Saturday, February 27, 2010

Once Part 2

Present:
As we made our way through the crowd I was hurrying to keep up with my sister.
“Come on Mena!” my sister shouted.
“I’m coming Aqua!” I shouted back.
The crowd was so loud I could barely hear her. I looked for my sister and saw she was at least 50 ft ahead of me. It was just like Aqua, she was always so bubbly so bright. She was just a ball of energy. She was the ocean and I was the volcano. I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Pyromena or Mena as my sister calls me. My sister is Aquamarine beautiful and petite at her 4’ 11”. She was like a little doll. She was strong though, stronger than I even knew. At times I felt such jealousy for her; for her beauty for her ease around people. Everyone adored her. People would give her whatever her heart desired and were constantly paying her compliments. They longed to touch her; to take some of that glorious beauty for their own. I am tall and ugly. I am 5’11” and am taller than many of the men in our village. My mother says I will never get a husband. My sister has been getting marriage offers since she was an infant. The only reason she has not been married off yet is that our parents are incredibly greedy. They want the best and biggest amount they can get for her. When I was a child I wondered; why when people are constantly sending us money, do we live so poorly? I found out the reason when I was 6. My father drinks it away. He buys everyone in the tavern drinks upon drinks and not a week later the money has been spent with nothing for our food or clothing. His drinking has made my mother bitter and despise all her children but Aqua. Everyone likes Aqua. Everyone hates me; all but Aqua. I still can’t believe why she still likes me but Aqua says we are in this together she says she would never abandon me. I know she will eventually though. Everyone always does. I have accepted it as my fate. It didn’t always used to be like this. I used to have just as many friends as Aqua. Then we started school and everything changed. Friends I had grown up with since birth abandoned me. They started bullying me. One day when I was coming home from school they took me to an alley and gave me 2 black eyes. My parents were angry when I came home. They didn’t want to pay for a doctor. They sent me to my room with no dinner or breakfast. In school I became the one to blame. If something bad happened or a prank had been pulled I was the one who had done it. When I was 7 I decided to quit school. I couldn’t take the persecution anymore. Aqua still goes to school. She explains to me what they’re learning so I too can become well learned. Aqua tells me I’m the smartest person she knows but I must say I don’t believe her. Sometimes I feel as if her mouth is laced with venomous charm. As if she were a serpent lulling the mouse to sleep in order to prey upon it. Aqua looks extremely harmless but underneath is like a strange and dangerous animal trying to claw its way out. I don’t think I fully understand her, in fact I don’t think I fully understand myself!
During our 12th year things started to get even weirder. I started having strange sensations in my hands and at times if felt as if my own eyes were boring holes through my eyelids. My hands and eyes burned with an everlasting fire. No one understood when I tried to explain. They told me I was being selfish and should stop complaining. They piled on as many chores they could think of and at night I would drop almost dead-like into bed; so exhausted I couldn’t move. That was one of the hardest times of my life. Only Agua would understand. She said she too was having strange feelings in her hands but she felt it all the way to her shoulders and hers was that of a cooling feeling. She said that recently she had some weird things happening. When she walked past a field all of a sudden every plant would start to grow. Even seedlings automatically sprouted up when she was near. Animals would follow her home. She was a magnet for any animal. With me, every time I tried to drink or eat something it would grow hot. I had tried experimenting with this and one time right after it had snowed, I froze some food outside; the moment I picked it back up, immediately, all the snow melted and the food was warm enough to eat. I should Aqua this ability and she marveled. She was so happy someone else was going through these strange occurrences. I was guess I was happy about that too but how happy could I be when all these terrible things were happening. I didn’t understand myself or what was going on inside me.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Avonlea: a Tale of Regatheria Part 1

Once, a very long time ago.....

A young girl of about 12 loved rabbits. She loved them more than anything. Everywhere she went she took one with her. She was very kind to the rabbits and they all seemed to sense that. They were drawn to her.

