Into the Land of the Elves: Forgiven but Not Pardoned

The Diary of Miss Aidyn Hall, traitor and thief

July 23

11:41 AM

Forgiven, but Not Pardoned

            For the past two days, I stayed clear of the Greenwood. Keeping my mind off of it—and especially off of Apple Blossom—was no easy task, but I managed it. When my work wasn’t keeping me busy, I cleaned up the garden pond and went frog hunting, and at night there were plenty of fireflies just begging to be caught. I took an opportunity to see my friend Hannah for burgers, lemonades, and a dip in the pool. Desperately, I tried not to think about the jade stones, but they would inevitably show up in my mind and I would have to hold back tears. At night, I didn’t bother holding back.

            This morning, I finally went back to the magnolia archway. The Grand Elder Guardian’s web still barred my way, and on the other side was a dejected looking Apple Blossom.

            “Hey there,” I said, trying to sound cheerful in spite of the situation.

            She managed a small, pitiful wave. For a few moments, neither of us said or did anything. We just stood there with our eyes darting from place to place until I figured it was up to me to extend the olive branch. I knelt down and held out my hands for her below the Grand Elder Guardian’s massive web. She approached me and took them. She was willing to look at me, and I figured that was a good sign. “Atta girl, there’s my friend,” I said, trying to smile for her. I’m still not sure whether or not I managed to.

            “Do you know what I’m about to ask you?” Apple Blossom asked darkly.

            “You’re about to ask me why I stole those jades.”

            “Exactly,” she said. “Oh, Aidyn, why would you ever do such a thing? I didn’t think you were the kind to steal. In fact, I thought you were the complete opposite of that! Oh, Aidyn…”

            “I didn’t think so either, honey,” I said. “It was…it was an act of impulse, I suppose. Don’t you ever act on impulse?”
            “I can’t think of any time I did,” replied Apple Blossom.  

            “I can. Don’t you remember when you snuck a peek at your mother’s book?” I reminded her.

            “Oh.” She let out a sigh. “I do, but this is different.”

            “You’re right, it is.”

            We were silent.

            “Do you really want to know why I took them?” I finally asked.

            “Of course I do!” said Apple Blossom.

            “Are you going to be mad at me?”

            “I’m already mad at you.”      

“Well, I took them because I thought I could use them to harness the jade essences,” I admitted. “You said that you couldn’t teach me, so I thought that I might learn for myself.” Apple Blossom let go of my hands and took a step back. Fire was growing in her eyes. “I told you I couldn’t do that because it was against age-old tradition!” she cried. “I thought that you would respect that! You were going to try to break it anyway!” I’d never seen her get angry, and I was amazed by how fierce such a little girl could look. “I was never actually able to,” I said, as if it made a difference. “I felt too guilty to even try.”

            “It’s the principle, Aidyn,” she told me. “Even if you didn’t go through with it, you intended to. To me, that shows a complete lack of respect! What did you plan to do with the jade essences? What makes you so worthy of them? We Jadeites use them to form deep, special connections to the forest. What do you need them for?”

            I need them to write about them and make money. I felt as if I’d been punched in the stomach. What a greedy, selfish, traitorous, all-around horrible person I was! Of course, I couldn’t tell her that. Truth is important, of course, but you don’t break someone’s heart while you’re trying to redeem yourself. So instead, I told her, “It was so I could form a special connection to the Jadeites, and so I could form a special connection to you.” It wasn’t a lie. To write about the Jadeites—to write about anything—I needed to form those special connections. But ugh, look at me. I’m talking about the Jadeites as if they’re merely writing material. That can’t be the only reason I want to draw closer to them! I want to draw closer to them for Apple Blossom, of course. I want to strengthen (and now repair) our friendship. And I still want to show them that humans are not all bad, that I am not all bad. I want to befriend all of Apple Blossom’s little friends—especially Wildflower—and show them that we humans are not the bogeymen that they had been taught to fear. It wasn’t all about the writing. It couldn’t be all about the writing.

            “Oh, Aidyn…” Apple Blossom stepped forward and took my hands again. “There are other ways to do that. You don’t have to harness the jade essences to do that!”

            “Will you teach me the other ways?” I asked her.

            “Of course I will.” And so we were friends again, but I’m not off the hook yet. She hadn’t said that I wasn’t going to be punished, and either way I have to make amends.

4:15 PM

            The Grand Elder Guardian still blocked my way, but he was willing to move aside when Apple Blossom politely requested that I be let in. The other guardians parted the way for us, though I’m sure it was very begrudgingly. “Who was it that I stole the jades from?” I asked Apple Blossom.

