CE: Christmas Tree

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I hit the play button on my laptop and the room immediately fills with the sounds of Andrea Bocelli's voice. The song is one of my favorites, and I can't help but hum along. In alto, of course. It's always the most fun to harmonize.

"What song is this?" 

I cast a quick glance at the girl standing next to me. "God Bless Us Everyone. It's..."

"Sung by Andrea Bocelli, written by Alan Silvestri, and appears in the end credits of Disney's A Christmas Carol?"

I grin. "Jo, you know me too well."

Josette gives me a smile as well. "I know your brain too well."

"And that's a rather scary thought. Here."

Josette stares blankly at my hands. "But there's nothing there."

"Just pretend there is. I don't have a real Christmas tree to have you help me decorate, so we're going to make up our own." 

The princess's eyebrows jerk upward, but Josette says nothing and cradles her hands together to accept the invisible ornament. "Where do I put it?"

"The tree is standing..." I scrunch up my face in an effort to see the desired conifer and wave my hands around to determine the size of the branches, "... right about there. Just hang the ornament on one of the branches."

Timidly, Josette reaches out and delicately leaves her ornament hanging in the air. "Like that?"

"Perfect!" 

"Ahem."

The sudden sound of someone clearing his, or her, throat startles the both of us.

"Kiri, you know you're supposed to put the lights on first."

"Derec! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

The boy only grins. "Well, since I'm here now, can I help you?"

"Might as well." I say, cocking an eyebrow at him. "I don't suppose I can talk you out of it."

"No, you can't." He catches sight of Josette and throws himself rather gracefully for a twelve-year-old into a bow fit for royalty which, as Josette is a princess, is probably the right way to do the job. "Derec, at your service, my lady. I am but a humble blacksmith, but I can see at a glance that you must be the Princess Josette Fierte of Findenland."

"How did you know?" Josette is trying to hold back a smile, but I cannot mistake the wonder in her voice.

Derec winks. "Everyone knows Kiri's favorites."

"And where are you from?" Josette asks.

"The beautiful, but small, kingdom of Darancia." Derec replies easily. "I'm from The Masked Pianist."

"I don't believe I've ever heard of you."

"That's because he's only had one scene." I cut in.

"Indeed, Princess, my story is one of such twists and mystery that not even the great Kiri Liz herself can figure it all out."

"That's hogwash." I retort hastily, determining not to be shown up by one of my own characters. "I do know exactly what the mystery is, and I know a lot more than you do."

Derec only shrugs. 

"And how are you going to reach the top of the tree to do the lights?" I press further. "You're not six-foot."

"Ah, fear not, my beloved but frustrating creator." Derec holds up one finger. "I have thought of that already."

Almost as if his words are a cue, the door behind me opens and in strolls a tall man with dark hair and eyes twinkling with fun.

"Brother Van Leign, my lady." He, too, bows to Josette. I, however, am not amused.

"Leign? What's going on?"

But he is spared from answering as just at that moment, Josette breaks out in a delighted cry. "You're from Secret of the Hazel Tree, aren't you?"

"My lady speaks the truth." Brother Leign bows again. "My young friend here asked if I would assist him in his light task."

My lips tighten. Something's not right, and my mind hits upon it the moment I hear a muffled thump against the door. "How many did you bring with you, Derec?"

"Many?" The boy freezes with a sheepish look on his face, and the ecstatic strains of the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker fill the silence after his single word.

When he fails to answer, I stride to the door and yank it open. A conglomeration of people, piled against the door, tumble into the room the moment their supporting structure is gone. I stand back and survey the mess.

"Well, well, Jelly, Token, Swipe, Dick, and Nathan. What are you all doing here?"

"It was Derec's idea!" Nathan protests as he struggles to his feet.

"Yes, it was." Derec beams proudly.

"Please, we wanted to help decorate the tree, too!" Token's red hair bounces as she rushes to my side. Her hands fold together in a pleading gesture.

"And can we put a popcorn ring on it?" The speaker's tiny green wings flutter excitedly in my face, and I back away.

"A popcorn what, Jelly?"

