A Year of Whimsi

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 9: 060 Brothers and Sisters January 19, 2013

"Dellar and Cendi." Tilli said and Kirsch blinked.

"Of course you had siblings." He said and wondered why he had assumed she had been an only child, it was only natural that her parents would have wanted more than one child with the mortality of the Traders being what it was.

Tilli stared at him for a second before she returned to her work and he walked off determined to find something that was not going to break his brain that day.

"You know Mald and I thought of you as a brother." Dolle said as walked past the table she had claimed for her planning, "that is why he put up with all the stupid things you did."

"Put up with?" Kirsch paused and decided his day was not going to be spent peacefully, "If I remember correctly, Taiya had to order him not to kill me after I put dye in your hair." Dolle raised an eyebrow at him, "the first time."

"You are dense as you are short." Dolle said and gave him an irritated sigh and he walked away again. It always meant something, he just learned not to stick around long enough to find out what.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 9: 061 Perfume January 20, 2013

I come to a stop at the edge of the sidewalk and give a disapproving frown at the red hand that had been a walking man a few steps before, "Well what was it?" I ask the person on the other end of my phone as I pound my fist against the walk button and the metallic click-clank tells me I have pushed it, I do it twice again despite it.

"A perfume commercial." My friend on the other end of the phone says and I hear someone shouting in the back ground at the cat. "How did you know?"

"You owe me pizza." I say as my stomach grumbles and I mash the button again as if it will make the sign change quicker, "Mostly naked people and music means perfume, no idea what it is for and you have a beverage commercial."

I hear a loud yowl and some swearing and something that sounds suspiciously like the phone hitting the ground, "Sorry 'bout that, the cat's gonna need a bath." My freind says as she picks the phone back up, "Pepperoni or cheese?"

"Whichever one the cat did not decide to use as his perfume." I say as I swing my hand to mash the button once more.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 9: 062 Adoption January 21, 2013

Tilli took a turn that gave her a view of the hallway and smiled when she saw the gaurds standing outside the door of the room they had made their gathering place for the winter. "Is this the place?" Sete asked, "I know I can walk the world but I do like to sit down now and again."

"Yes." Tilli said as she started down the hallway, the guards were a sure sign that Dolle was inside. The door opened and as she had expected the white haired mage was inside, but the man Tilli had come to refer to as her shadow was not.

Dolle ordered the men to do something, most likely to close the door, before she threw a book at it as it clicked shut. "If you keep throwing those things I may have to something." Fren said as he spoke up from a couch that faced the fireplace and hid his lanky figure. Tilli made a quick debate to not be with Sete that Ri definitely was and Den more than likely was somewhere in the room or one of the adjacent ones.

"May I remind you what those books of yours are made of?" Dolle snapped back as the door opened to admit Kirsch and Den soaked through to the skin, "And how many times am I going to have to let you keep the colds you get because you are too dense to come inside when it rains?"

Ri leaned back on her perch enough to be seen around the edge and Fren poked his head over the top of the couch before the two men were surrounded by a quick blanket of flames, once the fires disappeared they were dry.

"I do not feel like listening to another argument today." Fren said when everyone turned their attention to him.

"I trust you two are smart enough not to have injured yourselves." Dolle said as she crossed her arms.

"Nothing that we need her to patch up." Kirsch said and Tilli took a deep breath in expectation of a fight she would have to break up, again.

"Your mother will be the death of me." Dolle's shadow said as he entered the room and Tilli released her breath.

"Which one?" Kirsch asked and Tilli turned her attention to Dolle and the questions that now needed answers.

"Does it matter?" Idell said as he sat down on the closest piece of furniture. "They are all going to."

"How many mothers do you have?" Tilli asked when it was clear that it was the only way it was going to get asked.

"Three." Idell said, "She has three and a woman who might as well be, and they are all going to kill me."

"They are not going to kill you." Dolle said, "They have more important things to worry about than killing my fiance. I would worry more about your mother, she has nothing to do since your sister took the throne."

Idell groaned and Tilli was glad the politics of Traders was nothing compared to that of the Warring Lands.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 9: 063 Blue Jeans January 22, 2013

The snip of scissors cutting through thin plastic tags fill the silence before two girls break out in giggles interspersed by gasps for breaths and cries that their sides hurt. They are not certain what they had started laughing about, their best guess would have been an inside joke about something completely irrelevant, but it did not matter because giggle were contagious and their metaphorical immune systems were weak.

The pause their laughter long enough to hear the silence in the house. "Dryers done." The older one says as they spring to their feet and run into the laundry room, stopping only a moment to grab a basket already full of jeans.

Sure enough the door is warm and the dial has reached the end, they pull open the door and the jeans that are now dry, pausing every now and then to absorb the warmth from the blue denim.

The younger one takes the basket that is dangerously close to toppling over out of the room as the other opens the washer to change the next load over. She stops though with a handful of wet clothes clumped into a blob and stares at the inside of the once pristine white insides of the dryer. It is stained blue a shade or three darker than the sky.