            “Her name is Chicory of Willowmead,” Apple Blossom told me. “She’s a gardener and a flower gatherer. In fact, she was gathering some flowers along the Bell’s Rush that day when you…” She did not finish that sentence.

            “Take me to her,” I said. “I’ll apologize and do whatever she asks of me to make amends. Maybe she needs some work done around the house, or an extra set of hands to help in the garden.” It wasn’t until I said it that I realized it wouldn’t hold any water. Why in the world would she trust a thief with her house and garden? I had delusions of grandeur, thinking that I was going to just blaze through her front door with an apology and offers of menial labor and then everything would be okay again. The truth of the matter was that she may not accept any form of apology from me.

            Apple Blossom said, “We’ll just have to wait and see, Aidyn.”

            When we crossed the bridge, we were greeted by several men and women in emerald green uniforms fashioned from maple leaves and reinforced by armor plates. Apple Blossom had told me about them once; they were a sort of public militia that dealt with street and civil matters in the Greenwood. Though they worked on the streets, they were dispatched by only one person: the king. Just because I had been forgiven enough to be let in doesn’t mean that all was well. Who would have known that petty theft was a reason to call upon the street militia? Oh wait, it wasn’t, unless you were a human among Jadeites, and therefore universally distrusted in the first place.

            “Good afternoon,” Apple Blossom said to the soldiers, and I nodded to them. The soldiers, whose stony eyes had been fixated on me, bowed to their princess. Then one of them, a gruff-looking man holding what appeared to be an old mace, began speaking quickly to her in a language I couldn’t make out. I figured it was the tree elf language that they used for their writing. Apple Blossom spoke back to him in the same language, and that got me irked. It was all well and good if these soldiers didn’t trust me to hear what they were saying that was very obviously about me, but Apple Blossom had trusted me enough to remain friends with me even after what I did, so she should trust me enough to hear at least her end of the conversation about me! Now that I think about it, if the Jadeites think humans are so terrible, why did they—or at least, this particular branch of them—adopt our English language? Isn’t it just a little presumptuous of them to go around speaking the language of the creatures they so hate and distrust? And if human contact is discouraged at best and forbidden at worst, how were the Jadeites able to get close enough to humans to adopt an entire language from them? Was it always like this? It’s something for my Need to Know list, and something to stay up late into the night pondering.

            The only words in the conversation that I could make out were my name and Chicory’s name, both said by Apple Blossom. The soldiers’ words were lost on me, and because they were doing such a good job of remaining stone-faced, there were no expressions for me to speculate from. Finally, Apple Blossom took my hand and the soldiers moved aside to let us pass. They fixed their eyes on me again, and I tried to smile for them but I don’t think I quite managed it. As we headed past the village where I had been gawked at so many times (amazingly, nobody was gawking now), I understood that the soldiers were following us—specifically, following me. So this was how it was going to be.

            Chicory of Willowmead, it turned out, lived in a small, boxy tree-bark shack out of the way of everything else. Everything about her was simple, from her unremarkable grass-green hair cut short to her faded blue pants and worn-out grey tunic. She had a plain but pleasant face, slate-blue eyes, and a little spot of dirt on the tip of her nose. It seemed like the only thing about her that wasn’t plain in every way was her garden, which was just like a picture out of Burnett’s The Secret Garden. Roses of all colors—red, pink, purple, yellow, white, and even blue—grew in arches and trailed like waterfalls. Snapdragons grew several feet tall against the garden gates. Camellias and peonies, lilies and dahlias, azaleas and petunias, and flowers I didn’t even know the names of formed a carpet of color intertwined with jade stones of varying shapes and sizes. When we arrived, Chicory had been harvesting from bushes of bright bleeding hearts. When we entered—me and Apple Blossom in front, soldiers spread out in a fan behind us—she paused and looked at us. The sight of the soldiers visibly intimidated her, but she softened when Apple Blossom approached her with her characteristic smile. “Good afternoon, Miss Chicory,” she said. Chicory bowed her head so that her nose touched the spade she was holding.

            “You have the loveliest garden,” said Apple Blossom. “I see that you take the best possible care of it. I like to see nice flowers and the nice people who tend to them.” I understood that she was trying to make the poor girl less anxious. Sure enough, that got a smile out of Chicory.

