I know this blog was supposed to be mostly fantasy stories, but bear with me-this is the last rotten poem I have to post-I totally stink at writing poetry!
Ode to Cell Phones
Oh amazing electronic,
without you, teen life would be simply demonic.
With your many new features
people sit on bleachers.
Amazing ringers
from famous singers,
are so often bought.
Without them, our ears would be for naught.
You make checking email incredibly easy,
without you I would feel quite queasy.
& u all0w us 2 t3xt,
w/o be!ng perpl3xed.
You're a wireless tool,
sadly not allowed in school,
but we all need and love you.
Its so very, true.
O how fearful of toilets are you--
Of being flushed down into a terrible brew,
into the depths of the loo.
Neither are you safe in a canoe--
into the rapids you might slip too,
then where would we be without you?
But even said,
of all that you’ve fled,
everyone needs you--
not one but two!
Even with your fears,
you are loved by many peers.
O awesome electronic,
you save lives from being demonic.
Ice-Dragon
Frost Dragon drawing done by a little kid
Monday, August 23, 2010
O, How Sweet was that Squirrel
O, How Sweet was that Squirrel
Oh, alas, poor thing,
Oh, how sweet was he
found one spring
under hickory tree
Eyes not yet open
New to the world
In darkness was gropin'
In a tight ball 'twas curled
There we arrived
Saw hawk fly’in over
Saw him deprived
‘Twas raining moreover
We heard his cries
And pondered what bird
Could possibly sound
so quite absurd.
We finally saw him
And held him near fire
We saw the hawk leave,
Far away did he retire.
Took the squirrel home with us
He became my best friend
And we healed him of the wounds of puss
To let him free we did intend
Outside ‘twas built
A box for him
For keeping him, we had such guilt
“Squirrels should be free to jump o’er limb”
He lives outside now
Free to roam where he sees fit
But safe ('cause of box) from weather foul
O, how sweet was it.
This ballad is about a baby squirrel I found in the woods while camping a few years ago. We took him home and raised him for about 16 weeks and then built a squirrel box on the side of out house for him to live in outside. He came back every 48 hours-always exactly on time. Then one day he came back with a really bloody nose, so we took him to the vet. The vet gave him peanut flavored meds (to which he stronly protested). After it healed, we let him back outside and he never came back. :(
Oh, alas, poor thing,
Oh, how sweet was he
found one spring
under hickory tree
Eyes not yet open
New to the world
In darkness was gropin'
In a tight ball 'twas curled
There we arrived
Saw hawk fly’in over
Saw him deprived
‘Twas raining moreover
We heard his cries
And pondered what bird
Could possibly sound
so quite absurd.
We finally saw him
And held him near fire
We saw the hawk leave,
Far away did he retire.
Took the squirrel home with us
He became my best friend
And we healed him of the wounds of puss
To let him free we did intend
Outside ‘twas built
A box for him
For keeping him, we had such guilt
“Squirrels should be free to jump o’er limb”
He lives outside now
Free to roam where he sees fit
But safe ('cause of box) from weather foul
O, how sweet was it.
This ballad is about a baby squirrel I found in the woods while camping a few years ago. We took him home and raised him for about 16 weeks and then built a squirrel box on the side of out house for him to live in outside. He came back every 48 hours-always exactly on time. Then one day he came back with a really bloody nose, so we took him to the vet. The vet gave him peanut flavored meds (to which he stronly protested). After it healed, we let him back outside and he never came back. :(
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Time is Never-Ending
TIME IS NEVER-ENDING
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm clock made Dorothy wake up with a jump that landed her on the floor. Dorothy let out a groan. She had stayed up all night trying to finish a book she was reading about four kids and a kind and fair lion named Aslan who ruled over a wide, vast land and who was protecting the land from an evil witch. So now she was very tired and did not want to wake up. Her mother had told her many times before not to stay up late reading before a test, especially if the test was in something like science--her worst subject.
"Dotty are you awake yet? You're going to be late for the bus!" For good reason her mom never trusted Dorothy to wake up on time. Once Dorothy had been late for school because she did not wake up when the alarm clock went off, and her mother had thought that Dorothy was on the bus. When her mother went in to pick up the heap of dirty clothes that were piled up in Dot's room, she saw Dot still sleeping. But it was too late to do anything about it by that time.
But today Dot was awake, so she said ‘yes’ to her mother's question and then hopped over to the new wardrobe that her parents had gotten for her birthday last Saturday. She pulled out a nice blouse and a pair of jeans. It was mid-fall and very cold outside. She was still busy putting stuff in the wardrobe. She had decided to put most of her books on the shelf above the hanging area. She had a ton of books, so it was a seemingly endless job. This was the first time she had used the new wardrobe, and she was very grateful to her mom and dad. She absentmindedly pulled out one of her lucky hair bands and was quite surprised when she felt something sharp and pointy prick her finger. There was however nothing on the hair band, so she put her long, wavy, brown hair back into a ponytail. That was when her life was changed forever.
She felt like she was being pulled into two pieces, as if her head were being pulled in one direction and her feet in another. She was gasping for breath. There was suffocating black smoke everywhere. When she tried to inhale, it was like breathing in water. She sputtered and choked when she realized she was falling. From the wind in her face, she figured she must have been falling at a high speed.
It became easier to breathe, and the feeling of being pulled was almost gone when she fell flat on her feet. She was not hurt at all. Only dazed.
