Words for Wednesday ~ August 13

Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

In August, Mimi of MessyMimi's Meanderings will supply us with prompts.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts:
Easy
Student
Invasion
Encourage
Housing
Spectrum
        and/or the following archaic words
Gaud -- a trinket
Moil -- drudgery
Pore on -- think about, dwell on thoughtfully

Biking home today I got this idea for a story. Unfortunately only one of the archaic words  fit, but as we always say: "Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them", I feel good to go.

A Monday in the early summer just before the summer holidays. Or in other words towards the end of the first year on Unicorn Farm.

Susan sat on the garden swing when mom and dad returned from shopping. They looked at her, and mom asked, "But Susan! What happened?"

"It was an accident," Susan began, "and I lost my keys, and my bike is broken something terrible, and I think these pair of pants are only good for the bin."

"But what about you?" Mom asked.

"I'm bruised, and now after sitting, I feel stiff and sore all over, but nothing is broken or even sprained. I could walk home."

"Thank God," mom said, "come in and I'll scrub the wounds."

Susan followed mom into the big bathroom upstairs. Her right arm and leg were bloodied and filled with gravel and dirt.

Mom said: "This is going to hurt, but please remember what aunt Iris always says about scrubbing away the dirt?"

"I do! And her threatening to use a brush if hands are not enough!" Susan said, "I won't promise not to yell at you."

"Yell away," mum said, "but keep still."

Mom scrubbed the wounds with soap, as aunt Iris had taught her, and she even had to use a small brush on Susan's elbow. Susan whimpered and yelled a couple of times. Mom dried the wounds carefully with a clean towel, and put a band aid over the worst of them. "Now they're all clean at least, and you will mend. Luckily none of those need stitches."

"Phew!" Susan said, "I feel lucky after all."

When they came downstairs again, Dad had made coffee, and asked Susan to please tell what happened.

"I had been to the woods, as I told you this morning," Susan began.

What she did not tell was that she had been practising growing and plant mending spells in the woods - it was homework, and Thora had told that these spells would be allowed during the week.

"I was on my way home on my bike, when I saw a giant viper on the road just in front of me. It had that zig-zag pattern down its back and it was poised to strike. I could no way avoid it so I pulled up my legs as fast and far as I could. The wheels must have been hot from my hurrying home, because it went for my front tyre. It bit into it so violently that the tube tore, almost exploding, and having my legs up and all and running over the viper ... it threw me and the bike and the viper all together in one big mess.The viper was quite limp, I suppose it died. The bike was punctured and broken, and I was bleeding all over. I sat down and cried."

Susan took a sip of her coffee and continued: "But then I realised that I could not just sit there. Crying would not mend my bike or revive the viper. I don't know which made me more sad ... and I was growing sore and stiff. I tried walking with my bike, but it was too heavy, my arm and leg hurt, and the tube and tyre grated against the mudguard all the time. I could not walk it home."

Susan was again not telling the whole truth. She had pored on mending the bike and herself with magic, but she dared not run the risk of being expelled from Unicorn Farm.

"So in the end I stood my bike against a fence and locked it, then I walked home and discovered that I had lost my key out there too."

"What a luck the viper did not get you," mum said, "and are you sure it was a viper? They are not normally found here. Now at the place where you werre born, there were many vipers, and mice and one day a mouse even ... "

"Drink up your coffee and get into the van," dad interrupted. It was an old story. Mom had told it many times. "There's room for a bike and more in there, and I think that's a job for the mechanic. If we're lucky we can get there before he closes down for today."

"Sounds like a grand plan," mom said. "Susan, when do you need your bike again?"

"Need it," Susan said, "not until Thursday, when we have tennis lessons in the old sports place, but I'd like to have it back Wednesday after school, as we - me and some of the girls from school - planned a trip to the beach."

"That should be doable," dad said. "I know a  mechanic, who's good and fast. Get aboard!"

Susan climbed into the van, not without some moaning, the band aids stuck, and she had turned even more stiff and sore.

Susan told dad the way, and they found the bike still standing against the fence in its sad state. Dad searched for Susan's keys, but all he found was the viper, it really was a viper and a huge one for a viper 75 cm from snout to tail, and it's neck was broken. Dad loaded it, and the bike, in the behind of the car and drove very fast until they were again back in town.

"Just stay here, Susan," dad said. "I'll hand in your bike and be back in no time."

"Thanks, dad," Susan said and happily stayed in the warm van, not savouring the climb up and down once again, and dozed until dad returned and they headed for home.

Find Familiars 7 ~ Trying to use up the Words

I still have these words left over from Wednesday's words:
Party
Note
Faucet
Jelly
Leather
Books

and then the infamous Bellowcat from last Wednesday. Let me see if I can end the story with these words.

I continue my story from previous chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Back to Trausti and his talk on Familiars:

"Also," Trausti continued, "not all Familiars are nice." He whistled another tune, and a very big bat flew in through the window and landed on the table and rubbed it's big, gargoyle-like head on Trausti's gloved hand. It was almost a third of Trausti's size, and so ugly that it was almost cute. Most of the apprentices could not help laughing.
"This male hammer headed bat comes from Africa," he said. "How it ended up here, I have no idea. I fetched it in a big banana crate in a supermarket, where it scared the man opening up the crate. A logical place for it to hide, as it's a fruit eater, living mainly from figs, mangoes and bananas." He looked at the apprentices, who were most of them studying the creature with interest. "The downsides? I can see you think. Apart from the size and the claws to fit this size, they are nocturnal and extremely noisy during their active period. And here we have another uncouth specimen. A giant cat-like creature approached Trausti, rubbing its head against his trousered leg. Suddenly the cat began breathing rapidly, panting like a bellows and expanding. Then it opened its maw, a gigantic, pink abyss. It raised its head, and Trausti quickly drew his wand, pointed it at the now enormously swollen cat and screamed: "haltu kjafti!"
Thora looked at him in disgust: "That's not a nice spell to use in front of the apprentices! Was that really necessary?"
Trausti looked squarely at her: "That was a Bellowcat. A few seconds more and we would all have been deaf. I thought she was a Sweller, she has never bellowed before." Trausti bent and examined the flaccid cat. He blanched, stood up and continued: "Any questions?"

There were a few, mostly variations of Will we ever get a Familiar, and What are Bellowcats and Swellers.
After listening to their questions, Trausti answered:
"Will you ever get a Familiar? Only time will tell. Once you're a true witch or wizard, you can begin looking for one. Or more possible the Familiar will find you. I think this is one of the subjects Gylfi has in mind for next year's curriculum." He looked at Gylfi, who nodded.
"Then to Swellers and Bellowcats. Bellowcats are an under-species of Swellers, at least that's what I have found out from studies. Swellers are cats that can increase their size by inhaling air, then they can soar by letting out the air slowly. They kind of fly, like a balloon where you let out the air. They are fun, and it can be a great help for the cat to get somewhere they cannot climb. They are able to steer, partly using their tail, partly by controlling the outlet of air. It takes training for a Sweller to become good at it. It is not a practical thing inside a house, notwithstanding any cat's natural ability to not break or turn over any object, and always land on their paws, flying cats are not a thing to bring into your living room. Bellowcats are a subspecies. They breath in the air rhythmically, like bellows, like what you saw earlier, instead of the steadier intake of Swellers. And instead of using the airflow for flying, they let out the air in one, big MEOW, loud enough to make anybody at close quarters deaf, break the window panes and any other glass nearby, and sometimes even killing the bellowcat himself. Normally Bellowcats are male and Swellers female, although male Swellers are sometimes found. They can interbreed with normal cats of any species, fortunately they generally limit themselves to housecats - fortunately for the world at large. Just imagine a lion-sized, or even a panther sized Bellowcat.

The apprentices left, discussing Familiars and strange cats in small groups. Susan went out in the dark evening with Heidi, Lis and Tage, it was crisp and cold, with a hint of snow in the air. "I forgot my notebook," Susan said, "wait for me please, it'll only be a second." She ran back into the Barn, and overheard Gylfi's, "... but it's male!" before he fell quiet. Susan excused herself, grasped the notebook and hurried back to her friends.

Curiouser and curiouser ... maybe to be continued.
You might say I used Note and Book
else I only got rid of Bellowcat
let's see what happens tomorrow.
 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* This means shut up, but its very rude, more like shut the bloody F... up!

Find Familiars 6

Continuing from yesterday ...