            “This is my good friend, Aidyn Hall,” said Apple Blossom, putting her arm around me. “She’s human, but she is most definitely one of the sweetest ladies you could ever hope to meet.” When she said this, I smiled a real smile, because I knew once and for all that she had forgiven me. “But,” Apple Blossom went on, “as you must know, even the sweetest are capable of doing the wrong thing sometimes. Why, the list of the wrong things I’ve done could fill a book from beginning to end! And so I am afraid that Aidyn has done the wrong thing, and it is you she has wronged. She…”

            “She’s the one who took my jades!” Chicory exclaimed.

            “I’m afraid so,” I told her. “But I am genuinely remorseful for doing so, and I will do anything you ask of me to make up for my crime—anything at all! I am your loyal servant from now until you decide that I have sufficiently apologized for the stealing.”

            “Right now I just want to know why you took them,” said Chicory.

            “I wanted to study them,” I told her.

            “Study them for what? You humans don’t have them where you’re from?”

            “The ones we have are nothing like the ones you have,” I said truthfully.

            “Well,” said Chicory, dusting off her pants, “if you wanted to ‘study’ them you could have waited for me to come back and asked me. You’re a grown-up lady. You should have known that there was no need for stealing! Do you still want to look at them?”

            “Thank you, but I’m no longer interested,” I told her. I didn’t feel that I deserved it.

            “Well, that’s all, then,” Chicory said. “You don’t have to work for me. You really don’t seem so bad, and I’m sure that the princess knows what she’s talking about, but there is nothing that I would feel right in trusting a human with—certainly not my prized garden! So I will accept your apology and leave it at that.” So I was forgiven, and it didn’t even take any work. I was slightly disappointed, as I’m sure that working as a maid or a garden-hand in a Jadeite household would have given me quite a bit of excellent material. But Apple Blossom said, “I am glad that you found it in your heart to forgive Aidyn. You are so kind, Chicory, and the perfect example of what a citizen of my Greenwood should be.”

            Chicory reached up into one of the arches and picked off an exquisite white rose, so well-formed and detailed that it almost looked like it was made rather than found in nature. She handed the rose to Apple Blossom, who received it with her usual enthusiasm: “Oh! It is beautiful, beautiful! What a perfect rose! Oh, thank you, Chicory! Thank you, thank you! But,” she turned to me, “can you give one to Aidyn too?” When Chicory looked doubtful, Apple Blossom said, “Oh, please? She’s my very, very best friend!” My heart swelled.

            Chicory picked an identical white rose—I wondered how many perfectly-formed roses she had on those arches—and handed it to me. “Thanks very much, Chicory,” I said with a smile. Apple Blossom put her arms around Chicory, stood on tiptoe, and kissed her cheek, and Chicory blushed as she returned the embrace. “Thank you very, very much, Chicory,” Apple Blossom said. “Thank you for being so kind and for forgiving Aidyn and for having such a wonderful garden.” She took my hand then, and we took our leave.

            I am forgiven. I am still Apple Blossom’s friend—her very, very best friend, her only human friend. I really want to keep it that way. 

Into the Land of the Elves: Why I Stole the Jade Stones

The Diary of Miss Aidyn Hall, author

July 20

5:17 AM

Why I Stole the Jade Stones

            Of course I can’t sleep. Did you really expect me to be able to? This is the second time I’ve woken up. When I try to rest my head, I think I hear the footsteps of Jadeite soldiers outside my window, and I’ve already had two nightmares that I don’t care to force myself to relive by divulging the details. Let’s just say that one of them involved the stock punishment of yore, and another involved spearmen.  

            Since I won’t be getting back to sleep, I shall use this time to answer the very pressing question that I know you have: why on Earth did you go and do something like that? Well, I took the jades because I hoped that I could use them to teach myself to harness the jade essences. Apple Blossom refused to teach me, and even though she had a good reason, it made me angry.

            When Apple Blossom saw that I had returned, she let out a mighty squeal and gave me one of the biggest, warmest hugs I’d ever received…oh man, thinking about that makes me feel like even more of a jerk. I’ve completely betrayed this little girl’s trust—and the trust of her entire kingdom—when all she’s ever done is shower me with kindness and welcome and even love. This girl loves me. She adores me. What have I done?

            Anyway, as she took me by the hand and led me in, I asked if she would teach me to harness the jade essences. I wasn’t ready to tell her why, so I just told her that I was so fascinated by the concept that I wanted to learn everything there was to know about it. Apple Blossom looked uneasy, even a bit embarrassed. I’d never seen her look that way before, and it was more than a little disconcerting. “Is there a problem?” I asked her.

            She looked at the ground. “Well…yes. Yes, there is a problem.”

            “What’s wrong?”

            She looked back up at me. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I can’t teach you to harness the jade essences. They belong exclusively to the Jadeites, and it is forbidden to pass them on to anyone who is not a Jadeite.”