She looked all around her and saw many strange people gathered around a coffin near her. They looked like--no she could not and would not allow herself to think like that. After all, what she had been thinking was completely, outrageously impossible. What she had been thinking was that they looked like Druids. She had learned about them in her history class. Memories of staying up late researching them for a school project came back to her in a flash. They were people from ancient England and ancient Ireland who wrote and spoke using Ogham writing. However, Dorothy decided to dismiss the whole incident as being an illusion she was seeing as a result of the fall. She would probably wake up any moment to her mean older sister splashing water on her. Soaking her to the bone just to be wretched.
She sat down on the cold grass and waited to be splashed in the face with even colder water. She did not notice the little girl standing right behind her until it was too late. Just as she sensed someone behind her, she was soaked with a ton of water. Not by her sister, but by a little girl of five or six. The child quite obviously could not stop laughing at what was in Dorothy's mind a horrible prank.
One of the women from the group suddenly started pointing and screaming something in the direction of Dorothy and the little girl. The screaming woman ran up to Dorothy like a lunatic. She was waving her arms everywhere and jumping all over the place shouting in the unmistakable language of Ogham. But of course because she had a lunatic pointing and screaming at her, Dorothy did not notice that the woman was speaking Ogham. All she knew at the moment was that someone from the crazy house had escaped and was now threatening her.
She was instantly proved wrong however. The woman scooped up the little girl and ran to a hut made out of strange looking thick sticks with a roof of mud and straw. A young boy of about fourteen or fifteen ran up to Dorothy and said something to her that she understood very well.
He had said "I'm very sorry" in Ogham. She knew it was Ogham language now, so she was no longer afraid of them. Druids were peacemakers and were often known to jump in between battles to stop people from killing each other. But just because she was not afraid of the people did not mean she was not afraid. She in fact was terrified of the fact that the Druids were from a completely different time period. Not only a different time period, but an ancient time period. According to science, she should be turning to dust that very moment.
But those thoughts were immediately shattered by a young couple standing right in front of her. She knew some Ogham words, enough to understand the first word the woman spoke. She said the simple word "friend." That was the only word Dorothy understood, but it was all she needed to understand to know that they were nice people. Dorothy also understood the last thing the couple did. The woman touched her forehead and said "Kishakashe." The man did the same thing, saying “Suban.” One of the things Dorothy had mentioned in her paper about the Druids was that they often touched their foreheads and spoke their name to introduce themselves. Dorothy touched her forehead and said "Dorothy."
Then knowing they probably would not be able to understand her, she tried to speak in English. That was when the couple started speaking in Latin, probably because Dorothy had been speaking English which sounded like Latin. The woman said, "What are you doing here? And where do you come from?"
Dorothy understood Latin very well, so she responded by saying in Latin "I am from the United- I mean North America and I am not quite sure what I am doing here." Dorothy knew that the United States did not exist during the time of the Druids, so she just said North America instead. "Can you help me?" said Dorothy "I seem to have gone somewhere or some place that is not my own and I do not know what to do."
The man spoke this time saying, "Why don't you come to our hut and have some meat and bread to eat so you can tell us more of your story. We speak and understand your language but we do not understand your way of speaking although we would like to." Dorothy now knew how hungry and thirsty she had been. Her clothes were dry now, but she was still shivering from the wind. "Yes. I think that would be very nice," replied Dorothy.
So Dorothy told all that had happened to her through mouthfuls of dried meat and bread while the two Druids quietly sat staring at her, giving the occasional nod or offering her some more food or some more of the strange drink they had been giving her. It tasted like a mixture of strawberries and ginger which Dorothy found she was very fond of.
Meanwhile Dorothy's older sister Annie was still at home in the same world and same general period of time she had always known. She was dressed warmly for school. She had finished all of her homework and roughly thrown her well worn school books into her open book-bag. She was just finishing a bowl of Cheerios when her mom asked her the question that changed her life forever.
"Annie, have you seen Dotty?"
To this Annie replied "Nope" through a mouthful of cereal.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Annie!" her mom scolded.
"Mmm" said Annie. She rolled her eyes. She hated it when her mom or anyone else corrected her because in her mind she could never do anything wrong. In her mind she was always in the right, and anyone who contradicted her was wrong.
"Mmm?" said her mom "And just what is that supposed to mean? Well, since you obviously do not want to talk and eat like a civilized human being, could you please go find your sister and walk with her to the bus? I'm afraid she's going to be late again."
"Ok, mom" replied Annie. She wanted to have some more cereal before she left, so she quickly ran up to Dorothy's room and pounded on the door.
"Wake up, Dorothy. I wish you would just wake up on your own without interrupting my breakfast. I mean, come on now-- you’re twelve You should be able to wake up on your own."
There was no answer, so she did what she knew Dorothy hated most. She went into her room. But much to her surprise, there was no one there. She quietly walked over to her sister's new wardrobe.
"Lucky," thought Annie. She thought it was the prettiest piece of woodwork she had ever seen. It was indeed beautiful, with nicely polished mahogany wood and two small but beautiful, delicate golden angels sitting on top. It took up a good sized portion of the wall, but it still somehow looked very fragile and delicate. She had to get a closer look. She had hardly seen it, and yet she was already very fond of it. "What does it matter anyways?" she asked herself. "Dorothy always gets her way, and I'm sick of it. She doesn't even deserve it all, and she is not thankful enough." She walked up to it and opened the wardrobe doors.
Then she felt nothing but pain. She felt like she was being pulled in two pieces, and she could not breathe the thick air. At first, Annie tried to blame Dorothy with setting up some kind of trap for her, but she then realized the pain was so terrible that her younger sister could not have anything to do with it.
The pain suddenly subsided, and she felt relief as all the pain completely left her body. She felt funny though, as if sleep was falling upon her although she was not in the least bit tired.