I continue my story from previous chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

After a short, quiet spell a bird flew in through the open window, an almost totally white buzzard landed on Trausti's outstretched arm. He fed it a small bit of meat, and it folded its wings and settled down.
"This is my familiar, unimaginatively called Haukur." A few of the apprentices laughed, and Susan smiled. 
"Gilvi, who was my coach in all things concerning Familiars, after my wife, Vigdís, died, chided me for my lack of imagination, I feel lucky not to possess overly much of this, as the miserable lives of some of the Familiars I look after, are scary without any imagination."
Trausti looked around on the apprentices, professors and guests, and noticed Tristan and David exchanging glances, but did not quite grasp the undercurrent. Had they ben dogs, he would have thought them imagining some easy to get treats.
He drew a breath and continued: "Now, I know that most of you here would like a Familiar. You imagine how nice it would be to have someone totally loyal, always ready to defend you, or for a cuddle," Haukur rubbed his beak against Trausti's thumb as if proving his words. Susan smiled, thinking of Granny's owls on the clothes line, she would think twice before accepting a rubbing from their lethal beaks.
"But you forget all the problems," Trausti continued, "How many of you have ever had a pet?" A bit less than a third of the apprentices raised their hands.
"Now think of all the trouble you've had, fights, visits to the vet, not being able to go visiting or on a sleepover because of that pet." Susan thought back to the long summer night when Knud - female in spite of the name - decided to have her litter of kittens in Susan's bed; to the many times she and Linda had spent hours catching a sick or injured cat in a box, without getting clawed, and waiting forever - and paying loads of money - at the vet's. Some of these problems would surely be lesser ...
"Some of these problems would probably be lesser," Trausti began, echoing her thoughts, "like getting your Familiar to the vet. But some would be way bigger. Imagine the vet asking from where you have that bat, or owl or what not. Imagine having your best non magic friends visiting, and the Familiar making an appearance, or for those of non magic families imagine your parents' and siblings' reaction to a Familiar." Susan shivered. Linda would not accept an owl in the family, and her parents would not be overjoyed either.

And here again I have to stop. I did not use 'Bellowcat'. I did use Cat, but I actually have an idea for Bellowcat 😕 I hope to find time later on.

- -  A  - -  B  - -  C  - -

Thursday's Wordle 1.482 5/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
This was a fun one. Today’s average difficulty is 5.4 guesses out of 6, or very challenging.

Words for Wednesday :: Find Familiars 5

Sort
Pollution
Crooked
Learned
Wanting
Industry
    And/or
Education
Colour
Withdraw
Coach
Bellow
Cat
    Yes Bellow and Cat were meant as two words ... I might give Bellowcat a try 😉

I continue my story from previous chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4

Susan got her problems sorted out before dinner. Dressed in a fresh tunic and skirt, she ate with the other Danes, Trausti sat with the Icelanders, enjoying the food and speaking freely with everybody. The only pollution to the good atmosphere was David's crooked friend. Susan had learned by trial and error which subjects to avoid, and so had most of the other apprentices, only the Norwegian Terje, who was a bit wanting in attention, could now and then spark an uncouth discussion over the plates.

When everybody was done eating, Jon rang the bell and asked the apprentices to re-arrange benches and tables so that everyone could sit facing the balcony in the western end of the Barn. Soon the barn was a hive of industry and magic, and chaos reigned for a short while, Then the last of the tables softly landed on its legs in front of the benches, guided by Selma's steady wand.

Gilvi stood up and walked to the free space under the balcony:"Dear fellow wizards, dear apprentices, and dear guests. Tonight Trausti Traustason will continue our education on the subject of familiars. Would everybody please be seated. The apprentices sit up here in front, at the benches behind the tables. Green," he pointed at the two leftmost benches, which turned a pale green, and continued towards the right he said: "Blue, yellow, purple and red." The benches took on the appropriate colour at his words. "Professors in the next row, on the benches with no tables, and finally our guests in the comfy chairs. Apprentices get your notebooks up and note anything you find interesting. There'll be question time afterwards, so don't fall asleep please." He smiled, as he knew that most of the apprentices really wanted a familiar and were going to listen well. "And with this I withdraw and give the stage to Trausti." He swung his wand and a gentle, golden light lit the area under the balcony and shone unto the tables in front of the apprentices.

Trausti stood still in the light. Then he whistled sharply two times. Then he waited.


And now we wait with Trausti, Susan, and everybody else at the Unicorn Farm, because I was so long writing this that bed time overtook me

Words for Wednesday 4 juni & IWSG

Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

In June, Hilary Melton-Butcher will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts:

Almanac
Vegetables    
Smoke    
Rocky   
Pursuit
     And/or
 Tides        
Data          
Pearly        
Block      
Hedge
 
The dog and all the other animals seemed peaceful, well fed and used to living there. Susan got up and hurried along the road. She wanted to have a little time to herself before dinner. Suddenly her leg was pulled away from under her, and she fell head first into the ditch. "Ouch," she said, and put a hand to her nose, it came away smeared with blood. Oh no, she thought. Now I hit my nose again! I'll keep on bleeding for ever, I just hope it's not broken. She pulled out her handkerchief and held it to her nose, and tried to get out of the ditch one-handed. It hurt, and she began crying.
She was too old for crying, her dad always told her, but when it hurt, or when she got angry, she always began crying. It did not help. If only someone would help me, she thought. But I'm all alone, nobody knows where I am.
Then all hell broke loose, out from the blue house came all the animal inhabitants of the house. The dog bayed, the owl hooted, the cats hissed and meowed and a parrot squawked: "Take care, oh do take care." Two men came after them, Susan could not prevent herself from laughing through her tears. The parrot was too funny. "Oh dear," she said, "I think it's too late!" Only the words came out bubbling and strangely distorted. The younger man picked Susan up from the ditch, while the older one shooed, carried and hauled all the animals inside again.
"Come on in," the man said. "We'd better get you cleaned off before you can go home." Susan nodded, and supported by the man's strong arm, she entered the house.
In the kitchen he sat her on a chair gave her a wet towel and helped her rinse off her face and hands. A woman, about the same age hovered in the background and did some thing in behind a cupboard.
"Now, please tell me what happened and where you live," the man said. "I'm Jonas, the lady over there is my wife, Mona, and the other man is Trausti."
Susan sobbed, and tried to stop crying. She draw a couple of steadying breaths and said: "I'm Susan. I was out for a walk before dinner. I had a stone in my shoe," she looked down, "and I forgot to tie the laces. They tripped me." 
"And where do you live?" Jonas asked, "I think we better phone your parents, to tell them what happened. Can they come and get you? Or else I'll see you home."
"I'm staying with my aunt and uncle in their summerhouse, but they have gone shopping on the main land and won't be home for some time yet. Mom and Dad are at home, in Elsinore, please don't phone them, They can't do a thing and will only worry."
"Have a glass of lemonade to take the taste of blood," the lady said and placed a glass on the able in front of Susan. 
Susan's caution and sense of drama surfaced: "And it's safe to drink? You're not putting me asleep or anything. I should have told that I lived nearby, and my uncle was a wrestler and would come looking for me shortly."
"I think you've read too many mystery books," the lady said smiling. She drank up the glass and filled a new one from the jug and handed it to Susan. "Take this instead then."
Susan took the glass and drank deeply. The taste was just right, neither too sweet nor too tart.
"Let me feel your nose, the lady said. I'm Mona, by the way. I hope your nose is not broken.
I don't think so. Susan said. "When I hit my nose, it always bleed a lot. It hurts, but not that much ... more on the outside like."
"Yes you have lost some skin there, too," Mona said, and gently touched Susan's nose. "No, I don't think broken either. No need to take you to the hospital."
"Oh, no, please don't" Susan said, still woozy after the rapport with the animals and cold with the after-effects of the fall. "Just let me get back, then Thora will put it right." She shut up abruptly. Telling of the Unicorn Farm to strangers was not a good idea. Not even nice strangers.
But before Mona or Jonas could ask her anything Trausti, the other man, came into the kitchen. "OK, girl," he said gruffly. "All the animals answered to your call for help, even the lizards. Are you one of us?"
"One of us, whaadayou mean?"
"A witch, obviously," he said. "If you are, you know my son, Josh."
Susan looked around at the three persons staring back at her. She nodded, then she felt her head starting to swim, and everything go black.
Mona put her head down between her legs, and then laid her on the kitchen bench.
"Sorry," Trausti said. "I forgot how tiring animal talk is, here, have some of this cake."

Still lying down she gingerly ate some of the cake and emptied another glass of Mona's excellent lemonade. Then she asked: "Why, I mean, How ... What are you doing here, and all these animals?"