"I think she means a popcorn string." Dick offers, brushing his uniform off. 

"Yes, that!" Jelly exclaims. " A popcorn sling! Ooh, who's that?" She flys over to Josette and perches her small body on the princess's shoulder. 

I catch about a million confused glances going back and forth around the room, and since I'm the only one who knows who is who, it looks as if I'll have to make the introductions. "Everyone, this is Princess Josette Fierte of Findenland."

"The Twelfth Kingdom, right?" Nathan asks, but not before giving a bow.

"Right." I waste no time and move to the man standing just behind Josette. "Brother Van Leign of Troisem, priest in Secret of the Hazel Tree."

Leign acknowledges the company with a nod of his head.

"The fairy on Josette's shoulder is..."

"I'm Jelly Cardon!" She interrupts gleefully. "And I'm from... well, I don't really know where I'm from, but I live in Kesia right now, and Kiri's promised to take me on an avenger! Princess Lianne and I are going to all sorts of exhibiting things!"

"She means adventure and exciting, of course." I correct hastily before anyone can ask about Jelly's odd use of words. "Jelly suffers from a little something known as Malapropism. It's rather funny, actually. But, moving on..." I place my hand on the little redhead by my side. "This is Token, and she comes from my story Tabby."

"Is Tabby your sister?" Josette bends to better see the young girl eye-to-eye.

Token shrugs. "I call her my sister, but I don't know if we are. She gave me a real name, you know! There's Tiara, too, but I think I like Tabby best. Her kitty's nice. But I like Tiara, too. She has pretty hair. Carl doesn't. He's nasty, and his hair is so messy I don't even know what color it is."

I carry on the introductions once the laughter from Token's speech dies down. "Some of you probably already know of Nathan Penser of Pennin."

Brother Leign strokes his chin. "Ah, yes, the man whom Kianna claims to be her mortal enemy. Tell me, friend, whatever did you do to her that stirred up such wrath?"

Nathan's head fell. "I don't know. I wish I knew." His voice bordered on the edge of a deep sadness, so I knew it was time to move on quickly. 

"Dicksen Elnefar is from Dron."

"Oh, we all know about him." Derec breaks in. "He's from Rebirth of a Legend. I think he's probably the biggest character we've got in this room so far, unless we're counting Princess Josette, of course."

"And that loudmouth is Derec from Darancia, very minor character in The Masked Pianist."

"Minor? What?" Derec's shock brings another wave of laughter to the group.

I look around. "Is that it?"

"No, you forgot him." Token jabbed a finger in a corner. "I don't know who he is."

"And he hasn't said, either." Dick remarked in an undertone. "Do you recognize him, Nathan?"

"Never saw him before in my life," the young man from Pennin admitted, "and he doesn't look anything like Kiri's other characters that I know."

"That's because I haven't written his story yet." I say bluntly. "And he cannot tell you his name because he is mute. He hasn't been able to speak since his birth, or at least, I think that's how it all is. His name is Swipe, and he's from Black Fox."

"Black Fox?" Derec gives a low whistle. "Well, in that case," he strides over to Swipe and sticks his hand out. "Very nice to meet you. I think your story is the one that everyone is dying to hear, yet no one knows anything about. It's an honor to finally see who's in that great story."

Swipe eyes Derec's hand warily for a moment, but accepts it slowly, only to pull the boy into a full hug as soon as their hands touch.

I cringe, knowing the real reason for the hug. "Derec... check your pockets. He isn't called Swipe for nothing."

Swipe grins as he pulls back. Derec's face adopts a look of alarm as Swipe dangles a thin, dirty book in the boy's face. "Hey, he took my notebook!"

"Give it back now, Swipe." I shake my head in amusement as the mute thief hands the notebook back to a very relieved son of a blacksmith. "He makes his living that way, and I'm afraid you won't be able to knock that hobby out of him. Okey dokey," I turn back to the company, "are we going to decorate this tree? I assume that's why you're all here."

"Oh, Kiri, can I pleeeease do a popcorn sling?"

"Certainly, Jelly."