She was wet. Very wet. People wearing deerskin clothes were speaking to her, but she could not understand what they were saying. She was quite panic-stricken and wondered if Dorothy knew anything about this world.
There was a little girl of four or five wearing a deerskin dress and little wooden shoes. She held in her hand a piece of dried meat, and she was staring at Annie in amazement, as if she were an animal in a zoo. Annie did not at all like being stared at, and she instantly hated the little girl for it. There was a man, a woman, the child, and some chickens running all over the hut Annie found herself in.
"Wha… wha… what happened to me? Where am I? Who are you people? What are you? Are you real? Am I dreaming? What are you people--or whatever you are--doing here? And wh…”
"Enough questions. Not all of them can be answered now, and some of them may never be answered." said the man. "You speak messy Latin, but it is understandable. I shall speak Latin, too. You do not seem to understand our language."
"I'm not speaking Latin, I'm speaking English, but anyways I need answers to some of my questions at lea-"
"Yes, and you will get answers to some of them. You are like the other one."
"What other one?
"There was a young girl like you, dressed in strange clothes who came to our village. Popiep," said the man as he motioned to the little girl "poured water over her head, and she was taken to another hut for some food and lish."
"She was here! Ohh, please, may I see her, just to tell her I'm sorry for what I have done?"
"No."
"Ohh, but why not?"
"She was not brought here. She was taken to another family’s hut."
"But is there any way--"
"Yes, you will see her soon, but now you must rest and have some food and fresh lish."
"Lish?"
"It is a drink made out of ginger root and strawberries. It is good for you, and it gives you energy."
He handed her a wooden cup with a dark mahogany-colored liquid in it. The color reminded her of the wardrobe. She took a sip of it, found she liked it, and had another sip. The woman said something to Popiep, and the little girl ran off and returned a moment later with a pigeon on her shoulder. She carried a small basket of bread and dried meat.. The woman went outside and returned with some long grass and stones in her hand. She started braiding the grass into a long rope. While she worked on the braid, the man started eating the bread and meat, offering some to Annie every few minutes. The girl Popiep waved the chickens away and refilled Annie's cup with the strange sweet-flavored juice. The man took some of the rocks the woman had brought and started carving strange vertical and horizontal lines on them.
"Now would be a good time for us to answer some of your questions," said the man "We are Druids from Ireland. My wife and I are here because of a heresy. We both understood time and space better than the Roman Catholic Church thought safe, so we were banished.”
“That’s terrible!" said Annie.
Toreth silently nodded. By this time, he had finished carving the strange figures into the two tiny stone tablets, and Jeshrishca had finished braiding the grass. Popiep brought the pigeon over to them, and Jeshrishca tied the two stone tablets to the bird's feet with the braided grass. She walked outside and threw the bird up into the air. It started to fall back down again from the weight of its load, but it quickly started flying before it met the ground. The bird was clumsy at first and swayed in the air, but at last it was out of sight. Annie wondered what Toreth had carved on the stones.
But her thoughts were interrupted by Toreth again. “We have not told you our names yet. I am called Toreth and my wife is Jeshrishca. Your sister is at another family's hut. That was a carrier pigeon with a message to tell them that you are here. They are not very far, so they should get the message soon. Ordinarily, we would just walk you over there, but there has been too much happening in the village today. Last night, the elder Greyruen died. We were having his funeral when your sister appeared. That’s when Popiep poured water on her."
"I was very embarrassed, so I scooped up Popiep and ran back to our hut,” said Jeshrishca. “Rosorath came back to the hut with us, but we sent him out to get more bread when you came."
"Who is Rosorath?" asked Annie
Toreth had the answer again "He is our son. He is thirteen turns around the sun. About your age."
"Yes, I'm thirteen--umm, err--turns of the sun, too," said Annie
"You should get some rest." Jeshrishca pointed to the bed "You might have to walk to where your sister is staying, and we have to find Rosorath."
"Okay." Annie was suddenly very tired, and the bed looked soft and warm. "What is it made out of?"
"It is layers of goat skin with goose feathers sewn in to help keep it together. We are going to go now. Do not go outside. Some of the others do not treat strangers with hospitality like we do."
About this time, Suban was asking Dorothy, "Would you like some more lish? Or would you like some more food? Is there anything we can do for you stranger?"
BANG! CRASH! BANG! Everyone ran over to the window. On the ground, there lay a pigeon with rocks tied on its feet. There was broken clay everywhere. It had broken several pots and vases trying to land. Luckily, the vase that seemed to Dorothy to be the prettiest remained unscathed. Suban, the man who had invited her over to their hut, quickly untied the rocks on the birds feet. He read from the rocks:
We have a girl here who looks like the one with strange clothing you found and brought over to your house for food and lish. She says that she is her sister. We are taking care of her. She is well fed and has had plenty to eat and drink. She wants to see the girl you brought to your hut to say she is sorry for something. Bring the girl you found and meet us at the cedar stump by the lake. --Toreth
"Who is Toreth and how could Annie be here?" asked Dorothy
This time Suban's wife Kishakashe was the first to answer. "Toreth is a well known magician who lives about ten huts down the road from us."
"What about my sister?" said Dorothy
"She is in good hands. Toreth is very kind."
"But how did she get here? I don‘t even know how I got here."
"She probably went through a time gate."
"A what?"
"A gate of time. Sometimes they open, and it is unpredictable when they do"
"Well, I think that's impossible and I am pretty sure it is, but we have to go save her. Come on what are you waiting for?" Even with Dorothy pulling them, neither Kishakashe nor Suban would budge.
