The Diary of Miss Aidyn Hall,
author
July 12
A Swim in
the Bell
Apple
Blossom ran up to me with an ear-to-ear smile on her face and her green hair
flying out wildly behind her. She was wearing a strange short blue dress with
white sashes around the shoulders and waist, and dark blue shorts. “That’s a
very interesting outfit,” I told her. I liked the look a lot.
“This
is a swimming outfit,” said Apple Blossom. “My friends and I are going swimming
in the Bell
I
had never gone swimming in a lake or river, but a swim in the Bell
“You
can borrow one of Mother’s,” said Apple Blossom. “She wouldn’t mind.”
Of
course she would mind! “She’s a little smaller than me,” I said. “I don’t think
any of her clothes will fit me. It won’t take long for me to go change.”
Apple
Blossom agreed to wait for me, and I returned home to look over my bathing
suits. I decided on my green and white leaf patterned tankini, knowing that
Apple Blossom would approve of a woodsy pattern. I tied a bright floral sarong
around my waist and packed a bag full of things I bring to the pool: two
towels, two water bottles, a pen set, my notepad, and a book. I put my tag in
with them. There was no need to bring sunscreen or sunglasses; deep in the Greenwood
Apple
Blossom burst out laughing when she saw me!
“Hey!”
I exclaimed, chuckling a little myself. “What’s so funny, huh?”
“Is
that a human’s swimming outfit?”
Apple Blossom asked through her laughter.
“Yes
it is,” I said, “but it’s only one kind. It’s called a tankini. What’s so funny
about it?”
“I
don’t know,” said Apple Blossom, “it’s just funny!” She only thought it was
funny because it was different. I ruffled her hair. “Okay, Lady Laughsalot,
calm down and lead the way.” This made her giggle even more, but she took my
hand and began leading me into the Greenwood
We
ran into the Grand Elder Guardian on our way in, but his web was positioned
above our heads to let us go through. Apple Blossom nodded to him and I did
too, as I ducked to keep from messing up his web. Beyond the entrance, the
forest was absolutely crawling with spiders. There were small brown spiders and
big black spiders, red spiders and green spiders, spiders in webs and on leaves
and crawling up the bark of trees. The Jadeite guardians still felt that the princess
needed such protection. I was allowed in, but that did not mean I was trusted. There
were webs nearly everywhere I turned, and I sidestepped and ducked under them
as carefully as I could. If an arachnophobe looking for trouble wasn’t turned
away by the sight of the Grand Elder Guardian, then this would definitely send
them running for an exit!
The
sound of the Bell Greenwood Bell
“You
may set them down with the girls’ things,” said the queen, gesturing to a pile
of rags and sacks lying under a jade-flanked willow tree. I set down my bag,
untied my sarong, and took my first steps into the waters of the Bell Bell
Apple
Blossom’s friends kept their distances and looked at me with eyes full of
uncertainty. We had gotten on well at the party, but to them I was still just a
wayward bogeyman trying to earn their trust—trying, perhaps, to lure them into
a sense of security and let them drop their guard. Little Wildflower was especially
inclined to stay clear of me. She had huddled into a cluster of wild reeds and
was peering at me with eyes half the size of dinner plates.
Apple
Blossom, always the icebreaker, took my hand and said, “Come with me, Aidyn! I
want you to meet the water sprites, and I want you to see the frog chorus at
their lily pads, and I’ll show you…”
“Show
me everything,” I interrupted her. I’d hoped that her friends would want to join
us, but I wasn’t going to push them. I followed Apple Blossom down the stream,
catching bright green reeds and algae in my hands. We passed by a cluster of
lily pads, each topped with a white water lily. A chatty group of frogs were crouching
on and swimming around the lily pads and the surrounding reeds. A tiny girl
with iridescent wings sat perched on a petal of one of the lilies. Two others
fluttered in circles above her, buzzing like flies. When Apple Blossom passed,
the frogs fixed their glassy eyes on her, and the tiny winged girls bowed so
low that their noses touched the tips of the petals. But when they saw me, the
girls looked frightened and several of the frogs swam away quickly. I was
disappointed but not surprised. I know how timid frogs can be; I’ve spent
numerous summer days trying to watch them in the pond after a rainstorm, and
sometimes I could only barely catch a glimpse as one hopped away or dove into
the water or scurried under a leafy plant.