Trausti smiled. "That's a long story. It is my story, and Josh's story, and Jonas, Mona and Jan's story too."
"Jan?" Susan asked. More confused then ever.
"Yes," Trausti continued, "Mona and Jonas are Jan's parents, They and I moved here when the Unicorn Farm was founded. You might know that Jonas is a vet. A vet with magic is a strong thing indeed, and Jonas is the very best. I'm telling you a lot now, because I feel you can be trusted. Please don't go around blabbering."
"I don't - normally - mentioning Thora before was a slip. Only because I was so woozy still."
Trausti nodded, "We of course know Thora. It was her suggesting we came here. All those animals needed a home. Have you ever wondered what happens to familiars when they grow old, or when their witch or wizard dies?"
Susan sat up and shook her head: "Ow, it does not hurt much any more. She gingerly touched her nose. "It feels not very sore any longer either!"
Mona smirked: "I put some Knitbone elixir in that lemonade, you should be all good in an hour."
"Wow, thanks," Susan said and propped herself up on one elbow. Lying flat while being talked to felt intimidating.
Mona and Jonas sat down, and after a short pause Trausti did too. The dog came into the kitchen put it's muzzle into Susan's free hand and made happy sounds "It's OK. Everything will be fine," it thought at her. Susan smiled and caressed its stubbly-haired head.
Trausti continued telling: "We have a hospital, a retreat home for familiars here. That dog belonged to a man in the nearby town. He did not know he was a wizard, but the dog knew, and when the man died, it followed the whiff of magic in the air and came here. We travel a lot, we use the Portals at the Farm, we fly broomsticks, we teleport as well, and even go by car, train, bike and buses to look for old or left familiars all over Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Trausti has a place in Iceland as well, but mostly he's here. And we have a lady, Nicklas and Sanne's aunt actually taking care of the Faroese ones for us.

That owl here is Thora's old owl, Brúnleit III. Even if the lifespan of familiars are enhanced by the magic, they seldom live more than 15 years, and they cannot keep up with a busy witch or wizard for the last of those. We train replacement familiars and take care of the old ones. It is a worthy task for us.

   ...  To be continued

If you looked for any of the Words for Wednesday in vain you're right. I did not use even one of them. Hoping to continue, because, no it does not end here.

And last but not least a heartfelt THANK you to Anne E.G. Nydam, whose A-Z post is the direct inspiration for these chapters.

Today’s average difficulty is 4.5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging.
Wordle 1.446 5/6
🟨⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
🟨⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

- - A - - B - - C - - 

  The monthly question from the Insecure Writers' Support Group is due today, June 4th.
  I'd like to thank the crew for their never ceasing inspiration and quirky questions.

June 4 question - What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

My answer - A number of books impacted me deeply. Here's a list of some of the books, and what they taught me:
The Little House books: Family life, keeping togetherness, toughing it out during adversity ... and making everything from scratch! I so wanted to move in next to Laura and her family.
Gone Away Lake, The Four Storey Mistake, and the other books in those two series: Adventure and friendship is awaiting just around the corner.
The Secret by Dorothy Clewes: Small people can work great things.
And a load of books on running from home, having high adventures (a series on four boys at sea in Danish The "Kurs"-series), some with magic (Krabat, The little Broomstick) and many like it: Magic exists, and it is not always good.

Words for Wednesday ~ Finally writing again!

Word for Wednesday is a challenge that was started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable event with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words provided by a number of people.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

In May, David M Gascoigne will supply us with prompts, but they'll appear at  Elephant's Child.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This Wednesday's prompts:
Villian
Visit
Bone
Stork
Memory  
And/or
 
Imprinted
Human
Kink
Spring
Faithful

As I said some time ago, I have a story to tell, and I fear this might turn into one of my marathon-tales running over weeks and weeks before reaching its end. But I am writing again. I am happy!

Here we go. This is happening in the 3rd year on Unicorn Farm, in the short Shrove holidays - this was a thing in Denmark before the winter holiday in February was a thing, we had several single holidays spread over the year, the King and Queen's birthdays, Shrove Monday, Constitution day, and a bit more days in the Christmas holidays. 

Susan knew a villain when she saw one, and Tristan certainly was one. Ever since Christmas holidays she, Heidi, Tage and Lis had been sure he was a bad one. Helge and the Flower power girls were almost convinced, as were the Swedish bunch. Now he once again had decided to visit Unicorn Farm over the short Fastelavns (Shrovetide) holidays. Susan wanted to get away. She had met a stray dog when arriving - she had needed some fresh air after a long day at school and at home with smoking family visiting, and then the dizzying portal, and had went for a stroll before joining the other apprentices at the Farm.
    She sneaked a bone from the lunch and left. The bleak February sunshine was not exactly warm, rather with a promise of warmth to come, She walked along the dirt road engrossed in her own thoughts. Suddenly a big bird flew up. Was that a stork? Susan thought. No, no way, It's far too early. The storks only arrive in April. It must have been a heron or a crane ... bugger I always mix them up, the straight necked one. A crane Susan decided. Or maybe a swan. Swans, black swans ... they existed only two places in Denmark, she was told. In the moat around Castle Kronborg in Elsinore, she has seen these several times when crossing the castle grounds on her way to the beach. She still cherished the memory of one of the swans chasing off a fox one early morning. It had probably seen the cygnets as a quick breakfast, but it had not taken an angry mother swan into consideration. I had been one of the white ones, though. Black swans did not breed in Denmark.

She arrived at the small clump of trees where she had seen the stray yesterday. It had been OK, Susan had made sure of that using her animal skills, just wanting to be left alone. Susan though that it might be more sociable and hungry, today. She called for the dog, first with words, and then with her mind, but no dog came running towards her. Wondering Susan walked into the thicket. She found the place where the dog had slept, a shallow indentation,where the downtrodden grass still formed a nest-like structure, but it was quite cold. It had been dry for weeks and there was almost no chance of tracks, but Susan looked anyway. And yes, in the grass leading away from her she found what could me a path. She slowly walked along it, careful to keep to the undisturbed grass, looking at the ground. Her patience was rewarded with an imprint of a dog's paws where the thicket gave way to fields. Clear and sharp prints, not old. From here it was easy, the plowed fields was like an open book. She saw the dog chase, but never catch rabbits, looping back towards the thicket, remaking its mind, instead walking slowly - seen by the closer together paw prints - towards the short row of houses lining the road away from the water. Maybe they had been cooking something nice. Then she saw something she had not expected. Human footprints. Coming from the houses, standing still, meeting with the paw-prints, and then both set of prints walking away together, direction houses. This did not tally with the impression, Susan had gotten from the dog yesterday. "Leave me alone," it had told her. "I am weary, old and sad. I need time, time alone. Leave me, please."
A kink in the straight line of tracks, made Susan return to the barren fields. The sun, never high in the sky, was now nearing the horizon. At six she had to be back at the Farm. Three quarters of an hour left, her wristwatch told her. No time for dawdling.  She followed the traces onwards, now making a beeline for the small blue house placed a little distance from the others at the end of the row.
She walked onto the road, the field was cloggy, tiring to walk in, and she had seen what she needed to know where the dog was. Had the man kidnapped the dog? She had to know. It had seemed so listless, so sad yesterday. It should not end it's day as someone's plaything, or even worse one one of the places, Susan had heard of where they tested make up, drugs and medicine on animals. Susan was not sure the latter was true, she suspected her classmates once again were trying to pull her leg, but nonetheless, dogs were kidnapped now and then.
Walking on the road soon gave her steps back their spring, and she made good time getting to the blue house.

Behind the blue house, a small shed could be seen. This would be the perfect place to hide a dog. Susan passed the house and walked a bit further along before she sat down on a stone pulling off one shoe, as if to get rid of a stone. She cast about for traces of the dog. As she opened up her animal sense, she was almost knocked silly. The blue house had several animal inhabitants - and the dog was in there. In the house proper, not in the shed, along with cats, at least one owl, some amphibians, and rodents.
Susan suddenly knew the house, or at least she knew of the house. She had been here before. Years ago she bought a miniature grandfather clock for her doll's house. The wonder was that it was a real watch, faithfully keeping time ever since. She wondered if the clockmaker still lived there or what had happened.

... to be continued.

Words for Wednesday ~ 25.12.2024

The Word for Wednesday challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words are provided by a number of people.
The prompts for December are provided by Wisewebwoman and can be found @ Elephant's Child.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

This week's prompts are:
Wreath
Pine
Ribbon
Stealth
Chimney
    and/or
Toboggan
Wolf
Plum pudding
Ambience
Blizzard

A chapter from January of the third and last year of the Unicorn Farm, The darkness is gathering.