This time Suban spoke "Toreth is not dangerous. He is wise and kind. Your sister does not need to be saved. She just wants to see you to apologize for something. If it turns out she really is your sister, then the two of you can decide if you want to stay at Toreth's hut or at our hut. You are more than welcome to stay here, but Toreth has a girl, Popiep, only five turns of the sun old, and a boy about your age. I think he is thirteen turns of the sun. They have better quality meat at his hut, too. We can only give you our best goat meat, which is very thin but they have fatty, juicy, delicious dried cattle or as your kind of people would call it, beef and dried fish and berries and nuts. As my wife and I said, you are more than welcome to stay at our hut and we would be delighted if you did, but you might be happier at Toreth's hut."
"Well, enough talking about making the decision. Why don't we take Dorothy to the lake and let her see her sister," said Kishakashe.
"I agree with that completely. Are you going to bring gifts to Toreth?" asked Dorothy.
"Yes, we are going to bring a gift for him." said Suban. "Kishakashe could you wrap up fifty slices of our best meat putting the slices into five separate bags? Put all the finest meat in one bag made with our best leather and put the rest in ordinary bags. Make five separate bags of the few nuts and berries giving one bag much more than all the others. Then fill five bags full of ginger root. Get another bag and fill it with some coffee, and in the final bag put some of the little cocoa we have in it. When you are done, come outside."
"May I please help you, Kishakashe? I feel terrible thinking of all you have done for me and knowing I have done nothing for you." Dorothy had always been very nice and polite, so it was natural for her to want to help.
"Yes. Thank you very much. I would much appreciate your help, Dorothy."
"Ok."
"Dorothy, could you go outside and get some strawberries for me? They are near the gate you came in by."
"Ok." As Dorothy was picking the strawberries, she thought about Annie. She wondered if Annie had changed any or if she was still her wretched self. Dorothy did not believe Annie really wanted to say sorry, but she hoped she had changed a little. By this time, Kishakashe had finished packing the meat, coffee, nuts and chocolate into the bags and had taken them to Suban who had loaded them up onto crude looking carts. Dorothy did not want to make them wait, so she put the strawberries into bags and ran back outside with them.
The ride took hardly any time. The cart was being pulled not by horses but by mules. The cart was more of a wheelbarrow than a cart, and everyone was squished but they did not complain about it because they knew that Suban had made the cart.
When they got there, Dot had to blink several times. Annie was sitting on a tree stump playing with a little girl and a boy who looked about her age. But that was not what made her blink. The little girl there was the same girl who threw water on her and the boy was the one who had apologized. Suban jumped out of the cart and gave some of the bags to a rather old-looking man standing by the water. The man in turn gave Suban some bags. Annie noticed Dorothy sitting in the cart now, and she ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "I'm sorry, Dorothy. I was jealous because mom and dad did not get me a wardrobe too. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.”
"I forgive you, Annie. I'm just so happy to see you. How did you get here?" so Annie told her younger sister everything that had happened to her and then Dorothy told Annie what had happened to her and how Kishakashe said a time gate might have opened.
That was when Toreth spoiled all their fun. "She’s right. A time gate has been opened," he said. "It is not safe here for Annie and Dorothy. If they do not get back to their own time by sundown, they will turn to dust. I believe they are still in the same place, but just further back in time. I have some magical powder that when inhaled can transport Annie and Dorothy back to their own time. They must breathe in the exact right amount however. Do you two want to risk it?"
"I think that is the most sensible thing to do," said Annie, looking at the setting sun. It was almost dark.
"Then stay here and eat some more food. I will be back shortly. When I get back we may not have enough time for goodbyes, so say bye while I am gone."
"Goodbye, Popiep and Rosorath and Jeshrishca, " said Dorothy. Although she had not known them for more than a few hours, she felt like she had known them all her life. "Goodbye, Kishakashe and Suban. And thank you for helping me find my way back home and for giving me food and lish." Annie was saying the same thing as Dorothy, and they were all weeping and saying goodbye to each-other when Toreth came back. He had a small bottle in his hands. Annie and Dorothy knew it must be the powder they were supposed to inhale.
"Goodbye, Toreth," said Annie and Dorothy at the same time. "Thank you for helping us go back home. We will miss you all."
"Hold out your hands," said Toreth, and Dorothy and Annie silently obeyed.
"Wait!" Suban was shouting at them from the cart waving some of the bags in the air. "Here, take these." He held them out for the children to take.
"No, we couldn't," said Dorothy. Annie said the same.
"I want you to so you remember us," insisted Suban.
"Thank you, Suban." Annie and Dorothy used their free hand to take the bags from him.
"Look at the sun." Toreth was pointing at the sun. They could just barely see it below the horizon. "Quickly. Breath it in. All of it. I wish you the best of luck children. Goodbye. Count down from three."
Three... Two... One... They both breathed in the sweet-smelling powder at exactly the same time. This time was very different from the other times, however. Neither one of them felt any pain. They were actually getting very tired.
AGHHHHH! OOMPH! OWWWW! They both came tumbling out of the top of the closet. They both stared at each other for a long time. Annie was the first to break the silence. "Did that really happen?"
"Yes, I think it did Annie."
"But it is still morning here."
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TWO DOING? THE BUS IS ABOUT TO LEAVE! YOU HAVE BEEN GONE TWELVE MINUTES! ALL I WANTED YOU TO DO WAS GET YOUR SISTER AND GO OUT THE DOOR.”
"Only twelve minutes!?!"
"What do you mean ‘only’?"
"Bye, mom! Bye, dad!”
"Bye, Dorothy! Bye, Annie! And Annie… be nice to your sister today.”
"Ok, mom."
"Have fun at school, you two!”
"Bye, mom!