The young girl was a princess in the kingdom of Regaltheria*. Her name was Avonlea and she was the
  * pronounced Regal -  there - ree- a
youngest of six princesses. Most times she was ignored as she was different from them. She wasn't quite as pretty or charming as the others. Avonlea also did not like the things they did. She hated parties and getting dressed up for she longed to be outside. So when they would ignore her she would play with her rabbits who truly seemed to be her only friends.

Avonlea was the only one in all of Regaltheria with brown hair. Everyone saw her as ugly,different. Her mother and father paid her hardly any attention. She was shameful to them. However, Avonlea was not moved, for she had her pets.

Now one day all of the young princess' family went away. In fact, it seemed the whole kingdom had abandoned her. You see, she had been out in the meadow picking clover for her darling little pets. When she arrved back to the castle everyone was gone. Not even a mouse seemed to be left in the castle. There were even no tracks for her to follow.

This distressed the girl for she had a very kind and caring heart. She worried where they could have gone. She could not think of them leaving her on purpose for she was an innocent child. She searched the castle up and downto look for even the slightest clue. If they had left they must have been in a great hurry. There was food uneaten on the table, bath water in the tub, and papers strewn everywhere in her father's office.

Then she found it, a small arrow no bigger than her pointer finger. It was stuck in the side of her father's desk drawer. She then knew that her family had to have been kidnapped! But by whom she didn't know. She did not even know of Regaltheria having any enemies! So she pondered there a while. SUddenly she remembered a story she had been told when she was but a toddler.
The story went like this:

The Fairy queen Part 2: Melodonia

The story went like this:
A very long time ago, before the fairy queen was queen, she was just a small young family. Her family was very poor. They could hardly even afford the cold mush they had every morning for their only meal. Though they were under such harsh conditions none of the family ever complained. For they knew one day their Melodonia (the queen) would save them from their poverty. Melodonia was the most beautiful in all the fairy lands. She had long blonde hair which was rare for a fairy to have. To add to its rarity it was the palest of blondest, so light it was angelic. Her locks fell upon her shoulders in a cascade of soft curls. Her eyes were of a lavender shade no one had ever seen before and were encircled by long eyelashes. Her wings were the most beautiful part. They were so intricate so shimmery that it seemed she flew on precious gems.
The family knew one day she would be important. Some day she will be great they told themselves while Melodonia grew into adolesence and more captivating every day. Melodonia had no idea that she was so much better looking than the others. Her parents often told her but she thought all parents were like that.
One day when Melodonia was 215, the young fairy prince came through her town. Her parents knew this was their only chance and made sure she would be there when he came through. The day the prince rode through town Melodonia and her parents stood on the side with all the other peasants. The prince at once noticed her for her beauty stood out in the midst of all the plain folk.
The prince, whose name was Phillip immediately became entranced by her beauty. He fell in love with her instantly. He also decided he would stay in this town long enough to make her his bride. Melodonia too wa sunder a trance. She found the prince was such a nice, caring person that she too fell in love. After a whirlwind romance of about a week, Prince Phillip asked her to marry him.
He needed her to travel with himback to his homeland of Sontheria. He was to announce his engagement to his parents. Melodonia agreed immediately only asking that, after they were married, her parents should come live with them. Phillip agreed and they left within a few days to begin their journey. When they reached Sontheria the king and queen liked her instantly, for beauty is quite revered with fairies. The only problem was she had no title. So, the king decided as a wedding present to give her the town of Geophia in order to make her a "Lady".
After a meager two weeks Melodonia and Prince Phillip were married. They soon left to go on a trip to see all of the fairy lands. For before she had come to be wed she had never even been outside her town. They both were beyond happy. But their happiness was short lived. Word came to them slightly after they reached their first destination.
The fairy king was dying! He had been wounded badly from an assasination attempt and now the wound would not heal. Prince Phillip rushed back to the castle with Melodonia, willing his father to live. When he reached the castle they found out they were too late. His father had already died.
The poor Prince, he was utterly heartbroken, not even his newly wedded wife could comfort him. He locked himself in his room, letting nothing in. He died not two weeks after. This left Melodonia all alone. She left, allowing her husband's advisors to rule the kingdom. No one knows quite where she went but she did not appear to the public ever again.
That is until now, 200 years later.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

