Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

Boxed Set

© Copyright, 2016. Robert A.
Iannone

All
rights reserved.

*

Prequel
– Rose’Alynnia

Book 1 – Flying Girl

Book 2 – Ham and Egg

Book 3 – Scrambled Egg

Book 4 – Broken Egg

Book 5 – Fried Egg

Book 6 – Bacon and Egg

Book 7 – Dazzle and the Crystal Egg

Book 8 – Sassi, K’ssss and Soo

Book 9 – Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz

Book 10 – Oh My Gosh

Book 11 – Goodnight Girlies

Book 12 – All That Was

Introduction

Welcome to Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood. In this box set, we
begin where most stories do – at the beginning.

Rose’Alynnia, the series prequel, is the backstory of how Flying
Girl, and by happenstance the Hameggattic Sisterhood, came to be.

Fast-forward a thousand years. Our story continues as an ordinary
girl begins to develop into a legendary inter-galactic heroine.

In truth, the first eight books are a prequel to the six
adventures that the Sisterhood will have. Taking the time to follow Egg as she
transforms from ordinary to extraordinary is essential to appreciate what she
will accomplish.

Below are the titles of those six adventures . . .

The
Quest

[Included in this Box Set as books 8 thru 12]

Zynn-Zaz’zia

The
Serenity Deception

Sisterhood’s
End

Nemesis

Ever After

Please visit www.flyinggirl.us
for more information.

Prequel

Rose’Alynnia

[formerly The Sword and The Rose]

Prequel to

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© 2016, copyright by Robert A. Iannone,

All Rights Reserved

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter
1 - A Royal Pain

Chapter
2 - Duke of Bo’ring & Duchess of Prim

Chapter
3 - The Royal Sea Serpents

Chapter
4 - The Rainbow Dragon

Chapter
5 - Storm

Chapter
6 - Z’kkk

Chapter
7 - The Order of the Crystal Egg

Chapter
8 - Mobius

Chapter
9 - Dazzle, the Warrior Princess

Chapter
10 - The Essence of Life

Prologue

Nestled in the
constellation Taurus, trillions of miles from Earth, is a group of stars called
The Seven Sisters. One of them is Alcyone . . .  home to the planet Aerianna.

It is a unique world
. . . populated with not one, but three, intelligent species – Humans, Dragons
and Sea Serpents.

Under the benevolent
rule of King M’earth, harmony, prosperity and tranquility are enjoyed by all
his loyal subjects . . . be they creatures of the air, land or sea.

Sadly, someone
threatens the serenity of Aerianna. It is the King’s eldest daughter. The
Princess Rose’Alynnia is beautiful, intelligent, resourceful and adventurous.

She is also a free
spirit who simply refuses to abide by the rules.

Chapter 1 – A Royal Pain

“I
will chain her in leg irons, toss her in a dungeon and throw away the KEY,” screamed the
red-faced King.

“Of course you will
not,” replied his wife.

“You forget yourself
woman. I am King of Aerianna, Sovereign of Humans, Dragons and Sea Serpents,
possessor of the Crystal Egg not to mention her father.  I can do whatever I
wish.” He harrumphed loudly.

“You will not because
we have no dungeons.” It was difficult for her not to laugh.

M’earth’s face turned
from red to plum purple. He tried to say something kingly but his mind couldn’t
focus. All he could do was sputter and bellow, “WELL, IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT.”

Kat’Alynnia lost
control, and in a very un-queen-like fashion, she began to giggle. When she had
regained her composure, she asked, “What did our daughter do this time?”

“SHE JUMPED . . .”

“Please, your Majesty
(it irritated him when she called him that), I am right here. There is no need
to raise your voice.”

“Sorry” he answered
meekly – something that the most powerful person in all of Aerianna seldom
did.  “Kat, she jumped.” And he raised his hands in a gesture that said, “Can
you believe it?”

The Queen had no idea
what her husband was talking about. “She jumped where?”

“SHE JUMPED OFF OF
THE CITY,” he roared. He didn’t mean to, but the thought of his daughter,
his oldest child, the heir to the throne plummeting ten thousand feet made him
lose control.

Since the city –
Q’umulus – floated about two miles above the ground below, it was never
considered good judgment to jump off of it. In fact, it was against the law –
as if you actually needed one to point out the obvious danger to life and limb
of plunging into the abyss as it were.

Kat’Alynnia was as
shocked as her husband, but she knew her daughter all too well and was able to
ask calmly “I presume she landed safely”?

“Of course she landed
safely.”  Then he laughed – a bellowing sound. “My daughter can do anything,”
he said proudly. “Bless her soul, there is nothing in this world that can stop
my Rose from doing whatever incredibly dragon-brained, ill-conceived and
dangerous scheme she concocts in that beautiful head of hers.”

Kat’Alynnia smiled
warmly. “I thought you wanted to put her in a dungeon?”

Now it was M’earth’s
turn to smile. “Since we seem to be without one, I have a better idea.”

*****

A Week Before

“I know something I
can do but you can’t.”

The Princess turned
toward her friend and laughed. “I hardly think so.”

“Would you care to
place a little wager?”

Rose’Alynnia
hesitated for a fraction of a heartbeat as she considered the challenge. She
knew she could best any human her own age at any activity. That thought wasn’t
conceit – it was fact. Her competitiveness was already legendary and finding
anyone foolish enough to challenge her was becoming virtually impossible.

But Kl’air wasn’t
human; she was a dragon. And though she was about the same age as Rose, she had
ten times her strength. However, the Princess was way too clever for her own good.
Whatever shortcomings she might have physically, she knew she could figure a
way to even the odds.

“I accept.”

“You don’t even know
what I’m going to say?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“You’re
unbelievable.”

“I heard my father
tell my mother that I was an unbelievable Royal pain in the butt.”

“More like an
unbelievable pain in the Royal Butt” chimed T’eel. She was the third member of
this Trio of Trouble. She was also a sea serpent.

Rose pointed to
herself, made a face, and mouthed the words “me, a pain?” then she burst out
laughing. The other two joined in. However, their happy sounds were a little
different from humans. A sea serpent will h’sssss and a dragon will eeek.

When they calmed down
Rose asked, “So what’s the dare?”

“No, no. If you’re so
sure of yourself, let’s agree to the bet first.” Then she added with a smile
“unless you’re scared?”

T’eel rolled her eyes
when Rose said, “You will address me as your Royal Majesty, Princess
Rose’Alynnia, and speak only when I command you to do so.”

The dragon pretended
to be chastened, went to her knees and begged to be forgiven.

“Rise my
insignificant and wholly worthless subject. I will hear your words.”

“You are as kind as
you are beautiful. Should I win the wager . . . a most unlikely outcome, I
acknowledge . . . I wish to wear your tiara for a full month. Furthermore, you
will wear a jester’s hat for the same period of time.” She bowed her head then
added, “If it pleases your majesty.”

Rose turned to T’eel
and asked “My most trusted advisor, my Feminion, what say you?”

“I say you’re both
crazy.”

“Be that as it may,
what would I ask of this wretched dragon if I win?”

“If you win?” T’eel
had never heard the Princess even mention the possibility of losing.

“Point well taken.
When I win . . .”

“H’mmm, I think that
you should make this impudent dragon wear a dress of your choosing.”

T’eel and Rose
cringed as Kl’air squawked. “Never. Never, ever, never. No, no way, nope and
no-how.” Dragons thought humans were stupid for wearing clothes and they
would never be caught dead in them. The concept of modesty didn’t translate
into dragon. Besides, the ridicule she would receive from her own kind would be
unbearably humiliating.

“Feminion, as
always, I treasure your advice. So be it.” She turned to the dragon whose
scales were sticking up in agitation and said, “As I command, let it be done.”

Kl’air turned to
T’eel, her eyes glowing with horror at the thought of wearing clothes. “So help
me, if I lose, I’m going to make you wear a dress too.” Sea serpents actually
felt the same way as dragons on the subject of clothes.

“Hey, I’m not
betting.”

Rose arched her
eyebrows in pretend shock. “Have I heard correctly? Does one of my dearest
friends not believe that I will win? Are you unwilling to show your loyalty by
accepting this insignificant wager?”

“Come on, Ro. Leave
me out of this.”

“Oh, I think not,”
said the Princess with mischief dripping from her every word. She turned to the
dragon and said, “She gladly and hardily accepts.”

Since T’eel was now
forced to have an interest in the outcome, she asked, “So what’s the bet?”

Kl’air smiled (which
on a dragon meant that she showed two rows of razor sharp teeth) “I can jump
off Q’umulus, glide to the ground below and land safely. You, my dearest
Princess, cannot.”

“NOOOOOO” screamed
T’eel. “That’s a stupid bet.” Since a dragon had wings and could fly, the
ability to jump off a floating city and glide the two miles to the ground below
was as easy as a human walking. On the other hand, a human couldn’t fly and at
best could glide like a large rock. Or like a sea serpent.

Rose’Alynnia was
momentarily stunned. The dragon, a species not known for their cleverness, had
outsmarted her.

“Something wrong,
your Royal-ness?” teased Kl’air.

“Ro, don’t even think
about it. If you don’t kill yourself, your father will.”

The Princess
continued to stare at the dragon; but she was obviously deep in thought. The
seconds began to drag on and Kl’air was starting to grin in triumph.  T’eel on
the other hand squirmed nervously. Sometimes her friend went too far. Actually,
most times she did.

“I accept the
challenge.”

“NOOOOOO”. That was
T’eel, of course.

Now Kl’air was
getting nervous. She had never thought that the Princess would say yes. Rose
was a daredevil of the first order but she was the smartest person she ever
knew. This challenge was pushing common sense right off a cliff – or at least
off the floating city. Then it came to her. “You’re just saying yes so I back
down, aren’t you? Not even the great Rose’Alynnia, heir to the Throne of
Aerianna would do something this stupid.”

The Princess began to
smirk. Some might have described it as a kind of an evil grin; well, at least a
mischievous one. “Me do something stupid? Perish the thought.”

“Then what?”

“You’ll see. I need
about a week to get ready. Until then, ladies I must bid you farewell. I have
much to do.”

“Ro!”

“Rose!”

“And I command you
not to say anything . . . to anyone. Understand?”

The dragon looked at
the serpent who looked back and shook her head as if to say “what have you
done?”

*****

“Mother, I’m going
down to Nau’tika.” That was one of the three major cities of the sea serpents.
Located a half mile under the ocean, it was not where you would expect the
Princess to go to learn how to fly.

Assuming that Rose
was going to visit with T’eel, Kat’Alynnia just kissed her daughter and wished
her a good visit.

Though dragons were
allowed to arrive or leave the Royal Capitol on the strength of their own
wings, humans and sea serpents were required to use one of two conveyance
systems. Those heading to an underwater city would use a transport device
designed by Serpents. Famed for their advanced engineering and scientific
skills, Serpents had no equals as masters of all things technical. In fact, the
only reason that Q’umulus could float was because humans had adapted
anti-gravitational research conceived and perfected by Serpent Scientists.

So it would come as
no surprise that their transport system would be equally as impressive. It was
bubbles!

Without getting too
tedious with its description, suffice it to say it was a bubble of air (if you
were human) or water (if you were a serpent) encased in another bubble of
floaterium – a lighter-than-air gas that made the whole contraption float up or
down as required. It was very simple but effective and safe.

Rose made her way to
the station, and using her status as Royal Princess, commandeered the next
bubble heading to Nau’tika.  The people of Aerianna loved their Princess but
sometimes she could be insensitive. There had been a dozen people who had been
waiting almost an hour for that bubble. Irritated that they were forced to give
up their place to the impetuous young girl, they were seriously annoyed by the
fact that they all could have fit into a device designed to comfortably hold
twenty individuals. But the Princess would never consider sharing with anyone
other than her closest friends.

At ten years of age,
Rose’Alynnia had many wonderful qualities – intelligence, sense of humor,
determination, fearlessness and a zest for life. On the other hand, she had a
number of serious shortcomings that her parents had been unable to correct. For
one, she felt that rank (as in Royal Princess and heir to the Throne of
Aerianna) had its privilege. Taking advantage of her social position was only
her right. How her actions might be perceived by those she would one day rule
was of no consequence. It wasn’t that she didn’t care for the people of
Aerianna; she just assumed that they expected their Princess to act a certain
way – the way she did.

And as the dare with
Kl’air showed, Rose was so convinced in her own superiority that she would
accept any challenge. So sure of her success, she never considered the risks
associated with failure. Why should she? She never failed.

When she arrived at
Nau’tika she asked an Imperial Sentinel (a soldier who carried no weapon and
whose only purpose was to offer assistance to visitors) to take her to
Ven’trrr, Paramount Scientist of the Serpents and a Knight Guardian of the
Order of the Crystal Egg. Either title would be impressive; having both was
downright awesome.

“Your Highness, what
an unexpected pleasure” said the serpent. What he was actually thinking was “Oh
slimy sea slugs, what nonsense is she up to now?”

Without so much as a
‘hello’, Rose launched into the reason for her visit. “I need you to make me a
pair of wings.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wings. You know like
dragons have.” For a brilliant scientist, he could be awfully thick headed, she
thought.

Trying to maintain
his civility, he smiled and said, “I am familiar with dragon wings. What
exactly is it that you wish to do with these wings?”

The girl rolled her
eyes in frustration. “I’m going to fly.”

“Fly? Where?”

She was about to tell
him but caught herself in time. She didn’t want him running to her father and
snitching. “Doesn’t matter, does it?”

“Well, no I guess it
doesn’t.”

“I need them by the
end of the week.”

“But your Highness,
we are in the middle of a truly remarkable breakthrough. To pull my staff off
of their work for this . . . err . . . project would be . . .” He thought better
of finishing his statement. Anything he would say would probably get him into
trouble with King M’earth. “What I mean to say is that if I could have a little
more time, I’m sure I can design and build you something suitable.”

“I should think one
week is more than enough time” and she turned to leave.

“Princess
Rose’Alynnia, before you go, allow me to show you something.”

“What?” she asked
rudely.

“Please. It will only
take a minute.” He ushered her into a laboratory a few doors down and there to
her amazement, suspended in mid-air, was something indescribable . . .

Rose stared awestruck
at the swirling maelstrom of brilliant colors. “What is it?”

“It is a time and
space portal. Using recently discovered inter-galactic cosmic tunnels we have
been able to create a gateway to any planet anywhere in the universe.”

“I don’t
understand?”  Though intellectually gifted to become a scientist had she chosen
that line of study, Rose had little interest in technology. It seemed so
un-Princess-like and incredibly dull. Every discovery took so long and required
copious amounts of observations or tedious calculations.

“If you were to walk
through that vortex it would take you instantaneously to a world we discovered
that’s literally trillions of miles from Aerianna.”

“Really? What world
is it?”

“It’s called Earth.
The inhabitants are humanoid but not very advanced. We have decided it would
not be in their best interest to make ourselves known. My staff is now looking
for other worlds where our arrival would not be so disruptive.”

Rose was impressed .
. . for all of a minute. Then she was bored. “Really nice. I’m sure my father
will be happy or thrilled or whatever. She turned back toward the door and over
her shoulder, she said, “So I’ll be back in a week for my wings. Oh, and make
sure they’re pretty.”

Ven’trrr had hoped
the girl would understand the incredible significance of this new discovery and
how disruptive her own little project would be to the ongoing research.

Apparently he failed.

Without arguing which
would simply waste more of his precious time, he said, “As you command.”

Chapter 2

Duke of Bo’ring and Duchess of Prim

“Wow!” hissed the sea
serpent.

“Are you completely
out of your mind?” demanded the dragon.

Rose’Alynnia gave
T’eel a warm smile and Kl’air a smug smirk.

“Are you ready to
lose? I’ve picked out a simply divine dress for you to wear. The color will
match your eyes perfectly. Of course, we’ll have to let out a little in the
waist seeing that you’re a tad larger than I am.”

“H’sssss”.

“Shut up you slimy
sea snake,” growled the dragon. “Rose you can’t just slip on a pair of pretty
wings and fly. You’re going to kill yourself.”

“Ohhh, how sweet. Are
you really so worried about your Princess?”

“NO. I’m worried that
your father is going to pluck my feathers, roast me over a fire and eat me.”

“Touching.”

“Have you tried them
out?” asked T’eel.

“I’m about to. Let’s
go to the Rock Garden. The wall there isn’t so high and we can roll some of the
stones together to make it easier for me to get on top.”

And with that began a
ten-minute, very animated three way argument between a human, a sea serpent and
a dragon. The Princess was waving her hands and yelling, Kl’air was flapping
her wings furiously and squawking and T’eel was slapping her tail so hard it was
making loud thwacks against the floor.

“STOP”. Rose
had her hands on her hips; a sure sign that she had had as much bickering as
she would tolerate. The other girls knew her well enough to do as she
commanded. “No more jibber-jabber. I’m doing this thing. I have every intention
of being the first human to fly from Q’umulus. Heck, I have every intention of
being the first human to fly.”

“But . . .”

“No buts, Kl’air.
However, I’m not as stupid as you two think I am. When I jump off, I want you
to follow me. If I get into trouble, I expect you to swoop in and grab me in
those hideously big feet of yours and save my sorry self. Okay?”

That made the other
two feel much better.

Then after a few
seconds, it made Kl’air feel really, really bad. She might just lose this bet.
What was she thinking? How could she have ever dared her friend to do anything?
Rose’Alynnia just hated to lose and she was so darned smart she could always
figure a way to beat the odds.

Then the dragon
thought of herself in a dress and she began to cry. She would be so mortified .
. . the laughing stock of every dragon living or dead.

“What’s wrong with
you?” asked T’eel.

“Hey, big bird . . .”

Kl’air couldn’t even
look at the Princess.

“Hey . . . I’ve
decided that you won’t have to wear a dress.” Sometimes Rose showed signs of
what a really amazing Queen she might one day become.

The dragon looked up
– more than half expecting the Princess to be joking. “Really?”

“Really. I figure if
I have to count on you to save my life if this all goes wrong, I should make
sure you still love me.” She extended her arms to her friend.

Kl’air walked over
and hugged Rose – her enormous wings completely enfolding the human.

When they finished,
Rose’Alynnia’s eyes lit up with her usual mischief. “However, if I do make it
down, I will have my prize.”

“What prize?” asked
Kl’air suspiciously.

“I will command that
. . .” and she paused for dramatic effect “. . . T’eel wear a hat of my
choosing for a week.”

“WHAT? ME?”

“Absolutely. As my Feminion,
you gave me bad advice. So the punishment will fall on your head, so to speak.”

The serpent flopped
down as if she had been struck dead, and Rose and Kl’air almost wet themselves
laughing.

*****

“Hello, father.”

“Daughter.”

“You wanted to see
me.”

“I did.”

Rose waited but M’earth
just stared.

“Father?”

“How was your
morning?”

“My morning?”

“Yes, your morning.”

“It was
exhilarating.”

“Why so?”

She was about to make
up some story until she realized that her father already knew what she had
done. “I think perhaps you know.”

“Do I?”

“Father, it was
amazing. I’m the first human to fly.”

“And if the wings
failed?”

“Kl’air flew along
side of me just in case.”

“Very clever.”

“I thought so.”

“Well, I think
someone as clever as you, as brave as you, deserves a special reward.”

Rose smiled. ‘This is
going very well’ she thought. Then she realized it was going too well. Time to
change the subject then leave. “Father, have you talked to Ven’trrr recently.
He’s made an amazing discovery…”

“I’m sending you
away” interrupted her father.

“I’m sorry?”

“Your mother and I
give up. Someday you will be Queen of this world yet you do not understand what
that requires.”

“Of course I do.”

“No, my dearest
child. You think it means acting like a spoiled princess. What you fail to
appreciate is that it is a full time job even now. You must spend your time
preparing. You do not.”

“I study.”

“There is so much
more to learn than from books.”

“Like what?”

“You will see.
Tomorrow morning you will leave for the Duke of Bo’ring.”

Horrified, Rose
blurted “WHAT?”

“You will spend time
with him and the Duchess, then with E’ssss and S’eeee. After that it will be
with Queen F’Aerianne who will then assign you to one of her Royal Families to
complete your studies.”

“For how long?”

“I have set no time
limit. It depends on you and how well you apply yourself to the task at hand.
My guess is that one or two years should suffice.”

“NO.”

“Yes. You will, of
course, come home and visit with your parents. And at that time, you may see
your two friends. But only them. Otherwise, they will be commanded to leave you
alone.”

The Princess turned
white but she had no intention of giving her father the satisfaction of seeing
her cry. She would do that when she was alone in her room.

*****

As she prepared to
leave, there was a knock at her bedroom door. “Come” she said.

It was an Imperial
Sentinel. “Princess, the King asked me to deliver this note” and he handed her
an envelope, bowed then left.

Hoping it was the
reprieve she had been expecting; she tore it open and read the message in her
father’s familiar handwriting:

Rose – everyone has been
instructed to think of you as if you were their daughter and not mine. Expect
no Royal treatment and act accordingly. For the next year or two, I will not
intervene in any of your affairs.

You are about to start
your most difficult challenge. Make me proud. I love you – always have, always
will.

She wanted to scream
. . . or at least throw something. But she didn’t.

Her father was right
– as usual. She would be Queen one day and she needed to be ready. Ruling
Humans, Dragons and Sea Serpents probably wasn’t as easy as M’earth made it
appear.

And wisely using the
infinite power of the Crystal Egg was an awesome responsibility.

Deep down inside she
knew that she wasn’t anywhere near prepared for her future. So making herself
into a Queen-in-Waiting was going to be her greatest dare.

And she hated to
lose.

But she just loved
being a spoiled princess. It was so much fun.

This was going to be
hard. Really, really hard.

*****

“Welcome to Se’rene,
Rose.”

It was like a splash
of cold water to hear her addressed like that. The Nobles of Aerianna always
called her Your Highness or Princess Rose’Alynnia. Only her parents and closest
friends called her Rose.

“Sir” she answered in
way of acknowledgement and turning to the Duchess, she nodded and said,
“Madame.”

The Duke and his wife
were well along in years. They had no children of their own so it was odd that
her father had chosen them to start her education. They lived in a smallish
castle far out in the country. The name they had given it – Se’rene – was
totally appropriate. What few neighbors they had were many miles away. Rolling
hills, a thick wood and a meandering river were all that you could see from the
highest vantage point in the tallest spire.

They were in a
sitting room pleasantly furnished but certainly small and unassuming compared
to anything back home. Rose felt herself begin to panic at the prospect of
spending any length of time in this place and with these people.

It was the Duchess
who gave her a small measure of comfort. “My dear child, I am sure you are
wondering how long you will be forced to endure the company of my husband and
me. Though that is ultimately up to you, what we have to impart can be readily
learned in a month perhaps two.”

“Really?” She hadn’t
meant to sound so hopeful.

“Your first lesson is
never to respond to a statement with the word ‘really’.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When you are Queen,
it would be unseemly to question the veracity of a loyal subject in that way.
If you doubt the statement, you would simply ask the speaker to explain his or
her rational behind it. Then you would decide whether the person spoke truly or
was misleading you either overtly or through ignorance.”

Rose sat there
dumbfounded. As the seconds ticked by and no one spoke, she finally said,
“Aren’t you making much to do about nothing?”

“Your second lesson
is to never use contractions. A Queen will not take shortcuts – either with her
decision making process or the words she chooses to use.”

Again the seconds
ticked by. And the only thing Rose could think of saying was “Oh, my gosh!”

“Indeed.”

*****

“Good morning, Rose.
I hope you slept well.”

“I did, your Grace.
Thank you for asking.” Already the Duchess’s lessons were beginning to take
hold.

“Tell me, my dear,
have you ever held a sword?”

Startled by the
question, the girl blurted “What?” – then quickly corrected herself. “No, your
Grace. I have never had occasion to do so.”

“Today I will teach
you the basics of swordsmanship.”

Again she was about
to blurt “What?” but caught herself. “I would very much appreciate learning at
the hands of a well-known sword master. However, if I may, I do question the
need for such skills.”

“As well you should.
Aerianna has no wars thanks to King M’earth and the Crystal Egg. However,
swordsmanship is a time-honored custom and I believe we must allow for
tradition even as we move forward and transform society in new ways. Do you
agree?”

“I haven’t . . .
excuse me; I have not considered the value of tradition as perhaps I should
have. I will give it some thought. In the meantime, we should not waste this
beautiful morning. I would be honored to be taught by you.”

*****

Much to Rose’s
surprise, the days raced by as did the weeks. Her disdain for the Duke and
Duchess turned quickly to friendship then to love as a niece to a favorite aunt
and uncle.

The Duchess continued
to correct her speech as well as her way of thinking and behaving. At first, it
was strange and tedious but it soon began to intrigue her in ways she would
never had thought possible. The more she practiced what she was taught the more
she began to think of herself as a princess. And that was weird. She was born a
princess, she had the rank of princess and she had the spoils that go along
with being princess. But it wasn’t until now that she actually felt that she
deserved that title and the privileges and responsibilities that went with it.

As for her time with
the old Duke, it was inspirational. She quickly mastered the techniques of a
sword master, though it would be years of long, hard practice before she could
become as proficient as her teacher.

But she was also
learning about integrity, honor and loyalty. These were concepts for which she
was obviously familiar. But their meanings were completely different for a
Princess or a Queen then it was for one of their subjects.

She was both inspired
and humbled by the knowledge.

Ten weeks after she
had arrived, Rose was again with the Duke and Duchess in the same sitting room
as on that first day. They normally shared a cool drink and fruit while
discussing the day’s lessons late each afternoon. So this gathering was like
every other.

“Rose, what do you
think of our little Se’rene?” asked the old Duke.

“Sir, at first I was
horrified that I would have to spend any length of time so far from what I
considered civilization. How very wrong I was. It was a rash conclusion without
basis in fact. And though happily I did not share those thoughts with you, I
wish to apologize. Se’rene is the most marvelous castle in the most stunning
setting in all of Aerianna. I do thank you for sharing it with me.”

“I thought as much.
It is so very special. I would be terribly disappointed if . . .” but he didn’t
finish. In a rare show of emotion that shocked Rose, he took out a handkerchief
and dabbed his eyes.

“Your Highness . . .”

Much like her
reaction on that first day, the use of her former title hit her like an
electric shock. She turned to the Duchess, her eyes showing puzzlement. But she
answered as she should “Yes, your Grace?”

“My husband and I
have no family and quite frankly we are too old to live by ourselves so far
from medical care. We have sold Se’rene.”

“Oh, no. You
mustn’t,” she said slipping into the use of a contraction. “I’ll . . .”

Two contractions were
the limit of what the Duchess could tolerate. “I believe you meant to say ‘must
not’ and ‘I will’, did you not?” Her eyes were twinkling and she smiled warmly.

Rose dropped her head
then lifted it with a bright smile lighting her face. “Your Grace, you must not
sell your wonderful home. I will use what little influence I may have with the
King to work out different arrangements that will meet your needs. You must
stay at Se’rene. If I could, I would command it.”

This time the old
Duke answered, “Your Highness, your father has invited the Duchess and me to
live at his palace on Q’umulus. It is a great honor he is bestowing on us and
we are very grateful.”

Rose exhaled,
relieved that her two friends would be taken care of. “But what of Se’rene?”

“That I cannot tell
you” but the sly grin on his face said differently.

“There is one more
thing, your Highness,” added the Duchess.

“Yes?”

“Today was your last
day under our tutelage. You have learned well and we, your humble subjects, are
most pleased that one day you will rule Aerianna.”

They both bowed
formally. Then the old Duke added with a pretend stern look “. . . but Rose,
for the love of all that is holy, keep your guard up before you parry.” Then he
walked over to the young girl and hugged her fiercely. This time he didn’t try
to hide his tears.

Chapter 3

E’ssss and S’eeee, the Royal Sea Serpents

They actually didn’t
sit on thrones; that would be more than a little uncomfortable. And though they
could stay out of water for weeks if necessary, one wouldn’t expect the King
and Queen of the Sea Serpents to endure discomfort just for the sake of
visiting humans or dragons.

So they lounged in
the shallow end of a pool of emerald green water – sufficiently deep to support
their weight but shallow enough for their head and neck to be exposed. Oddly,
there was an impressive throne made of crystals of a variety of dazzling colors
at the edge of the pool. That was reserved for M’earth if and when the good
King chose to visit.

Rose’Alynnia had
arrived ten minutes earlier. In the not too distant past, she would have been
appalled to be kept waiting and angry enough to make an unpleasant scene. Now
she simply waited patiently.

Finally, a serpent
made his way to an enormous seashell mounted on a coral base and blew a
twenty-five note tune signaling that the Royal couple was ready to receive
guests. The hall became respectfully quiet.

“Your Majesties,”
curtsied Rose.

“Child, do you know
your reputation amongst the Serpents?” E’ssss was well known for his direct
(and some would say undiplomatic) approach to troublesome issues. And his
problem today (and for some time to come) was this Human.

Rose was about to say
something flip like ‘she’s cute as button, as brave as a dragon and as smart as
a serpent” but decided that was probably not the right approach. She settled
for a modest “No I don’t . . . um . . . do not.” Then she hurriedly added
“Sir.”

Before her husband
could answer his own question, the more kindly Queen said, “You are loved as
King M’earth’s daughter but . . .” she paused for a moment then finished with
“not well liked.”

“Oh”. That hurt. She
had always assumed she was everyone’s favorite princess.

“Someday you will
rule Aerianna,” continued E’ssss. “With the power of the Crystal Egg, the
goodwill of the Serpents is not required. We would do as you command but only
reluctantly. Do you truly wish to go down in the annals of this world as
Rose’Alynnia, the Unloved Queen?”

She fought back her
tears; she simply could never let anyone see her cry. Taking a deep breath to
calm her emotions she managed to say, “I would rather forfeit the crown than to
be unloved by my people. I would not deserve to be your Queen.”

“Well said, my dear,”
answered S’eeee. “I do look forward to our days together,” she added with a
smile. It was not hard to guess that the young girl was humiliated but was
showing extraordinary courage in standing there, head held high, accepting her
chastisement with as much grace as she could muster.

“Indeed” said her
husband. “Perhaps there is reason to hope for a satisfactory resolution to our
mutual problem.”

*****

King M’earth never
expected E’ssss or S’eeee to tutor his daughter. They were far too busy
governing an underwater nation. However, they were tasked with developing an
educational plan, delegating it to a trusted aide and monitoring her progress.

Rose again found
herself waiting to meet her new tutor. She was in a modest size classroom with
seats for humans, perches for dragons and wading pools for serpents.

In the corner was a
tank where someone was growing serpent’s crystals . . .

. . . those amazing
creations that were the basis for their technological achievements.

She idly stared at
the beautiful objects. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t hear someone enter
using the streams that fed the pools.

“Hey, Ro.” Two eyes
peered above the water.

“T’eel! Wow, I can’t
tell you how happy I am to see a friendly face. Even yours.”

“I can’t stay but a
minute. I was told I couldn’t talk to you except when you go home for visits.
But you’re my best friend and nobody is going to stop me from saying hi.”

“I really appreciate
that. But you’re right. If they catch you, they will skin you alive. Say hi to
Kl’air for me.”

“I will. Whoops . .
.” and she dove under the water and swam off. A second or two later another
head appeared. Then the serpent stepped out of the pond and introduced herself.
“Good morning. My name is K’oral.” The serpent was youngish, perhaps
mid-twenties if she were human. “How would you like me to address you?”

“Good morning,
K’oral. You may address me as Princess . . .” She stopped embarrassed. Some
habits die hard. “Call me Rose.”

“Good enough, Rosie
(that made the Princess cringe). Since we will be spending a lot of time
together, I thought that we should spend today getting to know each other.
There will be no class work – but there will be quizzes.”

“What?”

“Would the Duchess
approve of that question?”

“What?”

“Yes, that one.”

Rose’s mouth dropped
open and she had to force herself to close it. “You know about that?”

“My response to your
second question is the same as to the first.”

“STOP THAT.” She
hated being talked down to as if she was an idiot especially by someone not of
Royal Blood.

“Is that a command?”

Rose’s eyes went wide
- glaring at the silly serpent. “Yes.” She had about enough of this nonsense;
it was going too far. Her mother would put a stop to her father’s scheme if she
begged her to.

“Why are you so
angry?”

Rose stood up tall
and straight. Looking down her nose, she asked slowly, pronouncing each word
distinctly. “Have – you – ever – been – a – Royal – Princess?”  ‘Ha’ she
thought ‘that ought to put this impudent sea worm in her place’.

“No”. Then the
serpent added, “Have you?”

“How dare you? Who
gives you the right to talk to me that way?”

“King E’ssss.”

“I am the Princess
Rose’Alynnia and I will not…”

“Rosie, quiet down.”

“Are you crazy? You
can’t talk to me like that.”

“Actually I can.
Until I say otherwise, or I am commanded to stop, you are my student. I am
trying to get you to think, to learn and to appreciate.”

“Oh my gosh.” It was
Rose’s pet phrase when she was totally flummoxed (which wasn’t often).

“I am unfamiliar with
that human phrase.”

“It means you are
giving me a headache.”

“Shall I summon a
physician?”

Instead of answering,
Rose plopped down on a chair and stared off into the distance, not really
focusing on anything. She inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly. “You can do
this,” she said to herself. “It’s just another dare. And you haven’t lost a
dare ever. Don’t start now.” She stood up, smiled and said “No, thank
you. The headache is gone. As to your first question…” she replayed the words
in her mind. “I should not have expressed surprise at your statement. I should
have asked for additional information.”

“Correct.”

“As to the second
question . . .  you obviously knew about my visit with the Duchess since you
made reference to it. Again, instead of acting surprised I might have either
asked you to tell me what you know of my time at Se’rene or simply accepted the
statement without such a childish comment.”

“Correct.”

“Yay!” she said sarcastically.

“I am unfamiliar . .
.” but Rose cut her off.

“It is not important.
Please explain the purpose of testing me on our get-acquainted exercise.”

“I prefer to do that
later. It will add to your learning experience.”

“As you wish.”

Rose stood there
experiencing an array of emotions . . . all of them negative. Bored, angry and
frustrated, what she really wanted to do was to storm out of the room and go
home. Since that wasn’t going to happen, she would just have to grin and bear
it. However, she made a promise to herself that nothing they taught her was
going to change who she really was deep down inside. She would use the
knowledge and skills to make her even more formidable than her childish mind
thought that she was. The history books would remember her as the greatest
Queen it ever had. Or something like that.

Oh, and one more
thing. When she became Princess Rose’Alynnia again, she would cut off the
tongue of anyone that had the impudence to call her Rosie.

*****

“I am a scientist. I
am currently working on inter-galactic cosmic tunnels and the physics of
faster-than-light travel.”

“Oh, is that the
thingy I saw in Ven’trrr’s lab?”

“Thingy? I am not
familiar with that human term.”

“Never mind.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“I have just told you
that I am working on a project of literally cosmic proportions and yet you have
no questions?”

“No, not really?”

“Time for your first
quiz.”

“WHAT? I mean – since
you have only spoken one sentence to me as way of introductions, is it not too
soon to be quizzed?”

“Not at all.”

“Okay. Ask away.”

“Describe to me the
nature of my position and the benefits of our discoveries to the people of
Aerianna. Also describe the inherent dangers that this planet could possibly
face should we exploit our findings. Furthermore, explain the moral dilemma
such knowledge poses for the scientific community and more importantly for the
rulers of this world.”

“Are you crazy?”

“My mother had me
tested when I was very young. The doctors assured her that I was not.”

Rose just stared at
the young serpent.

“Are you not going to
answer my questions?”

Rose shook her head
and said “I got nothing.”

“That is very poor
syntax.”

“Oh my gosh!”

“Another headache?”

“Oh, yes. I would
stand back if I were you. My head is about to explode.”

“I do not think that
is physiologically possible.”

“Let me ask you a
question. Have you ever heard of sarcasm?”

“Yes, but such verbal
hijinks are seldom used by serpents.”

“I’ll have my friend
T’eel teach you.”

“I look forward to
it. In the meantime, what lessons have you learned so far?” Then she added,
“Please, think carefully before you answer. I know that you have superior
intelligence. In point of fact, you could be a scientist if you so choose.”

That compliment took
the sting out of the situation. So she put her mind to the questions and in
truth it took her only a minute or so to come up with the answer.

“You mentioned an
extraordinary achievement and I failed to question you to determine the full
implications of what it might mean to this world.” She paused a second then
continued, “Our ability to visit other worlds would give us an opportunity for
cultural and scientific exchanges and the possibility of commerce. However,
anyone we encounter might be hostile and could use the opportunity to attack
us. Lastly, if we should meet a civilization inferior to ours in social or
scientific development, we might very well cause irreparable harm to their
society.”

“I am impressed.”

“Yay!”

*****

It took her less than
a month to complete her lessons with K’oral. And as with the Duke and Duchess,
she found herself excited by what she had learned.

She had always known
that Serpent Scientist had no peers; their discoveries and inventions bordered
on miraculous. Her tutor took her on tours of lab after lab looking at projects
in progress or to the Hall of Scientific Accomplishments to ogle at obscure
theories brought to life.

She had seen a
translation crystal that would allow the wearer to speak any language and
understand any spoken.

There was a device
that could make you as large as you wished or as small.

Another device
allowed you to control wild animals merely by speaking to them.

One that really
intrigued her allowed the wearer to heal another of either physical or mental
injuries.

But there was one
thing she learned that made her uncomfortable in ways she could not explain. It
was the power of the Crystal Egg and the law of unintended consequences.

She and K’oral were
lounging at the edge of a pool enjoying each other’s company and talking about
whatever came to mind. It was the serpent who brought up the subject.

“Do you wish to hear
a heresy?”

“Excuse me?”

“I would like to
share a thought with you. I consider you more a friend then a student. And
there is something I would like you to contemplate as a favor to me.”

“Will there be a
quiz?” asked Rose smiling.

“That is sarcasm, is
it not?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“H’sssss”.

“Well, I am your
friend and I would be pleased to hear your heresy. It will be our little
secret.”

“Thank you. I believe
that the Crystal Egg is an abomination.”

“What?”

The serpent looked at
her friend but said nothing.

Rose quickly regained
her composure and asked, “Please explain how you came to this . . . this
unusual conclusion.”

“When the Old Ones
gave your father the Egg as a prize for winning the contest between Humans,
Serpents and Dragons, they did all of us an enormous disservice.”

Bewildered at the
concept, Rose asked “How so?”

“The Egg gives your
father – or anyone who possesses it – unlimited power. If he had so chosen,
King M’earth could have created the translation crystal with a simple thought.
The Crystal Egg would have brought it to life. The same is true of all of our
achievements. The only reason we still have a token contingent of scientists
and inventors is that His Highness King E’ssss wished to keep our tradition of
technological development alive – as part of our cultural heritage, not for our
contributions.”

Rose thought about
that statement to see if she could intuit K’oral’s reasoning. This time it took
her almost two full minutes. “The Crystal Egg takes away our incentive to
invent, to create, to innovate. In essence, we become slaves to its power. We,
as a people, are actually less for having it than if we had never received this
gift.”

“I am impressed.”

She didn’t say yea.
Rose just nodded solemnly.

*****

She was again asked
to visit with E’ssss and S’eeee. However, this time the seashell was trumpeted
when she arrived. Everyone stood, and the King and Queen of the Sea Serpents
stepped out of the pond and bowed.

She almost cried.

“Good morning, your
majesties” she said.

“Indeed, your Royal
Highness. It is a very good morning,” declared E’ssss.

“Your time with us is
at an end.” added S’eeee.

The girl had
suspected as much and wasn’t at all surprised by the Queen’s comments. “I thank
you both for your service to me. I now have a deeper understanding of your
people and a much greater respect for all they have accomplished under your
guidance.  And I especially thank my friend and mentor, K’oral. She has been an
exceptional teacher.”

The King and Queen accepted
the compliments with a bow.

Then E’ssss said,
“Please do not be a stranger to our humble city. You have many friends here and
they would be sad if you did not visit.”

“We will miss you. I
will miss you,” added his wife.

It was only a single
tear – but Rose did cry.

Chapter 4

Queen F’Aerianne, the Rainbow Dragon

Rose didn’t go to
Talon’s Perch to meet with Queen F’Aerianne; she decided to go home first. She
missed her parents and any excuse not to spend time with grumpy dragons was a
good one.

“Well, my daughter,
it is good to see you. You are looking well.” The King walked over to Rose and
gave her a hug. “Have you seen your Mother?”

“Yes. And my little
sister. Ss’ong seems so much older in such a short time.”

“Children grow like
weeds.”

“Have I grown?”

“You tell me.”

Rose was torn between
the desire to have a verbal duel with her father or to relent and give him the
answers he wanted. She decided  on a third course – to fall back on an old
trick and  play the helpless little girl so M’earth would feel badly and give
her whatever she wanted.

“I’m just . . . I
mean I am just so confused. Being away from you and Mother and my sweet dear
sister is just so unbearable” and she sniffed as if trying to fight back tears.
“This has been so terribly difficult.” She gave him her best forlorn look.

The King studied his
daughter then burst out laughing. “Playing the little helpless girl will not
work on me, young lady. I know that act of yours all too well.”

“ACT?” she shouted
trying to show shock and hurt.

“Yes, act” he
answered calmly.

“FATHER . . .”

“Save it, Rose. It
will not work this time.”

“You are a horrible,
horrible man.”

He laughed again.
“Not really. I am a bit too fat from sitting on my…umm…my throne all day. I
have been rightly accused of being much too indulgent of my daughters. And I
have not taken your mother on a vacation in far too long. But that hardly
qualifies me as horrible.”

Rose wanted to
continue playing the hurt little girl but it just wasn’t in her nature.
Besides, despite what he was subjecting her to, she loved her father mightily.
She laughed and said, “Why not make me the acting Queen Regent so you and
Mother can take a nice long vacation? I would be more than willing to postpone
my bitter, baseless banishment for a month or three.”

“Now that is the Rose
I know and love.”

“Does that mean you
accept my offer, Father Dearest?” She tried to sound serious but she just
couldn’t.

“I will give your
generous proposal all the consideration it deserves.” Then turning solemn, he
said, “Now tell me, Your Highness, have you learned anything in your time
away?”

“I have learned that
being a young girl whose father is King of the World is a great deal more fun
than being a Royal Princess and Heir to the Throne.”

“And . . .”

“And I will always be
who I am. However, that person may be wiser for this experience.”

“So do you forgive
your horrible, horrible father for sending you into – what did you call it – oh
yes, into your bitter, baseless banishment?”

“I will give your
question all the consideration it deserves,” she said defiantly. Then she
giggled, kissed him on the cheek and skipped away in search of T’eel and
Kl’air.

*****

The only way for a
human or serpent to reach any of the dragons’ mountain top castle-cities was to
hire a dr’egg – a colloquial abbreviation for ‘dragon egg’. Of course, it
wasn’t actually a dragon’s egg; it only looked like a giant sized version of
one. It usually held four humans or two serpents though some of the larger
dragons could haul twice as many.

Occasionally a human
would ride on the back of a dragon or a serpent would be carried in its talons.
But that was dangerous and few would dare take the risk. So naturally, Rose
wanted Kl’air to fly her to Talon’s Perch. But her friend responded to
her request with “Are you nuts? Fly up there on my back? Ro, I thought you said
you were learning how to be a Royal Princess. You know – somebody with a little
common sense.”

“When I’m with my
tutors or any of the Royals, I’ll do what’s expected. But when I’m with friends
I’ll do as I darn well please.”

“Royal Uppity-Ups
aren’t supposed to use contractions” said T’eel innocently while trying her
best to irritate her friend. “You just used five.”

Rose rolled her eyes
in disgust. “It makes me sound like a machine. ‘Do not’ and ‘I will’ and ‘was
not’ . . . who talks like that?”

“Princess
Rose’Alynnia?”

“Don’t know her. She
must be one of those Uppity-Ups you were talking about,” quipped the girl.
Turning to Kl’air, she said, “I saved you from wearing a dress. The least you
can do is take me to the Perch.” Then she added with a smile “For old time’s
sake.”

“Since you put it
that way . . . let’s ride”.

*****

She wasn’t the
biggest dragon on Aerianna, but she was the most colorful…

“Your Majesty” said
Rose as she bowed deeply to F’Aerianne, the Rainbow Queen.

“Princess, your
father has honored me. It is not often that Dragons are asked to teach Humans.”
That statement carried a lot more meaning than it might first appear. In the
contest between the races, Dragons came in last. Thereafter, it was accepted as
common wisdom that they were the least intelligent of the three.

But more times than
not, common wisdom is just an acceptable term for unwarranted prejudice. And
though the three races co-existed in peaceful and productive harmony, some old
scars refused to go away.

Rose, though
stubborn, strong-willed and rebellious, was still a Royal Princess and knew how
to conduct herself with the Kings and Queens of the other races. “The honor is
mine, your Majesty. This is an opportunity I look forward to.” That, of course,
was a polite lie.

“Indeed”. And though
F’Aerianne should have accepted the lie at face value, she decided to push the
bounds of royal protocol. Dragons were also known to be a bit surly when
dealing with humans and serpents. “Why is that?”

Rose was taken aback
by the question. “Why?”

“Yes. Why is this an
opportunity? Are you not always welcome in the realm of Dragons? Must you visit
or avail yourself of these opportunities only when good King M’earth commands
it?”

“Umm . . . no . . . I
mean . . .” she didn’t know what to say.

“Tell me your version
of history.”

“What?” As we all
know now, that wasn’t a question a Royal Princess should ask.

“Why does your father
possess the Crystal Egg?”

This conversation was
spiraling out of control. Rose was beginning to get nervous and angry. “If I
have said something to offend you, Queen F’Aerianne, I apologize.”

The Queen’s plumage
had intensified in color as the conversation had progressed. That was a sure
sign that she, too, was getting upset. But Rose’s statement forced her to
assert control over her emotions and to set the conversation back on the course
she had originally planned. “You have not offended me. However, I would like
you to tell the story of Aerianna, the Old Ones and the contest between races
as you have learned it.”

“But why?”

“History is written
by those who win. Perhaps the truth is better served by recording the views of
those who did not win as well as those that did.”

That statement was a
little too deep for Rose. But to end this conversation, she would do as she was
asked. It was a familiar story that every child learned.

“If it pleases you,
your Highness. This planet was created by a superior race of beings that we
call the Old Ones. Upon this world, they placed three sentient species –
Humans, Dragons and Sea Serpents.

At first, all went
well since each species lived separately from the other. Sea Serpents ruled the
sea, Humans the land, and Dragons the skies and the mountain tops.

But as time went on,
each group grew and their need for resources drove them to encroach on the
areas formerly held by the other species. This led to war.

The Old Ones were
horrified and called the leaders of Humans, Dragons and Serpents to an Island.
There they were told that the fighting must stop. As an incentive, they told
the three races that there would be a contest to see who could build the
greatest civilization. The winner would get a gift of unlimited power – the
Crystal Egg. The losers would be subject to the rules and whims of the winner.

In the end, the Old
Ones determined that Humans had built the greatest civilization. They had
created the floating city of Q’umulus and there they had established a center
for arts, literature and learning deemed superior to all others.

My father was awarded
the Crystal Egg. Instead of enslaving the other races, he created the Council
of Equals and commanded that all three races share the responsibilities of
governing this world.”

“Enough” commanded
the Queen. “Why are Dragons considered the most inferior of the three races?”

“Because they were
the first to . . .” but the girl stopped because she realized she had blundered
badly. She tried to correct herself and said, “I mean to say that the contest
was considered very close and could have been ruled in favor of any of the
three.”

“Stop. Go back to
your first answer – not the polite dribble you were spewing.”

Rose was now angry
and that clouded her judgment. And that in turn gave her license to tell the
truth. “Dragons voluntarily dropped out of the contest first. They said that
they had progressed as far as they could – they saw no way forward.”

“And for that we are
deemed inferior.” Rose wasn’t sure if that was a question or a statement.

“My father judged
you, and your people, equals. He invited you to help rule this world. He has
told me on more than one occasion that it was one of the best decisions he ever
made. He is very proud of how you govern. He is proud at how Dragons have
become an integral part of Aerianna’s society.” This was a wonderful answer and
Rose should have stopped right there.

But, of course, she
didn’t. “I tell you this, your MAJESTY (she stretched out the word). If and
when I become Queen, I will command the Crystal Egg to knock that chip off your
shoulder.”

As the words left her
mouth, she flinched. “Oh my gosh” she thought to herself. “That was a dumb
thing to say.” But she didn’t apologize. She just glared at the multi-colored
dragon.

“Well, Rose’Alynnia,
I can see why your father has sent you to me. You have the courage of a Dragon.
Unfortunately, you also possess our temper.”

“So what now? Should
we just tell my father that this was a mistake?”

“Is it true what I
have heard? Did you really fly from Q’umulus on wings made by serpents?”

The girl broke out in
a big grin. “Yes. But my friend Kl’air flew beside me just in case things went
badly.”

“So you trusted your
life to a Dragon?”

“I did. And I would
again.”

“Then, my dear
Princess . . .

. . . I am very happy
to welcome you to Talon’s Perch. I believe your time here will prove to be very
beneficial. We have much to teach you.”

“Yay.”

*****

As usual, she waited
for her tutor to show up. This time, however, she was standing on one of the
highest turrets in the castle. Since Talon’s Perch was built on top of a
mountain, from her extra high vantage point she could see a hundred miles in
every direction. It was impressive – especially looking down on the
thunderstorms floating through the valleys. The flashes of lightning were
spectacular and made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“Hi.”

She jumped at the
unexpected voice.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean
to scare you.”

“I wasn’t scared,”
she said defensively. But she was a bit surprised. The owner of the voice was a
young dragon, maybe a little older than Kl’air. However, this one was a male.

“My name is Storm.
Should I call you Rose or Rose’Alynnia?”

Half teasing, she
answered, “You may call me Princess”.

“Then you have to
call me Prince” he said petulantly.

“Why in heaven’s name
would I do that?”

“Because I am one.”

“Really? I don’t
remember ever meeting you.”

“Um . . . they kind
of keep me away from really important people.”

Rose giggled at the
dragon. “Why?”

If dragons could
blush, Storm would have. Instead, he just hung his head staring at his
oversized talons and mumbled, “I’m a little clumsy. And sometimes I forget to
talk like I’m supposed to . . . you know like don’t say don’t, and you can’t
say can’t. Stuff like that.”

Rose could relate to
the second part of that statement. But in the spirit of teasing she ignored it
and focused on the first part, “I never heard of a clumsy dragon – sounds
dangerous. Did you ever step on someone?”

“Um . . . I’m not
supposed to talk about that.”

The girl giggled once
more and the dragon fidgeted in embarrassment.

And to add to his
discomfort, she asked as sarcastically as she could “So what in the world could
YOU teach ME?”

“Um . . . the first
thing is how to fly on a dragon’s back.”

“Really?”

“The Queen said that
somebody saw you fly into Talon’s Perch on the back of your friend and it looked
like you were going to fall off any second. So she wants me to teach you how to
do it right.”

“You’re going to
teach me? A klutzy dragon who probably has never even met a human girl?”

“Um . . . yeah.”

“No way. You’ll just
get us both killed.”

“Um . . . I supposed
to tell you that if you say no, I have to teach you the history of Queen
F’Aerianne’s family.  That’s more than a hundred generations.”

“Like you really know
that much history?”

“She’s my aunt so
it’s my family too. Besides, I’m pretty smart.”

“For a dragon?” That
was kind of insulting.

“I guess. I’m not
really sure how smart humans are.”

“Anyway, that’s just
memorization. What else can that brain of yours do?” She didn’t really care but
figured he would say something so dumb it would be funny.

“Um . . . I sometimes
do stuff with Ven’trrr. He’s a scientist . . .”

“I know who he is”
she cut in. “What kind of work could you possibly do for him? Lift heavy lab
equipment?” That was more than a little rude but she didn’t believe that this
dragon had any real intelligence.

He shrugged and said
“different stuff.”

“Like what?” she
pressed.

“Mathematics mostly.”

“What?” That sounded
absurd.

“They couldn’t figure
out the equations for the sub-atomic interference patterns needed to isolate
the wave function for the inter-galactic . . .”

“OH STOP IT” she
yelled.

“Huh?”

“You did the math for
that thingy? I don’t believe it.”

“I guess I have a
knack for numbers and stuff like that.”

“You got to be
kidding me?”

“Not exactly.”

The situation was
becoming less amusing and more annoying. “Listen, no offense, but I don’t think
you can teach me anything.” She felt bad about hurting his feelings but he was
such a dufus. If he actually did work for the Serpent scientist, it was
probably as a favor to the Dragon Queen. Knowing Ven’trrr – he probably just
let this kid think he was making a contribution.

“Actually, I am
giving you your first lesson as we speak.” Suddenly his voice was filled with
self-confidence and smug amusement.

Sensing the change in
his demeanor and realizing she was the butt of some yet to be explained joke,
Rose blushed. “What’s going on here? Who are you, really?”

“As I said, my name
is Storm and I am a Prince. We did meet but that was a few years ago. You were
very young . . . for a human.”

“But why were you
pretending to be such a ding-bat.”

“To make my point. We
Royals have a responsibility to judge others on their own merits and not
through the prism of our own preconceptions. I am a young dragon so you were
more than willing to accept the fact that I was a bumbling adolescent with
limited intelligence. However, I was presumably sent by Queen F’Aerianne
herself. Would she actually send such an inept person to teach the daughter of
King M’earth?”

“Well, I guess not.”

“Of course she
wouldn’t. So you ignored your powers of reasoning and common sense and let your
prejudices take over.”

“I AM NOT
prejudiced,” she protested loudly.

“The fact that I am
Dragon, young and a male led you to believe the worst.”

“That’s not true.” Of
course, it was true.

“If you can’t be
honest with yourself, you can’t be honest with anyone.”

Now that really
infuriated her. Not because he was wrong . . .  since he wasn’t. She was upset
because she had been denied one of her favorite past times – arguing.

To avoid the
unmitigated horror of admitting she was in the wrong, Rose changed the subject
and asked, “So you’re not actually going to teach me to ride?”

“On the contrary.
Climb up.” She hesitated and the dragon added, “I’m not really clumsy. In fact
I’ve heard it said that I’m rather graceful.”

“Ha . . . if anyone
said that, it was probably your mother.” She slid on his back, just forward of
his wings, and took hold. “Oh my gosh . . . no seat belts” she teased.

“Humans!” he replied
in feigned disgust.

“Don’t be grumpy”
something dragons were often accused of.

“Don’t be silly. I’m
tons of fun. Are you ready?”

“Just one question
before we go.”

“What?”

“Are you really good
at mathematics?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.
I’m a dragon” and with a loud ‘eeek’
he took off.

Chapter 5 - Storm

None of her friends
had ever been boys. Royal Princesses just didn’t do that sort of thing until
they were sixteen. Then they would go through a time-honored ceremony of being
‘introduced’ to the world. Afterward they could enjoy the company of whomever
they pleased.

Since Rose was only
ten, it was more than a little puzzling why F’Aerianne had assigned Storm to be
her tutor. If the girl had given it any thought, she would have come to the
conclusion that the Queen of Dragons was daring King M’earth to object. It was
probably her way to get even for some assumed slight that the Human King had
shown her. One more proof that Dragons were grumpy.

But Rose didn’t care
about any of that. All she knew was that Storm made her laugh, treated her like
an equal (which was odd since she was the Royal one), engaged her in
interesting conversations (something that T’eel and Kl’air never did) and was
way more fun than any of her other friends had ever been.

They had been
constant companions for three months. At the moment, they were doing what they
loved to do best – fly. Rose sat on Storm’s back as they sailed over a large
snow covered peak. They were so high that the dragon stopped flapping his wings
and just glided. Except for the whisper of wind slipping by, it was eerily
quiet.

“Where to, Oh Royal
One.”

Without hesitation,
the girl said, “Sighing Whorl."

Storm looked over his
shoulder so he could see Rose’s face. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m serious. Have
you ever seen the Myst Tree?”

“NO!” the
dragon roared at the outrageous question.

The Myst Tree at
Sighing Whorl was a representative of the Old Ones – the creators of Aerianna.
Though there was no law that said you couldn’t visit him (or her or it), the
fog that covered the hills and valley of Sighing Whorl kept out any unwanted
guest. No one knew in advance who the Tree would allow to visit. Even M’earth
had occasionally been denied an audience.

“Me neither. Let’s go
say hello.”

“You are one loony
lady.”

“I thought Dragons
were brave. Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

“I prefer to think of
myself as exceptionally bright with a high degree of common sense and smart
enough to stay away from places I don’t belong.”

“That’s what I
thought – you’re scared.”

“Ha. And you’re not?”

“Why should I be? The
worse that can happen is the Tree doesn’t allow us in.”

“NO, the worse that
can happen is the Tree does allow us in.”

“Why is that worse?”

“What the heck do you
say to a talking Tree that possesses the knowledge and power of the most
advanced civilization that we’ll ever meet?”

“Hi, Tree” then she
giggled.

“Like I said, you are
one loony lady.”

“Take me – I command
you.”

“Be nice or I’ll fly
upside down.”

“So?”

So he flipped over
and flew upside down. Rose had to hang on for dear life and was just able to
keep from falling off.

He flipped back over,
turned and smiled at her. “Fun, huh?”

“What were you going
to tell my father if you had dropped me?” She was red in the face from the
blood rushing to her head and from the thrill of dangling ten thousand feet
above the ground.

“I would say, “Your
Majesty, I dropped your daughter. My Bad.”

She kicked him
playfully in the side. “Well, since you have it all worked out, I guess I’ll
just leave” and she did the stupidest thing she had ever done; she jumped off
the dragon and into thin air.

Storm turned around
to tell her she was nuts but she wasn’t there. He squawked and looked around
frantically. And there about a thousand feet below him was the ever-smaller
speck that was the Royal Princess of Aerianna.

Without hesitation,
the dragon dove straight down flapping his wings for all he was worth. It took
about ten seconds to catch up to (or is it ‘down to’) the falling princess –
grabbing her as gently as he could in his talons and pulled out of the dive. He
looked down towards his feet to make sure she was okay and was greeted with a
big smile.

“Hi, there.”

“YOU ARE CRAZY.”

“Me? I’m not the one
who dropped a Royal Princess.”

Storm gawked at her
in horror, shook his head and looked around for a place to land.

On the ground, he put
Rose down – but not as gently as he could have.

“OW”.

“Sorry.”

“Liar.”

“Ro, what is wrong
with you? That was stupid, even by your standards.”

But she didn’t answer
his question. All she said was, “I wish I could fly.”

“Well we know one
thing for sure – you can fall.”

“No, really. When I
used those wings to glide from Q’umulus, it was beyond wonderful. That’s why I
want to visit the Myst Tree.”

“You lost me? Were
you going to ask him to turn you into a dragon?”

“Uggg, no. Oops,
sorry. That came out wrong.”

Storm didn’t take offense.
“So what were you going to ask the Tree?”

“I’m not sure. But I
had a dream and in it I was flying.”

“Oh.” Dreams on
Aerianna were taken very seriously. It was how the wisdom of all those who had
come before was passed on to future generations. “In that case, hop on.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

*****

It took almost an
hour to reach the Valley of Sighing Whorl . . .

It was called that
because the sound the fog made as it swirled over hills and through the trees
sounded much like a human sighing contentedly.

They landed at the
edge of the fog and Rose slid off Storm’s back.

“Now what?”

“Well, now we walk in
there” and she pointed at the valley that peeked through the occasional breaks
in the swirling mist.

“You first” he said
ungallantly.

She looked at him and
made a face. “My hero . . .” Then she turned and put a foot out to see what
would happen.

Nothing. It didn’t
try to stop her. Apparently, she was welcome. “Now you,” she told her friend as
she nudged him forward.

Again, nothing as one
of his talons penetrated the fog.

“Okay, let’s go” and
Rose started to walk.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“How do you address a
talking tree?”

Rose giggled – more
from the stress of the situation than anything else. But before she could
answer, a voice said, “Tree is sufficient.”

“Oh my gosh” she
screamed involuntarily.

“Did you hear that?”

“Of course I heard
that you feathery flying freak”.

“I am
the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl, and you and your companion are most welcome
Princess Rose’Alynnia.”

Rose looked around
for the source of the voice but all she could see was fog and trees – just
plain ordinary trees. “I’m sorry but where are you?”

“Follow the path which I will illuminate for you”
and an eerie green glow lit the ground.

So they did and it
led them to what was unmistakably the mystical Myst Tree…

“OH MY GOSH” she
whispered.

“Gosh and double
gosh.”

“I have
been expecting you Princess. Welcome to Sighing Whorl.”

“Thank you.”

“And
Prince Storm, it is an honor.”

“Say what?” The
dragon was standing behind his friend trying to look small and inconspicuous.

“Princess,
I cannot give you wings.”

“Oh. I mean I didn’t
think you could or if you could you wouldn’t.”

“But
one day in the far future you will fly . . . not as you are, but as the essence
of what you once were.”

Rose turned to look
at Storm who shrugged in confusion.

“Sir . . .”

“Tree.”

“Sorry. Tree, I have
no idea what you mean.”

The Myst Tree ignored
her statement. “It is essential that you pursue
that which you desire. Those that once gave you flight will give flight to your
dreams. But time also flies and that works against you until it works for you.”

“I am truly sorry
for being so stupid, but I don’t understand anything that you said.”

“We
will meet again Princess but it will not be a joyous occasion. Until then,
live, learn, love.”

*****

They flew back in
silence each trying to remember and to understand what they had been told. But
it made no sense.

The Myst Tree had a
reputation for talking in riddles. Obviously, it was well deserved.

And though they
discussed it endlessly for the next few weeks, they soon grew tired of the
subject. Besides, there were so many distractions begging for their attention.

*****

“Who is that?” Storm
was pointing to a blue-skinned, teenage boy in the courtyard below. Humans on
Aerianna came in every color of the rainbow.

“That is yet another
Prince. His name is Z’kkk.” She watched him for a moment as he wielded a wooden
sword at a straw dummy. “You know, one of the first things I’m going to do when
I become Queen is to get rid of all you Princes.”

“Why?”

“There’s way too many
of you. There ought to be just one – the one I intend to marry.”

“Oh, really? And who
might that be?”

“Haven’t met him yet”
she replied coyly.

“And how will you
know him when you do meet?”

“A woman knows these
things here” and she pointed at her heart.

“Shall I tell you how
a dragon knows he met his future wife?”

“This ought to be
good.”

“The woman tells
him.”

“What? I never heard
that.”

“It’s true. She’ll
come up to the man of her dreams and tell him he’s the chosen one.”

“And he has to marry
her?”

“Doesn’t have to – if
he wants to be a bachelor his whole life.”

“You’re just teasing
me.”

“Maybe.”

She fell silent for a
few seconds. “Hey, I bet you I can make Z’kkk cry.”

“How – by boring him
to tears with the story of your glorious life?”

She kicked her friend
in the leg. “No – I’m going to challenge him to a sword fight. And after I
disarm him, I’ll whack his backside so hard he’ll grab it, turn red then cry.”

“Maybe he’s good with
a sword. Maybe he’ll whack your royal bum.”

“How much?”

“How much what?” he
asked suspiciously.

“How much do you want
to bet?”

Without hesitation,
the dragon responded, “One thing I’ve learned over the last four months is to
NEVER bet against the great and powerful Rose’Alynnia.”

“Oh, that’s sweet.”

“No, that’s
self-preservation.”

“Come on. Let’s have
some fun.”

They made their way
to the courtyard and when Z’kkk saw who it was, he immediately stopped and
bowed as custom dictated. “Good day, Your Highness. I did not know you were
about.”

Ignoring the
pleasantries Rose said, “Find me another sword. I wish to challenge you.”

The young man’s eyes
went wide in surprise. “I must warn you that I am very good, Princess. If you
mean to do this, I will be obliged to duel left-handed so that you may best me.
I would not think that such a contest would hold much satisfaction for you.”

“Get the sword. And I
command you to fight right-handed and as well as you can.”

“But . . .”

“If you lose, I swear
I’ll have my father use the Crystal Egg to turn you into a sea slug.”

“Your Highness teases
me.”

“Your Highness
doesn’t tease. Once you’re a slug I’ll put you in a jar in my room – as a
trophy. Now, get the sword.”

His face had turned
white. Z’kkk was a year older than Rose but completely ignorant in the ways of
troublesome girls. So he took her threat at face value. He scampered off and
returned within a minute with another wooden sword. He handed it to her, hilt
first.”

“Thank you. Ready?”

“Um . . .”

“I’ll take that for a
yes. Storm count down from three.”

“Three, two . . .
one.”

She feinted to her
right and drew a weak parry from the young man. She repeated the same to her
left and elicited the same response.

“You better try
harder” and she lunged straight at his chest.

Taken by surprise by
the quickness of her move, Z’kkk backed up a step, catching his boot and
staggered off balance. His sword hand came up in an attempt to regain his
footing.

Rose struck again.
She slapped at his sword with all the power she could muster and it went flying
from his hand.

The boy pivoted to
retrieve his weapon but his foot slipped and he fell face down into the dirt.
Rose looked over at Storm and gave him a big, evil smile. The she walked over
to the prone form of the little Prince and whacked him on his butt with the
flat part of her sword.

“OWWWWW” he screamed
at the unexpected pain. Whacking a disarmed opponent was against all the rules
of chivalry. He grabbed for his Gluteus Maximus with both hands.

Rose burst out
laughing. She really wasn’t trying to be cruel; that wasn’t in her nature. It
was done in the name of harmless entertainment (at least in her mind).

The Prince turned red
and jumped up still holding his butt. Then remembering Rose’s threat his eyes
began to tear up.

“Storm” the girl
yelled over her shoulder. “Find me a nice jar for my new pet.”

Z’kkk burst into
tears and ran off.

*****

The rest of the year
flew by – in more ways than one. The Princess and the Dragon spent their days
flying and exploring the near and far reaches of their world . . . from
mountaintops to deep sea cities. Together they met with the young and old,
scientists and artists, teachers and merchants, lords and commoners learning
what they could about every facet of life under the good King M’earth.

Storm became Rose’s
best friend fulfilling the Queen’s unspoken reason for putting the two
together. In her mind, there could be no better way for Dragons to maintain
their position in the order of things then by having the ruler of Aerianna
consider Storm her most trusted advisor.

And the people grew
to love their Princess, as they had never done before.

Chapter 6 - Z’kkk

Six years later

“How do I look?”

Ss’ong, Rose’s
eight-year-old sister, looked at her with wide-eyed appreciation. “You are the
most beautiful Princess in the whole world,” she said breathlessly.

“No, dear one, that
honor is yours.”

“Mine?”

“You are everything
that I am not. Delicate features, sea green eyes, silky long hair the color of
honey and your laughter could make even Queen F’Aerianne smile.”

The young girl ran
over to her sister and gave her a hug, burying her face in Rose’s coming-out
gown. They held the embrace for a long moment until the older girl gently
disentangled herself from her sibling. “It is almost time for my grand
entrance.”

“I wish I could go.”

“As do I. There is,
however, a way for you to watch the festivities.”

“Really? How?”

“I have a surprise
for you. Come” and she walked out of the dressing room and into her bedroom.
“This is for you” and she handed her sister a rectangular case about a foot in
length on each side.

“What is it?” said
the Ss’ong after she opened the box and withdrew a crystal the same shape as
the package that held it.

“It is a viewing
stone. I borrowed it from my friend, Ven’trrr, the chief scientist of the
Serpents.”

“But what does it
do?”

“I cannot explain the
science but there is another crystal in the ballroom that will send pictures of
the party to this device. Press this button here and you can see everything
that happens.” She pressed the button and the crystal lit up. Slowly the glow
resolved itself into a scene of an elaborately decorated room with a couple of
hundred guests milling about waiting for Rose to make her entrance.

“Ohhhh,” sighed the
girl in wonder.

“If I may I advise
you – kiss mother and father goodnight, then go to bed, turn out the lights so
everyone will think you are asleep and under the cloak of your covers watch me
dazzle the young men of Aerianna.”

Ss’ong hugged Rose
again. “You are the best sister in the entire universe. You always take care of
me. Thank you, thank you.”

Rose smiled at the
girl. “As long as I live, I will always take care of you. I promise.”

*****

Her heart told her
that he was the one and she blushed. “Oh my gosh” she murmured to herself.

Storm overheard the
words and thought she was talking to him. “What’s wrong?”

They had been at the
party for almost an hour. The Princess had dutifully talked to every man,
dragon and serpent who was presented to her and danced with every young man
that had the courage to ask her.

Then a late arrival
caught Rose’s attention. He looked taller than she remembered, his hair was
longer and he had gained sufficient weight so that the skinny boy now looked
the young man.

And he was blue
skinned and beautiful. “Nothing” she lied to her friend.

The newcomer hurried
over to Rose and bowed formally. “I do apologize, My Lady. I was detained
against my will.”

Rose’s eyebrows
arched up. “Am I to take it that you were held prisoner?” she teased.

“Prisoner?” he
parroted in confusion. “Oh, no, no. I meant that my father, the Earl, insisted
that I pay a call on your parents before I came.”

The young man looked
vaguely familiar and Storm asked, “Have we met, sir?” Like his best friend, he
was learning to speak as a Royal when circumstance warranted.

Z’kkk looked at the
dragon and smiled. “Yes” he replied enigmatically.

The dragon couldn’t
help himself and said with a toothy grin “Sorry, but all humans look alike to
me. Where did we meet?”

“Perhaps if I gave
you a hint”. But instead of looking at Storm he turned to look at Rose and said
in a slightly falsetto voice “Storm, find me a nice jar for my new pet”.

“Ekkk,” squawked the
dragon at the memory.

Rose, of course, had
already made the connection. “And how is your Gluteus Maximus” she asked as
regally as she could without laughing.

“The pain has gone
but my pride remains injured” he replied. His grin turned his face from
handsome to patently gorgeous.

“I will give you an
opportunity to repair the damage – if you can. Dance with me but do try to stay
upright.”

“As you command, my
Lady” and he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

“If you step on her
feet, I still have that jar” called Storm as the couple glided away.

*****

He danced in silence
as if it took his entire concentration to perform well. To make it worse, he
held her gently at arm’s length as if she might break. There was as much
intimacy as if Rose was dancing with the Old Duke. And that simply would not
do.

“Sir, I must warn you
that if you do not show improvement, I will ask Prince Storm to fetch the jar.”

“But Your Highness I
thought I was doing so well?”

“To your credit you
have not fallen down nor have you stepped on my foot.”

“Then what?” he asked
confused.

She wanted to command
him to pull her close so she could feel his breath on her neck.

She wanted to command
him to tell her how beautiful she looked.

She wanted to command
him to insist on dancing every dance with her.

But if she did, then
it would mean nothing.

“I tease you sir. You
are a fine dancer.” And the music ended. “If you will excuse me, I must
socialize with the other guests.”

“Of course”. He knew
he had made a poor first impression though the reason was not obvious.  Since
this opportunity to be alone with the Princess might be a long time in
happening again, he screwed up his courage and said “But I must insist that you
save at least one more dance for me.”

“Why is that sir?”

He hesitated for a
heartbeat, took a deep breath and said softly “because I have been in love with
you ever since that day.” Not waiting for a reply that might break his heart,
he tipped his head, turned and walked away.

Rose stared at the
young man’s back…frozen in place by his words.

“You okay?” asked
Storm who had walked over.

She forced herself to
look away from Z’kkk and at her friend. “Do you want to know a secret?”

“Rosie (he only used
that term of endearment when he had something very personal to say to her) I
may be a dragon but I know you all too well.”

“Oh, really.”

“Really. That poor
wretch doesn’t stand a chance. You’re going to marry him.”

“Oh my gosh”.

“What?”

“We’ve spent way too
much time together.”

“Best Friends
Forever.”

“Absolutely. By the
way, if you tell Z’kkk before I do, I’ll put you in that jar.”

“Ekkk”.

*****

“Mother, what do you
think of Prince Z’kkk?”

Kat’Alynnia turned to
her daughter and studied her face. “More importantly, what do you think of the
young man?”

“I think perhaps he
might be a suitable match for me.”

Kat’Alynnia crinkled
her eyes in amusement. “His family is held in the highest regard by your father
and by his fellow countrymen. On that score, I would agree.”

“Ever since my party
I have been spending time with him. I find his company . . . um . . .
satisfactory.”

“Well that is
certainly a point in his favor.” The Queen could sense her daughter’s
discomfort in discussing the subject but for the moment, she thought she let
the young woman fidget.

“Yes it is. He is
quite intelligent and can tell the most amusing stories.”

“I see. Again, that
is very good.”

“We seem to have much
in common.”

Enough was enough. It
was time to cut to the chase. “Rose, have you kissed him?”

“MOTHER!”

“Z’kkk is the most
handsome young man I have ever seen – or dreamt about.”

“MOTHER”.

“Oh, stop. I love
your father and would never do anything to hurt him. Nevertheless, Z’kkk is
everything I could hope for in a son-in-law. Why do you think he was late to
your party?”

“Why?”

“I had the Earl bring
him by to meet your father. I was playing matchmaker. M’earth took to the boy
immediately. And when he requested your father’s approval to ask you out, he
received it gladly.”

Rose was mortified.
“I cannot believe you did all this behind my back.”

“I would like to at
least pretend to be contrite, but I am anything but that. I love you and want
only the best for you. You spend almost no time with humans obviously
preferring the company of dragons and serpents. I thought you would never meet
someone that could win your heart. I was just encouraging the young man to do
what he already had decided to do.”

The girl wanted to be
angry but the image of Z’kkk that came unbidden to her mind put an end to that.
All she could do was hug her mother and say “Thank you.”

“Having said all that
I have, please remember there will be no wedding before you turn twenty.”

“But if he asks for
my hand in marriage, I can say yes, can I not? I can be engaged?”

“With my blessings.”

“Then I best tell my
young man to bend a knee to me if he does not wish to incur my displeasure.”

“Be gentle with him,”
teased Kat’Alynnia.

“Always.”

*****

“What’s wrong with
you?”

“Nothing.”

“Liar.”

“Dragons never lie.”

“Ha. You just did
twice.”

“So where’s your
boyfriend?”

“That’s what I came
to talk to you about.”

“Let me guess. He
asked you to marry him.”

“You could have at
least pretended not to know so I could have the satisfaction of telling you.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t sound
sorry.”

“No . . . you
couldn’t be more wrong.”

“I want you to give
away the bride.”

“Thanks, but I
already did.”

“What are you talking
. . .” she stopped in mid-sentence. “Oh”.

Storm looked at the
girl. It was hard to read emotions in a dragon’s face unless you were another
dragon. But Rose knew her friend as well as he did her.

“Oh, what?”

“Oh, I’m such an
insensitive fool. I am so sorry.”

“For what?”

“I never even
considered how you were feeling. We’ve spent so much time together these last
six years then I just walk away and spend my time with Z’kkk. Oh, Storm, I just
want to cry” and she did.

The dragon knew how
much Rose hated for anyone to see her shed tears. For her to do so for him was
a compliment beyond measure. It was as loud a proclamation of their love for
one another as any words might render.

He walked over to the
girl and folded his wings around her. “It was going to happen sooner or later.
I’m just a little sad that our time together has come to an end.”

“NEVER” she yelled.
“Don’t you ever think that. He may become my husband, but you will always be my
best friend. FOREVER!”

Now the dragon wanted
to cry. “Thank you.”

“Will you give away
the bride?”

“It would be my
honor.”

*****

“Where shall we
honeymoon? Some secluded beach baked by the sun? Or perhaps an isolated cottage
high on a mountain top buried to the rafters in snow?”

“We have four years
to make that decision.”

“True, but I enjoy
thinking about it.”

“Men!” and she poked
her betrothed in the ribs.

“Lady, you wrong me.”

“How so, sir?” she
answered in mock seriousness.

“My thoughts are
pure. I only meant that I long for the time when I may call you wife.”

She giggled and
pushed him away when he tried to kiss her. “Your actions belie your words, my
Prince.”

“I am undone by my
own behavior” but he grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her closer. “But I do
love you.”

“Then kiss me you
foolish man before I have you beheaded for trifling with the Royal Princess.”

“As my Lady commands”
and he did.

“By the by, I do know
where I wish to honeymoon.”

“And where might that
be?”

“Earth.”

“Where?”

“Earth” she answered
innocently.

“And where is Earth?
Is it someplace you and Storm stumbled upon in your journeys?”

“Not exactly. It is a
planet some several trillion miles from Aerianna.”

“Several trillion!
Seems a tad far to travel for one’s honeymoon.”

“Perhaps. But, of
course if you loved me as you are always professing, the distance would not be
an obstacle.”

He looked at her and
knew she wasn’t kidding. “Ro, does this have something to do with the Crystal
Egg?”

“No. It has to do
with sea serpents.”

The handsome young
man thought about that for a moment then came to the correct conclusion. Well,
almost. “Has Ven’trrr invented a vehicle that can travel the stars?”

“Not exactly. It’s an
inter-galactic gateway. You can pass through it and be instantaneously
transported to another world of your choosing. I had been in Nau’tika some
years ago just weeks after they had discovered this planet. I would love to
visit it.”

“Is it safe?”

“I think so.”

“Well, if you are
eager, so am I. It does sound exciting.”

“Now you have a
legitimate reason to think about our honeymoon,” teased the girl.

“Oh, no my lady” and
he hugged her close. “I have a number of reasons to think about it.” And he
kissed her yet again.

*****

“Father.”

“Yes, daughter?”

“Do you consider the
Crystal Egg to be beneficial for our people?”

“Of course.”

“Does it not take
away our desire to innovate, to invent?”

“Have you been
talking to Ven’trrr?”

“No.”

“Sounds like
something he would say.”

“Would he be right?”

“I believe the good
outweighs the bad.”

“What would happen if
the Egg fell into the hands of the wrong person?”

“Wrong? In what way?”

“Someone who would
use its power for their personal gain and not the good of the people.”

“That is why I
created the Knight Guardians of the Order of the Crystal Egg.”

“And they can protect
it from falling into the hands of someone evil?”

“Of course.”

“That troubles me,
Father.”

“How so?”

“The best plans of
men and sea slugs are usually equal.” She was quoting an old adage about how
things can go wrong regardless of how well conceived an idea might seem.

“Trust your old
father in this. The Crystal Egg protects us all. That is why the Old Ones gave
it to me.”

“Perhaps it was a
test?”

“What kind of test?”

“To see if we were
clever enough to understand the danger it represents and wise enough to decline
the gift.”

Chapter 7 - The Order of the Crystal Egg

Two years later

“No, absolutely not.
I forbid it.”

“Kat, be reasonable.”

“I am always
reasonable, you portly fool.”

“Honestly, I am more
stout than portly” and he put his hands on his ample belly.

“Fine. You stout
fool.”

“Do you really
believe that I am a fool?” he asked hurt.

Some of the tension
left his wife’s features. “No, of course not. You will go down in history as
M’earth the Wise.” She was being serious. A more humble man had never ruled
their world. His decisions were always to the benefit of his subjects. He was
honest with himself so he could be honest with his people. His trust in the
goodness of others was unshakeable – even when they occasionally lost sight of
the high standard he expected of all Aeriannians. His one fault, if one had to
be found, was his certainty that everyone shared his beliefs.

But he never liked
being serious if levity would serve better. “I will go down in history as
M’earth with the Large Girth.”

She hated herself for
laughing at his silly joke but she couldn’t help herself. “You do drive me
insane.”

“Kat” he used this
momentary lull in hostilities to press his point. “She is old enough, worthy of
the honor and . . . well . . . and insistent. Very insistent to be honest. She
has been nagging me for the last year. She obviously received that endearing
quality from her mother.”

“I never nag.”

“Hurummppph” he
chortled.

“I hate politics.”

“I know you do.”

“I hate the thought
that Rose will immerse herself in it. To be consumed by it.”

“Kat” he said gently.
“She will inherit the crown someday. She needs to be prepared.”

“Then in two years
you will name her to the Council of Equals” it was a statement of fact and he
didn’t reply.

The Queen walked over
to a window and looked out at the gardens below. Lost in thought, her mind
didn’t register what her eyes were seeing. M’earth knew his wife well enough
not to interrupt her train of thought.

Finally, she turned
around and said, “I will agree but there is a price to be paid.”

“What price?” he
asked suspiciously.

“First, on the day
she becomes a Knight Guardian you will give her Se’rene. I know it was to be a
wedding gift, but I want her to have someplace to retreat to when the burdens
of the Order become too much.”

“Done.” He waited
knowing that the worst was yet to come.

“I will take Ss’ong
and leave Q’umulus.”

“What?”

“I have no intention
of allowing my youngest daughter to become embroiled with the machinations of
governing. She is an extraordinary artist and I intend to nurture her gifts. I
will start a retreat for young people of similar skills and of a like mind. You
will pay for it.”

“Kat, be reasonable .
. .”

“I am being
reasonable.”

“Are we to divorce?”
He had turned white. M’earth was the most powerful man on the planet, but he
was hopelessly in love with his wife.

“Of course not” she
said shocked at the thought.

“Oh” he sighed in
relief. “But you are my wife and I, I mean we, well you and I . . .” He was too
embarrassed to complete the thought.

“My last demand is
that you will visit me every week. Every day if you can manage it. Did you
think I intended to dishonor my marriage vows?”

“I . . . I had hoped
not” he whispered.

“You, my dear
husband, are a stout fool” and she walked over and kissed him.

*****

Z’kkk had been
inducted into the Knight Guardians the prior year; Storm the year before that.
And that just frosted Rose.

Not that she
begrudged her fiancé and her best friend the honor; she just felt that she was
as worthy as the either of them.

But no woman had ever
been given the honor.

“Father, why is
that?” she asked. Since her other arguments for her induction into the Order
always fell on deaf ears, she thought to be clever with this new argument.

“Well, no woman was
ever worthy” and he gritted his teeth waiting for his daughter’s verbal
assault. He wasn’t disappointed.

“NOT WORTHY! NOT
WORTHY! How dare you say that? Women are at least as intelligent as men but we
are not governed by your ridiculous sense of pride and arrogance. As for
strength, a female dragon – pound for pound – can best any male her own size.
Same is true of serpents.”

“But you are neither”
he reminded her.

“I was trained by the
Old Duke himself in the use of a sword. I am a master, as you well know. I may
not be as strong as my opponent, but what I lack in muscle I more than make up
with cunning.”

“It is good that you
do not suffer with male pride and arrogance.”

Rose’s eyes went wide
as her blood began to reach the boiling point. But before she could explode
into a cloud of angry steam, M’earth said, “I did not mean that they – that
females – were not as intelligent nor lacked the strength. I meant they lack
the temperament. When you defend the Crystal Egg, you must be willing to
sacrifice yourself, your countrymen and your family if necessary. No woman I
have ever met would put a piece of technology, no matter how miraculous, over
her family.”

“The needs of the
many outweigh the needs of the few.” It was an adage supposedly passed down by
the Old Ones.

“Think about it Rose.
Really and truly think about it. Could you do it without hesitation?”

She wanted to shout
‘yes, of course’. Instead she said, “I do not think any of the Guardians would
sacrifice their family without hesitation. That would not be the kind of
individual you would choose for such a position.”

M’earth smiled
kindly. “My daughter, I have decided to make you a Knight Guardian of the Order
of the Crystal Egg. Do you accept?”

Stunned that the
argument had finally ended the way she had hoped, Rose was momentarily
speechless. Then regaining her poise she answered as protocol dictated “You do
me great honor, my Liege. May I prove worthy of the challenge.”

“Then, as the
Sovereign of Aerianna, I command you to give your father a hug.”

She did. Then
something dawned on her. “How did you get mother to agree?”

“Um, she could not
resist the charms and the persuasion of her husband.”

“Ha. What did she
want in return?”

“Only one thing of
importance. But I will let her tell you herself.”

*****

“Se’rene!”

“Yes, my daughter.
And I expect you to use it as often as possible.”

“Oh, mother. Thank
you. Thank you.”

“It was to be a
wedding gift, but I think that you will need a haven of peace and tranquility
sooner.”

“The Duke knew, did
he not?”

“It was his
suggestion.”

“I knew he was
keeping something from me when he said that he sold his home. May I invite him
to the ceremony?”

“May you? You
absolutely must. He will be so proud.”

“By the by, what else
did you extort from father?”

“Nothing of
importance.”

“Tell me.”

And Kat’Alynnia did.
That led to a heated discussion between mother and daughter that some might
term an argument. But in the end, Rose decided the arrangement between her
parents wasn’t as onerous as it first appeared and she reluctantly accepted it.

*****

“Will you stand
behind me?”

“What will Z’kkk say
about that?”

“I’ve already
discussed it with him and he thought it was a marvelous idea.”

“Really?” asked Storm
doubtfully.

“Since he is my
fiancé, he felt it would look too much like a family affair if he did it. Plus
the symbolism of a dragon sponsoring a human will make F’Aerianne happy.”

“Happy, no. Less
grumpy, maybe.”

Rose smiled at that.
“So you’ll do it?”

“Of course I’ll do
it. What are you going to do about the sword?” It was traditional at this
ceremony for a Human to be presented with a ritual sword symbolizing his or
hers commitment to the Order. And though the King made the presentation, the
individual actually designed the sword for himself and gave it a name.

“Oh, I have something
in mind” she said with a mischievous grin.

“You always do. Are
you going to tell your best friend?”

“No.”

“I’m deeply hurt.”

“Live with the pain”
she said playfully.

*****

“Can you do it?”

“Your Highness, you
should have been born a serpent.”

“You flatter me,
Ven’trrr.”

“It will be ready for
your inspection in a week. Will that suffice?”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

*****

It was a room like no
other in the city.

It was a room like no
other on Aerianna or on any world in the entire galaxy.

This room contained
the Crystal Egg…

It hung suspended in
a field of cosmic ether the nature of which was not understood by the scientist
of Aerianna.

On either side of it
stood three of the Knight Guardians – one Human, one Sea Serpent, and one
Dragon.

Outside the chamber
stood two Knight Guardians – sentinels that secured the entrance from those
without reason or purpose to pass within.

The King arrived to
the fanfare of two trumpets and a single beating drum rat-tat-tatting like a
machine gun. Everyone bowed until M’earth sat upon his throne.

“Knight Guardians of
the Order of the Crystal Egg we are gathered to induct an individual of
character and worth into your ranks. May I present the Princess Rose’Alynnia.”

Rose walked in from a
side entrance. She was resplendent in an outfit of her own design. Behind her
stood Storm standing in the traditional position of sponsor.

“Who sponsors this
person?” recited Ven’trrr in his role as the Order’s Master-at-Arms.

“I have that honor,”
answered the dragon. And he bowed his head as required.

“Rose’Alynnia, do you
accept the obligations of the Knight Guardians? Will you protect the Crystal
Egg from any who would misuse its power, sacrificing your life and the life any
other – friend or family – to insure that this gift from the Old Ones will not
be used for personal gain?”

“I solemnly do.”

“Then I present you
with this sword – dubbed Dazzle. Wear it as a badge of honor as the
newest member of the Order of the Crystal Egg.” He unsheathed the weapon, which
until this point he had not seen, and like everyone else in the room, gasped at
the sight.

The sword was not
made of metal, but of Serpents’ Crystal. It had been cleaved from a single gem.
It was both stronger than steel and sharper than any blade ever forged. But utility
had been married with unmatched beauty for the crystal was iridescent and the
light of the room shimmered and danced off its polished surface.

At this point,
M’earth was to hand the sword, hilt first, to his daughter. But his eyes were
wide as he continued to stare at the breathtaking sight.

Storm leaned over to
whisper to his friend. “Good grief girl, you are the only person in the world
that could actually outdo yourself.”

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

“Pretty deadly. I
don’t think your father is going to give it back.”

“Father” Rose
whispered. But the King was mesmerized and didn’t hear her over the buzzing of
the crowd. “Psssst”.

“What? Oh. As I was
saying, I give you Dazzle” and he handed the sword to his daughter.

“Thank you. Upon this
weapon I pledge my fealty to you, my King, and to serve with honor the Knight
Guardians.” And she raised the sword for all to see . . .

And with that, the
ceremony ended.

Everyone came forward
to congratulate her though their true intent was to get a closer look at
Dazzle, which she continually had to unsheathe for their inspection . . .

When the mob of
individuals finally began to thin, she heard a familiar voice.

“Well, Rose, you do
an old man proud.” It was the Duke of Bo’ring.

The princess in a
completely undignified manner threw her arms around her mentor. “I am so very
glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for
the world.”

Rose smiled
“Wouldn’t? Such a contraction would give the Duchess nightmares.”

“Between you and me,
I always thought that grammatical requirement was tedious and senseless.
Without contractions we sound like machines.”

“Ain’t that the
truth” and they both burst out laughing.

*****

“Your outfit is
stunning.”

“Thank you,
husband-to-be. But I would rather you think that I was stunning and not these
old rags.”

“You do have a
certain physical charm” he replied with a big grin.

“Do I? High praise,
indeed” and she reached out as if to touch is face with loving fingers. At the
last second, she grabbed his ear lobe and gently twisted it.

“Ow.”

“Would you care to
rephrase that last remark?” Then she let go of his ear and slipped her arms
around him, pulling him close and kissing him.”

“I love you.”

“No, no, no. That
will not serve you. I await your description of your betrothed.”

“You are much like
that sword. Dazzling to behold . . . with or without those clothes” he said
with a wolfish grin. He kissed her again then asked, “Tell me about your
insignia.”

“A rose for my name
and the sword I shall carry in service to the Order. From this point forward Dazzle
and Rose will be forever linked.”

“Very poetic. And how
did you come to conceive of Dazzle?”

“In a dream.”

“Really? Do tell.”
For Aeriannians, dreams are taken very seriously. But interpreting them can be
extremely difficult; messages are often hidden within riddles.

“It was very strange.
It seemed to be a dream about a dream. In it, I was standing as I did today,
with Storm at my back. A young girl whose face I cannot recall was talking to
me in her dream. She said ‘Dazzle, I will help you save Aerianna’.
I could see into her mind and there was a shimmering crystal mountain and I
knew that to help me, she had to find that mountain.”

“How very strange.
Why did she call you Dazzle?”

“I cannot say but I am
certain – no, I was certain – that she was addressing me. The next
morning when I woke, I decided that perhaps the young girl was me and that to
save Aerianna, as a Knight Guardian might be called on to do, I needed a
crystal of exquisite beauty . . . one that dazzled the eye. It seemed
logical at the time that a sword as I had created would fulfill the
requirements’ of that dream. But now . . .”

“Now you are not so
sure?”

“More than that. I
now think I was wrong. Very wrong.”

“It worries you?”

“It frightens me in a
way that I cannot comprehend . . .”

He waited, as her
mind seemed to be replaying the memories of that dream. After a moment, he
urged her to continue with “And . . .”

“And I realize now
that I completely forgot another message - one equally obscure though not from
a dream. Years ago Storm and I went to visit The Myst Tree.”

“Did you?” This
revelation surprised him. He didn’t think there was anything of significance in
their lives that the two of them had not shared with each other.

“I was only ten or so
and after the excitement of our visit wore off, I completely put it out of
mind.”

“Too many adventures
to distract you, too much trouble to get into, I presume?” he said with a smile
of understanding.

She returned the
smile briefly then turned serious. “The Tree told me to…what were its words . .
. something like ‘It is essential that you pursue that which you desire.
Those that once gave you flight will give flight to your dreams. But time
also flies and that works against you until it works for you.”

“Why had you gone to
Sighing Whorl?”

“I went to see the
Tree because I wanted to be able to fly. When I was ten, I had Ven’trrr build
me wings so I could glide from Q’umulus to the ground below. He is the one that
once gave me flight.”

“Do you now
understand the Tree’s message?”

“Perhaps Ven’trrr can
fulfill my fantasy and allow me to fly once more. But I cannot see the whole of
what it was trying to convey.”

“I think that you and
Storm need to visit our illustrious scientist.”

“Will you not join
us?”

“No, my love. I
was neither at Sighing Whorl nor part of your dream.”

Chapter 8 - Mobius

Two years later

“Congratulations,
Your Highness.”

“Thank you, my
friend. It seems I have been waiting half my life for this.”

“Rumor has it that
the Prince declared his love for you at your coming-of-age party.”

“Indeed he did.”

“Now that you are
officially betrothed, have you set the date for the nuptials?”

“Alas, it will not be
until the end of the year. Perhaps you could build me a time thingy (and she
smiled at her own silliness at using the term she had coined for the space
portal so many years before) that will make the days fly by.”

“I will give it some
thought,” he teased. “As to your original request, we have now reconsidered our
approach. My team is designing a – well, for the want of a better term – a flying
suit. It will be made of spun crystal to insure comfort. The issue we are
struggling with is how to supply the suit with sufficient power to achieve and
maintain flight.”

“It has been two
years . . .”

“I know. And I
apologize. But we do our best.”

“I know you do.
However, as I shared with you when I made the request, I feel certain that time
grows short.”

“Yes, so you have
said. However, you have not shared the cause of your concern nor how the suit
will mitigate the problem.”

“I can only say it
was a cautionary warning from the Myst Tree.”

“Oh. Oh, my.”
Ven’trrr had turned a shade whiter at that information. “We will redouble our
efforts.”

“Thank you.”

*****

It was a week later
and Rose, Z’kkk and Storm had just returned from Se’rene. The Princess had thrown
her first formal party now that her mother would allow her to hold them
unchaperoned.

“Are you going to see
her again?”

“See who?”

“Storm, you know very
well who. You couldn’t keep your eyes off her the whole night.”

“If you are referring
to Elle‘Lenore, I simply found her clever and witty.”

“I am no expert on
dragon beauty, but I do believe she was particularly attractive,” chided Z’kkk.

“She did have a
certain . . . something,” admitted the dragon reluctantly.

“Oh, you men are all
alike. Just say it. She is the best looking woman you have ever met, more than
your equal in intelligence and you are head over talons in love with her.”

“I beg your pardon,”
said Z’kkk with feigned indignation. “I believe I did just that.”

Rose smiled. “So you
did.”

Before this
conversation could deteriorate any further, the trio was interrupted by T’eel
who had just approached.

“Have you heard the
news?” she asked breathlessly.

“What news?” For no
reason that she could identify, the hairs on Rose’s arms stood up. It was like
a premonition of some evil that was about to befall them.

“A ship has landed.”

“What kind of ship?”

“From space.”

“WHAT?”

“That’s all I know.
They took the pilot to see your father.”

“Let’s go” Rose said
to her companions.

“Go where?”

“To see this space
man.”

*****

His name was Mobius.
He came from the only other planet in the solar system that the inhabitants of
that world called Kallous.

Whereas the humans of
Aerianna stood about six feet tall, Mobius was closer to seven feet. And while
the humans of Aerianna came in any number of bright skin pigments, Mobius’ skin
was a sickly color with a face festooned with chaotic green designs.

And though it was a
shallow response and unworthy of the Princess, she thought he was hideous to
look upon . . .

First impressions may
sometimes be deceiving but not in this instance. After gazing into his evil
eyes, she knew instinctively that he was someone vile by nature, utterly
treacherous and incalculably dangerous. She felt an icy grip squeeze her heart
and a primal fear swell in her soul.

“Daughter, I would
like you to meet Mobius. Sir, my eldest daughter, the Princess Rose’Alynnia.”

“Princess” he said
with a very deep voice that bespoke a man who was used to absolute authority
and command of everyone he considered his inferior. That, of course, would be
everyone.

“Sir.”

“The good Mobius
comes to us from Kallous. He escaped political persecution and fled to
Aerianna, the only world his ship could reach.”

“And why were you
being persecuted if I may ask?”

“Rose, please, he
only just arrived. Let the poor man recover from his arduous journey.”

“Thank you, Sire, but
I would be pleased to answer the Princess.” But as he spoke, the strangest
thing happened to Rose. She heard his voice inside her head. It was telling her
that he was honorable and trustworthy and not to fear him for he meant no harm
to anyone on the planet.”

When Mobius finished
speaking, the voice in her head also stopped.

Dazed, Rose didn’t
hear her father.

“Daughter . . .” he
repeated. “Are you ill?”

“No” she answered
tentatively. “Actually, perhaps I should lie down. Please excuse me” and
without waiting for approval she spun around and left the room.

“I apologize for my
daughter. She can be a bit unpredictable.”

“She is very young
and we elder statesmen must allow for the whimsy of youth.”

The King laughed
appreciatively. “So, where were we before Rose came in?”

“You were telling me
of the wondrous gift from the Old Ones . . .”

“Ah, yes. The Crystal
Egg is the embodiment of a science that we poor Aeriannians are hundreds of
years away from understanding. With a mere thought, I can do virtually
anything. Would you care for a demonstration?” M’earth was showing off . . .
something so very much out of character.

When he had first
been awarded the Egg, the King and all of the Royals were eager to test out its
power. His advisors even convinced him to take a tour of all the towns and
cities and demonstrate to the people what a extraordinary gift they now had.
This went on for the better part of a year.

Then one night
M’earth had the briefest of dreams. . .

“M’earth”.

“Yes? Oh, my. Myst
Tree . . .  this is an honor.”

“The
time for frivolity must end.”

“Frivolity? Oh . . .
you mean the demonstrations with the Crystal Egg.”

But as quickly as it
came, the Myst Tree was gone. The next day M’earth declared an end to the
carnival-like tour. In its place, he instituted a yearly festival he named
Mystivus to honor the Myst Tree, the Old Ones and the gift of the Crystal Egg.

“I must confess that
I am more than a little curious.”

“Well, of course you
are. What would you have me do?”

“I am at a loss.
Perhaps you could suggest something?”

“Certainly. Shall I
create a rose, the flower for which my daughter is named?”

“Excellent.”

The good King smiled,
held out his hand and a moment later a beautiful flower materialized literally
out of thin air . . .

Mobius’ evil eyes
virtually lit up. “Most impressive. May I?” and he held out his hand.

The King gave him the
rose. “That is but a trifle. The real value to my people has been the elimination
of war, famine and natural disasters. We are so grateful for this gift.”

Mobius stared at the
flower for a moment longer. “If I may impose once more on your hospitality, I
would very much like to see the Egg.”

M’earth chuckled. “I
am sorry. Only members of the Counsel of Equals and the Knight Guardians can
enter the presence of the Crystal Egg.”

“Of course. No
apologies are necessary.” But into the ensuing silence, Mobius spoke into the
King’s mind “You value my friendship and wisdom.
Grant me a royal title and elevate me to the Counsel of Equals.”

To M’earth, those
ideas seemed like his own. “Perhaps there is something I can do.”

*****

She was both
mystified and horrified.

Of all the people
that had so far met Mobius, none had anything negative to say about the man.

“Z’kkk, did you not
feel the evil?”

“Rose, my love, you
are being silly. The man is extraordinary and I look forward to discussing the
politics of his home world.”

Later with Storm, she
asked the same question.

“Evil? No. I sensed
nothing evil or sinister about him. However, now that you mention it, something
seemed a little amiss. But it’s probably just my imagination.”

By far, the worst
conversation was with her father.

“Were you not
mesmerized by his oratory skills; by his command of the machinations of
government? I for one will be glad when he is sworn in as a member of the
Council of Equals. His advice will be most welcome.”

“You cannot,” said
his daughter shocked by the idea of giving Mobius privileged access to the
ruling body of Aerianna.

“Of course I can. I
am the King.”

“Father, he must not
be allowed into your inner circle of advisors.”

“Why in all the world
not?”

“He is evil.”

“Rose, he may be ugly
– do not repeat that – but he is anything but evil. He simply radiates confidence
and good fellowship.”

She tried her best to
argue, to tell him of the voice she had heard in her head, but to no avail.

“Rose, the strains of
your coming nuptials is beginning to show,” he said chauvinistically. “Take
that fiancé of yours and spend some time at Se’rene.”

“But . . .”

“Do not argue. Do as
I ask.”

Which, of course, she
didn’t. Instead, she had Storm fly her to the Myst Tree but she was denied
access into Sighing Whorl.

“Why won’t he see
me?”

“I’m just a dumb
dragon. How would I know what goes on in the mind – or the branches – of a
talking tree.”

“Storm, you have to
believe me about Mobius. I just know he was the one the Tree was warning us
about the last time we were here.”

“What are you talking
about? The Tree didn’t say anything about Mobius or anyone.”

“He said the next
time we met it wouldn’t be a joyous occasion. He said that time was working
against us. Well, against us until it works for us, whatever that means.”

“That seems like a
stretch to think he was talking about Mobius.”

“He was warning us
that something bad was coming, that much is clear. One look at that monster and
you know it has to be him. Think about it. I heard Mobius’ voice in my head.
That’s just not normal.”

“No” agreed her
friend “that’s just weird.”

“Somehow he can
project his thoughts into other people’s mind; to convince them that he is not
what he really is. They’re all so excited about a visitor from another planet
and they want to believe only the best about him. He has the ability to use
those feelings to overcome their common sense. It’s a kind of mind control.”

“Never heard of such
a thing.”

“That’s because it
never existed until he showed up.”

“So what now?”

“Let’s talk to
Ven’trrr. Maybe he can build a thingy that can detect if Mobius is actually
doing what we think he’s doing.”

“You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Ven’trrr would need
your father’s permission to do something like that. And M’earth would never
allow it.”

Rose’s shoulders
slumped in defeat. “So what should we do?”

“Let’s wait and see
what happens. When the time comes – if it comes – we’ll do what we can to make
things right.”

*****

It was the very next
meeting of the Council of Equals. Sitting around a triangular table were the
representatives of the three races. M’earth, King of Aerianna, Rose, heir to
the Throne and Z’kkk, her fiancé represented Humans. S’eeee and E’ssss, King
and Queen of the Serpents were joined by N’ssss, their eldest son. Dragons were
represented by F’Aerianne and by Prince Storm. When the Rainbow Queen had
achieved her goal of manipulating Rose and Storm into being best friends, he
had been elevated to the Council.

“Today, we will be
joined by our friend from Kallous, Lord Mobius.” The noble title had been
bestowed on him by M’earth soon after his demonstration with the rose. He had
thought it was his own idea but, of course, it wasn’t. “Without objections, I
have asked that he be seated as a member of this Council.”

“Father . . .”

“Daughter, we have
had this discussion. I will hear no more from you. Does anyone else have
something to say?”

“Your Majesty . . .”
started Storm.

“Silence.” commanded
F’Aerianne. “Dragons, my Liege, have no objections.”

“Nor do Serpents”
added E’ssss.

“Then so be it. Show
in Lord Mobius” and an Imperial Sentinel saluted, turned and walked out to
fetch the man.

Mobius strode into
the chamber as if he owned it. He nodded slightly to the Council then turned to
M’earth. “I am here to serve at your pleasure, my King.”

“Excellent. Please
take a seat on my right.” It was the place of honor.

“As you command.”

Though Rose was on
edge the whole time, the meeting proceeded without incident. At the conclusion,
everyone began to leave. Mobius took the opportunity to talk to the one person
he had been unable to win over.

“Princess, if I may
have a moment of your time.”

“I think not, sir.”

“If now is
inconvenient, perhaps later?”

Z’kkk leaned over and
whispered to Rose “My love, the man is a member of this high council. Surely
you can spare a moment.”

She fought the urge
to whack her fiancé on the head in the hope of knocking some sense into it.
Instead she said, “Of course. Lord Mobius, please” and she pointed to the empty
seat next to her.

“I . . .” he started
to say but the rest of his words were drowned out by the voice in her head. His
voice. “You and I will be the best of friends.
You will trust me implicitly. You . . .”

Her eyes flew wide at
the verbal assault. “STOP” she screamed.

The only Council
members still left were Z’kkk, Storm and N’ssss and they all turned as one to
the sound of Rose’s scream.

“Do not do that again
or I will have your head.”

“Your Highness, I was
only congratulating you on your upcoming marriage. I meant no offense.”

“You are a liar, a
charlatan and evil personified. You may fool the others, but you cannot fool
me. I pledge that I will fight you with every ounce of strength that I possess.
You may think you are winning whatever game you are playing, but in the end I
will take away that victory and leave you with the bitter taste of defeat.”

She stood up, glared
one last time at those evil eyes and left. Z’kkk, Storm and N’ssss hurried
after her.

*****

Based on a suggestion
by Mobius, the next day the three youngest members of the Council were informed
that their services were no longer required.

“We have decided that
the three of you are too inexperienced to serve effectively. In a few years we
will reconsider our decision.”

“Was it Mobius’ idea
to have us removed?”

“Daughter, I am at a
loss to understand your animosity towards the man. It certainly shows an
unfortunate lack of maturity on your part.”

“Oh, father, I am
truly sorry.”

“Well, you are
forgiven. You know I love you.”

“You misunderstand. I
am sorry that I cannot bring you to understand the mistake you are making. What
will happen to Aerianna I cannot divine, but we are all in for a very painful
time.

Know this. I do not
hold you responsible for what is to befall us. Mobius has corrupted your
thoughts, your ability to reason. For some reason I am not affected. I will
fight him. I will see him defeated even if it takes a thousand years.”

“Very melodramatic,
my little princess.” He shook his head sadly and continued, “It hurts your
father to say this, but you are not being rational. You offer no proof of these
absurd allegations. It would take a leap of faith and a flight of fantasy to
come to the same conclusions that you so readily accept. I am at a loss as to
how to respond.”

Rose didn’t get mad
nor did she continue to argue. She reached up and gave her father a kiss on the
cheek then turned and left.

Little did she know
it would be the last time she would see him.

*****

Rose left the city
the next day, as did the other two former Council members – Storm and N’ssss.
It was the week of Mystivus – the celebration of the day M’earth, and all
Aerianna, had received the gift of the Crystal Egg.

“Where are you
headed, Princess”.

“My father would have
me visit the people of Aerianna. Storm and I did that once many years ago and
it was a heartwarming experience. It is time he and I did it again. There are
evil days ahead I would have them know that their Princess will do what she can
to protect them.”

“I wish you well. In
your absence, I will keep an eye on your flying suit. I believe we are making
strides in finding the power source.”

“Thank you, N’ssss.
Stay safe.”

“And you, Rose.”

*****

Mobius asked the King
if he would join him in the room that housed the Crystal Egg.

“For what purpose?”

“I have a suggestion
that, if I may be so presumptuous, could alter the course of Aerianna forever.
I believe I can guarantee that your loyal subjects will never forget this day
for as long as they live.” Into the King’s mind, he added, “Such bold words pique your interest and you must find
out what vision I have to offer.”

“I freely admit that
such a dramatic statement rouses my curiosity. Come.” And the two men walked
down a long hallway sharing polite and meaningless small talk as they made
their way to the Crystal Egg.

At the entrance to
the Chamber, the two Knight Guardians saluted then opened the door for M’earth.
The King and his new advisor walked in. Except for the niche that held the Egg,
the room was empty.

“Well, here we are.
Please . . .,” said the King, indicating that Mobius should continue his
discussion.

But Mobius just
stared at M’earth with his evil eyes . . .

Into the King’s mind,
he virtually shouted, “You will transfer the
power of the Egg to me.”M’earth
almost fell over backward by the force of that command as it pounded the very
nerves in his brain. Every other thought literally flew from his mind. His
mouth dropped open, his eyes flew wide and both arms came up in front of his
face to ward off this unexpected attack. Of course, it was an empty gesture.

Mobius continued to
stare and repeat his silent command “You will
transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

And again . . . “You will transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

And again . . . “You will transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

And again . . . “You will transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

Good King M’earth,
standing a few feet away from the most potent object in the known universe,
could not form the thought that would summon the power to stop Mobius.

“You
will transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

“You
will transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

“You
will transfer the power of the Egg to me.”

M’earth simply had no
choice and did as he was commanded. With tears streaming from his eyes, he knew
he had just condemned his people to unspeakable pain and suffering.

*****

Rose and Storm were
visiting a town called River’s Edge when the news reached them.

The messenger was
Kl’air and she was shaking from fright and mostly incoherent. “Oh, Ro. Oh my
gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh . . . “

“Kl’air . . . calm
down and take a deep breath.” The dragon did her best to obey but wasn’t very
successful. “That’s a little better. Now what’s wrong?”

“Ro . . . your
father, mother and sister are gone. So is F’Aerianne, E’ssss and S’eeee. Mobius
has seized the Crystal Egg and has made himself the Emperor or something.”

Even though she had
anticipated a dastardly act from that evil Kallous outcast, it was happening
much sooner than she expected. Rose felt a cold shiver run down her spine as if
someone had just walked upon her grave. Her heart was racing and she had to
force herself to take a deep breath to calm down.

When she had regained
her composure she asked “what do you mean – gone?”

“Gone, as in vanished
into thin air. One minute they were there and the next they weren’t.”

“And Z’kkk?” she
asked hoping for the best but expecting what she heard.

“I’m sorry, Ro. He’s
disappeared too.”

In a blink of eye,
the world she had known her whole life was gone . . . as were all those she
loved. It was too much to absorb and she put her hands to her face to cover her
emotions. Storm motioned to the other dragon to follow him and they moved some
feet away to give the Princess a little privacy.

“I’m so scared,”
whispered Kl’air.

“We all are. I want
you to fly to Talon’s Peak. Make sure that they’ve heard the news.”

“What about Ro?”

“I’ll take care of
her. Be careful, Kl’air.”

“I’ll try” and she
used her wings to give Storm a hug.

After she left, Storm
walked back to his friend and asked, “What do you want to do, Rose.”

“I’m going to fight
that ugly cretin.”

“How? If he’s got the
Crystal Egg we don’t stand a chance.”

“I’ll think of
something.”

“And in the meantime
. . .?”

“In the meantime we
should get out of here. We need to gather as many friends as we can.”

“Where to?”

“Se’rene.”

“Rose . . .”

“Yes?”

“Sorry about your
family and Z’kkk.”

“Thanks.”

“You don’t think
Mobius . . . um . . . you don’t think that he hurt them, do you?”

She thought about
that. At first, she had assumed that he had done more than just hurt them. But
thinking about it dispassionately, as the Old Duke had taught her to do, she
came to a different conclusion; one that made her feel a little better. “No.
For now, they’re more valuable to him if he keeps them safe.” To herself she
added, “I pray.”

Chapter 9 – Dazzle, the Warrior Princess

Only a handful of
Rose’s friends had escaped the veil of light sent by Mobius to all the cities
of Humans, Dragons and Serpents. From what they observed, once touched by the
light, individuals would grow so fearful of the tyrant that they could not
think to resist him. It was obviously accomplished using the power of the
Crystal Egg.

By chance, all five
escaped to Se’rene . . . the only safe haven they could think of.

N’ssss, Ven’trrr and
his assistant K’oral had fled from Nau’tika. From Q’umulus came Sir Gacious,
Earl of Cambria, and a member of the Royal Academy of Science and Philosophy.
With him was A’fonia the Medicus, a female physician who had served the Old
Duke and his wife.

It was hardly a
resistance force likely to strike fear into the heart of Mobius.

They were gathered in
the main salon to share with each other what little information they had been
able to glean . . .

“I’ve heard that the
only person to willingly join with Mobius is that half-wit B’ludd,” reported
Sir Gacious.

“That red-winged
flying fool, ha” spat Storm. “That can only help us.”

“Princess . . .”

“K’oral, please, no
titles. Not now.”

“Princess, I’m so
sorry . . .” and the serpent hesitated.

The use of her rank a
second time sent goose bumps down Rose’s  arm. “Just tell me, K’oral.”

“I overheard some
people talking about your sister and . . . and the Prince.”

“JUST SAY IT . . .”
then in a softer voice “I’m so sorry. I just need to hear it. Please.”

“Your sister was
turned into a creature of some sort. She’s now green skinned and has
translucent wings. They say she can fly and if you get too close to her,
something bad happens.”

“Oh my gosh”. Then
after a few seconds, she asked about Z’kkk.

The serpent looked
like she wanted to be anyplace but where she was. “They say he’s been turned
into . . . oh, I’m so sorry, Rosie . . . into a hideous creature.”

The deathly silence
that followed those words stretched from seconds to a minute or more. Rose
finally stood up, her skin pale and her eyes moist, and said to the group “It’s
late. Let’s get some sleep and will start fresh in the morning.”

They all stood and
wished her a good night – the words sounding as hollow as they actually were.

When Rose got to her
room, she closed the door, fell on her bed and wept until she fell asleep.

*****

And she dreamed . .
.

“Rose .
. .”

“Myst Tree?”

“It is
I.”

“I have never dreamed
of you before.”

“That
is true. There never was a need.”

“Have you come to
help?”

“It is
not for me to interfere directly in the affairs of your kind.”

“My kind? Am I not a
living, sentient being like you?”

“No,
not like me.”

“Why did you deny me
access to Sighing Whorl?”

“It was
too soon.”

“And now, it is too
late. If you do nothing to help the people of Aerianna, by default you are
helping Mobius. Is that your intent?”

“You
must find your own path. If you are noble and brave, one will lead you to the
resolution that you seek. Take that path and I will grant you what you will
ask.”

“What I will
ask? I am asking you to remove Mobius and restore all that was.”

“I
cannot interfere. But that which you will ask of me later is in my power to
grant.”

“You disturb my
sleep, Tree. Either give me guidance or leave me to my misery.”

“You
will choose to give up this fight willingly. It will be the first step on a
thousand year journey. There will come a time when another will be born with
the intelligence to solve a mystery of your design and the courage to accept a
challenge far beyond her years. You will guide her, but not as you are but as
the essence of what you once were. She will be your last hope.”

“As usual you talk in
riddles. Is this the way of your people or just of one silly old Tree?”

Ignoring her words,
the Tree finished with “Those that are gathered
here tonight represent all the army you will need. You must fight the good
fight for that is who you are. However, it will be wisdom and ingenuity – and
not the brilliance of your sword – that will illuminate your path.”

*****

The next morning she
told the others of her dream as well as the message the Tree had given her so
many years earlier when she and Storm had visited Sighing Whorl.

“I am at a loss to
unravel these riddles,” concluded the Princess. “I welcome your thoughts.”

“I think some things
are fairly clear,” said Sir Gacious. He was a philosopher by training and his
writings were considered brilliant by those that could actually follow his
superior logic.”

As sad as Rose was,
as defeated as she felt, the man’s words forced a smile – a small one – to her
lips. “Please don’t keep us in suspense, good Sir.”

“You will fight the
forces of Mobius tooth and nail, more as a Warrior Princess than as a Royal
one. Your family, your fiancé and your subjects have been wronged and nothing
will stop you from trying to avenge them. However one sword, even if that sword
is Dazzle, cannot hope to defeat the power of the Crystal Egg. At some point
you will be forced to accept the futility of your efforts and turn to another
path.”

“I think that much
was fairly evident.”

It wasn’t a criticism
and Sir Gacious didn’t take it as one. “Of course. The one true riddle is the
nature of the alternate plan that you – we – should follow. Our group
apparently has the wherewithal to set this plan in motion. It will involve
someone a thousand or more years in the future and the ability to fly for some
reason is part of the solution. But most intriguing was the phrase the Tree
used more than once. Somehow you will guide this future person, not as you are
but as the essence of what you once were.”

“And it’s meaning?”
encouraged the Princess.

But it was Ven’trrr
who answered. “I believe I know.” They turned as one to look at the brilliant
scientist. “There is only one way we could find to power the flying suit.”

“Yes?”

The serpent looked at
each of the others before answering. “With the life force of an individual.”

“WHAT?” squawked
Storm.

“Is such a thing
possible? Have you tested it?” asked Rose.

“No. It is designed;
it is built but it is not yet tested.”

“Why?”

“Two reasons. First,
we don’t as yet have the technology to make the life force transference from a
living soul into the suit.  And, secondly . . .”

“The moral
implication” interrupted A’fonia.

“Yes” agreed the scientist.
“It seems a steep price to ask of someone.”

“Sorry to be so
stupid, but what are you talking about?” asked K’oral.

“Simply put, our
bodies are only a convenient shell in which the true ‘us’ resides. Our
intelligence, our personality, our memories, our ability to reason is the real
‘us’. And to make all that work as well as it does takes energy. The life force
is a combination of all these things. It is . . .” and he paused to make sure
everyone was paying attention “. . . it is the very essence of who we
are.”

With those words, the
group was immersed in the silence of deep thought. Apparently, the Tree was
telling Rose that her life force, placed into the flying suit, would be an
integral part of the plan.

“Very good” Sir
Gacious said into the silence.

“How so?” asked the
Princess who was fairly disturbed by what she had heard so far.

“The Tree said that
we, this group, was sufficient to formulate the plan. Apparently, it was
correct for we seem to be on the right track. We must continue this line of
reasoning to a logical conclusion.”

That statement
triggered a line of thought and Rose cried “Oh my gosh!”

“Princess?”

“The Tree said when
the time was right he would grant what I would ask . . .”

“And you will ask it
to transfer your life force into the suit” said N’ssss finishing the thought.

“But not now. Not
till I fight Mobius.”

“And how will you do
that?” asked Storm.

“First thing that I
will do – no, the first thing that I do from this moment forward – is to forgo
the name Rose’Alynnia. I am now Dazzle, the Warrior Princess.”

“To what end?”

“It came to me in a
dream, though at the time I did not understand its meaning. Dazzle will be a
rallying cry for my people for the next thousand years and a constant reminder
to Mobius that he will never defeat me . . . nor the people of Aerianna.” And
she unsheathed her sword, held it up high and everyone watched the light
shimmer and dance off its brilliant surface.

“And so the Sword and
the Rose” Storm said referring to the Princess’s insignia on her belt, “become
one.”

Somehow it felt
right, not just to Rose but to her compatriots. And without thinking, A’fonia
stood up, raised her right fist and slapped it against her chest in a
traditional salute. “To you, Princess Dazzle, we pledge our lives and
our loyalty.”

“To Aerianna . . .”
the others cried out.

“Thank you, my
friends. But if the Tree is to be believed, victory is a millennium in the
future” and those words were like water on a fire and the flame of patriotism
died down to a flickering ember of hope.

“Let’s continue
formulating our plans,” suggested Sir Gacious. “It seems to me there are two
issues for which we need clarity. If the person that we seek is a thousand
years in the future, why would that be? And what test do we devise to find that
individual when the time is right.”

“There is a third
issue,” said N’ssss. “That person cannot be from Aerianna.”

“Why do you say
that?” asked Dazzle, the Princess formerly known as Rose.

“Mobius with the help
of the Crystal Egg would surely be able to ferret out our plans and stop them
from coming to fruition. Nowhere, and no one, on Aerianna will be safe from
him.”

“Earth” interjected
Ven’trrr. “Earth” he repeated as if tasting the name on his lips.

“Is that possible?”
questioned Dazzle.

“What is Earth?”
asked a number of voices simultaneously.

“It is a planet many
hundreds of light years from Aerianna. We discovered it with the help of our
space portal. It is inhabited by humanoids much like us. But their civilization
is fairly barbaric.”

“Ah. Perhaps they are
a thousand years or so from reaching a state of development that would be
comparable to our own,” offered the philosopher.

“That would seem to
conform to the Tree’s message.”

“If I may summarize.
Rose will . . . I’m sorry, Dazzle will fight Mobius until she admits . . .” he
stopped suddenly.

“Admits defeat”
finished Dazzle. “Please continue.”

“At that point you
will ask the Tree to transfer your life force to the flying suit. Some of us
will take that suit to Earth and the thousand-year wait will begin. So we think
we know why it will take a millennium or so, but we don’t yet know how we
determine the individual when she comes along. She could be anyone.”

In a sudden burst of
insight, K’oral said “Dazzle, she must be related to you.”

“Why? How?”

“She must be like you
in so many ways. You are truly unique, Rose . . . Dazzle . . . and it will take
someone with your resourcefulness to succeed. Don’t ask me how I know this, I
just do.” Like dreams, a sudden burst of insight was rare but accepted as fact.

“And I know the ‘how’
of it” said A’fonia, the Medicus. “I will go to Earth with you. I will take
samples of your DNA and . . . somehow . . . I will introduce it into the
population on this planet.”

“To what end?”

“Over the course of a
millennium, individuals with your DNA will eventually marry others with it.
Their offspring will have twice the amount. When these children marry others
from similar unions, their children will have four times as much. Over the
course of a thousand years, we can expect that there will eventually be born a
female child who, for all intent, would be your granddaughter many generations
removed.”

“Oh my gosh!”

“Indeed.”

“But the question
remains, how do we determine which child is the one that we want?”

“We devise a test,”
said the Philosopher.

“What kind of test?”
asked the Princess.

That started a long
and sometimes heated discussion. In the end it was decided that since the
individual had to be brave, resourceful and determined, the test should involve
something for which the individual would have no prior experience, alien enough
to require courage to attempt and sufficiently difficult to require imagination
to solve.

After much discussion
between the three serpents, the only scientists present, Ven’trrr announced,
“we have a solution to offer, Princess.”

“Please, tell us.”

“Since Earth’s
culture is not nearly as advanced as ours, we can assume that their technology
will also be less advanced. With the flying suit, we will provide three pieces
of jewelry - a ring, a bracelet and a necklace. Depending on how they are worn,
each will give the wearer two different ‘powers’ for a total of six. The
technology within will be a total surprise and something for which they will
not be expecting.”

Intrigued, Dazzle
encouraged the serpent to continue.

“The necklace is a
translation crystal. The wearer can speak or understand any language.

“Go on.”

“The ring, when worn
on one hand, will give our heroine the power to change shape. On the other
hand, it will give her great strength.”

“Interesting.”

“And the bracelet
when worn on one wrist will give her the power to heal. On the other wrist, she
will have the power to command any non-thinking creature.”

“And why these
powers?”

“When she comes to
Aerianna, she will be able to speak to our people and they to her. Changing
shape and great strength could help her in the fight against Mobius. The power
to heal will be useful in any combat. And, the ability to command any creature
might just be the one ability that no one expects and could possibly be the difference
in a battle yet to be fought.”

She liked what she
had heard. “What say you all”? And by unanimous consent, the plan was accepted.

“What is left to
decide?”

“It would be too
dangerous for A’fonia to go by herself and too difficult for her to complete
her task without help. I will go with her,” volunteered Sir Gacious.

“Thank you.”

“And I will guard the
portal so that no earthling stumbles upon it.”

“How will you do
that?”

“We will anchor the
Earth side of the portal at the bottom of a lake. Since they have no sea
serpents on their world, I will be the first.” He grinned and added “one look
at me should be sufficient to discourage anyone from exploring too deeply or
with too much enthusiasm.”

“Thank you all.
Though the odds are against us, it seems that this plan has at least a chance
of success.”

“Maybe the Myst Tree
will give us his blessing?”

“Ha. That would make
it all too easy. He prefers it when we struggle.”

But she was wrong.
That night the Tree appeared in her dreams, but only briefly.

“Dazzle.”

“Tree? How
unexpected.”

“Well
done.”

Chapter 10 – The Essence of Life

The next morning was
to be their last together. To continue to meet as a group would only invite
trouble and the unwanted attention of Mobius.

“A’fonia and Sir
Gacious will stay here since they will be going to Earth with me. It would be
too dangerous to return to Q’umulus and they would be too conspicuous living
among the serpents. Ven’trrr you must take your people and return to Nau’tika
to guard the portal and to keep the jewelry safe. I will keep the flying suit
with me until . . . until I visit Sighing Whorl.”

“A word of warning,
my friends” Sir Gacious said addressing the serpents. “You must act as if the
veil of light had indeed touched you. It shouldn’t be too difficult to feign
fear of Mobius.”

“Agreed” replied
N’ssss.

“Then if there is
nothing else to discuss . . .”

“Umm . . .”

“Yes, K’oral?”

She looked even worse
than she did when she told the Princess about her sister and fiancé. “What
about your . . . what about after you transfer your essence to the suit?”

A’fonia understood
what the young serpent was trying to say. “I believe she is asking what you
would have us do with your body.”

“Oh?” That question
drove home the finality of what they proposed to do.

“I will . . . I will
bring it home” stammered Storm.

“No.”

“Sir Gacious?”

“That will not do. It
seems to me if the Tree can transfer your essence into the suit; it can
transfer it back into your body.”

“In a thousand
years?”

“Ven’trrr, can you
create some kind of stasis pod that could preserve Dazzle’s . . . um, preserve
the body as it will be at the moment of transference?”

“Well, that shouldn’t
be too difficult. But to what end? It would require an enormous amount of
energy to maintain. And the only one that will be around for the next
millennium is that devil, Mobius.”

“Exactly” replied
Storm. Turning to his best friend, he said, “If I give him your body in the
stasis chamber, he’ll keep it preserved as a trophy. He won’t be able to
resist. When you do return to Aerianna, the Tree would be able to reverse the
process and we would have our Princess back. No, we would have our Queen back.”

“If you give Mobius
my body, he will most assuredly display it to my people. Would that not be
doing them a terrible disservice?”

“Just the opposite”
replied Sir Gacious. “Seeing you, even just your body, will remind them of what
they lost. It will keep alive the hope of a better future.”

“Then it’s settled”
said Storm. “Don’t argue Dazzling Rose. You’re my best friend and I intend to
be around for your return.”

“You’ll be a bit long
in the tooth; old even for a dragon,” she teased.

But he could not
respond in kind. He just wrapped his wings around her and fought a losing
battle against his tears.

*****

It was late that
night when Storm, disturbed by a light, rose from his bed to investigate.

“Rose?”

“Please, do not use
that name.”

“Dazzle, what are you
doing at this hour?”

“I’m bringing my
diary up to date. There won’t be much time in the days ahead and I would like
it to be as complete as it can be.”

“Will you take it
with you?”

“I can’t of course. I
would like you to hide it in my stasis . . . oh, let’s stop calling it that.
It’s my coffin. Put it inside for my return.”

“I will.”

“I’m just about
finished. Go back to bed. Tomorrow you and I are going to stir up a little
mayhem . . . and a sleepy dragon just won’t do.” She stood up and gave him a
kiss.

*****

Since she knew she
couldn’t win this fight, Dazzle had to find a way to make sure her actions
meant something other than inevitable defeat.

Dressed again in the
uniform of a Knight Guardian with her sword hanging at her hip, she slid on to
the back of her best friend. “Ready, good sir?”

“Ready as I’ll ever
be. What’s the plan?”

“We are going to
every town, every city and every castle and let the people know that Dazzle,
the Warrior Princess will fight until her death for the freedom and happiness
of her people. Nothing stealthy about what we are going to do. Let’s make as
much noise as we can and be seen by as many people as possible.”

“That might get
Mobius’ attention,” said Storm stating the obvious.

“Exactly. Let’s see
what he plans on doing about it.”

“Dazzle, what happens
if we have to fight Aeriannians? Only B’ludd volunteered to work for Mobius.
Anyone else we meet is being forced against their will.”

“We disarm them,
unseat them, strip them of their weapons, humiliate them in front of the
citizens . . . but we don’t harm them.”

“And B’ludd?”

“That dragon is fair
game. He’s a traitor to my father, to F’Aerianne and to every person on this
planet. I will not show him mercy.”

“Got it. Let’s do it”
and he bounded into the air and the rebellion was officially underway.

*****

To keep the
population under his control, Mobius used the Crystal Egg to turn a legion of
hapless Aeriannians into armed thugs against their will. They all wore black
cloaks with hoods and carried a weapon able to shoot a beam of energy which
disabled the victim. The citizens called them Mo’beyes . . . for they were the
eyes of the evil villain.

And so Dazzle and
Storm flew day after day, from N’imbus to Fire’s Breath, from Kelp’ernicus to
Crag’s Leap . . . wherever serpents or humans or dragons dwelled . . .
disarming the Mo’beyes and, in so doing, embarrassing Mobius.

The citizens cheered
their Princess. And as she prepared to depart, she would leave the people with
one message . . .

“I am no longer the
Princess Rose’Alynnia. That person died the day the usurper overthrew M’earth.
I am Dazzle, the Warrior Princess and I will fight for you until the last
breath has left my body.

Tell your children,
and in turn have them tell their children, that it may take a thousand years,
but I will return. You will be free of this tyranny; I swear it on my sword”
and she would unsheathe the crystal blade and hold it up high for the light to
catch it and for the people to know the truth in what she said.

And in each town as
she and Storm flew off, they could hear the people yell “DAZZLE, DAZZLE . . .”
and Rose’s pain would ease just a little.

*****

As they flew away
from River’s Edge, Storm said, “Well, that was the last city. I’m kind of
surprised that Mobius hasn’t tried anything else to stop us.”

“I’m not. He’s
taunting me. It’s his way of saying that what we do doesn’t matter. We’re too
insignificant for him to worry about.”

“In that case, you
must have something else up your sleeve.”

“My dear friend, you
know me all too well.”

“So spill it. Where
to?”

“Tonight we go to
Q’umulus.”

“WHAT? Are you crazy?
You can’t fight him directly.”

“I have no intention
of fighting him. I’m going to steal back the Crystal Egg.”

“RO . . . I mean
DAZZLE . . . you know darn well that won’t work.”

“Probably not but
it’s worth a try. I’m sure he thinks like you do . . . that I would be crazy to
try. So we just might surprise him.”

“Yeah . . . no . . .
you’re just crazy.”

“Come on” she teased.
“Do you have anything better to do tonight?”

“My hair’s affright.
I really should wash it . . .” and they both laughed, something they hadn’t
done in a long while.

“I don’t really say
that, do I” asked Dazzle after the laughter died away.

“You always say
that.”

“Well, a girl must
look her best at all times.”

*****

It wasn’t as dark as
she had hoped. The clouds, which had been very thick, began to break up and
both moons were beginning to show through.

“Oh well. It is what
it is.”

“We can try again
tomorrow.”

“No. It needs to be
tonight.”

“Why?”

“I just have a
feeling that . . . that I need to be at Sighing Whorl tomorrow.”

Storm’s wings froze
in mid-flap. He turned over his shoulder and asked nervously “Why? Did you have
a dream?”

“No . . . I just know
it’s time.”

“Let’s not rush into
it. Maybe we can come up with a better plan.”

She patted her friend
on his scaly head. “No, this is the only way. We both know it.”

“Ro . . . I’m going
to miss you.”

“Stop it. If you make
me cry I’ll jump off your back right now.”

“I believe you’ve
tried that once.”

“And I’ll do it
again. So stop . . . please.”

“Sorry.”

They continued in
silence trying not to think of the future. About ten minutes later as they
cleared a mountain range Dazzle said, “There it is” and she pointed at the
floating city eerily lit by the moonlight.

But then something
streaked by, cloaked by the night. “What the heck was that?” squawked Storm.

“What?”

“Didn’t you see it?
It was a dragon . . . more dead than alive.”

“What?”

“Dazzle, on its back
was a guy . . .”

“Z’kkk?”

“I can’t be sure.”

They flew on but the
skeletal nightmare flew out from behind a cloud and into their path.

The wraith on its
back had, indeed, been Prince Z’kkk. He was brandishing a sword.

“Z’kkk” cried
out Rose. “It’s me, my love.” Then the moonlight lit his face and it was all
she could do not to scream in horror.

There was no sign of
recognition as the zombie-like being screeched, “I AM K’AOS. DEATH TO THE
ENEMIES OF MY LORD MOBIUS”. Then he and the creature that carried him dove at
them – his murderous intent left no question in Dazzle’s mind.

“He means to kill
us,” said the Princess forlornly. She was sad rather than afraid.

“What do you want to
do?” asked Storm as he easily maneuvered out of the way.

Dazzled sighed in
resignation. “Mobius wins. He knows I can’t hurt the man I love. Let’s go home.
It’s over.”

*****

Sir Gacious returned
from Nau’tika with the coffin-like glass stasis chamber. “Ven’trrr and the
others asked me to tell you that they have never been more proud to be a
citizen of Aerianna. They wish you well, Princess.”

She couldn’t speak so
she forced a smile to her face and nodded.

Dazzle, the Warrior
Princess, formerly Rose’Alynnia of the House of M’earth and heir to the Throne,
had never been more afraid in her life. What she was about to embark on was
terrifying and she didn’t know if she had the courage to see it through.

Sensing the emotions
in his best friend, Storm told Sir Gacious and A’fonia “make your way back to
Nau’tika and find Ven’trrr. Go separately to lessen the likelihood of being
caught.”

“We will,” replied
the Medicus. She turned to the Princess and said, “You, my lady, are the
bravest person that I have ever known. I promise you that your story will be
told generation after generation and that when you return, the people of
Aerianna will rejoice.”

“I echo those
sentiments. You are an inspiration to us all.”

Dazzle gave them each
a warm embrace but she was still unable to command her emotions - so she said
nothing.

After they left,
Storm sat down next to his friend.

“Ro, I’ll be waiting
for you . . . with your sword. I promise.”

“And I promise you
that you’ll see me in this body again.” But the finality of what she was about
to do was overwhelming and she leaned on her friend and began to sob
uncontrollably.

The two best friends
forever sat that way for the better part of an hour . . . neither wanting the
moment to end.

But, of course, it
had to.

“I’m ready.”

“Okay.”

And they flew to
Sighing Whorl . . .  each lost in the silence of their own thoughts.

*****

“Tree, I come to ask
you what you have known all along.”

“Be not
afraid, Princess Dazzle. Time is now on your side.”

“Will this plan work?
Will I find someone that can end this nightmare?”

“The
seeds of success are about to be sown. All that is left to do is harvest the
fruit of your efforts.”

“And when I return
with this person, will you restore me to my body?”

“I
will.”

“Then do what you
must.”

“It is
already done.”

“I don’t understand.
I feel no different.”

“Why
would you? The essence of who you are has not changed. Only the vessel. Behold
. . .”

She turned from the
Tree and gasped. On the ground, cradled in the arms of her best friend, was her
body.

And Storm was crying
as no dragon had ever cried before.

“Oh, my dearest
companion, I’m so sorry to cause you such pain” but he couldn’t hear her. She
watched as he put the body – her body – in the glass coffin with exquisite
loving care. Then he took the flying suit that now contained her essence, and
with gentle reverence, wrapped it in his taloned hand.

And as he – as they –
began to depart Sighing Whorl, the Princess vowed to no one . . . or perhaps to
everyone . . .

“That cursed Crystal
Egg is the cause of all our problems. All I know is that one day an Egg will
set matters to rights.”

“Of
that you may be certain,” said the Tree.

Book 1

Flying
Girl

Book 1 of

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016. Robert A.
Iannone

All
rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – That Awful Girl

Chapter 2 – Suits Me Fine

Chapter 3 – Up, Up and Away

Chapter 4 – The Cat in the Hat

Chapter 5 – Flying Girl

Chapter 1 – That Awful Girl

“It’s a funny thing about dragons.
Some are so scary that when you meet them, your legs feel like wet noodles and
it’s all you can do to keep from falling down from fright.

Others are sweet and gentle and you
just want to hug them.

But there was one that was so stuck-up
she made me want to scream. She actually thought that dragons were better than
people.

Well, that was true at first. Then she
and I, and my other five sisters, went on a quest to save an entire world. By
the time it was all over, we had forgotten our silly little differences and
learned what’s really important.

I know this sounds kind of farfetched,
so let me start at the beginning.

Did you ever have a dream when you
were a kid that was filled with creepy monsters and an ugly evil villain and a
beautiful brave princess trying desperately to save her people? Then after it
goes horribly wrong, she asks for your help and, of course, you rescue her
entire planet from the bad guy and become the hero.

Truthfully, I never did. Up until last
year, my dreams were pretty boring.

But I did get to be that hero.

I know what you’re thinking. Nine-year-old
girls don’t get to save an entire world . . . especially when that world isn’t
even earth. But you’d be wrong.

I admit that being only nine I did
need lots of help from my sisters. Lucky for me, not just one, but two of them
are dragons and two are sea serpents. The others are human; one’s my best
friend who is way smarter than I am and the other is the prettiest shade of
green and the most beautiful girl I ever met.

We were just seven ordinary girls that
hardly knew each other. And like I said, in the beginning we didn’t all get
along.  But in the end, we learned what it meant to be part of a sisterhood,
which was way harder than I ever thought it would be. It took some pretty scary
creatures like the ones we found in the Colorless Wood and the Crystal Forest
and the Maze of Forever to make us believe in one another. I guess it says a
lot that each of us was willing to sacrifice ourselves for the others. Oh my
gosh, I’m so proud of all of them.

Now I’m back home and I’m sad because
as the months go by, it really does seem like it was just a dream. Thank goodness,
I recorded everything in my diary otherwise; I would never remember all of the
incredible stuff we went through. But whenever it begins to completely slip
away, all I have to do is look up at the stars, find the constellation called
the Seven Sisters and know I once had an adventure that was out of this world.

As strange as this story
may seem, what’s really weird is that it all started in the attic of Grammy’s
farm house on the day she gave me something so unbelievably unbelievable that
at first I thought she had gone totally loopy . . .”

*****

A
little over a year ago

Everyone called her Egg,
even her mother and sister. It wasn’t because they expected her to grow up to
be a chicken. They called her Egg because of her initials…Eloise Grace Graystone. She had been named after her mother’s mother.

Egg was nine years old.
Well almost nine. And she was about to enter third grade at Wolf Creek
Elementary School. Classes were only a week away and so was the end of her summer
vacation. And oh what a summer it had been. There was the two-week stay with
her grandmother. The elder Eloise (and her namesake) lived a few miles away at
the edge of town in a very old farmhouse. Surrounded by fields and hills, it
was everyone’s favorite place to visit.

Then there was a trip with
the family to Hawaii where they went snorkeling and swimming and fed the fish
with frozen peas. They even drove to the top of a volcano where it was so
strange that it seemed to be a different planet.

And she had just returned
from a week at camp. Her diary was crammed with page after page of carefully
printed notes. She wrote something every day even if she really didn’t have
anything to say. Her grandmother told her it was important to remember all the
details of her life so that someday she could tell her children.

Grammy (as Egg always called
her) was her very favorite person in the whole world. First, they had the same
name (which was kind of fun), and second, she could really confide her inner
most feelings and know that her grandmother wouldn’t laugh at her. In fact, she
always had a story that described a similar event when she was growing up. They
were like one person living in two bodies.

As kids go, Eloise was
literally a good egg. She was polite, sincere and intelligent. But she was also
fiercely competitive. Her one flaw, if you could call it that, was that she
hated to lose. She took losing very personally, perhaps too much so. And
because of this need to win, she was a lot more serious than she needed to be.
Her grandmother would tell her it was better to find reasons to laugh more . .
. but that seemed like a waste of energy. Maybe she’d find the time when she
was older.

Grammy was always giving
her advice on how to be a better person. Sometimes she found these lessons to
be boring. And sometimes, she just didn’t understand. When she told her
grandmother, the older Eloise would laugh. “Not to worry. When the time is right,
my words will become important to you. But for now please remember two things.
First, there might be a different way to look at life and second, never forget
that you’re only eight and now’s the time to enjoy being young.” It still
didn’t make much sense, but if Grammy said it, then she would at least try to
remember it.

Anyway, now that she was
back from camp she would have to go to the farmhouse so she could read her
diary to her grandmother. No one else in the world was allowed to see it except
her. And there was a lot to tell about this last week.

It had been an
almost perfect summer until camp. That’s where she met Sylvia . . . an awful
girl. Just thinking about her made Egg’s blood boil. She picked up her diary
and turned the pages until she found August 19th . . . the first day
of camp. She started to read her own words…

“August 19: Dear Diary. Today was the first day of camp. It
is so beautiful here and I’m really glad I came. After lunch, we are going to
the crafts tent to make something called a Dream Catcher. Afterwards, we’ll play
a game or two of dodge ball. It’s one of my favorite sports. Someday maybe they
will have it in the Olympics.

5PM: I can’t believe what happened this afternoon. I’m so mad. There’s
a girl named Sylvia and she is such a witch. She thinks she’s so much better
than everyone else because she won both games of dodge ball. Afterwards she
pretended that it was nothing special; that she just got lucky. Ha. Well, I
guess it’s better to be lucky than good because I played really well and I
should have won. At least I made the best dream catcher…everyone said so.
Anyway, it’s time for dinner so I gotta go.”

“August 20: Dear Diary, I can’t believe she beat me again.
We had canoe races and somehow she managed to come in first. She told everyone
that she lived by a lake and that’s why she knew how to paddle fast. This was
my first time, but I know I was very good. I concentrated very hard and did
everything right.

At lunch, we took a bunch of pictures of all of us. Then SHE tried
to get into my picture but I told her there was no room. If she was as nice as
the other girls were…well then maybe. But she is always smiling as if there’s
nothing wrong. I just don’t understand why the other girls like her so much.”

“August 21: Dear Diary, It was a very nice day today. After breakfast,
we went horseback riding. It would have been more fun if we had a race, but the
counselors said that was too dangerous…for the horses. Too bad, because I could
definitely have beaten Sylvia. “

“August 22: Dear Diary: Today we did a nature walk. First,
we walked about a mile through the woods and the counselors told us just to
look at everything around us. When we reached the end, we sat in a big circle
to talk about all the things we saw. I found the most – ten different types of birds,
dozens of bugs and eleven different flowers. No one noticed as much as I
did…not even Sylvia. She only spotted nine different flowers. I guess she’s
just not as good as I am. Then she did the most outrageous thing. When we got
up to walk back, she came over to me and said something like, ‘Wow, you’re
really observant. I didn’t see half the things you did.’ I told her about
Grammy’s farm and she said, ‘Oh that explains it.’ She was such a sore loser.”

“August 23: Dear Diary: Only one more day of camp. It would
have been a really great time except for you know who. Today they asked us what
we wanted to do. I raised my hand first and said I wanted to play dodge ball
again. Then Sylvia said that canoeing was fun and convinced everyone else. So
that’s what we did.

And SHE did it again. This time they put two of us in each canoe
and Sylvia asked if she could go with me. How dare she? She obviously was just
trying to make me feel bad that she beat me the last time. Well, I was about to
say no way when the counselor said it was okay.

So we canoed and maybe she was pretty good. But I just know if we
raced again, I’d win.

“August 24: Dear Diary: Today was the last day of camp. And
we got to try something brand new – archery. It was a lot of fun because I
didn’t lose to Sylvia this time. We tied. I feel so much better now.

Just before dinner, we took some more pictures. Sylvia insisted
that I take one with her. I had to pretend to smile. She said she would send me
a copy but I don’t really want it. If she sends it, I’m not sure I’ll keep it.

Anyway, camp was definitely a good time. And maybe Sylvia wasn’t so
bad, but I would have had a much better time if she hadn’t come. Oh well. As
Grammy would say, ‘You gotta take the good with the bad”. But I’m still not
sure what that means. Why would anyone want to take the bad anything?”

Egg
and Sylvia

*****

Putting down her diary,
she took a deep breath. She really needed to go see Grammy and get her advice.
Thinking about Sylvia just made her mad. How could any girl act that badly? Now
if it was a boy, well she could understand that. Boys were just so . . . so . .
. icky. And why girls get boyfriends was beyond her. ‘I will never have a
boyfriend,’ she vowed to herself for the ten millionth time. ‘Never.’

“Hey, Egg.”

Eloise looked up to see
her older sister standing in the doorway. “ASHLEY” she exclaimed in total
exasperation, “I’ve asked you a thousand times to PLEASE knock before you come
into my room.”

“I’m not in your room.
What’s the matter, writing something in your silly diary that I shouldn’t see?”

“Everything in my diary
you shouldn’t see. It’s very private.”

“You let Grandma ‘E’ look
at it.”

“That’s because she’s the
only one who understands me.”

“No one understands you.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re only eight and you
act like you’re twenty. You take everything way too seriously making everything
into a competition. And then if you don’t win, you get upset. You gotta lighten
up, girl.”

“Just because I think being
first in everything I try is important doesn’t make me . . . strange. If you
can’t win, why would you even try?”

“How you win and how you
lose are just as important.”

“That makes no sense at
all.”

“Someday it will. And
another thing — look how neat your room is. It’s unnatural. Everybody needs a
little chaos in their life.”

“Well I have absolutely no
idea what you’re talking about. Besides, I would never take advice from anyone
who has a boyfriend.”

“What’s wrong with
boyfriends? What’s wrong with my Brad?”

“Oh my gosh. If you don’t
know, I simply can’t explain it to you.”

Ashley laughed good-naturedly
at her younger sister. They actually got along really well. “I give up Egg.
Anyway, Mom says wash your hands, it’s time to eat.”

“Tell her I’ll be right
there. I’m going to call Grammy first.”

“Give her my love. And
don’t be long. I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving.
Girls shouldn’t eat like . . . boys.”

*****

“Hi, Grammy.”

“Well, hello, Egg. How was
camp?”

“Awful.”

“Really? What happened?”

“It’s not ‘what’ happened,
Grammy. It’s ‘who’ happened. And the ‘who’ was Sylvia.”

“Oh, Sylvia. Let me guess
. . . did she end up beating you in sports?”

“GRAMMY. You always
understand. Yes, she did. And the way she acted afterwards was so . . . so . .
. mean.”

“Oh, dear. Maybe you need
to come over so we can talk about it. Will you bring your diary?”

“Absolutely, Grammy. I’ll
have my mom drive me over tomorrow.”

“Wonderful. Pack an
overnight bag. I think we’ll have a lot to discuss.”

“Grammy, you’re the best.”

“And you’re my very
special granddaughter. I look forward to tomorrow. Now go wash up and have your
dinner. And dream beautiful dreams.”

“Love you.”

“Me too, dear.”

Chapter 2 – Suits Me Fine

“Should I stay?”

“No dear, you run along.
Your daughter and I have a lot to talk about.”

“Okay then. Bye Mom. Bye
Eloise.”

Eloise gave her mom a big
hug and waved as she drove away. After the car disappeared down the road, she
turned to her namesake and asked “Grammy, was my mom like me when she was my
age?”

“Like you in what way,
sweetheart?”

“You know…always trying to
be the best and come in first.”

“Oh no. I don’t believe
I’ve ever met anyone like you in that regard.”

“Really? Ashley says that
makes me strange.”

“What else did your sister
say?”

“She says how you win and
how you lose is just as important as winning. I think she’s a little daffy in
the head because she has a boyfriend.”

The older Eloise laughed. She
and her granddaughter were sitting on an old fashion swing seat on the front
porch. Egg’s feet were too short to reach to the ground but she loved to sit
here and have her Grammy rock them both.

“Well, dear, your sister
is very wise for someone so young.”

“She’s not young, Grammy,
she’s seventeen.”

“Oh my, if seventeen is
not young, then I must be ancient.”

“Silly, you’re not
ancient. You’re just pleasantly mature.”

“Egg, you do have a way
with words.”

“Speaking of words, would
you like me to read to you from my diary? I want you to hear all about that
awful girl.”

And for the next twenty
minutes, Egg read from her diary stopping occasionally to add more details
where the words failed to paint a picture of the truly horrible time she had to
endure at the hands of Sylvia. When she was done, she closed the book on her
lap and looked up at her grandmother.

“See what I mean. Why
would her parents let her be so nasty?”

Instead of the
enthusiastic response she expected to receive, the older woman said “Egg, let’s
play a little game of pretend.”

“But Grammy, I want to
hear what you think of that . . . that . . . Sylvia.” Even now, it was hard for
her to say the name. “Remember that’s the reason I came over.”

“I know, dear, and we
will. But first humor an old woman.”

This wasn’t how
conversations with her grandmother usually went. “Well, okay if you want.”

“Thank you. Let’s pretend
that you won both of those dodge ball games and Sylvia didn’t. What would you
have done?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Sylvia told
everyone that she won because she got lucky. What would you have said?”

“If I won I would tell
everyone that it was because it was my favorite game and I like to play it
really well. And maybe if it became their favorite game, they would win next
time.”

“Okay. What about if you
had won the canoe race?”

“I would tell everyone
that I listened to the counselors and did everything they said and that I
obviously wanted to win more than they did. Wanting to win so much gives me a
better chance than the girls who just play to have fun.”

Eloise the elder took a
deep breath. She knew her granddaughter so very well. And she knew that this
conversation was long overdue. But she had hoped Egg would have outgrown her
obsession to win. Since that wasn’t going to happen, then her Grammy was going
to have to help her. And tonight was the night.

“Let’s continue this
discussion later. Come to the kitchen and help me prepare dinner.”

Egg loved Grammy’s
kitchen. It was so . . . old. There was the old-fashioned stove, and the old-fashioned
butcher-block counter and the old-fashioned sink, and refrigerator. But there
was no microwave or dishwasher or trash compactor. It was like something out of
a history book. It was really neat.

“What would you like for
dinner?” She asked but already knew the answer.

Egg pretended to give it a
lot of thought. “Mmmm . . . maybe we could have snails. I hear that people from
France like them. No, that doesn’t sound good. Let me think . . . oh, we
could have sushi. All my friends just love that. No, I’m not really in the mood
for fish. Well, that leaves only one thing. Why don’t we have hotdogs?”

“What a great suggestion.
I was in the mood for a good hotdog. How about a salad and a bowl of fruit to
go with it?”

“Grammy, it’s like you
read my mind.”

They both laughed at the
standing joke that had been played and replayed for the last two years. Then
they began to prepare the meal. Grammy took out the fruit and cut it up while
Egg took the hotdogs and dropped them into a pot of water. While the older
Eloise poured some milk, Egg tossed the salad. It was their little ritual and
it meant a lot to both of them.

When everything was ready,
they took the food and their drinks to the dining room and sat down. Grammy
said a little prayer of thanks and they began to eat.

As they ate, Grammy kept
the conversation away from Sylvia and camp. That discussion would come after
dinner. So they talked about Hawaii and the upcoming school year. They even
talked about Ashley and her boyfriend. And before very long, the meal was over
and they were taking the dishes back to the kitchen.

They hand washed and dried
everything and put it all away in the cupboards. When they were done, Grammy
had Egg sit at the kitchen table and served her orange sherbet while she sipped
a cup of coffee. And then, the conversation turned back to where it had begun.

“So, Egg, my love, can you
tell me the difference between Sylvia’s response to winning and yours in our little
game.”

“Of course. Sylvia was
pretending to be nice but she was really lying. And I told the truth.”

“I see. And why would
Sylvia pretend to be nice?”

“I’m not sure. I guess
she’s just that kind of person.”

“Is there a possibility
she said those things so that the other girls wouldn’t feel bad about losing?”

“Why would she care how
they felt?”

“Did you feel bad about
losing?”

“Of course. You know very
well that winning means a lot to me.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s why you
play the game . . . to win.”

“Do you think Sylvia
wanted to win?”

“Uh . . . I guess so.”

“So she wanted to win, and
so did you. When she won, she tried to make the other girls feel less bad. Had
you won, you would have. . .” She didn’t finish the sentence.

Egg waited. But Grammy
said nothing.

“Aren’t you going to
finish your sentence?”

“No, dear. I want you to.”

“I would have told the
truth.”

“So if Sylvia said the
things that you would have said, how would you have felt?”

Egg just stared at her grandmother. This conversation was certainly not going
the way she had expected. She could feel her eyes getting a little moist. “I
would have felt even worse.”

“Why?”

Egg continued to stare,
but now she was deep in thought. She was trying to relive the moment she had
lost at dodge ball. The moist eyes were turning to tears.

“Why are you crying, my
little darling?”

“If she said the things
that I would have said, it would have been very mean. Isn’t that right,
Grammy?”

“Oh, sweetheart, you are absolutely
correct. It takes a warm and wonderful person to understand that. I’m so proud
of you.”

“But why should telling
the truth be wrong?”

“Ahhh, that is a very mature
question but it is not totally relevant to our discussion.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, Egg, no one asked
Sylvia why she had won and she didn’t volunteer the obvious . . . she was
better than everyone else. Even you.”

“Grammy, I’m very good at
. . .” but her grandmother stopped her from completing the sentence.

“Yes, dear, you are very
good. But that doesn’t mean you will win every time. Sometimes the other person
is better . . . at least for that particular event on that particular day. But
why were you playing those games in the first place?”

“To win of course.”

“No, Egg, that’s not why
you play those games.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because there are three
reasons why people play games – and I stress the word games. Can
you name them?”

Egg thought about that for
a moment. “Is winning one of them?”

“No, dear.”

“Okay, I guess I play
sometimes just because it’s fun.”

“That’s one.” Egg smiled a
little. “Do you like the kids you play with?”

“Yes. Well, most of them.”

“So another reason is to
socialize with friends. Do you like the games or sports that you play?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

Egg scrunched up her face.
This was getting to be one of those conversations that either bored her or
confused her. “I guess it’s because I’m good at them.”

“Exactly. So the third
answer is that you enjoy the thrill of competing . . . of pushing yourself to
the limits of your ability.”

“But that’s what I said
all along. I want to win.”

“No dear . . . you want to
compete. That’s the thrill. Winning is just the reward. And if you win, or if
you lose, you must always do it with grace and style.”

“Grammy, I’m sorry but
this conversation wasn’t supposed to go this way. You were supposed to agree
with me about Sylvia and then tell me about somebody just like her when you
were young.”

“And I’m sorry dear, but I
can’t this time and for a very, very important reason.”

“What reason?”

“I have an enormous secret
to share with you but I can’t until you understand the things I’m trying to
teach you. So will you try?”

An enormous secret was
something that got Egg’s attention. She was certainly willing to give this
conversation another chance. “Absolutely.”

So the senior Eloise talked,
explained, and answered questions for the next hour. She was very pleased that
her granddaughter was showing such maturity and interest. There was hope yet.

“Grammy, I think I
understand. And I’m not just saying that so I can hear your secret.”

“That’s good. So why don’t
you tell me in your own words what we just discussed.”

“Okay. I shouldn’t care
about winning; I should care about how well I compete. If I win, then I should
be concerned with how the other girls who lost are feeling. If I lose, I should
try to understand why I lost and work on improving myself for the next time.”

“Oh, that is very, very
good. You make me so proud. Anything else?”

“Umm, don’t make
everything into a competition and try to laugh more.”

“Come over here and give
me a big hug.”

Egg danced over to her
grandmother and did just that.

“Now it’s time for the
secret. But first, promise me that you will never tell anyone…ever and for any
reason.”

“I promise” Egg said with a look of complete sincerity.

“Egg, how would you like
to fly?”

“Fly where?”

“Anywhere, everywhere.”

“I don’t understand. Is
that the big secret?”

“Yes.”

The younger Eloise was
crestfallen. What a stupid secret.

“Disappointed?”

“Sorry, Grammy, but that’s
not much of a secret.”

“Oh yes it is because I’m
about to give you the power to fly . . . like a bird.” Before Egg could
respond, her grandmother said, “Follow me. We’re going to the attic.” And off
they went up the stairs to a place where no visitor had gone in more than fifty
years.

Up they
climbed . . . it was exactly thirty-four steps to the attic. When they got
there, the elder Eloise took out a key and unlocked the door. It squeaked on
its hinges as it opened into a room filled with great treasures of the past.
There was an old gramophone . . .

and an antique sewing
machine . . .

and an old photograph of a
woman in a chair . . .

and an ancient steamer
trunk.

They walked in and went directly
to that trunk. Taking out another key, Grammy unlocked and gently opened the
top. Inside was a package wrapped in paper. She took it out and carefully
unwrapped it.

For all the world it
looked like . . . well, it looked like a Halloween costume. “This is the
secret.”

The suit was
more of an outfit. There was a pinkish red skirt, darker red leggings and a
tunic with white pads on the shoulders. White gloves, white boots and a heavy
belt that appeared to be made of gold completed the ensemble. Oh, and the belt
had a buckle with a very pretty rose crossed with a sword adorning it.

Egg looked at it then at
her Grandmother. She heard once that old people sometimes did strange things.
This must be one of those times. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, she said,
“It’s very nice Grammy. Did you used to wear that for Halloween?”

Senior Eloise burst out laughing and the sound shocked Egg. “What’s so funny?”

“This costume, my little
precious, will allow you to fly anywhere you want.”

“Grammy, that doesn’t make
any sense. How could it do that? It doesn’t even have batteries.”

“I’m about to tell you a
fantastic tale. It’s the same one my grandmother told me. And believe me, I was
as skeptical as you are now. But I soon learned the truth in what she said.
This flying suit has been in our family for hundreds of years. But, according
to legend, it was actually created thousands of years ago in the lost continent
of Atlantis . . .”

“Isn’t that in New Jersey?”

“No, dear. It existed
somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. It was home to a very advanced civilization. Some
think they may have come from another planet, but who really knows? How our
family came into possession of this is no longer remembered. But what it does
is something marvelous. Whoever wears this has the ability to fly . . . like a
bird. It is a wondrous feeling. . .”

“Have you . . . you know .
. . worn it and . . .,” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Yes, dear. I have flown.
And now it’s time for me to pass it down to you.”

“Why me? How come my mom
never wore it?”

“The suit has power for
seven years. After that, it takes exactly fifty years for it to recharge
itself. So it gets handed down every other generation. You’re mom missed out.
But you won’t.”

“What about Ashley?”

“It is up to the last user
to choose her successor. I choose you.”

“So it can only be worn by
girls?”

“Yes. But I don’t know
why.”

“I think I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be. Trust me when I
tell you that when you wear this suit, you can’t be hurt.”

“You mean I become
indestructible?”

“No . . . it means that
you can’t get hurt by crashing.”

“Oh.”

“And there is something
else. When you wear this, only those very close to you can recognize that it’s
actually you. However, an hour after they see you, they’ll forget that you were
ever there.”

“Does it have a mask or
something?”

“No mask, just mysterious
powers. Are you ready to accept this gift?”

Egg didn’t rush to answer.
She was thinking of all the possibilities. Finally, she looked at her Grammy
and said “Yes.”

“Wonderful. Come over by
the light and you can try it on. I can make whatever alterations right here on
my old sewing machine.”

Twenty minutes later, the
suit was altered and Egg put it on. Looking in a mirror, she liked what she
saw. “I think it suits me fine.”

“Oh, it does, my love. But
there’s a little more to this story . . .

Chapter 3 – Up, Up and Away

“Can I go flying now?”

“No, dearest, it’s too
dark. But right after breakfast tomorrow, you and I will soar among the birds.”

“You can still fly? Do you
have your own flying suit?”

“This is my suit,” she
said pointing at Egg. “And now it’s yours.”

“Then how can you fly?”

“I can’t . . . on my own.
But as long as you hold my hand, I can fly with you.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful,
Grammy. Then you can teach me how?”

“Yes, just like my
grandmother taught me.”

“Oh, this is so exciting .
. .” Then she stopped in mid-sentence. Before she could continue, her
grandmother answered the question that had popped into her mind.

“Yes, dear, it really is a
flying suit, and you really will be able to fly. It’s not just a silly story
from an old woman.”

Egg bounced over to her
Grammy and gave her a huge hug. “You are not an old woman and I believe you
about the suit. It’s just so . . . so . . . fantastic.”

“By tomorrow,
you’ll realize it is so much more than fantastic – it’s miraculous. But let me
finish my story. Are you comfortable? Good. First, let me tell you about three
objects that come with the suit. There’s an amber ring . . .

set in silver
. . .

. . . and a necklace made of reddish crystal in the shape of the
letter “O” . . .

. . . and a bracelet made of silver, but in the shape of a two-headed
snake or maybe a sea serpent.

“Are they magical too,
like the suit?”

