The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

Posts Tagged ‘Mrs. Shunner’

There’s a little white house down the street from us. It sits back off the road a little further than the rest of the houses, nestled among a riot of rose bushes.

The roses bushes around other houses are tidy and ordered, their blooms somehow know the perfect place to position themselves and lend a royal effect to the gardens, but the rose bushes around the little white house are irreverent and wild, the canes arching in unpredictable directions and the blooms defy any order at all.

I walk Lucy down past the little white house all the time. Like Mrs. Shunners house, there are never any signs of life, but, unlike Mrs. Shunners house, it has a welcoming aura about it, even with the masses of thorny rose bushes all around it.

This morning I grabbed the leash and headed out the door with Lucy (she gets so excited).  I let Lucy take the lead, she has a predictable path that she likes to take when we go for a walk: past Mrs. Shunners house, down the street past the little white house, around the corner at the gigantic elm tree. We make a large circle, cutting through the block using an ally half way down the street.

I always hesitate at the border between our house and Mrs. Shunners. The emerald guard placed protection charms in the flower bed to keep our property safely hidden from Mrs. Shunners prying eyes and I feel a slight tug when I break the energy field as I cross over the invisible line of safety.

A cold shiver ran down my spine  as we passed the little blue house. I know what the inside of that house is like, and every time I pass it, it feels like it is calling to me, trying to pull me back into its evil interior.

My head felt like it was swimming in a gray fog and the sunlight began to fade. “Lucy, wait, I have to sit down for a minute”. I started to sit on the front steps of the house to regain my balance but Lucy tugged insistently on her leash, staring at the front windows and growling softly under her breath. Feeling unsteady on my feet, I let her pull me quickly past and continued down the street.

As soon as we got past the far boundary of the house, all the fogginess disappeared. I glanced quickly around at the front door to make sure that no one was following and tried to shake off the gloom that had draped itself over me. When I was satisfied we were beyond Mrs. Shunners reach, I turned my attention back to Lucy and our walk.

I hadn’t realized it but we had crossed to the other side of the street and were standing right in front of the little white house with the unkempt roses. A petite woman with bright white hair was standing in the driveway, smiling at me.

She was wearing a straw hat with a large floppy brim that shaded the sun from her eyes, she was holding a silver goblet in both hands. She held one out to me as we got closer. “You look like you could do with a nice cold glass of  lemonade.” She smiled at me again and gave the cup a shake. “Come dear, it will do you good.” She had a familiar aura about her and I somehow knew she was a good person, so I took the cup. “Thank you, I guess I do feel a little lightheaded.”

She turned her attention to Mrs. Shunners house up the street and a shadow crossed her face. Her bright green eyes smoldered black , just for a moment, then she smiled at me again. “Come, sit down with me in the shade until you finish your drink.”

She lead me to a little table under an Oak tree. Lucy sat at my feet, contentedly watching a robin hopping in the grass as it looked for worms. Sipping  at my lemonade, I watched the little woman across from me and wondered again why she felt so familiar. “I don’t think I have ever seen you before, have you lived here long?”

Her smile gave her face a timeless quality and it was hard for me to tell exactly how old she was. She looked like she was thoroughly enjoying my company. “Oh yes dear, I have lived here for quite a while. I usually keep to myself, I’m rather a private person you see.”

“Oh, I can understand that! Life can get hectic sometimes…”  Before I could continue, two streaks of color shot past my head and stopped just behind my new friend. Arial and Cythia hovered over her head with their feet almost touching her hair, nervous looks on their tiny faces.

My mouth dropped open as I watched them. Without looking, the little woman reached up and patted her hair. I could swear that she flipped her fingers in a nonchalant way, indicating that the two faeries should shoo. She saw the look on my face. “What is it dear?” I tried to regain control of my dangling mouth. Was it my imagination, or did she know that they were there?

I quickly drain the last of the lemonade and stood up. “Thank you for the lemonade, you have been so very kind, but I really must be getting back now.” It sounded to me like I was stammering. The two faeries refused to leave, they kept hovering nervously over us and I felt like I had to rush off, if for no other reason than to keep this sweet woman from noticing their presence.

“Oh, alright. I hope I haven’t offended.” She stood in the shade, wringing her hands together. Arial and Cythia were frantically swinging around my head in an attempt to get me to go home. I turned back, I couldn’t leave this sweet little lady thinking that she had done anything wrong.

I took her hands in mine. “No!, not at all! Oh please don’t think anything like that. I am so glad you were here, your company was just the thing I needed, and that drink, I don’t know how you make your lemonade, but I feel wonderful! Would it be alright if I came by another visit?”

