ot: the writing itch

Absolutely lovely! :) I'd love to read Chapter 2.

And PLEASE submit this to Bead & Button for their back page, "Anything Goes" column!!!!

Yes! I want chapter 2!!! Thank you :)

ch 2, the council

'o my!' thought bessie as she swivelled and swayed her way into the meeting. 'i haven't been in a room this crowded since old aunt margie's 275th birthday party, almost 4 summers ago!' time goes slow for fairies, they live to be around 250, 260 years old generally, aunt margie was quite a big deal. she had died before the end of that year though, some think to avoid the trouble of another party that big. bessie hardly every got out anyway, crowds really weren't her thing.

'excuse me!' exclaimed mrs. tuffeathers, a very bossy woman who was obviously very irritated with bessie's audacity in being so tall. 'o i am sorry' appologised bessie, quickly squigling herself out of the way. finally bess found a seat without getting knocked over by the children rushing by her or stepping on anyones toes accidentally.

the hollow in the old oak tree was starting to really heat up, especially with all the lightning bugs crammed in there at the ceiling to light the place. under conditions like these, normally, the fairies would politely flap their wings to make a gentle breeze about the room, but in this case there just wasnt the space for it! bess looked at the agenda written in dove chalk on the large peice of smoothed redwood hanging from the upper center of the hollow.

'Tonight's Agenda" it read. "Number One: Pollen Progresses and Equities. Number Two: Foreign Affairs- Point A: Robin Airspace Complaint, Point B: Reassesment of Human Visibility Requirements. Number Three: Oak Veneration." Bess was a little anxious as to whether or not she was going to get in on the decorations, or if all that was already decided.

It was clear that the crowd had been drawn for the oak tree, although there were a good lot there for the robin airspace complaint. it seems that out near edges of the forest, closer to more sunlight, robins had been accidentally eating fairies! robins are not known in the forest for their eyesight or there intellect. their response to the whole situation was to file a complaint with the council that the fairies were flying around where they do their lunch hunting. you can see why a few fairies were rather upset.

of course there was, however, a good bit of fidgeting while this and the other issues were being resolved. the reading of the minutes and the regular holabaloo of council meetings. all very necessary i am sure. bess could hardly bear it as point and counterpoint went flying around the room about things she could not find it in herself to give one solitary flap about. finally the issue of the 'Oak Veneration' arose.

it was revealed that the celebration would be held on march 17, as that was the birthday of the founder of the council, so many people thought it appropriate to use that day. it was also decided that it would be held all about the great oak, all over its branches, and that stations were to be set up at the end of each branch for music, food, or drink, and that all musicians were to coordinate their musics, but they did not have to play the same thing. decorations, to bess's releif, had not been discussed.

as was customary at the end of the official proceedings regarding a matter, the floor was opened to general questions. 'will all the forest animals be invited or will it just be fairies?' was the first question. 'what about the oak's age, will she mind such a party, has she been consulted?' was the second. each of these took some talking about. 'ok, the night is getting on now, have we any more questions?' asked the orator.

'um, yes, i have one last comment please.' said bess. she hated talking in groups.

'yes yes bessie, speak up!'

'i would like to humbly volunteer my services, your honor, for the decorations commitee?'

'o yes, bessie well done. you can go ahead and head that up, won't you? great. well that's settled then. and then if there are no more comments, this council meeting is officially adjourned.' and he banged his gavel before bess had any chance to protest.

bessie walked out bewildered, pushed forward by the massive river of fairly tired fairies, all thinking of cool air and soft beds. bessie flew home on autopilot and arrived quite surprised that she had made it home at all. she had a cup of tea and a pollen pastry and went off to bed. as the mist cleared in her mind she started to feel like this was going to be quite fun.

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ok, chapter 3 to come. tell me if you like it though, it will keep me writing it ;)

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I love it. :)

Oh Yes! Yes! I want chapter 2!!!!

Valerie Website:

I second that!