“That, my dear, is the
great mystery. No one knows what they do…if anything. They have been handed
down, along with the suit, since forever. And everyone who has worn the suit
has also worn the jewelry. But nothing happens. If they have magic, no one has
ever been able to evoke it.”

“Not even you?”

“No, not even me. So I
pass them along to you. Wear them when you wish and try to discover their
magic. But be careful; there’s no one on earth who can help you learn how to
control whatever power you might be able to unleash.”

“That’s scary.”

“Yes. But it is also
incredibly exciting. Who knows what powers it might give you.”

“Where are these things?”

Grammy walked
over to the steamer trunk and pulled out a small chest.

She unlocked it and let
Egg look inside.

“Oh, my gosh, aren’t they
beautiful. May I try them on?”

“Of course, but not
tonight. I still need to finish my story.”

Egg sat back down
clutching the chest on her lap. “Okay, Grammy, tell me the rest.”

“The rest has to do with the
little discussion we had earlier . . . about winning and Sylvia.”

“Oh.” Egg wasn’t sure this
was going to be good.

The old woman laughed at
her granddaughter’s reaction. “Not to worry, love. This will be quick and
painless. There is something strange about the suit…”

“More strange than
flying?”

“Well, maybe not more
strange. Let’s just say equally unusual. Whoever created it must have wanted
the wearer to do good deeds. And doing good deeds means caring about other
people and not caring whether you get acknowledged for your acts of kindness. In
our talk we said the same kind of things . . . care about the feelings of
others, learn from your failures and don’t be too caught up in the glory of
being the best.”

Egg considered these words
for a few minutes. Finally, she said, “So when I wear the suit, it’s to help
people and not to make me famous. Right?”

“Yes, dear. And it takes a
very mature young lady to be able to accept that.”

“What happens if I can’t
or forget?”

“The suit won’t work.”

“WHAT?”

“It’s part of the magic or
the science. It won’t let you use the power for evil or for selfish reasons.”

“Wow.”

“So what do you think? Did
I choose the wrong person?”

“Oh, Grammy. I promise I’ll be the best girl ever to wear this suit. I’ll make
you very proud.”

“I’ve known that for many
years, my darling. Now, off with the suit, put it in the chest with the other
things and lock it. Here’s the key.”

Egg took off the suit,
folded it gently and placed it in the chest.

“Good girl. Now go and
take a bath then I’ll read you a story in bed.”

So Egg raced
downstairs, found her overnight bag and went to Grammy’s bathroom. Like the
rest of the house, it was old and unusual. For instance, the bathtub had little
feet and sat in the middle of room.

When she had
finished her bath, she brushed her teeth then went to Grammy’s bedroom and
jumped up on the big bed. It was incredibly comfortable and snuggly.

And Grammy
read her a story. Then with a million thoughts of flying swirling around in her
head, Egg fell asleep and dreamt she could soar amongst the clouds . . .

*****

“Wake up, wake up, wake up
. . . Grammy, wake up.”

“What time is it dear?”

Egg looked at
the antique alarm clock on the nightstand. “It’s 7 o’clock.”

“Let’s get to it, then.
First, wash up and we’ll eat a good breakfast. I find that flying takes a lot
of energy.”

So they jumped out of bed,
brushed their teeth and made for the kitchen. It was hard to say who was more
excited, Egg or her Grammy. The next twenty minutes were a blur of activity . .
. making breakfast, eating as fast as they could, rushing back to the bedroom
to change. The older Eloise put on a pair of jeans; it was something Egg had never
seen her do before.

“Grammy, you look hundred
years younger in blue jeans.”

“Thank you dear. And you
look like you’re ready to fly.”

“I’m so nervous. I’m not
sure eating all that bacon was such a good idea. Do you think I might throw up?”

“Hmmm…as I recall, I did
just that. And I might do it again. Do you realize it’s been fifty years since
I’ve flown?”

Egg had no comprehension
of how long fifty years might be. But it sounded like a very long time. “Will
you still remember what to do?”

“Once you learn how to
fly, you never forget. Well are you ready?”

Egg’s eyes were sparkling
with excitement. “Oh, my gosh, yes.”

“Let’s go outside and over
to that little hill behind the house.”

They left through the back
door and ran the hundred feet or so to the spot that Grammy had chosen. As they
stood there, they could see the small valley and the river in the distance. It
was a beautiful day with only a few clouds in the sky and just a hint of a
breeze.

“So what do I do?”

“You clear your mind of
all other thoughts except flying. The suit will start to feel a little tighter
around you. It takes anywhere from one to ten seconds then you’ll know it’s
ready. Just bend your knees, extend one or both hands above your head and push
off.”

“But how do I control
where I’m going?”

“You just think it. The suit
will do the rest. Are you ready?”

Egg squeezed her hands
together in front of her chin and smiled. Her eyes were wide in anticipation.
“I’m so glad you’re going with me.”

“Take my hand. Now
concentrate. When the suit tells you, push up.”

Egg took a gigantic deep
breath, looked at her Grammy, smiled then looked straight ahead concentrating
on flying. The seconds ticked by and nothing happened…5 seconds…6 seconds...7
seconds...8. Then she felt the suit squeeze her gently. She bent her knees,
raised her left hand and pushed up.

Nothing. She looked over
at her Grammy and asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, sweetheart, you did
it just right.”

“But we’re not flying.”

“Look down.”

So Egg looked down . . . and
screamed. They were about twenty feet in the air, higher than the big elm that
stood on top of the hill. But they were just hovering.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!
Oh my gosh!  Grammy this is awesome. But why aren’t we moving?”

“Tell the suit where you
want to go . . . just think it.”

And she did. She told it
to take her down the valley and over the river. And with a big rush of air,
they were sailing over the hills and fields toward the place she had selected.

To describe flying to
someone who never did it . . . well it would be like describing a beautiful red
sunset to a person who couldn’t see. Every one of the five senses was involved.

You could see far into the
distance, but anyone standing on a mountaintop could do that. But when you fly,
you can soar just above the tops of trees and see what a bird sees . . . the
leaves gently swaying in the breeze, cows meandering through the meadows, fish
swimming in the clear waters of the river.

The air is filled with the
smells of life that float over the land.

If you open your mouth, the
air rushes in and you can taste it as it changes flavor from meadows, to
hilltops to rivers.

Then there’s the feel of
air brushing your face. And no matter how fast you go, the suit protects you
from all but the most gentle of touches.

And the sounds . . . well,
other than the air brushing past your ears, there is no sound. The silence is
almost complete . . . and completely unexpected. It’s as if you’re flying in a
dream. There is nothing but the sounds of your own thoughts.

Egg was in a trance. Grammy
was right, of course, this wasn’t fantastic . . . it was miraculous. Oh, how
she wished she could do this forever. She only had seven years . . . not enough
time. But more time than anyone else would have, except her granddaughter. Oh,
she couldn’t wait for that day when she could pass the suit on. What a gift to
give someone.

She flew up and down. She
climbed high into the sky and hid inside a cloud. Then she dove straight down
until Grammy asked her to stop. She felt guilty because even though she was holding
her hand, Egg had completely forgotten her Grammy was there.

After what seem like only a
few minutes, she flew to the farmhouse and landed gently next to the back door.
Her face was lit in happiness. “Oh, Grammy. Thank you, thank you.” She hugged
her for all she was worth and didn’t let go until the older woman gently pried
her hands away.

“Egg, what you just did up
there has never been done before. At least not as far as I know.”

“What do you mean? I was
just flying like you told me.”

“You were in complete
control. You and the suit acted like one. It always takes a new flyer weeks and
weeks of practice to control the suit. You did it the first time.”

“Is that good?”

“That, my dear, is
awesome. There’s no telling what adventures lay ahead for you now. You just
might change the world.”

“I’m just eight.”

“You’re almost nine. And
it’s not about age. It’s about heart.”

Chapter 4 – Cat in the Hat

“Your mom will be here in
about thirty minutes, so let’s finish our talk.”

“I thought you told me
everything last night?”

“Almost all. There are two
more things we should discuss. First of all, I know how exciting flying is. Believe
me I do. But you must promise me that you will maintain a balance in your
life.”

“What does that mean,
Grammy?”

“It means that you cannot
let this new love of flying dominate every waking moment of your life. It’s
quite like your former obsession with winning. Most, if not all, obsessions
will be destructive. So you must continue a normal, everyday life just as
before and try to find time to fly. It must not be the other way around. Do you
understand?”

“I think so.”

”Then promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Egg, if I find out that
you can’t handle this new challenge, I’ll be forced to take the suit away until
you are older. This is very serious business to me and to you. Understand?”

Egg stared at her
grandmother for many seconds. “You’re just trying to protect me from messing up
my life, right?”

“Exactly, dear. School,
friends, dodge ball and all the other things little girls do are so terribly important
if you’re to grow up to be the best that you can be.”

“I really do understand.
And if I get into trouble, can I talk to you about it?”

“Always. In fact, I
insist.”

“Thank you. What was the
other thing, Grammy?”

“Ah, yes. The other thing
is that when you try to do your good deeds, be careful not to put yourself into
any danger. You have the ability to fly…but you’re not Super Girl. Is that
understood?”

“Grammy, that’s an easy
one. I’ll never put myself in danger.”

“No, my dear, that’s
actually the hard one. There may come a time when you might have to put
yourself in harm’s way to save someone. But I’m going to trust you to use good
judgment. Always remember that if there is a safe way to help, do it. If not .
. . well just remember I would never forgive myself if you were hurt because I
gave you this suit.”

“I understand. Umm, Grammy,
before I start doing my good deeds, can I take a little time and just . . . uh
. . . well, you know just . . . uh . . .”

“Just fly and enjoy the
experience. Absolutely. Even though you did so very well today, it’s important
that you become completely comfortable with your new powers. So take as much
time as you need to explore the limits of what you can do.”

“Grammy, I love you a
million times more than I love hot dogs. Thank you for choosing me. And for
trusting me. I promise I won’t let you down.”

“You’re very welcome. And
I know you won’t disappoint me. In fact, I know that you’ll make me incredibly
proud.”

*****

Two days later and Egg
still hadn’t been able to sneak out and fly. But tomorrow was Saturday and she
would have a great opportunity in the morning to slip away. She could hardly
wait.

As she sat in her room
staring at the small chest containing the outfit and mysterious jewelry, her
mother knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

“Sweetheart, you got a
letter.”

“Really? From who?”

“Umm . . . the return
address says Hampton. I don’t recognize the street address or the town. Anyway,
here you go.”

Egg took the
envelope and carefully opened it. Other than birthday cards, she never got
mail. Inside was a letter and a photograph . . . from Sylvia. She looked at the
picture, and then she read the letter . . .

Dear Egg,

Here is the picture I promised to send you. I think it turned out
really well. I’m sorry that we didn’t become good friends at camp. I’m sure it
was my fault. But I thought you were the most interesting girl there. You
certainly were very good at sports and I was very lucky that you didn’t win. If
you ever want to talk or something, here is my email address:

SylviaHampton@giggle.com

Hope you have a great year at school. Maybe I’ll see you at camp
next summer.

Your friend, Sylvia.

Egg read the letter a
second time. And then she started to cry. Her mom was standing just outside her
room and walked back in. “What’s wrong, Egg? Who sent you that letter? What did
it say?” She was obviously very concerned.

“Oh, Mom. I was so mean to
this girl at camp and now she sends me this letter. I feel terrible.”

“May I read it?” Egg handed
her the piece of paper. “Oh, I see. Well, you made a mistake. I think this one
is easy to fix.”

“What should I do?”

“You’re smart enough to
figure that out yourself. Dinner is in an hour.” And she walked out, closing
the door gently behind her.

Egg wiped away
her tears and reread the letter a third time. Then she went to her computer and
clicked on the internet connection. She logged into her email account and began
to type . . .

Dear Sylvia,

Thank you for the picture. It is very nice and I will put it in a special
frame and hang it over my desk. I’m the one that should apologize. I was very
mean to you and you didn’t deserve it. You beat me fair and square and I was
the sore loser. If you like, I’ll write you an email every week and we can talk
about school and music and anything you want.

Your new friend, Egg.

She hit the send button
and felt a whole lot better. Grammy said a person should learn from their
mistakes, and Egg just did.

*****

The next morning her dad
played golf and her mom went shopping. She was home alone with her sister,
which was like being home alone. Ashley’s boyfriend, Brad, was visiting and the
two of them were down in the basement listening to music. Or so they said. Egg knew
they were down there kissing.

But she wasn’t complaining.
She took down the little chest, unlocked it and pulled out her flying suit. She
slipped it on and checked herself out in the bathroom mirror. She smiled at her
reflection then went to the small balcony that was attached to her room and
walked out. Clearing her mind of all thoughts, she concentrated on flying. Almost
immediately, she felt the suit squeeze her gently and she launched herself
skyward. A heartbeat later, she flew away.

At first, she went
straight up and found a cloud to hide in. Getting her bearings, she decided to
head for the center of town that was a few miles from where they lived. The
suit obeyed immediately.

As she soared above it, she
was able to make out the school, the big church and the movie theater. She was
having so much fun looking at the ground that she didn’t see the birds just
ahead of her. Before she knew it, she was right in the middle of the flock.
They stared at her but must have figured she was just a bigger version of them,
because they ignored her and kept on flying.

She decided to fly with
them to see what it was like. And after about five minutes, she did . . . it
was boring. So she turned towards the west and into the hills. There was a
beautiful waterfall that fed the river by Grammy’s place, and she wanted to see
it up close.

As she headed towards her destination,
she realized that the suit really was reading her mind. The thought of the
waterfall was just that…an image in her mind. The suit understood and responded
immediately. This was so cool.

As she approached the
falls, it dawned on her how magnificent it really was. You could never get the
full beauty of it when you’re on the ground. She circled overhead a couple of
times then dove down. Stopping when she got even with the top of falls, she
slowly let herself settle down to the very bottom . . . but just above the
river. The noise was deafening. Why she wasn’t afraid was a mystery to her . .
. but she wasn’t. It was just exciting. At one point, she got so close that she
was able to reach out her hand and touch the water as it plummeted into the
river.

After a minute or two, she
went back up maybe a thousand feet above the river. She hovered there and
looked around for someplace else to visit. To her surprise, not too far off was
a hot air balloon. She decided to go investigate.

As she approached, the two
occupants of the balloon spotted her and started to point. She smiled and waved
to them. As she got closer, she could see the shock in their faces. It’s not every
day you see a girl flying.

She wasn’t worried about
being seen. Her Grammy said that people would completely forget that they ever
saw her in an hour. So until then, she thought they should enjoy the sight. She
circled the balloon three times as fast as she could . . . which was fast. Then
she hovered close to the basket so she could talk to the two people.

“Hello.”

“Who are you? What are
you?” asked one of the startled men.

“I’m a . . . well it
doesn’t matter. I just wanted to say hi. Have a nice day.” She laughed, blew
them a kiss, then flew away.

She headed back to her
house at a leisurely pace so she could enjoy the sights and the wonderful
feeling of freedom. It wasn’t too long before she was just a couple of streets
from her house. As she flew lower, she could see a crowd of people in front of
Old Mrs. Leary’s house. She decided to investigate.

Landing in some trees so
she was out of sight of the people, she walked over to a girl she knew from
school. “Morning, Ellen. What’s going on?”

The girl
looked at her but didn’t recognize that it was Egg. It was the magic of the
suit, of course. “Oh, Mrs. Leary’s cat is stuck on the roof and they’re trying
to get it down with that crane thing. But every time they get close, it runs
away.”

“Maybe I can
help.” Egg flew up into the air and over to the house. She circled the roof
until she spotted a cat in a hat.

“Here kitty, kitty. Now
don’t you look darling in that hat? It’s very pretty. Why don’t you come here
and I’ll take you down and Mrs. Leary will give you a nice bowl of milk.”

The cat looked at the girl
and did what cats don’t usually do . . . she obeyed and jumped into Egg’s
outstretched arms. Egg gave it a big squeeze and then slowly let herself drift
down to the ground.

Every one of the
forty-three people who had gathered stared at the girl in the strange costume. No
one spoke a word.

Egg walked over to Mrs.
Leary and handed her the cat. “I just love her hat.” Then she gave the old
woman a quick kiss on the cheek, waved to the forty-two other people who still
hadn’t made a sound and flew straight up and out of sight.

A minute later, she landed
on her balcony and walked to the bathroom to change out of her suit. She
replaced it in the chest and locked it. She went back to the mirror, but not to
admire herself. Instead, she said to her reflection, “That was very nice helping
Mrs. Leary. Did you see the look of happiness on her face when I gave her the
cat in the hat back? I think I’m going to make a very good . . . ummm. . .” She
hesitated because she didn’t have a name for what she was. Then it came to her
. . .

“I’m going to be a very
good Flying Girl.”

Chapter 5 – Flying Girl

There was a
small article in the local newspaper, lost somewhere on the bottom of page
thirty-one. Hardly anyone read it because it seemed so silly . . .

Strange Sighting

A number of people who had congregated in
front of Mrs. Leary’s house to watch the rescue of her cat Calamity Jane called
the police to report a flying girl. When the police arrived to check out the
reports, no one remembered seeing any such person. Officers assumed the calls
were just a prank.

The phone rang and Egg
answered it. “Hi, Grammy.”

“Hello, my little darling.
I just called to tell you that I read the strangest article in today’s
newspaper. Apparently some people thought they saw a flying girl rescue Mrs.
Leary’s cat.”

“A flying girl? Isn’t that
the silliest thing you ever heard?” Egg started to laugh and her grandmother
joined in.

“Congratulations on doing
your first good deed. How did it feel?”

“Oh, Grammy, it felt
wonderful. Mrs. Leary was so happy to get her cat back.”

“But you didn’t get the
credit for saving it. Did that bother you?”

“Funniest thing, Grammy. I
never even thought about that.”

“That’s the best answer
you could give. You make me so proud.”

“Thank you. And guess what
. . . I got a letter from Sylvia.”

“Ah, she sent you that
picture.”

“I emailed her back and
apologized for being so mean. Now we talk or text each other every day.”

“That’s wonderful. You are
a truly remarkable young lady.”

“Oh, Grammy, you always
say that.”

“That’s because it’s
true.”

“Grammy, can I ask you
something?”

“Of course.”

“If I invite Sylvia to my
birthday party, could I take her flying?”

“Why would you want to do
that, dear?”

“I want to share this
fantastic gift you gave me with my new best friend.”

“Oh, Egg, what a wonderful
thought. Well, there is no rule that says you can’t. But remember, an hour
after you land, she’ll have completely forgotten what happened.”

“I know she’ll forget that
I was Flying Girl, but won’t she remember the flying part?”

“Probably. But it will
seem like a dream to her.”

“Would that be bad?”

“No dear, it wouldn’t.”

*****

School finally started and
Egg entered third grade. Her teacher this year was Mrs. Sparks who spent the
first day describing her summer vacation biking all over France. She made it sound so interesting, and the pictures she took were so lovely, that
Egg decided she would fly there the very first chance she got. Maybe she would
take Sylvia with her.

The rest of the day zipped
by, as did the rest of the week. And before she knew it, September was gone.
She had managed to fly only once in all that time. Homework and soccer kept her
very busy and there simply was no opportunity to slip away.

But she wasn’t too
worried. Besides, everything else in her life was going so well. Her teammates
on the soccer team were amazed at the new Egg. She didn’t try to hog the ball
or do all the scoring herself. She would pass it to the other girls and cheer
wildly when they scored. And if the team lost, she’d give everyone a pep talk about
how well they played and explain that some days the other team might be a
little better or luckier. Besides, she would tell them, “Next week we’ll win.”

Then in the middle of October,
she found time to fly. She decided to cruise up and down the streets in her
town looking for cats in need of rescuing. But today there were none.

After about twenty minutes,
she decided to head for home. Sometimes it was tough to do good deeds. As she
flew over one particular house, she happened to notice a mom walking with a
stroller and two young kids. She hovered overhead just to watch since she had
nothing more important to do.

As the mom bent over the
stroller, one of the kids dropped a ball he was carrying and it rolled between
two cars and out into the street. The boy ran after it before his mother even
noticed he was gone.

To her horror, Egg saw
that a car was speeding down the road and would never be able to stop in time
before hitting the little boy. Without hesitation, she dove down and snatched
up the child just seconds before the car reached him.

It was the
shrill screeching of brakes that finally got the mom’s attention. She whirled
around and noticed one of her sons was missing. Looking to the street, she saw
the car bearing down on the boy . . . and then something fly down and pull him
to safety. She nearly fainted.

Egg delivered the boy to
his mom who pulled him close to her body. Then she looked at him to make sure
he was alright. Her face was as white as a ghost and she was crying.

“He’s okay, I think,” said
Egg trying to reassure the very upset woman.

“Thank you . . . but . . .
but . . . were you flying?”

“Oh yes, it’s such a nice
day to be up and about. Well, I have to go,” and Egg leaped into the air, threw
them a kiss and disappeared.

The mom and her two little
boys stared at the flying girl as she flew away.

“Mommy, was that a bird?”

“No, Mommy, tell him that
was superman.”

The mom didn’t answer
either of her children. She didn’t know what or who it was.

*****

Sylvia had accepted Egg’s
invitation. It was going to be a slumber party for just the two of them. And
now it was Saturday morning, December 2nd, her birthday and she was
standing at the window in her room looking at the street. Her friend was due
any minute.

And she was nervous. It
wasn’t because she hadn’t seen the other girl since camp. They had been
emailing and talking almost every day after Egg received her letter. No, she
was nervous because she was going to show Sylvia the flying suit. Grammy had
said she could do it this one time, but she had to be wearing it when she had
the conversation. Then in an hour, the other girl would no longer remember
anything and Egg’s secret would be safe.

She saw the red car pull
up in front of the house and Sylvia jumped out holding a small overnight bag. Egg
raced downstairs and outside – in too much of a rush to put her coat on.
“SYLVIA,” she yelled.

The girl giggled and ran
up the walkway to greet her friend. They hugged and laughed. “Thank you for
coming to my party.”

“Oh, silly, you know I
wouldn’t have missed this for anything.”

“You two come inside,”
cried Egg’s mom. “It’s freezing and my goofy daughter didn’t put her coat on.”
The girls held hands and skipped into the house.

While Egg’s mom talked to
Mrs. Hampton, the two best friends went up to Egg’s bedroom.

Egg proudly
showed her friend all of her earthly possessions including the picture of the
two of them from camp framed and hanging on the wall.

“Oh, Egg, I’m so glad
we’ve become good friends. I just knew it the first time we met that we’re very
much alike.”

“Me, too. And I can’t
believe I was so mean to you. What was I thinking?”

“I don’t want to talk
about that. It’s completely forgotten.”

So the girls did what they
were supposed to do . . . talked about school, and sports, and clothes, and music,
and movie stars. And they giggled and laughed at everything.

Just before noon, there
was a knock on Egg’s door. “Come in.”

“Happy birthday, my
darling.”

“Grammy, meet my best
friend. Sylvia this is Grammy . . . she has the same name as me. Grammy, this
is Sylvia.”

“Very pleased to meet you,
Sylvia. Egg’s told me so much about you.”

“Thank you. So is your
name Egg, too?” She said it with a big smile.

“Oh my no. There is only
one Egg in this family. Well, I’ll let you two get back to your important conversation.
I’ll see you downstairs in a little while.”

*****

They had cake and opened
presents and sang happy birthday. They went to see a movie and ate pizza for
dinner. Finally, it was time to turn in and the girls said their good nights
and ran back to Egg’s room.

“Sylvia, I have something
to show you.”

“Okay.”

Egg went into the bathroom
and came out wearing her flying suit.

“Wow, what is that?”

“It’s a flying suit. Let
me tell you a story. It’s going to sound fantastically unbelievable. But I
swear on our friendship that it’s true. Promise not to laugh?”

“I promise . . . cross my
heart and hope to die.”

So Egg told her the same
story that her grandmother told her.

“Have you actually done it
. . . you know fly?”

“Yes. Sylvia it’s so much
fun you can’t believe it.”

“Isn’t it scary?”

“No. But the strange part
is that it feels even better when I get to do a good deed.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I saved a cat in a
hat that was stuck on a roof, and a little boy who ran in front of a car. Here,
let me show you something.” She went over to the desk and pulled out the
newspaper clipping that her Grammy had seen. Sylvia read it.

“Oh, gosh. It really is
true.”

“Would you like to fly
with me?”

“Where?”

“France.”

“Let’s do something closer
. . . this first time. How about Washington?”

“Walk over to the balcony
with me. Now take my hand…don’t be afraid.” And they lifted off into the night
sky. Egg started slowly for her friend’s sake. But once Sylvia felt
comfortable, they flew faster and faster. In hardly any time at all, they were
over the nation’s capitol.

They circled and soared
and observed everything that they could.

There was the Lincoln
Memorial . . .

. . . and the Washington
Monument…

. . . and, of course, the
White House…

It was all so beautiful. Then
Egg turned them around and they flew back home in silence. They landed on the
balcony and walked back inside.

“Oh, Egg, thank you, thank
you, thank you. That was more than amazing.”

Egg didn’t respond at
first.  She was sad because this would all seem like a dream to her friend by
morning. “Anytime you want to fly to France, just ask.”

*****

Remember that old saying, “Time
flies when you’re having fun?” For Egg, it was, “Flying is fun when you
have the time.”

As the weeks slipped away
and Christmas came and went, Flying Girl made sure she spent a part of almost
every day flying. She had only seven years until the magic wore off. And she
wasn’t going to waste any of it. Besides, there were so many good deeds that
needed to be done.

Little did she
know that one day, one of her good deeds would take her to another world filled
with dragons and sea serpents and little green girls. But before that could
happen, she had to discover the magic of the necklace, the bracelet and the
ring.

Book
2

Ham and Egg

Book 2 of

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016, by Robert
Iannone,

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Say What?

Chapter 2 – Hey Ham, Move Over!

Chapter 3 – Hello, Dolly

Chapter 4 – Egg on Their Face

Chapter 5 – Ski-Daddle

Chapter 1 – Say What?

It was a wonderful day to play dress
up because it was snowing and cold with no place to go and no friends to visit.

In fact, it had been snowing since
Thursday and now it was Saturday. That’s a lot of snow. It’s funny how parents
thought it was way too much while most kids thought it was just the right
amount. The two different conclusions came from the same fact – the snow had
forced all the local schools to shut down.

Egg was in her bedroom talking on the
phone with her best friend Sylvia. “So, I went through my mom’s old clothes
chest and found a beautiful print dress with sequins and a big floppy hat. And
there’s a red boa made of peacock feathers, long white gloves and a pink purse.
I couldn’t decide which heels to wear. Then I thought you can’t go wrong with
black ones. When we hang up, I’m going to get dressed and I’ll have Ashley take
a picture and I’ll email it to you.”

“We really need to get cell phones
with cameras like everyone else in the world.”

“Mom says not till I’m a teenager. She
said when I’m old enough to get my own Facebook account, I’ll be old enough for
a smart phone.”

“Yeah, my mom says the same thing.
Anyway, I wish I lived closer so I could come over.” Sylvia lived about
twenty-five miles away. They had met at camp this past summer and eventually
became “almost-modern-day” pen pals…using email, instant messaging and the
telephone instead of old-fashioned letters. But without cell phones and social
networking accounts, they still felt like dinosaurs and completely out of touch
with the real world.

“Me, too. Especially today when
there’s nothing to do. Maybe your mom could drive you over.”

“I asked. She said most of the roads
have so much snow on them that it wouldn’t be safe.”

“Well, I could fly to your house.”

“What?”

Egg realized what she had said and
turned red in embarrassment then white in horror. For a moment,
she stopped breathing. If she held her breath long enough, she would turn blue
and see stars. The American Flag would have been very proud
of her.

“Oh, silly, I was just kidding. You
know my super powers don’t work on snowy Saturdays.” She gritted her teeth
waiting for her friend’s response.

“You are such a goof.” Egg let out her
breath in relief. “Anyway, I gotta hang up. Mom wants me to help her bake some
cookies. I’ll check my email a little later then I’ll call you. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Egg hung up the phone and flopped on
the bed. ‘Oh, my gosh, what was I thinking? Grammy would be so mad. I
absolutely promised her I would never, ever tell anybody my secret . . . even
my best friend.’ And that thought made her a little sad.

Her secret, of course, was that her
Grammy had given her a flying suit. When she wore it, she could fly anywhere
just by thinking it.  When she wore it, she became Flying Girl.

After taking a minute to
calm down, she got up, undressed and put on her mom’s clothes. She walked over
to the big mirror on her bathroom door and admired herself. She looked straight
on, and then turned left then right. From every angle, she liked what she saw.
Very stylish, fashionable with just a hint of sassy. But, something was
missing. Hmmm…what could it be?

“Of
course” she said to her reflection, “I’m missing jewelry.” But that was a
problem. Her stuff was obviously not very grown up…the diamonds in her tiara
were made of plastic and her ruby ring was really glass painted red. No, that
wouldn’t do.

Then she had a
brainstorm…her grandmother had given her three fabulous pieces when she gave
her the flying suit. Grammy had said that they were supposed to give the person
wearing them some kind of magical powers but no one ever figured how to make
them work. She was told to experiment with them and now seemed like a perfect
time. Besides, they would make her go from sassy to gorgeous.

She went to the closet and pulled out
a little stepping stool. She climbed up and reached to the top shelf where she
hid the little chest her grandmother had given her to hold her suit and the
jewelry. She found it and took it down. Getting the key from her desk drawer,
she unlocked it and emptied the contents on her bed.

There was the suit, of course. But
there was also a ring made from silver with a golden orange colored stone . . .

. . . and a choker made from a
donut-shaped reddish colored crystal . . .

. . . and a silvery-green bracelet in
the shape of a two headed snake or sea serpent.

She had been too afraid to try any of
them on. Her grandmother said that if she, Egg, was able to unleash their
magical powers, no one on earth could help her control whatever it was that
they did. So if the bracelet caused sea serpents or snakes to appear – there
was no telling what trouble they could cause.

But right now that didn’t matter; it
was dress-up day. She had to do whatever it took so that the picture she emailed
to Sylvia would be fabulously glamorous and her girlfriend would be forced to
hang it over her desk. And that meant wearing the jewelry.

So Egg slipped the ring on her finger
but it was way too big.  Disappointed she went to take it off, but to her surprise
when she tugged on it, it felt snug . . . not too tight, not too loose. Hmmm .
. .

The choker did the same thing. It was
too big when she latched it closed . . . and then it seemed to shrink to just
the right size. Curious-er and curious-er.

By this time she had no doubt that the
bracelet would do the same thing. And, she wasn’t disappointed; it did.

‘Well’ she thought ‘that was a pretty
neat trick.’

She decided this might be a good time
to try to evoke whatever magic these things possessed. The ability to shrink
themselves to the right size was probably not the only thing they did. Maybe
she could conjure up a rabbit like a real magician.

“Abracadabra” she whispered and waved
her arms. But no rabbit appeared from inside the little chest. “Okay, how about
Hocus-pocus” but still nothing. “Alright, you silly things, the only other one
I know is Presto Ala Kazam.” If there was a rabbit in there, he was way too
embarrassed to come out. She slowly peeked inside but it was empty. She was
both relieved that nothing bad had happened and annoyed that the stupid rabbit
was nowhere to be seen. “Oh, well, at least it should be safe to wear.”

After one last look in the mirror, she
knew she was ready to have her picture taken. She took out the digital camera
she received as a Christmas present from her grandmother and went looking for
her sister.

“Ashley” she yelled. She walked down
the hall and knocked on her sister’s door. “Ashley, stop kissing Brad and take
my picture.” But there was no answer.

She walked downstairs and
looked in the living room then the kitchen all the while yelling “ASHLEY.” Her
parents were both out until later and her sister was supposed to be taking care
of her. Then she spotted a yellow sticky note hanging from the refrigerator
door. She took it down and read . . .

“OH, THAT GIRL” Egg said in a huff.
She reread the note, walked to the front door, and opened it with every
intention of yelling for her sister. But a blast of cold air took her breath
away and she hurriedly closed it.

“Well, what do I do now?” she asked
herself.  As if by magic, the door opened and Ashley poked her head inside.

“Hey, Egg. Did you get my note?”

“Yes. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
she asked with more than a hint of peevishness.

“Cause you were on the phone with Sylvia
and I didn’t want to bother you. And, anyhow, what’s with the costume . . .
playing dress-up?”

Egg smiled and pirouetted for her
sister “What do you think?”

“Drop dead gorgeous. Give me your
camera and I’ll take a picture.”

“How should I pose?”

“Hmmm, how about hands on hips, point
your body slightly that way, now turn your head and look at me with a big,
delicious smile.” Egg did as she was told. “Perfect” said Ashley, “don’t move
and . . .” the camera flashed. “Okay, one more . . . turn your whole body
towards me . . . smile . . .” and it flashed again. “Here you go” and she
handed the camera back to her kid sister. “Now go email those to Sylvia. We’re
still walking and practicing our Spanish for a test on Monday. Can you handle
being alone for another half hour?”

“Of course I can. You better hurry on
out because I’m sure Brad is freezing to death and desperately needs to hold
your hand” Egg teased. “Oh, and thank you for taking my picture. Did you want a
copy?”

“Print me a wallet-sized one. See you kiddo.”
Ashley turned to leave then stopped as if she just remembered something. She
turned around and said, “by the way, I just have to borrow your jewelry
sometime. Did Grandma E give those to you? They’re beautiful.”

“Oh, this stuff? It’s just some costume
jewelry I found in Grammy’s attic,” Egg said desperately trying to get her
sister to lose interest.

“Too bad, it’s really kind of cool.
Okay, I’m gone.” This time she did leave.

Egg ran back to her room. Twice in one
day, she nearly gave away her secret. “You silly, foolish goose” she said to
herself. “You have to learn to be more careful” and made a promise never to
wear the jewelry unless she was wearing her flying suit. Part of the magic of
the suit was that whoever saw her in it would completely forget that they did
after an hour.

But now that she was in the safety of
her bedroom, she hurried over to her desk momentarily forgetting about the
jewelry.  She connected the camera to her computer, emailed the pictures to her
friend, and printed off three copies for her mother, her sister and Grammy.
Then she started to change out of her dress up clothes.

Egg took off the hat and gloves and
the boa. Then she pulled off the ring and bracelet and put them back in the
little chest. As she put her hands to the back of her neck to undo the
necklace, she had a great idea. Why not take the rest of the half hour until
her sister came back to do a quick little flying trip? With all this snow,
maybe somebody would need rescuing. So she pulled off the dress and slipped
into her flying suit. She closed the little chest and hid it under the bed for
now.

As she walked over to the balcony, Egg
wondered how it was that the suit kept her warm. She had flown last weekend and
it had been just as cold outside. But she had felt very comfortable. Grammy had
said the flying suit would protect her when she wore it. Apparently, it was
just some more of its wonderful magic.

She stepped out onto the balcony and
leaped skyward. And the same thrill of flying swept over her as it did each time
she did this . . . the visual wonder of the trees and houses growing ever
smaller, the amazing sense of freedom and the thrill of defying gravity. It was
too bad that she couldn’t fly more often, but it wasn’t easy for a
nine-year-old girl to be left alone for long periods of time. That’s why she
had to make the most of every opportunity. And, in seven years . . . well six
and half now . . . the suit would run out of its magical power. Then she would
have to put it away for fifty years until the magic came back. When it did, she
would give it to her granddaughter the same way her Grammy gave it to her.

Egg flew straight up until she was the
size of a bird to anyone that might see her from below. She looked over the
neighborhood from her vantage point but was disappointed. There was almost no
one around . . . no one to rescue. In fact, the only people she saw were her
sister and friends. They were walking arm in arm down the deserted street in
front of her house.

Well, with nothing else to do, she swooped
down and hovered just above a nearby tree so she could eavesdrop. She knew that
was impolite, but she was feeling mischievous.

She heard Brad say something that
sounded like “The pen red belongs to my aunt.” Wow, was that weird.

Then Ashley said “May I see the pen
red of your aunt, please.”

‘Pu-leez’, Egg thought, ‘just because
he’s your boyfriend is no reason to talk silly.’ She continued to listen for
another few minutes but the conversation never improved. All four of them were
talking like dumb first graders, which was freaky and disturbingly weird.

When the four friends turned around
and started to head back to the house, Egg knew it was time for her to leave.
She flew up over the trees and straight to her balcony. She hurried back to her
bedroom and started to take off her suit when she realized she was still
wearing the necklace. ‘Oops’ she thought, and then she undid the latch and
slipped it back into the little chest she had put under the bed. Her suit went
in next. She took her precious bundle back into the closet and hid it on the
top shelf.

A few minutes later, her sister
knocked on her door. “Come in, Ashley.”

“Hey Egg, just wanted to tell you
everyone has left so it’s just me and you. If you’re hungry, I’ll boil us some
hotdogs.”

“Thank you, now that you mention it,
I’m really hungry.” Flying always did that to her. “By the way, did you finish
practicing your Spanish?” she teased.

“Yeah, we did. In fact, the four of us
just spent the last half hour without saying one word in English . . . and
that’s not easy.”

“Not one word . . . ever?” Egg was
confused.

“Nope. Anyway, I’ll go boil the water.
Food should be ready in about five minutes.” Ashley left, closing the door
behind her.

Egg just stood. ‘How could that be?’
she thought. ‘I heard them speak English . . . well silly English.’ There was
no reason for her sister to lie to her. Ashley would never do that.

Then an amazing thought came to her.
She opened her bedroom door and yelled down to her sister “Ash . . . I gotta
call Grammy. Don’t put my hotdog on for about five minutes.” She didn’t wait
for a reply.

Running back to her room, she locked
the door behind her. She went to the closet, took down the chest and put on her
flying suit. Then she put on the necklace. Walking over to her desk, she picked
up the phone and called her grandmother.

“Well, hello, Egg. How are you?”

“Grammy, you speak French don’t you?”

“Well, not as well as I did when your
grandfather was still alive. Why?”

“Say something please.”

“Like what?”

“Anything.”

“Okay, ‘Je pense donc je suis.’

“No, in French.”

“I did dear.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“What is it, Egg?”

“You said ‘I think therefore I am.’

There was silence for a few seconds.
Then her grandmother said “Yes, dear. How did you know?”

“Grammy, I know what the necklace
does.”

“You do?”

“Yes, it lets me understand any
language that people speak!”

Chapter 2 – Hey Ham, Move
Over

“Bonjour Oeuf”

“Good morning, Egg.”

“Quelle merveilleuse journee.”

“What a wonderful day.”

“Ma petite-fille est trop
intelligente.”

Egg giggled then said, “My
granddaughter is too smart.”

The elder Eloise laughed delightedly.
“This is so wonderful. I wonder why no one ever figured it out before?”

“Maybe no one ever spoke to them in a
different language.”

“Well, you might just be right about
that. Oh, I’m so excited for you, dear one. It’s really marvelous.” They were
in Egg’s room with the door locked. “Now, you better get out of that suit
before your mom or sister comes looking for us.”

“Grammy, I know just how I’m going to
use this new power . . . I’m going to take a trip to France. I’ve always wanted
to do that.”

“Egg, remember you must be careful.
You’re Flying Girl, not Supergirl.”

“Of course I will Grammy. Remember
“Votre petite-fille est trop intelligente.”

“Oh my word” exclaimed her
grandmother. “Do you realize what you just said?”

“Well, of course silly. I repeated
what you said about me being too smart.”

“No dear, you didn’t. You said ‘your
granddaughter’ not ‘my granddaughter.’

“You mean I can speak French?”

“Apparently the necklace lets you
speak, as well as understand, any language. That is simply too exciting for
words . . . English or French.”

*****

Later that night after her grandmother
had left, Egg was in the living room watching something on Nickelodeon. The
phone rang and Ashley ran to answer it thinking it might be Brad. It wasn’t; it
was Sylvia.

“Egg, it’s for you,” yelled her
sister.

Egg jumped up and walked into the
kitchen. “Who is it?”

“Ham.”

“Ham?”

“Yes, doofus, ham as Hampton — as in
Sylvia Hampton your best friend.”

Egg giggled, “That means we’re Ham and
Egg; that’s just too cool.” She picked up the phone and said to her girlfriend
“Did you hear what Ashley just called you?” Sylvia had heard and she, too, was
giggling.

“What’s going on?” asked Egg when she
and her girlfriend finally got control of themselves. Sylvia told her and Egg’s
response was a very loud “OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH.”

Egg’s mom and sister came running into
the kitchen, very concerned. “What is it dear?” said her mother. “Is everything
alright?”

“She’s moving, Mom, Sylvia’s
moving.”

“Oh, love, I’m so sorry. But you two
can still call each other and maybe visit sometimes.”

“NO, NO, NO” Egg screamed.

“Please, Egg, you need to calm down.
It’ll be fine, I promise.”

“You don’t understand, Sylvia’s moving
to our town. Where’s . . .” but she couldn’t remember the name of the street.
“Syl . . . what street again?” Turning back to her mother, she said, “Strato
Drive?”

“Why that’s only a few blocks away. We
pass it on the way to school.”

“Sylvia, it’s only a few blocks away.
We can bike to each other’s house every day.”
Egg was still screaming with excitement.

Ashley had about enough of this
yelling. Besides, she needed the phone to call her boyfriend. “Egg . . . stop
screaming, hang up and go instant message or email Ham.”

“Syl . . . or should I say Ham . . .
I’ve got to hang up now. Log on to your computer and I’ll ‘I.M.’ you.” Sylvia
agreed and Egg ended the conversation with “Oh, this is just so wonderful. Bye.
I mean see you on the computer in fifteen seconds.”

“Thank you” said her sister. But Egg
didn’t hear her; she was flying up the stairs to her room. When she logged on,
there was already a message from her girlfriend . . .

Egg … check your email. I just sent you a picture of our new house.:-) Ham

So Egg clicked on the
internet and logged into her email account. Sure enough, there was the message
from Sylvia. She opened it and clicked on the attachment. And the picture of
her friend’s new home appeared…

She sent a message that said . .
.

Ham…it’s beautiful. When do you
move in? Do you have your own room? What
color is it?  :-) Egg

Egg… we move in three weeks!!! My room is an ugly blue but Mom
says I can paint it any color I want. What color do I want? :-) Ham

Ham…three weeks is too long. That’s
twenty-one days. I think you should paint your room yellow or pink. Maybe you
could do both colors. That would be really pretty. :-) Egg

Egg…I don’t really like pink but yellow
sounds good. My mom and I are going to visit your school on Wednesday. I hope
they put me in your class. Who’s your teacher? :-) Ham

Ham
…Yellow is good. Just don’t make it like a banana. Maybe more like that blouse
you wore at camp. My teacher is Mrs. Sparks. She’s very interesting. Maybe if
you ask, they’ll put you in her class with me. Wouldn’t that be just too cool?
Oh, I just can’t wait until we’re neighbors…and classmates. :-) Egg

Egg…If they put me in your class I just
might faint. I gotta go now. I’ll call you tomorrow. :-) Ham PS – I just love my new
nickname. Thank Ashley for making it up.

*****

On the way to school on Monday
morning, Egg made her mother stop in front of Sylvia’s new house. “Oh, it’s
very nice; don’t you think so, Mom?”

“Yes, dear. It’s very nice.”

“Did I tell you that it has a swimming
pool?”

“Really? Well, that will be fun for
you two this summer.”

“Do you think they’ll put her in my
class?”

“Sweetheart, there are only two third
grade classes . . . so the odds are pretty good.”

“Wouldn’t it be just fabulous? We
could study together and do projects together and . . .”

“Egg, dear, that’s all well and good.
But what about your other friends? Don’t they deserve some of your time?”

“But I want to spend my time with Ham.
She’s my best friend.”

“Will you do me a little favor? When
you get home from school, I want you to call your Grammy and discuss this with
her. Would you do that for me?” Egg’s mom knew how stubborn her daughter could
be. So instead of arguing, she would have her daughter talk to her grandmother.
Egg always listened to her. Sometimes daughters just wouldn’t take advice from
their moms. This was an important subject and she wanted to be sure Egg
understood.

“Okay, if I have too. Sometimes,
Mother, I just don’t understand you. Weren’t you ever nine years old?”

*****

“Hello, Egg.”

“Hi, Grammy.”

“Your mom asked me to talk to you
about Sylvia and your other friends.”

“I know. I just don’t understand why.
Ham is my best friend and I just want to be with her. Why is that wrong?”

“Ham?”

“Isn’t that just a perfect nickname?
Ashley came up with it . . . it’s the first three letters of her last name.”

“Why, that is just perfect. Ham and
Egg . . . almost sounds like a title from a Dr. Seuss story.”

“So you see, we’re just meant to be
best friends.”

“Who was your best friend before Ham?”

“Well, I guess it was Angela. Or maybe
Presley.”

“Have they changed in some way?”

“What do you mean? They’re just the
same.”

“If Sylvia had moved to South Dakota or some other faraway place, would Angela or Presley still be your best
friends?”

“Umm . . . I guess so.”

“Do they consider you as their best
friend?”

“Uh . . . I guess so.”

“Will they be hurt if you stop
spending even a little time with them?”

“Umm . . . I guess so.”

“If Ham decides that by the summer,
she would rather spend all of her time with someone else . . . maybe Angela or
Presley . . . would you feel bad?”

“Uh . . . I guess so.”

“Sweetheart, you have the right to
decide who you want for a best friend. All your mom is asking is that you spend
a little time with your other friends. They were there for you when you needed
them. Be there for them if they still need you. You can have three best friends
or one best friend and two very good friends. But having one best friend and
two ex-friends who think you’re not very nice isn’t good. Do you understand?”

Egg thought about that for a long moment.
“I guess there’s no such thing as too many friends.”

“Oh, my darling, you never fail to
amaze me. Never.”

“Grammy, did you have the same
conversation with my mom?”

“I tried, but she was too stubborn to take advice from her mother.”

*****

After she hung up with her
grandmother, Egg called her girlfriend to find out how her visit went. The
phone rang and rang about a million times before the answering machine picked
up. “Hi, we’re not available at the moment; please leave a message at the beep
and one of us will call you back as soon as possible. Thank you and have a
great day” . . . beeeeep.

“Ham, it’s Egg. Call me when you get
home and tell me everything about your visit. Did you get into Mrs. Sparks
class? Did you like the school? Aren’t the teachers nice? Did you get to see
the . . .” beeeeep. The machine had cut her off.

“Stupid machine; I had a lot more
questions.” Egg stuck out her tongue at the telephone just to show it she
wasn’t at all pleased. When it didn’t apologize, she hung up and started her
homework.

Tonight she had to write a page about
her most exciting adventure. It couldn’t be a made up one; it had to be
something that really happened to her. As she sat there with her pencil in hand
looking at the blank sheet of paper, she let out a loud sigh. She desperately
wanted to write about her flying but of course, she couldn’t. Compared to that,
everything else seemed so . . . so . . . uninteresting.

Little girls didn’t normally get to
have great adventures. Riding bikes, playing sports or going to birthday
parties were about all that ever happened. Sometimes they would go on an
interesting vacation like camp or to the beach. But compared to the thrill of
flying, it all seemed so boring.

“Oh, well” she thought “I better
choose something . . .”

This summer I spent a week at camp. It was very exciting to be on
my own for a whole week. There were a lot of things to do like canoeing, and
archery and . . .

Chapter 3 – Hello, Dolly

Five days till Saturday . . . email
from Egg to Ham: “I simply can’t sleep because
I’m so afraid. I don’t know what I would do if something happened and you
didn’t move.”

Four days till Saturday . . . email
from Ham to Egg: “Now I can’t sleep . . . I’m so
excited about the new house and the new school. I just can’t wait.”

Three days till Saturday . . . email
from Egg to Ham: “It’s just not fair that they
won’t tell you which class you’re in until Monday. Now I’m so nervous that I
can’t eat.”

Two days till Saturday . . . email
from Ham to Egg: “My mom says we can have a sleep
over the very first night if you don’t mind all the moving boxes.”

Friday, one day till Saturday . . .
email from Egg to Ham: “I’m so tired and hungry.
But now that it’s only one more night till you get here, I’m going to have a
big dinner, two desserts and go right to sleep. See you in the morning.”

Before she went to bed,
Egg posted a little sign on her door that read…

And below that was a cardboard clock
with adjustable hands…

. . . then she set her alarm for seven o’clock,
turned off her light and began to dream, but not about flying. It was about a
beautiful young woman . . .

. . . but her mind couldn’t quite
bring the image into focus.

She was dressed in a stunning black
outfit that set off a red body stocking. It was cinched with a belt sporting a
large gold buckle. Engraved on it was a rose crossed with a sword just like the
one on her flying suit. Her hair was long and blond and hung over her
shoulders. You could tell right away that she must be a princess or maybe even
a queen. For a pet, she had a fierce looking dragon. He may have been very mean
to everyone else . . . but not to her. She called him Storm because wherever he
went his wings created a powerful wind that could knock down all of her
enemies. As he settled next to her, she put out a hand to pet him on his head.
Storm just loved that. And then he started to buzzzzzzzz.

Startled, Egg’s eyes flew open and for
a moment, she just laid there trying to remember where she was. The dream began
to fade and Storm smiled at her one last time . . . and disappeared. She tried
to get him and the princess back so they could talk but it was no use. Losing
them made her feel so bad that she thought she might cry.

For some reason the buzzzzzzzz
kept on buzzing even though Storm had gone away . . . and she finally realized
why. “Oh my gosh” she said as she reached over to turn off her alarm clock. It
was time to get up. And just like that, the memory of the dream, as they are
wont to do, was gone and forgotten.

She had told her family that she wanted
to sleep in until 9 o’clock because she wasn’t due at Ham’s until ten. Both her
parents enjoyed their lazy Saturday mornings and had absolutely no objection.
Ashley always slept in on weekends and today would be no exception. But Egg had
told a small white lie. She wanted to go flying and this was the only way she
could think to do it. She was going to fly to Sylvia’s old house and watch as
they finished packing the moving van and drive away . . . to Strato Drive . . .
to Egg’s neighborhood.

She had once asked her grandmother how
she had found the means to sneak away from her parents to go flying. “Well,
sweetheart,” she had answered, “that was a real problem until I convinced my
best friend to cover for me.”

“Didn’t your girlfriend want to know
where you went?”

“Oh, my, yes. I told her I had a job
working in a sewing factory. But even though my parents needed the money, they
didn’t want me to work . . . especially not there. So I had to sneak away.”

“What’s a sewing factory?”

“A place where they made clothes. But
they usually only hired young girls so they could pay them very little.”

As she remembered this conversation,
Egg smiled to herself. Now that Ham was moving practically next door, she would
get her to do the same thing. But she would need a reason and right now, none
came to mind.

Putting that thought aside for now,
Egg got out of bed, washed up and went to the closet. She pulled down the
little chest and took out the flying suit. She slipped it on then turned and
looked back at the three pieces of jewelry. “Hmmm,” she thought, “should I put
them on?” Deciding against it, she closed the box and slipped it under the bed.
Flying Girl was ready.

Walking to her balcony, she did a
quick look around then leapt into the air. And as always, the first thing she
did was to smile. No matter how many times she did this, the thought that
entered her mind was always the same “I can fly.”

As she soared straight up she glanced
down to watch the houses and trees shrink to the size of her thumb. She
continued higher until she eventually flew through a cloud. That was always a
thrill. If they were particularly heavy with moisture, they would envelope her
in a blanket of grey and white that was so thick she couldn’t see her own hand
right in front of her face. It was kind of like becoming invisible. Now that
would be a neat super power.

After enjoying the clouds
for a few minutes, she headed back down so she could get a better look at the
roads and other familiar landmarks. To find her friend’s house would be a
challenge; it was something she had never done. When she had decided to make
this flight, she had gone on the internet and found a map. At first it was
pretty confusing…

But after studying it for about
forever, she realized it might not be so hard. All she had to do was follow the
main highway until it became a “Y.” Then she would go left, and follow the
first exit. From there she would go two blocks, make a right and look for the
third house on the left. Not so bad. Well, not so easy, but not impossible.

So she looked about and there was the
main highway . . . from this height it was easy to see. She headed east . . .
directly towards the rising sun. And in a matter of minutes, she found herself
hovering over a house with a big moving truck in the driveway. She landed
across the street and hid behind a big tree.

After watching for about ten minutes,
Egg got bored. She didn’t see her friend; all she saw were two big men carrying
a table. She really didn’t know what she was expecting; but this certainly
wasn’t it.

So, with a loud, frustrated sigh, she
leaped up and sailed skyward. At least this part was fun. This time she flew
just above treetop level. Maybe she would be able to do a good deed but she had
to be close to where the people were to do that.

But this early in the morning, there
was hardly anyone about. It sure was tough to do good deeds in the winter, she
thought to herself. Below her, she saw only one car and it seemed to be headed
back to the highway she had followed to get here.

Egg trailed the car as it made the
final turn on to the ramp and began to speed up. Then something flew out of the
rear window. Curious, she flew down to road level to see what it was. The
object had come to rest against a curb. To her surprise, it was a rag doll . .
.

What was really strange was that the
doll looked like she was mad. She had an upset look on her face and her arms
were spread wide as if to say “Hey, that wasn’t very nice. I could have hurt
myself.” Well, maybe Egg’s imagination was getting the better of her.

She picked up the doll, brushed off
some dirt then leaped into the air. The car that had dropped it was a bright
red one and should be easy to see - especially with so few on the road. Egg
flew down the highway and finally spotted it. As she flew closer, she saw a
young girl in the backseat who looked very upset . . . probably because of the
doll she had just lost.

Not wanting to scare her dad who was
driving, Egg approached the automobile from above and out of sight of the
driver.  As she got even with the car, she flew just above the roof. Then she
put her head down and peered into the side rear window. The little girl’s eyes
flew wide in wonderment. She was about to say something when Egg put her
fingers to her lips and shook her head NO. Then she held out the rag doll and
the little girl’s face lit up in a great big smile. She let the window down
about half way and Egg handed her the doll.

The girl was about to speak again, but
Egg stopped her once more. Then she blew her a kiss and flew straight up and
out of sight. She looked down at the car and could just see the little girl’s
face in the rear window. But she couldn’t hear her father ask her “What are you
looking at, Angie?”

The little girl turned to her dad and
said “Nothing much . . . just a girl flying.” Her father glanced in the rear
view mirror and just smiled. His daughter was happily hugging her dolly. “Well,
next time you see a flying girl, ask her if she’ll go up on our roof and get
your brother’s model airplane down.”

*****

Egg was so happy to have helped that
little girl that she did a series of loop de-loops. After the last loop she
said, “I just love it when I can help people” to a passing bird. The bird
looked at her for a long ten seconds . . . then it screeched and flew away.
“Well, I do” Egg yelled at the bird.

She got home, changed out of her suit
and into some jeans. Looking at the clock she was disappointed it was only five
minutes after eight . . . two more hours before she could go to Ham’s. Still
feeling happy about her good deed, she decided to go downstairs and cook
breakfast for her family. She thought about what she could make and then
laughed. Ham and Eggs – of course.

*****

When they arrived at ten minutes past
ten the blue moving van was parked in the driveway. And the same two big men
that Egg had seen three hours earlier were taking the very same table back into
the house. For some reason, that made her giggle.

Then she saw Sylvia and the giggle
turned into a squeal. It is one of the great mysteries of life why every young
girl reacts in this fashion. But it must be a good thing because it makes their
parents smile.

So Egg jumped out of the car and ran
to Ham who was running to her and they collided and fell in a big heap in the
snow. They hugged each other, and threw snow up in the air and tried to catch
it in their mouth. Then they hugged each other again.

Egg’s parents walked to the house and
greeted the Hampton’s who were waiting at the door. Egg’s mom had brought a
basket of cookies and bread that she had baked for the new neighbors. Then all
four grown-ups did a quick tour of the house while the two girls went straight
to Sylvia’s bedroom.

“See how awful the color is?”

“Yikes. I once saw this shade of blue
on an Easter egg. It didn’t look good either” and they both laughed.

*****

Later that night, the girls were lying
in Sylvia’s bed. They were exhausted from all the unpacking they had to do.
But, even with all that work, they couldn’t have been happier.

“It’s like a dream come true, isn’t
it?”

“Oh, Ham, it would all be perfect if
you get into my class.”

They talked about this and that for
another twenty minutes. But soon they were so tired that they had to go to
sleep. Ham turned off the light and they said their goodnights. But just before
she closed her eyes, Egg asked, “Ham, would you like to fly to France with me someday?” But Ham was already asleep.

Chapter 4 – Egg on Their Face

“Can I please? Please, please, pretty
please.”

Sylvia’s dad looked at his daughter
and pretended to think about her request. In truth, there was almost nothing in
this world he wouldn’t give his little girl to make her happy. But it always
seemed to surprise her and she was always genuinely appreciative.  “Well,
okay.”

And, as you can probably guess, she
and Egg began to squeal in delight. “Thank you, thank you, thank you” and gave
her father a big hug and a kiss. “Can we start fixing it up right now?”

“Sure. There are a few things already
up there. Just move them to one side and I’ll find another home for them.”

What they were talking about was the
attic. When the girls got up Sunday morning, they had gone up there to explore.
And it was love at first sight. In their very active imaginations, they saw it
as just the coolest place for the new club they were going to start.

“What should we call it?” Egg asked
her friend.

“I’m not sure, but it has to be
something really clever.”

“I don’t want to call it a club; that
sounds boring. So let’s call it a . . . um . . . sisterhood.”

“Great idea. How about The Ham and Egg
Sisterhood” and both girls laughed.

“Sounds more like a breakfast club.”

“Yeah. Let me think,” which was
something Sylvia was very good at. After a moment, her face lit up . . .

. . .  “How about the Hameggattic
Sisterhood?”  It has everything . . .  your name, my name and this attic
where it all begins.”

“Hameg-gattic,
Hameg-gattic” Egg repeated as if she was tasting the word on her lips. “It’s
brilliant. I love it.”

So, they climbed back up after they
had received permission, stood under the single light bulb, held each other’s
hand and made a vow – “We are the Sisters of
Mystery and will protect each other from danger and keep each other’s secrets
for as long as the sun shines and the stars twinkle.” Then they
locked pinkies and shook their hands up and down three times.

And in so doing, the Hameggattic
Sisterhood was officially born.

*****

On Monday morning, Egg was sitting at
her desk in Mrs. Sparks’ class anxiously looking at the door. If Sylvia had
been assigned to her class, she should be coming in any minute. Her teacher was
asking everyone about their weekend, but Egg wasn’t paying attention. She had
more important things to think about.

“I said Eloise, how was your weekend?”

Egg looked up when she heard her name,
and to her embarrassment, everyone was staring at her. She turned a lovely
shade of pink. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Sparks, what did you say?”

But before she could
answer, the classroom door opened up and in walked Sylvia and the Principal,
Miss Grumple. “Excuse me, Mrs. Sparks, but I have the new student we talked about.
Everyone, this is Sylvia Hampton.”

Mrs. Sparks said “Well, good morning,
Sylvia and welcome to our third grade class. Let me introduce everyone” and she
went around the room naming all the kids. When she got to Egg, the girl stood
up and said, “Actually, Mrs. Sparks, Ham and I are best friends.”

“Ham?” All the kids giggled.

“It’s my nickname . . . as in the
first three letters of my last name. And, since Egg is my best friend, it kind
of fits.”

“Oh, I see. Hmm . . . Ham and Egg.
That’s very clever. But would you mind if I called you Sylvia?”

“Oh, that’s okay. My mom and dad call
me that.”

“Well, then, if you would take a seat
over there, we can get started with today’s lesson.”

*****

At noon, Egg and Sylvia took their lunch boxes and found a table in the corner of the cafeteria. Both girls felt
like they were in a dream . . . life couldn’t have been any more perfect. And
no one tried to sit with them . . . not even Angela and Presley.

For the next twenty minutes, the two
friends had a wonderful girl-to-girl conversation . . .

“So, what do you think of Mrs.
Sparks?”

“I like her. She seems very nice and
she’s definitely a good teacher.”

“How about Miss Grumple?” asked Egg,
trying very hard not to giggle.

Sylvia looked around to make sure no
one could hear her “Isn’t she too weird?” And they both laughed until milk came
out of Sylvia’s nose, then they laughed even harder.

“So what’s your favorite subject?”

“Oh, I like most everything. But if I
had to choose one, I’d say it was math.”

“Ugg. I hate math.”

“You do? Why?”

“There’s just too many numbers.”

“That’s true. What about English?”

“Too many words.”

“Then what do you like?”

Egg pondered that for a few seconds.
For a very intelligent young lady, hardly any subject really sparked her
interest. “Well, if I had to choose, I would say history. I like to read about
other countries.”

“Have you ever been?”

“Been? You mean have I ever visited
another country?”

“Yes.”

“Well, my parents once took me to Canada.”

“How about other states? I’ve never
left this one.”

“What about Washington, D.C.?” Egg asked before she realized her mistake. She had flown her friend there as Flying
Girl. But, of course, Ham didn’t remember it.

“Why did you ask me that?”

“Umm, I don’t know. I just thought you
said you’ve been there.”

“I have.”

“You have?” asked a shocked Egg.

“Kind of. I had this dream that I flew
there. It was at night and everything was all lit up. It was beautiful.”

“But it was just a dream?”

“Yes, but it was so real.”

“Do you ever want to go to France? I’m just dying to fly there.”

“Well, of course you have to fly to
get there, silly.”

Egg turned a light shade of pink over
yet another slip of the tongue. If she kept this up, sooner or later she was
going to get Flying Girl in trouble. “You know what I mean. Anyway, if I ever
get the chance to go, would you like to go with me?”

“No. Not really. There’s so much of America that I would like to see first.”

“Oh” said a very disappointed Egg.

“Wouldn’t you like to see Mount Rushmore?”

“Why?”

“Well . . . to see four gigantic faces
carved into a mountain. I think that would be so interesting.”

Before Egg could respond, she was
saved by the bell. Lunch was over.

“Let’s go,” she said to her friend.
“We have to get to the MPR for P.E.”

“What do you think we’ll be doing
today?”

“I would have to say . . . dodge
ball.”

“How do you know?”

“Because everything else today has
been perfect . . . and I love dodge ball.”

*****

“. . . and this variation is called
butt-in-the-way. So you have three ways to stay alive and in the game. You can
catch the ball, you can dodge out of the way or you can block it with your
butt. To make it more fun I’m going to give each side five balls. Last person
standing wins the game for his or her team. Any questions?”

Mr. Doohickey, the P.E. teacher, was
very tall and skinny. Somebody said he used to play professional basketball
until he hurt his leg. The kids all loved him because he was always changing
the rules of the games to make them more fun . . . or at least funny. Today,
like every Monday and Thursday, Mrs. Sparks’ third graders were battling Miss
Peakabu’s class. And there was no love lost between the two groups . . . when
it came to P.E. competitions.

“See, I told you.” Sylvia stuck her
tongue out at her friend, and then smiled.

“Okay, here are the balls . . . but
don’t start throwing until you hear my whistle.” He tossed five balls to each
side. Egg caught one of them. Then the whistle blew and the balls went flying
in every direction.

Within two minutes, half of each class
had been eliminated including Angela and Presley. Though there were two teams,
there was no teamwork. Everyone played for themselves except Ham and Egg. They
stood shoulder to shoulder, protecting one another from balls thrown from the
sides.

“Ham . . . lookout” and Egg caught a
ball that almost took her friends head off. She threw it back then stumbled and
fell down. Someone from the other team . . . a big kid name Nasty Nick . . .
fired one right at Egg. Ham saw it coming and stepped in front of her friend,
turned around, and the ball bounced off her butt.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t tell that big dufus, but that
hurt my butt.”

“Hameggattic Sisters are sworn to
secrecy.”

After another two minutes, only Nasty
Nick remained alive for the other team. Ham and Egg were the last two for their
team. The girls each had a ball in their hands but were using it for
protection. Nick had the other eight and was throwing them one right after the
other as hard as he could.

When he ran out, Egg turned to Ham and
they smiled at one another. Without saying a word, they each walked to opposite
ends of the room. Ham looked at her friend and said, “alley-oop.”

Egg yelled back “alley-oop” and threw
her ball at Nick in a big lazy arc. Nick laughed and reached up to grab it at
the same moment that Sylvia threw her ball at his big belly. Nick caught the
first ball and turned towards Ham just as the ball she threw reached him. It
hit his stomach with a loud thwack. Nasty was so surprised that he fell
backward and landed on his butt and yelped.

“Now we’re even,” yelled Sylvia. And
all her new classmates came running over to congratulate her.

Ham was embarrassed by all the
attention. Besides, Egg deserved the praise as much as she did. She looked
around for her friend and saw her standing a little ways off. When they made
eye contact, Sylvia waved for her friend to come over and join the celebration.

Egg shook her head no. She pointed at
her friend, smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. Seeing her friend happy was reward
enough.

*****

They rode home together with Mrs.
Hampton. Apparently the mothers had decided that Egg’s mom would drive the kids
in the morning and Sylvia’s would pick them up after school.

The rest of Sylvia’s first week went
flying by. Having each other in the same class, and practically as next-door
neighbors, was everything they both had hoped it would be. And to top it off,
they were going to have another sleep over, but this time it would be at Egg’s
house.

And Egg decided that the perfect way
to end a perfect week was to fly her friend somewhere they had never been. This
time it wouldn’t be France, but someday it would.

*****

It was five o’clock and the girls were in Egg’s bedroom. Egg’s mom had to go to the grocery store and had left Ashley
in charge till she got back in about an hour. As usual, big sister was downstairs
with her boyfriend and the girls were on their own.

Egg locked her bedroom door. Then she
turned to her girlfriend “I’m going to change. Stay here at I’ll be right
back.” She went into the bathroom and came out as Flying Girl.

“Wow, what is that?”

“It’s a flying suit. Let me tell you a
fantastically unbelievable story . . .” and Egg repeated a conversation that
she had with her girlfriend the first time she took her flying to Washington D.C. Of course, Sylvia didn’t remember any of it. Everyone forgot Flying Girl
after one hour . . . it was part of the suit’s magic.

When she was finished, and Sylvia was
pretty convinced, she asked “but where do you want to go?”

“How about Mount Rushmore?”

“Oh, Egg, that would be fantastic.”

So they walked to the balcony, held
hands and leapt skyward. Sylvia was as excited this time as she was the last
time. And in just a few minutes, they were over South Dakota. The sun had set
and a bright moon was shining.

“EGG…THERE IT IS,”
screamed her friend. And sure enough, down below were four gigantic faces
carved right into the mountain.

They flew down and Egg landed them on
the nose of George Washington.

“Oh, Egg, this is so incredible.”

It wasn’t France, but Sylvia was right
. . . it was pretty awesome. “It is amazing. But poor President Washington . .
.” she didn’t finish.

“What do you mean?” asked her friend.

“Now he has egg on his face” and they
both giggled.

Chapter 5 - Ski – Daddle

It was a week later and, since it was
Saturday, Egg was sleeping in. When the radio had come on, she reached over to
turn it off but accidentally changed the station instead. The music turned to
news.

She was half listening to what the
announcer was saying . . . most of her brain was still asleep. Then with a
start she sat up and said “Oh, my gosh.”  Something inside her head was
screaming “Flying Girl . . . save those people.”

Jumping out of bed, she made a mad
dash for the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth. When she finished she
turned to go to her closet to get her flying suit then stopped. She turned back
to the mirror and was horrified at how bad her hair looked. So, reluctantly she
spent about fifteen seconds to brush it into some sense of order. Partially
satisfied, she ran to the closet and pulled down the little chest.

She hurriedly slipped into the suit
then started to hide the chest under her bed. “Oops,” she said to herself and
re-opened it and pulled out the necklace. If the skiers were Italian, they
might not speak English . . . and Egg certainly didn’t speak their language.

Just as she opened the doors to her
balcony, her mom yelled, “Wake up sleepy head. Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Oh no.” She completely forgot that
she had asked her mom to have breakfast waiting for her when she got up. She
and Sylvia were going to get together early and start to fix up their little
attic room. Well, there was nothing she could do at this point, so she went and
pulled on a pair of loose fitting jeans and a sweater to cover the flying suit.

“Morning Mom.”

“Morning, sweetheart. I made you some
French toast and bacon. And here’s a cup of hot chocolate.”

“Mmmm . . . scrumptious. As soon as I
finish, can you please drive me to Sylvia’s?”

“It’s pretty early. Are you sure her
parents are up?”

“Yes. Ham says they always get up
early . . . even on weekends. Pretty weird, huh?”

*****

Twenty minutes later, Ham and Egg were
up in the attic headquarters of the Hameggattic Sisterhood.

“Syl . . . I have something to show
you, and a favor to ask.”

“Of course, that’s what Sisters do.”

So, Egg pulled off her sweater,
slipped out of her jeans, and stood there in her flying suit.

“Wow, what is that?”

“It’s a flying suit. Let me tell you a
fantastically unbelievable story . . .” and Egg repeated the same conversation
as before. “So, I need to go find those two skiers. Will you cover for me?”

“Oh, Egg, you’re so wonderful . . .
risking your life to save two perfect strangers. I wish I could go with you.”

“Not this time. But someday I’ll fly
you to where ever you want to go . . . even Mount Rushmore.”

“You know what’s so strange . . . I
had a dream that I flew there at night.”

“Syl . . . I really have to go. Those
skiers are in big trouble.”

“Go . . . hurry. And, Flying Girl . .
. good luck.”

*****

She didn’t know exactly
where to look, so she just headed to the nearest mountain. And within minutes,
she saw what she was looking for…

“Wow” she thought, “that is really
pretty.” As she flew closer, she looked around for the most likely place a
cross-country skier might be. Obviously, they would have to be on flat ground .
. . like in a meadow or valley.

After crisscrossing back and forth,
she finally spotted someone. As she flew lower, the someone turned out to be a
bunch of people on snowmobiles. It was probably the rescue party. At least she
was in the right area.

She continued in the general direction
that the search party was headed. But flying above the treetops gave her a big
advantage. She could see for miles in every direction. But she couldn’t see the
two skiers.

Then off in a clearing she
thought she saw something out of place. Swooping down to get a better look, she
realized it was a water bottle. Picking it up, she found a name printed on the
side in black ink…

. . . it read “Giovanni
Sacco”. Well, that certainly sounded Italian. Looking around, she spotted what
looked like tracks made from skis. Maybe it was theirs.

She leapt up and followed the tracks, and in just a few
minutes, she spotted the two skiers on a small path in the middle of a bunch of
trees.

She landed in front of them and they
let out a loud yell and almost fell down. “Sorry, about that. But everyone’s
been looking for you two. Are you okay?”

“Madre Maria, che sèi tu?  Un
angelo.”  (Mother Mary, who are you? An
Angel?)

Egg laughed. “No, I’m not an angel. My
name is Flying Girl. Are you okay?”

“Non troppo male. Ci sono assetati,
col e affamati. Ma siamo in buone.” (Not
too bad. We’re thirsty, cold and hungry. But we are in good spirits.)

“Well, see that big tree over there. I
want you to go and sit by it and I’ll bring the rescue party. Okay?”

“Si. Ma, per favore, che cosa è una
ragazza volante?” (Yes. But
please, what is a Flying Girl?”)

“That would take too long
to explain. I’ll be back in a few minutes with some food and water.” And she
leapt skyward and the two skiers fell to their knees at the sight of such a
miracle.

Egg flew to back the way she came and
found the rescue party. She landed in front of them and the snowmobiles came to
screeching halt. “I found your lost skiers. See that tall tree over there, I
asked them to sit under it until you got there. They said they weren’t injured,
but they’re thirsty, hungry and cold. Could you give me some water and candy
bars to take to them?”

The four men stared at her in total
disbelief. After about twenty seconds, the silence was getting embarrassing.
“Come on, you guys. Stop staring at me like I was from Mars. I’m just your
ordinary Flying Girl doing a good deed.”

“Hey, lady, how did you do that . . .
you know fly?”

“It’s the suit. I would love to stay
and chat, but my mom told me never to talk to strangers. So, if you would give
me some water and food, I’ll take it to them.”

“If you really found them, what are
their names?”

“Uh . . . one was Giovanni something.
I didn’t get the other person’s name. Sorry.”

“Mike, give her the rations.”  So, one
of the men took two water bottles and a handful of chocolate bars from his
backpack and gave it to Egg.

“Thank you. Now just go to that big
tree.” And she flew away.

“What the heck did we just see?”

“Don’t ask. Just do what she said.”

*****

Egg flew back to the two skiers and
landed. “Here you go guys. The rescuers should be here in a few minutes. I hope
you liked your visit to my country. Maybe someday I’ll visit Italy.”

“Ringrazio, battenti la ragazza. Per
favore, veniteci atrovare in qualsiasi momento desiderate. Sarebbe stat oil
nostro onore. (Thank you,
Flying Girl. You saved our lives. Please, come and visit us anytime you wish.
It would be our honor.)

Egg blew them a kiss, leapt into the
air and flew home.

By the time the two Italians and their
rescuers made it back to safety, they had completely forgotten about Flying
Girl.

*****

Egg flew back to the attic and to the
waiting Sylvia.

“Well . . . did you save them?”

“I did. Syl, I can’t tell you how
wonderful it is to help people. It makes me feel so good inside.”

“Oh, Egg, I wish you had another
flying suit so I could go with you.”

Egg’s face lit up at that idea. “That
would be absolutely the coolest thing ever. What would we call you?”

So as Egg slipped her jeans and
sweater back over her flying suit, the two girls thought about names. They
tried all the super heroes first . . . Wonder Girl, Super Girl, Bat Girl . . .
but none of them really worked.

“How about Flying Girl and Sister
Syl?”

“Not bad . . . but I think we can come
up with something better.” And for the next hour, they tried about a million
names. Then Sylvia excused herself and went to the bathroom. When she returned
she had completely forgotten about Flying Girl . . . again.

*****

Later that day, Egg was back at her
house with her Grammy. Her mom and dad were out for the night and so was her
sister. So Grammy and she were going to have dinner together.

Egg spent the whole meal
reading from her diary about her good deeds and about she and Sylvia and the
Hameggattic Sisterhood. She mentioned the idea about a second flying suit but
her grandmother said she didn’t think it was possible. But, you never know.

After dinner, Egg went to her room to
put her diary, suit and necklace away. Smiling from ear to ear because she couldn’t have been any happier, she said to herself,
“I’m sure lucky to be me”. Life couldn’t get much better than it was and she
was mature enough to appreciate all that she had.

*****

Egg pulled out her little
step stool and climbed to the top. She took down the small chest and laid it on
the floor. Using her key, she unlocked it and placed the flying suit and
necklace inside. After locking it, she climbed back up the step stool and with
her arms outstretched, she returned the chest to its secret hiding place. Almost
. . .

As she climbed down, the
chest, which hadn’t been pushed all the way back on the shelf, slowly tilted
forward . . . then fell. It hit Egg squarely on the head and she blacked out.

When she finally opened
her eyes there was a nice lady bent over her. “Oh, Egg, are you all right?”
asked the lady.

The girl put her hand to
her head and gingerly touched a large bump. “My head hurts a little, but I
think I’m okay.”

“You had me so worried.”

“Thank you for caring . .
. but, I’m sorry, who are you?”

Her Grammy smiled – if Egg
was able to joke, then she certainly was alright. “That’s really funny, Egg.”

“Why do you keep calling
me egg?” The young girl was very serious.

“Sweetheart, please don’t
tease me.”

“I’m not teasing anyone.
Tell me who you are.” She sounded annoyed and perhaps a little frightened.

“Child, do you know your
name?”

“Well of course I do. It’s
. . . umm . . .” but she didn’t finish. She scrunched her face as she tried her
hardest to answer the simple question but to no avail. “Isn’t that so weird, I
can’t remember.”

Apparently the box had
scrambled her brain. Egg had lost her memory.

Book 3

Scrambled Egg

Book 3 of

Egg
and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016, by
Robert Iannone,

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Humpty-Dumpty

Chapter 2 – Sisters of
the Hood

Chapter 3 – Balloony
Bye-Bye

Chapter 4 – Alice in
Wonderland

Chapter 5 – Shoo Fly

Chapter 1 – Humpty-Dumpty

“ . . . however, the egg only got larger and larger, and more
and more human: when she had come within a few yards of it, she saw that it had
eyes and a nose and mouth; and, when she had come close to it, she saw clearly
that it was HUMPTY DUMPTY himself. `It can't be anybody else!' she said to
herself. `I'm as certain of it, as if his name were written all over his face!'

It might have been written a hundred times, easily, on that
enormous face. Humpty Dumpty was sitting, with his legs crossed like a Turk, on
the top of a high wall — such a narrow one that Alice quite wondered how he
could keep his balance — and, as his eyes were steadily fixed in the opposite
direction, and he didn't take the least notice of her, she thought he must be a
stuffed figure, after all.

`And how exactly like an egg he is!' she said aloud, standing
with her hands ready to catch him, for she was every moment expecting him to
fall.

`It's very provoking,' Humpty Dumpty said after a long silence,
looking away from Alice as he spoke, `to be called an egg — very!'

`I said you looked like an egg, Sir,' Alice gently explained.
`And some eggs are very pretty, you know,' she added, hoping to turn her remark
into a sort of compliment.

`Some people,' said Humpty Dumpty, looking away from her as
usual, `have no more sense than a baby!'

Alice didn't know what to say to this: it wasn't at all like
conversation, she thought, as he never said anything to her; in fact, his last
remark was evidently addressed to a tree -- so she stood and softly repeated to
herself:

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the King's horses and all the King's
men,

Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty
in his place again.”

“. . . and see here is Alice shaking Humpty’s hand.”

Egg leaned closer to take a look. She
smiled politely at the nice lady not really knowing what to say.

“This is from one of your favorite
books. Can you remember its name or who wrote it?”

“Sorry, no.”

“Think about it for a minute. Maybe it
will come to you.”

So the young girl did as she was asked
but she really had no idea. Instead of saying that, Egg thought she might as
well guess. “I think it’s called ‘Alice and her friend Humpty’ and it was
written by Mr. Eggs Benedict.”

Grammy stared at her granddaughter for
a moment to see if she was joking like her old self. Unfortunately, she wasn’t.
“That was a very good guess. It’s entitled Through the Looking Glass and
was written by a man named Lewis Carroll. Does that sound familiar?”

“Sorry, no.”

“That’s okay. Do you like the story?”

“Umm . . . it’s a little silly, isn’t
it?”

“Well, dear, it’s meant to be a little
silly. That’s why you like it so much.”

“Is this why everyone keeps calling me
egg . . . because I look like Humpty-Dumpty?”

They were sitting on the sofa in the
living room . . . grandmother and granddaughter. The older woman was very
worried, while the young girl was very confused. Had this been Alice in
Wonderland, one of the weird and whacky characters, maybe the Mad Hatter or
perhaps the Cheshire Cat, might have asked, “When is an Egg not an Egg?”

The answer of course is if she loses
her memory and doesn’t remember she’s Egg. And, unfortunately, that’s exactly
what happened. Two days ago, when she was putting away the little chest that
held her flying suit and jewelry it fell from the shelf and bonked her on the
head. She passed out and when she woke up, she didn’t know who she was. Just as
bad, she didn’t recognize her parents, her sister Ashley or her Grammy.

They took her to the hospital for
x-rays, but there was nothing wrong . . . except for the egg-sized bump on her
head. The doctor told her parents not to worry; her memory should come back in
about a day. That was yesterday – but she still couldn’t remember who she was.

The doctor then suggested that they
show her familiar things – like friends, school, her toys, or maybe a favorite
book or two. So they asked their daughter’s closest friend, Sylvia, to come
over and talk to her. Hopefully that would help jog her memory.

“Hi, Egg, how are you feeling?”

“Very well, thank you.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Umm . . . the lady downstairs said
you were a ham? Isn’t that some kind of food?”

“It’s my nickname. My real name is
Sylvia.”

“Oh. Hi, Sylvia. How come they call
you a ham?”

“It’s the first three letters of my
last name . . . Hampton. Do you remember that we’re best friends?”

“Really? Well, you seem very nice. Are
we best friends because . . . you know . . . I’m an egg and you’re a ham? It’s
some kind of a meal . . . right?”

“No. That’s not it at all. We’re best
friends because we like each other and want to spend all of our time together.
We even started our own club. It’s called the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”

“What’s a hameggattic?”

“It’s the name we came up with. It’s
Ham – for me, Egg – for you, and attic because that’s where our club house is.”

“Oh.”

“We met at camp last summer.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I just moved here from another town
and we were so excited about that.”

“Really?”

“And, they put me in your class.”

“That’s nice.”

“Oh, Egg. This is just
horrible.” Sylvia looked around the bedroom desperate to find something that
might help jog her friend’s memory. She spotted the camp picture hanging on the
wall above Egg’s desk and took it down.

“Do you remember when we took this at
camp?”

Egg looked at the picture for a long
moment and Sylvia’s hopes began to soar. “Sorry, I don’t. But it’s a very nice
picture.”

Sylvia stared at her friend, then
burst into tears and ran out of the room.

*****

Since that didn’t work, Ashley
volunteered to take her sister to the mall. The girls had spent many a long
hour there shopping and eating sundaes. So, Mrs. Graystone drove her two
daughters to Paradise Plaza. “I’ll pick you guys up at three. Ashley, you have
your cell phone so call if you need me to come sooner. And, remember, don’t
call your boyfriend.”

“Oh, mother, sometimes you treat me
like a nine year old.” Realizing what she had just said, she looked at Egg and
apologized “Sorry, sis, I forgot you were nine.”

“That’s okay. I forgot too.”

So they went inside and
Ashley took her younger sister to all their favorite shops. But the one they
both loved the best was called the Which Hat?. Egg just adored the sign
because it reminded her of the Wizard of Oz.

“Do you remember this place?” asked
Ashley.

“Ummm . . .” Egg knew everyone wanted
her to remember things that never happened so she took her time. “Sorry. But I
like the sign.”

“Do you know why?”

“Why what?”

“Why you like the sign.”

“Hmmm . . .” she studied it for a good
ten seconds “. . . because it doesn’t make any sense so it must be funny.
Right?”

“No, goofy, you like the play on words
and because the hat looks like the one worn by the Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Oh.” Egg was actually getting a
little tired of people always telling her what she liked or didn’t like even if
they meant well.

“Come on, let’s go inside and try on
some hats.”

“Why . . . oh, never mind. It’s
because I love trying on hats. Right?”

“Yup. Come on.”

So in they went and Ashley
tried on a zillion hats. And every one that she tried on, she made her sister
try on. Egg had to admit it was kind of fun. Some of the hats made her look
ever so cute. And one in particular was just awesome on her . . . but it was
even better on Ashley. “You have to admit it’s very me” and she bought it for
herself.

“You can borrow it anytime you want.
Ham’s going to love you in it.”

“Who?”

“Ham . . . Sylvia . . . your best
friend. You know the one that was over this morning.”

“Oh, sure. I remember.”

“You remember,” exclaimed her excited
big sister.

“Well, of course, she was that nice
girl who said we were hamandattic sisters or something like that.”

Ashley wanted to scream.
Instead, that thought gave her a better idea. “Come on, we have just enough
time to get a sundae.” So they scampered over to the I-Scream, a
restaurant with a very weird sign . . .

“What’s your favorite – chocolate or
strawberry?” Ashley knew very well that they both loved the same flavor.

“Ummm . . . I don’t really remember.”

“Well, you have to choose one.”

“What are you having?”

“Chocolate, of course.”

“Then I’ll have strawberry.”

*****

And now Egg was at her Grammy’s house
and they were on the couch reading about Humpty-Dumpty.

“Sweetheart, I think I’ve read enough
from this book, don’t you?”

“It was a very nice story.” Egg knew
that the lady was very disappointed and she wanted to make her feel a little
better.

“Would you mind if I read to you from
one more book.”

“Is it one of my favorites?” She, of
course, had no idea which books were her favorites.

“This is a different type of book.
It’s called a diary. Do you know what that is?”

“Oh, sure. It’s where you write down
things about your life.”

“Do you remember that you have a
dairy?”

Egg gave that some thought. And to her
surprise, and that of her grandmother, she replied “Kind of. I think I remember
something about ummm . . . a sun. Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense.

“It does?”

The older Eloise took out a book and
showed it to her . . .

“Do you remember this?”

“Is that my diary?”

“Yes.”

Egg reached out her hand and her
grandmother gave her the book. She stared at the cover for a long minute as if
she was willing herself to remember. She traced the words with her finger then
she hugged the book to her chest. “Does this tell the story of my life? My
whole life?”

“Not your whole life, love. You
started writing in it about a year and half ago.”

“Diaries are very important, aren’t
they?”

“Oh, very important because . . .” but
her granddaughter interrupted her.

“. . . because someday I can share my
life with my children.” Her Grammy had told her that – almost word for word –
when she had given her the diary.

“Why did you say that, little one?”
She held her breath, hoping for the right answer.

Egg stared at the book, then at her
grandmother. “Somebody once told me that. But, I don’t remember who.”

Not a perfect answer, but not too bad
either. “I did, my precious. I did.”

“Really?” She handed the book back and
asked, “Would you read me some of the pages?”

“Don’t you want to read them
yourself?”

Egg shook her head and said “No. I’m
afraid that it won’t mean anything to me and then I’ll start to cry.”

“Why, dear one?”

“I’m so afraid. I don’t know me, I
don’t know you, and I didn’t know that girl this morning. Or the one that took
me shopping. But everyone knows who I am. Everyone knows what I like and don’t
like. And that doesn’t seem fair; I should know those things. But worst of all,
I don’t have any parents or friends. I’m all alone.” She just couldn’t help
herself and she started to cry.

The older woman scooped up her
granddaughter and held her tightly until she stopped crying. “Oh, my love, you
do have a family that loves you and friends that adore you. And I promise you
that all of your wonderful memories will come back very soon.”

After blowing her nose, Egg took a
deep breath and bravely put on a smile. “Thank you. I’m okay now. Would you
read me some of the diary?”

“Of course I will.” And
she opened the book and started to read . . .

Friday, June 15th: Dear Diary – Today was the last day of
school. I’m so excited. My two best friends, Angela and Presley are coming over
tonight for dinner and a slumber party. We’ll probably stay up all night
talking. Maybe not all night, Angela usually falls asleep pretty early. And she
snores – Yuk.

Thursday, July 5th: Dear Diary – The fireworks show last night
was simply unbelievable. The white, twinkly ones are my favorite. But the ones
that make the big booms, they scare me a little.

Friday, August 24th: Dear Diary – Today was the last day of
camp. And we got to try something brand new . . . But before she could finish, Egg’s
face lit up like a birthday cake with a hundred candles on it.

“. . . archery. We did ARCHERY,” she screamed. “Grammy, we did archery
and Sylvia and I tied. WE TIED. IT was
archery, it was archery.”

“Oh, my lord. Oh, my lord, Oh my lord”
repeated the older Eloise as she held her head in her hands.

“Grammy . . .” But Egg couldn’t
finish. She was so happy . . . she cried again. And her grandmother scooped her
up one more time and they both cried.

After a few minutes, and about
forty-three tissues, Egg said, “Grammy, I love you. Don’t ever leave me again.”

“Oh, my little one, I won’t, I
promise. And Egg . . . it’s so wonderful to have you back.”

Chapter 2 – Sisters of the Hood

Everybody at school knew that she had
lost her mind. She tried to explain that it was only her memory, but the boys
weren’t buying it. At lunchtime, they were calling her Scrambled Eggs. She took
a deep breath and let it out noisily. ‘Boys’ she thought to herself ‘they are
all characters from Wonderland . . . every last one of them. They make
Humpty-Dumpty look smart.’

“Ignore them. They’re just being
mean.” Ham didn’t like it when someone made fun of her friend.

“Oh, don’t worry, I am. For the life
of me I just don’t understand why my sister dates one of these . . .” she made
a disgusted face in the direction of the boys. “There simply isn’t anything
nice about them.”

Ham nodded in absolute agreement. As
they sat there silently glaring at the offensive creatures, a thought came to
Egg. “You know what we should do this weekend?”

“What?”

“Let’s invite some of the girls to
join the Hameggattic Sisterhood. Having only two members is a bit boring . . .
don’t you think so?”

“Hmmm . . . that’s a wonderful idea.
Who do you think we should invite?”

“Well, Angela and Presley were my best
friends before I met you. My Grammy says I should still try to be nice to them.
Would that be okay?”

“Sure. I like them. They’ve been very
nice to me since I moved here.  What about Melody? She seems very sweet.”

“Oh no. Definitely not her.”

“Why?”

“She’s just not our type. Way too
quiet and she hates sports. All she wants to do is study and talk about school
stuff.”

“She really seems like a nice person.
Are you sure?”

“Oh very sure. She reminds me of the
Dormouse in Alice in Wonderland.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“It’s just that no one really likes
her. She’s . . . you know, different.”

“I think you’re different . . . that’s
why I like you so much. Being different is not a bad thing, you know.”

Egg was getting a little impatient
with her friend. “Ham, just trust me.”

“Well, okay for now. But I’m a Sister,
too.”

“I’ll tell you what, let’s start with
the other girls first, then all four of us can vote on Melody. Is that fair?”

“Thank you.”

“Should we invite Angela and Presley
over for a Tea Party? Then if things go great, we can ask them if they want to
join the Sisterhood.”

“Oh, that sounds perfect. Let me ask
my Mom tonight.”

The lunch bell rang, and the girls
started to walk back to class. Along the way, they passed two of the boys, Greg
and Sean. Greg saw them, turned to his friend, and said in a very loud voice “what did they SERVE for lunch, Sean?”
His friend replied just as loudly “it
was Ham and Scrambled Eggs.”  The girls stuck out their tongues.

*****

The next morning the four girls were
standing outside their classroom talking and laughing. Sylvia had just invited
Angela and Presley to her house on Saturday for tea and a surprise. The girls,
of course wanted to know what the surprise was.

“Well, if you must know . . .” she
gave Egg a sly wink “I invited Greg, Sean and Matthew to come over also.” The
expression on the two girls face turned from laughter to shock.

“Boys . . .” Angela could barely say
the word.

“You didn’t?” asked a horrified
Presley.

Egg put her hand over her mouth so she
wouldn’t laugh out loud. Then she said in all seriousness, “That’s why I’m not
going. I told Ham that I absolutely refuse to drink tea with those three
creatures.”

“You’re not going?” Now Angela was
turning white.

“Oh, gosh. I . . . umm . . . I just
remembered, I can’t go either. I promised my mom I would go shopping with her,”
mumbled Presley.

“I guess it will be just you and me,
Angela,” said Sylvia with the sweetest expression.

“Just us . . . and three boys.” Angela
looked like she was about to cry.

Before that could happen, Egg put her
finger to her lip and ‘shshsh’d’. When the girls quieted down, she leaned
forward and the other three moved very close to hear what she had to say. “I
think Ham is teasing you. Isn’t that right, Ham?” whispered Egg.

“Yes,
that’s right.”

For a moment, neither Angela nor
Presley said anything. Then they looked at the other two girls who were
grinning from ear to ear.

“OH YOU TWO” shouted Presley.
“That wasn’t funny.” But she must have been wrong because all four started to
giggle then laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

The four girls turned around and there
was Melody.

“Hi, Melody” said Sylvia. “Egg and I
were just teasing these two.”

Just at that moment Mrs. Sparks said
“May I have your attention, please. Everyone, please quiet down. Thank you.”
She waited a few more seconds then continued, “Everyone knows which group
you’re in . . . so please stay together. When your parent/driver comes to get
you, follow that person to their car. Any questions?”

“I forgot my lunch,” yelled Greg.

“Is that unbelievable?” snickered Egg
to her friends.

“Nothing I can do about that, Greg.
Ask some of your friends to share their food with you. Anyone else?”
Thankfully, there were no other questions. “Okay, here’s Mrs. Graystone. Egg
and her group follow her, please.”

As you might have guessed, they were
going on a field trip. They were headed to the Von Steuben House, which was
built in the 1700’s for a famous German general who came to our country just to
help train our soldiers in the American Revolutionary war. Nowadays, it was a
museum filled with furniture and clothes and paintings from more than two
hundred years ago.

Egg and her four classmates followed
Mrs. Graystone to her minivan and Egg jumped into the very back seat, which was
big enough to hold three kids. The middle seat could only hold two. She had
expected Ham to get in next to her, but her best friend let Angela and Presley
go first. Then she and Melody got into the middle seats.

“Seat belts on” said Mrs. Graystone as
she turned around to make sure everyone had done so. “Okay, ladies, here we go”
and she pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the road.

In the back seat, Egg and her two
friends were whispering and giggling. Sylvia was sure they were talking about
Melody. Afraid that the girl would overhear what they were saying, she started
a conversation “Melody, have you ever been to this museum?”

“No, but my older brother said it’s
pretty interesting. So, what were you teasing the girls about?”

“Oh, I invited them over on Saturday
for a tea party then pretended I invited three boys also. It was very funny . .
. they thought I was serious.”

“Who else is going to your house?”

“Just the four of us.”

“Oh.”

“Where do you live?”

“On Smoke Road, just a few houses down
from Presley.”

“Really . . . she only lives three
blocks from my house. That means all five of us are practically next door
neighbors.”

“Sylvia,” Melody hesitated, looked
over her shoulder to make sure the other girls weren’t listening, and then
asked, “Do you think I could come over, too?”

Sylvia froze. She remembered her
conversation with Egg and she was sure that the other two girls felt the same
way about Melody. On the other hand, she thought that Melody was one of the
sweetest people she ever met.

“What are you two talking about”
interrupted Egg.

“Ummm . . . we were just . . .” Sylvia
wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t want to have Melody’s feelings hurt. But
the girl surprised her.

“I asked Ham if I could come over on
Saturday.” For a sweet girl, she was acting very brave.

Egg didn’t like it. She didn’t like
that Melody had called her best friend Ham – that was a name that only she had
a right to use. And she didn’t like the idea about joining them on Saturday.

“We’re having a very important meeting
on Saturday and I’m very sorry but you are not invited.” She said this in a
very mean way.

“Oh.”

Both Melody and Sylvia were totally embarrassed.
Angela and Presley were giggling. And Egg was looking very superior.

In the rear view mirror, Mrs.
Graystone was watching the whole thing. And she was not happy.

For the rest of the trip, Melody sat
quietly and nothing Sylvia could say would make her talk or even smile. And
every time that Egg and the other two would laugh or giggled, the more
withdrawn Melody became. It was very sad to watch . . . . and it made Sylvia
very mad.

*****

On Friday evening, Egg got a surprise
visit. She was in her bedroom when someone knocked on her door.

“Come in.”

“Hello, my darling, how are you
feeling?”

“Grammy” and she ran over and gave her
a big hug. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

“Well, I just wanted to stop by and
make sure you still knew who I was,” teased the older woman.

Playing along, Egg stepped back and
studied her grandmother “Let me see . . . pretty face, nice hair, no wrinkles,
so you must be very young. Intelligent eyes, so you must be very smart. Hmmm .
. . I think we must be related. You’re my older sister, right?” And they both
laughed.

Turning more serious, her grandmother
said, “Come sit by me on the bed. I want to discuss something with you.”

‘Uh-oh’ thought Egg ‘here comes one of
her lessons. Wonder what I did wrong this time?’

“I heard you went on a field trip this
week. How was it?”

“Very nice. But that’s not what you
wanted to talk about, is it?”

“It isn’t?”

“No, Grammy. You want to talk to me
about Melody . . . right?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because we wouldn’t let her come to
the tea party tomorrow.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“Grammy, we just don’t like her.”

“Who is 'we'?”

“Me, and Angela, and Presley and Ham.”

“It didn’t seem to your mother that
Sylvia felt the same way.”

“Okay, maybe not Ham.”

“Is Melody a terrible person?”

“No, she’s not terrible. She’s just
different from the four of us.”

“How well do you know her? Have you
ever invited her to your house or gone to hers?”

“No.”

“So, you really don’t know what she’s
like. You’re just guessing. Maybe you should give her a fair chance.”

“Oh, Grammy, why? That doesn’t seem
fair to me. Why should I have to give her a chance? If I don’t like somebody .
. . well, then I don’t like them.”

“There is time enough in life for that
kind of thinking. But, my love, at your age you should embrace everyone who
wants to be a friend. There is nothing more important than friends and family.”

“Grammy, I just don’t think I can . .
. at least this time.”

“Sweetheart, this past weekend, when
you lost your memory, how did you feel?”

Egg was momentarily taken back by the
switch in the conversation. She knew her grandmother expected a serious answer,
so she thought about it for a few seconds. “Umm . . . lonely.”

“Why lonely?”

“Because I didn’t know if I had a
family or any friends. It was just me and that was scary.”

“Does Melody have any friends?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Is there any difference between how
she must feel and the way you felt a few days ago?”

That thought felt like another bonk on
the head to Egg. The feeling of having no friends had been terrible. Just the
thought of it made her want to cry. And, in that moment, she knew what she had
to do.

“Thank you Grammy” and she gave her
grandmother another gigantic hug. “I can fix this mistake, now.”

*****

At the tea party the next day, Ham and
Egg told the girls about the Hameggattic Sisterhood and showed them the attic
room where they would meet. Everyone was very excited and they all wanted to
join.

“So, raise your right hand and repeat
after me “We are the Sisters of Mystery and will protect each other from danger
and keep each other’s secrets for as long as the sun shines and the stars
twinkle.”

Then they stood in a circle and locked
pinkies. Egg with Presley. Presley with Angela. Angela with Sylvia. Sylvia with
Melody. Melody with Egg. And the Hameggattic Sisterhood now had five members.

Chapter 3 – Balloony Bye-Bye

The moon was like a giant birthday
balloon except it wasn’t a happy color; it was an angry orange. As creepy as
that was, what was truly frightening was the shape that passed in front of it.

There was no mistaking the hideous
face of K’aos and the zombie dragon that he rode upon. All that saw them felt a
wave of cold terror course through their heart. If evil had a shape . . . this
was it. No man, woman or child was safe . . . there was no place to run, no
place to hide.

In all the land, no one had ever stood
up to man and his mostly-dead beast and lived. No one . . . except Dazzle and
her faithful dragon Storm. So the people called for their champion and the word
went out. And before long, in the sky above the town there appeared the young woman and
her companion.

They landed on a nearby
hill and Dazzle drew her crystal sword . . .

. . . and held it high so the
moonbeams could shimmer and dance off its faceted surface.

But before she could issue a
challenge, Storm said “Dazzle, put the sword away. You know you can’t fight
him.”

Dazzle turned to look
at her friend. “I know. I can’t do combat with the man that I love” and with a
profoundly sad expression on her lovely face she put the sword back in its
scabbard.

Storm put one of his great wings
around the girl and began to buzzzzzzzzzz.

‘I wonder why he keeps making that
strange sound’ thought Egg. ‘It’s very un-dragon like. Maybe he has a stomach
ache.’

But the buzzzzzzzzzz wouldn’t
stop and finally Egg opened her eyes. “Rats” she said as she reached out to
turn off the stupid alarm clock. “I just hate that sound,” complaining to no
one in particular.

She wanted to go back to sleep to see
what Dazzle and Storm would do but it was no use. So she sat up in bed, hugged
her knees to her chest and tried to remember all the details of the dream.
‘Hmmm . . . there was a funny colored moon, a dragon that didn’t know that he
was dead, a bad guy with an very ugly face . . .’ but the rest of it was
beginning to fade away like so much smoke from a chimney. No matter how hard
she concentrated, it was no use. However, in the moment before it was all gone
she remembered one more detail. “Oh wait. Storm called her Dazzle.” In the last
dream, she didn’t have a name; she was just a warrior princess. “I like the
name Dazzle” again talking to no one in particular. “It certainly sounds a lot
more interesting than Egg.”

She forced herself to get
out of bed. After washing up, she put on her jeans and a sweatshirt that Brad
had given her. On the front was emblazoned a cat in a hat eerily like the one
she had saved months before.  Since that was the first good deed that Flying
Girl ever did, she felt compelled to wear it.

She knew why her sister’s boyfriend gave
it to her. It was Egg’s reward for not snitching to her mother that Ashley and
he were always kissing. ‘Yuk’ she thought. ‘Make that double Yuk’. Oh well, all
she could do was hope that her sister would outgrow this childish behavior.

It was only eight o’clock and since it was Sunday, the rest of the family was probably still sleeping.
She would have to fend for herself for breakfast. When she got to the kitchen,
however, she saw one of the yellow sticky notes attached to the refrigerator.
It seem like she was always seeing yellow sticky notes on the refrigerator. She
pulled it down and read it . . .

Now that she read the note, she
remembered her mom had told her about this last night. But she didn’t know that
Ashley was feeling bad. Maybe she should go to her room and see if she needed
anything.

She grabbed a bagel and went
back upstairs. As she stood in front of her sister’s door, she hesitated. It
didn’t make much sense to wake her up to see if she needed anything. If she did
need something, she wouldn’t have been asleep. So she backed away very quietly
and went back to her room.

Closing the door behind her, she
quickly finished the bagel then made a mad dash to her closet. She had two
hours all to herself. Two whole hours to go flying.

She took down the
little chest and pulled out the flying suit. Off went the cat and the pants and
on went the magical outfit. She was about to close the chest when the jewelry
caught her eye. ‘Hmmm’ she thought ‘why don’t we try on the . . .’ she looked
at each in turn, trying to decide. First the necklace . . .

then the bracelet . . .

. . . and finally the ring.

She now knew that the necklace gave
her the ability to understand or speak any language. It already came in very
handy when she rescued those two Italian skiers.

The bracelet was in the shape of a
two-headed snake or sea serpent . . . and it kind of scared her. But the ring
was beautiful. She picked it up, admired it for a few seconds, and then slipped
it on her left hand. It was too big, of course, but she knew it would magically
adjust to fit her. And sure enough, it began to shrink.

She put the chest under her bed then
walked to the balcony. But before she opened the doors, she stopped. Ashley was
sick and she felt bad that she hadn’t at least checked to see if she was
alright.

So she went back out her door, down
the hall and stood in front of her sister’s bedroom once again. She put her
hand on the knob and turned it slowly. But it was locked. “Drat” she said
softly.

She just couldn’t leave without
checking, but with the door locked what could she do? ‘Too bad I wasn’t the
size of a little spider and could crawl under the door.”

Then the strangest thing happened . .
. the door started to get bigger, and bigger and bigger. It was so big she
couldn’t reach the doorknob anymore. And it still kept getting bigger, and
bigger and bigger.

She should have been
terrified or at the very least, a little frightened . . . but she wasn’t. Ever
since she got the flying suit, it seemed like something strange was always
happening. So, she calmly looked around to see if anything else was getting
bigger. And, sure enough, everything was. In fact, the hallway now looked like
it went on and on forever.

'Curiouser and curiouser! This is what
Alice must have felt like.’ Thinking about the potion that made her favorite
storybook character grow smaller and smaller made her realize it was she who
was shrinking and not the world getting bigger. And it was no surprise at all
that she was now the size of a spider and could indeed walk under the door. On
the other side, everything was so large that she couldn’t even see the top of
her sister’s bed, let alone her sister.

Assuming . . . or at least hoping . .
. that the ring had a reverse, she whispered ‘I wish I was back to my normal
size’. To her relief, but not surprise, the world began to shrink. Seconds
later, she was back to normal and so was everything else.

‘Well, that certainly was pretty
amazing’ she thought. ‘I can’t imagine why anyone would need that kind of magic
when you can fly.’ But since it had just come in handy, she was grateful.

She quickly checked on her sister who
was sleeping peacefully. There had been no need to worry, but still she felt
better for having been concerned. Ashley would have done the same for her . . .
except for the shrinking thing.

So she made herself small, crawled out
and returned to normal size. Walking as fast as she could without making noise,
she hurried to her room and out the balcony door and up into the sky.

She had no place in particular to go,
but flying was flying and it was as wonderful as always. As she flew, she began
to think about what had just happened. And she realized that if the jewelry
could shrink to fit her, then why couldn’t it make people shrink too? It kind
of made sense. But, she didn’t know why anyone would want to change size. Wait
till she told Grammy.

She put away the thought and began to
enjoy the sights. As she flew low over the town, she kept an eye out for
someone in need of help. After all, doing good deeds was what Flying Girl was
all about.

It was another pretty quiet morning –
hardly any cars on the street and nobody walking. ‘Oh, that’s not true’ she
said to herself. She spotted a small boy walking with his mother. The boy was
holding a helium balloon and he and his mom were pointing at it and laughing.
Egg flew lower and hovered just above some trees to get a better look.

As she watched, she smiled
at the little boy’s laughter. The balloon had writing on it and she was able to
make it out . . .

How sweet, she thought. It was his
birthday. Then the boy cried out . . . a gust of wind had blown the balloon out
of his hand. As it rose skyward, the boy yelled “Balloony . . . balloony . . .
balloony. Mommy, balloony bye-bye.”

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay, we’ll get
another one. Alright?”

The boy didn’t seem to understand. He
just repeated “Balloony bye-bye.”

Egg smiled . . . not at the lost
balloon . . . but at the fact that another good deed was about to bring a smile
to a little boy’s face. She zipped after the balloon and caught it in a flash.

On the street, the little boy started
to giggle while his mom stared in disbelief. “Mommy, balloony . . . balloony.”
And he reached his little hand out.

Egg landed very softly in front of the
boy and handed him back his precious balloon. “Here you go. And have a very
happy birthday.” She blew him a kiss and started to fly away.

“But . . . who are you?” yelled the
boy’s mother.

“Call me Flying Girl.”

The young mom shook her head still not
believing what she was seeing. Nonetheless, she said to her son, “Say thank you
to Flying Girl.”

The little boy looked up and giggled
“Balloony, balloony.”

That was thanks enough.

Chapter
4 – Alice in Wonderland

Sunday,
March 22: Dear Diary – Today I rescued a balloon. It wasn’t just any old
balloon, but a Happy Birthday Balloony. A little boy lost it and started to
cry. Luckily, I was close by and was able to grab it before it flew too far
away. When I gave it back to him, he smiled and giggled. I know
I say this every time – but I just love being Flying Girl. I can’t imagine what
I will do when this all comes to an end in six years and five months.

She reread her entry and smiled at the
memory then frowned at the last sentence. Only . . . ummm, she had better use a
calculator . . . 12 months times 6 years plus 5 months equals…77. That didn’t
seem so bad; seventy-seven months actually sounded like a long time. She felt a
little better.

Then she closed her diary and put it
back in her desk. Next to her flying suit and magical jewelry, her diary was
her most important possession. If she didn’t think so before, she certainly did
now. Without it, she might never have found her lost mind. Hmmm . . . maybe the
boys were right, and that thought made her giggle.

It was getting late and of course, she
had school tomorrow. She went downstairs and kissed her mom and dad goodnight.
Ashley was on the phone as usual and deep in conversation with “you know who.”
So she snuck up on her sister, whacked her on the butt and ran away before
Ashley could do the same to her. It was kind of a tradition between them.
“Night, sis. I owe you one.”

“Ha, you owe me a billion . . . and I
don’t mean whacks.” Egg, of course, was referring to the kissing secret. She
ran upstairs, jumped into bed and turned off the light.

As she snuggled into the soft
comforter and big fluffy pillows, she remembered the dream she had last night.
Maybe if she thought real hard, she could make Dazzle and Storm finish their
story. She was sure they were about to defeat some really evil man. But she
just couldn’t recall all the details.

Sleep came to her very
quickly as it normally did. And just as she hoped, her dream came back . . .

. . . but it was very hard to make
out. Her mind tried to bring the image into focus but it was no use. Slowly,
very slowly it began to fade away . . .

. . . and then it was gone. And even
though she was asleep, she scrunched up her face into a big pout.

But before long, she began
to dream about something else, something just as satisfying. She dreamt about
the flying suit and the magical jewelry.

She wondered who had created
such wonderful things. But more importantly, she wondered why they were
created. The suit allowed her to fly, the necklace let her speak and understand
any language, and the ring let her change size. She didn’t know what the
two-headed snake bracelet did, but she was sure it would be something equally
as fantastic.

And why did the magical jewelry only
work for her and not her Grammy or any other person? And how did her family get
the suit in the first place? And once she learned all the magic, what was she
really supposed to do with it? Saving a Birthday Balloony was nice, but there
must be some bigger reason for all of this.

For a nine-year-old girl, she was
asking herself some very grown-up questions. But, unfortunately, there was no
one in her dreams to answer them. At least . . . not yet. Not for a while.

*****

At lunch the next day, the five
Hameggattic Sisters were sitting in the cafeteria eating their lunches and
talking. In fact, all five were talking at the same time, which was what they
usually did. Apparently, they had a lot to say and no time to listen. And girls
thought boys were goofy!

The conversation . . . I mean
conversations . . . were about all sorts of terribly interesting things. They
had to discuss two television shows, a movie, Melody’s new dress, and the
latest song by the best band in the whole universe -Fandango Sally. The band
had five teen girl members and the best sound anywhere. The Sisterhood was
breathless in anticipation of the band’s visit this summer. It was absolutely
agreed that they would all attend.

Into a rare moment of silence, Sylvia
said, “oh, did you hear about those two boys?”

Now that was a subject that was never
discussed. The other four girls simply stared at their friend.

Sylvia gave them a disgusted look.
“I’m talking about the boys who are trapped in that mine.” There was a sigh of
relief that passed around the table. That was better . . . sometimes it’s
acceptable to talk about boys, but only if they were up to something really and
truly stupid.

“I did” said Presley “what were they
thinking?”

“My mom said that they were just
exploring when it caved in,” added Melody.

“I heard that they can’t get to them .
. . you know . . . before they run out of air. Isn’t that awful?” asked Angela.

“I didn’t hear about this,” said a
wide-eyed Egg. “When did it happen?”

“Saturday night their parents reported
them missing. The rescue people have been there ever since trying to get an air
tube thingy down to them. But so far, it hasn’t worked.”

“That’s just too horrible. They must
be so scared.” Egg’s mind was racing. She was sure that Flying Girl could help,
but how was she going to get away? Then an idea came to her. “I have to go to
the nurse, I have a terrible headache. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Hope you feel better” said Melody.

“Do you want me to walk with you?”
asked a very concerned Sylvia.

“No, I’ll be okay. Thanks.” And Egg
dropped the remains of her lunch in the trash and hurried off to the nurse.

When she got there, she told Nurse
Kratchet that she had a terrible headache and she needed her medicine. “Can I
call my grandmother? My mom’s not home.”

“Of course, dear. Meanwhile, I’ll get
you a nice cold compress.”

When the nurse left the room, she
dialed her Grammy.

“Hello.”

“Grammy, it’s me.”

“Egg . . . is everything all right?”

“No” and she told her about the two
boys and what she had in mind.

“I’ll be right there.” She arrived in
about ten minutes and in another five minutes, she and her granddaughter were
heading home.

“What should we tell my mom?”

“No need to tell her anything. I
called and asked her to run an errand for me. So she’s not home and won’t be
for another few hours.”

“Grammy, you’re the best.”

“No, dear, you are. This is a very
brave thing you’re going to do. But, I’m not sure how Flying Girl can help.”

Egg laughed and said “Oops. I forgot
to tell. Guess what the ring does?”

“You got the magic to work? You are
amazing. Don’t keep an old lady in suspense . . . what does it do?”

“You are not old. I keep telling you
that. You’re not old until you turn seventy-seven.” That was the number of
months she calculated till the suit ran out of power and the number just popped
into her head.

“You’re sweet. Now tell me about the
ring.” Her grandmother was very excited to find out what it did.

“It lets me change size . . .” and she
told the story.

“I’m . . . I’m . . . I’m . . .
speechless.”

“Why?”

“Because the magic keeps getting more
and more amazing; and because you keep uncovering the jewelry’s secrets. For
hundreds and hundreds of years no one could do what you have done in a few
months. I am awed.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you are as special as I
always knew you were. It’s like the suit and jewelry were made just for you.”

They arrived at Egg’s house and she
ran upstairs and changed into her suit. She slipped the ring on her finger,
kissed her Grammy goodbye, went to the balcony and leapt into the sky. “Hang
on, guys . . . Flying Girl will save you.”

Her grandmother told her to follow the
river that ran not far from her house. If she headed west, in the general
direction of the sun, she would soon come to the highest hill in the area. On
top were two observatories – buildings where they put telescopes. These belong
to the university and should be very easy to spot.

And sure enough, after
flying as fast as she had ever flown, she found what she was looking for . . .

Now she made a left turn and followed
the road. And it wasn’t long before she saw all the rescue trucks and people.
She was surprised that there were so many – she counted seven trucks and
stopped when she got to twenty-three people.

Her grandmother had told her what she
had to do. First, get into the cave unnoticed which would be very easy. Next, she
should follow the air hose that the rescuers were trying to get down to the
kids. When she got to the end, she would have to grab the hose and pull it to
wherever the kids were trapped. Most importantly, she had to hurry . . . time
was running out. Actually, it was the boys’ air that was running out.

She landed out of sight and commanded
the ring to shrink her to the size of a butterfly. She had almost said fly . .
. you know, without the butter . . . but, ugg, who wanted to be a dirty old
fly. ‘And, talking about flies’ she thought to herself, ‘why in the world would
anyone call a pie . . . shoe fly pie?’ It made absolutely no sense.

As before, the sensation wasn’t that
of shrinking, but of the world growing incredibly large. It made you kind of
dizzy for a few seconds. Her grandmother warned her that at this size she
wouldn’t be very strong. So pulling the air hose would be difficult. But, more
importantly, a spider or mouse would be bigger than she was. Without her normal
strength, they could eat her. So, her Grammy made her promise to be very, very
careful.

She flew past some of the
rescuers who were doing . . . well rescue things and into the cave.

It shocked her at first. She was
expecting a dark, quiet cave. Instead, it was bright from dozens and dozens of
flashlights and noisy beyond belief. Men were talking or shouting and some were
banging into the rock walls with some kind of a hand held . . .
whatever-you-called-it machine. It was throwing bits of dirt and rock in every
direction. A couple of pieces nearly hit her and that would have been a
catastrophe.

She saw the air hose and flew down low
so she could follow it. The first part was easy. There was lots of room and
lots of light. Then it went down into a dark hole and the light soon disappeared.
Now she had to go very slowly with one hand on the hose. If she lost contact
with it, she might get lost and never find her way back. And down she went . .
. deeper and deeper. And it got darker and darker. It also got colder and
colder. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but this was certainly not it.

As she went even lower, the sounds
from the rescuers became very faint. The feeling of being trapped in this dark,
cold place began to take hold of her. It wasn’t too much longer before she
became very frightened and began to doubt whether she could do this. There are
some things a nine-year-old girl – even Flying Girl – shouldn’t have to do.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself,
she forced herself to go on. It was the hardest thing she had ever done.

Then she came to the end of the hose
so she stopped. In the total darkness, how was she ever going to find those
boys? She decided to yell and hope they could hear her. “Hey
guys are you down here. Say something. I came to help you.”

Nothing. “Oh, you ninny” she thought
to herself. I bet they can’t hear me yelling when I’m so tiny. She felt around
as best she could and decided there was room for her to make herself bigger.
“Ring, make me half my normal size.” Now that was good thinking because the
space she was in wasn’t that big and she bumped her head, as she grew bigger.

“Ouch” she cried.

“Hey, who’s there?”

The sound of a voice made her jump in
fright until she realized it must be one of the boys. “Are you alright?”

“No, you stupid person. We’re trapped
a million miles underground and it’s getting very hard to breath.”

“Hey, be nice. I came all this way to
help you.”

“Well, hurry up.”

She could not believe it. She was
risking her life and this guy was being incredibly rude. Boys! ‘Are they all
this bad mannered’ she thought to herself.

“Your rescuers should be here in a
little while. In the meantime take this” and she pushed the air hose towards
the sound of the voice.

“Got it.”

“You’re welcome,” she said in an
irritated voice.

“Hey.”

“Hey, what?”

“Who are you and how’dya get here?”

“I’m Flying Girl and I flew.”

“Yeah, right.”

She was so irritated she wanted to
scream. Instead, she said, “Have a nice day” and followed the air hose back up.
‘I guess it takes all kinds’ she thought to herself sadly. ‘I know I’ll never
have a boyfriend. Never.’

Chapter 5 – Shoo Fly

She giggled. The boys hadn’t sounded
love sick; they were just rude. But, to her amazement, she didn’t care. It
wasn’t the thank you’s that made doing good deeds rewarding . . . it was the
deeds themselves. She had saved two people and for that, she was very happy.
Besides, the two boys were probably scared out of their very small minds but
were too proud to show it.

When she had flown back home, her
Grammy was standing on her balcony looking very anxious. As Egg came into view,
the older woman broke into a gigantic smile. She landed and they hugged for a
long time . . . Grammy didn’t seem to want to let go.

“Well, tell me everything.”

And she did. When she got to the part
about how rude the boys were, they both laughed. “Wait till they tell everyone
that some girl gave them the air hose. Ha . . . no one will ever believe them.”

Then they heard the front door unlock
and Egg’s mom call out “Hello, Mother, I’m back.”

“Quick, change out of your flying suit
and I’ll go tell your mom that you came home with a headache.”

So Egg fetched her little chest,
slipped out of her suit and put it, and the ring, inside. She locked it and
went to put it back on the shelf in her closet, but she couldn’t find her little
stepladder. Hearing her mother coming down the hall, she put the chest on the
floor, covered it with some shoes and jumped on the bed.

The door opened and her mother walked
in. “How are you feeling, babe?”

“Oh, absolutely fine now, thanks.”

“Can I get you something?”

“No, mom, really I’m fine. The
headache’s all gone and Grammy said I didn’t have a temperature.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind,
just holler.”

*****

Her mother was pleased to see that
Egg had recovered enough to have dinner with the family. And she was
particularly pleased with her dinner conversation. Her daughter was talking and
laughing and all in all seemed very pleased with herself.

Egg’s dad noticed the same thing.
“Sweetheart, you seem particularly happy tonight. Care to share?” It was his
pet phrase whenever he wanted one of his three girls to talk about what was on
their mind.

“Oh, Daddy, I’m just a naturally happy
person. Besides, Grammy said I should smile and laugh a lot more. So I am.”

Her mom, dad and big sister all exchanged
looks. Finally Ashley said ‘I bet I can guess why she’s so happy . . . she must
have a boyfriend.”

At first Egg’s eyes flew wide in
horror, then her mouth flew open and she let out a giant squeal. She started to
laugh and laugh and nothing anyone could say could make her stop. About a
gazillion seconds later, she finally got control of herself and said to her
older sister “. . . yup, I have a boyfriend and I can fly like a bird.” Then
she started to laugh again.

Her family was saved from all this
uncontrollable happiness by the ringing of the phone. Ashley ran to answer it.

“Oh, hi, Gram. Sure, I’ll get her.
It’s for Scrambled Egg,” teased the older girl.

Egg got up and answered the phone.
“Hi, Grammy. Yes, I’m fine now. Thank you for everything today. Saturday . . .
oh, that would be wonderful. Let me ask.” And she put the phone down and turned
to her mother. “Can I go to Grammy’s on Saturday? She’s invited me and Ham for
a sleepover.”

“Of course. Just remember that we’re
having a garage sale on Sunday so you need to get back early to help.”

“Grammy, I can. I’ll call Ham. Thank
you. Love you too” and she hung up.

*****

Sylvia was very excited about the
sleepover. She had heard so much about the farmhouse and was dying to see it.
On the drive over, Egg and her mom were telling Ham all the stories they could
think of about the farm and Grammy.

“Did you know that my mother was a
hero?” asked Egg’s mom.

“No. What did she do?”

“Hey, I didn’t know that either.” Egg
sounded offended that there was a family story that she hadn’t heard.

“Well, she rescued a little girl that
had gotten lost. Apparently, a bunch of folks were at the farm for a Fourth of
July picnic . . . including the Mayor and his family. When it was time to
leave, one of his kids, a five-year-old girl, turned up missing. So they
organized a big search party. They had to move fast because back in those days
there were a lot of mountain lions and bears in the hills . . .”

“Lions?” asked a startled Sylvia.

“And bears?” asked an even more
startled Egg.

“Oh my, yes” replied Mrs. Graystone
“but thankfully no tigers.”

“TIGERS” both girls squeaked.

“Don’t be a pair of ninnies. Remember
what Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz . . . Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my.”

The girls just stared at her.

“Never mind. Anyway, they searched
everywhere but they couldn’t find the girl. The Mayor’s wife was hysterical . .
. you know – crying and crying. By evening they called off the search and
everyone met back at the farmhouse.”

“Well, my mother was ten years old at
the time. And as everyone was sitting around the porch trying to decide what to
do next, guess who walked up the front steps?  It was your grandmother and she
had the little girl.”

“What happened?”

“Truthfully, no one really knows and
your Grammy won’t tell. Supposedly, she went out looking like everyone else and
just happened to find her down in some gully about two miles from the farm. Ha
. . .”

“Why do you say ‘Ha’?”

“Because all the grown-ups with all
their skills at tracking people couldn’t do what a ten year old girl could do.
Seems pretty fishy to me.”

“Mother, it’s not how old you are, but
how big your heart is.”

“That sounds like your grandmother
talking. Anyway, the girl was safe and everyone was very relieved. When they
asked her how she was found, do you know what the child said?”

“No. What?”

“That your grandmother flew down like
a bird, picked her up and flew her back to the farmhouse!”

Sylvia laughed . . . but Egg only
smiled.

*****

As she was dropping them off, Mrs.
Graystone asked her daughter “Did you gather up your old clothes and other junk
for the garage sale like I asked?”

“Yes, Mom. I put it in a pile by my
closet.”

“Thank you, dear. You two have a great
time.

*****

Sylvia fell in love with the farm and
farmhouse; it was everything she thought it would be. It was almost like a
museum with all the old furniture and antique appliances and bathroom and . . .
well, everything.

After the grand tour,
which took almost an hour, the girls settled in for a lovely night of fun.
First they all helped with cooking dinner and making cookies for dessert.
Afterwards they played UNO and Gin Rummy. Then Grammy made a big bowl of
popcorn and they all sat around the table and tried to complete a big jigsaw
puzzle of . . .

“Isn’t she wonderful?” said Sylvia dreamily.

“I think that she’s the finest lady in
the world,” answered Grammy.

“Why?” asked her granddaughter.

“Because for the millions of people
who came to live in this country, it was the first thing they saw. It meant
freedom and opportunity. And, it still does.”

“I would love to see it someday,” said
Sylvia.

“A trip to New York would be a
wonderful adventure for us. What else could we see there?”

“Umm  . . . how about the Empire State Building” chimed Egg. She knew her grandmother was trying to make a game of
this.

“How about St. Patrick’s
church?” asked Ham.

“It’s called a
cathedral,” corrected Grammy.

And so for the next ten minutes
everyone took a turn naming something famous in New York . . . Broadway, Ellis Island, Central Park, the Hudson River, Yankee Stadium.

Then, Egg mentioned the World Trade Center. “I think we would absolutely have to visit the Memorial. It’s the least we
could do to honor those poor people.”

“That’s a very patriotic thought and I
agree with you one hundred percent.” said her Grammy. “They are going to
replace those two buildings with one magnificent skyscraper. Then the whole
world will know that the bad guys can’t win.”

“That’s why we need heroes, isn’t it?”
asked Egg.

“Yes, dear. You can never have too
many heroes.”

They completed the puzzle and the
popcorn and then headed for Grammy’s big comfy bed. When Sylvia went to the
bathroom to brush her teeth, Egg said to her Grandmother “I think I’ll fly Ham
to New York next week. I think she’ll love it.”

“That’s a wonderful idea. Just be
careful.”

“Always.”

*****

They got a late start the next day,
and by the time they dropped Sylvia off at home, it was almost noon. When they pulled up in front of the house, there was a bunch of cars.

“Oh, I forgot about the garage sale. I
hope Mom won’t be upset with me?”

“Not to worry. I’ll tell her it was my
fault that we’re late. She’ll believe that.

As they got out of the
car, Egg noticed the license plate on the little pick-up truck in the driveway.

“Oh, I can be so dumb, some times. I
thought it was shoe fly, which made absolutely no sense. It’s shoo,
not shoe.” She laughed at her mistake.

As she walked to the house, she saw
maybe ten people looking through all the junk that they were selling. Ashley
and her mom were talking to everyone.

“This wonderful dress is only ten
dollars.”

“I’ll give you five,” said a lady with
long black hair.

“Make it seven” and Egg’s old Easter
dress was sold.

A wrinkled woman, who must have been
about a hundred and fifty years old, walked by with a big bundle of stuff that
she had just bought. “Can I help you?” asked Egg.

“Why thank you, young lady. Could you
open the door to my truck?” It was the one with the silly license plate.

“How come your license plate says Shoo
Fly?”

“Cause I make the best, dang Shoo Fly
Pie this side of the Rocky Mountains.” The lady put her bundles in the truck
then got in. “Thank you, honey. Got lots of good stuff for eBay.” She cackled
an old person’s laugh, closed the door and drove away.

“Egg” yelled her mother. “Come and help.”

“I need to go to the bathroom, I’ll be
right back” and she ran inside and up the stairs to her room.

As she made her way to her bathroom,
she noticed the closet door was open and went to close it. Then she stopped.
She looked down and couldn’t find her little chest. She tossed her shoes out of
the way and frantically searched for it. But it wasn’t there. Her heart started
to pound in her chest like it was trying its best to escape.

She ran downstairs; her face was as
white as . . . well, an egg. “MOM” she yelled, “Did you see the little chest in
my closet?”

“Yes dear. I figured you didn’t want
that old thing anymore. It was just buried under your shoes. So I sold it. I
got five dollars for it. You can have half.”

Egg’s eyes grew wide in
horror . . .

. . . and she screamed like a banshee!

Book 4

Broken Egg

Book 4 of

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016, by Robert
Iannone,

All
Rights Reserved.

Table
of Contents

Chapter 1 – Dazzle

Chapter 2 – Don’t Mess
With My Sisters

Chapter 3 – Doggone It

Chapter 4 – Dizzy World

Chapter 5 – Dear Diary

Chapter 1 –
Dazzle

“NOOOOOOO.”

Everyone looked up to see
who or what was making that terrible sound. It was filled with such pain and
sadness that anyone who heard it got goose bumps.

“NOOOOOOO . . . you can’t
sell it. Not my chest. Get it back, get it back.”

“Egg, stop yelling please;
you’re embarrassing me.”

“NO, NO, NO . . . get it
back. Mom, you have to get it back. Please . . . you have too. Please” and she started to cry
uncontrollably.

Mrs. Graystone
was completely confused and befuddled by her daughter’s reaction. It was just a
useless old chest.

She picked the girl up and
took her into the house. She had never seen Egg act this way before . . .
never. “Egg, take a deep breath, stop crying, and tell me what’s so important
about that chest.”

But the young girl
couldn’t. She couldn’t stop crying, she could hardly breathe and she certainly
couldn’t tell her mother why the chest was so very important. She couldn’t tell
her that Flying Girl’s suit and jewelry were in it. No one but her Grammy knew
that. It was their secret and she swore she would never tell anyone else . . .
ever. And now it was gone and it was her own fault. She felt like Humpty-Dumpty
. . . broken into a million pieces and no one could put her back together
again.

A few days ago, Egg had
used the suit and the ring to help rescue two boys. When she had returned home
to change, she couldn’t find the little step stool she kept in her closet.
Without it, she wasn’t able to hide the little chest on the top shelf. So when
she heard her mother coming to her bedroom, she hurriedly placed it on the
floor and threw a bunch of her shoes over it.

Somehow, her mother had
found it. Thinking it was just old junk, she had sold it at the garage sale
they were having that very morning. Egg had just returned from her Grammy’s and
discovered her mother’s tragic mistake.

And now she was so upset,
she thought she would throw up. Her mother handed her a glass of water and said
“drink this dear, it will calm you down.” Egg drank it, hiccupped once, and
then threw up . . . all over her mother.

“Oh my” yelped Mrs.
Graystone as the unexpected and unwanted little gift landed on her lap and
feet. She picked up a dishtowel, cleaned her daughter’s mouth then did her best
to clean her skirt and shoes.

“Egg,
sweetheart, you have to tell me what’s wrong. What was in that chest that’s so
important to you that it’s making you sick?” Then a horrible thought came to
her “Your diary wasn’t in there, was it?” As far as she knew, it was her
daughter’s most valuable possession.

“It wasn’t her diary.”
Mother and daughter looked up to see Egg’s Grammy standing in the doorway. Egg
ran over, buried her face in the older woman’s stomach, and continued to cry
softly while her grandmother stroked her hair.

“Hi, Mother. What in the
world was in that thing? Your granddaughter is making herself sick but she
refuses to tell me why it’s so important.”

“Rachelle (that was Mrs.
Graystone’s first name) it was a gift from me to Egg. What was in that chest is
our little secret.”

“Well, I apologize to both
of you. How was I to know? But I’m sure I can find another chest just like it.
And whatever was in it, I’ll replace.”

“That’s very generous . .
. but you can’t.”

“And why not?”

“Just take my word for it.
Now who did you sell the chest to?”

The way to fix the problem
was so obvious now that the question was asked. “Silly me . . . all we have to
do is find that nice old lady who bought it and I’ll buy it back.”

“Well . . . who was it?”

“It was, umm, well I
actually don’t know her name. Let me ask some of the other people outside . . .
maybe they know who she is” and Mrs. Graystone went back out leaving
grandmother and granddaughter alone.

“Egg, my love, we will get
it back . . . I promise.”

“Grammy, you can’t make
that promise. What if we can’t find her or she won’t sell it back?”

“Sweetheart, do you think
this is the first time the suit was ever lost in all those hundreds of years?
It was created for some great purpose that is still unclear, but it surely
can’t end because of a garage sale. Somehow, it will be returned to us . . . to
you.  I can feel it in my bones.”

Egg desperately wanted to
believe her Grammy. She felt so empty knowing the suit wasn’t upstairs in her
room. She felt like old Egg . . . just an ordinary nine-year-old girl. If she
couldn’t fly, or couldn’t do good deeds, her life would be ruined. Once you’re
Flying Girl, how could you ever go back to being just a third grader?

Then a random thought
popped into her head and she said something that totally shocked her
grandmother. “Dazzle wouldn’t have lost her flying suit.”

“WHAT?”

Egg was startled by the
loudness of the question. She looked up at her Grandmother who was staring back
at her.

“Grammy, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry to have
frightened you, dear one. Please repeat what you just said.”

“I said Dazzle wouldn’t
have lost the suit. She’s . . .” but her grandmother interrupted her.

“She’s a warrior princess
in your dreams. She has long blond hair and she has a pet dragon named Storm.”

“Oh my gosh,” was all the wide-eyed
girl could say. “Oh my gosh”.

Before they could say
another word, Mrs. Graystone came back in the house. “I’m sorry, Egg, but no
one knows who she is.”

“Did anyone see the car
she was driving?”

“No, Mother. Oh, wait. Egg
didn’t you help that lady put her stuff in her car?”

“SHOO FLY . . . it
was the Shoo Fly truck.”

“What?”

“Her license
plate said Shoo Fly . . . I always thought it was Shoe Fly which of course made
absolutely no sense. But it was shoo not shoe. And I asked her why she had that
on her car and she said it was because she made the best shoo fly pie in the
entire world.”

*****

Egg and her grandmother
decided to ride up and down the streets to see if they might spot the truck
with the goofy license plate. And, as importantly, they both needed to talk
about Dazzle.

“Grammy, how did you know
who Dazzle was?”

“Because, my love, I used
to dream about her too — way back when I was your age.”

“You did? Why would we
both dream about the same person?”

“There can be only one
answer . . . the magic of the flying suit. I only dreamt about her during the
seven years that I wore it. When the suit’s power died away, so did the
dreams.”

“That doesn’t make any
sense to me.”

The older woman didn’t
answer right away; she was lost in thought. After a minute or so, she said, “It
obviously has to be connected to the suit. But, like you, I just don’t know
why. However, I think you’ll find out.”

“Me? Really?”

“Yes, just like you
discovered the magic in the ring and necklace. That’s something no one else
ever did. And, remember the first time you flew . . . you were able to control
the suit like you had been doing it for years. Again, no one else ever did
that.”

Now it was Egg’s turn to
lose herself in thought. “Grammy, why am I so special . . . you know, when it
comes to the flying suit and jewelry?”

“Like I said before,
sometimes I think the suit was made just for you.”

They continued to drive in
silence, each looking out the window on her side of the car. Up and down the
streets they drove, but it was no use. The truck could be anywhere. After about
two hours, they were tired and discouraged and headed home.

“Grammy” Egg said in a
very quiet voice “what are we going to do now?”

“Tomorrow, I’ll call the
Department of Motor Vehicles. Those are the people who issue the license
plates. Maybe they can tell us who owns “Shoo Fly.” But the older woman knew
that the department would never give out that information.

*****

That night at dinner, Egg
was very, very quiet. She hardly ate anything but her parents didn’t say a
word. Sometimes it’s better not to try to convince someone everything would
work out when there really was no reason why it should. Her mom felt just
terrible for having sold the little chest and completely helpless to get it
back. If Egg’s grandmother said it was special, there was no telling what
treasure it held. Those two were so close that if there was a million dollars
or a . . . a . . . magic wand in there, she wouldn’t have been surprised.

When dinner was over, Egg
told her family “I’m going to bed now. Good night.”

“Egg . . . I really am
sorry about the chest.”

“That’s okay, Mom. I
shouldn’t have left it on the floor. That was a stupid thing to do.”

Her father said, “If your
grandmother can’t get the information from the license plate people, I’ll put
an ad in the paper asking for the lady to call us.”

“Thanks, Dad. Good night.”
Egg simply couldn’t get her hopes up.

She went
upstairs, washed up, put on her pajamas and went to bed. Her last thought before
she fell asleep was “Dazzle, I need your help.”

“Egg,
I am here.”

“Dazzle, is that you?
Where’s Storm?”

“Egg
Itsonebay.”

“What? Sorry, I can hardly
hear you.”

“Itsonebay.”

“I don’t understand what
you’re telling me. And you sound so far away.”

“I am
far away. We should not be speaking. I endanger the plan by helping you.”

“What plan? Where are
you?”

“You
have yet to prove yourself.”

“What does that mean?
You’re not making any sense. Besides, you’re just a dream. You’re just my
dream.”

That seemed to amuse the
Princess. “A dream . . . perhaps. Your
dream, perhaps not.”

“Dazzle, I lost the suit.
Help me get it back, please.”

“Itsonebay.”

“I don’t know what that
means. Just tell me how to get the suit back.”

“I
have. But know this; if you fail, I must go away forever. If you fail, then you
are not the one . . . and my wait will continue.” She sounded very sad.

“I’m sorry, but I just
don’t . . .” but she couldn’t finish. Dazzle had faded away.

*****

When she got home from
school the next day, she called her grandmother to tell her about the dream.

“Grammy, I almost never
remember my dreams, but I remember this one very clearly.”

“Tell me what Dazzle
said.”

So Egg told her everything
she remembered about the conversation. “What do you think she meant when she
said ‘Itsonebay’?”

“Hmmm . . . that doesn’t
mean anything to me, either. Hang on a second; I want to write it down.” The
older woman got a pad of paper and a pencil. “Okay, say it one more time
exactly as Dazzle said it.”

“I could hardly hear her.
It sounded like she said . . . Itsonebay.”

Her Grammy wrote it down
and studied it while Egg waited impatiently. When the tension got too much for
the girl, she said, “Well . . .”

“Love, you didn’t get it
quite right.”

“What do you mean?”

“I believe Dazzle said,
‘It’s on Ebay’.”

“EBAY . . . that’s what
the Shoo Fly lady said.”

“What did she say?”

“Something about having
good stuff for eBay. What’s an ebay?”

“eBay is an internet site
where you go to buy and sell things . . . like old chests.”

“GRAMMY . . .” Egg screamed. “Go buy it
before someone else does. Hurry.”

“Of course, dear one. But
I want you to go to the eBay site and you can watch me do it. Just get on the
internet and type ‘www.ebay.com’ then . . .” and her grandmother told her how
to get to the proper place.

So Egg ran to
her computer and did what her grandmother instructed. Sure enough, there was
the chest . . .

There was only six minutes
left and someone named LoveOldStuff was bidding $19.99.

Then there was a bid from FARMGIRL
. . . that was her Grammy . . . for $21.00. And only five minutes to the
end of the auction. Egg clapped excitedly.

The auction clocked ticked
down to three minutes and LoveOldStuff placed a bid for $25.00. Egg
yelled “NO” at her computer screen, which didn’t have anything to say in
return.

A moment later FARMGIRL
bid $35.00. “Go, Grammy.” The clock showed only one minute to the end of the
auction.

LoveOldStuff placed a bid for $50.00.
Egg’s face turned white. “Come on Grammy.” The clock showed 35 seconds.

FARMGIRL bid $100. Fifteen seconds
left.

As the clock ticked to one
second, LoveOldStuff bid $110 . . . and won.

Egg stared at the computer
waiting for her Grammy to out bid the other person. But the auction was over.
When it finally dawned on her that they had lost, she ran to her bed, covered
her head with her pillow and cried for all she was worth.

Buried under a foot of
down-filled pillows, she didn’t hear the phone ring. It was her grandmother
calling to talk to her. Her mom picked it up.

“Hello, Mother. I have
wonderful news . . .” but she didn’t finish.

“I’m sorry to cut you off,
daughter, but I have to talk to Egg. Her chest was on eBay and I tried to buy
it. Unfortunately, someone outbid me. Egg is probably beside herself.”

“Are you FARMGIRL?”

“What . . . well, yes I
am. How did you know?”

Mrs. Graystone started to
laugh and laugh.

“Rachelle, what in the
world is so funny?”

“FARMGIRL, I’m LoveOldStuff.”

Chapter 2 –
Don’t Mess with My Sisters

Three days later at about
four in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was the most wondrous sound that
Egg had ever heard. She ran out of her bedroom, sprinted through the hallway
and bounded down the stairs two at a time. Mrs. Graystone was already at the
front door and was just about to open it.

“I expect this is for
you.” She opened the door and there stood a man in a brown uniform . . .
holding a package.

“I have a delivery for
Eloise Graystone.”

“OH MY GOSH” Egg
cried in pure joy as she carefully took the precious package. “Thank you, thank
you, thank you” she repeated over and over.

“Must be a birthday gift.”

“Birthday gift? Oh, no
it’s my fl . . .” Egg caught herself just in time. “No, it’s just a special
gift from my Grammy. Thank you for delivering it.” The man smiled and walked
back to his truck.

“Do you want to tell me
what’s in that chest now?” asked Egg’s very curious mother.

“In this silly old thing .
. . absolutely nothing of importance. Just a little magic that Grammy said I
might need.”

“Magic is it? Well, I’m
very glad you got it back.”

“Thank you again, Mom.
That was so exciting watching you and Grammy bid for the chest. When she lost,
I thought I was going to die.”

“Sweetheart, there’s
nothing so important in this world that its loss should make you so upset. The
only thing that really matters is your health, your family and your friends.”

“Now you sound just like
Grammy.”

“Well, I should. She’s my
mother, after all.”

*****

That evening after
everyone went to bed, Egg had to go flying . . . just to reassure herself that
she was really and truly Flying Girl again.

She slipped
into her flying suit, stepped out on the balcony and leapt into the night sky.
There were a beautiful full moon and a smattering of wispy clouds. She could
only be gone for a few minutes but she needed to do something extra special . .
. something she had never done before.

She decided to see how
high she could go . . . maybe even all the way to the moon. Well, on second
thought, maybe not all the way . . . even though she could because the suit
would protect her. But that was a tad more adventurous then she felt.

With her hands
outstretched, she soared straight up and willed the suit to go as fast as it
could. In a moment, she could see the entire city, then the entire state, and
finally she was literally out-of-this-world. The earth became a smaller and
smaller disk making her feel just the opposite of when she used the ring to
shrink herself. This time it felt like she was becoming unimaginably large.

In less than a
minute, she stopped and looked down. The sight was breathtaking. In the
moonlight, she could see the outlines of North America and parts of South
America all the way to Alaska and Canada. Every city seemed to be lit up with
lights. It was breathtaking and unimaginably awesome. ‘Oh my gosh, what a
beautiful world we live on,’ she thought.

But then the realization
of how high she was hit her. Though she wasn’t proud to admit it, it was a
little scary. Well, to be totally honest, maybe a lot scary. So instead of
flying around the planet, she decided enough was enough and she turned around
and flew back home.

All in all, it was so very
wonderful to be Flying Girl she thought for the millionth time. It made her
realize just how much it meant to her. And if it wasn’t for Dazzle (with a
little help from her mother and Grammy), it might have come to a horrible,
horrible end. That thought was even scarier than being in outer space and sent
shivers down her spine.

As she touched down on her
balcony, thinking about Dazzle made her remember something the Princess had
said . . .  “I endanger
the plan by helping. You have yet to prove yourself.”

For the life of her, she
couldn’t understand what that meant. Prove herself how? Even her Grammy wasn’t
sure. Well, at least that’s what she said but Egg had the feeling that her
grandmother knew more than she was telling.

She went back inside, took
off her suit and slipped it back in the little chest. But instead of hiding it
on the top shelf of her closet, she placed it on her desk . . . locked of
course. There was no use trying to hide it anymore now that her family knew
that she had it.

After brushing
her teeth, Egg jumped into her bed. She wanted to fall asleep fast and talk to
Dazzle who would be terrifically happy that she had recovered the flying suit.
Off went the light, and as the darkness washed over her, Egg closed her eyes
and tried to dream about the warrior princess…

. . . but the next thing
she knew the stupid alarm was making its usual horrible buzzzzzzzz and
the sun was streaming though her bedroom window. It was morning.

“I wonder if I talked to
Dazzle last night?” she thought. “Oh, my gosh . . . what if she told me
something important and I’ve forgotten. She’ll be so mad.” She concentrated
very hard but just couldn’t remember any dream. “I’ll just have to talk to her
again tonight. She’ll understand that I can’t always remember my dreams.” And
that thought made her smile. It was kind of cool to have a dream friend.

*****

By the time she got to
school Egg was as giggly happy as she had ever been. After getting her suit and
jewelry back and then flying as high as an astronaut, she was on top of the
world . . . so to speak. She didn’t feel like a nine-year-old girl; she felt
invincible. “I bet this is how a warrior princess like Dazzle feels,” she
thought.

At lunch, the Hameggattic
sisters were all abuzz over the new CD from Fandango Sally that was to be
released that weekend. The all-girl band was their absolute favorite and they
had every album and had seen all the videos.

“. . . and they’re going
to be on MTV tomorrow at noon to sing one of the songs” reported Melody. “Why
don’t we have a meeting of the Sisterhood at my house and listen to it?”

“Do you have a room like
Ham’s attic (that was where the Sisterhood was first created and it was their
official headquarters)?” asked Egg.

“Nothing that cool, but we
have a home theater room that has a huge screen and big comfy chairs. It’s
great for watching movies and listening to music.” So they agreed to meet at
Melody’s at eleven thirty the next day.

*****

The room was
like nothing the other four girls had ever seen. It was a movie theater, only a
lot nicer. They were very impressed . . . and despite herself, Egg felt just a
little stab of envy.

Melody gave them a quick
tour of the room and all of its gadgets. Then she turned on the TV and all five
settled in to watch the MTV special.

“Good
afternoon and welcome to an exclusive live presentation by those five teen
wonders . . . Fandango Sally . . . here to sing their next big hit entitled Don’t Mess with My Sister,
Mister.
Before I introduce the fabulous five, I want our audience to know that you can
buy their new CD (he held it up to the camera) . . .

. . . called SISTERS
on our website for a very special onetime offer of $5.55.
But the offer ends at exactly 5:55 PM today so you need to hurry.”

“Now, let me introduce
five super stars that need no introduction (and the curtain pulled back to
reveal the band) . . . we have lead singer Sierra, Alicia on the drums, Lulu on base guitar, Luna on electric guitar and Yvonne on keyboards.” The girls waved as they were introduced and
the live studio audience let out a deafening roar of approval.

And with that, the band
started to play what was sure to be their next number one hit . . .

The
Hameggattic sisters went totally bonkers . . . it was as if the song had been
written just for them. They were screaming and jumping up and down.

Had a parent walked in on them at that
moment, they would have thought the girls had seen a mouse . . .

“OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH,
OH MY GOSH” was all that Egg could utter.

When they had finally
settled down, Sylvia said, “I think that should be the official song of the
Sisterhood. All in favor raise your hand.” The final vote was six to nothing in
favor of the suggestion. (Egg had raised both hands and so had voted twice . .
. quite against the rules).

Then they all raced up to
Melody’s room where she logged on to the MTV website and ordered five copies of
SISTERS. “It’s my treat,” she said. The other girls were
impressed that she was allowed to order stuff online. They were strictly
forbidden . . . they had to get their moms to do it for them. It made Melody
seem very grown-up and it made Egg a little resentful.

“See if you can find the
words to the song,” requested Angela. Melody found them and printed five
copies, which she handed out.

“Everyone has to memorize
this by Monday,” insisted Egg. But it didn’t take that long . . . after singing
it about seventy-three times in the next thirty minutes; they pretty much had
accomplished their mission. By the time everyone left later that afternoon,
they knew every word and every note. In fact, Melody was able to play it
reasonably well on her guitar, which impressed her four friends. In fact, it
made Egg just a teensy bit jealous.

*****

On Monday morning, Egg and
Sylvia walked into their classroom and were shocked by what they saw . . .
Melody looking like Lulu, one of the guitarists from Fandango Sally.

Her hair had strings of
cornrows highlighted in red and orange . . . the guitarist’s trademark look.
When the shock wore off, they both ran up to her and squealed in delight.

“It’s totally awesome,”
said Sylvia. “Where did you get it done?”

“My mom took me to Libby
Lu’s at the mall yesterday. You like it?”

“No, I love it.”

“How about you, Egg?”

Egg’s initial enthusiasm
was beginning to wear off. In its place was a very unpleasant feeling . . . of
envy. She just loved that hairstyle; she always had. Lulu was her all-time
favorite band member and she used to dream about being the band’s guitarist
(well, that was before she started dreaming about Dazzle). Now to see it on
Melody made her feel like something of hers had been taken. Of course, that
didn’t really make any sense and she knew it. But still . . . if anyone should
wear that style, it should be her, even if her mother would never give
permission.

But Melody was a Sister,
so she forced herself to put aside those feelings and said, “It’s absolutely
perfect.” She was thankful that the bell rang just then and they had to take
their seats. And for the rest of the day, Egg was preoccupied with her
thoughts. Four times in just a few days, she had felt jealous of things that
Melody had. She knew it was wrong, but she also knew she had to talk to her
Grammy about it.

*****

“Hello, Egg, my love. To
what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”

“Grammy, I need your advice.”

Egg couldn’t see her
grandmother smile on the other end of the telephone line. “Well, of course,
child.”

So she told her about
Melody’s theater room, the MTV account, the guitar and the hair-do. “Grammy, I
felt really jealous that she had those things and I didn’t. I know that I
shouldn’t, but I just couldn’t help myself. I just can’t help myself.”

“Hmmm, I see. First of
all, dear one, wanting what someone else has is a pretty common feeling. It’s
what you do with those feelings that really matters.”

“What do you mean?”

“Would you force Melody to
quit the Sisterhood because of those things?”

“No, of course not. You
were right about her . . . she’s a very nice person.”

“If you could, would you
take away what she has just so you could have them?”

“No.”

“Do you wish she didn’t
have them because you don’t?”

Egg gave that a moment’s
thought before answering “No.”

“There’s nothing you can
do about her theater room, but you could take guitar lessons and practice every
day to become as good as she is. Are you willing to do that?”

Egg smiled and said
“Uh-uh.”

“If I told you I could get
your hair done like she has, and open an internet account so you could buy
whatever you like . . . would that make you happy?”

“Oh, Grammy . . . would
you?”

“Of course . . . but I
would want you to give up something in return. How about your flying suit?”

Egg was horrified “NEVER”
she screamed and immediately apologized.

“Do you think Melody would
give up all of those things in return for your flying suit?”

“Well, of course she
would.”

“So, maybe if she knew you
were Flying Girl she would be envious of you?”

That gave Egg pause. “Are
you saying that everyone has something that another person might want? Might be
jealous of? And it’s what we do with those feelings that make us a good person
or a bad person?”

“Very, very good my love.
Very, very good.”

Chapter 3 –
Doggone It

If April
showers bring May flowers, then it was going to be a bumper crop of daisies,
and daffodils and sunflowers . . .

. . . because it rained
and rained and rained and . . . well, you get the idea . . . it rained a lot.
Now, kids can keep busy on weekdays when it rains because they have school and
homework and maybe a little television. But, on weekends it’s a different
matter altogether . . . there is probably little to do except to get on your
mom’s nerves. That’s why Mrs. Graystone asked her daughter . . .

“Sweetheart, why don’t you
call your friends and I’ll take all of you to Roller Whirl.” That was the name
of the roller skate rink at the mall.

Egg thought about that for
three, possibly four seconds before declaring, “That’s a wonderful idea.
Mother, sometimes you impress me.”

“High praise indeed”
laughed the older woman.

So Egg ran up to her room,
and began to call the other members of the Sisterhood. Since they were all in
an equal state of boredom, they agreed without hesitation. And about an hour
later, all five were slipping into their skates and jibber jabbering about . .
. umm . . . you know, stuff that bored nine-year-old girls talk about.

Then arm in arm they
rolled on to the skate area and began a lazy circle around the rink. After a
lap or two to warm up, they decided to try some Olympic style moves . . . even
though the Olympics didn’t actually have roller skating.

For their first event,
they chose Sylvia’s soon-to-be-world-famous Whirl and Twirl. She stood in the
middle of the four girls with her arms spread wide. Presley grabbed one hand
and Melody the other. Then Egg put her hands on Presley’s hips while Angela did
the same to Melody.

As Sylvia began to rotate,
the girls on either hand began to skate in the same direction. It didn’t take
long for them to build up a lot of speed . . . and as Sylvia twirled, the girls
whirled; they all began to squeal louder and louder. If you could have seen
them from above, they would have looked like a giant propeller spinning and
spinning – faster and faster.

As they spun and laughed,
they didn’t see the little boy coming at them . . . totally out of control. He
tried to avoid the girls but fell and slid into Egg. The collision caused her
to let go of Presley and she went flying off towards the wall. She put out her
hand to stop herself but was going so fast that it didn’t help much.

The other girls watched in
horror as their friend hit the wall with a loud thump. At first Egg said
nothing. Then the pain in her left hand made its way up to her brain and she
howled…”OWWWWWWWWW.”

*****

On the way home from the
hospital, Egg sat quietly in the back seat with Sylvia. The other girls had
already been dropped off at their homes.

“Does it hurt much?” she
asked her friend for the ninety-seventh time.

“Please stop asking me
that. It doesn’t hurt at all.” The ring finger on the left hand had been
dislocated and not broken. The doctor had popped it back into place and taped a
little splint made from a tongue depressor on it. Then he gave her a couple of
tablets for the pain.

“Keep that on for about
ten days. And, Mom (he said to Mrs. Graystone), just give her regular Tylenol
until the pain goes away in a day or two.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“You’re welcome. And Egg,
next time you go flying (Egg’s eyes popped open) off like that . . . try to
slide feet first.”

She had to smile at his
choice of words. “Absolutely, Doctor, the very next time I go flying.”

So now in the car, all the
excitement and the pain pills were making her a little drowsy. As they drove up
the driveway to Sylvia’s house, the girl asked her best friend “don’t forget,
if you need absolutely anything, call me. Promise?”

“I promise. And, Ham . . .
thank you for caring so much.”

They hugged and Sylvia
jumped out. Mrs. Graystone waited until she went inside, then she backed out
and headed home. “Dear, are you hungry?”

“I’m very tired, Mom. Do
you think I could just go right to bed when we get home?”

“Of course.” And fifteen
minutes later, Mrs. Graystone tucked her daughter into her bed, kissed her
forehead and turned off the light. By the time she had closed the bedroom door,
the girl was asleep.

“Egg.”

“Hmmm.”

“It is I, Egg.”

“Dazzle?”

“I am here. How is your injury?”

“It’s not really an injury
. . . it was just a discombobulated finger or something like that.”

“I am not familiar with an injury such as yours. Are you in
much pain?

“The finger hurt a little
when it first happened, but it’s okay now. Thank you for asking.”

“You are very brave. That is good.”

“Dazzle, who are you?”

“I am your mentor.”

“What’s a mentor?”

“A teacher and a friend.”

“How can we be friends if
we never met?”

“I have known you since before you were born.”

“I’m sorry but that
doesn’t make any sense. I wasn’t me before I was born.”

“You were always you. You have been you for a thousand years.”

“Are you sure you have the
right person? I’m only nine.”

“We will talk of this when the time is right.”

“When will that be?”

“When you complete your tasks.”

“What tasks?”

“Goodnight, little one. Sweet dreams.”

“Dazzle, don’t go.” But
she was gone.

*****

Buzzzzzzzz.

Egg woke up with the same
thought she always had “I hate that sound.” As she stretched and yawned, her
conversation with Dazzle came back to her and she smiled. “I sure hope she’s
real and not just my stupid imagination,” she said to herself. But before she
could relive the conversation, there was a knock on her door.

“Come in.”

“Morning squirt, how do
you feel?”

“Good morning, Ashley. I
feel terrific, thank you.”

“Aren’t you the little
brave soldier,” she teased. “Well, if you’re hungry, I’m making cinnamon French
toast.”

“Oh, I’m starving. I’ll be
right down.”

She popped out of bed,
washed up and put on her favorite pair of grungy blue jeans and a red
sweatshirt. As she made her way to the kitchen, the smell of bacon made her
mouth water.

“Oh, my gosh. I’m so
hungry I could eat a hippopotamus.”

“The ancient Egyptians
thought that was a delicacy,” said her older sister.

“Ugg . . . I wasn’t
serious. Why would they eat a hippo?”

“Probably for
the same reason you eat hot dogs and because there were a lot of them in the Nile.”

“Well, I’ll settle for
French toast and bacon if you don’t mind. By the way, where’s Mom and Dad.”

“Guess.”

“Buying antiques?”

“Bingo.”

“I suppose Brad is coming
over, then.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not as long as you do
your kissing where I can’t see it,” teased Egg.

“I can’t wait till you
have a boyfriend.”

“You’ll have to wait a
very long time . . . say a hundred and fourteen years and three days.”

“Why three days?”

“You simply can’t rush
these things. It wouldn’t be proper” and they both laughed.

“Did you want to invite
Ham over?”

“Ummm . . . maybe later. I
think after breakfast I’ll just lock myself in my room and do some homework.”
What she really wanted to do was fly.

So the sisters had a
pleasant meal talking about school and music and clothes. When they finished,
big sister washed the plates while little sister dried.

Then the doorbell rang and
Ashley’s face lit up. “I’m out of here,” said Egg as she rolled her eyes.

*****

Up in her
room, she took out her little do not disturb sign and posted it on her door…

The sign was a
gift from Sylvia and replaced the silly, hand-printed one she used to have. Her
girlfriend knew how much she loved cats but since her Mom was allergic to them,
she couldn’t have the real thing. So this was Snoozy – the closest thing to a
pet cat she would probably ever have.

After locking
her door, she went over to her desk, took out the key, which was now taped to
the bottom of the top drawer so no one would find it, and unlocked the little
chest. She pulled out her flying suit and put it on. Then she took out the ring
. . .

. . . and went to place it
on her left hand.

“Oh, my gosh” she said
when she realized her splint made that impossible.  “Well, why not give my
right hand a chance” she thought and slipped it on her other ring finger.  And
so, after a quick look in the mirror to admire herself, Flying Girl was ready.
She walked over to her balcony, opened the door and stepped out. The sky was
littered with dark ugly grey clouds . . . but at least it wasn’t raining.

Egg wanted to head towards
the mountains. She had heard on the radio that all this rain was causing
flooding and mudslides and she thought that maybe she could help. She had put
on the ring because it allowed her to change her size and that might come in
handy if she had to rescue people. It was her ability to make herself as small
as a butterfly that had enabled her to rescue two boys trapped in a mine.

So, she leapt
skyward and into a big puffy cloud that was overhead. She just loved the way
they made her seem to disappear. This one was so thick with water that she
couldn’t see her hands right in front of her face. About a minute later, she
flew higher and out of the cloud . . . after all she had to see where she was
going.

And in a blink
of the eye (well, maybe it was fifteen or twenty blinks) she was at the base of
the mountains. She flew lower and headed for a small town nestled right against
the foothills. What she saw was horrible. First, a gigantic boulder had rolled
down the mountain and was blocking the main road into town . . .

There was a fire truck
right next to it but there was really nothing they could do to move it. She
flew past and down into the town, and saw where a river of mud had slid into a
bunch of houses . . .

She had never seen so much
destruction. It was just terrible. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. They
probably all left when the mud started to slide. So she landed next to one
house that was half buried and yelled, “IS THERE ANYONE IN THERE? DOES
ANYONE NEED HELP?”

She yelled
again, but no one answered. Then a dog came running from somewhere, came right
up to her, and started to bark and bark.

Egg bent down to pet it.
“Did your owner forget to take you? Poor doggy . . . I’ll find them for you.”

But the dog started to
bark at her again. “Calm down, doggy, I said I would help you.”

Then the dog did the most
unexpected thing. It grabbed Egg by the skirt and started to pull her.
Surprised, she yelled, “Hey, stop that” . . .  but the dog refused to let go.

“Okay, okay . . . I’ll go
with you.” It was obvious the dog wanted Egg to follow her somewhere. ‘Maybe
its owner is trapped in the house’ she thought. “Come on doggy; let’s go find
your master . . . hurry.”

The dog led her to what
might have been the rear of the house, but it was pretty much destroyed and
covered in mud. “Oh my gosh, I hope no one’s in there.”

The dog started scratching
at the remains of a wall and barked. It was now very obvious that someone was
inside. So Egg yelled again . . . and again no answer. She looked around but
there didn’t seem to be any way to get in. There was one small opening but she
could only fit through it if she made herself small. So that’s what she decided
to do . . . “Ring, shrink me down.”

But nothing happened.

“Hey, ring . . . shrink me
down to the size of a mouse.” Nothing happened.

Just then, the mud began
to move again. As it did, the wood of the house started to moan then splinter.
“Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh”. The dog barked frantically . . . and started to
whine.

That’s when she heard it .
. . little bitty barks. It was obviously the puppies of this dog and she was
desperate to save them. But now the house was collapsing under the weight of
the mud . . . and Egg couldn’t shrink herself to get inside.

She didn’t know what to
do. But she was Flying Girl and she wasn’t about to let those puppies die. The
mud shifted again and the house began to disappear under it. Time was running
out.

Without thinking, she flew
up to the roof, put her hands under the top of what was once a window . . . and
pulled. To her amazement, the entire piece of wall peeled away like the skin
from a banana. She found another section of collapsed wall and pulled again . .
. and again . . . and again. She cleared all the debris and there below her in
the corner of what was probably the remains of the kitchen were two little
puppies in a wicker basket. She jumped down, picked it up and flew back out the
way she had come.