The Fairy Queen Part 1 : Ulmina

As large brass trumpets sounded, Ulmina weaved through the masses of fairies. Today was the day, the fairy queen was finally appearing! It had been over 200 years since anyone had heard from her. She had gone into deep mourning when the fairy king had died. Rumors had spread that she was dead while other said she had abandoned them. Everyone was curious to see her, in fact it would not be exagerating to say that every fairy in all the lands was here. Ulmina finally got to her destination a place where she would have the perfect view but be tucked out of sight.
Ulmina was a small girl, quite small indeed for a 112 year old fairy.

(You see, Fairies get to be much older than humans. By the time a fairy reaches 200 years she is a young adult. When they reach 400 they are full grown. Fairies can live forever. But anyways back to the story....)

She had been orphaned at 40 when a fire had destroyed her home. She had been covered in burns but she had made it through. She was strong for such a small thing and it showed.
 Any minute now and she would see the queen. Ulmina felt she could die from anticipation. She remembered stories her mother had told her of the queen. In fact one stood out to her, it went like this:

Once Part 1

Prologue:

Once upon a time there was a young girl. She lived with her parents and numerous siblings in a small house on the poor side of town. This girl was very lonesome. Almost all her friends had betrayed her because she was poor and looked plain to them. A day did not go by without them tormenting her. They would pull her hair and pinch her but most times they would just shout insults.
The only friend who had not abandoned her was one of her sisters. Out of 6 girls only her twin was still her friend. The twin sister was the exact opposite of the girl. Her sister had angelic features and was always thought to be a little cherub. She had gorgeous creamy curls which were of the lightest blonde the world had ever seen. She had huge blue eyes the color of the fairest day of May. Her eye lashes were that of a halo surrounding those beautiful irises; long and thick. Everywhere they went people would comment on her outstanding beauty.
The girl had long raven colored hair. It was pin straight but very rich in color. Her eyes were of a strange violet color and when people saw them they said she must be of the devil to have such peculiarly colored eyes. She did however have the same long thick eyelashes as her sister. In contrast to the adoring approval her sister got; this poor girl was met with judging comments everywhere she went. Most people said the devil had fathered her and that she was wicked; but her sister told her not to mind them but the girl found it hard not to.
The girl had been born first with her sister born not 5 minutes after. On the night she was born a huge storm was going on. However; the minute her sister was born the storm stopped and it immediately became sunny and bright. That was the beginning of their incredible existence.