A Few Weeks Later
"Hey, Dot, some of my friends invited me to a movie. I said I would not go unless you could come too, and they did not have a problem with that. So do you want to go? I have asked mom and dad and they said it’s fine if you go. The movie is rated PG. It’s about four kids, two boys and two girls, who go into a wardrobe and go into a different world where there is a kind and fair lion that rules over the land and protects the land from an evil witch. In other words it is the movie they made out of the book you are reading, so I thought you might enjoy it. So do you want to come?"
"You don't mind?" asked Dorothy.
"Of course not!"
"Then I'd love to come!" Dorothy was very happy her older sister was not still being mean to her. She almost did not believe it. They were friends for only one reason though. Dot's wardrobe. Sometimes they went back to see Suban, Popiep, Toreth, Kishakashe, Jeshrishca, and Rosorath, whom Annie was becoming very fond of.
After that first time Dorothy and Annie went back to the time of the Druids they never felt pain when they changed times. Toreth had givin them each a small bottle of the powder and whenever it got close to empty he would refill it for them. No matter how much they wanted to, they could never get into any other time zone. But Toreth said it could be done. He said there were many other portals to different times that had yet to be discovered. They could not reach those undiscovered times unless he made them a special potion, but he refused to do so.
Although they were disappointed about not being able to visit still other times, Annie and Dorothy were always friends after that day they spent in the time of the Druids.
-This is a story I wrote in 6th grade as an assignment. It was supposed to be like C.S. Lewis' Narnia (I used the wardrobe, and different place to make it like it), and was supposed to be about half a page long. As you can see, it was no where near the half a page limit. Plenty of things I would change about it though. I would actually go back and make it longer in my spare time, and talk more about the Druid culture and reflect more upon the charachters. Any suggestions are more than welcome!
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The alarm clock made Dorothy wake up with a jump that landed her on the floor. Dorothy let out a groan. She had stayed up all night trying to finish a book she was reading about four kids and a kind and fair lion named Aslan who ruled over a wide, vast land and who was protecting the land from an evil witch. So now she was very tired and did not want to wake up. Her mother had told her many times before not to stay up late reading before a test, especially if the test was in something like science--her worst subject.
"Dotty are you awake yet? You're going to be late for the bus!" For good reason her mom never trusted Dorothy to wake up on time. Once Dorothy had been late for school because she did not wake up when the alarm clock went off, and her mother had thought that Dorothy was on the bus. When her mother went in to pick up the heap of dirty clothes that were piled up in Dot's room, she saw Dot still sleeping. But it was too late to do anything about it by that time.
But today Dot was awake, so she said ‘yes’ to her mother's question and then hopped over to the new wardrobe that her parents had gotten for her birthday last Saturday. She pulled out a nice blouse and a pair of jeans. It was mid-fall and very cold outside. She was still busy putting stuff in the wardrobe. She had decided to put most of her books on the shelf above the hanging area. She had a ton of books, so it was a seemingly endless job. This was the first time she had used the new wardrobe, and she was very grateful to her mom and dad. She absentmindedly pulled out one of her lucky hair bands and was quite surprised when she felt something sharp and pointy prick her finger. There was however nothing on the hair band, so she put her long, wavy, brown hair back into a ponytail. That was when her life was changed forever.
She felt like she was being pulled into two pieces, as if her head were being pulled in one direction and her feet in another. She was gasping for breath. There was suffocating black smoke everywhere. When she tried to inhale, it was like breathing in water. She sputtered and choked when she realized she was falling. From the wind in her face, she figured she must have been falling at a high speed.
It became easier to breathe, and the feeling of being pulled was almost gone when she fell flat on her feet. She was not hurt at all. Only dazed.
She looked all around her and saw many strange people gathered around a coffin near her. They looked like--no she could not and would not allow herself to think like that. After all, what she had been thinking was completely, outrageously impossible. What she had been thinking was that they looked like Druids. She had learned about them in her history class. Memories of staying up late researching them for a school project came back to her in a flash. They were people from ancient England and ancient Ireland who wrote and spoke using Ogham writing. However, Dorothy decided to dismiss the whole incident as being an illusion she was seeing as a result of the fall. She would probably wake up any moment to her mean older sister splashing water on her. Soaking her to the bone just to be wretched.
She sat down on the cold grass and waited to be splashed in the face with even colder water. She did not notice the little girl standing right behind her until it was too late. Just as she sensed someone behind her, she was soaked with a ton of water. Not by her sister, but by a little girl of five or six. The child quite obviously could not stop laughing at what was in Dorothy's mind a horrible prank.
One of the women from the group suddenly started pointing and screaming something in the direction of Dorothy and the little girl. The screaming woman ran up to Dorothy like a lunatic. She was waving her arms everywhere and jumping all over the place shouting in the unmistakable language of Ogham. But of course because she had a lunatic pointing and screaming at her, Dorothy did not notice that the woman was speaking Ogham. All she knew at the moment was that someone from the crazy house had escaped and was now threatening her.
She was instantly proved wrong however. The woman scooped up the little girl and ran to a hut made out of strange looking thick sticks with a roof of mud and straw. A young boy of about fourteen or fifteen ran up to Dorothy and said something to her that she understood very well.
He had said "I'm very sorry" in Ogham. She knew it was Ogham language now, so she was no longer afraid of them. Druids were peacemakers and were often known to jump in between battles to stop people from killing each other. But just because she was not afraid of the people did not mean she was not afraid. She in fact was terrified of the fact that the Druids were from a completely different time period. Not only a different time period, but an ancient time period. According to science, she should be turning to dust that very moment.