She landed
next to the mother dog and set the basket down.

The dog barked excitedly
and sniffed each of her pups. Then she licked them both. They yelped in their tiny
voices obviously very excited to see her again. Egg watched them and she felt
incredible joy. When the mother dog came to her and jumped up and licked her
face, Flying Girl decided that it was more rewarding to save dogs than boys
(but not really).

She picked up the big dog
in one hand and the basket in the other and leapt into the air. Finding the big
boulder that was blocking the road, she landed next to it and walked over to
the firemen who were still trying to figure out what to do.

“Excuse me. Can I leave
these dogs with you? Someone must have left them behind in all the excitement.”

The firemen stared at her
in disbelief . . . something she was very used to by now.  “Before you ask, I’m
Flying Girl. Now if you’ll just step back a little bit, I’ll move this
boulder.”

The firemen continued to
stare at her in total astonishment . . . but they did as she asked and took the
dogs and stepped back.

Egg walked over to the
gigantic boulder and pushed it. It groaned . . . then rolled about ten feet
which was more than enough to clear the road. “There. I think that should do
it. Have a nice day.” She blew them a kiss and flew away.

The firemen, with eyes
wide and mouths hanging open, watched as she disappeared out of sight.

*****

On the way home Egg
thought about what just happened. “Curiouser and curiouser,” she said to
herself. “If I wear the ring on my left hand, I can change my size. If I wear
it on my right hand, I become incredibly strong. Who would have guessed? Grammy
is never going to believe it when I tell her.”

*****

The next day there
appeared an article in the paper…

Chapter 4 –
Dizzy World

“. . . and then I gave the
boulder a little shove, and it rolled about ten feet. Grammy, I just know that
I could have picked it up if I had tried.”

Her grandmother was so
stunned with this news, that for a moment she couldn’t even talk.

“Grammy . . . are you
still there?”

“Yes, precious one, I’m
still here. I am just so overwhelmed by this newest revelation. Superhuman
strength . . . it’s incredible. At the chance of sounding like a doddering old
woman, I’ll repeat what I said before . . . How in the world did any of us who
wore the suit and jewelry before you not find out what it did?”

“I can’t answer that,
Grammy.”

The older woman chuckled
“you weren’t supposed to. It’s a rhetorical question . . . one that isn’t meant
to be answered.”

“Oh,” responded Egg not
really understanding.

“And I’m forced to repeat
something else I said . . . It’s as if the suit and jewelry were made just
for you.”

For some reason that reminded
Egg of her dream conversation “Grammy, I talked to Dazzle last night.”

Again, there was a moment
of silence. “What did she say, dear one?”

Egg repeated the
conversation as well as she could remember it.

“My, oh my.”

“What’s the matter,
Grammy?”

“It’s hard to put into
words, love. But it certainly seems that there is a greater mystery surrounding
the flying suit and jewelry than I ever imagined. And where it will lead . . .
I can’t even hazard a guess.”

“Grammy, are you trying to
scare me?”

“Oh, no, no . . . not at
all. In fact, just the opposite. It seems that there is a grand and beneficial
design to all this. Grander than anything I could even conceive.”

“What the heck does that
mean?”

Again, there was a moment
of silence. “Whoever created the suit and jewelry probably did it for some very
great purpose. I think it goes beyond just doing good deeds like saving animals
or boys trapped in a mine. And . . .  (again she paused as she searched for the
right words) . . . somehow you are the key that makes it all work. From the
first time you flew, it was obvious to me that something special was happening.
And now with all the magic you’re discovering . . . well, it’s certainly no
accident. In fact, I think it’s the tasks Dazzle talked about.”

“You mean I have to
discover all the magic, then she’ll tell me what’s going on?”

“I think so.”

“So, I guess I
should try on the snake bracelet.” She shuddered at the thought. That thing
scared her, and she didn’t know why.

“Yes . . . but not now.
That thing always frightened me.”

“GRAMMY . . . me too.”

“Oh, my.” Again, there was
silence for a moment, “Egg, promise me you won’t try it on until you talk to
Dazzle.”

“Why?”

“Just promise me.”

“Okay, Grammy, I promise.”

“Enough about this for the
moment; let things unfold as they will. So what are your plans for the rest of
the day?”

“I’m not sure . . .” all
this talk about flying and magical powers and stuff was making her head spin.
Then a sudden thought came to her. “Grammy, I have a wonderful idea, but I’ll
need your help.”

“And what might that be?”
The older woman listened to her granddaughter then laughed. “Why that sounds
perfect. Call Sylvia and I’ll be over in a half hour to pick you up.”

*****

Her grandmother honked and
Egg yelled good-bye to her sister and went out the front door. Slung over one
shoulder was her small backpack.

She skipped to the car,
opened the door and slid in. “Hi, Grammy.”

“Hello, love. I’m so glad
you asked me to join you and Sylvia on this little adventure. I was getting
pretty bored sitting home because of all this rain.”

“It is exciting, isn’t it?
I’ve never been to the one in Florida before. They say it’s much bigger and
nicer than the one in California.” But since it was only two blocks to Sylvia’s
house, they didn’t have much of a chance to discuss the upcoming trip. And,
they couldn’t talk about it in front of the other girl . . . well, not just
yet.

They pulled into Sylvia’s
driveway and honked. The girl came running out while her mother stood in the
doorway waving. Grammy and Egg waved back.

“How’s your finger?” were
the first words out of Ham’s mouth when she got in the car.

“Almost as good as new.”

“So what’s the big
surprise that you couldn’t tell me on the phone?”

“You’ll have to wait till
we get to Grammy’s house.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“That’s no answer.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then trust me.” With
that, Ham stuck out her tongue.

*****

As Ham and Grammy sat on
the couch in the living room, Egg took her backpack and went to the bathroom.
When she came out, she was wearing her flying suit.

“Wow” said Ham, “That’s a
cool costume. What is it?”

“It’s a flying suit. Let
me tell you a fantastically, unbelievable story . . .” and she told her friend
the same story she had told her twice before. Of course, Sylvia would forget it
again an hour after Egg changed back to her regular clothes. But for now . . .

“Are you telling me that
you can fly us to Florida?”

“Yes.”

Sylvia looked at Egg’s
grandmother who smiled and nodded yes. “That’s too cool. What are we waiting
for?”

So they walked out the
back door and Egg took hold of her friend’s hand and her grandmother’s and
said, “Ready?”  But before they could answer she flexed her knees, pushed up
and they were airborne.

The older Eloise smiled
contentedly as the old sensation swept over her. She was flying again . . .
just like she did fifty years ago. And the years melted away and she felt like
she was sixteen.

Sylvia’s face held the
same expression as it did the last two times . . . first fright at being so high,
then awestruck at what her friend could do and finally joy with the thrill of
soaring above the earth, playing hide and seek with the clouds.

And in no time at all,
they were over Florida and heading for Disneyworld.

For the rest of the
afternoon and right into the early evening they went on ride after ride,
attraction after attraction, ate cotton candy and hot dogs, and just had a
magical time.

There was the
Pirates of the Caribbean . . .

. . . and Alice in Wonderland

. . . and A Small World

. . . the best ride in the
whole world (at least Disneyworld) unless you were older than a kid . . . the
Tea Cups.

When the ride finished,
all three of them were dizzy enough to fall down. It felt like the world was
spinning like a top. It took quite awhile for their eyes to regain their focus
and the blurry world to regain its shape. Then they did it again.

As the sun
finally set, the best attraction of all began . . . the Electric Light Parade.
All three kids were mesmerized by the spectacle . . .

When it was over, they
walked out the front entrance, looked back one last time at the Magic Kingdom…

. . . and flew home.

They went back to Grammy’s
house and Egg changed out of her flying suit. Then all three sat at the kitchen
table, drank hot chocolate and relived every minute of their adventure.

An hour later, Sylvia
couldn’t remember what they had done all afternoon. Egg told her they had
played a game of make believe.

“Oh, of course” said Ham.
“And we pretended we went to Disneyland, right?”

“Umm . . . actually it was
only Dizzy-land.” And as usual, Egg felt sad that she wouldn’t be able to share
the memory of their adventure with her best friend. She looked at her Grammy
who gave her a knowing smile of encouragement.

Chapter 5 –
Dear Diary

Grazella Grackle wasn’t a very happy person. It was hard for most
people to understand why that was. Her husband had been a successful doctor and
well respected by everyone. Her four children, who were all grown up now with
families of their own, had been well-behaved kids with lots of friends. And
Grazella herself had been a very popular girl when she was in elementary
school.

Back then, her best friend
had been her next-door neighbor . . .  Eloise Earhart – Egg’s Grammy. They were
still neighbors, but they were no longer friends.

When they were
young, they shared everything – very much like Ham and Egg. Nowadays, the only
thing they shared was their mailbox . . .

. . . well, not actually
the mailbox, but the post that held them up.

It all started when Grazella
was eleven years old. She would never forget that day. It was the day she was
overwhelmed with jealousy, the day everyone started to laugh at her and call
her Crazy Grazy, and the day she became what she was today . . . not a very
happy person.

It was a Saturday late in
May. The sun was out and the sky was a beautiful clear blue. If she could have
climbed to the top of a mountain, she would have been able to see forever. But
she wasn’t headed up . . . but down. Down to the lake almost a mile behind her
parent’s farm. She and her dog Sparky were going fishing for trout. Her daddy
loved to eat that fish and every time his daughter caught him one, he give her
a big hug and a kiss.

She had asked her best
friend to join her, but Eloise said she had chores to do. So Grazella went by
herself (if you don’t count Sparky).

She hiked down
to the lake. And what a wonderful lake it was . . . clear blue water that
perfectly reflected the sky and surrounded on three sides by rocky cliffs about
thirty feet high.

Since it was so warm,
Grazella would have liked to fish closer to the water, but the best fishing
holes were underneath these cliffs. So she hiked to the top and found her
favorite spot. She placed a blanket and her lunch pail under a tree, took out
her fishing pole, hooked a worm, and cast out her line. Then she did what all
good fishermen do, she sat down and waited.

About fifteen minutes
later while she was staring down at the lake, she was startled by her best
friend’s reflection in the water. Eloise’s arms were outstretched and she was
wearing a funny costume. She watched the reflection go from one side of the
lake to the other then disappear. That’s when she looked up . . . but for the
life of her, she just couldn’t remember if she saw Eloise up in the sky. But it
didn’t matter. Her girlfriend could fly and she had seen her do it.

She was about to pack up
her things and run home so she could catch Eloise when she landed, but just
then a stupid fish tried to eat her worm. The pull on the fishing rod almost
was too much for her and she was just able to hang on. If she had a knife, she
would have cut the line. But as it was, she had to take the time to haul the
fish in. It was a big one and fought for all it was worth. In the end, however,
Grazella won.

It was a beauty . . .
probably eight or nine pounds. She smiled because she knew her daddy would be
really happy. It was one of the last times she did . . . you know . . . smile.

She packed up her stuff
and she and her dog ran all the way home. Sparky wasn’t really happy about
that; he didn’t much care for running. By the time they reached the house, they
were both exhausted and in desperate need of water.

Grazella went into the
kitchen and gave her mother the fish. “Grazy” that was her momma’s nickname for
her, ‘this is a beauty. Your daddy is going to hug you to death.”

Normally Grazella would
hang around and help her mom clean the fish. But now she was in a hurry. “Gotta
go, Mom. I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Where you going?”

“To Eloise’s” she yelled
as she raced out the door.

Somehow, she had enough
strength to run to her friend’s house. When she got there, she looked around
but didn’t see anyone. “Good” she thought figuring she was in time to catch her
friend when she landed.

Behind the house was a big
oak tree. Grazella jumped up on a limb and waited. The minutes ticked by and
the girl was beginning to worry . . . . but then she saw her. Eloise came
swooping down and flew right into her bedroom window. “SHE CAN FLY” Grazella
yelled at a squirrel who was watching her from a hole in the trunk of the tree.
He apparently had no opinion about that either way.

Grazella jumped down and
ran into the house and right up to Eloise’s bedroom. Without knocking she burst
in and there was her friend . . . wearing her regular clothes.

“I saw you.”

Eloise was shocked by her
friend’s sudden appearance . . . and accusation. Then she calmed down and
smiled. “Saw what?” she asked innocently.

“I saw you fly. How can
you fly? Is it magic? Can I fly, too?”

“You saw me fly . . . are
you sure?”

“YES” Grazella yelled.
“Don’t you lie to me, Eloise Erheart. You’re my best friend and you shouldn’t
lie to me.” She was about to cry.

Eloise knew that in one
hour, her friend would forget that she ever saw anything. So, for next sixty
minutes she asked Grazella to tell her everything she saw . . . leaving out no
details. Then she kept asking question after question. At one point, she
excused herself to go to the bathroom, then to make tea, then to check on a
newborn colt. And, before you knew it, the hour was gone.

“I’m so forgetful,
Grazella, what were you saying?”

At this point, the other
girl could only remember seeing Eloise’s reflection in the lake. Everything
else was gone. “I saw you flying.”

Now it was Eloise’s turn
to be shocked. Why hadn’t her friend forgotten? “Fly . . . that’s the silliest
thing I ever heard. Where was I flying?”

“At the lake . . . I saw
your reflection in the water.”

So . . . a person would
remember if they saw her reflection because they weren’t looking directly at
her. This was a problem. And as much as she hated to do it, she had to lie to
her best friend.

“I think maybe you were
daydreaming, Grazella. I really don’t know how to fly.”

That day, their friendship
ended. And every time she told people that Eloise could fly, they would call
her Crazy Grazy. On that day, Grazella became what she is today . . . not a
happy person.

*****

The Saturday after their
adventure to Florida, Egg was back at her Grammy’s. The rainy weather had ended
and spring had sprung with a vengeance.  Flowers were blooming, birds were
chirping and bees were buzzing. It was just a perfect day.

Egg had two
reasons for being here besides the fact that she just liked spending time with
her grandmother. First, she wanted to update her diary with the details of
their trip to Disneyworld. And she wanted Grammy to listen to the new Fandango
Sally CD. It was about time for her to learn about really good music. All her
grandmother ever played was songs by some guy name Frank…um…Snotrum. No, that
wasn’t it. Oh well, it didn’t matter. Whoever he was, he just couldn’t sing
very well.

Egg and her Grammy were
sitting at the kitchen table.  Egg’s diary was in front of her. “Okay, so
here’s what I have so far . . .” and she read from her journal.

“Did I miss anything?”

“Ummm . . . the only thing
I can think of is how dizzy we were after the Tea Cup ride.”

“Oh, yeah” and the girl
made another entry. When she was finished, she closed the book and said “Okay,
Grammy. Now come into the living room and listen to my music” and they walked
into the other room. “Sit down right here” she pointed to a big comfy chair,
“and listen very carefully to the words.”

“Sweetheart, just don’t
play it too loud. My old ears might explode.”

“Oh, silly . . . that
can’t happen. Anyway, this one’s the official song of the Hameggattic
Sisterhood and it’s called Don’t Mess with My Sister, Mister.”

“Catchy.”

“Ready . . .” and she
turned on the music and the older Eloise smiled . . . but she didn’t really
look happy.

When it was over, Egg
asked “Well is that like the best song you ever heard?”

“I truly can’t find the
words to describe it.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.
Okay, the next one is . . .”

“Love, just choose one
more. I really can’t handle the whole album in one sitting.”

“Well, okay . . . hmmm . .
. which one should I pick. Oh, I know. This one’s called We Can Do It.
Ready or not . . .”

“That was
delightful” exaggerated the older woman.

“I knew you’d like it.”

“I can see where all you
young people get your energy from . . . it’s the music.”

“Grammy . . . you really
do understand. You’re just too cool” and she gave her a hug.

“Sad to say, my little
one, it’s time for me to drive you home. I had such a pleasant time. Be sure to
collect all your stuff . . . especially your music.”

So Egg grabbed her diary
and CD and put them into a little bag she brought to carry them in and she and
her Grammy walked out to the car.

“Sweetheart, before you
get in, please check the mailbox. I’m expecting an important letter.”

So Egg ran over to the
double mailbox stand, put her bag down and opened the box. Sure enough, there
was an armful of letters and magazines in there. But when she went to scoop
them up, her foot kicked over her little bag and her diary flew out.

With her arms full of
mail, she reached down without looking, grabbed her bag then ran back to the
car. She got in and they drove away.

*****

A few minutes
later Crazy Grazy ambled out of her house and over to the mailbox. She opened
it and took out a single magazine . . . TV Guide.

She looked at the cover,
which had a picture of Superman on it. “Well, at least this guy can fly” she
muttered to herself. After fifty years, she was still upset about her
ex-best-friend. As she turned to walk back to her house, she noticed Egg’s
diary and bent down to pick it up. She examined it, figured it belonged to her
neighbor’s grandkid and was about to put it in her mailbox.

But being
bored, and just a snoopy old woman, Grazy changed her mind and took it with her
back to the house.

She went to the kitchen,
put on some tea then sat down to read whatever silly nonsense the kid had
written. She thumbed through the book hardly reading anything . . . until one
word caught her eye. She stopped and read the entry…

Sunday,
August 26: It’s like a dream . . . an unbelievable dream. My Grammy gave me a
flying suit last night and now I can fly . . . just like she did when she was
my age.

“I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT. I’M
NOT CRAZY. SHE CAN FLY, SHE CAN FLY.”

Books 5

Fried Egg

Book 5 of

Egg
and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016, by Robert
Iannone,

All
Rights Reserved.

.

Table of Contents

Chapter
1 – Still Crazy (after all these years)

Chapter
2 – Itchy and Scratchy

Chapter
3 – Fog City

Chapter
4 – Me, Myself and I

Chapter 5 – Don’t Tell Tinkerbelle

Chapter 1 – Still Crazy

(after
all these years)

“Grammy, I
think I left my diary at your house” said a very upset Egg.

“No, dear one, I’m sure I
saw you put it in your little bag along with your music CD.”

“I looked in there
already. Maybe it fell out when I was walking to your car or maybe in your car.
Could you please check for me?” She had just returned from a visit to her
grandmother’s house.

“Of course I will.” The
older woman knew how important the diary was to her granddaughter. “I’ll do it
right now and call you back.”

“Oh, thank you, Grammy.”
Egg hung up the phone and plopped backwards on to her bed. She sighed loudly
and started to think about the streak of bad luck she was having.

First, the
little chest that contained her flying suit fell off a shelf and bonked her on
the head.

That caused her to lose
her memory for two days. In fact, it was only when her grandmother read to her
from the diary that her memory came back.

Then the chest was
mistakenly sold by her mother when they had a garage sale. If it hadn’t been
for her dream friend, Dazzle, they would never have known it was being
auctioned on eBay.

And, now her
diary was missing. Well, her dad once told her that bad things happened in
three’s. So hopefully this would be the last of her misfortunes.  That thought
reminded Egg of those books her sister had read. They were written by some guy
with a funny name . . . Lemonade something.

So, to take her mind off
her misplaced diary . . . her most valuable possession in the whole world after
her flying suit and jewelry . . . she daydreamed of writing a book. “Hmmm, I
can have a make-believe boyfriend (she involuntarily shivered at the thought)
and call the book Egg’s Benedict” But she could never write about such a
gruesome subject. “Okay, maybe The Secret Egg.” The secret, of course,
was that she was Flying Girl.  But that wouldn’t work . . . then everyone would
know her secret and it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. She could never let that
happen.

“I know, how about that
Chinese food Mom made me eat - Egg Foo Yung. It almost sounds like Egg
Flew Young which, of course, I did . . . I mean I do. How clever is that .
. .” but before she could finish congratulating herself, the phone rang.

She jumped up and grabbed
it. “Hi, Grammy”.

But it wasn’t her. “Hi,
Egg, it’s Brad. Is your sister there?”

Brad was her sister
Ashley’s boyfriend. “Brad, you can’t talk to her right now. I’m expecting my
Grammy to call about my diary” and she hung up before he could say anything.
Not a second later, the phone rang again.

“Brad, I said . . . oh,
sorry Grammy. Did you find it?” She had already convinced herself that her
grandmother would.

“I’m terribly sorry little
one, but I didn’t see it anywhere.”

“OH, NO” Egg moaned in
distress. Then she remembered something that gave her a little glimmer of hope.
“Grammy, did you look by your mailbox? You asked me to check if your important
letter had been delivered.”

“I did, didn’t I Hold the
phone for a minute and let me go check.” It actually took about forty-three
seconds, but to Egg it felt like most of forever. “Sorry, my love, but it’s not
there either.”

“Oh, Grammy . . . that
book contains just about my whole life.” Truth was she only had it for about
two years . . . but it was certainly the most interesting two years.

“Egg . . . do you write
about Flying Girl in your diary?” It wasn’t really meant to be a question
because she knew her granddaughter did. She was just thinking out loud.

“Well, of course. It’s the
most important thing in my life. Why?”

The older
woman paused to consider one unpleasant possibility. “There’s a chance that
Grazy picked it up if you dropped it by the mailbox.” She and her neighbor,
Grazella Grackle shared the mailbox stand.

“I’ll walk over and ask
her as soon as we hang up.”

“Grammy, what do I do if I
never find it?”

“We’ll find it, my love, I
promise.”

That made Egg feel a
million times better. Any time her Grammy told her that, it always came true.

*****

Eloise Erheart (that was
Grammy’s real name) walked the short distance to her neighbor’s house and knocked
on the front door. She had only been here a few times in the last fifty years.
But when she was young . . . about Egg’s age . . . she and Grazy were the best
of friends. Inseparable, actually.

Then one day that all
changed. It was the day Grazy had seen her fly.

Well, she actually only
saw Eloise’s reflection in the lake behind her house. Because it was a
reflection, the suit’s magic didn’t work and the girl didn’t forget what she
had seen. She confronted her friend who, of course, denied it. That was when
their friendship ended.

From that day on,
whenever she told someone that Eloise could fly, they would laugh and call her
Crazy Grazy. And as time went on, she became a very unhappy person.

While waiting for the door
to be answered, Eloise thought about all of this and it made her very sad. Anytime
you lose a friend, especially a best friend, it’s just about one of the worst
things that can happen to you. And when you are the one that causes the
friendship to end . . . well, that makes the whole thing just that much more
tragic.

After a
moment, the door opened and there was Alvin, Grazy’s husband. In his hand was a
sign . . .

“Well, hello Eloise.” Alvin liked his neighbor and was sorry that she and his wife were no longer friends. He
tried to help them reconcile . . . but Grazy would have none of that.

“Morning, Alvin. What are you doing with that sign, if I may ask?”

“We’re selling the old
place. My son and daughter-in-law in Alabama invited us to live with them. They
have six or seven kids . . . I kind of lost count . . . and they could use our
help. And, we could use the company.”

Eloise was shocked at the
news. Grazy had lived next door for her whole life and now she was moving away
. . . and they would never patch things up. It made her feel just terrible.
“I’m very sorry you and Grazy are moving. But I understand how lovely it will
be to have your family around.”

“Mighty nice of you to
say. So, what can I do for you today?”

“My granddaughter dropped
her diary by the mailbox. I was wondering if you or Grazy had seen it?”

“Hmmm . . . now that you
mention it, I do believe that my wife found something. She’s been locked in her
sewing room jabbering to herself about lord knows what. She seemed pretty
agitated but won’t tell me what’s got her upset.”

“May I talk to her?”

“You can try. Go right in;
meanwhile I need to plant this sign out front.”

So Eloise walked into the
house . . . almost as familiar to her as her own . . . and made her way down a
long hallway to the sewing room. She knocked and then said, “Grazy, it’s me . .
. Eloise. May I talk to you?”

“GO AWAY.”

“Please, Grazy. I’ll only
be a minute.”

Eloise waited and finally
the door opened. There stood Grazy with Egg’s diary in one hand, and a
newspaper in the other.

“You lied to me. YOU
LIED TO ME. I was your best friend and you lied to me. How could you do
that?”

Eloise knew that this was
going to happen. But, just like fifty years ago, she was sworn to keep the
secret of the flying suit . . . even if it meant deceiving her best friend
again. “If you’re talking about what my granddaughter wrote in her diary; it’s
just the overactive imagination of a nine-year-old girl.”

“Ha. Not this time,
Eloise. Now I have proof.”

“Proof of what . . . that
a person can fly? Does that make any sense to you?”

For just a
moment, Grazy felt unsure of herself but that passed quickly. “See this . . .”
and she held out the newspaper she was holding.

“Yes.”

“I called these people up
and they’re sending over a reporter to read the diary. If they like what they
read, they’re going to buy it from me for $1000 and then they’ll put it in
their newspaper for the whole world to see.”

Eloise felt faint . . .
this was a disaster. “Grazy . . . I’m sorry that we’re no longer friends. It
hurt me terribly to lose your friendship; you meant the world to me. You know
that I’ve tried over the years to mend fences with you. Now, I’m asking you . .
. in the name of all that we once meant to each other . . . please return the
book. It doesn’t belong to you; it’s my granddaughter’s most valuable
possession and she’ll be devastated if she doesn’t get it back.”

Grazy was taken aback by
the emotion in Eloise’s voice. For a moment she looked at her ex-best friend
and felt the same love that she had felt a half a century ago — and her eyes
began to water. She pushed away those feelings and said, “I can’t. I won’t.”

“Grazy, please.”

“Go away, Eloise.”

“Grazy, I’ll do anything . . . please return the diary.”

“Anything?” For a moment,
the other woman was lost in thought. “Meet me at the lake in one hour.”

“Why?”

“Cause I want you to take
me flying. That’s all I ever wanted.” And with that, she slammed the door shut.
A second later, she opened it again and said in a very quiet voice, “I would
have kept your secret. We were best friends.” She paused for a second then
added, “We were sisters.”

*****

“Grammy, I’m so mad I
could scream. How could she? It’s my diary.” If Egg were an egg, she would be a
fried one.

“Sweetheart, right now
that’s beside the point. I need you to fly over here right away. Can you leave
for about an hour without anyone missing you?”

“Sure, I’m here with just
Ashley and Brad. They won’t miss me.”

“Wonderful. Please get
here as soon as you can.”

*****

Ten minutes later, Egg
landed at the back of her grandmother’s house, knocked on the door and went
inside. “Hi, Grammy.”

“Hi, Sweetheart. Thank you
for getting here so quickly.”

“What are we going to do,
Grammy?”

“First, I need to tell you
the reason Grazy and I are no longer best friends.”

“I didn’t know you were
best friends?”

“We were . . . a very long
time ago” and the older Eloise told her the story of how Grazy became Crazy and
very unhappy.

“So that’s why she won’t
give me back my diary.”

“Yes. But maybe we can
exchange the diary for a flight with Flying Girl.”

“Oh . . . do you think
so?”

“I believe she will. So,
let me tell you what I want you to do . . .”

“You mean you’re not
coming too?” interrupted Egg.

“No. I don’t want Grazy to
see me . . . it might upset her again. Besides, when she sees you, she’ll think
it’s me.” Grandmother and granddaughter not only shared their first names; but
they also shared something else. When Grammy was Egg’s age, she looked almost
exactly like her namesake. The resemblance was amazing. And in all the times
that Egg had visited, she had never met Grazy, though she saw her once or twice
from a distance. And almost certainly, Grazy saw her. But the older woman’s
eyesight wasn’t very good and she probably never noticed the resemblance
between her ex-best-friend and Egg.

So the older woman gave
her granddaughter instructions.

“Well then . . . wish me
luck.”

*****

Grazy walked slowly down
the path towards the lake. In her hands were a camera and the diary. This time
she was going to be ready. She would set-up the camera but hide it from Eloise.
When her ex-best friend flew over, she would take pictures . . . it would be
the proof she needed. Then the newspaper would definitely publish the story and
everyone would know she wasn’t crazy.

She made her way to the
very spot where she had been fishing fifty years ago and first saw her friend
fly. There was a bush at the edge of the cliff and a perfect place to set up
the camera. After hiding it, she took a cord, attached one end to the shutter
switch, and held the other end in her hand.

Smiling at how clever she was,
she sat down and waited.

*****

Egg flew the
short distance to the lake. She hovered above the surrounding cliffs looking
for Grazy. After a moment, she spotted the woman sitting down next to a bush at
one of the highest points above the water.

She flew over and slowly
and gracefully landed right in front of her. “Hello, Grazy.”

The older woman was
stunned into the silence. She stared at the girl with her eyes as wide as
saucers and her mouth hanging open. It took her a full minute before she could
talk. “Eloise . . . is that really you?”

“Yes, of course.”

“But . . . but . . .
you’re so young. You have to be the same age as when I first saw you fly.”

“I’m nine . . . so that
would be about the right age. You were probably ten at the time.”

Grazy wasn’t sure which
shocked her more – seeing Eloise fly, or seeing her so young. “But . . . but .
. . how is it possible? I just saw you an hour ago. How did you become young
again?”

Egg was to try and avoid
fibbing to Grazy if at all possible. So she ignored the question and said,
“Grazy, I’ll take you flying if you’d like. I should have done this fifty years
ago. I hope you’ll forgive me?”

“No . . . I can never
forgive you.”

“I understand. But take my
hand anyway and we’ll fly over the lake.” Egg held out her hand.

“No.”

Now the young girl was
confused. “I thought you said if I take you flying, you’d return the diary.”

“No, I’m not going to
return it. I found it and now it’s mine. And . . .” she reached into the bush
and took out the camera “with these pictures I just took of you, that newspaper
will buy my story. And in a week, the whole world will know that you can fly
and that I’M NOT CRAZY.” She yelled the last part.

This wasn’t going
according to her Grammy’s plan and Egg wasn’t sure what to do. “Grazy, please
come fly with me.” Egg held out her hand.

The older woman angrily
shook her head and took a step backwards. Unfortunately, she tripped over the
cord she had tied to the camera’s shutter. Her arms wind-milled in a frantic
effort to regain her balance, but it was too late. Grazy screamed as she fell
off the cliff.

*****

About ten minutes later,
Egg returned to her grandmother’s house. When she went inside she said with a
big smile “Grammy, I got my diary back” and held it up for the older woman to
see.

“Oh, that’s wonderful
dear. So, tell me what happened.”

“Well, it didn’t quite go
like you thought it would.”

“Really? What happened?”

“Grazy didn’t want to go
flying. She had a camera hidden in a bush and took my picture. She was going to
sell it to some newspaper.”

“Oh, my. Why did she
change her mind?”

“Because she fell off the
cliff.”

“What? Is she
alright?” asked the horrified woman.

“Oh, she’s fine. I caught
her just before she smashed into the rocks at the bottom. Thank goodness I wore
my ring on my right hand.”

Worn on her left hand, the
ring allowed Egg to change her size. Worn on the right hand, it gave her great
strength.

“I’m glad, too. But what
in the world made you wear it? And why did you wear it on the right hand and
not the left?”

“Umm . . . I don’t really
know. When I was getting dressed, I had no intention of putting it on. But when
I went to close the little chest, the ring kind of twinkled at me. So, I took
it out and slipped it on. But, I don’t know why I put it on my right hand.”

“Very, very interesting.
It’s like the ring knew it would be needed. Anyway, finish your story
about Grazy.”

“Well, after I saved her,
she gave me a big hug and started to cry. Then she said she was sorry and that
she missed me . . . I mean you . . . and she would burn the pictures. And, she
gave me back the diary.”

“Did you ever take her
flying?”

“We flew around the lake
then I flew her to her house.”

“And . . .”

“She hugged me once more
and smiled. Then she went inside.”

“You did wonderfully, my
love. I’m very proud of you. Only . . .” she didn’t finish so Egg did for her.

“. . . only you wish she
could remember so that you two could be best friends again. Right?”

Eloise, the elder, didn’t
answer. She couldn’t; she was crying for a friend she had lost so many years
ago.

Chapter
2 – Itchy and Scratchy

The next evening Egg
decided to call her grandmother to make sure she was alright. She had been very
upset about ‘you know who’. “Hi, Grammy.”

“Hello, little one. How
are you?”

“Actually, I think I might
have gotten poison ivy or something on my face when I was at the lake. My
cheeks are bright red and they itch something terrible.  I look like a circus
clown. Mom says it’ll go away in about a week. But that’s not why I called. I
wanted to make sure that you were okay. Are you feeling a little bit
better?”

“Oh, sweetheart, thank you
so much for asking. Yes, I’m feeling terrific. Do you know why?”

“Because I called?”

The older woman laughed.
“Well, that’s part of it. But the other reason is that Grazy and I made up. We’re
friends again. Isn’t that marvelous?”

“GRAMMY” Egg yelled
in her excitement. “OH MY GOSH. That’s just way too cool for words. How?
What happened?”

“It was the
most amazing thing. About ten o’clock this morning, I answered a knock on the
door and to my surprise, it was Grazy. In her hand was a vase full of spring
flowers that she had picked from her garden . . .”

“. . . and she said
‘Eloise, these are for you.’ Well, I stood there like a big goof just staring
from Grazy’s face to the flowers.”

“Then what happened?”

“After an embarrassing few
moments, I finally found my voice and said ‘Thank you, Grazy. Would you like to
come in for some tea?’ And she said yes. Anyway, we sat and chatted about this
and that for a while then I just had to ask what made her come over . . . was
it the fact that she was moving away?”

“No . . . well, that’s
part of it” she said. “But, the real reason is that I had the strangest dream.
You and I were at the lake and you were young again. And then you saved me when
I fell and . . .” she stopped talking and looked down at her hands that were
resting on her lap. “. . . .it’s all kind of mixed up. But what I did remember
very clearly was how much you meant to me, how much I loved you.” She stopped
again, and this time she wiped at the tears in her eyes. “I’m just an old fool
for wasting all these years over something so silly. And I was hoping that you
could forgive me.” Now she was sobbing uncontrollably.

Eloise walked over, sat by
her childhood friend, and pulled her close. “We’re both old fools, and there’s
nothing to forgive.” Now they were both crying, not from sadness, but from
happiness.

“So, my little one, Grazy
and I are friends again; even if it’s only for a little while before she moves
away.”

“Grammy,” Egg sniffled,
“I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you, dear. I know
the flying suit will bring you great joy and many wonderful adventures. I just
pray that it doesn’t ever come between you and the people you love.”

*****

That night Egg went to bed
very happy. It was so wonderful that her Grammy got her best friend back . . .
even if it was only for a little while. As she snuggled into her big fluffy
pillows, she decided that tonight she would take her Grammy’s advice and ask
Dazzle about the creepy snake bracelet before she tried to figure out what it
did. Both she and her grandmother shared the same uneasy feelings about it. She
closed her eyes and as she almost always did, Egg fell asleep very quickly.

“Dazzle” her mind called
out. “Dazzle, can I talk to you?”

“I am here.”

“Hi, Dazzle. Hi Storm.”

“Storm
cannot hear you.”

“Oh. Why?”

“He is
not here.”

“Where did he go?”

“Nowhere.”

“Huh?”

“It is
not important. Someday I will explain.”

“If you say so,” the girl
answered reluctantly since her curiosity was piqued. “Dazzle, can I ask you
something?”

“You
may ask. But, be warned, I may not be able to answer.”

“I want to find out about
the magic of the bracelet but the snakes really, really scare me. I don’t like
snakes. So . . . “

“Scared?
Did you say scared?”

“Yes. So I was wondering .
. .”

Dazzle interrupted her. “How do
you face such fear?”

“Um . . . that’s why I’m
talking to you. I’m afraid to put it on because it might do something super
horrible. So I was hoping you could tell me that it won’t hurt me.”

“The
One I seek would never require assurance such as that. She would be cautious,
yes . . . careful, most certainly . . . but never scared into inaction. Your
reaction to the bracelet saddens me. I had believed you were the one I have
waited so long for . . . but may haps I was wrong. I must leave to consider
this unfortunate development.”

“No, no . . . Dazzle,
wait” but she was gone. Egg woke up from the dream with a start. It took her a
moment to understand where she was and what had just happened. Then she put her
hand to her cheeks and tried not to cry.

But she did. Dazzle was
gone and she felt like she had lost her best friend.

*****

Egg got out of bed and
with a great effort, she forced herself to stop crying. She needed to think and
that’s hard to do when your face is leaking water all over your pretty pink
pajamas.

Her first thought was that
this was the only time that her Grammy’s advice turned out to be wrong. And not
just ordinary wrong, but catastrophically, monumentally, gigantically,
stupendously and spectacularly wrong. Well . . . you get the idea.

Even though it was late,
Egg wanted to call her grandmother and tell her what had happened.  But before
she dialed the number, an idea came to her. She went to her desk, took out the
key and unlocked the chest that contained her flying suit and jewelry. Off went
her pajamas and on went the suit. Then she took a deep breath, gathered what
little courage she could muster and pulled out the dreaded, and ever-so-icky,
snake bracelet.

Holding it with just two
fingers and at arm’s length, she looked at it through scrunched eyes that were
almost squinty shut. Taking one more deep breath, she went to slip it over her
right hand.

But she couldn’t. As the
bracelet crossed over her fingers, it began to shrink. It became so small that
she couldn’t get it past the widest part of her hand. “Curiouser and
Curiouser,” she said to no one in particular.

The ring and necklace had
been too large for her. But each time she put them on, they would shrink to
fit. So why was the bracelet shrinking to stop her from wearing it. That didn’t
make any sense.

Since she had no choice,
she took the bracelet off her hand and it grew back to its original size. So
she quickly tried to put it back on . . . but it shrank again. “Guess I can’t
fool it.”

What to do, what to do?
Calling her grandmother seemed like the logical next step. But again, as she
was about to dial the number, she stopped. If she was going to be Flying Girl
and battle evil, defeat ugly villains and save cats, dogs and obnoxious boys
from harm, it was about time she made her own decisions. Well, maybe she would
ask for advice sometimes since she was still only nine. But right now she
goofed and she needed to make it right.

“Okay” she said out loud
“exactly how did I goof?”

While she pondered the
question, she sat on her bed holding the bracelet in her left hand while
slipping it on and off the fingers of her right one. It was kind of neat
watching it shrink then grow then shrink.

As to how she had messed
up, she wasn’t really sure. So, she replayed the conversation with Dazzle. “Oh
my gosh. I said I was scared then, to make it worse, I said I wouldn’t do
anything until she said it wouldn’t hurt me. Yikes. What kind of superhero
would say that?”

A horrible thought popped
into her head. “What if Dazzle is stopping the bracelet from fitting. Maybe
because she thinks I’m afraid, she won’t let me wear it.”

She wasn’t really
expecting an answer . . . but she got one. The eyes of the snake twinkled.
Egg’s mouth dropped open and she sat there staring at it. “That was weird,” she
finally managed to say.

She tried the bracelet one
more time . . . and this time it slipped easily over her hand and shrank to fit
snuggly on her wrist.

*****

“Dazzle.”

“I am
here.”

“Dazzle, I figured out why
the bracelet didn’t fit.”

“I
know. What became of your fear?”

“Oh, that. It was just me
being little girl silly.”

“Fear
of the unknown is not silly.

“It isn’t?”

“Only
if it stops you from doing what needs to be done.”

“So it’s okay to be
afraid?

“Many
times it is wise to be afraid. It makes one more cautious.

“Are you ever afraid?”

“Every
day.”

“Why?”

“Of
this I cannot yet speak.”

“Dazzle, are you going to
leave me again?”

“Perhaps.
But, you are only two tasks away from proving yourself.”

“What happens then?”

“Then I
will tell you my story. And, from that moment, we will be sisters.”

“Really? Will I get to
meet you?”

“Be
patient, little one. In time you will know all.”

“Good night, Dazzle.”

“Egg .
. . my heart sang with joy when you faced your fears. Sleep well.”

Chapter
3 – Fog City

Egg had absolutely no
idea.

Sitting on the edge of her
bed in her flying suit with the serpent bracelet snug on her right wrist, she
wasn’t sure what to do next. It wasn’t like she really figured out how the
other jewelry worked . . . it had been pure luck. But now she had to unlock the
mystery of the stupid snake or Dazzle might never come back.

But she couldn’t even
guess at how the thing worked. She lifted her hand and stared at the bracelet
thinking it might give away its secrets if she was nice to it. After five
minutes, it was obvious the snake had nothing to say – at least not to her.

She glanced at her alarm
clock and wasn’t particularly surprised to see it was almost midnight. Her eyes were heavy and it was difficult to stay awake – this was way past her bedtime.
She tried to think . . . but the inside of her head was lost in a fog.

Sighing loudly, Egg got up
and went to the bathroom to splash water on her eyes. Looking in the mirror
over the sink, she had to frown at the bright red cheeks staring back at her.
She really did look like a clown and the boys at school would never let her
forget it.

Egg shook her head sadly
at the frightful sight staring back at her. It was so unfair. She put her hands
over her cheeks to cover the unsightly color, looked at her reflection and said
“Eloise Grace Graystone – you don’t deserve to be punished for helping Grazy
and Grammy.” She squeezed her cheeks as if trying to grab the redness in her
hands so she could throw it away . . . then said the strangest thing. “Poison
Ivy be gone and take with you this unsightly redness.”

“Oh my gosh. What the heck
was that?” she said to her reflection. She never talked like that. How weird .
. . she must be really tired.

She stopped squeezing, let
out a loud breath and put her hands under the water faucet. Cupping them to
catch the water, she brought them to her face and yelped in surprise.

She stared and stared but
there was no mistake. The poison ivy and the redness were gone. Apparently, Egg
had cured herself. Well, to be more precise, she assumed the bracelet had cured
her.

When it all finally sank
into her sleepy brain, she said those three famous words she always said in
times like this . . . “OH MY GOSH.” And just for good measure, she added
another “OH MY GOSH.”

Egg did a little victory
dance all the way back to her bed. “Wait till I tell Dazzle” she thought and
was ready to jump under the covers and fall asleep right then and there. But of
course she was still wearing her flying suit so she first had to undress and
put her pajamas back on. She walked over to the desk, placed the suit and
bracelet back in the little chest, and relocked it. Now she was ready to talk
to Dazzle . . . except she wasn’t tired. The excitement of her discovery drove
the sleep right out of her head.

Trying to
figure out what she could do to make herself sleepy again, Egg hit upon an
idea. She turned on her computer, went to the Google search page and typed . .
.

. . . and clicked on
images. Maybe she could find out why a snake (or was it a serpent?) would be
used on a bracelet that could cure a person. And for the next thirty minutes,
she studied the images and explored different sites all the while feeling very
proud of her self. This is what Flying Girl should do . . . find her own
answers.

At the end of the half
hour, she had done just that. But sometimes answers lead to more questions.

The first
thing she discovered was that doctors liked to use a symbol called a caduceus
which showed two snakes wrapped round a rod with wings.

So there was a reason that
the bracelet had two snakes. But, after a little more investigating, she found
that the original symbol had only one snake…

. . . and since this one
was more than a thousand years older, it seemed to her that it would be the one
that Dazzle would have used. So if there should only be one snake, what was the
other one doing on the bracelet?

Egg never did
find the answer to that question. But she did find an image that for some
reason made her stop and stare. It was the image of a sea serpent thought to be
like the one they call the Loch Ness monster.

And the reason she stopped
and stared was because she thought she saw the serpent twinkle at her . . .
just like the bracelet had done.

But by now, she was exhausted
and couldn’t think very clearly. She turned off the computer, jumped into bed
and in less than a minute she was asleep . . . and talking to Dazzle.

“Pretty good for a
scaredy-cat.”

“I am unfamiliar with
such a creature. None the less, very well done.”

*****

“Good morning, Egg.”

“Morning, Mother.”

“Hey, what happened to the
rash on your face?”

“Oh, it went away last
night.”

“Really. That’s pretty
magical.”

Egg touched her cheek just
as she had done last night . . . and smiled.

*****

Ashley came down and
joined her little sister for breakfast. “Hey, what happened to your rosy red
cheeks?”

“Oh, it’ all gone.”

“I know it’s all gone; but
how?”

“Mom thinks it was magic.”
To change the subject, Egg asked, “Where did you get that tee shirt?” She
didn’t notice how red her sister’s eyes were.

“You like? I
got it at the new Hollister’s that just opened at the mall. It’s funky and
surreal . . . don’t you think?” It had a big picture of San Francisco’s Golden
Gate Bridge covered with fog.

“I do like it. Is San Francisco really that pretty?”

“Never been there but I’ve
heard it’s wonderful. It’s like one of the top ten cities to visit in the
entire world. I’d love to go.”

“Maybe Brad can take you
for your birthday.” Ashley’ eighteenth birthday was next week. Egg didn’t see
her mother give her a horrified look.

“I broke up with him,”
Ashley whispered with a look that said just the opposite.

“WHAT?” Her sister had
been dating Brad for almost two years. They were always together, which drove
Egg a little crazy. But over time, she actually learned to like him.

“He’s a big jerk, so I
dumped him.”

“What did he do?”

“Egg, that’s enough”
interrupted her mother. “Ashley’s a little upset right now. Please find
something else to talk about.”

Egg didn’t want to change
the subject. She didn’t like boys, didn’t understand why girls had boyfriends
and she certainly planned never to have one herself. But this was just so
interesting. What could he have done to make her sister break up with him? She
had to find out.

“Well, Ashley, if you ever
need someone to talk to, you may come to my room anytime you want.” Then she
quickly added, “but be sure to knock first.”

“Thanks, little sis, I
appreciate that.”

“Listen you two, Dad and I
are going out for about three or four hours”, said Mrs. Graystone to her
daughters.

“Antiquing?” asked Ashley.

“Of course. So finish your
breakfast then clean the kitchen, please. I’ll have my cell phone if you need
to call.”

“Morning, ladies of mine.
Are you ready, sweetheart?” It was Egg’s dad and he had his car keys in his
hand.

“Morning, Pop.”

“Morning, Dad.”

“Yes, dear, I’m ready.
Goodbye you two. Behave yourselves,” and with that Mr. and Mrs. Graystone swept
out the door.

*****

“He left me for another
girl.”

“Who?”

“Phoebe.”

“NO WAY.” Phoebe
was one of Ashley’s best friends.

Ashley stood up. “I’m
sorry,” she muttered and ran upstairs to her room. Egg followed her but stopped
at the closed bedroom door when she heard the sound of her sister crying
hysterically.

Standing there feeling
just terrible for Ashley, the Fandango Sally song “Don’t Mess with My
Sister, Mister” popped into her head. “I’ve got to do something.” But,
what?

Thinking furiously, a
great idea came to her. She ran to her room, put on her flying suit and the
jewelry (she decided that from now on she would wear all three pieces of
jewelry whenever she went flying) and hurried back to her sister’s room.

“Ring, make me small” and
she shrank herself so she could slip under the bottom of the door. “Ring, make
me as big as my sister.” This was a new sensation for Egg. She had made herself
small but never larger than her regular size. And Ashley was almost a foot
taller than she was.

Her sister was still
crying uncontrollably, and noisily, with her pillow over her face. Egg tried to
get her attention by clearing her throat but that didn’t work. Finally, she
shook the older girl on the leg.

Ashley sat up expecting to
see Egg. Instead, she saw Flying Girl and started to scream. “It’s okay, it’s
okay. I’m sorry I frightened you.”

“Who are you?”

“A friend.”

“How did you get in here?”

“Umm . . . I just kind of
slipped in.”

“What do you want?”

“Egg sent me. I’m to give
you a birthday gift.”

That made Ashley relax and
she wiped the tears out of her eyes and stood up. “Oh, how sweet. Is this like
a singing telegram?”

Egg had no idea what that
meant. “Not exactly. Can we walk out on your balcony for a second so I can show
you?” Ashley had one just like Egg’s.

“Well, okay I guess.” She
was now very curious.

They walked out and Egg
said, “Take my hand,” and Ashley did. A moment later, they were airborne.
Ashley’s expression was exactly like Sylvia’s had been . . . eyes wide, mouth
opened.

“What . . . what . . . how
. . . but . . .” she couldn’t quite find the right words to make a complete
sentence.

“We’re flying because I’m
Flying Girl. And, you and I are going to San Francisco. Would you like that?”

“But . . . umm . . . umm .
. .” she still couldn’t get the words out.

“Trust me. This will be
fun.”

*****

. . . and it was. The
first thing they saw was the Golden Gate Bridge and the famous San Francisco fog . . . just like on Ashley’s tee shirt.

. . . and Lombard Street, the most crooked in the world.

Then they rode a cable car
. . .

. . . to Fisherman’s
Wharf, ate crab and saw the docks covered with dozens and dozens of lazy sea
lions.

Their final stop was to Coit Tower, a monument to the city’s firemen.

Then they flew high over San Francisco Bay and took one last look
. . .

. . . before flying home.

They landed back on Ashley’s
balcony and Egg let go of her sister’s hand. “I hope Egg’s present was okay.”

“I can’t believe it
happened. Who are you and how can you fly?”

“That’s a long story and
maybe someday I’ll share it with you. But, before I go . . .” she reached out
and put her hands on either side of Ashley’s head . . . “may all the pain
that you are feeling in your heart over your lost love be replaced with joy and
happiness.” She hadn’t meant to phrase it like that; it sort of just came
out that way.

Ashley looked at her little
sister, not recognizing her of course, and smiled. They hugged and Egg flew
away.

*****

“Egg, open up, open up.”
Ashley yelled as she banged on her door.

Egg was still slipping out
of her suit. “Just a minute, I’m in the bathroom.” She completed changing then
walked to her door and unlocked it. “How are you feeling?”

“Oh, absolutely,
fantastically wonderful. Thank you for that birthday gift. It was . . . umm . .
. mind-boggling. I still can’t believe it happened.” She hugged her sister –
again.

“How was San Francisco?”

“It was dazzling (Egg
giggled at her sister’s choice of words). But where did you ever meet that
flying person? Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

“You wouldn’t have
believed me.”

Ashley laughed. “Boy, you
can say that again.”

“Speaking about . . . boys
. . . are you feeling better about you know who?”

“If you mean Brad the Jerk
– forget about him. I have. Besides, it’s his loss, not mine.”

Egg smiled; she really
hadn’t been sure if the bracelet’s power could cure a broken heart. “Sit on my
bed and tell me all about San Francisco.”

So the sisters sat on the
bed and Ashley talked and talked for an hour.

“Umm . . . what were we
talking about?” she asked when the memory of her adventure with Flying Girl
finally faded.

“You were telling me what
big jerks boys are.”

Chapter
4 – Me, Myself and I

It’s kind of funny in a very sad sort of way that when things are
going so, so well, something so, so small . . . like a single sentence in your
diary . . . can make it all go so, so wrong.

*****

Thursday,
June 13th: Dear
Diary – today was the last day of school and the first day of summer
vacation!!!! What a wonderful school year it was. So many unbelievable things
happened:

Ham
moved two blocks away and was assigned to my class and we started the Hameggattic
Sisterhood. I saved a cat in a hat, two very cute puppies, two very nice skiers
from Italy, two incredibly rude boys, a balloony and a rag doll. I discovered
the magic of the necklace, the ring and the bracelet (though I think there’s
something else that the bracelet can do). I lost my mind and my flying suit and
my diary – but I got them all back. I flew to Mount Rushmore, Disneyworld and
San Francisco. I helped Grammy get her best friend back. I cured my poison ivy
and Ashley’s broken heart. Oh my gosh – it’s hard to believe all this could
happen to one nine-year-old girl.

I’m so
excited to see what else will happen this year and for the rest of the 6 years
and 2 months that I’m Flying Girl. But when the flying suit loses its power, I
have to go back to being just boring old Egg . . .

. . .
and that makes me very, very, very, very, very, very sad.

If Egg
had shown that diary entry to her Grammy, the older Eloise would have been
dismayed and would have sat her granddaughter down for one of her famous life
lessons.

You can
probably guess at the things she would have said. For starters, the ‘unhappy
face’ had no place on the same page with the list of all the wonderful things
Flying Girl had accomplished. Nothing could ever take away the pride she should
always feel for having done them.

What
else? Why worry about the eventual loss of the suit when she still had more
than six years left to enjoy it? If the first ten months were any indication of
what was to come, Egg was in for ‘the ride of her life’ . . .  even if it
wasn’t going to last forever.

Keep
going – you know there’s more. How about the fact that she, Egg, was one of
only a handful of people in the entire world who got to experience being Flying
Girl. Just because it came with an expiration date didn’t make this amazing
gift any less amazing.

Grammy
would probably have come up with a bunch more. But there was one that was more
important than all the others . . . and perhaps not so obvious. Egg was
beginning to be torn between being a normal nine-year-old girl on one hand and
a virtual superhero on the other. This conflict would be hard to figure out if
she were twenty-nine . . . impossible when she was only nine. So what followed
between her and her friends over the course of the next week (now that the
distraction of school was over) was probably to be expected.

*****

Friday, June 14th: Dear Diary –
The first full day of summer vacation and it was a beautifully warm day.  There
wasn’t a cloud in the sky and I really wanted to go flying, but never got the
chance. So I called all the Sisters and suggested we get together at my house
and sell lemonade. All the money we made would be used to help buy tickets to
the Fandango Sally concert. Everyone loved the idea and they all got here at noon.

Ham and I built a darling stand while the other three made the
lemonade.

We only made one dollar and forty cents. I wanted to charge a
quarter for each glass, but the other four said that was too much. I guess I’d
have to agree . . . the lemonade they made wasn’t very good.

Saturday, June 15th: Dear Diary – It was pretty cloudy today. When I called the
other four this morning, I suggested we all go for a nice bike ride at the
park. They have a wonderful bike path and it’s very safe. Sylvia wanted to go
to the movies and Melody wanted to bake cookies and Presley and Angela wanted
to have a tea party. I explained to them why their ideas weren’t very good.
They finally agreed with me and we met at the park and had a wonderful time . .
. which proves that my idea was the best one.

Sunday, June 16th: Dear
Diary – I just don’t understand why it rains in the summer. But – it did today.
So, what can you do on a wet day? The answer is obvious; go to the movies. And
I was just dying to see the new Harry Potter movie.

When I suggested it to the other four, they naturally didn’t
like the idea. They all wanted to do something different. I reminded them that
it was my idea to do the lemonade stand and go biking. They should just trust
me.

Well, the movie was wonderful. Oh my gosh, I wish the flying
suit came with a magic wand.

Monday, June 17th: Dear
Diary – I could just scream…it rained again today. Worse yet, there were no
other movies to go to. Who wants to see space wars or love stories…yuk.

Lucky for my friends I had another great idea. Today was just
perfect for baking cookies. I explained to Melody that when she suggested it
two days ago, the weather was too nice.

Mom was
just terrific – she said the girls could come over and she would help us. So
when they got here we had to decide what kind of cookies to make. As usual,
everybody had her own ideas – none of which were very good. I finally had to
tell them that since it was my house, we would bake my favorite – chocolate
chip oatmeal cookies with coconut. Yummm.

They were delicious . . . even if Presley did throw up when she
ate hers. I’m sure she must have already been sick.

Tuesday, June 18th: Dear
Diary – rain, rain, go away, little Eloise wants to play. But it didn’t – go
away that is.

Ham invited us to her house and we went into the attic for an
official meeting of the Hameggattic Sisterhood. We talked about all the usual
stuff – music, television, clothes – then we got bored (at least I did).

I suggested we play a card game then maybe we could build the
jigsaw puzzle that Ham had. She really doesn’t like doing puzzles but I thought
it would be a lovely way to spend the afternoon with friends. We argued, of
course. In the end, I was outvoted…so I left.

Wednesday, June 19th: Dear Diary – The weatherman promised that today would be the
last rainy day for awhile. I’m not sure that I trust him.

Mom and Ashley went shopping so I was home alone with Grammy. I
asked her if I could invite my friends over for a tea party and she said of
course.

So I called Ham – but she said she was busy.

Then I called Melody – but she said she wasn’t feeling good.

Presley said she was helping her mother.

And Angela said “No, thank you.”

It’s kind of strange that none of my sisters were able to come
over.

Thursday,
June 20th: Dear Diary – The
weatherman kept his promise . . . I might just send him a thank you card.

The first thing I did today after I got up was to send out an
email to Sylvia, Melody, Angela and Presley. Maybe I was being a bit too bossy
these last few days. I don’t think I was but they can be like little children
sometimes and get their feelings hurt for no reason. Anyway, I really didn’t
want to but I’m sure Grammy would say it was the right thing to do . . .

Dear Sisters;

I am very sorry for having been so bossy. I was only trying to be
helpful. But, after re-reading my diary, there is a very small chance that I
was not being a nice friend. From now on, whenever the Hameggattic Sisters
meet, we’ll take a vote on any suggestions and whoever gets the most will win.
And I promise I won’t just leave if I don’t get my way.

I hope to hear from each of you very soon as I am now dressed and
ready to enjoy the beautiful weather.  Your friend and sister…Egg.

I checked my emails all morning but I didn’t get any. So I
locked myself in my room, put out my Do Not Disturb sign and went flying. I
hadn’t done a good deed in weeks. I flew up and down the town looking for
anyone to help, but no one needed rescuing. Then I flew over the park and saw a
small boy fall off the monkey bars. He was screaming and his mom came running
over to help him. Then she started screaming. I landed right next to them and
before anyone could say anything to me or stop me, I reached out and touched
the boys arm. It was broken and sticking out in a weird way. “Arm, return
thyself to your natural position. Pain, you are banished from
this poor child.” I just don’t know why I talk that way when I try to heal
people. Anyway it worked, everyone stopped crying, and I blew them a kiss and
flew away.

When I got back home, I checked my emails, but there were none.

Friday, June 21st: Dear Diary –
I slept late this morning. I probably could have slept till lunchtime, but the
phone kept ringing.

The first call was from Sylvia. She said she just read my email
and she wasn’t really mad at me. But she thanked me anyway and invited me to
her house after lunch.

The next call was from Melody. She said I was very sophisticated
for realizing my mistake and very grown-up for apologizing. She said she was
very proud to be a Hameggattic Sister.

Angela said she accepted my apology even if it didn’t sound
sincere.

Presley called last and said she hadn’t read the email. She was
only calling because she lost a necklace and thought it might have been at my
house. I asked her to read the email while I was on the phone. She did and said
it was sweet.

Saturday, June 22nd: Dear Diary – I’m very glad I didn’t send that thank you card
to the weatherman. It rained all day today. I’m so bored I could just scream.

*****

It would
be nice to think Egg had worked out her problems on her own and life would
return to normal. But sometimes things need to get worse before there’s a
chance for them to get better . . . assuming they can.

Chapter 5 – Don’t Tell Tinkerbelle

“My mom got
three tickets for a Peter Pan play. Do you want to go?”

“When?”

“This afternoon. It’s
supposed to rain again so this will give us something to do.” Egg really didn’t
want to . . . but she felt like she owed it to her best friend.

“Sure, that sounds great.”

“And guess what I’m going
to do right now?”

“What?”

“I’m getting my ears
pierced. Is that too cool?”

Egg forced the little pang
of jealousy she felt to disappear. “Oh my gosh, I wish I could get mine
pierced.”

“Why don’t you ask if you
could come with us? Then we’ll see the play and maybe we can convince our moms
to let us have a sleepover.”

Now that sounded like a
truly great idea. “I’ll call you right back.” Egg hung up and ran downstairs.
“MOM” she yelled.

“Egg, please don’t yell.”

“Sorry. Can I get my ears
pierced?”

“No.”

“Ham is getting hers
pierced. Please?”

“No. You can get them
pierced when you go to middle school. I think kids in elementary school are too
young.”

“Pretty, pretty, please?”

“I said no. Don’t ask me
again.” What Mrs. Graystone didn’t tell her daughter was that she had already
decided to take Egg to get her ears pierced on her tenth birthday this coming
December. It was going to be a surprise. In fact, she was planning to keep Egg
out of school so the two of them could spend the whole day together.

Not knowing what her
mother was planning, Egg was crestfallen. “Can I at least go with her and her
mom? And they invited me to see a Peter Pan play.”

“Of course you can. And
I’m very sorry you’re disappointed.”

Egg walked slowly and
sadly back to her room. “It’s just not fair,” she whispered to herself. “It’s
not fair at all.”

*****

“Where are you going to
get it done?”

“I want to do
it at that place at the mall. You know the new one that everyone’s talking
about; Ear-Resistible.”

So they drove to the
mall, which was really crowded because of the lousy weather. Every mom,
daughter and grandmother knew that when it rained . . . well it’s like a sign
from heaven to go shopping. And with so many cars there, they had to park about
a hundred miles from the entrance. Ham and Egg shared an umbrella and they ran
as fast as they could. It didn’t much matter, by the time they made it inside,
they were both drenched from the tips of their shoes to the top of their heads.

Ham thought it was great
fun and couldn’t stop giggling.

Egg felt like a drowned
rat and didn’t join in her friend’s merriment.

“Oh, don’t be so grumpy,”
Sylvia chided, “it’s only

“Just look at my hair (Egg
examined her reflection in a store’s window) . . . and my shoes.”

“Oh, you’ll be dried in a
few minutes. Come on.”

They went up the escalator
and found the store packed with girls of every age. Mrs. Hampton squeezed her
way inside and talked to the lady who made the reservations. When she came
back, she said, “They’re running behind. It’ll be about a half hour. Do you two
want to window shop?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Egg said “Look at me . . .
I’m still soaked. I’ll just wait here and dry off. You two go ahead.”

Sylvia looked at her mom
who shook her head in a way that said “sorry, I can’t leave her here by
herself.”

So they found a bench
outside the store and waited their turn. Sylvia tried to get her friend to talk
about . . . anything. But, Egg had nothing to say.

Mrs. Hampton came to her
daughter’s rescue by telling a funny story about her first dance with a boy
when she was in sixth grade.

“It was my first dance and
I was both excited and nervous. My mother warned me that boys at that age are
terrified of asking a girl to dance . . . so don’t be disappointed. Well, as
long as none of my girlfriends got asked, then I wouldn’t care.

I went with my two best
friends, Jane and Suzanne. We all had on our best party dresses. And before you
say anything – yes we actually wore dresses back then. Mine was a green misty
color. I can’t remember what the other two wore.

Anyway, we got
to the school and went into the gym, which was decorated for the occasion. And,
just as my mother predicted, the boys were on one side of the room and the
girls were on the other side. I can still remember the song that was playing,
The Rose by Bette Midler. To this day I get teary eyed when I think of the
words . . .” and to the horror of Ham and Egg, Mrs. Hampton began to sing:

It's
the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance.

It's
the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes a chance.

Just
remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snows,

Lies
the seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes the rose.

Luckily, she couldn’t
remember all the words.

Mrs. Hampton wiped her
eyes, which in fact did get teary. Then she continued, “Anyway, it’s a
beautiful song. Well, my friends and I went to our side of the room, found
something to drink and waited. We had no choice since we certainly weren’t
going to ask the boys to dance.”

“Then one of the boys got
up his courage and walked across the dance floor . . . straight to where my
friends and I were standing. All three of us started to blush at the same time.
It was Bobby O’Bobby . . .”

“Who” asked Sylvia?

“His real name was Bobby
O’Brian. So his initials were B.O.B. Some troublemaker gave him the nickname
Bobby O’Bobby and it stuck. He was a big kid – both tall and wide. But worse of
all, he was very, very clumsy. He didn’t have many friends since he was always
falling down and wasn’t very bright. Anyway, he was the one boy that no girl
wanted to dance with. So when he made his way over to us, we blushed from
embarrassment.”

For some reason, that
thought made Mrs. Hampton giggle. “He came over to me and asked me to dance. I
wanted to die.”

“I was about to say no
thank you when Jane answered for me. ‘She’d love to’ and shoved me forward. I
could have slapped her.”

“Well, I had no choice so
I went out on the dance floor with him. As we walked out, I noticed his shoe
was untied and told him. As he bent down to tie it . . . there was a loud
ripping sound. His pants had split right down the middle. He stood up, put his
hands over his butt – excuse my language – and started to run to the boy’s
room. Unfortunately, he tripped over his shoelace and went flying. His pants
ended up ripping completely in half. I don’t know what was redder – his
underpants or his face. Poor kid, he transferred to another school the next
week.”

Sylvia laughed
appreciatively. Egg just smiled politely.

*****

On the way home Ham kept
touching the piercing studs. “How do they look?”

“They’re not supposed to
look pretty” Egg replied with more than a trace of annoyance “they’re only
supposed to keep the little holes from closing up.”

“Yes, I know that. But I
do have to wear them for six weeks. After that I can wear the beautiful ones
Mom and I bought.”

That got Egg’s attention –
or at least her curiosity. “What did you get?”

“I got a pair
that are heart-shaped. They’re silver with a red heart on the inside . . .”

“. . . and a pair that have round rubies . . .”

“. . . and a pair that kind of look like daisies. They’re made
with gold and have little diamonds in the center. Very sophisticated.”

Egg felt glad for her
friend . . . but just miserable for herself. Those earrings sounded just about
perfect. And she had to wait two more years . . . heck, that was so far in the
future it might just as well have been a million years.

*****

By the time they got to
the play, Egg was feeling very sorry for herself. It had been just a horrible
start to the summer . . .

It had rained nearly every
day.

The Hameggattic Sisters
thought she was being too bossy and she had to apologize. (That was irritating.
Her suggestions had been very, very good. Could she help it if she had a better
imagination than her friends did?)

They hadn’t made very
much money from the lemonade stand and now she wasn’t sure how she could pay
for the tickets to the Fandango Sally concert.

Ham got her ears pierced
and three sets of earrings, while she had to wait two years for hers.

She had been soaked in the
rain and now she was going to see a play for which she had absolutely no
interest.

But what made it all worse
was a conflict she was barely aware of. Being Flying Girl was beginning to
change her. The ability to fly and the magic of the jewelry gave her enormous
power. It was power that could save lives or make a real difference. Somewhere
deep inside she was beginning to have a hard time being a nine-year-old girl
with nine-year-old interests most of the time, while being Flying Girl the other
times.

*****

The play was performed by
a local troupe of actors. And to Egg’s surprise, they were very good. The set
was elaborate and the special effects were wonderful. It didn’t take long for
the audience to feel like they were in Neverland.

Tinkerbelle was adorable .
. .

Captain Hook was
delightfully evil . . .

And Peter Pan was
sensational. As he floated above the stage, Egg couldn’t help but smile. She
felt a kinship with the loveable character since he was the male version of
Flying Girl. It was a very special moment for her. In fact it was the happiest
she felt since school got out.

When the play ended, the
audience gave the cast a standing ovation. Egg’s applause was as loud, if not
louder, than anyone’s. She was beaming.

*****

They got in the car and
started to drive home.

“Thank you for taking me.
I just loved it.”

“You’re welcome,” said
Mrs. Hampton who was glad to see that Egg was her old self again.

“Mom, can Egg and I have a
sleep over?”

“Oh, I’m sorry dear but
not tonight. We have company coming over. You can do it any other night.”

The girls were
disappointed but they had the whole summer ahead of them so it didn’t much
matter.

“Well, I’m glad you liked
the play, anyway” said Sylvia to her friend.

“I thought it was
wonderful. Wouldn’t it be great if you could fly like Peter Pan?”

Sylvia laughed. “I don’t
think so,” she said.

Egg was shocked “why not?”

“Why would anyone want to
fly like that? It would be so dangerous. Besides, it could never happen, so
what’s the difference?”

“It could to happen . . .
and I think it would be amazing.” Egg’s good mood was disappearing fast.

“Well, I guess we just
have to agree to disagree. I think it’s just silly. It’s something only boys
(she said the word as if it was made of sour lemons) would think about.”

Now Egg was steaming mad.
The most important thing in her life . . . being Flying Girl . . . and her best
friend was making fun of it.

“Don’t say that.”

“Oh, what’s the
difference? Besides I think having pierced ears is much more fun.”

Just then, they pulled up
to Egg’s house. “Here you go, dear. Say hello to your mom for me.”

Egg started to get out . .
. but then all the unhappiness and frustration she was feeling came bursting
out. “DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT ABOUT FLYING,” she yelled to a stunned
Sylvia (not to mention her mom). “AND I THINK PIERCED EARS ARE STUPID.”

“Egg . . . they are not,”
her friend said defensively. “I just don’t know what’s wrong with you today.
You’re being very mean.”

Egg now went
from mad to furious. And without thinking of the consequences, she screamed, “I
NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN. NEVER.” She slammed the door and ran into the
house.

And just like her
grandmother had done fifty years before . . . Egg had lost her best friend.

Book 6

Bacon
and Egg

Book 6

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016 by Robert
Iannone,

All
Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – The Lollipop
Guild

Chapter 2 – Flying Monkeys

Chapter 3 – Bacon & Egg

Chapter 4 – Singing in the
Rain

Chapter 5 – . . . and Toto too

Chapter
1 – The Lollipop Guild

“Oh, but anyway, Toto, we're home. Home! And this is my room, and
you're all here. And I'm not gonna leave here ever, ever again, because I love
you all, and - oh, Auntie Em - there's no place like home!”

The five girls applauded. Just
like Peter Pan the week before, this production of the Wizard of Oz was
terrific. The curtain came back up, the main actors came on stage, and the
applause was even more enthusiastic.

Then the supporting cast
came out one by one. The last cast member to take her bows was the Wicked Witch
. . . and she got a standing ovation and the very loudest applause. She was
ever so ugly but so beautifully wicked. You just had to love her.

With the play over, the
five girls (well, actually one of them was Mrs. Hampton who was probably just a
tad bit too old to be called a girl) made their way back to the car.

“I think if I was in the
play, I’d be Dorothy,” said Sylvia.

“I’d be Glinda, the good
witch,” volunteered Angela.

“Only because she’s
beautiful,” teased Melody. “I would be the Scarecrow. I think he was just the
nicest.”

“But he didn’t have a
brain” kidded Presley referring to what the Scarecrow wanted from the Wizard.
“I would be the great and powerful Oz.” Then she added “. . . and Egg would be
the Wicked Witch of the West.” This made Angela laugh, Melody giggle and Sylvia
smile.

“Now, now, girls” said
Mrs. Hampton, “she was once your friend.”

“That was before she
completely lost her mind,” declared Angela.

“Do you think she caught
some kind of brain flu?” asked Presley.

“There’s no such thing as
brain flu. Is there, Mom?”

“No, there is not. Now
please change the subject.”

“Mom, can the girls come
over for a little while?”

“Of course.  And, they can
stay for dinner.” This was greeted by cheers from all four friends. “But when
we get home, they need to call their moms to make sure it’s okay.”

“And we should have a
special meeting of the Hameggattic Sisterhood” proclaimed Melody.

“Why?”

“We should take a vote on
whether we still want Egg to be a sister.” Presley and Angela nodded their
agreement. Sylvia just stared out her window.

*****

There was a knock on the
door and Egg said, “Come in.”

“Hi, little sis.”

“Hi, Ashley.”

“Can we talk for a
minute?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t
you tell me?” Ashley sat on her sister’s bed.

“I don’t know what you’re
talking about,” said Egg who knew exactly what she was talking about.

“What’s going on with you
and Ham?”

“Nothing.”

“If you don’t want to talk
about it, that’s okay.”

Egg considered that for a
moment. “There’s nothing to talk about. We’re just not friends anymore.”

“Oh, is that all? Do you
want to tell me why?”

“She said she didn’t
believe Peter Pan can fly.”

“Hmmm . . . is that a big
problem?”

“Yes” Egg answered in a
tiny voice.

“Mind telling me why?”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You could never understand.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Stop saying why not.”

“Oh, sorry. Anyway, it
seems like a silly thing to lose a friend over. Especially a best friend.”

“You sound like Grammy.”

“Thank you.” Ashley waited
for her sister to say something. When she didn’t she asked “was there anything
else . . . besides Peter Pan?”

“Not really.”

“Sure?”

“Ashley, did you ever feel like a grown-up and a kid at the same time?”

The question surprised the
older girl. ”Yes. Many times.”

“Did you ever feel that
when you did the kid stuff . . . it just wasn’t important anymore? Only the
grown-up stuff was.”

This was getting way more
complicated than Ashley had expected and she didn’t feel like she was the right
person to help her little sister. “Egg, do me a favor. Call Grammy. I’m sure
she could help you figure this out.”

“I should figure it out on
my own.”

“Why?”

“Cause I’m Fl…” she
stopped herself just in time. “Cause it’s my problem.”

“We all need a little help
sometimes. I think this is one of those times.”

Egg sighed. She felt
terrible. What would she do without her best friend? She desperately wanted to
apologize but just couldn’t. If no one – especially Sylvia – believed in Peter
Pan . . . or Flying Girl . . . than the most important part of her life meant
nothing. “I guess I’ll call Grammy.”

*****

“This emergency meeting of
the Hameggattic Sisterhood is now in session.” The four girls were in the attic
headquarters sitting on cushions.

Melody said, “I would like
the sisters to vote Egg out of the club.”

“But she and I started
it.”

“Sylvia, she doesn’t want
to be friends with us anymore. She’s made that perfectly clear. So, I think we
should make it official and vote her out of the sisterhood.”

“I agree with Melody,” said
Angela.

“Me, too” added Presley.

“Well, I disagree. She’ll
realize how silly she’s being. Then we’ll all be friends again.”

“I don’t think we should
wait for her. Besides, she can always ask us to take her back into the club.”

“She is being so mean,”
huffed Angela. “She really is the wicked witch.” Only Sylvia didn’t giggle.

“Let’s take a vote,”
insisted Melody. “And I vote her out.”

“Out” agreed Angela and
Presley.

“I vote against it.”

“The vote is three to one.
So Egg is no longer a member of the Hameggattic Sisterhood,” declared Melody.

“And I vote that we change
the name of the club.”

“Angela, why?” cried Sylvia.

“Because her name is in
it.”

“Great idea. Anyone have a
suggestion for a new name?”

“Oh, I do,” said Presley.
“Let’s call ourselves the Lollipop Guild.” It was the name of some of the
Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz.

“That’s a wonderful name.
I vote yes.”

“Me, too.”

“No” said Sylvia. “We
can’t.”

“The vote is
three to one, so the Hameggattic Sisterhood is officially changed to the
Lollipop Guild.”

*****

“Hi, Grammy.”

“Hello, my love. How are
you?”

“Not very good.”

“Oh, dear. What’s the
problem?”

“Sylvia and I aren’t
friends anymore,” she answered while fighting back tears.

“Egg, I’m so very sorry.
What happened?”

So granddaughter explained
to her grandmother about all the things that had been bothering her that led up
to the argument over Peter Pan.

“How about spending the
day with me tomorrow? Then you and I can figure out how to make this problem go
away.”

“Thank you, Grammy. But
what happens if it takes fifty years for us to become friends again . . . like
you and Grazy?” Egg was referring to her grandmother’s neighbor and childhood
best friend. They had broken up when Grazy had seen the reflection of her
friend flying. When she confronted the older Eloise, she of course denied it.
And for the next fifty years, the two hardly ever spoke. They only recently
patched things up.

“It won’t take that long,
dear one. I promise you.”

Whenever her grandmother
gave her such a promise, Egg usually felt a million times better. For some
reason, she didn’t feel that way now.

*****

That night Egg went to bed
early. And even though it was just seven thirty, she fell asleep almost
immediately.

“Egg.”

“Dazzle, is
that you?”

“It is I.”

“How are you?”

“I am well. Thank you
for asking. I come to you tonight not as a princess, but as a friend.”

“That’s nice. Why?”

“You are troubled and I
wish to help.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Egg, you must be you,
when you are not me.”

“Huh?”

“You must be you, when
you are not me.”

“No, I heard you. I just
don’t know what that means.”

“There is a saying on
your world — Physician, heal thyself. Egg, heal thyself. You have the power.”

“Dazzle, I’m so sorry, but
I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Talk to she who came
before. She was not the One; but she is very wise. Goodnight, Egg.”

“Dazzle, don’t go yet.”
But, she was gone.

*****

Before she went to sleep,
Sylvia had to send an email that she really didn’t want to send. But the
Lollipop Guild had voted three to one so she had no choice.

She turned on her
computer, logged into her email account . . .

. . . and began to type. It was addressed to Eloise, formerly
known as Egg to her ex-friends. The sisters had decided that they would never
use her nickname again. The vote had been three to one. So Sylvia was forced to
address her former best friend by her real name. .

Dear Eloise,

*****

The next morning at her
grandmother’s house, Egg was sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea and
reliving her conversation with Dazzle.

“She said to talk to you.”

“Really? She mentioned my
name?” The older woman felt a twinge of excitement.

“Well, not exactly. She
said talk to the one who came before. And even though she wasn’t the One, she
is very wise. So that must be you.”

“Oh, my. Dazzle thinks I’m
wise. How very sweet of her to say.”

“She said that I shouldn’t
be her when I’m me. What does that mean?”

“I’m not sure. What else
did she say?”

“Something like doctor
cure yourself and Egg, you have the power.”

“Was it ‘Physician, heal
thyself?”

“Yes . . . yes. What do
you think it means?”

To give herself a little
time to consider this information, the older Eloise went to the oven and took
out some muffins she was baking. She put them neatly on the plate then fetched
some butter and grape jelly. She put it all on the table in front of her
granddaughter. The whole time Egg sat quietly. She knew that her grandmother
was thinking and she didn’t want to interrupt.

It wasn’t long before her
grandmother ventured a guess. “Well, here’s what I think. When you are Flying
Girl, somehow you are more like Dazzle than yourself.  But when you’re not
wearing the suit, you’re just good old Egg. And when you’re Egg, you need to
think and act like what you are; a nine-year-old girl.”

“That’s exactly the
conversation I was trying to have with Ashley though I didn’t say it that way.
But . . . how do I stop being Flying Girl and just be me? I feel so . . . so .
. . childish when I do nine-year-old stuff.”

“Dazzle obviously knew
there might be a problem. So I think she’s telling you to use your bracelet to
somehow make you feel good about being you.”

“How do I do that?”

“Sorry, my love. Only you
have the power of the magical jewelry. But I feel absolutely confident that
you’ll find your own answer to that question.”

“Grammy . . . please take
me home.”

“Of course.”

*****

Back in her room, Egg
locked her door, put out her Do Not Disturb sign and dressed in her flying
suit. She then put on all of her jewelry, walked to the bathroom and stared at
herself in the mirror.

Placing her hands on each
cheek, she said, “Eloise Grace Graystone, you must be at peace with who you
are. Feel not the conflict between the power and desires of Flying Girl and the
yearnings and needs of Egg. They may co-exist in harmony. Accept yourself and be
happy.”

“Why do I keep talking
like that every time I use this thing?” In truth, she had no idea what she was
going to say. The words came out of their own free will. And . . . they worked.

She took off her suit and
jewelry and stored them back in the little chest. Smiling, she turned on the
computer so she could send an email to Sylvia to apologize.

When she logged into her
account, there was an email from her friend. It was probably something nice
like “when you’re feeling better, call me. Best friends shouldn’t be mad with
each other.”

She opened the email and
began to read . . .

Dear Eloise;

This is to tell you that the Hameggattic Sisterhood no longer
exists. Angela, Presley, Melody and I have started a new club called the
Lollipop Guild. And since you are not a member, you will not be invited to
attend our meetings.

Also, the four of us will no longer call you by your nickname
because you are not one of us.

Sylvia, President

The Lollipop Guild

PS: The Lollipop Guild has asked me to inform you that Peter Pan
is just a fairy tale. Real people can’t fly. I’m sorry if that makes you mad.

Egg stared at the email .
. . then re-read it two more times. She would have read it again, but her eyes
were too blurry with tears.

Chapter 2 – Flying Monkeys

Egg decided that she
wanted to go back to summer camp . . . the one where she first met Sylvia. She
and her ex-best friend had decided months ago that they were going to skip it
this year. But now that she had no one to play with, it seemed like a good idea.

Mrs. Graystone made all
the arrangements but she still felt very bad for her daughter. Being a former
nine-year-old herself, however, she knew that girls at that age made and lost
friends all the time. She had tried her best to help Egg reconcile with Sylvia,
but it was no use. Apparently, that friendship was beyond saving.

When she had heard her
daughter crying the other night, she had entered her bedroom to see what had
happened. She didn’t even knock.

“Sweetheart, what’s
wrong?”

Egg ran to her mother and
threw herself into her outstretched arms. With her head buried in her mom’s
stomach, she cried so hard that she couldn’t even catch her breath. Mrs.
Graystone carried the girl to the bed and they sat there holding each other for
almost ten minutes until the worst of the crying was over.

“What happened sweetheart”
the older woman asked gently.

“I got . . . I got . . .
an email . . .” which was all she could say before crying again.

“May I read it?” Egg
nodded yes.

So Mrs. Graystone walked
to the computer and read the email that was on the screen. “Oh, dear” was all
she could manage to say. She walked back to her daughter and hugged her again.
“Why don’t you email her back and apologize? Sylvia would never hold a grudge.
Go on, dear, go type one right now.” It seemed like the simplest way to get
these best friends friendly again.

“Do…do…you really th…think
so?” Egg managed to say between bouts of crying.

“Well, it’s certainly
worth a try. Would you like me to help you?”

“Ple…please.”

So Egg sat at
her computer and with the help of her mom typed…

Dear Sylvia;

I am very sorry for having acted like I did.

Your friendship is the most important thing in the world to me
and I’m sorry that I made you angry. I understand about the Sisterhood stuff
even though it makes me sad.

But, I hope that you can forgive me so we can be friends. Maybe
even best friends. Please answer this email as soon as you can.

Eloise.

“Very nice. I’m sure by
tomorrow morning you two will be friends again.”

Just hearing her mother
say it made Egg feel so much better. “Do you really think so?”

“Just you wait.”

*****

Egg waited . . .

. . . and waited . . .

. . . and waited.

But Sylvia never replied.

*****

So, plans were made for
Egg to go to camp in two days. Meanwhile, her Grammy was coming over the next
day because Egg’s parents were going out antiquing. Ashley was gone for a week
to visit some friends who had moved a couple of hours away.

That night Egg tried to
talk to Dazzle . . . maybe the only friend she still had in the whole world.
But if her princess friend came, Egg didn’t remember.

*****

Ten o’clock the next
morning, Egg and her grandmother were in Egg’s bedroom re-reading the email
from Sylvia. For the most part, the young girl had regained her composure . . .
probably because she had used up about a year’s supply of tears the night
before.

“Maybe Sylvia isn’t home.
Did you try calling her?”

“No.”

“Why don’t you call her
right now?”

“I can’t, Grammy. I would
just start crying again. And, what would I do if she didn’t accept my apology.
I . . . I . . .” she didn’t finish.

“Well the next best thing
is to give it time. If she really was your best friend, then a week or two
without your friendship will be just as hard on her as it is on you.”

Egg immediately thought of
her grandmother’s best friend Grazy and the almost fifty years it took for
those two to get back together. But she didn’t say anything.

“So, what would you like
to do today? Is there anything you need for camp?”

“Mom got me everything I
need. But, would you mind terribly if I went flying for an hour? It’s my last
chance before I go to camp.”

“Of course not. In fact,
that sounds like a perfect idea.”

“Would you like to come
with me?”

“Oh, no thank you, dear. I
think I’ll just stay here and do a little gardening. Your mom and dad don’t
really have a green thumb, do they?”

That was an
ongoing family joke. The only plants that Egg’s parents didn’t kill were made
of plastic.

So Egg took the contents
of the little chest to her bathroom and changed. When she went to slip on the
bracelet, she got the notion to put it on her left hand instead of the right.
Maybe she could discover its magic when it was on the other wrist. She came
back out, kissed her grandmother, went to the balcony and leaped skyward. As
she flew high above the town, she smiled for the first time in days. There was
only one thing she could absolutely count on . . . that flying would make her
feel better.

Unfortunately, today was
to be the exception. How was Egg to know that doing a good deed would lead to
such a terrible accident?

*****

Two hours later . . .

“In a freak
accident, a phone company employee who was up on a pole making repairs fell
twenty feet to the street below.

The police on the scene said that when they got to him, the
person was barely conscious. They attempted to find out what happened, but all
the injured man would say was, “flying monkey, flying monkey.”

Whether he was referring to the monkey that had earlier escaped
from a pet shop or the ones from the Wizard of Oz is unclear.

The unidentified workman was taken to Mount Needles State Hospital. He has two broken ribs, a broken arm and a concussion. His condition is listed
as serious.

In other news…”

The elder Eloise turned
off the television. “Oh, dear” was the best she could manage.

“Grammy, I think it was my
fault that he fell.” Egg was as upset as she had been the night before.

“Egg, you don’t know that.”

“After I caught the monkey in a big tree . . .

. . . I flew right past a
man on a telephone pole. I even waved to him.”

“Did you see him fall?”

“Of course not, otherwise
I would have tried to catch him or at least fix him up if he was hurt.”

“I’m sorry, I know you
would have. I was only trying to point out that it may have been anything that
made him fall . . . not just the sight of Flying Girl.”

“But you heard what they
said. He kept talking about flying monkeys.”

“Well, no matter, dear
one. We can’t change the past, but we can influence the future.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that Flying Girl
is going to visit the poor man at the hospital and fix his injuries.”

“How . . . they won’t let
me in. Would they?”

“Hmmm . . . you’re
probably right. But I think I know a way.” She walked over to the telephone and
dialed a number. She waited a moment before whoever she was calling answered.
“Lottie, it’s Eloise. Do you still do volunteer work at the hospital? Wonderful
. . . I hate to ask, but I need your help. My granddaughter and I have to get
in to see that man who fell off the telephone pole today. Did you see it on
TV?”

Lottie said something then
Egg’s Grammy said, “Can I ask you not to ask? We just need to see the man for a
minute. Oh, thank you, dear. We’ll meet you in the front lobby in a half hour.
Bye-bye.”

*****

One hour and thirty minutes ago . . .

Egg had been flying all around
town looking for a good deed to do. She happened by a store when three or four
people came running out waving their arms. As she flew closer to investigate,
she discovered that a monkey from the pet store had escaped and the people were
running after it. But the monkey was way too fast and lost its pursuers in
short order.

Everyone, that is, but
Flying Girl.

She watched the little
rascal climb up a very tall tree and she followed it. As she landed on a branch
not too far away, she called out “okay little one, come to mama.” To her utter
amazement, the monkey looked at her, squealed something in monkey-ese and
scampered right into her outstretched arms.

“Oh, you are just too
cute” and she stroked his (or her) head. “Okay, climb on my back and I’ll take
you home.” She didn’t actually expect the monkey to listen . . . but it did.

With her precious little
package on her back holding tightly around her neck, Egg took off. She passed a
man on a telephone pole and waved to him as she passed by.

She found the pet shop,
landed out front (no one was around) and she walked in. “Excuse me” Egg said to
the man inside “I think this little guy belongs to you.”

“Oh, you found Jynx. How
on earth did you catch him; he’s so afraid of people. Anyway thank you so
much.”

“It was my pleasure.” Egg
gave the monkey a kiss and walked out.

*****

Egg and her grandmother
drove to the hospital and parked the car. They walked into the main lobby and
there was Lottie. The two older women hugged each other. Then Lottie noticed
Egg.

“Hi, I’m Egg.”

“Egg? That’s a little
unusual, isn’t it?”

“It’s my initials – Eloise
Grace Graystone,” explained the girl.

“Oh . . . well, then that
makes it very clever. I’m very pleased to meet you. Shall we go? The poor man
is up on the third floor. I know all the nurses up there.”

So they rode the elevator
and when they got out, Lottie went to the nurse’s station and said “Well, good
afternoon, Viola.”

“Hi, Lottie. I didn’t know
you were working today.”

“I’m not. I’m just
bringing my best friend and her granddaughter to see that poor man who fell off
the telephone pole. How is he?”

“He’s stable (meaning he
wasn’t any worse or any better). How does your friend know this guy?”

“Actually, she’s friends
with his mother” she fibbed.

“Well, then I guess it’s
okay. He’s in room 307.”

So the three of them went
to the room, opened the door and peered inside. The poor man was in bed
bandaged from head to toe.

“Egg needs to see him
alone. You and I can wait out here, okay?”

“Sure.” Lottie knew better
than to ask her friend why.

So Egg went inside. Under
her street clothes, she was wearing her flying suit and jewelry with the
bracelet back on her right wrist. She tiptoed up to the man who was fast asleep
and put her hands lightly on his head.

“I’m so sorry I did this
to you. Anyway…May the injuries from your untimely fall from heaven to earth
be undone and may your body be made whole and your spirits renewed. And may you
not remember this unfortunate event.”

“Weird” was all she could
say about the way her words came out when she tried to cure somebody. “Just
plain weird.”

“Hey.”

Egg jumped about a foot.
It was the man in the bandages. “Hi.”

“Where am I?”

“The hospital.”

“Really? Why?”

“You fell off a telephone
pole.”

“I did?”

“Yes. How do you feel?”

The man gave that a moment’s
thought. “Geez, I feel great. Never better.”

*****

Chapter 3 – Bacon and Egg

“Good night, sweetheart.
Pleasant dreams.”

“Thank you for your help,
Grammy.”

“You did all the work.
But, you’re welcome just the same. And Egg, don’t worry about Sylvia. Just give
it a little time.” The older woman kissed her granddaughter, turned out the
light and left.

As she laid there snuggled
into her big pillow, Egg’s mind was racing with a million thoughts . . . of
Sylvia, the monkey, the Hameggattic Sisterhood, the telephone repair man all
bandaged up, and the upcoming week at camp. It was just too much for her
nine-year-old mind to absorb. So, instead of falling into her usual deep sleep
(that’s the place where dreams come from); she tossed and turned and fretted
and moaned. As far as her body and mind were concerned, it could hardly be
called sleep at all.

“Egg.”

“Egg, it is I, Dazzle.”

“Egg,
you have accomplished all the tasks. You are the One. I am pleased beyond
words. You are truly my sister.”

“Egg,
please answer. We must talk.”

But Egg couldn’t hear her.
Because her mind wasn’t in a dream state (it’s actually called REM sleep),
Dazzle could not get her attention. There was too much brain noise from all the
things she was thinking about. It was like going to your friend’s house and
knocking on the door. You can hear the person inside, but because she is
playing the TV or music too loud, she can’t hear you.

And starting tomorrow
morning, for the next week Egg would be at camp. What she didn’t understand was
that when she wasn’t close to her flying suit, Dazzle didn’t have the power to
communicate with her. That’s why she only appeared in Egg’s dreams when the
young girl was in her own room. (When the little chest with the flying suit had
been sold during the garage sale, it had taken an extraordinary effort for the
Princess to tell Egg about its sale on eBay . . . one that she could not
repeat).

So, until she returned
from camp, Egg wouldn’t know that she had already solved the last mystery of
the magical jewelry.

*****

They drove through the
entrance to Hooting Owl Camp for Girls and parked the car. And even though the
kids all called it Hoot Camp (kind of like Boot Camp where soldiers go to
train) many came back a second or third time.

The place was pretty much
deserted since most of the campers had registered the day before. At this time
of the morning, they were probably all down by the lake swimming or canoeing.
As Egg and her mom walked towards the main building, the person who ran the
camp came out leading a young girl.

“Well, good morning Egg.
Mrs. Graystone.” She called.

They both responded with a
“Good morning, Josie.”

“Your timing is perfect. I
would like you to meet a first time camper . . . this is Christy Bacon.” The
girl was obviously younger than Egg and more than a little shy. “But, she
prefers to be called Claire . . . that’s her middle name.”

“Very nice to meet you Ch
. . . umm . . . Claire” said Mrs. Graystone

“Egg, why don’t you show
Claire the camp? Your mom and I will finish the paperwork and I’ll join you two
over by Snow Owl cabin. You’ll both be bunking there.”

“Sweetheart, have a
wonderful week and I’ll see you on Sunday.” Mrs. Graystone hugged her daughter.
“Very nice to meet you, Claire.”

So the two older women
went into the main building and Egg led her new friend towards the center of
camp. To break the ice, Egg asked, “Why do you prefer the name Claire?”

“It’s my grandmother’s
name and, besides, all the mean girls call me Crispy instead of Christy.”

At first Egg didn’t get
it. Then it came to her “oh . . . like crispy bacon. That’s kind of cute.”

“I hate it.” After a
minute, she got the courage to ask, “Why do they call you Egg?”

“It’s my initials.”

“So if we become friends,
they’re going to call us Bacon and Eggs?”

Egg was about
to argue . . . if she had to be part of a breakfast menu, she would always be
Ham and Egg. But she looked at the little girl who was smiling and she decided
to play along. “Well, of course. So that absolutely means that we just have to
be best friends during camp. Nothing can be better than Bacon and Egg(s).”

And for the first time
since being dropped off, Claire felt so much better. She had made her first
friend . . . and making friends was something she didn’t do very well. She took
Egg’s hand as they walked which surprised the older girl. Then, considering the
fact that she had lost her best friend and all the sisters, it made her feel
pretty darn good. So like Dorothy and the Scarecrow, off they walked down Camp
Hooting Owl’s version of the Yellow Brick Road.

*****

After the
tour, the girls found their beds and lockers in the Snowy Owl cabin, unpacked,
and hung their clothes. Then they changed into bathing suits and went down to
the lake where most of the other campers were in two person canoes…

So Claire and Egg put on
their life vests, jumped into an empty canoe and paddled out to join the rest
of the girls.

As they got closer to the
others, Egg let out a startled “Oh my gosh!”

“What’s the matter?”

She couldn’t believe what
she was seeing. In one canoe were Angela and Presley. Right behind them were
Melody and Sylvia. She wasn’t sure how to react. Her first thought was ‘oh, no’
followed immediately by ‘oh, wow’ then ‘oh no.” Would this be a chance for her
to apologize and for them to become friends again? Or, would they just stay
mad. This could turn out to be a wonderful week or an incredibly horrible one.
Well, there was only one way to find out.

She took a deep breath to
calm herself then said “those girls over there are my . . . umm . . . friends.
I was just surprised to see them. Let’s row over and I’ll introduce you.”

So they rowed towards them
but half way there, Angela spotted Egg’s canoe. She pointed while saying
something to her three friends who all turned to look. There seemed to be an
excited conversation between all four . . . and then they turned their canoes
in the opposite direction and started to row away. Only Sylvia looked back at
her ex-best friend.

“Well that wasn’t very
nice. Are you sure they were your friends?”

Egg’s heart was pounding
in her chest and she was having a little difficulty breathing. It took her a
few moments to answer. “I guess I was mistaken. Obviously they weren’t the
friends I thought they were.”

After canoeing
for another hour, all the girls drifted to one of the four cabins – Snowy,
Screech, Spotted or Horned . . .

. . . to change out of
their swimsuits. Egg and Claire were the first ones back at Snowy and quickly
exchanged their suits for shorts. Then Egg waited on her bunk for the other
girls to come in. She held her breath . . . if her four former friends were in
this cabin, she would have to ask Josie to move her to another one.

The girls came in by ones
and twos . . . and none of them belonged to the Lollipop Guild. Egg let out a
sigh of relief. Since most activities were done by cabin, she might be lucky
enough not to bump into those four except at meals. That would make things a
little better.

Naturally, it didn’t turn
out that way.

*****

“This summer, based on the
feedback we received from many of you who were with us last year, we decided to
do something a little different. Every other day, one cabin will compete
against another cabin. So by the end of the week, each cabin will have a chance
to spend one day with every other cabin. I’ll post this schedule on the
bulletin board for everyone to look at. Are there any questions?”

No one had any, so Josie
finished with “Okay then. Lunch will be served shortly and afterwards we’ll
have our nature walk so you can spend time getting to know your cabin mates.”

Egg shook her
head . . . with the way her luck was going this whole summer; she should have
known something like this would happen. She tugged on Claire’s arm and they
walked over to see the schedule.

So she had only one day
to endure with her formerly friendly foursome. Maybe she’d get lucky and it
would rain so hard that all activities would be cancelled. ‘Ha’ she thought
‘that will probably be the only nice day we have all week.’ She found out later
that the fateful day would be Saturday.

“Claire, I’m hungry; how
about you?”

“I’m so hungry I could eat
an owl.”

Egg giggled then said,
“You better not let Josie hear you say that.”

The younger girl turned to
her new friend and said, “Well, I just don’t give a hoot” and they both
started to laugh till they cried.

Standing a little way
behind them was Sylvia. When she heard them laugh, she turned and walked away .
. . whether from jealousy or anger she wasn’t sure.

*****

Hooting Owl camp was
located right next to a very large state wildlife preserve. With so much to
explore, the hikes each year were totally different from the ones the previous
year.

Their
destination was a small pond and meadow surround on all sides with great old
trees. Supposedly it was home to the Spotted Owl…but you would have to come out
at night to see (or maybe hear) one. This year, all the girls were given a
handout that contained pictures of flowers, birds, trees and animals. Their
goal was to find as many as they could.

Egg and Claire walked
together as you might have expected. They enjoyed each other’s company – the
younger girl looking up to the older one, the older one feeling very protective
of the younger one. As they hunted for the wildlife on their checklist, the
conversation turned to more interesting things . . .

“Claire, do you have a
best friend at home?”

The younger girl actually
blushed then said “Yes.”

“Well, tell me about her.
Is she in your class?”

“She’s a boy.”

“WHAT?” Egg was stunned.

“My best friend . . . is a
boy.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Is that bad?”

“No, it’s not bad . . .
it’s just . . . well . . . I, umm, don’t really like boys. The ones in my
school are just so goofy and rude.”

“Well, Yoshi isn’t like
that; he’s very nice. We’ve lived next door to one another for my whole life.
Except for his older sister, he’s an only child just like me.”

Egg was both horrified and
intrigued by the idea of having a boy for a best friend. “Did you ever . . .
you know . . . kiss him?”

“YUK” yelled Claire. “Are
you crazy? He’s my best friend, not my boyfriend.”

“Oh” said Egg who was very
surprised to think that there might be a difference.

“How about you?’

“What?”

“Do you have a best
friend?”

“I did.”

“What happened?”

“That’s a long story.”

“We have time . . . unless
you don’t want to talk about it?”

Egg thought about that for
a moment. “Actually, I do want to talk about it. And since you’re my best
friend for the next week, I want to tell you.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For calling me your best
friend and trusting me enough to tell me your story. You make me feel special.”

Egg was touched by
Claire’s sincerity and squeezed her hand. “Okay, well, it started almost a year
ago right here at camp . . .” And for the next twenty minutes she retold the
story of the how she and Sylvia became best friends and started the Hameggattic
Sisterhood . . . and everything else up to the time their friendship broke up.

“I think the sisterhood
club is just too great. I wish I was a member. But what I don’t understand is
why you guys broke up. Why do you care so much about Peter Pan?”

“I don’t. I was just
having a miserable week or two. It was really stupid of me.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“I sent her an email, but she didn’t even answer it. And you saw what she
and the others did when we rowed over to them.”

“Do you still want her to
be your best friend?”

“More than anything in the
world.”

“I wish I had a friend
like you.”

“Thank you. And, Claire,
thank you for listening . . . and caring.”

Chapter 4 – Dancing in the
Rain

Camp was going very well .
. . all thing considered. In their first two days of competition against Horned
(on Tuesday) and Spotted (on Thursday), the girls from Snowy won three of the
four events. Egg was the star as she always was. And when she could, she helped
Claire who was average at best.

But, fun was fun . . . and
Egg was enjoying herself . . . until the incident in the crafts tent.

It was Friday morning and
it was raining very hard. While the other girls bemoaned the weather, Egg was
secretly glad. If it kept up tomorrow, she wouldn’t have to deal with Screech
and the four Lollipoopers (that’s what she had decided to call them).
And so far, they hadn’t crossed paths – each side keeping their distance.

All the girls were in the
crafts tent – each cabin sitting at tables by themselves. That was the good
news. The bad news was that Sylvia and the other three were at the table that
was closest to Egg and Snowy.

Egg and Claire were busy
making jewelry. Claire was working on a string and bead necklace while her
older friend was trying something very advanced. She was making a ring out of
aluminum. But not just any old ring . . . this was going to be a two-headed
snake (or was it a serpent?) ring. With the help of one of the counselors, she
had learned to use a metal punch to stamp out the two faces. It was very slow
going and more than once, she had to start over. But finally, she had the
design just right. Then she used a little lever thingy and was able to bend it
into the correct shape. When she was finished, she held the ring up for her
cabin mate to see. “Well, what do you think” she asked Claire.

The younger
girl took it in her hand and examined it very closely. Finally, she declared,
“Egg, you are so amazing. Is there anything you can’t do?”

The four former friends
turned around when they heard the word “Egg.” They were all kind of mad that
Eloise hadn’t tried to make up with them. Melody, Angela and Presley wanted to
be able to tell her NO and watch her cry. Sylvia wanted a reason to be friends
again.

When they had seen that
Egg . . . it was hard not to use her nickname . . . had made a new friend, they
were upset. They had been her best friends – her sisters – how dare she make
another friend. And do it so quickly.

One of the girls from
Screech knew Claire and told the four girls the nasty nickname that just made
the young girl so mad that she sometimes cried. Well, now seemed like a great
time to find out if it still bothered her.

“Hey” yelled Melody “is
that really you. Why yes, it is. It’s Crispy Bacon. And she has a new friend.
Egg and Crispy Bacon – why that’s what I had for breakfast.”

Everyone laughed.

Everyone, but Claire and
Egg.

Egg got up, and started to
walk over to Melody. She had never hit anyone in her whole life . . . until
now.

But she didn’t get the
chance. Claire grabbed her arm and said “Egg, don’t. It doesn’t matter.”

Egg glared at the four
girls. Sylvia had the good grace to look embarrassed. The other three had
satisfied smirks on their faces. Before it could go any further, a counselor
came over and separated everyone. Egg asked if she could go back to her cabin
and was given permission.

Claire ran after her
holding the snake ring.

*****

“I think she wants to be
your friend again.”

“What? Are you kidding?”

“I’m not kidding. I can
just tell.”

“Claire, I wish you were
right, but you’re not. Didn’t you hear them . . . they were making fun of you
because you’re my friend.”

“She didn’t. Only the
other ones.”

“You couldn’t be more
wrong. Just forget it, please.”

“I’m not wrong. Anyway,
thank you for standing up for me. But do you know what’s really strange?”

“What?”

“I liked it . . . when she
said Crispy Bacon and Egg. It made me feel close to you.”

Egg looked hard at the
other girl, and then smiled. “I liked it too. Besides, I would much rather have
crispy bacon instead of raw bacon.”

“Oh, yuk . . . that’s pretty
disgusting.” And they both laughed.

*****

After dinner, everyone was
back in the crafts tent because the weather hadn’t changed . . . except now
there was lightning. Oh, and very loud thunder which made the girls jump every
time it exploded.

There was a giant TV and
everyone – well, most everyone – was watching MTV. Fandango Sally was supposed
to release another song and the girls were excited to hear it.

“Do you like them?” asked
Claire.

“No” said Egg “I
absolutely, positively adore them. I have every one of their albums.”

“What’s your favorite
song?”

“Umm . . . there’s so many
. . . I guess it would have to be Don’t Mess with My Sister, Mister. How about
you?”

“I love Girls Love to
Shop. I think they wrote it for me.”

But before they could
continue, the announcer came on and said “And here’s the new song from Fandango
Sally called Best Friends…”

The girls went nuts.

Of course, if the band had
sung the national anthem they would still have reacted the same way.

Claire turned to her
friend and said, “Wow, was that just too awesome?” But to the young girl’s
surprise, Egg had tears in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry. I need to get
some air.” She got up to go and Claire started to follow her. “No, don’t.
Thanks anyway, but I need to be alone.” And she slipped out into the rainy
night without the counselors seeing her.

Well, she had had enough .
. . Claire that is. She looked around and spotted the person she was looking
for. “Excuse me.”

Sylvia turned around saw
the young girl. “Oh, it’s you. Listen, I’m sorry for what my friend said. That
was mean of her.”

“That’s not why I’m here.
I need to tell you something. Can we go over there and talk?”

“Okay.”

They went over to a sofa
in the corner and sat down. “Egg is very sad that you two aren’t friends anymore.”

Sylvia wasn’t sure if she
was happy or angry to hear this from a total stranger. “Did she ask you to tell
me that?”

“Absolutely not. I’m doing
it because she’s my friend.”

Now that statement made
Sylvia a little jealous. “We had a fight and she refuses to apologize. That’s
all she ever had to do.”

“But she did. She sent you
an email the other night but you didn’t answer it.”

“Oh my gosh” she said in a
phrase borrowed from her ex-best friend. “I wasn’t home. The other three girls
and I were already at camp. It was such a last minute thing and . . . oh, it’s
not important. Do you know what the email said?”

“She said she was very
sorry and hoped you two could be friends again. Maybe best friends.”

Sylvia’s eyes began to
water. “Where is she?”

“When she heard that new
song . . .  she ran outside.”

“Thank you, oh thank you”
and Sylvia hugged the other girl.

Sylvia ran
outside . . . but it was so dark that she couldn’t find her friend. Then there
was a giant fork of lightning that lit up the whole sky . . .

. . . and there was Egg
just standing there, hugging herself, drenched to the bone and shivering.

“EGG”.

The girl turned around and
saw her best friend. They ran to each other and hugged and cried . . . though
with all the rain, it was hard to tell.

“Sylvia, I’m so stupid .
. . I’m so sorry. Please, please, please forgive me.”

“We’re both so dumb. We
can make each other angry but we can’t stop being best friends. Nothing in this
world can do that.

“. . . that song . . . it
said just what I feel.”

“Me, too.”

“And, I’m sorry there’s no
more Hameggattic Sisterhood.”

“Of course there’s a
Hameggattic Sisterhood. Do you think I want to belong to a club named after
Munchkins . . . they give me the creeps.”

*****

They went back inside and
there was Josie waiting for them.

“Oops” said Egg.

“Ladies . . . going
outside in this weather is not very bright. Look at you two . . . you’re
soaking wet. I’ll take you back to your cabin so you can change.”

“Umm . . . we’re in
different cabins,” corrected Sylvia.

“No. There’s been a
change. Claire has begged me to transfer her to Screech cabin . . . and I feel
obliged to let her. So, I’m transferring you to Snowy.

*****

Friday Night…

When Melody, Angela and
Presley found out that Sylvia was moving over to Snowy, they were furious.

“How could you do this?
It’s against the rules of the Lollipop Guild.”

“Yes, we took a vote, and
it was 3 to 1. We just assumed you’d vote the wrong way.”

“So, come back to
Screech.”

Sylvia listened to each of
them politely then said, “I resign from your Lollipoopers Club. I’m a
Hameggattic Sister and I’ll always be one.”

“You can’t,” they cried in
unison.

“I can . . . I did . . .
and now . . . I’m gone” and she turned her back and walked away.

Then she turned around and
came back. “Oh, if you do anything to bother Claire . . . and I mean anything .
. . Egg and I will be very, very, very unhappy.”

*****

Saturday …

It was the last
competition between Snowy and Screech. Snowy had won the kickball game that
morning. Now it was archery. The winner of this contest would win the very
first camp trophy . . . a wooden owl.

Every girl was to shoot
three arrows and their scores would be added up.

Each ring of the target
was worth different points . . .

Screech went first and had
a total score of one hundred and twenty-one points. To the delight of Egg and
Ham, Claire scored the most points for her team.

Then each girl on Snowy
took her turn. Egg was next to last and her score brought them very close to
Screech’s total. Now it was up to Sylvia.

Her first
arrow was a bull’s eye.

Her second arrow was just
off . . . and landed in the next ring.

If she could get her last
arrow in any of the three center rings, Snowy would win. And Egg knew her
friend was very, very good.

Sylvia notched her last
arrow.

She aimed.

She fired and the arrow
flew towards the target.

It landed in the fourth
ring.

Snowy didn’t win.

They had tied with
Screech.

It was the least Sylvia
could do for Claire.

*****

Sunday morning…

Egg hugged Claire. Then
Sylvia hugged her.

“You are absolutely the
second bestest friend I have.”

“That goes for me, too”
added Sylvia.

“And, Claire, if you ever
need help for any reason . . . I want you to promise to call me.”

“I promise. And Egg, thank
you for making this camp so wonderful.” Claire hugged them again and ran to her
mom. It was time to go home and see Yoshi.

When she was gone, Egg
said, “Did you know her best friend is a boy?”

“No way. Does she kiss
him?”

“Yuk . . . he’s her best
friend, not her boyfriend.”

“Oh.”

*****

Chapter
5 – …and Toto too

They drove home together
on Sunday morning. Sylvia had called her mother the night before and told her
she was going home with her best friend. Mrs. Hampton couldn’t have been
happier.

As they drove the hour or
so back home, Ham and Egg sat in the rear seat and talked and talked about
mostly nothing. It was wonderful.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I
made you something.” Egg searched her backpack and found the ring. “Hope it
fits.”

“Egg, it’s beautiful.” She
slipped it on but it was too small. “Oh, no. Maybe my dad came make it bigger.”

“Let me try” and Egg took
the ring and slipped it back on to Sylvia’s finger. This time it fit. “Oh my
gosh.”

“How did you do that?”

Egg couldn’t answer that.
She had felt the ring expand as she went to slip it on, and then shrink to fit
snuggly. Just like her jewelry. “Umm . . . I used a little magic.”

Sylvia giggled thinking
her friend was kidding.

“I can’t wait to get home
and talk to Dazzle,” Egg said to herself. “That was too weird.”

*****

Egg helped Sylvia carry
her stuff to the front door and then hugged her. “I’ll call you later.”

“Great. And thank you for
the ring. I’ll never take it off.”

Egg skipped back to the
car and got in the front seat with her mom. She was so happy, she almost
sparkled.

“So . . . tell me
everything.” And the young girl told her mother the whole wonderful story.

*****

After spending time with
her family, Egg went to her room to unpack. She told her parents that when she
finished, she was going to take a little nap. Of course, what she really
intended to do was go fly. It had been a week since she was last airborne.

So she unpacked, tossed
her dirty clothes into her hamper, and then took out her flying suit and
jewelry. She changed; walked to the balcony and leapt skyward . . . and Flying
Girl went flying.

She had
planned to do a quick fly over the town just in case someone needed help . . .
which was doubtful . . . then fly somewhere exotic. Maybe she’d fly to Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, and stand at the tippy top. Then she
could tell everyone that she was on top of the world . . . which was exactly
how she felt.

But as usual . . . at
least for Egg this summer . . . it didn’t quite work out that way. When she
flew over the park, she saw two kids climbing up the fence that surrounded the
baseball diamond. And, at their feet was the meanest dog she had ever seen.

Without thinking, she flew
down and landed right behind the growling four-legged devil. The boys saw her
land but instead of being surprised and asking her the usual questions, they
yelled, “Get out of there. That dog’s a killer. Run . . . hurry.”

Egg was pleasantly
surprised. Instead of thinking of themselves, these boys . . . yes, boys . . .
were worried about her safety. That was something to think about.

“Hey, doggy” she yelled.

The startled dog turned
around then started to growl at her.

“Stop that.”

The dog’s ears went
straight up and in mid-growl, he stopped and whimpered as if he realized he was
being scolded.

“That’s better. Now, go
home Toto and don’t you dare bother anyone again. Go.” (Toto, of course, was
Dorothy’s dog in the Wizard of Oz).

And it did. Head down,
tail between its leg, it trotted off, occasionally looking back at Egg.

The two boys climbed down
looking a little embarrassed. “Hey, how did you do that?”

“And how come you were
flying?”

That was better . . . she
could handle boys being rude. “The answer to both questions is magic. I’m Fly .
. .” she stopped then said, “I’m the Wicked Witch of the West. Have a nice
day.” She blew them a kiss and flew away.

The two boys watched until
she disappeared. Then they ran home.

*****

Egg flew back home. There
just wasn’t enough time to visit the big mountain. But that was okay. Good
deeds were always more rewarding. She landed on her balcony, walked in and
changed her clothes. As she was putting the two-headed snake (or was it a
serpent?) bracelet away, she stopped.

“OH MY GOSH.”

She finally realized what
the other magic in the bracelet was.

*****

Egg went to bed early . .
. she just had to talk to Dazzle. But she was so excited that she couldn’t fall
asleep. “Great. Just great.”

Well, if she
couldn’t fall asleep, then she should at least update her diary. She went to
her desk and pulled it out . . .

It took her a good half
hour to document everything that happened in the last seven days . . .
including sending Toto home. And now she was tired. So she jumped into bed,
turned out the light and fell asleep.

“Dazzle.”

“I am
here, Egg.”

“I figured out what the
bracelet does besides heal.”

“I know
you did. But, you may tell me if you wish.”

“It makes animals listen
to me. That’s why Jynx the monkey ran to my arms and why Toto stopped growling
and went home.”

“That
is so.”

“But why?

Ignoring the question, the
Princess said “Egg, you have done what no other human has done. In more than
a thousand of your years, you are the only one to unleash the magic of the
jewelry. You are the One.”

“Dazzle . . . I’m the one
what?”

“You
are the One I have waited so long to appear. And now I may answer all of your
questions.”

Egg had at least one for
each of those thousand years . . . and in no particular order, she started to
ask them. “Are those snakes or serpents on the bracelet?”

“A
snake and a serpent. You were correct; the snake is a very old symbol for
healing.”

“What does the serpent mean?”

“On my
world, the serpent is the most intelligent of all beings.”

“So why do I need to control wild
animals? Is that how you control Storm?”

For the first time in a millennium,
the Princess laughed. “He would be most displeased to be
considered a wild animal.”

“He’s not your pet?”

“No, he
was . . . is . . . my best friend.”

“Wow. You have a dragon for a best
friend. That’s amazing. So why do I need the power to control animals?”

“I can
only say that it may be the difference between victory and defeat.”

“If you say so. You once said that you
have known me for a thousand years. What did that mean?”

“I will
answer . . . but that must wait for the rest of the story.”

“Dazzle, I made a ring for my best
friend. When she tried it on, it didn’t fit her. But when I tried, the ring
grew then shrunk to fit . . . just like my jewelry. How can that be? What does
it mean?”

“It is
the power of the subconscious mind of Flying Girl. You must retrieve the ring.”

“You mean take it back? I can’t do
that . . . it was a gift.”

“Do you
wish her to be your Feminion?”

“My what?”

“Feminion.”

“What’s that?”

“On my
world a Feminion is a person you choose as a trusted advisor. She may accompany
you on your Quest. She will share your danger and your glory should you
succeed. Is that your wish?”

“Dazzle, I’m very sorry. But I have no
idea what you’re talking about. What quest?”

“I,
too, am sorry, Egg. I should not have allowed you to ask questions until I told
you my story.”

“Okay, tell me.”

“This
is not the time. But soon - perhaps tomorrow night.”

“Can you answer just a few more
questions?”

“I will
try.”

“You said we were sisters? What did
you mean by that?”

“I must
tell you my story before I may answer.”

“Okay, then how come you keep talking
about your world? Are you like a Martian or something?’

“I am not of Earth. I am from the planet Aerianna. It circles
the star Alcyone in the constellation Pleiades . . .  also known as the Seven
Sisters.”

“Dazzle . . . are you really real, or
are you just my imagination?”

“I am
real, but unlike you. Egg, I must leave for now. Until I return, I ask that you
sleep with your magic. Good night.”

“Now what does that mean?” but Dazzle
was gone.

*****

The next morning Egg had to talk to
her grandmother and tell her what Dazzle had said. But her mom said that Grammy
and Grazy had gone away for a few days. Apparently, Grazy’s house had sold and
she would be moving in just a few weeks. So the two old friends wanted to spend
as much time together as they could. They had fifty years of catching up to do.

So instead, she called Sylvia.

“Good morning.”

“Egg, guess what?”

“Umm . . . monkeys can fly and dogs
can talk?”

“What?”

“Just kidding.”

“Very funny. Anyway, Melody called and
she wants to have a meeting.”

“Just you and her?”

“No, between the Hameggattic Sisterhood
and the Lollipoopers Guild.” She just loved to call it that.

“Why?”

“She wouldn’t say. Can you meet me at
the park in half an hour?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

*****

“Hello.”

“Hi.”

Ham and Egg were sitting on swings,
gently moving back and forth. The three Lollipoopers were standing in front of
them.

“Why did you want to meet us?” asked
Sylvia.

“We’ve been thinking that we really
shouldn’t have two clubs. So we voted and we would like you two to join the
Lollipop Guild.” Apparently, Melody had been elected to do the talking.

Ham and Egg had already guessed that
this might be one of the topics and had prepared their answers. “Thank you,
that’s very sweet.”

“Great” Melody said. She had been
expecting an argument on which name to use. “Then . . .” but Sylvia cut her
off.

“It’s very sweet, but no thank you.”

“Why not?”

“We’re the Hameggattic Sisterhood and
we’re best friends. We made a mistake when we invited you to join our club.
We’re very happy that you have your own now. I’m sure that the two clubs can do
things together . . . sometimes. But, we’re not accepting any new members . . .
other than Christy Bacon if she wants.  So, have a wonderful summer.”

Ham and Egg stood up and walked away.

The Lollipoopers watched them leave .
. . their mouths hanging open in surprise and hurt. Then they all started
talking at once. After twenty minutes of heated debate, they decided on one
thing — sooner or later, they would get even for this insult.

*****

That night as she was getting ready
for bed, Egg remembered what Dazzle had told her . . . sleep with your magic.
Well, the only thing she could think of was to wear the suit and jewelry to
bed. So she put it all on, slipped under the covers, turned out the light and
started to close her eyes. The sooner she fell asleep the sooner she could talk
to the Princess.

But before her eye lids could close,
she saw a golden cloud appear at the foot of her bed. It shimmered and swirled
and just hung there. She probably should have been at least a little bit
frightened but she wasn’t. However, it certainly was a curious sight.

“Egg.”

“Dazzle, is that you?”

“It is I,” and the cloud began to slowly take the shape of the
warrior princess.

“I am
here to tell you my story . . . and to seek your help.”

Book 7

Dazzle
and the Crystal Egg

Book 7

Egg
and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016 by Robert
Iannone,

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1
– Serpents & Dragons

Chapter 2
– I’ve Got a Secret

Chapter 3
– City in the Clouds

Chapter 4
– I see London, I see France

Chapter 5
– Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl

Chapter 6
– Arm’ageddon

Chapter 7
– Mobius & the Crystal Egg

Chapter 8
– On Second Thought

Chapter 9
– The Millennium Egg

Chapter 10 – To Infinity and
Beyond

Chapter
1 – Serpents and Dragons

“Dazzle, is that really
and truly you?”

“It is I.”

“How come I can see you .
. . without being asleep? I’m not asleep am I?”

“No, Egg. You do not
sleep. I have come to tell you my story and to seek your help. You deserve to
see me as I am . . . and to take my measure and determine if I am worthy of
your assistance.”

Egg stared at the spectral
figure standing in front of her bed. “Me, help you? What can I do?”

“What you can do is
beyond imagining. You have abilities that far exceed anything that anyone has
ever had.”

“Really? Is that because
of the suit and jewelry?”

“Yes . . . and no. They
do possess great power; but only an extraordinary individual can evoke it. You
are that person. You are the one I have waited for. Tonight, I will begin to
explain.”

“Dazzle, you don’t look
like a real person. You look like you’re made of light.”

“I am not like you. Is
my appearance frightening?”

“Oh, no . . . it’s just
different.”

“Yes, that is true. I am
different. Unlike you, I no longer live.”

Egg’s eyes flew open and
she almost shouted, “WHAT? Are you a ghost?”

“No, not a ghost. What
you see and hear is the essence of who I am . . . who I was. It is that which
he could not imprison.”

“He who?”

“Mobius.”

“Who is that?” No sooner
had the words been spoken than an image formed in her mind. “Yikes. Oh my gosh
. . . I can see him in my head.” Then she asked, “How can I see him in my
head?”

“The same way that I can
project my image, I can also do the same for any other. It is why you see me
with Storm so often. Mobius is the reason I am here . . . the reason I created
the flying suit and jewelry. He is a fiend and under his cruel and evil rule,
my people suffer terribly. But, with your help, we shall defeat him.”

Egg didn’t say anything
for a moment. Her mind needed a few moments to digest what she had just heard.
Dazzle seemed to understand and stood there silently.

“Dazzle, are you sure you
have the right person? I’m only a nine-year-old girl.”

“You are more than that.
You are my sister, my daughter . . . you are me.”

“What the heck does that
mean?” Egg was completely befuddled; she had absolutely no clue what the
Princess was talking about.

“Egg, I beg for your
patience. Let me start at the beginning . . . my beginning. The tale is long
but in the end, there will be understanding. You will come to know the reason I
created . . .” Dazzle seemed to be at a loss for words. Then she continued “. . . the reason I
created Flying Girl.”

*****

“As I have told you, I
am from the planet Aerianna in the constellation your people call the Pleiades
. . . also known as the Seven Sisters. It is more than four hundred light years
from earth . . . billions upon billions of miles away.

In many ways, Aerianna
is like your earth. We have majestic mountains, limitless oceans, emerald green
forests and crystal blue lakes. But in other ways, it is vastly different. Our
sky is not always blue. Some days it may be green, or red or golden orange . .
. any color that you may find in earth’s rainbows.

When we look to the
heavens, we do not see just one moon but two. And, Aerianna has a sister planet
we called Kallous. Our astronomers had thought it was a barren world.  They
were wrong. It is . . . it was . . . home to Mobius.

We also have two other
sentient species - dragons and sea serpents.”

Egg interrupted to ask,
“Sorry, what does sentient mean?”

“It means that they are
as intelligent as we humans. As you would imagine, the serpents ruled the
oceans. They dwelled deep in the shadowy depths and rarely had occasion to find
their way to the surface. They are highly intelligent and gentle by nature.”

Dragons, with their
great wings, ruled the air. Unlike their brethren of the sea, they could be
bold and overly spirited but lacked the serpents thirst for knowledge. They
built their homes on the tallest peaks of the tallest mountains – far away from
serpent or man.

Finally, let me speak of
us humans . . .  rulers of the land. We had much in common with the creatures
of the air and sea. We could be intelligent or not, bold or shy, kind or mean
spirited. However, you will find that the color of our skin varied as
much as that of dragons. A child may be born with skin that is red or green or
orange. My personal favorite is blue,” and she smiled at some
private thought.

Dazzle stopped at this
point so Egg asked, “Can I ask you a couple of questions?”

“Please.”

“How did this Mo guy take
over? How could just one person beat dragons and sea serpents and regular
people?”

“With the power of the
Crystal Egg.”

“What’s the Crystal Egg?”

“More than a thousand
years ago, in order to stop the conflict amongst the three races – man, serpent
and dragon – a contest was devised by the Old Ones. The prize was the Crystal
Egg. We shall speak more of this later.”

“But who won?”

“We humans thought we
did. But in the end it was Mobius.”

“Dazzle, I don’t
understand why I almost always see you with Storm.”

“He was my best friend
and one of the two most important individuals in my life. Remembering him
brings me great comfort.”

Egg wasn’t sure why she
asked, but she did . . . “Are you lonely?”

Dazzle lowered her head as
she fought some inner battle with her emotions. “It has been difficult .
. . but that is of no consequence. Especially now that I have found you.”

Egg thought about her
sister Ashley after she had broken up with her boyfriend Brad. “Maybe we could
talk about it some other time. Would you like that?”

“I would, my sister.
Very much.

“Dazzle, something you
said the other night has been bothering me. You told me to take back the ring
that I made for Sylvia or she would become my . . . umm . . . I forget the
word. And then you said something about her sharing my quest. Could you tell me
again what that was all about?”

“Because of who you are
. . . who you have become, when you gave her the ring made with your hands and
out of love, her acceptance bound her to you for as long as she wears it. As
your companion and helper, what we call Feminion, she may know that you are
Flying Girl and she may share in your quest . . . should you choose to help me.
You must use the power of the bracelet, however, to insure that she does not
share this knowledge with anyone else.”

“Oh my gosh . . . I
can tell her and she’ll remember? Dazzle, that is so wonderful. Oh, thank you.”
Sometimes even a superhero like Flying Girl had to act like the nine year old
that she was. The Princess had told her of Dragons and Sea Serpents and Evil .
. . but to Egg that paled in comparison to the knowledge that she could share
her secret with her best friend.

“You must make her
understand that there will be danger. If she agrees, then she may be your
Feminion.”  Sensing that Egg was now totally distracted by this revelation,
the Princess said “Enough for tonight, it is time to sleep. Good night Egg.”

“Good night, Dazzle.”

*****

Egg found it nearly
impossible to fall asleep. Dragons and serpents and crystal eggs and evil
people kept running though her mind. And the news that she could share all of
her Flying Girl experience with Sylvia made her want to scream with happiness.

As much as she loved
flying and doing good deeds, not being able to share it with her best friend
was the one thing that stopped it from being totally perfect. And now she
could.

An hour later she finally
calmed down enough to sleep . . . and to dream of quests in far off worlds
filled with things beyond her understanding.

*****

Egg slept late the next
morning to make up for the lack of sleep the night before. In fact, it was a
knock on her bedroom door that finally got her up.

“Who’s there?” she
answered while doing a big stretch and yawn.

“Good morning, sleepy
head.”

“Grammy . . . come in.”

“I just wanted to make
sure you were all right. Would you like some breakfast?”

“I didn’t know you were
coming over. Is Mom out shopping?”

“Yes she is. Besides, this
gives me a chance to hear all about camp and Sylvia. I’m so very glad it all
worked out.”

“Grammy, close the door
and come sit on my bed. I have something amazing to tell you. Dazzle came to
visit last night.”

The older woman closed the
door, walked over, and sat next to her granddaughter. “So, you had another dream.
What did she say?”

“No, Grammy. It wasn’t a
dream and she was really here.”

“Egg, dear, what are you
talking about?”

So, Egg described Dazzle’s
visit and related the story she told her.

“I can’t tell you how
excited I am for you. This is truly amazing . . . after all these years to
finally find out what it’s all about. To be honest, I never believed it was
magic . . . at least not as I grew older. It seemed more reasonable that it was
some kind of very advanced science.”

“Isn’t that the same as
magic?”

The older woman laughed.
“You are absolutely right; it is.”

“Grammy, there’s one more
thing. Ham is going to be my Feminion.”

“What is that, dear one?”

So Egg explained about the
ring she had made and all the rest. “Isn’t that wonderful? I’ll be able to
share everything and she won’t forget.”

“Egg . . . that is
wonderful news. I am so happy for you. And if you can help Dazzle . . .” but,
she didn’t finish.

“What’s the matter,
Grammy?”

“I wore the suit for seven
years and lived with it in my attic for fifty more. And, in all that time, I
never once stopped thinking about why it had been made. I knew deep in my heart
that there had to be some grand purpose. And now, to finally hear what it is .
. . to help Dazzle save her world . . . well, I am just overwhelmed.”

“It kind of scares me.”

“As well it should. But I
just have to believe that Dazzle wouldn’t put you in harm’s way without knowing
that you could win. And to know that your girlfriend will be by your side makes
it seem just a little less dangerous.”

“But Grammy, I’m only nine
years old. It just seems silly to think that I could save an entire planet.”

“Yes it does . . . no
offense sweetheart. But, Dazzle said there’s much more to the story. So let’s
not jump to any conclusions until we’ve . . . sorry, I mean until you . . .
have heard all of it.”

“Grammy . . . let’s have
breakfast. Then I need to call Sylvia.”

Chapter
2 – I’ve Got a Secret

“Can you come over?”

“Sure. When?”

“As soon as you can. Oh,
and be sure to wear the ring I made for you.”

“I told you, I’ll never
take it off. It’s just perfect.”

“I’m not sure that it’s
perfect; but it is special . . . wait till I tell why.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just come over and we’ll
talk. See you soon.”

“Okay . . . bye.”

*****

About an hour later
Sylvia, Egg and her Grammy were up in Egg’s bedroom. The two Eloise’s had
already discussed how they would break the news to the other girl. Egg’s heart
was racing so fast she thought it would jump right out of her chest. She was
both excited and nervous . . . what would she do if her best friend didn’t want
to be her Feminion?”

All three were sitting on
the bed, which Sylvia thought was just a little bit strange. Egg’s grandmother
had never done that before. But, she could sense the excitement in her friend
and her curiosity was getting the better of her.

“Syl, you know that you’re
my best friend in the whole world, right?”

“Well, of course, silly.”

“I have a story to tell
you, and a favor to ask.”

“Okay.”

“First, may I please have
the ring?”

“What?”

“I need the ring back . .
. but just for a few minutes.”

Reluctantly,
the girl took off the ring and handed it back to Egg.

“Now, excuse me for a
minute.” Egg got up and went to the bathroom to change into her flying suit.
When she came out, Sylvia’s response was as expected.

“Wow, what a wonderful
costume. What is it for?”

“It has to do with my
story. But, before I answer – have you ever been to Mount Rushmore?”

Sylvia stared at her
friend . . . her eyes were squinched and her mouth was opened. “Mount Rushmore? Egg, why are you asking me that?”

“Please, just trust me.
This is going to get a little weird. But, you’re going to love the ending – I
hope. So, have you ever been there?”

Egg knew the answer
already. She had flown her friend there many months ago. But, of course, an hour
after they got back, Sylvia had forgotten it.

“Well . . . I
know I haven’t. But I’ve had some really strange dreams about going there.”

“How about Disneyworld in Florida?”

Sylvia stared
again. Then she answered, “Same thing. How did you know?”

Egg didn’t answer;
instead, she asked, “How about Washington, D.C.?”

Sylvia put her hand over
her mouth . . . as if she was trying to hold back a scream. Then she said in a
tiny voice, “Same answer. Egg, please tell me how you know.” She looked over at
Eloise, the elder, who only smiled back.

“Because, I took you to
those places.”

“What in the world are you
talking about?”

“I’m getting
to it. But, look at this.” She handed her friend an article from a newspaper
she had saved . . .

Sylvia read it but it didn’t
make any sense. “So?” was all she could say.

Now it was Grammy’s turn.
“Sweetheart, when I was Egg’s age, my grandmother gave me the fl . . . ummm . .
. costume that Egg’s wearing. And the ring, bracelet and necklace too.”

Sylvia hadn’t noticed
those and took a closer look. “They’re very pretty. How come you haven’t worn
them?”

“I have. Let Grammy finish
her story then I’ll tell you all about them.”

“When she gave them to me,
she told me a fantastic story that at first I didn’t believe. But it turned out
to be ever so true.”

“That’s nice,” answered
the confused girl.

“She told me that the
costume was actually a flying suit. When I wore it, I would be able to fly
anywhere.”

Sylvia started to smile
and only at the last moment stopped herself from giggling. That would have been
rude.

“You don’t believe me . .
. and I didn’t believe her. Then she had me put it on and we walked outside.
She told me what to do, and after a couple of tries, I started to fly.”

Sylvia looked at Egg then
back at her grandmother. Neither one was laughing. She was at a loss for words
. . . she didn’t know how to respond to that silly story.

“Let me just finish my
part of this tale. The suit, I was told, has power for only seven years. After
that, it must be put away for fifty years to recharge itself. That’s why it
gets handed down from grandmother to granddaughter. And, the jewelry supposedly
had magic of its own. But no one ever discovered what that was. Not until your
best friend did.”

Sylvia decided to play
along, “Okay, what was the magic?”

Egg stood up, then said,
“Ring, shrink me to the size of a butterfly.” Sylvia made a face as if to say
‘this is just too goofy’ when she let out a little scream. Her best friend
started to shrink.

“Oh
my gosh.”

Egg flew into the air and
hovered right in front of the girl’s shocked face. She screamed to her friend,
but it came out as a whisper “Are you
beginning to believe?”

Sylvia thought she might
faint, but Grandma Eloise was ready. She had a wet washcloth and wiped the brow
of the discombobulated young girl.

Egg landed and returned to
her normal size. “Pretty neat, huh?”

Sylvia just stared.

“While you sit there
looking like Greg in math class (the boy always looked confused and in danger
of throwing up whenever the class studied new math concepts), let me tell you
what the rest of the powers are.”

When she finished, Egg
asked her friend to re-read the newspaper article. “They saw me save the cat in
the hat.”

Regaining her composure,
Sylvia asked, “But why did they forget?”

“For the same reason that
you did . . . it’s the magic of the suit. One hour after I leave you, you
forget what happens.”

“So, in one hour I’ll
forget all about this?” She sounded very disappointed.

“That’s the good part.
Dazzle said you won’t have to.”

“Who is Dazzle?”

“That’s the rest of the
story.” And Egg explained about the warrior princess, and her last visit.

“Egg . . . don’t you find
all this just a little bit weird?”

“No. I think this is a lot
bit weird. But here’s the most important thing. If you wear the ring I made for
you, you can become my Feminion. Before you ask – that’s like my helper. And
then you can come with me to Aerianna and help me save Dazzle’s people. But, it
could be very dangerous.”

Sylvia didn’t rush to
answer. She knew that this – as weird as it may seem to her – was no kid’s make
believe game. At least Egg and her Grandmother didn’t think it was. “What
happens if I say no, or change my mind?”

“Then I have to take back
the ring, and you’ll forget any of this ever happened.”

“Egg, you’re my best friend.
If you’re going to be in danger, then it’s my responsibility to be there with
you . . . to protect you from . . . whatever. So, what do I do next?”

Egg let out her breath,
which she had been holding without even knowing it. She hugged her friend for a
full minute. “I just knew you would help me. I just knew it. Now, Dazzle said
that I needed to use the power of the bracelet on you. Are you ready?”

“No . . . but go ahead.”

Egg placed her hands on
either side of Sylvia’s head and said, “My friend, you have chosen to be my
Feminion for as long as you wear my ring. You will join me in our quest to save
Dazzle’s people and to defeat evil. You will share my dangers and my triumphs.
You will protect me as I you. You are to me as I am to Dazzle. May the magic of
the Old Ones, and the purity of our hearts, protect us in this long and
difficult task. Of me and our quest, you may share with no one.”

When she finished, she
gave Sylvia her ring back. As she slipped it on, she said, “Egg, I’m scared and
excited. When do we start?”

“Dazzle will let us know.”

“Dear one,” said her
grandmother, “your speech was . . . very mature. What made you phrase it like
you did?”

“Grammy, every time I use
the bracelet, the words just come out like that. I never know what I’m going to
say. It’s like the bracelet talks through my mouth.”

“Egg . . . who are the Old
Ones you mentioned?” asked Sylvia.

“Umm . . . I have no idea.
I’ll ask Dazzle.”

Chapter 3 – City in the Clouds

“Dazzle, I can’t see you.”

“Egg, to see me you must
wear your magic.”

“Oh . . . now I
understand. Just give me a minute.” She grabbed her suit and jewelry and put
them on. Then she jumped back on the bed and waited expectantly. She wasn’t
disappointed.

The cloud began to form at the foot of the
bed then it swirled like a tornado. And very soon, it took on the shape of the
warrior princess.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For allowing me to
continue my story.”

“Of course I want to hear
the rest. Why would you think that I wouldn’t?”

“I have talked of
dragons and sea serpents and evil. Only the brave at heart would consider
helping me against such powerful forces.”

“Dazzle, I will do
anything I can, even if I’m only nine years old. And, I’ll have help . . .
Sylvia wants to be my Feminion. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“I know. And when you
touched her with the magic from the bracelet, I felt her spirit. She will be a
worthy Feminion.  You may trust her with your life.”

“Before you tell me more
of the story, can I ask you a couple of questions?”

“Of course.”

“When I used the magic of
the bracelet, I said something about the Old Ones. I think you said something
about them too. Who are they?”

“They are a race of
alien beings with a science far, far beyond anything in my world or yours. It
was they that brought humans, dragons and serpents to Aerianna. We have little
knowledge of them. However, children on my world are taught that one form they
may have taken is this . . .”

An image formed in Egg’s
mind she let out a gasp. “Oh my gosh.”

“They are unlike us in
appearance . . . but they must be a wondrous race.”

“Dazzle, is my suit and
jewelry really magical?”

“They possess the
science of the sea serpents. Their technology is far beyond your understanding
. . . therefore you may consider it as magic.”

“That’s what I told my
Grammy.”

Dazzle actually smiled. “As I have said before,
we are as one. We think much alike.”

“I’m still not sure what
that means.”

“Patience, my little
sister. It will become clear. But for now, I will continue with my story.”

*****

“At first, each race
kept to themselves. It was a new world and there was much to explore . . . much
to learn.

For the sea serpents,
the oceans were vast and very deep with a limitless number of canyons and caves
to explore.

The oceans were fed by
rivers, which in turn were fed by lakes. So the serpents could venture
throughout the continents, exploring and colonizing. Over time, they developed
the ability to venture on to land for many weeks at a time.

The dragons did not need
to explore the sky . . . for it was all the same. But they had to find mountain
peaks suitable to build their cities. And as their population grew, they needed
to find more and more of such places bringing them into conflict with humans.

Then there were we
humans. Never satisfied with being creatures of the land, we needed to rule the
skies and the seas. We built great ships that sailed on top of the oceans and
submersibles that could sail under them. We built crafts that would free us
from the bounds of gravity and give us the freedom to fly.

And over time a war began
. . . but there is no longer a record of what started it or by whom. But year
after year, dragon fought serpent, serpent fought man and man fought both.
There seemed to be no way to end this conflict . . . no one who could rise
above the hatred and bring reason and balance back to Aerianna.

Then one day a comet
came from nowhere and passed by the planet. It was so bright, even during the
sunlit hours, that it was visible to one and all. And then it was gone.

The next day, something
extraordinary happened.  The rulers of humans, serpents and dragons chose to
step down from their position of power. They had proven unworthy of their
responsibilities, lacking the wisdom to end the conflict between races. Each
selected another to replace them.

The
dragon king chose Queen F’Aerianne, the Rainbow Dragon.

The Queen of the sea
serpents chose King E’ssss and his wife, Queen S’eeee.

And the King of the
humans chose M’earth . . . my father.

We have since come to
believe that the Old Ones sent the comet and that it contained more of their
magic. Whether it was its light or perhaps the cosmic dust it left behind . . .
we do not know. But it brought change and with change comes hope.

Soon after the new
rulers took power, they agreed to meet to discuss the ongoing conflict. They
chose an island in the middle of the ocean that contained an old volcano many
miles high. It was the perfect choice, for all three races felt at home.

“Egg, I am almost at an
end for tonight.”

“That’s okay, Dazzle. This
is very interesting,” she fibbed.

“I see in your eyes that
you grow weary of the story. I am sorry; but it is important that you
understand if you are to help me.”

Now Egg felt guilty. She
really was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. “I’m sorry . . . really.”

“Such things as I talk
about do not hold great importance to someone so young. Do not be sorry; I was
once your age. But I beg you to hear the rest. I will be brief.”

“I have been listening,
really. The three races spent a lot of time getting used to their new home. Then
they started doing bad things to each other and that led to war. The Old Ones
didn’t like it so they sent a comet to change things. Right?”

Dazzle smiled a second
time. “You
please me greatly. I will finish now.”

*****

“What the
great leaders did not understand was that the choosing of the island was not
really theirs . . . but that of the Old Ones. For on it was a temple of sorts.
It contained only one thing. In the very center was a pedestal and resting on
top was the Crystal Egg. It glowed with incredible brilliance.

When these kings and
queens entered, all doors and windows sealed tightly of their own accord. Then
a voice spoke to each of them in their own language.

“Welcome, children. We have followed your progress since the
first day we put you upon this planet. We have watched you grow and learn. And,
we were proud.

Then you began to bicker with one another, and this turned to
violence. We do not condone such activity and we will not allow it to continue.

We offer you one chance to avoid our displeasure. Set your minds
to developing your cultures and your civilizations to the greatest degree
possible.

At the end, we will judge which of our children have
accomplished the most. They will be awarded the Crystal Egg. With it, all
things will be possible. It is a treasure beyond imagining.

The losers will become subservient to the winner who will
hopefully show wisdom and kindness. But that will be their choice.

Turn
your energies to your own advancement. From this moment forth, violence against
another race will not be tolerated.”

Then the doors and
windows re-opened. The kings and queens tried to approach the Egg to determine
its nature, but were unable. Some unseen force protected it.

Now, I
will end tonight’s story with this. All races tried mightily. But in the end,
we humans were triumphant. We did many wondrous things, accomplished much. But
I believe the one thing that truly set us apart; the one thing that gave us the
victory was Q’umulus . . . our city that floats in the clouds.”

Chapter 4 – I see London, I see France

“What did she say?” asked
her friend.

Egg told her about the
conflict, the Old Ones and the competition.

“Oh,” said Sylvia, “is
that all?” Just like her friend, Sylvia found it all pretty uninteresting. It
just wasn’t very romantic . . . except for the part about the floating city.
That was pretty cool.

Sensing her friend’s
disappointment, Egg said, “Sylvia, this is very important information that we
need if we’re going to help Dazzle.”

“I’m sorry. I was just
expecting . . . ummm . . . I don’t know. Do you think Dazzle had a boyfriend
who tried to save her from the bad guy? Maybe someone tall and incredibly
handsome.”

“SYLVIA . . . how
could you even think that? Dazzle would never have a boyfriend. YUKKKK.”

“Oh, really, Egg. Sometimes
you act like a . . . a . . . nine year old.”

“I am a nine year old.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to
act like it. Anyway, Dazzle isn’t nine. Why can’t she have a boyfriend?”

“She has much more
important things to think about. She has to save her whole planet. She wouldn’t
have time for a boyfriend.”

“Ask her.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Please, remember I’m your
famine whatever.”

“It’s Feminion you goofy
girl,” and they both giggled.

“Anyway, what do you want
to do today?”

“How would you like to go
flying?” asked Flying Girl.

*****

“EGG,” Mrs.
Graystone yelled. “Your grandmother is waiting.”

“Here I am . . . and here
I go. Bye Mom, love you.”

“Love yo…,” but the door
slammed shut before she could finish. “That girl has way too much energy,”
muttered the older woman. “Lord knows what kind of mischief it’ll get her
into.” Luckily for her, she would never know.

“Hi, Grammy.”

“Morning, sweetheart.”

“Are you excited?”

“Well, of course I am. I
haven’t been to London and Paris in way too many years. This should be
wonderful. There’s so much I want to show you.”

“Then I make you the
official tour guide.”

“Thank you, I accept.”

They drove the short way
to Sylvia’s house and pulled into the driveway.

Egg jumped out, ran to the
door and rang the bell. Sylvia opened it, yelled good-bye to her mom and ran
out with her friend.

“Are we really going to London and Paris?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yup.”

“I feel like I’m living in
a fairy tale.”

“Me, too. Hope it has a
happy ending.”

“Have you ever heard of a
fairy tale that didn’t?”

“Ummm . . . yes; The Boy
who Cried Wolf.”

“Oh, you’re right. But
that doesn’t count.”

“Why not?”

“What do you expect from a
boy?”

As they entered the car,
they were both giggling. “What’s so amusing?” asked Eloise the Elder.

“Boys,” they both said.

“Girls, I hate to be the
one to tell you this. But in not too many years they will be the only thing you
two will be thinking and talking about.”

“Grammy, Flying Girl and
her Feminion will be way too busy fighting dumb dangerous dragons and slippery
sea snakes. The boys will simply have to wait.”

“Do you agree, Sylvia?”

“Ummm . . . absolutely.”
Then she added, “Unless we meet incredibly handsome knights or princes on
Aerianna.”

“There are none,” said Egg
with knowledge she didn’t really have.

“How do you know?”

“I am absolutely certain
that all the boys on Aerianna are sea serpents,” and that got all three ladies
laughing loudly.

*****

They drove to Grammy’s
house all the while talking about the places and things they would see on their
trip. Egg wanted to ride the giant Millennium Ferris Wheel in London, Ham
wanted to see Westminster Abbey, where all the Royals got married, and the
Older Eloise wanted to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris.

Their excitement was
growing by the mile.

When they made it to her
grandmother’s house, Egg saw a moving van in front of the house next door . . .
Grazy’s house. “Grammy, is your friend moving today?”

“No, dear one, she moved
last week. These are my new neighbors.”

“Have you met them?”

“Yes, and they seem very
nice. They have two boys who are identical twins.”

“Really? They look exactly
alike?”

“I couldn’t tell Zack from
Zeke.”

“Zack and Zeke . . . what
kind of names are those?”

“I think Zack is short for
Zachariah and Zeke for Ezekiel. Pretty unusual, don’t you think?”

“Pretty goofy, don’t you
know.”

“How old are they?” asked
Sylvia.

“They’re ten.”

“Oh.”

*****

Egg slipped into her
flying suit and jewelry. She wished there was a way either to carry the suit
with her or to be able to wear it all the time. The need to go back to her
bedroom to get it just wasn’t convenient. And to carry it in a backpack to her
grandmother’s house didn’t seem right. “What would happen if I lost it . . .
again?”

Anyway, she came out of
the bathroom as Flying Girl. “Are you guys ready?”

“I’m a little scared.”

“Oh, don’t be, dear one,”
soothed the older woman. “Take it from someone who did it for seven years, it’s
very safe and incredibly thrilling.” Since she didn’t remember the other times
she had done this; Sylvia still wasn’t completely convinced.

They walked out the back
door, and Egg held her guests hands. “And, we’re off!”

They rose straight up into
the clouds and stopped there for a few seconds so Sylvia could catch her
breath. She looked down, and instead of being frightened, she was thrilled. “How
come I’m not scared to death?”

“Magic.”

“Oh, right.”

“Are you ready?”

“Where are we going
first?”

“Grammy?”

“Just like the nursery
rhyme . . . I see London, I see France. First stop, merry old England.”

So Egg headed east and in
moments, they were over the Atlantic Ocean. And for as far as the eye could see
in any direction, there was nothing but blue water with foamy lines of white at
the top of waves.

Flying as fast
as she could, Egg soon had them in sight of land . . . it was the coast of
England.

“What’s our first stop,
Grammy?”

“Stonehenge.”

“What’s that?”

“Very ancient rocks.”

“That sounds kind of
boring.”

“Trust me. Remember, I’m
your guide.”

So Egg flew low over the
English countryside until her grandmother yelled, “there it is.” Egg looked where
her Grammy was pointing and swooped down out of sight of some tourists.

They
approached the circle of rocks. “This isn’t so boring,” said Sylvia.

“No, but it is a little
strange. What was it?”

“No one knows for sure. It
was probably a Druid place of worship.”

“Who were the Druids?”

“An ancient race. Some
believe they were wizards and soothsayers, but in pre-Christian Celtic society
they formed an intellectual class comprising philosophers, judges, educators,
historians, doctors, seers, astronomers, and astrologers.”

Egg looked at Sylvia who
looked back at her. They made a silent pact with their eyes right then and
there not to ask Grammy any more questions.

They strolled around for a
bit then walked back to where they had landed. “Now what?”

“To London, my dear
Watson, to London.”

“Who’s Watson?” asked
Sylvia before she realized what she had done.

“Oh, it was just a silly
reference to Dr. Watson, the partner to the famous Sherlock Holmes, detective
extraordinaire.” Egg kicked her friend.

They took off
and in minutes landed just outside of London to avoid being seen.  It was too
far to walk, so they took the famous double-decker bus into town.

And for the next few
hours, they took in all the famous sights of one of the great cities in the
entire world . . .

. . . Westminster Abbey, the place where all the Royals married.

. . . the famous clock
tower, Big Ben. And of course London Bridge which wasn’t falling down at all.

. . . then to the Tower of London. It was the place where they used to imprison just about everybody who made
the king or queen mad. But nowadays, it was home to the Royal Jewels. It was
spectacular to see so many diamonds, rubies, and gold. Egg made a mental note
to ask Dazzle if she had a crown.

Then they went to Buckingham Palace where the Queen really lived. First, they watched the changing of the
guard. That’s when new soldiers come out to replace the ones that had been
guarding the gates for hours. It should have been boring, but to the kids’
surprise, it wasn’t. And then, something really cool happened . . .

. . . the Queen came riding out in a horse-drawn carriage! If this
wasn’t a fairy tale, then nothing was.

Finally, Egg got her wish
and they found the Millennium Ferris Wheel, which was incredibly large, and
rode it three times. When they got off, they all agreed flying with Flying Girl
was a lot more fun.

“Okay ladies,
this old woman needs a spot of tea.” So they took a taxicab and found a little
cottage restaurant hidden amongst some trees. Grammy insisted they act like
proper English ladies and order cucumber sandwiches and tea. It was different,
but in return, they made the older woman agree to dinner at McDonald’s when
they got to Paris.

After lunch, they flew
over London, looked back to see Big Ben one last time, and headed east to Paris. Egg was the most excited of the three. She had wanted to go to France ever since she became Flying Girl.

Paris was a whirlwind.
They had spent so much time in London that they only had about an hour before
they had to head home. So they talked it over and decided that there were a few
things they absolutely had to see.

First, was the
Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum (for Grammy’s sake).

It was exciting to see the
famous painting up close. But, they were disappointed also. It wasn’t very
large.

Then they went to Notre
Dame Cathedral . . . where the Hunchback used to live (at least in the story).
And they rode under the Arc de Triumph.

They took a tour of the
famous palace called Versailles . . .

. . . and finally, they went to McDonald’s for a good old American
hamburger and French fries.

“Did the French really
invent French fries?” asked Ham.

“They certainly did. It is
one of their finest achievements.”

Chapter 5 - Myst Tree at
Sighing Whorl

“Dazzle, can Syl . . .
ummm, I mean my Feminion, be here at night when you come to visit?”

“She would not be able to
see or hear me.”

“Really? Why not?”

“She does not have that
which is necessary.”

“Oh, you mean the flying
suit. Could I let her wear it . . . just for a few minutes, so she could see
and talk to you?”

“It is not possible for
her to make the suit function.”

Egg wasn’t totally sure
what that meant, but it did bring up a question. “How come Grammy could use the
suit . . . since she wasn’t the One?”

“That which makes you me
is in her. But, in the end, she lacked all that was required.”

Now the conversation had
turned completely goofy. “I guess if I ask you to explain, you would just say,
‘Of this we will speak later,’ right?”

That made Dazzle laugh. “My sister, you are very
amusing to me. You bring me much joy. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Egg
waited to see if the princess would actually give her an answer.

But all Dazzle said was, “If you have no further
questions, I would continue my story.”

“Ummm . . . I do have a
couple of questions.”

“Ask.”

“Is there any way for me
to secretly carry my flying suit . . . maybe using some kind of magic thingy.
Someday I might need it to help someone in trouble. But if it’s in my bedroom,
it could take too long.”

“Such need has never
occurred to me.” She stood silently while trying to figure out an answer. After a
few moments, Egg’s ring twinkled. Then Dazzle said, “You may now use the
magic of the ring to tend to your suit.”

“Oh, that’s pretty neat .
. . using the ring to shrink just my suit. But what do I do with an itty-bitty
suit?”

“The ring will provide.
May I continue my tale?”

“Two more questions, if
it’s okay?”

“Of course.”

“Since you’re a princess,
did you have a crown with jewels?”

“It was only a tiara.
But one day you shall be present when a crown is placed upon my head. It will
be the symbol of our victory.”

That gave Egg a shiver . .
. of fear or excitement, she wasn’t sure. It was probably both.

“Dazzle, can I ask just
one more question.”

“Yes.”

“Ummm . . . did you have a
boyfriend?”

“His name was Z’kkk. We
were to marry.”

*****

“And so the contest
between the three races began. After a century, the Dragons dropped out of the
competition. To their credit, they had built magnificent castles on towering
peaks . . .

They learned to trade
with humans and serpents by offering their great strength and ability to fly in
return for goods that they could not make. But, in truth, they could think of
nothing else to do.

The serpents, however,
were a much more ambitious race. They had no intention of losing. Their
accomplishments almost matched that of man. They built marvelous cities under
the water. They discovered the science of the crystals that grow at the deepest
depths of the ocean. With these they created such wonders as the Translator
Crystals that allowed each race to understand and talk to each other; the
Morphing Crystals that allowed one to change his size, and the Enhancer Crystal
that amplified one’s strength.

“That’s why I can do all
that stuff, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“What about the bracelet
and the flying suit?”

“Humans invented the
bracelet’s power; I conceived the flying suit, though it was my good friend
Ven’trrr, a serpent scientist, who turned concept into reality.”

“So why did you win the
contest?”

“As I have said, it was
Q’umulus, the cloud city that gave us victory. But it was not because it could
float in the sky, though that was a wondrous sight to behold. It was because of
what we did there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Q’umulus was dedicated
to endeavors that did not enhance the material wealth of our people, only the
spiritual wealth.

It was a place to write
poetry and stories of honor and love.

It was a place to
contemplate the nature of man and the universe.

It was a place to create
music and song that thrilled the soul and stimulated the senses.

It was a place to
challenge the world around us and to create philosophies of life.

It was a place to divine
the nature of nature.

It was a place to delve
into the mystery that was the Old Ones.

It was built to be the
home, the stage and the laboratory for the human mind to explore existence.

And when
it was completed, the Old Ones ended the competition and we three – humans,
serpents and dragons – were summoned to meet the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl.”

“What is that?”

“Sighing Whorl is a
fog-shrouded valley whose existence had never been discovered. But one day we
were shown the way. And on that day, the humans were declared the victors and
my father was award the Crystal Egg.”

“So what is this mystery
world and what does the crystal egg do?” Egg was no longer bored; her curiosity
was at full tilt.

“It is not mystery
world. It is the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl,” said Dazzle speaking slowly so Egg would
understand.

“What the heck does that
mean?” she answered with a little frustration.

“It is late. Of this I
will speak tomorrow.”

“No, no, no, no,” cried
the young girl. “I’ll never get to sleep if you don’t tell me more.”

Dazzle smiled. “I will tell you this.
Sighing Whorl refers to the sound that the fog makes as it swirls around the
valley where the Myst Tree lives. As it moves over the rocks and hills, it
makes a sound like a human sighing in satisfaction. It is a most pleasing
sound.”

“And the tree?”

“It is the
representative of the Old Ones.”

“You mean the Old Ones are
trees?”

“No. The tree exists to
carry out the bidding of the Old Ones.”

“You can talk to it?”

“It does not talk; it
communicates.”

Egg wanted to ask what
that meant but thought better of it. But she had to know what the Crystal Egg
did. “Dazzle, just tell me what the Egg does?”

“It does whatever you
ask of it. Goodnight, my sister.” And, Dazzle turned back into the cloud, which
melted into nothingness.

*****

Egg sat there for a few
minutes trying to remember everything Dazzle had told her. The idea of a city
that floated sounded so awesome. She wondered if that was where Dazzle and her
boyfriend were supposed to get married. Then she wondered what had happened to
him. But in her heart, she knew that the bad guy – whatever his name was – did
what bad guys always do . . . something bad. She felt very sorry for the
princess. Losing the person you’re supposed to marry had to be just horrible .
. . even if he was a boy.

It was late and she was
tired, so she put aside these thoughts for the moment. There was time enough
tonight to dream about them. Egg got off the bed and walked over to the little
chest. She unfastened the necklace, slipped off the bracelet, and put them both
away. As she went to take off the ring, her conversation with Dazzle about the flying
suit came back to her.

“Now, what did she say?
Ummm . . . something like the ‘ring tends to my suit’. As soon as the words
came out of her mouth, a white fog swirled around her and for a moment, she was
completely covered by it. A second or two later, the fog disappeared and so did
the flying suit.

“OH MY GOSH,” she
yelped. Egg was standing there in her underwear. She ran to her dresser, took
out her pajamas and slipped them on.

“Well, that was pretty
weird,” she thought. “I wonder what happened to the flying suit.” She looked
everywhere but it just wasn’t there.

Since Dazzle had made this
magic, Egg wasn’t worried. But she was confused. “Come out, come out . . .
where ever you are,” she called to the suit. But nothing happened.

“Okay, let’s try this
again. Ring, tend to my suit.” Sure enough, the fog was back and when it
disappeared, Egg was dressed in her flying suit.

“That is creepy, freaky
and way too cool.” So naturally, she tried it again. “Ring, tend to my suit.”
And, yup, it happened one more time. Now she was back in her pajamas.

“Dazzle, that is about the
neatest trick I’ve ever seen. Thank you.” She wasn’t expecting the princess to
answer.

But, she did. “You are welcome, Egg.”

Chapter 6 – Arm’ageddon

“Hi, did you talk to
Dazzle last night?”

“Yes. She told me she had
a boyfriend and a tiara and . . . well, a lot of stuff. She even gave me a new
magic trick. Why don’t you meet me at the park and I’ll tell you everything
while we bike?”

“Oh, Egg, I can’t. My
cousin is here and she’s leaving at lunchtime. So, I need to spend time with
her. Why don’t you come over?”

Egg was disappointed; she
just couldn’t wait to share everything with her friend. But family was family,
or so said her Grammy. “I’ll be there in a bit. See ya.”

“Bye.”

With a sigh of
frustration, Egg found her mother and asked her permission, fetched her helmet
and bike and rode the two blocks to Sylvia’s house. When she got there, her
friend was outside with another girl.

“Hi,” she called.

“Egg, this is my cousin
Sarah.”

“Nice to meet you.”

In response, the girl
asked, “Is your name really egg?”

“Those are my initials. My
real name is Eloise Grace Graystone.”

“Oh, that’s very cute. And
I like your ring? Can I try it on?”

Egg was wearing the ring
and the bracelet. “I’m sorry. It was a very special gift and I promised I would
never take it off.”

To change the subject,
Sylvia asked, “So, what do you guys want to do?”

“We’re leaving in about an
hour so I don’t have much time.”

“Hmmm . . . it’s such a
nice day why don’t we draw pictures on the driveway. I have lots and lots of
chalk.”

So they agreed
and at first everyone worked on their own drawing but then Sarah suggested they
all work on one giant design. “It’s called the dragon and the frog” and she
quickly sketched the outline of her idea. It turned out that she was a very
good artist.

“Why a dragon and a frog?”
asked Egg.

“Well,” explained Sarah,
“the dragon was once a beautiful princess and the frog was her handsome prince.
But a wicked witch put a curse on them. Then a good witch felt sorry for them
and gave the frog wings so he could still be with his girlfriend . . . the
dragon.”

“Okay.” After hearing
Dazzle’s story, Egg could believe just about anything. “Do they ever become
prince and princess again? I can’t imagine that the dragon would be very happy
about having a frog for a boyfriend.”

This caused the girls to
giggle.

For the next
hour, they worked as a team. And the result was a masterpiece worthy of any
museum . . .  even if the dragon looked more like a winged horse.

As they admired their
work, Sarah asked the all-important question, “Would you rather kiss a frog or
a boy?”

“Boy,” said Sylvia without
hesitation.

“A boy but only if he was
a prince,” her cousin responded.

“I would rather be a frog
then to kiss a boy,” declared Egg.

But before they could
defend their choices, Sylvia’s aunt came out of the house. “Okay, ladies, it’s
time to go. Thank your cousin for a lovely visit.”

“Auntie Em, this is my
friend Egg.”

“Why do they call you
egg?”

The three girls found this
very funny and they started to giggle again. Finally, Sarah said, “Mom, those
are her initials.”

“Oh, very cute. What kind
of an egg are you?” she asked teasingly.

“Ummm . . . I’ve been scrambled,
broken and fried. I guess the only thing left is to change my last name and
become Egg McMuffin,” and the silly girls burst out laughing.

*****

As soon as her aunt and
cousin left, Sylvia was allowed to ride to the park with Egg.  It was only a
few minutes away so they decided to wait until they got there before talking about
last night.