Susan woke with a start, she looked around, a wreath made of pine stood on the table, its purple ribbons trailing almost to the floor. Why had it been left behind when she and Mom put away all the Christmas things yesterday after school? Now it was Saturday, and she had fallen asleep waiting for her parents to return home from somewhere. And then the snow had begun. She had dreamt, something about Unicorn Farm, some of the Nisser there were in grave danger. Now stealth was of importance. Could she use the 'phone? No, she dared not, it would probably alarm Ms. Madsen, the old, cranky neighbour, whom Mom had called in to watch over them while she and dad were away doing ... Susan just plain did not remember, the urgent dream had drowned out most of here every day life.
She tip toed to the chimney. It was cold as only cold stone could be. Where was Ms. Madsen, the neighbour? In the kitchen, Susan realized, probably drinking coffee and telling Linda all the latest gossip. Susan tensed and listened. A murmur of voices from the kitchen confirmed her suspicion.
She sneaked into the corridor, found her socks, shoes and winter things, then she went down into the basement. It was always more or less spooky down there, but in the deep of winter, it was dark. She dressed while waiting for the old boiler to start. It did so soon enough and this close it sounded like a thousand ping pong balls were being boiled inside. Susan found her old toboggan and opened the largest of the window on the garden side of the house. She pushed out the toboggan, then followed herself. She had no idea why she brought it, it just seemed like a good idea. And her parents were sure nobody could get in or out through the basement windows, but Susan still could do it - even dressed in her winter coat.
She ran through the dancing snow to the old lumber yard, there she tied the toboggan to a tree and jumped through the portal. When the world stopped spinning, she opened her eyes again and was relieved to see the old, crude furniture of the storage room at the Unicorn Farm. For a moment she just stood there, happy too have arrived in one piece.The room she ended up in, was warm and quiet, the old furniture still in place, but outside she could hear voices, many voices, small and big, raising and falling. She went to the window and looked out. The snow had stopped, it had not snowed as much here as  at home, but everything was still covered in a heavy layer, and a full moon shone eerily through the hurrying clouds. She went to the door leading to the big kitchen manned by the Nisser and listened once again.
Someone were cussing loudly, and screaming at the Nisser. She opened the door, just a crack, wand ready. For a short while she was blinded by the light in the kitchen, then she saw that four or five men dressed in black were trying to catch the Nisser and put them into big sacks held by two other men at the entrance to the kitchen. The Nisser of course fought back, and it all made so much noise, Susan wondered why the professors were not already alarmed.
Fire, Susan thought. I have to make a lot of fire. It will scare off the black men, and call the professors, but fast. She pointed her wand at the curtains and whispered "Kveikiði". At once a small flame began eating away at the curtains in the kitchen. Soon they blazed and the black clad men stopped their fighting with the Nisser and instead began screaming and babbling at the fires, but to no avail. The lamps suddenly extinguished and the only light in the kitchen came from the full moon outside. The men scurried away from the moonshine, but one of them were caught in it and started changing ... they were Werewolves! Susan was afraid. This time she had no granny and no potion to make them normal people again. She had only the Nisser, and she hoped the professors would soon arrive. The door in the other end of the kitchen opened and the professors came running in, toppling the two sack-holding scums by the door, Susan saw Tähti and Taavi point their wand at the werewolves and chant something in Finnish, Silvery filaments shot through the air and tied up the black men and the one changed into a wolf too. She saw one of the Nisser throw a crate of plum pudding after a black man, that had avoided the silvery filaments, and were trying to escape. The ambience of the room changed from chaos and fight to one of revenge. Susan crept back and carefully closed the door. Mission accomplished. Back in Elsinore she was met by the results of a full blizzard, Slowly she crept to the tree and loosened the toboggan. It was downhill all the way home.

Fires at Unicorn Farm ~ Part 3

Encouraged by Elephant's Child I sat myself down and wrote the last of the story. I am a stickler for happy endings, and this shows here.
And as I used my colour Opal Pearl Green throughout this story I'll make it count for Colour24 as well

The magicians and apprentices sat around the table in the barn, all singed, smelling of smoke and damp clothing, but all very happy. The reason for the fires had not been a pyromaniac wizard or witch after all, Taavi told a long-winded story of one pyromaniac who ended up as a very good person, but nobody really listened.
Suddenly Tage raised his head and blurted out: "How did Kalle end up here!" He looked at Taavi, who gave him a stink eye. "Oh, sorry Taavi, I did not mean to interrupt," he added, I was just thinking ..."
"Or not," Taavi said. "Excuse accepted. And you pose a relevant question. Let's ask Kalle once again, what happened?"
"Yes ..." Kalle began. "I was asleep, as well I should be, at home in my own bed in Stockholm. Then I remember dreaming of a giant, shimmering opal green crocolisk eating up someone I did not recognize, wrapped up like a giant spring roll or something. I was afraid. I wondered what to do. Then I felt an almighty pulling sensation ... and I awoke in the middle of the corridor, my PJs on fire and Gilvi dousing me with water."
"You were afraid, and wondered what to do with a giant crocolisk!" Jon said slowly "... I think I know what happened." He looked at all the other magicians and apprentices at the table. "Now think. If you saw a humongous, shimmering green crocolisk - and a man-eating one even, what would you do?"
"Run," Tage said.
"Get mum and dad!" Heidi suggested.
"I'd go to ..." Susan began, then gasped, "... to the library!" she ended softly.
"Exactly!" Jon exclaimed, his white teeth showing in a big smile. "And that's what Kalle did. He sleep'ported here! Well done young man. You will probably have no trouble passing the teleportation test this term."
Kalle smiled a huge smile. "Oh I've been so afraid of flunking that test. All my cousins except for Britta who's the youngest, passed the test last term, and they have been teasing Anna and me relentlessly ever since."
"But I'll have to cast a spell on you to prevent repetitions. Just imagine you trying to slep'port to some imaginary place."
Kalle turned white and whispered: "Oh yes, please do. Even some real life places would not be that nice."

Fires at Unicorn Farm ~ Part 2

On my way home from an errand, I suddenly knew - remembered - how this all ended. Here you are: Part two of the story of the fires at Unicorn Farm.

Gilvi left again and the others sat for long in the barn. The Nisser brought them cakes and hot tea and cocoa, only succeeding in making them all very sleepy. Kalle fell asleep, wrapped in a blanket, and the others dozed fitfully on the benches. They all dreamt vividly. Susan and Heidi woke up and looked at one another.
"The sprites?" Heidi asked.
"Yes," Susan replied, and with this they were off to the adjoining stables.
Kai woke with a start: "Hey Heidi .. and Susan! Stay here, Gilvi said ..." But before he could draw his wand or do anything else to prevent it the two girls had slipped into the stable.
Heidi almost fell up the three steps to the stables, where strange animals and food for all and sundry were being kept. They raced to where they had placed the big glass cage a few days earlier.
The roomy and beautiful glass cage was where they'd left it, but empty, except for a small fire flickering in a dull grey ring in the middle of the cage. The asbestos lattice covering it sat askew.
"They escaped!" Susan exclaimed.
"They sure did," Heidi replied. "Let's go find the twins, quick!"
With this Susan and Heidi ran each in a separate direction, Heidi ran into the Barn, waking up the others, and quickly explained what they had found out before speeding on. Susan took the small staircase leading from the stables to the library. There she met and almost ran into Martine: "It's the flame sprites doing it," she gasped, winded from running up the stairs. "Where's the Kuusisaari's?" "Tähti is in the library," Martine replied, "I think Taavi is downstairs. I'll get him!"
"Please do!" Susan said and ran towards the doors to the library. Smoke was still coming form in there.
"Hello," Tähti gasped through the smoke, "you're not supposed to be here, but please lend me a hand now that you are ... Slökkvid!" she cried as another small fire lit on the carpet.
"It's the fire sprites!" Susan said, "They have escaped." And interrupted by a few extinguishing spells, she quickly told Tähti what they has discovered. "Martine and Heidi are out there looking for Taavi as well."
"I'll find him." Tähti said, "you just stay here and extinguish any and all fires. You're free to use the mundane fire extinguisher on flames not in books - use your head!" And with this she flickered her wand and disappeared.
Sure that now Tähti, Taavi and the other teachers now would take care of the sprites, Susan sat to the task of keeping the books from burning. She soon realized that her magical powers would give out, and grasped the fire extinguisher from the hall. armed with this in her left hand and her wand in her right she kept the flames at bay. She felt more than saw Tue and Heidi coming in to help. Gratefully she concentrated on carpets, curtains and furniture with the extinguisher, leaving the magic to the older two.
Suddenly a keening sound penetrated the building, shaking it and them to their roots. "The Kuusisaari's are calling the Sprites home," Heidi said. "Thank God, I'm exhausted!"
They put out the last of the flames and almost fell into the old sofa. Soon Gilvi's face showed in the doorway: "Good job, all!" he said. "Down to the Barn now, time for a meal and an explanation or two."