"Do we have any bells to hang?" Brother Leign picks up the invisible lid to a box and peers into the pretend depths. A moment later, a smile breaks out over his face and he pulls something upward with two fingers. As he shakes his hand, I get a preliminary shock when the sound of bells jingle softly across the room. But no, that's only Carol of the Bells playing on my laptop. I'd almost forgotten I'd put music on. I must have missed several songs while making the introductions. Pity.

"Kiri, you didn't forget the ribbons, did you?" Dick asks with alarm in his eyes.

"We don't normally put ribbons on our tree," I answer back, "but you can if you want to. Look in those boxes over there." I point vaguely off to the right.

"Can I do a Nutcracker ornament?" Token pleads.

I run a loving hand over her red hair. "Of course! Whatever you would like! Where did I put those candy canes?"

The next half hour goes by so quickly that I'm hardly aware of the time. Laughs break out as Nathan describes the fish ornament he wishes to put on the tree, and Josette scolds Jelly for eating the popcorn string instead of putting it on the tree. Dick drapes the tree in ribbons from top to bottom, and upon surveying the transparent decor, Derec frowns and states that there's no room for his tiny anvil. Swipe dances about, throwing tinsel into the air and snitching everyone else's ornaments, I'm sure. Token insists that every single one of her ornaments has some reference to the Nutcracker, and while I'm not even sure how she recognizes the music, she has everyone become silent any time one of Tchaikovsky's songs plays from my laptop.

When I finally stand back to imagine our final product, I can only gape in awe. "It's beautiful, everyone."

Josette steps up behind me and places her hand on my shoulder. "Thank you so much for letting us help you."

"My pleasure. I always have fun decorating trees, and I am glad that I could share all of this with all of you." I throw a glare at Derec who cowers playfully behind Brother Leign. "Even though most of you were uninvited. But this was a lot of fun. So, thank you. All of you."

God bless!

More Elevensies...

This seems to be the set time for elevensies! I've already filled it out here, so if you wish to bring to mind all that I said before, you're welcome to go visit there before continuing here. 

This first set of elevensies questions came from the lovely Maryanne, whom you can read more about on Kendra's wonderful blog. And instead of being directed to me as the writer, they were directed to my character, Lianne, who in this very blog post, makes her big debut of finally having her own voice on my blog. Can't imagine why I haven't done any posts from my characters' POV... hmm... maybe I should fix that. 

As always, rules:
- If you are tagged/nominated, you must post eleven facts about yourself.
- Then, you must answer the eleven questions the tagger has given you and make eleven questions for the people you are going to tag.
- Next, tag eleven more bloggers.
- Tell the people you tagged that you have tagged them.
- No tagging back

Anywho, here's Lianne, folks! And I promise I will keep silent until it is my turn to answer questions.

Thank you, Kiri Liz. That is most generous. Do I sense a dash of sarcasm, Lianne? I thought you promised to be quiet. I... ugh.

Eleven random facts...

1. I can play the flute.

2. I would rather wear leather tunics and breeches over a fancy dress. 

3. I know what it is like to be without parents, as my father is away most of the time on journeys and my mother died when I was only an infant.

4. Please allow me to amend that last statement: my father was drowned in a shipwreck only too recently, so the void of being without parents is even greater.

5. I did not believe that fairies existed until I met two of them.

6. The two faires, Jelly and Gerkhin, have quickly become my best friends, and they can make me laugh whenever I feel downcast.

7. I am not fond of snakes.

8. Since the sea swallowed my father, I have borne a bitter fear of the water. I never wish to venture out over the waves. 

9. I have often wondered why I am one of the characters Kiri has written about least in the last two years, when I'm one of her favorites, and the name of her blog even bears my name!

10. When I asked her about this, she told me that it was because my story, started in haste, was in great need of revision.

11. My heart is gladdened to hear that she has wonderful ideas for rewriting my story and making it much, much better. She is, although a trifle exasperating, a wonderful girl.

The eleven questions from Maryanne...

1. How many knives do you usually have concealed on your person? I'm not going to ask where you conceal them, but if you want to answer that, you may. At the moment, none. I have only used a knife once in my life, and that one experience was terrifying to say in the least. I much prefer to use my bow and arrows.