But Sylvia was so anxious
to hear everything that Dazzle had to say that she raced as fast as she could.
Poor Egg had trouble keeping up.

“Hey, slow down.”

“Come on, slow poke,” her
friend teased.

“I thought my Feminion had
to do everything I said.”

“No, silly. Only slaves
and soldiers have to obey.”

“Well, you’re like my
soldier. You’re supposed to protect me.”

“From what? There are no
serpents or dragons around here . . . except for the one we drew.” But she
slowed down anyway.

“Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, my
queen” she answered with a big smile.

“See . . . isn’t this
better?”

“What?”

“Doing what I tell you.”

“Eggggg.”

“Just kidding.
Anyway, let’s go to Hide-Away tree and talk.” So they rode over to a big oak
tree and dismounted. The center of the tree was gone and there was a big
opening that you could walk through.

It was like a living
clubhouse . . . pretty neat if you didn’t mind the daddy-long-leg spiders that
called it home.

They walked inside the
tree, saw about ten spiders, screamed and ran back out. “I’d rather face a
dragon . . . uggg. Let’s just sit out here,” suggested Sylvia. “Now, what did
Dazzle say?”

“I asked if you could be
there the next time she visited. But she said you wouldn’t be able to see or
hear her.”

Sylvia’s faced flushed and
she felt queasy in her stomach . . . her body’s way of reacting to being
incredibly disappointed. “Why?” she asked.

“Ummm . . . it’s because
you don’t have whatever is that I have that makes me Fl . . . you know who.”
You can’t be too careful, Egg thought to herself.

“So I can never meet her?”
Sylvia whispered, fighting back tears.

“She never really said
that. I’ll ask her tonight, okay?”

That gave her friend a
little hope “I’d like that.”

“Anyway, she showed me a
picture of her tiara. It was even prettier than the ones in London. Then I
asked her if she had a boyfriend and she said his name is Z’kkk. They were
supposed to get married.”

“What happened?”

“She didn’t tell me, but I
bet you that bad guy . . . what’s his name . . . had something to do with it.”

“Mobius.”

“Yeah, that’s the one. It
scares me just saying it.”

“Me, too.”

“Then she told me about
the contest . . .” and Egg recounted the rest of Dazzle’s story.

“It really does sound like
a fairy tale, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. I sure hope it has a
happy ending for Dazzle.”

“Well, with our help, it
just has too . . . doesn’t it?”

Egg shrugged. It didn’t
seem possible that she and Sylvia could make a difference. What could they do
against such an evil person like Mobius?

Without answering her
girlfriend’s question, she said, “Let’s go riding.”

*****

As they rode along the
bike path, Egg told her friend “I got an email from Crispy Bacon.” She was
referring to the girl, Claire, who they had met at camp. It was the young girl
who had helped patch things up between Egg and Sylvia.

“What did she say?”

“Not much. But she did
invite both of us to visit her.”

“Oh that would be nice. We
owe her a lot.”

They were
riding along a path that went up a hill. When they got to the top, they stopped
. . .

. . . and checked out the
little valley that they could race down as fast as they would dare to go.

“Well, if we’re going to
fight monsters and bad guys, we should see how brave we are by flying down
there as fast as a speeding dragon. Okay with you my fearless, friendly
Feminion?”

“Yes, my Queen. But take
care . . . there approaches three evil riders from yonder hill.” Egg looked up
to see where Sylvia was pointing. Sure enough, three bikers were racing down
from the other side. “I shall take the lead.”

“For Dazzle and Z’kkk,”
yelled Egg. And off they rode.

So down the hill, as fast
as they could, raced the fearless queen behind her faithful companion. As they
neared the other group, they realized it was their three former friends . . .
the Lollipop Guild.

And before you could say,
“follow the yellow brick road,” Sylvia swerved to avoid crashing into Melody
and lost her balance. Her bike fell and she went flying right over the
handlebars and onto the concrete path. For a moment, there was total silence.
Then Sylvia screamed.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH.”

“OH MY GOSH . . . Syl
are you okay?”

“AHHHHHHHHHHH.” The girl was holding her
arm, which was sticking out in a way that it definitely shouldn’t have been. It
was broken.

The Lollipop Guild looked
horrified . . . but didn’t try to help the injured girl.

“Ring, tend to my suit.”
And to everyone’s amazement, even Sylvia who stopped screaming for a second to
watch what was happening; a cloud of white mist came out of nowhere and
engulfed Egg.

When it had cleared, Egg
was gone . . . replaced by Flying Girl.

She went to her friend and
put her hands gently on the broken arm and said “Bone, mend thyself and take
with you all the pain you have caused.”

And the bone obeyed. It
slowly, of its own accord, returned to normal.

Sylvia stopped screaming,
inspected her once-injured arm then gave her queen a big hug.

The Lollipop Guild, on the
other hand, began to scream. They rode away as fast as they could. They went
straight to Melody’s house (it was the closest) and told her mom what had
happened. At first, she laughed, but the kids were in tears and seemed
genuinely frightened. So she called Mrs. Hampton.

“Is your daughter
alright?”

“Yes, she’s fine. She and
Egg are here right now having some milk and cookies. Why do you ask?”

“My daughter thought she
broke her arm biking.”

“Sylvia . . . is your arm
broken?” Mrs. Hampton didn’t know what else to say.

“I don’t think so; let me
check,” and she gave Egg a high five. “No, it seems okay.”

Chapter
7 – Mobius & the Crystal Egg

“Hi, Dazzle.”

“You are well, Egg?’

“Yes, thank you. That
thing you showed me with my flying suit worked terrifically well today. I used
it to help Sylvia.”

“I know. You acted
swiftly . . . I was pleased.”

“Dazzle, how come you know
what I did? You weren’t there.”

“That is not so.”

“You were there? Where?”

“When you wear the
flying suit, I am with you.”

“You’re not ready to tell
me what that means are you?”

“No.”

“Can I ask you a
question?”

“Ask.”

“Will Sylvia . . . my
Feminion . . . ever be able to see or talk to you? She was very disappointed
when I told her she couldn’t be with us when you visit at night.”

“All things are
possible.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful . .
. she’ll be so happy. So, when can she meet you?”

“I cannot say. What may
be possible may not come to pass.”

“You mean you can’t talk
about it until later?”

“No, I cannot say what I
do not know.”

“What does that mean?”

“There may come a time
when she can communicate with me, but I do not know when or how. But, all
things are possible to those who seek answers.”

“Well, I guess that will
make her feel a little better.”

“I will continue my
story now.”

*****

“One day
the evening sky began to glow as it had never done. A trail of colors painted
by an unknown hand swept from east to west spiraling down until it disappeared
behind a distant mountain . . .

. . . and my father knew
it was the summons from the Old Ones; so did F’Aerianne, E’ssss and S’eeee. The
leaders of all three races made the journey accompanied by hundreds of their
most knowledgeable advisors. They traveled for two days and on the morning of
the third day, everyone had gathered on the peak of the appointed mountain.

Below them was a valley,
all but hidden in a swirling myst of fog. In the center, shining like a ghostly
beacon was a giant glowing tree the likes of which no one had ever seen. It was
the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl.

Not knowing what to do,
the three races sent emissaries down into the valley . . . but to no avail.

“What are m-and-serries?”

“An emissary is a person
who speaks for the king.”

“Oh . . . thanks. Does it bother you
when I have to ask what a word means?”

“No, my sister. To ask
questions is to learn; to learn is to gain understanding. And with
understanding comes wisdom.”

“Dazzle, you’re very smart, aren’t you?”

“If smart means wise . .
. then I am not. Had I been, perhaps Mobius would not have succeeded. Now, I
will continue . . .

They could not enter the
myst. So, the kings and queens conferred and my father suggested that only the
four of them should attempt to reach the Tree . . . for it was obvious that
must be their final destination. After much debate, his suggestion was accepted
and they descended from their lofty camps.

As they reached the edge
of the myst, they could clearly hear the sound that it made as it swirled over
the rocks. To my father, it was the pleasant sound of satisfaction that a man
might make when he has accomplished a particularly difficult task. To the
dragon and the serpents, it was an alien sound that irritated the senses.

With much
trepidation . . . which means unease or fear . . . they walked into the myst.
To their surprise, it parted and allowed them entry. They made their way to the
tree and stopped. Each stood in awe of the great power than seemed to flow from
every branch. But, they no longer felt fear for the Tree began to communicate
with them . . . not through the spoken word, but through the golden glow in
which it was bathed.

The tree told them that
the humans had won the contest. They had learned to grow food and trade goods
like the dragons. And they had developed technology and built wondrous things
like the serpents. But, more importantly, they had turned their thoughts inward
to their souls and outward to the universe. They had demonstrated a most
important trait . . . one that the Old Ones held dear. Humans had boundless
curiosity.

They were told that the
Crystal Egg was to be awarded to my father. When he returned to Q’umulus, it
would be waiting.

Dragons and Serpents
were told that from this moment forward, they must bow to the will of M’earth
and his successors.

And my father was told
to rule  Aerianna as he pleased. With the Crystal Egg, all was possible.

There was no argument
from F’Aerianne or E’ssss. Standing in the light of the Myst Tree, they knew
that they were powerless to change what had been decreed. They turned to my
father . . . and bowed.

But before the Tree told
them to leave, it left them with one thought. Anyone – man, dragon or serpent –
who demonstrated great courage, honor or wisdom could return and ask for help.
The Tree would grant it.

They did as they were
told and left Sighing Whorl. Back on the mountaintop, my father told the others
to join him on Q’umulus in one week’s time. Then he asked the dragons to fly
him and his people back home. The dragons obeyed.

On Q’umulus, my father
announced to his people the outcome of the great competition and there was much
rejoicing. A feast was given and everyone enjoyed the fruits of their centuries
of labor and hard work. And a great burden was lifted from one and all . . .
for had they lost, they would have been at the mercy of dragon or serpent.

And then we waited for
the Crystal Egg.

The next morning there
was much commotion and my father was summoned to a small room . . . one that
had not existed the day before. Inside, in an alcove, was the Crystal Egg . . .

. . . and the Old Ones had kept their promise.

“Egg, you grow weary. I
shall stop for tonight.”

“No, Dazzle. Really, I’m okay. I just
don’t understand why I need to know all of this stuff.” Afraid that she might
have hurt the princess’s feeling, she hurriedly added, “But it’s very
interesting . . . especially the whirling tree and the crystal egg.”

Dazzle did not correct Egg about the
Myst Tree. Instead, she asked, “I will
continue my story . . . but, first, may I tell you about Z’kkk?”

Egg was taken by surprise by the
question. Without thinking, she said, “Why?”

“Because I have not
spoken of him for a thousand years.”

“Oh, Dazzle, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean
to sound rude. I would love to hear about him.” She may not like boys, but what
girl can resist a good love story?

“Thank you. The first
time I met him, I slapped him with a wooden sword and made him cry. I was
trying to impress my new friend, Storm.” She smiled at the thought.

“You did?” Egg laughed. “How old were
you?”

“I was ten and he was
eleven. And I did not like human boys . . . they were so noisy and full of
themselves. They had nothing to offer a princess.”

“I don’t like boys either. What made
you change your mind?”

“Ah, my sister, it is
the magic of growing older. I met him again years later at my coming of age
ball . . . and immediately fell in love.” Egg could have sworn Dazzle actually blushed when she
said this.

“How old were you when you first
kissed him?” Egg was shocked at herself for asking the question. Now she was
blushing.

“I will not answer that.
You are too young to even ask it of me,” she answered trying not to laugh.

“Dazzle, what happened to him?” Egg
crossed her fingers . . . hoping against hope that the answer wasn’t horrible.

“Mobius used the power
of the Egg and transformed him into a wraith.”

Egg let out a little sigh of relief.
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

Dazzle looked down for a
moment . . . then slowly lifted her gaze. “A
wraith is an evil creature that brings pain and destruction.” And an
image appeared in Egg’s mind….

. . . You have seen him
in your dreams as K’aos.”

“I remember . . . and you were going
to fight him.”

“What you
didn’t see was how hideous this creature really is . . .” and another image appeared in Egg’s
mind.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.”

“It is not you who needs
to be sorry.”

“Why did Mobius do that?”

“It amused him to turn
my love into something ugly and evil . . . for Z’kkk was handsome and good.”

“Dazzle, what did Z’kkk look like?”

The princess smiled at the
thought, “I believe he was the most handsome man
in the universe . . .”

And Egg had to agree. For a boy, he
was very good looking . . . even if he was blue.

“It grows late and I
would quickly finish tonight’s story. M’earth experimented with the Egg and
discovered just what the Tree had meant. Whatever he thought became reality . .
.

He thought a glass of
wine . . . and it materialized in his hand.

He thought to calm the
wind that threatened a village . . . and the wind died.

He thought to increase
the harvest . . . and the fields produced three times as much fruit and wheat.

Then my father summoned
F’Aerianne, E’ssss and S’eeee. He told them that he would create a Council of
Equals to govern and make the laws, and they would be members.

And Aerianna entered a
period of prosperity beyond all imagination.

Then one day a strange
craft landed on Q’umulus and out stepped Mobius. He had come seeking refuge
from his planet where evil men were trying to harm him. What we did not
know was that he was the evil man escaping from justice.

My father befriended him
and over the coming days learned to take his counsel and to trust him without
reservation.

Then through means I
still do not fully understand, Mobius took control of the Crystal Egg.

And the dark days
descended on Aerianna.

M’earth, my father, and
Kat’Alynnia, my mother, disappeared.

Z’kkk, my love, was
transformed into a wraith.

Ss’ong, my sister, was
turned into the Green F’aeri.

E’ssss, S’eeee and
F’Aerianne also disappeared. Then the lowborn B’ludd, who bowed to Mobius’
every wish, was made king of the dragons

And I became a warrior
princess – fighting for my people until the day I accepted defeat.”

Chapter
8 – On Second Thought

“She showed me a picture of Z’kkk.
He’s very handsome with blue skin. How cool is that?”

“What did she say?” Sylvia was
thrilled with the talk of a lost love.

“When she first met him, she slapped
him and made him cry,” Egg said very seriously – though a whole mouthful of
laughter was trying to get out.

“SHE DIDN’T,” yelled Sylvia.
“It must have really hurt for him to cry.” Then she thought about it some more
and said, “That doesn’t sound right. I think she was teasing you.”

“No . . . she did and he did. But she
was ten and he was eleven,” and they both broke out into a terrible bout of
giggles.

“Oh, you; don’t do that. Now tell me
the rest. Is he okay?”

“Syl . . . it’s horrible. That Moby
guy turned him into a mean ugly creature.”

“Why?”

“Dazzle said it was because he was
handsome and good.”

“So, if Dazzle wanted to throw Mobius
into prison and become queen, she would have to fight her own boyfriend?”

Egg’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my
gosh.”

“She didn’t tell you that, I guess?”

“No. Poor Dazzle; first her father,
then her boyfriend and then her sister.”

“I didn’t know she had a sister.”

“Her name is Ss’ong . . . isn’t that a
pretty name?”

“I think they all have interesting
names. Like her boyfriend Z’kkk,” but she pronounced it like ‘Zeke’.

“Hmmm . . . do we know someone else
named Zeke?”

“I don’t think . . . oh, wait. Isn’t
that the name of one of your grandmother’s new neighbors?”

“Oh, yeah, the twins. What was the
other one’s name?”

“It was Zeke and Zack.”

“And Grammy said they were ten, didn’t
she?”

“I think so. Why?”

“Isn’t it just a little weird . . .
Dazzle met her Z’kkk when she was ten and he was eleven. And now a Zeke moves
next door to Grammy and he’s ten probably almost eleven . . . and I’m nine
almost ten.”

“EGG . . . I thought you didn’t like
boys?”

“I don’t. And Dazzle didn’t either . .
. at first. She said it took her years before she changed her mind.”

“How old was she when she first kissed
him?” asked the girl with a little gleam in her eyes.

“SYLVIA . . . I didn’t ask.”

“Yes you did.”

“How do you know?”

“I just know. What did she say?”

“She wouldn’t tell me. She said I’m
too young to ask.”

So they talked about Z’kkk and Zeke
and boyfriends and such for a few more minutes until Sylvia finally asked, “So
what happened to Ss’ong?”

“Mobius turned her into a F’aeri . . .
with green wings.”

“Is that bad?”

“I guess being a big green butterfly
isn’t bad, except Mobius forces her to do bad things to people.”

“Oh the poor thing.”

“Oh my gosh, I forgot to tell you the
most important thing . . .”

“What?”

“I asked Dazzle if you could ever see
and talk to her, and she said ‘all things are possible’.”

“REALLY . . . what does that mean
exactly?”

“It means that maybe someday you’ll be
able to. She just wasn’t sure when.”

“Oh . . .”

“Well, it’s better than a forever no
isn’t it?”

“You’re right, it is. Thank you for
asking her.”

“Anyway, that’s all the interesting
stuff. But I should tell you about the whirling tree and crystal egg . . .” and
Egg told the rest of Dazzle’s story as well as she could remember it.

*****

They were at Egg’s house and it was
raining. Ashley was in her room talking to a friend and her mom was out. So,
with nothing else to do they decided to try a little television.

“What do you want to watch?”

“Ummm . . . there really isn’t
anything on.”

They were scrolling through the
schedule on the TV. “Hey, look it’s a movie about dragons. Let’s watch it.
Maybe it’ll be like Aerianna.”

So they turned it on, sat back with
some popcorn they had made and watched a movie that they really shouldn’t have
been watching. But no one was around to stop them.

It was called War of the Dragons and
the biggest, meanest dragon was bright red . . . just like B’ludd. It was all
kind of scary – actually,
it was way too scary for young girls. So they sat very close to one another
holding hands.

And for the next hour, they watched in
horror as battle after battle was fought. They screamed, closed their eyes, and
screamed some more as dragon fought dragon; wizards fought dragons and
everybody fought everyone else.

When it was over, they turned off the
TV and just sat there thinking about what they had just seen.

“Do you think Aerianna is like that?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think you and I are really
going to fight dragons like that?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think we’re going to fight sea
serpents that are even meaner than those dragons?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think we’re going to have to
battle wizards and wraiths that are ugly and dangerous and have magical powers
that could turn us into snails or flying pigs or ugly toads?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think you and I are crazy to
even think that we could do all this and actually win?”

“Probably.”

“Do you think we should tell Dazzle
that we’re way too young and that she needs to find somebody else?”

“Probably . . . but I’m not. If she
thinks I can help her, then I’m going to try.”

“Aren’t you scared out of your mind?”

“Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not on Aerianna yet.”

“Egg . . . I need to think about all
of this. Would you be terribly mad if I changed my mind and gave you back your
ring?”

“I wouldn’t be mad, Syl . . . just
humongously disappointed. Knowing that you were going to be there with me makes
it seem a little less scary.”

“I just need to think about this a
little more. Okay?”

“Sure.” But Egg was afraid . . . if
her friend didn’t go with her, she wasn’t sure she would have the courage to go
by herself. Then what would she tell Dazzle?

*****

That night Dazzle appeared only
briefly.

“Egg, you have doubts.
Tonight you must look into your heart. If you cannot find the desire to help me
and my people, then I will leave.

You are young and I will
not think unkindly of you, if that is your decision. But know this . . . within
you is the courage that is needed to face this danger. You are very special . .
. unique in all the universe. Mobius cannot stop you. In the end, you will
win.”

“How can you be so sure? I’ve never
hurt anybody in my life.”

“It has taken a thousand
years . . . and I have waited patiently. But now you are here. I can sense
within you all that I have strived to create. Have faith in yourself and trust
in me.”

“But Dazzle, without Sylvia, I would
be so afraid.”

Dazzle didn’t answer; she had gone.

*****

That same night, Sylvia
went to bed dreaming of giant red dragons and wizards and horrible evil. It
gave her nightmares. And the nightmares allowed Mobius to enter her mind . . .

She tried to scream . . . but you
can’t when you’re asleep.

“Do you
know who I am?”

She just stared into those horrible
eyes.

“Answer
me.”

“I’m not sure.”

“I am
Mobius.”

“Nooo . . . you can’t be.”

“I am
Mobius.”

She believed him. “What do you want?’

“Return
the ring.”

“What?”

“Return
the ring. Do not come to Aerianna.”

“Go away . . . you’re just a bad
dream.”

“If you
try to find me, I will turn you into a spider. Do you like spiders?”

“I hate spiders. But you knew that,
didn’t you?”

“There
is nothing that I do not know . . . when it involves Aerianna.”

“Why are you so mean?”

“You
meddle in things that you will never understand. But know this, your friend is
doomed.”

“NO . . . don’t you even think about
hurting her.”

“You
are nothing but an insect, a bothersome little pest. Do not ever tell me what I
may or may not do.”

“You’re just a nasty old man. Go
away.”

“I will
not warn you again. Return the ring and save yourself.”

*****

Sylvia called Egg the first thing the
next morning.

“Mobius talked to me last night.”

“WHAT?”

“I had this awful nightmare and I saw
him.” She described the eyes.

“Oh my gosh, that is him. How can that
be?”

“I don’t know. But he said to give you
back your ring or he would turn me into a spider. Then he said you were
doomed.”

“Oh, Syl . . .” She knew what her
friend was going to say. And she, Egg, would have to fight this battle by
herself.

“Egg . . . I’m keeping the ring. Tell
Dazzle that the Hameggattic Sisters are ready to teach this mean old man a
lesson. He shouldn’t have threatened you. No one messes with my sister. NO
ONE.”

Chapter 9 – The Millennium
Egg

“Dazzle, Mobius told Sylvia to give my
ring back or he would turn her into a spider. Then he told her I was doomed.”

“That cannot be. Your
Feminion must have had a nightmare from all this talk of Aerianna.”

“She described his eyes perfectly. I
never told her what he looked like.”

Dazzle paused to consider this. “He
knows.”

“Knows what?”

“Of my plan. I
underestimated him . . . again.”

“This isn’t good, is it?”

“I would not lie to you,
my sister. This is deeply troubling.”

“What do we do? Syl told me to tell
you that the Hameggattic Sisters are ready to teach Mobius a lesson.”

“Egg, you have chosen
your friend wisely. I would very much like to meet your Feminion. As I have
said, we will find a way.”

“She really can’t wait for that to
happen. But what do we do now?”

“I will finish my story.
As for Mobius, now that I know he knows, I will protect Sylvia from harm.”

“She won’t dream about him anymore?”

“He will continue to
invade her mind . . . but I will be there to stop him.”

“Why doesn’t he do that to me?”

“You are too strong; he
can sense your power. Sylvia is brave and loyal, but she is not you. Without
our help, she could not fend off Mobius.

*****

“Mobius moved swiftly to
eliminate all opposition. With the power of the Crystal Egg, he could not be
stopped. But the truth was that Aerianna had been at peace for a hundred years
and we had no army, no defense. We were unprepared for such evil and had no
means to defend ourselves.

It happened at Mystivus,
the festival that celebrated the end of the Old One’s contest and the awarding
of the Egg by the Myst Tree. All three races participated because it was the
day we truly became one world.

Though
every city and village held its own celebration, the most lavish was the one on
Q’umulus. All the kings and queens were in attendance, along with their
families and all those of royalty or high rank. It was the perfect moment for
Mobius to seize control.

As fate would have it, I
was not there. My father had sent me to visit each of the major cities. My good
friend Storm had agreed to take me and so, upon his back, I flew to Fire’s
Breath, Crag’s Leap and Talon’s Perch . . . the three principle castle-cities
of the Dragons. We traveled to Kelp’ernicus, See’enna and Nau’tika in the realm
of the serpents. Then we flew to N’imbus, S’irrius and River’s Edge . . . the
three most important cities, besides Q’umulus, of we humans.

We had just finished our
good will mission and were about to leave River’s Edge when my friend Kl’air
brought the news that was beyond comprehension . . . Mobius had taken control
of Q’umulus and the Crystal Egg. Aerianna was his.

My first reaction was
outrage and I commanded Storm to take me back to Q’umulus. He wisely refused.
He counseled that since I was now the ruler of Aerianna, my life was too
valuable to risk on a foolish gesture.

Much to her
surprise, Egg had been listening with great interest to Dazzle’s story. A lot
of the earlier stuff was a little boring. But the more she heard, the more
fascinated she was becoming. And the reason was simple . . . somehow all of
this was leading up to the reason why and how she, Egg, had become Flying Girl.
She actually had goose bumps in anticipation.

Her mind had wandered for
a second and she missed what Dazzle had just said. “I’m sorry, what did you
say?”

“I chose to accept
Storm’s advice. So instead of attacking Mobius, we met with a handful of
friends that had also escaped and devised our plan. I would ask the Myst Tree to
transfer my essence into the flying suit. And together with the jewelry, all
would be taken to Earth.

But before I allowed
myself to be transferred into the suit, I set out to rally the people. I
promised them that one day I would return and save them from the evil that had
befallen them.

Then, Storm and I made
one last attempt to steal back the Crystal Egg. But Mobius anticipated my
action and sent K’aos – my beloved Z’kkk - to intercept us. That is when I knew
the fight was truly over. Shortly thereafter Storm and I flew to Sighing Whorl
and the rest, as you humans would say, is history.”

There was such sadness in
Dazzle’s voice that Egg almost cried. “Oh, Dazzle, I’m so sorry.”

It took the Princess a
moment to regain her voice. “Thank you for sharing my sorrow. I would finish my story
quickly for it grows late. The jewelry was not only a test, it was also a way
to give the One, whomever she turned out to be, the power to fight Mobius.

The necklace would allow
you to talk to the creatures of my world and for them to understand you.

The ring gave you great
strength and the ability to change shape . . . two weapons that you would need
against the power of Mobius and his evil followers.

The bracelet gave you
the ability to heal . . . for in battle many would be hurt. And, it gave you
the power to command any creature on Aerianna . . . something Mobius might not
expect.

“What about the Flying
Suit?”

The flying suit had a
much more complicated role. First, the ability to fly was a test to see if the
person who wore it had courage to do what is not natural. And it allowed that
person to demonstrate the nature of their heart by doing good deeds.

But it did more. The
power of the suit also powers the jewelry. Without it, they would not work.

“I kind of thought there
were batteries in it and that’s why it runs out after seven years”

“No. The suit NEVER runs
out of power.”

“But Grammy said that in
seven years I wouldn’t be able to fly. And, I would have to put it away for
fifty years and give it to my granddaughter.”

That is not so. I give
each person seven years to prove if they are the One I seek. If they fail, I
deactivate the suit . . . turn it off . . . for fifty years and wait two
generations to try again.

Excitedly she asked, “So I
can be Flying Girl for as long as I want?”

Dazzle hesitated. “If that were to happen,
it would mean that we have failed in our quest.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Let me finish telling
you of the suit. It is not made of cloth, but of Serpents’ Crystal. Its magic .
. . its science . . . does three things. It cannot be destroyed and that is
what protects you should you crash while flying.

It also protects you
from any environment. When you traveled high into your sky to look down on your
world, without the suit you would have died. At that height, there is
insufficient air, and temperatures are freezing cold. You can also swim under
the water or walk on any planet. The suit will protect you.

“What about Sylvia? How
can she go to Aerianna with me?”

As long as she holds
your hand, she, too, will be protected.

“What was the third thing
the suit does?”

I will tell you in a
moment . . . then you will understand all. Two of the friends I had gathered
volunteered to take the suit and jewelry to earth, along with some of my DNA.

The science is complicated
so I will tell you simply that they injected my DNA into a thousand earthlings
without their knowledge. It would take hundreds of years, but over time, the
bloodlines would come together and create that one person who had all of my
abilities. . . and more. That person was you.

In your veins is my
blood. Whether you are my daughter or my sister, I cannot say. But we are one.

You discovered the magic
of the jewelry and were able to evoke it . . . something no one else had done.
You proved yourself to be that which I had hoped. It took longer than I
anticipated. Instead of hundreds of years, it took a thousand.

As for the suit, the
essence of what I was lives within the crystal. Think of it as my life force .
. . my intelligence, my personality – everything that made me, me.  If we
succeed in our quest, I will ask the Myst Tree to restore that essence back
into my own body. I will once more be human . . . and the flying suit will
cease to function.”

Chapter 10 – To Infinity
and Beyond

Egg was speechless.
Sometimes when you are nine years old, you just don’t know how to react.

“Egg, you are silent.
Speak to me from your heart.”

She wasn’t sure if she
should cry, laugh or just be surprised. After thinking about it for about a
half a minute, she decided that all three were called for.

“Egg, does this
knowledge upset you?”

“Oh, no . . . no, no. I’m
sorry, but . . . but . . . umm . . . it’s just . . . ummm,” she wasn’t sure how
to finish.

“May I speak what is in
your mind?”

“Okay,” she responded in a
very quiet voice.

“I think that you are
shocked that I, Princess Dazzle, live within your suit. And, you are thrilled
that if you are successful on our quest, I will live again as a woman. But,
most of all, you are sad . . . terribly sad . . . that when you succeed, your
reward will be the end of Flying Girl. Is this not so?”

Before she could answer, a
picture of her Grammy formed in Egg’s mind. The wise old woman smiled at her
granddaughter . . . then disappeared. She hadn’t said anything; but the message
was very clear.

“Dazzle, I’ve been Flying
Girl for almost a year. That’s more time than most people will ever have. And I
get to help you become a real princess again and to get back your planet. For
that, I’m very . . . umm . . . grateful. But mostly, I’m so proud that somehow
I’m part of you . . . and you’re a part of me.”

It was probably the most
grown-up thing Egg had ever said. Ignoring the pain of losing Flying Girl was
oh so hard. But Dazzle had lost everything . . . her father, her mother, her
sister, her boyfriend and her planet. It would be so selfish if she thought of
her feelings and not of Dazzle’s.

Dazzle smiled at the young
girl.
“I
wish more than anything that I might hold you. You are a very special person to
accept all of this and to think only of my well-being. I, too, am proud that we
are one.”

Egg took a deep breath to
clear away the tears that she was fighting very hard to hold back. “Dazzle,
tell me again how you got into the suit and where is your real body?”

“The Myst Tree will
grant to any creature a wish if that person is brave and true. I asked that my
being, the essence of who I am . . . all that is me that is not my body . . .
be transferred into the suit. When that was done, Storm put my body in a
special . . . container. He then gave it to Mobius as part of our plan.”

“Why didn’t you just wish
for Mobius to disappear?”

“The Tree will not grant
a wish that in any way harms another.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Now you must rest. You
need to think upon all that I have said and prepare yourself for the quest.”

“How do I do that?”

“To defeat Mobius and
restore all to what it once was will require courage, allies and a plan. You
have shown that you have the courage. Now you must acquire your allies and you
must formulate a plan.”

“WHAT? How can I do
that?”

“I will help . . . but
it will be up to you in much the same way that you discovered and evoked the
magic in the jewelry.”

“I don’t understand?”

“In truth, nor do I. But
you are the One and you will find a way. Now rest. We will talk of this tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Dazzle. And
thank you.”

“Why do you thank me?”

“For everything you’ve
given me . . . the suit, the jewelry, the quest and you. But . . . after we win
and I’m no longer Flying Girl; can we still be friends?”

“For as long as the sun
shines and the stars twinkle. Goodnight, my sister. Sweet dreams.”

*****

Egg slept, but not well .
. . tossing and turning all night. She woke up early, brushed her teeth and
called her grandmother.

“Hmmm . . . hello,”
answered a very sleepy voice.

“Grammy, I’m sorry to wake
you up so early, but I just have to talk to you.”

“Is something wrong, dear
one?”

“Well . . . not exactly
wrong. But Dazzle told me the rest of the story and I just have to tell you.
Should I call back a little later?”

Her grandmother could sense
the swirling emotions in her granddaughter’s voice. “Absolutely not; I want to
hear everything and there’s no better time than right now.”

So for the next twenty
minutes Egg retold the story.

“Oh my,” was all the older
woman could think to say. To win the battle and lose the flying suit seemed
very unfair. But she was so very proud of how her granddaughter had responded
to this unpleasant turn of events.

“Dazzle is right about one
thing . . . you are very special. I think you reacted like a very grown-up
young lady.”

“She lost so much, Grammy.
Giving up the flying suit seems like such a little thing compared to that. But
. . . it still is disappointing. Am I being selfish?”

“Nonsense, little one. It
will be the most difficult sacrifice a young girl could possibly make. And I’m
so very proud of the way you are handling it.”

“Thank you.” Praise from
her grandmother always made her feel better. “But Grammy . . . how am I
supposed to get allies and make up a plan? I have no idea how to do that.”

“It certainly seems like a
tall task to ask anyone . . . especially one so young. So, I think it’s about
time that I talked to Dazzle.”

“Really?”

“If she’s going to involve
my granddaughter in such outlandish schemes, then she better be able to
convince me. So, get your suit and jewelry and I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

“Should I invite Syl?”

“Yes. She certainly has
the right to be involved.”

*****

“Dazzle.” Egg was dressed
in her suit and jewelry and standing in her grandmother’s living room. Sylvia
and the older Eloise were sitting on the couch.

“Egg, I am here.”

“Dazzle, my grandmother
wants to talk to you.”

“I have
been expecting this summons. I would very much like to meet the one who came
before.”
And the fog formed and swirled and out stepped the warrior princess.

“OH MY” gasped Eloise the
elder.

“What’s happening?” asked
Sylvia.

“She’s here.”

“Greetings, my sister.”

“Dazzle . . .” but the
older woman didn’t say anything else. Her eyes were filled with tears and for
the moment, she had lost her voice.

“I have longed to meet
you. For a time I had thought you were the One. Alas, it was not to be.”

The older woman took a
deep breath, regained her composure and said, “I am so very pleased to meet
you. Egg has shared your story with me. And though I sympathize with your
plight, I need to be sure that my granddaughter can help you without
endangering herself. She is only nine and I cannot let her do something foolish
. . . no matter how noble it is. I hope you understand.”

“Yes. But there is no
proof I can offer other than my word as your ancestor and the crowned Princess
of Aerianna. Will that suffice?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. Know that
Egg is superior to Mobius in every way. It will not ensure her victory, but it
will prove impossible for him to physically harm her.”

“And what of Sylvia?” she
asked pointing to the girl on the couch.

“As long as she wears
the ring made by Egg, she should be safe.” Dazzle looked at the other
girl as if seeing her for the first time. “Tell her she too is very brave and I am
pleased she has decided to help her friend in her quest. And tell her that I
will find a way for her to see and talk to me. It is the least I can do.”

Egg told her friend who
smiled brightly. “Thank you, Dazzle,” she said to the empty place where the
warrior princess was standing.

“Dazzle, I have three more
questions, if I may?”

“Speak.”

“How will my granddaughter
create a plan to defeat Mobius? That doesn’t seem possible for one so young.”

“The same force that
helped her discover the magic of the jewelry will help her in this new task.”

“Well . . . if you say so”
responded an unconvinced grandmother.  My next question is how did the flying
suit get into my family in the first place?”

“My friends who brought
it here stayed to ensure that the suit passed to the family with the greatest
promise of producing . . . Flying Girl. When it seemed that the family was not
up to the task, the suit was reacquired and given to someone else. Three
hundred years ago, it was given to your family.”

“Are these guardians of
the suit still here?”

“No. At about the same
time the suit was given to your family, a serpent and ally named N’ssss came to
earth and requested that my friends return to help continue the fight against
Mobius. He stayed . . . but he was very old and did not have long to live. He
died a hundred years ago.”

“My last question is how
do my granddaughter and her Feminion get to Aerianna?”

“There is a space portal
under a lake in the land you call Scotland.”

The older Eloise thought
about that for a moment then started to laugh.

“Grammy, why are you
laughing?”

“Because Dazzle’s friend
is alive and well in our history.”

“What does that mean?”

“Have you ever heard of
the Loch Ness monster?”

“Sure. That’s . . .” but
she didn’t finish. Instead, she started to laugh too.

“Why are you guys
laughing?” asked a curious Sylvia.

“Because we just found out
who the Loch Ness monster really was” and Egg explained what she meant.

“It is time,” said Dazzle.

“For what?”

“For you and your
Feminion to visit my world.”

Egg’s eyes opened wide and
her heart started to beat faster. It was one thing to talk about going to
another world; but it was something entirely different to actually do it.

“What’s wrong?” asked her
friend.

“Dazzle wants us to go to
Aerianna . . . now.”

“Oh.”

“Grammy?”

Before answering, the
older Eloise asked, “Dazzle, this would be just for a quick visit? She’s not
ready to take on Mobius.”

“Correct. She . . .  and
her Feminion . . . should see the world they are to save.”

“Then, my love, if you
want to do this, I think you should go.”

“Syl?”

“Where you go, I go.”

“Dazzle . . . “she wanted
to say something really memorable. But the best she could come up with was a
line from one of her favorite movies. “. . . To Infinity and beyond.”

Sylvia giggled. “You are
such a goof.”

*****

They flew to
Loch Ness and straight down into the deep, cold waters. At the very bottom,
hidden under an overhang of rocks, was the entrance to a cave. They flew in and
the complete darkness eventually gave way to a spiral of light that made Egg
and Sylvia dizzy.

. . . and a moment later,
they were out of the swirl and high in space above Aerianna.

“After a thousand years,
I have finally returned to my home,” cried Dazzle triumphantly. “Mobius, beware . . .
for I have brought my sister and together we will end your reign of terror
forever.”

Book 8

Sassi, K’ssss and Soo

Book 8

Egg
and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016 by
Robert Iannone,

All
Rights Reserved.

Table
of Contents

Chapter 1 – Strangers in a
Strange Land

Chapter 2 – A Very
Mysterious Tree

Chapter 3 – Creepy Critters

Chapter 4 – Boy, Oh Boy

Chapter 5 – When Weird Gets
Weirder

Chapter 6 – Dream Weaver

Chapter 7 – She Sells Sea
Shells

Chapter 8 – Etch a Sketch

Chapter 9 – An EGG with
Wings

Chapter 10 – Oh MY GOSH!

Chapter 1 – Strangers in a Strange
Land

“Welcome to Aerianna.
Welcome to my home.”

“Oh my gosh,” was the best
that Egg could manage.

“Wow. It’s totally
awesome. Look at the colors,” said Sylvia.

“Tell your companion
that the sky can be any color. One never knows until you wake up in the morning
whether it will be yellowish-gold, like it is now, or blue, like earth. I
confess that I secretly enjoyed a blood red hue; though I did find that mauve
put me in good cheer.”

Since Ham
could not hear or see Dazzle, Egg told her friend what she had said. They
continued to fly down through a wispy layer of clouds and flew close to a
mountain standing blue and purple against the sunlit sky . . .

“Which way?” asked Egg.

“First and most
importantly, we must find Storm.”

“Oh, that would be so wonderful.
But how do we do that?”

“Do what?” asked Sylvia.

“Dazzle wants us to find
Storm . . . her dragon.”

“He is not my dragon. He
is my friend.”

Sylvia didn’t hear
Dazzle’s reply. But, she did have a very good question. “Isn’t he really old by
now”?

“Dragons can live a very
long time. However, after a thousand years, I may be too late,” the Princess replied
sorrowfully.

“I’m sure he’s still . . .
you know, waiting for you. But how do we find him?”

“He lives . . . lived .
. . in Talon’s Perch. We will first try there. Head towards the mountain range;
the fourth peak to the north is where his city-castle is located.”

So Egg did as she was
asked and was soon circling high above the home of dragons.  .  . real, live,
very big, incredibly scary, not make-believe dragons.

It was a terrifying sight
. . . and try as they might, Sylvia and Egg couldn’t help but feel petrified.
Sitting atop a column of rock was a monstrous castle. The dragons that swarmed
around it reminded both girls of bees buzzing around a hive. The sky overhead
had turned ugly and grey . . . except for a small patch of sunlight that
streamed down to illuminate the nightmare that was Talon’s Perch.

The hair on their necks
stood on end . . . and for the first time, they truly felt that they were on an
alien planet.

Egg squeezed Sylvia’s hand
as hard as she could. Her friend didn’t complain . . . she just squeezed back.

“Be not afraid of
dragons.”

“Dazzle says don’t be
afraid of the dragons.”

“What if Mobius has taken
control of them with the Crystal Egg?”

“Your Feminion is wise.
But tell her that Mobius knows not that we have returned. Until he does, he
would not think to have my people look for us and try to stop our quest.”

That made the girls feel a
teensy bit better. But it still seemed far too dangerous. “Dazzle, why do we
need to find Storm?”

“I must know what has
happened since I last had news. It has been more than three hundred of your
earth years since I spoke with any of my loyal people. We cannot . . . you
cannot . . . create a plan without knowing all that there is to know.”

Egg repeated the reply for
her girlfriend then shrugged. “Okay, here we go.”

They flew down and joined
a line of dragons that were entering the castle. A few of them turned and
looked curiously at the strange newcomers but did nothing to stop them. “Land on that tower,” said Dazzle pointing to
one of the many spires sticking up in the air.

They landed and looked
over a balcony at the courtyard below. What they saw were hundreds of dragons
of every shape, size and color imaginable . . . and the girls felt weak in the
knees. Sylvia was on the verge of crying and Egg’s heart was pounding in her
chest — she could hardly breathe. Neither girl had ever felt fear like this.

And these . . . things . .
.  were the good guys! How on earth . . . umm . . . how on Aerianna could they
ever face down the bad guys? Egg was so terrified that she just hugged her
friend as tightly as she could.

“WHAT DO
YOU WANT?”
thundered a
voice behind them? The girls turned and screamed. Standing in front of them was
one very big and very scary and very red dragon . . .

The girls stared with
their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.

“Who are you?”

“Tell
him that you are seeking Storm.”

“Ummm . . . we would like
to talk to Storm . . . ummm . . . if it’s okay?” Egg squeaked.

“WHAT?”

Egg took a deep breath and
forced herself to act alot braver than she felt. “I said we would like to
speak to Storm.”

“WHY?”

“Tell him that you are a
friend.”

“We’re friends.”

“Unlikely,” and he turned and disappeared
inside a large room.

“What do we do now?”

“We will wait for
Storm.”

“Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?”

“These dragons scare us.
I’m sorry . . . but we just can’t help it.”

“Be not sorry. They are
large and fearsome beings. And to meet them for the first time cannot be other
than disturbing. But you will find them to be good and loyal friends.”

“And if they’re fighting
for Mobius?”

“Then I will not lie.
They can be the most deadly of enemies.”

Before Egg could respond to that bit of good news, another dragon
appeared.

“I am Storm.”

Egg smiled for the first
time since landing at the castle. This was the face she recognized from her
dreams. “Oh, Storm, I’m so happy to meet you. My name is Egg and this is my
Feminion, Sylvia. But she can’t understand you.”

Storm looked
at Sylvia then back to Egg. Then his eyes grew large . . . and for a dragon
that’s pretty big.

He was staring at the
flying suit and jewelry. “Dearest, dearest Rose,” he bowed his head very low. “You have returned.”

“Oh, my friend . . . it
is so very, very good to see you once more.” The Princess tried to maintain her Royal
composure but she was smiling widely and crying at the same time.

Egg repeated what Dazzle
said. “Why did he call you Rose?” but the Princess did not answer.

Storm raised his head and
the girls were stunned to see that there were tears in them. “Oh I have
missed you so. Please . . . we cannot talk here and there is much to say but
very little time. Come with me.”

They followed Storm into
the castle and down a long hallway. They passed other dragons that looked at
them with some curiosity but then went about their business.

They reached a giant door
and Storm opened it and led them into his apartment. The room was as big as
Egg’s house, and there were three or four other rooms just as large. This room
was mostly empty. There was only one couch but no other furniture you would
find on earth. Instead, there were . . . things . . . that looked like tree
branches. Storm jumped up on one and motioned for his guests to sit.

“Can I get you food or
drink before we begin?”

Egg translated for Sylvia.
Being the only person who could talk to all three was beginning to get tedious
and a little confusing.

“No, thank you, Storm.”

“Oh my friend . . .,” the Princess began, “I have dreamed of this day
for a thousand years. I am so very happy – and relieved – that it has finally
come to pass.”

“Ro . . . I would give
anything to see you once again.” He hesitated then asked, “How difficult has it been for you –
alone, trapped within the suit?”

“I am sure my suffering
has been inconsequential compared to how my people have suffered. And you, my
handsome dragon, how have you fared? You seem a touch more grey than I
remember.”

Storm smiled as Egg
relayed the message. “When was the last time I told you how much I love you?” he said with a grin
(though when he bared his two rows of razor sharp teeth both girls
instinctively lurched backward).

“You did send that
birthday message about three hundred years ago. I must tell you, though, that
N’ssss had a horrible voice when he attempted to sing that foolish little song
you wrote,” she teased.

The dragon feigned hurt.
“Foolish? I spent days thinking up those lyrics.”

Egg and Sylvia were
enthralled by this conversation . . . even if they were being completely ignored.
How many times would they get to see a reunion between two best friends – one a
Princess and the other a Dragon?

The two old friends
continued to exchange personal reminiscences for the better part of an hour . .
. alternating between laughter and tears. But they both knew that this brief
moment in time had to come to an end. There was a greater need that beckoned.

“Storm, dear friend, we
must talk of the future and allow the past to wait a little longer for our
attention. Tell me that which I need to know.” She didn’t have to explain
what that meant.

“First, I must warn you of
the danger you are in by talking with me. Mobius has been entering my mind
trying to gain knowledge of your whereabouts and plans. It was a frequent event
a thousand years ago but had all but stopped until recently. So you must not
reveal anything to me that might help him. I am sorry that I will not be able
to hide your presence on Aerianna. The next time he invades my dreams, he will
know.”

“That is not so. Egg has
the power of the bracelet and can erase your memory of this meeting. So be not
concerned.”

Storm hesitated before
answering. “Unfortunately, Ro, that is not true. The bracelet does not erase
memory . . . it only blocks us from retrieving it. When Mobius examines my mind,
he will find what I cannot . . . the conversations we are about to have. His
command of the Crystal Egg has gone far beyond what we thought was possible. I
am sorry.”

“Then we cannot worry
about that which we cannot change. Tell me what I need to know to accomplish .
. . my quest.”

“As you wish,” and for the next hour
Storm described the terrible situation on Aerianna. Mobius had made Q’umulus
his stronghold and seldom ventured forth. The population was forced into
virtual slavery doing whatever he commanded. The traitor B’ludd,  along with
K’aos and the Green Faerie, kept watched over Mobius’ domain – enforcing
whatever unjust laws he enacted. The population was in complete fear for their
own safety and very few would dare to oppose the usurper.

“All of your loyal people
are now gone. I am the last of the old guard. But there is a small resistance
movement . . . though it is sadly ineffective.”

“Has there been any word
of my father or mother?” M’earth and Kat’Alynnia had disappeared after Mobius had come to
power.

“No, I am sorry.”

Only Egg could see Dazzle
as the warrior princess paced back and forth . . . obviously deep in thought.
Everyone waited silently.

“Is there anything else
I should know?” Dazzle finally asked.

“Only that your people
dream that somehow you will return and fulfill the promise made so very long
ago. The legend of the Sword has been passed down through the generations. They
know that Dazzle is their last hope.”

“What of my body?”

“As we had hoped . . .
Mobius has preserved your glass coffin. Once every few years he takes it out
and each city on Aerianna must send a dozen citizens to come and view it. He
then gives the same message that is to be taken back to all the people.”

“And what is that
message?”

“Sadly, I have heard it so
many times that I have memorized it. ‘I am Mobius, the supreme ruler of
Aerianna. If anyone believes they have the ability to challenge me, step forward and try. But be
warned — the last one that possessed the skills and cunning that could match my
own was your princess. And look at her now.” Storm raised his head and
said, “As you would expect, no one ever accepts his challenge.”

“Where does he keep the
coffin when it is not being paraded in front of my people?”

“He has built a most
peculiar thing . . . a mountain made of Serpents Crystal. Inside, at its very
center, is your coffin.”

“Where is this place?”

“I cannot say.”

“How is it guarded?”

“Again, I cannot say.”

Dazzle again became lost
in her own thoughts. After a moment she asked “Does he have any weakness; something that
would cause his downfall?”

Now it was Storm’s turn to
think. “Ro, there is only one thing that may bring about his end . . . his
arrogance knows no bounds. Arrogant people are convinced of their invincibility
. . .  and ultimately it is their undoing.”

“That is not much of a
weakness.”

“Perhaps not.”

“Is there anything else
I must know?”

“Only this . . . it is not
safe to enter any of the human cities. Mobius has used the Crystal Egg to turn
ordinary citizens into spies. The people have taken to calling them Mo’beyes.
Each is dressed in black and carries an energy weapon. They are meant to be
seen – and feared – by one and all.”

“And what of the cities
of the serpents and dragons?”

“For the most part, he
cares little of the serpents underwater domain. And, Bl’udd rules the realm of
dragons with an iron talon.”

“Thank you my friend.
But now we must go for there is so much to do. As you warned, I will not tell
you our plans.”

“Ro . . .,” Storm hesitated as if he
was embarrassed.

“Yes?”

“If I were to embrace the
One . . . would you feel it?”

“I would.” Egg could see the tears in
Dazzle’s eyes.

“Then with your
permission, earthling . . .,” Egg nodded. The giant dragon gently extended his wings and claws
and put them around the small girl. He squeezed ever so gently . . . hesitated
for a moment . . . then let go.

“I love you . . .  you
do know that?” whispered the Princess.

“Best friends, forever . .
. Rosie.”

“I promise you that the
next time we meet you will be able to see me as I was.”

“I’ll count the days. One
last thing before you go . . . this earthling seems very young. Are you sure
she is the person that you waited a thousand years for?” Then he added, “Please,
no offense . . . um . . . Egg.”

Egg smiled “That’s what I
keep telling her.”

“She is the one. There
is no doubt.”

“Then I wish you all a
safe and successful Quest.”

Egg took Sylvia’s hand,
walked to a window, turned and waved goodbye to Storm then flew away.

“What now, Dazzle?”

“To my home.”

“What? Isn’t that where
Mobius is?”

“No . . . not Q’umulus.
When you are a princess and your father is the King, you are allowed to be
indulged.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that when I
came of age, my parents gave me a lovely little castle that had once belonged
to my good friend the Duke of Bo’ring. It is far from any city and I would go
there with my closest friends to get away from the unending demands that my
world made on their beloved princess. Perhaps Mobius knows not of its
existence.”

“What will we do there?”

“If it is safe, it will
be like your attic.”

“My attic?” asked a
confused Egg.

“What’s she saying?”
Sylvia felt very left out. So Egg told her.

“Oh, silly she means the
attic at my house.” It was the clubhouse for the Hameggattic Sisterhood.

“Oh . . . I knew that,”
she fibbed with a smile. Then after a moment, she remembered something.
“Dazzle, why did Storm call you Rose?”

Sylvia added her own
question. “And what was that about a sword?”

“When the time is right,
I will tell you,” answered the Princess mysteriously.

“What did she say?” asked
Sylvia.

“She said we should  mind
our own business.”

“Really?”

“More or less.”

They continued in silence,
flying over the mountains and past lakes and forests. On the edge of a river,
in the middle of nowhere was a small castle . . . and their destination

“Welcome to my home. It
is called Se’rene.

Chapter 2 – A Very
Mysterious Tree

It wasn’t exactly what
they had expected . . . but considering that this was Aerianna, it made a lot
of sense.

The great wooden doors
opened onto a huge room. There was a fireplace on one wall that was so tall a
grown-up could easily stand inside it. Next to it, but off to one side, were
giant furry sofas that looked incredibly comfortable. These were obviously for
human guests.

Opposite the fireplace was
a very large pool. According to Dazzle, it was fed from a stream that flowed
from the river outside. It was designed for sea serpents.

On the wall opposite the
sofas was the same type of perches the girls had seen in Storm’s room. So this
would be where the dragons would sit.

The girls made a quick
tour then sat down on one of the sofas. They were wrong . . . it wasn’t
incredibly comfortable. It was super incredibly comfortable.

“Oh my gosh, I could fall
asleep right here.”

“You and me both.”

“Are you in need of
rest?”

“Not me. Syl . . . Dazzle
wants to know if you’re tired.”

“No, I’m fine, thank you.
Ummm . . . Dazzle, how much longer are we going to stay here?”

“Not long. But why do
you ask?”

Egg passed along the
question. “To be honest, this is all very . . . ummm . . . overwhelming. Being
in the presence of dragons is a little unnerving, to say the least. Helping you
sounded very romantic. But, now that we’re here – now that it’s incredibly real
– it’s a lot less romantic and a lot more terrifying. I could use some time to
kind of think about everything.”

“That goes for me, too.”

“I understand. There is
one more thing we will do before we return to earth. We must visit the Myst
Tree at Sighing Whorl.”

“Really? That would be
pretty cool.”

“What would?” asked
Sylvia.

“We’re going to visit that
tree thing.”

“The Myst Tree?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, that would be like
amazing.” Then she added only half kiddingly, “He doesn’t bite, does he?”

“He does not bite,” the Princess answered with
a smile. Egg relayed the message.

“Dazzle, can we really use
this castle as our clubhouse?”

“There is no sign that
Mobius knows of its existence. As long as that is true, we will be safe here,”

“Then I think we should
make another pledge like we did in the attic to make it official.”

Dazzle smiled. “When I was your age, my
friends and I would prick our fingers. Touching one to the other created a
solemn blood oath. At least, that is what we believed.”

Egg repeated the
conversation to Sylvia. “I think we should do that too.”

So they used a small burr
on the end of the ring that Egg had made for her friend and scratched a teensy
tiny cut on their thumbs. They touched the drops of blood that appeared and
recited the Hameggattic oath . . .

“We are the Sisters of
Mystery and will protect each other from danger and keep each other’s secrets
for as long as the sun shines and stars twinkle.”

They hugged then sucked
their thumbs until the drops of blood disappeared.

“Well, now it’s official,”
said Egg with a big smile. She looked up at Sylvia who had put her hand over
her mouth. Her eyes were so wide that Egg was afraid her girlfriend’s eyeballs
might fall out.

“What’s the matter?”

“She’s beautiful.”

“Who?”

“Dazzle” she
said pointing at the spectral figure of the Princess.

“Feminion, can you see
me?”

Sylvia just nodded.

“Oh my gosh,” cried
Egg. “You can see her and hear her . . . that’s just so wonderful.” Then after
a moment’s thought, she asked, “But how?”

Dazzle considered the
question for a few seconds then answered, “You have given your friend a drop of your
blood. It is also my blood. That which flowed in me, and in you, now flows in
her.”

Sylvia was all smiles.
“Oh, Dazzle, you’re just like I thought you’d be . . . only prettier . . . and
shorter.”

“Shorter?” asked Egg.

“Well,” Sylvia said a
little defensively, “I just expected that a warrior princess would be . . . you
know, big.”

That kind of made sense to
Egg. For some reason that reminded the girl of a question she had been meaning
to ask of her dream friend. “Dazzle, can I ask you something personal?”

“Ask . . . though I may
not answer.”

“How old are you? I know
that you’ve been stuck in the flying suit for a thousand years. But before that
. . . how old were you . . . umm . . . when you lost to Mobius.”

“I did not lose to
Mobius . . .  I chose not to continue the fight.” Dazzle seemed a bit
irritated.

“I’m sorry. I knew that he
did that bad thing to your boyfriend and you didn’t want to have to hurt the
guy you were supposed to marry.”

“He was my love. He is
my love.”

“I bet he still loves you
. . . deep inside,” added Sylvia trying to make her feel better. Dazzle’s
fiancé had been transformed into K’aos, the ugly wraith, by Mobius.

“Perhaps,” she answered with a
wistful smile. “As to your question, I was a few months from my twenty-first
birthday. Had all of this not happened, my father would have prepared a grand
celebration in my honor. It is considered a special age, especially since I was
to be married on the same day.”

Sylvia said “You look
older . . . no offense.”

Dazzle laughed. “I take no offense.”

Then a terrible thought
came to Egg. Since her friend had not aged in a thousand years, she had to ask,
“Dazzle, how old is Z’kkk now?”

The smile on Dazzle’s face
disappeared and was immediately replaced with a look of horror. Her eyes went
very wide and she put her hands over her mouth. Ham and Egg didn’t say a word .
. . in fact they looked like they were about to cry. The three of them stood
there frozen as the seconds slowly ticked off.

Finally, Dazzle said, “I must leave you for a
time. Make yourselves comfortable and nap if you can.” And with that, she
disappeared.

The girls gaped at the
empty place where Dazzle had been standing.

“Egg, what have you done?”

“I . . . I was just
wondering . . . she seemed like she thought he might be waiting for her or at
least that they would get back together; then . . . you know I just thought
maybe she didn’t think about him getting older and her staying the same,” Egg
rambled. “I didn’t mean to upset her.”

Sylvia was irritated with
her friend’s insensitivity, but it soon passed. “Well, it was a good question.
She would have thought of it herself eventually.”

“What should we do? Go
home?”

“No. She said to rest. So,
let’s rest.”

And they sat back on the
comfy couch and talked about everything they had seen. Egg was in awe of
Talon’s Peak and all of its flying inhabitants. For Sylvia, seeing the Princess
was far more exciting than coming face to face with a dragon. Eventually they
became drowsy and without realizing it, they fell asleep.

*****

The ghost like figure of the
warrior princess materialized in front of the couch and said, “Wake up, my sisters.”

The girls stirred, but
continued to sleep.

“Egg, it is I. Wake up.” Dazzle had entered Egg’s
dream.

“Oh my gosh,” yelped the
startled girl in surprise which caused Sylvia to wake also.

“I am sorry if I
frightened you.”

Egg yawned then replied,
“No, you didn’t scare me . . . but you ruined a perfectly good dream.”

“I had an amazing dream
too. What was yours?” Then Sylvia realized that she was now being insensitive,
so she asked, “By the way Dazzle, are you okay?”

“I am now.” She paused, looking a
little bit embarrassed, then said “Egg made me realize something that I should have known. My love
is no more.”

“Oh, Dazzle. I’m so sorry
for upsetting you. I was being stupid.”

“No. The question was
not rude. My behavior was. I am sorry for leaving you alone. But, I needed to
do something I have not done in a thousand years. I needed to cry.”

Sylvia and Egg began to
get a little misty for their friend. Dazzle noticed and said, “Be not sad; as I said,
I am fine now. Tell me of your dreams.”

The girls were happy to
change the subject. Egg began first . . .

“It was weird.
I was flying on the back of a big white dragon – I think it was Storm – and far
below was a lake and an island. In the center of the island was that crystal
mountain that he was talking about.”

“On Aerianna, we take
dreams very seriously. Was there anything else?”

Egg actually blushed then
reluctantly said, “I was flying with a . . . boy.”

Dazzle smiled and Sylvia
laughed. “Well, it’s about time.”

“For what?”

“For you to think about
boys.”

“I DO NOT. Besides, you
don’t . . . do you.”

Now Sylvia blushed. “Maybe
. . . sometimes . . . a couple of times.”

“Well, I still think boys
are awful,” said a very defiant Egg. “So, tell us about your dream.”

“I dreamt of a
dragon, too. But I wasn’t riding it. He or she was carrying . . . umm . . . a
bright shiny ball or something.”

“Explain.” requested Dazzle.

“Well it looked like a
giant . . .,” she stopped and stared at Dazzle. “It looked like a crystal egg!”

“Oh my gosh.”

“You must remember all
the details. What else did you see?”

Sylvia thought as hard as
she could but all she could remember was, “I think there was a city . . . but
it was mostly hidden by clouds.”

“Q’umulus.” It wasn’t a question,
just a statement of fact.

“What do you think it
means?”

“I do not know . . . I
do not know.”

*****

They were flying again,
heading south looking for a tall barren mountain that surrounded the valley
known as Sighing Whorl. It didn’t take long and Egg landed them where Dazzle
requested.

“So what are we going to
do, exactly?”

“You are going to talk
to the Myst Tree.”

“How do I get
past the fog?” The valley was covered in a deep grey myst that flowed up and
over rocks and crags making the sound of a human sighing in satisfaction. This
fog protected the Tree from unwanted visitors.

“I am not certain. But I
am hoping that it will be curious about someone not of Aerianna.”

“What about me?” asked
Sylvia.

“You may try also.”

“If we do get to see the
tree, what do I ask it?”

“That’s simple,” answered
the other girl.

“Oh really, Miss Smarty
Pants, what?”

“First, I’m not Miss
Smarty Pants. . . . I’m your Feminion and my job is to help you. And second,
Dazzle wants to know how she can get out of your suit and back into her body.”
Sylvia gave her friend a very satisfied smirk.

“Your Feminion is very
wise. When the Tree transferred me into the suit, it said it would reverse the
process upon my return. I would hold it to that promise.”

“Hah,” said Sylvia in
triumph.

“Lucky guess,” Egg kidded.
But not to be outdone she then asked, “But what about your body? We don’t even
know where it is or how to get it back.”

“That will be the first
part of your plan.”

“Me? How the heck can I do
that?”

“You will find a way; of
that I am certain. Now we should go.”

Egg shook her head in
discouragement. She was still only nine years old . . .  she had absolutely no
idea what she was supposed to do.

*****

They walked to the edge of
the fog. Taking a deep breath, Egg put her foot into the swirling grey cloud
and it disappeared. Sylvia’s foot, however, bounced backward. “Hey” she cried.

“What’s the matter?”

“I can’t get in.”

“Here, take my hand” and
Egg reached out and Sylvia grabbed it. “Okay, let’s try again.”

And much to
their relief, they were both able to enter. They made their way along a path
that seemed to appear out of the thick mist and soon came to a large tree. But
this tree was not quite like the ones on earth. It glowed so brightly that it
hurt to look at it. And they could feel something like static electricity
running through their bodies. Weirdest of all, they could feel the tree’s
thoughts inside their brains . . . as if it was talking to them in a dream.

“You have returned,
Princess. Welcome home.”

“I have brought with me
the individual that will help save Aerianna from Mobius. Her name is Eloise,
and her Feminion is Sylvia.”

Egg and her friend were
surprised that the Tree could see and talk to Dazzle. But they had met so few
talking trees, so what did they know?

“I would hear this child
speak her mind.”

“Umm . . . Mister Tree, we
would like you to put Dazzle back into her body.”

“I cannot grant what you
would have.”

“Why not, Mister Tree,
sir,” demanded Sylvia as politely as she could. “You promised Dazzle that you
would.”

“The people of Aerianna do
not deserve one such as this Princess. She fought with courage and honor. They
do not fight at all. I will not give them their champion unless they can prove
themselves worthy.”

“My people live in fear
of an evil they cannot control. Their fear is justified. Let me free them of
this tyranny. I beg you.”

“No. I will not until they
can prove themselves.”

“It is not possible to
get all of my people…,” but the Tree cut her off.

“Because you plead for
your people, and because you have shown extraordinary bravery, I will grant you
this . . . choose a mere handful that represent the best of Aerianna and have
them demonstrate their worth. I would then give them back their Queen.”

“Mister Tree . . . what
does that mean?” asked a confused Egg.

“And because you have
chosen these two to represent you” the Tree continued  (ignoring Egg’s
question), “then I add them to my challenge.”

And with that, the Tree
went silent. They continued to ask questions, but the Tree did not answer. It
was obvious that they would get no more information. So they turned and walked
back the way they had come.

“Dazzle . . . how do we do
what it wants us to do?”

“I’m not sure I even know
what it wants us to do,” added Sylvia.

“Nor do I. But . . .,” and the girls looked at
her expectantly. “But, I know in my heart that you and your Feminion will find
the answers.”

Egg looked at Sylvia with
an expression of irritation and utter hopelessness.

After they left the fog, they
flew high above Aerianna and back through the portal to earth . . . each very
quiet, lost in her own thoughts.

Chapter 3 – Creepy Critters

“Oh my, how come you’re
back so soon? Didn’t you make it to Aerianna?” Egg had landed behind her
grandmother’s house, knocked on the back door and walked in.

“We did make it, Grammy.”

Puzzled why her
granddaughter wasn’t more excited, she asked, “Well, what was it like? Are you
two alright?”

“Oh we’re fine, Grammy.
It’s just that it was . . . ummm,” Egg was looking for just the right word, “overwhelming.”

“It was beautiful and
scary and amazing,” Sylvia added.

“Ahhh,” replied the older
woman. “I shouldn’t doubt it was all those things. So sit down and tell me
everything.”

So the girls sat down next
to each other on the couch while Dazzle hovered off to one side. The warrior
princess was the first to speak. “Your granddaughter and her Feminion are very brave. Coming
face to face with a dragon for the first time requires much courage.”

The girls smiled at the
compliment. “Thank you, Dazzle,” said Sylvia,

The older Eloise looked up
with a startled expression. “You heard that?”

The girls turned to each
other and started to giggle. It wasn’t that funny of a question. But the look
on Grammy’s face and the fact that they were both a little goofy from being
tired from all the excitement made them crack up. Dazzle finally had to tell
the poor lady what had happened.

“Well, that’s just
wonderful. I’m sure it was very frustrating having to hear everything second
hand. Now if you two have regained your composure, please tell me the rest. And
I want to hear every little detail.”

So over the next half hour
they described everything they had seen and done. Dazzle was amused at some of
their descriptions and impressions. She had lived her whole life on Aerianna
and it all seemed rather ordinary. But for her two companions, it was nothing
but eye-popping wonders and jaw-dropping surprises.

They finally ended their
story by recounting the conversation they had with the Myst Tree.

“So Grammy, the Tree wants
us to find a handful of people that can show that they’re umm . . ..”

“Worthy. That’s what it
said.”

“How come you always
remember everything?” asked Egg.

Sylvia just shrugged.

“Since the Tree’s
instructions are of great importance, we must understand exactly what it wants
of you.” The
other three nodded their agreement. “First, you must find five of my people to demonstrate this
quality.”

“Why five?”

“That is considered a
handful . . . as in the number of fingers on your hand.”

“But what if I had been a
serpent? They don’t have fingers . . . do they?”

“Not such as yours. As
to five, the Tree knew you were human.”

Sylvia then asked, “Does
that mean that the five have to be human?”

Dazzle gave that some
thought.
“No, I do not believe that is the case. Serpents and dragons are just as
important to Aerianna.”

“It also said that Sylvia
and I had to prove ourselves just like the other five.”

“Really?” asked a very
surprised grandmother. “Why you two?”

“Because I have chosen
them to represent me.”

“Oh . . . that makes sense;
I guess.”

“So, Dazzle, what exactly
is it that we have to prove? How do you prove your worth?”

“That, my sister, is less
certain. A person’s worth could mean many things.”

“Like what?”

“Courage . . .
compassion.”

“How about intelligence?”
suggested Grammy.

“And . . . ummm . . .
what’s the word that means you care about other people more than yourself?

“Selflessness.”

“SYLVIA,” yelled an
exasperated Egg. “You’re just too weird.”

“Why?” she asked
innocently.

“Because you know too
much.”

“Did you want a dumb
Feminion?”

“I guess not.”

“Okay, girls, that’s
enough. This is important.”

“Sorry Grammy. So,
anything else?”

“I would add loyalty to
our list.”

“Hey, that’s five – a
handful – maybe we have enough.”

“Perhaps, but there will
be five from Aerianna and you and Sylvia. Let’s come up with two more if we
can.”

They thought and thought
until Sylvia blurted, “How about resourcefulness?”

“What does that mean?”
asked Egg with a frustrated frown in her voice.

“It means imagination,”
Grammy answered for her.

“Then perhaps another
would be creativity. On Q’umulus, we wrote poems, stories and plays that moved
the heart to sing or the eyes to cry. It was part of the reason we won the
Crystal Egg.”

“Dazzle, maybe these
aren’t the right ones. Maybe the Tree was thinking of something else.”

“Perhaps. But I am as
certain as I can be that if we can demonstrate these seven qualities, the Tree
would be satisfied.”

“That only leaves three
more questions,” added Grammy.

Everyone turned and waited
for her to continue. “First, how do you find the right five people . . . if I
may use that term?. And if you do find them, how do you convince them to join
your quest?”

They waited for her to
continue, but the older woman was lost in thought. “What is the third?” Dazzle finally asked.

“Oh, sorry . . . I was
just wool gathering. The third question, of course, is how do you demonstrate
those qualities?”

They all looked at one
another hoping somebody would have the answer or at least an idea. But, no one
did. Egg finally turned to Dazzle and asked “What do we do now?”

“When you sleep, you
must dream on this.”

“What will that do, dear?”
Grammy asked the princess.

“On Aerianna, we believe
dreams are the universe’s way of talking to us. The collective wisdom of all
those that came before is ours to share if we open our soul to their voice.
This can only be done in our deepest sleep when our mind stops resisting that
which it cannot understand.”

The three earthlings
looked at the princess with awe and wonderment . . . and a little bit of disbelief.
But, since no one had a better idea, they said nothing.

After a minute of silence,
Sylvia said, “I’m sorry to be a party-pooper, but I have to go home. I promised
my mom I would help her clean the house. We have guests coming over for
dinner.”

Egg and her grandmother
looked a little relieved. This whole adventure with Dazzle was beginning to be
a little . . . maybe a lot . . . overwhelming. “Well, if you must leave, dear,
I’ll drive you home. Egg, you need to change first. And Dazzle, maybe we can all
get together in a day or two to continue this discussion.”

“There is nothing more
we can do now. We will talk after Egg has dreamed.”

So Egg said, “Bye, Dazzle.
And thank you for showing us Aerianna. Ring, tend to my suit.” A cloud appeared
out of nowhere and surrounded the young girl. When it cleared a few seconds
later, Egg was wearing her jeans. The flying suit was safely hidden away in her
ring, shrunk down to the size of a pinhead. And like smoke from a chimney,
Dazzle had faded away.

*****

They had dropped Sylvia
off and the older Eloise now headed back to Egg’s house. “Grammy.”

“Yes, dear?”

“Can we talk about
something that’s bothering me?”

“Of course you
can. Why don’t we go to the Shake and Bake for something sinfully
delicious and we can talk there.” The Shake and Bake was a bakery that
specialized in the world’s best-tasting cakes and brownies; and it also served
ice cream and fountain drinks.

So they turned right
instead of left and made their way to the eatery, found a quiet booth in the
back and sat down. They took their time looking over the incredible menu and
finally decided on two chocolate shakes. Since it was obvious that Egg was a
little reluctant to begin the conversation, her grandmother talked about this
and that until the waitress brought their milkshakes.

“So, my brave little
princess, what’s on your mind?”

“Oh, Grammy, I’m not a
princess” Egg said with a big smile. “But maybe Dazzle will make me one.
Wouldn’t that be just too amazing for words?”

“Princess Egg . . . it has
a nice sound.”

“Hmmm, I think I would
have to give up my nickname and be Princess Eloise. That’s much more grown-up,
don’t you think?”

“It sounds perfectly
lovely to me. Now, dear one, tell me what’s troubling you.”

Egg sipped her shake
slowly while she gathered her thoughts. “Grammy, did you know that the people
on Aerianna can be different colors . . . like bright red or green or blue or
purple.”

“I believe you told me
that.”

“And the dragons we met
were all different shapes and colors.”

“That makes sense.”

“I haven’t seen the sea
serpents yet, but Dazzle showed me pictures.” Dazzle could project images into
Egg’s mind. “And, Grammy, they’re weird colors and shapes, too.”

“That seems perfectly
reasonable for sea serpents.”

“Grammy . . . I’m not sure
I like them.”

“What do you mean, dear?”

“Well . . . they’re so
much different than we are. They’re kind of creepy.”

“Oh, I see. And why does
that bother you.”

“It just doesn’t seem
right. Why aren’t they more like you and me?”

“Is everyone on our world
the same?”

Egg considered that for a
moment. “Well, not exactly the same . . . but pretty much.”

“Aren’t some kids in
school bigger or smaller, taller or heavier than you?”

“Well, sure.”

“Aren’t there kids from
different ethnic backgrounds?”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means different
cultures or nationalities. For instance, I’m sure some of the kids are Asian or
African-American. Maybe there’s even one or two that are Native American.”

“Oh, sure. One of the boys
in fourth grade is Lakota. I’m not sure what that is exactly, but it’s a kind
of Indian.”

“I believe the Lakota are
part of the great Sioux nation.”

“So what are you saying?”

“Do you like these kids?”

“Some I do and some I
don’t. Most of them I don’t really know.”

“For those
kids that you don’t like, is it because they’re different? Maybe different
color skin, or different type of hair or they look a little different?”

Egg was shocked by the
thought. “NO. I don’t care about that stuff. The ones I don’t like are just
mean or boring or . . . ummm . . . boys.”

“So why doesn’t it bother
you that they’re different, but it does for the folks from Aerianna?”

“I’m not sure.”

“How many have you talked
to, or gotten to know . . . besides Dazzle?”

“Well we met that one dragon for just a second and he was mean. Then we met
Storm.”

“Do you like Storm?”

“Oh, yes. He was
wonderful.”

“But he was a dragon.”

“Yes, but he was so sweet.
Did you know he hugged me so Dazzle could feel it?”

“Did he . . . that great
big dragon gave you a hug? How did that make you feel?”

“I wanted to cry because
he really wanted to hug his best friend Dazzle but he couldn’t.”

“Sweetheart, I think the
same rules apply for Aerianna as they do for Earth. It doesn’t matter what
color the person is, or what form she takes . . . dragon or serpent or human.
It only matters if that individual is nice or not. Don’t you think that’s
true?”

Egg took a deep breath and
considered the question very carefully. “So I should give them a chance to show
me that deep inside they’re good. And if they are, the rest doesn’t matter. Right?”

“Almost. The differences
between you and the friends you’ll make on Aerianna will make you stronger.”

“How?”

“That, my precious one, is
one of the great mysteries of the universe. When you bring together people of
different backgrounds and they work together, the sum of what they can
accomplish is always greater than what they can do alone.”

“GRAMMY . . . that gives
me a super idea,” Egg said with a huge grin.

“And what is that dear?”

“The five people that we
get from Aerianna . . . I’m going to make them Hameggattic Sisters.”

“But what happens if
they’re boys?”

Egg looked at her
grandmother as if she was a five-year-old girl saying something goofy. “Grammy
. . . if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a million times. NO BOYS.”

*****

That night Egg dreamt of
the Myst Tree and Storm and milkshakes. But if the universe was trying to give
her a good idea, she didn’t hear it.

Two blocks away Sylvia
also dreamt of Aerianna. The first image that came to her was that big scary
dragon they first met. His big mean face gave her a nightmare . . . and Mobius
took advantage and entered her mind.

“I
warned you not to follow your friend.”

Sylvia
screamed at the horrible face that appeared in her mind, but since she was
still asleep, no sound came out.

“I will
know all that you have seen and heard on my world, and then I will . . .,” but he did not finish.

“We meet again, Mobius.”

The evil eyes stared at
the newcomer.
“So, this is where you hide.”

“Leave now . . . you
have no power here.”

“Have I
ever told you, my dear Princess, how much I dislike you?”

Dazzle smiled then
answered
“And I, you. Now leave.”

“You
think I am powerless, do you? As long as I possess the Crystal Egg, there is
nothing in this universe that I cannot do.”

“I think that you have
dishonored the Old Ones by misusing the Egg and they will not long stand for
such abuse. I think your days on Aerianna are numbered.”

Just for a second, there
was a flicker of doubt in Mobius’ eyes. But it soon passed. “Will I
have the pleasure of seeing you on Q’umulus? I would love to show you the
coffin that contains your body.”

“Perhaps you will.
There is so much for us to discuss . . . so very much.”

Chapter 4 – Boy, Oh Boy

Every night for the next
two weeks Egg went to bed dreaming of Aerianna hoping for an idea. But every
morning she woke up still confused about what she was supposed to do. She was
beginning to feel guilty, thinking that she was disappointing Dazzle. But the
Princess told her not to feel that way. “The universe cannot be rushed . . . when it is ready to talk
to you, it will. I have been patient for a thousand years; if I must wait a few
more weeks or even months, it is of no consequence.”

Egg still worried. The
summer was more than half over. Once school started, she would only be able to
get away to Aerianna on weekends. And, of course, the other thing that worried
her was being able to find five people to help in the quest. That seemed like
an impossible task even if she only had to talk to humans. But if she had to
get serpents and dragons to join the Sisterhood, this whole thing became doubly
triple never-going-to-happen-in-a-million-years impossible. Every time she
thought about it, all she could do was sigh.

*****

Thursday morning Egg was
in her room when the phone rang. She was about to pick it up when it stopped
ringing . . . her mom or sister must have answered it. A few minutes later,
there was a knock at the door. “Come in” she called. Everyone knew that you
never entered her room without an invitation.

“Morning, dear.”

“Hi Mom.”

“That was your grandmother
on the phone. Her new neighbors, the Zambroski’s, are having a barbeque and
we’re all invited.”

“Why are we invited?”

“Grammy told them all
about her lovely daughter and granddaughter and since they’re new in town, they
asked Grammy to invite us. Just to be sociable and to meet as many people as
they can. I think it’s a very nice thing to do.”

“Can I invite Sylvia?”

“Umm . . . I don’t see why
not since your sister isn’t going. Tell her we’ll pick her up at noon on
Saturday. And tell her to bring her bathing suit.”

*****

On Saturday, Egg received
permission to bike over to Sylvia’s house an hour before they were scheduled to
leave for the barbeque. She needed a little time with her friend to discuss
Zeke and Zack.

“So what do you think?”

“About what?” replied her
puzzled friend.

“You know . . . the two
boys.”

“What about them?”

“Do you think we have to
talk to them?”

“It’s their house and
their party. Of course we do.”

Egg considered that for a
moment. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But what should we do if they’re . . .
ummm . . . really stupid or mean?”

Sylvia looked at her
friend and slowly shook her head. “You’ve been to Aerianna, you stood up to a
dragon and a talking tree, but you’re afraid of boys. Don’t you think that’s
weird . . . even for you?”

“I am not afraid of boys.
I just don’t understand them. They’re always yelling or pushing each other or
picking their nose or saying dumb things. And why are you taking their side
anyway? You feel the same way.”

That was mostly true. But
unbeknownst to her friend, Sylvia was beginning to find boys . . . some boys .
. . kind of interesting. “Well I just think it’s unfair to suppose all boys are
the same. Remember what Dazzle said about Z’kkk. She didn’t like him the first
time they met but eventually they became engaged.”

That caused Egg to stop
and think. Dazzle had become a role model and if it was okay for the Princess,
it was probably okay for her. Besides, it seemed pretty strange that one of the
new kids had the same name as Dazzle’s boyfriend. “Well, okay . . . we can at
least give them a chance. But what do you talk to boys about?”

Now it was Sylvia’s turn
to stop and think. “I have no idea. I’ve hardly ever talked to one before. How
about clothes and jewelry?”  She looked at her friend and they both burst into
a long fit of giggles.

*****

Mrs. Zambroski was
amazing. She had golden red hair, a warm friendly face that always smiled and
more energy than a dozen circus clowns. She welcomed everyone with a big hug
and you immediately felt like she was your favorite aunt and you were her
favorite niece.

“I’m just so happy that
you all could make it. The boys . . . which includes my goofy husband . . . are
out by the pool. So if you’ll follow me, we’ll get this little shindig going.”

“What’s a shindig?” asked
Egg.

“Why it means a get
together. It’s kind of a silly word, isn’t it? The original word was shindy,
which meant a noisy party or gathering.”

Egg looked at Sylvia and
rolled her eyes. Her friend ignored her and asked Mrs. Zambroski, “How did you
know that? Are you a teacher?”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the
hostess laughed. “I’m actually a professor and I’ll be teaching at the junior
college this fall. Sometimes I just can’t stop teaching. Pretty annoying, isn’t
it?” And she smiled that big wonderful smile.

When Mrs. Z smiled, you
just had to smile with her . . . it was just that infectious. “What does a
professor teach?”

“Any and every subject.
Guess what I teach?”

“English,” both girls
blurted out.

“What a wonderful guess,”
and the girls smiled. “But sorry, no.”

“You don’t?”

“Want to try again?”

“English Literature,” said
Mr. Graystone.

Zelda laughed. “That
obvious, huh?”

By this time,
they were through the house and out the back door. The backyard was very large
because it used to be a farm just like Grammy’s place.

Off in one corner there
was a kidney-shaped swimming pool and some lounge chairs. And under a big oak
tree were a gas barbeque and a table and chairs. And standing there was Mr.
Zambroski fussing with the food until he heard his guests arrive.

“Hello, everyone; thanks
for coming. I’m Ezra and those two creatures in the pool are my sons Zeke and
Zack.” The boys waved but made no move to get out and meet their guests.

Mr. Z shook hands with the
grown-ups and smiled at the two girls as they were introduced. “I’m sure
everyone asks this dumb question, so forgive me, but . . . ”

Before he could finish Egg
said, “They’re my initials.”

“Well, of course. I should
have known. And Sylvia, do you have a nickname?”

The girl smiled then
answered “Ham.”

Mr. and Mrs. Zambroski
thought that was the funniest thing they had ever heard and laughed. “Well, I
may not be a genius, but I don’t think those are your initials.”

“It’s the first three
letters of my last name.”

“I find that incredible.
How in the world does someone nicknamed Egg find a best friend with the name
Ham? It’s simply beyond coincidence. There has to be a cosmic force at work.”

Ham and Egg just stared at
the man. They never had given it much thought . . .  you know about the name
thing. But with the whole Flying Girl quest with her Feminion, maybe they were
meant to be best friends.

“Forgive my husband. He’s
a professor of philosophy.”

“What’s fil-los-ofee?”
asked the ever-curious Egg.

“Technically, it’s the
rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics.
But a better definition is the search for understanding. Does that make sense?”

“Ummm . . . understanding
of what?”

“Of anything and
everything.”

“Oh.”

“Enough you foolish man.
These kids are here to enjoy themselves not discuss the nature of the
universe.” Mrs. Z, of course, was smiling when she said this. “And you two,”
she said calling to her sons, “get yourselves over here and meet your guests.”
Then she turned to Egg and Sylvia and said, “Go easy on them, they’re afraid of
girls.”

The boys got out of the
pool, dried off and put on tee shirts. They shuffled over to their parents and
said “Hello” in unison.

All five guests stared at
them. They really were identical twins . . . from their blond hair down to
their too long toes . . . they were exactly the same. Well, at least
physically. After a moment, the grown-ups returned the greetings. The girls
also said ‘hello’ but in voices so soft that you really couldn’t hear them.

“Egg and Sylvia, this
one’s Zack and that one’s Zeke.”

The girls looked from one
to the other then Egg asked the obvious question, “How do you know?” That got
everyone to laughing.

“Believe it or
not, a mother knows. Besides, they actually have very different personalities .
. . just look at their tee shirts.” And for the first time, the girls noticed
what the two good-looking boys were wearing. Zack had a shirt that said cow pi
. . . a mathematical play on the word pie.

Sylvia, who loved math,
thought it was very clever.

Zeke, on the
other hand, had a shirt with a very strange design . . .

Egg stared at it . . . her
eyes getting very large. She was shocked. The pattern looked very much like
Aerianna as seen from way up in space. How could that be?

“What is that?” she heard
Sylvia ask.

“Uh . . . it’s just
something I painted.”

“Really? You painted that?
What talent.” said a very impressed Mrs. Graystone.

“Thanks.”

“As I was saying, the boys
have very different personalities. Zack loves school and is especially fond of
math and science. Zeke is our artist . . . both with paint and with the
trombone.”

“They both like sports,
only different ones,” added their father. “Zack plays baseball and football
while Zeke likes dodge ball and soccer.”

At these revelations,
Sylvia smiled but Egg actually blushed. Luckily, no one noticed.

“Why don’t you girls get
your swim suits on then you four can play in the pool?”

“Okay” said Sylvia with
more than a little eagerness. Egg just wanted to run away but knew she had no
choice. So the girls followed Mrs. Z back to the house and she showed them the
guest bathroom. The girls went in and locked the door.

“Oh my gosh,” Egg
exclaimed when they were alone.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you see Zeke’s tee
shirt?”

“You know I did.”

“What did it look like to
you?”

“Just some goofy design.
Kind of pretty in a weird boy way.”

“Syl . . . it looked just
like Aerianna when we came through that portal thingy. Don’t you remember?”

Her friend thought about
that for a moment. “Ummm . . . well maybe a little.”

“And did you see the thing
right in the center of his shirt . . . it looked just like the inside of an
egg.”

“What are you talking
about?”

“And one more thing . . .
he likes to play dodge ball. How weird is that?”

“Egg, you’re making
absolutely no sense. What are you getting at?”

“Sylvia, it’s just so
obvious.”

“What is?”

Egg gave an annoyed look
to her friend. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. His name is Zeke just
like Dazzle’s boyfriend. He draws a picture of Aerianna on his tee shirt. He
uses an egg in the design. And he likes dodge ball just like I do.”

“Sorry, but I just don’t
know where you’re going with this.”

“SYLVIA! I think
he’s supposed to be my boyfriend. Maybe he’s even supposed to help us with our
quest.”

Now that made Sylvia stop
and stare at her friend. She didn’t say anything at first because she wanted to
be sure that Egg wasn’t just teasing her. But since she was dead serious, the
other girl just had to start giggling.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Because you are nuttier
than a pecan pie . . . that’s why.”

Egg couldn’t believe that
her Feminion didn’t see it the way she did. “Why are you saying that? How do
you explain all those things then?”

“Well first of all,
Dazzle’s boyfriend is Z’kkk not Zeke. Secondly, that image on his shirt was
just a goofy design. Thirdly, yellow balls are not necessarily the yolk of an
egg. And lastly, a lot of people like to play dodge ball.”

Egg wasn’t convinced.
“With everything that’s happened to us, how can it be just a coincidence?”

“Because it just is.
Besides, I know why you think it all means something that it doesn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s very cute.”

Egg blushed a very bright
tomato-like red. Then she sputtered, “Oh, oh, how could you?”

“Come on Egg. Some boys
are cute and you know it. Besides, if Dazzle could have a boyfriend when she was
about our age, why can’t we? So, don’t be so upset; and don’t make up silly
stories to make it seem alright.”

Poor Egg, she was very,
very confused. Her mom and her Grammy had told her that sooner or later she
would start liking boys. But, truthfully, she didn’t believe it. But Sylvia was
right. If Dazzle could have one when she was young, then maybe she, Egg, could
have one too. What made it more confusing were all those things she told her
friend about. She knew in her heart that it wasn’t just a lot of coincidences.
She obviously needed to talk to somebody with experience in this matter. And
there was only one person who fit that description. Tonight she would have a
long talk with the Warrior Princess.

The girls finished
changing into their suits and went back outside. As they approached the pool,
they could see that someone had set up a net so that you could play water
volleyball.

“You guys want to play?”
asked Zack. The boys were still wearing their tee shirts.

“Sure” answered Sylvia.
“I’ll be on your side.”

“Cool.”

Egg watched as the boys
took off their shirts and jumped into the water followed by her girlfriend.
“AHHHH . . . it’s cold.”

“It’s not that bad. Come
on Egg, jump in.”

She took a deep breath to
calm herself then walked to the edge of the pool and . . . did a huge
cannonball right in front of Zeke. A big explosion of water splashed him right
in the face. When she came to the surface, she smiled at him and said, “Oops.”
He grinned then splashed her back.

“If you two are finished,
let’s play,” teased Sylvia.

“My serve,” yelled Egg.

And for the next half
hour, they played volleyball and had a wonderful time kidding each other. The
girls had never . . . and I mean never . . . been so comfortable around boys
before. It was just perfect.

Well, it was perfect until
they heard “Hi, Zack. Hi, Zeke.”

They all looked up and
Egg’s heart stopped beating for a second. It was Presley and Angela.

*****

“When I was at the school
registering my sons for the fall classes, I met these two lovely ladies.” Mrs.
Z was referring to Angela and Presley’s mothers. “We got to chatting and I
found out their kids and Egg and Sylvia are friends. So I invited them to join
us. Isn’t this wonderful?”

Well, it was true that the
parents of all four kids did indeed know each other. What none of them
realized, however, was that Ham and Egg were no longer friends with Presley and
Angela.

Mrs. Z continued, “In fact
the girls came over to meet my sons that very day. They’re such nice girls . .
. all four are such nice kids. I’m just so happy that we moved here.”

*****

“Can we join you?”

“Sure” said Zeke.

Both girls jumped in on
Egg’s side of the net. Obviously four against two wasn’t going to work so Egg
reluctantly swam over to join Sylvia leaving her first ever ‘boy’ friend alone
with the other girls. And that made her mad.

“Let’s start a new game
and I’ll serve first,” declared Angela. She threw the ball in the air and
slapped it towards Egg who unfortunately wasn’t paying attention. The ball hit
her in the head and bounced out of the pool.

“Hey,” she yelled. The
boys and the two girls laughed while Sylvia winced at her friend’s mishap.

“Sor-ry,” Angela called
out with just the sweetest smile on her face. “I thought you were ready.”

“Well I wasn’t,” answered
Egg angrily.

And for the next twenty
minutes, things went downhill very fast. Egg tried way too hard to beat her two
ex-friends and to show Zeke how good she was. But sometimes when you let your
emotions get in the way, things don’t turn out as you had hoped.

Zack and Sylvia tried
their best to help their teammate, but to no avail. By the end of the second
game, they had lost again by ten points. The other team was having a good old
time laughing and high-fiving each other. But worst of all, Zeke was having way
too much fun with those two horrid girls.

At one point Egg was so
mad and frustrated that she almost changed into her Flying Girl suit so she
could fly away and never come back. But just at that moment, she looked up and
saw her Grammy looking at her. And Egg just knew that her grandmother was
reading her mind. So she just shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing.

After their third defeat,
Zack said, “Let’s change sides” meaning he wanted to play with Angela and
Presley and have his brother play with Sylvia and Egg.

Zeke said, “No way,” which
made Angela and Presley laugh . . . and Egg blush with embarrassment.

“That’s okay, I’m getting
out,” called Sylvia. “How about you, Egg?” She knew what her friend must be
feeling and this would give her an excuse to leave.

“Sure.”

As they climbed out they
looked back to see the twins and the two other girls huddled together in the
corner of the pool giggling and splashing and enjoying themselves.

“Let’s go change.”

“Egg, don’t be angry with
the boys. It wasn’t their fault.”

“I’m not angry . . . I’m
mad.”

“At who?”

“At me . . . for thinking
that I was ready for a boyfriend.”

Chapter 5 – When Weird
Gets Weirder

Egg and Sylvia managed to
make it through the rest of the barbeque with a little help from Grammy and
Mrs. Zambroski. The older Eloise could tell that her granddaughter was troubled
by something. So after the girls changed out of their swimsuits, she had them
join her and the hostess.

“Did you two enjoy the
pool?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Was it my imagination or
were you and my boys having a very good time?”

“Your sons are very nice,”
answered Sylvia. “We hardly ever play with boys.”

“I’ll tell you a little
secret,” said Mrs. Z, “when I was your age, I thought boys were awful. They
were always yelling and shoving each other or picking their nose or saying
something mean. Uggg.” Naturally, she smiled good-naturedly when she said that.

Grammy and Sylvia laughed
in agreement but Egg responded, “I can’t believe you said that?”

The other three looked at
her. “Why? You’re not defending boys are you?”

“Never in a million years.
It’s just that I said almost the exact same thing to Sylvia when we were
changing into our suits.”

“You’re right,” answered
her friend. “Isn’t that too weird?”

“Not really, dear. I felt
the same way.”

“But Grammy . . . she used
almost my exact words.”

“Hmmm” replied Mrs. Z,
“that is just a little bit freaky. On the other hand, great minds do think
alike.”

Bringing the subject back
to the two boys, Sylvia offered, “all of that stuff is true . . . but not for
Zack and Zeke.”

“Why Sylvia, that’s a very
nice thing to say. Thank you. I think they’re pretty special. I also think
they’re very handsome; but that’s just a mother talking.” She looked at the two
girls obviously hoping for their agreement.

“Ummm . . .,” Egg couldn’t
finish. She just blushed.

But Sylvia was feeling
unusually bold and gave the answer Mrs. Z was hoping for, “I think they’re very
cute. Especially Zack.”

Now it was Sylvia’s turned
to be stared at by the other three. “Syl . . . they both look exactly alike.”

“Well . . . umm . . .,”
she didn’t know how to finish, and she blushed a slightly deeper shade of red
then her friend had.

“Curiouser and Curiouser.”

Now it was Grammy’s turn
to stare at the hostess. “Well, isn’t that a little strange?”

“What is?”

“That’s one of two phrases
my granddaughter likes to use.”

“Oh my gosh,” said a
slightly surprised Mrs. Z.

“And that’s the other
one.”

For some reason that gave
all four ladies goose bumps.

*****

When it was time to eat, the
Zambroski’s placed four big blankets on the ground for their guests. The
grown-ups were a little shocked but Mrs. Z. said, “A barbeque is how you cook
the food; a picnic is how you eat it. And the best picnics are on the ground.
So everyone find a place to park your caboose.”

And everyone did. The Rosa’s, Angela’s
parents, and the Swift’s, Presley’s mom and dad, sat on one blanket along with
Mr. and Mrs. Graystone. Egg, Sylvia and Grammy sat on the middle blanket saving
a place for Mr. and Mrs. Z. who were serving the food and drinks. The twins and
the other two girls were on the last blanket.

As it turned out, since the blankets
were all next to each other, Egg ended up sitting next to Zeke. She wasn’t sure
if that was a good thing or a bad thing. In the end, it was neither. Angela and
Presley talked to the boys nonstop so even if Egg wanted to talk to Zeke, she
couldn’t.

Mrs. Z placed big plates filled with
hot dogs, hamburgers and roasted corn on the cob in the center of each blanket.
Then she put out pots of baked beans and big bowls of fruit salad. Mr. Z walked
around with a cart full of drinks and gave each person whatever they wanted.
Then the Z’s sat down and everyone began fill their plates with mounds and
mounds of food. It seems everyone gets a gigantic appetite at picnics.

After a few minutes everyone had
settled back to enjoy the food. The buzz of conversations had died away while
they ate only to be replaced by the buzz of annoying flies. But silence to Mrs.
Z was not acceptable. “While everyone is gorging themselves on the tasty treats
prepared by my incredibly handsome husband . . .,” (all the ladies oohed and
ahhed in agreement, while the men and two boys hooted) “. . . let’s play a
little game I call Rhyme Time.”

“Ah, Mom,” moaned Zack.

“This is so embarrassing,” sighed Zeke.

“Nonsense. It’s fun.”

“What is Rhyme Time?” asked Sylvia.

Zack looked over to her and said,
“Don’t ask . . . please.” Then he gave Sylvia a big smile. In return, she stuck
her tongue out at him.

“Thank you for asking, Sylvia. Rhyme
Time is where we make up a rhyme about whatever it is we’re doing at that time
we play the game. So this one will be about our picnic. You can say a complete
line or just part of it. But, it has to rhyme in couplets.”

“Which means?”

“Every two lines rhyme with each
other. So, I’ll begin. Ummm . . . we sat on a blanket
. . .”

“. . . under the Sun.” added Grammy.

“Very good, Eloise. Who’s next?”

“All wet and tired . . .,” said Egg.

“. . . from
volleyball fun.” blurted Sylvia with a big
smile.

“Excellent. You two are terrific. How
about you guys?” she said looking at Angela and Presley.

The two girls just shrugged their
shoulders and shook their heads.

“Well, that’s okay. Who’s next?”

Egg’s mom said, “The Z’s cooked us dogs…”

And her dad added, “. . . and corn on the
cob.”

“Tons of food for this
hungry mob.”
added Mr. Swift obviously very proud of himself.

Not to be outdone, his
wife continued with “There were gallons of lemonade and coke.”

“. . . so on the food we
wouldn’t choke,” yelled Zeke and everyone laughed. Secretly, Egg was impressed.

“And for dessert Mrs. Z did
bake . . . ,”
Mrs. Rosa said this with a little grin and shrug since there was no dessert on
the blankets.

But Mr. Z came to her
rescue with, “.
. . her world famous chocolate cake.”  This got him a big kiss from his wife.

“So we drank our drinks . .
.,” added Mr.
Rosa

“. . . and the food we did
scarf,”
chimed Zack.

Then the twins looked at
each other and said in unison, “We got so full me thinks . . . cause us boys did barf.”   And with that, everyone
burst into gales of laughter and Rhyme Time was mercifully over.

“That was terrific, Zelda.
Your sons have obviously played this before.”

“Ever since they were six.
They say they hate it, but you can tell they love to participate. It keeps them
on their toes. And you girls were very good.”

“Thank you” they both
replied.

“You and your handsome
husband are wonderful parents.”

“Well, thank you Eloise.
Our twins are our life. But I don’t need to tell you how precious our children
are.”

“I’ll tell you a little
secret,” said Grammy. “As wonderful as our kids are to us, just wait for the
incredible joy your grandchildren will bring you.” She was looking directly at
Egg when she said this. “My granddaughter . . . and namesake . . . is an
inspiration to me. Every morning when I wake up, I thank God that I was given
one more chance to see or talk to her again.”

Egg smiled from ear to
ear; then she threw her Grammy a big kiss.

Before long, everyone had
finished eating and they all pitched in to help clear the plates and leftover
food. Most of the grown-ups then drifted back to the big oak tree and continued
their conversations. The twins and the other two girls went back in the pool,
while Grammy, Mrs. Z, Egg and Sylvia went in the house to make coffee and do a
little more clean up.

Then things got weird.

“Did you know the people
that lived here before us?”

“Oh, of course. Grazy and
I were neighbors for more than fifty years. When we were younger, we were best
friends . . . inseparable like these two.”

“I met them just once.
Grazy . . . is that her name?” Grammy nodded. “She said that there’s a lake
about a mile or two behind the house. She said it was part of the farm until
her dad sold the land and the lake to the county to make a park.”

“Yes, that’s true. That
was . . . goodness . . . it must have been thirty years ago. My, oh my, isn’t
it amazing how we can misplace that many years?”

“It does go too fast,
doesn’t it? I’d like to hike down to that lake. Is that possible?”

“Certainly. I’d love to
show you.”

“That would be wonderful.
Maybe you ladies would like to join us. I’m sure Zack and Zeke would love to go
too.”

Sylvia smiled brightly at
the idea. If Egg was excited, she didn’t show it.

“You know, Grazy said
something a little . . . umm . . . unusual. She said that the lake is even more
beautiful when you fly over it. I wonder what she meant by that?”

What she meant was that
Flying Girl had once taken her for that fly over. Many, many years ago when
Grazy and Grammy were still best friends, she had seen Eloise fly over the lake
in her Flying Girl suit. Because she had seen it as a reflection in the water,
the suit’s magic didn’t make her forget. When she accused her friend of being
able to fly, Eloise had to deny it. She had sworn she would never tell anyone.
So their friendship had come to a bitter end. It was only a few months ago that
they patched things up . . . just before she moved away.

Egg had taken the woman
for a flight in return for her giving Egg back her lost diary. This time she
did forget. The reality of that flight faded . . . but the dream of it stayed.

“Well,” answered the elder
Eloise, “Grazy hasn’t been herself lately. It’s hard to say what she was
talking about.”

“The only reason I
mentioned it was that . . . ummm . . . this may sound a little silly, but it
reminded me of an old family legend about something similar.”

Sylvia looked at Egg who
looked at her Grammy who looked a little white in the face. “What legend would
that be?”

“This is a little
complicated but here it goes. My maiden name is Aubergine. . . which of course
is French for eggplant. My family came to this country two generations ago. My
grandparents were farmers and the First World War destroyed much of the
countryside where they farmed. So they packed their few belongings and headed
for the land of promise . . . the United States.

On the farm they left in
France were the broken remains of a once mighty castle. It had been in ruins
for more than twelve hundred years. Legend had it that it belonged to
Charlemagne . . . one of the great kings of France. He was a truly remarkable
fellow but that’s another story. What’s important is that he was supposedly a
relative of mine.”

Now that impressed the
other three. This lady was of royal blood . . . much like Dazzle.

“Am I boring you? Be honest.”

“Absolutely not. You girls
want to hear more?”

“Please.”

“Oh my gosh, yes.”

“You guys are just too
sweet. Anyway, the legend says that after his death, the castle was given to
one of his sons. The story doesn’t get interesting for another hundred years or
so. That’s when the heir to the castle . . . Charlemagne’s great, great, great
grandson . . . married a woman who was considered a witch. In those days, there
was no greater sin then to be called a witch. But this one was incredibly
beautiful and the great grandson fell madly in love with her. Some say it was
witchcraft that made it happen. Anyway, because she had married royalty, no one
could punish her for being a witch; especially, because no one could really
prove it.”

The girls had no idea
where this story was going, but it was so fascinating that they didn’t really
care.

“The royal couple had a
daughter not long after. And the townspeople all assumed that her mother’s
witchcraft would be passed down to her. So they kept a careful eye on her.

The girl grew up to be as
pretty as her mother with sparkling green eyes and golden red hair . . . like
mine. When the girl was about ten, her real name is forgotten, but her nickname
was Ebb Louise . . . things turned very bad.”

“What does her nickname
mean?”

“Well, it’s hard to say
exactly. The only thing that makes any sense is that it was short for eblouissement
which means dazzle.”

Grammy dropped the coffee
cup she was holding and the hot liquid splashed against the cabinets.

Sylvia put her hand to her
mouth to stifle a scream.

Egg’s hand wasn’t quick
enough so she did scream “ohhhhhhhhh.”

Mrs. Z was completely
startled by their reaction. “What’s wrong?”

Grammy recovered quickly
and said, “I’m so sorry. The cup just slipped out and the girls were reacting to
my clumsiness. Egg get a sponge so I can clean this up.”

“Don’t be silly I’ll do
that.”

“NO. I mean no. We’re just
dying to hear the rest of your story. So you just keep talking and I’ll take
care of this mess.”

“Okay, if you’re sure. So
anyway, the daughter, I’ll just call her Dazzle, was accused of witchcraft. One
of the townspeople, a fisherman, had seen her reflection in the water as she
flew over his boat . . . or so he said. He convinced everyone and things got
out of hand. They stormed the castle and set fire to it. The legend doesn’t
tell us what happened to the little girl. I, for one, think she got away.”

“And you think you’re
related to her?”

“Oh, I’m almost positive.”

*****

When the barbeque was over
and all of her guests had left, Mrs. Z asked her sons if they would rather hike
to the lake with Angela and Presley or Egg and Sylvia. The boys had spent only
a half hour or so with Eloise’s granddaughter and her friend. The rest of the
afternoon, they had played with the other two girls.

She really liked Egg and
Sylvia; there was something truly special about both of them. But she wasn’t
about to force her preference on her sons. It was their decision.

The boys thought it over
for all of three seconds then gave their answer. She looked from one to the
other then said, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I’ll call and
schedule it for next weekend.” She walked out of their room and lightly shook
her head. “Boys,” she thought to herself, “they are so hard to figure out . . .
even when they are your sons.”

Chapter 6 – Dream Weaver

They said their goodbyes,
hugged and kissed, exchanged compliments and made promises to do it again. And
in truth, it had been a fun time for everyone. The Zambroski’s were an amazing
family. They all had a great sense of humor, lots and lots of energy, obviously
very smart and definitely very interesting.

But Egg was happy to
leave. After Mrs. Z told her story, she was dying to talk to Grammy and Sylvia
about it but never got the chance. So as they were leaving, she told her mom she
was going to walk her grandmother back to her house. Sylvia of course went with
them.

“Grammy . . .,” she
started but didn’t finish.

“Egg, don’t even ask
because I have no idea what to say. You best ask Dazzle tonight. And be sure to
call me first thing in the morning. I’m as curious as you must be about what
this all means. It certainly seems to be an impossible coincidence that these
people just happen to move next door.”

“So you think it’s part of
Dazzle’s plan? I told Syl this morning that it was weird that one of the boys
had practically the same name as Dazzle’s boyfriend.”

“She did,” agreed her
friend.

“As my famous
granddaughter would say . . . Curiouser and Curiouser. Call me tomorrow. Oh,
and are you two sure you want to go on that hike to the lake if Zelda asks?”

Sylvia answered.
“Absolutely . . . what?” The first part of that was for Grammy, the second for
her friend who was making a face at her.

“You don’t have to be so
excited.”

“Well, I am.”

“Egg . . . what about
you?”

The girl hesitated just to
be dramatic. “I guess I should keep you two company . . . so it’s okay with
me.”

“Hah. You like Zeke as
much as I like Zack.”

“Don’t be goofy. I’m just
curious about . . . you know . . . all of this stuff.”

“Including Zeke.” It
wasn’t a question.

“Okay, you two. You can
argue about it in the car. Get going . . . my daughter isn’t known for her
great patience.”

*****

“Dazzle.”

The swirl of fog formed at
the foot of her bed and out stepped the warrior princess. “It is true,” she said answering the
unasked question.

“It is! Mrs. Z’s family
had the flying suit?”

“Yes.”

“How come you took it away
from them?”

“There were no girl
children for more than two generations. Once the chain is broken, the suit is
given to another family.”

“Does that mean I’m
related to them? Is Zeke like my cousin or something?”

The princess smiled. “No. But that which is
in you is in him; and his brother and mother.”

“You mean he can see you?
They all could?”

“Only women can see me.”

“Why?”

“When I created my plan,
I was very angry at men. Mobius had stolen my planet, my father was unable to
stop him and my love was not strong enough to resist his evil. It was a
childish thing I did. My father and Z’kkk were helpless to fight the power of
the Crystal Egg. My anger at them was . . . unworthy.”

“Dazzle . . . did you make
the Z’s move next door to Grammy? Is this part of your plan?”

The princess took her time
in answering. “My world and my people were in the gravest danger. My plan did
not . . . does not . . . end with you.”

“What does that mean?”

“I prefer not to reveal
any more. I am sorry.”

“Don’t you trust me?”
asked a very hurt Egg.

“With my life and with
the lives of my people.”

“Then why won’t you tell
me?”

“Your knowledge could
change that which would come. That part of the plan must unfold as it will. I
am sorry Egg.”

Egg thought about that for
a full minute. “Dazzle . . . if you say so, then I believe you.”

“Thank you, my sister.
You are truly everything I had hoped you would be. Sleep well . . . and dream.”

*****

And she did dream.

She was at the lake with
Sylvia and the twins. They were standing on a big rock and the boys were
horsing around trying to push each other in the water.

“Don’t do that,” yelled
Egg. “It’s too dangerous.”

“Zack, stop it,” pleaded
Sylvia. “We’re too high up.”

But boys will always be
boys . . . especially if they’re trying to impress girls. So they continued to
push each other until Zeke slipped and fell.

He hit the water on his
stomach and caused a gigantic splash . . . actually it was more like a tidal wave.
Then he sunk beneath the surface.

Egg screamed then dove in
after him. She found him on the bottom, grabbed him by the arms and pulled him
up to safety. They broke to the surface and both took big gulps of air. They
dog paddled back to shore and plopped down on the sand.

“Thanks,” said the boy.
“You saved my life.”

Egg blushed then managed
to say, “You’re welcome.”

Then he kissed her. It was
only on the cheek . . . but it was still her very first kiss.

When he pulled back and
smiled, she slapped him as hard as she could.

“HEY,” he yelled. “What’d
you do that for?”

Instead of answering, she
pushed him back in the water. He disappeared again under the surface, but when
he came back up . . . he was no longer a boy. He had become a sea serpent with
a goofy smile!

*****

When Egg woke up the next
morning, she gasped “Oh my gosh,” because the whole dream came back to her . .
. every little detail. In her heart she knew that this was one of the messages
Dazzle said to expect. And now she understood what she needed to do next.

*****

As luck would have it,
Egg’s parents left early that morning to do some antiquing . . . their absolute
favorite activity. Since Ashley, Egg’s sister, already had plans, Grammy
volunteered to come over.

They were in the kitchen
preparing breakfast for each other. Egg was in charge of the toast, while
Grammy sizzled some bacon in a frying pan. “How come you don’t just put that in
the microwave?”

“I’m just an old fashioned
cook. I can’t abide by all these new fangled contraptions. Besides, bacon
tastes better when you make it this way.”

The toaster popped and the
two pieces of rye bread stuck their heads up. Egg grabbed them, dropped them on
a plate then proceeded to bury them in butter. “Easy with that, dear one. It’s
supposed to be toast with butter . . . not the other way around.”

They sat at the table with
the plates of bacon and toast. Egg had a glass of chocolate milk while Grammy
had a steaming mug of coffee. They nibbled on the food but Egg was bursting to
tell her grandmother about her conversation with Dazzle and the dream. The
older woman knew that, but she was teasing her granddaughter by not asking.

Finally, her curiosity got
the better of her. “So, love, did our princess have anything interesting to
say?” That was all the encouragement Egg needed and she jabbered on for the
next ten minutes recalling the conversation of the previous night.

“This seems to be getting
way too complicated for my taste.”

That wasn’t the reaction
that Egg was expecting. “What do you mean, Grammy?”

“Dazzle’s original plan
was pretty farfetched to begin with. Now she seems to be bringing the different
families together . . . and she won’t tell you why. And then you have a dream .
. . supposedly the universe talking to you . . . about kissing a boy and that’s
given you an idea on how to proceed with your quest. I’m sorry love, but this
is getting out of hand. I don’t want you to go back to Aerianna anymore. It’s
too dangerous for a nine year old girl; especially if Dazzle is keeping things
from you.”

“Grammy . . . I have to
go. I promised.” Egg was devastated.

“Sweetheart, I can’t allow
you to put yourself in danger.”

Egg thought furiously
trying to come with a counter argument. Finally, in desperation she said,
“Ring, tend to my suit,” and a swirl of fog covered her, and when it had gone,
she was wearing her flying suit.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m calling Dazzle.”

Grammy was going to argue
then thought better of it.

“Dazzle.”

“I am here, Egg.”

“I can’t see you.”

“Your Grandmother is
angry with me. I do not wish to upset her.”

“Don’t act like a
teenager,” said the older woman. “I have no intention of talking to thin air.”

“As you wish.” Another cloud of white
fog materialized and out stepped the warrior princess.

“Did you hear our
conversation?”

“Yes.”

“Well?”
Grammy was acting like a very upset grandmother.

“I have told you that
our quest does have danger . . . but Egg has the power to defend herself. As
for your neighbors . . . there is no danger to your granddaughter.”

“You keep asking me to
trust you. I do not know you, Dazzle, even though I have lived with you for
seven years.” Grammy was referring to the years she was Flying Girl. “I do know
one thing, however. This child is more precious to me than my own life. If
anything happened to her I could never forgive myself.”

“Would you keep her from
fulfilling her destiny? Would you condemn a whole planet to pain and
suffering?”

“It is not fair to place
all that responsibility on a nine year old girl.”

“She is who she is. Do
not stop her from saving my world . . . from being Flying Girl. In the end, she
would not thank you.”

In her heart, Eloise knew
this was true. Her granddaughter had an improbable opportunity for greatness.
She also trusted Dazzle more then she would admit.

“On one condition . . . I
must be allowed to go to Aerianna and see for myself the danger she is to
face.”

“GRAMMY.”

“Agreed; but not now.
Egg’s dream requires all of her attention without the distraction of her
grandmother.  However, I promise you that the next time you may accompany us.”

“Is there any danger on
this visit?”

“There is little danger
now. But that will soon change.”

Grammy gave a big sigh.
“Egg, are you sure?”

“Oh, Grammy, yes. I have
to do this . . . really.”

“Then go. I’ll be waiting
right here.” She gave her granddaughter a big hug and a kiss. “And you better
be careful.” As she watched Egg and the princess fly away, she wiped the tears
from her eyes.

******

They flew to Scotland then
to Loch Ness. Finding a place where no one was watching, Egg dove down into the
water, found the ledge that hid the portal and entered.

*****

As they emerged over
Aerianna, Dazzle asked Egg, “Tell me, my sister, what is your plan?”

“Well, in my dream Zeke
did something very naughty . . . he kissed me.” She turned pink when she said
that so she hurriedly added, “Only on my cheek, of course.”

“Of course,” said an amused princess.

“And when he fell in the
lake he made the biggest splash I’ve ever seen. It was like a tidal wave.”

Dazzle had no idea where
the girl was going with this so she kept silent.

“Well,” said an annoyed
Egg, “don’t you see?”

“I am sorry but I do not
understand.”

“We have to find a place
where everyone is naughty and kiss each other and where there are giant waves.”
It seemed so obvious to her.

Dazzle knew that what Egg had
just said made absolutely no sense. But she also knew that dream messages were
very difficult to understand . . . especially if you were never taught how.
Luckily, everyone on Aerianna studied dreams in school.

“Egg, I believe the
message in your dream was not quite so . . . straightforward.”

“What does that mean?”

“Dream messages are
rarely so simple to understand. For instance, I do not believe we are looking
for a place where people are naughty. You dreamt that your Zeke (Egg was startled by that
expression but said nothing) turned into a sea serpent. There is great likelihood that
naughty . . . as you described his kiss . . . refers to Nau’tika.”

“You said that word once
before, but I forgot what it means.”

“It is the name of one
of the three cities of the sea serpents.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Now I
remember. So you think we should go there?”

“It seems so.”

“What about the rest of the
dream?”

“Your Zeke gave you a
kiss. It was a present from him to you. So, we should look for a K’ssss in
Nau’tika.”

“How the heck do we find a
kiss?”

“K’ssss – and she spelled it for
Egg – is
not an uncommon name for girl serpents.”

“Oh, that’s so cute. This
dream stuff is really very interesting. What about the tidal wave thing. What
could that mean?”

This gave Dazzle pause.
Finally, she said, “On your world there is another name for tidal wave . . . one
that is more accurate. It is called a tsunami.”

“I think I heard that word
once. But what does it have to do with any of this?”

“Soo’nami is another
serpent’s name.”

“OH MY GOSH. Really?”

“It is
so.”

“Okay then, let’s go to
Nau’tika and find K’ssss and Soo’nami.” She paused then added, “This is really
exciting.”

“There is only one
problem.”

“There is? What . . . oh.”
She had figured it out herself. “In a big city, there may be hundreds of
serpents with those names. So how do we find the right ones?”

Dazzle smiled warmly. “Very good, little
sister. Very good.”

“So what do we do?”

“We go to Nau’tika and
trust your instincts.”

“What are instincts?”

“The feeling you have in
your stomach . . . in your gut as you earthlings might say.”

“Well . . . then let’s go.
Grammy is waiting for me and I bet she’s crying.”

So they flew out over the
ocean until Dazzle pointed to a dark patch of water. “Down there.”

Egg dove down
under the surface and there on the bottom of the ocean was a giant dome of
beautiful – and eerie – purple crystal. It reminded the girl of a brain she had
once seen in some silly horror movie . . .

She looked around but
didn’t see any sea serpents. For that, she was glad. From the images that
Dazzle had shared with her, she knew that they came in as many shapes and
colors as did dragons . . . and they were just as scary looking.

*****

As she swam closer to the
crystal-enclosed city, Egg could begin to make out details of what was inside.
And the best way she could think to describe it was . . . ummm . . . well, a
giant piece of coral. There were strange shapes and the shadows of the
inhabitants all mixed together. She wished that Sylvia was with her . . . just
to give her a little courage.

{“Which way, Dazzle?”} Egg
didn’t actually say the words since she was underwater. She just had to think
them because her companion could read her thoughts.

“There are entrances
just for serpents located close to the seabed and others designed for humans or
for dragons. Look for the smallest opening high in the dome.”

She swam around once and
spotted what she was looking for. {“Here we go”} and she entered Nau’tika.

Chapter 7 – She Sells Sea Shells

{“YIKES!”}

“Please do not scream.” Of course, the scream was
inside Egg’s mind.

{“Sorry. But
look at this place.”}

“It is beautiful . . .
in its own way.”

It looked just like coral.
The only difference was that these things were huge and all lit up and
twinkling. “What is that?”

“These structures were
built by serpents out of their crystals. Some are homes; others are
laboratories and places of work. Virtually the entire city has been designed to
accommodate humans and dragons who come to shop for Serpent-made goods or to
visit on other business.”

{“Well, I’m always ready
to go shopping. Which way?”} she asked.

They entered one of the
colorful . . . things  . . . and inside was another shock for Egg. “Oh my
gosh.”

Giant coral for serpents
made some kind of sense . . . but this was just weird. It looked like a mall.
The big difference was that in addition to normal walkways for humans, there
were canals for serpents. For dragons, all the stores were roofless so they
could fly in.

And of course,
there was one other thing . . . a sea serpent. Just one very silly looking sea
serpent.

“A warm hello, human girl.
What a great pleasure.” The goofy thing slid right up to Egg.

“Ummm, hello sir.”

“We get so few visitors
these days. What brings you to our fair city?”

“I was looking for two of
my friends . . . K’ssss and Soo’nami.”

The serpent slid over to
what looked like some kind of a computer terminal and using its tongue, punched
in some information. “We seem to have a dozen K’ssss’ and seven Soo’nami’s.
Which ones are your friends?”

“Ask her name.”

“Excuse me sir, but who
are?”

“H’sssss. H’sssss”

That noise startled Egg
until Dazzle explained it was how a serpent laughed.

“I am not a sir; I am
female. My name is S’eeee-sik. I have been expecting you, Egg.”

She didn’t know what
startled her more — being called Egg or the serpent’s silly name. Dazzle,
however, was more concerned about the first.

“Ask her how she knows
of you,”
said the princess urgently.

“How do you know my name?”

“We have a mutual friend.
But, come, we must find a place to talk.” And she led the way into a store that
said “Sea Shells.”

The store was empty except
for one serpent who was fussing with the stuff on the shelves. She . . . he . .
. it . . . never even looked up to see who came in.

“We can talk here.”

“So how come you know who
I am?”

“How was the weather on
the surface?”

“What?”

“I heard that there was a
Storm. Some people don’t like them. I, on the other hand, am like you. I
believe we both find that there’s nothing like a good Storm.”

“My dear friend has been
busy on our behalf.”

{“You mean Storm told him .
. . I mean her . . . that I would come here? How would he know that?”}

“I cannot say. Ask
S’eeee-sik.”

“What did he tell you and
who are you and why are you helping me and . . .”

“Slow down little human
and I will explain. I belong to a resistance movement and your friend is our
friend.”

“What’s a resistance
movement?”

“You are young, aren’t
you?”  She didn’t wait for an answer. “We resist Mobius and we work for the
return of the Princess.”

“Do not tell her that I
am here.”

{“Why?”}

“Mobius could read her
thoughts.”

“Who is 'we'?”

“Ah, a very good question.
We are called the Shades of Night . . . a group of mostly females who will do
anything to end the tyranny. We are not very powerful but we fight Mobius as
well as we can. Now that you are here, we are at your service.”

“How many are you?”

“I cannot say. I only know
of one other. And she knows of one other and so on. This way Mobius might
capture one or two of us, but he can never get us all.”

“But how did you know it
was me?’

“Our friend described your
outfit. And, you called me sir. No human from Aerianna would make that mistake,
especially since I am so very cute.”

“Sorry about that.”

“I took no offense.

“Can I ask you about your
name? How can a sea serpent be sea sick?”

“H’sssss, H’sssss. I am
not seasick; I am S’eeee-sik. S’eeee was our queen. The sik after the name
means little one. So I am little S’eeee.”

“Oh. That makes more
sense.”

“Ask her how we can
contact her people when we need help.”

“If we, I mean, if I want
your help, how do I call you?”

“Just leave us a sign and
we will find you.”

“What sign?”

The serpent gave that some
thought then said, “Leave us the sign of the Egg. Now, I must go. Stay here for
about an hour then you must leave. Good luck and be safe.” And with that,
S’eeee-sik slid away.

“But . . . but . . .” Egg
didn’t finish since the serpent was gone. She wanted to know how she could talk
to the K’ssss’ and Soo’s.

“Can I help
you?”

Egg turned around startled
by the question, looked up at the serpent and screamed “OH MY GOSH.”

“What is wrong?” asked the Princess.

“What the heck’s wrong?”
hissed the serpent.

“I know you.”

“That’s nice. Have you
been here before?”

“No.”

“Oh. So where did we
meet?”

“In the lake behind Grammy’s house.”

“Well, okay. Sorry I don’t
remember your name. Mine’s Soo’nami but everyone calls me Soo’.

“Glad to meet you . . .
again. My name’s Egg.”

“Egg? Isn’t that kind of a
stupid name; even for humans?”

“That’s not a nice thing
to say.”

“Hey, I can’t help it if
you have a stupid name.”

This wasn’t going well.
Egg meant to say something nice but instead she said, “Where I come from your
name means a big dumb wave.”

“I don’t care.”

“I should just go” This
couldn’t be the right Soo’.

“Listen, I didn’t mean to
be mean. I don’t get many humans in here. In fact, you’re only like the second
. . . or maybe the first . . . human I ever talked to.”

“You’re only the second
sea serpent I ever talked to. S’eeee-sik was the first.”

“Who?”

“The sea serpent I was
just with.”

“Sorry, I didn’t see
S’eeee or anyone else.”

“But she was standing . .
. I guess you call it standing . . . right here about a minute ago.”

“Sorry,” and Soo’ seemed
to shrug her shoulders.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.
Anyway, ummm . . .,” now Egg was stuck. How was she going to get Soo’ to join
the quest? It was the moment she had been dreading.

But before she could think
how to continue, she was interrupted by the serpent. “Ahhh, slippery snail snot
. . . look who slithered in.”

“Hi, Soo’. It’s me.”

“Of course it’s you. Who
else would you be?”

“H’sssss, H’sssss.”

“Cut that out. It wasn’t
supposed to be funny.”

“H’sssss . . . oops,
sorry.”

“What do want K’ssss? I
told you I would call you if that dumb shell came in and I didn’t because it’s
not in.”

Egg stared at
the new serpent. She was heavier than Soo’ and she wore an expression that made
her look . . . well, kind of ditsy.

“Did she say your name is
Kiss?”

“No, she said it was
K’ssss.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

“You’re nice.”

“Thank you.”

“Go away you stupid
serpent.”

“Hey, don’t call her that.
She’s not stupid.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I just do.
Besides, you’re just being rude.”

“Listen, human, if you’re
not going to buy anything, why don’t you and dumbo find someplace else to
play.”

“STOP THAT.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop being so mean.”

“Puh-leeeze.”

Well, this was going
spectacularly badly. {“Dazzle, any suggestions?”}

“Be yourself.”

So she tried a new tact. “Listen, I’m sorry. It’s
just that I’ve never been here before and everything is so different. It kind
of makes my head spin.”

“Ah, it’s okay.”

“I think you’re nice,”
repeated K’ssss for no apparent reason.

“Can I ask you two
something? Have you ever heard of Princess Dazzle?”

“Stupid question” replied
Soo’ sarcastically.

K’ssss on the other hand
said “Oh, yes. She’s been my hero forever.”

“Would you like to help
her?”

“You’re a little late,
girly. She’s dead and I’ve seen her body.”

“But if you could . . .
would you?”

“What could I do? I’m only
three hundred and ten years old.”

“And I won’t be three
hundred for another year” added K’ssss.

{“Dazzle, how old does
that make them on Earth?”}

“You would call them
teenagers.”

“Perfect,” she said . . .
only out loud.

“What’s perfect?”

“Uh, nothing. Let me ask
you again. If you could help her, would you?”

“What does that mean
exactly?”

“It means you would join a
very special club and you would help me, and her, get rid of that Moby guy.”

“MOBIUS? ARE YOU NUTS?
You’re as loony as that one” she said pointing at the overweight K’ssss.

“He scares me” added the
other serpent.

“Now that’s the first
smart thing I’ve heard you say,” agreed Soo’.

“You’re right, K’ssss.
He’s very scary. But how would you feel if Dazzle was Princess again . . .
especially if you helped her? Would your parents be proud?”

But it was Soo’ who asked
“Who are you again?”

“Egg.”

“Oh, yeah . . . the girl
with the stupid name.” But she said it without trying to be mean. “I still
don’t understand. And if I don’t, she sure as heck doesn’t. She really is kind
of slow in the head.”

“It’s true. Even my
parents say that.”

“That’s awful.”

“Maybe just a little. But
I don’t mind.”

“How would they feel when
Dazzle invites them to the palace and gives you a medal?”

“Ohhhhhhhhh,” she sighed
breathlessly. “Ohhhhhhhhh”.

“And you, Miss Smarty
Pants, wouldn’t you like to get a medal or statue or something?”

“Maybe.”

“So, will you help me?”

“I still don’t know who
you are. But I do know that I once saw the princess’ body in a glass coffin.
And trust me when I tell you . . . she was dead.”

“You only saw her body.”

“Well, DUH. That’s all you
can see when the person’s dead.”

“Dazzle is not dead.”

“You are one cracked egg.”

“If she’s not dead, is she
living in a different body?” asked an apparently serious K’ssss.

“That’s a long story. But
suppose, just suppose, that she wasn’t dead and she needs your help . . . would
you do it? Even if it was dangerous.”

“I don’t know. I’m too
smart to do something this stupid and she’s too stupid to realize that she’s
too dumb to help.”

“You have a whole world of
people who need you. How can you say no?”

“Geez. Why did you have to
put it that way?” When Egg didn’t respond, the serpent asked “So what do we do,
exactly?”

“The first thing you can
do is stop calling her dumb. Someday she might just save your life.”

“Now there’s an even
scarier thought than fighting you-know-who. So,  what else?”

“I’ll tell you after I
tell you Dazzle’s story.”

“I don’t know. You gotta
admit that it sounds too weird to be true.”

“I do know,” said K’ssss.
“I want to help.” Then she asked “does that mean you’ll be my friend? I don’t
have too many friends.”

“We’ll be more than
friends . . .  we’ll be sisters.” She turned back to Soo’ and said “Last
chance. Are you with us?”

“Egg, are you sure these
two are the right ones?”

{“It’s like you said
before, Dazzle. I have to trust my gut.”}

“Well, I was just about to
close the store for the day. But you still need to convince me.”

“I can do that. I’m going
to take you guys to our clubhouse.”

“Why would that convince
me?”

“Because I’m going to pick
you up and fly you there.”

“H’sssss” she laughed.
“You are one loony loon.”

And even K’ssss joined in
with “H’sssss. I’m pretty big.”

Egg slipped her bracelet
to the right hand and said, “Make me twice as large as these serpents.” And she
grew and grew and the two serpents nearly fell over and fainted.

She put the bracelet back
on her left had (to give her strength) reached down and picked up the serpents
– one in either hand. Then she flew straight up and out of the city.

*****

Egg landed at Se’rene, the
new Hameggattic Sisterhood headquarters. She put down her passengers, returned
to her normal size and said, “How was the flight? Sorry, I didn’t have any
peanuts for you.”

The serpents had
absolutely no idea what a peanut was but they were still trying to get over
their shock, so they said nothing. They just stared at Egg with their mouths
open and their tongues hanging out.

“Come on. Let’s go
inside.”

Egg opened the big wooden
doors and they walked in. Actually, serpents slither like snakes since they have
no legs.

“WOW,” said a very awed
K’ssss. “It’s beautiful.”

“Are you rich or
something?” asked the always suspicious Soo’.

“No. This castle belongs
to Dazzle. She’s letting us use it until our quest is over.”

Soo’ gave her a look that
said, “You are truly crazy.” Not satisfied with that, she actually said, “You
are truly crazy . . . breaking into a royal palace. They’re going to throw you
in prison and chop off your head . . . or worse.”

“Listen you guys, you’re
going to have to trust me if this is going to work.”

“Why should we?”

“I trust you.”

“Thank you, K’ssss. Look,
I know this is all way too amazing for words. But how would you explain me
flying and carrying you two?”

“Magic”.

“No . . . I’m using the
power that Dazzle gave me. Now, I want you two to go jump in the pool over
there, and I’m going to tell you the whole story. Okay?”

“I came this far . . . so
I might as well.”

“I love stories” added
K’ssss dreamily.

So the serpents made their
way to the pool that was there just for that purpose and Egg sat on the edge
and told Dazzle’s story. When she was finished, she asked, “So what do you
think now?”

“That was a wonderful
story,” said the easily impressed K’ssss.

But to Egg’s surprise,
even Soo’ was won over. “I don’t know if what you said is true . .  . but I
really hope it is. What the heck, I’m in.”

“Oh, that’s just great. So
now, you have to take the pledge to become an official Hameggattic Sister.
Repeat after me . . .,” and she recited the pledge and the girls followed suit.

“Now, we make it official
with a blood oath.”

“WHAT?”

“Oh . . . no, please”
whimpered K’ssss.

“It won’t hurt; it’s only
a small prick. But I promise you that after it’s over, you’ll be very glad you
did. Remember . . . trust me.”

Reluctantly they let her
prick their fins and they touched the little wound with the one in Egg’s thumb.

“So now what?”

“So now . . . I would like
to introduce you to Dazzle, the royal princess of Aerianna.”

A swirl of fog formed and
out stepped the warrior princess. Though the two serpents had never met her,
Dazzle’s face was as familiar to them as their own mother.

“K’ssss and Soo’nami, I
thank you for joining with Egg on our quest. When we succeed . . . I shall
indeed invite your parents to Q’umulus to watch you receive the highest medals
of Honor from a grateful Princess.”

K’ssss fainted dead away.

Soo’ stared at the
princess . . . and to Egg’s surprise . . . broke into tears.

And so the Hameggattic
Sisterhood now had four members. Egg only needed three more to begin the quest.

*****

Chapter 8 – Etch a
Sketch

“Your granddaughter was
magnificent. She is such a remarkable young woman and I am proud to call her my
sister.”

Egg had just finished
telling Gammy how she recruited K’ssss and Soo’nami. Dazzle had floated next to
her the whole time, smiling with satisfaction as the story unfolded.

“On that, we can both
agree,” said Grammy glowing with pride at her granddaughter’s success.

“Come on, you guys. I
didn’t do anything that special.”

Grammy looked at Dazzle
and they both looked at Egg. “Nonsense, dear one. You were able to get two sea
serpents for goodness sake to join your quest and to follow you wherever you
need to take them. That is just a remarkable show of leadership.”

“But I just told them
Dazzle’s story.”

“Being able to lead
people is a rare gift. In all modesty, I was born with it . . . and so were
you.”

“Well, now that you’re
back safe and sound, you need to change out of the flying suit. Your parents
could come home at anytime. And, before I forget, Sylvia called and I told her
you would call her back. She’s bursting with curiosity as you can imagine.”

“Okay. Dazzle, maybe I’ll
have another good dream tonight.”

“Do not anticipate these
dreams . . . they come when the time is right. They cannot be forced. And, Egg
. . . you did well today. Soon our quest begins.”

And with that Egg said
“See you later, Dazzle. Ring, tend to my suit”.

*****

“Hi, it’s me.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story . . .
can you come over?”

“Hang on a sec . . .” Egg
could hear her friend yell to her mom, “Can I bike over to Egg’s house?
Thanks.” She got back on the phone and said, “I’ll be right over.”

All of three minutes
later, the two girls were up in Egg’s bedroom. “So first tell me why you didn’t
take me? I’m your Feminion, aren’t I?” Sylvia was a little miffed that she
hadn’t been invited to go along.

“Oh, Syl . . . I just felt
that getting these girls to join us was my job. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to
hurt your feelings. In fact when I was there I kept looking for your hand to
squeeze ‘cause I was really scared.”

“Okay then,” and the
girl’s hurt feelings were already forgotten. “So tell me everything.”

Egg retold the story. When
she was finished, her friend asked, “Tell me again what the two serpents are
like?” She was fascinated by the idea that the Sisterhood would have dragons
and serpents for members.

“Well, K’ssss is very
nice, but she’s not too bright. Soo’ kept calling her stupid and I kept yelling
at her not to.”

“Do you think having a
dumb sea serpent is going to help us defeat Mobius? What kind of worthy trait
is she going to show?” The girl sounded very doubtful.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about
that part.”

“What about Soo’nami?”

“She’s completely
different. She was always saying something mean to K’ssss or me. I think she
only thinks about herself.”

“Isn’t that great? Now we
have a serpent that’s dumb and one that’s selfish.” Sylvia was convinced that
she should have been there with her friend.

It was Egg’s turn to get a
little defensive. “Well, it’s what the dream said to do. And besides, Dazzle
thought I did a great job.”

“Oh, you’re right. I’m
sorry. This is your quest so you have to do what you think is right. I
shouldn’t say anything.”

“Of course you should.
You’re my best friend and there’s no way in this world . . . or that other one
. . . that I could do this stuff without you.”

Sylvia smiled then gave
her friend a big hug. “I do have one question . . . aren’t you afraid that they
might talk to someone about you and Dazzle? Mobius probably has spies
everywhere.”

“No. I used the power of
the bracelet so they can only talk about all this stuff with each other. Dazzle
said that at some point we may want them to talk to the Shades of Night people
. . . but not yet.”

“Egg, I’ve been giving our
quest a lot of thought and there are two other problems.”

“Like?”

“For one, I’m not going to
be much use to you if I can’t understand what the other sisters say. I need a
necklace like yours.”

“But I can tell you what
they say.”

“I may not be with you all
the time. What happens if we get separated?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll talk to Dazzle
and see if she can help.”

“That would be great.”

“What’s the other
problem?”

“How do we communicate
with the other sisters? I mean we can’t email them or call them can we? How do
we get them to do things?”

“Ummm . . . I guess me
flying all around to talk to them isn’t the best way. I’ll add that to my
Dazzle-I-need-to-talk-to-you list.”

The phone rang but the
girls ignored it and kept on talking.

“One more thing . . . are
you going to take me with you next time?”

“I can’t promise that . .
. but I will if I can.”

“Thank you.”

They were interrupted by a
knock on the door. “Come in Grammy.”

“Girls, that was Mrs. Z on
the phone. She and the boys want to hike to the lake today and they invited us.
Are you up for it?”

“YES,” said an over eager
Sylvia. “I just need to call my mom.”

“Egg?”

For reasons that she cared
not explain to herself, the girl felt a little tinge of excitement at the
prospect. Pretending as if she didn’t really care one way or the other, she
shrugged and said as casually as she could, “Oh, why not. It’s a nice day for a
walk.”

“Sylvia, give me a minute
to finish with Zelda then you can call your mom.”

*****

“Hi, ladies. Thanks for
coming on such short notice.”

“Our pleasure, Zelda.
Where are your two handsome boys?”

“They’re packing our supplies.
Come on inside for a minute.”

They followed Mrs. Z into
the house and found the boys in the kitchen packing food and stuff into
backpacks. They both had on identical tee shirts this time . . . probably just
to confuse the two girls.

When the girls walked in,
both boys looked up, smiled and said “Hi” at the same time.

Egg tried not to smile,
but a little one escaped her lips anyway. She said “hi.”

Then Sylvia did something
that totally shocked everyone. She looked at the boy standing to her left and said,
“Hi, Zack.” Then she turned to the other boy and said, “Hi, Zeke.”

The boys’ mouths flopped
open. Mrs. Z and Egg said “Oh my gosh” at the same time. Grammy just smiled.

“How did you know?” asked
a dumbfounded Zack.

Realizing what she had
done, Sylvia had the good grace to blush a deep, scarlet red. She regained a
little of her lost poise and stammered, “Umm . . . umm . . . cause . . . ummm .
. . I can just tell.”

Not a great answer.

“Curiouser . . .,” started
Egg.

“. . . and Curiouser,”
finished Mrs. Z.

“More like weird and
weirder,” countered Zeke.

But Zack handled it much
better. “Hey, no big deal. We were on the same side when we played volleyball
so . . .,” but he didn’t finish since there really wasn’t anything that made
sense.

“Congratulations, dear.
You are only the second person in the world that can tell them apart. Not even
their father gets it right more than half the time.”

“We’re ready,” declared
Zack as he zipped the backpack and swung it over his shoulder.

“Then, Eloise, this is
your parade. Lead and we’ll follow.”

So they marched out the
back door, walked to the end of the property, crossed a small stream, climbed
over a wooden fence, hiked over a small hill and lo and behold . . .

“There’s the path,” said
Grammy pointing to a dirt trail that meandered into the distance. “Just watch
for cow pies.”

That made Sylvia giggle as
she remembered Zack’s tee shirt. He smiled at her then stuck out his tongue.
She returned the gesture.

“Stop flirting,” Egg
whispered to her friend.

“I wasn’t flirting. I was
being . . . sociable.”

“Yuk.”

“You’re just an old fuddy-duddy.”

“Hey boys, while we walk,
why don’t you sing your new song for the girls?” suggested Mrs. Z. “They’re
always writing songs or stories.”

“I’d love to hear it,”
said Sylvia encouragingly. Then she gave Egg a punch in the arm.

“Oh yeah . . . me, too.”

“What’s it called?”

“Something Crazy,”
answered Zack.

“Like what?”

“No . . . that’s the
name.”

“Oh.”

“Okay, here it
goes . . . ,” and the boys looked at each other, counted from three to one,
then started to sing in a very fast cadence.

An atomic alligator ate an apple in a bar;

And a bouncing baby bear bought bananas by a star;

Clocks and cards and crayons and cans and canes all in a car;

Crazy things are everywhere,
everywhere they are.

Dark dancing deer dream of dreary December days;

Of elder emu eggs eating éclairs in the rays;

And floppy flying fish falling fast into a daze;

Crazy things are everywhere,
reason never stays.

Giant green gophers grow gardens in the night;

And happy heated hippos hide in holes and write;

Interesting isolated ice is cold in light;

Crazy things are everywhere, do
not carry fright.

Jumping justice juice jests about the weather;

And kiddy kangaroos kick koala’s feathers;

Still lost lemurs like little lakes and leather;

Crazy things are everywhere,
make sure to stick together.

Many months may pass, mice may start to mock;

Nocturnal nose nippers that nest in the dock;

That open ocean octopus with a rap and knock;

Crazy things are everywhere;
the world has them in stock.

Pretty palace penguins perch on playful pipes;

And quick quads of quails quarrel among types;

Still righteous red-nosed reindeer replace flashing stripes;

Crazy things are everywhere,
please do not gripe.

Silly singing slippers sip some sick tea;

Three thinking turkeys try to tell a bee;

That ultimate unicorns use umbrellas by the sea;

Crazy things are everywhere,
that you must agree.

Vicious valley vampires have a variety of capes;

And weather-bound websites wed white weary apes;

While xenophobic xylophones exist in x-ray tapes;

Crazy things are everywhere,
craziness escapes.

Young yellow yaks yank on yard rings;

Zero zany zebras zigzag to get wings;

The alphabet has ended, it’s time for you to swing;

Don’t forget to be cautious, yet admire the crazy things.

The girls had started with
scrunched faces when the song began but by the end, they wore ear-to-ear
smiles. It was a completely nonsensical tune that for some reason was
irresistible not to like. They both applauded very loudly while the boys took
little bows.

“I love it. Really,” said
Sylvia very sincerely.

“Yeah, me too.” Egg was
very impressed. She never thought boys could be clever or creative.

“Zelda, your boys are
amazing.”

“Yes, they are. But thank
you for saying it.”

The two ladies were ahead
of the four kids by a few yards. Grammy took the opportunity to say, “I’m
actually surprised that your sons wanted to hike with my two girls (Grammy
thought of Sylvia as another granddaughter). At the party they spent most of
the time with the other two.”

“Truthfully, I was
surprised also. When I asked them who they wanted to hike with, they didn’t
hesitate. I guess they could tell that these two young women are something
special.”

“You don’t know the half
of it.”

“Oh? Like what.”

“Sorry” said Grammy, trying
to hide her mistake “it was just an expression.”

*****

They hiked the
rest of the way sharing friendly conversation with a little good-natured
teasing and contented silence thrown in. Finally, they came around the last
bend and saw the lake . . .

“It’s magnificent,”
proclaimed Mrs. Z.

“Awesome,” chimed in the
twins.

“Oh, Grammy, it’s lovely,”
added Sylvia who thought of the older Eloise as her grandmother.

“It was my favorite spot
in the whole world when I was growing up.”

“Well, let’s go find a nice
spot to lay out our blankets. I’m sure the boys are starving from all that
exercise. Besides, it’s been almost twenty-four minutes since they ate,” teased
their mother.

The boys ran ahead to
scout out the area and headed for the highest point. It was the exact spot that
Egg, as Flying Girl, had talked to Grazy. They laid out the blanket, upended
both backpacks and out came all of the treats they had packed. There were all
of the essentials . . . cookies, chips, candy, trail mix, Ho-Ho’s, Twinkies,
soda, water, and two apples.

“Who gets the apples?”

“It’s old people’s food,”
said Zeke.

“Hey . . . I resemble that
remark,” said his mother.

They all plopped down and
shared the bounty. Zelda and Eloise did eat the apples while the kids ate all
the junk food. Between bites, they continued their conversations (there was
more than one) about this and that and nothing at all.

Afterwards Zeke pulled out
a sketchpad and some colored pencils.

“What are you doing?”
asked Egg who was feeling a lot more comfortable talking to the boy.

“I’m going sketch the
lake.”

Egg sat right
behind him as he moved his hand over the paper with quick, sure strokes. To her
amazement, he was very good. And within just a few minutes, he had finished . .
.

“Wow.”

“Thanks.”

“No, really. It’s
fantastic.”

“Do you want it?”

“Oh, can I?”

“Sure” and he gave it to
her.

Without thinking, she was
just about to give him a kiss on the cheek but caught herself just in time.
Instead she said, “I’ll hang it in my room.”

*****

As they drove home, the girls
were all giggly. They kept looking at the sketch then at each other — then they
would break out into giggles again. Grammy kept glancing at them in the rear
view mirror. She smiled and shook her head. “First loves” she thought to
herself “are always the best.”

*****

That night,
Egg wrote an entry into her diary . . .

Dear Diary: I can’t tell anyone in the whole world, but today I
was with a boy that I think I like. His name is Zeke. He gave me a sketch of
Grammy’s lake and it’s the most beautiful thing I ever got. I’m going to hang
it over my desk. Maybe someday I can take him flying. Wouldn’t that impress
him?

She fell asleep and dreamt of the hike and
the lake and Zeke and the sketch he had made. Then the scene began to fade away
and in its place was a city she didn’t recognized filled with strange looking
buildings. She was flying around not looking for anything in particular when an
artist easel on a balcony caught her eye. It was the only thing that wasn’t in
shades of grey. She flew down to investigate . . .

On the easel was a
painting of an egg with wings.

*****

The next morning Egg
called her grandmother. “Get ready, we’re going to Aerianna.”

She then called Sylvia.
“Syl, tell your mom you’re going on a little trip with me and Grammy.”

“Where are we going?”

“Some place out of this
world.”

Chapter 9 – An EGG with
Wings

“Where are we going?”
asked Grammy.

“The city Egg described
can only be River’s Edge.”

“How can you be so sure?”
Grammy was nervous and talking helped keep her distracted. “And who are we
looking for?”

“Unlike Egg’s first
dream, this one appears less confusing. I believe we are looking for an
artist.”

“That seems too obvious.”

“Perhaps.”

“Well, I’m not so . . .,”
but her granddaughter interrupted her.

“Grammy, do you want to go
back home?” Egg could sense her grandmother’s nervousness.

Eloise took a deep breath
to calm herself. She knew that the young were so much more fearless than the
old. And kids Egg’s age felt pretty much invincible. “I’m sorry, dear. Forgive
me, Dazzle; I’ll just be quiet.”

“Fear not, Eloise. Enjoy
Aerianna for the wonders it has to offer.” Dazzle almost never addressed the older
woman by her first name. For some reason, it made Grammy feel a lot better . .
. like she was not just an unwanted guest but a member of the team. And,
besides, it was a beautiful bright purple day . . . just the thing to make
someone feel good.

They were flying to
Dazzle’s castle first. Egg had wanted to go see K’ssss and Soo’, but the
princess said, “No. Three humans visiting Nau’tika would attract attention. It
was not so in my day, but now it seems that Mobius does not approve of such
behavior.”

“That’s why we need some
way to contact them . . . so they could meet us at the Sisterhood.”

“I agree.”

“So . . . ?”

“Serpents have communication
crystals . . . though very few can afford them.”

“How do we get some?”

“I do not know. Perhaps
your new Sisters can help.”

Egg made a face like,
“Yikes, I doubt it,” but said nothing.

“What about the Shades of
Night?”

“Feminion — that is a
very interesting question. It may be a way for them to prove their worth to our
cause.”

“They said to leave a sign
of the Egg. But what would that look like exactly and where would we put it?”

“I will leave that to
you, my sister.”

“You’re always saying
that,” said a slightly annoyed Egg.

Dazzle did not respond.

*****

They were
inside the castle but not in the big main room. Instead, Dazzle took them up a
look winding staircase that led to the tallest tower . . . and her royal
bedroom.

As you might expect, it
was a bedroom fit for a queen . . . or at least a princess. There was a big
four-poster bed with a canopy, beautiful rugs, and a ceiling laced with
delicate designs. All three girls were impressed.

“Dazzle, how can
everything be so . . . um . . . fresh and clean? It’s been a thousand years.”
Grammy was always the practical one.

“I must apologize for
that.”

“Apologize? Why?”

“Back then I was a silly
girl, spoiled by my father. I asked him to use the power of the Crystal Egg to
keep my little hideaway (she was referring to this not-so-little castle) clean and well
maintained. I didn’t want servants – I wanted my privacy. And, of course, I was
not about to clean and mop.” That was the first time the Princess sounded like a princess.

“Ahhh,” responded Grammy, understanding
how Dazzle must have felt.

“Dazzle, it’s all very
beautiful. But why did you want to come here? We really need to find whoever it
is we’re supposed to find.” Egg was impatient to recruit another member.

“Two young girls in
outlandish costumes would not serve to raise anyone’s suspicions. But an elder
dressed as such would.”

The girls looked at each
other’s clothes and didn’t understand. So Grammy explained, “The three of us
are dressed like twenty-first century earthlings and not like whatever year
this is on Aerianna.”

“This is the year 1177
A.E.”

“And A.E. means?”

“After the Egg. It
refers to the year the Crystal Egg was awarded to my father. It was the
beginning of a new era on this planet.”

“So tell me again why
we’re here?” asked Egg.

“To find Eloise some
proper clothes. My closet is behind that curtain over there. Please choose
something to your taste.”

“But aren’t they one
thousand years out of style?”

“Royal clothes are
timeless. They never go out of style . . . unless I choose it to be so.”

So Grammy and the girls
rummaged through all of Dazzle’s clothes trying on everything and admiring
themselves in the giant mirror that stood in the closet. Dazzle didn’t seem to
mind . . . in fact she enjoyed watching the girls and making comments and
suggestions.

Eventually Grammy settled
on a simple peasant skirt and loose blouse accented with colorful scarves. Of
course a princess’ skirt . . . peasant or otherwise . . . is always made from
the best fabric money can buy.

Sylvia and Egg also
borrowed some headscarves to give themselves a less earth-like look.

“What do you think?” Egg
asked Dazzle.

“Your taste in clothes
is second to none.”

*****

“Sassi.”

“What, Aunt Fl’emm?”

“Don’t use that tone of
voice with me, missy.”

The girl looked up from
her easel. “All I said was ‘what’.”

“I don’t know why I ever
took you in. You’ve been nothing but trouble,” whined the older woman. “Now
stop playing around with your paints and finish making your jewelry. The street
fair is tomorrow and I expect you to have at least two dozen pieces to sell.”

“Yes, Aunt Fl’emm.”

The girl dropped her brush
in a pot then stood up and untied her smock. Hanging it on the chair, she went
to her bathroom and washed her hands. She took a moment to study her reflection
in the mirror. She had a lovely almond-shaped face framed with reddish hair.
Her skin was a wonderful shade of light green. She would be considered
beautiful on any planet. But in her own eyes, she was just plain old Sassi.

Well, not exactly old. In
a week, she would turn the earth equivalent of eighteen. And almost to the day
it would be seven years since her parents had disappeared. No one could tell
her exactly what happened to them, but in her heart she knew. They hated
Mobius. They
must have
done something to make him mad and he in turn did something to them. But she
refused to consider what that something might be. She missed them terribly and
held out hope that one day they would return.

In the meantime, she lived
with her spinster aunt. Fl’emm was her father’s older sister — a mean-spirited
witch of a woman who found no pleasure in anything life had to offer. She
resented having to take care of her niece. And she resented the girl’s beauty,
talent and youth. Sassi would have gladly left the woman’s house . . . if she
only had some place else to go.

She walked out
onto her balcony to get a breath of fresh air and to collect herself. The only
thing good about living with her aunt was this balcony and the view of the city
it offered.

As she stood there, Sassi
felt the heavy weight of despair trying to drag down her spirits. She had no
friends, no parents, an aunt that hated her, a physical beauty that she
couldn’t see and artistic talent that she wouldn’t express.

But she did have one thing
that even she couldn’t suppress . . . an unconquerable spirit. She took a deep
breath, stuck her tongue out at the city and its inhabitants and laughed.
That’s what her mother would have wanted her to do . . . and so she did it.

She went back inside and
down to her little studio behind the kitchen. This was where she made her
jewelry. Whistling as she set about her task, she was soon lost in her work . .
. making silly jewelry that they would sell to townspeople and visitors.
It wasn’t her best work. That was still locked inside her . . . waiting for the key to set it
free.

*****

They flew
towards a river and followed it as it made its way to the ocean. Eventually
they came to the city and Egg flew over it, looking for the exact spot she had
seen in her dreams. It took awhile but she finally found it.

“That’s the place,” she
said pointing to the balcony where Sassi had stood the day before. “Now what?”

“Land some place out of
view and we shall walk into town,” instructed Dazzle.

So Egg found a vacant
alley and landed. “Which way?”

“I leave that to you.”

“DAZZLE . . .,” she said
loudly, but didn’t finish the thought. “Oh, never mind. Come on, let’s go this
way.”

So they walked to the end
of the alley and turned right on the main street. They tried not to stare but
didn’t succeed very well. They passed a rainbow of people . . . green, red,
orange and purple. Grammy’s eyes were as big as saucers . . . flying saucers.
“Oh, my,” she kept repeating.

But when they saw a dragon
land just down the street from them, the older woman couldn’t stop a not so
quiet “OH” from escaping her lips. A few people passing by looked at her but
continued on.

“You must not express
such emotions, Eloise. These are common sights for this world.”

“Sorry. I’ll do better.”

“I wish we had some
money.”

“Why?” Egg asked of her
friend.

“I’d like to buy a
souvenir. Look over there.”

Egg followed her friend’s
finger to where she was pointing. “Hey, they’re selling jewelry. Let’s go see.”

“Egg, dear, do you think
this is the time to go shopping?”

“We must follow your granddaughter’s
instincts,”
warned Dazzle. “And where better to find an artist than at a street fair?”

“Sorry” the older woman
said again.

They walked over to a
booth and started to admire the jewelry and some pieces of art.

“Can I help you?”

Sassi was talking to
Grammy who, of course, didn’t understand a word she said. Egg came to her
rescue.

“Hi. We’re just looking,
thanks.”

“Well, if you need help,
just ask. My name’s Sassi.”

“Mine’s Egg.”

“Egg?”

“Yeah, my mom was a
chicken.” Egg didn’t know what made her say that. She wasn’t even sure that
there were chickens on Aerianna.

Sassi looked at her to
make sure she wasn’t being made fun of. But she knew immediately by Egg’s
expression that she was joking. So Sassi laughed. “That’s very funny.”

“More like goofy than
funny. But thank you.”

“You’re not from around
here are you?”

“Why do you say that?”
asked an alarmed Egg.

“I don’t recognize you or
your family.” She looked at Grammy and Sylvia who looked back without a thread
of understanding.

“This is my friend Sylvia
and this is my grandmother.”

“Nice to meet you.” Dazzle
translated for them.

They both smiled back at
the girl.

“Anyway, if you need help,
just ask.”

“Thanks.”

So they continued to look
at the jewelry until Egg came across a pair of very pretty gold heart earrings.
“Oh, these are nice.”

Sylvia and Grammy came
over to admire them . . . and so did Sassi.

“They’re only fifteen
aryas.”

{“Dazzle what’s an arya?”}

“It is similar to a
dollar.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but I
don’t have any money with me.”

“Ah, that’s okay.”

“Besides, my ears aren’t
pierced.”

Then Sylvia leaned over to
Egg and whispered in her ear. She pulled her friend over to the far end of the
display and pointed.

“Excuse me . . . what’s
that?”

Sassi smiled and said,
“Just a goofy pin I made. Don’t even know why I did it. The idea just popped
into my head.” She sounded apologetic.

“But what is it?”

“An egg with
wings.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Hey . . . your name is
Egg. You should buy it.”

“No money,” she whispered.

“I forgot. You know what .
. .,” she pulled out the pin and handed it to Egg. “Take it. Nobody is
going to buy it. My gift to you.”

Egg took the pin and held
it tight. She finally recovered enough to ask, “Sassi, when do you get off from
work?”

“I have a lunch break in
about two minutes . . . why?”

“We have to talk.”

*****

Five minutes
later they were sitting on benches in a tree covered park. Sassi sat by
herself, wrapped in a green scarf. Smiling at her new friends, she looked
beautiful. “Okay, so what do we have to talk about?”

“Princess Dazzle.”

“What about her?”

“Do you know who she is?”

“Well, of course. She
fought against Mobius and he killed her. He parades her body in front of
everyone every few years. Now can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How come your friend and
grandmother never speak?”

“They don’t know your
language.”

“My language? What other
language is there?”

“English.”

“What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“How come you’re with your
grandmother anyway? Are your parents . . .,” she couldn’t finish. Instead she
said, “Where are your parents?”

“Home. Why?”

“I just thought maybe
Mobius did something to them . . . like he did to mine.” There were
tears in her eyes as she said this.

“What did he do to your
parents?”

“I don’t know. They fought
him and he made them disappear.”

“Ask her family name,” requested Dazzle.

”Sassi, what is your
family name?” Egg had never heard a person’s last name described that way.

“Tru’hart.”

”Would you like to help me
and Dazzle fight Mobius?”

“What are you talking
about? She’s dead.”

“She is not dead and I am
Flying Girl . . . her sister.”

“Flying Girl? I don’t know
what that means. Besides, whose body does Mobius parade around?”

“Dazzle’s.”

“STOP IT. I hate
when people make fun of me. Why are you doing this?”

“Sassi . . . I’m not
making fun of you. Let me tell you a fantastic story that will explain
everything?”

“Anybody can tell tall
tales.”

“But not everyone can do
what Flying Girl can do. So trust me . . . at least until I’m finished telling
you about Dazzle. Please.”

Sassi reluctantly agreed
and Egg rushed through the story as fast as she could. When she was done, she
stood up, took Sassi by the hand and flew straight up. She landed quickly
before anyone could see them.

“Now do you believe?”

“Oh, I want to . . . I
really, really want to.”

“Would you like to become
a Sister and help us in our quest?”

There was such an
emptiness in Sassi’s life that this would fill. She couldn’t think of anything
she wanted more at that moment. “Oh, yes. Yes, yes.”

“Then say after me . . .,”
and she recited the pledge.

“Now give me your thumb,”
and she pricked it and held it against her own finger. “You are now a sister.
And the first order of business is for you to meet someone I think you’re going
to like.” And from the cloud, out stepped Dazzle.

“Sassi . . . I know of
your family. An ancestor of your father served my father. He was a loyal
soldier and his deeds have earned you my debt of gratitude. Loyalty is never
forgotten. I promise that I will learn of your parent’s fate . . . and if
possible, return you to them.”

Like the two serpents
before her, Sassi was stunned. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Her
head was spinning and her heart was racing. She put her hands to her
cheeks and just stared at the apparition floating before her.

“Thank you for joining
with us.”

The beautiful girl brushed
away the tears glistening in her eyes. “I do want to help, really and truly I
do . . . but I have nothing to offer. I’m not brave or strong or . . . or . . .
anything. I . . . I think you made a terrible mistake.”

“If Egg has chosen you,
then you are more than worthy to join with me in my fight for the people of
Aerianna.”

Sassi smiled even though
she wasn’t convinced. But she desperately wanted to try. “If you want me, then
I’ll do whatever I can. I promise I’ll try very hard. All I ask is that you
take me with you now.”

“You may live at my
castle . . . at the Hameggattic Sisterhood. Go quickly and collect your
personal belongings.”

“I have everything I need
right here. I have friends,” and she squeezed Egg’s hand, “and now I
have hope.”

“Then we leave.”

*****

As they flew
off, no one noticed the man in black watching them with eyes that were not
quite human . . .

Chapter 10 – Oh MY GOSH!

. . . no one, that is, but
Dazzle. “Sassi,
as we left there was a man dressed in a black robe the likes of which I am not
familiar. He watched us with great interest. Do you know what he was? Was he a
Mo’beye?”

“Probably. They’re
horrible. They have strange eyes through which Mobius can see whatever they
see.”

They had just landed at
the castle and were about to enter. Since Dazzle had no more questions, Egg
opened the door and led her guest inside. Sassi’s reaction was just like
everyone else’s. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”

“Egg, while Sassi looks
about, please tell Sylvia and your grandmother about the Mo’beyes.”

“Why?”

“They know we are on
Aerianna.”

“That’s not good . . .
right?”

"That is not good.”

So Egg did as she was
told. “Okay, now what do we do? Go home?”

“Soon. But first, we
must settle Sassi into her new home. Let us go upstairs.”

So they followed the
Princess back up the spiral staircase, down the hall passed her bedroom and to
another door. “Please” she pointed at the door and Egg opened it.

It was another bedroom . .
. not quite as large as Dazzle’s, but just as beautiful. “Sassi, this will be yours.”

“Oh no, thank you. It’s
much too nice. I’ll just sleep downstairs.”

“One should never refuse
a princess,” Dazzle said with a hint of a smile.

Sassi put her hands to
her face as she realized her mistake. “I’m sorry, your highness, really. Of
course, I’ll take it. Thank you.”

“There is also a closet
full of clothes. Choose anything that suits your fancy.”

“Thank you.”

“And now we must
provision Se’rene with food and drink if we are to have permanent guests. Egg,
in my bedroom under the bed you will find a loose plank. Remove it. Inside is a
pouch of aryas that I put away for days such as today.”

Egg came back with the
pouch. “Is there a store around here?”

“About five miles down
the river is a small town. Sassi should be able to find all that she needs
there. Sylvia and Eloise will accompany her.”

“What about us?”

“We need to find your
other two sisters. They have to buy provisions that will suit the needs and
tastes of serpents and bring them to the castle. Then you and I need to create
the Sign of the Egg and find a place for it. We need those communications
crystals and the Shades of Night need to get them for us.”

“I don’t think Grammy is
going to be too happy about this.”

“You may be surprised.
Tell her.”

So Egg did . . . and
Dazzle was right.

“Oh, I’d love to help her.
She’s such a lovely girl and so very nice . . . much like you and Sylvia.”

“You don’t mind going
without me?” Egg was just a little disappointed.

“No, dear. You’re Flying
Girl and you can take care of yourself. I had some doubts before, but they’re
mostly gone now. You handle yourself so well. I’m even more proud of you . . .
if that’s possible,” and she gave her granddaughter a big hug and a kiss.

Sassi didn’t know what
they were saying but the expression of love between the two made her smile. “It
must be wonderful to be loved like that.”