... to be continued

Words for Wednesday :: November 20 ~ on a Friday

Yes it's still Friday here. I have finally written something. I'm not happy with it, as it went somewhere unexpected and dark, I do not think this will enter my book. And it is yet another beginning. Will we ever see an ending to this and all the other strange beginnings from the last couple of months? Only time will tell.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

The Word for Wednesday challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words are provided by a number of people.
The prompts for November are provided by Alex J. Cavanaugh and can be found @ Elephant's Child.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

The Words for Wednesday were:

Pyromaniac
Midnight
Parrot
Frozen
Razor's edge
     and/or
Anguish
Alligator
Taco
Predictable
Staple

Prehistory: Someone had been starting fires at Unicorn Farm, a Pyromaniac is suspected of the deed. One night as Heidi, Lis and Tage and their parents, Sandra and Kai, are following Susan to her aunt's summerhouse, Thora appeared and asked them to please come and stand guard at the Farm.  

Susan had never been out past midnight at the Farm before, but a pyromaniac witch, or maybe wizard, warranted this. All grown ups and teachers were guarding all entryways to the Farm. Tue and Lis were in the adjoining classrooms, sitting in cupboards with small peepholes cut into them. She and Heidi were in the library and had hid themselves behind the parrot's cage, hoping that the blanket thrown over to shut him up would also hide them well enough. She held her wand ready in a nearly frozen hand, and se could feel Heidi shivering from the cold next to her. Then suddenly an orange glow, thin as a razor's edge shone from where Susan was certain the door to the corridor was placed. She carefully poked Heidi, who poked her back. Then everything happened very fast. A scream of anguish pierced the night, the door swung open, letting smoke and flames start to spill into the library nearing the book case next to the door. Susan and Heidi jumped up, pointed at flame after flame with their wands, screaming "Slökkvið" at them, and slowly the inferno died down. They could see Tue, Lis and Knud over the flames, and behind them Thora, Kai, Gilvi, Sandra, Martine and most every teacher from the Farm. A human form lay at the floor, PJs scorched and soaked. Thora helped a wet and bedraggled Kalle from the floor: "What happened?" she asked. "You were supposed to be in your bed in Stockholm."
"I was." Kalle said simply, looking utterly confused.
Thora asked him: "And what then?"
Kalle looked up: "I slept, I dreamt of a big, pearl opal green alligator eating someone, just as we would a taco, then I felt an almighty pull, everything went dark, and I was suddenly here, my PJs on fire."
"This sounds nothing like what we imagined," Martine said. "It is not a predictable way ..."
Sandra looked at them: "Move!" she screamed, Everybody sprang into the library, into abandoned cupboards and door openings. Gilvi grabbed Kalle and half pulled half carried him to the sick room.
A fireball exploded exactly where Kalle had lain.
"This is a staple of the ... " Taavi began.
"Not now!" Tähti interrupted him. "Let's get the fires put out, and bring some order to this chaos. Kai please bring the children down into the Barn."
Not listening to their protests, Kai ordered Lis, Tage, Heidi and Susan to proceed him to the barn, and Gilvi brought up the rear, carrying Kalle.

Words for Wednesday October 23

The Word for Wednesday challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words are provided by a number of people.
The prompts for September are provided by Sean Jeating and can be found @ Elephant's Child.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

- - A - - B - - C - - 

Due to an error we have two week's worth of words this time. The Words from last Wednesday were:
Funeral,
Moon,
Splendiferously,
Sun,
Coffin,
     and/or
Afraid,
Biased,
Crows,
Nutrition,
Worms

And then this week's words:
 
Art,
Awe,
Love,
Moonlit,
Sleeping
      and/or
 beauty,
Breathless,
Dreamscape, 
Face,
Oxygen

I am trying to gather up the shattered threads of Susan's story. Long ago I wrote a chapter which ended up with one of the professors, Marie-Louise, called M-L, dying. The words lend themselves to a description of her funeral - I did not use oxygen, and also I did not use the words in any order this time, I mixed them up well and good.

As I do not pull down my old blog posts, the early drafts of this chapter are still online here and here.
If you look there, you'll notice it's Torben dying. This is a mistake, as he was always my villain, and I use him as such in the very next chapter; on the other hand I always had troubles using M-L for anything - she was my sore thumb - so in my book (only offline) I killed her off instead.

Splendiferously was not a word Susan had ever thought of in connexion with a funeral, but then again she had never been to a witch's burial ever before. They had all gathered beneath the setting moon in the early dawn and the four oldest professors from Unicorn Farm had carried the coffin together with M-L's parents, all dressed in black robes.
Susan was not afraid of graveyards, she often used the big one in her hometown as either a short cut or a place for silence and thoughts. People telling tales of ghosts and spooky happenings were in Susan's mind biased, having watched too many movies on scary, creepy crows and whatnot in the graveyards. In reality the name Tranquil Gardens suited perfectly, and she hoped, maybe morbidly, to have just as great a funeral when the time came to give her body as nutrition to the worms.

The six black-clad magicians carried the coffin from the still moonlit hearse into the church. There the coffin was opened, and M-L lay as if she was sleeping, her face serene, an awe inspiring work of art and love after her violent demise.
When everybody was seated, the lid was put back in place, the candles were lit, the organ played and the magicians sang a hymn of intricate patterns and harmonies. The beauty and solemnity left Susan breathless. After a short, formal and very fitting ceremony the coffin was carried out into the new dawn and lowered into the newly opened grave. All gathered around the grave, and after the priest had sprinkled grave and coffin with holy water, the heaped up earth flew down the grave, packing itself around and gently covering the coffin, leaving a dreamscape of flowers and patterned sands glowing in the gentle morning sun.

Words for Wednesday :: part 2 or 3 or maybe 4 :: Gylfi & Thora 11

This last Wednesday I came up with the Words for Words for Wednesday. I wrote a whiney weather post, using the Words, but they also fit in with my continuing story of Gylfi and Thora. As usual I am
using the words in the order they were given

Here they are:

Agile
Bleak
Comfort
Dull
Even
Full
     and/or
This photo from Spencer Gurley, courtesy of Pexels

I continue the story from where I let off last Monday - I seem to be late in using the words in July - well here it is still Friday a few minutes more at least

-- 👀 --

Gylfi entered the room just as Thora hung up. "Who was it?" he asked letting down the catch of the day in the sink.

"The Fins," Thora replied. "They are on their way to Turku, and are going to brave the portals on their own."
"Fine, I have something I want to test," Gylfi said. "Would you mind preparing the fish, while I get them. What a luck I did not stop when I had enough for the two of us. I'll be hungry when we return."

"What mischief have you planned now!" Thora asked.

"Teleporting," Gylfi answered. "I have been practising every day, sometimes even more times a day. And I can teleport with the neighbour's cow for short distances."
Thora began laughing, "That's why Starri's Hildur has been complaining that her cow gives less milk recently. I overheard her at the bakers'." she turned serious: "But teleporting is dangerous."

"As I said, I have been practising, and I think I'm just naturally good at it. It's easy, and it does not make me dizzy or tired as portals and other kinds of magic does."

"You're a strange one, Gylfi," Thora said lovingly, "I'll take care of fish and whatever, just drink up your tea, have a few more cookies, and remember to bring some along when you go and get the Finnish twins, these caves are not a place for prolonged stays."

Gylfi smiled at Thora while he ate the last of yet another cookie, then he wrapped some in a napkin and stuffed in his pockets. He rose: "Thank you. I promise to take care, and only take one of them at a time. No need to hurry and risk our future teachers."

"Great, I look forward to seeing you, and them, home again."
Shortly after she heard the roar of Gylfi's old car and began scaling the fish.

Gylfi arrived at the end of the bumpy road near the farm before darkness fell. He parked the car well away from the farmhouse and with agile steps climbed the nearest mound. Yes, he could see the cave from there, he looked around, painting an inner picture of his surroundings. The glacier looked bleak in the van evening light. He had to hurry. He pulled out his wand, looked at the distant glacier and cast the spell.

He stood at the entrance to the cave.
He entered the cave, and when he no longer could see the road, and thus also was not visible from outside, he pulled his staff and with a softspoken Ljús and a swish it emitted a clear, golden light. He took comfort in the fact that he knew where he was going this time around. Caves were one of his weaknesses, never admitted to anybody, but he felt the pressure of the masses of stone and earth and ice on top of him almost like a physical pressure.

A gleam of dull blue told him that Taavi had lit his wand as well and was near the little portal in the back of the cave. He called, and even this small sound filled up the cave with warmth and life - and bats. Gylfi ducked, as the bats flew over his head and out into the new night.

