(scene: An old woman in a rocking chair sitting on the porch of her Appalachian home talking to her granddaughter who is standing beside her)
Chapter 1
“I’ll remember that day forever, child. Why I remember it as if it were only yesterday….when I was first given my magic eyes. That was back when dragons still flew, and I do most surely mean big bold flying DRAGONS, in capital letters, fire-breathing, people eating, ugly tempered, dangerous old dragons…not the little ground hugging scaredy-cat type dragons you have today…what do they call them now,child,….Iguanas that’s it Iguanas. Hummph! They ain’t nuthin’, oh my no! But it was also a wonderful time when dreams could come true… and I do mean big beautiful fantastic dreams…when wished for hard enough by the pure of heart. Unusual things were a lot more usual then, child, than they are now. I think maybe time was different then too…there didn’t seem to be so much of it, or maybe people just didn’t talk about it as often. It was more a matter of Now and not so much a matter of Then or When.
What’s that child? How old am I? Aren’t you the nosy parker! Hummph! Well, let’s just say that I was about your age when I was first given the gift. Or maybe I was a couple of months older, no, no, now that I think closer on it I was just one week past my 11th birthday. So since today is your 11th birthday that would make me….hmmm…. let’s just say that I am older than anybody else you’ve ever met. Besides, the real important thing is that you are 11 today! That makes this the most important day in your life and a very important day to me too. Yes, child, I have a present for you. In fact I’ve been waiting to give this gift to you for several years now. Eleven years to be exact… and 9 months.
You see I first knew your Momma was pregnant when I saw this beautiful soft glow around her tummy. I knew! I knew for certain that you were in there and I told her so too! At first she thought I was just talking silliness, but as the weeks went by she knew I was right and she began to know something real special was happening right here in the middle of these mountains in this old holler right there in her tummy. Your Momma could always see signs and sense things that others couldn’t. She knew I was fey. Fey? Why child, that means touched by fairies. It means that I can sometimes see things that haven’t happened yet.
What’s that child? Say again. Why of course I’m going to give you your gift today. Shoot, I knew when I first saw you crying your first cry in this world, all red and newborn, wiggling in your Momma’s arms that you were the One. The One to receive my gift. No, sweetie, no one told me that you were the One. I could see it for myself. Of course none of the other people could see what I saw…not even your Momma. You see I’m the only in these parts that has the gift and Fallon told me a long time ago that I should keep a special watch hereabouts for a golden-haired girl born under a Blue Moon, a beautiful child with emerald green eyes….You! Fallon said….What, child? Who’s Fallon? Why he’s the Elf Prince, ruler of the Kingdom of Leander, Guardian of the Cloak, and my dearest friend in that world or this.
Now just hush for a minute and listen. It’s almost time to give you the gift I promised. You are now eleven and that is a most special age, a magical age. You see the word eleven has lost its original meaning in this world, child, but it really means ‘elfin time”. It is the age when humans are closest to becoming magical. Through the mist of many long centuries people have lost sight of the other world that exists right here alongside the world they know today. Why, this other world used to be as much a part of people’s lives as this old house of mine is part of your life now…at least since your Momma passed away, bless her soul. They slowly slowly forgot.
How did people forget about the other world? Well, you see it happened like this…the split between magic folk and human folk, humans started keeping more to themselves and took up farming and building towns and cities and roads that destroyed the forests and ruined the streams and lakes and woods where the Whimzies lived. Now humans didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but it happened just the same. Did you ask who the Whimzies are? I keep forgetting you don’t know yet. The Whimzies are the beings of the other world…the world they call Leander. Just the same as we are called Humans here.
Anyway as I was saying, people kept multiplying faster and faster, much faster than the Whimzies. Humans kept building more houses, and farms, and so on until pretty soon Whimzies saw that they were in grave danger of losing all of their homeland. Both sides, Humans and Whimzies, slowly lost trust and contact with each other. It wasn’t something either side intended to happen. It just happened.
Then child, a most amazing thing happened. A thing that was both wonderful and terrible at the same time. The Whimzies decided that since Human folk were taking over the whole world with no apparent concern for anyone else that it was time to take action. They didn’t think that Humans meant to hurt them, but they saw that the people were so caught up in their own business that many of them didn’t even believe in the Whimzies anymore. How can you care about what you don’t believe in?
So what happened next was, for the first time in the whole long history of the Whimzies they all agreed on something. They agreed that something must be done to save themselves from the thoughtless act of the Humans. The leaders of all the different Whimzies, Fairy Queens, Troll Generals, Elf Kings, and all the others met on The Night of the Missing Moon on top of Silver Mountain and wove an incredibly powerful spell. That spell split the natural fabric of the world in two! No child, I don’t mean it spit in two like a broken rock, but I it suddenly made the world of the Whimzies practically invisible to Human eyes. Most Humans couldn’t touch it or see it or nothing. And the same was true for the Whimzies. They could no longer see or hear or interact with the Humans. The Whimzies named their world Leander, after the greatest Elf King who ever lived, bless his soul. Since that night on Silver Mountain Humans and Whimzies have lived apart and as time went by both groups even quit believing that any world existed except their own. Human folk slowly came to think that all the magic folk are just make believe… and the Whimzies quit believing that Human creatures ever were…except in old legends.
Yes, yes, you’re right child, I’m talking an awful lot without giving you the present I promised, but it is very important that you understand what I have told you. VERY IMPORTANT! The gift I have for you is the gift of Magic Eyes. I am going to give you the ability to see the other world…no, more than that…the ability to even go into that other world anytime and as often as you want! No, it’s true. You know I don’t lie, child. Ever. You will also live a very very long time and will eventually grow old in this world, but whenever you go to Leander you will always be eleven. You see, all the leaders of the magic world of Leander agreed that night on top of Silver Mountain, to weave into the Spell of Parting a special condition…that a few exceptional Humans would always be allowed to know about and visit Leander. This was done in hopes that someday both sides could become friends again and live once more together in harmony.
So now child, it is time.
I have told you what the gift is and I hope you understand that it carries with it a pledge to protect the secret of Leander and also a responsibility to try and gently help other humans understand the world of the Whimzies.
You must decide now if the gift is one that you want…for now and always.
Alright child, I was sure you would feel that way. I felt the love and gentleness in you from the first. Alright dear, give me both of your hands. No, don’t be afraid. No, sweetie it’s not gonna hurt. Close your eyes real tight while I kiss each one of them. Now repeat after me:
‘I promise to honor the customs of Leander
This I pledge on my Elfin Day
I promise to help people understand
and respect the Whimzey way’
Prose