But those thoughts were immediately shattered by a young couple standing right in front of her. She knew some Ogham words, enough to understand the first word the woman spoke. She said the simple word "friend." That was the only word Dorothy understood, but it was all she needed to understand to know that they were nice people. Dorothy also understood the last thing the couple did. The woman touched her forehead and said "Kishakashe." The man did the same thing, saying “Suban.” One of the things Dorothy had mentioned in her paper about the Druids was that they often touched their foreheads and spoke their name to introduce themselves. Dorothy touched her forehead and said "Dorothy."
Then knowing they probably would not be able to understand her, she tried to speak in English. That was when the couple started speaking in Latin, probably because Dorothy had been speaking English which sounded like Latin. The woman said, "What are you doing here? And where do you come from?"
Dorothy understood Latin very well, so she responded by saying in Latin "I am from the United- I mean North America and I am not quite sure what I am doing here." Dorothy knew that the United States did not exist during the time of the Druids, so she just said North America instead. "Can you help me?" said Dorothy "I seem to have gone somewhere or some place that is not my own and I do not know what to do."
The man spoke this time saying, "Why don't you come to our hut and have some meat and bread to eat so you can tell us more of your story. We speak and understand your language but we do not understand your way of speaking although we would like to." Dorothy now knew how hungry and thirsty she had been. Her clothes were dry now, but she was still shivering from the wind. "Yes. I think that would be very nice," replied Dorothy.
So Dorothy told all that had happened to her through mouthfuls of dried meat and bread while the two Druids quietly sat staring at her, giving the occasional nod or offering her some more food or some more of the strange drink they had been giving her. It tasted like a mixture of strawberries and ginger which Dorothy found she was very fond of.
Meanwhile Dorothy's older sister Annie was still at home in the same world and same general period of time she had always known. She was dressed warmly for school. She had finished all of her homework and roughly thrown her well worn school books into her open book-bag. She was just finishing a bowl of Cheerios when her mom asked her the question that changed her life forever.
"Annie, have you seen Dotty?"
To this Annie replied "Nope" through a mouthful of cereal.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Annie!" her mom scolded.
"Mmm" said Annie. She rolled her eyes. She hated it when her mom or anyone else corrected her because in her mind she could never do anything wrong. In her mind she was always in the right, and anyone who contradicted her was wrong.
"Mmm?" said her mom "And just what is that supposed to mean? Well, since you obviously do not want to talk and eat like a civilized human being, could you please go find your sister and walk with her to the bus? I'm afraid she's going to be late again."
"Ok, mom" replied Annie. She wanted to have some more cereal before she left, so she quickly ran up to Dorothy's room and pounded on the door.
"Wake up, Dorothy. I wish you would just wake up on your own without interrupting my breakfast. I mean, come on now-- you’re twelve You should be able to wake up on your own."
There was no answer, so she did what she knew Dorothy hated most. She went into her room. But much to her surprise, there was no one there. She quietly walked over to her sister's new wardrobe.
"Lucky," thought Annie. She thought it was the prettiest piece of woodwork she had ever seen. It was indeed beautiful, with nicely polished mahogany wood and two small but beautiful, delicate golden angels sitting on top. It took up a good sized portion of the wall, but it still somehow looked very fragile and delicate. She had to get a closer look. She had hardly seen it, and yet she was already very fond of it. "What does it matter anyways?" she asked herself. "Dorothy always gets her way, and I'm sick of it. She doesn't even deserve it all, and she is not thankful enough." She walked up to it and opened the wardrobe doors.
Then she felt nothing but pain. She felt like she was being pulled in two pieces, and she could not breathe the thick air. At first, Annie tried to blame Dorothy with setting up some kind of trap for her, but she then realized the pain was so terrible that her younger sister could not have anything to do with it.
The pain suddenly subsided, and she felt relief as all the pain completely left her body. She felt funny though, as if sleep was falling upon her although she was not in the least bit tired.
She was wet. Very wet. People wearing deerskin clothes were speaking to her, but she could not understand what they were saying. She was quite panic-stricken and wondered if Dorothy knew anything about this world.
There was a little girl of four or five wearing a deerskin dress and little wooden shoes. She held in her hand a piece of dried meat, and she was staring at Annie in amazement, as if she were an animal in a zoo. Annie did not at all like being stared at, and she instantly hated the little girl for it. There was a man, a woman, the child, and some chickens running all over the hut Annie found herself in.
"Wha… wha… what happened to me? Where am I? Who are you people? What are you? Are you real? Am I dreaming? What are you people--or whatever you are--doing here? And wh…”
"Enough questions. Not all of them can be answered now, and some of them may never be answered." said the man. "You speak messy Latin, but it is understandable. I shall speak Latin, too. You do not seem to understand our language."
"I'm not speaking Latin, I'm speaking English, but anyways I need answers to some of my questions at lea-"
"Yes, and you will get answers to some of them. You are like the other one."
"What other one?
"There was a young girl like you, dressed in strange clothes who came to our village. Popiep," said the man as he motioned to the little girl "poured water over her head, and she was taken to another hut for some food and lish."
"She was here! Ohh, please, may I see her, just to tell her I'm sorry for what I have done?"
"No."
"Ohh, but why not?"
"She was not brought here. She was taken to another family’s hut."
"But is there any way--"
"Yes, you will see her soon, but now you must rest and have some food and fresh lish."
"Lish?"
"It is a drink made out of ginger root and strawberries. It is good for you, and it gives you energy."