He turned his light up to full and walked briskly over to the twins. The cave was unusually dry and it was easy gong. They greeted one another and the twins gladly accepted a couple of Thora's cookies.

Words for Wednesday :: Thora & Gylfi 10

Finally I got myself pried away from gardening, Tour de France and other chores and projects and finished the next chapter in my continuing story of Thora and Gylfi. The Words were:

Fish
Kettle
Black
Human
Cloister
Serene
     And/or
Flagstone
Quarry
Bush
Rowan
Finnish
Mango

I continue where I left off, using the words in the order they were given as usual - only not mango. It did not fit in.

 Some days later, Gylfi was out fishing. He did not use any magic, but still he caught enough fish for dinner and some more, he gutted them and returned home.
Thora had been working in the garden, tending the early greens and encouraging them to grow, at the same time discouraging the aphids and other pests from eating their edibles and instead eating those that Thora and Gylfi regarded as weeds. She picked some early greens and flowers and herbs. Potatoes were still to be had in the root cellar, as were various cabbages and other roots. Soon the potatoes were simmering, and the other greens cleaned and cut. She buttered a huge pan and spread the roots and greens in it. Then she filled the herbs and spices in a glass, cut them with her scissors and added salt. This she would sprinkle over the fish before consigning them to the oven. She also filled the kettle with fresh water; black tea to warm them both after a day spent in the still cool Icelandic spring was a luxury they did not want to do without, they were human after all, and the warmth spell demanded much mental energy to maintain.  

While she waited for Gylfi to return home, she said her evening devotions. She looked at the photo of the cloister from the former Carmelite monastery in Elsinore. That place exuded a serene, almost holy atmosphere even from the old black and white photo. She wanted to go there again soon. The flagstones in the photo caught her eyes. A legend told that if you stayed in the cloister on a night where the moon was full, Kirstin Munk, the morganatic wife of king Christian IV, was supposed to appear where the light of the full moon fell on a certain flagstone.
Thora did not believe this to be true. But the old monastery held a fascination to her. She was awakened from her wool-gatherings by her owl, Brúnleit, that landed on the window sill with a small bird in it's sharp claws. Thora rose, and gently asked Brúnleit to let go of her quarry.
Protesting, but knowing that Thora was the master, the owl let go of the still fighting bird. Thora held it carefully and examined it with eyes and magic. Miraculously it had only a few punctures to the skin, nothing internal was damaged, only squeezed a bit. Thora gently placed the small bird in a bush under a huge rowan tree and put a protecting spell on it. The spell would wear off, but now it stood a chance.
Thora gave Brúnleit one of the savoury biscuits she kept for this purpose, and told her not to bring birds into the house. "If you must catch birds, eat them before you come here," she said sternly. The owl hooted softly and flew off to the rowan tree to sulk and eat her biscuit. Thora laughed to herself. She suspected the owl of deliberately bringing in an unharmed bird now and then to get the treats.
The phone rang, and as Thora picked it up and said: "Hello, Thora speaking," a lot of statics and a jumble of words followed. For a second Thora was about to hang up, then she recognised Taavi's voice and the Finnish word for hello. She quickly pulled out her wand and cast the language spell, hoping it would work through the telephone as well. It did, and Taavi told Thora that he and Tähti were on their way to the portal in Turku.

"Great," Thora said. "Have you decided to brave the portals alone?"
---
"Yes, fine! Just wait in the cave and I or Gylfi will be there -- See you! - Bye."

... to be continued

Words for Wednesday :: June 19 :: Gylfi & Thora 9

The Word for Wednesday challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words are provided by a number of people. This merry month of May they are by David M. Gascoigne.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

 - - - - -

Words for Wednesday June 19:
Discourteous
Flicker
Martini
Whips
Belly
     And/or
Waving
Frogs
Moderation
Smile
Louring

But I still had the last batch of words left over from last Wednesday, and they fit my story. As usual I used them in the order they were given, and continued my tale from where I left off.

The words were:
Flour
Buttercups
Light
Train
Mullion

Back in Hella Thora decided to check out the families living around there for wizards and witches. Gylfi backed her up and suggested she used the ruse with borrowing a cup of flour from the houses.

In a house surrounded by buttercups Thora talked for a long time with Hildur, the housewife and mother of eight children in all ages from toddler to young adults. Thora was almost blown away by the magic in the air, even the baby in its pen seemed to exude magic like a strong light. During her visit she took great care not to talk of anything to do with magic. But she noticed the harness used to train the small ones broomstick flying  and the wands hidden in a vase of paper flowers. With her new knowledge of wands, she could feel that the wands were quite old, and not very efficient any more. She was more determined than ever for them to open that school of magic. The husband, Starri, returned home just as Thora was taking her leave, and she caught a whiff of magic from him as well.

Gylfi and Thora discussed late into the night how and where to find a place for a school. Thora did not think Iceland would be a great place for it.
"We would be overrun," she said, "people here are still keeping to the old ways, albeit erratically and faultily. My visits to neighbours - and yours as well show us that that magic in Iceland had not died out. We need to build a school in a place where only the students can go, where we teachers can live, and where we can have a shelter for magic animals, some place near the sea would be nice - and not too cold either. I'm sure something will show up."
Gylfi went to the window and grasped the mullion firmly, shaking it gently he spoke: "I had imagined that this place would be our school of magic, but I see the wisdom in your words. When the Finnish twins return, we should travel through Sweden, Norway and Denmark to see if we can find a fitting place. You're right about the climate as well, It's too cold here, same as Greenland and the Faroes."
On this downcast note they called it a day and Thora left for her small cabin. Brúnleit awaited her hooted sharply and offered her a juicy rat. "No thanks, my dear," Thora said gently, ruffling the feathers between her small horns.  "I have already eaten tonight." Brúnleit hooted once, softly, swallowed the rat in one gulp and flew of to the tall tree where she normally slept.

Words for Wednesday, June 12 ~ Gylfi and Thora 8

The Word for Wednesday challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words are provided by a number of people.
The prompts for June are provided by Hilary Melton-Butcher and they will be at Elephant's Child's blog.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

 - - - - -

Words for Wednesday June June 12 (today):
Lurk
Amber
Birch
Drainpipe
Spelling

Flour
Buttercups
Light
Train
Mullion

This seems to be turning into one of my longish tales.
I used the first half in the order they were given. But first some corrections. There are no lizards in Iceland, so Gylfi could not have followed one into the cave, and the Cathedral of Our Lady in Turku does not have a crypt as far as I have ben able to find out, so a deserted, cluttered chapel is where the portal leads.
   If anybody from Turku is reading this ... I am thinking mostly of you Karen at Myyratohtori ... then please, could you tell me if there is a crypt or not?


They ate a few more cookies and then braved the last of the portals  leading to the church proper.
They met a man lurking in the dark of the chapel behind the small, hidden door, but luckily he was drunk, and accepted with no further questioning that they were just tourists visiting the cathedral and looking for the special amber-hued burial window in the chapels.
Outside the cathedral they sat themselves down at benches under some birch trees a luscious green in the warmer sunshine of Turku.
"Now, how do we get to Helsinki?" Taavi asked, " and are you two going with us, or what?"
"I can answer the first one," Tähti said. "By bus, I think there's a bus an hour going from Turku to Helsinki, passing by the cathedral square every hour at the hour."
"And no, I do not think we're going to stay here," Gylfi said. "The horses should not be left for days in that cave, and I noticed that our drainpipe was leaking when we left. I suggest that you go home, arrange your stuff for a prolonged absence, and then return when you're ready. It should be quite easy. Come back here, go into the chapel and pass through the portal to the portal room under the mountain. Watch out for that drunkard, though. He might not pass it off if he see people disappearing there regularly." Gylfi smiled.
"The list," Thora said. "they'll have to know which portal to come through once they're back under the mountain."
Gylfi pulled a small notebook from his pocket. Looking at his watch he hurriedly copied the signs for Eyafjallajökull and his phone number on an empty page, which he then pulled out and gave to Tähti. "Just remember what I taught you about the spelling and pronunciation of Icelandic words, then you'll have no trouble phoning me if you do not want to walk all the way back to Hella - or if you're afraid to brave the portals alone, I'll come and fetch you ... and bring a batch of Thora's cookies."
"That last option sounds tempting," Taavi said. "I think we go for that."
Tähti looked at the paper and read Gylfi's address and phone number aloud, the spell at once transforming her words into Finnish for her and Taavi. "No good, she said. When I try to call you, I'll have to cancel that spell, and hope that my atrocious Icelandic will suffice."
"It will," Gylfi assured her, "the lady putting you through is a nice one. Do you have any idea how long before you return?"
Täthi and Taavi looked at  one another. "Quite soon, Taavi answered, "there's no reason to dally, and every reason to come back to Iceland. Two weeks at the most. By the way, if you need a cup of coffee before going home this bill should do it." He gave Gylfi a Finnish bank note.
"Thanks, I did not think of that," he admitted, and added: "We look forward to seeing you again." Thora nodded. "Maybe we can even prepare one of the small huts in the area for you 'till then," Gylfi mused. Then the four magicians shook hands, and Tähti and Taavi hurried to the bus stop while Thora and Gylfi slowly drifted back to the church. They entered the cathedral again.
"Let's play tourists for a short while!"
They paid for entrance to the small museum, and were even allowed up in the tower. After a cup of surprisingly good coffee they went back into the chapel and assured that no-one were around before they opened the secret door. Soon they were back in Iceland.