Valerie Website:

thanks you guys for the support!! ok, here goes...

chapter 3: busy bessie

bessie rolled out of bed with the sun and drifted right into her studio. her head still swimming with dreams, she got out her notebook and started to sketch. she drew picture after picture of the great tree, and all the wonderful history it had with the community of fairies. like when the flood came and knocked down some of the taller trees, but the oak stayed solid and when the elves came to visit and stayed in the hollow and left all sorts of magic gifts with her. but bessie's favorite, common though it is, was all the spring mornings of her youth, before her wings were grown, when she and all her friends would swing and swing on the long hanging branches, learning about the air and about flight.

bessie sat drawing her pictures. she was a lovely fairy, really, despite the unweildy heighth. she had long brown auburn hair, with bright blond streaks in it, and slender amber arms and legs. she wore autumn leaves as her frock and always kept mustard flowers in her hair. her eyes were auburn too, with loveley lavender lids and deep red lips. also, bessie never wore shoes.

after more than a few hours at the drawings, it was high time for breakfast; after all it was nearly 10. she went to the kitchen and fixed herself a nice hot tea and a honey cake she had been saving for a special morning. while she sat, fingering the morning leaf, she heard mickie the mailer coming up her branch.

'bessie!' she heard the poor thing bellow, 'bessie! c'mere an'elp me!!' mickie was very small, even for a fairy, but bess couldn't imagine what he could need help with. maybe he was stuck under a branch. maybe he was stuck in a spider web! she hurried out to see what the trouble was.

'what is it mickie, what is it!? o my! what's the matter?!' and she came out to see the poor thing just in utter turbulence under this enormous bag of letters! 'o let me help you!' she cried, and took half the weight just in time before he dropped them. 'what is all this?' she asked.

'well, you just tell me, now! this is yure mess lassy, not mine!'

'now what in heaven could you mean by that?' she asked.

'o, howdaya expect me to know what yure mail is about?'

'my mail! my mail? o this can't possibly all be for me!' but he just looked at her. 'well! i'll have a look then!' and sure enough, every piece she grabbed out of that bag was addressed to her. 'Miss Bessie Glasser, Bess Glasser, Miss Glasser, Attn. Bessie Glasser' she could hardly beleive it.

'i toldya so, lass.'

'yes yes, mickie, ok, i beleive you. i can't imagine what it is all about though.'

'well, most likely its in regards to the decorations committee, wouldn'tya say?'

'hm? oh! that's right. my goodness. well i do have some sorting to do now, don't i. i am so sorry for all this trouble mickie, ah, would u like some tea?'

'o no lass, i got plenty a'work ta do without that. thanks though, a lovely offer. maybe in calmer times?'

'ok, you have a good day.' and with that mickie walked himself out and took off while bess sat scratching her head, looking at the mound of letters that came pouring out of the bag.

it would seem that although bessie forgot that she was officially in charge of the decorations, no one else in the neighborhood did. she brought over her tea and cake and hunkered down on the floor to start looking through it.

bessie read each letter carefully and put it in a pile that matched other letters like it. there were a total of 384 letters. 168 offers of assistance, 78 ads for supplies, 63 design suggestions, 52 letters of congradulations (one of those was from plumie) and 23 humble appologies for not being able to help. fairies are very polite about that sort of thing. so of the 168 offers of assistance, bessie picked out 87 applicants that she felt were both artistic and hard working enough for the task. then she wrote out letters of response to each of them and asked them to come to the feild at noon in the day after half moon for a meeting. she dropped the letters in the box and as it was already night she got ready for bed.

she took one last stop in her studio to look over the drawings, and had a last cup of bluebell tea to encourage her dreams. she drifted off to sleep quickly as she was really quite exhausted.

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Keep 'em coming when the muse strikes you, Alia! I'm with Kandice here... PUBLISH them. :)

ok, when they're done i'll see if i can get them published, :D (blushes)

kandice, i saw your latest auction, did i inspire you???? :D :D :D

Yes, you did, my dear. :)

finally!!!

chapter 4

'okay, okay! could everyone please settle down?' bessie hated talking in groups. 'everyone? please?' the feild was aswarm with fairies, all 87 invitations had been answered, as well as 15 or 16 others who had come along to see how the meeting went. after about 15 minutes of buzzing about, greetings and friendly gossip people started to settle down and pay attention to bessie's desperate pleadings for order.