So the plans were made.
Sassi was to take a small sail boat that Dazzle had stored in a shed out back.
The current would take them to the town, and then they would sail back.

“How do I communicate with
your grandmother and friend?”

“I can’t give you my
necklace otherwise I can’t talk to K’ssss and Soo’. Dazzle, any suggestions?”

“Trust them. One does
not need words to be understood.”

Egg looked at Sassi and
shrugged. Then, to the other girl’s surprise, she gave her hug. “Good luck. And
I’m really glad you joined the sisterhood.”

Sassi stared at Egg
looking for signs that she was being teased. When she realized that the girl
was being sincere, she returned the hug. “Thank you. I’m just so happy that you
asked me.”

So they all walked outside
and Dazzle led them to the boat. Grammy got in first, then Sylvia and Sassi
jumped in.

“Syl . . . don’t get
lost,” Egg teased. “And don’t buy any junk.”

“You be careful, too.”

“Get back before night
falls. You are unfamiliar with the river and the countryside.”

Egg waved as the boat
slipped into the river and was caught by the current. As it slowly disappeared
around a bend, she suddenly shivered. Looking at her arms, they were covered in
goose bumps. She was going to tell Dazzle that she had a bad feeling about this
. . . but decided not to be a worrywart.

*****

As they flew to Nau’tika
Egg asked, “So, what do you think the sign of the Egg is . . . or should be?
And don’t say you’ll leave that up to me.”

“My sister, you . . . we
. . . shall give it more thought.”

“Do you think we should
leave the sign . . . whatever it is . . . in Nau’tika. That’s where we met
S’eeee-sik.”

“That seems a bit . . .
obvious. Perhaps another idea will make itself known.”

*****

They made it to Nau’tika
and entered the same way as last time. Since Soo’s seashell store was the only
place they knew to look, they headed there. Like before, there was almost no
one around.

“That’s it,” Egg said
pointing to the third store from the end. She walked in and to her relief,
Soo’nami was behind the counter.

“Hi, Soo’.”

“Hey Ho human with a
stupid name,” answered the smiling sea serpent. “Back so soon?”

“Yes. I found another
sister,” Egg announced proudly.

“Not another serpent I
bet.”

“No, a human” Egg replied.

“Terrific. When do I get
to meet her?”

“That’s kind of why I’m
here. Sassi . . . that’s her name . . . is living at the sisterhood now. And
you-know-who (they all promised not to use Dazzle’s name in public if they
could help it) wants us to stock the castle with food and stuff just in case we
all have to live there. So, can you get K’ssss and shop for enough supplies to
last at least a week and take them there?”

“Do I have to pay?”

“Nope. Here’s some money.”

“Oooh . . . money. I like
money.”

“So will you find K’ssss
and do it?”

“I don’t need to find her
. . . she’s standing right behind you. That stupid sea shell she wanted finally
came in.”

“Hi, Egg.”

Egg turned around and came
face to face with the goofy serpent. “Hey, K’ssss.”

“I like your scarf; it’s
pretty.” Egg was still wearing the one she had borrowed from Dazzle.

“Thank you. Listen, K’ssss
I can’t stay and you and Soo’ have an important job to do.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t think I have an
important job to do. In fact I don’t have any job.”

At first Egg was confused.
Then she realized it was K’ssss who was confused. “No K’ssss, you don’t
understand. I came to ask you and Soo’ to do a very important job for me.
She’ll tell you about it.”

“She will?” asked a
smiling serpent.

Egg turned and looked at
Soo who was just grinning at Egg’s frustration. Egg gave her a look that said,
“help me before I scream.”

“K’ssss, you dim witted
slithering sack of stupid . . . you and me are going shopping.”

“I love to shop.”

Soo turned back to Egg
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Thank you.”

“I know a nursery rhyme,”
declared K’ssss.

“What?”

“Actually, I made it up
myself. Do you want to hear it?”

“I really have to go
K’ssss. Maybe next time.” But K’ssss looked so heartbroken that Egg said “On
second thought, sure . . . I’d love to hear it.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Egg waited but K’ssss said
nothing. “Well . . . what is it?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. It
goes . . . See the serpent leap in the air, all the birds and humans he scares.
But watch for dragons looking for meat, hunting for something tasty to eat.”
She looked at Egg and Soo and smiled expectantly.

“Hey, not bad.” Coming
from Soo, that was an incredible compliment.

“Very nice, K’ssss.”

“Now it’s your turn to
tell me one. I love nursery rhymes.”

“Oh, K’ssss, I can’t right
now. But when we get to the castle, I’ll tell you my favorite. It’s called
Humpty-Dumpty. I promise.”

*****

Egg left her serpent
sisters and Nau’tika. She was headed back to the castle so Dazzle said, “My sister, we need to
create the sign of the Egg. Have you forgotten?”

“No I didn’t forget. I was
going back to the castle so Sassi can help me make it.”

“Make it? You know what
the Sign of the Egg will be?”

“Yup . . . it’s going to
be Humpty-Dumpty.”

“I do not understand.”

“Trust me,” said Flying
Girl with a big grin on her face.

*****

They floated down the
river passed an endless forest of trees. The current was swift enough for them
to make good time, but not so fast as to make the trip scary.

Sassi seemed to know what
she was doing. That was good because Grammy and Sylvia had absolutely no idea
how to handle a boat. The two of them tried to help out, but Sassi gently
pulled them out of the way and indicated that she wanted them to sit. So they
did and chatted about Dazzle and Aerianna and the Quest. Grammy was beginning
to get caught up in the excitement of it all.

It took about forty
minutes until they saw signs of the little village. Sassi swung the craft
towards shore and pulled up to a rickety wooden dock. She hopped out and tied
the boat to a metal ring that was there just for that purpose.

“I guess we should get
out,” said Sylvia to Grammy. She swung over the side and offered her hand to
Grammy.”

“Thank you, child. I’m not
quite as agile as I once was.”

They started walking
towards the town with Sassi taking the lead. Sylvia tried to take the girl’s
hand but she pulled away. Syl looked at her quizzically. Realizing that she was
only trying to be friendly, Sassi smiled back and gave her a friendly squeeze.

During the years of
living under her mean aunt, Sassi had hidden her feelings . . . withdrawing
into herself. She had almost forgotten how to be a friend. Now that she was
part of the Sisterhood, she was determined to become a different person. Her
mom and dad may be gone, but their memory still lived inside her heart. And in
their honor, if for no other reason, she wanted to be the best Hameggattic
Sister ever. She squeezed Sylvia’s hand again.

She led her two companions
to the center of town where all the small shops were located. The few
townspeople who were walking around looked at them with curiosity but said
nothing.

On the trip over, Sassi
had made a not so little list of all the things she would need to buy. Taking
it out of her pocket, she looked at the first item . . . bread. Looking around,
she saw a bakery and walked over to it. All three went inside and were
immediately overwhelmed with the delicious smell of freshly baked bread and
pastry. The girls looked at each other and smiled hungrily.

Sassi chose some long,
thin loaves with dark brown crust. Using hand signals, she invited her two
companions to choose some cakes or pastries. It didn’t take much to get her
point across and Syl and Grammy eagerly pointed to different treats.

They left the store and continued
shopping . . . and their arms slowly filled with all the food they had bought.
Eventually it became too much to carry, so Grammy dragged Sassi over to a
vendor who was selling wicker baskets. The girl bought six; two for each of
them.

At the end of an hour,
all six were filled, and they decided they had about as much food as they
really needed.

“Let’s go home,” she said
while making a gesture of walking with her fingers; then sleeping with her
hands. The girls understood and followed.

As they walked, Sassi
would point to an object – a sign, a bench, whatever was along their path – and
say the word. By the time they were in sight of the dock, the girls had learned
almost a dozen. They couldn’t have been happier . . . and Sassi couldn’t have
been more proud. This had turned out to be a wonderful trip.

“STOP,” growled a voice behind
them.

They turned
around and there was a man in a black robe. His face was completely covered . .
. except for his eyes. And they were too horrible to be human.

“Come with me.”

“Oh, my,” said a horrified
Grammy.

“What is it?” asked a
frightened Sylvia.

“Mo’beye,” said
Sassi and that was one word that they both understood.

“Come with me.”

“What do we do, Grammy?”

“One thing’s for sure; we
don’t go with that thing. You two get to the boat . . . NOW.”

But Sassi and Sylvia were
so scared they couldn’t move.

“NOW,” screamed Grammy.

The Mo’beye moved towards
them and his intentions were painfully obvious. He was going to grab as many of
the girls as he could.

“SYLVIA . . . drop those
baskets. Take Sassi . . . hurry.”

“I can’t leave you.”

“Do it Sylvia . . . for
me, PLEASE,” Grammy pleaded.

Sylvia dropped her
baskets, pulled the two from Sassi’s hands then grabbed the other girl by the
arm and dragged her to the boat.

“STOP.”

That was the one thing the
girls had no intention of doing. They ran for all they were worth and reached
the boat.

Behind them, the Mo’beye
raised a staff of some kind and pointed it at the fleeing girls. But before he
could do whatever it was he had intended to do, Grammy leaped forward (with
more agility then she thought she had) and knocked the staff away. The Mo’beye
was furious.

As she got to the boat,
Sassi untied the rope then jumped in. She turned around to see where Sylvia
was. The other girl had stopped at the end of the dock to wait for Grammy.

“You can’t help her. We
have to go back and get Egg and the Princess. Hurry.”

Sylvia turned to look at
the girl who was gesturing frantically with her hands. Though she didn’t
understand the words, she still had an idea what Sassi was saying. She answered
by shaking her head “No” and started to go back for the older woman.

The horrified Sassi jumped
back on the dock and ran to the other girl. She wasn’t sure if she was going to
drag her to the boat or help her save their companion.

As she reached Sylvia, she
stopped and looked at the man in the black robe. He had just touched Grammy
with his energy weapon and there was a brilliant flash of light. The older
woman sank to her knees then fell face down in the damp street.

The Mo’beye picked her up
like a sack of potatoes, flung her over his shoulder, turned and began to walk
back to town. He had captured Grammy and there was nothing the two young girls
could do to save her.

Book 9

Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz

Book 9

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

©
Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,

All
Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Little Red
Riding Hood

Chapter 2 – Fl’axx in
Fl’uxx

Chapter 3 – Jay-Ee-ELL-ELL-Oh

Chapter 4 – Dangerous
Curves

Chapter 5 – Go Fly a Kite

Chapter 6 – Oops, I Did It
Again

Chapter 7 – Summa Cum
Loudly

Chapter 8 – Magnificent
Seven

Chapter 9 – Shady Lady

Chapter 10 – It’s Time

Chapter 1 - Little Red Riding Hood

“OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH,
OH MY GOSH,” screamed
Egg over and over again. Her face was white as an egg and she was running
around the big room like a chicken with its head cut off.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,
I’m sorry,” cried Sylvia. Her face was soaked from tears, her hands were
trembling and she felt nauseous.

Sassi sat on the floor with her knees
pulled up to her chin and her face cupped in her hands. She was sobbing
uncontrollably.

“What’d she say; what’s
going on?” asked Soo’ to no one in particular.

“I don’t like it when
someone’s unhappy,” declared a very unhappy K’ssss.

Sassi managed to calm down long enough
to tell the serpents what had happened. “Grammy’s
been captured by a Mo’beye.”

Soo’ summarized the
prevailing thought when she declared, “Well, that pretty much stinks.”

“I don’t like Mo’beyes.
They scare me,” added K’ssss unhelpfully.

“By the way, I suppose you
must be Sassi. I’m Soo’ and this dithering doofus is K’ssss. Who’s Grammy?”

“Grammy is Egg’s
grandmother.”

“I didn’t even know she
had a grandmother. And who’s that girl?” asked Soo’ pointing at Sylvia.

“That’s Sylvia, Egg’s
Feminion from Earth.”

A cloud of white mist appeared in
front of Egg and out stepped Dazzle. Doing something she rarely ever did, she
took charge. “Everyone . . . stop. Tears will
not help Eloise.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t
crying. Was I supposed to?” asked the confused K’ssss.

“Who the heck is Eloise?”

“That’s my Grammy,” Egg managed to
answer Soo’ after she took a couple of deep breaths.

“I have a Grammy, too.
Maybe they can be friends like we are. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

“K’ssss, you sad sack of
slithering stupid, shut-up. You’re not helping.”

“Sorry, Soo’.”

Sylvia was looking from one serpent to
another. Under different circumstances, she would have been both frightened by
their appearance and excited that they were to be Hameggattic Sisters. But with
Grammy captured, she wasn’t thinking or reacting like she normally would.

She also had no idea what they were
saying. Because she had a drop of Egg’s blood in her from the blood oath they
had taken, she could see Dazzle. And since the princess spoke English, she had
no problem communicating with her. But she couldn’t understand, or speak, the
three languages of Aerianna. So when it came to Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’, she was
dependent on Egg or Dazzle to translate.

“Are they saying anything important?”
Syl asked Dazzle.

“No.”

“Dazzle, what are we going to do? We
have to help Grammy now. She must be so scared. What if she’s hurt? What if
he’s going to hurt her? What . . .”

“EGG, you must
stop."

“But, but . . .” she looked and
sounded desperate.

“Put away your fears.
Spend your time thinking of a solution.”

Just because it was good advice didn’t
make it any easier. “Sorry, I guess you’re right. But we’ve got to do
something; we should go help her now.”

*****

A few minutes before Sassi and Sylvia had arrived . . .

“Hellllooooo,” Soo’
called. “Anybody home?”

“I’m hungry,” declared
K’ssss. “Could you make me dinner? I’d just love some boiled eel. Pretty
please.”

“Shut up you overweight
wonky sea snake.” Though it may have sounded like she was angry with the other
serpent, it was just Soo’s sarcastic way of talking.

“Am I really overweight? I
am, aren’t I? My sister tells me that all the time but my Mom says that I’ll
outgrow it. But I think she’s wrong because if I keep outgrowing I’ll be
even bigger. Isn’t that right?”

Soo’ stared silently at
her friend with an expression of total disbelief mixed with a large portion of
humor.

“Hi,” yelled Egg who had come flying
down the spiral staircase from her bedroom when she heard the serpents enter
the castle.

“Hey Ho, Egg-O,” replied
Soo’.

“I thought her name was
Egg?”

“Did you bring the food?”

“Of course. We already put
it away. There’s a storage bin down there.” Soo’ pointed with her tongue.

“Great. Sassi went shopping with the
others. They should be back any minute. Did you see a sailboat out there?”

“Yeah, we did. They were
right behind us.”

“Well, as soon as they get here, we’ll
make dinner and get to know each other. Are you hungry?”

“Would you boil me some
eel?”

Egg made a face. “Yuk. Is that what serpents
eat?”

“Not all serpents . . .
only fat, overweight, dumb ones.”

“Be nice.” It really was hard to tell
if Soo’ was being mean or just kidding.

“Nice is my middle name.”

“Really? I didn’t know
that. Mine’s En’telll.”

Egg giggled. “Your name is kiss and
tell?”

“No, K’ssss En’telll,”
corrected the serpent.

“Oh, right,” said the Earth girl
trying very hard not to laugh.

And then everything changed from happy
to horror . . .

“EGG…EGG…EGG,” screamed Sylvia over and over as she
and Sassi came running into the house. “EGG…EGG…EGG.”

“What’s the matter?”

“He got Grammy. He got her and we
couldn’t stop him. Egg . . . he got Grammy. The guy in the black robe got
Grammy. She made me and Sassi run away and she stayed to fight him. But he
knocked her down then picked her up and carried her away. I didn’t want to
leave her . . . but she made us. She made us. She said we had to go . . . for
her. Egg, she made us leave but we didn’t want to.”

*****

“It will be dark soon. We
cannot do anything until morning.”

“We can’t leave her alone with him all
night. Dazzle we can’t do that.”

“We have no choice. And,
we have no plan.”

“And we have no food. We had to drop
all of our supplies when Grammy made us run away. I’m sorry . . . about
everything. It’s my fault.”

“Sassi, why is it your fault?” asked
Soo’.

“We were looking for food
because I asked to live here. If I hadn’t been so selfish, none of this would
have happened. Egg, I am so sorry. Maybe tomorrow we can trade me for your
grandmother. Maybe the Mo’beye would do that.”

Even though Egg would do anything to
get Grammy back, Flying Girl knew that Sassi’s idea was wrong. It wasn’t her
fault and the Mo’beye would never trade one for the other . . . not if it could
have both. And that’s exactly what she told her new friend. “Sassi, you did
nothing wrong. Besides, giving the bad guy you in exchange for Grammy isn’t the
right thing to do.” Egg walked over to the girl and gave her a reassuring hug.
Sassi smiled in appreciation. ‘How odd,’ she thought to herself, ‘Aunt Fl’emm
would have blamed me in a heartbeat’. Having people who cared for you was not
something the green-skinned girl was used to.

“So what’s your plan?”
asked Soo’.

“I don’t have one . . . yet. But I
will in the morning.” She said that without much conviction . . . just a lot of
hope. “So let’s eat so I can go to bed early. I have a lot to think about.”

“You can have some of my
eels,” offered K’ssss.

Everyone turned to look at the silly
serpent to see if she was serious. She was . . . K’ssss was almost always
serious in a bizarre sort of way.

Dazzle had been translating all of
this for Sylvia’s sake so the girl was able to ask, “Did you bring anything
besides eels?” Just the word made her shiver in disgust.

Egg translated and Sassi nodded
approval at the question. Like Sylvia, eel didn’t sound that tempting to her
either.

“Sure,” said Soo’. “We’ve
got all sorts of stuff . . . deep fried sponge, deviled fish eggs, kelp salad
with sea cucumbers, salted barnacles, puree of coral, pickled crustaceans . .
.”

“Stop . . . please,” begged Egg. “I
think Syl, Sassi and I will just have the salad.”

So they prepared their meals and ate
quietly. The only conversation was about possible ways to rescue Grammy. They
were all pretty depressed. They hadn’t even begun the great quest and already
one of them had been captured by the bad guys. How would they ever defeat
Mobius?

“I guess you don’t want to
tell me a nursery rhyme,” K’ssss finally asked. Egg had promised to tell her one when
they got to the castle.

“Sorry, K’ssss.” Then after a little
thought, Egg said, “But how about I tell you a fairy tale? It’s called Little
Red Riding Hood.”

“I didn’t know fairies had
tails.” K’ssss really wasn’t very bright.

As usual, Soo’ had to
explain. “Not a tail like a fish tail. A tale like a story . . . you
koral-brained krustacian.”

“Oh. If you say so.”

Sassi had to put her hand
over her mouth to hide her smile. When Dazzle translated for Sylvia, the earth
girl just shook her head. She still wasn’t completely convinced that K’ssss
could help with the Quest. On the other hand, she liked Soo’ and her goofy
sense of humor.

“Anyway, it’s the story of a little
girl and her grandmother and a very bad wolf,” and Egg began to tell the tale .
. .

*****

Sylvia and Egg slept together in the
big bed in Egg’s room. Neither one wanted to spend the night alone.

“Egg, I shouldn’t have left her. Even
when she yelled at me to run away, I should have said no.”

Egg had given this a lot of thought.
“Syl . . . if anyone is to blame, it’s me. I shouldn’t have let her come to
Aerianna. And I should never have let Dazzle talk me into sending you guys
shopping without me. I’m still Flying Girl. I could have done something to save
her. I should have been there.”

“It was her choice to come here, so
you can’t blame yourself for that. And, you have so much to do for this quest
that you can’t be everywhere. Especially food shopping in a sleepy little
village where no one knew there were bad guys.”

“I guess so,” said her friend who
desperately wanted reasons not to blame herself.

“So what do you think we should do?”

“Ask me in the morning.”

They were quiet for a few minutes then
Sylvia said, “I like them.”

“Who?”

“Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’. They’re so
different from each other . . . and from us. But I like them. You made three
great choices . . .”

“Four,” interrupted Egg.

Sylvia gave her best friend’s hand a
squeeze. “Thank you. But, Egg, I do worry about K’ssss.”

“She’s going to surprise everybody. I
just know it.”

“Then I won’t worry.”

And Flying Girl and her Feminion fell
into a fitful sleep.

*****

When the sun streamed through the
window early the next morning, Sylvia reluctantly opened her eyes. She sat up,
stretched and yawned, then looked over at her friend. But the bed was empty.

She went to the bathroom to brush her
teeth and change out of her nightclothes. When she went downstairs, both
serpents and Sassi were already there. When Syl came into the room, they all
greeted her.

“Good morning, Feminion.” Soo’ was a lot more formal than she
normally would be. She didn’t really know Sylvia so she
showed respect for the girl’s honored position as Egg’s Feminion.

“Hi-de-ho, Syl-vio,” said K’ssss trying to sound like Soo’
without much success.

“Did you sleep well,
Sylvia?” asked Sassi who hadn’t slept well at
all.

Sylvia didn’t understand a word they
said . . . but understood that they were greeting her. She responded with a
smile, a wave, and a “Good Morning.” The three Sisters smiled back.

Looking around, Syl didn’t see Egg.
She tried, “Where’s Egg?” and put her arms out in front of her like a girl
flying.

“I think she’s looking for
Egg?” Sassi told her companions.

“They slept in the same
bed . . . why is she asking us?”
Soo’ was sounding more like Soo’.

Sassi shrugged an “I don’t know” while
Soo’ shook her head “no.”

“You don’t think she went to save
Grammy by herself?” asked Sylvia forgetting that she couldn’t be understood.

“Now what’s she saying?”

“I recognize the word
‘Grammy’. She probably was asking if Egg went to save her Grandmother by
herself.”

“How come I can’t
understand her and you two can?” asked K’ssss.

“We can’t . . . we’re just
guessing,” replied Soo’.

“I love to play guessing
games. Tell her to ask another question.”

Soo looked at her
companion and shook her head in disgust. “If you say one more stupid thing I’m
going feed YOU to the eels.”

“Nooooo.”

“If Egg went to town, we
should go to. She may need our help.” Then Sassi made her two finger walking sign to Sylvia,
pointed to herself and the serpents, and then pointed in the general direction
of town.

“You think that’s a good
idea?”

“We took an oath to be
Hameggattic Sisters and to protect each other.” Sassi
was determined to be the best sister she could be.

“Okay, count me in.”

“K’ssss, how about you?”

“Mo’beyes are scary . . .
but they shouldn’t have done that bad thing to Egg’s Grammy. Let’s go.”

So Sassi pointed to all four sisters
and then to town. Sylvia nodded her understanding and agreement. The two humans
headed for the sailboat while the serpents made their way out the stream and to
the river.

They launched the boat and started to
float down to the town. But it was too slow for the serpents.

Soo’ finally yelled to
Sassi – “Throw me a rope and we’ll pull you.”

*****

Egg had slipped out of bed before her
friend woke up. She changed into her flying suit, opened the door to the
balcony and leapt skyward. Grammy had been in the clutches of that thing for
too long. It was time Flying Girl did what Flying Girl was supposed to do . . .
save people.

To her disappointment, she didn’t
dream any good dreams that night. So she had to admit that she didn’t have much
of a plan. The best she could come up with was an idea from Little Red Riding
Hood. If Red was recognizable to the bad wolf because of her hood, then maybe
Flying Girl was recognizable to Mo’beyes because of her suit.

If they were, maybe the one that got
Grammy would try to get her. Then she would go with him until he brought her to
the place where he was keeping Grammy. Then she’d . . . do something. That’s
where the plan became a little hazy.

So she flew to the little hamlet that
Dazzle said was named Fl’uxx, found the town square, and landed. If anyone
wanted to watch the townspeople, they would come here sooner or later.

At this time of the morning, there
were few people up and about. A couple of shopkeepers were readying their
stores for the day’s trade. Some stopped and stared at her but then hurried on.
They probably thought she was one of Mobius’ creatures.

It didn’t take long before she heard
someone growl, “STOP.”

She turned around and there was the
black robed Mo’beye. The two girls had been right about one thing . . . he, or
it, had two very ugly eyes.

*****

The four girls made it to town in
about ten minutes. Serpents are strong swimmers as you might expect. And even
two young ones like K’ssss and Soo’ could easily pull the little sailboat at a
breathtaking speed.

Sassi pulled the boat into the same
dock as last time and tied the rope like before. Then both girls hoped out and
to their amazement found their six baskets of food just sitting there.
Obviously, the people of Fl’uxx were honest.

The girls took the food and stowed it
on the boat. Then they headed back toward town.

“Hey, what do you want us
to do?” yelled Soo’.

“For now, just guard the
boat. If we need you, one of us will come back and get you.”

“I don’t like splitting us
up again. It didn’t work very well last time.”

Sassi gave that some thought. A
serpent would certainly add a little weight to their side. “Okay, you can come but tell K’ssss to stay close to the
boat and not let anyone on it.”

So Soo’ gave her friend instructions,
made sure she understood them, and then somehow
launched herself out of the river and onto the dock. “Let’s do it.”

The two humans and the one smallish
sea serpent (she was only about twelve feet long) made their way to the center
of town. When they got there, something unpleasant and unexpected happened.

“STOP”.

They turned to see five Mo’beyes
standing between them and the river. And each one had some kind of black staff
. . . pointed directly at them.

Soo’ said aloud what the
other girls were thinking . . ., “Oops.”

Chapter 2 - Fl’axx in Fl’uxx

The girls were led to a stone building
on the outskirts of town. They went without making a fuss . . . being both
outnumbered and terrified.

As they were pushed none too gently through
the doorway, they stumbled into the main room. And there in the corner, sitting
on a pile of hay, were Egg and Grammy. Standing guard over them was one more
Mo’beye.

“EGG,” screamed Sylvia. “Are you okay? How’s
Grammy?” But she got no response.

“Egg . . . grammy?” tried Sassi.

“What’s wrong with them?”
asked Soo’ as if her companions would actually know.

“Silence.” Soo’
stopped talking and the petrified girls all moved closer to each other. The
Mo’beye then commanded, “Sit,” and pointed to another pile of hay across the room. The
girls hurried over and sat down.

Never one to follow
orders, Soo’ whispered, “When do we start the rescue part of the plan.”

One of the Mo’beye looked at the
serpent, pointed his black staff and fired a bolt of bright light. Soo’ let out
an “Ohhh” and fell over. The other two girls
jumped in fright then hugged each other as terror and fear gripped their
hearts.

And then something happened that
totally shocked the girls . . . the Mo’beye standing guard over Egg and her
grandmother picked up his staff aimed and fired. The girls closed their eyes
waiting for whatever it was that the thing shot to knock them over. But they
felt nothing. Instead, they heard something thud as it hit the ground. They
opened their eyes just a teensy bit to see what it was, and there on the floor
were the five Mo’beyes that had captured them.

“Are you guys okay?” asked Egg as she
ran over to look at Soo’.

Grammy came over to hug the two girls.
She knew they must have been feeling guilty at leaving her . . . even though
she had forced them to.

“Grammy . . . oh, Grammy I should
never have left you. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“Shush, child. You did the right
thing. You both did. And I’m fine . . . now.”

Sassi wiped away her tears. She didn’t
know what the older woman was saying exactly . . . but she understood the
message very clearly. She looked up to see what the last Mo’beye was doing.

The figure in the black robe removed
his hood and smiled. His eyes were normal like he wasn’t really a Mo’beye . . .
and Sassi thought he looked familiar.

“Hello, Sassi-lassi,” he
said.

The girl stared and stared. Only one
person in all the world ever called her that. Grammy and Sylvia turned to look
at what was happening.

“Daddy? Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetheart. Oh, yes,
baby, it’s really me.”  He held out his arms and Sassi raced to him and flung herself into his warm
embrace. And she cried and cried and cried. And the once and future Mo’beye
cried too.

Grammy smiled at the father-daughter
reunion while Sylvia shared their tears of happiness.

*****

They tied up the five Mo’beyes face
down in the straw. Not wanting to be in the same room with them . . . even if
they couldn’t do any harm . . . everyone went to the kitchen in the back and
closed the door.

Soo’ was a little groggy but otherwise
okay. They had to help her up, which was kind of difficult because of her size.
But they managed.

When she came to, she had seen Sassi
in the arms of the Mo’beye, and her first instinct was to slither over to save
her sister. Fortunately, she was too weak and was unable to move.

“It’s okay, Soo’,” explained Egg.
“That’s Fl’axx, her father.”

“Her father is a Mo’beye?
Couldn’t he find a real job?”

Egg translated for the other two.
“Well I’m certainly glad you’re feeling better,” said Grammy. “Oh, and by the
way, I’m Eloise . . . Egg’s grandmother.” She offered her hand; realized
serpents don’t have any and pulled it back in embarrassment.

“Tell Grammy that the way
serpents greet each other is they rub tongues.”

“Really?” said a grossed out Egg.

“Naw, just kidding.”

“So what the heck is going on?” asked
Sylvia. “I’m so confused.”

“When I came to town, I just walked
around the main square hoping that sooner or later the Mo’beye would find me
there. And he did. He recognized my flying suit and yelled for me to stop. Then
he dragged me back here.”

“Great plan,” kidded her friend.

“It was . . . really.”

“Hey . . . if you’re
telling her what the heck’s going on, you have to tell me too.”

Egg whispered,
“Dazzle.”

“I will translate for
Soo’.”

“No, I’ll tell Soo’ and Sassi. You can
explain it to Sylvia.”

“As you wish.”

“By the way . . . how come Sassi can
understand Soo and vice-versa?” asked Egg’s Feminion.

“Every child on Aerianna
learns the language of the other two races, as well as their own. It was so
decreed by my father after he received the Crystal Egg. It helped bring all of
us closer together.”

“He’s a pretty smart guy . . . your
dad.”

“Yes,” she answered very softly. “He was.”

Egg turned to Sassi who was still in
her father’s arm. “Sassi, I’m about to tell Soo’ what happened if you
want to listen.” Then she quickly added, “Or I can tell you later.”

Sassi wasn’t about to let go of her
father. After all, it had been seven lonely years.
“Come on, sweetheart, we’ll both listen,” said Fl’axx. So they walked over
to Egg and the others and made themselves comfortable on a little wooden bench.

“Are you okay?” asked Egg.

“I just can’t believe it.
You found my dad. I’ve been a Sister for just a short time and already
wonderful things are happening. Egg . . . I can never thank you enough. Never.
You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Not including my mom and dad,
of course.”

“Sassi . . . it was an accident that I
found him. I can’t take any credit.” Egg was feeling a little embarrassed.

“I don’t believe that. You
told me how Dazzle helped make you who you are . . .” She stopped, horrified at
what she had just said. Sassi had just revealed the existence of Dazzle and her
connection to Flying Girl to a Mo’beye . . . even if he was her father. The
others became very, very
quiet. If you listened, you could hear the collective sound of everyone’s
heartbeat.

“What are you talking
about, little one?” It was hard for Fl’axx to think of his daughter as anything other than the
five-year-old girl he had last seen.

Sassi turned scarlet . . . which for
someone with green skin was not all that easy to do. She couldn’t look at her
father or any of the Sisters. She had violated her oath.

The seconds slowly ticked by and
still, no one said a word. Fl’axx looked from face to face trying to understand
what had just happened.

“Egg, you may tell him.”

“WHAT?” cried Egg startling Fl’axx.

“Tell him. Then before
he leaves, use the power of the bracelet to hide his memory.”

Everyone looked very relieved except
Sassi who was still ashamed for her mistake.

Before Egg could begin,
Fl’axx said, “I am not sure what you are talking about or for that matter who
you are talking to. But let me tell you how I became a Mo’beye. I worked with
friends trying to overthrow our self-declared king . . . Mobius.” He fairly
spat out the name. “When he killed our Princess, it was the last straw for many
Aeriannians. With M’earth gone, Dazzle had led the battle against the usurper.
But in the end, she died . . . for all of us. So the most loyal of her people
over the following generations . . . including me and my wife, Sassi’s mother .
. . joined forces to continue the fight. But like the Princess, we failed . . .
one by one. I was captured and transformed into a horrid Mo’beye. They put me here
in Fl’uxx to spy on these good people. There was nothing I could do. Nothing
until she (he pointed to Egg) touched my head and drove out the evil that had
control of my mind. If somehow you are a creation of the Princess . . . then I
bow before you and pledge my loyalty.” And he did just that.

“Tell him your story Egg
. . . but use the bracelet as you did with your sisters.”

“Dazzle, are you sure?” Egg was
talking to thin air, which further confused Fl’axx.

“We need all the loyal
allies we can find. You may tell him.”

So Egg told him the story. Since he
could never see the Princess, it was not easy to believe . . . even when he
wanted to with all his heart. So Egg took him outside, grew to twice his
height, picked him up and flew around town then returned. It was more than
enough to convince him.

“Can she hear me?” he
asked when Egg had resumed her normal size.

“Sure.”

“Princess, I am yours to
command.”

“Thank him. Tell him we
must ask of him something that he will dislike. He must become a Mo’beye again.”

“NO,” screamed Sassi.

“I am sorry.”

“She wants me to become a
Mo’beye again, doesn’t she? It is what I would have asked.”

Everyone was very impressed . . .
confused as to why it was the right thing to do, but impressed that he agreed
with the Princess.

“Your Majesty, please give
us some time before you do it. Please. It’s been seven years and I can’t lose
him again so soon.”

“We can wait. Egg,
finish your story for now. Sassi, you need not hear this. Spend the time
walking with your father.”

“Thank you.” So the girl
took her father by the hand and led him outside. The two didn’t have much time . . . and they
had so much to catch up on.

They waited for Sassi and her dad to
leave, then Egg told Sylvia and Soo’ what had happened.

“Like I was saying, I just wanted the
Mo’beye to capture me and take me to where he had Grammy. And that part of the
plan worked really well. As soon as I got here, I shrank myself to the size of
a flea. It’s not very bright in here and he couldn’t see me. He must have
thought I disappeared. So I flew and landed right in his hair without him
knowing it. Then I used the power of the bracelet. I wasn’t sure it would work
very well with me being so small . . . but it did.”

“What did you say to him?” asked
Sylvia.

“Ummm . . . something like . . . ‘Let
the goodness in your heart defeat the evil placed in your mind. Let the love of
your family conquer the power of hate. Be you as you once were’.”

Sylvia knew that when Flying Girl used
the bracelet this way, she said things that were just plain weird. Egg had no
control over what came out. Soo’, however, didn’t
know this. “Geez, for a stupid human, that was almost intelligent . . . dare I
say smart?”

“Thank you.”

“So what happened to
Fl’axx?”

Grammy continued the story. “As soon as Egg said what she said, his eyes
changed from those ugly, monster eyes to normal eyes. He looked at us and said
something like “I am terribly sorry. Believe me when I say it wasn’t my fault.”
Then he asked if we were okay.

Egg took back the story. “I said I
knew it was Mobius that turned him into a Mo’beye and now he was cured. Then I
told Grammy that we better get out of here because as soon as Sylvia and Sassi
wake up they would realize that I went by myself to save her.”

Grammy added, “When he heard the name
Sassi he kind of moaned and said that he once had a daughter by that name but
hadn’t seen her in six or seven years. When he said that we were sure it was
our Sassi and told him so. He begged to come with us.”

“I said he couldn’t but that I would
bring Sassi to meet him here in town. We didn’t want him to go to the
Sisterhood. But as we were walking out of the house, he pulled us back in and
scared the heck out of me.”

“Me, too, truth be told,” added Grammy
with a grin.

“He had seen the other five Mo’beyes
coming down the street. So he made us sit on the straw.  He pulled his hood
back on to cover his eyes then pretended he was guarding us. The other five
came in and said they saw you guys coming and were going to lay a trap for you.
They marched out of here and found you.”

“I wanted to go save you but Fl’axx
said there was a better way. And that’s what happened.”

“Are you like the luckiest
human in the entire universe?”

“Hey, it wasn’t all luck.”

“Oh really? Which part?” teased the serpent.

*****

After a bit, Sassi came back with her
dad. She seemed both happy and sad . . . and that was understandable. But her
first words surprised everyone.

“Egg, I am so sorry for
breaking my oath. I will resign from the sisterhood.”

This bit of news was greeted with a
chorus of “NO’s” from all the girls including Grammy.

“It was an accident and there’s no way
you’re going to quit. We need you.”

“No, I can’t. I have to
resign. I can’t be trusted.”

“Dazzle . . . tell her she doesn’t
have to quit. Tell her.”

“Egg, the decision is hers
to make. She cannot be forced to do something she does not want to do.”

“May I say something?”
asked the former Mo’beye.

“Sure” answered Egg hoping he would
talk Sassi out of quitting.

“Sassi . . . if you want
your father’s advice, you should stay in the sisterhood. They are trying to do
what your mother and I couldn’t. I would be very proud . . . more proud . . .
of you if you were to help the Princess.”

Egg and the rest smiled from ear to
ear at these words but waited silently for Sassi’s answer.

She looked at her father
then her Sisters and said, “If you can forgive me . . . then I will stay.”

*****

Egg sent Soo’ back to tell K’ssss
everything that had happened. Then she put her hands on Fl’axx’s temples and
said, “All that you have learned today is yours to share only with the
Sisterhood. Now return to the way of the Mo’beye in form only. Remain true to
the love in your heart and use your position to foil evil wherever you can. At
the command of a Hameggattic Sister, you will return to your true form . . .
and be Fl’axx once more.”

The eyes of the man in the black robe
began to change back to monster eyes. And in a moment, he was a Mo’beye again .
. . in form only. He walked over to his daughter, kissed her gently on the
cheek then hugged her.

Egg went to each of the other five
Mo’beyes who were still lying unconscious on the floor and, using the power of
the bracelet, erased the memory of Fl’axx shooting them. Then the girls untied
the ropes.

Leaving the house at a fast trot, they
made their way to the boat, got in and sailed back to the castle.

Chapter 3 – Jay-Ee-ELL-ELL-Oh

As they sailed back to the castle,
they were in high spirits. They had met their first challenge and won. Even
though it was mostly Egg who did the winning, they all felt like they helped.
At least they had stood up for one another.

And Sassi found her dad . . . what a
surprisingly happy ending. The unpleasant fact that he had to become a Mo’beye
again was ignored. But it did raise one question that Sylvia finally asked
(with Egg translating).

“Sassi . . . does your dad know what
happened to your mom?”

“No. In fact, he asked me
what had happened to her. The last thing he knew was that they were being
attacked by Mo’beyes and he made her run away while he fought them off.”

“He’s very brave . . . and handsome
when he has normal eyes.” Grammy blushed ever so slightly when she said this.

“Grammy . . . he is still
married,” teased Sassi. That got everyone to laughing.

They made it back to the castle and
unloaded all of their wonderful supplies. “I am absolutely starving,” declared
Eloise the Elder. “Your father may be handsome, but he was no gentleman. He
didn’t even offer me a cup of coffee.” She, of course, was joking. “Anyone else
like something to eat?”

“I would love some eels,”
said the ever-hungry K’ssss.

“Oh my. I’ve never cooked eels. How
are they prepared?”

“Don’t worry about it,
grandmother. The fat water-worm will eat them raw if she has to.”

And they all settled down for a
delicious breakfast filled with silly conversation, tall tales of bravery and
an odd nursery rhyme or two from K’ssss.

*****

“We have to go home now,” Egg told her
new sisters.

“When will you be back?”

“Where is she going?”

“Earth.”

”Urp? Where’s Urp?”
K’ssss, as usual, was confused.

“No you seasick cucumber,
she said Earth. That’s the planet where she lives.”

“Oh.”

Egg smiled at the exchange between
serpents. She just loved them . . . which struck her as incredible. She only
knew them for a short time and they were . . . well, they were giant sea
serpents. Yet she thought of them as friends and as Sisters. Who would ever had
believed such a thing was possible?

She turned to answer Sassi’s question.
“I don’t know when we’ll be back. But the next thing I have to do is get two
more sisters. And at least one of them should probably be a dragon.”

“I don’t like dragons.
They eat baby serpents.”

“That was more than a
thousand years ago . . .  until the Old Ones made them stop. Now they just eat
fat teenage sea slugs like you.”

“Really?” asked the wide-eyed, very gullible,
modestly overweight sea serpent.

“She’s just kidding you,
K’ssss,” comforted Sassi.

“Why do you want dragons
in the Sisterhood anyway? They may not eat us precious sea critters but they’re
just grumpy.”

“The Tree said we needed five from
Aerianna plus Syl and me. Dazzle thinks that dragons need to be on the team.”

At the mention of the Princess, Soo’
immediately accepted the decision.

“If you have to recruit
two more, why are you leaving? Why don’t you stay and do it now?” Sassi really
didn’t want Egg to leave.

“Because . . .” she hesitated
searching for a way to say it without sounding stupid. “I have to dream. I only
know who to look for because it comes to me in my dreams. Does that make
sense?”

“Yes. Everyone knows how
important dreams are.”

Soo’ asked, “But why can’t
you dream here? Didn’t you dream about that red hooded girl last night?”

That question surprised Egg. The only
answer she could give was “You’re right . . . but I just know that I have to go
back for this next dream.”

No one was willing to question that
statement. After all, Egg was created by Dazzle and this was her quest.

“What do you want us to do
while you’re gone?” Sassi spent her whole life working and just hated the
thought of doing nothing but waiting.

Now that was a very good question, for
which Egg didn’t have an answer. So she said, “Dazzle, can you think of
anything they can do while we’re gone?”

“Yes. K’ssss and Soo . .
. you must try to obtain a translation crystal for Sylvia. Take some aryas with
you. But be careful . . . Mobius’ spies might wonder why two young serpents
need a crystal.”

Egg told Sylvia and Grammy what Dazzle
just said. Syl’s response was predictable, “Oh, that would be absolutely
fantastic. Thank you.”

“You will be more
effective if you can communicate directly with your Sisters and they with you.”

“What about me? What can I
do?”

This time Egg answered,
“We need communications crystals for all of us. Once we have them, I would like
you to create jewelry to hold them – something that each of us can wear.”

Sassi fairly lit up at her
task. “I can do that,” she said enthusiastically.  “But I will need some tools
and materials.”

“Take the boat and sail
back to your home. Obtain what you need from your own possessions. If you
require other materials, buy them. But, Sassi, you must be very careful. Your
aunt might find your return unsettling.”

“I understand, trust me.”
But when she said that, she flashed back to her mistake earlier in the day and blushed.

“You have our trust. You
need not ask for it again.”

“Thank you,” the girl
answered in a very small voice.

*****

They were back in Grammy’s house and
could see the little red light on the phone answering machine blinking. They
had been away for five or six hours and the lady of the house said, “I bet
that’s one of your mom’s.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“Ummm . . . that we went and had lunch
with some friends.”

She pressed the replay button and sure
enough, it was Egg’s mom calling for Sylvia’s mom. “I don’t know where
you guys are, but when you get this message have Sylvia call home. Bye.”

So Sylvia called home, explained they
had been out with friends and would be leaving for home soon.

“If you’d like to go now, dear, I’ll
be very happy to drive you.”

“Would it be alright if I stayed a
little longer? I would really like to talk about all the stuff that just
happened to us.”

“Well, I would too. How about you,
Egg?”

“Oh, yes.” The girl sounded relieved.

“I’ll just make some lemonade for you
two and a lovely hot cup of coffee for me. Oh, and Egg, next time you go back
to Aerianna, take a pound of coffee with you just in case I come to visit
again.”

“That sounds like a great idea. Not
the coffee, but bringing our own food.”

“We should make a list,” added Sylvia.

“Okay how about pop tarts and
cheerio’s?”

“Ummm . . . we should bring Nestlé’s
chocolate and lemonade mix.”

“How about a couple of bottles of coke
and maybe marshmallows?”

“We absolutely need chocolate chip
cookie mix and stuff to make pancakes.”

“Good . . . that’s good. And
marmalade, and peanut butter.”

“Don’t forget spaghetti and mac and
cheese.”

“Oreo cookies and popcorn.”

“Do you think they have potato chips?
Maybe we should take a few bags just in case.”

“Don’t forget hot dogs and pickles and
relish and buns and . . .”

“Whoa, you guys. That all sounds delicious
if not exactly well balanced. But you can only carry so much.”

“We’ll just make a bunch of trips. Can
you get us this stuff, Grammy?”

“Of course dear. I probably have a lot
of it already. In the meantime here’s your lemonade.”

“Thank you.”

“Me too,” added Egg.

The older Eloise sat down with her
steaming mug of coffee, took a sip then said to her two companions, “Wow. I
dove down into the depths of Loch Ness, been to a planet billions of miles
away, talked to sea serpents and been captured by an wicked minion of an evil
king. Not bad for one day’s work.”

“Grammy . . .” Egg was afraid to ask
the question, but did anyway. “You haven’t changed your mind about me helping
Dazzle, have you?”

“I should. Those Mo’beyes are scary
fellows. And they’re just small potatoes compared to the really evil characters
on that planet. But, you and your Feminion handled yourselves so well. And your
three sisters are just terrific. It’s dangerous business . . . but there’s a
whole planet that needs you. I won’t stop you dearest one. If you feel you can
do it, I’ll support your decision.”

“Oh, thank you Grammy. I want to do it
. . . I can do it. I just know I can.”

“But I can’t give Sylvia permission to
go back.”

“WHAT?” cried Egg.

“Why not?” asked a very upset Sylvia.

“Because I have no right to put you in
danger. Egg has special powers that you don’t have. Without them, you are much
more likely to get hurt. I can’t give you permission to do that.”

Even though what Grammy said was true,
Sylvia wasn’t about to accept it. “You can’t stop me either. You wouldn’t stop
me, would you?” She was trying very hard not to be rude . . . and only barely
succeeded.

“You are like a granddaughter to me,”
replied the older woman overlooking Sylvia’s lack of respect. “But only
emotionally. I am not your grandmother in the eyes of the law. I can’t give you
permission . . . it’s not mine to give. I am sorry dear.”

At that moment, Dazzle chose to appear. “Perhaps I can offer a solution.”

“Oh Dazzle that would be great.”

“What solution, Princess?” asked
Grammy very formally.

“It will take some time
. . . but I can give her ring a special power.”

“REALLY?” said all three ladies at
once.

Then Grammy asked, “What power would
that be?”

“She will be able to
return to her place of origin instantaneously.”

The smile on the faces of the two
girls dissolved into frowns. “What the heck does that mean?” asked Egg.

“Once activated, the
ring will send her back to Earth . . . to the place of your choosing . . .
without the help of Egg.”

“What good is that?”

“I believe it means that if your
Feminion gets into trouble, she’ll be able to escape at the push of a button.”

“Escape to where exactly?” asked
Sylvia.

Dazzle thought about that for a moment
and said “May I suggest the attic.”
She of course was referring to the original home of the Hameggattic Sisterhood
in Sylvia’s attic.

“Grammy?” Both girls looked at the
older woman.

“If the Princess can do it . . . then
I would be happy for my granddaughter to have her very bright, and I might add
very pretty, Feminion accompany her on her quest.

Both girls squealed in delight, jumped
up, and hugged their grandmother.

“Thank you, Dazzle. And, Grammy, I’m
so sorry I was rude.”

“Apology accepted, sweetheart. Don’t
give it another thought.” Turning to Dazzle she asked, “How long will it take
you to do whatever it is you need to do?”

“I cannot say. I will work as quickly
as I can. However, I must take the ring back to Aerianna.”

“I have to give up my ring? Won’t I
forget everything about . . . everything?” When Sylvia was made Feminion, it
was on the agreement that she always wear the ring that Egg had made for her.
If she should take it off, she would lose her memory of everything concerning
Flying Girl and her quest.

“I am sorry, Feminion.
There is no other way.”

Trying unsuccessfully to
hold back her tears, Sylvia slipped off the ring and handed it to her best
friend. In one hour, all of her memories would be lost . . . until she got her
ring back.

“Grammy, please take me home. And,
Dazzle . . . hurry.”

*****

They were back at Grammy’s because Egg
asked if she could spend the night. It was late afternoon and time to start
thinking about dinner. Normally she would make Egg her favorite meal . . . hot
dogs. But tonight, she felt like cooking something more elaborate.

So into a big pot she put carrots,
potatoes, onions, and meat. Egg added some salt and pepper and a touch of
garlic. On went the cover and in about an hour they would have a delicious
stew.

To pass the time they played gin rummy
and talked about Aerianna and the Sisters and the quest and poor Sylvia. But
what Egg really wanted to talk about was jell-o.

“Grammy, did you ever feel like
jell-o?”

“I’m sorry dear . . . did you say Jell-O?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m not quite sure what you mean.”

“When I saw that Mo’beye guy and when
I heard you were captured, I felt like jell-o.”

Now Grammy understood. “Are you saying
you felt weak in the knees? Like your legs were made of jello and you might
fall down?”

“How come you always understand me?”

“I believe you once said we shared the
same brain . . . only in different bodies.”

“You remembered. Well, I think it’s
true, don’t you?”

“Absolutely, sweetheart. I have no
doubt.”

“So did you ever feel that way?”

“Every time I’m scared.”

“Were you scared when the Mo’beye
captured you?”

“I was very, very scared when he tried
to capture Sylvia and Sassi. And when I woke up in that house, I was scared
because I didn’t know if they had gotten away. And, yes, I was scared for
myself.”

“What do you do when you’re scared?”

“Do you really mean ‘What do YOU’ do when
you find yourself scared?”

“Dragons and Myst Trees and Mo’beyes
and Mobius and . . . and . . . all of that stuff scares me.”

“You didn’t say serpents. How come?”

“They don’t scare me.”

“But they did before you met one, didn’t they?”

“Well, maybe just a little.”

“Maybe a lot?”

“Maybe a lot” she answered with a
grin.

“So . . . how did you feel before you
met one?”

“When I was flying into Nau’tika I was
frightened and I kept looking for Sylvia’s hand to hold. But she wasn’t with
me.”

“What exactly were you frightened of?”

“Ummm . . .” Egg was trying to
remember. “Well, I was afraid that they would be so scary looking that I
wouldn’t be able to talk to them.”

“I think most people would have felt
the same way. We don’t have sea serpents on earth and they are a lot different
from you and me. What changed your mind about them?”

“S’eeee-sik was the first
one I met and she was pretty silly looking and very polite.”

“What about the time you met that
dragon?”

“He was ugly and loud and
rude. If Sylvia wasn’t holding me up, I would’ve fallen down.”

“And when you heard I was captured?”

“I was scared that they would hurt
you.”

“What did you do in each instance?”

“Ummm . . . I’m not sure exactly.”

“I am. You did what needed to be done.
You asked the dragon about Storm, you talked to the serpent and ended up with
two new sisters and you came and found me. And rescued me, I might add.”

“I did, didn’t I,” said the girl
smiling at her own bravery.

“Yes, you did. And why? Because even
though you felt fear, you didn’t let it stop you. Sometimes the only way to
take control over our fears is to face them head-on through actions. And that’s
what you did.”

Egg gave this all a lot of thought
then said, “So, everyone has fears. As long as you don’t let them stop you from
doing what you need to do, it’s okay to be afraid.”

“Very, very good. And if you admit to
yourself that you have a fear, you can try to figure out why. If you can’t do
it by yourself, then you can ask someone you trust.”

“Like you and Dazzle and Sylvia.”

“Exactly.”

Chapter 4 – Dangerous Curves

A couple of days later, the phone rang
and Egg answered it. “Hello.”

“It’s me.

“Morning. What’s going on?”

“I’m so excited that I could hardly
sleep last night. I’ve been up for hours. My mom threatened to lock me in my
room if I didn’t calm down. So . . . what are you going to wear?”

“What are you talking about?” Egg
hadn’t seen her best friend since they returned from Aerianna a few days
earlier. Sylvia’s ring was still on her right hand where she had put it for
safekeeping . . . impatiently waiting to get back to the other world so Dazzle
could fix it. But obviously, Sylvia was talking about something else.

“Oh, really, Egg. Sometimes your sense
of humor is . . . out of this world.”

Egg still didn’t know what her friend
was talking about until she happened to glance at the calendar on her desk. “OH
. . . the concert.”

“Like you really forgot.”

Egg really had forgotten.
She walked over to her CD holder and picked out her newest addition.

“It slipped my mind just for a minute.
Anyway, what are you wearing?”

“I thought I’d wear the
jeans-skirt . . . the one with the pink ruffles. And I’ll wear one of my
Fandango Sally Tank tops. You know . . . the dark pink one.

What do you think?”

“Oh, that’ll be perfect. You’ll look so
cute.”

“Too bad Zack won’t see me.”

“SYLVIA!”

“Just kidding,” which of course she
wasn’t. “What about you?”

“Umm . . . how about my
bell bottom jeans? And I’ll wear my pink top with the flower. You don’t think
it will be too lame if we both wore pink, do you?”

“No. I think being color
co-coordinated with your best friend is simply the height of good fashion,” and
she giggled at her own goofiness.

“Be sure to wear your pink
tennis shoes.”

“Well, of course, silly. And you wear
yours, too. What time are you guys picking me up?”

“Ashley said she wanted to take us to
dinner first; you know . . . a girls night out. Anyway, she said to be ready by
five.”

“Ha . . . I’m ready now.”

*****

Not ten minutes after they hung up,
Sylvia called back. “Oh Egg, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m soooooo
sorry.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I lost your ring . . . the one you
gave me at camp. I was about to try on some jewelry for tonight when I realized
the ring was missing. I looked all over my room but I can’t find it.” Sylvia
was starting to cry. “I promised you I’d never take it off, and I didn’t . . .
so it must have fallen off . . . maybe it’s in the bathroom and fell off in the
tub . . . or maybe when I washed my hands it fell off and went down the drain
or . . . ” Obviously, Sylvia was so upset that she didn’t realize that she was
rambling on.

“SYL,” yelled Egg to get her
friend’s attention. “You didn’t lose it.”

“What do you mean . . . ?”

“I have it. You gave it to me.”

“I did?” Of course, she didn’t
remember doing it . . . or anything about her adventures with Flying Girl.

“Yes. I have it right here.”

“Why did I give it back?” She was very
confused.

“Ummm . . .,” naturally Egg couldn’t
tell her the real reason, “so I could make it a little nicer. There’s a sharp
pointy thing sticking out and we . . . I mean, you . . . could cut yourself. So
I said I would have my dad fix it.”

“Gee . . . I don’t remember any of
that. Isn’t that too weird?”

“Ah, you were probably so excited
about the concert that it slipped your mind.”

“I guess,” but she wasn’t entirely
convinced. “Did your dad fix it? Can I get it back tonight?”

“Ummm . . . no, sorry. He said it
would take a few more days.”

“Oh,” replied a distinctly unhappy
Sylvia. “Well, I guess that’s okay.”

“Hey, at least you didn’t lose it.”

That made Sylvia smile. “Oh, thank
goodness for that. I would never have forgiven myself. Anyway, I’ll see you
tonight.”

“Bye.”

Egg hung up the phone and immediately
took the ring off. She locked it in the little wooden chest, which she had once
used to store her flying suit. She promised herself that tonight she would talk
to Dazzle and find out when they could return to Aerianna to fix the ring.

*****

“Oh my gosh.”

“What’s wrong, little sis?”

“You look . . . amazing. I just love
you as a blond.”

“Well, thank you. You don’t look so
bad yourself. Ready to have a little fun?”

“Absolutely. And thank you for taking
us to the concert. Mom would have hated it.”

“No problemo. So . . . I got the
tickets, now let’s go get your best friend. Did you call to make sure she was
ready?”

“She’s been ready since seven o’clock
this morning.”

“I bet she has.”

So the sisters said goodnight to their
parents, got into Ashley’s mini coupe and made their way to Sylvia’s house.
They pulled into the driveway and honked. A moment later Syl came out the front
door, yelled goodnight to her mother and ran to the car.

“Oh, thank goodness” Sylvia sighed
with relief. “If I had to wait for one more minute, I would have exploded.”

“Nice to see you, too.” Ashley made
sure that the girls had their seat belts on then she backed out the driveway
and headed for the restaurant.

“Hey, you two look awesome. Ashley, I
love your hair.”

“Thanks. You’re looking pretty foxy
yourself. Ready to break some hearts?”

“Absolutely.”

“Yuk.”

“Come on little Sis . . . I hear you
got a thing for Grammy’s new neighbor. What’s his name . . . Geek?”

“NO,” she said a little too loudly, “.
. . it’s Zeke.” Ashley and Sylvia grinned and Egg started to blush. “And
anyway, I don’t have a thing for him. But Syl has one for Zack . . . don’t
you?”

“I’ve known worse boys,” she answered
pretending to be a lot more mature than she really was. “Ashley, how old were
you when you started to like boys?”

“About your age. His name was . . .
umm . . . oh yeah, Screech.”

“What kind of name is that?”

“It was his nickname. I don’t remember
his real name.”

“Well . . .,” said her impatient
little sister.

“Well, what?”

“Well, how did you meet? And what
happened to him?”

“We met at a Halloween party. I was
dressed as a princess and he was an evil something-or-other. I was with a
couple of other girls and he was with a friend. We all started to talk about I
don’t remember what. Then everyone else drifted away leaving just the two of
us.”

“Was that weird?”

“It should have been. But we started
talking about something that we were both interested in . . . and before I knew
it, I was in love.”

“How long did it last?”

“Six days. He moved away the next
weekend. Took my heart with him.”

Ashley gave a pretend moan and the two
girls giggled.

“I don’t know about you two, but all
this talk of love and boys makes me hungry.”

“Everything makes you hungry,” replied
Egg. “You eat like a boy.”

“Where are we going for dinner?” asked
Sylvia ignoring her friend.

“The Mad Cow.”

“Isn’t that a disease or something?”

“It’s the name of that old
fashion diner up on Switchback Road. They have the world’s greatest
cheeseburgers and fries. And the concert is only a few miles from there.”

So the girls settled back and enjoyed
the scenery and some more small talk. About twenty minutes later, they arrived
at the diner. By this time, all the talk of food had made everyone hungry.

*****

They enjoyed the burgers
and fries . . . but if truth be told, a cheeseburger is just a cheeseburger.
However, what really got the two younger girls excited was the tabletop
jukebox. They had never seen one before . . .

There were pages of songs that you
could flip through until you found the ones you liked. Then you put in a
quarter and chose four by pressing the buttons that corresponded to the code
for each one. So, the first time they chose B12 for “I’m a believer” by
somebody called the Monkeys, A1 for “Running Bear” by Johnny Preston and
F10 for “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Brian
Hyland and D2 “Hit the Road, Jack” by Ray Charles.

“How come there are no songs by
Fandango Sally?” asked a disappointed Egg.

“Cause these are all from the 1960’s .
. . just like this diner.”

“I think they’re kinda cool. Can we
play the Bikini song again?”

“Sorry, Syl . . . but we’re running
late. We gotta hit the road.”

As they made their way back to the
car, they sang the refrain from D2 . . . but changed the name from Jack to Zack.
”Hit the road, Zack . . . and don’t you come back no more, no more, no more, no
more. Just hit the road Zack and don’t you come back no more.”

They giggled and laughed
and jumped back in the car, and started to sing F10 . . . at least as much of
it as they could remember.

One, two, three, four, tell the people what she wore

It was an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini

That she wore for the first time today.

An itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini

So in the locker she wanted to stay

Two, three, four, stick
around we'll tell you more.

She was afraid to come out in the open

And so a blanket around her she wore

She was afraid to come out in the open

And so she sat bundled up on the shore

Two, three, four, tell the people what she wore

An itsy bitsy teenie
weenie yellow polka-dot bikini

From the locker to the blanket

From the blanket to the shore

From the shore to the water

Yes, there isn't any more.

*****

Ashley made it to the
outdoor amphitheater with minutes to spare. They parked the car, ran to the
front gate, showed their tickets, walked past some giant Fandango Sally posters
. . .

. . .  and found their seats. They
were about half way back from the stage, but right in the middle. Since this
was the first concert Egg and Sylvia had ever been to, it was incredibly
thrilling. The crowd was buzzing and the lights were blazing. Then the
announcer came out and everyone became very quiet . . .

“Good evening ladies . . .
and the five boys I see hiding over in the corner . . .” Everyone laughed.
“Mountain Shadows Amphitheater is proud to present the mid-summer concert of Fandango SALLY.” With that, the
curtain pulled back exposing the stage and the all-girl band. The crowd went
nuts, the band members waved and the music began.

They started off with some of their
older hits including “We Can,” “Don’t mess with my Sister, Mister” and “Best
Friend.” It was this last song that eventually got Ham and Egg back together
after they had broken up earlier in the summer. When the song started, the two
girls squeezed each other’s hands.

The music was very loud even though
they were outdoors. The girls could actually feel the sound as well as hear it.
It made their bones vibrate and gave them goose bumps. And there was such
electricity in the air with all the cheering and singing and screaming. To top
it off, the lightshow behind the band was awesome and really added to the
experience.

“Well, little sis, what do you think?”

“Oh my gosh, Ashley, this is too
amazing for words.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything
more exciting,” added Sylvia. Egg turned to her friend and just smiled.

“What are you smiling at?”

“Nothing,” but she kept smiling.

But before they could say
anything else, the band got their attention when they started to sing one of
their new songs called “Girls Love to Shop.”

Girls love to shop
and you can’t make us stop

It’s in our blood, and in our brains

From very young, our mothers
train

Us to shop, we love to shop, and we’eee will
hop

From store to store and mall to mall

To find young petite or Long
& Tall

Cause we’eee love to shop, girls love to shop.

Newest fashions, retro hip, Too Tight jeans with saucy
rip

Funky fads or runway sheik,
Haute couture is what we seek

Cause, Girls love to shop and you can’t make us
stop

Shoes and tops, purses and gold,

Belts and pants, and truth be told

If you have no money, never fear,

There’s always Kmart,
Penny’s & Sears

Cause, we’eee love to shop and you can’t make
us stop

But if daddy gives you money to spend,

The sky’s the limit, and I’m your friend

We’ll shop till we drop, so why pretend,

That what we buy matters in
the end

Cause, Girls love to shop and you can’t make us
stop

They sang another two dozen songs then
waved goodbye and left the stage. None of the audience had any intention of
letting them leave and kept clapping and yelling until the band came back for
an encore. And they chose well . . . it was their latest hit song “Dangerous
Curves.”

We got
dangerous curves and a sassy pout

We’re all
grow’d up, there ain’t no doubt

We got looks
and brains, wit and style

Watch out
boys, there ain’t no denial

Left
Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, My Turn

We get what
we want, and want what we get

We’re happy
to have it and have no regret

So keep your
eyes on the road and hands on the wheel

We’ve got
dangerous curves and they’re for real

Left Turn, Right Turn,
U-Turn, My Turn

Heed the
warnings and take them to heart

Dangerous
curves can tear you apart

We may be
ladies but don’t make the mistake

To take us
for granted, you slithering snake

Left Turn, Right Turn,
U-Turn, My Turn

Watch what
you do and watch what you say

Show us
respect, or we’ll make you pay

Cause no one
can take a dangerous curve

Without our
help and a lot of nerve.

*****

They made it back to their car just as
it started to rain . . . and rain heavily.

“Well that’s pretty good timing. Egg,
use my cell phone and call Mom and let her know we’re on our way.”

Ashley pulled out of the parking space
and into the long line that was slowly snaking its way to the exit. The wipers
were slapping the windshield as fast as they could but the rain was falling so
hard it was still difficult to see.

“Mom said to drive carefully. She says
it’s going to rain.” Egg giggled but Sylvia didn’t think it was all that funny.
In fact, she was a little frightened by the downpour.

“Thanks Mom,” said her older sister
with just a hint of sarcasm. “Sit back girls; this is going be a very slow ride
home. Be sure your seat belts are on.”

*****

About forty-five minutes
later, they were on a very dark and winding road. They kept passing a strangely
familiar road sign…

“What do those squiggly arrow signs
mean?”

“Just like the song . . . Dangerous
Curves.”

“We didn’t see them on the way up
here.”

“Yeah, I think I made a wrong turn.”

“Shouldn’t you turn around?”

“I will as soon as I find a safe place
to do it.”

The rain was still coming down hard
and now the wind was blowing it almost sideways. You could hardly see ten feet
in front of you. All three girls were very, very quiet — Ashley concentrating
on driving, the two younger girls because they were terribly scared.

“What a lousy way to end a great
night,” Ashley voiced the thought on their minds. A moment later, she said,
“Oh, good, here’s a turnout,” and she pulled the car off the road and on to the
wide shoulder. She looked both ways to be sure no cars were coming and started
to turn around.

But nothing happened. The tires were
spinning and making a weird whining sound, but the car wasn’t moving. “What’s
wrong?” asked Sylvia.

“Rats and double rats. We’re stuck in
the mud. Hang on . . . I’m going to rock the car back and forth.” So Ashley put
the car in drive then into reverse and kept repeating the process. And on the
fifth try, the car lunged forward and out of the mud.

The girls cheered . . . then screamed
as the car flew across the road and over the edge on the other side. It
careened down a long slope and into the very dark woods.

Chapter 5 - Go Fly a Kite

The car bounced over rocks and logs
and knocked down a bunch of defenseless baby saplings. Branches of larger trees
scratched against the windows . . . their little green leaf-hands trying in
vain to slap the rude intruders. Miraculously the car avoided hitting anything
very large. It took most of forever, but it finally came to a jarring stop in a
little stream at the bottom of the ravine. Well . . . it was usually a little
stream but all the rain had turned it from a lazy trickle to a swollen torrent.

At first, it was deathly silent inside
the car as the girls sat there in shock. Then Sylvia started to scream and cry.
She was tired and her nerves were already on edge from the heavy rain and poor
visibility. The suddenness of the accident was just too much for her.

Egg regained her composure and turned
to her friend to see if she was injured. A quick glance told her that there was
no blood or broken bones. She undid her seat belt and leaned over the front
seat to check on her sister who was strangely quiet. Again, she saw no obvious
injuries . . . apparently Ashley had just fainted.

Without thinking, she said, “Ring,
tend to my suit,” and in a flash she was wearing her Flying Girl outfit. She
touched the bracelet to make sure it was on her right wrist, then put her hands
on Sylvia’s head and said, “Be calm, my friend, and sleep. Close your eyes
until I tell you to awake. When you do, you will have no memory of the
accident.” Immediately, Syl went quiet . . . she had fallen asleep.

Egg then did the same to her sister .
. . first making sure that she had no hidden injuries. She got out of the car,
slipped her ring from her left hand to the right one and walked into the
stream. Putting her hands on the front bumper, she slowly pushed the car back
up the hill and onto the road. She made sure it was pointing in the right
direction, then she got back in. “Sisters, in ten seconds you shall re-awake.”
Then she changed back to her own clothes, put her seatbelt back on and silently
counted to ten.

Right on cue, the two girls woke up.
For a moment, they were disoriented . . . like when you wake up from a nap and
can’t quite remember where you are.

“Hey, it worked . . . we’re free of
the mud. But the stupid engine’s stalled.” Ashley reached for the key,
restarted the car, and began to drive off.

Sylvia was looking out the window
towards the woods because it reminded her of something . . . but whatever it
was she had forgotten. “How much longer do you think?” she asked Ashley. “I’m
really tired.”

“The rain is beginning to let up and
there’s the turn that I missed. We should be home in about twenty minutes.”

“Great. I’ve had about all the
excitement I can handle for one day.”

*****

That night in bed, Egg called the
princess.

“Dazzle.”

“I am here.”

“When can we go back to Aerianna? I
really need to get the ring fixed so I can get my Feminion back.”

“I understand your
desire to have Sylvia regain the knowledge of Flying Girl and the Quest. But
the more we return to my home, the greater the chance that we will encounter
Mobius or his evil cohorts. We will wait for you to dream again. When you are
ready to recruit the last two Sisters, then we shall fly to Aerianna.”

“Oh . . . I guess you’re right,” said
a disappointed Egg.

“It is not what you
wished to hear. I am sorry.”

“That’s okay. I’m just being selfish.
Anyway, I’m so tired that I’ll probably be asleep in a minute. Maybe I’ll have
one of those dreams tonight.” Egg yawned deeply. “Goodnight, Dazzle.”

“Goodnight, my sister.”

*****

Egg would have slept even later then
she had . . . but the ringing of the telephone woke her. She sat up, covered
her face with her hands to block out the sunlight streaming in through the
window and tried to recall her dreams from last night.

“Oh, please, please . . .,” she begged
her brain. But if there was a dream stuck in her mind, it had no intention of
coming out. “Oh, darn it,” she complained to herself.

There was a knock on the door and Egg
heard her mother say, “Sweetheart, are you up? Grammy’s on the phone.”

“Thank you,” she yelled back. Dragging
herself out of bed, she went to the phone and said, “Morning, Grammy.”

“Good morning, dear one. I hope I
didn’t wake you.”

“Oh, no . . . I was just about to get
up anyway.” Sometimes a little white lie is just the right thing to say.

“Zelda and the boys are going to the
park to fly some kites that they made and they wanted to know if you and Sylvia
would like to join them. What do you think?”

Egg was shocked . . . because the
invitation made her feel good. ‘Isn’t that just too weird?’ she thought to
herself. She forced the smile from her face so Grammy wouldn’t see it in her
voice and asked, “You’re going to be there, right?”

“Of course.”

“Well . . .,” she pretended like she
was trying to make up her mind, “I guess that would be okay. I’ll call Syl and
then call you right back.”

Grammy smiled at the phone. It was so
much fun to watch her precious granddaughter start to mature. And her
acceptance of Zeke and his brother as friends was a big step in that process.
“I’ll wait for your call, dear.”

So Egg hung up the phone, and then
dialed her friend. “Morning Mrs. Hampton, may I speak with Sylvia.”

“Of course, Egg. Hang on a second.”
Mrs. Hampton gave the phone to her daughter.

“Good morning. I had such a wonderful
time at the concert. Didn’t you? I can’t imagine anything being more fun.”

“I can.”

“Like what?”

“How about flying a kite?”

Sylvia laughed, “Egg . . . you really
are just too weird. Why would I want to fly a kite instead of going to a
Fandango Sally concert with you and Ashley?”

“Cause Zack invited you.” Egg was
grinning from ear to ear.

“REALLY and TRULY?” But before her
friend could answer, she decided it wasn’t true. “Egg, don’t you dare tease me
like that.”

“Oh, well . . . if you don’t want to
go, I’ll call Grammy and tell her we can’t make it.”

“You’re not teasing me? He really did
invite me?”

“Actually the two Z’s invited me and
you.”

There was a pause for about three
heartbeats while Sylvia digested the news. Then, “What should I wear? Do you
think I can wear the same outfit I wore last night?”

“I don’t think a short skirt works
well when you’re flying a kite.”

“OH, rats. I guess you’re right.”
There was another pause while Sylvia reviewed her wardrobe in her mind. “Well,
I have those red shorts. Whatd’ya think?”

“I think a pair of blue jeans would do
nicely,” Egg responded in a very prim voice.

“Ohhh . . . you’re just impossible.”

“ME? I’m not the one who’s going all
gaga over you-know-who.”

“You know something, when we’re
sixteen and we both have boyfriends, I’m going to remind you what a
party-pooper you used to be.”

Egg laughed. “Well, that’s only fair.
I’ll make a note in my diary to remind you. So, I guess I can tell Grammy that
you’re available.”

“Ummm . . . I really should check my
social calendar. Let me see. Oh, I did have a tea party scheduled with the
Queen. But, I’ll just call and tell her I couldn’t possibly disappoint my best
friend.” They both laughed.

*****

They planned to meet at
the park in front of a statue of The Avenging Angel. It was one of those things
that had been there forever and nobody ever took notice of it any more. But if
you did, you might be impressed by its size and beauty.

“There they are,” squealed Sylvia. She
started to wave and was about to run towards them when Egg grabbed her arm.
“Hey” she said annoyed.

“Don’t you dare run over there.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not right . . . right Grammy?”

“Well, in my day, a lady would never
show that she was too eager to meet a young man.”

“See?” said a very satisfied Egg.

“But now-a-days,” Grammy added, “such
enthusiasm seems to be more acceptable.”

“See,” said Sylvia triumphantly . . .
but she stayed by her friend’s side anyway.

They picked up their pace to a
ladylike and dignified fast walk and were soon where they wanted to be.

“Hello, ladies,” said the always
excited Mrs. Z. “I’m so glad you could make it. It’s such a wonderful day for
kite flying and my sons are eager to show off their handiwork.”

“Aw, Mom” said an embarrassed Zeke.

“That’s okay, Zeke. My mom is always
saying things that embarrass me.” Egg felt sorry for the boy.

Since the twins were wearing exactly
the same clothes, there should have been no way for Egg to know which one was
which. Strangely enough, none of the kids realized what she had just done. But
Mrs. Z looked at Grammy and smiled. The other woman put her hand over her mouth
so she wouldn’t laugh or say something that would embarrass her granddaughter.

“Well, don’t just stand there like
that statue behind us . . . show your guests the kites.” Even though the boys really
liked the girls, they were just as shy as Egg and Sylvia. Getting the
conversation started was always the hard part. Once the ice was broken, they
could calm down, relax and just be themselves.

“Here’s mine,” said Zack.
He held it up for everyone to see.

The girls looked at it and hid their
disappointment. It didn’t look like much.

“It’s very nice,” lied Sylvia as
convincingly as she could.

“Thanks. I know it doesn’t look like
much . . . it’s a simple design but really maneuverable. I’ll show you what I
mean when I fight my brother.”

“Why are you going to fight your
brother?” said a slightly horrified Ham.

All three Z’s laughed. “Not with my
fists . . . though I could since he’s such a wimp.” Zeke responded to that with
a playful punch to his brother’s shoulder. “Just kidding . . . anyway we fight
with the kites. The one who can cut the other’s string wins.”

“That sounds exciting.” Sylvia’s high
regard for Zack was back in full force.

“It’s still a stupid
design,” kidded Zeke. “Now this is what a fighting kite should look like . . .”
and he held up his creation.

“Wow,” said Egg. “Now that is really
too cool. What’s it supposed to be . . . a bat?”

The boys laughed and Egg blushed.
“It’s a dragon,” said Zeke trying hard not to add “you silly girl”.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, dear” said Mrs.
Z. “I think it does look more like a bat. Besides, who ever heard of a red
dragon . . . other than in fairy tales?”

“I’ve met one.”

Everyone turned and stared. Egg
couldn’t believe what she had just said. "How stupid can I be?" she
thought to herself.

“You met a red dragon? Where?”
demanded Zeke.

“My granddaughter is referring to a
float that she saw in a parade. It was a huge red dragon made from roses.” Egg
looked at her grandmother with a sigh of relief.

“Oh,” was all that the boy could
muster in response.

“Okay, you two. The wind is just
right. Why don’t you launch those things and may the best man win.”

“Good luck, Zeke.” Egg smiled shyly at
the boy.

“Zack, my money is on you . . . if I
had money.” Sylvia wasn’t so shy.

So the boys picked up their kites and
ran into the wind. The kites caught the breeze and started to rise. When they
got to about seventy-five feet, it was time to fight. Zack’s strange looking
kite swooped down and attacked the red dragon.

“LOOK OUT,” yelled Egg.

“Not to worry,” said a very confident
Zeke. Just before the other kite struck, he let out some more string and it
flew out of reach. “Maneuverable, maybe . . . slow, definitely,” he yelled
teasingly at his brother.

“Come on Zack. Don’t let that stupid
bat beat you.” Sylvia was so excited that she was clapping and jumping.

“I was just giving him a chance to
show off for Egg. Now watch how a real master handles his kite.”

The two kites attacked each other head
on. Then they did a kind of dance . . . one circling the other. As they did,
they began to get closer and closer until it became a blur of red on red.

The girls were screaming excitedly . .
. each encouraging one boy or the other. Then suddenly Zack’s kite began to
drift away.

“YEAH,” yelled
Sylvia thinking that Zack had won. Then she stopped as the kite slowly began to
fall to earth. A last gust of wind caught it and drove it right into the
outstretched wings of the Angel statue.

“Oh, rats . . . I thought you won.”

The kite fell off the statue and
settled to the ground. Zack ran to retrieve it and Sylvia followed to offer her
condolences.

“Great job,” Egg told Zeke.

“Thanks.” The boy slowly
reeled in his kite and when it got close to the ground, Egg grabbed it. As she
held it up, she happened to glance through the red paper and at the statue . .
.

. . . and it made everything look like
it was ablaze with fire.

“Oh my gosh . . . that’s too cool.”

“What is?”

“The way everything looks through the
kite.”

“Yeah . . . all fiery-like.”

“Exactly.”

“Hey, bro . . . I claim a rematch,”
Zack yelled out.

“Glutton for punishment. What do think
Egg . . . should I give him a second chance?”

Egg smiled . . . and just nodded.

*****

That night she dreamt. There was a
flying dragon, an angel who seemed to be breathing fire and behind her, the sky
was all ablaze in brilliant red.

When she woke up . . . she remembered
every last detail.

*****

The next morning Egg summoned Dazzle
and described her dream.

“What do you think?”

“I
believe that you will find the last two sisters in Fire’s Breath.” Dazzle showed Egg a mental picture.

“Oh my gosh . . . That’s a dragon
town, right? But why there?”

“The kite that made the
statue look like it was breathing fire was obviously telling you that this is
the place you need to visit.”

“What about the rest?”

“Egg . . . your dreams
are truly amazing. They give so much more detail than anything we on Aerianna
ever encounter. I believe one of your sisters will be named for an Angel and
the other for Fire.”

“Really? Why?”

“The sky was ablaze . .
. as you described it . . . when seen through the kite. And you were looking at
the statue of the Angel when you did it.”

“I just love this dream stuff. Well .
. . when should we go to Aerianna?”

“As soon as you can make
arrangements to leave.”

Chapter 6 - Oops, I Did It Again

“Hey . . . watch it.”

“Sorry.”

“You’re always saying
sorry. Why don’t you go see a doctor and get that stupid problem fixed before
you fry somebody?”

“I did see the doctor. She
said I just have too much gas and I should change my diet. But I hate eating
meat.”

“Who ever heard of a
vegetarian dragon?”

Poor Bl’azzz. She was such
a nice dragon . . . full of life and laughter. But she had almost no friends
because of her problem. Since she only ate vegetables and fruits, she developed
a terrible case of gas . . . so she was continuously burping. Unfortunately,
she was a F’yre Dragon – a relatively rare line of dragons that could breathe
fire. And when she burped . . . the gas ignited into a ball of flame. She just
couldn’t control it. It was so embarrassing . . . and a little dangerous.

“You know what, Bl’azzz;
this just ain’t working for me.”

“What’s not working?”

“Me and you. I’m sorry,
but I just can’t handle your hot breath anymore.”

“Furn’o . . . are you
breaking up with me?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“But I thought . . .”

“Sorry, Bl’azzz. I gotta
go.”

“But . . .”

“See ya,’” and Furn’o
flew off without so much as a look back.

Bl’azzz sat there for a few moments
watching her ex-boyfriend not so slowly disappear over the horizon. When he was
completely gone from sight, she dropped her head and began to cry. The soft
sobbing gave way to great gasps of uncontrollable weeping. She cried so hard it
made her nauseous. Unfortunately, that made her more gaseous and she burped.
The gas ignited into a roar of flame and her tears hissed as they evaporated in
the great heat.

She sat there perched on the park
bench for what seemed like a very long time. A few passers-by would have
offered to help her but the fire from her mouth made that way too dangerous.

Eventually the tears and
the gas subsided. She dried her eyes, licked her somewhat scorched lips, picked
up her Booyah and began to walk down a path that meandered through rows of
hedges and flowers. She put the Booyah to her mouth and began to play a sweet,
sad melody . . . one that fit her mood.

The Booyah was an ancient musical
instrument of the F’yre Dragons. There were three variations – tenor, alto and
base. Bl’azzz could play all three, but her favorite was the Booyah-base.

It was played by blowing fire through
one end. If the round pouch on the bottom was filled with water, the music
sounded something like a teakettle at full boil. If it was played without the
water, the music sounded more like a fire of dry leaves and popping logs.

When she finished her song, Bl’azzz
felt much better. Her music could always cheer her up.
“I guess Mom was right . . . for a change,” she thought. “I am too young
for a boyfriend.”

She knew in her heart of hearts
that she really didn’t love Furn’o. In fact, he was a pretty dull-witted dragon
without any sense of humor or adventure. Like any girl, she didn’t like the
idea that the boy broke up with her. She should have broken up with him weeks
ago but missed her chance. And now he had the nerve to dump her. “Boys” she
thought. “Who needs them anyway?”

What was worse was that she was faced
with the one thing that all teenagers hated – boredom. Now she had nothing to
do and no one to do it with. She had graduated from high school just last month
but had no job. Most of the kids her age had none since there weren’t any to be
had.

What to do . . . what to
do. “I need a great adventure,” she thought. But exactly what that would be, she had no idea.
She put the Booyah back into her mouth and started to play a very lively tune
called Razzle-Dazzle. It was a song about a legendary princess and her valiant,
but ill-fated fight to defeat that stupid Mobius. It was against the law to
play it . . . but she didn’t care. What kind of dumb king would make a dumb law
against playing music? That was just plain dumb.

*****

Meanwhile, back on earth Egg asked her
Grammy to pick her up. She had put Sylvia’s ring back on her hand so that
Dazzle could fix it. When they got to her grandmother’s house, she changed into
Flying Girl and flew to Loch Ness.

*****

“Which way is Fire’s Breath?”

“That
is not our destination. We go to the Sisterhood.”

“Why?”

“So I can instruct Sassi
how to make the needed changes to Sylvia’s ring.”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful. I can’t
wait for her to become my Feminion again. Will it take her long do you think?”

“No. I have the needed
crystal. I believe your sister has the required skills and can easily perform
the change.”

So they flew the now familiar route to
the headquarters of the Hameggattic Sisterhood, landed and entered through the
front door. They looked around but saw no one.

“HELLO,” yelled Egg. “Anybody home?”

They heard footsteps on the stairs
that led to the bedrooms of the second floor and in a moment, Sassi appeared.

“Hi,” said the girl in her
soft voice. “I’m so glad you’re back. I was getting a little bit lonely.”

“Sorry about that. I
finally had the dream about the last two Sisters.”

“That’s great. Will they
be dragons like you thought?”

“Yes. And they live in Fire’s Breath.
We’re going there in just a little bit.”

“Oh,” she responded
disappointedly. “I thought you might stay for a little while. Maybe you could
have lunch before you go. I have been stocking the cupboards with all sorts of
delicious things.”

“Sorry . . . again. But we
really need to find the other two if we can.”

“I understand. By the way,
where is Sylvia?”

“That’s the reason we stopped here
first. Dazzle will explain.”

“Before I do, did you
return to your home and retrieve your tools and supplies?”

“Yes. I did it while my
aunt slept. It was no problem at all.”

“Very good. And have you
made the jewelry as I asked?”

“Yes. Would you like to
see them?”

“Please.”

So Sassi ran back upstairs
and came down with her creation…

“Oh, that’s too cool. A fried Egg with
the Hameggattic SisterHood
initials.”

“Very creative. You have
done well.”

Sassi blushed at the compliments. It
was so very good to be appreciated. “Thank you” she managed to say.

“As to the new project,
Egg’s grandmother has forbidden Sylvia to return to Aerianna unless we can
modify her ring. I have a small supply of Crystals in my bedroom. One of them
needs to be mounted on this ring.” Dazzle
pointed to the ring on Egg’s hand. “The Crystal
will give Sylvia the power to return to Earth instantaneously. If she is ever
in danger and Egg is not around to protect her, she will be safe.”

“Dazzle, can you make it so she could
come back too? You know . . . like after the danger has passed.”

The princess gave that some thought. “Yes, that is possible. Come Sassi and I will show you
what needs to be done. You will also need to etch out a place for the
translation crystal should your Sea Sisters be successful in obtaining one.”

“Oh, I am so forgetful.
K’ssss and Soo’ brought the crystal days ago. I have it upstairs on my work
bench.”

“Very, very good. I will
say it again . . . Egg you have chosen your sisters well. They have already
proven themselves to be brave, resourceful and talented. Come, Sassi, and I
will instruct you on the ring; then Egg and I must visit Fire’s Breath.”

Egg slipped off the ring and handed it
to the other girl. Then she gave her a big hug.
“I’m so glad you’re with us.”

“And I am so glad you
chose me. I have not felt so much a part of a family since I was very young . .
. and those wisps of memories have all but faded.” She returned Egg’s hug.
“And Egg . . . Sister . . . good luck with the dragons.”

*****

As they approached the castle-city,
Dazzle asked Egg, “What is your plan after we
enter the city?”

It drove Egg crazy that the warrior
princess expected her to always have a plan. In truth, she almost never had a
one; she just did what seemed right at the time. Instead of getting irritated,
she gave it some serious thought then said, “Let’s find a park.”

“May I ask why?”

“Well, my whole dream about the kites
and dragons and everything happened at the park. So . . .” she didn’t finish
because she couldn’t.

Dazzle’s only response was to give Egg
directions to the one park that she knew of. As they flew into Fire’s Breath,
the girl was struck by the sheer beauty of this city as compared to Talon’s
Perch. That place had been dark and gloomy while this city seemed to glow.

“Oh, Dazzle . . . what a pretty
place.”

“It has always been
known for its beauty and for its superior places of learning.”

“You mean like schools?”

“Yes. In fact, the park
where we are headed is dedicated to the dragon that is credited with the
founding of their first university. We shall start at his statue.”

They circled the city
until Dazzle got her bearings then headed for the expanse of green that was the
park. They landed in front of a truly gigantic black marble statue of a winged
dragon . . . the famous Aven-Gingangel.

“Wow . . . is that like the weirdest
name you ever heard?”

“He was a remarkable Dragon
and a legendary teacher. My father knew him and held him in very high regard.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“No offense was taken.” She walked over to the statue and
studied it for a moment. Finally, she called Egg over and pointed at the name
inscribed in marble. “What do you see?”

Egg looked and said, “It’s his name .
. . right?”

“Yes. But see what
happens if you make two words from it. Use the first eight letters for the
first word and the last five letters for the second.”

The girl mentally moved the letters
from Aven-GinGanGel to AvenGinG and anGel. “OH MY GOSH” she cried. “It says Avenging
Angel . . . just like the statue in the park back on earth.”

And then she heard it. It had been
there all along, but sometimes you’re so preoccupied with one thing that your
mind doesn’t register it. She was hearing a strange sounding musical
instrument. She listened intently because something about the melody was all
too familiar.

“Oh my gosh,” she cried again. “Do you
hear that song?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a Fandango Sally song.” Dazzle
looked at her quizzically. “No, really. It’s one of my favorites. It’s called
‘We Can.”

Dazzle’s expression turned to
amusement. “I do not believe that your Earth
band has ever played on Aerianna.”

But Egg wasn’t listening to her.
Instead, she ran around the statue and found the source of the music. It was
Bl’azzz. Egg stood there watching the young dragon play her instrument. When
she finished she said, “That was very good. What kind of instrument is that?”

Bl’azzz looked up to see a human girl
talking to her. She couldn’t remember the last time
that happened. “Hi” she said.

“Hi. I was just saying
that I liked your song and was wondering what that instrument is called.”

“It’s called a Booyah-b…”
but she didn’t finish the word ‘base’; instead, she burped and a ball of fire
shot out.

“OW,” screamed Egg . . .
more from fright than from pain. “Why did you do that?”

“Oh . . . oh . . .,”
stammered a very embarrassed dragon. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She was
close to tears.

Egg wasn’t sure what had
just happened or why. But it was obvious the girl (she assumed it was a girl) didn’t do it on purpose. “No
harm, no foul,” she replied, remembering a sports phrase her dad was always
using.

Unfortunately, Bl’azzz had
never heard it before and misunderstood. “Did you say don’t harm a chicken?” A
fowl . . . spelled differently than foul . . . is a chicken.

Now Egg was confused. “Why
would you harm a chicken?”

“I wouldn’t . . . but I
thought that’s what you said.”

“Perhaps you should
start this conversation again,”
suggested Dazzle.

“That’s a good idea,” Egg said aloud
without realizing it.

“What’s a good idea . . .
hurting a chicken?”

“No, no. Look, let’s start
this conversation over. My name is Egg and . . .”

“Egg? Really? No wonder
you didn’t want me to harm a chicken; it might be your mother.” The girl just
loved to joke.

But Egg was in no mood.
Besides, she had heard it all before. “Look, I’m sorry for bothering you. So,
I’ll just leave.” She turned to walk away then stopped. “By the way, what was
the name of that song you were playing?”

“I was just kidding about
your mom being a chicken. And I really didn’t mean to burn you.”

“Sure. It’s okay.” Egg
turned and started to walk away.

“Hey,” yelled Bl’azzz,
“the song is called Razzle-Dazzle.”

Egg stopped dead in her
tracks then turned around. “What?”

“It’s called
Razzle-Dazzle. I’m not supposed to play it. King Dopey said it’s illegal . . .
can you believe that?”

“King Dopey? Oh, you mean
Mobius.”

“Yeah, him.”

“Are there words to it?”

“Sure. I don’t sing very
well but the first part goes . . .

She could, she could . .
. fight, fight, fight

She could, she could . .
. fight, fight, fight

Never-ever let him say,
that she lost, that she lost

She
could, she could . . . fight, fight, fight

Egg was amazed that it sounded so much
like Fandango Sally’s song “We Can.” Then she asked, “It’s about Dazzle
fighting Mobius, right.”

“Yup.”

“Why do you play it . . .
especially if it’s against the law?”

“Cause . . . well, because
. . .,” no one had ever asked her that question before and she had to think
about the answer. “Cause . . . it’s the only way I can fight back.”

“No it’s not.”

“It isn’t?”

“How would you like to join my club?
By the way, what’s your name?”

*****

Back at the Sisterhood, Sassi had
finished modifying Sylvia’s ring. Since she had some time before Egg and Dazzle
would return for dinner, she decided to take the boat into town and get some
freshly baked bread for the meal.

She sailed down the river, went to the
market place and bought two loaves and some sweet pastry. As she walked back to
the dock, she passed by the shed where her father – the pretend Mo’beye –
lived. She hadn’t seen him in awhile, so she stopped in.

Five minutes later Sassi came out . .
. her face was white as chalk. As she ran to the boat, she was crying. It took
her the entire trip home to finally compose herself.

*****

“Sassi, I’d like you to meet our new
Sister. This is Bl’azzz.”

“Hello.” She was trying
very hard to act normally even though she felt sick at heart from the conversation she had
had with her father.

“Hi. Wow . . . nice house
you’ve got here. Is that fresh bread and cheese I smell . . . I’m starved.” The
thought of food made her burp and she nearly burnt down the castle.

“By the way, Bl’azzz has a little gas
problem.”

Chapter 7 - Summa Cum Loudly

Egg was anxious to get home and give
Sylvia her ring back but she had promised Sassi that she’d stay for dinner.
Besides, it would be rude to recruit Bl’azzz and then just leave her. And even
though Sassi did the cooking, Egg was still the hostess. Like it or not . . .
this was her quest and her sisters were here to help her.

“Too bad K’ssss and Soo’ aren’t here.
And Sylvia of course.”

“Are they all as nice as
you two?”

“That was a sweet thing to
say . . . thank you.” Poor Sassi was desperately trying to act normally but she wasn’t too sure she was
succeeding. She wouldn’t . . . couldn’t . . . look at Egg or Dazzle being too
afraid that they might see that something was wrong. Unfortunately she was
right . . . both of the other two noticed but said nothing.

“So you’re the
artist of the group. Did you make that pendant?” Bl’azzz asked while pointing to the necklace around
Sassi’s neck.

Sassi instinctively tried to hide it
with her hand. Realizing it was a little too late for
that, she answered, “No. It was a gift.”

“Well, it’s really very
unusual. What is it?”

“Oh . . . it’s just
something that belonged to a . . . umm . . . family acquaintance.” Changing the
subject, she asked the dragon, “Egg needs to find one more Sister for her
Quest. Do you know any other dragons that might like to help us?” It was the perfect question to divert the
attention away from her and on
to Bl’azzz.

“Great question, Sassi. I should have
asked her that myself. So, Bl’azzz, do you?”

The dragon gave that some
thought. “Well, I don’t really have too many friends because of my . . . you
know . . . my gas problem. Even the few I have would never dream of actually
fighting Mobius. Sorry.”

Egg was disappointed but
really hadn’t expected that recruiting the last sister would be that easy.

“But come to think of it,
I heard about a sorority that supposedly has a debating club that meets to talk
about ways of fighting Mobius. No one takes them seriously. It’s just a bunch
of silly girls who think they’re so smart that they have all the answers. Even
Mobius ignores them . . . how humiliating is that?”

“What
is their sorority called and where do they meet?”

“Ummm . . . the sorority
is Tora Tora Tora. The debating club has a pretty dumb name. Let me think” and she
paused to give her memory a chance to remember the name. “Oh, yeah it’s called
the Heroines Against Mobius’ Nasty, Evil and Ghastly Government Club. Is that
dumb or what?”

“Where do they meet?” asked Dazzle again.

“I’m pretty sure it’s
Aven-GinGanGel University.”

Now that was an interesting
coincidence thought Egg. “How do we find these girls?”

“Believe it or not, they
actually have a big red sign on their sorority house with the club’s dumb name.
But they couldn’t fit the whole thing so they had to use the abbreviation.”

“What’s the abbreviation?”

“The H.A.M.N.E.G.G. Club.”

“OH MY GOSH!”

“What?”

“Sylvia’s nickname is Ham. Back on
earth we’re known as Ham and Egg.”

“Wow . . . isn’t that too
weird.”

“I believe Egg and I
need to pay a visit to this sorority and their club. Do you know who is in
charge? Who we might speak to?”

“I think their president,
or whatever she’s called, is Aeri’elle.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

“It means Angel of
Aerianna,” said
Dazzle.

“OH MY GOSH!” Egg said yet again.

“Indeed. It is curiouser
and curiouser.”
Dazzle had learned to mimic some of Egg’s favorite sayings.

“Glad I could help,” said
the dragon not really knowing why it helped.

*****

After dinner . . . which Egg ate as
fast as she could without seeming impolite or piggish . . . she helped Sassi
take the dishes to the kitchen. While the other girl washed, she dried.

Sassi seemed so quiet and troubled
that Egg just had to ask, “Something’s bothering you. Would you like to talk
about it?”

“Oh, thank you, no. It’s
nothing really.”

“You were awfully quiet at dinner.”
Sometimes people say they don’t want to talk but they really do. You just have
to ask the right question.

“Ummm . . .,” Sassi didn’t
know what to say; she couldn’t possibly tell Egg what had happened with her
father. “I’m sorry but I can’t talk about it just yet.”

“I understand. When you’re ready, just
let me know. Promise?”

Sassi’s eyes started to tear up. What
was she going to do? She gave Egg a little smile and just nodded yes. She
couldn’t say anything without breaking down and crying.

Egg gave her sister a comforting hug.
Then she quickly put her hands on the girl’s head and said, “Be not sad. Forget that which has caused you this
unhappiness until such time as you can put to rights that which is now wrong.”

Immediately the expression on Sassi’s
face changed and whatever sadness had been bothering her was now forgotten.

What Egg did not know was that this
act of kindness may very well have doomed her quest to failure and end Dazzle’s
thousand-year plan to save her people from the evil that had befallen them.

*****

Egg and Dazzle said their goodbyes to
Bl’azzz and Sassi.

“If K’ssss and Soo’
venture by, thank them for acquiring the crystal and ask them to await our
return.”

“And Bl’azzz, please don’t . . .”

“I know, I know. Don’t
burn down the castle.”

*****

Egg rang the bell to the sorority
house. A moment later a relatively small dragon . . . she was only about six
feet tall . . . opened the door. “Yes?”

“Hi. May I speak with Aeri’elle,
please?”

The young dragon stared at the human
for a couple of seconds before answering. “We don’t
pledge humans.” She said the last word as if it were made of bitter
lemons.

“Pledge? What does that mean?”

The dragon looked at Egg as if she was
incredibly stupid. Then she said, “Are you incredibly
stupid?”

“To pledge is to join
the sorority,” Dazzle
explained to her companion.

“Who would want to join your dumb
sorority?” answered a slightly irritated Egg. “And don’t you dare call me
stupid.”

“Listen human, Aeri’elle
is too busy to talk to the likes of you. Just go away. Skedaddle,” and she started to close the door.

“HEY,” yelled Egg who was now really
and truly irritated. “At least tell her Egg of the famous Ham and Egg of Earth
is here to see her.”

“WHAT?”

“Now who is being incredibly stupid?
Just go tell her.”

The dragon glared at Egg then slammed
the door shut. The noise made the girl jump. “You think I made her mad?” she
asked Dazzle.

“Perhaps a bit more
sweetness might help,”
suggested the Princess.

“But wasn’t she rude?”

“Yes . . . but you
needed her to get to Aeri’elle. On the other hand, there was nothing that you
had that she wanted.”

“You sound like Grammy.”

“Thank you. She has much
she can teach me.”

Egg laughed, “Grammy would be so happy
to hear you say that.”

One minute passed then a second. “I
don’t think she’s coming.”

“Be patient.”

And sure enough, the door
opened and there stood Aeri’elle looking very important but none too happy.

“I am Aeri’elle. To whom
do I have the pleasure of speaking?” The way she said it made it obvious that pleasure had nothing to do
with anything.

“Please to meet you. My name is Egg.”

Aeri’elle peered down and
looked at the little girl with obvious contempt. “So I was told.”

She just wasn’t going to make this
easy on Egg. “I’ve heard that you belong to the H.A.M.N.E.G.G. club.”

Aeri’elle gave a snort,
“On the contrary. I am the founder.”

Egg wanted to say something mean . . .
just to knock a little of the hot air out of this silly dragon but remembered
Dazzle’s advice. Swallowing her pride, she said, “You must be a very special
person to have done that.” She wasn’t sure if you referred to a dragon as a
person.

Aeri’elle was surprised by
the compliment. “Thank you . . . I am.”

Egg had to take a deep
breath to keep from laughing. Some people were so full of themselves it was
laughable. “Well, I’ve come from . . . very far away just to talk to you about
Dazzle.

The dragon looked at her
in disbelief. “Are you referring to Princess Dazzle?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps you haven’t heard
the sad news in as much as you live far away . . . as you say. The Princess no
longer lives.”

“What would you say if I
told you that she does live?”

“I would say that you have
wasted my time as I suspected you would. Good day.” She turned to close the
door.

“I had a dream about you.”
Egg wasn’t sure why she said that . . . but she had to say something.

Aeri’elle turned back to
look at her visitor. “You had a dream . . . about me? I find that difficult to
believe.”

“Why?”

“Humans rarely . . . if
ever . . . dream about dragons or serpents. What was your dream about?”
Aeri’elle’s curiosity was aroused; she was something of an expert on dreams.
Well, at least in her mind she was.

“I dreamt that I would
find a dragon that lived in Fire’s Breath who was named for an Angel.”

“Really?” She continued to
stare at Egg. Then she said, “Is that all?”

“No. I dreamt that this person would
join me and my sisters in a very special quest.”

“A Quest? What Quest?”

“We shouldn’t really talk here. Is
there someplace we could go . . . you know . . . to be alone?”

Aeri’elle was torn. On one hand she
felt any time spent with this . . . this . . . human would not be time well
spent and certainly beneath her dignity. But on the other
hand, she was intrigued that this girl had dreamt about her. “Very well. I can
give you ten minutes of my time. .  . and not a second more. Let’s walk across
the field and towards those trees.” She pointed in the direction she wished to
go.

As much as the Dragon was
torn between talking and not, so too was Egg. If first impressions meant anything,
Aeri’elle was not what she was looking for. She was stuck-up and rude. But her
dreams hadn’t failed her yet . . . so she took a deep breath, put a smile on
her face and began to walk with Miss Know-It-All.

“Well, I’m listening.”

“When you guys talk about
defeating Mobius, did you ever come up with a plan?”

“Yes . . . several.”

“And why haven’t you done anything . .
. if I can ask?”

Aeri’elle hated the idea
of having this discussion with a total stranger . . . and a human at that. But
for some reason that she couldn’t explain, she felt that it was actually the
right thing to do. “We can’t agree on one specific plan. And . . . we can’t
agree who should be our leader.” Then she quickly added, “Of course, I’m the
logical candidate, but . . . there isn’t full concurrence on that. Yet.”

“What do you know about
Dazzle?”

“Please stop referring to
the Princess like that. She is not your personal friend. I mean . . . if she
were alive, that is.”

“Sorry. So what do you
know about her . . . the Princess?”

“What every child on this
planet knows. She was beautiful, intelligent, brave, kind, wise, clever, strong
. . .”

“Please ask her to
stop,” interrupted an embarrassed Dazzle.

“What about at the end . . . when she
was fighting Mobius?”

“You know very well what
happened. That crazy man killed her.” The dragon looked as if she was going to
cry.

“Do you think that Daz . .
. umm . . . the Princess could lose to Mobius?”

“Everyone says that there
was no one in this world that could defeat her.”

“Then why do you think
it?”

“Well . . . because it
happened. He even put her body in that horrible glass coffin.”

“Yes, he did put her body
in there.”

The way Egg said it made
Aeri’elle stop and look at her. She stood there thinking then finally said,
“Are you saying it was just her body . . . not her . . . her . . . her spirit?”

“I am very impressed
with her logic and ability to see that which is not obvious,” said Dazzle. Egg had to agree.

“Why do you want to defeat Mobius?”
asked the girl. The question startled the dragon.

“Because he is evil.”

“In what way?”

“He is not of this world.
He betrayed our King. He sowed mistrust between dragons and serpents and . . .
and . . . humans. He rules for his own pleasure and not for the good of the
people. And he took the Princess from us.”

“Dazzle was never defeated by Mobius.”

“What?”

“She gave up her body so that she
would not have to fight her boyfr . . . her fiancé. Z’kkk was turned into K’aos
but he is still her love.”

“Thank you,” said a misty-eyed Princess.

“IS . . . did you say IS?”

“Yes.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Egg and I am from the
planet Earth. Dazzle . . . your Princess . . . helped create me. Or at least
who I am.”

“I don’t understand?”

“When she knew she was going to have
to fight . . . and maybe kill . . . K’aos, Dazzle refused. She created a
special flying suit made of Serpents Crystals and asked the Myst Tree at
Sighing Whorl to transfer her spirit into it. Then she had friends take the
suit and some of her DNA to Earth. The DNA was given secretly to over a
thousand people in the hope that when their bloodlines came together someone .
. . special . . . would be born. I’m that person.”

“Special . . . in what
way?”

“I’ll answer that in a little bit. But
first let me tell you that I’m on quest to get Dazzle back into her body so that
she . . . we . . . can defeat Mobius. I’ve recruited five others into my . . .
umm, sorority. It’s called the Hameggattic Sisterhood. But before we can start,
I have to get one more Sister. I would like you to help us.”

“Why me?”

“Like I told you before, you were in
my dreams.”

Aeri’elle walked a few feet away,
trying to think and take this all in. She returned
and said, “Are there other dragons in your Sisterhood?”

“Yes, one.”

“And you would be our
leader?”

“Dazzle created me to help her. I’ve
recruited you to help me.”

“You obviously must know
how utterly insane this all sounds?”

Egg giggled. “Oh, absolutely.”

“What do I need to do?”

“Take an oath . . . actually two.”

“Then what?”

“Then you’ll see.”

“See . . . you’re saying
that I will be able to see the Princess, aren’t you?”

“Wow . . . you are really, really
smart. Even Dazzle thinks so.”

“She is here,” it was a statement, not
a question.

So Aeri’elle repeated the oath of the
Hameggattic Sisterhood. Then she put a small pinprick on her clawed foot and
touched it to Egg’s.

“Aeri’elle, I am very
pleased to meet you, and to welcome you to the Sisterhood.”

Aeri’elle stared at the Princess, her
eyes as wide as they could get. Then she knelt down and bowed her head very low
. . . and for once in her life, she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Chapter 8 - Magnificent Seven

Egg and Dazzle took Aeri’elle to the
Sisterhood and introduced her to Sassi and Bl’azzz. But it didn’t go well. When
the F’yre Dragon tried to say “Hello,” it came out “Hello-oops” followed by a
burp and a blaze.

“Ouch . . . you
uncivilized, uncouth, uneducated, unbelievably ugly, ungainly urchin.”

“Sorry,” cried the girl
interrupting Aeri’elle’s very impressive list of “U” words. “I have gas.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“I know,” she said sadly.

“You obviously made a
mistake when you recruited . . . this,” she said to Egg disgustedly while pointing at
Bl’azzz.

“No I didn’t. You’re just going to
have to trust me.”

“Why?”

“Because I also had a dream about
Bl’azzz,” then she added, “and Dazzle approved of my choice.”

“Your majesty . . . please
reconsider. I know a dozen highly intelligent dragons that would love to join
you. Any one of them would be better than . . . her.” She made the last word
sound like yesterday’s garbage.

“Hey, you snotty know-it-all,
rich kid with a giant size ego and big head . . . I said I was sorry. Chill
out, will ‘ya.”

“See. See,” stammered
Aeri’elle. “This . . . this . . . person is simply not the type we need in this
Sisterhood. Princess, I beg you . . . please.”

“I think not. The choice
of Sisters has always been Egg’s to make. She does not need my approval since
she has my complete faith in her ability to choose the best and my absolute
confidence that she and her companions will succeed in their quest.”

“But . . .”

“I have spoken.” Dazzle rarely used her royal tone . .
. but she did so this time. And it meant only one thing – don’t argue with the
Royal Princess.

“Yes, your Highness.”

“Egg and I are returning
to Earth to give her Feminion her ring. Then we shall return as quickly as we
can. In the meantime, I expect Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz to become better
acquainted and to find a way to accept each other. Your lives may depend on it.
More importantly, the lives of every one of my people may depend on it. If you
cannot do it on your own, listen to Sassi. She will act with my authority . . .
so please do as she asks.”

Sassi beamed at the responsibility
entrusted to her. She was her old self again; the problem with her father was
now forgotten ever since Egg had intervened.

“I will see that they
become great friends.”

Aeri’elle looked at the girl and
rolled her eyes. Dazzle chose to ignore the gesture.

“Thank you. Please
remember the great challenges that lie ahead for all of us. Any differences
that you now have . . . and that you cannot reconcile . . . might doom us all
to failure.”

All four girls nodded solemnly.

*****

“Hi, Syl.”

“Where have you been? I called about
fifty times but your grandmother kept saying you were too busy to come to the
phone. What were you doing?”

“Oh, not much. I flew to Aerianna and
recruited two more sisters for the club. Both of them are dragons.”

There was dead silence for about ten
seconds then, “Okay . . . if you’re not going to tell me what you were doing,
it must be for a good reason. Right?”

Egg tried to contain her smile but it
was no use. She giggled and said, “I was telling you the truth.”

“OH EGG,” said an exasperated Ham “you
have simply the weirdest sense of humor on this entire planet. Anyway, did you
want to come over? I’m so bored.”

“How about you come here and we’ll
have a sleepover. Grammy and I will come pick you up.”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes . . . that’s
absolutely perfect. Just hang on and I’ll ask my mom.” Apparently, her mom was
right there because Sylvia was back on the phone in a heartbeat. “Come get me.”

“On our way.”

*****

They made it back to Grammy’s and sat
down at the kitchen table while the older woman made lemonade.

“So . . . tell me what you were doing
that you couldn’t talk to me.”

“I did.”

“You did what?”

“I told you.”

Sylvia tried to remember what her
friend had said. “Oh, Egg . . . stop kidding me. I don’t know what you’re
talking about . . . dragons and Airy Anna or whatever you said.”

Egg wanted to continue her teasing but
Grammy gave her one of those looks. “It’s all true. But . . . why don’t you put
your ring back on first, then we’ll talk about it.”

“MY RING” screamed Sylvia. “Oh, I felt
so lost without it.” She grabbed it from Egg and looked at it. “Hey, what’s
this little crystal thing?’

“I had a friend put it in for you. Do
you like it?”

“Well . . . it’s pretty.” Then she
slipped it on her finger.

Egg and Grammy watched as Sylvia’s
face began to change. It was like a veil being lifted. Her eyes became really
wide and her mouth opened as if she had just seen something wondrous.

“So . . . are you Sylvia or are you my
favorite Feminion?”

“OH MY GOSH!”

“Hey, that’s my line.”

“Oh, Egg, I had completely forgotten
about . . . about . . . everything.” It made her sad that her memory of Flying
Girl and Dazzle and the quest had been lost to her. But now that it was back,
she realized how special it all was. She put her hands to her face and began to
cry.

“Hey . . . why are you crying?”

“Because she realizes that her life
without you and Dazzle is rather ordinary.”

“Is Grammy right?’

“She’s always right,” Sylvia managed
to say.

“Well you’re my Feminion again . . .
and forever.” She reached over and gave her best friend a very warm hug.

“Thank you,” Syl said very quietly,
“for everything.” And then she sat straight up in her chair as she remembered
what Flying Girl had said. “You did it? You found the last two sisters?”

“Yes, she has,” said a newly materialized Dazzle. “Welcome back, Feminion. You have been missed.”

“DAZZLE,” said Syl a little too
loudly. “Oh, you’re still as beautiful as I remembered.”

“Thank you.”

“So tell me about the dragons; what
are they like?”

“How about if I just introduce you to
them and you can ask them?”

“Ask them,” she smiled as she said the
words remembering why Egg had taken her ring in the first place. “I can talk to
Soo’, and K’ssss and Sassi and everybody. Oh Dazzle, thank you. This is going
to be great. I felt so left out before. Now I really am a Sister.”

“You were always a
Sister,” Dazzle said
sincerely. “You also have the power to return to
Earth without Egg’s assistance. Just touch the crystal on your ring and think
of the place you would like to return to. At Egg’s request, you may also return
to Aerianna . . . but only back to the place where you first left.”

“Wow . . . that’s brilliant.”

“So I think we should go back to
Aerianna. It’s time for us seven to get to know each other cause we’re about to
start our quest.” That made Egg both happy and nervous. It’s one thing to talk
about fighting Mobius; it’s quite another thing to actually do it.

Sylvia’s immediate reaction was
exactly like Egg’s. But then she thought of something. “How long will it take?”

“What?”

“The Quest.”

“I don’t know.”

“But how can we stay away from here
for a long time without our parents getting a little suspicious?”

Now that was a very good question.
Sylvia looked at Egg who looked at Dazzle who just shook her head as if to say,
“Don’t ask me.”

After a few nervous moments of utter
silence Dazzle finally said, “Because of the
time dilation between Aerianna and Earth, I should think no more than seven to
ten earth days would suffice. That would be almost a full month on my planet.”

“Time what?” asked Egg.

“Think of it this way.
The clocks on Aerianna run three times faster than on Earth.”

“Oh.”

“School starts in less than three
weeks. So it’s now or who knows when.” Added Sylvia.

“Grammy . . .” If anyone could come up
with an answer, Egg knew she could.

The older Eloise thought about the
problem then smiled. “I have the perfect solution. Your mom and dad will be
celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary next month. I think I’ll give
them their present this weekend . . . plane tickets to Paris for . . . umm,
let’s say two weeks. That’ll give you a little extra time if you need it.”

“Oh, Grammy, that’s perfect.”

“What about me?” asked Sylvia.

“If your mother approves, I think the
three of us will go up to the mountains for a couple of week. Unfortunately the
cabin where we’ll be staying has no phone and because we’ll be in the
mountains, there will be no cell phone service.”

Sylvia grinned. “Grammy, you are the
best.”

“It is settled. We
should fly to Aerianna now so that Egg and Sylvia can meet with their sisters
and make any final preparations. Then we shall return one last time . . . until
you leave on your holiday. ” The
Princess nodded to the older woman as if to say, ‘Well
done’.

“Say hello to Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’
for me,” requested Grammy as she gave each of the girls a hug.

*****

“Hey Ho, Egg Oh.”

“Ala-Kazam Ham,” added K’ssss not to be outdone by Soo’.

“Hi you guys. I’m so glad you two are
back.”

“Wouldn’t miss your
cooking for all the aryas in Q’umulus.”

“Thank you,” said Sassi
with a big smile.

“Hey Soo’, don’t I get a hello?” asked
Sylvia pretending to be hurt.

“Hey . . . you can talk.
That’s monumental.”

“Sylvia, I’m so glad. Now
we can really be friends,” said Sassi as she gave the girl a hug.

“Syl. This is Aeri’elle and that’s
Bl’azzz.”

Both dragons nodded hello while Sylvia
tried her best not to stare.

“I,
too, am pleased to see all of you.” Dazzle had just materialized
from her swirling cloud of fog.

As if on cue, all five girls from
Aerianna bowed their heads at the Princess as was proper.

“Egg, do not let me
interrupt. This is your meeting and these are your Sisters. Please continue.” Egg wasn’t old enough to understand
that it was the Princess’ way of telling everyone that she . . . and not Dazzle
. . . was in charge. But everyone else understood. They all turned to Flying
Girl and waited.

The first thing Egg did was to blush.
All this attention was a bit overwhelming . . . and embarrassing. She glanced
at her Feminion who smiled and nodded encouragement.

“Okeydokey,” she mumbled. “Well, now
that we have Seven Sisters we’re ready to start the Quest. But I think before
we do that we need to do two . . . no three . . . things.”

“First, we should eat the food that
Sassi’s cooked.” Everyone agreed . . . K’ssss and Bl’azzz more enthusiastically
then the others.

“Then we should go around the room and
everyone should tell us something about themselves. We’re really going to need
each other so we just have to become best friends.” Everyone nodded in silent
agreement.

“And then we need a plan.”

“WHAT?” squawked
Aeri’elle. “Are you telling me that there is no plan? What kind of leader are
you?”

“Hey,” yelled Sylvia coming to her
friend’s rescue. “Don’t be so mean . . .”

“Dragons are always mean,”
interrupted Soo’. “But she does have a point.”

“I think we should all
calm down,” said Sassi trying to calm things down.

“Arguing makes me want to
cry,” added K’ssss trying not to cry.

“QUIET,” screamed Bl’azzz
as her breath caught fire and nearly toasted poor Sylvia who wasn’t expecting a fire-breathing dragon.

“YIKES.”

“Sorry about that. I have
gas.”

“You’re disgusting,”
Aeri’elle reminded her.

“I may have gas . . . but
you’re a gas-bag.”

“That’s it. I can’t be
part of this ill-conceived venture with so many disreputable and unqualified .
. .” she searched for a word but could only come up with “. . . characters. I’m
going home.”

“NO YOU’RE NOT.” Egg didn’t mean to yell it . . . it
kind of just came out that way. Everyone stopped bickering and turned to the
girl.

“This is your world . . . not mine and
not Sylvia’s. If we’re willing to risk everything to save it from Mobius, the
least you can do is stop fighting like a bunch of . . . of . . . boys. Are your
really going to turn your back on your own home and on Dazzle just because
you’re selfish? How could you live with yourself if you did that?”

No one said anything while Egg looked
from Sister to Sister. “We are the Hameggattic Sisterhood. And we’re the only
ones that can stop Mobius and bring Dazzle back. I picked each of you because
you were in my dreams. And Dazzle says that dreams are the way the universe
talks to us. I don’t think it was lying to me. Well, at least I hope it
wasn’t.”

When she finished, she was greeted
again by silence. So she added, “If anyone wants to quit, then it’s okay. But
this is the only time I’ll ask. After tonight, you need to honor your pledge.
So, Sylvia . . . are you with me?”

“Of course.”

“Sassi?”

“You are my family. I will
stay.”

“Soo’?”

“I guess I’ll stay. Yeah,
I’m in.”

“K’ssss?”

“Everybody treats me like
I was stupid. Everybody but you. I may not be the sharpest tooth in the clam,
but I’ll stay for as long as you want me.”

“Thank you, K’ssss. I do want you.
Bl’azzz?”

“Miss this great adventure
. . . are you crazy. Me and my hot breath are in.”

Then Egg turned to Aeri’elle. “You
need to do what’s best for you. So don’t let what the other girls . . . the
other Sisters . . . said make you say something that you don’t want to say.”

Aeri’elle looked at Egg
and glanced at Dazzle. “I’m sorry. I wish to stay.”

Dazzle had waited patiently for Egg
and her Sisters to finish. Then she said, “Egg,
you spoke with passion, with compassion and with maturity. I am very proud of
you and am honored to call you sister.” She hesitated a moment
before addressing the others. “Eloise’s words
were very wise . . . with the exception of Sylvia, this is your world. You have
it within your power to save it and be honored for generations to come. But
your success is not guaranteed. Surviving the ordeal is not guaranteed. My
undying appreciation is the only thing that is. Aerianna needs you. You must
put aside your differences and use our common cause to bond into a true
Sisterhood. Can you do this?”

“Yes.”

“Absolutely.”

“Oh Yes.”

“Yes, your Majesty.”

“Sure.”

“Then as Egg suggested
eat, talk and plan.”

So Sassi and Bl’azzz
served the food and while they ate, they each took turns talking about
themselves. Egg started . . .

“I thought I was just an ordinary
nine-year-old girl. Then one day my Grammy gave me a flying suit and jewelry.
They had been in the family like forever. She wore it when she was my age but
then after seven years it ran out of power. She kept it in a trunk for fifty
years then gave it to me. She said I could fly when I wore the suit; but she
didn’t know what the jewelry did. Well, I found out . . . but it was mostly by
accident. While I was doing this, I met Dazzle in my dreams. She said that if I
passed her test, I could help her. Finding out what the jewelry did was the
test . . . so I guess I passed. I asked my best friend (she looked at Sylvia)
to help me and she said she would.”

Then Sylvia continued, “We didn’t
start out as best friends. We met at camp and . . . well . . . Egg didn’t like
me much. But somehow, we became friends then best friends when I moved to her
town. That’s where we started the Hameggattic Sisterhood. A few months later,
we had a bad fight and broke up. Then Egg made me this ring (she held it up for
everyone to see) and when she gave it to me, I became her Feminion. I’m so
happy to be here to help her . . . and all of you. There’s nothing more
important in the whole world . . . well, in your world anyway.”

“I’m just a dragon with
gas. It’s because I refuse to eat meat. I think eating other living creatures
is just wrong. That’s just my opinion and I don’t expect anyone else to do
things my way. Anyway, when I burp it usually turns to flame. So if I toast
you, it’s an accident. The good news is that I can play a mean Booyah-base. And
I take requests.”

“My name is K’ssss and I’m
a sea serpent. (The others tried not to laugh). My parents think I’m pretty
dumb . . . and they may be right. If I was smarter, I would know for sure. I
like seashells because they’re pretty and fun to collect. Oh, and there’s one
thing I’m really good at . . .” she stopped to think but without success. “I
can’t remember right now.”

“That’s okay, you sappy
sea slug. Anyway, my real name is Soo’nami and I sell those silly seashells
that she collects. I use the money to buy . . . well, just to buy. I love to
shop.”

“I lost my parents to
Mobius when I was very young. I just found my father, thanks to Egg. But he’s
still under Mobius’ control. And I don’t know what happened to my mother. I
would do anything to have them back . . . to be a family again. If fighting
that evil man can do that . . . then, if you’ll have me, I’ll do whatever I can
to help.”

Everyone turned to
Aeri’elle and waited . . .

“My name means Angel of
Aerianna. My parents are very influential and I was lucky enough to be brought
up in affluent style. All of my friends have similar backgrounds . . . money,
education, privilege. I have never had the ummm . . .  opportunity of
associating with the likes of you.” Realizing she had just insulted everyone,
she quickly said, “I’m sorry, I meant to say I’ve never had the opportunity to
experience such a diversified assortment of individuals in my sheltered life. I
have always known that Mobius was evil and needed to be overthrown. My friends
and I have discussed this endlessly. And now I have the Sisterhood to help do
what we could not . . . defeat that evil villain.”

Sylvia stood up, raised her glass, and
said, “A toast to the Sisterhood.”

“And to you, my sisters”
added the Princess.

Chapter 9 – Shady Lady

While the girls toasted,
high above in the floating city of Q’umulus, Mobius laughed. “How charming.
Seven little girls who think they can defeat me. Is that not the height of
absurdity?”

“The Princess is with
them,” reminded K’aos who in his former life had been Z’kkk, Dazzle’s fiancé.

“She’s not even real . . .
she’s more like a ghost – all shimmering and pretty” added the Green F’aeri. Before being transformed by Mobius,
she had been Ss’ong, Dazzle’s younger sister.

“Not to worry, my friends.
We shall just sit back and enjoy their little adventure. It should prove most
amusing. And in the end . . . if they survive, which is highly unlikely . . . I
just might make them a gift to you.” Pleased with himself, he laughed again.

*****

Dinner went very well . . . everyone
was talking to everyone else. There were seven conversations, a lot of laughter
and giggles and, of course, silly jokes about boys. When Bl’azzz told the story
about how she had almost cooked her ex-boyfriend Furn’o, the girls roared in
amusement.

“Do you miss him?” asked Sylvia.

“Between us girls . . . I
just hate the fact that he dumped me. I should have set his butt on fire weeks
ago but I didn’t. Now he gets to brag to his friends about how he’s too good
for yours truly. That just frosts me.”

Soo’ nodded in agreement.
“Yeah . . . always do it to them before they do it to you.”

“Do what?” asked K’ssss
who never had a boyfriend and wasn’t quite following the conversation.

“Dump them.”

“Where?”

“Where what?”

“Where would you dump
them?”

“What are you talking
about, you silly, simpering simpleton?”

“I don’t really know,”
replied a very confused serpent.

Dazzle interrupted the conversation to
say “Sisters, I am much heartened by your
behavior at dinner. You are beginning to sound and act like friends. That is
very good. But Egg and Sylvia must be getting back soon and before we go, we
need to make contact with the Shades of Night. So I would like to spend the
rest of our time discussing the Quest.  Egg, please tell us your plan.”

“I thought you didn’t have
a plan,” asked the stuck-up dragon.

“I don’t. Well . . . not really.”

“What does that mean
exactly?” Aeri’elle still had a hard time accepting Egg as their leader.

All the girls had become very quiet
and were looking at Flying Girl. Egg stood up and looked back at them. “Storm .
. . Dazzle’s good friend . . . told us that Mobius keeps Dazzle’s coffin in the
Crystal Mountain.”

“Never heard of it,”
interjected Soo’.

“You have met Storm?”
asked an awed Aeri’elle. “He is a legend among my kind.”

“You must let Egg finish,” said Sassi impatient with the
interruptions.

The two sisters looked at the
green-skinned human and shrugged. They turned back to Egg and waited for her
continue.

“Thanks Sassi. Anyway, Storm didn’t
know where it was either. So we have to find out where it is and how to get
there. Then we have to . . . ummm . . . well, we have to get there.”

K’ssss cleared her throat
to get attention. “Excuse me, Egg. I have a question.”

“What’s that, K’ssss?”

“If nobody knows where it
is . . .  who’s going to tell us?”

“Good question, you
slap-happy sea cucumber.”

“I think I know who can tell us.”
Everyone waited with great curiosity . . . even Dazzle. “We should go talk to
the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl.”

*****

There was an excited buzz among the
Sisters. The Myst Tree held a special place in the hearts of all Aeriannians.
None of the five newest Sisters had ever paid it a visit. In fact, no one they
knew had ever done so.

“Now is not the time,” interrupted Dazzle. “You must first return home so your Grandmother can make
the arrangements we discussed. Once we visit the Tree, your Quest will have
truly begun. There will be no turning back.”

“So we should go home now?”

“We still must make
contact with the Shades of Night and ask their help in acquiring the
communications crystals. What have you decided for the Sign of the Egg?”

“I’ll need Sassi’s help in making the
drawing.” She turned to shy girl and asked, “Do you have some heavy paper we
could use to make a poster. And some crayons?”

“The paper is not a
problem. But what is kray’ons?”

Egg was momentarily confused by the
question until she realized this wasn’t Earth. “Crayons are stick things you
use to draw with. They come in about a billion colors.”

“Oh. No, I have never seen
a kray’ons. But I do have my paints. Will that work?”

“Absolutely.” So she and Sassi found a
quiet corner and Egg described what she wanted. Sassi was very, very good and
it didn’t take her long.

“Is this okay?”

“Oh my gosh . . . it’s
amazing. Syl, you guys, come take a look at Sassi’s poster.”

“So what is it exactly?”
asked Bl’azzz.

“I’m going to hang this on that big
tree in the town square . . ."

“Which tree, which square
and which town?” interrupted Aeri’elle.

“I thought we might as well try the
little town down the river. It’s called . . . ummm” but she couldn’t remember
the strange name.

“Fl’uxx,” said her Feminion.

Egg teasingly gave her one of those
smarty-pants looks. “That’s the one. We had a little adventure there. Sassi
will tell you all about it after we leave.”

“You haven’t answered my
question . . . what is it?”

“It’s an Egg . . . that’s me. It sits
on a Royal Cushion like they use to carry a Princess’s (she pointed at the
ghostly shape of Dazzle) crown. And below it is the dock where we tied up our
boat.”

“I think it’s a very
pretty picture,” said K’ssss. “It would be nicer if you could paint in some
flowers and maybe some . . .”

Soo’ stopped her from
finishing. “Worm brain . . . this is a secret message to the Shady people . . .
not some silly art poster.”

“Oh,” said a disappointed
sea serpent. “But maybe just one flower would be okay, wouldn’t it?”

“Next time, K’ssss, I
promise,” said Sassi trying to make her feel
better.

“You have done well . .
. both of you. Come, it is time to leave.”

“What do we do until you
return?” asked a more than slightly annoyed Aeri’elle.

“For one thing . . . try to play
nice,” said Sylvia.

“. . . and get to know each other,”
added Egg.

“And create a list of
supplies we will need to go on a journey of a month. Assume that the food and
equipment we bring will be all that there is to sustain us. Each race has its
own special needs. And Sassi, please consider Egg’s and Sylvia’s needs when
creating your list.”

“Who’s in charge while
you’re gone?” Aeri’elle clearly thought it should be her.

“You are all equal. But
if a decision cannot be reached, Sassi will have the final say.”

Egg gave each of her sisters and hug
and a ‘thank you’. Then she and Sylvia flew off towards the setting sun.

*****

They landed at the edge of the little
hamlet to avoid being seen. It wasn’t very far to the big tree that stood in
the center of the town’s square and it only took a few minutes to reach it.
They pinned the sign to the trunk then walked slowly to the dock by the river.

“What makes you think they’ll see it
tonight?” asked Sylvia.

Dazzle answered for Egg, “They are called the Shades of Night. It is reasonable to
think that they are out and about at this time.”

“Oh, right.”

They found the dock and made
themselves comfortable. To while away the time, they tossed a stick into the
water and threw pebbles at it. And just for a few minutes, their old
competitive nature came back.

“That’s five for me,” taunted Egg.
“Two more and I win.”

Sylvia picked up three orange-colored
pebbles and threw them one after the other. Whack, whack, whack . . . that’s
the sound they made as they hit the stick. “You lose,” she said and stuck her
tongue out at her friend.

In the old days, Egg would have gotten
mad at herself for losing and at Sylvia for winning. But those days were long
gone. Instead, she bowed low and said, “You are truly P.O.O.P.”

“Don’t be a sore loser.”

“I’m not. ‘P.O.O.P.’ stands for Princess
Of Orange Pebbles.”

“In that case, thank you, my dear
girl. You may rise.” Then they both giggled.

“Excuse me.”

Startled, they looked up
to see a lady dressed in a dark cloak that covered her head and hid her face .
. . much like how a Mo’beye dressed. They weren’t sure what to do, so they just
stared.

“You are the ones who
posted the sign, are you not?”

“Yes.”

“We have been expecting
you. I am at your service.” And with that, she removed her hood to reveal a
face that was both very pretty and strangely familiar.

“You’re a Shady Lady?”

The woman smiled at the
phrasing. “I belong to the Shades of Night.” She looked from girl to girl then
added, “You are much younger than I expected. I have a daughter about your
age.” Her eyes seemed to mist over when she said that. “How can I help?”

“We need talking
crystals,” said Egg. The woman looked at her not understanding.

“She means communications
crystals,” clarified Sylvia.

“Ahhh. How many do you
need and when do you need them?”

“Seven and as soon as you
can get them.”

The woman considered the
answer then said, “It will take one week. Shall I meet you here?”

“That would be great . . .,” but
Dazzle interrupted her.

“We may not be back in
time. Tell her that Sassi will pick them up.”

“On second thought, one of our Sisters
will be here to pick them up. Is that okay?”

“Certainly. And how will I
know her?”

“Well, she kind of looks
like . . .,” this was a little weird to say, “she kind of looks like you. She
has the same color hair and skin.”

“You are not of Aerianna I
am told. My appearance is not that uncommon. What is her name?”

“Sassi.”

“It cannot be.” The look
on the woman’s face was strange.

“It is . . . Oh my gosh.”

“You’re . . . ummm . . . Tr’yst.
You’re Sassi’s mom.” Even Sylvia had put two and two together.

Tr’yst collapsed to the ground crying.
The two young girls put their arms around her trying to console her. “It’s
okay. She’s beautiful, talented, and courageous. You’d be very proud of her . .
. really.”

“Oh my baby, my darling
baby. Can it truly be? I must see her.” Then she stopped and regained her
composure. “NO . . . I cannot. It is the reason I left her in the first place.
Mobius would know that she is my daughter and he would harm her. It was the
only way to protect her. Oh my baby, my baby.” And she cried again.

“Tell her about the
Quest . . . and explain that this may be the last opportunity for her to see her
daughter,”
Dazzle said solemnly.

So Egg did as she was
told.

Tr’yst sat there quietly
listening to Egg’s story. When the girl finished, the older woman smiled sadly.
“She is doing what her parents have done . . . to fight Mobius. For that, I am
very, very proud. But she puts herself in grave danger . . . and for that I am
desperately sad.”

“You just have to see her. She’ll sail
up here in one week. Promise me that you’ll see her . . . please.” Egg was
equally as desperate to give these two brave people maybe one last chance to
see each other.

“I will. But do not tell
her that it is her mother that will give her the crystals. I wish to see the
look on her face . . . if she recognizes me.”

“Oh, she will. I just know
she will.”

“Thank you. And Egg . . .
take care of my baby. Please.”

*****

They flew back to the sisterhood to
tell Sassi about the crystals; then they flew home. On the way, the discussion
was all about the surprise meeting with Tr’yst.

“Isn’t it wonderful that Sassi now has
both her parents back?”

“I wish I could be there when she sees
her mom.”

“I feel like crying now cause she’s
going to be so surprised.”

“But it’s kind of sad that they won’t
have a lot of time together . . . you know before we go on the Quest.”

“Yeah. But there’ll be lots of time
when it’s all over.”

That caused them both to pause.
“Dazzle . . . this is going to be very dangerous isn’t it?”

“You have always known
that.”

“Do you think that some of us won’t .
. . you know . . . make it back?”

“I will not lie to
either of you. There is little chance that all seven of you will return. Does
that frighten you?”

“Yes.”

“And me.”

“Egg, I have told you
that you are better than Mobius and there is almost no chance that he could
best you. And Sylvia . . . now that we have modified your ring, your chance of
returning unharmed has increased to near certainty.”

Both girls breathed a little easier,
but they still worried about the other five sisters.

“It is a very brave
thing that you do . . . all of you. But most especially you two. I shall never
forget your willingness to risk so much for a people not your own. Someday, if
you, or your planet, ever need help from Aerianna, we will not hesitate to come
to your aid.”

“But you think some of the others
aren’t coming back, don’t you?”

“I am sorry, but I do.
However, no one can know for certain.”

Both girls fell silent for the rest of
their trip.

*****

“Oh, I’m just so excited. I’ve always
wanted to go to Paris.”

“It’s a great city,” agreed Egg. “Be
sure to stop at McDonalds on the Chomp Lizzy Street.” That name didn’t sound
quite right but it was the best she could remember.

Mrs. Graystone laughed at her
daughter. “First of all, how do you know Paris is great? And secondly, how on
earth do you know that there’s a McDonald’s on the Champs-Elysees.”

The answer to both was easy . . .
Flying Girl had been there. In fact, she had taken Grammy and Sylvia. But, that
was one secret she couldn’t share with her mother. “I think I saw a special on
T.V.”

“Well, it’s nice to know that you
don’t just watch MTV or Nickelodeon.”

“Not always.”

“Anyway, I know you really want to
visit Paris. Maybe for your sixteenth birthday we’ll take you and Sylvia. Would
you like that? It would be a great adventure for a young girl.”

Egg wanted to laugh but knew that
would only get her into trouble. “That would be terrific. I know Syl would love
to go on a great adventure with me.” She stifled a giggle.

“So while your dad and I are gone, I want
you to have a great time up in the mountains with Grammy. It should be fun.
Just be careful. Don’t go getting lost or trying to capture wild animals or any
silly thing.”

“Oh, Mom. You know I never do anything
. . . ummm . . . dangerous. At least not usually.”

“I do know, dear. But moms are
supposed to say these things to their daughters.”

“Why?”

“Beats me. It’s just a rule.” That got
both girls to laughing. Egg gave her mom a big hug. “Be sure to mail me lots of
postcards so I can put some in my diary.”

“I will, dear.” They heard a car honk.
“That’s Grammy. Don’t keep her waiting and I’ll see you in about two weeks.”

“Love you and have a great time.”

“I love you, too, dear. Be safe.”

“I’ll try. Really, I’ll try very
hard.”

Chapter 10 – It’s Time

Sassi got into the boat, released the
ropes and sailed into the river. It was very late afternoon and the sun was
getting low in the sky. By the time she made it to town, it would be dusk. She
had invited the other Sisters to go with her but they all refused . . . except
K’ssss. The not-so-bright sea serpent swam next to the boat and kept a running
conversation with her human sister.

“Is it fun to sail?”

“For me it is. But I
should think it would be more fun to be a serpent and swim to the deepest parts
of the ocean.”

“Oh no. I never go very
deep . . . it’s so dark. And who knows what kind of mean fish live down there.”

“Are serpents afraid of
fish? Don’t you eat them?”

“We do . . . but sometimes
I don’t think it’s very nice.”

“Maybe you should become a
vegetarian like Bl’azzz.”

“I thought she was a
dragon?”

“She is. A vegetarian is
someone who only eats vegetables.”

“Oh. Would I have fire
breath like her?”

Sassi smiled. She was very
fond of the silly serpent. “I don’t think so. I’m sure all that water that you
live in would put out any flames.”

“That’s good because fire
scares me. Serpents don’t have fire.”

And so the conversation
continued until they came in sight of the little town. “I think you should wait
out here, K’ssss. If I get into trouble I will yell for you.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

“I will.”

Sassi guided the boat towards the now
familiar dock and with great skill pulled smoothly alongside. She hopped out
and tied the ropes. Then she waited. Whoever was bringing the crystals was
supposed to meet her here.

About thirty minutes later as darkness
began to fall, a shadow moved towards the boat. It was Tr’yst. Her heart was
beating so very fast. It had been too long since she last saw her beloved
daughter.

“Are you Sassi?”

“Yes.”

“I have brought the
crystals. May I come on board your boat . . . for privacy?”

“Of course. Please.”

They both climbed on board and Tr’yst
sat on a bench that was under a lantern. She looked at her daughter from under
her hood studying her face . . . trying to memorize every detail. The seconds
ticked by and Sassi wasn’t sure why the woman was just sitting there . . .
staring.

“Is something wrong?”

“No. On the contrary . . .
everything is perfect.” She slipped off her hood.

Now it was Sassi’s turn to
stare. She looked at the woman’s face . . . her mouth, her eyes, her hair and
her skin. Why did she look familiar? Then her heart skipped a beat and she
stopped breathing.

Mother and daughter looked
at each other . . . both afraid to speak. Finally, Sassi managed to say
“Mommy?”

“Yes, my precious love.
Oh, yes.”

Sassi flew across the deck and into
the open arms of her mother. They hugged each other and cried and cried and
cried.

They stayed in each other’s arms for
ten minutes . . . neither of them wanted to let go of the other one. But by
now, it had been almost an hour since Sassi had left K’ssss waiting in the
middle of the river. Worried, the Sea Sister slid silently up to the boat.

As she got closer, she heard the girl
crying. Thinking her friend was in trouble she threw herself out of the water
intending to land on the deck so she could rescue her. Unfortunately, she
leaped too far and went sailing over the boat and on to the dock landing with a
loud “SPLAT.”

Sassi and her mother nearly jumped out
of their skin. Neither had ever seen a sea serpent sail through the air. And
the noise K’ssss made when she landed . . . actually crash landed . . . was
kind of sickening.

Tr’yst instinctively pushed her
daughter behind her so she would be protected from whatever evil this creature
had intended to do. Sassi peered around her mother and realized what had
happened.

“It’s okay, Mom,” who
smiled at the sound of the word, “that’s K’ssss . . . one of my new sisters.
K’ssss, are you okay?” For a moment, the sea serpent couldn’t catch her breath
or find her voice.  Worried, Sassi jumped off the boat and ran to her friend.
“K’ssss . . . say something. Are you okay?”

The serpent raised her
head, looked at Sassi and laughed. “H’sssss, H’sssss.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I did it.”

“Did what?”

“I went sailing. Only it
was through the air.”

“Why did you do it?”

“I heard you crying. I
came to rescue you. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do . . . help each
other?”

Sassi gave her friend a
big hug. “Yes . . . that’s exactly what we are supposed to do. Thank you.”

“So did I do it . . . you
know, rescue you?”

“Ummm . . . not exactly. I
was crying because I found my mom.”

“Ohhh,” said the serpent a
little disappointedly.

“But had it been someone
evil, you definitely would have scared them. My name is Tr’yst and I am very
pleased to meet you.”

K’ssss beamed at the
compliment. “Be sure to tell Soo’. She doesn’t think I’m of much use.”

“I promise. K’ssss, why
don’t you take the crystals and go back to the Sisterhood. I want to spend time
with my mother.” She went to the boat, grabbed the bag with the communications crystals and handed them
to K’ssss.

“Okay. And I promise not
to lose them. Nice meeting you, Sassi’s mom.” The serpent made to leave but
then stopped. “Sassi.”

“Yes, K’ssss?”

“I know I’m not very
bright . . . but shouldn’t you keep one of the crystals just in case you need
help later on?”

Sassi smiled at her
sister. “You are absolutely right. Thank you,” and she removed one of
the crystals from the bag.

“That was a very good
suggestion. With sisters like you, my daughter will be in very good company.”

K’ssss waved her tail and dove back
into the water. She swam back to the Sisterhood feeling very, very pleased with
herself. For once, she felt like she really did belong.

*****

Sassi and Tr’yst spent the whole night
talking, laughing, and crying. With so many years to catch up on it was no
wonder that they completely lost track of time. It was the first rays of the
morning sun that finally made them realize how many hours had passed.

“I must go. It is
dangerous for me to be out and about during the day.”

“Will you stop and see
Dad?” Sassi had explained about her father and his role as a pretend Mo’beye.

Tr’yst smiled. “A wife
needs her husband. He was . . . is . . . my best friend and the only man that I
have ever loved. Of course, I will go see him. Now, young lady, I want you to
promise me that you’ll be very careful. No foolish risks and no trying to be a
hero. Understand?”

“Yes, Mother. And the same
goes for you.”

They hugged and kissed one
last time. “I shall come to this dock every third day beginning in a month’s
time.” It was as they agreed. “I cannot wait till we meet again. She touched
her daughter’s face and said, “It is so good to know that you have grown up so
well. Beautiful, talented, loyal and brave . . . what more could a mother hope
for?”

“Grandchildren,” and they
both laughed . . . perhaps a little bit too hard.

Sassi untied the ropes holding the
boat and jumped in. With a final glance at her mother, she let out the sails
and headed to the center of the river and back to the Sisterhood. She sang the
whole way.

*****

Tr’yst made her way to the cabin where
her husband lived. She knocked once and slipped inside. Sitting at a table
eating his breakfast was Fl’axx.

He looked up and saw his
wife . . . and his eyes flew wide in horror. “Tr’yst. You must leave . . .
hurry.”

“I think not, husband. Are
you not glad to see me?” she
was confused by his reaction.

Fl’axx stood up and his eyes turned
inhuman. He picked up his staff, which was resting on the chair next to him,
aimed it at his wife and fired. A flash of light shot out and Tr’yst crumpled
to the floor.

*****

Back on earth, Egg, Sylvia and Grammy
drove to the mountain resort and checked into their cabin.

“Time for us to go, Grammy.”

“I know dear. Before you do, I want
you to look me in the eyes and promise that if it becomes too dangerous, you’ll
call off the Quest and come home.

“But Grammy . . .”

“EGG,” Grammy said loudly . . . something
she almost never did. “If Dazzle couldn’t do it . . . then maybe it can’t be
done. Try your best. But just don’t be careless with yourself or your sisters.
Remember, they are there to help you. That makes you responsible for them.
That’s not something you can take lightly. If it’s not to be, then save
yourselves to fight another day. Do you promise?”

Dazzle had materialized and was
listening to Grammy. “If I may say something,” She
waited until Grammy gave her a nod. “Your
grandmother is absolutely right. You are responsible for your sisters and
yourself. If we cannot achieve what we set out to do . . . we must return and
formulate a new plan. To lose ourselves to Mobius will only insure his reign
will last for many more centuries. If we are free . . . there is always a
chance for our victory.”

“Thank you, Dazzle.” Turning to Egg
and Sylvia, she asked again, “Do you two understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, Grammy.”

“Then go . . . and come back to me
safe.” She hugged each girl then turned away. She just couldn’t watch them fly
away.

*****

When they entered the Sisterhood, the
other five girls were there. Apparently, things were going well for they were
all enjoying a big laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

This was greeted with a chorus of “Egg
. . . Sylvia . . . your Majesty.”

After a few hugs and hellos, Egg asked
again, “So what was so funny?”

“Me.”

That made Egg and Sylvia smile. Even
Dazzle couldn’t help but join in. “What happened, K’ssss?”

“I went sailing.”  That got the other four girls
howling with laughter. It took them awhile to settle down and explain what
silly K’ssss had done.

“K’ssss, I am pleased.
That was a very brave thing to do.”

A compliment from the Princess was
something to be treasured . . . and K’ssss bowed her head but couldn’t help
from laughing in happiness. “H’sssss, H’sssss,
H’sssss.”

“Why are you laughing you
loopy leviathan?”

“The Princess says I’m
brave. I’ve never been brave before.” Everyone shook their heads in amusement.

“Have the communication
crystals arrived?”

“Yes . . . and I placed
them in the jewelry. Egg here’s yours . . . and this one is for you Sylvia.”

The girls took the jewelry. Then Egg
asked coyly, “So . . . what did you think of the Shady Lady?”

“You knew didn’t you?”

“Knew what?” Egg answered pretending
innocence.

“That it was my mother.”

“Did you recognize her?”

“Yes, as soon as she
removed her hood. Oh, Egg . . . it was so wonderful. I can never thank you
enough. Ever since joining the Hameggattic Sisterhood I have had nothing but
good fortune. You have changed my life forever. I will never forget how much I
owe you.” And she gave
her sister a warm hug.

But the mood changed abruptly when
Dazzle said, “It is time.”

The girls looked from one to another .
. . for moral support and courage. This was it . . . the moment of truth.

“We go to the Myst Tree.”

*****

Egg took Sylvia and Sassi,
while each of the dragons carried one of the serpents. It didn’t take long and
they were soon flying over the barren mountain that contained the valley that
was home to the Tree. They flew over it once . . .

. . . then landed at the edge of the
mist.

“Do you think the Tree
will allow us all to enter?” Aeri’elle was referring to the last time that Egg and Sylvia had
visited. Egg was able to pass into the mist but Sylvia could not . . . until
she held Egg’s hand.

“There’s only one way to
find out. Everyone ready?” They all nodded. “Okay then . . . let’s go.” They
took a tentative step into the swirling grey fog . . . and apparently the Tree
was expecting all of them. They followed Egg into the valley and up the path
that lead to the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl.

They
came upon the tree and cautiously approached it. As before, it glowed . . .
giving off a power that could be felt as well as seen.

“It’s pretty,”
declared K’ssss.

“Shut up you
dim-witted, dumb sea-dork.”

“Shhhh,” hissed Egg. He
can hear you.”

“Princess . . . you have
returned with your army.” The Tree didn’t actually speak the words; they just formed in each
person’s mind.

“Whoa . . .
that’s freaky,” whispered
Bl’azzz.

“Do you
mock me, Tree?”

“I would never
mock you, your Highness. My respect for you knows no limits.”

“Do you
think these Seven Sisters are unworthy? Are they not what you asked for . . .
representatives of the highest standards of this, or any, world?”

“Have you come just to
introduce me to your Sisterhood? Or have you come for information?”

“I believe
you know precisely why we have come. We start our Quest but lack certain
knowledge.”

“I know.”

“Will you
not help?”

“I will. But I
can offer little.”

“Mr. Tree . . . all we
want is to find the Crystal Mountain, but nobody knows where it is.”

“. . . or what it even
looks like,” added Sylvia.

“It looks like
this . . .” and an image appeared in their minds.

“Oh my gosh . . . just like in my
dream.”

“It is . . . beautiful,”
observed Aeri’elle.

“Can you tell us what it
is, and where we may find it?”

“The Crystal Mountain was
created by Mobius for the sole purpose of imprisoning and preserving your
body.  It is well protected . . . some might say it is impossible to gain entry
without his permission.”

“Some . . . but not
you?”

The tree chose not to respond.

“Where is this
Mountain?”

“The path begins at
K’actus Kiln.”

“That is just a barren
desert.”

“It has changed. And it is
no longer devoid of life . . . so beware.”

“How do we find this path?” asked
Sylvia.

“Mobius enjoys his little
jokes . . . what you seek will find you.”

“What other surprises
does our friend have in store for us?”

“I can tell you this . . .
the Kiln is just the first of seven lands created by Mobius to protect the
Crystal Mountain. Each contains at least one deadly creature.”

“Oh my gosh . . .  seven?”

“After the Kiln, there is
the Colorless Wood, the Ae’Bee Sea, Switch Swamp, the Crystal Forest, the Maze
of Forever and the Never’ Glade.”

“Can you not offer any
other help?”

“I have looked into the
heart of each of your seven sisters. You have chosen well — for within them
lies the virtues required to achieve your goal.

However beware . . . one
of you is not what she thinks she is. She is a minion of Mobius and betrays
her sisters even as we speak. But know this . . . there will come a time when
she will have to choose which path she will take. The right path will lead her
to oblivion, but it will also be the only path that can lead to the defeat of
the evil that now reigns over this planet.

It is time to begin your
Quest. I will make you one promise. If you succeed, all that was, will be
again. If you fail, that which is, will be forever.”

Book 10

Oh My Gosh

Book
10

Egg
and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

©
Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,

All
Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Eye Spy

Chapter 2 – All That J’azzz

Chapter 3 – K’actus Kiln

Chapter 4 – Crazy as Grazy

Chapter 5 – Girl Talk

Chapter 6 – Colorless Wood

Chapter 7 – F’yre Extinguisher

Chapter 8 – Seven Sad Sisters

Chapter 9 – Switch Swamp

Chapter 10 – Itsy Bitsy Spider

Chapter 1 – Eye Spy

“That’s not true,” yelled Egg at the Myst
Tree. “None of my sisters are . . . are . . . onions.”

The other girls looked
confused so Sylvia explained to her friend “he said minion, not onion.”

“I don’t care what the
word is . . . it’s just not true. None of you would betray us or work for
Mobius. You’re wrong Mr. Tree . . . so take it back.”

The Tree continued to
radiate energy and light . . . but apparently had nothing more to say to the
Sisterhood.

“Egg, we must leave.”

“But Dazzle, he said . .
.”

“I, too, heard what the
Myst Tree had to say,” interrupted the Princess. “Nonetheless, we must leave.”

Egg was furious. “He
should take it back.”

“He will not. The Tree
has spoken and we must believe its words.”

“Dazzle . . .”

“There is nothing more
to be gained by standing here.” By the tone of her voice, it was clear that the Princess
expected to be obeyed, even by Egg.

Egg glared at the Tree for
another few seconds, then turned her back and started walking out of the valley
of Sighing Whorl. She didn’t stop until everyone had stepped out of the
swirling grey fog. Then, they just stood there in silence not sure what to do
next.

It had been Egg’s idea to
visit the Tree in the first place. She was hoping it could tell them where to
find the Crystal Mountain. That’s where Mobius kept Dazzle’s body.

The Tree was able to help.
It said the place to begin their Quest was K’actus Kiln. It had been a barren
desert in Dazzle’s time but apparently, Mobius had made a few changes. What
they might be was not known.

But the Tree also said
that one of the Sisters was working for Mobius even though she didn’t know it.
And that’s what had made Egg furious. She didn’t believe that any of her
Sisters would ever betray her or the Hameggattic Sisterhood.

The awkward silence was
finally broken when the silly serpent said, “Can I ask a question?”

“Sure, K’ssss. What is
it?”

“I didn’t understand that thing
the tree person said.”

“Which thing?”

“Ummm . . . everything.” With all of her goofy
questions and comments, K’ssss could probably even make the evil King laugh.

“You deaf, dumb and ditsy
denizen of the deep . . . ,” answered Soo’, “how could you not understand? He
said one of us is a spy for Mobius.”

“Oh, Egg, it’s not me . .
. I promise. I don’t even know how to spy.” She looked as if she was about to cry.

“I believe you K’ssss.
It’s that stupid tree that I don’t believe. None of us would do anything like
that.”

That made the sad serpent
smile. “What about that other thing?”

“Which other thing?”

“The one about if we fail
then whatever is won’t be because it never was?”

“That’s not exactly what
he said. It was . . . ‘If you succeed, all that was, will be again. If you
fail, that which is, will be forever . . . I think,” corrected Sylvia.

“Those were its exact
words, Feminion.”

“I’m with K’ssss on this
one,” said Bl’azzz. “What the heck does it mean?”

Everyone turned to Egg,
but she had no idea. “Dazzle?” she asked the Princess hopefully.

“The meaning is not
obvious. I believe Egg should dream on it until the Tree’s intent becomes
clear.” Egg looked away so she could roll her eyes. It was always up to
her to come up with the answer or the plan or the whatever. How the heck was
she supposed to know what the stupid Tree meant.

“So now what? We obviously
can’t continue if one of us is a spy for Mobius. That would be just crazy.” Aeri’elle still felt that
she should be leading the Quest. She didn’t understand why the Princess put so
much faith in somebody who wasn’t even from Aerianna.

“I think we should go on.”

“Why do you say that,
Sassi?”

“If Mobius wanted to stop
us, he could have already. He has the Crystal Egg and that horrible K’aos and .
. .” she didn’t finish. The wraith K’aos had once been the Princess’ fiancé
before Mobius transformed him into the ugly and fearsome creature. “Sorry, your
Majesty.”

“It is not you who
should apologize; it is Mobius. But you are correct. If he wanted to stop us,
he would have sent one of his henchmen.”

“So why hasn’t he?” asked
Egg.

“Perhaps the seven lands
that we must traverse to reach the Crystal Mountain hold enough terror that he
need not do anything else. I believe he just wishes to enjoy our troubles and
track our progress.”

“What do you think, Egg?
Should we continue?” asked Bl’azzz.

Egg looked back at the
mist that they had just left. She turned to her Sisters and said, “Nobody
messes with the Hameggattic Sisterhood . . . nobody. Let’s go find that
mountain.”

*****

But it wasn’t going to be
quite that easy. The girls had compiled a list of supplies they might need for
the Quest per Dazzle’s instructions. Since serpents, dragons and humans
(including those from earth) needed different things, the girls had three
separate lists.

“Our first task is to
acquire the supplies that we will need.” Dazzle included herself in that statement, but she obviously
didn’t require anything.

“Where should we go for
them?” asked Egg.

“I suggest that K’ssss
and Soo’ go to Kelp’ernicus; Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz to Crag’s Leap and you,
Sylvia and Sassi, to River’s Edge.”

“Why not Fire’s Breath?” asked Aeri’elle. That was
where she lived.

“And
Nau’tika for us two,” added Soo’ for the same reason.

“If you were to return
to your home cities, someone would recognize you. They might wonder why their
friends were buying so much food and supplies. Another reason is that the other
cities are not far from K’actus Kiln.”

“But River’s Edge is my
home and my aunt lives there,” Sassi reminded the Warrior Princess.

“Yes, I know. But the
city is just up river from our destination. I believe it is worth the small
risk of being spotted by your aunt.”

“Dazzle . . . I’m sorry
but I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

Everyone turned to stare
at Egg. No one from Aerianna would have ever said such a thing to the Princess.
They nervously glanced from one to the other . . . holding their collective
breaths.

“Please explain,” she commanded Egg, but
without any sign that she was offended.

“I don’t like the idea
that we’re splitting up.” She hesitated then added, “What happens if the . . .
spy (how she hated to say that) . . . is real and Mobius sees that we’re in
small groups. Wouldn’t he take advantage and do something really bad to us?”

The fact that Egg
acknowledged the possibility that the Tree was telling the truth and that one
of them was spying for Mobius made them all feel terrible. And it did something
else . . . it made them suspicious of one another. Without being obvious, each
of them looked at their sisters trying to figure out which one had gone bad.

Dazzle considered Egg’s
argument for a few moments. “You may be correct. The temptation to eliminate some of us may
very well be impossible for Mobius to pass up. We shall stay together.”

The girls were very
impressed . . . even Aeri’elle. In fact, her opinion of Egg began to improve
despite her prejudice against non-Aeriannians . . . and humans.

“Let us head for River’s
Edge.”

“Ummm . . . your Majesty,”
said Soo’ somewhat timidly.

“Speak, Sister.” The use of that term
made the serpent relax.

“I don’t want to be a
bother, but K’ssss and I can spend a long time out of water . . . but not
forever. Would you mind if she and I swam to town. The river isn’t far from
here.”

“Oh, can we? Can we pretty
please?” begged K’ssss. “I’m beginning to get all scaly and itchy.”

Dazzle frowned. She was
embarrassed that she had not thought of the well-being of her subjects. It was
so unlike her. “I apologize for not having thought of that myself. If you can
carry Egg, Sylvia and Sassi then we will all go by river.”

So they flew down the
mountain and to the river. The serpents leaped in and dove down for a few
minutes to allow the water to wash completely over them. Then they surfaced and
the two earth girls climbed onto Soo’ while Sassi sat on K’ssss. With the dragons flying low
and slow, they started their journey . . . and the first leg of the Quest.

*****

As everyone knows,
serpents can swim very fast . . . almost as fast as a dragon can fly. But with
three humans on their backs, K’ssss and Soo’ had to more or less drift down the
river. So a trip that might have taken an hour ended up taking the whole day.
By the time they had arrived at their destination, it was getting dark.

When the three girls
finally climbed off their friends, their backsides were aching. Riding a sea
serpent for that long just wasn’t any fun.

“We should have flown,”
said Egg rubbing her butt.

“. . . or walked,” added
Sylvia.

“Well not me,” said Sassi.
“K’ssss and I had a wonderful time talking about all sorts of things.” Turning
to her friend, she said, “Thank you, K’ssss. You were a wonderful traveling
companion.”

“H’sssss, H’sssss.”

“What are you laughing
about you wallowing water lizard?” teased Soo’.

“Sassi makes me laugh.”

“I do? Thank you.”

“Don’t bother. Everybody
makes her laugh or cry. You just got lucky.”

“We must go,” interrupted Dazzle.

“Where?” asked Egg.

“Perhaps Sassi could
suggest a place to acquire our supplies.”

“At this late hour, there
really isn’t anything that comes to mind.”

“I have an idea.”

Everyone turned to look at
Sylvia. “Continue,
Feminion,”
said Dazzle.

“Well, I’ve been thinking
that we should get Mobius to help us.”

“Are you completely
insane?” squawked Aeri’elle.

“H’sssss, H’sssss.”

“Stop laughing you sad,
soggy sponge. This isn’t funny.”

Sassi and Bl’azzz were
speechless . . . so they just stared at the earthling.

Then Egg did what K’ssss had
done . . . she started to laugh and laugh.

“You’re both out of your
minds. Your Highness, I suggest that I be put in charge of . . .”

“Say no more, Aeri’elle.
I will not tolerate your disloyalty to Egg or her Feminion. Is that
understood?”

“But Princess . . . you
heard what she suggested.”

“DO NOT ARGUE,” Dazzle commanded.
Aeri’elle dropped her head to acknowledge that she heard and understood the
Princess’ wishes. After a moment, Dazzle addressed all seven. “As I commanded
Aeri’elle, I also command you four,” obviously meaning the others from Aerianna. “As to Sylvia’s
suggestion . . .” everyone waited anxiously to hear what she would say. “. . . it is a
supremely intelligent idea. You are to be commended, Feminion.”

Aeri’elle’s beak dropped
open in total disbelief. Bl’azzz looked at Soo and Sassi with an expression of
shock. K’ssss, who really wasn’t following much of the conversation, just
giggled.

“Egg, do you wish to
explain your Feminion’s suggestion to your sisters?”

It had taken Flying Girl
only a few seconds to understand what her friend was thinking . . . that’s when
she had laughed. “No, Dazzle. Let Sylvia do it.”

“It’s pretty simple. Let’s
assume that we’re right about Mobius spying on us just to watch us suffer
through whatever nasty stuff he’s put between the Sisterhood and the Crystal
Mountain. If that’s true, then he should be more than willing to get us our
supplies so that we can start the Quest as soon as possible.”

Aeri’elle was torn between
disbelief and total awe of the human. “Is it possible?” she asked to no one in
particular.

“If it is . . . and I
think Syl got it right . . . then I bet a Mo’beye might just stop by pretty
soon to ask for our lists.”

“NO WAY,” shouted Soo’.

“Do you really think so?”
asked Sassi.

But before Egg could answer,
they heard, “Give
me your lists.”

They all jumped in fright
except K’ssss who had fainted. A monster-eyed Mo’beye had appeared out of
nowhere.

“Say please,” taunted Egg.

The Mo’beye stared at the
girl for a few seconds then said, “Please.”

Egg collected the three
lists and gave it to him. “And make it fast.” The Mo’beye hurried away.

When he had gone, the
girls helped revive K’ssss, and then they all started to laugh and to
congratulate both Sylvia and Egg.

“There is no reason for
levity.”

They all stopped and
turned to the Princess. “Why, Dazzle?”

“We now know for certain
that one of you is a spy for Mobius.”

*****

They waited in silence. No
one wanted to talk for fear that Mobius would hear what they had to say. It was
very uncomfortable. At Sassi’s suggestion, Egg agreed to let her and Sylvia go
find some food and something to drink. It was going to be a long night and they
might as well try to make the most of it. The girls kept in contact with their
communications crystals, so Egg wasn’t too worried about them being alone.
About an hour later, they returned with large bundles of food.

They ate and took turns
napping. But as before, there was very little conversation. Finally, Dazzle
spoke to the sisters. “It is unnatural for us not to have conversations. So, you must
feel free to speak to one another about anything you wish. The only exception
will be if there are decisions or suggestions about the Quest. For that, the
only conversation will be directly with Egg and out of hearing of the others.
Do you understand?”

They all nodded or
murmured yes.