            “But would I be able to harness them if you did teach me?” I asked, getting excited.

            “I cannot and will not teach you, Aidyn,” said Apple Blossom.

            “Couldn’t you get permission from your parents?”

            “They would never grant it.”

            “They granted permission for me to be here,” I reminded her. “Technically that was also forbidden.”

            “They will not grant this!” said Apple Blossom. “The jade essences belong to the Jadeites alone, and they have for as long as there have been Jadeites. They are what set us apart from our ancestors, the tree elves, and the dryads before them. They set us apart from today’s common wood fairies and earth elves, the water sprites and the sand elves of the deserts, the mermaids and the forest nymphs. They are unique to us and they always will be. But if you really want to learn about them, then perhaps I can get us into one of the Temples of the Jades. The monks won’t like to allow a human in, but if I’m with you they may be at least willing.”

            So far this was working out beautifully, and I absolutely hate myself for ruining it the way I did. “Oh, thank you so much, Apple Blossom!” I cried, hugging her. “That’s going to help me in such a big way!” But in actuality, it only half helped. It was likely that the monks had the largest collection of information available about the jades, the jade essences, and their various uses and properties, but there is information and then there is experience. They could describe it to me and I could write their words down, but without the full experience my writing could never be as real as I wanted it to be. There are plenty of writers who don’t write based upon the full experience—after all, any writer who kills off their protagonist hasn’t experience death and been able to write all about what it’s like! But that’s why I’ve never killed off a protagonist. To me, writing is about taking experiences and finding ways to make them even more interesting than they already were, and without the experience the writing could still be good, maybe even great, but it could not be what I wanted it to be.

            But what really got to me was that Apple Blossom had not said it was impossible for a human to learn the jade essences, just that it was forbidden. In fact, she had subtly implied that I could very well learn them if I was allowed. An entire world of magic and fantastical new experiences was locked away by taboo! I could not let this rest, especially after Apple Blossom was able to get permission for me to be let into the Northern Temple of the Jades (there is one on every corner of the Greenwood). When Apple Blossom told me that I would need to leave a gift to thank the monks, I got the idea of buttering them up with the best possible gift, hoping they would be so enamored with it that they would be willing to make me the exception to the rule.

            “What sort of things do they like?” I asked Apple Blossom.

            “Oh, they like any kind of sweet fruit, flowers, coins…some even leave jewels or silk. Really, the monks will appreciate anything. They are a very humble lot.

            I knew exactly what to give to them; for my senior prom many years ago, I had been given a gold-embroidered brocade scarf to match my gold cheongsam dress. I had worn the scarf only two other times since the prom, to the weddings of two different friends, and I was willing to part with it. This was much more important than ever wearing it again. I told Apple Blossom to wait for me by the magnolia archway while I went to fetch the scarf. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in the back of my throat, and I thought it was going to push itself up and out. Oh, please, oh, please like my gift enough for that! I silently pleaded. It wasn’t until we were finally on our way to the temple that it hit me.

            They weren’t going to like my gift enough for that.

            No gift was enough to break an age-old taboo that existed since the very first Jadeites. Who was I to think that a fancy scarf was enough to inspire a couple of honor-bound monks at a temple to break a time-honored tradition? It was wrong for me to have even thought of bribing them. There had to be another way.

            And then, as if on cue, we passed by the jade stones; five of them lying all by themselves on a mat laid out along the Bell’s Rush. Nobody was around, and yet I knew they must have belonged to somebody.

            But nobody was around!

            Don’t you dare, Aidyn Hall! Don’t you even think about it! I saw that Apple Blossom was several paces ahead of me and she wasn’t slowing down, so I had room to lag behind. I took a step closer to the jades. I’m only going to look at them. Even as I told myself this, I knelt down and picked up the five jades. I waited for either the owner or Apple Blossom to catch me, but nobody came around, and for a flicker of a second I could’ve sworn that I felt just a tiny spark of power coming from the jades. Apple Blossom doesn’t need to teach me anything! I can learn it all myself! I don’t need her! As my fist closed over the five jades, I felt a sudden resentment for Apple Blossom, as if it was all her fault that I was forced to steal these jades. If she had just agreed to teach me, there wouldn’t be a problem! If she really trusted me, the only human who has ever treated her and her race with respect, she wouldn’t have had any real reason to refuse! But she was just like any other princess, who cared so much more about honor and tradition than friendship…