'okay everyone, okay! first let me say thank you to you all for attending.' a pleasant murmur went over the crowd. 'second i would like to say that we have quite a bit of work to do...' and indeed there was! catagories were organized for leaf decoration, bark decoration, root enhancement, branch consistancy and overall appeal. then a set was elected as the design team, each of which would head one of the catagories. bess oversaw everything. the meeting was adjourned.

the celebration was in 8 weeks. they planned to meet again in 4, then again in 6 and the last week of course they would see eachother daily. catagory leaders would call meetings as necessary, and bess decided that the design team should meet immediately, that evening, at her home for evening treats and discussion of the drawings she had been doing the last few days.

the design team included sharon, head glass worker for the 'do drop' company, the oldest glass company in fairiedom, carrie, a brand new but very prominent painter of rock patterns, antoine, a romantic leaf sculpter who worked primarily in dried fallen leaves, rickie, a very energetic light specialist with a focus in rainbows and prisms, and suzie, a high strung fashion designer from among the very cutting edge of fairy styles. carrie and bessie had been friends for some time, and were looking forward to working together.

they all showed up around 8 as expected. there were pollen sweets and ginko tea and a lot of chatting and catching up. eventually they moved into the study and took a look at the drawings. bess had drawn large drops of glass filled with leaves and vines, hanging by the dozens from the leaves on the oak, tied on with fine dyed silk. she drew glass flowers exploding out of the cracks of the bark, and long silk vines hanging to the ground off the ends of each hanging branch.

but everyone's breath was really taken away when they saw the drawing of the old oak in glass. it seemed to glisten even on the paper. deep amber bark textured with boro waves coming out in individul strands of branches, covered with the most delicate and beautiful leaves, each in the place it would be on the real tree. it was truly stunning.

but bessie's drawings were the drawings of a glass worker. now there was the input of many other minds and talants. talk turned towards roots painted with moss, prism drops hanging in a halo around the crown of the tree, and of course the fulfillment of all bessie's glass visions. they all said goodnight and looked forward to the next meeting.

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finally!

chapter 4

'okay, okay! could everyone please settle down?' bessie hated talking in groups. 'everyone? please?' the feild was aswarm with fairies, all 87 invitations had been answered, as well as 15 or 16 others who had come along to see how the meeting went. after about 15 minutes of buzzing about, greetings and friendly gossip people started to settle down and pay attention to bessie's desperate pleadings for order.

'okay everyone, okay! let's all just settle down now! okay! now, first let me say thank you to you all for attending.' a pleasant murmur went over the crowd. 'second i would like to say that we have quite a bit of work to do...' and indeed there was! catagories were organized for leaf decoration, bark decoration, root enhancement, branch consistancy and overall appeal. then a set of fairies were elected as the design team, each of which would head one of the catagories. bess oversaw everything. the meeting was adjourned.

the celebration was in 8 weeks. they planned to meet again in 4, then again in 6 and the last week of course they would see each other daily. catagory leaders would call meetings as necessary, and bess decided that the design team should meet immediately, that evening, at her home for treats and discussion of the drawings she had been doing the last few days.

the design team included sharon, head glass worker for the 'do drop' company, the oldest glass company in fairiedom, carrie, a brand new but very prominent painter of rock patterns, antoine, a romantic leaf sculpter who worked primarily in dried fallen leaves, rickie, a very energetic light specialist with a focus in rainbows and prisms, and suzie, a high strung fashion designer from among the very cutting edge of fairy styles. they all knew eachother, but carrie and bessie had been good friends for some time, and were looking forward to working together.

they all showed up around 8 as expected. there were pollen sweets and ginko tea and a lot of chatting and catching up. eventually they moved into the study and took a look at the drawings. bess had drawn large drops of glass filled with leaves and vines, hanging by the dozens from the leaves on the oak, tied on with fine dyed silk. she drew glass flowers exploding out of the cracks of the bark, and long silk vines hanging to the ground off the ends of each hanging branch, holding fringes of delicate glass leaves.

but everyone's breath was really taken away when they saw the drawing of the old oak in glass. it seemed to glisten even on the paper. deep amber bark textured with boro waves coming out in individul strands of branches, covered with the most delicate and beautiful leaves, each in the place it would be on the real tree. it was truly stunning.

but bessie's drawings were the drawings of a glass worker. now there was the input of many other minds and talants. talk turned towards roots painted with moss, prism drops hanging in a halo around the crown of the tree, and of course the many possible ways of fulfilling all bessie's glass visions. they all said goodnight and looked forward to the next meeting.

bess was so excited she could barely get to sleep. as she lay in her bed memories of the meeting went flitting about in her head. antoine had had such lovely suggestions, and such lovely eyes... she finally dozed thinking of tree in glass, and wondering where on earth they would put it.