Words for Wednesday ~ Gylfi & Thora 7

Keeping up this "speed" I'll never ever use all the Words before a new batch is given to us in 1½ days.
I used one word, Lizard, for this part of the story.

Of course they were wary following Gylfi after this. The door looked like a dark hole to an even darker room, As they crossed the threshold one by one the world spun around them in a dizzying, sickening way leaving them retching and gasping for breath.
"Wow," Tähti said, "your portals are tough. She sat down hard on one of the chairs and held her head until it stopped buzzing. Then she looked around. Sleek, grey stone walls made out walls, floor and ceiling in the long broad corridor stretching ahead of them. Slowly she turned her head and looked behind her, a grey stone wall was covered in a shimmering, vaguely blue substance, like sparkling smoke.
"Is that the portal?" she asked, pointing to the oblong cloudy thing.
"Yes. This is what we came through, Gylfi said, carefully nodding. "The dizziness will get better with each use, I hardly feel anything any longer. Are you ready to go on?"
The three wizards stood up, shook their heads carefully, felt their heads and legs, and realised that they felt much better already.
"Yes, we're ready," Thora said. "Lead on."
Gylfi led them through smoothly hewn corridors of that same grey stone. Everywhere were doors and a irregular intervals corridors branched off. Some of the doors had strange blue symbols over them, some still lit, others faded almost away.
"What is this place once again, and who made this?" Thora asked.
"As far as I have been able to find out from reading old, and I mean really old, moulding texts, this is the main portal room of all the magic world from back when wizard or witch was an honourable occupation. I don't know who made this. They fell into oblivion in the early middle ages. I surmise, that the black death, that almost halved the populations also decimated the knowledge. I further guess that the portals actually helped spread the pest, and that wizards and witches in many cases carried the disease with them through the portals - only to die from it themselves as well. What ever the reasons, after 1500 those portals were only known to a few wizards here and there throughout Europe until the persecutions in the 16th century killed them off as well. My rediscovery was pure luck. I was riding here one summer on a trip to circle the ice caps, I followed a very beautiful lizard into the natural cave. I then fell in the darkness, waking up again near midnight, and stumbling around, looking for the horse - who had of course left me and returned home - and the stuff that had spilled from my backpack, I literally stumbled through the portal. I returned, and studied over the years, and now I suggest that we go to Helsinki. Follow me."
The other three looked at one another at a loss for words, and just followed Gylfi to a door with a glowing blue symbol over it.
"This here symbol means Finland." Gylfi said, certainty in his voice.
"How so?" Taavi asked.
"It's an ancient language, or maybe just symbols. I have made my own small booklet with a list of the doors' symbols. I suggest that you copy it for yourself later on." He opened his backpack. "And now, before we jump through this portal, a snack is a good thing. At least I have found that eating helps with the sickening feeling and with not getting exhausted. Thora's cookies are very good for this."
"That's where all my cookies went!" Thora exclaimed,  "I never understood what happened to them!"
They all ate a couple or three of Thora's cookies and then Gylfi opened the door to the room, where yet another blue, shimmering oblong portal waited fro them. He then bade Tähti go through the portal as the first one.
"I go first?" Tähti said, at the same time eager and afraid to go on.
"Yes. Ladies first," Gylfi said, bowing in a very old fashioned way before her.
"If you do not like what you find, you can just return," he said in a teasing tone.
"I'll do it," Tähti said, and walked through the portal head held high and walking with dainty steps.
"Now, who's next?" Taavi asked.
"Thora, you go now," Gylfi said, then Taavi, and lastly me bringing up the rear."
They did as suggested and soon all four wizard stood shaking and breathing heavily in another stony room.
"Where do you think we are?" Gylfi asked Taavi and Tähti.
"Not in Helsinki!" Tähti said with determination in her voice. "It feels wrong."
"You're right, we're not in Helsinki. But we're close."
"Hey," Tähti said, "now you're telling the truth. What you said before were half truths, not far enough off for me to notice, but now, now you're telling us an unlikely truth. I see our glow!" Gylfi looked at her, astonishment etched on his face. But Tähti shook her head: "Later. If we are in Finland, and I see your truth there, but still not in Helsinki, I am certain that we are in Turku. We could be in the crypt below the cathedral of our Lady."
"You hit the bullseye!" Gylfi said smiling.

 ..... to be continued

Words for Wednesday ~ Gylfi & Thora 6

June 5 saw me writing this. Words for Wednesday June 5:
Girth
Pummelling
Lizard
Blooms
Corridor
     And/or
 Pucker
Beady
Salubrious
Cabin
Barley

I know what to write, but my teeth still hurt and these Words do not fit, anyway writing will happen ... soon.
These words are still some bastards, but writing did indeed happen. I used: Girth & Pummelling for this. It continues where I left off last time:


"If we want to found a school of magic," Thora said, "We'll have to find more good wizards to teach there. Do you have any idea of where to begin?"
"You said in the car, that you could feel my magic," Tähti said, looking at Gylfi. "How did you do this, I mean can we learn to do this?"
" I don't know, I thought we all could do this. Close your eyes." Gylfi placed two books on the table in front of Tähti, of roughly equal girth and weight. He placed one of her hands on each book: "Now feel those books, can you feel which one is magic?"
 "The left one is magic," Tähti said after only a slight hesitation. "That's easy."
"Exactly. That's how it is!" Gylfi said, "but we have to learn."
"Can I try as well?" Taavi asked. And he was able to feel the same difference as his sister. They then practised with their new wands, the old wands, branches, rods and timber. Very soon they were right every time.
They ate lunch, and how they ate. "We'll have to go shopping soon," Gylfi said, "We eat much more than I reckoned we would."
"We do?" Taavi asked. "I remember our grandparents complained that we ate so much at their place. Our parents always said that it was the rural air that did it. Maybe it was the magic?"
"I still remember grandma's cooking as very good," Tähti said smiling. "But then we'll need some good cooks at our school ... that'll have to wait until later. What about our books? Could we get them somehow?"
"Whoa," Gylfi said. "hold on a minute. I have a shadow of an idea. This also have to wait at least some days. We'll have to practise and grow in magic first. I'd suggest we try wandsinging next."
They went out into the park. Thora placed her hand on a tree and sang the wandsinging song. Nothing happened. Then Gylfi tried and then Taavi with the same negative results.
"You try again, Tähti," he said.
Tähti sung and still nothing happened. "It seems that we will have to work on this," she said.

 The next weeks were quiet, but busy, the four read books or went for walks in the great park and surrounding countryside in the semi-dark days and dined well and planned long into the dark hours. The quiet was now and again interrupted when someone found an exiting spell, a difficult potion or a new or easier way of doing something. The poor table in Gylfi's living room took many a pummelling from strange substances and once even from a rain of small stones.

"We really have to go home to Finland," Taavi said one morning. "There's some things I want to check in my books, Id like to bring them here - and on he more prosaic side we need more clothes, and to take care of our homes. We can't just stay here forever."
"No really, you can," Gylfi said. "But I acknowledge that you have to check up on your flats in Finland." He slanted his head and smiled at Thora who smiled back. "But for today I have planned an outing to the caves of Hella. Because today it is the spring equinox."

The caves of Hella were impressing, but for our four wizards they were also a disappointment. By now they were experts in the discernment of magic, and they found only weak traces of magic here and there, the wisps and echoes of old spells and a bit more in one of the chambers, Maybe once, long ago some wizards had cast some spells at one of the walls there, maybe an old wand was buried there. All the writings were not in the least magic. And they were not able to read anything at  all from the inscriptions on the walls and columns.

The next day Gylfi told the three other wizards that he had a big discovery to show them. He would not tell anything but that they were going to Eyafjallajökull and probably stay there for a couple of days. He bade them dress in comfy, warm clothes and sensible shoes - "And please remember your wands. Thora, can I ask you for once to pack a generous lunch. I have some last minute preparations to see to?"