            I was still seething with resentment when I slipped the jades into my pocket and heard Apple Blossom call my name. I didn’t want to go to her. I was angry with her, and in that moment I even disliked her. So I turned around and I ran. I ran as Apple Blossom continued to call for me, as she took note of my sudden wild flight—“Aidyn! Aidyn, come back! Aidyn!”—and as her calls gave way to tears. Apple Blossom was speedy, but for once I could outrun her. I was taller and my legs were longer and I was fueled by panic. I could not let her catch me with those jade stones! I ran past confused Jadeites looking on, past the Bell’s Rush and the paths leading to the palace, over the bridge. I ran until there was a nasty stitch in my side and I still didn’t stop. When I reached the deep forest leading back to the magnolia archway, I didn’t even stop to duck under the webs of the spider guardians. More than once, I got a face full of web and sticky threads clung to my arm. There was no sign of the Grand Elder Guardian.

            I collapsed in front of my house, and it was only then that I realized exactly what I had done. Guilt attacked me, both for the theft and for my anger towards Apple Blossom, and it wouldn’t let up. And soon I remembered that the tag was in my other pocket…

            There’s nothing left for me to do but return the jade stones. I don’t want to try to learn the jade essences anymore. I don’t deserve to. My story will be lacking, and that is the consequence for my terrible behavior. I will face any additional consequences like a soldier.

            It’s still very early. If I can get back to sleep now, I’ll return the jades the very moment I wake up.

8:03 AM

            My way in was blocked by the Grand Elder Guardian.

            It was disheartening, but I suppose it was no surprise. “Please get these back to whomever they belonged to,” I told him, leaving the jades on the ground below his web. “My name is Aidyn Hall,” I went on, “and I stole these jade stones. You know that, but I want the person I stole them from to know it as well. I don’t want to let myself get away with this, and I deserve any punishment that comes my way. Will you get the message to them?”

            The Grand Elder Guardian made no form of response. He is a spider, after all. I nodded respectfully and took my leave. Now there is nothing to do but wait. I’m not sure if I can focus on work today, but I have to try.

3:28 PM

            The jades have disappeared, and my way into the Greenwood is still blocked. My way may be blocked forever. Has Apple Blossom come by to look for me? If so, have any of the guardians told her why I wasn’t there? Or has she gone about her business without even giving me a second thought? I have a strong feeling that I’ve destroyed our friendship.  

Into the Land of the Elves: My New Project

The Diary of Miss Aidyn Hall, author

July 19

1:35 PM

My New Project

            It’s been six days since I’ve gone into the Greenwood. This was a planned absence, and I made sure to inform Apple Blossom. Five days ago, I went down to the magnolia archway bright and early in the morning. As usual, Apple Blossom was waiting for me, all smiles. What I had to tell her gave me a pang of guilt: “Apple Blossom, I won’t be able to come and play with you for a while.” Already, she opened her mouth to protest, but I got to the point. “I’m afraid I have so much work to do this week that I won’t have enough time to visit. It will only be for a few days.”

            “You have to go away?” she asked, and she sounded so heartbroken that my heart wanted to crawl into a hole and hide away. “Apple Blossom, I promise that it won’t be for very long,” I told her. “I’ll be back the very moment my workload gets lighter.”

            She didn’t understand. Why would she understand? She is ten years old and a princess, and things like work and keeping a house are completely foreign concepts to her, and likely always will be. Do any of the Jadeites have to work in the way that humans do? Apple Blossom’s friends had never said anything about their parents working. There was nothing more for me to tell her, so I knelt down and opened my arms. “Come here, Apple Blossom.” She complied, returning the embrace and resting her head against my shoulder. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she wiped them on the sleeve of my t-shirt. “Oh dear, don’t cry,” I said softly, patting her on the back. “I will be back very soon. Until then, don’t even think about me. If you think about me, you’ll be upset, and I wouldn’t want that. I can’t be so hard not to think about, can I?”

            She had no answer. I let her go, wiped the remainder of her tears, and patted her on the head. “I’ll see you soon, my friend.”

            She waved to me and I waved back. Then I left the archway and headed for home. I was fighting back tears myself by then, and I had the grim feeling that I had somehow betrayed the poor kid. I really did have a lot of work to do, but that wasn’t entirely the reason that I needed to take a brief leave of absence from my adventures. I now have a brand new project in the works, one that I have been formulating in my head since the day the two of us had gone sailing on the Bell’s Rush and Apple Blossom had peeked in the lacy book. In actuality, it’s not so new at all; I’ve been working on it for quite a while, but it was only then that I began to toy with the idea of making any kind of project out of it. Now I know for sure that I want this to really be something.