“You must relax. We know
that Mobius has one fatal flaw . . .” There were gasps of surprise from the others. “He is over-confident.
Hear me now, Evil One. Enjoy our journey if you can, but know that we will defeat
every obstacle you put in front of us . . . every test you put us through. And
in the end, you will lose.” She knew that Mobius was hearing her speech. It was a bit reckless
to ‘egg’ him on, but she felt that the Sisterhood needed a morale boost.

So they passed the rest of
the night sleeping and talking girl talk. And before they knew it, the sun
broke above the horizon. And in the first rays of the morning’s light they
could see six black cloaked Mo’beyes . . . carrying their supplies.

*****

They made sure that
everything they needed was there and in good working order. Then they packed it
all up, strapping most of it on the backs of the dragons who could carry great
loads without an effort.

“Ready?” Egg asked.

“Let’s do it,” said
Bl’azzz with a lot more confidence then she really felt.

“Egg . . .”

“Yes, Aeri’elle?”

“You and your friend . . .
I have been very wrong about you two. Forgive me?”

Instead of answering, Egg
went up to the dragon and gave her a big hug. “You ready?”

“Absolutely.”

So as before, the dragons
picked up the serpents and Egg took the two other girls, and they flew to
K’actus Kiln.

Chapter 2 - All That J’azzz

To enter the
desert known as K’actus Kiln you had to pass through a very narrow, very tall
gorge. On this day, the orange walls of rock reached up and seemed to touch the
purple colored sky.

The passage through the
gorge looked very dark and downright scary. So Egg suggested, “Why don’t we
just fly over this part.”

“Why don’t we just fly to
the Crystal Mountain?” asked Sylvia.

All the girls were in
complete agreement. Why risk life and limb to walk or slither through this
stuff that Mobius had put in front of them?

“I do not think it will
be possible.”

“Why not, your Highness?”

“Mobius would have
anticipated such a strategy.”

“Well, maybe he’s not as
smart as he thinks. I’m going to try and fly . . .  just to see.”

Sassi said, “Be careful.
We can’t afford to lose our leader . . . and friend.”

“I will, Sassi. Okay, here
goes nothing . . .” and Flying Girl launched herself up through the gorge. She
had absolutely no problem until she came to the very top. “OWWWW,” she
yelled as she hit something and bounced backwards.

“Why did you scream? Are
you okay?” All the girls could hear Egg on their communications crystals.

“Yeah. But something I
can’t see won’t let me fly higher than the walls. I’m going to try again.” This
time she slipped her ring on to her right hand. Normally when she did this, it
gave her incredible strength. Maybe that would be enough for her to push
whatever it was that had stopped her out of the way.

But it didn’t work. She
bounced off of it again. She flew down and returned to her Sisters. “You were
right Dazzle; I can’t fly higher than the walls of the gorge.”

“Then we shall proceed
as planned.” So with Egg leading the way, they entered the dark gorge. As it
turned out, the path was easy to follow and there was nothing freaky to scare
them. The only trouble they had was when they passed through a particularly
narrow part . . . and K’ssss got stuck.

“H’sssss, H’sssss.”

“What are you laughing at,
you goofy gluttonous jelly roll?”

“What does gluttonous
mean?”

“It means you eat too
much.”

“H’sssss, I guess you’re
right. I’m stuck.”

So her six sisters pushed
and pulled from either end until they finally freed the somewhat plumpish
serpent. They continued on and a few minutes later, they saw the proverbial
light at the end of the tunnel.

“We’re almost through, you
guys. I can see daylight.”

They picked up
their pace and a minute or so later, they made it through the gorge and into
K’actus Kiln.

“Wow.”

“Ditto.”

“How weird,” added Sylvia.

K’ssss wasn’t impressed.
“I don’t like it . . . let’s go home.”

“That’s one of the few
intelligent things you’ve ever said,” agreed Soo’.

Sassi didn’t have anything
to say . . . she just took Egg’s hand and squeezed it for support.

“It is not how I
remembered it,” said Dazzle. “Our evil friend has been busy.”

As they stood their
scanning the bizarre landscape, it became very clear that if there was a path
to follow, it wasn’t obvious. “How the heck are we supposed to find our way
through this?”

“Not to worry. That’s my job.”

At the sound of that
completely unexpected voice, all seven girls screamed. They turned around very
much afraid at what they would find behind them. But to their great relief, it
was only a . . . ummm . . . a . . . okay, let’s just call it as they saw it . .
. a cat in a hat. Oh, and it had a walking stick.

The cat smiled and said,
“My name is J’azzz-min; but you can call me J’azzz.” The seven girls just stood
there staring.

“What’s the matter . . .
cat got your tongue?” J’azzz-min impolitely laughed at her own joke. When no
one joined in, she purred somewhat menacingly, which made the girls jump back a
step. “I’m trying to be nice here girlies. The least you can do is laugh or
giggle or growl or h’sssss or whatever the heck you things do.”

“Ask her who she is and
what she is doing here,” commanded Dazzle.

“Hey, Miss Bossy, do it
yourself.”

The mouths of the seven
sisters . . . and the Princess . . . dropped open at the same time.

“Okay . . . enough is
enough. If you things are going to be rude, I’m out of here. Time for me to
scram-daddle.”

The first one to recover
her wits was Bl’azzz and she yelled, “Hey . . . oops,” as she burped and
belched a tongue of fire directly at the strange cat.

“AUGH,” the cat yelped.
Then she checked herself to make sure she wasn’t on fire, licked her fur here
and there where it had been singed, examined her hat with great care then
turned to the F’yre Dragon and said, “Great balls of fire . . . that was
awesomely pyro-demonical.”

“Huh?” responded Bl’azzz.

Dazzle finally decided to
take charge of this encounter. “You are not of this world?”

“Duh.”

“What is duh?”

“She just means that it’s
obvious that she’s not from Aerianna.”

“Oh. Thank you,” she said to Egg. Then she
turned back to the cat and said, “How is it that you can see me?”

“Are you squiggers?”

Dazzle looked to Egg for
an explanation, but the girl just shrugged her shoulders. The Princess decided
to try the previous line of questions. “Why are you here . . . in K’actus Kiln?”

“Technically, I’m not in
the Kiln. It doesn’t start until you cross over that little ridge,” and
she pointed to a hill just behind the girls.

Ignoring the cat’s
rudeness, Dazzle asked again, “Why are you here?”

“I’m your guide.”

“Our guide . . . ?”

“Not just your
guide. I do it for anyone who comes here.”

“Have there been many?”

“Ummm . . . actually
you’re the first.”

“How is it that you
came to be here? Where is your home?”

The cat made a weird sound
like a ‘meep’. “Can’t say . . . it’s in the rules. Anyway, one day I woke up
and here I was. And I just knew that I was here to guide things like you
through the seven lands that lead to the Crystal Mountain. Don’t even know how
I know how to do it . . .  just do. Kind of weird ain’t it.”

“So you’re going to help
us?” asked Egg.

“What are you . . . a
wise-lacker?”

“What?”

“A wise-lacker . . .” She
dropped her head in disgust when the girl showed no recognition of the word.
“It means like it sounds; something that lacks wise . . . you know, like stupid
but even dumber.”

“Ohhh,” said Egg as she
began to understand. Then “hey” as she realized she was just insulted.

Dazzle ended the little
exchange when she asked, “Will you guide us now?”

“NOOOOO,” hissed the cat.

“I do not understand?” Dazzle said with obvious
impatience.

“Don’t get yourself all
snarky,” replied the Cat. She sat down on the sand, smiled at her guests
and patted the ground where she wanted them to join her. “Come on. Sit, sit.
I’m not going to bite . . . or scratch.”

So the seven sisters sat
in a half circle in front of J’azzz-min while Dazzle stood behind them.

“Everyone comfy?” she
asked, but didn’t wait for a reply. “Good. Now I’ll tell you a little story.”

“J’azzz . . . we’re kind
of in a hurry. Couldn’t you tell us on the way?”

“What’s your name,
girlie?”

“My name is Sylvia.”

“I like you.”

“Thank you.”

“No.”

“No? No what?”

“No . . . I can’t tell you
while we walk. I have to tell you now.”

“Why?”

“It’s in the rules. I’m
supposed to tell all my guests what they can expect. This way they can change
their minds if it sounds too scary. And besides, we can’t travel through a
desert until the sun begins to set. It’s way too hot.”

Both those answers
actually made sense. So the girls and the Princess relaxed while J’azzz-min
began to tell them her story.

“Obviously, the first land
you have to pass through is this one . . . K’actus Kiln. It’s a desert and
very, very hot . . . during the day. At night, it’s cold. Kind of wonkers,
don’t you think? Anyway, like any desert, there’s no water. But we do have a
few things that are kind of interesting. But I’m only allowed to tell you about
one of them.” She looked at the girls and waited.

The girls stared back . .
. but said nothing.

“Come on you guys . . .
sheesh. Which one do you want me to tell you about?”

“How the heck would we
know which one? We don’t know what’s out there.”

“What’s your name,
girlie?”

“Egg.”

“I like you.”

“Thank you.”

“Stupid name, though.”

“Tell us of the most
dangerous thing we may encounter,” requested Dazzle.

“That wasn’t so hard, was
it,” said the cat. “You guys are a little fan’ dangled, aren’t you?”

Having no idea what the
cat was talking about, and no desire to ask, everyone just sat there waiting.

“Rarrr,” snarled the
feline. Satisfied that she had made her point, she continued. “I would say the
most dangerous thing for you would be . . . ummm . . . oh, yeah, the sand
serpents. If they rub against you and scratch you with their scales, you’ll see
things that aren’t really there.”

“Why is that bad?” asked
K’ssss. “I always see things that aren’t there. And sometimes I don’t see
things that are there.”

“What’s your name,
girlie?”

“K’ssss.”

“I like you.” Apparently,
J’azzz-min liked everyone.

“Oh, thank you. You’re
nice.”

“Ya think?”

“No . . . I hardly ever
think. It gives me headaches.”

The cat stared at the
silly serpent then said, “BUH.” Of course, no one had any idea what a buh was.
J’azzz-min let out a deep breath of frustration and continued. “If the sand
serpent gets you, you’ll hallucinate . . . and there’s no telling what you’ll
do. I would avoid that experience at all costs. You won’t like it . . . trust
me.”

“And you will not tell
us of any other danger we might encounter?”

“Sorry. Only one per land
. . . that’s the rules.”

“Whose rules?”

“What’s your name,
girlie?”

“Aeri’elle.”

“I don’t like you.”

“And why not?” But before
the cat could answer, she said, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Rules are rules . . .
that’s all. Anyway, after K’actus Kiln . . . if you make it, comes the
Colorless Wood. I think.”

“You think?” asked Egg.

“Never been past the Kiln
so I can’t remember which comes next. But I promise you, there are seven lands
. . . and the order don’t really matter. They’re all pugnaciously dangerous.”

“Well, the Colorless Wood
doesn’t sound so bad. And my name is Sassi.”

“Didn’t ask, don’t care.”

“Oh.”

“Where was I . . .  oh,
yeah. The Colorless Wood is a pretty weird’acious place. Everything in it is
black or white or shades of gray. Everything . . . except the P’xxxies. They’re
little people about yay tall . . .” she raised her paw to indicate a height of
about a foot or so,  “. . . and they have wings and come in a rainbow of
colors. To look at them, you’d think they were downright bella’docious.” She
looked at the girls and saw they weren’t getting it. “Geez, you guys.
Bella’docious . . . you know, pretty and cute and sweet and . . . Oh, forget
it.”

“Are they friendly?”

“What’s your name,
girlie?”

“Soo . . . Soo’nami.”

“What do your friends call
you . . . Soo-Soo?”

“No.”

“Good. That would be even
more stupid than Egg.”

“You are one creepy,
cryptic, crazy cat.”

J’azzz looked at the
serpent for a moment, and then said, “I like you.”

“Please continue with
your narrative,” Dazzle asked, though it was really a command.

“Chill out, ghost thingy.”
The hair on her back was sticking straight up when she said this. After a
moment, the hair lay back down and J’azzz-min continued. “Anywho, the P’xxxies
are anything but nice. They get all their pretty color by sucking it out of any
living thing they can get their evil little hands on. That’s why the woods are
black and white and gray . . . the P’xxxies ate their color.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Ain’t that the truth. So,
never, ever let them land on you. If they do, they can’t rob you of your color,
but they will steal all of your hope and joy. What’s left is one broken person
or serpent or dragon or ghost thingy.”

“Can it get any worse?”

“Hey, Fire Breath, what’s
your name?”

“Bl’azzz.”

The cat made a noise that
sound like “SNERK.” “Now that’s the first name that makes any sense. You — I
definitely like. Just don’t look at me when you talk . . . I burn easily.”

“Not funny.”

“Yes it was. Anyway, it
can get worse. And, it does.”

“Please continue.”

“After Colorless Wood
comes . . . the Crystal Forest.”

“I like the sound of that.”

“I donnnnn’t thinnnnk
soooo.” J’azzz stretched out the sound of each word.

“Why?”

“D’ing Bats.”

“Let me guess . . .
they’re not nice.”

“Ever so right, fire
breath. If these incredibly nasty things bite you . . . it’s all over except
the shouting.”

“If they bite you . . .
you die?” asked a terrified K’ssss.

“Who said anything about
dying? No, you foolish fat thing . . .”

“HEY,” yelled Soo’ “Nobody
insults her except me.”

“Whatever. No . . . you
don’t die. It’s worse than that, much worse.” She paused for dramatic effect.
“You turn into one of them.”

“OH MY GOSH.”

“Stop saying that . . .
you’re getting on my nerves.”

“J’azzz-min, please
finish your story.”

The cat shook her head in
utter disgust . . . then continued. “All right, already. Next comes the AyBee
Sea.”

“ABC?” asked Egg.

“What is it . . . alphabet
land?” kidded Soo’.

“Oh no . . . watch out for
B stings or the vicious V’s and toothy T’s” joked Bl’azzz.

“You things are as weird
as they come. It’s not ABC. It’s AyBee . . . that’s an eight-leggedy thing. He
lives on an island in the middle of the sea. The sea is named after him . . .
AyBee Sea. Get it?”

“No . . . not really.”
(Yup – that was K’ssss).

“I’ll explain it to you
later, worm brain.”

“And what does AyBee
do?”

“If he gets you in his
eight-arm embrace, he squeezes all courage out of you.”

“OH MY GOSH.”

“Again with the ohmygosh.”

“Sorry . . . it just a
habit.”

“I’d find a new one, if I
were you . . . which I’m not ‘cause then I’d have your stupid name.”

“That is four lands.
Tell us about the last three.”

“Next on your little
vacation trip is Switch Swamp. And if your mommies never told you, I will.
Don’t drink the water.”

“Because . . .” encouraged Sassi.

“Because if you do, you
switch minds with the person . . . or thingy . . . closest to you.”

“That’s not so bad.”

“Hah. How would you like
to be her?”
she
pointed at K’ssss.

“Ummm . . . that would be
very interesting.” Sassi really liked K’ssss and didn’t want to hurt her
feelings.

“I still don’t understand
what the nice cat is talking about?” said a confused sea serpent.

“I’ll tell you later,
gator,” said her friend.

“Now we get to the one
land that I really, really don’t like.”

“If you don’t, I bet we
won’t either,” suggested Sylvia.

“The Never ‘Glade. It’s
home to the world famous Tack-Toed Tick.”

“I’ll bite . . . what’s a
Tack Toed Tick?”

“Actually, you don’t . . .
it does.”

“Does what?”

“Bite . . . you Wise-dim
dummy.”

“Hey, I like that,” said
Soo’. “Mind if I use it?”

“Not at all. It’s part of
the service.”

“What happens when it
bites you?”

“Here’s the freak-edacious
part. You slowly disappear . . . never to have existed.”

“Explain,” demanded Dazzle.

“Just that . . . you
slowly fade away. And when you’re gone . . . you never existed. Nobody will
remember you ‘cause you never were.”

The seven girls fell
deathly quiet. The seriousness of this Quest was becoming an ugly reality.

“Tell us of the last
land.”

“It’s called the Maze of
Forever. Once you enter it, it will take forever . . . and a day . . . to find
your way out.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“It means that once you go
in . . . you can never find your way out.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“OH MY GOSH”.

Chapter 3 – K’actus Kiln

After she had finished her
description of the seven lands, J’azzz-min told the Sisters, “Well, girlies,
that’s a wrap . . . I ain’t got nothing else to tell you. So I’ll just be on my
way.”

“Wait,” yelled Egg. “I
thought you were supposed to be our guide.”

“I am, I am. But like I
said . . . and you should listen more closely . . . you can’t walk the desert
until the sun starts to set.”

“You will return at that
time?”

“You just gotta pay
attention, ghostie. I just said I’m your guide, didn’t I? Of course, I’ll be
back. Geez . . . you things are so irritatingly tiggie.” The girls just assumed
that wasn’t a compliment.

“Can I ask you something
before you go?”

“Ask away.”

“Are you a girl cat?”

“What a wind’acious thing
to say. Just because I made fun of your dumb name is no reason to insult me.”
Then the cat thought about that for a heartbeat or two and said, “On second
thought, I probably deserved it. Now we’re even. See ya.” And with that,
J’azzz-min did the weirdest thing . . . she (he?) did a back flip and dove into
the sand and disappeared.

The girls just stood there
awestruck.

After a few moments, Egg
said, “So . . . is she a girl or not?”

“No clue,” said Soo’. “If
it was a boy and you called him a her . . . he’d be insulted. If it was a she
and you had to ask, she’d be insulted.”

“I think she’s a she,”
said K’ssss.

“Why . . . you wise-dim
water whack-a-doodle?”

“She had a pretty hat.”

They all thought that over
and had to agree it was as good a clue as any.

“I believe there’s a more
important question,” voiced Aeri’elle. When the girls looked at her, she said,
“What kind of cat can dive into the sand and disappear?”

“Maybe it’s not sand . . .
maybe it’s kitty litter.” That
got all the girls to giggling.

“So what now?” asked
Sylvia.

“We shall make camp. You
have brought shelters . . . now would be the time to erect them. My Sea Sisters
should spend as little time in the sun as possible. And we should take this
opportunity to eat and to rest.”

So they all pitched in to
unpack their supplies. But when it came time to put up the tents, they were at
a loss.

“Anybody know how? I can
promise you that sea serpents don’t use whatever this thing is.”

“I can do it,”
volunteered Sylvia. “I go camping with my mom and dad all the time.” So she set
to work untangling the ropes and stakes and tarp. With the help of Sassi and
Egg, she had the first one up in short order.

About an hour later, with
all three shelters set up side by side, the girls were settled in and
comfortable. Everyone was hungry and had taken out their favorite food or snack
to munch on.

“What are you eating,
K’ssss?” asked Sassi.

“Pickled sea snake. Would
you like some? It’s very good; it tastes just like . . . ummm . . . pickled sea
worms.”

“No, thank you. I was just
curious.” She looked at Egg and Sylvia who were sharing her tent and made a
face like ‘Ugg . . . I’d rather starve’.

“Anybody want some of my
sweet Q’cumbers?”

“OH, good grief,”
complained Aeri’elle. “Even I get gas from those.”

And so it went . . . with
the girls talking and giggling and just plain relaxing. It felt just like a
sleepover . . . only it wasn’t night and this wasn’t someone’s comfy house.

When it got a bit
out-of-hand and the mood was just too frivolous, Dazzle decided to bring the
girls back to the reality of their situation.

“Egg . . . what is your
plan for crossing the Kiln?” That stopped the chatter immediately.

“What do you mean,
Dazzle?”

“J’azzz-min told us of
the sand serpents. But she also said that she could only tell us of one of the
dangers we may encounter. So we can assume there will be others. How will we
protect ourselves?”

Sometimes a nine-year-old
girl is just a nine-year-old girl.

Sometimes a nine-year-old
girl is Flying Girl.

And sometimes a
nine-year-old Flying Girl knows when she doesn’t know.

“I’m not sure. But this
land seems like the least dangerous. So whatever we ALL decide (she emphasized
the word) to do here . . . we should learn from it and then come up with a
better plan when we get to the Colorless Wood.”

Everyone, including
Dazzle, was impressed by this statement.

“So . . . any
suggestions?” asked Egg.

*****

They decided they didn’t
need to fly very high to avoid the sand serpents. They would go as high as they
could . . .  but anything above the ground should be sufficient to insure their
safety. Unfortunately, they would find that the plan wasn’t going to work.

As they were packing up
their supplies, they heard the now too familiar voice of the weird cat. “Hey,
girlies . . . I’mmmmm back.”

“We are almost ready to
proceed.”

“How exciting. Be still my
pounding heart,” said the cat sarcastically.

The girls finished by
taking down the three tents and packing them away. Egg then took the
opportunity to give each of her Sisters one last hug before they ventured into
the scary desert that was K’actus Kiln. After she hugged Sylvia, she turned to
J’azzz-min and said, “Okay, we’re ready.”

“HEY . . . don’t I get a
hug?” teased the cat.

“I’ll hug you,”
volunteered K’ssss.

“How does a sea serpent
with no arms actually hug?”

“She’ll just coil around
you . . . like a snake.” It was hard to tell if Soo’ was teasing.

“Enough,” commanded Dazzle. “It is time to go.”

So Aeri’elle grabbed Soo’
while Bl’azzz took hold of K’ssss. The dragons flapped their wings and took to
the air. Egg followed with Sassi and Sylvia. They circled over J’azzz-min
expecting her to lead them.

“Where do you think you’re
going . . . home?”

“NO,” yelled Egg. “We’re
going to fly over the sand so the serpents can’t get us. I can carry you too,
if you’d like.”

J’azzz-min grinned like
the Cheshire Cat then levitated into the air. She got face to face with Flying
Girl and said, “Nice try, but you can’t fly over the Kiln. It’s in the
rules.”

“What do you mean . . .
we’re flying right now?”

“True but like I told you
before . . . and you still don’t listen real well . . . K’actus Kiln doesn’t
start until yonder hill.”

Egg looked at the hill
then flew towards it. As she crossed the imaginary line that began the desert,
she started to fall to ground. Well, it was more like a feather falling than a
rock. But she fell.

The two dragons that were
following her also drifted down to the ground.

As they stood there
feeling helpless, Soo’ asked, “So, what’s plan B?”

“I don’t think we had
one.”

The cat materialized out
of nowhere and stood in front of the sisters. “If you girlies would stop
fooling around, we can get this show on the road. Unless, of course, you’re
scaredy cats?”

“I’m not a scaredy cat,
I’m a sea serpent,” said K’ssss helpfully.

“She’s got the weirdest
sense of humor,” commented J’azzz-min. None of the sisters chose to correct the
cat’s opinion of their silly friend.

Having no choice but to
walk, Egg asked, “Which way?”

“See that tall pillar of
rocks in the distance . . .”

Everyone looked to where
the cat was pointing but only the dragons had the ability to see that far away.
“I see it,” said Aeri’elle.

“That marks the end of the
desert. The Kiln isn’t very large so you could cross it in about eight hours.
But you have only four hours of daylight left.”

“So do we camp when it
gets dark?” asked Sylvia.

“Don’t ask me, girlie. I
don’t care.”

“You’re supposed to be our
guide.”

“I am and I did. You go
that away. What did you expect . . . me to hold your hand?” She looked at the
girls in disgust. “Last piece of advice . . . I suggest you do the hustle and
quick-scram. Ta-Ta.” And with that, J’azzz-min did her kitty-litter dive and
disappeared.

They stood there looking a
bit overwhelmed but Egg quickly regained her composure and took charge.
“Bl’azzz, take the lead. I’ll follow, then both Soo’ and K’ssss side-by-side,
then Sassi and Sylvia together. Aeri’elle you bring up the rear.”

The proud dragon didn’t
like that and complained to the Princess. “Your Majesty . . . I saw the rock
pillar first. I think I should have the honor of leading.”

“This is not a matter of
honor. Egg is hoping that your sister can use her unique talent to help defend
the rest of us should it become necessary.”

“I was unaware of any
talent that she possessed.” Aeri’elle really had changed and was becoming a very good Sister.
But every now and then, her old self would kind of pop up and spoil things.

“I think the Princess is
referring to Bl’azzz’s . . . umm . . . gas problem,” explained Sassi.

“Can you do the fire
breath thing whenever you want?” asked Soo’.

“I can definitely do it
whenever I don’t want. But I can sometimes force myself to burp and burn.”

“Let us go. And all of
you . . . be ever vigilant.”

*****

The girls had
been hiking for almost an hour. They seemed to be making good time. Trying to
get out of the K’iln as fast as they could was great incentive to keep
traveling at a good pace. The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky and
the sand was turning a brilliant orange color…

And so far so good . . .
they hadn’t met any sand serpents or any other danger.

They crested a large dune
and looked down at a big basin. They would have to climb down, cross that basin
then climb back up on the other side.

“Should we go around this
thing?” asked Sylvia.

“It would be too far out
of our way. Besides, it doesn’t look that difficult. I say we continue,”
suggested Aeri’elle.

It really was up to Egg,
but she had no better suggestion. “Let’s do it.”

So the three human girls
jumped up on the serpents back (they could slither very quickly over flat sand
. . . moving much faster than humans walking) and K’ssss and Soo’ slid down the
tall, steep face of the bowl. Going downhill was easy for the large sea
creatures; it was going uphill that was hard.

On the other hand, the
two dragons spread their wings and glided down. Apparently, the rules said you
couldn’t fly up . . . but gliding down was okay.

“That was fun,” laughed
K’ssss as they reached the bottom and the girls slid off. But her laughter died
away when the walls of the dunes they had just descended started to spin. If
you were standing in the middle of a merry-go-round looking out at the painted
wooden horses as they spun faster and faster . . . that’s what it was like.

“Oh my gosh.”

“What is happening?”

What was happening was the
wall of sand towering over them was spinning faster and faster. Worse yet . . .
it was beginning to close in on the girls. At the rate it was going, they would
be buried in a matter of minutes.

“We gotta get out of
here…NOW,” yelled someone.

“And how do you propose to
do that? We can’t climb back up while it’s spinning,” said Bl’azzz.

They stood there
petrified. Egg was trying her best to come up with a solution . . . but without
any luck. “I . . . I . . . I don’t know.” But as she said it, she noticed the
silly smile on K’ssss. And for some reason, she knew it was going to be okay.

“K’ssss,” she yelled over
the incredible noise that the sand was making (kind of like a snake hissing).
“You know what to do, don’t you?” If they weren’t so frightened, the other
girls would have fallen down laughing at such a dumb idea.

“Oh, sure. Everybody, get
on my back or Soo’s.” At first, no one moved. Then Egg yelled, “Come on. Do as
she says,” and she jumped on K’ssss. Bl’azzz and Sassi joined her. Sylvia
climbed on Soo’ and Aeri’elle reluctantly joined her. When they were ready,
K’ssss slithered over to the spinning wall then launched herself onto its face.
Without enthusiasm, Soo’ did the same. Immediately the Serpents and their
riders started spinning as fast as the sand.

They spun faster and
faster and the walls got closer and closer. If they weren’t hanging on for dear
life, the girls would have yelled at K’ssss for being so stupid. Then, as the
whole bowl was about to collapse upon itself and bury the girls under tons and
tons of sand, K’ssss changed her position slightly and instead of spinning
around . . . she spun up and out of the bowl. Soo’ smiled then mimicked her
friend. Both sea sisters actually got airborne and landed with a splat on the
other side of bowl . . . just where they had wanted to be.

“Wheeeeee! That was even
more fun. Can we do it again?”

The girls had fallen off
the serpents’ backs and just laid on the sand trying to catch their breath and
stop their heads from spinning. They all looked back just to make sure they
were really clear of the danger.

Egg got up, went over to
K’ssss, and gave her a big hug. “You did it. You saved us.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you . . . you . .
.” but Soo’ couldn’t think of anything rude to say. Instead she finished with,
“you big, beautiful beast.”

Then everyone else joined
in to hug and congratulate the silly girl. Finally, it was Dazzle’s turn. “You have saved your
sisters, K’ssss. You are truly a heroine of Aerianna and when I am Queen, I
shall give you our highest medal of valor.”

“I like medals,” which got
everyone, including the Princess, laughing. Sometimes when you’re scared and
the danger passes, it’s good to laugh.

When the laughter died
away, Dazzle asked, “Egg, how did you know that K’ssss could save us?”

“I’m not sure. When I
looked at her, she had a goofy-happy look while the rest of us looked scared. I
just got the feeling that she had done something like this before.” They all
looked at K’ssss for confirmation.

“Well, I never did it with
sand. But when there are whirlpools, my friends and I like to jump in and get
spun around like we just did. Then to get out of it, you kind of point your
head up and you get tossed out.”

Soo’ shook her head in disbelief.
“I never did that. I was always too afraid.”

“Egg . . . you really did
pick your Sisters well. I would never have guessed that this silly . . . ,”
Aeri’elle caught herself, “ . . . I mean that this brave serpent would have had
such courage and presence of mind to extricate us from this atrocious
situation.”

“Did she say something
nice about me?” asked a befuddled K’ssss.

“Yes . . . you creepy
confused crustacean.”

“Oh, thank you. Nobody
ever says anything nice about me.” Then she paused for a moment, thinking it
over. “What did I do again?”

“You saved our lives and
I’m very proud of you,” and Sassi gave her a big hug.

“Does that mean we can go
home now?”

“Sorry, K’ssss, but our
Quest has just started. Let’s get going before it gets too dark to see.” And
the girls got back in formation and continued deeper into the Kiln. And as they
walked, they smiled knowing that they had just passed their first test.
Unfortunately, their luck was about to run out.

Chapter 4 – Crazy as Grazy

It was after
sunset and the only light they had was from the moons of Aerianna . . .

. . . but it was enough to
see where they were going. The stone pinnacle that J’azzz-min had pointed out
was still visible, though just barely. So they kept going.

Besides the weird landscape,
another thing that made the journey seem scary was the total lack of sound. No
wind hissing over the sand, no birds chirping or screeching, no coyotes howling
. . . just nothing. The girls could actually hear each other breathing . . .
and that made it all the more awful.

“Dazzle,” Egg whispered so
the others would not hear her.

“Yes?”

“I have a bad feeling.”

“Explain.”

“I can’t. Only . . . I’m
getting goose bumps.”

Dazzle had lived long
enough on Earth to understand what Egg meant. “Do you wish to stop? Perhaps we should
camp until sunrise.”

“I think it’s too late for
that.”

“Why do you say that?”

Egg didn’t
have a chance to answer because just then they heard a blood-curdling shriek.
And rising from the sand in front of them was a sand serpent . . .

The girls screamed.

“RUN,” yelled Aeri’elle.

“NO,” yelled J’azzz-min.

At the unexpected sound of
the cat’s voice, they all turned. “DON’T MOVE. NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT.” With the
terrifying creature looming above them making horrifying noises, it was extremely
difficult advice to take.

“Do as she asks,” commanded Dazzle. So they
stopped dead in their tracks . . . one eye on the monster and the other on the
cat.

“Hi, girlies. Having a
nice walk?” The girls looked at her in utter disbelief.

“My sisters are in grave
danger. Do not make light of this situation.”

“Ahhh, it ain’t so bad. In
fact it could be a lot worse.”

“How, you freaky, foolish
feline?”

“I say we just throw her
to the monster,” suggested Bl’azzz. “Maybe she’ll give it a stomach ache and it
will leave us alone.”

The cat giggled. “Did I
mention that I like you too?”

The serpent roared once
again and the girls started to move back. “STOP already,” J’azzz-min yelled
again. “Geez, girlies, it’s not that hard to understand. It means don’t move,
don’t twitch, don’t run, don’t wave your arms, don’t . . . ah, you get the
idea. I hope.”

“J’azzz-min, the
creature cannot see very well.” It wasn’t a question.

“We have a winner . . .
give the nice ghost lady a round of applause.”

“Stop your foolishness
and explain what we are facing.”

The cat stuck her tongue
at the Princess, but obeyed. But she couldn’t resist doing it like a schoolteacher lecturing
her first grade class. “This big ugly thing is a sand serpent. Normally,
I would say wave and be friendly. However, this giant nasty would stick you
with his spiny spines. That’s the way he gets his food. The victim starts to
hallucinate and then they lose all sense and sensibility. The good news is that
he can’t see very well. In fact, he can only tell if something is in front of
him if it moves. So as long as you stand still, you’re invisible to it.”

“Why didn’t you tell us
that before?” asked Egg angrily.

“You didn’t ask. Whose
fault is that?”

“You’re a lousy guide. Why
don’t you run away and see if the Big Ugly can catch you?”

J’azzz-min laughed. “I’ve
done that hundreds of times.”

“Really?”

“It’s a giggle. Just when
they think they got me, I dive into the sand and disappear. It drives them
crazy.”

“So what do we do, just
stand here like statues?” demanded Aeri’elle.

“I still don’t like you.
But, the answer is yes. He’ll lose interest in about an hour.”

“AN HOUR,” yelled two
serpents, three humans and a pair of dragons.

“Gee, that was cute. Do
you practice your group yelling?”

“J’azzz, we can’t stand
still for an hour.” Egg was already getting tired.

“You could distract it
while we sit down,” suggested Sylvia.

“Can’t.”

“Why not?” demanded Dazzle.

“It’s in the rules. I can
guide you; I can tell you some stuff. But I absolutely can’t interfere.”

“What happens if you disobey
the rules?” asked Sassi.

“I can’t disobey the
rules.”

“So you’re a fraidy cat.”

Everyone looked at K’ssss.
It wasn’t like her to make fun of someone. J’azzz-min didn’t seem to be
offended. In fact, she offered an explanation. “Like I said before . . .
listen, listen, listen . . . it can’t catch me. I just can’t help you because
if I tried I would melt into a fur ball and blow away.”

Now that sounded a bit
unbelievable.

“Care to prove it?” chided Bl’azzz.

The cat made a sound like
‘dwaoop’. “Okay, if that’s what you want. See ya . . . don’t wanna be ya.” And
before anyone could stop her, she started to run in front of the sand serpent.

She made it about three
steps, and then froze. Her head began to spin around which was really freaky.
Then . . . it fell off. Her body stood there for a second then vanished with a
‘pffff’ sound. The girls stared at the head on the sand with their mouths
agape. The cat opened her eyes for a second, gave the girls a wink, then slowly
melted into a . . . a . . . small pile of fur.

“Whoa, that was
cat-a-strophic.”

“I guess she wasn’t
kidding?”

“Oh, the poor kitty,”
cried K’ssss. And before anyone could stop her, she slithered over to the fur
ball to pick it up. But it, like the body, went ‘pffff’ and disappeared.

The serpent saw the motion
and began to lunge for the silly serpent. “K’SSSS,” yelled Egg, but it
was too late. The sand serpent moved quickly and was about to strike the Sea
Sister with its tail. Egg did the only thing she could.

Running, jumping, and
waving her hands in front of the beast, she managed to get its attention. It
swung away from K’ssss and its tail lashed out and swatted Egg. She went flying
through the air and landed hard on the sand.

There was a chorus of “EGG,” as the sisters screamed in unison. But before anyone could
do something foolish like run to her, Dazzle yelled, “STOP . . . do not move
and become victims yourselves.”

“But we have to do
something. She’s hurt.” Sylvia was near tears.

“I will tend to her.”
She
assumed that the beast couldn’t see her. But she didn’t want the sand serpent
to follow her over to Egg and do her more harm. So to be safe she disappeared
then rematerialized next to the fallen girl.

“Egg . . . Sister . . .
can you hear me?” Dazzle would have loved to hold her friend, but that wasn’t
possible. All she could do was talk to her. “Egg.”

The girl began to moan but
she still wasn’t waking up. “We must set up camp and build a fire. Your Sister is injured
and I cannot tell to what extent. But first we must lose this monster.”

Just then, a cat’s head
popped out of the sand next to the girls - scaring the bejebees out of them.
“Hi, girlies.”

“What do you want . . .
you bodiless buffoon?” Bl’azzz was blazing mad.

“Not to worry about me . .
. my body will be around here someplace.”

“Then go look for it
before we use your head as a dodge ball.” Sylvia was really angry at the cat
for what she hadn’t done . . . namely help.

“I’m leaving. I just
wanted to know if it’s going to rain.”

“What?”

“Rain . . . rain. Geez,
you know the water that falls from the sky.”

“We know what rain is . .
. fur ball.”

“Well, if it’s going to
rain then I should warn you . . . none of the creatures of the Kiln like water.
Makes them angry and they usually run away and hide till it’s gone.”

“I thought you couldn’t
interfere?” asked Aeri’elle.

“Me . . . interfere?
Never.  Against the rules, you know. Well, gotta go. Thanks for the little
talk.” She hesitated before she left then said “Does this make me the cat with
a hat who likes to chat?”

“That rhyme is a crime,” said
Soo’ but J’azzz-min had already disappeared beneath the sand.

“What was that all about?”
asked Sassi.

“She was telling us that
the sand serpent doesn’t like water. Sassi, you’re smaller than me. Can you
sneak over to the supplies and take out a water bottle. Just be careful.” It
was the nice
Aeri’elle
talking.

Sassi slowly slipped to
the ground and crawled over to the supplies. She found the bottle and returned
to the dragon. “Here it is.”

“Ummm . . . I can’t throw
things like a human. Maybe you should do it. Just undo the stopper first.”

“Perhaps I’m not the best
choice to do this. I’m not very athletic. Sylvia . . . would you do it?”

So Syl slowly crept over
to Sassi, took the bottle, undid the top but she didn’t throw it. Instead she
ran at full speed straight at the fearsome creature yelling, “This is for
Egg you stupid, ugly freaky thing.” The serpent saw the movement and reared
its head and tail . . . ready to strike. But at the last moment, Sylvia
squeezed the bottle with all her might and a spout of water shot out and hit
the sand serpent. It roared in pain and began to slither away, making shrieking
sounds that were scary enough to wake the dead. In a moment, it was gone.

“Wow,” said Bl’azzz
referring to Sylvia’s incredibly brave dash into danger.

“Double WOW,” added
Aeri’elle.

“You do realize that what
you just did was a tad mad, don’t you?” asked Soo’.

“K’ssss, why are you
crying? It’s over.”

“I messed up, didn’t I?
That’s why Egg got hurt. It was my fault. I forgot to stand still. I just
wanted to help the poor kitty.”

At the mention of Egg, the
girls realized they had momentarily forgotten their friend. They ran over to
her to see how badly she was hurt.

Sylvia got there first,
knelt down and put her hands on her friend’s head. She stroked her hair and
said, “Egg, it’s me, Syl. Wake up. Please, Egg, wake up.”

The injured girl began to
stir. Then her eyes slowly opened and she looked at the seven faces looking at
her. There were dragons, sea serpents, a ghost, and a girl with green skin.

There was only one thing
to do. She screamed.

The girls jumped in
surprise. At first, they assumed Egg was yelling in pain. But they were wrong.

The girl knocked away the
hands trying to help her then scrambled away on all fours. When she was out of
reach of their hands (or talons), she stood up and started to run. First, she
ran left then stopped and started to run right. Then she stopped and ran back.
Then she ran the opposite way. She kept running and kept changing direction.
The effect was that she was kind of running around in circles.

“What’s she doing?”

Dazzle suggested, “Perhaps it is the
effects of the serpent’s scales.”

“You’re right. She’s
hallucinating.”

“What should we do?”

No one had any idea.

“I think we should just
let her be for awhile,” suggested Sylvia. “All that running around is bound to
tire her.”

The girls looked at each
other then at Dazzle.

“Perhaps you are right.
Let us camp here for a few hours.  Sylvia and Sassi . . . set up the tents.
Bl’azzz, build a fire. Soo’ and K’ssss, prepare some food. Aeri’elle . . . you
will follow Egg to be sure she does not get into trouble. But do not get too
close and frighten her. If she wanders too far be sure to use your
communications crystal to tell us where you are. We shall all take turns
watching her. And we must hope the effects are not permanent.”

Now that was a scary
thought . . . what would happen if Egg didn’t regain her senses? How would the
Quest continue? With those thoughts swirling through their heads, the girls
proceeded with their chores very quietly.

*****

Egg didn’t know who she
was. And she certainly didn’t know where she was. But one thing was for sure,
she knew she had to get away from those hideous serpents and dragons . . . not
to mention the ghost and the green girl. What a nightmare.

For some reason, she
thought she could fly. So she started to flap her arms . . . but nothing
happened. She tried to flap and jump at the same time, but still nothing.

Then she saw the lake and
she knew that if she could swim to the other side, she would be safe. So she
ran towards it, waded in and began to swim. Now that was better . . . she’d be
long gone before those monsters could get her.

Aeri’elle was watching the
whole time. She became frightened by the strange things that her Sister was
doing so she called back to camp.

“Hey, you guys.”

“This is Syl . . . where
are you? How is Egg?”

“I’m just over the hill
from you. Egg is doing all sorts of weird things and it’s beginning to scare
me.”

“Like what?” asked Sylvia
in alarm.

“She was jumping up and down
and flapping her arms like she was trying to fly. Now she’s lying on the sand
and trying to swim. What should I do?”

Sylvia turned to Dazzle
looking for advice. “Slip around to the other side of her, then let her see you.
Hopefully she will start to run back in this direction. I do not want her to
wander so far from us.”

“Okay, I’ll try.” Aeri’elle did as she was
told and it worked. Egg saw the dragon, abandoned her swimming and started to
run in the opposite direction . . . back towards camp.

Meanwhile, J’azzz-min
chose this opportunity to reappear . . . with both her head and her body. “Hi,
girlies. I guess it rained.”

“Thanks for the help,”
said Bl’azzz, “which of course you didn’t give ‘cause you weren’t allowed to.”

“No idea what you’re
talking about. So, how’s the Egg-ster?”

“She is hallucinating as
you said she would. Is there anything we can do for her?”

“Come on you guys . . .
don’t make me repeat everything a million times. The rules say I can’t
interfere.”

“But you can answer some
questions. Is there a cure?” asked Dazzle ignoring the cat’s comment.

“Nope . . . no cure.”

At this terrible news,
K’ssss started to cry, Sylvia to
moan and the others to groan.

“Do the effects of the
serpent’s scales disappear over time?”

“Well, of course. Nothing
lasts forever.”
That bit of
good news got K’ssss and the others to smile.

“How long does it last?”
demanded Sylvia.

“Usually long enough for
the serpents to eat their prey.”

“The serpents don’t come
out during the day, do they? It’s too hot for them.”

“What was your name . . .
Lassi?”

“Sassi.”

“Stupid name. I think I’ll
call you Lassi. And she’s (pointing at Bl’azzz) Gassi.

“What is your point,
Sister?” Dazzle
asked Sassi.

“They sting their prey at
night when they come out to feed. By sunrise, they go back into hiding. So
maybe in a few hours when the sun comes up, Egg will return to normal.”

”Gee, Sassi. That was
good.” At the compliment from Sylvia, Sassi blushed ever so slightly.

“What of her theory,
J’azzz-min?”

“Hmmm . . . well, all I
can say is that in about two hours you’ll know if Lassi was right. Or wrong.
Anyway, I’m bored. See ya later.” And the cat vanished.

“I’m beginning to hate
cats.”

K’ssss had a different
feeling. “I think she’s funny.”

Chapter 5 – Girl Talk

“RUN, RUN,” Egg yelled to her sisters.
“RUN FOR YOUR LIVES.” When no one moved, she yelled again, “IT’S A
DRAGON . .  . A HORRIBLE, UGLY DRAGON. RUN.”

The girls wanted to laugh
but that would have been rude. So they settled for a more polite giggle. “She
must be better,” teased Bl’azzz.

“Oh, good,” said K’ssss
missing the sarcasm. Then she added, “Does that mean we should run away from
the monster?”

“No, you thick-headed,
tubby tube. Egg isn’t better. She thinks Aeri’elle is a monster.”

“Your Majesty, what should
we do?” asked Sassi.

Before Dazzle could
answer, Sylvia said, “I have an idea.”

Everyone looked at the
girl waiting for her to explain. But all she said was, “Wait here . . . and
don’t move or say anything.” Then she ran towards her temporarily crazy friend.

“You’re running the wrong
way,” Egg told her breathlessly when she approached.

“We can’t outrun a
dragon.”

“Oh my gosh . . . we’re
doomed.”

“But I have an idea.”

“What?”

“Dragons won’t bother us
if we’re asleep.”

“Oh, that’s great. But I’m
not tired.”

“Listen to me very carefully.
It’s a trick my mother taught me. Put your hands on your head . . .,” she
waited for Egg to do it. “Now say these magical words . . . ‘sleep, sister, and
do not wake till the sun rises.’”

“That’ll never work.”

“Hurry . . . there isn’t
much time. You have to trust me.”

“Okay . . . here goes” and
she repeated the words . . . and fell to her knees, then on her face. She was
fast asleep.

Aeri’elle and the other
girls ran over to Sylvia and the sleeping form of Egg.

“What happened to her?”

“She fell asleep.”

“Is it because of the
serpent’s sting?”

“No. I just tricked Egg
into using the bracelet that Dazzle gave her. I told her that dragons wouldn’t
eat us if we were asleep. So, she put her hands on her head and told herself to
sleep till sunrise.”

“Feminion, you are
clever indeed. I would not have thought to do that.” Such a compliment from the
Princess really impressed the other girls.

“Nice going,” added
Bl’azzz.

“That was really quick
thinking for a human.” Then Aeri’elle added, “for a dragon too.”

Sylvia beamed with pride.
Anytime you can make a contribution to a cause, it makes you feel very proud.

“Can you put me to sleep
too?” asked you-know-who. “I’m really tired.”

In her own way, even
K’ssss was making a great contribution to the Quest. Besides saving their lives
on the Devil Dunes, she was always making her sisters laugh . . . even though
she never knew why.

*****

The six girls sat around
the campfire while Egg slept. There wasn’t anything they could do until sunrise
and that was more than an hour away. So girls being girls . . . they talked.
Even Dazzle joined in.

After a lull in the
conversation Dazzle asked, “May I tell you a story?”

“Oh, yes please, your
Majesty.”
Even
though it was Sassi saying yes, the other girls were incredibly thrilled at the
prospect of sharing such an intimate moment with the next Queen of Aerianna. It
was exactly the reaction Dazzle had expected.

“Shall I tell you of my
father (M’earth
had been king until he was overthrown by Mobius) or how I was spoiled as
his oldest child or about life in Q’umulus? (Q’umulus was the capitol of Aerianna. But
what made it very special was that it floated high above the ground.)

The girls smiled at the
possibilities. But surprisingly, Aeri’elle asked for something different. “Your
Highness . . . would you tell us about Prince Z’kkk.” She blushed at her own
boldness.

The other girls were
shocked at their sister’s question. It seemed way too personal . . . especially
since the poor guy had been turned into the terrible Wraith, K’aos. On the other
hand, they would love to hear all about the man Dazzle was supposed to marry.

If Dazzle had been
offended by the question, she didn’t show it. She just smiled and said, “I will share the story
of how Z’kkk came to propose to me. Will that suffice?”

“Oh, yes, oh, yes,” responded
Aeri’elle breathlessly. This Quest thing was turning into a dream come true. She couldn’t
wait until it was over and to tell her sorority sisters about it. They would be
so jealous to know that she had sat with the Princess and heard such private
stories. She reminded herself to thank Egg for choosing her. She would reward
the human by letting her pledge her sorority.

“It was my eighteenth
birthday and my father had prepared a large celebration. On Aerianna, that is
the age a Princess is old enough to marry . . . though my mother had told me
she would not allow it until I was twenty. Needless to say, every eligible
young man wanted to be my husband. It was not because I was beautiful, but
because I was next in-line to inherit my father’s throne.”

“But you are beautiful,”
interrupted K’ssss, “. . . for a human.”

“Thank you, Sister. And
you are beautiful . . . for a serpent.”

“H’sssss,” laughed
the plumpish serpent.

“Didn’t they all know that
you were in love with Z’kkk,” asked Sylvia.

“Goodness no. Only Z’kkk
knew that I was in love with him. That happened two years earlier at my
coming-out party. It was when I first saw him as a grown man. His beauty
stopped my heart. . .

And the Princess projected
a picture of her love into the minds of the Hameggattic Sisters . . .

The dragons and serpents
could not appreciate what they were seeing. But Sassi could. “OH MY,” she
exclaimed.

“Sister?”

“Your Majesty, he is
breathtaking,” and the green-skinned girl blushed red.

“Maybe he has a brother,”
teased Soo’.

“Thank you, Sassi. Your
taste in men is beyond reproach.” When the girls quieted down, Dazzle continued. “It would not have been
proper for me to show my affections for any man before I was of age. Though we
spent much time together . . . we were almost never alone. I was always
surrounded by my other friends. Storm, of course, knew of our feelings and he
tried to give us as much privacy as possible.”

“If you couldn’t be alone
very often, how did he know that you loved him? And vice-versa?”

It was a special gift that
Dazzle had to make her subjects feel comfortable in her presence. So
comfortable that they forgot that she was royalty and should not be asked such
questions.

The Princess, however,
just laughed. “I am surprised you have to ask Bl’azzz. You had a boyfriend.”

“I never had one,” said
K’ssss somewhat sadly.

“You will my sister. Men
will not be able to resist your inner beauty and your honest nature. Trust me.
When the time is right, you will have to beat them away with a stick.”

“Won’t that hurt them?”

Soo’ cringed in disgust.
“That’s just a figure of speech, you brainless bag-of-bones.”

“Oh.”

After the giggles had died
away, Dazzle continued, “That night I told my ladies-in-waiting that I would not wear
any dress that made me look like a silly girl. They tried to convince me that
traditions must be maintained. But I politely refused. Instead, I wore a red
body suit under a high-waisted skirt. I had knee high boots made from some
exotic leather and a cape that matched in color. I wore no crown or jewelry
except a pendant my father had given me. And just to complete the effect . . .
I carried one of my father’s ceremonial swords.”

The girls were thrilled
with the description of the clothes. It sounded so . . . so . . . glamorous.
But they were especially thrilled with the Princess’s rebellious nature. It
made her seem like one of them.

Then Dazzle
projected an image of the outfit into the minds of the girls. But this time,
something was wrong.

“Hey,” said Bl’azzz. “It’s
all blurry.”

“For me, also,” remarked
Aeri’elle. She looked at the others and they all nodded yes.

“I must apologize. After
so many years, my memory is hazy, at best. But, I do remember how much I loved
this outfit. So much so that I had a number of them made in various colors and
styles. It is my hope that Egg will choose one to wear.”

“But why would she want
that outfit when she has the flying suit?” asked Sassi. All the girls turned to
look at the Princess.

Dazzle’s answer failed to
satisfy their curiosity. “She will tell you when it pleases her to do so.”

This time the five sisters
from Aerianna looked at Sylvia, Egg’s trusted Feminion, to see if she had an
answer. “Don’t look at me. I got nothing.”

“Shall I continue my
story?”
asked the Princess.

Soo’ asked, “Was your
father upset with your choice of clothing?”

“I could do no wrong in
the eyes of my father. If I did, he would simply change the rules to match
whatever silly thing I did. Well, most times that is. No, he loved the outfit
and laughed appreciatively when he saw me. However, my mother was less
pleased.”

“What did Z’kkk do when he
saw you?”

Dazzle smiled . . . but
mostly at the memory passing through her mind. “He walked up to the
King and said, “Your Majesty, with your blessing, I would have this woman for
my wife.” It was the first time I was ever called a woman . . . and it gave me
goose bumps.”

Always a stickler for the
rules, Aeri’elle asked, “Was it proper for the Prince to make such a
statement?”

“Oh, my . . . no. When
he said it, the whole ballroom went deathly silent. My father stood up from his
throne and for a moment I thought he was about to strike off the head of my
beloved.”

The girls gasped at the
thought.

“He stood there silently
and menacingly staring at Z’kkk. Then he turned to me and said, “Shall I exile
this impertinent pup or do you wish to marry him?”

“NOOO,” said Soo’.

“No way,” said Sylvia.

“He knew you loved him,
didn’t he?”

The girls all turned to
stare at K’ssss then they turned back to the Princess for her reaction. “My mother knew how I
felt and I assume she shared it with my father. But he had never mentioned it
to me.”

“So what did you do when
your father asked?”

“Being ever mischievous,
I said, “Marry him . . . never.
Exile this impudent boy.” My father and Z’kkk nearly fell over in shock; it was
not the reaction they were expecting. Many of the other young men started to
laugh. That’s when I quickly added, “On second thought, perhaps I will have him
as my husband.”

“WOW,” said Bl’azzz
for all of the girls. “WOW”.

After a moment when it
became obvious that the Princess had finished her story, Soo’ asked K’ssss,
“How did you guess that the King knew she was in love?”

“That’s what is supposed
to happen in fairy tales.”

“This isn’t a fairy tale,
you goofy giant jellyfish. It’s real life.”

“It seems like a fairy
tale.” After a moment she added, “. . . all we need is a happy ending.”

The girls looked at their
loopy friend . . . and nodded in agreement.

*****

“Is this not
touching . . . the girls sitting around a campfire listening to love stories
from our dear Princess? How sad that I cannot be with them to share this
precious moment,” said Mobius to his minions.

“Send me, my lord. I will
give them something to talk about.” K’aos was not a likeable fellow.

“Patience. Let us just
enjoy their little walk through the seven lands. It promises to be delightful.”

“But they made it through
the Devil Dunes and the Sand Serpents.”

“Yes, they did. I am much
impressed at their resourcefulness. However, the best is yet to come. Perhaps
they will not fare as well.”

*****

The sun rose over the
dunes and right on cue, Egg awoke. She sat up, stretched and gave a big yawn.
“Morning,” she called to her sisters who were watching her anxiously. “Is there
any food? I’m starving.”

The girls let out their
collective breath and smiled happily. They had their leader back.

Egg looked from one to
another in confusion, “What’s so funny?”

And the smiles turned into
gales of laughter.

*****

As Egg ate her breakfast,
Sylvia explained about the sand serpent sting and the resulting hallucinations.
When she learned what she had called Aeri’elle, she was embarrassed. “Oh, I’m
so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I think you’re . . . um . . . very cute.”

“Thank you for saying that
. . . but I doubt very much if a human could truly appreciate a dragon’s beauty
or understand the nature of what we are.” Once again, Aeri’elle showed how well
educated a young lady she was. Her thoughts were much more sophisticated than
the other sisters.

“Well, I doubt we dragons
really understand humans or serpents.” Bl’azzz was trying to defend her human friend.

They all stopped to ponder
that for a moment. “Dazzle,” asked Egg, “why is that? Why can’t humans look at
dragons and sea serpents the same way as we look at other humans?”

“An excellent question,
my sister. I am sure scholars could debate the subject for centuries. But I
think the answer is not so complicated. I believe that each race simply does
not choose to appreciate the other two races. We are all different . . . that
does not make one more superior than the other. If we take the time to really
know each other . . . we would find we have much in common. And that which is
different is truly of little importance.”

“If I said that I was
confused, would you be mad at me?” asked K’ssss timidly.

“No, my sister. The wise
ask questions when they do not understand. It is only the ignorant who choose
to remain so by being silent.”

“Oh” said the silly
serpent still not understanding.

“It is good to ask
questions when you do not understand,” the princess patiently explained.

“Ohhh,” said K’ssss, as
she finally understood.

“As to my previous
comment . . . simply take every opportunity to know one another and show them
the same respect you would want shown to you. Above all else, be wise enough to
have an open mind and forgo any prejudice against that which is different than
you.”

That was a lot to
understand. However, they all got the gist of what the Princess was trying to
say . . . treat everyone as you would want them to treat you. And, being different
is neither good nor bad . . . it’s just different. They looked at each other
and for the first time they saw something in their sisters they had failed to
see before . . . a little bit of themselves.

*****

They packed all their
supplies and resumed their journey. And minute by minute, the tower of rock
that was their destination was getting closer and closer. Without realizing it,
they began to walk faster. The sooner they were out of this hot, sandy place
the better off they would be.

“Hey,” said Soo’, “It’s
beginning to get cloudy. You think it’s going to rain?”

“Oh, that would be so
wonderful,” said the other dried-out sea serpent.

They all
looked up to see some pretty weird looking clouds come speeding in. The chances
were that this wasn’t a good thing. And they were right.

“Why do I think that
something bad is about to happen?” Bl’azzz asked.

“What can clouds do to
us?”

They found out a couple of
seconds later when it started to rain.

But it rained sand
. . . not water.

It came down slowly at first,
then harder and harder. It felt like hail and it hurt. Worse (if that was
possible) the sand began to rise . . . like a stream after a heavy rainstorm.

“The rocky mountain is
just up ahead,” Aeri’elle yelled to the girls. “Run.”

But running in sand is
hard. Running in a sand storm is harder.

In short order, the sand
was up to everyone’s knees (well, human knees anyway).

They struggled to make it
to the mountain that was now so very close.

But the sand continued to
rise. It was now up to their waist.

“We can’t make it,” yelled
Sassi.

“Get on my back,” yelled
K’ssss. The serpents had wide bodies that didn’t sink down very far in the
sand. The girls struggled but finally made it up.

The dragons got on Soo’.

The Sea Sisters slithered
ever so slowly through the downpour. But it was raining sand so hard, it was
making breathing difficult.

“K’ssss, go faster,
please,” begged Egg.

It took ten agonizingly
long minutes, but they finally made it to the rocky pinnacle. And the rain
stopped as quickly as it had begun.

They took a minute to
catch their breaths and to shake the sand out of their hair or feathers or
gills. And when Egg looked up to make sure the clouds were gone, she saw a
sight she hadn’t expected. “OH MY GOSH”.

The other girls stopped
what they were doing and looked to see what had surprised Egg.

“What happened to the
pretty clouds?” asked K’ssss.

“I have no
idea,” answered Egg. The color was gone . . . they had turned black and white
and shades of gray.

“I do.”

They all turned to see the
whacky cat. But she wasn’t standing on the sands of K’actus Kiln. “OH MY GOSH”

“Again with the
ohmygoshes.”

But it was
just the right thing to say. K’actus Kiln had disappeared and in its place was
. . .

“Where are we?” asked Egg.

“Welcome to the Colorless
Wood.”

Chapter 6 - Colorless Wood

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make the desert
disappear?”

“What desert?”

“The one we just came
through . . . oh never mind.” She glanced at her sisters and gave a look that
said ‘why do I bother’.

“Whatever. Okay, girlies .
. . ask away.”

“She just asked you about
the desert,” said an annoyed Sylvia.

“And a wonderful question
it was. However, you can’t ask questions about places you’ve been . . . only
places you’re at.”

That almost made sense.

“How do we find our way
through the Wood?”

“Keep looking for Dead
Trees.”

The girls looked around
and as far as they could tell . . . everything was dead. There was no sign of
green or any color that they could see.

“How can you tell the
living trees from the dead ones?” asked Bl’azzz.

“Not dead trees, Gassi . .
.”

“Hey, stop calling me
Gassi.”

“Little touchy are we,
miss fire breath? Anyway . . . it’s not dead trees; it’s Dead Trees.”

Since Dead and dead
sounded just about the same, the girls had no idea what the peculiar cat was talking
about.

“Your explanation lacks
clarity. Please explain.”

“You talk like somebody’s
mother.”

“How I talk is of no
concern to you; how my Sisters and I find our way through this land is.”

“You guys . . . you just
have to try to listen more carefully. Now, read my lips . . . follow the Dead
Trees.” She said the last part very slowly.

Since this was going
nowhere, Sylvia tried a different approach. “Could you show us one of these
dead trees so we know exactly what we’re looking for?”

“The first one is right
behind you.”

They turned
around and came face to face (so to speak) with a Dead Tree that definitely had
not been there a minute ago. And they screamed . . .

“Stop. It is just a
tree.”

“What kind of a tree has .
. . has . . . whatever that is?” asked the Aeri’elle, clearly as horrified as
her sisters.

“It is kinda unexpected,
isn’t it?” kidded J’azzz-min.

“Ya think?” said Bl’azzz
mimicking the cat.

“Who were they?” asked the Princess
pointing at the faces frozen in the trunk of the tree.

“Ummm . . . I’m supposed
to say ‘some of the heroes of Aerianna’. But, I don’t know what that means.”

Dazzle, however, did.
Tears came to her eyes and she hung her head in sorrow.

“What’s the matter?” asked
Egg.

It took the Princess a
moment to regain her composure. “These were some of my people who rebelled against Mobius.”

“They were real people?”

“Yes. They were my loyal
subjects.”

“Not quite right,” said
the cat.

“Explain?”

“It’s not ‘were’ but
‘are,” said J’azzz-min mysteriously.

“Is that like cat
gibberish?” asked Soo’.

“I think she means that
these . . . ummm . . . people are still alive.”

Everyone looked at Sassi
then back to J’azzz-min.

“Is this true?”

“Well of course they’re
still alive. If you’d stop talking for a minute you can hear them moan.”

Everyone went silent . . .
from shock. And sure enough, the tree began to groan. The groaning got louder
and louder until it was a sad wailing sound.

“Why do they cry?”

“Wouldn’t you if that was
your face stuck in a tree?”

Dazzle walked up to the
tree and said, “My friends, it is I, Dazzle, Princess of Aerianna and heir to
the throne of M’earth. I thank you for all that you have done to…”

“They can’t hear you,” interrupted
the cat.

“But they are alive.”

“Yes . . . but you’re
not.” Dazzle looked heartbroken.

“Tree, my name is Egg and
I’m a friend of Dazzle’s . . . Princess Dazzle.” Egg was as frightened of the
tree as she had been of the sand serpent. But this was important to her friend
so she swallowed her fear. She put her hands on the head in the trunk just in
front of her and said, “Be not sad. Your loyalty and bravery shall never be
forgotten. When the Princess has regained her throne, and the evil that is
Mobius has been defeated, you will be honored by all of Aerianna. But first,
with the power of the Crystal Egg, you shall be restored to the world of the
living.” She, of course, was using the power of the bracelet to bring some
peace to these poor souls.

When she had finished, the
Tree went silent.

“Thank you, my sister.
Thank you. You spoke the words that were in my heart.”

All the girls were deeply
touched by Egg’s speech. Each one in turn came up and touched the tree. K’ssss
did one better when she rubbed against it . . . as a cat might affectionately
rub against a person’s leg. The Tree responded with a ‘sigh’.

“I think I’m going to
cry,” said J’azzz-min. The girls looked at her in surprise until she added,
“NOT.”

Bl’azzz looked at the cat
and was about to say something appropriately mean . . . but instead she burped.
The tongue of fire hit J’azzz-min’s hat and it caught on fire.

“NOT THE HAT . . . NOT THE
HAT,” she screamed as she pulled it off. But it was too late . . . the hat was
a pile of ashes. “Oh . . . that was my favorite one.”

“Sorry,” said Bl’azzz and
she almost meant it.

“Sheesh,” the cat replied.
And out of thin air, a new hat appeared. “This one’s fireproof.” She put it
back on her head. “Any-who, don’t do the fire thing again 'cause it attracts
the P’xxxies.”

Getting information out of
J’azzz-min was always a challenge.

“How do we protect
ourselves from these creatures?”

“Don’t be acting so
superior; P’xxxies aren’t creatures anymore then you things are.”

“No offense was meant.
Please answer my question.”

“They just hate happy
things.”

“How does that help us?”
asked Aeri’elle.

The crazy cat ignored the
question. Instead, she said, “One last word of advice, if you see anything with
color, it probably means trouble.

“How do we know when we
found the last Tree?” asked Sylvia.

“There’s only seven. See
you lovely ladies later.” With that, J’azzz-min slowly melted into the soft
earth and disappeared.

“She’d make a lousy house
pet,” suggested Soo’.

With the cat gone, Dazzle
turned to Egg and asked, “How
shall we proceed?”

“We have to find the next
Tree. Who has really good ears?”

The girls looked at her confused.
“I mean, who has really good hearing?”

Like before, it turned out
that dragons had superior hearing as well as eyesight. So Egg asked Aeri’elle
to take the lead. The dragon beamed with pride.

Walking as quietly as they
could, they entered deeper into the Wood listening for the moaning of a Dead
Tree or the splash of color from a flying P’xxxie.

*****

The Wood actually looked a
lot like a normal forest . . . except everything was black, white or shades of
grey. And like the Kiln, it was missing the happy chirping of birds or the
buzzing of busy insects. All in all, it was a little creepy.

When the silence was
broken by the sound of something hooting, Egg and Sylvia both looked up
expecting to see an owl. But there was nothing in the trees.

“LOOK,” yelled
Sassi pointing at a small knoll off to their right. They all looked and to
their surprise, they saw a . . .

. . . pretty strange
looking animal. It had a head that looked kind of like an owl and a long furry
body. It had a bright orange tale tipped in red. Its feet and eyes were also
red. The funniest thing was the green fur on its head that looked like a bad
wig.

“It’s beautiful,” cried
K’ssss.

“What is it, do you
think?”

“A Hoot-Coot,” said a
disembodied cat’s head that appeared out of nowhere. The girls jumped in
surprise despite themselves.

“Stop that,” yelled
Bl’azzz, “or we’ll have barbequed feline for lunch.”

“Just doing my job,” and
J’azzz-min disappeared (at least her head did). Then she popped back and said,
“Oh, yeah . . . almost forgot . . . I wouldn’t give a hoot for that coot.” And
she was gone again.

“What the heck is she
talking about?” asked Egg.

No one had a clue.

Meanwhile, the sweet
little animal continued to hoot softly. Between its beautiful coloration,
cuddly looks and hypnotizing sound, every girl had the irresistible urge to run
over, pick it up and pet the thing.

They approached it slowly
trying to get a better look. But the creature became frightened and started to
hobble off.

“Oh,” cried K’ssss. “I
think it’s hurt.”

“I bet if we don’t help
it,” said Bl’azzz “. . . the P’xxxies will come and suck the beautiful color
out of it.”

So they all agreed to
follow it for at least a little while to see if they could catch and help it.
All in all, not a good idea.

For an injured animal, it
moved pretty fast. And no matter how speedy the girls ran (or slithered), the
hoot-coot moved a little faster. It finally disappeared over a little hill.

“We should go back,”
suggested Sassi. “We can’t catch it and we’re beginning to get lost.”

It was the right thing to
do. Besides, if it could move that well when it was injured, the P’xxxies
probably couldn’t catch it. So they turned around and for the first time took
notice of their surroundings . . .

“Uh-oh.” Now that’s never a good
sound when you’re on a quest.

The kind-of normal forest
wasn’t normal anymore.

They were completely
surrounded by big, dead spiky trees that looked downright mean. Only . . .
they weren’t dead, they were hungry.

“Oh, rats . . . now I
remember,” said Sylvia.

“Remember what . . . time
to wash your hair?” teased Soo’.

“No. I remember what
J’azzz told us. She said that if anything had any color in it, it was probably
trouble.”

Now that she said it, the
other girls all remembered the warning as well.

“She also said she didn’t
give a hoot for the coot.”

“Now we know why. It led
us here on purpose.”

“Why?” asked Egg.

Aeri’elle offered the best
advice. “I don’t think we should stay and find out. Let’s get out of here as
fast as we can.”

But as fast as they could
wasn’t fast enough. The trees were hungry and the girls were food. It was
lunchtime.

“LOOK OUT,” yelled the
serpent as a branch reached out and tried to grab Sassi.

“Run. Come on, run . . .
this way.” Aeri’elle had been given the honor of leading the group. Now she felt
responsible to lead them to safety.

The girls moved as fast as
they could to escape the circle of trees. But it wasn’t easy . . . the branches
kept reaching out to grab them.

Apparently, the serpents
and dragons were too big, so the trees concentrated on the three humans. At one
point, they had grabbed Sassi and they started to lift her in the air. Egg and
Sylvia leaped up, grabbed the girl’s legs, and yanked her back to the ground.
Then K’ssss slithered up and knocked the branches away with her big body.

“Keep moving,” command Dazzle
unnecessarily.

Aeri’elle, Soo’ and K’ssss
finally made it out forest of famished trees. A moment later Egg and Sassi
joined them. The five of them turned around to see where the other two were.

Sylvia was trapped. The
branches had her by both arms and legs and one even covered her mouth so she
couldn’t scream for help. Bl’azzz, who was in front of her, didn’t realize what
was happening. She only turned around when Egg yelled, “save Sylvia.”

Seeing her sister being
assaulted by the vicious trees, Bl’azzz went running back to help her. She
reached the girl and using her mouth, which had tremendous power, bit the
branch covering Sylvia’s mouth.

“Get it off me, get it off
me,” cried the panicked girl.

Bl’azzz bit through the other
four branches in short order and freed the girl from its deadly embrace. Then
using her wings, she wrapped them around her human sister protecting her from
any more assaults.

They made their way as
fast as they could and were soon safely outside the ring of trees.

Sylvia was sobbing and the
other girls circled her to give her support and comfort. It took a few minutes,
but she finally regained her composure and dried her tears. She smiled bravely
at everyone but gave Bl’azzz a big hug. “Thank you.”

The flame throwing dragon
was about to say something funny but changed her mind. Instead she said,
“Anytime, Sister. Anytime.”

*****

They continued to walk
through the Wood but this time ignored anything with color. They followed the
only path there was . . . though sometimes it split and they had to choose
between the left or right fork.

These decisions were
always made by Egg based on . . . well, actually on nothing. In her mind, she
did “eeny-meeny-miney-mo” and that’s how she chose. Not too scientific but better
than nothing.

They managed to find two
more Dead Trees and each time Egg gave her little speech and K’ssss did her
cat-like rub. The poor souls responded as they did the first time. It seemed to
bring them some comfort for they stopped moaning.

When it began to get dark,
they decided to stop for the night. They pitched the three tents and took out
food and drink. It would have been wonderful to have a fire to light the very
black Wood . . . but they decided to take J’azzz-min’s advice. So they huddled
under their blankets, munched their food and talked.

“Whose turn is it?” asked
Soo’. Since the Princess had told her story, they had decided that each of the
sisters should tell one also.

“I’ll go,” volunteered the
F’yre Dragon.

“You make me nervous when
you talk,” kidded Soo’. “I never know when you’re going to burp and burn.
Remember, we serpents can’t move as fast as dragons or humans.”

“Just ignore her,” said
Sylvia to Bl’azzz. “If you set her on fire, I’ll throw a bucket of water on
her.” The girls laughed.

“Oh, would you throw some
water on me, too?” said K’ssss not quite understanding the conversation. This
brought more laughter.

What the girls didn’t know
was that they were being watched by the P’xxxies. If it weren’t for their
laughter, the little flying troublemakers would have attacked. But as it was,
they stayed hidden . . . waiting for the right moment. There was plenty of
time. And these creatures . . . meaning the Sisters . . . had so much to offer
. . . so much joy and happiness that could be sucked out of them. The P’xxxies
smiled in anticipation.

Unaware of the danger
around them, the girls continued their silly banter. Finally Dazzle said, “Bl’azzz, please tell us
your tale. And, my sisters . . . be alert. I have noticed that she (pointing her finger at
the F’yre Dragon) wets her lips ever so slightly before she . . . ummm . . .
releases her fiery gift.”

“Really? I never knew I
did that?”

“I didn’t know dragons had
tongues.”

“How else could they talk,
you sad sack of salty sea?”

“Ummm . . . Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg.”

“It’s dark. How can we see
her tongue?” It was hard to know if she was serious or just kidding.

Chapter 7 – F’yre Extinguisher

“What’s the opposite of a
Prince?” asked Bl’azzz.

“The opposite?” asked
Sassi.

“Yeah. You know a Prince
is supposed to be handsome and smart and clever and fun. So what’s the
opposite?”

Soo’ smiled and asked,
“Why?”

“Cause my story is about
my ex-boyfriend . . . and he was definitely no prince.” The girls laughed.

“I know, I know,” squealed
K’ssss, “How about a k’lown fish?”

The dragons
were as confused as the humans were. But Soo’ said, “That’s good K’ssss.”
Seeing the looks on the faces of the others, she explained, “A k’lown fish
looks like . . .” and she described the goofy fish to her sisters.

“That’s pretty good,” said
Bl’azzz. “But I think your fish has too much personality. Furn’o is more . . .”

But before she could
finish, the girls shouted out suggestions . . . most were just too rude to
repeat. Finally, Dazzle ended this bit of nonsense with, “May I suggest we refer
to him as His Ignorance, the Third Dunce of Dumb.”

Whether or not they liked
it, the girls all agreed enthusiastically. When a Princess makes a joke . . .
it’s always best to laugh.

“Get on with the story,
Bl’azzz,” said Aeri’elle impatiently. “I need some sleep.” The other girls nodded in
agreement.

“Okay, okay. Anyway, about
a month ago, I decided to give Furn’o a little surprise party for his birthday.
I took him to a very popular place for eye’pye.”

“For what” asked Egg?

“Eye’pye is very similar
to your pizza pie,” explained Dazzle.

“Why do they call it eye
pie?”

“Cause they look like the eyes of a dragon.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I invited his
best friend and my best friend to meet us there to surprise him. We had the
whole thing planned out. Furn’o and I got there and sat down. While we waited
for our order, I pretend to see my girlfriend and I wave. She sees me and comes
over. She tells us she’s here with a blind date . . . but the guy is really
boring. So I suggest that she bring him over and they can join us.”

“When does this get
funny?”

“Soon. Anyway, my
girlfriend goes and gets her date and brings him back to our table. And lo and
behold, it’s Furn’o's best friend. Well, my stupid boyfriend doesn’t get that
this is a surprise party for him. All he can say is, ‘Gee, my best friend is
dating your best friend. What are the odds? And they come to the same eye’pye
place as us. Wow. It’s too weird.”

“I roll my eyes at the
other two, but they decide to string him along until he figures out what’s
going on. But after about a half hour, it’s getting downright embarrassing. All
he keeps saying is, ‘This is so weird, my best friend and your best friend . .
. wow.”

“Did he ever catch on that
it was a set-up?”

“Never. That’s when I
decided to dump him. But one thing led to another and I missed my chance. Then
he dumped me.”

The girls clapped
appreciatively at the story (though serpents just slap their tails on the
ground). Then K’ssss said something that really stunned the other girls.

“Wow . . . he’s even
dumber than I am, isn’t he?” The silly serpent had actually understood the
story.

“Why did you ever date him
in the first place?” asked Soo’.

“He had just the cutest
pair of wings.” Aeri’elle nodded in understanding.

*****

They slept well that
night, with lots of good thoughts running through their heads. It was those
happy thoughts that kept the P’xxxies away. When the sun came up, the whacko
cat crowed like a rooster. “Cock-a-doodle-doo”.

This was greeted none too
warmly by a chorus of, “Shut-up you stupid cat.”

“I thought cats were
supposed to meow,” said K’ssss.

“I’m just very talented,”
said J’azzz-min. “I can also do a very fine imitation of a three-winged
silver-spotted tree hopper. You want to hear it?”

“NO” “NO” “NO” “NO” “NO”
“NO” “Yes”

“K’ssss, you seasick
simpleton, don’t encourage her.”

“Sorry.”

“You girlies need to get
your lazy butts out of bed. You have to cross the Wood by nightfall.”

“Explain.”

“Don’t you ever use
complete sentences?” Dazzle didn’t respond . . . she just glared at the cat.
J’azzz-min shrugged and continued, “It’s in the rules. NO LOLLYGAGGING.”

“What?”

“Geez, what are you people
. . . the seven stupid sisters?”

“J’azzz, just tell us what
you’re talking about . . . please,” begged Egg.

“Okay, the rules say you
have to cross each land in two days or else I have to take you back to the
K’iln and you have to start all over again.”

“Why didn’t you tell us
that before?” asked Sylvia who was having a hard time liking their weird guide.

“Didn’t ask, did you?”

That made Aeri’elle
suspicious. “What else haven’t you told us?”

“Lots of stuff.”

“Want to tell us now?”

“Not particularly.
However, I will tell you how the Wood and the P’xxxies got to be the way they
are.”

“We will hear the story
as we travel. Egg, get your sisters ready for the day’s journey, please.”

So they packed up their
stuff and started down the path to the next Dead Tree. And while they walked,
J’azzz-min talked.

“Years and
years ago, the P’xxxies were the nicest people. This forest was their home . .
. but back then it was like any forest; full of color and noise and life. The
little folk . . . that be the P’xxxies for any of you who aren’t following the
story real close . . . fed from one plant and one plant only. It was called the
Pixel’onia and it was beautiful . . .

The P’xxxies didn’t eat
the plant, they ate its color. But the plant wasn’t harmed by it. Every morning
it would bloom again in all its variegated glory.

One day a new
creature moved into the Wood . . . a Six-Strided Sap-Sucker. The P’xxxies welcomed
the creature. It was told to enjoy all that the Wood had to offer . . . but
please, don’t eat the Pixel’onia. Being a sap-sucker, it had no interest in
anything but the sap from trees and readily agreed.

One day about a year after
it arrived, the six leggedy creature decided to try the Pixel’onia . . . just
for fun. And to its surprise, it found the taste was good . . . actually better
than good. The plant was delicious.

And the more
it drank of the flowers nectar, the more it’s color began to change. In less
than a month, it had gone from gray and black to . . .

.  . . red and yellow and
orange. The shock of the change gave way to enjoyment of its new beauty. Soon,
all it would eat was the Pixel’onia. But the Sap-sucker ate so much and so
often that the plants eventually died out.

The P’xxxies were
outraged. They were so mad they forced the Six-Strided Sap-Sucker to leave the
Wood and never return. But it was too late. The plants on which they lived were
gone forever.

The P’xxxies didn’t know
what to do. Eventually they found that they could live off of other living
things . . . by sucking the color out of plants and trees, and joy and hope out
of animals and birds.

And over time, they
changed from the nicest of people to the meanest . . . all because they had
befriended the Six-Strided Sap-Sucker.”

The girls had listened
with great interest to the story. It was the first time they had ever heard the
cat say something that wasn’t mean or downright weird.

“Can’t they get the plant
to grow again?” asked Egg.

“What plant?”

“The pixel thingy.”

“What are you talking
about?”

“The plant that the
P’xxxies eat. You just said that they . . . oh, never mind.” The old J’azzz-min
was back.

“Cat, I have a question.”

“Call me J’azzz-min, why
don’t you.”

Sylvia would rather have
given it a big whack on the head. Instead, she asked, “J’azzz-min is there any
cure if the P’xxxies get you? Or does it wear-off like the sand serpent’s
sting?” Both were excellent questions.

“Nope.” That was a lousy
answer.

“You mean it lasts
forever? You never get better?”

“Yup.”

“That’s a bummer,” said
Bl’azzz.

“Well, it’s been a barrel
of laughs, but I gotta go.”

“Where is it exactly that
you go to?” asked the ever-curious Aeri’elle.

“Usually just anywhere where
you ain’t.” And the cat was gone.

*****

They decided that they had
better pick up the pace if they were going to get out of the Wood before their
time was up. With Aeri’elle in the lead again, they found three more of the
Dead Trees in short order. And each time Egg spoke to them as before and K’ssss
gave them a friendly rub.

“Didn’t the cat say there
were seven trees?” asked Sassi.

“I think so.”

“So just one to go. I
think we have time to stop and rest. K’ssss and I . . .,” said Soo’, “. . . are
not used to all this walking and hiking.”

“Neither are us dragons.
I’d much rather be flying.”

“Egg, we should rest,” suggested Dazzle.

So they found themselves a
pleasant looking clearing next to a small stream and made camp. While the
humans broke out the food and drinks, the serpents slithered over to the stream
and slipped in.

“OH, OH, OH,”
sighed K’ssss in utter delight. “It feels soooooo good.”

“Quiet down, you yammering
yam, before you attract the P’xxxies.”

K’ssss looked around
anxiously. “Do you think they would hurt sea serpents?

“Yeah,” answered Soo’ in
an unusually serious voice. “I think serpents and humans are easy targets.
We’re fat and slow, and the humans are small and weak (compared to serpents and
dragons). Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz will probably be okay.”

“I think we should go back
to camp,” said a frightened K’ssss.

“Good idea,” and they both
got out of the wonderful stream and made their way back to their sisters.

“How was the water?” asked
Sassi as she handed a pickled eel to K’ssss.

The silly serpent didn’t
answer the question. Instead, she asked, “Sassi, will you come visit me when
this is over?” She said it with such emotion that it startled the other girl.

“Of course, I will. K’ssss
is there something wrong?”

“I’m afraid,” she said in
a small voice.

Sassi leaned over and gave
her sister a hug. “We all are. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I’m not afraid for me.
I’m afraid for all of you,” she pointed at the rest of the Sisterhood.

Sassi was touched. “It’s
going to be alright. We’re all going to make it through this. Just you wait and
see.”

The serpent thought about
that for a moment, and then said “Sassi, I think you’re wrong. I’m never
going to see all of you again.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I never had six friends .
. . six sisters . . . like you guys.” Sassi wasn’t sure how that answered her
question, but she decided not ask.

*****

As they sat there and ate,
Soo’ asked Bl’azzz, “Can you play a song for us on your Booyah?” Like Sassi and
K’ssss, Soo’ and Bl’azzz had become really good friends.

“I thought you’d never
ask.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out the instrument. “What do you
want to hear?”

“Don’t know any dragon
songs. Just keep it happy . . . to irritate the P’xxxies.” Little did she know, the
tiny creatures were very close by . . . waiting for the right moment to attack.

So Bl’azzz played a bunch
of songs for which no one knew the words. But the melody was just what the
doctor ordered . . . happy and fun. After the sixth one, she put down her
instrument and said, “I need to rest my lips. Anybody have some water?”

Aeri’elle handed her a
water bottle and Bl’azzz took a long, deep sip. “Thanks . . . . Oops,” and the
one thing she shouldn’t have done, she did. She burped and  a tongue of fire
roared from her mouth.

When the P’xxxies saw the
bright red flame, they knew it was the right time to attack. They swarmed out
of the trees and headed for the Sisters.

Dazzle was the first to
notice them. “P’XXXIES,” she screamed to her sisters. “DEFEND YOURSELVES.”

But the only defense,
according to J’azzz-min, was being happy. At this particular moment, no one
was.

The little creatures dove
down trying to land on their victims. But the two dragons kept flapping their
large wings and that kept the P’xxxies from getting too close.

Trying to find a little
shelter, they all crawled slowly to a bunch of trees that offered a little
protection from the swarm of winged attackers. When they got to where they
wanted to be, they were out of breath and very scared.

“Any ideas?” Sassi asked
Egg.

“I’m going to run and get
Bl’azzz’s Booyah so she can play something happy.”

“YOU CAN’T,” screamed her
Feminion. “Those things will get you.”

“She’s right,” said
Bl’azzz. “This is my fault and that’s my instrument. I’ll do it.”

“Keep beating your
wings.”

“Ah, you care.”

“We’re Sisters aren’t we?
Of course I care.” Aeri’elle had a very hurt look on her face.

Bl’azzz saw the look and
said, “I know you do. Thanks.”

So the F’yre Dragon took a
deep breath and ran back towards her instrument. The P’xxxies immediately
changed course to follow her. They tried to land but the dragon kept them away
with her wings. She reached her Booyah, picked it up in her mouth and was about
to start playing.

But a half
dozen P’xxxies flew down and grabbed the instrument from the dragon and flew
away with it. Bl’azzz started to run after them, but tripped. And in that
moment, a P’xxxie landed on her back . . .

Bl’azzz screamed once,
then went silent.

“OH MY GOSH. It’s
got Bl’azzz.”

“Do something, hurry.”

Egg looked around and saw a
couple of large pebbles on the ground. She picked up two and gave one to
Sylvia.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

And both girls threw their
pebbles as hard as they could. One just missed, the other one didn’t. It hit
the little creature in the stomach and the purple P’xxxie went flying off. It
landed on the ground obviously dazed. The other P’xxxies broke off their
attack, flew down and picked up their injured friend and left.

The girls waited a second
to make sure the creatures were really gone, and then they ran over to Bl’azzz.

“Bl’azzz, are you alright.
Bl’azzz can you hear me. It’s Soo’ . . . come on girl, wake up.”

The F’yre Dragon began to
moan. One of the girls fetched a water bottle and they poured a little on
Bl’azzz’s back where she was bitten. When the injured dragon opened her eyes,
they offered her a drink.

But she knocked the bottle
away.

Her eyes went wide . . .
as if she had just seen something horrible.

She looked at the faces
looking back at her . . . and started to cry.

The crying got worse . . .
and soon became a howl of utter despair and hopelessness. It sent shivers up
and down the spines of her six sisters.

“Bl’azzz, it’s okay.
Bl’azzz, those things are gone. You’re okay now.”

But she wasn’t okay. Her
laughter and sweet nature were gone. All that remained was a sad, unhappy
dragon. She continued to cry but she didn’t know why. Nothing the girls said
made a difference. The P’xxxies had claimed their newest victim . . . and
the fire in Bl’azzz had gone out.

Chapter 8 - Seven Sad Sisters

“Use the bracelet.”

“Oh, how stupid I am. Of
course.” So she put her hands on the dragon’s head and said, “Be not sad or
discouraged, Sister. All is well. Return to your…”

“Forget it.”

They turned around and
looked at the cat.

“Why?” asked Aeri’elle.

“It won’t work. Rules are
rules, sorry.” She almost sounded as if she were sorry.

“It worked on Egg when I
put her to sleep.”

“You weren’t trying to
make the hallucinations go away.”

“It worked on the souls in
the Dead Trees.”

“Not really. They’re still
stuck in the trees.”

“The power of the
jewelry cannot work against the evil in these lands; is that correct?”

“Wow, a complete
sentence.”

“Your rudeness grows
tiresome, cat.”

“Hey, I’m just the
messenger here. I ain’t responsible for all this stuff.”

“You could show more compassion.”

“You just don’t get it, do
you? I gotta do what the rules say . . . that’s why I’m here.”

“You helped us with the
sand serpent.”

“Sometimes the rules can
be . . . ummm . . . stretched a wee bit. Say by a cat’s whisker.”

Sassi had to ask, “Is there
nothing we can do for Bl’azzz?”

“No, sorry.” They thought
the cat really cared . . . until she added, “Look at the bright side; at least
she ain’t burning anybody with her hot breath.”

“Shut
up. Just shut up,” screamed an angry Soo’.

“Whatever,” and the cat
disappeared.

The girls forgot about
J’azzz-min when Bl’azzz began to moan again.

“Egg, do something . . .
please.” Soo’ hated to see her friend like this.

“Can you carry her?”

“Sure.” It would be hard
on land, but she would find the strength.

“We can take turns,”
offered K’ssss.

“Thanks.”

So Egg put her hands on
the dragons head and said, “Sleep, Sister.” And Bl’azzz immediately fell
asleep.

But when they tried to
hoist the sleeping dragon onto Soo’s back, they couldn’t do it. After a few
tries, Sylvia suggested they make a sling out of the tents and harnesses out of
the ropes. They put a harness on each of the serpents and suspended the sling
between them. Then they rolled the sleeping dragon onto it.

“Very clever . . .
again,”
said the Princess. Sylvia just nodded; she was too depressed to feel very
clever.

It was a sad group of
girls that began their journey again. And their pace was slowed to a crawl
because of the awkwardness of carrying the sleeping dragon.

“Are we going to make it
before our time is up?” asked Sassi.

Egg just shrugged. She had
no idea and she really didn’t feel like talking. Even though Dazzle had warned
her repeatedly of the dangers of the Quest, it really never struck home. At
least, not until now.

*****

They came to another fork
in the road. Aeri’elle asked Egg which direction she wanted to take.

“It doesn’t seem to
matter. You choose.”

So the dragon took the
left path. And hour after hour, they wound their way through the trees . . .
ever alert for those horrid P’xxxies.

“Egg . . .,” called Soo’.

“Yeah.”

“We need to rest . . .
sorry.”

“Do not be sorry, my
sister. Your sacrifice for Bl’azzz is admirable. The same is true for you,
K’ssss.”

They set down the sling
with the sleeping dragon and Egg woke her. She would need to eat and drink . .
. and perhaps her condition had improved.

“Nooooo,” the dragon
wailed.

“What’s wrong, Bl’azzz?”

“It’s so sad, so sad.”

“What is?”

But she didn’t answer; she
just sat down and cried softly. Soo’ sat next to her trying to get her friend
to drink a little water and maybe to eat something.

Egg walked a little ways
from the group to talk privately to Dazzle.

“What should we do?”

“That is your decision.
If it were mine, I would make our sister comfortable, give her adequate
supplies then leave her behind. It is very dangerous to take her with us.”

Egg was shocked. “I could
never do that. She belongs to the Sisterhood . . . and we would never do
something like that. Never.”

“As I said . . . it is
your decision.”

Egg turned around and
walked back to the others. And at that moment, J’azzz-min chose to reappear.

“Hi, girlies.”

No one even turned around
to look at the cat.

“Nice welcome. I can
really feel the love.”

Again, this was greeted
with silence.

“So I guess that if I told
you I had some bad news, you wouldn’t be all that thrilled.”

That was perfect . . .
just what they needed; more bad news.

“Speak, cat.”

“You’re lost.”

“WHAT?” screamed Sylvia. “You’re
supposed to be our guide. What kind of stupid cat are you?” Everyone’s nerves
were on edge since Bl’azzz was hurt and the least little thing could really
upset them.

“We’ve been traveling for
hours. Do you mean we have to go all the way back? We’ll never get out of here
in time.” Aeri’elle felt bad because she was leading the group and it was her
decision to take the left path.

“It’s a bit of a
conundrum, isn’t it?”

“What kind of drum?” asked
K’ssss.

“Conundrum . . . it means
a problem,” explained Sassi.

“Oh.”

“J’azzz-min, it is your
responsibility to guide us through these lands and you failed. Find a
solution.”

“Wait . . . I got it, I
got it. I’ll just snap my fingers . . .,” and she did just that. “Nope, guess
that didn’t work.” The cat’s sense of humor was as strange as always.

“How about if I snap your
head,” said Soo’ menacingly.

“Great idea,” and
J’azzz-min took off her head and tossed it to the shocked serpent.

“Gross,” said Soo’ while
letting the head fall to the ground.

The headless cat walked
over, picked up her noggin and reattached it. “Urgghhh,” she hissed, “Sometimes
that gives me such a headache.”

“J’azzz-min, if we don’t
get out of here in time and have to start over . . . will Bl’azzz be better?
You know . . . like it never happened?” Now that was a promising idea . . . if
true.

“Let me check the rule
book,” and the cat began to look at a pretend book in her paws. “Oh, yes, here
it is. NO.”

“No?”

“No.”

“What does the rule book
say about a cat guide who fails in her duties?”

“Ummm . . . (she did the
pretend thing again) . . . it says she has to fix it.”

“Well what do you intend
to do?”

“H’mmm . . . hows about a
little switch-aroo?”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning you girlies
should make camp here tonight and in the morning I fix our little problem.”

“I don’t trust you,” said
Sylvia.

“What’s your choice?”

“What about the P’xxxies?”
asked Aeri’elle.

“Believe it or not, no one
has ever injured one of them before. So now they’re afraid of you. Ain’t that a
kick in the head?”

“Which land will we go
through next?” asked Egg.

“Haven’t decided. Do you
care?”

“Guess not.”

“In that case, pleasant
dreams . . . and don’t let the bed bugs bite.”

*****

They set up camp and since
the P’xxxies weren’t going to attack again, they lit a fire. Sassi cooked a
wonderful meal for all of them. Well, it was actually three wonderful meals.
They sat back and ate . . . enjoying the hot food. Even Bl’azzz had stopped
crying long enough to eat.

When they had finished,
Soo’ said, “It’s my turn.”

The girls looked at her in
surprise. No one was in the mood for an amusing story.

“It’s not going to be
funny. I’ll save that one for another time if it’s okay with everybody.” The
girls all nodded.

And she began to tell her
tale. “A pretty long time ago there was this girl. She was a really amazing
serpent . . . smart, pretty and brave. Kind of like you-know-who.” She pointed
at Dazzle. “And despite her mom’s warnings, she wanted to battle against
Mobius. She joined with a group of other serpents and they went to a secret
cove to practice how to fight . . . something she had never done before. But as
it turned out, it wasn’t much of a secret. One of the serpents was a spy for
Mobius and he sent a bunch of really mean dragons to attack these kids. They
weren’t much older than me.”

“I’m sorry,” said
Aeri’elle. “Not all dragons are that way.”

“I know that. Anyway, all
the serpents were injured, captured, or worse. The only one to escape was this
girl 'cause she managed to hide in a sea cave. But she was hurt really badly.
She stayed in the cave for more than a day . . . afraid to come out. When she
finally did, there was a dragon waiting for her.”

The girls were listening
intently and didn’t make a sound.

“She thought she was about
to die. But she had no intention of giving up without a fight. So she tried to
attack the dragon.”

“She was very brave,
wasn’t she?”

“Yes, she was, you . . .
you . . .,” Soo’ smiled sadly and finished with, “sweet sea sister.”

“What happened to her?”
asked Sassi.

“The dragon said something
like, ‘I’m a loyal friend of Princess Dazzle . . . which makes me a friend of
yours. I’ve come to help you.’ He had heard that there had been a battle and he
came to look for survivors. Anyway, he took this girl to someplace safe and
nursed her back to health. I’m telling you this story because that girl was my
grandmother. If it wasn’t for that dragon, she would have died . . . and I
would never have been born.”

The girls sighed in
satisfaction. They all had tears in their eyes.

“I need to repay the debt
for my grandmother. If I make it through this Quest . . . so will Bl’azzz.
That’s my promise.”

Each girl stood up, went
over to Soo’ and gave her a hug.

“We’re all going to make
it. Nobody messes with the Hameggattic Sisterhood.” Egg said it, but in her
heart of hearts, she knew it wasn’t true.

*****

“Things go poorly for our
friends. I feel badly for them.”

“I could make it go worse.”

Ahhh, K’aos; your chance
will come. I promise.”

*****

That night Egg dreamt. She
was sitting by the Myst Tree and they were having a very nice conversation.

“So, Mr. Tree, what are
you exactly? We don’t have trees like you on earth.”

“I was placed here by the
Old Ones. They are the race of beings that brought humans, serpents and dragons
to Aerianna.”

“I know that. But what are
you?”

“Just a tree.”

“That’s not really true,
is it?”

“You are very wise for one
so young.

“So tell me again about
what was, isn’t, unless it will be.”

The Tree laughed. “I said
‘Succeed and all that was, will be again.”

“What does that mean
exactly?”

“What do you think it
means?”

“Now you sound like
Grammy.”

“Is that good?”

“Oh, very good. She’s
always trying to get me to use my head. You know . . . to think things out.”

“Then she is a very wise
teacher.”

“Okay, so I guess if we
beat Mobius then we succeeded. Right?”

“Yes.”

“And let me think . . .
all that was will be again. That probably means . . . ummm . . . ,” but she
wasn’t sure.

“How is Bl’azzz?”

“Not very well. But thank
you for asking.”

“Has she always been
unwell?”

“Oh, no. She was fine
until the P’xxxies bit her.”

“Can you solve the riddle
now?”

Egg thought about that for
a moment; then a light came on in her brain. “You mean that if we beat Mobius
then . . . Oh my gosh.”

“Tell your grandmother she
has done well by you, Egg of Earth.”

*****

She woke up in the morning
feeling like she needed to remember something. What was it? It’s like when a
word is on the tip of your tongue and you can’t quite recall what it is.

But before she could
finish the thought, J’azzz-min popped into existence.

“And a great, good’acious
morning to the lovely sisters. Did we sleep well?”

“Shut-up,” Soo’ was still
upset with what the cat had said about Bl’azzz.

“I’ll take that as a yes.
Are you ready for your third great getaway?”

“What is our
destination?”

“It’s the always lovely,
always interesting . . . Switch Swamp."

“Why that one?”

“I flipped a coin. If it
was heads, I’d send you directly to the Crystal Mountain. But if it was tails,
I’d send you to some place particularly unpleasant. And, you lost . . . . Go
figure.”

“You’re a horrible little
cat,” said Sylvia unable to hide her dislike of their giddy guide.

J’azzz-min never seemed to
be insulted by the insults. “If you think I’m bad, you just gotta meet my buddy
J’ynx.”

“YOU have a buddy?” Soo’
had a hard time believing that.

“Abso-cat-alutely.”

“Where is she?”

“You can’t see her . . .
she’s invisible. We’re very close.”

“Enough,” commanded Dazzle. “How do we find this
swamp?”

“Funny you should ask.”

“Funny ha-ha?” asked Egg
suspiciously.

“Ummm . . . not so much.”

“Would you please just
tell us? You’re driving me crazy,” complained Aeri’elle.

“Easy, there, big bird;
I’m getting to it. Keep walking down this path for about a mile till you get to
a very deep gorge. Then just cross over.”

“What do you mean . . .
cross over? Is there a bridge?”

“Kind of.”

“J’azzz-min,” said Dazzle sternly.

“There’s a giant fallen
tree that goes from one side to the other. All you gotta do is walk across. But
just don’t look down.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a tad high.”

“Egg, it is your
choice.”

Flying Girl was obviously
not afraid of heights. Neither was Sylvia or the dragons. “Come on. Let’s just
get this over with.” So they packed up their stuff, and Egg took the lead.
Aeri’elle and Soo’ walked on either side of the crying Bl’azzz, and the other
three followed behind.

*****

They made it to the tree
bridge. And J’azzz was right about one thing . . . it was a very, very long way
down.

“I don’t think I can do
this,” said a terrified K’ssss.

“Sure you can. I’ll get on
your back and we’ll go together.”

“What about you, Soo’?”
asked Sylvia.

“I’m good.” She
sounded braver than she felt.

“Isn’t that too weird?”

“What?”

“It’s black and white
until you get to the middle of the bridge; then it turns to normal colors.” The
girls hadn’t noticed that before.

“Care to guess where the
Colorless Wood ends?”

“About half way across.”

“Give that girlie a gold
star.”

“So now what?”

“Just cross over.”

“Aren’t you going to tell
us about the Swamp?”

“Absolutely, positively,
without a doubt . . . If you can make it across.”

“What do you mean . . .
if?”

“Did I say that? Slip of
the tongue.”

“Liar, you freaky, foolish
feline.”

Ignoring the little exchange,
Dazzle asked, “It does not seem like a swamp on the other side. Why is that?”

“It changes just beyond
those trees.”

“What danger is there in
crossing this bridge?”

“Let’s see . . . what
possible danger is there in crossing over an old dead tree that’s about fifty
kagillian miles above the ground? Gee . . . I just can’t think of any. Nope,
you’re right, it’s all good.”

“Why don’t you go first?”
challenged Soo’.

“Like I could get hurt . .
. get real, girlie.” With that, the cat scampered across the tree trunk and
onto the other side. “Last one across is a fur ball.”

Egg turned to the sobbing
dragon, put her hands on her head and said, “Sister, you will follow me across
this bridge and you will not try to fly off of it.” She was afraid the dragon
in her current state might try to fly away. “Okay, you guys . . . Bl’azzz and I
are going first. Then K’ssss and Sassi will follow. Syl . . . you get on Soo’s
back and help her across. Aeri’elle . . . if anybody falls, save them if you
can.”

Chapter 9 – Switch Swamp

The giant tree bridge fell
and K’ssss screamed, “IT FELL.”

It split in the middle
right where the black and white world ended and the normal colored one began.
It snapped with a gigantically loud ‘crrraaaack’ sound then plummeted the
kagillian miles to the rocky floor below.

“Oh my gosh.”

“Would you pleeeease stop
saying that,” whined the cat.

“Can you think of
something better to say?”

“How about . . . ummm . .
. oh yeah; timmmmmmmberrrrrrrr.”

“Gee, that’s much better,”
said Soo’ rolling her eyes.

“How come it did that?”
asked Sylvia.

“Cause it’s an old dead
tree and you fat things just walked across it.” The tree broke just as
Aeri’elle had stepped off.

“It could have broken with
us on it,” the dragon said in a huff.

“Oh my gosh . . . you’re right,”
said J’azzz doing her best Egg impression.

“J’azzz-min, tell us
what you can about the Swamp.” Dazzle wanted to bring the conversation back to what was
important.

“I already told you not to
drink the water.”

“Because it does what
exactly?” inquired Sassi.

“You do a switcheroo with
the one closest to you. Sometimes you switch minds, sometimes personality . . .
you never really know.”

“Is it a permanent
change?”

“Pretty much everything
that can go wrong from here on in is a forever thing.”

“What else can you tell
us?”

“Let’s see . . . well,
there are a lot of icky things that live in swamps. It’s no different here.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“You wouldn’t want them
for house pets.”

“So how do we find our way
out of the swamp?”

“And don’t get us lost
again,” said Aeri’elle angrily.

“Geez, you make one little
mistake and they never let you live it down. This is a tough crowd.”

“Well . . .,” said Egg
impatiently.

“Follow the current and
look for very tall trees with fur.”

“A tree with fur . . .”
Egg just shook her head. She didn’t know whether to laugh at the ridiculousness
of everything they’d encountered, or cry . . . for the same reason.

“It’s not really fur . . .
it just looks like it.”

“Point
one out so we know what we are looking for?” commanded Dazzle. So the cat looked around
and pointed at a tall moss covered tree.

“Oh, it’s so pretty,”
cooed K’ssss. “Could I pet it?”

“No, you dopey, dim-witted
denizen.”

“Anything else you can
tell us?” asked
Dazzle.

“Ummm . . . it’s going to
be hot and humid with lots of bugs, a few very weird creatures, and some
strange smells. If I were you, I’d get through this place with cat-like speed.”

“And how can we do
that?”

“Don’t walk. Oh dear, look
at the time. Gotta go . . . let’s do lunch sometime.” She blew them a kiss and
then the irritating cat winked out of existence.

“After we beat Mobius, I
get first dibs on the cat,” said Soo’ with an evil grin.

“I’ll arm wrestle you for
her,” said Sylvia momentarily forgetting that sea serpents lacked the
appropriate appendage.

“It is a worthy goal,
and I may choose to compete for the honor myself. But first we should prepare
for our journey through this vile place.” She turned and looked expectantly at Egg.

“Let’s go take a look at
the swamp then we can decide what to do.”

So they walked
down a curvy path, which descended into a valley. And as the made the last
turn, they stopped and stared at Switch Swamp…

“Ohhhh my gosh,” moaned
Egg.

The other girls just
stared with their mouths hanging open until Soo’ said, “Gross,” which nicely
expressed what all of them were thinking. The water was a muddy reddish color
with strange streaks of yellow.

“I thought you were dying
to get back in the water?” teased Aeri’elle.

“Clean water . . . yes.
Salt water . . . yes. Clean, salt water . . . absolutely. But this is downright
disgusting. It’s dirty, it’s muddy and it smells awful.”

“Most unpleasant,” declared the Princess.

“How the heck are we
supposed to get through this?” asked Egg. Unfortunately, since she was the
leader of the pack, her question wasn’t all that inspiring to her sisters.

They stood there frozen by
indecision until Sassi volunteered, “Let me try walking through it . . . just
to see.”

“Be careful.”

“I will, K’ssss. Okay . .
. here goes nothing.” She stepped into the water and yelled, “Oh, goodness. It’s so muddy on the
bottom and my feet are stuck in it.”

Egg and Sylvia grabbed the
girl by her arms and pulled her out.

“Thank you.”

“Now what?”

“Rats, rats, rats, rats,
rats,” groaned Soo’.

“Rats . . . where? I hate
rats.” Everyone hated rats and they looked around anxiously to see what Soo’
had seen.

“NO, NO, NO. I didn’t mean
actual rats. I meant that the only way we can get through this is if you guys
use K’ssss and me as rafts. We may not like it, but we can swim in this muck.”

Everyone but K’ssss looked
relieved.

“Thank you, Sister. And
you K’ssss.”

“You’re welcome, Majesty.”

“H’sssss, H’sssss.”

“What are you laughing at
. . . you big dufus?”

“I think the Princess
really likes me.”

“I more than like you,
K’ssss. I love you and your Sisters. You are all such remarkable young ladies .
. . truly the best of two worlds.” Her kind words did much to bolster their courage.

And so, the two serpents
gingerly slithered into the foul smelling, murky water. “Remember . . . don’t
drink any,” Egg reminded them.

“Yeah . . . just what I
wanted to quench my thirst,” replied Soo’ sarcastically.

Egg led Bl’azzz and they
climbed on the back of Soo’. The F’yre Dragon was quietly sobbing and simply
did as she was told. Sassi and Sylvia got on K’ssss.

“Come on Aeri’elle,”
called Egg to the dragon who was just standing there.

“I will walk.”

“Why?”

“Don’t worry about it . .
. I can easily carry you,” added Soo’.

“Thank you . . . but I’ll
walk alongside. If there is danger in the water, it’s unfair that you two have
to brave it alone. Besides, with passengers on your back, you’ll be unable to
protect yourselves.”

“You show great courage,
Sister.”

Aeri’elle bowed low to the
Princess. “No more than they, your Majesty.” Sometimes the girls were really amazed by the good Aeri’elle.

*****

The water was deep enough
so that the two serpents could float and avoid rubbing against the horrible
muck at the bottom. And by floating, they were drifting with the current . . .
just like J’azzz-min told them to do.

Everyone was very quiet as
they scanned back and forth looking for danger. But the Swamp was such a
strange place . . . everything looked and sounded and smelled of gloom and
doom. It was frightening . . .  much like the other lands.

They were
about an hour into their journey when it happened. One of those nasty creatures
that J’azzz had warned them about fell out of a tree branch they were passing
under. It landed on Soo’s head and she screamed.

“Get
it off…get it off. It’s hurting me…get it off.”

Egg tried to ‘shoo’ it
away, but the ugly thing just looked at her without moving. Aeri’elle, who was
walking close by, leaned over the serpent and picked up the creature in her
mouth. Then she tossed it into the air, caught and swallowed it.

“OH, YUCK,” cried Egg.

And Bl’azzz who was
watching the whole thing screamed, “It’s not a q’cumber, it’s not a q’cumber,”
then started to cry uncontrollably as the creature disappeared into Aeri’elle’s
mouth.

“It was actually very
tasty.”

“Did you ever think it
might be poisonous?” asked Sylvia. The dragon just shrugged.

“What was it?” wondered
Sassi.

“Just a red-headed,
mottled skin, three toed tad’toad. Harmless . . . unless you eat it,” said a
cat’s head floating in the water.

Aeri’elle looked alarmed.
“What happens if you eat it?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“Did you chew it or just
swallow it whole?”

“I didn’t chew it.”

“You’re lucky.”

“So . . . I’ll be okay?”
The dragon wanted to be reassured that she wasn’t in any danger.

“You’re in the middle of
the most dangerous swamp in the universe. If I was a betting cat . . . which
I’m not . . . I’d bet you’ll never be okay again.” She paused then added,
“Wanna bet?”

“Go away cat.” Sylvia
wished she had a pebble to throw at the obnoxious head floating in the filthy
water.

“I’m going, already. By
the way, the guy who owned that tad’ toad isn’t very happy that you ate it.”

“What guy?”

“That guy,” and she
pointed towards a bunch of trees. “Have a nice day.”

They turned to
where the cat pointed and saw . . .

“I think we should leave .
. . quickly,” said Sassi stating the obvious.

“Most assuredly,” said Dazzle. “Sisters, please swim
as fast as you can. Aeri’elle, get on Soo’s back until we are clear of this
creature.”

The girls didn’t need to
be told twice. The shadowy thing was moving slowly towards them and it looked
none too happy. Aeri’elle jump on Soo’s back and both serpents swam for all
they were worth.

As the distance between
them and the . . . whatever it was . . . grew, the girls began to relax just a
little. But the serpents kept up their pace and an hour later they had left the
creature far behind.

“I think I need to rest,”
said a tired Serpent.

“Me too. And I’m very
hungry.” K’ssss being hungry was never a surprise to her sisters.

“Egg . . . you must find
a place to make camp. We all need food and rest.”

*****

Egg being Egg . . . she
decided that they should follow what looked to be a beaver or muskrat or
something swimming past them. Since it wasn’t a fish, she figured that it must
live on land. So what the heck . . . they tagged along.

And Egg being Egg . . . it
worked. The animal led them to a little cove with just enough dry land where
they could set up camp.

“It’s almost nice . . .
for a swamp,” observed Sassi.

The serpents crawled onto
the muddy beach and their passengers jumped off.

“Doesn’t it hurt with so
much weight on your back?” Sylvia asked Soo’.

“Not really. She (pointing
at K’ssss) and I may look like oversized sea slugs, but we’re mostly muscle.
Not to brag or anything, but we’re pretty darn strong.”

“Well, thank you both
anyway.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Hey, you guys, let’s look
around for some dry wood so we can make a fire,” said Egg.

“It’s so hot and muggy,
why in the world would you want a fire?”

“Because we humans wear
clothes and they’re wet. There is almost nothing more uncomfortable then that.”

“Why don’t you just take
them off? I never understood why humans wore them anyway.”

Egg’s mouth fell open at
the suggestion. She finally sputtered, “Well . . . well . . . we just can’t be
walking around naked.”

“Why not? Serpents and
dragons don’t wear clothes.”

Strangely enough, neither
Sylvia nor she ever gave that fact much thought. All Egg could do in response
was to blush a deep red.

“If I may?” said Dazzle coming to the
rescue.

“OH, please” the young
girl responded in great relief.

“There are three reasons
that humans choose to wear clothes. Most importantly, we do it for protection
from the elements. Unlike you or our serpent sisters, we cannot be exposed to
heat and cold without suffering ill effects. In this instance, we humans are
inferior.”

“Oh no, your Majesty. I
didn’t mean to insult our human sisters.” Aeri’elle was horrified that
the Princess had to admit such a thing on her account.

“No insult was taken.
Your question was a fair one. As for the next reason, we wear clothes for
fashion. It is vain on our part . . . but we have always done so.”

“That part I just don’t
get,” said Soo’. “I think human clothes are just weird.”

“It is one of those
things that makes us different . . . but it is of such little importance as not
to matter at all. As for the last reason, we do it for modesty. That modesty
differs from culture to culture. On earth, for example, there are some
societies that hide the faces of the women.”

“Why?” asked a
shocked dragon.

“Again, it is just part
of their tradition. How it evolved more often than not is lost in the mists of
time. But the practice endures and becomes the expected behavior.”

“Wow . . . humans are
really weird.” Realizing she had just insulted the future Queen of Aerianna,
Soo’ quickly added, “present company excluded.”

Dazzle just laughed
good-naturedly. “Have I answered your question, Aeri’elle?”

“Yes, your Majesty. Thank
you.”

“Thanks, Dazzle.”

“It is the least I can
do for Flying Girl.”

*****

They were able to find
some dry wood . . . mostly dead branches that they could snap off or cut with a
long knife that they had brought. Tying a rope between trees, they could then
spread out their wet clothes and let the heat of the fire dry them.

As they sat around eating
lunch, K’ssss asked, “Sassi . . . is it against the law for one person to try
on the clothes of their friend?”

The three human girls all
giggled. “No, K’ssss. In fact, it is almost expected.”

“Really? Could I try on
something of yours?”

Sassi lifted her eyebrows
in surprise. She didn’t want to embarrass the serpent by telling her nothing
she had could possibly fit her. “Was there something in particular that you
would like to try?”

“Oh, yes. That thing you
wear around your neck. The green looks just like the ocean.”

“My scarf . . . well, of
course you can. In fact, I have an extra one in my backpack.” So the girl
rummaged through her belongings and found what she was looking for. She held it
up for K’ssss to see.

“Ohhhh . . . it’s so
pretty. Can you put it on me?”

It took a bit
of doing, but Sassi finally succeeded in getting it on the serpent’s neck. Then
she found a small mirror and held it up for her sea sister. “It looks beautiful
on you.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Absolutely. Don’t you agree?”
she asked the other girls.

“It’s perfect,” said Egg.

“That’s a great color on
you,” added Sylvia.

“It looks like you got
tangled up in seaweed,” said Soo’ teasingly.

“I’ll buy you one when we
finish the quest,” offered Aeri’elle.

They all looked at Bl’azzz
. . . from habit. But the F’yre Dragon just cried.

“K’ssss, when I present
you with your medal of valor, will you promise to wear the scarf?”

K’ssss looked at the
Princess as if she was about to faint. “Could I?”

“I insist.”

“Then I think you should keep
this one. It’s my gift to you for letting me ride on your back.”

“Ohhh, thank you. And I
promise I’ll never ever lose it. Never.”

Before anyone could say
anything else, J’azzz-min popped out of the fire.

“Hi, girlies. Hey sea
snake . . . love your scarf.”

“Do you really?”

“Get real.”

“What do you want now?”
asked an annoyed Egg.

“Just thought I mention
something. You know that big shadowy guy . . . he’s still not happy that
Aeri’elle ate his ugly little pet.”

“I didn’t know it was
somebody’s pet. Tell him I apologize.”

“You can tell him
yourself. He’ll be here in a few minutes.”

“WHAT!”

“What is he exactly?”
asked a frightened Sylvia.

“A muck’raker.”

“A what?”

“Read my lips . . . m u
c k ‘r a k e r. He rakes the muck at the bottom of the swamp.”

“Why?’

“It’s his punishment.”

“For what.”

“Not sure. I think it’s
kinda like the souls in the Dead Trees.”

“Sisters, gather your
belongings and let us leave.”

“One last thing . . . he
can control the trees.” But before she could be asked to explain what that meant
. . . she melted into nothingness.

Chapter 10 – Itsy Bitsy Spider

The girls
looked nervously at the trees. What seemed normal a minute ago now appeared
frightening. And for the first time they noticed how every one of them had
thick vines that dangled down like so many venomous snakes.

“Don’t get close to those
vines,” Egg warned her sisters. They now looked menacing and they gave the girl
a bad feeling.

Rushing to pack
everything, they were finished in no time at all.

“Sea Sisters . . . into
the water. Everyone else, please get on. Quickly.”

They all climbed on but
then K’ssss yelled, “My scarf . . . it fell off.”

“I’ll get it,” said
Aeri’elle and she jumped off and raced over to where the scarf had fallen. She
picked it up and started back. But before she could take two steps, one of the
vines dropped down and ensnared her.

“Oh my gosh,” screamed Egg. “Syl . . .
we have to help Aeri’elle.”

As the dragon fought to
free herself, she became more and more entangled. And then the vine started to
lift her into the air.

Just to make a bad
situation worse, Sassi yelled, “HERE HE COMES.” She pointed to the
creepy Muck’raker, but he was incredibly hard to see because he blended in so
well with the forest shadows.

“Continue to watch his
progress,”
commanded Dazzle. “Egg . . . free your sister, but do it swiftly.” Now that bit of advice
wasn’t really necessary.

Egg reached the trapped
dragon and pulled frantically at the attacking vines. But they were incredibly
strong and she couldn’t even budge one strand.

“Hurry, Egg . . . it’s
squeezing me so hard I can hardly breathe.”

“SYL”.

“I’m here and I brought
the knife and an ax.” She handed the knife to her friend and they both started
cutting and hacking at the vine. It took a lot of work, but they finally cut
the vine around Aeri’elle’s chest so she could breathe more easily.

“Oh, thanks,” said the
dragon as she took a deep breath.

“EGGGGGG . . . he’s here.
Behind you.” And the two girls and trapped dragon turned to see the large,
creepy creature standing there glaring at them.

He pointed a finger at the
vines holding Aeri’elle and they began to lift the dragon high into the air.
Then another vine wrapped itself around the girl’s stomach and started to
squeeze. Aeri’elle screamed at the pain.

“STOP THAT,” yelled Egg. The
Muck’raker didn’t even look at her.

Using the magic from her
ring, she ran up to the thing and made herself as large as it was. She grabbed
at his finger hoping that would stop the vine from squishing her sister . . .
but all he did was reach out, pick her up with one hand and toss her into the
water.

Sylvia ran to her friend
since there was nothing she could do for her dragon sister by herself.

“Are you okay?” she asked
as she helped Egg out of the swamp.

“I almost got a mouth full
of water.” She wiped her face dry then added unnecessarily, “Boy is he strong.”

“Come on . . . we gotta go
back and save Aeri’elle.”

But as they turned, they
heard the dragon give one more scream . . . and then she exploded.

*****

They were back on the
swamp, drifting along with the current. Everyone was quiet except for the soft
sobbing coming from Bl’azzz.

“That was kind of
disgusting,” Egg finally said.

“What’s he going to do
with it anyway?” wondered Soo’.

“I don’t even want to
know.” She couldn’t help herself from giggling.

“It’s not funny,” said
Aeri’elle.

“It wasn’t then . . . but
it is now,” corrected Sylvia.

“I wish Bl’azzz could have
seen it. She’d never let you live it down.”

“Do you suffer any ill
effects?”
asked a
concerned Princess.

“No, your Majesty. Well .
. . other than embarrassment.” That got everyone to giggling (except the sad
Bl’azzz).

All the Muck’raker had
wanted was his pet back. So he had trapped Aeri’elle in the vines which then
squeezed her stomach until she threw-up the little creature. It came flying out
of her mouth and at first, the girls thought she had exploded. It took a minute
before they realized what had happened.

Once the Muck’raker had
his pet, he had the vines release the dragon and she thudded to the ground . .
. uninjured, except for her pride. He took the animal, turned around and
disappeared back into the shadows of the swamp.

“Was it still alive, you
think?”

No one had an answer . . .
but they shuddered at the thought.

*****

They traveled uneventfully
for the rest of the day. As dusk approached, they found another little cove
with dry land and decided it was as good a place to set up camp for the night.

After unloading their
supplies, some of the girls went for firewood while the others set up the
tents.

“Let’s keep the tents as
far from those horrible vines as we can.”

“They’re called
snaggle-cord vines.” Everyone ignored the cat that had just shimmied down from
one.

“What . . . not even a
hello? I’m like your best friend in the whole world and this is the greeting I
get?”

“Unless you have something
important to tell us . . . go away.”

“Syl . . . can I call you
Syl . . . how’s about if I take a sip of the water and me and you do the old
switcharoo?”

Sylvia’s eyes flew wide in
horror until she realized J’azzz-min was just kidding. “I’d rather do that with
the Muck’raker.”

“You want me to call him
over?”

“Enough, J’azzz-min. Why
have you come?”

“Do I have to have a
reason? Maybe I just like the company.”

Dazzle just glared at the
cat.

“Alright, already. I was
just trying to make nice. Anywho . . . you girlies have made really great time.
With a little luck you’ll be out of the swamp before dark tomorrow.”

“But . . .”

“Does there have to be a
‘but’?” Everyone continued to stare at her. “Well, just by coincidence there is
one . . .” The cat grinned evilly. “Anybody afraid of spiders?”

“Oh, that’s just great,”
said Sylvia in total exasperation. “What a surprise . . . I hate spiders.”

“Awwwwww, that’s too bad.”

“Explain.”

Instead, J’azzz recited a
poem . . . “The itsy bitsy spider fell from a tree, it landed on a little girl
who tried to run and flee. But he caught her in his web because the spider was
too fast, now the little girl doesn’t have very long to last.”

The girls stared in
absolute horror and revulsion.

“I thought you could only tell
us about one challenge?” Egg managed to say. “It’s just a nursery rhyme my
mommy used to tell me.”

“My mommy tells me nursery
rhymes too.”

“Did you ever hear the one
about the fat sea serpent . . .”

“Enough,” commanded Dazzle and they
all fell silent. ‘What else can you tell us about spiders?”

“There’s only one thing
they hate.”

“And that is?”

“That is the one thing you
lost.” The cat tipped her hat, shimmied back up the vine and disappeared.

“Why must everything be a
riddle?” asked a frustrated Sassi.

“It’s in the rules,” came
a voice out of nowhere.

*****

After dinner, they sat in
the glow of the campfire chatting quietly. When the small talk finally died
away, Aeri’elle said, “It’s my turn.” By now, everyone knew what that meant . .
. she wanted to share a story with her sisters.

“First, I want to thank
Egg and Sylvia for risking their lives to save me. You are both very brave and
I really do think of you as sisters. The same goes for all of you. I am very
proud to be part of this quest. No matter what happens, I will have no regrets
that I joined the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”

“We feel the same way
about you . . . now,” said Soo’ mischievously.

“Now?”

“Yeah. You were pretty
stuck up at first.”

The dragon was about to be
offended until she realized that what Soo’ had said was true. “I’m sorry for my
behavior earlier. But I have learned much from all of you.”

“That is the nature of a
sisterhood . . . an opportunity to share experiences and emotions. To learn, to
trust, to teach, to laugh . . . all of that and more. I, too, feel privileged
to be part of this.” Compliments seem to mean so much more when they come from a
Princess.

“Tell us your story,
Aeri’elle” encouraged Sassi.

“My great
grandmother was a lady in waiting for F’Aerianne, the rainbow dragon who was
our queen until Mobius came to rule.

As the Princess well
knows, our Queen was an amazing dragon. She was so beautiful . . . no other
dragon had ever been born with her coloring. And she was wise and kind. King
M’earth was very shrewd to allow her to continue to rule after he had won the
Crystal Egg. All of her people adored her.

When she disappeared, my
people were outraged. Many formed a secret society to fight Mobius and to
return F’Aerianne to her throne. My grandmother was one of the leaders.

Unfortunately . . . to my
great shame . . . her son and my father chose not to help. He was very
comfortable with the wealth he had accumulated over the years and did not wish
to do anything that might cause him to lose it.

That is why I started the
HAMNEGG debating club.

That is why I joined the
sisterhood.

That is why I am on this
Quest.

MY father is not a coward
. . . just a fool. He believes wealth is more important than honor.

I am not brave . . . but I
have honor.”

It was obviously very
painful for the proud Aeri’elle to share such a story. And the girls were very
grateful for being entrusted with it.

“You do your grandmother
and your Queen proud. But you are wrong . . . you have shown great bravery. And
be not ashamed of your father. His motives may not be so shallow as wealth and
comfort. Perhaps he was trying to protect his family from the vengeful Mobius.
Perhaps he had to sacrifice his honor to save you.”

That comment totally
startled the young dragon. “Could it be true?” she said hopefully.

“Most certainly it
could. In time you shall find out.”

Aeri’elle turned her head
and stared into the fire, lost in the Princess’ words. She breathed deeply and
felt a great burden being lifted from her heart.

*****

In the morning, they sat
around the fire, eating breakfast and discussing spiders and the something they
had lost.

Soo’ expressed everyone’s
feelings. “I don’t trust that cat.”

“Anything specific or just
in general?’

“The itsy bitsy thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean if there are
spiders in this place, they aren’t going to be itsy-bitsy ones. They’re going
to be . . . what’s the opposite of itsy bitsy?”

“Biggety-wiggety,”
suggested K’ssss.

“Yeah . . .
Biggety-wiggety.”

The girls all shuddered at
the thought. Nobody likes spiders . . . big or small.

“So what’s the thing that
we lost?” asked Sylvia who was frustrated trying to figure out that riddle.

“Did you not dream on
this last night?” Dazzle asked Egg.

“I tried. But the only
dream I can remember was about Bl’azzz and how she burnt J’azzz-min’s hat.” That
got all the girls to laughing.

“I wish she was Bl’azzz
again,” said K’ssss. Seeing the F’yre Dragon this way was hard on everyone . .
. but especially on the sensitive, silly serpent.

“We all do, K’ssss. We all
do.”

After that they fell
silent . . . each thinking her own thoughts.

“We should leave. The
quicker we are through this land, the better.” Most suggestions from
Dazzle were considered royal commands. In fact, only Egg ever challenged the
Princess.

So they did what they
always did . . . packed up their stuff, loaded it and themselves on the backs
of the two serpents and set out for the next tall moss covered tree.

*****

The morning passed without
incident . . . which made them very, very nervous. Why would Mobius let them
off this easily? Of course, the answer was he had no intention of making it
this easy.

The trouble came when they
had to stop for lunch. They were hoping it would be their last stop in the
Swamp. If J’azzz-min had been telling the truth, they should be very near the
end.

They made camp as usual
and the three human girls started to set up the tents to protect them from the
hot sun, while the serpents rested from all the swimming they had done.
Aeri’elle decided to take Bl’azzz to look for firewood.

“Are you sure you want to
take her?” asked Soo’. She was as much concerned for Aeri’elle’s safety as for
Bl’azzz’s. If something went wrong, it would be very hard to help the sad
dragon while trying to defend herself.

“It’ll be fine. Maybe a
little walk will do her some good. What do you think Bl’azzz . . . would you
like to go with me?

”It’s such a sad place,”
was all she said then burst into tears.

Aeri’elle put a wing
around her sister and led her off into the woods.

The other five girls
watched as the two dragons disappeared then they continued with their chores .
. . or their naps. The minutes ticked by and the only sounds were those of the
insects buzzing and frogs (or whatever they were) croaking. It almost seemed
normal.

Soo’, who had fallen fast
asleep, woke up with a start. “I know what we lost,” she said. But she
didn’t get a chance to finish her thought.

The dragon’s scream caused
the birds in the trees to take flight with nerve rattling screeching. The girls
immediately dropped whatever they had in their hands, grabbed the ax and the
knife and ran to the aid of their sisters. The two serpents were close behind.

They followed the sound
and came to the edge of the little island they were on. And there between two
large trees was the biggest spider web they had ever seen. And in the middle
was Bl’azzz . . . stuck fast to the sticky snare.

Aeri’elle was
off to one side . . . her back to her sisters. When she heard them approach,
she turned around and yelled, “Save her . . .,” obviously referring to the
other dragon. Then she returned to whatever she was doing. Her wings were
flapping furiously and her beak was snapping at something. She started to back
up . . . but fell over a log. And there behind her was the Itsy-bitsy spider…

. . . only it was about
ten feet tall.

“OH MY GOSH!”

“Yuck…”

“I’m going to skin that
stupid cat.”

Sassi had nothing to say;
instead, she ran towards Aeri’elle and helped her to her feet. The spider came
towards them . . . one giant leg at a time.

Egg ran up and threw the
ax as hard as she could . . . but it just bounced off the big, bug-eyed thing.
Sylvia’s knife did the same.

But the Spider was
distracted long enough for the other two girls to escape.

Meanwhile Soo’ and K’ssss
were frantically trying to find some way to free their trapped sister . . . but
with no luck.

Then the
spider, bored with chasing the others, turned and crawled onto its web . . .

It went straight to the
helpless Bl’azzz, opening its mouth to reveal giant size fangs. The spider was
about to enjoy a delicious meal . . . of F’yre Dragon.

“NOOOOOO,” screamed Soo’.

Then she did something
completely unexpected . . . she dove into the waters of Switch Swamp.

And the last thing she
heard before she disappeared under the muddy water was her dear friend Bl’azzz
shriek as the spider’s mouth started to close on her leg.

Book 11

Goodnight Girlies

Book
11

Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood

©
Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone

All
Rights Reserved.

Table
of Contents

Chapter 1 – Home
Bittersweet Home

Chapter 2 – AyBee Sea

Chapter 3 – Saved By the
B’elle

Chapter 4 – Crystal Forest

Chapter 5 – Good Night
K’ssss

Chapter 6 – The Spy Who
Loved Us

Chapter 7 – Days of Our
Lives

Chapter 8 – Maze of Forever

Chapter 9 – Auld Lang Syne

Chapter 10 – Never ’Glade

Chapter 1 – Home Bittersweet Home

The F’yre Dragon screamed in pain as
the fangs of the spider closed down on her leg. The giant insect then opened
its mouth and a long black tongue snaked out to inject deadly poison into its
victim.

Soo’ surfaced from beneath the foul
dark waters of Switch Swamp and launched herself at the spider web. The sight
of a large sea serpent going airborne and heading right for you would get
anyone’s attention. In this case, even the giant spider paused at the sight.

The serpent landed between
the ten-foot spider and her good friend Bl’azzz. And then the weirdest thing
happened. Bl’azzz’s scream caused her to burp and the burp burst into its usual
tongue of flame.

The flame hit the spider square in the
face and it shrieked in pain. It turned away from its would-be meal, scampered
into the muddy swamp, and swam off as fast as its many legs could paddle.

The other girls stood there transfixed
by what they had just seen . . . not really understanding any of it. For one
thing, Bl’azzz had lost her fire . . . extinguished by the P’xxxies in the
Colorless Wood. How did she get it back? And they had no idea why Soo’ had
jumped into the swamp . . . just to jump back out again.

“Hey, you guys, get me out
of here.”

And even those words shocked the
girls. That was the first sentence that the dragon had uttered that made sense
and hadn’t ended in her breaking down into uncontrollable sobbing.

“Come on before that thing
comes back.”

Sassi was first to move and she
fetched the knife and ax that the other two girls had thrown at the spider. She
gave the knife to Sylvia and the two of them started hacking and cutting at the
sticky web that had their sisters trapped.

It took quite a while but they finally
managed to free Bl’azzz. But when they freed Soo’, she started to wail, “It’s so sad, so sad . . .,” then burst into
tears.

“What’s gotten into her?
The spider didn’t bite her too, did it?” asked Bl’azzz as Aeri’elle and Sassi tended to her
injured leg.

“No, she was fine just a
few seconds ago before she saved you.”

“Saved me? How did she save
me?”

“I’m not exactly sure,”
answered the other dragon.

“Nor I.” added Sassi when Bl’azzz looked at her.

Meanwhile Egg and K’ssss were trying
to console the crying serpent but without any luck. “Soo’ . . . what happened?
Why did you jump in the swamp? Why are you crying?”

“Did the ugly spider hurt
you?” asked K’ssss,
trying not to cry.

But “It’s so sad, so sad .
. .,” was all she would
say.

“Stay with her for a minute, would you
K’ssss?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Thanks,” and Egg walked over to the
others. “How’s her leg?”

“Do you think you could
use your bracelet to fix it?”

“I can try.” Egg put her hands on the
injured leg and said, “Sister, let your body heal thy wounded leg and restore
itself. Let it be again as healthy as it was before. Let its strength be as it
once was.”

Everyone looked at the wound . . . and
to their disappointment, nothing happened. “The cat said the jewelry wouldn’t
work against any of the bad stuff,” Sylvia reminded her sisters.

“Did someone say the magic
word?” asked J’azzz-min
who materialized out of thin air.

“No” said Sylvia. “Go away.” The cat
was their guide through the seven lands, but she was also obnoxious and
annoying.

“I distinctly heard the
word cat.”

“You’re wrong, I said rat.”

“You heard her . . .
scram,” said Bl’azzz while trying not to wince at the pain in her leg.

“Ain’t that the cat’s meow
. . . Gassi, the burping dragon, is back to her old self.”

“Get lost or I’ll burn
your hat again,” threatened the F’yre Dragon.

“It’s fireproof. I told
you . . . it’s fireproof. Don’t you things ever listen?”

“J’azzz-min,” interrupted Dazzle. “Do you know what has just happened?”

“Well, of course I do.
I’ve been insulted and threatened.”

“I am talking of Soo’
and Bl’azzz and the spider”.

“Oh, that. Yeah, I know.”

“Speak.”

“Speak . . . Stay . . .
Sit . . . Beg,” said the cat as she rolled her eyes in pretend disgust.
“What am I . . . your pet?”

“If you were my pet, you
would be infinitely more obedient. Now tell us what has happened,” commanded the Princess.

“Well . . . since you
asked so nicely . . . I’ll give you a hint.” She paused, as she liked to do for
dramatic effect. Unfortunately, it was just irritating. “IT’S KINDA OBVIOUS.”
Then she added a snide, “Hello . . . anybody home?”

Egg understood immediately. “She drank
the swamp water, didn’t she?”

“Fandingo-dango-bingo-bango,”
cried the cat in a not very convincing show of enthusiasm.

“So what happened to her exactly?”
asked a confused Sylvia.

“If I may be so bold as to
venture a guess,” she paused again waiting for an answer that she knew she
wouldn’t get. “I’ll take your look of utter befuddlement as an enthusiastic
yes. She gave Burpy her good humor back and in return she got the dragon’s
cry-baby blues.”

“What does that mean?”
asked Bl’azzz to her
sisters. The F’yre Dragon had no memory of what had happened to her in the
Colorless Wood. So Aeri’elle explained that she had been bitten by a P’xxxie
and had been drained of all happiness and hope. She had been crying ever since.

“Really?”

“Oh my gosh . . . I just remembered
what Soo’ said just before Aeri’elle screamed for help. She had been napping
and she woke up and said, “I know what we lost.”  At the time, Aeri’elle had
taken Bl’azzz to look for firewood when they ran into the spider.

“Which was what?” asked Sassi.

“J’azzz said there was only one thing
that could stop the spiders . . . but it was the one thing we lost.”

“Bl’azzz’s fire,” said Sylvia.

“My fire?”

“You haven’t burped fire
since you were bitten,” Aeri’elle told her.

“So there is a cure,” she
said with a smile until she remembered the incredible sacrifice Soo’ had made
for her. “Forget I said that.”

Dazzle took a closer look at the
dragon’s leg then asked, “Bl’azzz, are you able to walk with that injury?”

With the help of Aeri’elle, the
wounded dragon stood up and gingerly put her weight on the leg.  It buckled
immediately and she fell. “Owwww”.

“Sisters, make Bl’azzz
as comfortable as you can. Egg, I would have a word with you.”

Egg and Dazzle walked away from the
others so they could speak in private. When they were far enough away, Dazzle
said, “Bl’azzz cannot continue with us.”

“Why not?”

“Her wound is too
severe. If she does not receive medical treatment, it will fester. Egg . . . at
best it will cost her the use of her leg. At worst she could die.”

Egg stared at the Princess unable to
speak. She fought to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill from
her eyes.

“The decision is yours .
. . but I must counsel you to consider not only Bl’azzz’s wellbeing but that of
you and your other sisters. The dangers we will encounter will be far graver if
we have to tend to an injured dragon . . . and a sick serpent.”

“You mean Soo’ can’t go with us
either?”

“No.”

“We can’t just leave them here. I
won’t do that.”

“Perhaps there is
another way. Fetch the cat.”

At the mention of J’azzz-min, Egg
involuntarily made a face; but she did as she was told and the obnoxious cat
appeared.

“J’azzz-min, if we chose
to return home, would Egg and her dragon sisters be able to fly?”

“Did the itsy bitsy spider
scare you girlies?”

Ignoring the rude remark, the Princess
commanded, “Answer my question.”

“Let’s check the rule
book,” and as before, she pulled out an
imaginary book and thumbed through the imaginary pages until she found an imaginary answer. “Ummm . . . let me see . . . let me see .
. .,” the cat just loved to drag out her answers. The other two waited
patiently, not willing to show their irritation. “Oh, yes,” the cat finally
answered.

“Oh yes what?”

“Oh yes you can. You can
go home anyway you want . . . as fast as you want. So . . . bon voyage. It’s
been a giggle.” As the cat made to leave, Egg reached out and grabbed her hat.

“Not the hat. Not the
hat.”

“We are not leaving.
Bl’azzz is injured and must seek medical help. I believe she can still fly.
And, I believe she can carry Soo’. How do they find their way home safely?” Dazzle stressed the last word.

“Give me my hat.”

Egg tossed the hat back
and the cat put it on her head. “How does it look?”

“Stupid.”

“Didn’t your mother ever
tell you to be polite?”

“J’azzz-min, answer my question.”

“She started it.” Dazzle
just glared. “Oh, you girlies have no sense of humor. Anywho . . . tell Gassi
to fly.”

They waited for the cat to finish the
sentence . . . but apparently, she had.

“Fly where?”

“Doesn’t matter. She can’t
fly towards the Crystal Mountain . . . only away from it. If she goes in the
wrong direction, she’ll stop flying.”

It still wasn’t clear what the goofy
cat meant.

“What are you things . . .
the dumb sisters? Tell Burpy that once she gets airborne to keep flying in that
direction. That’s it. Do you want me to draw you a map?”

“Yes.”

“Not going to happen, is
it?”

“We will stay here till
morning so Bl’azzz can rest and regain some strength. Is that acceptable?”

“Whatever. In that case .
. . goodnight, girlies. Tell fire breath and sappy Soo’ that it was real
. . . they were my favorites.”

“They were?” Egg didn’t mean to say
that, it kind of just slipped out.

“Are you kidding? A fire
breathing dragon and a sarcastic sea serpent . . . they were like characters
out of a good book.” And the cat vanished.

“Dazzle . . . let me tell them.”

“No, my sister; it is
best that they hear it from their would-be Queen.”

Egg wanted to say, “This is my Quest
and they’re my sisters,” but she couldn’t. The truth was she didn’t have the
heart to tell the dragon and the serpent to go home.

*****

While Egg and Dazzle were talking to
J’azzz-min, Aeri’elle was telling Bl’azzz the story Soo’ had shared with them .
. . a story about her grandmother who had been saved by a dragon. Soo’ had
promised that if she made it through the Quest . . . so would her good friend
Bl’azzz. It was her way of repaying the debt her family owed to that dragon.
Aeri’elle explained how it was Soo’, with help from K’ssss, who had carried the
injured dragon through the Colorless Wood and this far into the Swamp.

“Help me get up.”

“No. You shouldn’t be
walking around.”

“I have to talk to Soo’.”

“Bl’azzz . . . she won’t
understand you. I’m sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter. Help
me . . . please.”

So Aeri’elle
helped her injured sister and they hobbled over to the sad sea serpent. Bl’azzz
sat down and put her wings over her friend. “Hey, Soo’, it’s Bl’azzz. They say
you can’t hear me . . . but I hope you can. Thank you for saving my life from
the spider and for getting me out of the Wood. I owe you big time. So I’m going
to return your promise . . . if I get out of this, you will too. I love you. We
all love you.”

Soo’ didn’t understand any of it . . .
but K’ssss cried.

*****

They were sitting under their tents
trying to eat . . . but they weren’t really hungry.  The two serpents were
crying softly . . . one because of her P’xxxie funk and the other in sympathy.
Bl’azzz was in pain, but trying bravely not to show it. Aeri’elle, Sassi and
Sylvia were talking quietly about their injured sisters. And Egg sat silently,
her knees pulled up to her chin, and her eyes just staring off into the
distance.

“Sisters, I must speak
to you of a matter of great importance.”
The girls all stopped what they were doing (except Soo’, of course) to look at
the Princess. “It is about our injured friends.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,
your Highness. I heal very quickly. This silly little thing (she pointed to the
wound on her leg) will be gone before you know it.”

“You are a brave and
loyal Sister . . . but the wound will not heal.” The girls all knew that; they had
just been fooling themselves into believing it would.

“Even if it doesn’t, I can
still manage. Maybe if Egg could make me a cane to walk with . . .” but she
didn’t finish. No one . . . not even Bl’azzz herself . . . believed what she was saying.

“No, my Sister. You must
return home and have a physician tend to your injury. If not, it will only get
worse . . . much worse.”

“But . . . but . . . not
even a doctor can heal it. You know that. And I do too.” It was hard to tell on a dragon, but
Bl’azzz’s face had grown very pale.

“That is true. But a
physician will keep it from festering. You must return home. For you the Quest
is over. I am sorry.”
With this pronouncement, there was a collective intake of breaths as the
sisters absorbed the horrible news.

“I won’t . . .,” said
Bl’azzz defiantly, but Egg cut her off.

“Bl’azzz . . .,” she was having a very
hard time keeping from crying, “you can’t come with us. I’m responsible for
everybody and I’m not going to let you hurt yourself more than you have. You
gotta go back.”

“Egg . . .,” pleaded the
dragon, “. . . don’t do this. Please . . . I want to stay with you guys. I
belong here.” Now there were tears in seven pairs of eyes.

“You absolutely do belong here. We could
never have made it this far without you. But you’ve done everything that you
can. Now it’s time to go take care of yourself. Do it . . . for me.”

“And do it for Soo’.”

“What do you mean?”

“She must return with
you.” There was
another round of gasps.

“Not Soo,’” wailed K’ssss.

“K’ssss, my sweet sister
. . . what happens to a serpent if she cries at length?”

“Oh, no Princess . . .
Serpents can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“They would de . . . de .
. . ummm, I don’t know the word.”

“Dehydrate.”

“That’s the word.” The
other girls looked at Dazzle for an explanation.

“A serpent that cries
continuously, as Soo’ is doing, will eventually dehydrate.  She will lose the
water inside her body and she will die.”

“NOOOOOOO,” screamed
K’ssss. “NOOOOOOO . . . I won’t let her die.”

The other girls were equally as
horrified.

“Be calm, dear one.
Bl’azzz will take Soo’ and place her in the pool at the Sisterhood. As long as
she stays submerged in the water, she will be fine.”

“You’re not just saying
that?”

“I would not lie to you
. . . to any of you.”

“I’ll leave right now,”
said Bl’azzz alarmed for her sister’s health.

“No, that is not
necessary. You must rest and regain your strength. Tomorrow morning will be
soon enough.”

“But how will she get back?” asked
Sylvia.

“I will explain . . .” and Dazzle told them of the
conversation she and Egg had with J’azzz-min.

“I don’t trust that cat.”

Egg was about to say,
“Don’t say cat,” but it was too late.

“Somebody call?”
J’azzz-min had popped out of nowhere.

“Get lost . . . and I mean
it.” Bl’azzz was not in the mood for a wind’acious kitty cat.

“I will . . . if you tell
me a bedtime story.”

That got Bl’azzz so mad that she stood
up and was about to chase J’azzz-min away . . . when she realized she had a bad
leg. She cried out in pain and fell.

“Oh . . . the poor
dragon’s got a bit of a colly-wobble, has she?” But no sooner had she said it
than two pebbles hit her hat and knocked it off. “Not the hat . . . come on . .
. not the hat.”

“Oops . . .,” said Egg insincerely.

“Oh, how awful of us,” added Sylvia.

“J’azzz-min . . . please
leave of us for tonight.”

“Do I have too?”

Dazzle didn’t answer . . . she just
turned her back on the cat.

“Oh, all right. Goodnight,
girlies” and she popped out of existence.

“She almost sounded like
she meant the goodnight part,” said a surprised Sassi.

“Yeah . . . right,” said a
disbelieving F’yre Dragon.

“But she had a good idea.”
Everyone turned to K’ssss.

“What was that?” asked
Aeri’elle.

“We should tell a bedtime
story.” The girls didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling their goofy sister that it
was a terrible idea.

“K’ssss is right,” said Dazzle to everyone’s surprise. “Tonight is our last night together . . . we should
spend the time wisely.  Who would like to tell a story?”

“Can I?” asked K’ssss.

“Of course you can,” said Egg with an
encouraging smile.

“And when she is finished,
I will tell mine. Is that alright, Egg?”

“Sure, Sassi. In fact it’s more than
alright . . . it’s perfect.”

Chapter 2 – AyBee Sea

“Sometimes I make my mom
and dad sad because I’m not very smart. My dad invents things and my mom sells
them. People say she’s like the best in the whole world at doing that. And my
dad keeps winning prizes because his inventions are so amazing.

I ask him to explain what
they do, but I don’t really understand. And when my Mom takes me to where she
works and shows me what she does . . . it gives me a headache.

My younger sister is just
like her . . . the best at everything she does. In school, she gets the highest
grades, and in sports, she wins all the medals. And everybody likes her and
wants to be her friend. I’m so proud that she’s my sister.

Sometimes when I see her
in school, she pretends that she doesn’t really know me. She does that 'cause
everybody likes to laugh at me and make fun at the silly things I say. And I
wouldn’t want them to make fun of her so I pretend that I don’t know her
either.

I really like my older
brother. He treats me the best . . . he makes me laugh and he buys me things.
But he moved away when he got a really great job in another city.

My mom gets mad at me
'cause my friends are really young. But I like to play with them because they
hardly ever laugh at me. Most of the time they treat me nice.

And I’m really lucky
because when I don’t play with them I collect my seashells. And that’s how I
met Soo’. And that’s how I met Egg. And that’s how I became a Hammygatic
Sister. And that’s how I got to go on the Quest. And that’s how I met the
Princess. And that’s how I met all of you.

Anyway, I never had so
many friends like you guys. And I would do anything for you . . . so just ask
me. And I’m sorry if I say stupid thing; I don’t mean too.

And Princess . . . would
it be okay if I invited my mom, dad, sister, and brother when you give me the
medal? I don’t think that they would believe me . . . unless they saw you do
it. And maybe all you guys can tell them that I did good . . . you know . . .
that I didn’t do anything stupid. If that’s okay?”

When she had finished,
there was dead silence. K’ssss’ tale had broken their hearts and they were
afraid that if they tried to talk, they would break down and cry.

The Princess came to their
rescue. “My
sister . . .  when this is over and we have won, the whole world will know of
your bravery. And if anyone dares to laugh at you again . . . I will banish
them to K’actus Kiln until they learn respect.”

“I’ll fry them with my
breath, K’ssss. No one messes with the Hameggattic Sisterhood . . . or any of
the sisters. Nobody.”

“And I would be honored to
tell your family that we could never have succeeded without you,” added
Aeri’elle.

“That goes for me, too,”
said Sassi.

“Me, three,” added Sylvia
brushing away her tears.

“And you can count on me .
. . and Soo’ . . . to be standing right by your side,” said Egg fiercely. How
she hated the thought that anyone would make the sweetest serpent in the world
sad.

They were all silent for a
few minutes trying to get their emotions under control. K’ssss didn’t quite
understand the effect that her story had on her sisters. Leaning over to Sassi,
she said, “I didn’t mean to make everybody so sad.”

“Oh, K’ssss, they are only
unhappy because things haven’t gone so well for you.”

“They haven’t?” asked a
confused sea sister.

And despite herself,
Sassi just had to laugh. “You are such a joy to be with . . . did you
know that?”

The serpent smiled shyly.
“No one ever told me that before.” After a moment, she added, “This really is a
fairy tale . . . isn’t it?”

“I hope so, K’ssss. I
really and truly hope so.”

After a few moments,
Dazzle said, “It is getting late and we need to sleep. But before we do, I
would like to hear Sassi’s story.” The other girls all nodded in agreement.

“I only wanted to tell
this story because it has to do with the Princess. Well, not really with you,
your Majesty, but with your sister.”

That got everyone’s
attention . . . especially Dazzle’s.

“With my sister? You
have made me curious.”

“Your Majesty, the truth
be told . . . everyone knows of you; but there aren’t many stories about her,”
confided Aeri’elle who was a history buff.

“She was younger than I
. . . and very sweet and quiet. K’ssss, she was much like you.”

“H’sssss. H’sssss.” The
serpent’s laugh was infectious and everyone joined in.

“Please continue,
Sassi.”

“I was very young and my
parents were still . . . ummm . . . my parents. It happened not too long before
they disappeared. They took me to Q’umulus . . . ”

“You’ve been to Q’umulus?”
asked an awed Bl’azzz. “That’s so awesome.” The legendary floating capital of Aerianna was known for its
incredible beauty. Now, of course, it was home to Mobius and off limits to all
but a very few.

“I would love to visit it
someday,” said Aeri’elle dreamily.

“And you shall . . .
all of you will,” promised the Princess. “But how was it possible that your parents could take you
there?”

“I‘m not really sure. I
was so young at the time that it didn’t occur to me that such a visit is all
but impossible. But now that I know they were fighting Mobius, I think they
somehow found a way to go there so they could spy on his movements; maybe to
find some weakness that they could use against him.”

“So why would they take
you there?” asked Sylvia.

“To see an art exhibition.
All the famous artists of Aerianna had their works on display. But why that
evil man would do this is something I could never figure out.” She looked at
Dazzle to see if she might have an answer.

“Perhaps he used the
exhibit to lure his enemies.” The girls gave that some thought . . . but with no experience
in such matters, there was nothing they could add.

Sassi continued, “I hardly
remember anything of the visit . . . except the art in one particular room. It
was dedicated to the paintings and sculptures of Princess Ss’ong.”

“That’s your sister,” said
Egg.

“Yes. She was very
talented; almost as talented as my mother.”

“How come you never talk
about her?”

“About Ss’ong?”

“No . . . about your
mother.” The other girls were always surprised at the particularly close
relationship that Egg had with the next queen of Aerianna. They could never
imagine asking such questions of her.

“I will . . . but not tonight.
Sassi, please finish.”

“There’s not much more to
say except that it was because of the Princess’ art that I became an artist. It
was so inspiring . . . it . . . it spoke to me. Does that make any sense?”

“Perfect sense.”

“Anyway, when my parents
left, I had only my horrible aunt and no real friends. So I spent all of my
time painting, creating jewelry and . . . ,” she paused, almost embarrassed,
then added, “creating face art for customers.”

“Face art? What’s that?”
asked Sylvia.

“When I set up my little
booth to sell my art, people started asking me if I could do the same with
their faces . . . you know, make them look better. So I learned how to apply
face paints, and other materials to change their appearance into something more
pleasing.”

Bl’azzz shook her head.
“You humans are just too weird for words.”

“Not weird . . . just
vain.”

“Oops. Sorry, Princess. I
keep forgetting that you’re human,”

“Thank you. Being human
was an accident of birth . . . and something in which I take no particular
pride. I am Aeriannian . . . as are serpents and dragons. That is all that
matters.”

*****

They slept poorly and in
the morning, they awoke with such a feeling of dread that it was almost painful
. . . for today they would lose two of their sisters.

Sassi made an extra
special breakfast and they ate it, all the while pretending that nothing was
wrong. But that ended when Dazzle said . . .

“It is time, my sister.”

As you would expect, the
girls all had tears in their eyes. They were trying to be brave . . . but facing
a sand serpent would have been easier than saying good-bye to a sister.

“Well . . . I guess this
is it.”

“We will miss you dearly.”
And Sassi gave her the first hug.

“Take care of that leg.
And when this is over, maybe you’d like to join my sorority?” Aeri’elle gave
her the second hug.

“Thanks . . . but I belong
to the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”

That kind of startled the
other dragon. “You’re right. What was I thinking?”

“You’re going to stay at
the Se’rene, aren’t you?” asked Sylvia.

“Absolutely. I won’t leave
Soo’ by herself.”

“That makes me feel much
better.” She hugged her injured friend then said, “I can’t believe I have a
fire breathing dragon as a sister. I think K’ssss is right . . . this is a
fairy tale.”

K’ssss was saying her
goodbyes to Soo’ when she heard her name. “Did I say something stupid?”

“No, you said just the
right thing. Now come over here and give me a hug . . . you slithering sack of
silly.” Bl’azzz added that last part in honor of Soo’.

“H’sssss, H’sssss.”

Bl’azzz then turned to Egg
. . . and started to cry. “Please don’t,” whispered Flying Girl.

“I let you down . . . I’m
soooo sorry.”

“YOU DID NOT. Don’t you
ever say that or think it.”

“I should be going with
you. You shouldn’t have to face all that danger without me.”

“You did your part. And
now you have one more job to do . . . get you and Soo’ home safely. Will you do
that for me?”

But she didn’t answer.
Instead, she said, “I love you, Egg. You’re the best thing that ever happened
to me. Thank you for letting me come along.”

Egg threw her arms around
the girl and they shared their one last moment in silence.

“It is time, my sister.
Be safe. And Bl’azzz . . . thank you.”

Bl’azzz looked at each of
her sisters one more time as if she was taking their picture with her mind’s
eye. She smiled bravely then walked over to the very sad Soo’ who was sobbing
quietly.

“It’s time to go, Sister.”
And she put her talons gently around the serpent. The other girls came up and
each gave Soo’ one last hug even though she didn’t really know what was going
on.

“Maybe we can still talk
to you with the communication crystals,” said Egg trying her best to cheer up
the unhappy dragon.

“That would be great.
Well, I should go so I can get Soo’ back in water where she belongs. Oh, just
one thing . . .,” everyone assumed she was going to say something like ‘I love
you’ or ‘Be careful’, but she didn’t. “I may not deserve a medal like K’ssss .
. . but I’d be seriously happy with the hat of that stupid c-a-t,” (she spelled it out so
J’azzz wouldn’t think she was being called). Then she flapped her wings and
took off in the direction of the rising sun. The girls stood there and watched
as the dragon and serpent grew smaller and smaller . . . and finally
disappeared.

*****

The three humans climbed
on K’ssss’s back while Aeri’elle walked alongside. The satisfied feeling they
had had when they made it past the sand serpent in K’actus Kiln was replaced
with a terrible sense of despair.

They had lost two of their
own; and a Sisterhood with just five didn’t feel right.

They had lost to Mobius
and he was probably laughing at them right now.

And they had four more
challenges to face just to get to the Crystal Mountain.

When they had first
started out, they felt sure that their Quest would succeed. It would be
difficult . . . but they would rise to the challenges.

Now . . . they weren’t so
sure.

Egg wanted to say
something to encourage her friends . . . but nothing came to mind. In fact, she
felt the same way that they did.

Dazzle could sense their
emotions and knew what to do. “I believe we should end the Quest and return home,” she said to her silent
companions.

Shocked by the words, the
girls turned to look at the Princess.

“WHAT? Are you crazy?”
cried Egg.

“OH NO, your Majesty.
Never.”

“Why would we do that?”
asked Sylvia.

Even shy Sassi had to say
something. “With respect Princess . . . that’s a terrible idea.”

“What do you think,
K’ssss?”

The silly serpent took a
moment before answering, “Soo’ would get mad at me if I went home.”

“I would still give you
your medal. You have earned that much already.”

“I wouldn’t want my mom
and dad and brother and sister to see me get a medal . . . you know . . . if we
didn’t finish. I don’t think that’s right . . . just to quit.” The other four girls
couldn’t have been more proud of their sea sister than they were at that
moment.

Dazzle pretended to think
about what the girls had said. The five sisters held their breaths while they waited for her to
speak. “Since
you seem determined to finish that which you have started, I must yield to the
will of the Sisterhood. Let the Quest continue.”

The girls all cheered . .
. and the terrible dark cloud that had been hanging over them blew away like so
much smoke in a windstorm.

*****

They continued drifting
along with the current, looking for the tall, moss-covered trees that meant
they were going the right way.

About an hour
later, Aeri’elle shouted, “Look”. It was a whole forest of the furry trees . .
.

And just beyond the trees
was blue water . . . and the end of the foul smelling Switch Swamp.

“We did it,” and Sassi
clapped her hands excitedly.

“Never a doubt.” Then
Sylvia grinned and added, “Well, maybe just an itsy-bitsy one.”

“Keep your attention
focused for danger,” warned the Princess.

“I hate to do this . . . I
really, really hate to; but “CAT,” Egg called to thin air.

“You bellowed?”

“We’re almost out of the
swamp. Now what?”

“Now what what?”

“What?” asked Egg
confused.

“That’s what I said.” The
cat apparently couldn’t help but be annoying.

“Come on, you stupid cat.
Just tell us what to do next.”

“Make a boat.”

“What?”

“Anybody ever tell you
that you’ve got more whats than a light bulb?”

“J’azzz-min . . . stop
your foolishness and tell us what we must do next.”

“I did . . . make a boat.”

“And how are we supposed
to do that?”

“And why?” asked Sassi.

“You need a boat to get to
the island where AyBee lives. And you can’t get through his sea without his
permission.”

“So we just go visit him
and say please?” said Sylvia sarcastically.

“Pretty much.”

Aeri’elle remembered what
the cat had told them before they had started out. “I thought that if he grabs
you, he squeezes the courage out of you.”

“Pretty much.”

“So this is really
dangerous?”

“Pretty much.”

“J’azzz-min, how are we
to build a craft? Is there no alternative?”

“Ummm . . . you could use
that one.”

They all
looked to where the cat was pointing and sure enough, there was a boat mostly
hidden by the tall trees.

“K’ssss, head for the
boat. J’azzz-min, how do we find this island?”

“Not too worry . . . it’ll
find you.”

“What does that mean?”

“Just what it sounds
like.”

“Tell us what to
expect.”

“He likes to play games.”

Sassi asked suspiciously,
“What kind of games?”

“Hmmm . . .  What has
seven heads, six arms, five left, four brains, three humans, two wings, one
ghost and zero chance of success?”

Chapter 3 – Saved By the B’elle

Inside the cave where the
monster AyBee lived was a small pool of dark green water. From out of nowhere,
an arrow of light passed through the thick cavern walls and struck the brackish
liquid. And slowly a disembodied head began to take shape . . . floating
ominously on the water. It was the evil Mobius.

AyBee, sensing the
presence of his master, called out “Mobius, welcome.”

The cruel king had no time
for pleasantries. “You are about to have visitors. One of them is not of this
planet and has become very troublesome. She wears a costume made from serpent’s
crystal. After you take her prisoner, give her something pretty to wear for I
will send K’aos to fetch the garment.”

“As you wish. And after .
. . what would you have me do with her and her companions?”

The floating face gave
that a moment’s thought. “Why don’t you give each one of them a big hug for
me?” He laughed at his own cleverness and the sound of his wicked laughter
echoed through the caverns.

*****

As they sailed into the calm blue
water of the AyBee Sea, Egg started to recite an old
nursery rhyme that popped into her head . . . “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat: They took some honey, and plenty of
money wrapped up in a five-pound note.”

“H’sssss, H’sssss”.

Egg smiled at K’ssss . . . it was
always nice to be appreciated.

“That was silly. Our boat
isn’t green and musical notes don’t weigh five pounds . . . do they?”

Shaking her head at her
sea sister’s silly question, Egg was about to explain that a five pound note
referred to a type of earth money but instead she screamed, “OH MY GOSH.” Both
the sea and the sky had gone from brilliant blue to blood red in a heartbeat.
Then the water bubbled and foamed all around them as rocks jutted out of the
water trapping the boat. J’azzz-min was right . . . the island had found them.

“What just happened?” asked Sylvia.

“I think we just found the
island,” answered Sassi.

“Why did the sky and the
water turn red?” asked the shocked serpent.

“I believe it was to
frighten us.”

“Oh, good.”

Everyone turned to look at
K’ssss. “Why is that good?”

“Because I didn’t want to
be scared for no reason.” And in spite of
themselves, the girls managed a little laugh.

“What do we do now?”
Aeri’elle asked Egg.

“We probably don’t have to do
anything. They obviously know we’re here. So let’s just wait until they send
someone to come and get us.”

Aeri’elle smiled at her
sister. “You’ve really changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“The old Egg wouldn’t have
sounded so sure of herself . . . or have had as much confidence.”

“Thank you. But if I did change it’s
because of Bl’azzz and Soo’. If they hadn’t done so much for the rest of us . .
. well . . . I just think we owe it to them to succeed.”

“Egg . . . you really were
the best person to lead us. I should never have doubted you . . . or you,
Princess.”

“A leader must have
respect . . . and respect must be earned. Our Egg has done just that.” Egg blushed at all the compliments.

But the moment was shattered by a very
loud “Arggggggg.”

Everyone jumped about a foot at the
unexpected shriek. They all looked around to see where it was coming from . . .
but with no luck.

“Arggggggg”.

This time they found the
source of the sound . . .

“Eeeeeeeeeee,” screamed
K’ssss.

And Sassi was so frightened she cried,
“OH MY GOSH” without even realizing it.

Aeri’elle and Sylvia would have yelled
. . . but they were so scared that their mouths wouldn’t work.

“Do not be alarmed. It
will not hurt us.” The
girls wanted to turn around to look at Dazzle but they were afraid to take
their eyes off of the monster.

Egg finally managed to ask, “What
makes you so sure?”

“As you said . . . they
will send someone. This hideous thing is that someone.”

“Oh . . . right.”

