Tuesday Tales: The Sprite Child's Epic

It's been an interesting and long few days for me, so I thought I would let myself not think so much for this post.

One of the goals I had for Fractured Princess was to make other pieces of it available in some story form or another, short stories, prequels (hadn't thought of sequels, but then my darn mind betrayed me). I want to flesh out a children's book from the story: The Sprite Child's Epic. It's been a while since I opened this document, but I loved writing this one scene, so here it is for your enjoyment, hopefully. It's mainly dialogue.

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Talking to the Trees

Lenne trembled as she rubbed her eyes with her fists. Surely, she was not seeing what she was seeing. Sir Willa was looking at her and speaking to her, without her imagination. She lowered her hands and looked at the holes in the tree staring back at her.

“S-s-sir Willa?” she gasped.

“’Tis what you call me, my lady,” he answered. “I must say, ’tis a simple name and a lot shorter than my real one.”

“W-what is your real one?”

“Teospriesellopatna.”

“Tee…teeos…”

“You see? I was nearly two decades old before I could say it myself. Sir Willa is much easier. My real name means Spirit of the Green Willows of Teorre. I am the father of all the green willow trees.”

“All the green ones? Are there other colors?”

“Oh, my yes, Little Lady Lenne. Come sit.”

And right before Lenne’s eyes, Sir Willa tied a bundle of his switches together and made a hammock for her. Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, Lenne approached her friend who just this afternoon had not been able to do any of these things himself. The fly perched itself between Sir Willa’s eyes as he spoke.

“Now, there are two other kinds of willow trees, but they are across the northern waters, and also far south on another land. Their parents are Teospriesellocalla and Teosprieselloabbi, the Spirits of the Blue and White Willows of Teorre.”

“Blue and white trees?” Lenne raised her brow high in astonishment.

“Teorre is very interesting outside of your little home, my lady.”

“You keep saying Teorre. What is that?”

“’Tis the world on which we live. Quite simply, it means, the earth. Only those of us sensitive to this side of it know its name, and now you are here, so now you know it, too.”

“This side. What is this side? I saw myself asleep, yet I was not asleep, but standing away from my body.”

Sir Willa’s long mouth curved upward. He was frowning. “You were bitten by the faeriefly then.”

“The what?”

“The faeriefly.” One of Sir Willa’s switches bent upwards and pointed to the glowing fly still sitting between his eyes. “Her magic is a fickle thing. She bit you and accidentally split your living body from your dream body. We must find a way to get you back into your living body before your Papa notices.”

“Oh dear, he will think me dead!”

“No, no. You are still breathing, Little Lady Lenne. You are just sleeping very deeply. You must see Teosprilacca. She can help you get to where you need to go first.”

“First? I cannot just wake up?”

“’Tis not that simple, my lady. You need a magic more controlled to help you. For that, you need to go to the Crystal Bearers. They are the most powerful people on Teorre.”

“Crystal Bearers? You mean there are others on this land?”

“Not this land, but the land across the northern waters. Teosprilacca will take you.”

“Teo…Do you mean Lady Kwakwa?”

“Yes, and you may want to call her Lady Lacca when you see her. She does not like your name for her. She says ducks make that noise.”

“Oh dear…And the Beauterfleas? Do they not like their name either?”

“Butterflies are vain little things. They love that you call them beauties.”

“Oh, good.”