The Misty World of Arial Hollyberry

Cythia pointed her wand at the little bottle. It floated up into the air, hung there for a moment, then slowly made its way toward me. I held out my hand to receive the green liquid filled glass. The vial settled in my hand and began to vibrate.

I wasn’t expecting the bottle to move, it startled me,  and I jerked my hand nearly dropping it. Before I knew what was happening, two faeries swooped in from either side and caught it before it could tip and spill its precious contents. “This potion takes weeks to brew, we do not have the time to start all over again.”     Frowning at me, Cythia held onto the top of the bottle with one hand and shook her finger at me with the other. Arial clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, her eyes wide with surprise at Cythia’s impertinence.

I was a little surprised at the Cythia’s pluck as well. “I’m so sorry, it’s just that I didn’t expect the bottle to move on its own!” I wrapped my fingers around the container and Cythia moved back, obviously annoyed at my clumsiness. Arial continued to giggle softly.

Turning my attention to the liquid in the bottle, I noticed that it was slowly swirling and twisting in on itself. The viscus solution was shot through with veins of black and silver. It might have been my over active imagination but I thought that it looked like it was listening to us, the way that it would start to twirl faster when I spoke (I have way to many “Harry Potter” moments lately).

“Okay, what is this stuff anyway?” I held the bottle close to my mouth when I said “stuff” and watched the green goo twitch excitedly. “It doesn’t look to appetizing.” The two faeries exchanged a nervous glance. “What?” It slowly dawned on me what I was supposed to do with it. “You don’t want me to drink this icky stuff do you!?”

The two faeries chimed in together, “It’s the only way!” I carefully placed the container on the counter and rubbed my face. I knew I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear. “You might as well tell me what you want me to do. Come on, get it over with.” I pulled out a stool and sat down. I thought that it would be better if I were in a sitting position to hear the plan.

Arial spoke first. “Every faerie has their own energy signature, rather like your finger prints. We have been able to pinpoint exactly where Krystal is being held and our initial suspicions were correct, she is being held in your neighbors dwelling. Her energy is growing weaker so we have very little time to waste.” I was right, sitting down was better than standing up.

Cythia continued. “Since the shape shifter is magical by nature, we can not enter her sphere of influence, she would know immediately. You, on the other hand could walk in right under her nose and go undetected.”

I jumped up, almost tipping the stool I was sitting on over backward. “Hello! Big person here!” To make the point, I turned around, sweeping my hands from the top of my head down to my toes, then back again. I struck a, what do you think about that? pose with my hands resting firmly on my hips. “How am I supposed to walk in over there?” Just the thought of entering that persons (or what ever she is) house made me want to hurl.

“That is where the potion comes in. It is a shape shifting potion that will allow you to take the form of the first thing that you touch immediately after drinking it.” I pictured the funny scene of Bill walking in and finding me looking like a potted mum. I would shake my petals at him and ask, “what would you like for dinner tonight hon?” He’d probably faint on the spot.

“I don’t think Bill is going to like this plan, besides, what am I going to touch that will get me in there unnoticed? I can’t go as a plant.” The potted mum image sprung to mind.

Cythia had a smug look of satisfaction on her face. “We have a better idea, look out your window.” I leaned over the sink and looked out. Down on the patio, I saw fourteen faeries, the emerald guard and two flower faeries, all pointing their wands at a midnight black cat that was being held, with what looked to be quite a bit of effort, suspended in mid air about four feet off the ground.

The cats back was arched and it had its claws fully extended. It was spitting and hissing as it struggled to free itself from the binding spell that held it captive. I looked at the two faeries that were floating by my side then back at the cat. “You don’t want me to turn into that do you!?”

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

Mother Nature has four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. We all know this, but what I have come to find out is that each season is ruled by a distinct group of faeries and the faeries have certain responsibilities that pertain to their particular season.

Winter is ruled by the frost faeries, it is their responsibility to see that the earth rests. They cover the world in a blanket of ice and snow and the plants go dormant, preparing to renew with the coming of warmer months.