Half an hour later they all piled into the old car and Thora drove them to the nearest bigger town, where they stopped for some shopping, and coffee and  cake. Gylfi took over and steered the car down a narrow, bumbling road. At the end of this, mercifully short ride they stopped at a small farm. A woman dressed in skirts and with long braids came out to greet them. "He came over after you phoned him," she said. "I have the horses ready for you!"  
"Horses?" Taavi said, "What now, Gylfi?"
"Well it's impossible to go there by car, and and I can't see us walking over there, so ... riding is the best alternative. Trust me."
They distributed the bags and bedrolls and Gylfi took the lead. They soon came to a glistening ice cap, and Gylfi followed the rim until he found an almost invisible track. "I was here years ago," he said, "but I am sure this is the right place. Come on!"  The track twisted and turned and suddenly a black hole into the ice opened in front of them. Led by Gylfi they entered and stood in a natural cave. They pulled the horses into the cave and tied them to rings set in the stone. Gylfi spoke again: "This is one of the old Portal places of Iceland. From here we can go to a big place under the mountain, or to a similar place under Drangajökull. We will have to go to the big place."
"Portals!" Taavi asked in an awed voice.
"Yes," Gylfi answered, "Portals. They worked in the middle ages, up until the great witch hunts, and then they were forgotten and fell into disrepair. I discovered this place by pure accident, and I have carefully tried and tested all the portals - one nearly killed me, it is sealed by now."
He opened a door in a far corner. "Only wizards can pass through this door. It is a mini-portal in its own right, and not a nice experience, but fear not, follow me."

..... to be continued

Words for Wednesday, May 29 ~ Part 2 ~ Gylfi & Thora 5

Well even though the weeds are growing and the sun is shining, I could not pull myself off the keyboard before this was done. I hope you like it. Now I'm off to weed and enjoy the nice weather. 
The second batch of Words were:

Earned
Sense
School
Pester
Owner

And as usual I used them in the order, they were given.

That earned him much praise from Tähti, and as Thora and Gylfi heard just what this spell was, from them as well.
In a sense it was a key to magic. It was a spell to know which brand of magic a person was endowed with, or more to the point to make a utensil that could tell this.
"I thought it over this morning," Tähti said, "I think we have to open a school for magic ... shush, hear me out, she said as the other three began to talk. "After I'm done, you're welcome to pester me with questions, objections and so on. Agree?"
They nodded, and Tähti continued: "Magic was in the olden days an integral part of daily life in Finland, and I reckon in Iceland as well. But it was a rogue magic, people learned from grandparents, masters, whomever knew a bit, and often they were badly taught, and even worse in the application of magic. To the detriment of the magic society as a whole. Think of witch hunts, burning at the stakes, trials by water and so on and so forth. If we need to revive the magic - and I think we have a moral obligation to do so - we should do so in a ... let's call it scientific way. Shoot!" She stopped and sat back in her chair.

Taavi began: "I think you're right. We have to revive the magic. More and more the wizarding people are coming to realize what they are, we saw this in our travels. And the scientific approach sounds just right for our days."
"Yes," Thora said slowly, "this tally with what we have seen. But why limit our school to Iceland and Finland?`I'm sure the situation is roughly the same in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway as well as on the Faroe isles."
"But first we have to teach ourselves," Gilvi said. "only yesterday I did not know of wandsinging, and we still do not know if it can even be taught, or if it is something only you can do. So much to do, so little time!"
"Yes indeed," Tähti said, "We have books, yours here and ours in Finland, we have our wands, we have to study diligently, but time ... we need more time."
"How old are you?" Gylfi asked bluntly.
Thora said "You know how old I am, 51 at my next birthday, soon."
"We're both 62, having had our birthday this year," Taavi said.
"And how old am I?" Gylfi asked.
"You're 70-something," Thora replied. You retired only a few years ago."
 "That sounds about right," Taavi and Tähti said in unison, a twin habit they had done their best to unlearn, but it surfaced now and then when they became passionate about something.
"I am 104 years old," Gylfi said, his face immobile as a mask. "I was old already at the time of the Great War, WWI as it was later to be called. I wanted to join, but my then wife, a non-wizard, did not want me to. And as I was busy at the newly founded University in Reykjavík, I was fine with this." He looked at Thora, "Yes, I was one of the original teachers at the university, I worked there from 1911 until I retired now 14 years ago."
"How did you manage this?" Thora asked.
"Faking my dates? It was easier in the days of old, than it is now. And then ... back then, in 1911, when the university was founded, the owner of an old mansion donated his library to the university. I was, am still for that matter, able to read all the old handwriting and old Icelandic and a smattering of odd, old languages, having studied these subjects at other universities in my youth. Hence I was given the job of sorting the books and adding them to the catalogue. But I did not hand in all the books, some of the books on magic in my house ... I found them in a chest in that old library. And one of the books contained potions, recipes for potions. I only ever tried one of them. A potion of youth. The ingredients are simple, but the brewing is really complicated. It does not restore your youth, or make you even one day younger, but it makes you age slower. I have drunk sparingly of this potion ever since, and I expect to celebrate my 300th birthday if nothing kills me before then. This potion will give us all the time needed to learn, study and find a place for the school."
"Go get it," Thora said. "We have a busy time ahead!"

... to be continued.

Words for Wednesday May 29 ~ Gylfi & Thora 4

The Word for Wednesday challenge started a long time ago. Now it has turned into a movable feast with Elephant's Child as our coordinator; and the Words are provided by a number of people. This merry month of May they are by David M. Gascoigne.

The general idea of this challenge is to make us write. Poems, stories, subtitles, tales, jokes, haiku, crosswords, puns, ... you're the boss.
Use all Words, some Words, one Word, or even none of them if that makes your creative juices flow. Anything goes, only please nothing rude or vulgar.

 It is also a challenge, where the old saying "The more the merrier" holds true.

So Please, remember to follow the links, go back and read other peoples' stories. And please leave a comment after reading. Challenges like this one thrives on interaction, feedback and encouragement. And we ALL need encouragement.

 - - - - -

Words for Wednesday May 29:
Coveted
Single
Lunch
Chance
Wallet  
     and/or
Earned
Sense
School
Pester
Owner

I only used the first batch of words -- in the order they were given of course -- for this continuing story of Thora, Gylfi, Tähti and Taavi discovering the rules of magic long ago.

Soon all were armed with the coveted wands and they had all four learned the words to the wand song. Tähti was exhausted and they went to bed.
Thora woke early next morning, in the dark, there was just one single thing she wanted to try out. Could she cast spells in Icelandic with the new wand, or would it respond only to Tähti's Finnish?
She sneaked out of the house, into the garden and under the old hawthorn which had given her the wand. She mulled over the Finnish words of the language spell and composed the Icelandic formula: "Mál sameinast!" she said, swishing the wand just so. And then she laughed. She would be able to understand what she said to herself, no matter what language, she spoke, she needed a testing object. The old magazine in Polish! Now it would help. She went back to her own house, careful, so as not to wake up Tähti, still soundly sleeping after her expenditure of magic the evening before. She crept up the stairs, and took the magazine into the room farthest from Tähti's chamber. Then she read, and as if by magic, the strange, Polish syllable with their hard to pronounce consonant clusters turned into musical Icelandic inside her head as she read them aloud. Yes it worked! Satisfied, she walked to Gylfi's house where the two men were already up and about. "It works!" she told them triumphantly.
"What does?" Gilvi said, and Taavi's "Mikä toimii?" at once turned into 'What works?'.
"The language spell works in Icelandic as well!"
"Of course it does," Taavi said. "How do you say it in Icelandic?"
"Mál sameinast," Thora answered, and Taavi slowly repeated. When he said it right, he swished his wand while saying the words. And to Gylfi his next sentence sounded as Icelandic.
"It sure works," Gylfi said. "This is nice to know. We can use our old spells, even with a Finnish wand."
The three of them had breakfast in Gylfi's cottage, and then they began working. They perused all the books on magic from the attic room. Taavi was able to read them as well after a crash course in Icelandic pronunciation rules.
Tähti woke up for lunch. And after eating they told her about their readings in the old books on magic.
"The contents are at the same time very different from and almost the same as our Finnish tradition. It seems that in Iceland magic was more or less split into branches, while we speak of people's penchant in Finland. I think the similarities are vastly more than the differences."
"Dearest brother," Täthi interrupted him, "you do not by any chance have a copy of that old spell, we did not understand?"
"But yes," Taavi answered slightly confused, "I have one  right here, in my wallet."

... to be continued -- soon, I hope