to you, you will be forever changed as a result. We must, no, we will protect you. With your world in crises, this is the ideal time for them to stage a takeover.”

Alina stood and paced back and forth. “Our time here is short, the newborn animals are surviving and the crops are planted and growing. We have fulfilled our responsibilities for this turn of the wheel. We must relinquish the power of the season to Queen Lilith and the fire faeries of summer. Midsummer is upon us, but never fear, we will pass on this critical information and the situation will be dealt with, you will be safe.”

When Alina stopped speaking, Arial and the Emerald Guard came forward. Alina waved her wand over our heads and the palace dissolved in white light.

We were back on my porch when Cythia popped in. “Kind one, my queen has dispatched me with a gift from the flower faeries.” She held out her hand and in it was a butterfly from the queens crown. “This will guide you when you are lost.”

I had an uneasy feeling of things to come and all I could say was…”oh crap.”

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