He handed her a wooden cup with a dark mahogany-colored liquid in it. The color reminded her of the wardrobe. She took a sip of it, found she liked it, and had another sip. The woman said something to Popiep, and the little girl ran off and returned a moment later with a pigeon on her shoulder. She carried a small basket of bread and dried meat.. The woman went outside and returned with some long grass and stones in her hand. She started braiding the grass into a long rope. While she worked on the braid, the man started eating the bread and meat, offering some to Annie every few minutes. The girl Popiep waved the chickens away and refilled Annie's cup with the strange sweet-flavored juice. The man took some of the rocks the woman had brought and started carving strange vertical and horizontal lines on them.
"Now would be a good time for us to answer some of your questions," said the man "We are Druids from Ireland. My wife and I are here because of a heresy. We both understood time and space better than the Roman Catholic Church thought safe, so we were banished.”
“That’s terrible!" said Annie.
Toreth silently nodded. By this time, he had finished carving the strange figures into the two tiny stone tablets, and Jeshrishca had finished braiding the grass. Popiep brought the pigeon over to them, and Jeshrishca tied the two stone tablets to the bird's feet with the braided grass. She walked outside and threw the bird up into the air. It started to fall back down again from the weight of its load, but it quickly started flying before it met the ground. The bird was clumsy at first and swayed in the air, but at last it was out of sight. Annie wondered what Toreth had carved on the stones.
But her thoughts were interrupted by Toreth again. “We have not told you our names yet. I am called Toreth and my wife is Jeshrishca. Your sister is at another family's hut. That was a carrier pigeon with a message to tell them that you are here. They are not very far, so they should get the message soon. Ordinarily, we would just walk you over there, but there has been too much happening in the village today. Last night, the elder Greyruen died. We were having his funeral when your sister appeared. That’s when Popiep poured water on her."
"I was very embarrassed, so I scooped up Popiep and ran back to our hut,” said Jeshrishca. “Rosorath came back to the hut with us, but we sent him out to get more bread when you came."
"Who is Rosorath?" asked Annie
Toreth had the answer again "He is our son. He is thirteen turns around the sun. About your age."
"Yes, I'm thirteen--umm, err--turns of the sun, too," said Annie
"You should get some rest." Jeshrishca pointed to the bed "You might have to walk to where your sister is staying, and we have to find Rosorath."
"Okay." Annie was suddenly very tired, and the bed looked soft and warm. "What is it made out of?"
"It is layers of goat skin with goose feathers sewn in to help keep it together. We are going to go now. Do not go outside. Some of the others do not treat strangers with hospitality like we do."
About this time, Suban was asking Dorothy, "Would you like some more lish? Or would you like some more food? Is there anything we can do for you stranger?"
BANG! CRASH! BANG! Everyone ran over to the window. On the ground, there lay a pigeon with rocks tied on its feet. There was broken clay everywhere. It had broken several pots and vases trying to land. Luckily, the vase that seemed to Dorothy to be the prettiest remained unscathed. Suban, the man who had invited her over to their hut, quickly untied the rocks on the birds feet. He read from the rocks:
We have a girl here who looks like the one with strange clothing you found and brought over to your house for food and lish. She says that she is her sister. We are taking care of her. She is well fed and has had plenty to eat and drink. She wants to see the girl you brought to your hut to say she is sorry for something. Bring the girl you found and meet us at the cedar stump by the lake. --Toreth
"Who is Toreth and how could Annie be here?" asked Dorothy
This time Suban's wife Kishakashe was the first to answer. "Toreth is a well known magician who lives about ten huts down the road from us."
"What about my sister?" said Dorothy
"She is in good hands. Toreth is very kind."
"But how did she get here? I don‘t even know how I got here."
"She probably went through a time gate."
"A what?"
"A gate of time. Sometimes they open, and it is unpredictable when they do"
"Well, I think that's impossible and I am pretty sure it is, but we have to go save her. Come on what are you waiting for?" Even with Dorothy pulling them, neither Kishakashe nor Suban would budge.
This time Suban spoke "Toreth is not dangerous. He is wise and kind. Your sister does not need to be saved. She just wants to see you to apologize for something. If it turns out she really is your sister, then the two of you can decide if you want to stay at Toreth's hut or at our hut. You are more than welcome to stay here, but Toreth has a girl, Popiep, only five turns of the sun old, and a boy about your age. I think he is thirteen turns of the sun. They have better quality meat at his hut, too. We can only give you our best goat meat, which is very thin but they have fatty, juicy, delicious dried cattle or as your kind of people would call it, beef and dried fish and berries and nuts. As my wife and I said, you are more than welcome to stay at our hut and we would be delighted if you did, but you might be happier at Toreth's hut."
"Well, enough talking about making the decision. Why don't we take Dorothy to the lake and let her see her sister," said Kishakashe.
"I agree with that completely. Are you going to bring gifts to Toreth?" asked Dorothy.
"Yes, we are going to bring a gift for him." said Suban. "Kishakashe could you wrap up fifty slices of our best meat putting the slices into five separate bags? Put all the finest meat in one bag made with our best leather and put the rest in ordinary bags. Make five separate bags of the few nuts and berries giving one bag much more than all the others. Then fill five bags full of ginger root. Get another bag and fill it with some coffee, and in the final bag put some of the little cocoa we have in it. When you are done, come outside."
"May I please help you, Kishakashe? I feel terrible thinking of all you have done for me and knowing I have done nothing for you." Dorothy had always been very nice and polite, so it was natural for her to want to help.
"Yes. Thank you very much. I would much appreciate your help, Dorothy."
"Ok."
"Dorothy, could you go outside and get some strawberries for me? They are near the gate you came in by."