The creature had poked its
gigantic lizard-like head above the water and bellowed one more “Arggggggg” before
making its way to the back of the boat where it started to push. Maneuvering
between the rocks, it eventually guided them to a little lagoon. And there on
the shore was AyBee…

“Well, well. What have we
here?”

The creature startled everyone for it
had the head of an octopus but an almost human body. However, its voice was the
most strange. AyBee sounded . . . well . . . intelligent and even friendly.

Dazzle was especially intrigued. She
thought that there was something vaguely familiar about AyBee but she couldn’t
quite figure out what it might be.

With her newfound confidence, Egg
jumped off the boat and walked towards the being. “Hello, sir. My name is Egg
and these are my sisters . . . Sylvia, Sassi, K’ssss and Aeri’elle. We would
like permission to pass throu . . .,” But AyBee cut her off before she could
finish.

“Who is she?” he said pointing at the Princess.

As it had happened with J’azzz-min,
Dazzle was stunned that anyone but her sisters could see her. “My name is . . .” She stopped because she
didn’t think it was wise to tell him who she really was.

“Her name is Eloise,” said Egg sensing
what the Princess was thinking.  “Sorry, I forgot to introduce her.”

“You look familiar to me.
But I am sure that I do not know any El-Oh-Ease.” That
statement made Dazzle frown in confusion. How
could they both be familiar to each other? Curiouser and curiouser, she
thought.

“Sir, we would just like permission to
pass through your sea. So, if that’s okay, we’ll just go on back to our boat
and . . .”

“Oh, no, no, no, no. That
won’t do at all. You must forgive me, but I receive so few visitors that I have
lost my manners. Come into my humble dwelling and share some food and drink. It
is the least I can do.”

“But . . .”

“I insist.” He smiled . . . but it wasn’t a friendly
smile. Then he made a little nod to the creature that had pushed their boat and
it rose out of the water and herded them into the cavern that was AyBee’s home.

The girls were awestruck by what they
saw.  The cavern was huge with cones of rock growing up from the floor and
others growing down from the ceiling. They kind of looked like giant teeth in
the mouth of some incredibly large monster.

The floor of the cavern was mostly
water . . . but there were a goodly number of mounds of dry ground for them to
stand on. As they were led to one particularly large one, Egg was beginning to
get a very bad feeling.

“Excuse me, Mr. AyBee, sir . . . but
we’re really not very hungry. I know it’s rude just to leave, but we would like
to be on our way.”

“That isn’t possible.” Up
to this point, the girls had kept a comfortable distance between themselves and the eight arms
of the octopus man. But now AyBee began to get closer . . . very slowly so as
not to frighten his guests.

“Do not approach any
closer,” commanded
Dazzle.

AyBee laughed very
unpleasantly. “Who are you to command me?”

“She wasn’t trying to
command you, sir. It’s just that we are inexperienced travelers and have never
encountered a being such as yourself. I’m embarrassed to say that we are a bit
frightened,” said
Aeri’elle coming to the Princess’s assistance.

“Why won’t you just let us leave?”
asked Sylvia. “We have nothing of value.” She looked around at the cavern then
added, “We have nothing that you can use here.”

“Yes and no,” the strange creature said mysteriously.

“We don’t understand,”
said Sassi.

“Then I shall explain. No
. . . you have nothing that I could use; but yes . . . you have something of
value.”

“Is this a guessing game?
I’m not very good at guessing games.”

AyBee laughed at the silly
serpent. “Yes . . . that is a great idea. Let’s make this a guessing game.”
J’azzz-min was right about the creature’s love of games. “If you win, you may
leave.”

“And if we lose?”

“Then you shall grant me
one wish.”

“What wish?” asked Egg suspiciously.

“Lose . . . and you will
find out.” None of the girls liked the sound of that.

“We won’t play unless you tell us,”
said Egg defiantly.

“Do not trifle with me
little girl. You would not like to see me angry.” Of that, they were absolutely sure.

Since they weren’t going to win the
argument, they decided they had better win the game. “How many questions can we
ask?”

“Five.”

“That’s not enough.”

“Four.”

“Hey, now you’re cheating.”

“Three.”

Egg was about to say something else
but Sassi put her hand over her sister’s mouth then
said, “I don’t think you should argue with him anymore.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Come on, you guys, let’s think about
the questions,” said Sylvia with more than a little fear in her voice.

So they put their heads together and
made suggestions and voted. Finally, they decided to let Aeri’elle ask her
question.

“Is it our boat?”

“No.”

So they went through the whole routine
again and now Sassi got to ask her question.

“Is it our supplies?”

“No.”

Now the girls were beginning to panic.
They only had the boat and supplies . . . what else could this thing want?

“Maybe he wants my scarf,”
said K’ssss referring to the green one that Sassi had given her. The other girls just shook their head no.

“Oh my gosh.”

“What is wrong?” asked Dazzle.

“I know the answer.” And without
discussing it with her sisters, Egg turned to AyBee and said, “You want my
flying suit, don’t you?”

The girls let out a collective gasp.

“Oh, ho. Extraordinary.
Most Extraordinary.

Dazzle stared at the creature. How
very strange she thought . . . that is a phrase my father always used when
someone surprised him with an unexpected show of intelligence.

The girls weren’t sure if they should
be happy for winning . . . or horrified that that was the winning answer. So .
. . they stood there holding their breaths.

“Why do you want her
clothes?” Sassi dared to ask.

“I do not.” He paused for
dramatic effect much like J’azzz-min always did. “Mobius does.”

“NO,” screamed Egg.

“Not to worry. I will find
you something pretty to wear. I must confess, however, that why he would want
your clothing, I have no idea. But mine is not to question the great and
powerful king.”

He reached behind himself and pulled
out a tunic and tossed it to Egg.

Flying Girl caught the garment and
stared at it in horror. She didn’t know what to do.

Aeri’elle tried to come to
her aid when she told AyBee, “But we won the game. Had we lost, then you would
have asked for her clothes. That was going to be your one wish . . . wasn’t
it?”

“My, my; all of you are so
very clever.”

“So you can’t ask for it
because you didn’t win. That’s only fair.”

AyBee was inclined to just laugh at
such nonsense. But he was beginning to enjoy matching wits with these creatures.
And since they weren’t about to escape, he might as well continue playing this
silly game with them.

“Well, perhaps you are
right. However, I demand the right of rematch.”

“What does that mean?”

“I get to ask you another
riddle. If you win . . . the game is truly and finally over. If you lose, we
are back to even and then you must challenge me.”

“It’s like dodge ball,” said Sylvia to
Egg. “You have to win by two.”

“Apparently we have no
choice in the matter,”
said Dazzle to their host.

“No, not really.”

“Then ask your riddle.”

AyBee nodded graciously, collected his
thoughts then began . . .

“The old king is dying and
wants to leave his kingdom to the wiser of his two sons. He tells them that he
will hold a horserace, and the son whose horse is the last to reach the church
and come back will inherit the realm. Immediately the younger son jumps on a
horse and makes for the church at top speed. The king now knows that this is
the wiser son, and leaves him the kingdom. Why?”

Egg looked at Sylvia who looked at
Sassi who looked at Aeri’elle who even looked hopefully at K’ssss. But none of
them had a clue as to the answer.

They turned as one to look at Dazzle .
. . and the Princess had the strangest look on her face.

“Daz . . . ummm . . . Eloise, do you know
the answer?” asked the real Eloise.

“I do.” The Princess turned to AyBee and said, “The younger son jumped on the older son's
horse. He realized that if they rode their own horses, the race would never
end.”

The girls smiled triumphantly even if
they weren’t really sure what Dazzle had just said. But then things got a
little weird.

“Is that not correct . .
. Father.”

The girls stared at Dazzle with their
mouths hanging open. What the heck was she talking about?

AyBee in turn stared at the Princess .
. . but said nothing.

So Dazzle used that moment of silence
to explain to her sisters . . . and to the creature.
“Only my sisters who have a drop of my blood in their veins should be able to
see me. Yet this creature had no difficulty. And my father always used the
phrase – Extraordinary, Most Extraordinary – when someone showed unexpected
cleverness or intelligence. But most telling was this riddle. My father tried to stump me
with it when I turned sixteen. He said if I could solve it . . . I could leave
Q’umulus and take up residence at Se’rene (that was Dazzle’s country castle that the girls had made
into the headquarters of the Hameggattic Sisterhood).”

The girls continued to stare in shock
and disbelief.

“He was both pleased and
disappointed when I gave him the answer. Pleased at my cleverness . . .
disappointed that I would leave. Is that not right, Father?”

“I am not your father.”

“What is my name?”

“I am not your father.”

“What is my name?” she insisted.

“You are not my daughter.”

“What is my name?”

AyBee was obviously struggling with
some inner demons that did not want him to answer.

“You are M’earth, the
rightful King of Aerianna. And, you are my father.”

“I am AyBee . . . king of
this island and of this cavern.”

“You are M’earth . . .
and the man you once befriended turned you into this,” she said pointing at the creature
with the head of an octopus.

But as AyBee continued to
struggle with Dazzle’s words, the head of Mobius materialized in mid-air and
the ugly, evil thing said, “I want that garment. Stop this nonsense and
do as I command.”

And just for a moment, AyBee returned
to what he was . . . a creation and a slave of Mobius. He turned towards Egg
and two of his eight arms reached out to grab her.

“EGG,” screamed Aeri’elle. But the warning
came too late . . . the arms were about to grab the girl. The dragon did the
only thing she could think of . . . she ran and flung herself into AyBee and
began to scratch at his eyes with her very sharp talons.

The creature screamed in pain and
without thinking, all eight of its tentacles encircled then squeezed his
attacker. Aeri’elle let out an agonizing groan and fell to the ground.

Egg and the others started to run
towards their stricken sister but stopped when AyBee
said “NO. Do not come any closer.” Just for a moment, he had managed to free
himself of Mobius’ control. “It is too late to save the dragon . . . but not
too late to save yourselves. Go. Hurry, before he takes control again.” The
creature was obviously struggling mightily to do what Mobius didn’t want
him to do.

“Father…”

“Go, my daughter. There is
nothing you can do for me . . . but much you can do for Aerianna.”

“I will find a way to
give you back your throne.”

“No. I have failed my
people and I do not deserve to rule. It is up to you to defeat Mobius and to
become Queen.”

Dazzle stared at M’earth and her eyes
filled with tears. “I love you.”

“And I have always loved
you, my precious Rose.”

Chapter 4 – Crystal Forest

As they sailed away from the island,
the girls were in total shock. They wanted to be strong, but they just couldn’t
help themselves from crying. They had lost another Sister . . . Aeri’elle was
gone.

A few minutes after they had made
their escape, they had seen her take to the air and they cheered and screamed
with uncontrollable glee. But it wasn’t what they thought. AyBee had squeezed
the courage from her heart. She was now in utter terror of everything and in
great fear of everyone. Fleeing for her life, she headed for the one place
where she might be safe . . . home.

The dragon had been so stuck-up when
they had first met her, but in the end, she was as good a Sister as any of
them. And she had been incredibly brave to risk her life to save Egg.

Even though she was overwhelmed with
grief at the lost of her Sister and overcome by guilt that she was the cause,
Egg felt tremendous pride. When it counted the most, Aeri’elle had risked her
life to save a human.

But with her lost, the girls couldn’t
help but feel that the Quest was all but doomed. There were only four of them
left. How could they possibly continue?

“Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg.” The Princess was also preoccupied.
She had found her father . . . alive. But he had defied Mobius to save her and
her sisters. And the cruel King would not take kindly to such behavior. She
feared for her father’s well-being.

“I don’t think we can go on. I’m
sorry.”

The Princess gave her young companion
her full attention. “Why, Sister?”

“There are only four of us left. I
don’t think we’re strong enough to finish.”

“You are wrong.”

“Why do you say that?”

“First, neither you nor
your three sisters would want Aeri’elle, Bl’azzz and Soo’s sacrifices to have
been in vain.”

“No . . . that would be horrible,
wouldn’t it?”

“And,
we have passed through four of the lands; there are only three left. We are
more than half way to the Crystal Mountain.”

The thought that they were more than
half way there did sound encouraging. But the girl didn’t say anything; she
just nodded.

“But most importantly,
Mobius is worried; he wanted my Father to take your flying suit. That can only
mean that he fears that we will succeed. He believes that the seven lands may
not be enough to stop us. He now knows that the Hameggattic Sisterhood is a
force to be reckoned with. And Egg . . . he fears you.”

“Really?” Now that was something that
would never had occurred to her.

“Most assuredly. His
plan to spy on us has actually worked against him. He has seen for himself how
you lead. He has seen the incredible courage and resourcefulness of the
Sisters. And he now knows of your unwavering determination.”

Well, actually their determination did
waver just a little. But Egg felt a little bit better. “I should tell the
others.” She started to turn away, and then stopped. “Dazzle . . . how can I be
a good leader if I lost three of my Sisters?”

“They were lost but not
due to anything you did or failed to do. I told you when we first started that
I did not believe that all of us would finish the Quest. I am sorry that I was
right. And Egg . . . we may lose more, so prepare yourself.”

That last thought made Egg nauseous.
She didn’t think she had the strength to face the loss of another Sister.
Taking a deep breath, she said “I’ll tell the others what you said . . . except
for that last thing.”

“And I will summon
J’azzz-min.” So as
Egg walked back to her sisters, Dazzle said,
“Cat, show yourself.”

“Howdy-doody.” The cat had
popped up through the deck of the boat.

“Come tell us about the
Crystal Forest.” Dazzle
turned her back on the cat and walked over to join the others. J’azzz followed
obediently.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Do not trifle with us .
. . we are not in the mood.”

The cat looked at the
others and noticed Aeri’elle was missing. “Hey, where’s Big Bird? Don’t tell me
that old fish face gave her a hug?”

Egg and Sylvia looked around for
something to throw at the cat; but before they could move, K’ssss leapt
forward, wrapped herself around the sarcastic feline and started to squeeze
her.

“HEY . . . you
squish-happy squeeze-me snake, don’t do that.”

“You’re not very nice.”

“Come on, you’re hurting
me. Geez, I was just kidding.”

K’ssss gave one more squeeze for good
measure then let go. As she moved back to be with the other girls, Sassi gave
her a big smile.

“Tell us of the Crystal
Forest.”

J’azzz made a show of
fixing her hat before she answered, “Don’t get so dazzled by its incredible
beauty that you forget how dangerous it is.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll see. Just ignore
the colors and watch out for the D’ing Bats. And there’s a few other thingy’s
and what-cha-ma-call-its to keep you on your toes; or in the case of the sea
worm . . . on your belly.”

“Don’t make fun of her,”
said Sassi menacingly.

“Did I insult her? Oh my .
. . please ex-squeeze me.”

“You have given us no
new information. Tell us more of the Bats.”

“I’d love to chat . . .
you know how chatty cats can be. But sorry to say . . .  my lips are sealed.”
She moved her paw over her mouth and it actually zippered shut. It was kind of freaky.

“I have warned you not .
. .,” but Dazzle
stopped when the cat vanished.

“That was strange . . . even for her,”
said Sylvia.

“Remember, she has
always been under the control of Mobius. We must assume that he will no longer
give us any useful information.”

“Do you think she’s gone
for good?”

“Perhaps.”

“Dazzle . . . come to think of it, how
come she can see you? You said AyBee could only do that because he was once
your father.”

“I have given that much
thought and have come to the only conclusion possible.” She paused and the girls waited with
great curiosity. “I believe J’azzz-min is really
Kat’Alynnia.”

“Cat-a-who?”

“Kat’Alynnia . . . my
mother.”

“WHAT,” screamed Egg involuntarily?

“We will speak of this
later.” Dazzle
started to walk to the front of the boat obviously wanting to be alone. But she
never made it.

The blood red sea had
turned to blue, green, and gold and it was beginning to spin as it fell through
a hole in the world . . . dragging the boat with it.

As the boat slipped over the edge,
they screamed as loudly as they could. But the noise of the water was
thunderous and completely drowned out all other sound. Then the world turned
completely and utterly black as they fell deeper and deeper and deeper into the
bottomless hole.

*****

The girls must have all
fainted because the next thing they knew, they were lying on the ground looking
up at an awesome explosion of bright, beautiful colors. Apparently, they had
fallen into the Crystal Forest . . .

“Oh my gosh!”

“Wow!”

“It’s pretty.”

“I couldn’t even paint
something this spectacular.”

“It is breathtaking. But
remember what J’azzz-min said . . . ignore the beauty and be vigilant of the
dangers.”

They all fell silent and just stared
at the brilliant kaleidoscope of colors that surrounded them. Never in their
young lives could they have imagined anything so stunning.

It was Sylvia who finally brought them
back to reality. “Now what?” she asked.

“Maybe we should try calling J’azzz .
. . you know who . . . just to find out which path to take.” So Egg yelled,
“Hey, CAT,” as loud as she could.

Nothing happened.

Then Dazzle said, “Kat’Alynnia. Show yourself.” And sure enough,
the cat appeared.

“Hello, daughter.”

“Why did you not tell me
who you were?”

“I don’t make the rules.”

“Then why are you doing
it now?”

“I didn’t reveal myself .
. . you figured it out yourself. You were always so smart.”

The four girls listened to this
conversation with enormous interest. Of all the strange things that had
happened to them on this quest, this might have been the strangest.

“It has been a very long
time. Are you not glad to see me?”

“Actually, it’s been about
a day since I last saw you.”

“I am talking about the
last time we met before I . . .,”
she didn’t finish.

“Before you went to Earth.
Yes, that’s what I meant.”

For the girls, hearing the cat sound
so normal was a little weird.

“I do not understand? It
has been a thousand years.”

“For you . . . but not for
me.”

“Mother!” said an exasperated daughter. “Please, just explain.”

“When I was transformed
into . . . this, time stopped for me. I have not aged.”

“Is that true of
Father?”

“I would assume so.”

“And Ss’ong?”

“Yes. And before you ask .
. . I assume it’s the same for Z’kkk.”

And without realizing it, Dazzle’ face
lit up with a million dollar smile (assuming you can use an Earth term for
someone from Aerianna).

The girls weren’t sure why she was
doing it, but they smiled right along with the Princess.

“Dazzle,” said Egg quietly, afraid she
might ruin the moment for her friend, “what’s going on?’

The Princess just stood there, lost in
thought, hugging herself.

J’azzz-min explained for
her daughter. “She’s happy because her fiancée has not aged in the last
thousand years. If she can find some way to make him a person again . . . they
would be the same age as when this all first happened.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s terrific.”

Dazzle finally snapped out of her
daydream. “Mother, will you help us?”

“Trust nothing . . . for
everything is dangerous. And as for the path you must follow . . . there is
only one. I can do no more for you, child. I would wish you luck, but my
daughter never needed it. No dare could ever stop her.”

“Before you go, may I
ask one favor?”

“What?”

“May I have your hat?”

“Geez, not the hat. Oh . .
. alright.”

*****

“Why did you ask for her hat?” Egg was
twirling it in her hand. Naturally, she had to hold it for the Princess.

“When the Quest is over,
and we have won, I will present it to Bl’azzz as she requested.” For some reason, that made the four
girls feel good.

“Can she wear it when she
gets her medal?” asked K’ssss who was planning on wearing the scarf that Sassi had given her.

“That would be most
appropriate,” said
Dazzle with a warm smile.

“Dazzle . . . you said you would tell
us about your mom. And, I almost forgot, AyBee, I mean your dad, called you
Rose . . . just like Storm did. You still haven’t told us why.”

“I will, but now is not
the time. We should not dally. This is a dangerous land . . . I can actually
feel it.”

Coming from Dazzle, that was saying a
lot. “Which way do you think we should go?”

“Let us find the one
path that Kat’Alynnia spoke of.”

So they all started to look around . .
. but if there was a path, it wasn’t obvious. Everything was simply a riot of
colors.

“Egg, what do you think?”

“I don’t know Syl. It would be a lot
easier if my flying suit worked and I could see from up high.”

“Maybe we could climb a
tree,” suggested Sassi without much enthusiasm.

“I don’t think I could
climb a tree. So maybe Egg should just fly home.”

The girls turned to look at the silly
serpent.

“Why would I do that?” asked Egg with
a trace of irritation.

“So you can see
everything.” She said it
as if it was obvious . . . which of course it wasn’t.

“Your Sister wants you
to fly as if you were returning home. The suit will work as long as you head
away from the Crystal Mountain.”

The girls turned back to look at their
Sea Sister with admiration. “What a great idea. I should have thought of that.
Nice going, K’ssss.”

“H’sssss.”

So Egg jumped skyward facing what she
guessed was the direction of home . . . and went airborne. She soared above the
trees, looked around and landed.

“Got it,” she told the girls. “It’s
like a . . . ummm . . . this.” Not able to describe it, she simply pointed to
what was almost under their feet. It was a path made of streaky patches of
colors . . . blues, reds, yellows, greens and the rest of the rainbow. From up
high, it was obvious; when you were standing on it, not so much.

“Okay, then . . . let’s
follow the Yellow Brick Road.”

Sylvia took a moment to explain the
reference. When she finished, they held each other’s arms and started to skip
and sing, “We’re off to see the Wizard, the horrible Wizard named Mo . . .”
They had to hum the rest of the song because they couldn’t think of anything
that rhymed.

Dazzle would have liked to see the
girls act a bit less frivolous. After all, they were still in grave danger. But
with the loss of Aeri’elle so fresh in their minds, they needed a few minutes
to just be kids.

The path they were traveling seemed
suspiciously easy. And as Kat’Alynnia said . . . trust nothing. And sure
enough, she had been right.

It was about an hour into their travels
when the girls walked around a bend in the road and came to a screeching halt.

“Oh my gosh.”

Egg was reacting to what
was a bizarre sight. The majestic trees and flowers had given way to a field of
spiky icicles made of glass or crystal. They were about six to ten feet tall
and like everything else in this land, there was every imaginable color. They
were both beautiful and terrifying.

They stood there gawking at the
strange spectacle.

“Most unusual”.

“What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know, Sassi. But it’s
probably something we’re not going to like.” Egg walked up to the nearest spike
and banged on it lightly. It vibrated . . . making a sound like a tuning fork,
which slowly died away. That spike had been pink, so she tried the same thing
to each of the different colors. They, too, vibrated and gave off their own
unique sound.

“That’s kinda cool,” she said as she
walked back to the other girls.

“It’s like a giant xylophone,”
observed Sylvia.

“Did you notice that there
was something odd about the notes they gave off?” asked Sassi. Egg and Syl shook their
heads ‘no’.

“How come I didn’t hear
anything?” asked a puzzled and disappointed sea serpent.

“Oh, now I know what it
was.” answered Sassi. “They only gave off high pitched notes. I remember
reading some place that serpents can’t hear those sounds.”

“But why are they here?” asked
Sylvia.

“We must assume that
they pose a threat to us.”

“Well . . . we have to follow the
path, and it goes right through these icicle things. So we don’t have any
choice.”

“Proceed cautiously . .
. but quickly.”

They started out slowly, but when
nothing happened, they began to walk as fast as K’ssss could slither. And after
a few minutes, they were deep inside the sea of spikes.

The trail continued to be an easy one
to walk . . . until they came to a place where one of the spikes had fallen
down and shattered across the path. Since K’ssss couldn’t slide over these
pieces without cutting herself, the three human girls bent down, picked up the
broken glass and tossed them off to the side.

As it always seems too happened, when
Egg picked up the very last shard of glass, she cut her finger.

“Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww,” she screamed, more from the surprise
than from the pain.

“You okay?” asked Syl.

“Yeah,” said her friend sucking on the
small point of blood on her thumb.

Then they heard it.

Apparently triggered by the sound of
Egg screaming, one of the spikes had begun to vibrate and give off a very
irritating sound.

Then the spike next to it began to
vibrate and it, too, gave off a sound.

Then the next spike did the same
thing.

And the next . . . and the next . . .
and the next . . .

In less than a minute, hundreds and
hundreds of spikes were vibrating . . . each giving off its own distinctive,
annoying high-pitched note.

The riot of sound became louder and
louder.

It became so loud, it began to hurt.

“Oops” said Egg holding her hands over
her ears.

“My head feels like it’s about to
explode,” cried Sylvia.

“Me, too,” added Sassi.

Chapter 5 – Good Night K’ssss

The three human girls were on their
knees with their hands clasped to their ears . . . but it didn’t help. The
vibrating spikes were making brain-scrambling sounds like a dentist’s drill
plus the horrible screeching of fingernails scratching on a blackboard. The
noise came from every direction . . . getting louder and louder with each
passing second. It hurt so bad that the girls could hardly move.

“Eggggg,” moaned Sylvia. “I think I’m
about to faint.”

“K’ssss, you must help
your sisters.”

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh” was
the best the sea sister could think to say to the Princess.

Sassi told her sister what
to do. “K’ssss, we’ll get on your back. You have to get us out of here as fast
as you can.”

Just then, Sylvia let out a small gasp
and fell to the ground. She had fainted.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,” whimpered K’ssss again.

“Sassi, help me with Syl.”

The girls struggled but were finally
able to hoist the unconscious Sylvia onto the serpent’s back. Sassi, who was in
slightly better condition, then helped Egg. With her last strength, she too climbed
up.

“Go, Sister. As fast as
you can,” encouraged
Dazzle.

In water, a serpent can travel almost
as fast as a dragon can fly. On land . . . especially carrying three girls . .
. they can just barely manage the speed of a fast walk. But K’ssss, with single-minded
determination to save her sisters, set out at a pace that should have been
impossible.

After fifteen minutes Egg, too, had
fainted. Sassi was doing her best to keep the other two girls from falling off
the serpent’s back. “Hurry, K’ssss, I can’t hold on
much longer.”

The thought that she might fail her
friends gave K’ssss the strength to increase her speed. And in a short while,
she could see the end of Spike Forest.

But as she made her final dash . . .
she came to another spike that had fallen across the road. Shards of crystal
lay everywhere.

“K’ssss, be careful.
Those crystal pieces will cut you.”

“Sassi says I have to
hurry.”

“Don’t injure yourself
because of us.”

But the serpent wasn’t paying
attention. She kept up her speed and when she got to the broken crystals, she
just plowed right through them. With her goal in sight, she managed another
incredible burst of speed . . . then collapsed from exhaustion.

*****

K’ssss . . . K’ssss, are you okay?”
Egg and the others were bending over their sister with worried looks creasing
their faces.

“See if she’ll drink a little water,”
suggested Sylvia.

Sassi found a water bottle
and held it to her friend’s lips, “Come on, K’ssss, drink a little.” But the sea serpent didn’t drink a little
. . . she drank the whole bottle, and then a second one.

When she finished, she
looked at her friends and asked, “Is the noise in your head gone?”

“Yes, you big sea saint . . . you
saved our lives again.”

She smiled with pride, but
then turned very serious. “But I don’t want another medal. Could you give it to
Soo’ instead?” she asked the Princess.

“Everyone will receive a
medal, my dear Sister, including Soo’nami.”

“Oh, good. It wouldn’t be
right if I got two and she didn’t get any.”

The three girls gave their slightly oversized
serpent sister a big hug. ‘Strange,’ thought Egg, ‘who would have ever guessed
how important K’ssss would be to the Quest? So far she’d definitely would  win
the most valuable player award.’ Then Egg made a promise to herself to update
her diary which she hadn’t found the time to do. There had been so many sad and
wonderful moments like this one . . . and it would be terrible to forget any of
it.

But she was jarred back to reality
when Sassi spotted the blood and screamed, “K’ssss,
you’re hurt.”

Dazzle and the other girls looked to
where Sassi was pointing. There, stuck into the serpent’s lower side, was a
large piece of crystal with blood trickling from the gash.

“Does it hurt?” asked Dazzle.

But K’ssss didn’t answer.

“Sister?”

The serpent just stared at the
Princess.

A concerned Sassi asked,
“K’ssss, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

But her answer wasn’t what
they were expecting. “I don’t want to go home,” she
whispered.

No one else was thinking about that .
. . until K’ssss mentioned it. The girls looked from one to another . . . then
to Dazzle. But the Princess said nothing.

“Please don’t send me
home. I promise I won’t hurt myself again.  Pretty please”. She began to sob.
‘I’ll do better next time.”

“K’ssss . . . you saved
the lives of your sisters. You ignored the danger to yourself and in so doing
incurred your injury. You are brave and loyal beyond words. Nothing you have
done has brought you shame. We are all very, very proud to have you as a Sister
and a friend.”

Not really understanding all the
praise the Princess was trying to give her, the serpent
repeated the only thing that mattered to her, “Please don’t send me home.”

All four girls were now looking at
Dazzle and holding their breath.

“We will not send you
home, dear one.” Upon
hearing the words, the girls cheered and hugged each other.

“However, we must remove
the shard and bandage the wound. You must be brave one more time for it may
hurt.”

Sassi gave her friend a
reassuring hug.

“If it hurts and I cry . .
. it’s just an accident and I didn’t really mean to do it. Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay,” answered Egg
before Dazzle could say anything. “And if you want to scream . . . that’s okay
too.”

“I think I should pull it
out,” volunteered Sassi.

“No . . . I’m the leader, I should do
it.” Egg was very squeamish about such things but she felt it was her
responsibility.

“I once pulled a huge splinter out of
my Cousin Sarah’s hand. So I probably should do it,” suggested Sylvia.

“Syl, I have to do it.”

“Egg . . . K’ssss and I
have grown very close. I’ll do it.”

“H’sssss.”

The three humans turned to the injured
serpent to see why she was laughing.

“I thought I was supposed
to do it.” And there by her side was the shard
of crystal that she had pulled out by herself.

The wound, unfortunately, didn’t look
very good. It was deep and it was bleeding. “Sassi
and Sylvia, find something with which to bandage your Sister. Egg . . . I would
speak with you.”

So the Princess and Egg walked a
little distance from the others.

“Why aren’t you sending K’ssss home?”
Egg was sure that was going to be what Dazzle wanted to talk about.

“I would if I could.”

“Why can’t you?”

“She is severely
injured. There are no rivers for her to travel on and she would never make it
on land. But most importantly, we do not know how to get back from here.
Remember, we fell through a hole in the sea.”

“Don’t ask me to just leave her here?
I won’t do that.”

“Being a leader, my dear
Sister, is very difficult. Sometimes you must make choices that you greatly
dislike to ensure that as many of your group survive and the quest for which
you have all sacrificed so much succeeds.”

“No.”

Dazzle continued to look into Egg’s
eyes. “As you wish.”

They rejoined the others to inspect
the bandage the girls had fashioned.

“You have done well . .
. the bleeding has stopped. K’ssss, are you in pain?”

“Oh, no, your Majesty. Sassi and Sylvia were very careful not to
hurt me.”

The girls smiled knowing that their
silly friend had misunderstood the question. “The
Princess wants to know if your wound hurts?” explained Sassi.

“Oh. Ummm . . . just a
teensy, weensy little.”

“Can you travel without
further injury or pain?”

The serpent didn’t answer . . . afraid
that the Princess was asking a trick question.

“K’ssss, when you move, does the wound
hurt more?” asked Sylvia helpfully.

“Just a teensy, weensy
little.” That seemed to her to be a safe answer.

“Let us proceed slowly
until we find a suitable place to make camp. Perhaps some rest will help the
wound heal.” No one
believed that. “And K’ssss, if you need to rest
along the way, do not hesitate to speak.”

“Oh, I’m not tired now.”

“She meant that if your
wound hurts you, we can stop for a little bit.”

The serpent just nodded.

So they set off at a very slow pace
and the girls kept a very close watch on their injured sister. But she seemed
to be doing okay. Apparently, the beautiful scenery was helping.

The path meandered here
and there through the spectacular scenery and eventually led them to a clearing
at the top of a little hill. They looked down into a valley and were again
amazed at the colorful beauty of this land . . .

“It’s so pretty,” sighed the silly serpent.

“Yes it is. How are you
feeling?”

“Maybe if it’s not too
much trouble we could rest here for just a little bit?”

Sassi turned to Egg for approval.
“Sure, this is as good a place as any.”

But it wasn’t.

*****

They set about to make camp; breaking
out the cooking gear and food. They didn’t need the tents because the canopy of
colorful trees kept out the worst of the sun. Besides, it was a beautiful day .
. . weather-wise at least.

Sassi began to prepare a meal while
Egg and Sylvia changed the bandage on K’ssss’ wound. It was still bleeding.

“How does that feel?” asked Sylvia.

K’ssss looked around to
see where the Princess was. Since she wasn’t close, the serpent whispered, “It
hurts just a teensy, weensy little.”

“Oh, K’ssss, I’m so sorry you hurt
yourself trying to save us.” Egg gave her a big squeeze.

“Did I really do good?”
she asked hopefully. The serpent could never believe that she was important to the
Sisterhood.

“You did great. In fact, I voted you
MVP of the team.” That got Sylvia to smiling.

“Oh, thank you; I always
wanted to be an emveepee.” Then she laughed “H’sssss.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“I don’t really know what
an emveepee is.”

Sylvia’s smile turned to a laugh and
Egg joined in.

“I said something stupid,
didn’t I?”

“No, it’s my fault for not explaining.
MVP stands for Most Valuable Player. On earth, the most important person on the
team becomes the MVP. And on our team . . . it’s you.”

“Really? You’re not saying
that just because I hurt myself?”

“She’s saying that because it’s true.
You have been unbelievable.”

“What are you girls
talking about?” asked Sassi as she walked over with plates of food. So Egg explained about the
MVP award.

“She has my vote. I wish
the other three were here . . . you’d get their votes too. They would be just
as proud of you as we are.”

Instead of being happy about the
compliments, K’ssss could only think about her
missing friends. “I miss Soo’. And I miss Bl’azzz and Aeri’elle.” She said it
with such sadness.

“Yeah, me too.”

“And me,” added Sylvia.

“I hope they’re alright.”

“Why don’t you try
calling them with your communications crystals?” suggested the Princess who had just
returned to the group.

It was a great idea and Egg
immediately tried . . . but with no luck.

Then one by one the other three tried
. . . with the same results.

“It was worth a try
anyway,” said a
disappointed Sassi.

The girls just stood there looking
terribly forlorn. Dazzle suggested, “Sassi, take
Egg and Sylvia over to the fire and finish your meal. K’ssss and I will join
you after I inspect her wound.”

So the three girls went over to the
fire, found a comfortable place to sit and began to eat.

“K’ssss, are you in much
pain?”

“Oh, no your majesty; it
only hurts a teensy . . .” but she didn’t finish.

“You have been
exceptionally brave and your family will be very, very proud of all that you
have accomplished.”
K’ssss didn’t respond, so Dazzle continued, “My
sweet sister, I would send you home if I could. I know your injury hurts a
great deal more than you have told us. And you have not complained . . . not
even a teensy, weensy little.”

“H’sssss.” The not so
bright young girl understood the Princess’ humor.

“There is one last task
for you to do . . . and it will be the most difficult.”

“I’m so sorry . . . ,” cried the serpent without explaining
why she was sorry.

But Dazzle knew that K’ssss was
telling her that she couldn’t go on . . . which was exactly what the Princess
was going to tell her. “I understand, my dear
friend. For you, the journey is over; it is time to rest. You have done more
than was expected. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Before she could continue, the world
chose that moment to go crazy.

“OH MY GOSH,” screamed Egg.

The sun had just reached
the highest point in the sky and as the sunlight struck the crystal trees, it
began to give off a storm of color . . .

That was weird enough . . . but then
it got ever weirder. The light began to spin so fast that it made you dizzy to
look at it . . .

“What the heck is going on?” yelled
Sylvia.

Unfortunately, the answer
appeared out of the center of the color storm . . .

It was a D’ing Bat.

With the unwitting help of his spy,
Mobius had found the girls and sent the demon creature to do his evil bidding.

“Gather your supplies .
. . quickly,”
commanded Dazzle.

They did as they were told but when
Egg tried to load some of them on K’ssss’ back, the serpent stopped her.

“I’m so sorry, Egg.”

“Don’t be sorry. We’ll carry them for
you.”

“No.” She looked to Dazzle.

“Your sister will not be
coming with us.”

“NOOOOOO. I told you I wasn’t
going to leave her. Come on, K’ssss, you’re coming with us.”

“I’m so sorry, Egg.”

“Don’t listen to her. We can take care
of you. Come on, we have to go now before that thing attacks us.”

“I’m so sorry, Egg.” This
time she started to cry.

“Sassi . . . Sassi . . . tell her she
has to come with us.”

“K’ssss, you have to come
with us. We can’t leave you.”

“I’m so sorry, Sassi. I
can’t.”

“Yes you can. We’ll help
you. We’ll carry you if you can’t make it on your own.” Now she was crying.

“It hurts too much. I’m so
sorry I let you down. I was trying real hard . . . but I guess I’m just not
smart enough.”

“DON”T YOU DARE SAY THAT,” screamed a
desperate Egg. “It has nothing to do with being smart. You hurt yourself saving
my life . . . and Syl’s and Sassi’s. We’re not leaving you.”

“You must.”

“NO. NO. NO.”

“Egg . . . your sister
cannot journey any further. For her, the Quest is over.”

“Then it’s over for all of us. We’re
not leaving her.”

But at that moment, the D’ing Bat
chose to attack. It swooped down screeching a horrible high pitched sound, its
ugly beak opened – ready to bite.

“Look out,” yelled Sylvia.

The girls ducked just in time.

“What should we do?” asked
Sassi.

Egg didn’t have a clue. So, when all
else fails . . . just run. “Let’s get out of here. Maybe we can find some place
to hide from it.”

Before they could move, the D’ing Bat
attacked again.

And as it got close, K’ssss used all
of her remaining strength to leap up.

She almost grabbed it in her mouth.
Almost.

Instead, the D’ing Bat swerved at the
last moment, turned and bit the serpent. Having accomplished what it wanted, it
screeched then flew off.

“K’SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS,”
screamed Sassi.

They all ran over to the serpent who
was just lying there.

“H’sssss”.

Just for a moment, they thought she
was alright. “Why are you laughing?”

“I just earned another
medal, didn’t I?”

“Yes.” But Egg couldn’t say anything
else. She and her two other sisters began to cry uncontrollably.

“I feel a
little funny.”

And to their horror, the silly serpent
began to change shape right in front of their eyes. She was turning into a
D’ing Bat.

Incredibly, it only took a minute . .
.

“K’ssss, K’ssss,” but she couldn’t
answer . . . she was no longer a serpent.

She stretched her new wings as if she
was trying them on for size. Then with her bird-like head, she looked around as
if seeing the world for the very first time. Finally, she gazed at each girl as
if she recognized her . . . but couldn’t quite remember from where. Screeching
softly, she flapped her wings, took to the air and began to fly away.

As the girls looked up at their
transformed sister, the precious green scarf that Sassi had given her friend,
the one she so loved and absolutely refused to take off . . . floated down to
earth like a feather.

Sassi caught it and
screamed, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”

. . . and without ever having said
goodbye;

. . . or giving her one last hug.

K’ssss was gone.

Chapter 6 – The Spy Who Loved Us

They stood there stunned into silence.

Losing the other three girls had been
bad . . . but this was horrible beyond words.

After a few seconds, they sat down and
started to sob. Four of their sisters were gone . . . and one would never, ever
be what she once was.

They felt heartbroken from the loss.

They felt despair now that any hope of
completing the Quest had just flown away.

They felt guilty that they were
unharmed while their Sisters were suffering.

They felt embarrassment . . . believing
that young girls could conquer a world.

But mostly . . . they felt intense
anger.

Anger at Mobius for having done these
things.

Anger at themselves for having let
that evil man get the better of them.

Anger at the thought that they
couldn’t accomplish what they had set out to do.

Dazzle felt their pain but said
nothing. Sometimes crying can be a good thing. It lets out the frustration that
you’re feeling inside. And it can let out the demons that are trying to stop
you from continuing . . . from taking back control.

So they cried . . .

and cried . . .

and cried.

*****

They kept one eye on the sky . . .
looking for a color storm that would mean another attack by the D’ing Bats. But
as it turned out there was no need and their journey continued without
incident.

When they had first entered the
Crystal Forest, they were skipping along . . . arm-in-arm . . . and singing a
silly song. Now they walked hand-in-hand; in silence, except for the occasional
sniffle.

Dazzle knew what a terrible price her
friends were paying to help her and the rest of Aerianna free themselves of
Mobius. She also understood that it was harder on these three than on the four
that were gone. And it was again time to do something or the Quest would surely
end in failure.

“Egg.”

“Yes, Dazzle?” responded the young
girl in a very quiet voice.

“Who do you most
admire?”

“What?”

“Of all the people you
have ever met . . . who do you most admire?”

The girl didn’t really want to think
about that; she was more interested in thinking about K’ssss and her other
sisters. “Ummm . . . I don’t know.”

“I know your heart is
heavy with the loss of our sweet sister, but I am asking as a friend. Will you
not answer?”

Not wanting to be rude to the
Princess, Egg gave the question some thought. “Well . . . I guess it would be
my Grammy.”

“Why?”

Now that required a little more
thought. “Ummm . . . lots of reasons. She’s beautiful, and smart, and she loves
me, and she teaches me stuff, and she can do just about anything.”

“What would she do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“If she was leading our
Quest, what would she do now that we have lost four of our sisters?”

Egg actually smiled. “She would say
that anybody can give up but only those with determination and strength of
character would go on. They would rise to the challenge.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that when we have set a
goal, we should do everything in our power to reach it . . . even when it gets
really hard. Otherwise, we’re not being true to ourselves.”

“Do you agree with her?”

Without hesitation, Egg replied “Oh,
absolutely. Grammy says giving up is almost always the easiest thing to do.
Only the best of the best can dig deep inside themselves and find the courage
to go on.”

“Do you wish to give up
the Quest?”

Egg surprised herself when she said, “No
way.”

“And, you, Sylvia . . .
and Sassi . . . do you wish to give up?”

“If Egg goes on . . . I go on.”

“I would never ever leave
my sisters,” added Sassi.

“I am glad. It has been
most difficult, and there is still much danger. But when we succeed, a whole
world will have been saved. Is that not a worthy goal?”

The girls all smiled and nodded yes.
And just for a little while, their courage and determination had been restored.

“Do you want to know who I admire the
most?” asked Sylvia.

“Tell us, please,” answered the Princess.

“It’s Egg.”

“Really?” said Flying Girl in
surprise.

“You are the most amazing person I
ever met. No offense, Dazzle, but you’re not exactly a person.”

“That is true,” she replied with a most un-grown-up
giggle.

“Why me?” asked Egg with great
curiosity and not a little pride.

“Because you’re nine years old and you
came to this planet and recruited two dragons, two sea serpents and a girl with
greenish skin. And you stand up to monsters and evil kings. And you always know
what to do. And you’re my best friend and I would follow you to the ends of the
earth.” She paused to catch her breath. “Well, even further than that . . .
even to a galaxy far, far away.”

Egg reached out and gave her friend a
big hug. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Besides, we’re Ham
and Egg and nothing in this world can separate us.”

“Yeah . . . don’t mess with my sister,
mister,” answered Egg quoting part of a song by Fandango Sally.

“Sassi, who do you most
admire?” asked
Dazzle.

“All of my sisters have
been amazing. And you, Princess, have been an inspiration to so many of us on
Aerianna. But, it is my parents that I most admire.”

“I have met your parents
and they are indeed very special.”

“What did your mom and dad do . . .
you know, when they weren’t fighting Mobius?”

“Well, my dad . . . my
dad, ummm . . . he, ummm . . . he . . .” but
the girl didn’t finish. She seemed like she was trying hard to remember
something.

“Sassi . . . you okay?”
asked Egg. But the other girl kept staring off into the distance.

“Sassi?” Now it was Dazzle’s turn to be
concerned.

As the three girls watched their
friend, they saw her face turn from bewilderment to utter horror. They all
jumped when Sassi started to scream . . .

“NOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO!
NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO!”

At first, they thought she had seen
another D’ing Bat and they looked to the sky. But there was nothing there.

“What’s the matter? What happened?”
asked a confused Egg.

The girl didn’t answer. She just
dropped to her knees, put her head in her hands and began to sob hysterically.

Egg and Sylvia rushed over and knelt
by the grieving girl. But when Egg put her hands around her shoulders, Sassi
knocked them away.

“It’s me. It’s me. It’s
me. It’s me,” she cried over and over.

“What’s you?”

“Sassi, you must control
yourself and tell us what is wrong,”
commanded the Princess.

But instead of answering
she stood up, put her hands on the strange pendant she had been wearing . . .

.
. . and ripped it from her neck. Holding it up for the others to see, she
managed to say through fits of crying . . .

“He made me wear this. He
said if I didn’t he would make my mother into a Mo’beye. I didn’t want to . . .
you have to believe me. But I couldn’t let anything happen to my mother. Not
after all those years. I thought if I told you we could find a way to trick it.
I was trying to get up the courage; I didn’t want to be thrown out of the
sisterhood. And then . . . and then . . . I just forgot. How could I forget?
How could I?” She was
horrified at what she had done . . . and deeply embarrassed.

At first Egg and Sylvia had no idea
what the girl was talking about. But Dazzle understood.

“First, throw it away.
As far as you can.”

Sassi took the pendant and with all
her might flung it deep into the woods.

“Dazzle, what the heck is going on?”

“Mobius was spying on us
through that pendant.”

“WHAT?” She and Sylvia stared at Sassi
in total disbelief. Without realizing what they were doing, they both stood up
and stepped away from the other girl.

“Sassi . . . who gave
you the pendant?”

She looked up, tears streaming down
her cheeks and said, “My father.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Tell us what happened.”

So Sassi told how she had stopped at
her father’s cottage to say hello on the day she had shopped for food in the
little town down river from the Sisterhood.

They had only recently been reunited
after many years. He had disappeared from her life when he had been turned into
a Mo’beye by Mobius. And though he was still dressed like one, Egg had used her
bracelet to make him normal again.

Only he wasn’t normal anymore. Mobius
had found out and made him a Mo’beye again.

And he made his daughter wear the
pendant. If she refused, he threatened to make her mother, his wife, into a
Mo’beye.

So she had put it on, and when she
returned to the Sisterhood, she could hardly talk to any of the other girls.
She was terrified . . . for her mother, and for her sisters. And though she was
going to tell Egg and Dazzle about the pendant, somehow she had forgotten. It
sounded unbelievable but it was true.

When she finished, Egg remembered
something she had done that night. Worried that her sister was not feeling
well, she had used her bracelet to make her forget whatever it was that was
bothering her.

“Oh my gosh. It’s my fault, not yours.
I made you forget. I said something like, ‘Don’t be sad. Forget whatever is
causing you to be unhappy until you can make it better.’ I was just trying to
help you. Sassi . . . it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

Sassi wasn’t buying it.
“But I was the spy. If it weren’t for me, K’ssss would still be here. And
Aeri’elle. And maybe Soo’ and Bl’azzz. It’s all my fault. I’m the traitor. I
let you down. I can’t believe it. I would never hurt any of you . . . but I
did. I did. I did.” And
she collapsed in a heap and cried uncontrollably.

Egg looked to Dazzle for help. Sassi
was hysterical and there was nothing Egg could say or do that would change
that.

“Sassi,” commanded Dazzle in her most royal
voice, “stand up and look at me.” The
girl instinctively obeyed even though she was still crying.

“I’m so sorry, your
Majesty” she managed to say.

“You must leave us.
Please go.” If it was
possible, Sassi cried even harder; but she didn’t argue.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so
sorry,” but she didn’t
have the courage to look at her two sisters as she said it. Her head was hung
low and her tears continued to fall . . . making
little splat sounds when they hit the colorful path. “I love you, both. Maybe
you can forgive me . . . someday.” And with that, she started to walk away . .
. the sounds of her crying echoing amongst the crystal trees.

*****

They had found a place to make camp.
Exhausted by all the walking and all the spent emotions . . . it had been just
a terribly trying day and they desperately needed to rest.

“I’m starved,” said Sylvia as she lay
down on her blanket.

“Yeah, me too. Dazzle, do you think it
be okay if we made a fire?”

“You deserve a hot meal
. . . just keep the fire as small as you can.”

So the girls struggled to their feet,
found some wood and started the fire. It was strange how the crackling flames
brought them comfort.

“What should we have?’

“Let me surprise you . . .
okay?” asked Sassi.

“Absolutely. I just love everything
you make. I wish my mom could cook as well as you do.”

“Thank you, Sylvia.”

“My mom’s a pretty good cook; but she
could learn a thing or two from you. I wish you could meet her.”

“Maybe I could visit earth
someday.”

“That would be too awesome. Dazzle, do
you think she can?”

“Perhaps; though the
color of her skin may prove a little difficult to explain.”

“Why?” asked a confused
Sassi.

“No one on earth has
your skin color. It is very sad, but earthlings only come in a very few shades
of beige and brown.”

“Oh, that is sad.”

“Enough” cried Sylvia. “I admit we’re
not as pretty as you guys. But we do get hungry. Stop talking and cook,
pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.” She of course was kidding . . . mostly.

*****

It had worked as Dazzle thought it
would. When she had commanded Sassi to leave, Egg and Sylvia went crazy.

“NO. Absolutely not,” yelled Egg.

“She’s not going anywhere . . . except
with us,” shouted Sylvia.

“She has betrayed you.”

“No she didn’t. I believe her when she
says she was going to tell us about the pendant. If I didn’t mess things up by
doing my stupid Flying Girl thing, none of this would ever have happened. It’s
my fault not hers.” That actually made Egg feel terrible; she might have been
the cause of losing the other girls.

“She’s our sister. We stick together
like . . . like . . . ummm . . . oh, yeah the Three Musketeers.”

“Who?” asked Egg.

“It’s a book my dad made me read. Oh,
never mind; it’s not important.” And she ran after Sassi and caught her by the
arm, spun her around and hugged her.

Egg joined them; then she and Sylvia
each took one of Sassi’s arms and dragged her back to where Dazzle was
standing.

“Sassi, your sisters
believe your story. They do not wish you to leave.”

“I betrayed them,” she
answered in a whisper.

“No, my sister; you did
not.

“But…”

“You were put in a
terrible position by the Mo’beye.”
Dazzle purposely didn’t say “father”. “Egg and
Sylvia believe you when you say you would have told them of your encounter.
And, I do too. You are a trusted member of the Sisterhood. And I add my voice
to theirs and ask that you continue on the Quest. They need you, I need you and
most importantly, Aerianna needs you.”

“Please, Sassi,” begged Egg.

Sassi looked at each girl and the
Princess . . . her eyes were still dripping tears. “I
love you . . . all of you. If you can forgive me, then of course I’ll stay.”

“There is nothing to
forgive.”

She began to cry even harder . . . and
Egg and Sylvia joined her.

*****

After they had finished their
wonderful meal, Egg reached into her backpack and pulled out her diary.

“What is that?” asked Sassi.

“It’s my diary. My Grammy told me to
write down everything that happens to me so that someday I can tell my children
about all the stuff that I did in my life.”

“That’s wonderful. Would
you share some of it with me?”

“Sure. So Egg opened her
diary and thumbed through it looking for something interesting to share . . .

. . . but what she found was just
silly stuff written by a very young girl who didn’t know anything about
anything.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that I
wrote this stuff. It’s so . . . so . . . childish. Well, at least the things
before I became Flying Girl.”

“That’s okay. My childhood
wasn’t very good . . . after my parents left. I would love to hear about yours.
Please.”

“Come on Egg,” chided
Sylvia. “Besides, I want
to hear what you wrote about me.”

“What makes you think I would write
about you?” Now it was Egg’s turn to tease her friend.

“Eloise Grace Graystone,” said Sylvia
in a pretend huff, “there better be pages and pages and pages about me in that
silly little book.”

“Well . . . maybe I did mention you
once or twice. Let me see if I can find something. I wouldn’t want you to feel
left out.” And she thumbed through the book until she found one particular
entry . . .

Chapter 7 – Days of Our Lives

“August 19: Dear Diary. I can’t believe what happened this
afternoon. I’m so mad. There’s a girl named Sylvia and she is such a witch. She
thinks she’s so much better than everyone else because she won both games of
dodge ball. Afterwards she pretended that it was nothing special; that she just
got lucky. Ha. Well, I guess it’s better to be lucky than good because I played
really well and I should have won.”

“You called me a witch”
exclaimed Sylvia in pretend horror. Then she laughed.

“I don’t understand? You
didn’t like Sylvia when you first met?”

“Absolutely not; I thought
she was horrible. We were at the same camp last summer and she had the nerve to
be better than me at everything. I was so furious.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought I was
the best. I used to take everything as a competition . . . and I hated, just
hated, to lose.”

“You don’t feel that way
anymore?”

“My Grammy had a long talk
with me about this stuff. So, no, I don’t take everything as a competition. But
when I do compete, I want to give it my best effort. As long as I do that, if I
win . . . that’s just a bonus.”

Sassi was enjoying this
immensely. Her childhood . . . at least the part after her parents disappeared,
wasn’t very pleasant. She had so few friends and most of what she did was work
. . . her aunt didn’t believe in playtime. “Please, read some more.”

“Sure” Egg was
beginning to enjoy this as much as the other two girls.

“August 20: Dear Diary, I
can’t believe she beat me again. We had canoe races and somehow she managed to
come in first.  At lunch, we took a bunch of pictures of all of us. Then SHE
tried to get into my picture but I told her there was no room. If she was as
nice as the other girls…well then maybe. But she is always smiling like there’s
nothing wrong. I just don’t understand why the other girls like her so much.”

“EGGGGG” said Sylvia
indignantly. “I really wanted to be in that picture.”

“My bad” said
Egg . . . then giggled at the memory. “I’ll just read two more entries from
camp . . . ”

“August 23: Dear Diary:
Only one more day of camp. It would have been a really great time except for
you-know-who. Today they asked us what we wanted to do. I raised my hand first
and said I wanted to play dodge ball again. Then Sylvia said that canoeing was
fun and convinced everyone else. So that’s what we did.

And SHE did it again. This
time they put two of us in each canoe and Sylvia asked if she could go with me.
How dare she? She obviously was just trying to make me feel bad that she beat
me the last time. Well, I was about to say no way when the counselor said it
was okay. So we canoed and maybe she was pretty good. But I just know if we
raced again, I’d win.

“August 24: Dear Diary:
Just before dinner we took some more pictures. Sylvia insisted that I take one
with her. I had to pretend to smile. She said she would send me a copy but I
don’t really want it. If she sends it, I’m not sure I’ll keep it.

Anyway, camp was definitely a good time. And maybe Sylvia wasn’t so
bad but I would have had a much better time if she hadn’t come.

“Here’s the
picture,” and both Sylvia and Sassi leaned over to look at it.

“How did you two ever
become friends?”

“When Syl sent
me this picture, she also sent this letter,” and Egg unfolded a piece of paper
that was stuck between the pages of the diary. “I’ll read it to you.”

Dear Egg,

Here is the picture I
promised to send you. I think it turned out really well.  I’m sorry that we
didn’t become good friends at camp. I’m sure it was my fault. But I thought you
were the most interesting girl there. You certainly were very good at sports
and I was very lucky that you didn’t win.

If you ever want to talk
or something, here is my email address:

SylviaHampton@giggle.com

Hope you have a good year at school. Maybe
I’ll see you at camp next summer. Your friend, Sylvia.

“Oh, that’s the sweetest
letter I’ve ever heard.”

“Yeah . . . after I read
it, I cried.”

“You cried?” asked a
surprised Sylvia.

“It made me realize what a
jerk I had been to you.”

“So that’s when you became
friends?”

“Yes. We started to write
and call each other almost every day. Syl didn’t live in my town. Then about a
month or so later, she calls me and says she’s moving two blocks away from
where I lived. Isn’t that the strangest thing?”

“Very.”

“I never gave it much
thought. But now . . . it does seem a little strange.”

Egg turned to Dazzle, “Did
you have something to do with it?”

Dazzle smiled mysteriously
. . . but didn’t answer.

Egg looked back at Sylvia
who just shrugged.

“I would love to hear more
. . . if you don’t mind sharing. Besides, you two never told your stories like
the rest of us did.”

“Sure. Let’s
see . . .,” and Egg thumbed through the pages. “Oh, yeah. Here’s the first
person Flying Girl ever rescued. Well, it’s a cat not a person . . .”

Sassi examined the photo.
“Do earthlings always dress up their pets?”

Sylvia giggled. “Only
weird old people do that.”

“Hey, look at this picture
. . .”

The girls
leaned over to see. “What is that?”

“That’s Mount Rushmore. Some guy
carved the faces of four Presidents right into the side of the mountain. This
is the first place I ever flew to that was far away from my house. Syl went with
me . . .”

“But I never remembered, because of
the magic of the flying suit.”

“Sassi, look at this. This
is Syl’s house and the place where we started the Hameggattic Sisterhood . . .”

“Do you
think they should make that into a National Monument . . . like Mount
Rushmore?” teased Sylvia.

“It’s the least they can
do.”

“You two are
very close.” It was an
observation, not a question.

Egg smiled at the
thought. “Yeah, we are.”

“Though she did break up
with me.”

“Really? Why?
What happened?” Sassi
wanted to hear every last detail.

“We went to see a play
called Peter Pan.”

“It’s about a boy that
can fly,” explained Egg.

“After it was over, I
said I thought it was pretty silly to think anybody could fly.”

“And I said take it
back.”

“But I didn’t, and she
got really, really angry. I had no idea why.”

“She didn’t know I was
Flying Girl.”

“So I and the other three
girls in the Hameggattic Sisterhood started our own club.”

“And I was heartbroken.”

“But I secretly wanted to
get back together, but I didn’t know how . . . because I didn’t understand why
Egg had become so upset.”

“Then we went to camp
again and Crispy Bacon and Fandango Sally got us back together.

“Bacon? How
did a breakfast food do that?”

The other two girls laughed. Sylvia
explained, “Crispy Bacon was a friend Egg met at camp. And when somebody played
the Fandango Sally song called Best Friends, she made me go find Egg and make
up.”

“I was standing out in a thunderstorm
and she ran up to me.”

“And we hugged and cried. It was
wonderful.”

“It must be incredibly
special to have a best friend.”

“Like you and K’ssss,” Egg said,
forgetting that the serpent was gone.

“Yes,” said Sassi quietly.

Dazzle, not wanting the girls to fall
back into their sadness, said, “Sassi, since you
are so talented as an artist, would you draw some sketches of our Sisters in
Egg’s diary?”

“Oh my gosh, that would be super.
Would you?”

“I would like that.” And
the girl found her backpack and pulled out some charcoal and chalk. “Who shall
I do first?”

“K’ssss, of course.”

So Sassi took Egg’s diary, found a
blank page and began her sketch. It didn’t take her very long to finish.

“Is this
okay?”

“It’s wonderful,” exclaimed Sylvia.

“Wow,” was all Egg could say.

“Now I’ll do
Soo’.”

“And Bl’azzz…”

“And lastly, I’ll do
Aeri’elle.”

“Make it good . . . or she’ll come
back here and squish you for insulting her,” teased Sylvia.

“Yeah, she would, wouldn’t she?”

“How’s this?”

“Perfect.”

“Someday you have to teach us how to
draw.”

“I will . . . when I visit
Earth.” Sassi then went to hand the diary back
to Egg.

“You forgot to do you.”

“Me?”

“You’re a Hameggattic Sister, aren’t
you? And our friend.”

Sassi just smiled shyly,
and quickly sketched a self portrait.”

“Way cool. Thank you.”

“Show her the sketch Zeke made for
you.”

Egg looked at Sylvia who gave her a
devilish smile in return.

“Who is Zeke?”

“Egg’s boyfriend.”

“HE IS NOT.”

“Is too.”

“Is not.”

“Is too.”

Egg gave up . . . but she did stick
out her tongue.

“So, who is he?”

“He’s the brother of Sylvia’s
boyfriend.”

But if Egg thought that was going to
get her friend irritated, she was wrong. Syl just smiled and shrugged.

“They’re identical twins,” explained
Egg.

“Really? That’s kind of
interesting. How do you tell them apart?”

“Don’t know how; we just can.”

“Show her the sketch already.”

Egg thumbed through the
diary and found the sketch of the lake. “Here it is.”

“That’s very good. Maybe
when I visit earth, I can meet him.”

And to Egg’s amazement, she felt a
momentary pang of jealousy. But she recovered quickly and replied, “Absolutely.
And you will love his mom. She’s a really neat lady.”

With that, they fell into a contented
silence . . . lost in their own special thoughts. A few minutes later, Egg
yelped, “Oh my gosh.”

“What is wrong?” asked Dazzle.

“Do you remember the dream I had when
we first went to your castle?”

“Yes. You saw yourself
flying on the back of a dragon . . . with a boy.”

“I think the boy was Zeke.”

“Curiouser and
curiouser.”

“Why did you think of that now?” asked
Sylvia.

Egg tried not to blush when she
answered, “It’s all your fault for bringing up his name.”

“Ha.”

Sassi understood the power of dreams. “What do you think it means?”

“No clue.”

“You were flying over the Crystal
Mountain, weren’t you?” Sylvia reminded her friend.

“Oh my gosh, you’re right.”

“Dazzle” asked Sylvia “what happens if
a dream doesn’t come true?”

“That does not happen on
Aerianna. It will come to pass . . . in some form.”

“How is that possible?” Egg couldn’t
imagine how that dream was going to come true.

“I do not know.”

As they sat there pondering such
imponderables, Sylvia remembered something else that had been bothering her for
a while. “Dazzle.”

“Yes, Feminion?”

“You said that with the Crystal Egg,
Mobius can do anything he wants.”

“That is true.”

“Then how come he just doesn’t make us
disappear or something? Why is he letting us get this close to the Crystal
Mountain?

Both Egg and Sassi were very impressed
with Sylvia’s questions. It was something that neither of them had ever given
any thought to.

“Excellent questions, my
sister. The answer has to do with the Myst Tree. When I was doing battle with
Mobius, I had gone to the Tree to ask for advice. How could I ever hope to
defeat that evil man as long as he had the Egg? Since it had been a gift from
the Old Ones, I assumed the Tree could give me counsel.”

“And what did he say?’

“The Tree told me that
since I was brave of heart, true of spirit and pure of thought, I could not be
harmed directly by the power of the Egg.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“Perhaps since I am the
daughter of M’earth, the rightful owner of the Egg, and have fought as well as
I could with the sole purpose of restoring freedom to my people, the Egg cannot
be used against me.”

“Does that mean our Egg can’t be hurt
either . . . because she has your blood?’

“I believe it also
applies to you and your sisters also.”

“But they were hurt by
Mobius,” said Sassi.

“Yes . . . but not
directly by the power of the Egg. He did not transform K’ssss into a D’ing Bat
. . . the bat itself did that. It may seem like a small thing to you; but it
gives us a great advantage.”

“If you say so,” said a mostly
disbelieving Egg.

“I do.”

They were silent for a little while,
trying to digest what they had just been told. But after a bit, Egg asked,
“Let’s talk about something else.”

“As you wish.”

“Can you tell us about your mom now?
And about why everyone calls you Rose?”

“Kat’Alynnia was very
close to my sister. On the other hand, I was very close to my father.”

“And?”

“My mother loved to
paint and to sing and to create . . . be it music, or poetry or stories. And
she passed these pursuits on to Ss’ong. Together, they would spend hours and
hours composing, reading, or sculpting. They were inseparable.”

“Didn’t your mom like you?”

“My mother loved me . .
. but found my interests distasteful. I learned to use a sword and not a
paintbrush. And the only art of interest to me was the art of governing
Aerianna. I was simply a younger, female version of my father.”

“So you two weren’t very close?”

“We were. But when I was
older, she chose to live away from the pomp and tedium, as she liked to call
it, of government. My parents loved each other but chose to live separate
lives.”

“So when Mobius did all his bad stuff,
what did your mom do?”

“I was told that she
picked up a sword and attacked him.”

“What?”

“She tried to defend my
father. But all we knew was that after she entered the chamber where Mobius was
. . . she vanished without a trace.”

“Dazzle . . . is J’azzz-min like your
mom?”

“She is my mother.”

“No, no. What I mean is . . . was your
mom that goofy?”

Dazzle startled the three girls by
bursting out laughing. “Yes, absolutely. My
mother was that goofy.”

“Really?”

“She considered sarcasm
to be an art form.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means she hated to
be serious about anything. If the people around her tried to be; she would mock
them much like the Cat mocked us.”

“I can’t wait to meet her . . . when
she’s not that stupid cat,” said Sylvia.

“And the rest of your
family,” added Sassi.

Egg surprised herself by saying, “And
Z’kkk.”

“I long for that day. It
will be a grand celebration of our victory. But Egg, you must promise me
something.”

“What’s that?”

“You must not flirt
with my Z’kkk. You have your own man.”

Egg blushed pink then red. Sassi and
Sylvia laughed until they cried.

When the merriment died down, Egg
asked, “So who is Rose?”

“My true name is
Rose’Alynnia. My parents and my closest friends call me Rose.”

“WHAT?”

“Your majesty . . . that is not true.
All of Aerianna knows that you are Princess Dazzle.” Sassi was as befuddled as
her two sisters.

“No. When I was made a
Knight Guardian of the Order of the Crystal Egg, I was presented with a sword
by the King – my father. But by custom, the recipient actually chooses the
sword before time. The King simply hands it to the individual at the ceremony.
Ever the rebellious type, I had my friend Ven’trrr create a blade out of
serpents crystal – it was the first of its kind. It shimmered with life as
light danced off its faceted surface. I called it Dazzle.

The three girls stared wide-eyed at
the Princess. This was all so unexpected.

“When
Mobius overthrew my father, and his victory was all but complete, I rode on
Storm’s back and we visited every major city in the land. I told the people
that I would return one day to free them from the tyranny that was about to
enslave them. Then I would hold up my sword (and the girls saw the image in
their mind’s eye) . . .

. . .  as a symbol of
that promise. It is then that I gave up my name and became Dazzle, the warrior
princess. I promised myself I would not reclaim my own name until I defeated
Mobius.

As Storm told me at that
time – the Sword and the Rose became one.”

That last phrase caused Egg to
remember something. “Oh my gosh”.

“What’s wrong?” asked Sylvia.

“Look . . .” and Egg
pointed to the insignia on her flying suit.

“Yes, my sister. It is
the Sword and the Rose.”

*****

They slept well that night . . . for a
change. When they woke in the morning, Dazzle said, “Eat
quickly. Then we must go. There are two more challenges and I am eager to put
them behind us.”

That was meant to be encouraging . . .
but it wasn’t.

Chapter 8 – Maze of Forever

Four hours later, they came to the end
of the Crystal Forest when the path they had been following simply ended. And
what they had thought were very large, and very weird looking crystal trees,
turned out to be something far different.

As they approached, the branches and
leaves rearranged themselves into huge, fearsome faces.

They were the Guardians of
the Maze…

“We have been expecting you, Egg, of Earth.”

“We
welcome you to the Maze of Forever.”

“We
must warn you that she who enters...”

“…the
maze shall never leave.”

“We
respectfully suggest…”

“That
you abandon your Quest…”

“And
go back to Earth.”

“Your
Grandmother is sick with worry…”

“Over
your safety and well-being…”

“And
she has begged us…”

“To
return you to her.”

“Do
it now, before it is too late.”

“We
have the power to send you home”

“All
you need do is ask.”

“We humbly await your decision.”

And with that, the Guardians went
silent. The girls had been standing there in shocked silence listening to these
giant talking heads. When they had finished delivering their message, Egg said,
“OH.”

But before she could finish her pet
phrase, Sylvia added the “MY” and Sassi the “GOSH.”

“Egg, do you understand
the significance of what you just heard?”

“Well, of course, silly,” replied Egg
a bit impatiently. “My Grammy is worried about me and wants me to go home.”
Sassi nodded in agreement, but Sylvia shook her head ‘no’.

“What is your opinion,
Feminion?”

“I think Mobius is trying to trick Egg
into leaving. I think he’s getting nervous that we just might do what young
girls should never have been able to do.” She said it with a great deal of
pride in her voice.

Egg and Sassi looked at Sylvia then
back to Dazzle to see her reaction.

“I believe you are
correct.”

“Really?” asked Egg in wonderment.

“He cannot send you home
without your consent. The Crystal Egg would not carry out such an order against
me or any of you. But if you request it, then the Egg would do as it was
asked.”

“What about what my Grammy said?”

“She did not say that.
The words are Mobius’.”

“Oh.” Egg felt a little embarrassed
that she was fooled.

“What about the warning?” asked Sassi.

“J’azzz-min told us that
the purpose of the Maze was to trap all who entered.”

“But how do we not get
trapped?” persisted the
girl.

“Egg will lead us
through.”

Normally Egg wouldn’t argue when the
Princess put the solution to problems squarely on her shoulders. But this time
she had to say something. “Dazzle, you can’t know that for sure. We already
lost four friends . . . I don’t want to be responsible for losing these two.”

“Egg, doubt and fear are
the two most valuable tools left to Mobius. Do not allow him to weaken your
resolve.”

Egg was about to ask what she meant,
but Sassi stopped her by explaining, “She means don’t
let the evil king make you second guess your own abilities. You’ve made it this
far . . . there’s no reason why you can’t make it all the way.”

“Well said, my sister.”

“Okeydokey, then,” replied Egg with
absolutely no conviction. She turned to the Guardians and said, “Hey, guys.
Thanks but no thanks. Can you just point us to the Maze?”

The giant faces said
nothing . . . they slowly melted away and what was left was an archway . . .

It led to a long hallway that seemed
to go on forever.

“Is that the maze?” asked Egg a little
disappointed. It didn’t seem so bad.

“Let us find out.”

So Egg grabbed a hand of the other two
girls and started to walk. They passed through one archway then another and
another.

“This is too easy,” said Sylvia.

“Don’t complain,” said her friend.
“Easy is good.”

As they approached what must have been
the tenth doorway, the true nature of the Maze began to show itself. The air
under the arch began to shimmer then glow. And in a moment, instead of seeing
the rest of the long, endless hallway, they saw what appeared to be a fiery
cloud ablaze in reds and oranges and yellows. Their first reaction was
predictable . . . they screamed.

“OH MY GOSH!”

“What is it?” shouted Sassi. The answer came echoing from
nowhere.

“This is the entrance to the Maze . . .”

“. . . of Forever. Enter . . .”

“.
. . at your own peril.”

“Fare-thee-well
. . .

“.
. . Egg of Earth.”

*****

Walking through that curtain of
swirling colors was one of the hardest things the girls had ever done. Dazzle
had passed through first to assure them there was nothing of danger waiting for
them on the other side. Even so, as they walked through, they closed their eyes
and cringed.

When they finally got the
courage to look at the Maze . . . their mouths dropped opened. It was . . .
well . . . just weird.

There were passageways going off in
every direction . . . some circling back from where they started. And this
tangle of paths seemed to be suspended in a black void . . . with no end in
sight.

Egg opened her mouth to utter that
magical phrase, but Sylvia cut her off. “Don’t even say it.”

“Now you sound like J’azzz-min.” The
cat was forever telling Egg to stop with the ‘ohmygoshes’.

“Uh-oh.”

The two girls turned to look at their
friend.

“It’s gone.”

“What’s gone?” asked Sylvia.

Sassi pointed behind them . . . to the
place where the archway they had just crossed should have been. But it wasn’t.
There would be no turning back now.

“All right, you can say it.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Egg, we must continue,” said Dazzle stating the obvious. “Choose a path.”

“No, no, no, no, no and nope.”

“We cannot stay here.”

“I can’t do it. Look at this . . .”
she said pointing at the tangle of paths that looked like a plate of spaghetti.

“You must.”

“I think I should do it.”

They turned as one to look at Sassi.

“Why do you say that,
Sister?”

“It’s what the Myst Tree
wanted me to do . . . I think.”

Egg looked to Sylvia who seemed to
always remember what the Tree said. “Did it?”

“Ummm . . . the Tree said something
like, ‘There will come a time when she will have to choose the right path.” (It
was referring to the unnamed sister who was inadvertently spying for Mobius.)
Then Sylvia shrugged and added, “So, I guess so.”

“Feminion, your memory
serves you well. And, you Sister . . . I believe you have correctly understood
the Tree’s message.”

“Didn’t he say something else?
Something not so good?”

Sylvia blushed but said nothing; so
Dazzle finished the Tree’s message. “The right
path will lead her to oblivion, but it will also be the only path that can lead
to the defeat of Mobius.”

“What’s oblivion?”

“It is not clear. It
could mean nothingness or a great void.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“It means that I probably
won’t make it out of the Maze.”

Egg looked to Dazzle who nodded her
agreement. “Well, then just forget that. No way, no how and not ever will I let
Sassi get stuck in here just so Syl and I can get out. Forget it.”

“Egg . . . it’s the reason
you chose me to be a Sister.”

That made Egg angry. “NO, IT”S NOT,”
she screamed.

“Sassi is right. You
chose your Sisters because they alone could help you succeed in our Quest. Each
had a very important role to play . . . and this is hers.”

Now Flying Girl was both angry and
confused. “No. No. No.” She fought back her tears, calmed herself then
continued, “I don’t know why I picked you or any of the others. I really don’t
. . . but it couldn’t be for this; for you to get stuck in here forever just to
save me. ”

“When the universe talks
to us through our dreams, we have to listen. Everybody knows that. In the end,
you probably had no choice . . . other than to do what you did. And I have no
choice . . . but to do what I need to do.”

“I won’t let you.”

“You were meant to pick us
. . . to pick me. And, believe me when I say that I’ll always be grateful. You
gave my life a wonderful purpose. And you gave me one more chance to see my
mother and father. Egg, I can’t ever repay you for all of that. But, I can find
you a way out of here.”

“How? How could you do that? Look at
this place.”

“I don’t know how. But I
just know that whatever path I choose, it’ll be the right one. The Tree said
that.”

“Egg . . . there is no
choice.”

The girl thought about everything that
had just been said. Finally, she answered defiantly “I’ll let you lead. But
there’s no way I’m going to let you get stuck in here. I don’t care what that
stupid tree said.”

“That goes for me, too,” added Sylvia.

It sounded so wonderful . . . one for
all, and all for one. Unfortunately, no one believed it for a second. But they
hugged each other and pretended.

Even though she should have been
terrified at the thought of being trapped in the maze, Sassi wasn’t. Oddly
enough, she only felt pride. In all of Aerianna, it was she that was chosen to
help her Sisters navigate the Maze so they could finish their Quest. It was an
incredible honor and for that, she was grateful. She knew it would make her
parents very proud.

“Egg.”

“Yeah?”

“Promise me you’ll tell my
parents . . .”

“You’re going to tell them.”

“Promise me that if I
can’t, you will.”

“No. I promise you that you’re going
to tell them.”

“Egg . . . ”

“Listen to me Sassi. I’m Flying Girl
and you and I are Hameggattic Sisters and when I make a promise . . . I’m going
to keep it.”

“Your parents will
know,” reassured
Dazzle. After a moment, she added, “In all the
time that I have known Egg, she has always kept her word. Perhaps this time
will be no different.”

*****

So Sassi led the way. They walked
along the path and at every intersection, she turned right. When it became
obvious what she was doing, Sylvia got Egg’s attention behind the other girl’s
back and shook her head and shrugged. “It can’t be this simple,” was the
message she was trying to convey to her friend.

Egg understood and shrugged back.

About a half hour later, they were
right back where they started.

“Oh, no.”

“Maybe we didn’t really understand
what the Tree was telling us,” said Egg hopefully.

“I believe we correctly
interpreted the Tree’s intent. However, perhaps the phrase ‘right path’ wasn’t
meant to be taken literally.”

Egg looked to Sylvia hoping she could
explain what that meant. “I think Dazzle means that the right path
doesn’t mean we should always be taking the right path.”

“What?” said Flying Girl in utter
confusion?

“She means that I can’t
just keep taking right turns.”

“Oh.”

“So what will you do?” asked Sylvia.

“I’m not sure.”

“Sassi.”

“Yes, your Majesty?”

“What is your passion in
life?”

All three girls scrunched their faces
. . . mystified by the question.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not
sure I understand what you are asking.”

“If you could choose to
do anything in this world, what would it be?”

“Well . . . I like to
think of myself as an artist. I love the beauty in paintings and jewelry, in
everything. I would continue to express myself in all forms of art. Maybe I’m a
little like your sister in that respect.”

“I think that someday
you and Ss’ong will be good friends. You have much in common.”

The likelihood of that ever happening
seemed very, very slim. But Sassi was polite enough to just say thank you.

“Dazzle, why are you asking her about
this now?’

“Perhaps it may help her
in choosing the right path.”

The three girls scrunched again.

“Look around you. What
do you see?”

They looked and saw what they had seen
before . . . a tangled jumble of paths. But after a few moments, Sassi’s face
lit up.

“Oh, Princess . . . I
understand.”

“Mind telling us?” asked Sylvia.

“Look at the Maze
carefully. It’s like a giant sculpture or painting. But some of it seems wrong
while other parts seem right . . . at least to an artist’s eye. Isn’t that it,
your Majesty?’

“As my mother would
attest, I am no artist. But even I can see the rightness and wrongness within
the Maze.”

Egg and Sylvia looked around again,
but they could see nothing right about any of it.

“I hope you know what you’re talking about.”

“Trust me,” said Sassi.

“We do. We always have” replied
Sylvia.

“So, which way this time?”

Sassi looked around again studying the
colors and shapes within the Maze. After a moment, she said “This way.” And so
they tried again.

*****

This time they had much more success.
In fact, if you could forget that this was dangerous beyond words, it almost
seemed like a ride at Disneyworld. Unfortunately, they did forget.

With her newfound confidence, Sassi
was able to lead them deeper and deeper into the Maze . . . and presumably to
its eventual end and to safety. Of course, they had no way of really knowing .
. . but it seemed like a reasonable guess.

Apparently, the Maze was broken into
sections . . . and each one presented its own challenge. The first one they
encountered was like a hall of mirrors at the fun house. The rocks that lined
the path were so shiny that you could easily see your own reflection. In some
you looked very tall and skinny and in others short and fat. The girls even
stopped to admire their new bodies . . . laughing at themselves and at each
other.

But as they made their way further and
further into this section of silly reflections they realized why Mobius had put
it there. Everywhere they looked, for as far as the eye could see, were hundreds
and hundreds of Sassi’s, Egg’s and Sylvia’s looking back at them.

Sassi finally stopped,
looked around and became totally disoriented. “I think I’m lost.”

The other two girls tried to get their
bearings . . . but they too couldn’t figure out where the path was or which way
they should go. There were just too many reflections . . . each staring back
and looking just as confused as the three sisters.

“It feels a little crowded in here,”
said Sylvia looking at the cave full of Hameggattic Sisters.

Dazzle came to their rescue. Her
ghostly being didn’t cause any reflections so she was able to search up and
down, left, and right looking for the path. It took her awhile, but she finally
found it and led the girls to safety.

“Thank you, your Majesty.”

“I have contributed so
little . . . it feels good to be of service.”

“Maybe the Sisters will give you a
medal,” teased Egg.

“I would wear it
proudly.”

The next section they
called Snakes Tongue . . . because it forked about every twenty feet.

But Sassi never faulted and chose left
then right then left then left then right . . . well, you get the idea. And
before long, they had made it out.

“So far, so good . . . don’t you
think?” asked Egg hopefully. Maybe the stupid Tree had been wrong about Sassi
getting stuck in here.

“Yeah. Sassi, you’re doing great,”
added Sylvia.

As they entered the next
section, Egg said, “Wow, this is pretty awesome.”

But then awesome changed to awful . .
. and Disneyland turned to the House of Horrors.

“GREETINGS.”

The girls jumped at the
unexpected sound. They looked up to see a grotesque creature standing above
them . . .

“Oh my gosh.”

“What the heck is it?”

“Whatever it is, I doubt
it wants to be friends.”

“It is dangerous . . . I
feel it. Sassi, choose your path and run. All of you run as fast as you can.”

“Do
not Go . . . I mean you no harm.” But then it
laughed at its own joke.

Chapter 9 - Auld Lang Syne

“WHERE
ARE YOU GOING IN SUCH A HURRY?”

Dazzle responded to the question by
urging her sisters, “You must run faster.”

And so they ran but the monster simply
jogged behind them . . . easily keeping up. “ISN’T THIS FUN? I so enjoy a little exercise
before i eat.”

“Eat?” Egg screamed. “Is he talking
about eating us?”

“Did you want to stop and ask him?”
Sylvia managed to say between deep gasps of air.

“I’m too shy . . . you do it.” The
silly talk was their way of trying to keep from total panic. The truth was that
they were as afraid now as they had ever been. This was by far the most
dangerous creature they had met.

After ten minutes of running as fast
as they could, they were getting exhausted. But fear of that horrid thing was
enough to keep them going.

“What are we going to do?” yelled
Sylvia.

“You cannot outrun the
creature . . . so you must find a way of losing it in this maze.”

“Sassi,” Egg called to her friend.

“There’s a new section
just over there. Maybe we can find someplace to hide. Follow me.”

So Sassi made left turns,
right turns and U-turns and in short order they were in a different area . . .
hopefully one that the creature was less familiar with.

“Quick, this way,” and she
ran up a path that led to a rickety wooden bridge that crossed over what seemed to be a river of fire.

“Do you think that thing is safe to
cross?”

“Let’s hope it’s strong enough for us
. . . but not for you-know-who,” answered Sylvia.

“Maybe after
we cross, we can cut the ropes that are holding it up.”

They stopped at the edge of the bridge
and stared at the dilapidated thing. It didn’t look very safe at all.
Unfortunately, this was now the only way out.

They would have liked to have a little
time to catch their breath before trying to cross over. But they could hear the
stupid creature behind them singing. And if that wasn’t bad enough, it had just
a terrible voice.

“I will go up ahead to
see where this path leads. Cross one at a time . . . and do not look down.” With that, Dazzle drifted across the
bridge and disappeared around a turn.

“I’ll go first.”

“No you won’t. I will.” Egg wasn’t going
to let her sister put herself in any more danger than she already had. So she
gingerly put one foot on the bridge and tested the first rotting wooden plank.
It held. She put her second foot on . . . and nothing bad happened.

“Don’t run,” warned Sylvia.

“And hold on to the
ropes,” advised Sassi.

“Okay . . . just be quiet. You’re
making it worse.”

Egg’s heart was beating about a
bazillion times a minute as she grabbed a rope in each hand and started to walk
across. The bridge creaked and moaned and swayed . . . and scared the heck out
of her. Even so, she was unable to stop herself from peeking over the side. And
far, far below she saw the seething river of fire. “That’s it. No more. Nope,
nope, nope, nope. This is my first and my last quest,” she muttered to herself
as she continued to shake with fear. (Actually, this
wouldn’t be her last Quest. But that’s another story.)

She was about three quarters of the
way across when the board she stepped on cracked under her weight. “Yikes” she
yelped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. One of the boards just
cracked . . . but I think it’s okay.”

“Be careful.”

“Duh,” she replied a bit
sarcastically. Then she disregarded everyone’s advice and virtually ran the
last part. “I’m across,” she yelled back to her friends as she stepped onto
solid ground . . . hardly believing that she actually made it.

“You go next,” Sassi told Sylvia.

So Syl stepped onto the bridge . . .

“Helloooo…anybody
out there? I’m getting Hungry,” called the
monster cheerily. They couldn’t see it . . . but by the sound of its voice, it
had to be very close.

“HURRY,” Egg yelled to Sylvia.

The girl didn’t have to be told twice
and she got onto the old bridge and scampered across.

“Oh,
THERE YOU ARE.”

“Sassi . . . run, run.”

“Come on, hurry.”

The girl sped across but a second or
two later, she stepped on the cracked board . . . and fell through. “SASSI,”
Egg and Sylvia screamed.

As she fell, Sassi was quick enough to
reach out and catch the edge of the board . . . but only with her fingertips.
It wasn’t enough to maintain her grip . . . and her hands started to slip.

She looked down at the sea of flames
far below her, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes as her hands finally
lost hold of the rotting wood.

But to her surprise, she didn’t fall.
She looked up to see Egg and Sylvia staring back at her. Each girl had grabbed
one of Sassi’s wrists and they were trying to pull her up.

“NO . . . Let me go. Run
before that thing gets you.”

“Oh, just shut up,” yelled Egg. She
was tired of everybody trying to be a hero to save her.

“Egg . . . on the count of three,”
urged Sylvia. And she counted, and they pulled and Sassi popped up through the
hole where the broken plank had been.

“Okay . . . now we run.”

“This way,” called Dazzle as she returned from her
survey of the path.

They followed the Princess and just
before they rounded a turn, they stopped to look back. And there was the
creature half way across the bridge.

“Food,
Food, Food” chanted the ugly thing.

“Maybe if we left some of
our supplies, it would stop chasing us,” suggested Sassi.

“Doubtful . . . but it
is worth a try.”

Sassi reached into her
backpack and pulled out some dried meat. “Where should I put it?”

“Not here. Further down
this path are two chutes. You shall tell us which one to take. Then we will
place your bait in front of the other.”

“Dazzle . . . what do you mean
chutes?” asked Egg.

“You will see. Follow
me.”

So they ran deeper into the maze
until they came to the end of the path. And there they were . . . two chutes
side by side. Actually, they looked more like spiral slides that went on and on
and on.

“Oh my gosh.”

“Ditto,” said Sylvia.

“Sassi, which one shall
we take?”

“Definitely this one with
the earth tones” she said pointing to the chute on the left. “That one with the
primary colors does not belong here.”

“Are you certain? Once
we enter . . . there is no turning back.”

Sassi didn’t hesitate. “I
am absolutely sure.”

“Food…Food…Food.”

“Quickly, Sassi; place
the food. Egg and Sylvia, hide behind that rock. Hurry.”

So the girls did as they were told,
and by the time the creature appeared, they were all safely hidden behind the
boulder. As it approached, it sniffed trying to identify the scent that hung in
the air. Realizing it was food, it lumbered over to the meat that Sassi had
planted.

It picked up the first piece and ate
with gusto. Enjoying the taste, it then advanced to the one that was just on
the edge of the chute and bent down to get the yummy morsel.

“I’m going to knock it
down the slide,” whispered Sassi.

“No. Do not approach the
creature.”

Ignoring the Princess, Sassi ran from
her hiding place straight at the creature. At the last second she lunged . . .
trying to knock it off balance and down the slide. Unfortunately, the monster
saw her coming and stepped out of the way.

Sassi was unable to stop herself.

She flew past the creature and into
the chute . . .

. . . and disappeared from
sight. Her last words were, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“NO,” screamed Egg.

The creature turned at the
sound. “More FOOD,” it
said happily.

“Sisters, down the other
chute now,” commanded
Dazzle.

“But what about Sassi?” Sylvia
stammered.

“Our sister is gone. Do
not allow her sacrifice to be in vain.”

As the monster came closer, the girls
made a mad dash for the slide, dove in and, like Sassi, disappeared from sight.

*****

They slid down and down and down and
down . . .

It took a very long time, but they
eventually began to see the end of this dizzying ride. “Brace yourselves,” yelled Dazzle.

The chute ended and the girls, who had
been sliding at an incredible speed, flew through the air . . .

. . . and landed with a splash.

. . . in the Never
’Glade.

They stood up; brushed off what mud
and water they could . . . then hugged each other and cried.

They cried for their lost sister.

They cried because they had made it
out alive.

They cried because there was only one
more challenge.

They cried because they were tired and
discouraged and wet.

They cried because they were in the
middle of this scary glade.

And they cried because they were nine
years old . . . and that’s what nine year olds were allowed to do when they
missed their moms and dads and Grammys.

*****

They managed to find a bit of dry
ground to make camp. After setting up the tent, they started a fire, took off
their wet clothes and hung them to dry.

At that moment in time, there were no
two unhappier girls in the world. It took Egg a full twenty minutes of silence
before she could muster the energy to talk.

“Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?”

“Do you think she’s okay?”

“I believe that Sassi is
well. At least as well as one can be trapped in the Maze.”

“What do you think happened to her
when she slid down that chute?”

“I would hazard a guess
that she came out in a different part of the Maze.”

“So maybe she can still escape . . .
if she finds our chute?”

“No, Sister. I do not
believe that will happen. I believe the Myst Tree has foretold her fate.”

“What about that crazy monster?” asked
Sylvia.

“I believe she will
avoid contact with it. She now knows where it lives.”

“Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?”

“How do we get out of this place?”

“I do not know. Perhaps
you will dream on it tonight.”

“Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?” The Princess was being very, very
patient. She understood just how devastated the two girls must have been
feeling.

“I lost five sisters. I don’t want to
lose Sylvia.”

“Nor I.”

“Do you promise?”

“I cannot promise that
which I cannot control.”

“Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?”

“I miss Sassi and K’ssss and Aeri’elle
and Bl’azzz and Soo’.”

“Will you do something
for me?”

“What?”

“Tomorrow, before we
continue our journey, I would like you and Sylvia to remember each of your
sisters. Then I would have you write your memories in your diary.”

“That would be wonderful.”

“Then sleep. And you,
also, Sylvia. By tomorrow night, we will have reached the Crystal Mountain and
claimed our first victory over Mobius. And in so doing, we will pay honor to
all the sacrifices made by you and your sisters.”

*****

The girls had been asleep
for many hours when the moon reached its zenith in the sky. As Dazzle sat there
watching, a shadow drifted across its yellow and orange surface . . .

It was the Wraith known as K’aos. But
in his former life, he was Z’kkk, the fiancé to the Rose’Alynnia, Princess of
Aerianna.

“Ah, my love, it is good
to see you once again. I have come to reclaim not only my throne . . . but you
as well. You proposed marriage to me; and I expect you to honor that promise.
Sweet dreams.”

*****

“Morning,” said Egg with a big yawn
and a stretch.

“Good morning, sleepy head. I’ve
cooked you some breakfast.” Sylvia put some food on a plate and gave it to her
friend.

“Thanks. It smells delicious.”

“It’s one of Sassi’s recipes.”

“Oh.” A wave of sadness washed over
the girl.

“Good morning, Egg,” said Dazzle as she returned to the camp.

“Morning.”

“I have surveyed the
surrounding area. The water is not deep; and though the bottom is muddy, it
does not appear to be as bad as Switch Swamp. We will be able to cross over
with little difficulty. The land beyond is wet and soft . . . but easily walked
upon.” She paused to
let the girls absorb this information, and then continued, “Did you dream of the Glade?”

“I tried . . . but nothing happened.”

“Then you shall walk and
we shall follow.”

What else was new . . . it felt like
they had already walked a thousand miles. The two girls looked at each other
and shrugged. Just one more day and this part of the Quest would finally be
over.

“Are we leaving right away?” asked
Sylvia.

“No. You must first
write of your memories of Sassi and the others.”

So Egg wolfed down her breakfast and
pulled out her diary. She was both looking forward to, and dreading, what they
were about to do.

“Okay, who shall we do first?”

“Let’s do Soo’ and Bl’azzz first.”

“Okay.” So they started to talk about
the serpent and the dragon, recalling every last detail from the day Egg had
recruited them till the day they flew away. Even Dazzle added a few comments
and observations. After those two, they talked about Aeri’elle then K’ssss and
finally Sassi. When they finished, Egg found a blank page in her diary and
began to write . . . reading her words so that the other two could follow
along.

Dear Diary,

She stopped and asked, “Does anybody
know the date?”

“Forget the date . . . just write.”

“Okay, okay.”

‘Dear Diary,

There was a lot to write about . . .
and Egg kept skipping from one sister to another then back again. And every
entry brought a smile to their faces. It turned out to be just what the doctor
(or in this case, Dazzle) ordered.

… Aeri’elle was so stuck-up
when I first met her. I never thought she make a good sister. Boy, did she fool
me.

… K’ssss loved to laugh. We
all just adored the way she would “H’sssss.”

… Soo’ was always making
fun of K’ssss. My favorite was when she called her a slithering sack of silly.

… Bl’azzz had such a bad
case of gas. Lucky for us it came out of her mouth and not the other end.

“EGG,” said a horrified Sylvia.
“That’s disgusting.”

“No it’s not.”

“You’re just so bad.
Anyway, keep writing.”

… Sassi had the most
beautiful skin color. I never thought green would look so good on a girl.

… K’ssss saved us more
times than anyone else. She turned out to be our most valuable player. I hate
to say it . . . but it was our biggest surprise.

… Bl’azzz played a weird
instrument called a Booyah. She was really very good.

… When Aeri’elle ate that
monster’s friend then threw it up . . . it was so gross, but now it seems very
funny.

… Soo’ was awesome the way
she saved her friend Bl’azzz. That big ugly spider chose the wrong person to
mess with.

… Sassi was so quiet and
shy. But she was the best cook; and she was so brave knowing that she wasn’t
going to make it out of the Maze.

And page after page, Egg wrote about
her missing sisters. Some of the comments made Sylvia and her very sad. But
mostly, all the things they wrote made them laugh and smile with the warmth of
fond remembrances.

By the time they finished, they kind
of felt like the Hameggattic Sisters were safe inside of the diary. And that
was a good feeling.

“You have done well.
Someday, with your permission, I will include everything you have written about
your Sisters and put them in our history books. Every child . . . human,
serpent and dragon . . . will be required to read and learn about the seven
great heroines of Aerianna. They will all come to know and admire the
Hameggattic Sisterhood.”

“Really?”

“Really and truly. But
now . . . it is time to finish what we have started. We must go.”

Chapter 10 - Never ‘Glade

“Fiddlesticks.”

“What?”

“You heard me, fiddlesticks.”

“What’s a fiddlestick?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“Eloise Grace Graystone,” Sylvia
replied in a huff, “if you can keep saying that silly phrase, then I think I
should have one too.”

“What silly phrase?”

“Oh my gosh . . . what was it again?”

“Oh, that one.”

“So now I have my own. I’ve been
giving it a lot of thought and I think fiddlesticks is perfect. What do you
think, Dazzle?”

“It is a most agreeable
word.”

“Thank you.”

They had been trudging
through the glade making pretty good progress . . . all things considered. Not
having J’azzz-min to tell them which way to go, Egg decided to use dandelions
as her guide.

“How, my sister?”

“I’ll just hold it up . . . and
whichever way the little thingy’s blow is the way we’ll go.”

Dazzle was more than a little
doubtful. “Why?”

“Just because.” Egg had
absolutely no reason to believe that this silly idea would work . . . but it
was the only thing she could think of. Besides, they were walking through a
field of dandelions. That must mean something.

“We will trust your
instincts . . . for a time.” Truth
was that Dazzle had no better idea.

As they walked, they were mostly quiet
. . . each girl thinking her own thoughts.

Dazzle was thinking of Z’kkk and the
day he would hold her in his arms again.

Sylvia was still thinking of her
missing sisters. ‘How lucky I am,’ she thought to herself. ‘I became friends
with dragons and serpents and a green girl. I just know that I’ll see them all
again . . . I can just feel it.’ But she didn’t know how that would be possible.
‘Maybe the Tree can do something,’ she thought hopefully.

And Egg was daydreaming of her
Grandmother. She couldn’t wait to get back to tell her everything.
Unfortunately that thought led to another one . . . when she got back, she
would no longer be Flying Girl. It was going to be so hard to be just your
everyday Egg. But what a great year she had had . . . and because of that, she
couldn’t feel sorry for herself. Well . . . maybe just a little.

*****

The pretty glade was lulling them into
thinking they were safe . . .

Safe enough to let their guard down .
. .

Safe enough to daydream . . .

Safe enough to forget that they were
in the last of the seven challenges. And everyone knows you save the best for
last. Or, in this case, the worst . . .

“Hey, Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?”

“I thought a glade was like the
Everglade back on earth. You know . . . lots of water and crocodiles and
snakes.”

“I hate snakes almost as much as
spiders,” said Sylvia who made a disgusted face like ‘yuk’.

“No. A glade is a
clearing in a forest. But I think the name of this place is not very accurate
for there are trees aplenty.”

“Then why do they call the Everglade
the ever glade? Why not the Ever-swamp?”

“Or ever-marsh?” added Sylvia.

“I do not know,” said the Princess smiling. “It is a puzzle.”

The pleasant moment was
shattered when Egg began to scream, “OH MY GOSH…OH MY GOSH…OH MY GOSH”. She had
been leading the way when the path she had been following brought her to the
edge of a cliff. And there below, totally unexpected, was the Crystal Mountain
. . .

“What is wrong?”

“Egg, are you okay?”

“LOOK,” cried Flying Girl. The other
two ran over to their companion and looked to where she was pointing.

“We did it!” said Sylvia in an awed
voice. “We actually did it.”

“It is a most impressive
structure.”

They stood there for many minutes just
staring. It would have been hard for them to put their emotions into words.
After all they had been through . . . all the sacrifices they and their sisters
had made . . . they had done the impossible. They were glad and relieved that
they had succeeded, but sad and depressed that the others weren’t there to
savor that success. The moment was bittersweet.

Then reality hit Dazzle like a slap on
the face. “We are in grave danger.”

Egg and Sylvia turned to look at the
Princess and at the glade around them. “What is it?”

“This is Mobius’ last
opportunity to stop us from reaching the Mountain. But we have yet to encounter
anything remotely dangerous.”

“Hey, you’re right.”

“What do you think he’s planning?”
asked Sylvia who was nervously looking around for anything that might do them
harm.

“I believe he purposely
let us enjoy the first part of the Glade so that we could reach this very spot
. . . and see our goal. It’s just his way to make our eventual defeat that much
more bitter.”

“What do you mean . . . defeat?” Egg
was offended.

“In his mind, he firmly
believes that he will triumph and we will fail. We know differently.”

That made both girls feel better . . .
until the Princess continued. “We must be very
vigilant. Assume that everything from this point forward means to do us harm.
Take no chances.”

Without realizing she was doing it,
Sylvia took Egg’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Egg squeezed back.

“Stay close and proceed
slowly.”

*****

Not far from where they had stopped to
admire the Crystal Mountain, the flat, wide glade . . . and the field of
dandelions . . . came to an end.

The glade itself began a
fairly steep descent down the mountain. It also narrowed to not much more than
a path. On either side, the trees were much more dense . . . there was hardly
enough room to squeeze between them. It was obvious where Mobius expected them
to walk.

“I do not like this,” said Dazzle as she surveyed the path
they had to follow.

“Why?” asked Egg. She didn’t see
anything particularly dangerous.

“Mobius is forcing us to
take this path . . . challenging us to run this gauntlet. It will be fraught
with peril.”

Egg looked at Sylvia but the other
girl also didn’t know what the Princess was talking about. Anyway, this seemed
to be the least dangerous place they had faced so far.

“Dazzle, J’azzz-min said we had to
worry about the tack-toed tick. Maybe that’s the only danger.”

“I do not believe so,
Feminion. There will be other challenges.”

“So why don’t we just go through the
trees? Syl and I aren’t very big. We could probably squeeze between them.”

“Agreed,” said the Warrior Princess. “But first, let us prepare for the worse. Retrieve your
ponchos from your backpacks and put them on . . . including the hoods. They may
protect you from the ticks.  And take out the knife and the ax . . . they could
prove useful.”

So the girls did as they were told.
Sylvia also picked up about a half dozen good-sized pebbles for each of them
and they stuffed them into their pockets.

“Okay, we’re ready,” said Egg who
really wasn’t.

They walked to where the
narrow path began . . . then past it and over to where the trees were. But as
they got closer, they noticed some kind of ground cover none of them had ever
seen before . . .

. . . growing between the trees.

“What the heck is that stuff? It looks
like cotton candy.”

“Whatever it is; it’s kinda pretty,”
answered Sylvia.

“Pretty, perhaps; but it
is most likely dangerous.”

“Any suggestions?” asked Egg.

“You should proceed alone
for a few paces to insure that it is passable. But first, take out a rope and
tie one end around your waist. Sylvia will hold the other end and pull you back
to safety . . . if need be.”

Egg looked at the Princess and rolled
her eyes. Sometimes being the captain of the team was pretty lousy.

“I’ll do it,” volunteered Sylvia.

“No. It’s my job. I’ll do it.”

“I’m your Feminion . . . so I should
do it.”

“I’m the captain . . . so I should.”

“No . . . I should.”

“Don’t argue. You’re giving me a
headache.”

“Sisters,” interrupted Dazzle, “this will not be the last danger we will face. Each of
you will have an opportunity to be a hero.”

The girls looked a little embarrassed.
“Sorry,” said Sylvia. “I was just trying to help.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, anyway.” She
then pulled out the rope, tied one end around her and gave the other end to her
friend. “Okay, here goes nothing.”

“No, wait.”

“What?”

“Let me tie my end around this tree .
. . just in case. If the rope slips out of my hands . . . well, anyway, just to
be safe.”

“An excellent
suggestion, Feminion.”

So, Sylvia tied the rope and Egg
stepped onto the cotton candy. She yelped in surprise as she began to sink.

The plant was pulling her down . . .
and in an instant, she was knee deep, then waist deep, then . . . just her head
was visible. But not for long.

She disappeared beneath the pretty
flowers.

*****

If the rope hadn’t been tied to the
tree, Sylvia would have lost it . . . and with it, her friend. But it was . . .
and she didn’t.

“Pull, Sylvia. Quickly.”

But she couldn’t. The rope had
stretched tight and it looked like it was about to snap. Apparently, the plants
were still wrapped around Egg and were trying to pull her deeper yet.

“I CAN’T . . . . I CAN’T,” she
screamed in panic. “I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH.”

“Feminion . . . listen
to me. Keep pulling on the rope for all you are worth. Egg’s life depends on
it. I will try to assist.”

“WHAT? HOW?” The girl was still
screaming even though she didn’t realize it.

Dazzle didn’t answer . . . instead,
she disappeared.

Sylvia continued to pull on the rope
but it wouldn’t budge. But a moment later, she almost fell down backwards as
the rope started to come up. She pulled and pulled and pulled until every
muscle felt like it would explode. And to her enormous relief, Egg’s head
appeared above the plants. With her last ounce of strength, she managed to pull
the other girl out and back onto solid ground.

Egg laid there . . . coughing and
wheezing and trying to suck in as much air as she could. Sylvia dropped down
next to her, totally exhausted and breathing just as hard as her best friend.

It took them a few minutes to regain
their breath and to speak.

“Egg . . . what happened? I couldn’t
pull you up; then I could?”

“It was Dazzle.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. She did something and
there was a flash of light and the plants let me go.”

“Dazzle,” Sylvia called.

“I am here.”

Both girls looked up and were shocked
by what they saw. Dazzle was almost invisible. “What’s wrong with you? What did
you do down there?”

“I used most of the energy
in Egg’s suit to shock the plant. When I did, it released her.”

“But how come we can hardly see you?
Are you okay?” Egg asked.

“Egg, I may not be with
you much longer. When the power is drained from the suit, I will be unable to
show myself. When it becomes sufficiently drained . . . I will be unable to
speak.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“You’re not going to die . . . are
you,” asked Sylvia in a hushed voice.

“No, my sister. My
essence cannot be destroyed . . . unless the suit is destroyed.”

Well . . . that was something, at
least.

“Dazzle, what are we supposed to do
without you to help us?”

“Trust in Egg.”

That didn’t seem like nearly enough .
. . for either girl.

“So what do we do now? Just take the
path like Mobius wants us to?”

“Yes. But do it quickly.
The longer you take . . . the more opportunities he has to do his evil worst.”

“Okay . . . if you say so. You ready,
Syl?”

“No . . . but let’s just get this over
with.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

*****

They started to run down the path, but
it was so steep that they kept slipping and falling. At one point, Sylvia
ripped her poncho. It was a small rip and she didn’t notice.

“We have to slow down.”

“Okay . . . but just a little,”
answered Egg.

They soon rounded a bend and came to a
small field of plants with spiky white thorns.

“Watch out you don’t get stuck.”

“I’m watching, believe me.”

They were a few feet into
the flowers when the plants did something that plants don’t usually do . . .
they opened their mouths.

“Oh my gosh . . . they have teeth.”

“Let me go first. I have the knife.”

So Sylvia passed Egg, took out the
long knife and started to hack a path through the vicious plants. Even so, one
of them managed to reach out and bite at Egg. Luckily, it only caught her pant
leg.

“You think they’re poisonous?” She was
afraid to touch it to pull it off.

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.” Still worried, she used
the blade of her axe and gave it a whack. The flower went flying.

“That wasn’t so bad,” called Sylvia as
they made it past the last of the freaky things.

“So you say.” Egg glanced back to
reassure herself that they were clear of the danger. When she did, every flower
opened its mouth in her direction. She shivered and turned away.

Then things got out of hand. They
encountered one challenge after another . . . each one more weird than the one
before.

If you don’t like snakes .
. . and Sylvia didn’t . . . then you are just going to hate the ones with two
heads. And that’s just what was dangling from the overhanging branches of the
trees that lined the path.

They dodged left and right and left
and left and right trying to avoid running underneath the four-eyed things.
Even so,  one of them fell from the tree and landed right in front of the
girls.

Without thinking, Egg took her ax and
smacked it over the head. But even when she was facing such danger, she
couldn’t bring herself to use the blade and hurt the demon thing. She used the
wooden handle and knocked it out of the way.

“You’re too nice.”

“It’s one of my many faults.”

They thought they were in
the clear when another snake popped out from behind a rock. This one had only
one head . . . but it also had two arms.

“On the count of three. One, two,
three.” And the girls each threw one of the large pebbles they had in their
pockets. Both hit the snake in the head and it slithered off.

“Hope he has a headache tomorrow.”

“It serves him right. Besides, no
respectable snake should have arms. Sheesh.”

The next nasty were blades
of grass. Naturally, they weren’t ordinary blades of grass. These were more
like saw blades…

They were spinning around make a
high-pitched sound just like the table saw that Egg’s dad had in the garage. It
was frightening.

“What do you think?” said Sylvia as
they stopped to ponder a solution.

“Ummm . . . let’s use the tents and
threw them over these things. Maybe if they can’t see us, they won’t spin.”

“Okay, why not.”

They took out the two tents they still
had left and tossed one over the grass blades . . . and they stopped their
whining sound. The girls walked gingerly onto the piece of canvas ready to jump
off. But, the plan worked.

So they threw the next one down,
walked on to it and picked up the first one. And before long, they were past
the problem.

“What’s next?”

“I would say that,” Sylvia
pointed to a weird something…

“I give up . . . what is it?”

“Betcha it’s looking for a meal . . .
namely us.”

“How about one of Sassi’s sandwiches
instead? I still have one in my pack.”

“Give it a try.”

So Egg threw the thing the food and
sure enough, it caught it and swallowed it whole. But it was still hungry.

“It thinks that was an appetizer.”

“How about something a little harder
to chew?”

“Such as?”

“My second pair of tennis shoes.”

“Just Do It,” said Egg quoting a
famous TV advertisement.

Sylvia tied the two shoes together and
threw them. The creature caught the shoes but when it tried to eat them . . .
they got stuck.

“Oh, the poor thing” said Egg in mock
sincerity.

“My mom always said to watch what you
eat.”

They continued running down the path
as fast as they could, but came to a screeching halt when they reached a
shallow pond.

“Kinda looks like the Swamp.”

“Syl . . . this is the last one.
Look.”

Sylvia looked up and sure enough,
there was nothing on the other side of the pond but open land leading to the
Crystal Mountain.

“Hard to believe, huh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, let’s get past this water and
we’re home free. Well, not really home.”

“No . . . but a lot closer than we
were this morning.”

So they stepped into the pond and made
their way across. It wasn’t deep, but the bottom was muddy so they had to go
slow.

“Oh, that reminds me. I can’t believe
I forgot,” said Sylvia.

“What?”

“Remember when the Tree said ‘all that
was will be again’ or something like that?”

“Yeah.”

“I thing I know what he meant. Egg, I
think it means that . . .,” but she didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, she
yelled, “OWWWWWW.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Something bit me.” Sylvia reached
back and put her hand over the rip in her poncho.

“Let me see.” Egg pulled
her friend’s hand away, and there on her neck was . . .

Without hesitating, Egg picked it up
and squished it into bug jam.

“I got it.”

“What was it?”

“Some yellow thing . . . I don’t
know.”

“Was it the Tick?”

That sent a chill down Egg’s spine.
“Probably not. Come on, we’re almost across.

They hurried their pace, reached the
far bank, and sat down.

“Whew, we did it. We really did it.”

“Egg, I feel funny.”

“You’re just tired and scared. You’ll
be okay.”

But Sylvia had been bitten by the
dreaded Tack-Toed Tick. There was nothing that could prevent what was about to
happen.

She began to fade away . .
. looking more and more like the ghostly image of Dazzle with each passing
second.

“Egg . . . you’re my best friend in
the whole world . . . in the whole universe. Thank you for making me your
Feminion.”

“Syl . . . we’re almost there. Don’t
do this (as if the girl had a choice). Just hang on for a little longer.
Please.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Sylvia took off
her ring and handed it to Egg. “Maybe with this you’ll remember me.”

“I’ll never forget you . . . 'cause
you’re not going anywhere.”

“Bye Egg . . . I love you.”

And Sylvia Hampton . . . known to her
best friend as Ham . . . faded away. In less than a few heartbeats, she had
simply ceased to exist.

Egg continued to stare at the shimmering
light that had once been her dearest friend until it was completely gone. Then
she looked at the ring in her hand wondering where it had come from.

Turning to the very, very faint image
of Dazzle, she asked, “Did you give me this ring?”

“No . . . Sylvia did.”

“Who?”

But Dazzle didn’t answer . . . she
couldn’t. The suit was almost out of energy. Her image faded, as did the sound
of her voice.

Egg stood up and looked around,
foolishly hoping against hope to see one of her friends. But, of course, there
was no one else.

No Dazzle.

No Bl’azzz.

No Soo’.

No Aeri’elle.

No K’ssss.

No Sassi.

There were no more Hameggattic
Sisters.

Except for the Crystal Mountain
towering before her, she was alone.

Book 12

All
That Was

Book 12

Egg and
the Hameggattic Sisterhood

© Copyright, 2016, by
Robert Iannone

All
Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – The Crystal
Mountain

Chapter 2 – Fl’eyes and
Other Pests

Chapter 3 – Tree-Mendous
Gift

Chapter 4 – Grammy the
Great

Chapter 5 – Seven Silly
Sisters

Chapter 6 – Dream Till You
Scream

Chapter 7 – Mo Gotta Go

Chapter 8 – A Passing Storm

Chapter 9 – Leaping Lizards

Chapter 10 – Lucky to Be
Lucky

Chapter 11 – Return of the
Warrior Princess

Chapter 12 – The Home
Coming

Chapter 13 – Eloise

Epilogue

Chapter 1 – The Crystal Mountain

She slipped the ring on
her finger and admired it for a moment. To her surprise, she realized it was
the one she had made at camp. But try as she might, she couldn’t remember
taking it on the Quest. Oh well, it wasn’t important.

What was important was to
get to the Crystal Mountain and recover the glass coffin that contained
Dazzle’s body. But how the heck was she going to do that by herself?

“Dazzle?”

She waited . . . but there
was no reply.

“Dazzle, can you hear me?”

But the Warrior Princess
couldn’t answer. She had warned Egg that the flying suit was almost out of
power. She had used most of its energy to save her sister who had been trapped
in the Never ’Glade. And without power, Dazzle was unable to communicate with
her young friend.

Egg began to worry . . .
really worry. After all she and her five sisters had been through, it would be
just terrible if it came to nothing. This was the place they had worked so hard
to reach. She couldn’t let them down. Not now.

“What would Grammy do?”
she asked herself.

“Hey,” she said out loud
(sometimes it’s good to hear the sound of a person’s voice . . . even if it is
your own.) “Now that I’m out of the Never ’Glade, maybe I can fly and use my
other powers.” When she and the Sisterhood had entered the seven lands leading
to the Crystal Mountain, Egg had lost the use of the suit, the ring and the
bracelet. For whatever reason, her necklace still worked which allowed her to
speak to the others and to understand what they were saying.

The thought that she might
be able to fly again brought a smile to her face. How she missed being Flying
Girl. So she leapt skyward . . . and began to fly.

“Oh my gosh,” she yelled
in excitement and pure joy.

But that was immediately
followed by, “OWWWW.”

She quickly landed and held
her head, which felt as if it had been bonked with an oversized mallet. A
second or two later, the pain went away just as quickly as it had come. “What
the heck was that?”

She shook her head gently
to see what would happen. When nothing did, she shook it harder. Still nothing.
“Maybe I’m just tired.” So she leapt again . . . but this time the pain almost
made her fall down.

“Well, fiddlesticks,” she
said in disgust.

She didn’t
know what was causing the pain so decided it was best just to walk . . . at
least for now. She thought she should get as close to the Crystal Mountain as
she could before it got dark. The sun was already beginning to set and as it
settled behind the tall structure, the sight was simply dazzling.

An hour later, she made
camp on the edge of the lake that surrounded the Mountain. Not knowing what
dangers lay in store for her, she set up her tent between some boulders. They
were large enough to hide her from any prying eyes.

She made herself some
dinner from leftover odds and ends in her backpack. There was almost nothing
left . . . she would need to find more food pretty soon. But that was a
tomorrow problem. Right now she was exhausted and in need of sleep. She was
also hoping for a good dream . . . one that would tell her what to do next.

As she usually did, Egg
fell asleep quickly . . . and she got her wish.

She got not one, but three
dreams (though the first one wasn’t really a dream . . . it only seemed that
way).

“Egg”.

“Hmmm?”

“Egg”.

“Yeah?”

“It is I.”

“Dazzle?”

“Yes,” said a whispered voice in
her mind.

“Oh my gosh. I thought I
had lost you. Are you okay?”

“Listen carefully. You must
not use your Flying Girl powers. The energy in the suit is too low. You could
injure yourself. Do you understand?”

“Oh . . . so it was you
who was giving me those headaches.”

“Yes. And you must find
Storm. Only he can recharge the suit.”

“Okay.”

“I must go. There is so
little power left . . . I may not be able to speak to you again. Good luck, my
sister.” And
the tiny voice was gone.

The second dream was a
replay of one she had already. In it, she was sitting on the back of a dragon
and they were flying over the Crystal Mountain.

But there was something
else. Her sleeping mind concentrated on the image trying to remember what it
was. Oh yeah . . . there was a boy with her.

That was weird.

Then there was a snippet
of conversation. The voice was Dazzle’s . . . “And Egg, promise me that you
will not flirt with my Z’kkk. You have your own man.”

The third
dream she had was really and truly strange . . .

There were two giant
snowmen . . .

. . . and they were made
from yellow snow (yuk)

. . . and she and Zeke
were throwing snowballs at the one on the left.

And then they lassoed the
one on the right.  It was one really, really weird dream . . . even for Egg.

*****

She woke up early — just
as the sun was rising over the mountains. It was a beautiful day, and for a
brief moment, she forgot where she was . . . and smiled.

Then she saw the Crystal
Mountain and reality came crashing back. “Oh my gosh.” That kind of said it
all. She was where she wanted to be but . . .

. . . with no one to help
her now that all five of her sisters were gone

. . . and with no plan

. . . and with her food
running out.

She made herself breakfast
as best she could — all the while thinking about her problem. Then her dreams
came back to her and in a flash of understanding, she knew what she had to do.

The first thing she did
was to pack her gear and make her way across the water surrounding the
Mountain. For once, her luck held and she found a shallow place to cross.

She walked around the huge
structure hoping to find an entrance. And again . . . luck was with her when
she saw a small opening about three feet square. She found a tree branch and
stuck it in the ground to mark the spot.

So far, so good.

Then she
superstitiously crossed her fingers and touched her communicator crystal that
Sassi had affixed to a piece of jewelry shaped like a fried egg . . .

It hadn’t work inside the
seven lands . . . but hopefully now that she was past the last one, it would
work just like her flying suit had.

“Bl’azzz, can you hear
me?”

She waited for a reply . .
. then tried again.

“Hey, Bl’azzz, can you
hear me? It’s Egg.”

The seconds ticked by and
her heart began to beat faster. If this didn’t work, she’d be in trouble.

“Egg? Egg, is that you?”

“Oh, Bl’azzz. Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh.” The girl was so excited to hear her sister’s voice that she
couldn’t think straight. “Oh my gosh.”

“Same to you,” replied the
sarcastic dragon with real affection. “Where are you? Are you okay? How’s
everybody?”

“Bl’azzz . . . they’re
gone.”

“Who’s gone?”

“All of them. I’m alone.”

The communicator went
silent for a full minute. “What happened?”

“Oh, Bl’azzz, it was
horrible. Aeri’elle tried to save me and that monster AyBee squeezed her and .
. . well, you know. She lost her courage and flew home. Then K’ssss was bitten
by a D’ing Bat and Sassi was lost in the Maze of Forever.” Retelling the
stories made Egg start to cry all over again.

At the mention of each
name, Bl’azzz let out a little ‘oh’.

When Egg finished with her
sad tale, the dragon asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“How’s the Princess taking
it?”

“She’s gone, too.”

“WHAT?”

Egg explained about the
suit’s power.

“So she’s okay otherwise.
Right?”

“Sure. She says that as
long as the suit is okay, she’ll be okay.”

“Well, I guess that’s
something.”

There was silence again
until Bl’azzz asked, “So, it was all for nothing, wasn’t it?” There was such
sadness in her voice.

“What do you mean? That’s
absolutely not true. I’m standing here right in front of the Crystal Mountain.”

“You are?” asked an amazed
dragon. “You really did it?”

“NO,” said Egg
emphatically. “We did it. All of us.”

“Thanks for saying that.”

“But I need your help.”

“What can I do?”

“First, tell me how your
leg is? And how is Soo’?”

“Soo’s doing pretty well.
She just swims around all day crying. But other than that, she’s fine.”

“And you?”

There was a slight
hesitation and Egg knew that what her friend was about to say wouldn’t be true.
“Oh, I’m doing fine. The pain’s almost gone.”

“Liar.” She said it with
love.

“Maybe a little. But I can
still help. What do you need?”

“I need Storm.”

“Storm? Not the Princess’s
friend. You don’t mean that Storm.”

“I do. He’s the only one
that can recharge the suit.”

“You realize that he’s
really old.”

“Yeah. So?”

“I mean he’s really old.
He and the Princess were friends when she was still the Princess. That was like
a thousand years ago. Dragons live a very long time; but that’s really old. I’m
not sure what he can do for us.”

Even though Egg already
knew that about the dragon, it never dawned on her what it really meant. “We
have to try. He lives in Talon’s Perch. At least that’s where he was when I saw
him. Can you go see him? Can you fly?”

Again, there was the
briefest hesitation. “Don’t you worry your silly little earth head about me.
I’ll find him.” After a second or two, she asked, “Then what?”

“I need him to meet me
here . . . at the Crystal Mountain.”

“How’s he going to find
it?”

“Fiddlesticks . . . I
didn’t think of that.” Egg was devastated.

“What’s a fiddlestick?”

“What?”

“What’s a fiddlestick?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You just did.”

“Well . . . well . . .
just forget it, would you.” What a stupid question, she thought.

“Sorry . . . . oops.”

Egg heard a hissing sound.
“Did you just burp fire?”

“Ummm . . . yeah.” The
dragon started to giggle and Egg joined her. It felt good to laugh.

“Thanks, I needed that.”

“Glad to help. So . . .
what do you want me to do?”

Egg thought about that for
a moment. “When you find him, call me on the communicator crystal. We’ll figure
something out.”

“Okay. I’m on my way.”

“Be careful. Don’t hurt
your leg any more than it is.”

“Not to worry,” she lied.

*****

With that out of the way,
Egg now had to get help. She wouldn’t be able to move the coffin by herself.
But she had the answer. Her dreams told her what she needed to do . . . even
though she hated the idea.

She held out her hand with
the ring she had made from camp. As it turned out, it was lucky she had brought
it. In it, Dazzle had placed a crystal that could transport her back to earth
instantaneously. All she had to do was think of a place . . . and press the
stone.

And she did.

And she was back on earth.

*****

“Hi, Mrs. Z.”

“Egg. I thought you were
in the mountains with your grandmother. Did you guys get back early?”

“Ummm . . . kind of. But
we’re going back right away.”

“Oh,” said Mrs. Zambroski
a little confused. “That’s a cute outfit (referring to the flying suit). What’s
it for?”

“That’s a long story. I
promise I’ll tell you in an hour if you still want to know”. Of course in an
hour, Mrs. Z wouldn’t remember even seeing Flying Girl.  “Mrs. Z, I need to
borrow Zeke for a few minutes. Is that okay?”

Zelda raised her eyebrows
at the young girl. “Really? For what, if I may ask?”

“Ummm . . . it’s a little
project I have to do for Grammy. But I need his help.”

“Well, I don’t see why
not. He’s out back by the pool moping around. Lucky for you, his brother went
with their dad but Zeke decided not to go.”

“Thanks.” Egg started to
leave when she saw a milk carton on the counter. “Ummm . . . could I have a
glass of milk?”

“Sure,” and Mrs. Z poured
her a large glass.

Egg thanked her then
proceeded to drink it all down in one giant gulp. Wiping away her white
mustache, she burped, giggled, excused herself then ran out the back door. It
seemed like forever since she had a glass of milk . . . and it tasted
delicious.

Mrs. Z smiled at the girl
as she ran out of the kitchen. “I wish she had a friend just like herself for
Zack,” she said to no one in particular.

Egg found Zeke just where
he was supposed to be.

“Hi,” she yelled as she
approached.

“Hey,” he replied with a
big smile. If he noticed the flying suit, he didn’t even think to question why
she was wearing it.

Egg blushed at his
enthusiasm. “Ummm . . . I need a favor.”

“Sure. What?”

“I need you to come with
me.”

“Where?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“I just can’t. You have to
trust me.”

“It’s not some girl thing
is it? You know like ice skating.”

“No. In fact, I need you
to be incredibly brave . . . and do everything I tell you to do.”

“Why?”

“Zeke, I don’t have time
for this. Just say yes . . . please.”

He kind of liked the fact
that she needed him. “Alright. I’ll tell my mom we’re leaving.”

“I already did. Just take
my hand.”

His first reaction was to
pull away . . . as if her arm was a poisonous two-headed snake.

“Oh, you big goof. Just
take it will you.”

He smiled at her then took
it.

“You can kiss that smile
goodbye,” and she touched her ring and in an instant they were on Aerianna
standing in front of the Crystal Mountain.

“YIKESSSSSSSS,” the boy
screamed.

“Something wrong?” Egg
asked innocently.

“What the heck happened?
Where are we? What is that thing? What’s going on? How did you do that?”

“Zeke, listen to me.
You’re not going to believe a word I say, but it’s the truth. We’re on a planet
called Aerianna. Inside this mountain is a coffin with the body of Princess
Dazzle. You and I are going to go in there, get the coffin and bring it out.
There will probably be a monster or two guarding it, but we can handle them.
Once we’re back outside, a dragon is going to fly us out of here.”

Zeke looked at the girl as
if she was from another planet . . . which, of course, was exactly where they
were. “You’re totally loony tunes.”

“Then how do you explain
this?” she replied pointing at the Mountain.

Zeke looked up then back
at Egg. “Did you hypnotize me?”

“No, dopey.”

“Come on, you’re beginning
to freak me out.”

“Zeke . . .,” but before
she could finish, her communicator crystal came to life.

“Egg.”

“Hi, Bl’azzz. Did you find
him?”

“He’s right here. He wants
to talk to you.”

“Put him on.”

“Egg of Earth, the
Princess is in trouble?”

“No, Storm. Well, not
exactly. She used almost all the power in the flying suit to save me. The last
thing she told me was to get you to recharge the suit. Can you do that?”

“For the Princess, I would
do anything. Where are you?”

“I’m standing right next
to the Crystal Mountain.”

“You have found it?”

“With the help of my
sisters.”

“How will I find you? The
whereabouts of the Mountain is unknown to us.”

“Ummm . . . let me think a
second.”

“Who are you talking to?”
asked Zeke.

“The first voice was
Bl’azzz; she’s a F’yre Dragon and one of my sisters. The second voice was
Storm; he’s a dragon too. And he’s the Princess’ best friend.”

Zeke still couldn’t
believe any of this . . . but something told him just to trust his friend. “Why
can’t he find us?”

“No one knows where this
place is. I found it by luck.” It was an easier answer than to tell him about
the seven lands.

“Does the dragon,” he
rolled his eyes at the word, “have electronic gadgets and stuff?”

“Why?”

“He could follow the
signal from that walkie-talkie thing you have. Anybody on earth could do that.”

“Really? Let me ask. Storm
. . . could you follow the signal from my communications crystal to find us?”

“That is possible. But you
must leave it on at all times.”

“Wonderful. Okay, I’m
going to stick it on a branch that marks the entrance to the Mountain. Zeke and
I are going to go in and get the coffin. We’ll see you when you get here.”

“Egg.”

“Yes, Bl’azzz?’

“Who’s with you?”

“Ummm . . . a friend from
earth.”

“I thought I heard you
call him Z’kkk.”

“No, it’s Zeke. It’s
almost the same thing.”

“Is he handsome?”

“OH,” Egg huffed in embarrassment
while Zeke laughed. “NO . . . he most certainly is not.”

“Yeah, right. Anyway, good
luck.”

Chapter 2 – Fl’eyes and
Other Pests

“I like her,” said Zeke
who was beginning to get into the spirit of things.

“She’s terrific . . . but
she has a bad case of gas.”

“What? Dude, that’s
disgusting.”

“It’s not what you think.
She burps and because she’s a F’yre Dragon, it bursts into flames. Funny, but
dangerous.”

“Egg . . .” Zeke had been
smiling but he now turned serious.

“Yeah.”

“What the heck is going
on? What is this place?”

“Zeke, I was being honest
when I told you about the coffin and the other stuff. It’s a really complicated
story. A long time ago a bad guy named Mobius made himself king. And he’s got
something called a Crystal Egg, which gives him humongous power. Dazzle . . .
she was the real king’s daughter . . . couldn’t beat this guy by herself. So
she put her spirit into the suit I’m wearing and went to Earth. Long story
short . . . I’m kind like her great, great, great granddaughter. So I’m here to
help her . . . and everybody on this planet.”

“Far out. So you’re like
super girl or something.”

“No . . . Flying Girl.”

“Awesome. So what is it
exactly that we have to do?”

She liked the way he said
‘we’. “Dazzle’s body is frozen inside the coffin. We have to take it to the
Myst Tree and he’ll put her spirit back in her body. Then we go fight Mobius.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You
lost me. What mystery?”

“No, it’s Myst Tree . . .
two words. He’s a very powerful tree. He said that . . .”

“Oh, give me a break,” interrupted
the boy.

“What now?”

“This tree talks?”

“Yeah.”

“So we have talking trees
and dragons and invisible princesses and a magic egg. What else?”

“Sea serpents.”

“Well, duh . . . I should
have guessed.”

“Listen . . . if we go in
there,” she pointed to the mountain, “and we find one or two giant yellow
snowmen who want to squish us . . . would you believe me then?”

Zeke laughed, “and an evil
frosty the snowman. I love it.” When Egg just stared at him, obviously not
amused, he turned serious. “Okay, it’s a deal. If there are giant, yellow
snowmen in there, I’ll believe everything you said.”

“Great.”

“By the way . . . how do
you know what’s in there?”

“It was in my dreams.
That’s also how I knew that I had to get you to help me.”

“Because of a dream?”

“Yeah.”

“You dream about me?” He
gave her a hopeful look.

Egg turned scarlet . . .
from her neck to the tip of her ears. She finally forced herself to mumble,
“It’s not what you think.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Really? You believe me?”

“Why shouldn’t I.”

“Thanks. Anyway,” she held
out her hand. “Let’s just do this.”

He grabbed it and they
started to crouch down and duck-walk into the little tunnel. “So . . . how do
we stop these monster snowmen?”

“With snowballs, silly.”

“Stupid me . . . what was
I thinking?”

“You’re not stupid . . .
you’re just a boy.”

*****

The little entrance didn’t
get any bigger. So they were forced to stoop down to walk or drop to all fours
to crawl the whole distance . . . and it was quite a distance. To make matters
worse, it was uphill the whole way.

But they did have a bit of
luck. It should have been very dark in that crawlway . . . but it wasn’t. The
walls glowed an eerie green — bright enough to see — and for that, they were
thankful.

“You okay?” Egg asked her
companion.

“Me, yeah. Why? You afraid?”

“Not until we meet the
snowmen.”

“Egg . . .”

“What?”

“You’re pretty amazing.”

“For a girl, you mean?”

“No, that’s not what I
meant.” he said somewhat insulted.

“Sorry.”

“Well . . . maybe I did,”
he confessed with a shrug.

“You’re pretty amazing too
. . . for a boy.”

“I haven’t done anything
yet.”

“You will.” Then for some
reason she couldn’t explain, she added, “I should tell you that when you get
back to Earth, you’ll forget everything that happened here.”

“Not likely; especially if
I get to see your dragon friends.”

“Sorry . . . that’s the
way it works. One hour after I leave you, you’ll forget everything.”

“Well that sucks.”

“Pretty much. Sorry.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“If I do good . . . would
you go to the Halloween dance with me?”

Egg blushed, but it was
lost in the green glow. “Maybe.”

“Awesome. Then maybe you
can get a friend to go with Zack.”

Before she
could answer, the crawlway ended and they were about to enter a huge cavern
filled with giant glowing crystals . . .

“Oh my gosh.”

“Wow. Kind of mind
numbing.”

They stood there and just
stared at the amazing sight.

“So where are the
snowmen?”

“They’re around
somewhere.”

“And where’s the coffin.”

Egg jumped up
on a crystal boulder and looked around. “There” she said pointing. “Oh my gosh
. . .” but she stopped when she started to mist up.

Forgetting that there was
probably something unpleasant guarding the body, they hurried over and knelt in
front of the coffin.

“Is that really her?’

“Yes.”

“She’s beautiful.”

“Yes, she is.”

“How did she die?”

“She didn’t. The Myst Tree
took her spirit and put it in this suit. And pretty soon he’s going to put it
back in there,” she said pointing at the perfectly preserved body.

“So why did the bad king
save it? Why didn’t he bury it or something?”

“He wanted to show it to
the people to prove he was better than she was.”

“Oh. Kind of gruesome . .
. but it makes sense if you’re insane.”

“Well, he’s going to be
really sorry he did it . . . when Dazzle comes back and kicks his sorry butt.”

“So what do you get to do
. . . you know, after she comes back?”

“Ummm . . . I don’t know.
Whatever she wants me to do.”

“You really think that a
grown-up will want the help of a nine-year-old girl?”

Instead of getting mad at
the question, she gave it some serious thought. “I hope she does.”

“Come on,” Zeke said
changing the subject. “Let’s push this thing out of here before anything comes
to stop us.”

But he was a
bit too late . . .

They were gigantic . . .
and mostly yellow . . . and ugly . . . and mean looking.

But they weren’t snowmen.

They weren’t made from
frozen water or ice.

They were made from
crystals.

“Well, at least I got the
color right”.

They seemed to appear out
of nowhere. In truth, they had been standing there the whole time but had
blended in with the cavern walls.

“I hate to sound like I’m
complaining . . .”

“What?” said Egg
impatiently.

“I don’t see any
snowballs.”

“Oh, fiddlesticks,” Egg
exclaimed as she quickly looked about.

“So, now what?”

“Can you push this thing
by yourself?”

“Why? What are you going
to do?”

“Zeke . . . can you push
it?” she demanded.

“Push it where?”

“Back the way we came. The
passageway is too small for those creatures, but big enough for the coffin. If
we can make it there, we’ll be safe.”

“Hey, good idea. Just help
me get it started.”

So they both started to
push and the coffin began to move . . .

But so did the monsters.
What was particularly scary about them, besides their size and color and
ugliness and what they were made of, was the fact that they didn’t make a sound.
They were like three-dimensional shadows.

“Okay, just keep going.
I’ll be right behind you.”

“Be careful.”

“Absolutely. Do you think
I want to miss the dance?”

Zeke smiled from ear to
ear. “Sweet.”

“Now go. Hurry.” Then a
thought occurred to her, “. . . and don’t break the glass.”

“Give me a little credit,
will you . . . oops.” The coffin hit a small boulder and made the sound like a
glass bell that had been rung, but thankfully, it didn’t break.

“Boys,” she said to
herself in disgust. “What a klutz.”

She watched Zeke maneuver
the coffin around some other crystal boulders, for the moment forgetting about
the two big yellow fiends. But that changed when she heard the sound of a
crystal boulder exploding against the cavern wall. One of the two brutes had thrown
it at her but his aim was off. He and his ugly friend were about to try it
again.

“HEY, YOU OKAY?” screamed
Zeke.

“Just
get out of here . . . and watch where you’re going.” But she liked the fact
that he was concerned about her safety.

Two more crystal boulders
sailed over her head and exploded on impact. Their aim was beginning to
improve.

Now it was Egg’s turn.

Ignoring Dazzle’s advice,
she used her ring to make herself as large as the monsters, and then she
switched it to the other hand to make herself incredibly strong. She picked up
a huge boulder and threw it with all her might. It hit the closest monster
square in the stomach . . . who exploded into a million little crystal icicles.

She bent to pick up
another boulder, but the suit’s power failed. She shrank back to her normal
size and strength.

“Sorry, Dazzle,” she said
into thin air. “I hope that didn’t hurt you.”

Dazzle of course couldn’t
answer. But she did send a little jolt into Egg’s brain . . . just to let her
sister know she was still there.

In that moment, another
boulder whizzed over Egg’s head and skidded away. It was way too close for
comfort.

Egg ran for cover behind a
large outcropping, took off her backpack and pulled out a rope. She tied one
end to a pillar of crystal then without stopping to think, ran right at the
remaining monster and between its legs. She circled around the back foot twice
before the big dumb thing could figure out what was going on. Then she ran back
and tied the other end of the rope to the same crystal.

She ran forward, jumped up
and down to get the creatures attention (like she really needed to do that) and
waited.

The big, ugly thing took
one step forward . . . and tripped on the rope.

He crashed straight down .
. . like a giant oak tree that had just been cut by a lumberjack.

It hit with such force
that the thing’s head popped off and rolled away.

“Sorry,” Egg yelled at it.
It wasn’t the monster’s fault that it was a monster. It was Mobius’. At least
it wasn’t really alive . . . it was just a big rock after all.

Egg ran through the
cavern, found the little passage way and scampered inside. Downhill was much
faster than uphill so she made it through in record time.

And when she came out, she
saw Zeke tying a rope around the coffin, which was now resting on the back of
Storm.

“It is good to see you,
Egg of Earth. And you, Princess, are you well?”

“Hi, Storm,” and Egg did
something on impulse. She ran up to the ancient dragon and gave him a big hug.
“Thank you for helping.”

“You are most welcome. But
I should thank you . . . for letting an old dragon help his dearest friend one
more time. How is the Princess?”

“She’s okay. But the
suit’s totally out of power. I don’t think she can hear you.”

“Oh,” said the dragon
sadly. “Then we shall recharge your suit as quickly as we can.”

“Storm . . . why do we
have to do that? Why can’t we just fly to the Myst Tree and have him put Dazzle
back in her body?”

The old dragon gave that
some thought. “Perhaps you are right. Let us take the Princess directly to the
Tree. If for some reason he requires the suit to be re-charged, he will tell
us.”

So Zeke climbed up on the
dragon’s back, gave his hand to Egg, and pulled her up. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“This is too awesome.
Let’s do it, Storm.”

“You are a very animated
young man,” said the dragon with real affection.

And they took
to the air, circled once around the Crystal Mountain . . . just like in the
dream . . . and flew to Sighing Whorl.

*****

They found the fog
shrouded valley that was home to the Myst Tree . . . but something was wrong.
Very wrong. They circled high above, surveying the scene.

“Oh my gosh.”

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s so dark
and . . . and . . . you can’t see the Tree.”

“I can see trees.”

“No, dummy. Those are just
ordinary trees. I’m talking about the Myst Tree. It’s usually right there on
that hill . . . glowing. But now it’s gone.”

“If Mobius has destroyed
the Myst Tree . . . then all is lost.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The Tree is the only
thing that can bring Dazzle back.”

“And the Tree is a
representative of the Old Ones. If Mobius can destroy it . . . he cannot be
defeated.”

“Who are the old ones?”

“They are the alien race
that created this planet.”

“Far out.”

“I will descend so we may
get a closer look.”

And as the
dragon swooped lower, they all saw what the problem was . . .

“What the heck are they?”

Whatever they were . . .
there were thousands and thousands of them flying around like a swarm of angry
bees.

“I have heard of these.
They are mechanical sentries created by Mobius. He calls them Fl’eyes . . .
short for Flying Eyes. Notice they have similar eyes as a Mo’beye.”

“Are they dangerous?”
asked Zeke.

“Deadly.”

“So what do we do now?”
asked the boy. At first Egg liked when he said ‘we’. Now it was getting on her
nerves. This was her Quest after all. So before Storm could answer, she did.

“Storm, how do you
recharge the suit?”

“It is a complicated and
lengthy process.”

“How long?”

“A week, perhaps as long
as two or three.”

“You mean I have to give
you the suit for that long?”

“Of course.”

Egg didn’t like that idea
one bit. Dazzle said she would be safe for as long as the suit was safe. To
give it up . . . even to Storm . . . seemed wrong.

“You may trust me, Egg. I
would die before I let anything befall the Princess.”

She knew that Dazzle
trusted the dragon with her life. Heck, they were best friends and none of the
Flying Girl stuff would have happened without his help.

“Okay. But I can’t stay
with you till it’s done. Can you take me to the Sisterhood? To Se’rene.”

“As you wish. And what of
you, my young friend?”

“I guess I’m going with
Egg.”

“Only for a little while.
Then I have to get you back home before your mom thinks you’ve been kidnapped.”

“Rats. I forgot about
that.”

So Storm flew them to the
Sisterhood and landed.

*****

Egg ran inside while Zeke
unfastened the coffin. She didn’t see Bl’azzz or Soo’, so she ran up the stairs
to the Princess’ room, rummaged in her clothes until she found something that
would fit her and changed outfits.

She ran back outside and
handed the flying suit to Storm.

“Come to me in one week. I
will strive to have the suit ready by then.”

“Thank you for
everything,” and Egg gave him another big hug.

“Thanks, man. You’re a
cool dude.”

“Ah, my young friend. It
has been most enjoyable meeting you. Perhaps our paths will cross again.”

“Dude, that would be like
totally awesome.”

“Storm, take care of
yourself,” added Egg. She wasn’t sure why she had said it, but when she looked
at the old dragon, she had gotten goose bumps.

“I shall do my best.” But
something in his voice said differently.

*****

They carried the casket
into the castle and placed it gently on a table. Then Egg ran into the main
room and yelled “Bl’azzz.”

The dragon came hobbling
in from a back room. “EGGGGGGGG” she squawked.

Egg ran to her friend and
threw her arms around her. “Oh my gosh, it’s so great to see you.”

“Yeah . . . likewise. What
are you doing here? What happened at the Crystal Mountain?”

“I’ll tell you in a
second. Where’s Soo’?”

“Asleep. You want me to
wake her?”

“No. I’ll see her later.”

“Hrmmmmmp.” Zeke cleared
his throat.

“Oh, sorry. Bl’azzz this
is Zeke. Zeke this is Bl’azzz.”

“Hey, nice to meet you.”
Egg translated.

“Likewise.” The dragon
turned to Egg and said, “So, is he cute? You humans all look alike to us
dragons.”

“He’s okay.” Egg had more
important things on her mind and didn’t want to talk about Zeke’s good looks
(especially with him listening). “I gotta show you something.”

She walked back to the
table and Bl’azzz limped after her.

“We did it.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“Is that like the secret
phrase you guys have?”

The two girls just ignored
him.

“Egg . . . you’re amazing.
You have to tell me everything that happened since I left.”

“I will. But first I have
to take Zeke home.”

“How long will that take?”

“Not long . . . maybe a
couple of minutes. Zeke, take my hand.”

The boy reached out and
Egg touched the stone in her ring . . .

. . . and they were back
In Zeke’s backyard.

“Thank you. You were
great.”

“That was totally
awesome.” Then he remembered the communications crystal in his pocket. “I
almost forgot . . . you’re going to need this.”

She took it then reached
up on tippy-toes and kissed him on the cheek.

“Sweet.”

“I gotta go.” She was
about to press the ring then stopped. “Sorry that you’re going to forget all of
this.”

“Me, too. I’ve got one hour
right?”

“One hour. She blew him a
kiss and disappeared.

Zeke stared at the place
where Egg had been standing, then turned and ran into the house, through the
kitchen and up the stairs to his room.

He turned on his computer
and started typing as fast as he could.

Mrs. Z heard the commotion
and followed the sound to her son’s room.

“I thought you were going
to do something with Egg?”

“I did.”

“How . . . she only left
the kitchen a few minutes ago.”

Zeke looked up at his
mother to make sure she wasn’t kidding. “Time warp,” he said.

“Okay, if you say so. What
are you typing?”

“A story.”

“Really? About what?”

“About Flying Girl.”

“Who?”

“A girl that can fly and
has dragons and sea serpents for friends and fights evil kings with humongous
power.”

“Oh . . . that flying
girl.” She smiled at the back of her son, turned and walked out the room.

Chapter 3 – Tree-Mendous
Dreams

Egg was back at the
Sisterhood sitting on the edge of the pool watching Soo’. The serpent was
swimming back and forth as if she had lost something and was determined to find
it.

Every once in a while, she
would surface and Egg would try to talk to her. “Hi, Soo’, it’s me . . . Egg.”

“It’s so sad. Why is
everything so sad?” But she never waited for an answer . . . she would just
dive under the water and continue to swim.

“I know the answer to her
question,” said Bl’azzz.

“Yeah, me too . . . it’s
seeing her like this.”

Bl’azzz just nodded her
agreement.

“Let me tell you what
happened to the others.”

“Okay. Why don’t we go and
sit by the fire?”

“Let’s not. Maybe Soo’
knows we’re here and it helps her in some way.” It was wishful thinking but it
made Egg feel a little better.

“Sure,” said the F’yre
Dragon. “You’re probably right.”

So Egg gathered her
thoughts and began to tell her tale . . .

“Anyway, after you and
Soo’ left, we finally made it out of the Swamp. There was a boat and we got in
and began to sail into the AyBee Sea. Then the blue water turned red and rocks
began to shoot up out of the water and a big ugly monster thing pushed our boat
over to where AyBee was. He made us come into his cave to play some games, and
then he wanted my flying suit because Mobius’ head popped out of nowhere and
told him to take it. Then Dazzle said AyBee was really her father, but he said
he wasn’t. Then he went to grab me but Aeri’elle jumped on him and began to
scratch his eyes. So he yelled and squeezed her instead. We tried to help her
but he said not to come any closer and that he really loved Dazzle because he
really was her father and so we left. We saw Aeri’elle fly away. We thought she
was okay but she flew home. In a way that was lucky for her because there was a
hole in the ocean and we all fell into it.”

“Okay, okay, okay,”
interrupted Bl’azzz before her friend could continue. “I know you’re upset, but
you gotta do a better job of telling the story. Like . . . take a breath every
couple of minutes.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“It’s okay, really. But
let me ask a couple of questions.”

“Sure.”

“AyBee is Dazzle’s father.
He’s really King M’earth?”

“Yes. And you know what .
. . J’azzz-min is her mother.”

“NO WAY. That awful thing
was Queen Kat’Alynnia?”

“Yeah.”

“Boy, Mobius has got some
kind of weird sense of humor.”

“More like a horrible mean
streak.”

“Hope the Princess didn’t
take offense about all the nasty things I said to her mom.”

“Don’t be silly. In fact .
. .,” Egg remembered the hat and ran to her backpack and pulled it out. “This
is for you.”

“What’cha got there?”

“Don’t you recognize it?”

Bl’azzz’s eyes lit up.
“Not the hat?”

“Yup . . . the hat. Dazzle
made her mom give it up . . . just for you.”

She walked
over and put it on Bl’azzz’s head. The dragon found a mirror and proceeded to
admire her new look.

“I gotta say, it looks a
lot better on me that on that stupid cat.” Then she remembered who she was
talking about and quickly added, “Oops, sorry.”

“Dazzle can’t hear you.”

“Hey . . . of course she
can’t hear me. I guess Storm has your flying suit?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s that outfit you’re
wearing? It doesn’t fit very well.”

“I found it in Dazzle’s
room.” She hadn’t really noticed what she had put on until now. “I had to put
on my Flying Girl belt 'cause it’s a little too big.”

“Oh my gosh.”

“What?”

“I think
that’s the outfit Dazzle wore when Z’kkk proposed to her . . . on her sixteenth
birthday. Well, except she had a sword.”

“How do you know that?”

“When you were sleeping
off the effects of the sand serpent, the Princess told us the story. She tried
to show us a picture of the outfit but it was really blurry. I’m sure it looked
wonderful on the Princess. On you, it looks like baggy pajamas.”

“Gee thanks,” she answered
pretending to be offended . . . until she giggled.

“When do you get the suit
back . . . and the Princess?”

“A week, maybe two. Will
you be able to fly me there?”

Bl’azzz hesitated only a
split-second before she said, “Absolutely. Now, calm down and tell me about the
rest . . . especially about K’ssss.”

And so over the next hour,
Egg told her friend the rest of the tale, finishing with the trip to the Myst
Tree . . .

“. . . but the valley was
covered with a swarm of Fl’eyes. At least that’s what Storm called them. He
said they were deadly. Then he flew me here and took the suit to be recharged.
And that’s all of it.”

“Wow. Somebody should
write a book about this.”

“Who would believe it?”

“Yeah, good point. So what
do we do now? Just wait for the suit?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll
have a dream . . .”

“Can you really understand
them? Usually it takes an expert to tell what they really mean.”

“Sometimes I can. The
stuff with the Crystal Mountain and Zeke and the snowmen seemed pretty obvious.
But usually I need Dazzle to explain them to me.”

“Wish I could help. But
I’m not that smart.”

“It’s not about being
smart; it’s just a matter of learning how.”

Bl’azzz smiled at her
considerate sister. “I’m really glad to see you. I just wish we could do
something for Soo’ . . . and the others.”

“I know. If only what was
could be again.”

“What did you say?”

“If only what was could be
again.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, the Tree told me .
. .,” then she stopped, lost in thought. “OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH” she screamed.

“What’s wrong?” asked
Bl’azzz in alarm.

“I had a dream about the
Myst Tree. He said those words . . . or something like it. I completely
forgot.”

“But what does it mean?”

“I’m not one hundred
percent certain, but I think he was telling me that if we succeed at the Quest,
everything will go back to the way it was before.”

“Before what?”

“I think before Mobius
messed everything up.”

“What does that have to do
with our Sisters?”

“I think he was telling me
that they . . . and you . . . would be back like you were before the bad stuff
happened.”

“How?”

“I don’t know?”

They both stopped talking
to consider the idea.

“You have to go to sleep .
. . right now.”

“What?”

“Egg, go to sleep and
dream. We have to know what the Tree was talking about.”

“You know I don’t always
dream.”

“Well . . . just do it.
Lie in bed and keep repeating Myst Tree, Myst Tree, Myst Tree, Myst Tree, Myst
Tree, M . . .”

“Okay, already. I get the
idea.”

“Then stop talking to me,
brush your teeth and go to bed.”

“Aw, Mom, do I have to?”
Egg teased.

“If you don’t, I’ll take
away your pet dragon,” said Bl’azzz in the pretend voice of a very serious
mother.

“Not my dragon,” Egg
moaned. Then she hugged her sister, yelled goodnight to Soo’ and raced up stairs.
She had a date with a Tree . . . she hoped.

*****

“Mr. Tree, hey Mr. Tree, I
have to talk to you.”

“Egg of Earth, what do you
wish of me?”

“I came to visit you so
you could put Dazzle’s spirit back in her body, but there were those nasty
Fl’eyes everywhere.”

“Surely a few flying pests
could not keep you from achieving whatever it is you set your mind to.”

“But Storm said they were
deadly.”

“You have faced worse
dangers in the seven lands.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right.
But the suit needed to be recharged.”

“Not at all. At least, not
for me to restore the Princess.”

“So if I can figure out a
way to get past the Fl’eyes, you’ll bring Dazzle back?”

“As I promised.”

“Oh, I can’t wait.”

“Was there something
else?”

“Something else? Oh my
gosh, I almost forgot. What did you mean when you said ‘whatever was will be
again’?”

“You already know the
answer.”

“So I was right. You’ll
put everything back the way it was before Mobius messed things up.”

“Yes.”

“Mr. Tree . . . I need my
sisters back now. Would you do that for me?”

“You have yet to complete
your Quest.”

“I know. But we did make
it through the seven lands. And we did get Dazzle’s body. And we almost brought
it to you. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Yes.”

“It does?”

“It counts for a great
deal.”

“Really?” Egg was a little
surprised.

“You and your sisters did
the impossible . . . as I knew you would.”

“They were great, weren’t
they?”

“As were you.”

“I couldn’t have done it
without them.”

“You and your six
sisters have demonstrated many of the great qualities of a noble people. That
counts for much.”

“Five sisters” Egg
corrected. “Me and five sisters.”

“Consider that you were seven
young ladies, from three races and two planets, facing dangers beyond your
experience. And yet, you prevailed.”

“Just six young ladies.
Or are you counting Dazzle?”

“The seven of you
showed courage, loyalty, selflessness, compassion, resourcefulness,
intelligence, and humility. Even now, you . . . Egg of Earth . . . are willing
to give up your Flying Girl persona for the sake of the Princess. That is no
small sacrifice to make . . . for anyone. I commend you.”

“Thank you but why do you
keep saying seven of us.” She didn’t know why that bothered her so much.
“Are you counting Dazzle?”

“No. The Princess is not a
Hameggattic Sister. Perhaps when she has been reunited with her body, she may
accept your invitation to join.”

“Then there are only six
of us.”

The Tree did not respond
to that statement. Instead, it said, “Do you know where you are?”

“Of course, silly. I’m
lying in bed at the Sisterhood.”

“On what planet?”

“Aerianna.”

“If you were back on
earth, standing at your bedroom window, to which constellation would you look
at to find Aerianna?”

“Ummm . . . I think Dazzle
said it was in the constellation . . . ummm . . . Pretty Knees.”

If the Tree could laugh,
it would have at that answer. “I believe you mean Pleiades.”

“Oh, yeah. Right. That’s
it.”

“What do earthlings call
the stars in the Pleiades?”

“I’m not very good at
science. Sorry.”

“They call them the Seven
Sisters.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yes, is it not?”

Egg didn’t even bother to
answer. She just shrugged her shoulders in her dream.

“Do you think it was a
coincidence that the Hameggattic Sisterhood has seven sisters also?”

“Six. There’s me,
and Bl’azzz and Soo’ and Aeri’elle and Sassi and K’ssss. That’s six.”
She didn’t want to get upset with the Tree . . . but he was being awfully
stupid.

“And because the seven
of you have done so well, I will grant you this. You may restore your sisters
to what they were before you entered the seven lands.”

“REALLY” she screamed in
her mind . . . ignoring that number seven thing.

“Truly.”

“How do I do that? Do I
like snap my fingers or say some magic words?”

“You must undo what was
done by dreaming an alternate path for each of your sisters. Their image must
be clear and unmistakable.”

“What the heck does that
mean?”

“But remember, that which
was last must be undone first.”

“I don’t understand?” But
she was talking to herself; her dream was gone.

Egg woke up and looked
around.

“Well, fiddlesticks” she
groaned as she recalled her conversation with the Myst Tree. She didn’t know
what the stupid thing meant.

One thing was for sure . .
. she had better write it down so she would remember its exact words. She
reached for her diary on the nightstand and went to rip out a blank page. But
when she did, a piece of paper fell out.

There was something
written on one side, so she turned it over and hurriedly wrote down the Tree’s
instructions. When she was finished, she put the paper on top of her diary then
went back to sleep. Maybe she could talk to the Tree again and find out what it
really meant.

But all she did was sleep.

*****

The next morning she woke
up and remembered her dream. She looked frantically for the piece of paper with
the Tree’s exact words. After looking under the covers and on the floor, she
realized she had put it back on the nightstand on top of her diary. She grabbed
it and ran down the stairs yelling as loud as she could . . . .

“BL’AZZZ, BL’AZZZ.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“He said I can have all of
you guys back . . . just the way you were. No more injured leg for you, and
Soo’s going to be happy again and Aeri’elle won’t be scared . . . and . . . and
. . . Sassi won’t be lost in the Maze and K’ssss will be . . . and K’ssss will
be . . . ” she stopped because she was beginning to cry.

“A slithering sack of
silly,” Bl’azzz finished for her.

“Yeah,” and she hugged her
sister and didn’t let go.

They stayed that way for a
full minute. “If you’re okay, tell me what he said.”

“He said we were terrific
and that even though we haven’t finished the Quest, he would let us be together
again.”

“Why?”

“He said we earned it.”

“Nice tree.”

“He is, isn’t he?”

“So what do you have to do
. . . you know . . . to make everything okay again?”

“Hang on, I wrote it down
so I wouldn’t forget any of it. Let me read it to you . . . ‘You must undo what
was done by dreaming an alternate path for each of your sisters. Their image
must be clear and unmistakable. But remember, that which was last must be
undone first’.”

“What the heck does that
mean?”

“No clue. I was hoping you
would know.”

“Not a chance.”

“You know . . . he said
something strange.”

“Stranger than what you
just read?”

“Yeah. He said there were
seven of us.”

“Why is that strange?
There were.”

“There were?”

“Of course. Six sisters
and the Princess.”

“No. He said there were
seven sisters. He said Dazzle didn’t count.”

“Seven? Who was the
seventh?”

“I don’t know.”

“You think maybe the
Tree’s a little crazy?”

“How can you tell with a
talking tree?”

“Good point.”

“I think we need help.”

“From who?”

“Maybe I should talk to my
Grammy.”

“How can you get back
without your flying suit?”

“My ring,” and she held it
up. “Dazzle put in a special crystal that lets me go home.”

“Why would she do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would she give you
that ring when you already have the flying suit?”

“Ummm . . . I don’t
remember why she did it.”

“Pretty weird, if you ask
me.”

“Well, lucky for us she
did. How else would I have gotten Zeke?”

“I guess. Listen, I’m
going to make breakfast for Soo’ and I. Do you want something?”

“Sure . . . some toast
would be nice.”

So Bl’azzz hobbled off to
the kitchen while Egg reread her notes. When she finished, she happened to turn
the paper over to see what was written on the other side. It was a letter . . .

Dear Egg,

Here is the picture I
promised to send you. I think it turned out really well.

I’m sorry that we didn’t
become good friends at camp. I’m sure it was my fault. But I thought you were
the most interesting girl there. You certainly were very good at sports and I
was very lucky that you didn’t win.

If you ever want to talk
or something, here is my email address:

SylviaHampton@giggle.com

Hope you have a good year
at school. Maybe I’ll see you at camp next summer.

Your friend,
Sylvia.

Egg read it again. How
strange . . . she didn’t remember anyone from camp named Sylvia. Oh well, it
didn’t matter. She had more important things to worry about.

Besides, she had to go
visit Grammy.

Chapter 4 – Grammy the
Great

“Hi, Grammy.”

“Oh my . . . oh my.” The
sudden appearance of Egg startled the elder Eloise who had been sitting quietly
reading . . . but she quickly recovered.  “My love, come over here right this
instant and give me a big hug and a kiss. I’ve been desperately worried about
you.”

“Sorry I scared you.” The
girl had popped out of nowhere into the living room of the mountain cabin where
her grandmother was staying . . . presumably with her granddaughter. She raced
over and threw her arms around her Grammy who she hadn’t seen in weeks. For the
older woman, Egg had been gone for about five days. That was because time ran
differently on Aerianna.

“I’ve missed you so much.”
She hadn’t realized how much until this moment.

“Is it over? Did you
finish your Quest?”

“No. But we made it
through the seven lands and found Dazzle’s body.”

“That’s wonderful,” beamed
the older Eloise. “But what are the seven lands?”

“Mobius created these
places with all sorts of monsters and things. We had to make it through to get
to the Crystal Mountain.”

“I’m sure it was terribly
challenging. I’m glad you all made it okay.” She hesitated then added,
“Everybody did, didn’t they?”

“No, Grammy, it was
horrible. Not everybody made it. In fact I’m the only one that got through without
getting hurt.”

“Oh dear. I knew it could
be dangerous. Did anyone . . . umm . . . I mean to say, are they all . . . ummm
. . .”

“Alive? Kind of.”

“What does that mean? Tell
me what happened.”

“The first land was called
K’actus Kiln and they had sand serpents. If they scratch you with their scales,
you kind of go crazy for a while. That’s what happened to me when I went to
save K’ssss. But I’m okay now.”

“I see,” said her
Grandmother very primly. “Perhaps we should have a doctor check you out . . .
just to be sure.”

“Oh, Grammy . . . I’m
okay, really. It’s the other guys that aren’t.

“We’ll discuss it later.
Why don’t you tell me about the other girls?”

“In the Colorless Wood,
Bl’azzz was bitten by a P’xxxie when she went to get her Booyah to try and save
the rest of us. Once they bite you, you lose all hope and happiness.”

“That’s terrible.”

“It gets worse. In Switch
Swamp, Bl’azzz was stuck in a giant spider’s web and was about to be eaten.
Soo’ jumped into the water and drank some. She switched with Bl’azzz who became
her normal self and burped fire at the spider.”

“So now Soo’ is without
hope and joy?”

“Yeah. Bl’azzz was bitten
on the leg and couldn’t walk. So I sent her home and she carried Soo’ with her.
They’re at the Sisterhood right now.”

“Are they any better?”

“No. Anyway, we then met
AyBee, a monster with the head of an octopus. He was about to squeeze the
courage out of me . . . but Aeri’elle saved me. He squeezed her instead. After
that, she flew home . . . we think.”

“My, oh my.”

“Then it gets worse. Our
boat fell into a hole in the ocean and we ended up in the Crystal Forest and
K’ssss cut herself really badly trying to save the rest of us. Then she was
bitten by a D’ing Bat. When that happens . . . you turn into one of them.”

“Oh, that’s horrible.” The
older Eloise was having a hard time picturing most of what her granddaughter
was telling her. But she could feel Egg’s pain.

“Then in the Maze of
Forever, Sassi tried to knock the monster down the wrong chute . . . but she
fell down it instead. Now she’s lost in there . . . forever.”

“She was such a nice
girl.”

“She IS a nice girl.”

“Of course, dear. That’s
what I meant to say. Anyway, that’s six lands; what was the last one?”

“The Never ’Glade. If you
get bit by the Tack-Toed Tick . . . you disappear and everyone forgets you ever
existed.”

“Obviously that didn’t
happen since you were the only one left . . . and here you are.”

“Oh yeah. I hadn’t thought
of that.”

“So are you really okay?”

“No, Grammy. How could I
be okay if I lost two of my five sisters and the other three are hurting so
badly? They were my responsibility.”

The older Eloise was
struck by how much her granddaughter had matured. This wasn’t the same
nine-year-old girl who had left a few days earlier. She looked at the young
girl and smiled with tremendous pride.

“I’m sure you did your
best.”

“Grammy . . . that’s okay
if I was playing dodge ball. But this isn’t a silly game. My five sisters were
depending on me to get them through this . . . and I didn’t.”