2. How many times have you run away from home? Do you ask your parents permission before you do so? I would rather not have to run away at all, but after an unfortunate event, I was forced to flee my home, and did so without consulting my parents.

3. What is your rank and station in life? I am a princess, the only child of King Leroy Taimenlore of Kesia.

4. Do your cousins like you? I don't know if I have any cousins. Kiri knows but she hasn't told me yet. Point for me! Shh! Sorry.

5. How many siblings do you have and do they like you? None that I know of. When I was younger, I often wished for a sibling. There is hardly anyone near my age in Dilean, and I was usually without a playmate. I recall lying awake at night, singing Kesia's prophecy to myself and wishing that the two mentioned in the song were myself and my sibling. But it was only a dream.

6. How many pets do you have? What are they and what are their names? One; she is a magnificent, pure white mare. Her name is Brina, which means "white" in the elven language.

7. Can you dance? Sing? Fight? I absolutely detest dancing and am not very skilled at it. Singing I enjoy sometimes, and I have been told that I have a fairly decent voice. I didn't know that. Well, obviously, you neglected to listen to Madam Connin at my last music lesson. So? Who listens to her anyway? I understand your meaning, Kiri, but you're breaking your promise again. Oops! Sorry! Fighting is something new to me, as I have only been involved in a few skirmishes. I am a excellent shot with the bow, but when it comes to swords and knives, I am almost useless.

8. How many adventures have you gone on? One... so far. Although I may wish for the comforts of home, I suspect that adventures will not stay away from my door. It is impossible for me to avoid them.

9. You enjoyed them? Right? Define "enjoyed." I enjoyed my adventure to the extent of meeting new friends, tasting new foods, seeing new lands, etc. However, I could very well do without the endless days on the road, the dark intruders in the night, the wild beasts, and the malicious men intent on my capture.

10. Can you hop on one foot? Is this a sensible question? I deem not. Hopping on one foot is a rather easy occupation, but not one that I would call a worthwhile hobby.

11. How many languages do you speak? One, the common tongue of Kesia. It is the common tongue for most of the kingdoms and countries surrounding us. The language I am trying to learn and long to learn is that of the Elves. It is a complicated, beautiful language, and it is my utmost desire to be able to speak it fluently.

I have no wish to tag eleven people as I know not eleven people on this thing Kiri calls the internet. As this is my first time to be a part of it, I will forego the tag and questions to others. I hope you don't mind. 

And I'm back! Sorry about the interruptions; usually when I make a promise, I never, ever break that promise. Ever. I just couldn't help coming in with some side comments. *ahem*

These questions came from Bekah over at Heart of Ink! Thanks for tagging me, Bekah! I know I've said this before, but I really do enjoy answering all these questions! :)

Oh, and by the way, these questions also came with the lovely Liebster Award! So, again, thanks, Bekah, for the award!!

Rules:

1. You must post eleven random facts about yourself.

2. You must also answer the eleven questions the awarder has given you and make up eleven questions for your awardees to answer in turn.

3. Tag eleven fellow bloggers. 

4. Notify them that you've awarded them.

5. No tagging back.

6. The eleven blogs you tag must have less than 200 followers.

Those eleven, lucky girls that I tagged in my first elevensies tag, consider yourselves the latest recipients of the Liebster Blog Award! Congrats, and please enjoy it! And no, I will not require you to answer eleven questions as I already gave you eleven questions in the first post.

I wasn't going to fill out the eleven random facts, but as I sat here, thinking that I would skip it, random facts came to me, so I'm going to do them. 

1. The last two days have been utterly miserable for me.

2. Why? Because I've been sick.

3. That's why you haven't seen me on blogger or anywhere online recently.

4. Yep, I had the entire package: a fever that lasted two days with alternate fits of sweats and freezes, sore throat, coughing, runny nose, ear aches, headaches, aches everywhere aches could be found, itchy eyes that threatened to go into conjunctivitis, etc.