The worry left her face and she smiled as she hugged me. “Please drop by any time dear. I understand, you run along now. You young people are always on the go.”

I started up the street with the two faeries flitting around my head and realized that I didn’t know her name. I turned back one more time, the faeries gave loud heavy sighs of frustration. “I don’t know what to call you.”

“You can just call me Lilly.” She smiled and waved goodbye. As I started up the street, I heard a loud pop and when I looked back, she was gone.

I walked Lucy up the street on the opposite side, across from the Shunners house.

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

Mrs. Shunners other cat met me at the door, to my over excited imagination it looked like a huge black panther getting ready to pounce. Head low, ears pinned back, he kept his front paws pulled beneath his shoulders in a crouched position, every muscle was tensed and he lashed his tail back and forth.

My first hurdle in rescuing the faerie, Krystal, was convincing the big black cat that I was his superior. Not knowing exactly how to respond to the hostile welcome I was being given by my twin, I decided to play it safe and make the first move. I arched my back, every hair standing straight out, and hissed menacingly. When that didn’t seem to cool his virulence, I extended my claws and quickly swiped at his face, just for good measure, I did it again. My aggressor let out a terrified scream and vanished under a low sofa in the murky recesses of the room.

Having to deal with an angry cat, first thing upon entering Mrs. Shunners house, did wonders for my courage, but was going to prove to be the least of my concerns. I peered around the dim room. Hazy light filtered through curtains that hung over small high windows. There were cabinets on either side of the room that held an impressive array of bottles of all shapes and sizes, dulled by a fine layer of dust that had settled over everything. Crumbling yellowed papers were piled high in every corner.

I guess shape shifters have more important matters to attend to rather than being tidy. I remembered what Arial had said about the faerie energy coming from the back of the house, I was at the back of the house now and I couldn’t see anything that looked like a faerie. Don’t be a silly! you can only see things at floor level!

With that thought, I turned my attention to the bottles sitting high on the counter. Pulling myself up on my hind legs and stretching my head forward, I craned my neck, trying to see the bottles at the back. No good, the light was bad and there were far to many bottles and jars. Some of them were so dusty I couldn’t see what was in them.

I needed to get up there, but how? At the end of the counter sat a chair piled high with books, they had titles like, “The Dummies Guide to Living Among Humans”, ” Shape Shifting, Going Unnoticed and Loving It!”, and my feline self’s personal favorite, “Skulking Made Easy”.

I was poised to make an elegant leap from the floor, to the chair, and then to the counter top when I heard a scraping noise behind me. Darting under the chair, I turned to see flabby ankles in dirty pink bunny slippers shuffling through the hall door with my evil twin winding around every step.

I craned my neck to pier up at Mrs. Shunner. She looked around the room, then started calling in a high thin grating voice that she used to summon her cats, like a cat is going to come when it’s called. Did I mention that her voice was like screeching chalk on a blackboard?

She saw me, pushed back as far as I could get, under the chair. When I didn’t come running, she reached under and pulled me out. My first instinct was to claw her face as I wriggled to get down, then Arial’s words came back to me, “remember, you’re Mrs. Shunners cat, act like you belong there!”

I relaxed and allowed her to stroke my long black fur. ” Where have you been Beauty? Midnight and I have been worried about you, disappearing like that. Did you catch the nasty gnome that lives under the bushes next door?” She laughed at the picture of her cat dragging home the lifeless gnome.

My repulsion was growing rapidly, if she didn’t put me down soon I would have no option but to sink my teeth into her neck, or at least hack up a hairball. Holding me under one arm she slowly walked the length of the counter, stopping now and then to tap on a jar or wipe the dust off another so the she could peer into the cloudy liquid.

I saw what I was looking for even before Mrs. Shunner got to the end of the counter. There, back in the corner, was a bell jar, and under the bell jar was a tiny faerie. She was lying limp on the bottom of the jar, her glow reduced to a slow pulse around the tips of her wings.

Oh no! No, No, NO! The cruelty of it was more than I could bear. I literally jumped at the opportunity. I sunk my teeth and claws into the arm that held me, Mrs. Shunner screamed at the unexpected attack and jerked her arm back.

I pushed myself away and landed in the middle of the bottles, sending several over the edge to smash on the floor, splashing their slimy, noxious contents everywhere. Mrs Shunner grabbed at me but I wedged myself between two large carafes’ causing her hand to hit the glass hard. Pushing out with my back legs I sent the cracked jar sliding toward her. She batted it away. The already damaged bottle shattered, allowing fluid and round, squishy things that look suspiciously like eye balls to spread freely over the counter top.

