The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

The sun glistened off of the dragons wings as she carried Ember Innocenzi and Perhluna high into the bright morning sky. With one more wave goodbye, they winked out and were gone, leaving Arial and the Kind One standing in the tall meadow grass.

They walked toward the shade of the forest as Arial explained how their rescue had been achieved. The Kind One was delighted to find out that the shadeberries Perhluna had found gave the two humans the ability to share their thoughts.

*****

I was dizzy from spinning and dancing with my faerie friends. Still laughing, I stopped and bent forward, trying hard not to topple over while I struggled to catch my breath. It was so great to be with the faeries again. My recent brush with the dark side of the realm made me realize how lucky I am to have my faeries with me.

Along with the feelings of gratitude came the memories of the ivy hedge and my family on the mortal side. Still slightly out of breath I jumped up, a renewed look of panic clouding  my eyes. That same irrational urge to dash into the forest flooded my instincts. I had to get to the portal as quickly as I could, but before I could say anything to Arial I felt a calming hand on my arm.

My mind had slipped back into a whirl of racing thoughts and it was all I could do to keep from shaking Arial’s hand off of my arm. Sucking in a quick deep breath, I turned to face the faerie who had become my ethereal mentor and best friend. Struggling to remain calm I waited for Arial’s sage advice.

Her dulcet voice had an instant effect on my frayed nerves. “Kind One, do not go down the same path that delivered you into the arms of certain danger only last night. Heed the lessons of the Fae, calm your mind, focus, only then can you control your doubts and fears. Clarity of purpose will be your reward.”

I felt like cold water had been thrown in my face. She was right, panicking never got me anywhere. I closed my eyes and concentrated on slowing my breathing. I pictured everyone at home, safe and happy. A sense of peace settle around me like a comforting fuzzy blanket. A soft tingling was spreading over the center of my forehead where the third eye chakra is.

Then…I knew what to do, just like that. It was so simple. I opened my eyes and looked straight into the deep green eyes of Arial. “Arial! you were so right! It was right here all along.” Bella, Ferne and Sunny all cheered in high musical voices as they dipped and dived around my head. Arial just stood, a smile on her face, and nodded in understanding.

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, oh, I have so much to learn.” I reached around my neck and pulled a small pouch that hung from a fine silk cord out from under the neck of my gown. The pouch held all of the gifts the queens had given me, well, all but one. The Horn of Aeon Myst that Mab had just given us at the yule ball hung around my neck on its own shinning silver chain.

Holding the small blue velvet bag in one hand I carefully pulled the strings open to inspect the contents.  Orlaith’s crystal was glowing a soft blue-white, when I passed my fingers over it, the stone’s light intensified, illuminating the other objects. Alina’s butterfly settled on my hand, its iridescent blue-green wings pulsed slowly up and down as I carefully readjusted the lid to the tiny box in the bottom of the pouch that held Litha’s gift of lightening.

I had always thought of the gifts as small tokens of friendship bestowed on me by the queens of the four seasons, but now, holding them like this, I realized that they were much, much more. They were tools, each one harnessing great power. Crystal/ Illumination, butterfly/transportation, lightening/protection, and…I reached up to pinch the tiny ivory horn hanging on its silver chain around my neck between my fingers…horn/communication.

“Arial, why didn’t you tell me about the power of these objects?” Arial stepped closer and held out her finger for the butterfly to settle on, then brought it close to her face so that it could flutter around her eyes and nose. This simple action was one of tenderness and respect. Arial returned the butterfly to my hand  as she spoke. “To the uninitiated, these are just mementos, but to those like you, those who are half faerie, half human, they become a tools with purpose. I could not tell you of their powers, you had to come to it. They choose when to reveal themselves.” She smiled. ” All I could do is get you to focus. You must have been ready because the light dawned.”

“There were so many times that I could have used these!” I recalled the ghostly faerie, then Ember and I sitting under the old Oak tree in the dark and further back to the time Odette and I got caught in the crossed energy of Arial’s and Cythia’s wands and ended up in the forest of Elvenwood. It was Odette who pointed out the fact that the crystal glowed when I held it. I scrunched my face up in disgust. “I guess I should have known they were different when I used the crystal to light up the darkness for Odette to look at my knee.”