5. I passed the time listening to the dramatized Narnia series by Focus on the Family. Love the Radio Theatre! 

6. Their dramatized Christmas Carol is really good, too!

7. Today I'm feeling much better (praise the Lord!!), and in light of what's happening tonight (see fact #8), I have been taking as much medicine as my dad has allowed me.

8. Our church is hosting a Pie and Cider Fellowship tonight, and in addition to our church family being there and some other good friends, my dad/pastor also invited another church to join us for some pie and fellowship.

9. I'm really looking forward to it! 

10. Because I love cider and pie!

11. My favorite pies are the following: blueberry, peach, pumpkin, and chocolate pudding. I can no longer eat the chocolate pudding pie due to allergies, but I still love it.

Bekah's eleven questions:

1. Hunger Games or Harry Potter? Neither. Hunger Games is a whole can of worms that I haven't addressed here on my blog yet, but I do not approve of the violent theme and immoral activity within the series. Harry Potter, however, I have spoken of, mainly in my big magic post. I cannot read/watch HP in good faith because it is witchcraft. There's actually more reasons than that why I don't do HP, but we'll leave it at that for now.

2. Lord of the Rings or Narnia? Umm... both! I don't think I could choose between them!

3. Movies or books? Books. Although movies are fun, if I had to chose only one, I'd go with books.

4. What kind of music do you listen to when you write, if any? Mostly soundtracks. And some classical. I would listen to more musicals, but I've found that when I put on songs with words, I tend to start singing and neglect writing. Yeah... (sheepish grin). So, it's easier to write with just the orchestra in the background. Some of my favorite writing music: HTTYD, the instrumental pieces from Tangled, Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), The Chronicles of Narnia, some of The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and Gettysburg. Other specific songs include Page 47 from National Treasure, Main Title from Fireproof, and Alice's Theme from Alice in Wonderland (2011). Please note that I don't endorse all these movies. 

5. Winter or summer? Winter. I love the snow, and I would much rather be cold than hot!

6. Cursive or print? I find it easier to write in cursive. I've kept a daily journal (emphasis on the word daily) since August of 2008, and it's faster for me to write in cursive than print. However, when I'm writing poetry, I usually write that in all caps print.

7. Keyboard or writing by hand? Depends on what I'm writing. Stories and novels? Definitely keyboard. Poems and essays and shorter pieces? Usually by hand.

8. If the villain from your favorite movie/book series right now came walking through your front door as you're reading this question, what would you do? Me: "You're s'posed to be dead!" Villain: "Am I not?" Actually, that villain would happen to be Sauron from LOTR, and he technically doesn't have legs so he can't walk... where am I trying to go with this?

9. Mexican or Chinese food? Mexican. Chinese food, unfortunately, has an over abundance of soy.

10. Cake or ice cream? Ice cream, if we're just talking plain here. Frozen cake, if we go a bit deeper. I love frozen cake! And yes, I'm one of those rare people who enjoy eating cake with a spoon and ice cream with a fork. I don't know why, but I just do.

11. Candy or chips? Chips, chips, chips!! I've never been a fan of candy, but I have heard many times said by my mother that our family could not survive without chips. We're a huge chip-eating family!

Thanks for reading and God bless!

June Snippets

It's June and time again for Snippets of Story from Whisperings of the Pen!! I'm not including any yet from Children of a Legend (my current June Crusade/NaNoWriMo project) because May's Snippets were all from that story. I thought you'd like to get a glimpse of my other stories. :)

The two girls rounded a corner and there in front of them stood the palace. J heard B gasp as she took in the sight, and though J herself had seen it many times in her fifteen years, she, too, stopped for a moment in awe. Grey stoned and solid, the palace stood like a benevolent giant amidst the clumps of vacuous town homes and shops. Massive towers stretched to the skies, elegantly laced with ivy and roses. It was the perfect picture of grandeur.

But between them and grandeur marched a tall iron fence and a hundred of King Jakken's guards. J scowled. There would be no close glimpses of the new princess. The guards were strategically placed and the gate meticulously closed so that no one could get past them.

