chapter 8
bessie sat in her studio. she worked the glass round and round and out and through and round again. she kept rhythm in her head of each new song of each new leaf of each new branch, 'black green black black brown green black brown, spin, spin, orange green brown black green brown orange black, spin, spin' she felt the metal in her hands and the heat from her torch. she sweat. she wrapped the glass round the metal and pulled it out and grabbed at it and pulled at it some more. she fused pieces together with other pieces and wound loops and planned.
her ideas had been growing in her mind for the past weeks like the tree herself. it was the final night before the festival and bessie was putting the final touches on her present masterpiece. she groped at the glass as she begged it to conform to her imagination. it always did, she had a way with heat and sand.
many of the colors she was using were given to her by susan, colors that were rare and wonderful. she had iridescents that had not been used since the queen of fairydom had commissioned a necklace made to mirror the sunset exactly. she said she wanted it blue during the day, to glow silver like the moon at night, and to run gammut like the sunset only as the great orb hit the horizon. right then it would shine out a misty rainbow full of salmon pinks, melon oranges, and mint greens.
around midnight bessie had finished all the pieces and started to fuse and tie them all together. some she hung from silk, triple wound and coated in beeswax, with a special spell on it to keep it from ever breaking. some of the pieces she wound up with gold wire, winding up the tree like a great hurricane. the tree seemed to blossom before her eyes and even now glowed in places like the moonlight.
her room full of candlelight she examined and scrutinized every crack, every aspect, every angle of the great memorial. the tree had served the community for almost a hundred years, since the first group of fairies settled there after leaving their old home across the great river. it had sheltered them, told them of the other creatures there, and welcomed them with astounding love.
finally, after many hours had passed, and the sun threatened to rise any minute, she forced herself down for a short nap, so as not to be too tired during the festivities. the day had finally come. it was finally here.