Arial transformed herself to her usual faerie size and said, “All in due time, all in due time.” She settled herself on my shoulder and continued, “Think Kind One, there is something more, something that can help you now, what is it? I stared at the shadowed path ahead of us, the path that wandered through the forest to the portal in the ivy hedge. It seemed a long walk back…travel,I thought,  it’s about travel! I have it! I reached into the small bag and pulled out the last object, the rose quartz disc with a hole in its center. Arial’s instructions came flooding back to me, “hold the stone to your eye and picture your destination clearly in the center, then close your eyes and say “Take me to…”

Holding the rose quartz up to my eye I pictured my backyard. The Hawthorne trees casting shade on the ivy hedge, Odette and Warren digging in the garden, Bill sticking his head out of the back door to ask me what’s for dinner. Then I closed my eye’s and said out loud, “Take me home.”

I felt a tingling sensation and a rush of warm air, when I opened my eyes again, I was standing on the patio facing a Laurel bush that had been completely destroyed…

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

Once in a while, as we move through life, we are fortunate enough to meet people who make a profound and lasting impression on us. Dorothy Haslam is one of those people.

Al and Dorthy Haslam moved their family to Canada when their girls, Linda and Julie, were young, but because Dorothy suffered from rheumatoid arthritis decided to move to a warmer climate and ended up settling in Salt Lake City where they opened a print shop, Seagull Printing Services.

When my husband and I started our print brokering business in 1990, Seagull Printing quickly became one of our favorite vendors to work with. Al and Dorothy were just nice people, and the working relationship developed into a very rewarding friendship.

In the early years, Bill worked the new business almost exclusively, while I had my full time positions with other companies. He had the benefit of knowing the Haslam’s long before I did. That all changed in 2001.

On October 31st 2001 Bill and I remarried. We decided that since we were footing the bill, we would have the kind of party we wanted. We settled on a medieval themed ceremony, complete with medieval attire, we even had the wedding party dressed for the occasion!
The medieval theme intrigued Dorothy. Being from England, I guess it just felt natural to her. She really got into the mood of the celebration! The first time I met Dorothy was at our open house. Bill was standing by me when she and Al walked in with their daughter Linda and her husband, Tom. “That’s Al and Dorothy Haslam, you know, the owners of Seagull Printing.”

I had heard of them of course, but this was the first occasion I had to be introduced. Dorothy walked up to me with her hand outstretched in the most elegant, lady like manor. Smiling, she curtsied, and in the most charming of English accents said, “You must be the beautiful lady Tamara!”

Talk about a first impression! Have you ever had the feeling that you already know a person, even if you had never met them before? That’s what this first meeting with Dorothy was like for me, I felt a deep, sole-stirring bond with this lovely English bred woman. I have told her many times that I thought that I was English in another life!

I always looked forward to any time that I got, to visit with her. Sometimes I would ask to go to press checks just to be able to chat with her for a minute. I started to write little faerie stories that I would send along with business faxes, she liked them so much that she would take them around the office to show everyone else what the fairies were doing that day.

She asked me one day if I had thought about writing a book about fairies.  My little paragraphs were so delightful that she thought they should be published.

That conversation was several years ago now. I had filed it away with all my other warm, wonderful memories of Dorothy. We lost her about a year and a half ago. I feel it a privilege to have known her for as long as I did.

A few months ago, I was thinking about Dorothy. Bill had been writing a book that he titled “The Whistling Salamander”, it was very good and I started thinking again about what Dorothy had said about the fairie book.

I started to write, one thing lead to another, and ended up with “The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry.” Sometimes, when the words come easy, I can almost feel Dorothy standing by my side saying, “Oh, I like that!” in her charming English accent.

I miss you terribly Dorothy and I want you to know that you are my greatest inspiration and support. Bill is my motivation, but you are the reason I write. If it wasn’t for your enthusiastic support I don’t think I would have had the courage to even try to put my thoughts down on paper.

I look forward to the day that I will be able to greet you again. Smiling like you did so many years before, you will  hold out your hand to me and we will  courtesy to each other. You will say,”Lady Tamara”, I will bow my head and reply, “Lady Dorothy.”