The Twelfth Kingdom

Leaving the door open, J darted to B's side and tenderly placed a hand on her cheek. It was like caressing fire. B thrashed around when J's hand touched her, completely throwing the holey blanket aside. J placed both hands on B's shoulders and tried to calm her friend.

“B! It's fine! It's me, Josette! Don't you know me? Princess?”

B groaned and shrugged off J's hands, oblivious to her cries.

“No, no!” J sobbed, trying to tuck the blanket around B's shaking frame. “B! Can you hear me? You will get better! You must get better! I need you!”

J was so focused on her friend that she never saw the shadow in the doorway, a shadow that rested on the door for only a moment and then disappeared.

The Twelfth Kingdom

Halidorn, the heavy guard sitting to the right of Jayn, appeared more interested in the apples in his hands than anything else. He had already polished off two red apples and was preparing to begin munching on a third. Halidorn carefully shined the apple on his sleeve and then eyed the fruit contemptuously.

Lianne saw Halidorn lean toward Jayn and say something. She rolled her eyes. He's probably asking Jayn for a knife to cut any bruises off.

Sure enough, Jayn produced a small knife, sighing as he did so, and Halidorn went to work carefully cutting a small discolored chunk out of the apple. Once the bruise had been removed, he examined the apple again before taking a bite. Food was Halidorn's greatest love, but he couldn't tolerate bruises or imperfections.

Lianne

 By this time, the rest of King Leroy's company had caught up to them. Lianne suppressed a smirk when she spotted her father's royal adviser and cousin, Azadon Taimenlore. Azadon inhabited a rather shortened form which looked very misplaced atop his large, black stallion. Complaining seemed to be his favorite pastime, and right now was no exception. Even from where she stood, Lianne could hear Azadon grumbling under his breath.

“Horrid weather; it ruined my good cloak.” He moaned as a stable hand helped him dismount. “Nothing but stale bread to eat. Nothing but treacherous waters to see. Nothing but dead fish to smell.”

Lianne

“Carl! Carl, where are you?” Tabby hollered as they staggered into the lobby.

An annoyed voice drifted out of the small office adjacent to the lobby. “I'm busy, cat girl! And for Pete's sake, don't yell. You'll disturb my guests.”

“As if you care!” Tabby shot back. “I brought you more guests!”

Carl's face immediately peeked around the door jam, his mouth stretched into a wide grin. “Well, why didn't you say so in the first place, Tabby?” His smile faded as his eyes took in the two strangers, one young, one old and unconscious, and both covered in blood.

“Tabby! You know my hotel is a fine establishment. I cannot take in filthy vagabonds from off of the street.” Carl shook his head. “No, my uncle did that, and it nearly drove him to ruin. I will not follow in his unsuccessful footsteps. Now, get them out of my lobby!” He turned to go back into the office.

“Wait!” The boy called out, digging in his pocket. He pulled his hand out and displayed a wad of bills. “I can pay you. How much?”

Carl's eyes gleamed when he saw the money. “Oh, let's not worry about the price now,” he said, walking forward swiftly. “We really must get a doctor to look at your companion. Gracious! She's out cold! Bob!” He bellowed, turning to the office. “Call a doctor! We have a poor woman here in need of medical attention!”

Tabby

Lianne's Prophecy

This is the prophetic song I penned for my story, Lianne. Let me know what you think!


When darkness comes and shadows fall,

When light is threatened beyond recall,

When justice fails its kingly path,

When kingdoms die to wicked wrath,

Then two will rise to take a stand,

Yes, two will rise to save the land.

When evil prospers and makes its reign,

When righteous hearts suffer pain,

When all the good is lost for ill,

When all corners the night does fill,

Then two will rise with mighty hand,

Yes, two will rise to save the land.

Two so different, yet the same,

Two who share kindred's name,

Two crowned with mercy's crest,

Two welcomed by wisdom's guest,

Both working for a righteous goal,

By falling not in deceiver's hole,

By walking not in evil ways,

And casting off the unjust praise,

Forsaking vanity's lustful guide ,

And sitting not by scorner's side,

By meditating on pureness of ear,

And fearing not danger's sneer,

Then will two rise and peace demand,

Yes, two will rise to save the land.