            It’s this diary. This diary is my project. All of the entries about my adventures in the Greenwood, the wonderful days spent with Apple Blossom and her friends, seeing the castle, swimming in the Bell’s Rush, meeting the mermaids…when I returned home that day, I took some time to read over everything I had written up until the frog chorus at the Bell’s Rush. I felt as if I was reading a real book—not one of my books.  As far as books go, my two are quite well received. They’ve been picked up by a real publisher and not vanity, they’ve been in equal parts praised and panned by critics, they have a small but loyal reader base, and in addition to my other writings, they’ve helped me keep this little cottage. But when I read one of them, I just don’t think of it as reading a real book. Perhaps it’s just because I knew them before they were books. But it’s more likely that I just cannot stand my own writing. Sometimes I wonder if this is true for all writers or if I’m just crazy.

            But my adventures in the land of the elves hold my attention in a way that none of my other writings ever could. When I finished reading my entries, I read them over two more times just for the hell of it. That day was a historic occasion, the very first day I’d read something I’d written and actually enjoyed it straight through the whole thing. I even put a little star on my calendar to mark such a glorious day.  

            Thankfully, my story is so unbelievable that I can pass it off as a work of fiction, and therefore ensure the safety of the Greenwood. A few days ago, when I took a little bit of time to catch up with my human friends, I tested this out on my friend Katie; I was arranging the notes written in my notepad when I asked, “Katie, would you believe me if I told you that I’ve been having adventures in an enchanted wood with little green-haired elves?”

            Katie raised a brow at me and said, “I think I’d be very worried about anybody who did believe that.” So there you have it!

            Blending my Greenwood adventures with my work means that Apple Blossom will become a part of my work, meaning that I’ll have plenty of time to spend with her! Oh, won’t she be so happy to hear that? But wait a minute, should I even tell her? Should I tell her that she’s part of a project to spread all of the information I gather about her, her family, her friends, and her world? Would that be a breach of trust? Or would it be an even larger breach of trust if I did it all without telling her? And even if I did tell her and she didn’t mind, Apple Blossom can keep a secret just about as well as a golden retriever puppy can sit still and quiet. What on Earth would the king and queen say when they inevitably found out?

            The past five days were spent working on my smaller projects, catching up with friends, and entering the planning stages for my promising new project. I compiled four different lists: “Things I Know About the Jadeites,” “Things I Still Need to Know About the Jadeites,” “Things I Can Almost Certainly Use in my Work,” and “Things I Still Need Some Time to Think About.” In the top bullet point of that second list is this:

            EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT THE JADE ESSENCES

The jade essences are, at the moment, entirely locked away from me, and as such they fascinate me more than anything else. The only way that I can learn everything there is to know about the jade essences—the  exact nature of how they are channeled, what they feel like, how many different kinds there are, if there are many different kinds at all, the powers contained within them, and more besides—is if I learn to harness them myself. That is, if it’s even possible for a human to do so. If it isn’t, well, then I’ll never be able to write about it as clearly and with as vivid description as I would have if I could see and feel it all for myself. If it is possible, though, then I know that Apple Blossom will teach me. She’ll be a wonderful teacher, one who is patient and tolerant and knows her subject inside and out, despite her young age. Oh, I feel so bouncy! To think that I, Aidyn Hall, could potentially harness an ancient, elven power, one that no other human in the world would ever be able to learn!

            But then there’s this little issue, which is written in the top bullet point of my fourth list, “Things I Still Need Some Time to Think About”:

           

                      DO I TELL THE JADEITES ABOUT THE PROJECT?

Telling only Apple Blossom would mean telling everybody, unless I remained very firm on swearing her to secrecy. She would keep a secret if I told her that it was to be kept a secret. She would do anything I told her to do without question, hesitation, or protest, but that’s not exactly a trait of hers that I would like to take advantage of. In fact, taking advantage of that would make me feel like an absolutely rotten person, and if word got out I would end up in very, very hot water. The Jadeites are ever-so-gradually growing okay with me and I don’t want to ruin that.

            But refusing to tell at all could easily classify under betrayal. If humans are going to know about the Jadeites, even if I pass it all off as fiction, then the Jadeites should know that humans are going to know about them and that I will be passing it off as fiction. And that will go over about as well as waking up a sleeping grizzly bear.

            So what do I do? I suppose now isn’t the time to do anything. All I can do right now is wait and see how things are going to turn out in the long run. But while I wait, it really wouldn’t hurt to tackle “Things I Still Need to Know.” I’ll go back to the Greenwood today. I’ll even go right now, and I’ll take my diary…

            …Wait.