I
heard a splash in the water behind me and thought it might be another frog—a
very large frog—but when I turned around, there was Wildflower slowly paddling
toward me. She wanted to approach me, but she was lagging back, still unsure of
how wise it would be to do so. I smiled encouragingly, but for a few moments
she just treaded water and watched me as if waiting for my next move. I swam
over to the cluster of water lilies, gently plucked one from its stem, and set
it down in front of her. Wildflower looked at it, then at me. Carefully, she
picked it up and held it to her face, inhaling deeply to breathe in its
fragrance. She shyly glanced over the petals at me, and then finally, she smiled.
She was ready to trust me, at least for the moment.
I
was ready to join Apple Blossom, who was trying to talk over the croaks of the
returning frogs. I beckoned Wildflower over, and she clumsily paddled to my
side, still holding on tightly to the water lily. I patted her on the head and
took one of her hands so she could hold her water lily with the other while I
helped her swim. She was agreeable to this, and every so often she looked up at
me and smiled.
It
turned out that Apple Blossom was not talking over the frogs, but with them! She’d speak to a frog, and it
would answer back with a familiar croak as if their language was one and the
same. I looked at Wildflower, wondering if she was as taken aback as I was, but
she was playing with the three tiny winged girls and did not seem to notice.
I
tapped Apple Blossom on the shoulder. “Hey, can those frogs really understand
you?” I asked.
“Yes,”
she replied, “they understand me perfectly. I asked them to come back after
they ran away, and I told them that you were my friend and you wouldn’t hurt
them. They believed me, because frogs always believe you. And I was asking them
if they would give a concert for you, because they have such beautiful voices
and I’d really like for you to hear them.” She turned to the frogs and asked,
“Will you please, please give a concert for Aidyn?” A large green frog answered
back raucously.
She
turned to me and told me, “He says that they need to talk it over first. But
they will sing for you. They just love to sing for anyone! While we wait, we
can visit the mermaids. Oh, Wildflower, come here! We’re going to visit the
mermaids.”
Mermaids! This just kept getting better.
“Lead the way!” I exclaimed, and held my hand out for her. She took my hand and
Wildflower’s, and we swam in the direction of the currents. I could hear the
frogs croaking musically, perhaps rehearsing for their concert. When we came
upon an orderly group of bright green shrubs, Apple Blossom stepped out of the
water and motioned for us to follow. Wildflower held my hand tightly as we were
led down a path shaded by blossoming magnolia trees. “Is your mother okay with
you coming all the way over here?” I asked Apple Blossom.
“She
lets me go anywhere I want to, so long as I have this with me.” She reached
into a small pocket at the top of her swimming tunic and pulled out a perfectly
round jade stone tied to a silver cord. “It’s my personal jade, and I use it to
channel the jade essences.”
“Oh!
Is that how you were able to talk with the frogs?” Apple Blossom had told me on
the day we met that the jade essences allowed the Jadeites to communicate and
form bonds with the forest around them. I had several notes on the subject
written down in my notepad. “Yes,” answered Apple Blossom, “that’s exactly
how!”
“Can
my tag do the same kind of thing?” I asked.
“The
tags do contain the jade essences,” Apple Blossom explained, “but they are
different than the ones contained in stones like this.”
“So
I can’t use my tag to talk to animals?” I asked only half-jokingly.
Apple
Blossom laughed. “I’m afraid not, Aidyn!”
Wildflower
reached into a pocket at the top of her own tunic and pulled out her own jade
stone to show me. It was no bigger than a garden pebble, and Wildflower was no
older than five. Yet it contained the same magical abilities that, according to
Apple Blossom, were hidden in every jade stone, and Wildflower was able to
access them just as easily as any other. She smiled proudly at her jade stone,
and I told her that it was a great stone.
At
the end of the path was another kidney-shaped curve, which was occupied by
several men and women with the kind of stunning faces that would put even the
most dolled up makeup model to shame. Aside from these pretty faces and their
long, flowing hair, they didn’t fit the typical image of mermaids. They had no
fish tails, but rather fish-like fins on their arms, legs, and shoulders. They
wore thin clothing that appeared to be made from reeds and grasses, and several
of them wore shells, pebbles, or jewels around their necks and in their hair.