Without looking back, I tipped the bell jar over, grabbed the faerie like a kitten, then sprung off the counter and out the cat door. I raced around the far corner of the house. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart in my ears. Not daring to slow down, I raced across the yard toward the garden wall, where twelve faeries were waiting, with silver orbs in hand.

I vaulted over the wall in one easy bound. Sliding to a stop, I turned in time to see the faeries cast multiple silver orbs into the garden that boarders the two properties. We saw the anger on Mrs. Shunner face as she thundered up be hind me. Anger changed to shock, then to dismay as she watched everything on our side of the wall disappear from her view.

I carried the little faerie to the backyard and carefully released her into the waiting arms of Arial, who flipped her wings once, and disappeared, followed quickly by four other faeries.

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

Cythia and Arial were pushing me toward the back door, you can’t tell by looking at them, but for only being three inches tall, they are strong for their size. ” Hey, guy’s, don’t you think we should wait for Bill to get home? I mean, maybe he should be here to help. There’s not going to be side effects or anything is there? You didn’t tell me how long the potion will work or what to expect…guy’s, wait!”

They pushed and I protested right up until we reached the door. What are they going to do now, they can’t push me and open the door at the same time. My frenzied train of thought evaporated when  Cythia waved her wand at the door causing it to swing open, allowing us to walk through without any hesitation.

When the black cat saw us it ceased its useless struggle.  Hanging suspended in mid air by the energy field that surrounded it, the creature stared at us with wild, flashing  green eyes. As we got closer, it pinned its ears back and produced a low throaty growl. Its razor sharp claws pulsed in and out, it was just waiting for a chance to strike.

Arial landed on my shoulder, her usual perch and whispered in my ear. “Do not worry, Kind One, you will have plenty of time to complete your mission. Go to the rear, there is a door through which you can pass. Krystal’s energy is emanating from somewhere in the back of the house. Do you understand?”

Keeping a wary eye on Mrs. Shunners cat, I nodded. “I still don’t like this.” Cythia darted over and flew circles around my head, “You’ll be just fine.” She pulled three strands of my hair out. “This is just in case of an emergency.” My mouth dropped open, “Emergency? What emergency!?”Arial snapped her fingers and the green goo appeared. She handed me the bottle and indicated that I should drink up.

I sniffed it. It smelled like green jello with a hint of licorice, and something else that I couldn’t identify but was slightly acrid. Arial helped tip the bottle to my mouth. She winked at me, “I think you will find this surprisingly different!” I pinched my nose shut and I swallowed the brew.

At first, nothing happened, then everything went blurry. The yard started rocking back and forth. I sat down to steady myself. This ethereal feeling left me slightly light-headed. From somewhere far away I heard Cythia telling the other faeries to float the cat closer. A beautiful rainbow of light shot out of  her wand and the cat went limp. I was suddenly overcome with the urge to pet the thick, glossy black fur.

The world dimmed out. When the fog lifted, I was aware that my hearing and eyesight had sharpened, I felt extremely agile and felt a driving need to hunt sweep over me. With my human awareness remaining intact, I had taken on a feline form. I no longer walked, I sauntered.

I felt Cythia and Arial coming up behind me, in one fluid movement I reacted, jumping and turning at the same time coming down on all four paws, back arched and ears pinned, ready to strike at the eminent threat. When I saw that it was just my faerie friends, I tried to apologize, but all that came out was a mewling moan so I just flicked my tail upward and began swishing it quietly back and forth.

Arial grabbed me by the whiskers to focus my attention. I tried to shake her off, but she held fast. “Remember, you are Mrs. Shunners Cat, act like you belong there. Go to the back of the dwelling and find the entrance, your new vision will help you in the dim interior. Be quick.”

I rubbed my chin up against Arial to show that I understood, then padded softly down the sidewalk and turned the corner, heading for the Shunners property, trying hard not to get distracted by the bird jumping from branch to branch in the big bush at the corner of the yard.

When I got to the garden wall, I sprung effortlessly up and proceeded to follow it to the fence that divided the front of their yard from the back. It was no effort at all for me to balance myself as I edged along the top with my new found feline grace.

The Shunners yard was overgrown with thorny vines. Bare now, but when summer came they would be covered with raspberries.  I negotiated the thorny, dead wood and made my way  to the back door. The Shunners had installed a small swinging door so that their cats could come and go at their leisure. How thoughtful of her. Weird how I could still think like me but look like a cat. This is one for the record books!

I inched slowly forward, pausing every few steps to sniff the air, then moved forward again. I felt a static charge in the air, it made my fur stand up a little and heightened my senses. After a slow deliberate approach to the little door, I stopped, then pushed it opened with my head and let myself into the dimly lit interior of Mrs. Shunners house coming face to face with my twin self, a large midnight black cat.

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