The Female Pirate

Once, in a land far away, there lived a girl. The girl was a miserable child, for she was but a maidservant for a pious duchess. The duchess was cruel to everyone who was not rich, but she had taken a perticular fancy in tormenting the poor girl for sheer delight. The duchess took special delight in giving her the worst room in the house, it was a small square room with barely no roof except for the pitiful patches someone had tried to put on many years ago. The young girl did not know if she was ever going to be able to escape from this life. Back then once you were trapped in a job you seldom got out. So day to day she would live under such pitiful conditions, hoping, praying, planning for an escape.
But for now let us go back to a time when life was happier for her, back to her childhood. In a small town in Italy, a small baby girl was born. The baby was born to a couple who had waited many years to have children. The couple named her Gina. Gina was born to a rather wealthy family. When they lived in Italy they had a rather comfortable lifestyle. Still, her parents hoped for a better life. Her father thought he could become an even wealthier merchant if he could go to London.
Gina's parents started saving up money to pay the fare for the three of them, and by the time she was 5 they had enough. They left during the fall after her 5th birthday. Then when they were on their trip to London tragedy struck. Their boat was caught in a catastrophic storm. The only survivor was Gina. She was left half dead, bruises covering her arms and legs. She lay floating on a piece of the ship for 3 days, barely concious. On the 4th morning a ship saw her and kindly pulled her aboard. Her rescuer's ship was headed to a small town in England and during the trip all the crew fell in love with the small Italian girl with her head full of black curls. They all took turns nursing her back to health and after three more days she was able to get up & walk around.
Two weeks later when they reached England it was decided that she would live with a kind young widow until they found out more about her. The widow was a very sweet woman and she soon fell in love with Gina too. The widow was a very learned woman and knew many languages and taught Gina English, Chinese, Russian, and Latin. Gina was very happy with her and the widow treated her as one of her own. However, this happiness was short lived. When she was only 9 the widow too to the plague. The widow had left everything to Gina, but since she was not old enough to run the widow's large estate a greedy duke took over.
The wretched duke and his snobbish wife made poor Gina a servant. She had absolutely no luxuries and little food. As if that was not enough, day after day she had to watch her wonderful adoptive mother's money being wasted by these selfish snobs. It was almost too much for her to take. One day when she was 16, she and some other servants went down to the docks to survey a ship that was going to take the duke to London. There she heard the sailors telling magnificent tales of pirates, even girl pirates. Gina was fascinated by these stories. She had always dreamed of such adventure. She wished one day that she too would be a female pirate.
The ride back was a gruelling one. The roads were not paved back then and incredibly bumpy. Though Gina did not seem to notice, her head was in the clouds dreaming of life on the sea. Gina had one close friend at the estate where she lived. Her name was Marie. Marie was the same age as Gina and she worked in the laundry. They saw each other quite often and over the years had become close friends. As soon as Gina got home she tole Marie everything she had heard. Marie who was also fascinated with adventure was anxious to know more too. They decided that someday they would both travel the sea together.
By the time both girls were 18 they found their way to go out to sea. They had talked to several sailors and soon were going to sail with them. They had however kept their gender a secret, disguising themselves as young men looking for adventure. For if they knew they were women they surely would have never helped them! The days went by fast, and before they knew it the day came when it was time to run away. That night the girls took the little they had and stole away to the docks. A kind servant had agreed to help them get there.
Gina & Marie loved being on the ship and since everyone thought they were young boys they were treated as such. They had not been on the ship long before they came upon some real life pirates! The crew did their best to protect themselves but they were outnumbered. Everyone on the ship was either captured or dead. Gina & Marie had both been captured. They were taken aboard the pirate brig and were imprisoned.
The pirates were actually also women disguised as men. Gina & Marie did not realize this until some time after, on the day they were to be killed. At the time neither party knew they were all women. Then when the pirates were just about to be killed, Gina & Marie begged for mercy from the captain. Gina started telling them of how they had gotten on the other ship and a little of her past and then showed that she was a woman. She asked them to have pity on the both of them. The pirates had not interrupted her for her story was much like most of their own.
When Gina finished telling her tale of woe the captain came forward. The captain then showed that she herself was a woman. After that she invited them to be crewmates on the brig. You see, the captain had a similar past herself and knew they would be hardworking. The girls of course took this generous offer. They started as just kitchen helpers which was tiresome work, but they enjoyed every minute of it. The captain had a soft spot for Gina and they became fast friends. Over the next 4 years they looted and pirated all down the coasts, and soon Gina became her first mate. Gina had been one of the most hardworking and she wanted to show just how much she appreciated her.
When Gina was 24 she was made captain. Their former captain had come down with an illness and eventually died. She left everything to her. Now being captain, Gina was one of the most successful female captains, with mountains of gold and many ships. Her crew was made up of 175 women and she never let a man aboard her ship. She traveled far and wide across the world exploring and pirating with her first mate Marie and her all female crew.