            Should I take my diary? What will I tell Apple Blossom when the curious little fox that she is asks me about my writing? I could tell her that it’s private, but what right do I have to keep anything private that’s about her? I’ll take my diary someday, but not today. Okay, out I go.

4:15 PM

            Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!

            I’ve stolen some jade stones!  

            I’ve stolen some jade stones!!!

            I’ve stolen exactly five jade stones: two large ones, one medium sized, and two small ones. Why am I covering them with my hand? I have nothing to hide them from now. It’s not like there’s some Jadeite standing outside my house, peeking through my window…

            Oh!!!

            The tag! I completely forgot about the tag! They can monitor me through the tag, and they know that I’ve stolen the jades! I’m already caught! Oh, what have I done? All this time, I managed to keep my nose clean around them. They even almost trusted me! And I had to go and do a thing like this!  

            What have I done?

Into the Land of the Elves: A Swim in the Bell's Rush

The Diary of Miss Aidyn Hall, author

July 12

10:00 AM

A Swim in the Bell’s Rush

            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’s Rush. Can you come with us? Are you very busy today?”

            I had never gone swimming in a lake or river, but a swim in the Bell’s Rush sounded especially pleasant. It was deep blue and pristine, and the tingling sound it made was very relaxing. I had learned during our sail that it was highly populated with frogs, crickets, water nymphs, water sprites, and even fairies (which I had gotten to see!) whose pretty voices created a harmony with the bell sounds. Besides, it would give me excellent material in case I ever wanted to write about swimming in a lake, or in case I ever wanted to write about swimming in a lake full of fairies and water sprites. “I’d love to go swimming with you,” I told Apple Blossom. “If you’ll wait here for a few moments, I’ll go change into my own swimming outfit.”

            “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, the trees would do a good job of obscuring the sun. I tied up my hair and returned to the magnolia archway.

            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. I used to think my friend Janelle was the giggliest person I’ve ever met in my life, but now I don’t think anybody could top Apple Blossom in the Giggles and Cheer Department!

            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’s Rush rang clear and melodious as we entered the Greenwood. We passed by the houses full of elves who were still inclined to gawk at me. Apple Blossom led me through a patch of wooded area and around to a bright clearing, where the Bell’s Rush curved in a sort of kidney shape before branching off in its usual formation. Apple Blossom’s four friends from the party were laughing, splashing, and playing like young mermaids. Their mothers, including the queen, sat around a picnic blanket, chattering and laughing while playing a card game. All of them were dressed in different-colored versions of the swimming outfit Apple Blossom wore, with only very slight variations in design. The queen glanced at me, and I gave her my friendliest smile. “Where should I put my things?” I asked her.

            “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’s Rush. Usually, when you step into water it’s either too hot or too cold, and you have to swim around to adjust to the temperature. That wasn’t the case with the waters of the Bell’s Rush, which were just the right blend of warm and cool. The little waves from the currents tickled me, and I dunked my head to feel the water caress my face. It was so refreshing and I was so happy that I laughed out loud.

            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. 

The Pearls

All parts of "The Pearls, in order from 1 to 5

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

The Pearls, part 5 (ending)

            Dani crossed over the golden bridge and approached the princess. Her face was calm now, and Dani felt at ease. She had been frightened of the princess’ frowning visage, but now that her expression was calm, Dani could see that she was beautiful like a precious Victorian doll. She looked as she had when Dani had first encountered her.

The princess smiled, delighted to see that her precious pearl necklace had come back to her. She was even more beautiful when she smiled. “Hand them to me,” she ordered. Dani felt so calm looking at the pretty face that she complied without hesitation. The princess put the necklace on and looked at her reflection in the brook. “They look so much better on me than you,” she said.

            Dani didn’t say anything. For a moment, the princess looked at her as if observing an interesting insect under a microscope. “You think you are a real beauty, don’t you?” asked the princess.

            “I suppose you can say that.”

            “But look at you! You’re so plain, almost raggedy. I’ve seen farm girls more beautiful than you!”

            Dani didn’t say anything.

            “Your box is filled to the brim with jewels of all kinds, sizes, and shapes,” said the princess. “You think that donning them makes you a beauty. You use them to distract others from how plain you are.” The princess approached Dani and looked straight into her eyes, and though she was small and delicate, she managed to look quite imposing. “If you had done what was right, and willingly returned the pearls upon learning that they belonged to me,” she said sharply, “then you could have gone on being plain. You might have even become beautiful along the way. But now, you are ugly. You’ve shown that you are a vain, selfish, dishonest woman whose own petty desires come before all else. You are willing to steal a precious heirloom from a princess in order to further your desire to pass as beautiful. But your ways have shown that you are ugly, even hideous.”