Spring is ruled by the flower faeries. They have the difficult assignment of convincing the frost faeries that it is time for the earth to thaw and bring forth new life. With the burden  of displacing the winter behind them, they turn their attention to the rebirth of nature, the flower faeries have the responsibility of encouraging new growth. Not long ago, I saw a tiny faerie pulling a crocus  out of the ground and spreading the bright yellow flower petals open. Every flower and plant has a faerie to help it grow and flourish.

When the flower faeries have persuaded the trees to leaf out, the grass to  grow, and the flowers to bloom, when they have whispered to every bulb and seed, they yield to the Fire Faeries of Summer. These spicy little faeries have the responsibility of bringing light and energy to the world. In the far distant past, fire was regarded as the giver of life, because if the clan’s fire went out, the clan perished. In order to produce the fruits of the field, the earth needs it’s heat.

These fiery sprites of summer are just as strong willed as the frost faeries and can remain far into autumn. When they stay that long we call it an Indian summer. The fall faeries have the responsibility of preparing nature for the coming of winter, they must convince these denizens of summer to move south so that the earth can rest again. The circle of life continues.

The flower faeries began appearing for the Spring Solstice. I remember Arial saying that their sisters had arrived, but with all the commotion of the celebration, and having to deal with the freezing anger of Queen Orlith, I hadn’t been able to give them my full attention.

Today, while I was doing my usual spring inspection, I noticed two little faeries tiptoeing around on the periwinkle. Every few steps, they would point their wands at the ground cover and a blue-purple flower would appear. It was still terribly cold, but flowers were starting to bloom and the trees were beginning to leaf out. Spring, it seems, can not be contained. Orlaith must solve the problem of the missing faerie, and she must do it quickly.

No sooner had the thought had crossed my mind, when Arial materialized in front of me. “I was just thinking of you! What are we going to do about this awful frigid weather? Queen Orlaith has to stop before she freezes all the fruit.”

“I have been to see the queen. Our sister faeries of the spring have sent a  mediator to consult with Orlaith and bring  an end to winter. Orlaith remains firm on the subject of the missing faerie, and promises that the fruit blossoms will not survive her cold anger if the faerie that is being held by the shape shifter is not released.”

I stared out the kitchen window at the flower faeries, who had moved on to the Laurel bushes and were busy coxing  the flower spikes out of the leaves. “You said you had a plan, I guess I’ll have to hear it, or risk having all the flowers shrivel away.” I turned to face Arial and found that another faerie had joined her and was currently sitting on the edge of the counter swinging her tiny feet back and forth and fluttering her shiny wings in the sunlight.

Arial beamed,”This is Cythia, flower faerie liaison to Queen Orlaith” Cythia sprung to her feet, flipped her wings and whizzed over to hang three inches from my nose. I couldn’t help noticing that the wings of a spring faerie were shiny instead of sparkly like the wings of the  frost faeries.

“I have heard wonderful things about your garden!” She managed a mid air curtsy. “Do not worry, we will get the faerie Krystal back. Queen Orlaith will then release her hold on nature and all the tender shoots of spring will prosper. But we will need your help.”

Arial sat on my shoulder in an attempt to be reassuring as I watched Cythia produce a small bottle of cloudy green liquid.

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

I have had the opportunity to make a lot of new friends on my social networking sites. These friends have blogs that are wonderful! These friends are very talented. Among the top most of these blogs (cream comes to the top!) is Elysian Field Originals.

Valerie Ashley is…how do I say it without going all mushy? She is a completely sincere person and her art is stunning. I am honored to be able to call her my friend. We haven’t known each other very long but it was one of those meetings that will change my life (sorry, getting all mushy).

This last week I was presented with the “Proximity Award” from Valerie.This award has a special meaning behind it:

“This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY, the nearness of space, time, and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find, and be, friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is the when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”

It now falls to me to pass it on to 8 people who demonstrate this spirit. This isn’t an easy thing to do! I haven’t been blogging for very long, but  I do have several that I like and that I think fit the intent of this award. Please be sure to visit these blogs, I’m sure you will love them, Thank you

Life With Dogs

Melissa Valeriote’s Fantastical World of Holidays

That Unreliable Girl

Chronicles of a Faerie Seer

Gnutty for Gnomes

Doorways into Faerie