Oak Willowglimmer, Mistress of The Gardens Meets The Dragon (Chapter Five)

Oak froze, as her mind tried to comprehend this situation.  One minute a beautiful fairy is before her and the next…well, this fire breathing mean looking dragon, who’s blowing orange and red smoke that smells like a dead ogre was there. (If you remember, she never did smell a dead ogre, but this smell would probably be pretty close).  She just stood there.  He just stood there and they both just stared at each other.  She felt something on her foot and tried to slowly move her other foot over to brush whatever it was away, without the dragon noticing; but he did and he jumped back and yelped!  Then she jumped back and yelped!  He screamed – she screamed…and then……silence.  Well, silence except for the rapid heartbeats resounding from both of their chests. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sam slowing lowering himself down from the ceiling, on a silver strand of web.  Their eyes met and the unspoken words were something like, “What’s going on with this dragon?”

Oak noticed that the dragon was actually crying and wiping his tears with the back of one of his paws.  She felt her fear leave her body and began to feel sorry for him; actually sorry for both of them.  “Sir,” Oak whispered.  His head jerked up and he began trembling and inches backwards into a wall.  “No, don’t be afraid,” Oak cried.  “I’m not going to hurt you.  Are you going to hurt me?”  The dragon looked at her sheepishly and said, “No, little one.  I’m scared to pieces that someone is going to hurt me.  Why would I hurt you?”  “Well, you’re a dragon, you know.  Dragons are known for being ferocious and scary and breathing fire on people and all sort of things,” Oak said.  “Not me.  I was never like that.”  Right at that moment, the walls began to shake and the floor began to roll.  The dragon ran and hid behind Oak and Sam hid behind the dragon.

Oak, Sam and the dragon could not believe their eyes, for walking right in front of them was a giant; a giant human being.  It was a boy, but a might tall boy.  He didn’t look mean; in fact he looked pretty nice.  He was whistling a song as he walked and was looking all around.  He stopped and seemed to listen.  Cocking his head to one side, he whispered, “Is anyone here?” Of course, because he was a giant, the whisper was like a might roar. He listened for a moment and then started walking, well, kind of tip toeing, like he was afraid he would step on something that shouldn’t be stepped on.

Oak, Sam and the dragon stayed perfectly still, hoping that the boy would pass them by; but alas, he didn’t.  He happened to have a little flashlight with him and he was shining it all over the cave.  He caught a glimpse of the dragon and bent down to look closer.  Oak, Sam and the dragon all took a deep breath together for they fear this would be the end of them.  Instead, the boy looked at the dragon and said, “Wow, a lizard!  I found a lizard!”  He went to grab the dragon and Oak yelled out, “No, please.  He’s my friend.”  The boy looked at her and said, “A fairy!  I knew it.  I JUST knew it!!!  I knew there were fairies in this cave!”  He was so excited that he began jumping up and down, which cause the ground to shake and roll again and Oak and the dragon fell on, while Sam just hung on the end of his webby strand.

Well, at this point, Oak was pretty tired of all she had been through in the last 24 hours or so. She stood up and brushed herself off.  Then she helped the dragon up and made sure he was OK.  Oak looked at the boy and said, “Excuse me for just one moment please.”  “Dragon, what is your name?  I can’t keep calling you dragon,” she looked at the dragon.  “My name, my name, my name….it’s Sherwood.”  Oak looked at him and smiled. “Please to meet you, Sherwood.” Turning to the boy, Oak said, “My name is Oak and these are my friends:Sam and Sherwood.  Sam is a spider and Sherwood is a dragon, but not a mean one.  You may think he’s a lizard because you’re so tall, but he is really a dragon.  I am a little girl who has gotten lost and I honestly don’t even know where I am.”  A tear slipped down Oak’s cheek and Sam jumped over to offer her four hankies to wipe her eyes.  The boy bent over to look at her more closely and then knelt down on both knees.  “Don’t cry, little fairy.  I won’t hurt you.”  “I’m NOT a fairy,” said Oak.  “I’m just a little girl.”  “Well, my name is Henry, Henry Hornbill.  My father owns this cave and has always told me to not come here because fairy, ogres and dragons live here.” Sniffling still, Oak replied, “Well I don’t know anything about any of that.  But I do know that I want to go home.  Can you help me?”  Nodding his head, Henry said, “Let’s go.  I have some friends that can help us.”  So, Henry led the way and Oak, Sam and Sherwood followed.  (to be continued).