And though mermaids are often said to be angry, treacherous, and malicious
creatures, there was certainly none of that in these mermaids. They were sweet,
playful, and happy as could be. Watching them splash and dunk and dive and
laugh made me laugh along with them, and of course they all turned to look at
me when I did. But none of them looked frightened, unnerved, or even a little
bit uneasy. Nobody gasped, yelped, drew back, or tried to hide. Instead, they
greeted me with smiles, waving, and happy chattering in a language I could not
understand. It was a language of strange clicks and gurgles and bubbly sounds
that I could only describe as what a fish might sound like if it could talk. I
was so thrilled that there was somebody out there who was so ready to accept me
that I nearly ran to them and gave each one of them a big hug! But instead, I
smiled and waved back at them with equal enthusiasm, chirping, “Hi! Hello,
everybody! It’s a pleasure to meet you all!” even though they couldn’t
understand me. Thankfully, Apple Blossom could translate. She took my hand and
led me through the gaggle of mermaids, nodding to each one and introducing me:
“Hello, Zalana! This is my friend Aidyn!” “Galinder, I’d like you to meet
Aidyn!” “This is Aidyn, Lula!” I felt like a movie star or a visiting noble, or
someone much higher than a new author
just trying to get by. Apple Blossom is the princess, yet she goes out of her
way to put others on a higher pedestal than herself. Does she do this for all
of her friends, or does she hold me in such high regard because I’m human and
she wants to go out of her way to show that I’m not a monster? I have a feeling
it’s the latter.
I
looked behind me to check on Wildflower, and found her trailing behind us with
her precious water lily woven into her hair. I held out my hand for her again,
but she shook her head. She had her eye on one of the mermaids, a girl just a
little older than Apple Blossom with long, rose-colored hair held together with
a lotus-topped reed. She swam over to the girl as fast as a dart, calling,
“Marla! Marla!” The girl received her with a squeal and open arms.
Around
me, the mermaids chattered excitedly. Several swam up to me and touched my
hair, my shoulders, and my suit. Their curiosity got a chuckle out of me, and I
let them go on with their little examination. To them, I was one of the rarest
and most interesting of specimens, and clearly they had not heard the same
stories about humans that the Jadeites had. But I wished we could understand
eachother! If I was going to have allies—admirers, even—of this caliber, I
wanted to be able to talk with them.
Was that ability really locked up inside that tiny jade stone?
I
flagged down Apple Blossom, who was sitting on a rock and talking with an
attentive-looking mer-woman with long blonde hair and a sweet doll’s face. “May
I have a look at your jade stone for a moment?” I asked her. She nodded and
handed it to me without asking what I needed it for. I stared long and hard at
it, trying to pick up on a sign, a spark, a glow, anything that would reveal
the presence of jade essences. Was there a certain aura? I couldn’t see it. Was
there a pull or a trance I was meant to feel? I couldn’t feel it. I waded over
to a cluster of chattering mermaids and strained my ears for a familiar phrase,
word, or even just a sound. But there was nothing but the clicks and the watery
gurgles. I looked for Wildflower and her friend Marla, and found them in a
little pool, swordfighting with two long cattails. They were shouting;
Wildflower cried, “I’ll get you! I’ll get you good!” but Marla’s responses were
foreign to me. Holding the stone did not make the difference for me that it did
for Apple Blossom and Wildflower. Wildflower noticed me and called, “Hello,
Aidyn!” I waved to her and left the two of them to their game.
I
returned the jade stone to Apple Blossom. “Here you go,” I said. “I was trying
to…” I was interrupted by a sudden racket of frogs. “Oh!” cried Apple Blossom,
clapping her hands. “It’s the frog chorus! They’ve begun their concert! Come
on, Aidyn! Where is Wildflower?”
When
we met up with Wildflower, she held on to Marla and insisted that she come
watch the frogs with us. The mermaids waved and shouted happy goodbyes as the
four of us set off. Along the way, Wildflower tugged at one of Marla’s fins and
asked, “Marla, will you let me ride on your back?” Marla gurgled happily and
complied with the request. I listened to the approaching croaks, clicks,
murmurs, and sputters of the frogs, and I longed to hear the secret words that
I knew existed within them.
When
we reached the frogs’ pool, we met up with Raindrop, Crystalline, Holly Berry,
and all of the girls’ mothers. Wildflower climbed off of Marla’s back and
paddled over to her mother, who set the little girl on her knee. Apple Blossom
motioned for me to join her and the queen. I reluctantly complied, though I
would have preferred to be by myself and away from the contempt the others
surely held for me. But as it turned out, nobody was paying me any mind. They
were all lost in the songs of the frogs, the background chanting of unseen
water nymphs in the distance, the quiet chatter of the tiny, fluttering water
sprites, and of course, the ringing of the Bell’s Rush. I closed my eyes and
let myself get lost in it too.