"Ok." As Dorothy was picking the strawberries, she thought about Annie. She wondered if Annie had changed any or if she was still her wretched self. Dorothy did not believe Annie really wanted to say sorry, but she hoped she had changed a little. By this time, Kishakashe had finished packing the meat, coffee, nuts and chocolate into the bags and had taken them to Suban who had loaded them up onto crude looking carts. Dorothy did not want to make them wait, so she put the strawberries into bags and ran back outside with them.
The ride took hardly any time. The cart was being pulled not by horses but by mules. The cart was more of a wheelbarrow than a cart, and everyone was squished but they did not complain about it because they knew that Suban had made the cart.
When they got there, Dot had to blink several times. Annie was sitting on a tree stump playing with a little girl and a boy who looked about her age. But that was not what made her blink. The little girl there was the same girl who threw water on her and the boy was the one who had apologized. Suban jumped out of the cart and gave some of the bags to a rather old-looking man standing by the water. The man in turn gave Suban some bags. Annie noticed Dorothy sitting in the cart now, and she ran up to her and gave her a big hug. "I'm sorry, Dorothy. I was jealous because mom and dad did not get me a wardrobe too. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.”
"I forgive you, Annie. I'm just so happy to see you. How did you get here?" so Annie told her younger sister everything that had happened to her and then Dorothy told Annie what had happened to her and how Kishakashe said a time gate might have opened.
That was when Toreth spoiled all their fun. "She’s right. A time gate has been opened," he said. "It is not safe here for Annie and Dorothy. If they do not get back to their own time by sundown, they will turn to dust. I believe they are still in the same place, but just further back in time. I have some magical powder that when inhaled can transport Annie and Dorothy back to their own time. They must breathe in the exact right amount however. Do you two want to risk it?"
"I think that is the most sensible thing to do," said Annie, looking at the setting sun. It was almost dark.
"Then stay here and eat some more food. I will be back shortly. When I get back we may not have enough time for goodbyes, so say bye while I am gone."
"Goodbye, Popiep and Rosorath and Jeshrishca, " said Dorothy. Although she had not known them for more than a few hours, she felt like she had known them all her life. "Goodbye, Kishakashe and Suban. And thank you for helping me find my way back home and for giving me food and lish." Annie was saying the same thing as Dorothy, and they were all weeping and saying goodbye to each-other when Toreth came back. He had a small bottle in his hands. Annie and Dorothy knew it must be the powder they were supposed to inhale.
"Goodbye, Toreth," said Annie and Dorothy at the same time. "Thank you for helping us go back home. We will miss you all."
"Hold out your hands," said Toreth, and Dorothy and Annie silently obeyed.
"Wait!" Suban was shouting at them from the cart waving some of the bags in the air. "Here, take these." He held them out for the children to take.
"No, we couldn't," said Dorothy. Annie said the same.
"I want you to so you remember us," insisted Suban.
"Thank you, Suban." Annie and Dorothy used their free hand to take the bags from him.
"Look at the sun." Toreth was pointing at the sun. They could just barely see it below the horizon. "Quickly. Breath it in. All of it. I wish you the best of luck children. Goodbye. Count down from three."
Three... Two... One... They both breathed in the sweet-smelling powder at exactly the same time. This time was very different from the other times, however. Neither one of them felt any pain. They were actually getting very tired.
AGHHHHH! OOMPH! OWWWW! They both came tumbling out of the top of the closet. They both stared at each other for a long time. Annie was the first to break the silence. "Did that really happen?"
"Yes, I think it did Annie."
"But it is still morning here."
"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TWO DOING? THE BUS IS ABOUT TO LEAVE! YOU HAVE BEEN GONE TWELVE MINUTES! ALL I WANTED YOU TO DO WAS GET YOUR SISTER AND GO OUT THE DOOR.”
"Only twelve minutes!?!"
"What do you mean ‘only’?"
"Bye, mom! Bye, dad!”
"Bye, Dorothy! Bye, Annie! And Annie… be nice to your sister today.”
"Ok, mom."
"Have fun at school, you two!”
"Bye, mom!
A Few Weeks Later
"Hey, Dot, some of my friends invited me to a movie. I said I would not go unless you could come too, and they did not have a problem with that. So do you want to go? I have asked mom and dad and they said it’s fine if you go. The movie is rated PG. It’s about four kids, two boys and two girls, who go into a wardrobe and go into a different world where there is a kind and fair lion that rules over the land and protects the land from an evil witch. In other words it is the movie they made out of the book you are reading, so I thought you might enjoy it. So do you want to come?"
"You don't mind?" asked Dorothy.
"Of course not!"
"Then I'd love to come!" Dorothy was very happy her older sister was not still being mean to her. She almost did not believe it. They were friends for only one reason though. Dot's wardrobe. Sometimes they went back to see Suban, Popiep, Toreth, Kishakashe, Jeshrishca, and Rosorath, whom Annie was becoming very fond of.
After that first time Dorothy and Annie went back to the time of the Druids they never felt pain when they changed times. Toreth had givin them each a small bottle of the powder and whenever it got close to empty he would refill it for them. No matter how much they wanted to, they could never get into any other time zone. But Toreth said it could be done. He said there were many other portals to different times that had yet to be discovered. They could not reach those undiscovered times unless he made them a special potion, but he refused to do so.
Although they were disappointed about not being able to visit still other times, Annie and Dorothy were always friends after that day they spent in the time of the Druids.
-This is a story I wrote in 6th grade as an assignment. It was supposed to be like C.S. Lewis' Narnia (I used the wardrobe, and different place to make it like it), and was supposed to be about half a page long. As you can see, it was no where near the half a page limit. Plenty of things I would change about it though. I would actually go back and make it longer in my spare time, and talk more about the Druid culture and reflect more upon the charachters. Any suggestions are more than welcome!
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