 

Oak Willowglimmer – The Mistress of The Gardens (Chapter One)

Just by reading the title of this story, you obviously know that Oak Willowglimmer is the Mistress of the Fairies of The Earth’s gardens.  This fact by itself is certainly not very interesting. However, Oak’s history is…interesting.  Before we go there, let me share what is said of her. The creatures of the forest and streams say she casts weird dreams and that she lives in forests of oak and ash trees. The elders of the villages say she can only be seen when the sun sets on the day of a completed harvest.  Small children say she wears pretty autumnal leaf colors and has delicate green colored wings like a cicada. Maybe this is all true and maybe it is not.  I’ll let you be the judge.

Oak was born a human.  Yes, she was a human baby girl.  A pretty little girl with auburn hair, which leaned much more on the reddish side.  Her eyes were green (still are) and she had freckles all over!  Her mother used to tell her the freckles were angel kisses; she has since learned that fairy kisses can leave freckles, as well!  She was the only child of Mary and…the truth is that she never knew her father.  Her mother never mentioned him.  Actually, Oak, after spending some time in the park and observing the grass blades that bent under the mushrooms and figuring that fairies played there, she decided her mother was a fairy and so was she!  Now mind you, she never told her mother that she figured out they were fairies.  Why, she didn’t need to have a father!  She was perfectly happy with just her and her mother.  She quickly figured that a family is a family regardless of who is in it.  Some have a mother and father, while some have only the father.  

Mary, Oak’s mother, had a green thumb.  Sometimes it would glow emerald green, while other times it glowed grass green.  Wherever Mary went, she found plants, twigs, leaves and orphaned seeds that she brought home and planted.  It seemed like overnight they would start thriving and growing!  Oak was even more certain that her mother was a fairy; even a Queen fairy!  Their backyard was a tropical jungle, with every type of tree and plant one could imagine. Fruit was happily hanging from the branches and fragrant flowers seemed to always be in bloom.  The perfume of the flowers hung heavy in the air of the neighborhood and it seemed that all the women on the block would purposely stroll by the house, just to catch a whiff of the lovely aroma.  

There was a particular corner of the yard that had a garden, but you could not easily see it, for there was a canopy of magnolia vines that covered it, leaving walking space of about three feet, which was quite comfortable if you were three feet or less.  Only Oak knew of this garden, for she created it. Although she didn’t realize it, she had inherited her mother’s green thumb.  The garden had miniature roses, marigolds, gardenias, daffodils, lavender, heather, every wild flower you could possibly imagine, and even herbs…every herb known to man.  Oak didn’t quite know how she came about having all of these wonderful plants, but she didn’t question it.  Every morning before she went to school, she would walk into her garden and find a new plant growing in a spot where she had placed a seed the night before.  You see, the birds were her friends and they would always bring her seeds from their travels.  The orioles and the buntings would travel south to escape the winter and bring wonderful seeds from the forests of the north!   She even had Fiddleheads growing.  

Well, one night it was hot…too hot to sleep.  They did not have air conditioning in their house.  Oak opened her bedroom windows and felt that the outside air was cooler than the inside.  She quietly tiptoed out the back door and just slowly wandered through the gardens, letting her fingers lightly touch the leaves, wet with dew.  It was so refreshing.  All of a sudden, she saw a wee light in her garden!  Squinting through the branches, she looked harder (can you look harder?) and saw this wee little light moving – here, there and everywhere!  “Oh!  It’s a fairy!  It has to be a fairy!”  She slipped into her garden and although she was not three feet tall, she lowered her head upon entering.  It was pitch black!  No light anywhere!  Oak sat on one of her palm frond mats she had made the other day and put her chin on her fists.  Oak just sat and sat and…sat.  