:) So wonderful, Alia.

-- Kandice Seeber Air & Earth Designs

completely,

I have been! Is there any more soon?

i write when i am freaking out so hard i think my brain will implode... :) i am so glad you are reading it!! it makes me want to write if people like it :) i am sure to finish it eventually.......

alia :)

Another great chapter... :) And this sentence slayed me: "...suzie, a high strung fashion designer from among the very cutting edge of fairy styles." :D

chapter 5

bessie was just getting the table ready for carrie's visit. there were now only 6 weeks left before the celebration and all the plans had been made for how things would go. the design team had proved really quite insightful and the richness of beauty that seemed the theme of the plans was sure to take everyone's breath away.

carrie wasn't coming over for business, she was coming to visit. a regular visit. something neither of them had had since this whole thing started. bessie just couldn't wait to see her, she really was one of her closest friends.

finally the door opened and carrie floated in. she was bright baby blue and lavander, full of shimmer and lush pinkish hair. she was the picture of spring. her wings were blue with lavander inlay and her skin was pale beige, but shone like gold. her eyes were the blue of the sky, and if you saw her on a clear day, her eyes dissappeared completely, and she looked transparent. ever since they were little fairy girls bessie thought she was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

'carrie, you're here.' and she gave her a great big hug. 'how are you doing?'

'o, you know, it's really crazy! how are you doing?'

'o, okay, it does seem to be taking shape, doesnt it...'

'yes, it does...'

'how is everything with your team?'

'now, bessie, you promised, no business!' 'o okay, okay. you're right. but to tell you the truth i can't think of anything else to talk about.'

'well i can! i have seen the way antoine looks at you! what do you think, is there a romance on your horizon?'

'o come on carrie, antoine looks at everyone like that, even rickie! i don't take it to heart. but i do enjoy his company. i am glad we met, and i think we will end up being friends.'

'yeah, i think you will.' there was a pause and then carrie broke down. 'okay, we can talk shop. what do you think about what sharon is doing with the bark decoration?? i heard she has a really good team to work with.'

'o it's just great. i think she is the only one with the skill in training to get that job done. you know, she taught my first glass class, did you know that?'

'no! that is wonderful! no wonder...'

'yeah, well i have always been grateful. but honestly, what i am most excited about is what antoine is doing with the leaves.'

'o yeah, sure, your interested in what he's doing with the leaves... '

'no really! it is very beautiful.'

antoine was planning a sort of leaf weave, like a french braid, down parts of the tree. he wouldnt hurt the leaves, just arrange them, and sew them carefully together in such a way as to be unsewn the next day. fairy's make awfully small needles, and good and sure not to hurt anything they make art out of.

'but really,' bessie continued, 'i love what you are doing too... it is going to be so beautiful... how is your team?'

'they are okay. the main problem is that we need a good bit of the deep purple moss to match some of the glass work sharon is doing on the bark flowers, and the beetles have been eating at our growing patches all week. i've brought it up at the council but the beetles seem to have some sort of treaty so we either have to move the patches or just put up!'

'well, you could always spell them.'

'yeah, but i wouldnt want the trouble of it. strung out beetles wandering up and down the forest, might do more harm than good!'

'good point.'

'well, we'll put up with it, you know.'

'hey, you know, why don't i get you some askine powder to sprinkle on the moss, thats artronian moss isn't it? it wont hurt it, but it will make it smell awful to the beetles...'

'now thats a good idea. bring it by tomorrow morning and we'll take care of it. now i'm glad we talked shop!'

'me too.' said bess, and she smiled.

they chatted a bit more, and carrie grilled bess about antoine, but she didn't get anything. eventually carrie left, after a lot of laughing and story telling, and unintentional delay. neither of them liked much leaving the other one's presence.

so off carrie went into the evening twilight, and back to her study went bess to look at the drawings and plans. she wrote herself a note about the askine powder and double checked her time tables and her layouts. the thing really was starting to take shape, wasn't it.

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Oooh, romance! :) More!