“Egg, they understood the
dangers. For all of you, the most important thing was to get Dazzle’s body back
. . . and you did. I wasn’t there, but I know that you could never have done it
without their help. Am I right?”

“Yes. They were amazing .
. . even Zeke.”

“Zeke? You mean Z’kkk . .
. not Zelda’s Zeke.”

“I meant Zeke. I needed
help after everyone else was gone. He was pretty wonderful . . . for a boy.”

“Dear one . . . I’m
getting a little confused.”

“About what?”

“Actually, about
everything. Forgive me, but it is very hard to picture the things you are
trying to explain. For instance, what was K’actus Kiln? It sounds like a
desert.”

“It was.”

“Okay. And Colorless Wood
and pixies . . . can you describe that for me.”

“The P’xxxies are little
flying people who suck the color out of anything that’s alive . . . that’s
their food. If they bite you, they suck out your joy and you become very, very
sad.”

“Got it. How about Switch
Swamp?”

“It’s just a swamp. But if
you drink the water, you switch with the person closest to you. Sometimes you switch
personalities or intelligence or in this case, Soo’ took Bl’azzz’s sadness and
Bl’azzz took Soo’s happiness.”

“Very interesting. And
there were giant spiders there also.”

“And other stuff,” she
said dismissively, which very much impressed her grandmother.

“Okay, after the Swamp
came . . . ummm . . . the octopus man.”

“His name is AyBee (and
Egg spelled it) and he lives on an island in the middle of the sea named after
him . . . the AyBee Sea.”

“Very cute. And I gather
if he squeezes you, he steals your courage.”

“Yes. And what’s amazing
is that he turned out to be Dazzle’s father. Mobius made him into the monster.”

“My, oh my. So, Aeri’elle
tried to save you and was squeezed. Then she flew away . . . to go where, her
home?”

“Yeah, we think so.”

“Okay, so you sent Bl’azzz
and Soo’ to the Sisterhood and Aeri’elle flew home. So there were three of you
left.”

“Right. Then as we sailed
away from AyBee’s island, the boat fell through a hole in the ocean and we
ended up in the Crystal Forest. It was incredibly beautiful . . . and
dangerous.”

“I’m sure. So this is
where K’ssss cut herself, and then was bitten by the bat.”

“A D’ing Bat. She turned
into one right in front of our eyes.”

“You must have been
horrified.”

“We cried a lot.”

“I’m sure you did. She was
a very sweet serpent. So, after the Forest you made it to the Maze and that’s
where Sassi got lost.”

“Yes . . . trying to save
me.”

“How very brave of her . .
. of all of you.”

“They were wonderful.”

“I know they were. Anyway,
after the Maze you went to the Never ’Glade. What happened there?”

“The worst thing is if you
get bitten by the Tack-Toed Tick, you fade away and everybody forgets you.”

“But since you were the
only person there, you obviously weren’t bitten.”

“No. I guess I was lucky.”

“Perhaps.”

“Oh, Dazzle did have to
save me from some kind of cotton candy plant and she used up all the power in
the suit . . . so I couldn’t talk to her anymore except once in my dreams. I
couldn’t even use my Flying Girl powers.”

“But she’s alright?”

“Yeah. Her friend Storm
came and got Zeke and me after we recovered her body. He’s recharging the suit
right now . . . but it’ll take him a week or two. That’s why I’m wearing this
outfit. It was Dazzle’s.”

“Why don’t you take it off
so I can make a few alterations? It looks like baggy pajamas on you.”

“That’s what Bl’azzz
said.” She took off the clothes and covered herself in a throw blanket from the
couch.

“So you made it to the
Crystal Mountain, but you were all alone. And you needed help so you went and
got Zeke. How?”

“I used my ring.” and she
held it up.

“That’s the one you made
at camp and Dazzle put that special crystal in it.” She thought about that for
a second then asked, “Remind me . . . why did she do that? Especially since you
have . . . or had . . . your flying girl powers?”

“I don’t remember. Bl’azzz
said she thought it was kind of strange.”

“Me too. Anyway, you got
Zeke to go back with you, the two of you rescued Dazzle’s body and Storm flew
you out of there. And now you’re here.”

“Exactly.”

“But why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you here? I’m
thrilled to see you, but you’re going right back aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“So why did you come? It’s
not because you missed me.”

“I did miss you . . . but
you’re right. I came to ask you what the Tree meant. I had a dream and he said I
could bring everyone back . . . just the way they were before they got hurt.”

“Well, that’s fantastic.”

“Yeah . . . but I don’t
understand his instructions. I wrote them down so I wouldn’t forget.” And she
handed her grandmother the piece of paper.

Grammy read the message
then said, “He certainly has a way with words, doesn’t he?”

“Do you understand it?”
Egg asked hopefully.

“Well, it seems fairly
clear. He’s telling you that if you dream about each sister, just change what
happened. For example, dream that Sassi didn’t fall down the wrong chute . . .
make your dream show her going down the correct one.”

“That’s it? All I have to
do is dream that nothing bad happened to them?”

“Pretty much. But you have
to picture it exactly as you wish it did occur. And you have to have a very
clear image of your sisters.”

“And the last thing first
. . . does that mean I have to do Sassi then K’ssss then Aeri’elle then Bl’azzz
and Soo’?”

“Yes . . . you undo
everything in reverse order . . . the last one first and the first one last.”

“Oh, Grammy, you’re the
best. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Sweetheart, that’s what
grandmothers are for.” Then she handed Egg back the altered garment and the
girl slipped it back on.

“Grammy, there’s one more
thing the tree said. He said there were seven sisters . . . not six.”

“Maybe he was counting
Dazzle.”

“I asked him that and he
said no.”

“Very curious.”

“Grammy what do you think
he was talking about?”

“Well . . . could it be a
riddle or some kind of test?”

“I don’t think so. At least
I hope not. Grammy, do you remember a girl named Sylvia?”

“Sylvia . . . no, I don’t
recall that name. Why do you ask?”

“I wrote the Tree’s words
on that piece of paper. It was stuck in my diary. Look what’s written on the
other side.”

The older Eloise turned
the paper over and read it. “That’s a very sweet letter. But, I don’t remember
you talking about her. Did you go through the rest of your diary? Maybe there
are some other entries about her.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea.”

“Here’s something else to
think about. I can’t believe I would send you on this Quest by yourself.
Doesn’t it seem reasonable that I would want you to take a friend?”

“You mean this Sylvia?”

“Maybe. And there’s one
other thing. In each of the first six lands, one of you was injured or worse.
But nothing happened in the seventh.”

“So?”

“So . . . maybe it did.
Maybe the seventh sister . . . maybe this Sylvia . . . was with you and she got
bitten by the tacky tick. Then she would disappear and you wouldn’t remember
her.”

“Oh, Grammy . . . that
sounds perfect. You are the smartest grandmother in the whole world . . .
including Aerianna.”

“Thank you dear one . . .
but I’m just guessing at this point. Remember, you are going to have to picture
this seventh sister in your mind to bring her back. And you obviously don’t
know for sure who she is. What’s worse . . . if we’re correct . . . she was the
last sister to be injured. She’s going to have to be the first one you bring
back.”

“Oh my gosh, you’re
right.”

“My love, you need to get
back and finish what you started. I want this adventure to be over as quickly
as possible . . . so I can have you all to myself again. Selfish, aren’t I.”

“I like that kind of
selfish.”

The older woman let out a
deep breath of concern. “Please be careful. Oh, that’s such a fuddy-duddy thing
to say. Of course you’ll be careful.” She gave her granddaughter a big hug and
a kiss. You simply can’t get too many of those.

“I will. And Grammy, thank
you. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what I would do.”

“You would have figured
out something. You always do.”

“I’ll be back in a few
days. I have a feeling it’s almost over.”

“I hope so. And Egg, I am
very proud of you. You are such a brave young lady.”

“More like a brave, young
girl.”

“No, sweetheart. Not
anymore. You are a young lady.”

*****

Egg returned to Aerianna,
went right up to her room, and took out her diary. Then she started to go
through it . . . page by page. If this Sylvia was the seventh sister, she was
probably her best friend too.

An hour later, she ran
downstairs to find Bl’azzz.

“I know who the other
sister was.”

“Really? Who?”

“Her name is Sylvia
Hampton; but I call her Ham. She and I started the Hameggattic Sisterhood and
she’s my best friend. She’s also my Feminion.”

Chapter 5 – Seven Silly
Sisters

“How did you figure it
out?” said a very impressed dragon.

“It was my Grammy who did.
She’s just so smart,” said the younger Eloise with a voice that was dripping
with love and pride.

“That’s probably where you
get if from.”

“Don’t I wish. She also
explained the rest of the Tree’s message.”

“Really? Oh, wow. It’ll be
so nice to walk again without all this p . . .” But she didn’t finish the word
‘pain’. She was embarrassed that she was complaining when her other sisters
were in much worse shape. “. . . without limping,” she said instead.

Egg wasn’t fooled; but she
respected the dragon’s modesty by accepting her little white lie.

“So don’t make me beg . .
. tell me what your grandmother said.”

“Oh yeah, sorry. First,
she said that since each of us was injured in some way in the first six lands,
it must also have happened in the seventh one. And what was the thing
J’azzz-min . . .” (both girls involuntarily looked around to see if the
irritating cat would appear . . . but of course she didn’t) “. . . told us was
bad in the Never ’Glade?”

“The tacky-toed tick.”

“Right. So if Sylvia was
with me . . . she must have been bit by the nasty little thing. And if she was
. . . she would fade away and we would all forget that she ever existed.”

“That sounds kinda right.”

“That piece of paper I
wrote the Tree’s words on . . . on the other side was a letter from Sylvia to
me. But I couldn’t remember ever meeting her. So Grammy said to check the rest
of my diary to see if I wrote anything about her. Sure enough, it was all
there. We’re best friends; we started the Hameggattic Sisterhood in the attic
of her new house. That’s where the name comes from . . . Ham, for her . . .
Egg, for me . . . and attic, for the place where we held the first meeting.”

“But you still don’t
remember her?”

“No . . . nothing.
Luckily, there’s a picture in there of the two of us. It must be the one she
mentioned in her letter.”

“Weird, isn’t it?”

“I’ll say. But there’s
more. The diary said I made her my Feminion so she could come on the Quest.
But, because she didn’t have Flying Girl powers, Grammy was afraid to let her
go. So Dazzle put that special crystal in this ring . . . the one I made for
her at camp.”

“Well that makes sense. I
couldn’t understand why the Princess would give you that ring . . . and the
Flying Suit.”

“Right . . . it was never
meant for me.”

“So how do you figure you
got the ring?”

“I gave that a lot of
thought. I’m guessing that after Sylvia was bitten and she began to fade away,
she gave me the ring so I would remember her. Anyway, that’s just a guess.”

“It’s what a best friend
would do.”

“That’s what I think.”

“So what about the Tree’s
instructions?”

“According to Grammy, all
I have to do is dream about each of you. And in the dreams, I have to make
something else happen . . . something that isn’t bad.”

“So in my case, you could
dream that the spider didn’t bite me before Soo’ did what she did.”

“Exactly. But there are
two more things. I have to have a very clear picture of each of you and what I
want to happen.”

“That’s sounds easy
enough.”

“And . . . I have to do it
in reverse order. So I would have to bring Sylvia back first, then Sassi . . .
and you and Soo’ would be last.”

Bl’azzz hid a look of
disappointment that threaten to take control of her face. “I guess that’s what
the Tree meant about the last must be first.”

“Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.
Besides, just knowing that this leg’s going to get better soon makes me feel
like dancing.”

“Really? I didn’t know
dragons could dance.”

“They can’t. So anyway,
when do you start?”

“Dreaming? I guess tonight
when I go to sleep.”

“You’re not tired now are
you? How about a little nap?”

“Sorry, Bl’azzz. I don’t
usually nap.”

“Maybe if you went for a
swim . . . or ran a long way . . . you’d get tired?”

Egg was about to shush her
friend for such a silly idea. But, on second thought, she said, “I could use a
good swim. I’m going upstairs to see if Dazzle has any bathing suits.”

“You humans and your
clothes; I’ll never understand.”

“Live with it,” said Egg
with a smile as she made for the steps.

“By the way . . . your
grandmother did a good job fixing your pajamas. You almost look like a warrior
princess, yourself.”

Egg stopped midway up the
stairs to see if Bl’azzz was going to laugh at her own remark. When she didn’t,
Egg threw out her chest, lifted her chin and continued on her way . . . with as
much royal dignity as she could muster.

*****

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“Oh, please. How many
dragons did you ever see jumping in a pool for the fun of it? We’re creatures
of the air . . . water is for fish.” She stuck her beak in the air when she
said the last part.

“I’m going to tell Soo’
what you said . . . after I fix her problem. She’ll probably grab you by your
floppy wings and drag you under.”

Bl’azzz gave that idea
some serious consideration. “I’ll deny it. Yup, that’s what I’ll do . . . deny
I ever said it.”

“Ha. Who do you think
she’s going to believe . . . Flying Girl or Frying Dragon?” teased Egg.

Bl’azzz responded by
pushing Egg into the pond. “Swim, Earthling. And don’t stop until you’re ready
to nap.”

As Egg treaded water, she
had to have the last silly word in this foolish exchange. “I know . . . when I
get around to dreaming about you, I’m going turn you into a flying fish.”

“Alright, all ready. You
win. Now . . . swim.”

And so Egg swam . . .

. . . and swam . . .

. . . and swam . . .

. . . and swam.

“Hey Big Bird, I’m ready
for a nap,” quipped Egg as she got out of the pool.

“I know you’re trying to
make fun of me, but I should tell you something. Every dragon wants to be as
big as possible. The bigger the better.”

“Why?”

“It’s a sign of beauty and
strength.”

“Someday if you come visit
me on Earth, I’ll show you a picture of Big Bird.”

“Hey, could I . . . you
know, visit you on earth. That would be so awesome.”

“Well, I invited Sassi. So
you might as well come too.”

“You’re not such a bad
person after all . . . for a human.”

“You’re just jealous of us
because we can wear clothes and you can’t.”

“Don’t be silly . . . I
have a hat.”

“Oh yeah, I almost
forgot.”

“Enough of this childish
chit-chat; off to bed with you.”

“Okay, I’m going.”

“Hey, Egg? What are you
going to dream?” asked the dragon very seriously.

“I think the place where
the tick probably lived was the last thing I crossed. It was a boggy, swampy
thing. So instead of being in front where I probably was, I’m going to walk
behind her. And when the tick tries to bite, I’ll squish it.”

“If that works . . .
what’s going to happen? Will she just appear out of nowhere?”

“I have no idea. I guess
we’ll find out soon enough.”

*****

She studied the
photograph for the hundredth time . . . the one of her and Sylvia. The Tree
said she had to have a very clear picture in her mind and that was going to be
tough since she didn’t even remember the girl.

When she was satisfied
that she had memorized every last detail of the girl’s face, she closed her
eyes . . . and fell asleep.

And she was back in the
Never ’Glade . . . .

. . . but this time, she
wasn’t alone; Sylvia was with her.

. . . and they were at
the very last part . . .

“Well, let’s get past this
water and we’re home free.”

So they stepped into the
boggy swamp and made their way across. It wasn’t deep, but the bottom was muddy
so they had to go slow.

Sylvia was in front, and
Egg was just behind her.

Egg heard a faint buzzing
sound . . . the kind a mosquito would make.

Then she saw
it . . . about an inch in length. It was mostly yellow and completely ugly . .
. the way bugs were supposed to be.

Without hesitating, Egg
picked it up and squished it.

“I got it.”

“Got what? Not the
Tack-Toed Tick?”

“Yeah . . . it was the
tacky-tick. And now it’s ticky-tacky bug jam.”

“Thanks. If it had bitten
me, I’d be gone and you’d be all alone.”

Egg shivered. “What would
I do if you were gone?”

“Without your best friend
and Feminion . . . you would have to get Zeke to help you.” She laughed when
she said it.

“You’d like that wouldn’t
you? Well, forget it . . . it ain’t never going to happen. You’re not going
anywhere.”

*****

Egg woke up at the sound
of a girl screaming. She got out of bed and ran downstairs. And there in the
middle of the living room was Bl’azzz, breathing fire like she was a . . . well
. . . a F’yre dragon.

And off to one side was a
girl.

A human girl.

An Earthling.

It was Sylvia.

And she was screaming
louder than Egg had ever heard her scream.

“Syl . . . stop it. What’s
wrong?”

The girl suddenly went
very quiet . . . because she had fainted.

“Bl’azzz, stop with the
fire breath. You’re going to burn down this place. What happened? Why was she
screaming?”

“I have no idea. I came
out of the kitchen and there she was . . . Sylvia. How the heck did we ever
forget Sylvia? Anyway, I started to run to give her a hug . . . and she
screamed. It scared me so much . . . I burped fire. Then she screamed again.
And I burped again. And she screamed louder. And I burped louder . . . well,
you know what I mean.”

Egg had reached her best
friend and picked up her head and placed it on her lap. She stroked the girls
face and said softly, “Syl, it’s me. Wake up. Syl . . . everything’s okay now.
Come on, wake up.”

The girl moaned and opened
her eyes. “Egg . . . where am I? What was that thing?” Then she saw the
creature . . . Bl’azzz . . . and started to scream again.

“Come on Sylvia . . . stop
screaming. It’s me . . . Bl’azzz.”

What Sylvia heard was
incomprehensible dragon squawk. Her translation crystal was in her ring. But
her ring was on Egg’s hand. And without her ring, she not only couldn’t
understand the dragon . . .

. . . she had no memory
of Flying Girl or Aerianna or  Bl’azzz or the Quest. All she knew was that
somehow she had awakened in a strange castle . . .

. . . and there in front
of her was a dragon . . .

. . . and it started to
breathe fire.

So she did the only thing
she could think of . . . scream.

“Egg . . . Egg . . . it’s
a dragon.”

“It’s Bl’azzz, silly.”

“What?”

Then it dawned on Egg what
the problem was. “Fiddlesticks, I have your ring.” She pulled it off and
slipped it on her friend’s finger . . . and counted to three.

The fear in Sylvia’s eyes
faded away . . .

. . . and she smiled.
“Oh, it’s you Bl’azzz. Sorry about that.”

Egg helped her friend to
her feet. “You okay now?”

“I’m fine. But for a
minute, I didn’t recognize Bl’azzz. It scared the heck out of me.”

“That’s because I had your
ring . . . so you forgot everything about Flying Girl and our Quest.”

Sylvia touched her ring
and asked, “Why did you have it?”

“You gave it to me . . .
just after you were bitten by the Tack-Toed Tick.”

“Oh my gosh . . . I was?
How come I didn’t fade away?”

“You did. I brought you
back.”

“Sit down, you two. I’ll
make some food while Egg explains the whole story.”

“Thanks, I’m starved. I
feel like I haven’t eaten in days.”

“That’s about how long
you’ve been gone.”

*****

That night she
stared at the sketch of Sassi that was in her diary. Naturally, it wasn’t as
clear as the picture of Sylvia, but it was more than enough for her to
visualize her pretty sister.

She was just about to turn
off the lamp by her bed when there was a knock on her door. “Come in, Syl.”

“How did you know it was
me?” said her friend as she opened the door.

“Bl’azzz doesn’t knock . .
. she pecks.”

“Oh yeah . . . I didn’t
think of that. Anyway, is there anything I can get you before you go to sleep?’

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

“Did you want to talk?”

“We already talked about
Sassi.” Egg and the other two had discussed the best way to save their sister
from the Maze of Forever. They never actually came to a decision. Egg said she
would decide when the time was right.

“I know. But you didn’t
tell me about Zeke.”

“I didn’t?” said Egg in
fake surprise. “I must have forgotten.”

“Ha. If Bl’azzz didn’t
mention it . . . you never would have.”

“What a horrid thing to
say. You’re my best-est friend in the entire universe.”

“Oh hush . . . I not
buying that little miss innocent routine.”

“Well . . . there’s
nothing to tell. Really?”

“Come on . . . spill it.
Every last detail.”

“Syl . . . I gotta go to
sleep. Sassi’s depending on me.”

“All right . . . but only
if you promise to tell me later and answer one question right now.”

“Okay, I promise. What’s
the question?”

“After you took him back .
. . did you give him a thank you kiss?”

“SYLVIA,” screamed her
friend as she blushed. “I would never . . .”

“Eggggg.”

“I would never . . . kiss
and tell. Now go away.”

*****

She was back in the Maze
of Forever, with Sylvia, Sassi and Dazzle. They were a few steps ahead of a
hideous monster that was looking to have them for dinner . . . as the main
course. Sassi had just planted some of their food in front of the wrong chute
hoping the creature would go over there. The other girls went to hide close to
the chute that they wanted to take.

. . . and by the time the
creature appeared, they were all safely hidden behind the boulder. As it
approached, it sniffed trying to identify the scent that hung in the air.
Realizing it was food, it lumbered over to the meat that Sassi had planted.

It picked up the first
piece and ate it. Enjoying the taste, it then advanced to the one that was just
on the edge of the chute and bent down to get the yummy morsel.

“I’m going to knock it down
the slide,” whispered Sassi.

“No. Do not approach
it.”

But it was too late. Sassi
started to run from her hiding place straight at the creature. At the last
second Egg lunged forward, grabbed the girl, and dragged her down.

The creature turned at the
sound. “MORE FOOD,” it said happily.

“Sisters, down the other
chute now,” commanded Dazzle.

So all three ran for their
lives and jumped into the swirling slide. Sylvia went first, followed by Sassi
and Egg. As they slid faster and faster they came to a fork in the slide and
Egg screamed go left. Sylvia did . . . but as Sassi approached the same spot,
Egg reached forward and knocked her down the right path and out of sight.

Dazzle was shocked by what
she had seen. “Egg, why did you do that?”

“Trust me . . . it’s the
way home.”

They continued their
descent until they saw the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and the
Princess yelled, “Brace your selves.” The girls flew out of the chute and into the Never ’Glade.

*****

Egg woke up at first light
and ran downstairs. To her surprise, she saw Sylvia and Bl’azzz . . . but no
Sassi.

“Is she here?”

“No. We’ve been up all
night. We didn’t know when she would come.”

“Are you sure you dreamed
of her?”

“Of course I am.”

“What exactly did you
dream?” asked her Feminion.

“That we all went down the
chute together. But then I dreamt there was a fork in it and we took the one on
the left. But I knocked Sassi down the one on the right . . . and it’s supposed
to take her here.”

“How long do you think we
should wait till you try another dream?”

“Are you sure you can?”
asked Bl’azzz.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know where she
is now . . . if she’s still in the Maze. Who knows where you might have sent
her.”

Egg turned white at the
thought that she might have messed up big time. Not only for Sassi’s sake, but
also for the others. They couldn’t come back until Sassi did.

They looked at each other
not knowing what to do next. But the silence was broken by Sylvia. “What the
heck is that?” She pointed to a shimmering spot about ten feet off the ground.

“Do you think it’s
Mobius?” asked Bl’azzz in panic.

They didn’t have an answer
. . . so they just stood there and stared. The spot got brighter and bigger.
Then, when it was about the size of a door, a light burst through followed by
an “OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”

It was Sassi . . . and she
went flying through the air and luckily landed in the pool with a gigantic
splash. She sunk to the bottom but kicked off and came to the surface
sputtering and spitting water.

She cleared her eyes and looked
around. It took her a moment to realize where she was and to identify the three
smiling faces staring at her.

“Do you always make such a
splash when you enter a room?” teased Bl’azzz.

“Look at your hair . . .
it’s such a mess” said Sylvia in mock seriousness.

“I don’t know,” disagreed
Egg, “I think she looks pretty darn good.”

*****

Saving K’ssss was going to
be more difficult. The four girls had spent the whole next day discussing the
possibilities. They finally decided on a complex plan . . . hoping that the
Myst Tree would go along with it. It called for the three girls to get the
silly serpent out of harm’s way then use Aeri’elle to bring her home from the
Crystal Forest. Since they hadn’t saved the dragon yet . . . Egg would have to
have a three-part dream.

*****

“Hurry, K’ssss, I can’t
hold on much longer.”

The thought that she might
fail her friends gave K’ssss the strength to increase her speed. And in a short
while, she could see the end of Spike Forest.

But as she made her final
dash . . . she came to another crystal that had fallen across the road and
shattered into sharp shards.

“K’ssss, be careful.
Those crystal pieces will cut you.”

“Sassi says I have to
hurry.”

“Don’t injure yourself
because of us.”

But the serpent wasn’t
paying attention.

“K’ssss . . . STOP. NOW”
yelled Sassi.

The serpent came to a
screeching halt. Sassi jumped down from her back, cleared the path of crystal
shards then climbed back up. “Okay . . . now go as fast as you can.”

*****

But at that moment, the
D’ing Bat chose to attack. It swooped down screeching a horrible high pitched
sound, its ugly beak opened – ready to bite.

“Look out” yelled Sylvia.

The girls ducked just in
time.

“What should we do?” asked
Sassi.

Egg didn’t have a clue.
So, when all else fails . . . just run. “Let’s get out of here. Maybe we can
find someplace to hide from it.”

Before they could move,
the D’ing Bat attacked again.

And as it got close,
K’ssss gathered all of her remaining strength to leap up.

But she didn’t have to.
Egg and Sylvia had found some pebbles and threw them with all their might at
the scary bat. They whacked it so hard it flew right into a tree and fell to
the ground . . . stunned into unconsciousness.

They finished packing
their stuff and were ready to get out of that place. But Egg turned to the
Serpent and said, “K’ssss, I need you to do me a gigantic favor.”

“Sure, Egg.”

“I need you to go back the
way we came and find Aeri’elle. Then I want the two of you to fly to the
Sisterhood.”

“But I don’t want to leave
you . . . or the Quest. Please.” She was about to cry.

“K’ssss, you have to trust
me. If you do this . . . Soo’ and Bl’azzz will get better.”

“Oh, really? That would be
so wonderful. But what about Aeri’elle? I thought she flew home?”

“No . . . she’s flying
here.”

“H’sssss. I don’t
understand. Sorry.”

“I promise I’ll explain
everything later. But I really, really need you to do this for me . . . and for
them. Please.”

“Okay. You can count on me
. . . even if I don’t really know what you’re talking about.”

*****

“EGG,” screamed Aeri’elle.
But the warning came too late . . . the arms were about to grab the girl. The
dragon did the only thing she could think of . . . she ran and flung herself
into AyBee and began to scratch at his eyes with her very sharp talons.

The creature screamed in
pain and without thinking, all eight of its tentacles began to encircle his
attacker.  But the other girls were ready. They leaped forward and snatched
their dragon sister away from the monster just before he squeezed all courage
from her.

Back on the boat, Egg
pulled Aeri’elle aside. “Thanks for saving me back there.”

“You would have done the
same for me. Actually you did. You guys were fast. He almost squeezed me.”

“We were just lucky.
Anyway, I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything . . . you know
that.”

“I need you stay here for
a couple of hours. Up ahead there’s a hole in the sea that we’re going to fall
into. It’s the way to the Crystal Forest. I want you to follow us and you’ll
see a path. Walk down it until you find K’ssss . . . then fly her to the
sisterhood.

“What are you talking
about? How do you know this stuff?”

“I’ll explain everything
when you get back.”

“But I want to stay here .
. . on the Quest.”

“Aeri’elle . . . when you
get back to the sisterhood, I’ll be waiting.”

“What?”

“Trust me . . . please.”

The proud dragon thought
long and hard. “Okay, Egg. I do trust you.”

“Thank you. You won’t
believe it . . . but you’re going to help save Soo’ and Bl’azzz by doing this.
Oh, and K’ssss too.”

“Really? Well . . . I
guess it’s worth it then. What about the Quest?”

“You’ll be there when we
face Mobius . . . I promise.” She gave her sister a hug and watched as she flew
skyward.

*****

They flew in from the high
entrance made just for dragons. “Well . . . you said you would be here waiting
for us. I can’t believe it.”

“H’sssss.”

“Why are you laughing, you
slinking slippery snake?”

“Because we’re all here.
Isn’t it nice?”

“Very, very nice K’ssss.
Very, very nice.”

*****

To save Bl’azzz from the
spider and Soo’ from the Swamp, Egg just dreamt that she had told Aeri’elle not
to look for firewood. They would eat a cold lunch.

The next morning, Soo’ was
her old self, while Bl’azzz was back to being sad. But at least her leg was all
better.

That following night Egg
dreamt that Bl’azzz had reached her Booyah in time and started to play a happy
song. Then all the P’xxxies flew off leaving the F’yre Dragon untouched.

In the morning, Egg was
the last to join the other six girls. It was their laughter and giggling that
had awakened her.

“What’s going on?” she
yelled from the top of the stairs.

“We’re having a party for
you,” said Sylvia.

“Aren’t you supposed to
wait for the guest of honor?”

“We didn’t want to wake
you . . .”

“Sylvia said you were
probably still dreaming . . .”

“About Zeke.”

“H’sssss.”

Chapter 6 – Dream Till
You Scream

Somewhere in the floating city of Q’umulus . . .

“They have taken the
Princess’ body. I want it back and I want those seven children in chains. Now!
Do you understand?” demanded Mobius.

“Yes, my King,” answered
the Green F’aeri.

“As you command,” replied
K’aos.

“And get that worthless
B’ludd to help you.” Mobius was fuming mad . . . and perhaps a little worried.
How could seven young girls get through to the Crystal Mountain and recover the
Princess’ glass coffin. It just wasn’t possible. Yet . . . they had done it.

*****

They giggled all morning.
And they ooh-ed and ah-ed as each sister recounted bits and pieces of their
journey through the seven lands. Even though Egg had dreamt different endings .
. . they still remembered what had really happened. But what had seemed
incredibly sad . . . now seemed extremely funny.

“So Sassi runs out to push
the monster down the chute but he moves out of the way . . . and she goes
sailing through the air like Flying Girl.”

“And I’ll never forget her
last words as she disappeared . . .,” added Sylvia.

“Ohhhhhhhhh,” said the two
girls in perfect harmony.

“H’sssss. H’sssss.”

“What about Bl’azzz after
she got bit by the P’xxxies . . .,” began Soo’. And everyone answered at the
same time, “So sad, it’s so sad.”

“The best was when Egg got
scratched by the serpent and tried to swim . . . on the sand,” teased
Aeri’elle.

But Sassi said, “I have to
disagree. The best was when she saw you and screamed ‘Run for your lives,
there’s an ugly monster chasing me.”

“How about this silly
slithering super-worm . . . she saved us from the devil dunes . . .”

“. . . and the spike
forest,” Egg reminded them.

“. . . and the D’ing Bat,”
added Sylvia.

“I loved it when Bl’azzz
got her burp back and burned that big hairy spider.”

“Thanks to Soo’.”

“I loved the part where
Sassi gave me this,” said K’ssss as she proudly modeled her green scarf.

“What about that nasty cat
. . . what a piece of work.” Soo’ started to laugh at the memory but stopped
when no one else joined in. “What?” she
asked in confusion.

“J’azzz-min turned out to
be Queen Kat’Alynnia,” explained Egg.

“NOOOOOO. No way, no how.
Really?’

“Really. Guess who AyBee
was?”

“Not the King?”

“Yup.”

“Oh my gosh . . . if I do
say so.”

And so it went all
morning, seven silly sisters enjoying their success.

*****

By the time lunch was
finished, they had spent all their nervous energy and were now ready to get
serious again about the Quest. Dazzle’s body in the next room was an all too
vivid reminder of what they were here for.

Aeri’elle was the first to
bring up the subject. “So, Egg, what do we do now?”

“It’s pretty obvious . . .
we have to wait for Egg to get her Flying Suit back so we can take the Princess
to the Myst Tree,” answered Soo’.

Sassi added, “I don’t like
the idea of just sitting here for the next two weeks.”

“I’m with you. It’ll be
boring. No offense,” said the F’yre Dragon.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what Sassi’s
talking about. Mobius is probably pretty upset with us right now for taking the
body. You just gotta know he’s out looking for it . . . and for us,” added
Sylvia.

That last thought hadn’t
occurred to Egg. But Sylvia and Sassi were probably right . . . the longer they
sat around, the sooner Mobius would find them. But Egg didn’t say anything . .
. she was lost in thought.

“Hey, earth girl,” teased
Soo’.

“She means you,” added
Sylvia as she tapped her friend on the shoulder.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was
just thinking.”

“About?” asked Bl’azzz.

“Sassi and Syl are right.
The longer we just sit here, the better chance Mobius will find us. It would be
great if we had the flying suit recharged and Dazzle here to help us . . . but
we don’t. So, we need a plan.”

No one could disagree with
that bit of logic. They waited for Egg to tell them what the plan was. But, of
course, they should have known what she was about to say.

“I’ll dream about it
tonight . . . I hope.”

“So what do we do for the
rest of the day?” asked Aeri’elle.

“I know. Let’s play Marco
Polo,” suggested Sylvia.

Bl’azzz scrunched her
dragon face. “What the heck is that?”

“It’s a game. Everybody
gets in the pool and one person closes her eyes. When she says Marco, everyone
else has to say Polo. Then she has to tag one of them . . . but she can only
follow the sound of their voice.”

“I love you Sylvia . . .
but that’s about as dumb a game as I ever heard.”

“What do you think,
K’ssss?”

“H’sssss. It sounds
funny.”

“Count me out.”

“Hey, Soo’ . . . do you
know what Bl’azzz told me?”

“Eggggg . . . . don’t you
dare say anything.”

“What?” asked Soo’.

“She said that water was
for fish.”

“Really? She said that?
Hmmmm.”

“Soo’, I was just teasing.
In fact, I never said it. Who are you going to believe; me or some weirdo from
another planet?”

“Let me think . . . Flying
Girl or Frying Dragon?”

“Hey, that’s what I said.”

“K’ssss, I need your
help.” So the two serpents slithered over to Bl’azzz and pushed her in the pool
before she could flap her wings.

“H’sssss.”

The F’yre Dragon squawked
to get rid of a mouth full of water. “Nice. Really nice. After I saved you from
the spider. After my ancestors saved you from the bad guys. After . . .”

But before she could
continue to rant and rave, the other six girls jumped into the pool splashing
Bl’azzz with as much water as they could.

The dragon flapped her
wings and splashed back.

When the splashing and
yelling finally stopped, Sylvia asked, “Who’s going to be it first?”

“Oh my gosh . . .,” teased
Bl’azzz, “. . .  let me think. Who should it be?”

So they blindfolded Egg,
spun her around, and moved away.

“Marco.”

“Polo. Polo. Polo. Polo.
Polo. H’sssss.”

*****

“Come in.”

“Hi.”

“Hey, Syl.”

“Before you go to sleep, I
just wanted to mention a few things.”

“You mean things you want
me to dream about, don’t you.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, like what?”

“First, what do we do with
Dazzle’s body? We have to be sure that Mobius doesn’t find it.”

“Okay. That’s good. What
else?”

“He’s going to send K’aos
and the F’aeri after us . . . I can just feel it. We don’t even know what they
do?”

“I already thought of
that. But whatever we come up with . . . we can’t hurt them. Dazzle would never
forgive us if we do something bad to her boyfriend and sister.”

“You’re right. Good
point.”

“Anything else?”

“Just the obvious . . .
find a way to get passed the Fl’eyes.”

“Yeah. I know.”

“And there’s one more
thing . . .” she hesitated.

“What?”

“We need a way to take the
Crystal Egg away from Mobius.”

“Oh my gosh, Syl. We can’t
do that. I think we have to save that for Dazzle when she gets her body back.”

“Anyway . . . if you
happen to dream about that, it would be a good thing.”

“That’s a lot of dreams.”

“Maybe it’ll be one big
dream.”

“Maybe I won’t have any
dreams.”

“Then what?”

“Dunno.”

“Well, if you don’t need
anything else . . .”

“Syl.”

“Yes?”

“I can’t believe I forgot
all about you.”

“Thank goodness for your diary.”

“Thank goodness you sent
me that letter.”

“Right. Thank goodness I
made you take that picture.”

“Yeah. Thank goodness I
decided to put it in my diary.”

“Egg?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s a lot of luck . .
. all those things.”

“You think maybe it wasn’t
luck?”

“Maybe we should ask
Dazzle.”

“Maybe. Goodnight.”

“Sweet dreams.”

*****

That night the universe
had a lot of things to say to Egg. Sylvia was right . . . she had just one
dream. But it was long and filled with way to many messages. And in the
morning, with her head spinning, she woke up screaming.

*****

Sassi was the first to
reach Egg’s room . . . followed closely by Sylvia and the two dragons. Soo’ and
K’ssss couldn’t easily climb the steps so they stayed behind, anxiously waiting
for the others to tell them what was going on.

“Egg . . . what is it? Are
you okay?”

“Oh my gosh.”

“What’s wrong?” asked
Sylvia. “Was it the dreams?”

Egg was white in the face
and she was drenched in sweat. “It’s Mobius.”

“He’s here?” asked Bl’azzz
in alarm.

“No, no. But he tried to
enter my mind like he did to Syl back on Earth.”

“Did he get in?”

“I don’t think so . . .
but I can’t be sure.”

Uncertain what to do or
say, they waited for Egg to continue. It took the girl a few seconds to calm
down and organize her thoughts . . .

“Listen, I dreamt a whole
bunch of stuff. Some of it I understand and some I don’t. So we need to talk
and figure it all out.”

Sassi asked the obvious
question, “What about Mobius?”

“I think we have to get
out of here. It isn’t safe anymore?”

“Right now?”

“I think we have a little
time before we have to leave. So we need to use it to figure out our plans.
Sassi . . . could you cook a gigantic breakfast for everybody. We might not
have time to eat until much later.”

“Of course. I’ll do it
right now.”

“Get dressed first.” The
girl was still in her pajamas. “You, too, Syl.”

“Okay” answered her
friend. “You guys (meaning the two dragons) . . . go tell the others what’s
going on. We’ll be down in a minute.”

“Right.”

“Gotcha.”

*****

Egg jumped out of bed,
changed into Dazzle’s old clothes, washed up and started for the door. She
stopped, went back to the nightstand, and retrieved her diary. Then she hurried
to Dazzle’s room and looked in her closet. She found the cape and the boots
that went with the outfit. She tied the cape around her neck and tried on the
boots. They were a little big so she put on a second pair of socks.

She went back in the
closet and looked around once more. She was looking for the sword . . . but
couldn’t find it. That was probably a good thing. It might seem kind of
romantic and all . . . you know, just what a warrior princess would have. But
she had never held one . . . and had no idea what to do with it if she got into
a fight. It was much better to rely on her wits that on a weapon.

Everyone was
waiting for her downstairs. Sassi had set the table and she and Bl’azzz were
bringing out the food.  When Egg made her appearance . . . with the cape and
boots . . . they all stopped and stared.

“What? Is it too much?”

“Naw. You look terrific,”
said Bl’azzz. “Now I can see why you guys like to wear clothes.”

Egg smiled, but looked to
Sylvia for final approval.

“It’s perfect. I wish I
had a camera.”

“If you like, I can make a
sketch . . . when we have time.”

“That would be terrific,
Sassi. Thank you.”

“So what now?”

“Let’s eat. I’m sure
K’ssss is hungry.”

“H’sssss.”

So they ate their
breakfast in silence. That was disappointing because they were anxious to hear
about Egg’s dreams. But Flying Girl was hungry and not ready to talk. At least,
not yet.

*****

After breakfast, they
cleared the dishes then gathered around Egg.

“Okay, we don’t have time
to go through every last bit of the dreams. So I’ll tell you the most important
parts — then I need to ask you questions about some of them. Afterwards, I’ll tell
you what I think we have to do. Okay?”

Everyone understood the
danger of being caught by Mobius and they were as anxious as Egg to get going.
So they all nodded yes.

But before she would
discuss the dreams, she had to ask, ”By the way, does anybody know what K’aos
and the Green F’aeri actually do?”

“Yes,” said Aeri’elle. “My
father told me once.” The girls all looked at the proud dragon. There were so
many rumors; it would be interesting to finally find out the truth. “K’aos has
a sword made from serpent’s crystals. If he touches you with it, you turn into
a living statue . . . frozen in whatever position you were in when he did it.”

“That’s fairly freaky,”
observed Soo’. “But, at least you’re still alive.”

Sassi disagreed. “I’m not
sure I would call that alive.”

“Aeri’elle, what about the
Green F’aeri?”

“If the breeze from her
wings touches you, your love for anyone turns to hate; and you no longer trust
your friends.”

“That’s horrible,” cried
Sylvia.

“Mobius is one sick
person.”

“I don’t like him. We should
make him go away.”

“We will, K’ssss. That’s
why we’re here.”

Since there was nothing
left to say about the two strange enemies they were probably going to face, Egg
started to describe her dreams.

“First, there was a moth
that was flying to a candle. But when it got too close, it flew away and I went
after it and caught it in butterfly net. So that one’s pretty obvious.”

The other six girls looked
at each other to see if anyone had any idea what Egg was talking about. By the
looks on their faces, no one did.

“Ummm, Egg.”

“Yeah, Syl?”

“I’m not sure K’ssss
understands. Mind explaining it to her?” She hated to pick on the silly
serpent, but what the heck.

“H’sssss.”

“Oh, sure. It’s how we’re
going to capture the Green F’aeri. Okay, then the next thing was a statue of a
bird falling into the water.”

And so it went; weird
images after weirder ones. Sometimes Egg would stop and ask the girls what they
thought it meant; sometimes it was the girls who interrupted Egg to ask her to
explain.

After an hour of heated
discussion, they were finally finished. So now, it was up to Egg to tell them
her plan.

“Sassi, I need you to find
your mom. Then the two of you need to get as many of the Shades of Night as you
can.” (Sassi’s mom was one of the Shades . . . an organization of Aerianna
women who secretly fought Mobius).

“Okay.”

“Soo’ you need to go with
K’ssss and talk to her dad about the stuff we need.” (K’ssss’ father was an
inventor).

“Gotcha.”

“Bl’azzz and Aeri’elle,
you two will be flying me and Syl.”

“Where are we going?”

“We have to find a place
to set our traps.”

“What about the Princess’s
coffin?” asked Aeri’elle.

“We can’t risk carrying it
with us, so we need to hide it. Any ideas?”

“I’ll take it with me.”

They all looked at Sassi.

“You mean on the boat?” It
was how the humans got to the city down river from the Sisterhood.

“Yes.”

“Do you think that’s a
good idea?” asked Egg who obviously didn’t?

“The Shades of Night will
protect it with their lives.” Egg still wasn’t convinced that she should let in
out of her sight . . . until Sassi added, “Trust me.”

That did it. “Okay, let’s
all grab a corner and get it on the boat.” It took quite a bit of huffing and
puffing, but they finally managed it.

As they stood there on the
dock, Egg felt like she should say something . . . after all she was the leader
of this Quest.

“Hey, guys.”

They all looked at Flying
Girl.

“The Quest is almost over.
But the next part is going to be tough . . . tougher than the seven lands. I
need you to be very brave for a little longer. And when it’s over . . .” she
hesitated looking for just the right words.

“And when it’s over . . .
we’re going to have a party at my house.”

At first, their mouths
just dropped open . . . until K’ssss did what K’ssss always did, “H’sssss.”

They all joined in . . .
hooting and howling and laughing.

Soo’ said it best. “I
can’t wait to see the look on your mom’s face when she sees dragons and
serpents and green girls in her living room.”

They all laughed again
until Egg turned serious. “I think we should give the pledge again.” So they
all recited the oath of the Hameggattic Sisterhood . . .

“We are the sisters of
mystery and we protect each other from danger and keep each other’s secrets for
as long as the sun shines and the stars twinkle.”

They hugged and kissed, then
went their separate ways. Time was a wasting; they had a world to save.

Chapter 7 – Mo Gotta Go

Normally Egg would not
split up the group but they were running out of time and there was so much to
do to get ready for the big battle. Besides, they had their communications
crystals so they would never be out of touch.

However, Sassi was the
only one going out on her own. And she was in charge of Dazzle’s body. Egg was
taking a big chance . . . but she trusted her friend. Even so, Sassi had the
biggest challenge —  to find her mother, but avoid her father.

Her dad had been captured
by Mobius and turned into a Mo’beye. These were good people who were now forced
to spy for the evil king. Egg had changed him back to being normal . . . at
least so she had thought. But somehow, Mobius had made him into a Mo’beye again
and forced the poor man to give his daughter a pendant that would allow the
king to spy on the seven sisters.

But in war . . . you
sometimes have to take chances. And this was one of those times.

As she sailed down the
river, Sassi could hardly sit still. She was so excited that she would be
seeing her mom again. When she was five, both her parents had disappeared. What
Sassi later found out was that both of them had been fighting Mobius. After her
dad was captured, her mom made the decision to leave her daughter with Sassi’s
aunt and to join the Shades of Night. She was afraid that if Mobius found her,
he would take Sassi as prisoner. And she could never let that happen.

As fate would have it,
when Egg asked the Shades to send someone . . . they sent Tr’yst, Sassi’s mom.
And for one brief moment, mother and daughter had been reunited.

And now, they would be
working together . . . to fight Mobius.

*****

K’ssss and Soo’ were
headed home to Nau’tika. K’ssss’s dad, Tink’rrr, was a famous inventor and they
needed his help to create certain gizmos and gadgets that Egg had dreamt about.

Since it was doubtful that
her dad would believe K’ssss’s stories about the Princess and the Quest, Egg
had told them to find S’eeee-sik. She was another member of the Shades of
Night. On the day Egg visited Nau’tika to recruit the two serpents, S’eeee-sik
had introduced herself and told her about the secret society that she belonged
to. She told Egg that she knew of her from Storm.

When they
entered the underwater city, the two sea sisters made their way to what would
be a town square. In the center was a large bulletin board where serpents could
post messages of any sort. Sassi had made them a poster and they tacked it up,
found a place to rest and waited.

They were hoping that
S’eeee-sik would remember that Egg had been looking for Soo’nami (which is
almost like the earth word for tidal wave) and K’ssss when they first met.

*****

“So where do you want to
go?”

Egg was riding on the back
of Aeri’elle looking for a place to set a trap for the Green F’aeri.  Sylvia
had gone with Bl’azzz to find someplace where they could fight K’aos.

“I need to find caves . .
. lots and lots of caves.”

“Why?”

“Cause that’s where we’re
going to hang the spider web.”

*****

“Any idea what we’re
looking for?” Bl’azzz asked Sylvia.

“Not really. But I’m sure
I’ll know it when I see it.”

“What exactly did Egg tell
you?”

“That the only way to
defeat K’aos was to get him into the water.”

“And that was why?”

“Because he’s a creature
of the air. His powers won’t work if he gets all wet.”

They were passing over a
lagoon that looked very much like the lake behind Grammy’s house . . . the one
where Grazy saw her friend fly.

“That’s it,” said Sylvia
pointing. “That’s where K’aos will go for a swim.”

*****

“Excuse me,
but I’m looking for two girls named K’ssss and Soo’nami. Do you know them?”

“Who’s asking?” said Soo’
defensively.

“Why . . . I am.”

Not really understanding
that Soo’ was being cautious, the silly serpent volunteered, “My name is
K’ssss. What’s yours?”

“Shush, you loose-lipped
leviathan.”

“Let me introduce myself .
. . I’m S’eeee-sik.”

“You are? You’re the
person we were waiting for. I’m Soo’ and like she already told you; this
silly-ness is K’ssss.”

“Pleasure to meet both of
you. Why don’t we find someplace quiet to talk?” And with that, S’eeee-sik led
the two girls to a secluded alcove and away from prying eyes . . . and ears.
“How can I be of service?”

“Egg has a plan to defeat
Mobius but we need your help.”

“Why is she not here to
ask for this help?”

“She and some of the
others are looking for the perfect place to fight the Green F’aeri and K’aos.”

“That’s a very ambitious
idea. And how will she do what no one else could do?”

“She’ll tell you when the
time is right. But for now, we need your help in convincing K’ssss’s dad to
make some stuff we’re going to need.”

“Why me?”

“Cause he’s not going to
believe us. We’re hoping he’ll believe you.”

S’eeee-sik took a moment
to digest all of this information. “I will help you. What exactly do I need to
do?”

“Convince her dad that
we’re telling the truth. That we’re really about to save the world from
Mobius.”

“Oh, is that all?”

*****

“Sassi, Sassi . . . hello.
Can you hear me?”

“Hi, Egg, is there a problem?”

“No, no . . . everything
is perfect. But I completely forgot to tell you one part of the dream. I just
remembered it. Where are you now?”

“I’m just a few minutes
from docking. What about the dream?”

“There was this person all
dressed in black with ugly, horrible eyes . . .”

“A Mo’beye . . . my dad?”

“I think so. Anyway, I
said to him something like ‘Hey, how come you’ve got creepy weird eyes?’ And do
you know what he said?”

Obviously Sassi didn’t,
but she played along, “No, what?”

“He said, ‘It’s just a
Halloween costume.’ Isn’t that great?”

Since Halloween is only
celebrated on earth, and not on Aerianna, it was kind of obvious what Sassi was
about to ask. “Egg . . . what is a hollow ween?”

“No, silly; Halloween.
It’s a holiday where everyone dresses in stupid costumes and goes trick or
treating.”

“Egg . . . I’m sorry but I
have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, fiddlesticks,” said
an exasperated Egg, “don’t you see? He’s just pretending to be a Mo’beye. It’s
all make believe.”

“How can that be . . .
when he forced me to wear the pendant?”

“Well . . . I’m not sure.
Maybe he gave you the pendant because if he didn’t, Mobius would know he was no
longer under his control. I guess he figured you were smart enough to find a
way to get rid of that thing before it did any harm.” Then she added, “And you
would have if it wasn’t for me making you forget”

“Egg . . . are you sure?”

“Ummm . . . we have to go
with my dreams. So yes, find him first. But hide the coffin just in case.”

“Where?”

“Tell her to tie the boat
in some out of the way place . . . and not at the dock. She can just leave the
coffin inside,” suggested Aeri’elle.

“Did you hear what
Aeri’elle said?”

“Yes. If that’s what you
think I should do, then I will.”

“Be sure to tell us where
you tie the boat . . . you know, just in case.”

“And, good luck.”

“Yeah . . . from both of
us.”

*****

“Hi, Daddy.”

K’ssss’s father looked up
from his workbench and saw his daughter and two of her friends.

“Hi, Sweetheart. What are
you doing here?”

“We came to ask you
something.”

“K’ssss, I’m very busy.
Maybe you and your friends could come back another time.”

“No . . . I can’t.”

“What did you say?” Her
dad had never heard his daughter argue with him before. Not ever.

“She said she can’t. She
needs your help. We all do.”

“And who are you? And who
is we?”

“My name is S’eeee-sik.
And the ‘we’ means all the people of Aerianna who are tired of being ruled by
the evil Mobius.”

“Okay, that’s enough of
that. I don’t know what you three want from me; but I don’t have the time to
talk about fairy tales. Now, K’ssss, please leave and take your friends with
you.”

“Hey, you hairless, huffy
harlequin . . . stop being so mean to your daughter.”

“Now see here . . . do you
know who you are talking to?”

“Actually . . . do YOU
know who you are talking to?”

“My daughter and her two
ill-mannered friends, I presume.”

“Not quite. I am the great
granddaughter of her Majesty, Queen S’eeee.”

“What?”

“What?”

“H’sssss.”

“Have you heard of the
Shades of Night?”

“Yes. Some kind of secret
society trying to overthrow the king if memory serves. Are you three members?”
He asked the question with obvious scorn . . . as if the Shades were of no
importance.

“I am. These two belong to
the Hameggattic Sisterhood. It was founded on Earth . . . a planet orbiting a
star called Sol. They are dedicated to ending the reign of terror that has
befallen us.”

“Really? Founded on Earth?
And how is that possible?”

“I believe you know the
answer . . . the space portal, after all, was invented by one of your
ancestors.”

That got his attention.
“Okay. Let’s assume that I believe that part. How are they going to rid us of
Mobius?”

“It is a very complicated
story. Just know that what your daughter requires from you will help save our
people.”

“Are you really related to
the Queen?”

“Yes.”

“Who else belongs to your
little club?”

“That is not your concern.
However, I will tell you of one who has supported us with his advice and
wisdom.”

“Okay, who?”

“Prince Storm.”

The dragon was revered by
all loyal Aeriannians and the mere mention of his name was enough to sway the
skeptical inventor. “K’ssss, I love you dearly; but I have no idea how you got
mixed up in this . . . or how you were able to help. But, I’m willing to do
whatever I can.”

“Hey, Mister know-it-all,”
said a very upset Soo’. “You’d be very surprised what a hero your daughter has
been. If it wasn’t for her, this whole thing might never have happened.”

“I would like to believe
that . . . I really would. But for now, I’m very glad she has made two great
friends.”

“Just wait till you see
who gives her a medal,” said Soo’ with a mischievous grin.

*****

Sassi found a secluded
place to tie up the boat. It was about a quarter mile from town and there was
no one else around. It seemed as good a place as any . . . or so she hoped. After
making sure everything was as safe and secure as she could make it, she used
her communicator crystal to call Egg and described the hiding place.

She then made her way up
the bank and found a dirt path leading towards the town. It only took her a few
minutes to make her way to the little shack where her father lived. As she
walked up to the front door, her heart was beating a million times a second and
she was having difficulty breathing. She was hoping and praying that Egg’s
dream would be true. She loved her father . . . but was scared to death of the
Mo’beye he had become.

She knocked twice.

She heard some commotion
behind the door but couldn’t quite make out what it was. As she went to knock
again . . . the door was suddenly flung open with great violence.

And there stood the
Mo’beye . . . black robe, monster eyes and a stick that she knew was really a
weapon. She didn’t mean to, but she yelped at the sight of her father.

The Mo’beye stared at her
for a long time, then after looking up and down the street to see who might be
watching, reached out, jerked Sassi into the cabin, and slammed the door.

“Ohhh.”

“Sassi, oh sweet heavens,
it’s so good to see you again.”

“Daddy?”

“It’s me, Sassi Lassi,
it’s me.”

“Oh, Daddy.” And the young
girl threw her arms around her father and cried . . . from happiness.

Then he said something
that really stunned his daughter. “Tr’yst, come out.” Tr’yst, of course, was
his wife and Sassi’s mom.

The kitchen door opened
and the woman squealed in delight. She ran across the room, grabbed her
daughter, and held her tightly. Now there were two people crying . . . from
happiness.

“Oh, Baby. It’s so
wonderful to see you. Are you okay?”

“I am now that the three
of us are together again. Oh, Mom, I can’t tell you how long I’ve dreamt about
this; to be a family again.”

“Me, too, my dearest child
. . . me too.”

“Me, three,” added her
father who came over and joined the group hug.

Over the next ten minutes,
they continued their hugs, giggles, and tears. Then the conversation turned
more serious when Sassi asked, “Dad . . . tell me about the pendant you made me
wear?”

“I didn’t want Mobius to
know that I wasn’t under his control anymore. So when he told me to give that
thing to you . . . I could either reveal my secret or pretend to force you to
wear it. I was hoping that you would find some way to destroy it . . . before
he could do anything to you. I’m sorry; I know I was taking a great risk. But I
guess it worked out okay.”

“You did the right thing,
Daddy. It all worked out.”

“Hey, he only made you
wear some ugly jewelry. Do you know what he did to me?”

“What?”

“He shot me.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Why Daddy?”

“Same reason. I knew
Mobius was watching. But believe me . . . it hurt me more than it hurt your
mother.”

“Ha. I already made him
promise to buy me something incredibly nice when this is all over.”

Sassi giggled. “What’s
that?”

“A new house . . . for the
three of us.”

As you might expect, that
revelation brought more happy crying and excited conversation. When they
finally settled down again, Sassi brought the conversation around to the Quest.
She gave them a brief summary of everything that had happened so far, and then
added . . .

“So, Mom, we need at least
one hundred humans, fifty dragons, a dozen F’yre Dragons and a dozen serpents
from the Shades of Night.”

“My goodness . . . what in
the world for?”

“To defeat Mobius, of
course. And there’s something else. Each of the humans must look like this . .
.” and she showed her mom a sketch she had made. “I’ll do the face art myself.”

“That’s a lot of work.”
Then she took a closer look at the sketch. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Yes. And Daddy . . . when
you took me to Q’umulus; you did it to spy on Mobius, didn’t you?”

“Wow . . . that’s very
good reasoning; and a heck of a memory. That was a long time ago.”

“It was the last thing we
did as a family.”

“Yes, Sweetheart. I’m so
sorry. We both are.”

“I know Daddy. But it was
for a great cause and I’m so proud of both of you.”

Yup . . . that brought on
one more group hug and a round of happy tears.

“Daddy, I need to know
everything you learned. And I really need to know how to get to Q’umulus.”

“I can tell you all the
things we discovered that might be useful in your fight . . . but I can’t tell
you how to get up there.”

“Why not?”

“Mobius controls who comes
and goes very, very closely. Sorry, Sassi . . . but you’re going to have to
find your own way up there.”

Chapter 8 – A Passing
Storm

“Egg . . . can you hear
me?”

“Hi, Sassi. Is everything
okay?”

“Yes and no. You and
Sylvia were right about my dad. And my mom is here, too. She’s going to get all
the Shades that you wanted, but it’ll take at least a couple days.”

“That’s terrific. What’s
the bad news?”

“My dad told me all about
the things he discovered on Q’umulus. Some of it will be really useful. But . .
. he doesn’t know how we can get up there.”

“Fiddlesticks.”

After a moment of silence,
Soo’ called, “Hey, Egg.”

“Hi, Soo’. How’s it
going?”

“Perfect. We found
S’eeee-sik and she did a great job with K’ssss’ dad. He’s beginning to work on
that stuff right now.”

“That’s great. But we have
one big problem. Sassi’s dad doesn’t know how we can get up to Q’umulus. My
plan won’t work unless we can get there.”

“Hang on a second.” There
was silence for the better part of a minute. Then Soo’ returned, “I found a way
to get us up there.”

“Oh my gosh . . . how?”

“K’ssss’s dad said by the
same way you and Sylvia got here from Earth.”

“That space portal thingy?
How can he do that?”

“I guess it was his great,
great, great, great . . . whatever . . . uncle who invented the thing in the
first place. He says it’s a piece of kelp.”

“It’s made of kelp?”

“What? No, no . . . it’s
just a saying. It means it’ll be easy.”

“Oh, a piece of cake.”

“Cake? What cake?”

“Oh, never mind. When can
he be ready?”

“Ummm . . . he says he’ll
need a couple of days at least to finish the stuff we asked for, then another
day to set up the contraption. So . . . three or four days. Is that good?”

“Perfect. Thank him for
me. And S’eeee-sik too.”

“Gotcha.”

*****

So far, everything was
going exactly to plan . . . or more precisely, according to Egg’s dream.

But they now had one very
large problem that her dream didn’t mention. Where were they going to stay
until they were ready to fight Mobius? It had to be someplace where the evil
king wouldn’t think to look. And, it had to be big enough to hold all the
Shades of Night that were coming to the Sisterhood.

She hoped that Sassi’s mom
could help. “Hey . . . it’s me again.”

“Hi Egg.”

“We have a problem. We
need a place to stay that’s big enough for all of us. And we need food and
whatever supplies you need for your face art and costumes. Do you think your
mom could help?”

“I’ll talk to her and call
you right back.”

But one minute passed,
then another and another and Egg was beginning to get worried. It was silly of
her not to have thought about this before they got started. ‘Some leader I am’
she thought to herself.

“Egg.”

“Hi. Can she help?”

“Yes. But you need to come
pick us up so she can show you where this place is. Then she’ll need a ride
back to town so she can start organizing the rest of the Shades.”

“Hold on a sec,” Egg asked
Aeri’elle. “Can you carry three people?”

“Not really. Three kids,
yes. But grown-ups are too heavy.”

“That’s okay. Hey, Syl,”
Egg called on her communicator.

“Hi, Egg.”

“You and Bl’azzz need to
meet us in the little town down river from the Sisterhood. We’re going to pick
up Sassi and her mom.”

“Great. We’re on our way.”

“Sassi . . . did you hear
that?”

“Yes. We’ll be waiting.”

*****

They picked up
Sassi and her mom and flew for quite a while. As the sun began to set, they
crested one last hill and there it was . . . an old abandoned castle.

They landed and everyone
stared at the once magnificent structure.

“Oh my gosh, it’s too
cool.”

“I’m sure you can build a
fire,” answered Tr’yst.

Egg laughed then explained
what she had meant by the word cool.

“Oh. Well . . . then, yes,
it is cool.”

“Who does it belong to?”
asked Sylvia.

“It was one of the summer
homes of F’Aerianne.” Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz almost fainted when they heard that
name.

So they entered the
Rainbow Dragon’s castle and found it very much to their liking. Obviously, she
had lived well as befitted a queen.

And while the girls began
to clean and prepare the rooms for their upcoming guests, Aeri’elle flew Tr’yst
back to town.

*****

“Hi. Soo’, it’s me.”

“Hi, Egg. What’s going
on?”

“Sassi’s mom is going to
talk to S’eeee-sik about getting the serpents we need. And hopefully she’ll be
able to find a place for them to stay that’s close to where you are now.”

“Sounds good. What about
K’ssss and me? We sure would rather be back with you guys.”

“I know. But I really need
you to stay there for a couple of days to get the Shades organized. Then when
K’ssss’s dad has the stuff we need, call me and I’ll send Aeri’elle and Bl’azzz
to come get you.”

“We can do that.” After a
brief pause, the serpent said “Ummm, Egg.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you getting a little
nervous yet? You know . . . now that we’re about to face Mobius and his loony
legions.”

“Truthfully . . . I’ve
been so busy getting all of this stuff ready that I haven’t even thought about
it. I’m sure it will all hit me tonight when I try to sleep. What about you?”

“You guys have what I
thought was a really stupid saying . . . but I think I understand it now.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m so scared . . . I
could wet my pants.” Egg heard a H’sssss in the background and Soo’ yelling,
“Shut-up, you giant, goofy gumball.”

“Well, thank goodness you
guys don’t wear clothes,” Egg giggled. Then she added, “It’s okay to be scared
. . . it shows that you have good sense.”

“Sounds like something
your Grammy would say.”

“How did you know?”

“A grandmother is a
grandmother . . . on earth or on Aerianna.”

*****

The first of the Shades
began to arrive the next day. They came one at a time or sometimes in two’s or
three’s. And they all brought supplies . . . as much as they could carry.

“What are we going to do
with all these guys?” asked a slightly flustered Bl’azzz.

“We need to put everyone
to work,” suggested Sylvia.

“I need as much time as
possible to do my face art on the humans.”

“Can we help?” asked Egg.

“You can’t,” said
Aeri’elle.

“Hey . . . I might be good
at it.”

“That’s not what I mean.
You’re our leader and need to be working on your plans. Leave the small stuff
to us.”

“Oh. I guess you’re
right.”

“Sassi, we do something
similar on earth. I’m sure you could teach me to do some of the simpler stuff,”
offered Sylvia.

“That would be great.
Thanks.”

“What about us?” asked the
other dragon.

“You and Aeri’elle should
find out who can cook. We also need people who can sew.”

Then Aeri’elle asked the
big question, “Egg, when are you going to tell us your exact plans . . . and
who’s going to do what?”

“Probably the night before
we fight Mobius.”

“Why then?”

“It’s what I think Dazzle
would do. She wouldn’t want to tell everybody too soon . . . then you’ll be
talking about it and complaining or trying to suggest changes. Worst of all . .
. the more time you have to think about it, the more nervous you’ll get.”

“Wow. Sounds like
something the Princess might say.”

“I wish she was here.”
Then Aeri’elle realized how that might sound, so she hastily added, “No
offense, Egg. It’s just that she’s already fought Mobius.”

“I miss her too. But, we
can’t wait.”

“Maybe we should talk to
Storm . . .,” offered Sassi.  “Maybe he can speed up what he’s doing.”

“The day before we go to
fight, I’ll go see him.”

“I’d like to come.”

“Me, too.”

“I think we all would.”

So Egg agreed to take all
the sisters to meet the famous dragon.

*****

The next four days zipped
by in a whirlwind of activity. The humans finally had their face art and
costumes . . . and that was a pretty weird sight.

When K’ssss and Soo’
arrived with some of the gadgets Tink’rrr had made, they just stared at the
ninety-three humans. Everyone looked almost exactly like Egg. Same face, same
hair and even the same outfit. It was freaky.

“Whoa.”

“H’sssss.”

“Pretty amazing, isn’t it.
Sassi and Syl did an incredible job.”

“I’ll say. If you stand
next to them, I wouldn’t be able to pick you out.”

“H’sssss. It’s like that
game . . . Where’s S’ally Sea Sh’ell.”

“It’s more like “Where’s
Waldo,” suggested Sylvia.

“I never heard of either
one,” complained Aeri’elle.

“Doesn’t matter,” said
Egg. “Just think of it as Mobius trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

“Ahhh . . . now that makes
sense. Sort of.”

“What do you want us to do
now, Egg?” asked the F’yre Dragon.

“Well, tomorrow’s the big
day. So right now . . . we should go visit Storm. Syl and Aeri’elle . . . put
someone in charge of each group and tell them to eat and rest. They’re going to
be busy tomorrow.”

“And if they want to write
letters . . . to their families . . . now would be a good time.”

“Good thinking, Sassi.”

So they made
their arrangements, said their goodbyes and then the two dragons picked up
their friends . . . and they all flew to Talon’s Perch.

*****

“What do you want?”

The girls all
gasped at the large menacing face and gruff voice . . . everyone except Egg.

“Oh, great . . . it’s you
again” she said in disgust. It was the very same dragon that she and Sylvia had
bumped into on their first visit to Aerianna. But . . . that seemed like a very
long time ago. Egg wasn’t the same scared little girl that she was back then.
“Remember me?”

“No. I’ll ask once more,
what do you want?”

“I want you to stop being
so mean and then I want you to tell us where Storm is.” The other girls were
wide-eyed at Egg’s foolishness . . . or was it bravery?”

“And why would the Prince
want to see the likes of you?”

“I’m Egg of Earth and
these are the Hameggattic Sisters,” she replied defiantly.

The other girls expected
the dragon to laugh or to do something worse. But to their shock, he said,
“Wait here.”

He came back in less than
a minute. “This way.” So they followed him into the building and to the same
apartment that Egg and Sylvia had visited the last time. But as they entered,
they saw the famous, old dragon lying on a bed.

“STORM,”
yelled Egg as she ran to his bedside. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Obviously he wasn’t. “I am
afraid that I suffer from the one thing for which there is no cure . . . old
age.”

Egg wanted to say
something encouraging . . . but she couldn’t think of anything except,
“Tomorrow my sisters and I are going to fight Mobius.”

The old dragon stared at
the little girl . . . with both shock and awe. “You would do this without the
Princess?”

“I have to. It was in my
dreams.”

“Ahhh. Well, perhaps you
won’t have to go it alone. I have good news for you; the suit has been
recharged. We found a way to speed up the process.”

“Oh my gosh, that’s
wonderful.”

“I will send for it in a
moment. But first, I do not believe I know all of your sisters. Would you do an
old man a kindness and introduce them. I would like to meet the heroines of
Aerianna.”

“Oh, sure. I’m sorry.
Well, you already met Sylvia. This is Bl’azzz, Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’ (They all
bowed to the Prince). And this is . . .”

But the dragon cut her
off. “This beautiful child must be Aeri’elle.”

Everyone turned to stare
at the blushing dragon, then back to Storm. “How did you know that?”

“I will tell you . . . in
a moment. First, I will send for your suit. Then, perhaps, you could summon the
Princess . . . so I may bid her farewell.” He rang a buzzer that lay beside his
bed.

“What do you mean
farewell? Where are you going?” Had Egg stopped to think, she would have known the
answer. But at that moment the door opened and a dragon walked in carrying the
flying suit.

“FATHER?”
yelped Aeri’elle. “What are you doing here?”

The other six girls stared
at the newcomer . . . and then at each other. Things certainly had a way of getting
weird on this Quest.

“That’s your dad?” asked
Egg.

But before anyone could
explain, the old dragon started to cough. Aeri’elle’s dad ran over to the bed
and gave Storm some water. Then he turned and asked, “Are you Egg of Earth?”

“Yes.”

“This is yours, I
believe.” And he handed her the suit. “But, please, there is not much time . .
. summon the Princess.”

Not understanding, but
sensing the man’s urgency, Egg called, “Dazzle, Dazzle can you hear me?”

As if waking from a dream,
the Princess slowly materialized out of thin air. “I am here. Egg . . . it
is good to see and talk to you once again. Where are we? What has happened?”

“Dazzle . . . look,” and
she pointed to the bed.

“Storm. Oh my dear
friend . . . I promised the next time we met you would be able to see me as I
once was. I have failed you.” Egg told the dragon what Dazzle said.

“I forgive you, Rose. But
I am glad we have this one last opportunity to say goodbye.”

Dazzle floated over to the
bed and sat down next to her lifelong friend . . . and she began to weep.

“Why are you crying?
What’s going on?” asked Egg . . . still not understanding the obvious.

It was Aeri’elle’s father
who explained. “Prince Storm is very old and his time has come. Soon his spirit
will join his ancestors and his voice will be added to the chorus of voices we
hear when we dream.”

“You don’t mean he’s going
to die?” blurted Egg in shock.

“Yes . . . that is what he
means,” answered Storm.

“Well . . . well . . .
that’s just not fair. We’re about to beat Mobius and then Dazzle will have the
Crystal Egg and she can make you better. Right Dazzle? Tell him he shouldn’t
die now. Tell him. Tell him tomorrow you’ll make him better. Tell him. Dazzle
tell him . . . tell him now.” Exhausted by her childish outburst, Egg fell on
the bed, threw her arms around the old dragon and started to cry
uncontrollably.

The other girls stood
there trying to stop their tears . . . but failed.

“Do not weep for me,
little one. I have lived longer than most. And I have lived long enough to know
that Mobius will soon be defeated . . . and then — all that was will be again.”

If that was intended to
stop the girls from crying, it didn’t work.

“Rose, I would ask one
thing of you before I leave.”

“Anything, my friend.” Sylvia told Storm what
she said since Egg was in no condition to talk.

“Destroy the Crystal Egg.
Such power is an obscenity. We of Aerianna do not need it. We only need a wise
leader and time to rekindle the love between races that we fought so hard to
acquire. The Egg is too dangerous. If it weren’t Mobius . . . it would have
been someone else. Destroy it once and for all.”

“I had already come to
that conclusion my dearest Storm. I will return it to the Myst Tree.” It had been the Tree that
originally awarded the Crystal Egg to M’earth, Dazzle’s father.

“You were always so
sensible. You will make a wonderful Queen.”

Egg had almost regained
her composure and was now standing by the bed. As she stood looking at these
two life-long friends, a wonderful idea popped into her head. She looked around
and spotted a knife on the night table. She grabbed it then returned to Storm’s
side and said, “I have a gift for you. But . . . I have to poke you with this
first. Okay?”

The old dragon smiled at
the sad little girl. “I would never turn down a gift from one so brave.”

So Egg pricked Storm and
then herself. She touched her bleeding thumb to the spot of blood on the
dragon’s wing . . . and then gently stroked his head while whispering something
no one else could hear. Then out loud, she said, “There. That’s for helping me
at the Crystal Mountain.”

Storm was about to ask
what had just happen, but then his tired old eyes grew wide in surprise. He was
seeing the ghostly shape of Dazzle.

“Rose? Is that truly you?”

“Storm . . . you can see
me? I did not think that was possible?” She looked over to Egg then added, “Though, I should never
underestimate my amazing Sister.”

So even though they could
not hug each other, the dragon and the princess were able to spend a few
minutes . . . looking lovingly at each other and reminiscing of times long
gone. Everyone else would have left, but they were asked to stay . . . to
witness Storm’s passing.

Towards the end of their
conversation, Storm said, “Rose, do you remember our first party at Se’rene?”

Dazzle laughed at the
memory. “How
could I forget? You were so in love with that pretty dragon. What was her
name?”

“Elle’Lenore.”

“Yes, that was it.
Whatever became of her?”

“A few years after you
left us . . . I married her.”

“No! That is wonderful.
And did you have a good life together?”

“We did. My wife gave
birth to a daughter . . . and she, in turn, had a son. Princess, may I
introduce you to my grandson, Soar’elle.” And he pointed to the dragon that had
brought the suit. “And, I believe you already know my great granddaughter, Aeri’elle.”

The mouths of the seven
sisters dropped opened and stayed that way.

“Princess . . . I am sorry
I cannot see or hear you. But, I am at your service.”

Then the room exploded in
a babble of conversation. It took many minutes and a thousand questions to
finally understand what had just happened.

It turned out that Storm .
. . fearing what Mobius might do to his family . . . had them swear never to
admit they were descended from him. In fact, Soar’elle did not find out who his
grandfather was until he became a young man. Aeri’elle’s disappointment in her
father’s apparent lack of loyalty to the former king had been totally
misplaced. Soar’elle had been helping his grandfather for years to defeat
Mobius . . . though they had little to show for it.

And poor Aeri’elle . . .
learning for the first time that she was the great granddaughter of the famous
Storm was just completely overwhelmed. She sat down next to the old dragon and
did what Egg had done . . . cried. Her father sat next to her and tried his best
to console his daughter.

While this was going on,
Dazzle and the others walked to the far side of the room to give Storm and his
descendants some privacy . . . and to talk.

Egg gave the Princess a
quick update on everything that had happened since the suit’s power had failed.
When she was up to speed, she told Egg . . .

“You must take me to the
Myst Tree. Once I have been restored, we shall face Mobius and the others.”

“No, Dazzle.”

The Princess stared at her
sister. No one in the world could talk to her that way . . . no one, except Egg. “Please explain.”

“You weren’t part of my
dreams.”

That statement could not
be argued or debated. “What, then, would you have me do?”

“I want Sylvia to take you
back to the Myst Tree. Then when you’re back in your body again . . . come to
Q’umulus.”

“Egg . . . why me?” asked
Sylvia.

“Cause you’re my best
friend and getting Dazzle fixed up is just as important as anything me and the
others are going to do.”

“Should I fly them there?”
asked Bl’azzz.

“No, I need you with me.”

“How about me?” asked
Aeri’elle who had joined them.

“No. I have a very
important job for you. It’s the most dangerous one.”

Without hesitating, the
proud dragon said “Okay.”

“Could you ask your dad if
he’d do it?”

And so it was agreed that
Soar’elle would fly Sylvia, the flying suit and Dazzle’s body to Sighing Whorl.
He would be joined by all of the non-F’yre dragons that were waiting back at
the castle. Together, they would fight the Fl’eyes.

“There is one more thing
you must carry,” said Storm in a voice that was quickly fading. “Aeri’elle,
under my bed is something for the Princess.” His great granddaughter reached
under, pulled out a sword, and handed it to Egg.

Dazzle came
over and looked at it closely. “It is Dazzle, my sword. What a wonderful gift, old friend.
Thank you.”

But Storm did not answer .
. . his eyes had closed for the last time. And as everyone stared in
grief-stricken silence, the dragon’s spirit rose from his body. It looked like
a very young Storm, only it was a ghostly image like that of Dazzle.

It hovered above the bed,
looked around and finally found what it was searching for. He drifted over to
the Princess . . . and hugged her with gossamer wings. Dazzle threw her arms
around his neck, held him tightly for a goodly while and finally kissed him
farewell. Then the spirit of Storm slowly disappeared as he continued his
journey to join his ancestors and to add his kind and wise voice to the
universe.

Chapter 9 –Leaping
Lizards

The seven sisters flew
back to F’Aerianne’s castle accompanied by Aeri’elle’s father and, of course,
Dazzle. Since the suit was charged, Egg put it on for what would probably be
the last time. And for the next hour . . . she was Flying Girl once more.

“Oh, Dazzle . . . I almost
forgot how wonderful it is to fly.”

“I am sorry, my sister,
that this part of your life must come to an end.”

“It’s okay,” said a very
mature nine-year-old girl. “I’m just so glad that I had the chance to be Flying
Girl . . . and to help you. But, I’m so sorry about Storm.” She had to fight
back tears at the mention of his name. “You must be very sad.”

“No, my sister. When I
left Aerianna a thousand years ago, I never expected to see any of my family or
friends again. To have been given this opportunity . . . as brief as it was . .
. to talk with my dearest friend one last time is something for which I will
always be grateful.”

“How did you two become
friends?”

Dazzle laughed at the
memory. “I
was a terrible child . . . always getting into trouble. When I was perhaps your
age, my father decided he had enough of me. He sent me to live with a number of
Royal families. It was Queen F’Aerianne who introduced me to Storm. She hoped
that we would become fast friends, and we did.”

“Boy, it’s hard to believe
that you were bad. You seem like such a goody-two-shoes. No offense.”

“I am not familiar with
that saying. But if you are suggesting that the Dazzle you know always does the
right thing . . . you would be correct. However, the young Rose was a (she hesitated, trying to
think of just the right word) . . . ummm . . . ah, yes . . . a spoiled brat.”

“Oh my gosh . . . you?”

“I behaved very
unladylike. I was a princess . . . at least by birth. Therefore, I assumed . .
. and insisted . . . that everything had to be just as I wished it.”

“Really spoiled, huh?”

“Yes . . . very. But
worse, at least in my parent’s eyes, I was always putting myself in harm’s way.
There was no dare too dangerous for me; nor was there any silly childish
challenge that I wouldn’t accept.”

“Wow. I would never have
guessed.”

Changing the subject,
Dazzle asked, “Sister, may I ask you a question?”

“Well, of course.”

“How were you able to
give Storm the ability to see me? That should not have been possible.”

“Oh, I just used the
bracelet and told him he could see anything his heart desired. I guess that was
you.”

“But how did you know to
do this? Was it revealed to you in a dream?”

“No. It just seemed fair
that he should see you again. So . . . I just did what I did without really
thinking about it.”

“Most amazing. Most
amazing.”

“I’m so glad it worked; he
was such a nice dragon” and Egg started to cry.

“Don’t be sad my sister.
He may be gone . . . but his spirit still lives. When you and I dream, we will
hear his voice and share his wisdom.”

“Oh, that would be so
wonderful.”

“Now . . . please tell
me your plans for Mobius and his minions. Perhaps I can offer you some advice.”

*****

When they got back to
F’Aerianne’s castle Egg gave instructions to Sassi, K’ssss and Soo’.

“Aeri’elle’s dad is going
to fly you two back to Nau’tika. You need to find the Shades and give them a
blood oath . . . without the words. Then get the rest of the stuff from your
dad (meaning K’ssss’ father) and wait for me to call you. Sassi . . . you need
to get Dazzle’s body. Does everyone understand?”

*****

After the girls flew off,
Egg went into the castle and called all the Shades together for a meeting to
discuss her plans. At Dazzle’s suggestion, she had made some changes.

“Okay, everybody . . .
listen up, please.” But there was so many conversations going on that no one
heard her.

“QUIET,” screamed Bl’azzz,
who also burped and nearly roasted three Egg look-alikes. That got their
attention.

“Glad you’re on our side,”
kidded Sylvia as she waved away the smoke from her sister’s hot breath.

Egg continued . . .
“there’s been a slight change in plans. We’re not going to fight Mobius and the
others tomorrow; we’re going to do it today.” That revelation brought an
excited murmur from the crowd and looks of surprise from Egg’s sisters.

“The first thing we need to
do is give you all a blood oath. So everyone find a sewing needle and give
yourself a teensy poke. Then one of us (she pointed at the four sisters) will
share a drop of our blood with you. And before you ask why . . . just trust
me.”

So they did as they were
told and when they finished Egg explained, “The reason we did this is to help
protect you from the power of the Crystal Egg. Each of you now has a drop of
Dazz . . . I mean Princess Dazzle’s blood.” Another wave of excited murmuring
swept the room. “And now that you’re all honorary members of the Hameggattic
Sisterhood, I think you deserve to meet someone special.”

A swirl of white fog
appeared and out stepped the Warrior Princess. There was an explosion of gasps
from every one of the Shades of Night as they recognized Dazzle. And as one,
they fell to their knees and bowed low.

“Rise, my sisters. It is
I that should be paying you homage. You have dedicated your lives to defeating
Mobius and restoring the throne to my family. I am humbled by your loyalty and
swear that we will rid ourselves of that evil man.”

It took a second or two
for the Shades to fully comprehend what was going on and what they were
hearing. And when they did, they let out an ear-splitting yell of joy.

When the cheering finally
died down, Dazzle continued. “I will not be leading you in the fight; Egg of Earth will.” The Shades moaned. “You may trust her with
your lives . . . as I do. She has my full confidence and I expect all of you to
do exactly as she commands . . . and without hesitation. She speaks for me.”

One of the Shades that
looked like Egg found the courage to ask, “Your Highness, why will you not be with us?”

“Egg shall explain.”

“All of the dragons . . .
except the F’yre Dragons . . . will be going to the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl.
Sylvia (and she pulled her friend close to her) will be in charge. She’ll be
riding with Aeri’elle’s dad (and she pointed at her sister). They will be
carrying Dazzle’s body and her spirit. The Tree will put her back together
again. But you have to help them get past the Fl’eyes. They’re little bug like
pests that are very dangerous . . . so you have to be careful.”

“How do we get past them?”
asked the same Shade.

“We’ll show you in a
little bit. Anyway, once Dazzle’s a real person again, she’ll meet me on
Q’umulus. Actually . . . I want all of you to meet me there.”

“Now, I’m going to send
all the humans to Nau’tika to wait for me. Then I’ll explain to the F’yre
Dragons what they have to do.”

Egg tapped her
communications crystal. “Soo’, can you hear me?”

“Hi, Egg. We’re all set
here. The Shades got their blood oath and K’ssss and I have all the stuff her
dad made. What’s next?”

“Have K’ssss’s dad open a
portal here so I can send some more Shades down there. Once you get them
settled in, you and K’ssss bring all that stuff here.”

“Can do.”

*****

So the Egg look-alikes
went to wait in Nau’tika and Soo’ and K’ssss returned to F’Aerianne’s castle
with all of the gadgets they would need.

“What the heck
are those?” asked Egg pointing at dozens and dozens of cages.

“Them there things are
Fl’eaters; you know . . . Fl’eye eaters.”

“What?”

“Actually K’ssss made up
the name. They’re mechanical lizards that are programmed to eat Fl’eyes.
Win’dacious . . . aren’t they?”

“More like weird. What do
you do with them?’

“You just drop them
wherever the Fl’eyes are. They can’t fly, but they’re supposed to be able to
leap really, really high.

“What about the other
thing I asked for?”

“Here you go . . .” and
she pulled out an Aeriannian version of a fly swatter.

“Great. So as soon as
Sassi gets back, we can send them to Sighing Whorl.

*****

About an hour later,
Soar’elle landed with Sassi and the glass coffin. Egg came to greet them.

“Any problems?”

“No. None.”

“Soar’elle, Sylvia will be
out in a few minutes along with the rest of the Shades that will be going with
you.”

“Very good.”

“And you understand that
the suit she’ll be wearing holds Dazzle’s spirit.”

“Yes. My grandfather told
me the story many years ago.”

“And when you finish in
Sighing Whorl, would you fly Dazzle and Sylvia to Q’umulus?”

“It would be my honor.”

“Thank you for everything”
and she gave the dragon a big hug. “Oh, I almost forgot . . . you should know
that Aeri’elle has been a great Sister. She’s incredibly brave.”

“Thank you for saying
that. And thank you for giving my grandfather that wonderful gift.” He smiled
then added, “and thank you for what you’re about to do.”

“You’re welcome.” Egg
hugged him once more then turned to leave.

“Egg . . .”

She stopped and looked at
the dragon “Yes?”

“You said that Aeri’elle
had an important part to play in the coming battle . . . and that it would be
particularly dangerous. May I ask what you intend to have her do?” He was
talking like your everyday concerned father.

“She’s going to steal the
Crystal Egg.”

“I see. May I kiss her
goodbye?”

“Of course. She’ll be out
in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

*****

Each dragon received one
fly swatter and a cage of Fl‘eaters. After which they went outside and waited
with Soar’elle.

Sylvia changed into Egg’s
flying suit. “How do I look?”

“It looks so much better
on me,” kidded her friend.

But Syl was too nervous to
laugh. Instead, she said, “Well, I guess this is it.”

The seven sisters were
standing in a circle looking anxiously at each other. No one seemed able to
make the first move.

“Listen,” said Egg. “We
worked really hard to get to this point; and everyone is depending on us. I’m
going to be really upset if the history books say something like, ‘there were
seven silly stupid sisters that thought they could win back a planet.’ It
better say, ‘there were seven super sisters that sent stupid Mobius sailing
into the stars.”

“Hey. I like all those ‘s’
words.”

“H’sssss. She sounds like
you.”

The girls all laughed . .
. but it was a nervous laugh. Then they hugged and wished each other good luck.

“Would you give me a
minute to say goodbye to my dad?”

“Sure.”

So Aeri’elle went outside
and found her father. The Shades all politely moved away to give them a little
privacy.

“Daddy . . . you be
careful.”

“I will, sweetheart. And
the same goes for you.”

“I will; I promise.”

“Aeri’elle . . . I am so
very proud of you. I have always been proud of you.”

“Daddy . . . I’m so sorry
for ever having doubted your loyalty. I’m just a foolish little girl.”

“No, Aeri’elle . . . you
are no longer a little girl. You are a Hameggattic Sister and one of the
heroines of Aerianna. And as for the other thing . . . I made you believe that
I didn’t care. It was grandfather’s orders and I dared not disobey. Believe me
when I tell you it hurt me to hurt you.”

She hugged her father
while fighting back her tears . . . until she saw him crying. Then she joined
him. After a few moments, he gently pushed her away and said, “I will see you
on Q’umulus.”

*****

“What now?” asked Bl’azzz
after they finished their final preparations.

“Let’s wait for Sassi, and
then I’ll tell you.”

Sassi was making herself
up to look like Egg . . . just as all the other human Shades had done. She
finally came out of the bathroom in her new disguise.

“Well?” she asked her
sisters as she did a little pirouette.

“I feel like I’m looking
in the mirror.”

“I like you better with
greenish skin,” added Soo’ who also had green skin.

“Okay, you guys, here’s
what we’re going to do.” She explained the plans and asked if there were any
questions. There was only one.

“How do we get K’aos and
the Green F’aeri to attack us?”

“I’ll take care of that,”
said Egg to Bl’azzz. “Mobius is always trying to get inside my mind. This time
I’ll let him in long enough so he can see where I’m going to be. He won’t be
able to resist sending his sick sidekicks.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“We just have to trust my
dreams.” As usual, that statement ended any debate. “So, let’s go.”

“Oh, wait,” said Soo’. The
girls turned to look at serpent. “I forgot to give you this . . .” and she
handed Egg a crystal the size of a . . . yeah, you guessed it . . . a small
egg.

“What is it?”

“Tink’rrr said it’s like a
battery. It lets you use one of your powers . . . but just for a short time.”

“What good is that?”

“He said it might make a
difference.”

“How does it work?”

“He said to just use your
powers like you normally do. That thingy will do the rest.”

Egg took the battery and
put it in her pocket. “Remind me to thank him.” Then she looked at each of the
five remaining sisters and smiled. “I guess it’s time.” And, she was right . .
.

The time for planning and
preparing was over.

The time for courage and
sacrifice was now.

The time to fight Mobius
had begun.

Unfortunately, even the
best plans don’t always work as they should.

*****

In the fight against the
Green F’aeri, it would only be Egg, Bl’azzz and four other F’yre Dragons.
Sassi’s mom couldn’t get the twelve that Egg had asked for in such a short
time. So, they would have to make do with what they had.

Flying to the cave complex
that Egg had discovered, they looked around for the perfect place to lay their
trap.  They were inside in the central cavern, which had smaller passageways
leading off in about eight directions.

“Okay, I want everyone to
split up. Fl’ame, you go that way (she pointed to the first passage way on her
left); Sizz’le, take the one next to it, G’loww, the one after that and . . .
ummm . . . I’m sorry I forgot your name,” Egg said to the last dragon.

“That’s okay; you have a
lot on your mind. My friends call me Char.”

“Thanks, Char. Anyway,
take the last passage on this side. Bl’azzz, you and I will take the first one
on this other side.”

“Sounds good.”

“Ummm . . . what exactly
are we looking for?” asked Char.

“A place to put this web,”
and she held it up. It really was more like a fishing net but the strands were
so tiny, it would be impossible to see. After it was set, they would apply some
kind of sticky stuff that K’ssss’s dad had given them. Once the F’aeri landed
in it, she would be stuck fast . . . like a fly (or like Bl’azzz) in a spider’s
web.

“So how do we get her to
fly into it?” asked Fl’ame.

“She’s afraid of fire. You
guys are just going to keep breathing flames at her until we force her into the
web. Just make sure the wind from her wings doesn’t touch you.”

“Why?”

“It’ll make you hate those
you love . . . and be suspicious of your friends.”

“That’s mean.”

“I’ll say. Anyway . . . we don’t have much time so let’s start
looking,” and the girls walked off in different directions.

Chapter 10 – Lucky to be Lucky

Egg found the perfect
place for the trap. She really should have called the others, but she was
anxious to get it up before the Green F’aeri arrived. So, with Bl’azzz’s help,
she hung the web.

“It’s just amazing . . . I
can hardly see it.”

“It is kind of dark in
here.” What little light there was came from holes high in the ceiling and
through the cave’s entrance.

“Yeah . . . but even so.
Anyway, I’ll finish up while you get the others.”

“Okay,” and Bl’azzz
scampered off.

Five minutes passed and
Egg had finished putting the sticky stuff on the web. Everything was now ready.
But the others hadn’t come back yet.

“Hey, Bl’azzz,” she called
on her communicator crystal. “What’s taking you so long?” But there was no
answer. “Hey, Bl’azzz . . . can you hear me?”

“She’s gone.”

Egg jumped at
the strange voice. Turning around she came face to face with . . .

“Oh my gosh.”

“Did I frighten you? If I
did, I’m terribly sorry.”

Egg stared at the
beautiful creature. She wasn’t really sure what she had been expecting . . .
but this certainly wasn’t it. The girl . . . or whatever she now was . . .
seemed shy, sweet, and not at all dangerous.

“Where are my friends?”

“They flew away.”

“Did you hurt them?”

“I’ve never hurt anyone.”
The F’aeri seemed upset by the question.

“Did you do that thing
with your wings?”

“What thing?”

“You know . . . flap your
wings so the breeze will make them hate the people they love . . . and all that
stuff.”

“Of course, silly . . .
that’s how I help people.”

“Are you crazy . . . you
hurt them.” Poor Bl’azzz, she thought, first it was the P’xxxies, then the
spider and now this.

“You have it all wrong. I
just let them see that people . . . especially the ones they love or befriend .
. . are really not very nice. I let them see the truth . . . people are evil.”

“No they’re not; most
people are nice. You’re the evil one. And so is Mobius.”

“I wish it were true . . .
what you say about most people. But Mobius has taught me otherwise. He’s been
very kind to me.”

“Kind? He turned you into
. . . whatever you are.”

“I don’t understand. I’ve
always been what I am. Haven’t you always been what you are?”

“Well, of course . . .
well, you know if you don’t count the whole Flying Girl thing. Oh, never mind.”

“You’re kind of sweet . .
. but just a little confused.” She sounded so normal; it was hard to believe
she was so dangerous.

“By the way, how did you
sneak up on me?”

“I can float like a
butterfly.”

“Yeah, but you sting like a
bee.”

“I don’t sting and I
didn’t know that AyBee could.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know AyBee could
sting.” She was referring to the Octopus Man that the sisters had met in the
seven lands.

“No, no, no . . . not
AyBee. Oh, fiddlesticks . . .  just forget it.”

“Okay.” Then the F’aeri
slowly floated closer, forcing Egg to step back.

“Don’t come any closer.”

“Why not? I mean you no
harm.”

“You want to zap me with
your wings.”

“I just want to help you.”
And she came closer.

Egg wasn’t sure what to
do. This wasn’t supposed to happen . . . at least it didn’t in her dreams.
Thinking fast, she decided to try something. “Your name is Ss’ong, isn’t it?”

“Song? No.”

“And your sister is
Rose’Alynnia and your dad is M’earth.”

“I don’t have a sister.
And I never knew my father.”

“And your mom is
Kat’Alynnia.”

The F’aeri stopped and
stared at Egg. Sometimes the bond between mother and daughter is so strong that
not even someone as evil and powerful as Mobius can break it.

“Kat’Alynnia,” she
repeated the name as if it were a prayer.

“Yes, your mom. She loves
you a lot.”

“I love her so much. Why
did she go away and leave me all alone?”

“It wasn’t her fault . . .
Mobius made her leave.”

“That’s not true. Why are
you lying to me?”

“I’m not. Mobius is evil.
He hurts everybody.”

“Oh dear. You’re still
confused . . . but I can help you.” And she started to float closer.

That’s when Egg panicked.
She turned around and started to run towards the web that she and Bl’azzz had
hung. But even she couldn’t see it . . . until the last second.

Just before she ran into
it, she cut hard to her right and barely avoided getting tangled. But her leg
brushed the sticky web and it stuck to her pants. As she continued to run . . .
the bottom of the web followed her.

And so did the Green F’aeri.

Then she got really lucky.
The web was so stuck to her clothes that she eventually pulled the whole thing
down from the ceiling where it had been attached.

And it landed on the
F’aeri.

“Oh!” The creature
struggled to get out . . . but the more she did, the more she became stuck.
“Help me, please,” she begged.

Egg had stopped and
carefully removed the web from her pant leg. Then she walked over to the very
tangled winged girl. “Are you okay?”

“Yes . . . but I’m stuck.
Please help me.”

“I will; I promise.” She
tapped her communications crystal and called Aeri’elle. “Come and get me.”

“Where’s Bl’azzz? Are you
all right?”

“I’ll tell you when you
get here. Oh . . . and bring a knife, a big coat and rope.”

*****

With Aeri’elle’s help,
they freed the F’aeri by cutting away the sticky web. However, they kept her
wings stuck together so she couldn’t flap them. Then just to be extra careful,
they put her in the oversized coat that covered those dangerous wings.

“I’m sorry, but I have to
tie your hands together.”

“Why?” The pretty green
creature just couldn’t understand that what she did to people with her wings
was just plain wrong. She truly believed she was doing something nice for them.

“So you don’t try to
escape . . . or try to do anything funny.”

Aeri’elle flew them to
F’Aerianne’s castle where they left the Green F’aeri with one of the Shades.
Then they flew off to find the others.

It was time to face K’aos.

*****

Along the way, Egg told
Aeri’elle, “I’m a little worried.”

“Why?”

“It didn’t work out like
my dream said it would.”

“But you got her. That’s
all that matters.”

“It was stupid luck. What
happens if my dreams are wrong about K’aos and Mobius? We could be in serious
trouble.”

“I think it’s too late to
doubt your dreams now.”

“Yeah . . . I guess.”

“Besides . . . being lucky
is good.”

“That doesn’t seem like a
good plan.”

“What?”

“. . . hoping that we’re
lucky enough to be lucky.”

*****

Sylvia, Soar’elle and the
rest of the Shades were approaching the valley of Sighing Whorl. They were
close enough to see the swarm of mechanical Fl’eyes that Mobius had created to
stop anyone from approaching the Myst Tree. The Tree was the one thing that he
had no power over.

They had already made
their plans and Sylvia gave the dragons the signal to proceed with the first
part . . . dropping the Fl‘eaters. They swooped down as low as they could get
without bumping into the Fl’eyes . . . and then released the leaping lizards.

Flying back up to a safe
height, they watched as the Fl’eaters hit the ground like so many bouncing
balls. When they finally came to rest . . . they looked around, found a Fl’eye
and leaped high in the air.

Sometimes they succeeded
in eating the weird little pests.

But sometimes the pests
won.

*****

As Egg and
Aeri’elle approached the place where they were to meet Soo’ and K’ssss, they
saw something that sent chills up their backs . . .

Coming out of a cloud was
B’ludd, the nasty, mean-tempered dragon turned traitor. He was the only one who
willingly joined with Mobius . . . against his own people.

“Oh my gosh.”

“What is he doing here?”

“I don’t know. He wasn’t
in my dreams.”

“What should we do?”

“Let’s hope he hasn’t seen
us. Fly lower and we’ll look for K’ssss.” The silly serpent was supposed to be
waiting on a ledge that overlooked the water. Soo’ and the other serpents were
to be in the water with a specially designed water-bubble that Tink’rrr had
made for them.

After circling for a bit,
Aeri’elle spotted their sister. “There she is.”

They landed and walked
over to the serpent. But something was wrong; the silly sea sister had been
frozen like a statue.

“This is K’aos’s doing,”
said the dragon. It was obvious that K’ssss must have been touched by the
Wraith’s sword.

“She must have tried to
leap on him and knock him into the water.” It looked like K’ssss was frozen in
mid-leap. She was standing on her tail and why she hadn’t fallen over was
anybody’s guess. In fact, Egg was afraid to touch her . . . it might be just
enough to make the frozen serpent fall down.

“I guess she’s going to
get another medal . . . that makes four.”

“Welcome, my
little friends. I have so wanted to meet you.” The girls jumped at the hideous
voice. They turned around and weren’t at all surprised to see that it belonged
to K’aos.

*****

Meanwhile, back at Sighing
Whorl all the leaping lizards had done as much as they could. Either they had
eaten so many Fl’eyes that they could eat no more; or they had been destroyed
by the nasty pests.

“Okay,” yelled Sylvia.
“Now it’s our turn.”

Each dragon took out their
fly swatters and following Sylvia and Soar’elle, dove into the cloud of buzzing
Fl’eyes swinging and swatting.

They really weren’t sure
what a Fl’eye could do to you. But they soon found out. One of them landed on
the head of a dragon, and then it crawled into her ear. And . . . it began to
buzz.

The buzz was so loud, so
awful . . . that it made the poor dragon scream in pain. She shook her head
side to side trying to free herself from the pest. But that was impossible.

Then the dragon slowly
plummeted to earth in a lazy spiral. She hit the ground and fainted. Score one
for the Fl’eyes.

*****

“So . . . you must be the
famous Egg of Earth.”

“And you must be Prince
Z’kkk.”

“Ahhh . . . is that how
you outwitted the others? Well, little one, that will not work with me. I know
who I was. And I know who I am. I’ll let you in on a little secret; I like me
just the way you see me.”

“Ugly?” said Egg
sarcastically.

“Beauty is in the eye of
the beholder; is it not?”

“Maybe beauty is . . . but
ugly is ugly.”

“You show amazing courage
for one so young.”

“And you show a serious
case of dumb for someone who used to be so smart.”

“How do you know what I
was like before I became what I am?”

“Dazzle . . . um, Rose . .
. told me all about you. I really liked the story about the time you proposed
to her. Maybe you recognize my outfit.”

For the first time, the
Wraith looked at the girl’s clothes . . . and an evil smile split his ugly
face. “Did you think those clothes would suddenly make me forsake my master (he
was referring to Mobius) and lay down my sword?”

“Oh, silly . . . I would
never expect you to do something that smart.”

While this conversation
was going on, Aeri’elle could hardly keep from fainting. K’aos was so ugly, so
menacing . . . that she was totally terrified. Yet, here was her sister talking
to this creature as if they were equals. Worse . . . Egg was insulting him. It
was the most incredible thing she had ever witnessed.

“I have enjoyed out little
chit-chat; but, alas, it is time to take you to see my master. He is most
anxious to talk to you.” He turned to Aeri’elle and dismissed her with, “You
are of no consequence. Leave or I will turn you into a statue like your serpent
friend.”

Egg turned to Aeri’elle
and said, “You should go. But before you do, please give K’ssss a hug for me. Maybe
she’ll be able to feel it even if she’s frozen.”

“But . . .”

“Please don’t argue. Just
remember that when push comes to shove . . . we’re still the Hameggattic
Sisters.”

At first, the dragon
didn’t know what Egg was trying to say. Then she looked up at K’aos and
understood.

“Okay . . . if you insist.
Please be careful.”

She then walked over to
K’ssss who was still standing tall and frozen and put her wings around her for
a hug. But instead of hugging . . . she pushed and shoved. And the silly
serpent fell with a thunderous splat sound.

And K’ssss, ever the hero,
fell on K’aos. The Wraith threw his arms up to protect himself . . . but it was
too late. His sword went flying and the very heavy serpent knocked him over the
ledge and into the water below.

*****

Soar’elle lay injured. He
had been attacked by a dozen or more Fl’eyes. Sylvia had fought valiantly and
almost destroyed all of them. But two had landed on the dragons head. And they
crawled inside his ears . . . one in the left, one in the right.

The pain was so bad that
the dragon fell to the ground and only barely managed to break his fall with
one last mighty flap of his wings. But he had hit very hard and Sylvia heard a
horrible cracking sound.

She climbed off
Soar’elle’s back, fly swatter in hand. After making sure that there were no
more Fl’eyes, she made her way to the dragon’s head and lightly stroked it.
“Soar’elle, Soar’elle . . .,” she called softly. But he didn’t answer.

While she tried to talk to
the fallen dragon, two Shades landed next to them. One said, “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. I don’t
think so.”

“Sylvia . . . all the
Fl’eyes have been destroyed.”

“What? Oh. That’s great.”
But the girl was more concerned with Aeri’elle’s dad then the mechanical pests.

“Sylvia . . . there’s
nothing you can do for him now. We must get the Princess to the Myst Tree.”

“What?” Sylvia was so
shaken by the injured Soar’elle that she couldn’t think straight.

“We must go.”

“Yeah . . . okay. How many
Shades made it?”

“Just us two.”

“What? Oh my gosh.”

“We all knew the risks.
Come . . . we must finish our task.”

And so Sylvia and the two
Shades began to drag the glass coffin into Sighing Whorl and to their
rendezvous with the Myst Tree.

*****

As K’aos
tumbled over the side of the ledge, he screamed “Dragon, to me.” And out of
nowhere came one very mean looking creature . . .

Egg couldn’t let the
dragon save its master. If only she could use her bracelet . . . and then she
remembered; she could!

“Dragon,” she screamed,
“OBEY ONLY ME,” and the battery that K’ssss’s dad had given her activated her
serpent’s bracelet and the creepy critter stopped in mid-flight.

“Dragon,” called K’aos
just before he hit the water . . .  but it was no use. Egg was in control.

“Come here.” The creepy
winged beast ignored his former master, landed next to Egg, sat down on a rock
and waited.

Meanwhile, K’aos landed in
the water and started to thrash around. The creature of the air had no idea how
to swim in water. Soo’ and the other serpents that had been waiting for this
moment (they never did know what was going on above on the ledge) took the
water-bubble and pushed K’aos inside. Afraid that he might drown, the Wraith
clambered inside willingly.

Once inside the
water-bubble there was no way out for K’aos unless someone let him out. There
was just enough air for him to breathe . . . but the rest was just what the
name said . . . a bubble of water.

Egg climbed on the
dragon’s back and commanded the creature to take her down to sea. Aeri’elle
followed close behind.

“Good work, guys.”

“Thanks,” answered Soo’ on
behalf of all the serpents. “Who the heck are you riding on? Then realizing she
might be offending a friend, she quickly added “Uh . . . no offense, mister.”

“He belongs to K’aos.
Well, he used to; now he’s mine.”

“Where’s K’ssss? Did she
get lost?”

“No,” said Aeri’elle. “She
earned two more medals.”

“We should start calling
her the Warrior Water Worm. So, where is she?”

“She’s still up there.
K’aos froze her.”

“Oh, geez; that poor kid.”

“Don’t worry. She’ll be
alright after we beat Mobius. Anyway, please take our friend down to Nau’tika
and lock him up.”

“Aren’t you two coming?”

“Aeri’elle will go with
you. I have to take care of B’ludd.”

“Bl’udd? How?”

“Who the heck knows?
Nothing is going the way my dreams said they should. So . . . I guess I’ll just
wing it.”

“Be careful,” said her
dragon sister.

Egg waved then told the
creature to take her back up to the ledge. She wanted K’aos’ sword.

*****

She found the sword and
picked it up. She had expected it to be very heavy . . . but it wasn’t. Then to
the dragon, she said, “Okay . . . let’s ride.”

She flew very high and
they circled about until she spotted the red dragon. As Egg watched, she had
the impression that Bl’udd was just wasting time . . . he was flying lazy
circles that seemed to have no purpose.

Then it came to her what
he was doing . . . hiding.

He was big, mean, and
nasty. But mostly, he was just a coward. He was pretending to be helping his
two evil friends, but in reality, he was avoiding getting into a fight. He was
afraid of the Sisterhood. Well, Egg had just the thing to help him out. She
dove down on the unsuspecting dragon and came up just beside him.

“Hey, stupid,” she called.

Bl’uddd’s head swung
around at the unexpected sound.

“What? You?”

“Yeah . . . it’s me.”

“Why I’ll . . .”

“Oh . . . just shut up,”
and she whacked him on the butt with the sword.

Bl’udd froze . . . like a
statue. Lucky for him his wings were outstretched because instead of falling
like a rock, he glided down as soft as a feather.

And crashed into the
water.

“Finally,” cried Egg. One
part of her dream had come true . . . sort of. She had dreamt that a statue of
a bird would fall into the ocean. It wasn’t a bird . . . it was a flying
dragon.

Close enough.

Chapter 11 - Return of
the Warrior Princess

“Welcome, Egg. It’s good
to see you again.” The serpent had been helping Tink’rrr make the gadgets Egg
had asked for.

“Hi, S’eeee-sik. It’s good
to see you, too. Thank you for all your help.”

“Don’t be silly. The
Shades and I thank you for your help.”

“You okay? Did you find
Bl’udd?” interrupted Aeri’elle.

“Yes and yes. S’eeee-sik,
could you send some of your Shady Ladies to go get him?”

“To get Bl’udd? That will
be very dangerous.”

“Ummm, not really. He’s
just up there, floating.”

“I don’t understand?”

“Let me guess; you used
K’aos’ sword on him, didn’t you?”

Egg giggled at the memory.
“I told him to shut up; then I slapped him on the butt and he froze like a
statue.”

“You are too amazing,”
said the dragon in awe of her earthly sister.

S’eeee-sik was even more
impressed. “Amazing is not the word. First the Green F’aeri, then K’aos and now
Bl’udd; even the Princess couldn’t do that.”

“She didn’t have the
Hameggattic Sisters to help her like I do,” answered Egg modestly. She actually
hated for anyone to think she was special. She was just . . . well, just Egg.

“So now what, super girl?”

“Now we get Mobius.”

*****

They dragged
the glass coffin down the little path that led to the heart of Sighing Whorl.
And after what seemed like forever, they came to the Myst Tree.

“Wow!” exclaimed both
dragons. They had never seen the Tree; never expected to see the Tree; and
never thought it looked like it did.

Sylvia had talked to it
before and the awe was gone . . . well, mostly but not completely. “Tree . .
.,” she called out.

“I am pleased to see you,
Feminion.”

Sylvia was in no mood for
pleasantries. “Here is Dazzle’s body . . . and Dazzle’s spirit is inside the
suit. Well . . . you promised to put her back together again.”

“So I did.” The Tree
paused, and then added “And so I will.”

*****

“Okay, make sure everyone
has a black robe and a goo stick. And put your hoods up.”

So about a hundred Egg
look-alikes put on their Mo’beye outfits and picked up their weapons . . . goo
sticks.

While they got ready, Egg
turned to her sister and asked, “Aeri’elle . . . you know what to do?”

“Yes,” she answered
proudly.

“Ummm . . .,” Egg pulled
the dragon aside so she could talk privately. “Once you have the Crystal Egg,
you need to take it to the Myst Tree as fast as you can.”

“You already told me
that.”

“Ummm . . .,” she didn’t
know how to say what needed to be said.

“What is it?”

“Well . . . once you have
the Crystal Egg; you become the most powerful person on Aerianna.”

“I’m not following you.”

“Once you have the Egg . .
. you can use its power anyway you want. No one could stop you.”

Aeri’elle was shocked by
what her sister was implying. “I would never use its power. How could you even
suggest that?”

“Sorry. Dazzle told me
that I just had to mention it.”

“Don’t you . . . and the
Princess . . . trust me?”

“It was her idea to give
you this job.”

That made the proud dragon
feel much better. “Egg, I promise I won’t use it.”

“I know. Anyway . . .,”
she gave her sister a big hug, “be careful and good luck.”

“Thanks, you too.”

Egg then went and found
K’ssss’s dad. “Did Sassi give you the locations of the places we need to go
to?” Based on the information that her parents had learned from their spy trip
to Q’umulus, the girls were able to identify little-used rooms that would help
them in their plan.

“Yes. We’re all set.”

“Thank you for helping
us.”

“May I ask you something?”

Egg already knew the
question. “K’ssss saved us five or six times. If it wasn’t for her, we would
never have gotten this far. She’s been incredible.”

“Thank you. It means a
great deal to me that my daughter has achieved some level of success. And, as
importantly, I’m thrilled that she has such amazing friends.”

“We think of her as our
sister.”

“Even better.” Then he
looked around, “I don’t see her. Will she not be joining you on Q’umulus?”

Not wanting to upset
K’ssss’ dad, Egg told a little white lie. “Ummm . . . she has a special job to
do.”

“I see. Well, then . . .
if you and your friends are ready, I’ll get you up to the city.”

“Great. Okay, Aeri’elle .
. . you go first. Remember; wait for me to give you the signal.” And with that,
the dragon walked into the space portal and disappeared from sight. She would
reappear on the floating city in a matter of a heartbeat.

“Okay, Sassi . . . it’s
our turn.”

“I’m ready . . . I think.”

“You’re going to do great
. . . trust me. Okay, Shades, time to go.”

“Good luck, Egg” called
Soo’.

“Yes, good luck,” added
S’eeee-sik.

And so, Egg of Earth led
Sassi and about one hundred Egg look-alikes into the portal and on to Q’umulus.

*****

They paced back and forth
nervously . . . two dragons and a human. Whatever the Tree was doing . . . it
was doing slowly.

“How much longer, do you
think?”

“I don’t know . . . but
I’m so nervous I could barf.”

“What is barf?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Feminion.”
The three girls jumped at the sound of Dazzle’s voice. They turned toward the
Tree and there she was . . . the Warrior Princess.

The two dragons dropped
their heads and bowed lowed. Sylvia didn’t bow . . . but her mouth did drop
open. “Dazzle . . . is it really you?”

“Yes, my sister. Thanks to
the Hameggattic Sisterhood, I have returned.”

*****

Aeri’elle
stepped out of the portal and into the closet off the main room that was at the
top of one of the city’s five towers. Sassi had told her that this was once an
artist’s studio, but it was no longer used. Opening the door a crack to make
sure that no one was around, she stepped out and walked to the south wall. She
looked out a window and was stunned by the breathtaking view as the sun broke
through the clouds and bathed the city in an orange glow . . .

Q’umulus was everything
she had dreamed it would be. And just for a moment she was excited . . . not by
the upcoming battle . . . but by the sheer beauty of the city. After a minute,
she remembered why she was there. She narrowed her gaze and studied the tower
on the far right. On the very top, in a room that faced west . . . was the home
of the Crystal Egg.

After memorizing every
detail that she could, she sat down and made herself comfortable. There was
nothing else for her to do but wait until Egg called on the communications
crystal. As she sat there, the dragon began to daydream about this incredible
adventure . . . from her first meeting with Egg until her sad farewell to her
grandfather. “How lucky I am to be a Hameggattic Sister,” she thought, “and how
proud I am to be related to Storm.”

*****

In the great hall where
Mobius spent his days ruling the world, the evil king was sitting on his throne
. . . and he was smiling. Try as he might, he just couldn’t keep a straight
face. At least he was able to resist laughing out loud.

With the power of the
Crystal Egg, he had finally found the meddlesome child from Earth. He had
watched, duly impressed, as she had captured both the F’aeri and K’aos.
Capturing B’ludd, however, didn’t count for much. The imbecile of a dragon was
totally useless.

And now, the little girl
with the foolish name was about to pay him a visit. Incredibly, she actually
believed she could capture the most powerful person on the planet. It was such
a deliciously naïve thought. But, what else could you expect from a friend of
the former Princess.

He could have stopped her
before she got to Q’umulus. But that would ruin all his fun.

And he so seldom had the
opportunity to laugh.

But today would be
different.

Today, he would laugh
until he cried.

*****

“Dazzle, you look
amazing.”

The Princess laughed.
“After a thousand years of lying in that coffin, my hair is probably a fright.
And you, Feminion, it is so good to see you through my own eyes.”

In a rush of emotion,
Sylvia shyly asked, “Umm, would you mind if I gave you a hug?”

“I would like that very
much,” and she opened her arms as the girl ran over and they shared a warm
embrace. The two dragons could only gape at such a sight.

After a moment, the
Princess asked, “Where is Egg now? Tell me what has happened.”

“I talked to her just a
little while ago . . . while the Tree was putting you back together. She
captured the Green F’aeri, K’aos and B’ludd. She said to tell you that they’re
okay . . . she didn’t hurt them.”

“She has done what I could
not. A truly amazing young woman, that Egg.”

“Yeah, she’s the best.”

“As are you and your
sisters. As are the Shades of Night,” she said nodding to the two awestruck
dragons. “Where is Egg now?”

“She was on her way to
Q’umulus.”

“Then we shall meet her
there.” But she had one other to thank before she left. “Tree . . . I thank you
for your help.”

“You are most welcome,
Princess. But I urge you to hurry to Q’umulus. Your young friend, as brave and
resourceful as she may be, will require your help.”

“Tree . . . I would ask
one last favor. I wish to return the Crystal Egg to you so that you may destroy
it.”

“And when that happens,
Queen Rose’Alynnia, the children of Aerianna will have become responsible adults.”

“I do not understand?”

“The Crystal Egg was one
last test by the Old Ones.” They were the Alien race that had created Aerianna.
“By deciding to voluntarily give up such power, you have proven your maturity
as a people. I congratulate you.”

Still not fully
understanding what the Tree was telling her, Dazzle said, “We will talk of this
later.”

“As you wish, your
Majesty.”

As she turned to leave,
one other thought came to mind. “Tree, when will you fulfill your promise?”

“All that was, will be
again . . . when Mobius leaves Aerianna.”

*****

They snuck into the great
hall as quietly as mice. Since the room was so large and not very well lit, it
wasn’t all that hard.

“So far, so good,”
whispered Egg.

“Maybe too easy,” Sassi
whispered back.

Egg peered around the
corner and spotted Mobius sitting on his throne. He seemed to be studying
something or maybe he was reading. Either way, he obviously didn’t know she and
the rest of the Shades were there.

Then it hit her like a ton
of bricks . . . she was in the same room as the evil king, the most powerful
person in probably the whole universe. What the heck was she thinking? This
wasn’t crazy . . . it was insane. And for a moment, Egg was just a scared
little girl who would rather be anywhere but where she was.

The moment of doubt passed
as quickly as it came. She was Flying Girl and she had been born for this
moment . . . to fight this battle . . . to beat this very bad man.

She gave the Shades the
pre-arranged hand signal and they all walked slowly from their hiding places
and up toward the king. Egg and Sassi were in front, while the others formed
ten rows behind them. They walked in a kind of a shuffle, like Mo’beyes usually
did. They had their hoods up and their goo sticks in hand.

Mobius was still
concentrating so hard at whatever he was doing, that he never looked up,
apparently unaware that they were there.

The girls stopped about
ten feet from the throne and with another hand signal, they all dropped their
robes and stood there looking like a hundred Eggs. They raised their goo sticks
and fired.

The goo sticks were Egg’s
idea from her dream. She had dreamt that she had sprayed whip cream on a spider
and trapped it. So she had K’ssss’s amazing father make these sticks that
looked like Mo’beye weapons . . . only these fired gooey, gunky, sticky stuff.
They wanted to capture Mobius . . . but not injure him. It wasn’t their job to
punish the evil man.

Then everything went wrong
. . . horribly, awfully, terribly wrong.

Just as the
goo sticks fired, Mobius stood up . . .

. . . and pointed his
finger. The goo from every stick froze in mid-air. Then the stuff turned around
and landed on each of the girls that had fired it. And every one of them . . .
Egg and Sassi included . . . was stuck fast to spot where they had been
standing.

“Well, well, well . . .
what have we here?”

No one answered. However,
a hundred sets of eyes were wide open in fear.

“Hmmm . . . perhaps this
is a surprise costume party. How thoughtful of all of you.” Still no one spoke.

“And what kind of costume
is it . . . I wonder?” Actually, the mega-mean man was a little surprised. He
had expected Egg to be wearing her Flying Girl outfit.

“No matter. Which of you
is the real Egg of Earth?”

No answer.

“Shy, are we? I hope you
are not afraid of me. There are some who would paint me as a cruel tyrant. Not
true. You should think of me as your kindly uncle. Really and truly.” But he
laughed such a horrid laugh that it made the girls’ blood run cold.  “Perhaps
you are the real Egg,” and he pointed to one of the girls in the back row. “No,
I think not,” and he snapped his fingers . . . and the girl screamed then
disappeared. The rest of the girls gasped in horror.

“How about you?”

“Or you?”

“Or you?”

And as he pointed then
snapped his fingers, the girl would scream then disappear.

“Stop it. Stop it,” yelled
Egg.

But Mobius was having way
too much fun . . . and he kept pointing and snapping his fingers. And the girls
kept screaming and disappearing.

“I’m the real Egg. It’s
me. Stop doing that. Stop.”

But Mobius didn’t stop
until only Egg and Sassi were left.

“And then there were two.”

. . . And he laughed and
laughed until he cried.

*****

Aeri’elle was getting
nervous; she had expected Egg to contact her by now. She knew she wasn’t
supposed to call . . . but she decided to do it anyway.

“Egg,” she said softly.

No answer.

“Egg.”

No answer.

Something had gone wrong .
. . she could feel it.

‘What should I do?’ she
thought to herself. ‘What would Storm do?’ she wondered out loud.

*****

Mobius pointed at the two
girls and snapped his fingers once again . . . but this time it was the goo
that disappeared.

“See what a nice person I
am.”

“What happened to the
other girls? What did you do to them?” Egg should have been scared; instead she
was just really, really mad.

“I sent them on a nice
little vacation . . . to the seven lands.”

“Bring them back.” She was
getting angrier and angrier.

“My, my, my . . . aren’t
you the feisty one.”

“Why do you have to be so
mean? Why can’t you just be nice?” It was the perfect question . . . if you
were nine years old.

However, Mobius was tired
of being the good uncle. It was time to rid himself of this pesky little
person. But perhaps first, he would have a little more fun.

“And you, little girl . .
. have you nothing to say? Egg, shame on you for not introducing your friend.”

“My name is Sassi.”

“Ah, yes. You are one of
the Hameggattic Sisters.”

“I am,” she answered
proudly.

“I believe you were once
lost in the Maze of Forever.”

“Yes,” she said defiantly.

“And I believe you met one
of my friends there?” referring to a one-eyed monster that had chased the
girls.

Sassi said nothing.

“Well, my friend is very
lonely as you might expect. He walks through the Maze day after day with
nothing to do . . . with no one to play with.”

The girls said nothing . .
. but their hearts were beginning to beat faster.

“So, I think you should go
back and keep him company.”

Sassi froze in fear . . .
and Egg screamed, “DON’T YOU DARE.”

But Mobius wasn’t in the
mood to listen. He raised his arm, pointed at Sassi and snapped his fingers . .
. and the beautiful young girl changed into something unspeakable . . . a
female version of the Maze Monster.

Egg screamed but Mobius
could care less.

“Now go back to the Maze
and play nice.” He laughed his ugly laugh then snapped his fingers.

Sassi disappeared.

“And now Egg of Earth . .
. it is your turn.”

*****

“There is Q’umulus. Hurry,
my sisters.”

And the two dragons
carrying the Princess and Sylvia flapped their wings as fast as they could.

But time was running out.

*****

Aeri’elle flew
out of the window and over to the west tower. She circled it until she found
the room she wanted. She landed on a window ledge then hopped inside.

And there it was . . . the
Crystal Egg.

She walked over to it, and
did what Dazzle had instructed. She pricked herself with a pin and allowed a
small drop of blood to fall onto the Egg.

Taking a deep breath . . .
she reached out and picked up the glowing globe.

Happily, nothing happened.
She had been afraid that when she touched it, she would somehow disappear or .
. . or worse.

Cradling her precious
cargo, she returned to window and flew out . . .

. . . and headed for the
Valley of Sighing Whorl as fast as her wings could carry her.

And the dream that Sylvia
had that first day on Aerianna . . . when she and Egg napped at Dazzle’s castle
. . . had come to pass.

*****

Mobius walked down from
the platform where his throne rested. As he approached Egg, she realized how
big he was.

And how ugly.

She could actually feel
his hatred . . . and it made her hair stand on-end.

“You have been a royal
pain in my neck. But, I will admit that up till now you have been a worthy
adversary. Much better than your precious princess. It’s a shame that you are
not on my side.”

Egg said nothing. She knew
he was about to do something really bad to her and she had to concentrate very
hard to be brave.

“But it’s too late for
that; much too late. What I intend to do is make an example out of you. So
whenever someone else tries to help the princess . . . they will think twice
before defying me.”

“You talk too
much . . . like one of my mom’s girlfriends. Grammy always told me to . . .”

“Silence.” Mobius was
infuriated that he wasn’t scaring this little girl. “Let me tell you what I’m
going to do. I’m going to change you into a statue of a large egg. It will sit
on a pedestal right here where I can see it every day.”

“Not very creative,”
mocked Flying Girl.

Mobius growled in hatred.
He raised his arm, pointed at Egg, and snapped his fingers.”

*****

The dragons landed in
front of the palace and Dazzle jumped off. She ran to the front doors, threw
them open and rushed inside. Sylvia and the two Shades hurried to keep up.

As they made their way
towards the throne, they could see Mobius. His arm was outstretched and he was
pointing at someone.

It was Egg.

“Stop,” yelled Dazzle.

The evil king and the
young girl turned toward the voice.

“It’s you,” screamed
Mobius in boundless rage and limitless hatred.

“Oh my gosh, it is you,”
cried Egg.

“Yes, my dear sister. I
have returned.”

Chapter 12 – The Home
Coming

A moment before Dazzle
made her dramatic entrance; Mobius had pointed his finger at Egg. Calling on
the Crystal Egg, he had commanded it to change her into a statue.

But nothing had happened.

He tried a second time.

But nothing happened.

What he didn’t realize was
that the Crystal Egg now belonged to Aeri’elle. He could no longer command its
unlimited power. Before he could rant and rave and curse . . . Dazzle had
commanded him to stop.

When Egg realized who it
was . . . she slapped away Mobius’ hand, which was just inches from her face
and ran to her friend.

The Princess opened her
arms and caught her young sister.

They hugged each other
tightly. “Oh, Dazzle. It’s really and truly you.”

“Yes, my sister; thanks to
you and the Sisterhood.”

But before they could
continue enjoying each other’s company, Mobius interrupted.

“I was just about to
punish your little friend, Princess. But now I believe I will punish both of
you.” He raised his hand, pointed his finger and thought an evil thought. But,
again, nothing happened. “Curses . . .,” he cried in frustration.

“I presume you no longer
command the Crystal Egg,” said the Princess with a sly smile. She turned to Egg
and asked, “Does Aeri’elle have it?”

“Oh my gosh. I was
supposed to give her a signal but then he trapped me in the goo.”

“Call her now.”

“Aeri’elle, Aeri’elle . .
. this is Egg. Can you hear me?”

“Hi, Egg. I’m sorry but I
didn’t wait for your call. I thought something happened so I . . . so I asked
my grandfather what he would do. He told me to take the Crystal Egg. Did I do
the right thing?”

“Aeri’elle. You saved the
day.”

“Is that you, your
Majesty?”

“Yes. I am here with your
sister. Have you reached the Myst Tree?”

“I’m almost there.”

“Excellent. Please meet us
back on Q’umulus when you have completed your task. And, Aeri’elle . . . well
done.”

“Thank you.”

“Bye, Aeri’elle. And
thanks.”

“Bye, Egg. See you soon.”

Dazzle turned back to look
at Mobius who was standing there with his hands on his hips looking mean and
defiant.

“So . . . I no longer have
the power of the Egg; but then again . . . neither do you.”

“Without its power,
Mobius, you are nothing but an arrogant buffoon.”

“And I don’t mean to
repeat myself, but you really are ugly.”  Sylvia giggled at her friend’s
remark.

“What a fool you must be
to think that I would just stand here and surrender. Even without my powers, do
you really think you can defeat me?”

“Yes,” she said
matter-of-factly.

Mobius laughed and pulled
out a sword. Without hesitation, he lunged at Egg and tried to stab her. The
young girl backed away but fell down as she did.

Ignoring her, the cruel
ex-king went after Dazzle. The Princess had her sword out . . . the one Storm
had saved for her all these years. When Mobius swung down a heavy blow, Dazzle
blocked it. He swung again . . . and again she blocked it.

Unfortunately, this fight
wasn’t about skill – something that the Princess had in abundance. This was
about brute force.

And Mobius was too big a
brute and much too strong for even a Warrior Princess.

He swung again with all
his might.

Dazzle raised her sword
one more time.

The sound of metal against
crystal (Rose’s sword was made from serpents crystal) rang out . . . and the
Princess’s weapon went flying out of her hands and landed with a loud clang on
the marble floor.

She was now defenseless.

You might think that even
an evil person like Mobius wouldn’t attack an unarmed woman.

But . . . evil is evil.

He brought his sword high
over his head.

And he began to bring it
down as hard as he could.

But then he froze.

. . . he had been goo-ed.

When Egg fell down, she
rolled over to where her goo stick lay. She picked it up, took aim and fired at
the unsuspecting villain.

And the silly thing
actually worked the way she had planned.

A big splash of gunk flew
out and covered the king.

And just like the dream
spider in the whipped cream, he became stuck.

He struggled and thrashed
about . . . but it didn’t matter.

Mobius, the former tyrant
of Aerianna . . . the really big, ugly, mean man . . . had been defeated. With
all the power in the world at his fingertips, he had lost everything. As Storm
once suggested, his arrogance and conceit at his own superiority, and his scorn
for those that opposed him, had led to his demise. And up till the very end, he
completely underestimated the strength of will of the Hameggattic Sisterhood.

With a lot of help from
her sisters and the Shades of Night . . . Egg of Earth had beaten him. A
not-so-ordinary nine year old girl with boundless determination, an unwavering
belief in her friends, and a maturity far beyond her years had won the biggest
doge ball game of her life.

All it took was some great
dreams, a bit of luck and a big blob of goo.

*****

Aeri’elle flew low over
the valley of Sighing Whorl . . . and was shocked to see so many of the dragons
that had gone with her father and Sylvia lying on the ground.

Ignoring her strict orders
to go directly to the Myst Tree, she landed in the middle of where most of the
Shades lay. She had to help them if she could.

She walked up to the first
dragon she found and knelt down. The dragon was obviously in agony . . . but
she couldn’t tell why. She tried to ask her what was wrong . . . but the poor
creature simply couldn’t talk. The pain was too intense.

She checked a few more . .
. but they were all in the same condition.

And then in shock at
seeing her father lying in a heap, she nearly dropped the Crystal Egg. Running
up to him, she fell on her knees and lifted his head.

“Daddy. Daddy,” she called
softly.

The dragon managed to open
his eyes when he recognized his daughter’s voice. He looked at her face, smiled
. . . then passed out.

“NOOO. Daddy. Daddy, wake
up. Please wake up.” But that wasn’t going to happen.

Aeri’elle was beside
herself with grief. She started to cry but stopped when she heard a voice.

“Do not cry, young one.”

“Who’s there?”

“It is I.”

“Myst Tree?”

“Yes.”

“Please . . . help my
father.” Then she remembered the Shades, “And the other girls. Please.”

“You have the power of the
Crystal Egg. You may use it however you wish.”

Aeri’elle had forgotten
all about that. “Oh, of course.” But then she remembered her promise to Egg and
the Princess. “I can’t. I promised I wouldn’t.”

“But it is only this one
time. And it is for a good cause. Surely they would understand.”

Aeri’elle gave that some
thought. “I can’t. I promised.”

“Not even to save your
father?”

Without hesitating, she
answered, “He wouldn’t want me to betray a trust . . . to break my promise.”

“I see.”

“Please, Tree. You can do
it. Please.”

“Your honor and loyalty
deserve a reward. It is done.”

“Aeri’elle.”

The dragon turned to see
her father and the rest of the Shades rise to their feet. “Oh, Daddy; are you
alright?”

“Yes . . . now.”

She gave him a big hug and
a kiss. “Wait here . . . I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to give this,” she
held up the Crystal Egg, “to the Myst Tree.” She turned to go then stopped.
“Daddy, I love you.”

“And I am so proud of you.
Go, my daughter.”

*****

With Mobius safely
imprisoned, Dazzle called a meeting of all of her advisors. At the moment, this
consisted of the four remaining Hameggattic Sisters, Soar’elle, S’eeee-sik,
Tink’rrr, Tr’yst and Fl’axx (Sass’ mom and dad). They were seated around a
large round table in the Hall of Ministers.

All of the pleasantries
and congratulations were out of the way. It was now time to get down to
important business.

“The first thing we must
do is to rid this world of Mobius.”

“Your Majesty . . . what
of my daughter and the others?” asked a very concerned Tr’yst.

“The Myst Tree has
promised to return everyone to what they were before Mobius interfered with our
lives. But, first, we are required to remove him from this planet. That is our
first priority.”

“I am not sure I
understand the word ‘remove’. Are you suggesting that we execute the villain?”
asked Soar’elle.

“He richly deserves such a
fate. But the time for violence is over. So we will put him back in his
spaceship (that’s how he first got to Aerianna) and send him back to his own
planet.”

“I believe I can help with
that, your Majesty. I could use the space portal and we can exile him to his
home world in a matter of minutes.”

“Thank you, Tink’rrr, but
that is not what I wish. Once back on his own world, he would be free to do
whatever wickedness he desired. I would like to confine him to his ship . . .
and send it as slowly as possible to his world. A journey of one or two hundred
years would give him ample time to reflect on his evil ways.”

Everyone smiled at the
wisdom of this idea. “I
will see to it immediately.”

“One more thing, Tink’rrr.
Be sure there is room . . . and provisions . . .  for a dragon.”

“A dragon, your Majesty?”

“Yes. I believe Bl’udd
should accompany his master.” Now everyone’s smile turned to laughter.

“Since that is now
settled, there are two more items to be attended to. First, Soar’elle, my
father does not wish to remain king. Therefore, I will become Queen.” Everyone
applauded. Dazzle raised her hand to quiet them. “I would have you plan the
coronation ceremony.”

“It would be my honor and
my pleasure, your Majesty.”

“Thank you. And right
after that ceremony, I plan to marry Prince Z’kkk. Even though his proposal of
marriage is a thousand years old . . . I intend to hold him to it.” She smiled
and everyone laughed. Egg nudged Sylvia and they high-fived each other. “To that
end, I would like S’eeee-sik and Tr’yst to make all the arrangements.”

“Of course, your Majesty,”
said the serpent.

“It is an incredible
honor. Thank you, your Majesty,” replied Tr’yst.

“Ladies, I have only one
request . . . I will not be married in any royal gown. I choose to be married
in the traditional wedding dress of the people.”

The two ladies nodded
their understanding.

“If there are no further
questions? Good. Then I will speak to Egg and her Feminion privately. Thank you
all . . . for everything. To have remained loyal to my family and me for so
many years is beyond imagining. I promise to find a way to repay each of you.
To repay all of Aerianna.”

*****

After the others left,
Dazzle said, “Much is going to happen in the next two weeks and I will have
very little time to spend with you. So, I wish to take this opportunity to
express my love and my undying gratitude for all that you have done for me and
my people.

I have come to know and
admire both of you. What amazing young women you are. You have endured much
suffering, conquered insurmountable odds and have achieved the impossible. You
and your other sisters have become the heroines of Aerianna.

And you, Egg . . . you
have willingly sacrificed Flying Girl to bring me back. That is a selfless act
beyond words.

After my coronation, there
will be a special ceremony honoring the Hameggattic Sisterhood. Perhaps, Egg,
you would like to invite your grandmother. She deserves to be present.”

“That would be terrific,
Dazzle.” She hesitated then added, “I mean your Majesty.”

“Never, my dearest sister,
are you to refer to me by such a silly title. I am Dazzle . . . and I will
always be that to both of you.”

Both girls hugged their
big sister . . . and they stayed that way for a full minute. No one spoke for
fear they would break down and cry.

After a bit, Dazzle
surprised both girls when she said, “Sylvia, before I forget, please return the
flying suit. And, I must borrow your ring.”

Sylvia was surprised by
the request. “Dazzle . . . why the ring?”

“Because I will have a
second one made . . . for Egg. Then she, too, will be able to visit Aerianna
whenever she wishes.”

“Oh my gosh . . . that’s
super wonderful. Thank you, thank you,” cried Egg with pure joy. Then she
asked, “Dazzle, since you’re taking back the flying suit, did you want this
outfit back too? (it was the one she had worn the day Z’kkk had asked for her
hand in marriage).”

“No, my sister, it looks
much too cute on you. And as for the flying suit, the science that was used to
make it has been lost. I would like Tink’rrr to study it. If it were not for
that, I would let you keep it.”

*****

A day later, Egg received
her ring. As you might expect, it was K’ssss’ dad that had made it. “Thank you,
Mr. Tink’rrr.”

“You are most welcome,
Egg. But please, just call me Tink’rrr.

“Okay. By the way, can you
tell me when that spaceship is going to be ready?” She was anxious to get her
three sisters back.

“Very soon. We are hoping
by tomorrow we can launch that horrible man back from whence he came. Like you,
I can hardly wait. I’m so eager to see my daughter again.”

“Yeah, me too.”

*****

“You are hereby exiled
from Aerianna. We are sending you back to your home world. If you ever return,
you will be imprisoned.”

“My dear princess . . .
you are much too kind.” It wasn’t meant as a compliment. “A leader has to be
strong and rule with an iron fist.”

“I prefer to rule with
kindness and compassion. However, if you return, I will take your advice. So .
. . be warned.”

“At least spare me the
company of this imbecile of a dragon,” he said as he pointed at B’ludd.

“Oh, yes, your Majesty.
Please, please don’t send me away. I beg you. Have mercy on your misguided
servant.”

“Your fate was sealed when
you willingly betrayed your people. Aerianna is no longer your home.”

As he was about to board
the spacecraft, Mobius turned once last time and looked for Egg. She stared
back at him . . . smiling. “Egg of Earth . . . be very afraid. I know where you
live.”

Egg wasn’t the least bit
frightened. She looked the big, mean man right in his eyes and said, “I think
you have a little goo stuck on your nose.” She pointed to the side of her own
to indicate the spot.

Without thinking, Mobius
went to wipe it away. Then he realized she had been joking. “Grrrrrr . . .,” he
growled. “How I hate little girls.”

After he and the dragon
entered the spacecraft, the door was closed and locked. All the spectators
stepped behind a protective barrier and Tink’rrr pressed a button on a console.
Smoke and fire came out of the engine of the craft and after a moment, it
started to lift off. It rose slowly at first . . . then it gained speed.

And in a minute, Mobius
and Bl’udd had disappeared out of sight. Their two hundred year trip had just
begun. All the people who had come out to watch the launch cheered. They were
finally and truly free of the tyrant.

“Dazzle . . . when do you
think everyone will come back?”

“I believe it has already
begun,” and the Princess pointed to the sky.

It was Bl’azzz . . . and
she was carrying Sassi and K’ssss.

But that wasn’t all . . .

J’azzz-min’s head poked
out of the ground . . . followed by her body. She looked around and said, “Oh
my gosh . . . I’m home.” Then she reached down the hole and pulled AyBee up.
“Come on, husband. And, do act like a king and not a fish.”

Then a white cloud
descended from nowhere and covered both creatures. A moment later, it was gone
. . . and there stood King M’earth and Queen Kat’Alynnia. The crowd erupted
into cheering and applause.

Next came the Green F’aeri
who proceeded to turn back into the shy and beautiful Princess Ss’ong.

Dazzle ran forward and
embraced her parents and her sister.

Seconds later,
K’aos’ zombie dragon flew down and landed. Everyone stared at the gruesome,
creepy creature wondering what it was doing here. As it stood there, the same
cloud descended again. When it cleared, there stood F’Aerianne, the legendary
rainbow queen of the dragons. And the crowd applauded mightily.

Then a truly strange sight
materialized in front of the crowd . . . it was the Guardians of the Maze. The
mass of onlookers were stunned into silence until the two huge faces
transformed into E’ssss and S’eeee . . . the king and queen of the serpents.

The crowd was now
delirious with joy. All of the long lost kings and queens had been returned to
them. All of Aerianna would rejoice when they heard the wonderful news.

The only one not smiling,
however, was Dazzle. Where was her Z’kkk?

“Rose, I believe you have
made me wait long enough . . . don’t you?”

Dazzle spun
around . . . and threw herself into the outstretched arms of her dearest love.
And they kissed passionately . . .

A little ways away, the
Hameggattic Sisters were trying not to stare . . . but without success.

“You just gotta love his
blue skin,” said Egg.

“Wow,” said Sylvia, “he
really is cute.”

“Do you think he has a
younger brother?” asked Sassi.

“I guess he’s not bad
looking . . . for a human,” said Bl’azzz.

“H’sssss . . . I think
he’s pretty,” added the silly serpent.

Chapter 13 - Eloise

The coronation
of Queen Rose’Alynnia was unimaginably beautiful. It was held in a large
cathedral-like building with soaring arches and room to seat thousands and
thousands of humans, dragons and serpents . . .

“Oh, dear one, this is the
most amazing thing I have ever seen. I’m so glad Dazzle . . . I mean, the Queen
. . . invited me.” They were sitting right in the front row with F’Aerianne,
E’ssss, S’eeee and Prince Z’kkk. Aeri’elle’s father, who inherited the title of
Prince when his grandfather Storm passed away, was also there. And, of course,
so were all of the Hameggattic Sisters. In the row behind them were the family
and friends of the other five sisters . . . including Sassi’s parents and
K’ssss’s family.

“Grammy, I only wish that
we could take pictures and show it to everyone back home.”

“You’re right. It is sad
that this incredible adventure of yours can’t be shared. However, I certainly
expect that your diary will have captured everything that happened.”

“Well, of course, silly. I
even have sketches of all my sisters. Sassi did that for me.” Sassi heard her
name, leaned forward and smiled at Egg.

Then all conversation came
to an end while the Lord High Minister, along with M’earth and Kat’Alynnia
performed the actual coronation ceremony. At the end, Princess Ss’ong placed
the crown on her sister’s head and proclaimed, “I crown thee Queen Rose’Alynnia
of the House of M’earth, first of that name and sovereign of Aerianna.”
Everyone stood and cheered.

The new Queen
bowed in acknowledgment, mounted a lectern and addressed the gathering . . .

“This is a glorious day
for all Aeriannians. Not because I have ascended to the throne, but because
this ceremony symbolizes the end of a thousand years of tyranny and pain.

Now, there is much to be
done. In the coming days and weeks, I will lay out a plan to restore all that
has been lost under the evil rule of Mobius. And I will call on every citizen
to participate . . . as equals.

But before we can go on .
. . we must thank those who were instrumental in eliminating the evil that had
befallen Aerianna.

First, I would like to
thank one that is no longer with us, except in spirit . . . my comrade and best
friend, Prince Storm. There has never been a wiser, gentler, more kindly and
noble soul then he. Without his help, none of this would have come to pass.

There are so many others
to thank . . . I beg your indulgence. Their contributions must be acknowledged.

There is Tink’rrr who made
the material used in our victory.

Soar’elle carried my body
and my spirit to the Myst Tree.

Tr’yst and Fl’axx Tru’hart
gave up their daughter to fight Mobius and restore my family to the throne. And
their knowledge of Q’umulus was key in the final battle against the evil one.

There is an individual
from Earth whose wisdom and love helped shaped one of our heroines. Her name is
Eloise . . . but we shall call her Grammy (and just as you would expect, Grammy
started to cry).

The Shades of Night, led
in part by S’eeee-sik, great granddaughter of the Queen, fought side by side in
the final battles to win back our planet.

And, then there are the
Hameggattic Sisters . . . “

Dazzle . . . um, Queen
Rose’Alynnia . . . paused in her speech to look lovingly at the seven girls. Unexpectedly, the
thousands and thousands of people in attendance all stood up and applauded.
They all knew of the incredible deeds of the Seven Sisters and wanted to show
their respect and appreciation.

The girls sat their
stunned by all this attention. Finally, Egg stood up and waved to the crowd.
The other six stood and did the same. The applause got so loud it felt and
sounded like thunder.

The Queen allowed it to
continue for a few minutes then held up her hand for silence. “I would like to
introduce each of my sisters . . .

Bl’azzz, who
fought the P’xxxies to save her sisters, who was wounded by a giant spider and who
succumbed to the dark magic of the Green F’aeri. But through it all, she never
lost her sense of humor. And, if I might add, she looks adorable in her hat.
(The girls giggled).

Soo’nami who sacrificed
herself in Switch Swamp to save her sister from that very spider. Her
unwavering loyalty to her sister K’ssss won the respect of all of us.

Sassi, who sacrificed
herself in the Maze of Forever . . . twice. Her artistic talents helped in the
final battle plans against Mobius.

Aeri’elle, the great granddaughter
of Prince Storm, was as brave as any. She saved her sister from the beast AyBee
and it was she that reclaimed the Crystal Egg for all of us.

And K’ssss, the sweetest
sister of them all. She saved her sisters more times than I can count . . . in
K’actus Kiln and the Crystal Forest to name just two. If it were not for her,
Mobius would still rule. And my dear sister. . . ” (she looked at the silly
serpent) “. . . without a doubt, your scarf will start a fashion trend”. (Yup,
they giggled again).

Then we have two
extraordinary young women from Earth.

Sylvia was
Feminion. Brave and wise, she was to Egg as Storm was to me. I can pay her no
greater compliment.

And finally, I would like
to present to all that are here . . . my sister Egg of Earth. She is singularly
the most amazing person I have ever met. I do not diminish the contributions of
everyone else when I say that the heart and soul of the Hameggattic Sisterhood
is this young woman.

She has been brave,
selfless, resourceful and incredibly fearless. I once gave her unusual powers .
. . and all of them she gave up willingly to bring me back. And she never
wavered in that decision.

But what is
most impressive was that she, with the help of her sisters and others, defeated
Mobius, B’ludd, K’aos and the Green F’aeri without those magical powers.

Egg, my dearest sister,
you never needed to be Flying Girl to be a hero. You did it all just being
yourself . . . an incredibly resourceful nine-year-old girl.

And now, I would have the
Hameggattic Sisters come stand beside me so I may give each of you Aerianna’s
highest Medal of Honor. “

So the girls, embarrassed
by all the attention, slowly walked up to Dazzle. They stood there as the new
Queen placed the medal on each of them. She also gave them a hug and a kiss.

She then turned to the
crowd, “I decree that from this day forward, all history books will include the
exploits of the Hameggattic Sisterhood and be studied by all students. I
further decree that anyone showing any disrespect for any of these seven
sisters will be punished severely.” She turned and winked at K’ssss. “And
lastly, I declare that on this date, the people of Aerianna will celebrate the
contributions made by our two sisters from earth. This day will be known as Ham
and Egg Day.”

*****

About a week later, the
wedding took place in that very same building because so many people wanted to
attend. There’s not much to say about a royal wedding other than the bride was
beautiful, the groom handsome, the ceremony elaborate and the whole thing
lasted way too long.

The Sisters,
however, thought that the Queen’s dress made her look even more beautiful. It
was simple . . . but, on her, it looked dazzling.

“I like her better like
this . . . you know, instead of a dressed like a warrior princess,” observed
Egg.

“Yeah, she looks
wonderful,” agreed her Feminion.

Finally, after
all the traditional stuff like reciting their formal vows and exchanging rings,
Rose and Z’kkk stood facing each. In a break from tradition (though after
today, it probably would be one), they recited a poem that they had written.
The first part they read together . . .

“Love is a beacon, a
shining light . . . “

“That casts out the
shadows from the darkest night”

“Two honorable hearts that
beat apace . . . “

“Binding each other
through time and space”

“Souls that are not
perfect, but aspire to be . . . “

“Joined
this day, and for all eternity.”

Then Z’kkk
spoke the next part . . .

“From the day we met, a
long eon ago

I have come to love you,
this you know

Forced to part, I lost my
way

As well as hope of seeing
this day.

With the help of friends,
old and new,

A second chance, my love
renewed

I promise you with my soul
and heart,

No being in the universe
will force us apart.

You are my friend, my
beautiful Rose,

I thank the gods that it
was me you chose.”

Finally, it was Rose’s turn . . .

“My fair Prince, my
heart’s desire

It is you that set my
passion a’fire.

I have loved you from that
fateful night,

A gift from the gods,
Light of my Light

I once told a friend that
a woman can tell,

When she has met the man
with whom she must dwell,

After a thousand years,
you are still that one

From this day forward, our
life has begun

As Lovers and Friends,
Husband and Wife

We will rule together, for
all the days of our life.”

“Wow, that was beautiful.”

“Kind of makes you want to
get married, doesn’t it?”

“SYLVIA” cried a shocked
Egg . . . but then she smiled from ear to ear.

*****

Now came the hard part.
Egg and Sylvia had to say goodbye to their Sisters, to Dazzle and to Aerianna.
Their Quest was over, and it was time to go home.

The two girls were in a
private room with their five other sisters. Everyone had sad faces and no one
wanted to look at each other for fear of crying.

“Well, I guess this is
it.” Egg sniffled when she said it.

“So, when can we come
visit?” asked Bl’azzz.

“Yeah. We showed you such
a great time on Aerianna. The least you can do is invite us to your home,” said
Soo’ with lots of sarcasm.

“I would love to visit
Earth. It sounds so exciting,” added Sassi.

“Can I wear my scarf on
earth?”

“Don’t be a dim-witted
ditsy-doodle,” joked Soo’.

“I probably couldn’t go,”
said Aeri’elle quietly. “I have to go back to school and there’s so much to do
here. You understand, don’t you?”

“Oh, sure. We understand,”
answered Sylvia. The truth was that none of the girls, except maybe Sassi,
would ever visit earth. The sight of talking dragons and sea serpents would
probably freak people out.

“Anyway . . .,” said Egg,
“I just wanted to tell you how much I love you guys . . .” She stopped because
she was crying, which caused the other six to start. She blew her nose then
tried again, “You guys have been terrific. None of this could have happened
without all of you doing the stuff you did. You’re the best . . .,” and she
started to cry again.

After a couple of minutes,
she still couldn’t talk, so she simply hugged each one of them. Sylvia did the
same.

“Promise you’ll come back
to visit?” asked Aeri’elle.

“That I absolutely,
positively do promise.”

“Me, too,” added Sylvia.

*****

Grammy and Sylvia said
their goodbyes to Dazzle and her family. Egg remained behind to have a private
word with the Queen.

“You really
looked pretty in your wedding dress.”

“Thank you. Could you tell
how nervous I was?”

“You . . . nervous?”

“Facing Mobius seemed
easier than facing Z’kkk . . . at least at that moment. My knees were shaking.”

“Dazzle . . .,” Egg wanted
to change the subject. “Will you ever come visit me on earth?”

“I will try, my sister.
But I cannot promise. The demands on a Queen are much greater than on a
carefree young princess.”

“Sure, I understand.”

“But I do expect you to
visit us. Do I have your promise?”

“Absolutely. Ummm . . .
Dazzle.”

“Yes, Egg?”

“Did you have anything to
do with Zack and Zeke moving next door to Grammy?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I will only say that
should you marry Zeke, your child will be extraordinary.” That caused Egg to
blush scarlet.

“Do I have to marry him?”

“Oh, no, my dear sister.
You may marry anyone you wish.”

“Okay.” That made Egg feel
a little better. “One more question . . . did you have anything to do with
Sylvia and me meeting?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You needed a Feminion.”

*****

The elder Eloise dropped
her granddaughter off at her home and watched as she ran inside. She smiled and
drove off.

“MOM, I’m home.”

“Hi, Sweetheart. I missed
you terribly.”

“I missed you too. How was
your trip?”

“It was such a great
adventure. I’ll show you and Ashley the pictures after dinner. So, how was your
time in the mountains?”

“Ummm . . . a lot of fun.”

“What did you guys do?”

“The usual . . . we fought
monsters and evil kings. Stuff like that.”

“Oh really?  Must be nice
to have a vivid imagination.” And that word reminded her of something.
“Speaking of which, Zeke called for you.”

“He did?” Egg blushed
remembering her conversation with Dazzle.

“Yes, he said he wrote a
story and he wanted you to read it. Apparently you’re the main character.”

“What kind of story?”

“Oh, some kind of fantasy
about a girl with magical powers who can fly. He calls it the Adventures of
Flying Girl.”

“Oh my gosh.”

~ Epilogue ~

Queen Rose’Alynnia and Lord Z’kkk

Sassi

K’ssss

Soo’

Aeri’elle

Bl’azzz

Mobius and Bl’udd

Zack and Zeke

Ham and Egg

The Ballard of Egg

Queen Rose’Alynnia and
Lord Z’kkk

“Are you not well, my
dearest?”

“I am fine . . . thank
you. It is just a little morning sickness.”

“Really? I wonder what
might be causing it.” He had a sly look on his face when he said it.

The Queen smiled coyly. “I
am with child. I had planned to surprise you this evening.” Then she noticed
how his eyes seemed to be laughing at some private thought. “But you already
knew, didn’t you?”

“I do confess that I was
hoping . . . but I dared not ask. Rose, my love, I am overjoyed.” He hugged his
wife . . . but ever so gently.

“I believe it will be a
girl. Does that disappoint you?”

“Of course not. Besides .
. . this will be our first child; not our last.”

She gave her husband a
kiss. “You must help me with her name. I wish to honor my father and my mother
and my sister Egg. That seems like an impossible task.”

“Hmmm . . . let me think.
Perhaps we can use the M from M’earth.”

“Yes?”

“Ummm . . . Ahhh . . . and
the initials of Eloise (he never called her Egg).”

“Go on.”

“And Alynnia, from
Kat’Alynnia.”

“Oh my gosh, I love it.
That is what we shall call her . . .  M’egg-Alynnia.”

“Princess M’egg-Alynnia it
will be. And I expect she will be just like her mother.”

“Oh, I sincerely hope not.
I was such a spoiled brat.”

Sassi

“Oh, that’s beautiful.
What is it?” asked the Princess.

“Thank you.
It’s just something I saw in the Maze of Forever.”

“Were you scared . . .
when you were trapped?”

“I cried for a little bit.
Then I thought about how my mom and dad sacrificed everything to defeat Mobius.
After that . . . I felt better.”

“You and your sisters were
truly amazing . . . are truly amazing.”

Sassi blushed at the
compliment.  It all seemed so unreal. Not the Maze or the battle with Mobius .
. . but this. She was sitting in her very own studio talking to Ss’ong. Oops,
she meant Princess Ss’ong. But it was all too easy to forget her title now that
they were best friends.

M’earth and Kat’Alynnia,
along with their youngest daughter, had started a retreat for artists and
sculptors. To her everlasting joy, they had invited Sassi and her parents to
join them. So now, she lived with her mom and dad . . . in their brand new
house. And each day, she went to her studio to create whatever her imagination
could conjure.

And all the loneliness of
her youth had forever vanished.

K’ssss

“H’sssss.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“We never walked together
in school before. This is nice.”

“Well, you’re my big . . .
ummm . . . I mean my older sister. And I’m very proud of you.”

“Is it because the Queen
gave me a medal?”

“No.”

“Is it because the Queen
said that if anybody ever made fun of me she would send them to the desert?”

“No.”

“Is it because you like my
green scarf?”

K’ssss’ sister burst out
laughing. “Absolutely . . . there isn’t another serpent on the whole planet
with such a pretty scarf. Maybe you’ll let me wear it sometime?”

“H’sssss.”

“Why are you laughing
again?”

“Because it would look
funny on you.”

Soo’

“Are you sure you want to
hire me?”

“Absolutely.”

“I don’t know anything
about the stuff you do.”

“That may be true. But I
have the feeling that you’ll learn it all in a very short time.”

“I don’t know . . .”

“Would you rather be back
selling sea shells?”

“No way. Talk about
boring. At least what you do is kind of exciting.”

“You’d be surprised. In
fact, let me show you what I’m working on right now.” And Tink’rrr pulled out a
garment that Soo’ recognized immediately. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do
with that?”

“You and I are going to
try and make it work again.”

“Oh My Gosh. You can color
me a seriously stunned serpent “. Then without thinking, she did her best
imitation of K’ssss.  “H’sssss.”

Aeri’elle

Aeri’elle walked into her
history class and sat in the very front of the room. Two of her sorority
sisters, and former members of the H.A.M.A.N.D.E.G.G. Society, sat on
either side of her.

As they waited for their
professor to make his entrance, they chatted about their classes this semester.
School had just started and there was an air of excitement. All three girls
were in their last year of college and all too soon would be looking for jobs .
. . something that would never have happened under Mobius.

The professor walked in
and took his place at the podium. He fidgeted with his notes and seemed fairly
nervous.

“He’s kind of cute,” said
the girl on Aeri’elle’s left.

“Yeah. I think I’m going
to like this class,” said the girl on the right.

Aeri’elle smiled but said
nothing.

Finally, the professor got
himself organized and addressed the class . . .

“Welcome to History of
Aerianna. This semester we will be studying the era from the coronation of
M’earth, to the ascension of Mobius and end with the advent of the Hameggattic
sisterhood. My name is Professor Soar’elle. Please open your books to page
forty-five.” He then stole a glance at the girl in the front row . . . and
Aeri’elle smiled back proudly at her father.

Bl’azzz

“Bl’azzz, it’s for you.”

“Who is it?”

“That boy you used to
date.”

“Furn’o?” She hopped over
to the front door and sure enough, there he was . . . the weasel that had
dumped her.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Ummm . . . I was just
wondering if maybe you would . . .  ummm . . . you know . . . ummm . . . go out
with me.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I thought that . . . you
know . . . that maybe you still liked me.”

“No . . . actually, I
never did. You were, and probably still are, boring and rude. So go away before
I burp and burn you.”

“But . . .” But before he
could finish, she giggled, burped then burned his butt.

Mobius and Bl’udd

“We are going to be locked
in this ship for a hundred years. Turn if off or I will go insane,” growled
Mobius.

“How would I know how to
turn it off?” whined Bl’udd.

“You are a complete
imbecile,” but the wicked ex-king didn’t know how to turn it off either.

What he was complaining
about was a continuously playing recording of the Hameggattic Sisters singing
every Fandango Sally song that Egg and Sylvia could remember.

Unfortunately, the seven
sisters were terrible singers.

Really, really
terrible.

Zack & Zeke

“What do you think?”

“I think you look like a
geek.”

“Come on . . . it’s a
great costume.”

“The sword is brilliant .
. . I’ll give you that.”

“You look dorky . . . like
an ugly Harry Potter.”

“I’m an evil wizard, dufus.
I’m supposed to look like this.”

The doorbell rang and they
heard their mom answer it.

“Well, don’t you two look
terrific,” said Mrs. Z. “Come in. The boys will be down in a minute.”

It was the night of the
Halloween Dance and Egg and Sylvia had asked the boys if they wanted to go. The
twins were surprised by the invitation but readily accepted.

They finally came down the
stairs and made their grand entrance.

“Hey, nice costume,” said
Zeke. Egg was wearing Dazzle’s outfit.

“You, too,” she replied.

“And you look awesome,”
said Zack to Sylvia.

“Thank you. It’s not too
dazzling, is it?” She was wearing a Queen’s costume with lots of glitter stuff
all over it.

“Naw, it’s perfect.”

“Well, I think you four
look wonderful; a prince with his warrior princess and the evil wizard with his
adversary . . . the beautiful queen.” Mrs. Z was always enthusiastic . . .
about everything. “What do you think, Eloise?”

Egg’s Grammy studied the
four then answered, “They look like they stepped out of a fairy tale. You know
the kind . . . one with heart-stopping adventures and lots of strange creatures
like dragons and serpents.”

“. . . and talking trees,”
added Egg. The boys looked at her and laughed.

“Yeah, right. Talking
trees and little green men,” said Zeke good-naturedly.

“Actually . . . little
green girls.”

Ham and Egg

They were sitting in
Sylvia’s attic . . . the place where the Hameggattic Sisterhood was first
founded.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“I’m bored.”

“Yeah . . . me too.”

“Let’s go back to
Aerianna.”

“Eggggg. We can’t just go
back every time you’re bored.”

“Why not?”

“Well . . . just because.
Besides, we’re going to have to get used to being just Ham and Egg again.”

“Yuk.”

“Come on . .  . it won’t
be so bad.”

“Syl . . . we fought
Mobius and the rest of his evil friends. We made it through the seven lands. We
have friends . . . sisters . . . who are dragons and sea serpents. How the heck
can we just be us again?”

“What choice do we have?”

“Yeah . . . I guess you’re
right.”

After a moment, Sylvia
asked, “Tell me again what Storm said.” Egg had her first dream since they
returned from Aerianna . . . and Storm was in it.

“He said something like .
. . ‘as I was once asked, so shall you be. And your reward shall be as mine . .
. that which is priceless and forever.’”

The girls went silent
trying to figure out what it meant.

“Still no clue?”

“None. I even asked Grammy
but she had no idea.”

“Oh well . . . I guess
you’ll find out sooner or later.”

“Yeah. But I hope it’s
sooner.”

The Ballard of Egg

Dazzle, Dazzle here we go

To Aerianna to fight the
foe

Some new sisters, we must
find

At least six who are brave
and kind

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

That’s the one thing I do
Know

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

He’s the enemy, he’s our
Foe

A sweet serpent who likes
to H’sssss

A slithering sack of silly
. . . ness

One proud dragon with lots
of smart

A wonderful sister with a
very brave heart.

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

That’s the one thing I do
Know

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

He’s the enemy, he’s our
Foe

A wise cracking serpent
who likes to tease

There’s no better friend,
if you please

One last dragon with a
Booyah-base

She proudly represents her
F’yre Race

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

That’s the one thing I do
Know

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

He’s the enemy, he’s our
Foe

A beautiful girl, sweet
and shy

To save her sisters, she’d
gladly die

But there’s one girl that
I can’t forget

The best-est friend I’ve
ever met

She stood with me through
thick and thin

Even when we had no chance
to win

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

That’s the one thing I do
Know

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

He’s the enemy, he’s our
Foe

Seven girls who were way
too young

2 dragons, 2 serpents and
3 hu-mons

We came together as I knew
we would

And now they know of our
Sisterhood.

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

That’s the one thing I do
Know

Mo gotta Go, Mo gotta Go

He’s the enemy, he’s our
Foe

Need more of

Egg and the Hameggattic
Sisterhood?

Look for the Sisters 2nd adventure

Zynn-Zaz’zia

A four book Box Set

Visit

www.flyinggirl.us

for more information

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Bob Iannone