A tinkling of a wind chime filled the air, but very gently and softly.  As the chime played (she didn’t know where it was) the little garden began to glow.

(to be continued)

Fairies in The Gardens

I know that fairies are in gardens…I’ve seen them.  Have you ever caught a sunbeam that was so bright you had to turn away from it, but as you did, you caught a movement, a glimpse of a whisper of gossamer wings?  This happens to us so often in life that soon…we quit wondering about it and just accept those flitting moments as everyday passing of flies, mosquitoes or butterflies.  Walk through a meadow in the mountains and see the various little flying creatures almost float up in the air…floating up and up until they are out of sight.

When I really work the soil in my yard, I can feel the experience and heart of it.  Think about it: soil is always around…always.  It has a history and travels so easily, from yard to yard, city to city – across the country and around the world.  Regardless of its quality, its history remains. If it could speak, I venture to say we would learn so much!  One would be how fairies work the earth (the soil) in gardens to create beauty and nourishment for humans and for the Earth. I’ve learned that Earth fairies have great love for both and disdain those who abuse them (This includes all forms of nature and animals).

Since I’ve been creating fairy gardens, it seems that all forms of nature visit my yard, day and night.  Daytime finds little spiders (and I’m not a great fan of them) weaving lovely panes of glassy webs in the trees and in my slat house (old fashioned greenhouse); various types of lizards ranging from the garden variety to the Cuban curly tail to Iguanas and more play chase with high stakes.  There’s a huge hawk that lives nearby and the community of birds and squirrels have their alarm system in place when he starts circling.  Oh, I could go on and on about these wonderful creatures.  A small hive of bees are at home in a hole in a stucco fence. At night, when I’m working on a garden, I’ll hear a crashing through bushes and a family of possums appears on their nocturnal prowl!  Nature gathers in my yard and it’s magical.  The tree frogs start serenading as soon as I water my gardens.  There’s times when I sense eyes watching me and when those moments happen, I find the gardens I’m working on become enchanted…everything falls into place, I step back and say, “Perfect”.

The next time you’re walking in a park or sitting in your yard, become silent and just “see” and “listen”.  The Fairies of The Earth will lead the parade of nature right to you.  Please and thank you!  ♥

 

The Fairy Stream of Magic on The Mountain

A few years back, I traveled to western Massachusetts with a friend and we stayed with a family member, who has a lovely little house on the top of a mountain.  It was a small mountain, yet had the same twists and roller coaster curves that the largest of mountains have.  We actually visited numerous times over the next three years and every time I was there, I felt at peace, almost like I belonged there.  Of course, I always feel that way when I’m in mountains and forests.  Perhaps in a past lifetime?  Who knows.

The point of this is that this mountain brought out the dreamer in me…the dreamer that had been gone for so long.  What happened is that our host had two nieces who were very much like little wood nymphs.  One was three and the other four.  The back of the property was raised so that if you threw a ball to the back, it would roll back down toward you.  It had rained for several days; so much that water had accumulated in the back and was running down into the yard through a tiny little groove in the grass.  It was maybe two inches wide.  The girls and I would sit by the stream and I taught them all they needed to know about fairies (at least for that day).  We made little rafts out of large oak leaves and launched them at the top of the hilly back yard and laugh with delight as they made their way down the stream.  We talked about how this was a major source of transportation for the mountain and meadow fairies who came out at night to dance and play.  Oh, these girls were hanging on to every word.  I felt such joy sharing these fairy secrets with them and watching their eyes grow large with wonder!

Every time we returned to the mountain, the girls were there waiting to grab my hand and drag me into the back yard to see the stream and fairies in the meadow.  I suppose the point of this is to say try to remember and share those secrets and memories with little ones as often as you can.  

Please and thank you!  ♥