             “You said yourself that I’m plain,” Dani snapped, “so what difference does it make that I’m selfish and ugly and whatever else? If I can’t be beautiful, I might as well be ugly!” Mouthing off was the only way she could suppress the guilt and shame of having her wrongdoing, her insecurities, and her most unattractive flaws thrown in her face all at once.

            “I pity you,” said the princess, “because you don’t know what beauty really is. If you were to take away my gowns, my crowns, my diamonds and my pearls, my gold, silver, and jewels, and all of my silks and brocades, I would still be beautiful. I could have nothing and still be beautiful, while you are plain and ugly even with the finest pearls, because you don’t understand that real beauty comes from your character. For that, I pity you.”

            “I didn’t come here to listen to an after-school special!” Dani snapped. “You have your lousy pearls and you’ve told me how ugly I am, so I’ll be taking my leave. Now tell me how to get home.”

            “I can see that you’ve learned nothing,” said the princess, shaking her head in exasperation, “and that you are hard-hearted to the point of stupidity. But still, I am willing to help you, even though I shouldn’t waste any time on the likes of you.”

            “I don’t need any ‘help’ from you!” said Dani. “And I’m going to be pissed if I miss work tomorrow because of you!”  

            But instead of chiding Dani any further or commenting on her rudeness, the princess smiled and took both of her hands. Dani’s first instinct was to pull back, but something in the gentle gesture and the doll-like face would not allow her to. She felt calm all over, too calm to run away or strike out or even mouth off again. The princess looked at her with the kind of gentle expression that an older sister might use for her younger sibling. “Tell me your name,” she said. Since there was no anger or malice in her voice, Dani answered: “Dannica Halliwell.”

            “Dannica Halliwell, I can see your beauty clearly when you aren’t being as disagreeable as you were,” said the princess. “You have pretty eyes, hair like spun gold, and your lips form a nearly perfect rosebud shape.”

            “I thought you said I was plain.”

            “You are rather plain,” said the princess, “but I can see your beautiful qualities when you choose to be calm and pleasant as you are now. I see your potential, and you may be plain, but you are no longer ugly.”

            “Well, it’s hard to be pleasant when you’re so plain, or ugly,” said Dani.

            “Even if it makes you more beautiful and you know it?” asked the princess.

            “I wouldn’t know it,” said Dani, “because nobody would see it that way.”

            “I see it that way!” said the princess.

            “I mean, nobody where I’m from would see it that way,” replied Dani.

            “That’s a pity,” said the princess with a sigh. “Anybody could turn ugly in a world where the most beautiful qualities are not valued. I can see why you feel as though you need jewels and adornments to be beautiful, but it is still no excuse for trying to steal my pearls. But even with your thievery, I know you are not really the scoundrel you’ve made yourself out to be. And in addition to helping you realize how wrong you were, I’d like to help you realize what beauty really is. Let me take you under my wing.”

            Dani was taken aback. “What in the world do you mean?”

            “I mean,” said the princess, “that I will let you stay with me and be my companion. You will have my old dresses and robes, but you will have no other luxuries. But I will be so kind to you and make you feel so beautiful and worthy that you will find luxuries to be quite unnecessary.”

            “You’re going to take me away from my home?” cried Dani.

            “I am making an offer,” said the princess. “If you want to take it, you may. If not, I’ll send you back home to your sad and ugly world. But if you do decide to stay with me, you will find that you have no more need for pearls.” With that, she let go of Dani’s hands and walked towards the castle.

            Dani looked around at the magnificent castle, the pristine brook, the splendid courtyard and the colorful garden beside it. She watched the princess’ golden ringlets bounce at her shoulders, her long velvet gown—a world away from Dani’s little pink velour dress—trailing behind her as she walked. Her kind and gentle smile was still fresh in Dani’s mind. When she wasn’t angry, the princess was so lovely and sweet, and she was ready to forgive Dani. What would an old ragtag assortment of jewelry matter if Dani could live as the companion of a fairy princess? What would her apathetic bar friends and her co-workers at the stuffy old office think if they could see her by the side of a princess straight out of a fairy tale? Then again, Dani was quite all right with not seeing them for a long, long time.

           So Dani followed after the princess, and it didn’t take too long for her to discover that she never had a need for pearls, rubies, sapphires, or anything else of the sort. But everyone who saw her by the princess’ side would marvel at just how beautiful she was, even lovelier than the princess’ spectacular pearl necklace.