The sisters look at each other and quickly put the new clothes in the dryer amid laughter of what the blue jeans have done.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: 064 Paper Airplanes January 23, 2013

I stare at the piece of paper in front of me, a single pure white sheet of exactly eight and a half inches by eleven, the edges crisp and corners at perfect ninety degree angles. My eyes flick to the clock, the red hand moving slower that I think it should and the two hands not where I want them, the bell is still a long way off.

My attention turns back to the paper and I rest my chin on the edge of the desk and breath out, my eyes staring at the flat white plain as it hovers above my desk and rustles. My mind immediately makes a connection between the two homophones.

My hands grab the edges of the paper and bend it until the edges line up and press the fold down. I repeat the process lining the edges up with lines in the paper and making each crease a single pressed line where the two parts of the paper remain together after I remove the pressure of my fingernail.

I fold the last part and I am done, I hold the airplane aloft in victory for a brief second before I tilt my arm back and in one motion send the paper toy sailing across the class room. It makes a single loop before it dives to the ground and lands with silent fanfare just out of reach of my desk.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: 65 Marijuana January 24, 2013

The person known as Whimis sits at her computer and stares at the topic of the day, her teeth scraping off the outermost layer of her lip as she thinks. The idle drumming of her fingers counting off ideas that she does not have.

"Guess it is time to do the research for that health project I never did." She says as she brings up the page for Wikipedia, "Marijuana." She says as she types out the letters and waits for the search engine to find the article.

She looks at the page, "Those are some freaky looking plants." she says as she scrolls down the page and skims the text. She reaches the end and decides that she still has no idea what to write about.

She closes the tab and brings up a new window as the old lamp graces her with the perfect timing of the light bulb brightening. A smile now on her face her fingers fly over the keyboard.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: 066 An Open Door

Fren walked through the hallways of the city, the sound of sand grinding between his boot and the floor and scraping against the golden stone went unnoticed as his attention, like his nose, was stuck in a book. He turned when he reached a junction and ran into wood where he had expected an open door to be, mainly because it had always been there.

He stared at the door.

Eventually his mind got over the shock and he opened the door to the library, the sound of someone's shoes echoed among the shelves. He walked inside and gave the door one last confused glance as he closed it before he went to find who had trespassed into his place.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: Hiding Behind Lies January 26, 2013

"Where did you tell them I was, what did you say I was doing?" Dolle asked stuck somewhere between anger and confusion "What rumors did you spread about me for the last five years?"

"I said what I had to." Theline said her voice raised enough to let her daughter know she was angry and still remain civil, "I said what was needed to keep you safe and to keep my kingdom safe."

"Because that has worked so well before?" Dolled yelled back as she spotted a pitcher on the table and threw it at the wall where it bounced off unharmed, she screamed a curse at the metal pitcher and then her mother. "Have you ever told the truth?"

"When it was the better option yes." Theline said as she picked up the pitcher and placed it on the table with a solid sound. "I hid you behind layers of lies because the truth would have placed you in danger."

Dolle reached for the pitcher to throw it again but was stopped when her mother grabbed her wrist, "You were young and you were angry, you were not thinking clearly so I did what I thought was best." Theline stared her in the eye, "You are still angry but you need to learn to control yourself. You are a City trained mage you can at least act like that."

Dolle took a deep breath and pulled her hand free, a quick surge of magic and the wood door to the room flew open, the shutters on the windows slammed shut, and the wooden furniture in the room decided if it was going to topple over, morph into an indistinguishable yet colorful blob, or simply shatter into splinters.

"I cut my ties with the City you should at least remember that truth." Dolle said as she walked out if the room.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: 068 Archery

Namri opened her eyes when the feeling of magic woke her from the light sleep she had managed to fall into. The fact she was still able to see the world around her told her she had not yet been discovered by the puppet, she took a deep breath and scanned the valley that her hiding place gave her a perfect view of.

A glimpse of black and white and green as the puppet's illusion faltered showed her where her targets were. She tightened her fingers on the wooden bow she had resting on her knees as she waited and watched the illusion falter and their position give way.

After what had felt like an eternity she raised the bow and drew back, her thumb on her cheek and the fletching just barely visible in the corner of her eye. She took a breath and when the illusion faltered one last time she sent the arrow straight into the heart of the Handler. A scream of pain as the link was severed told her she had been successful.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: 1990's Cartoons


Sailor Moon verse
Driving down the road by moonlight
Riding on the bus by daylight
Never running through a red light
it's the green we're driving through.
Animanicas but then I got side trackedWe're driving over tracks
they're bumpy just like jacks
the train is coming round
the bar is coming down
Batman
Da da da da da da da Stop Sign!

show spoilerhide spoiler

And this is as far as I can go before I get the list of cartoons I want to watch too long. Also pretty much everything I thought was just the theme song lyrics, so be glad I just stuck to the tunes (although I have no idea where the car ride thing came from.)

 

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 10: 070 An Asian Food Market January 29, 2013

I open my mouth to say something and almost immediately loose the ability to move my jaw as it is forced open in a yawn. I rub my eyes and although I remember I was going to say something I have no memory of what so I stare at the person I had dragged along with my late night shopping trip.

"What one?" My new roommate asks as he points to the wall of brightly packaged food.

"Choose one that looks good." I tell him as I force back a yawn.

"How do you know which one is good?" He asks as he looks at them and squints.

"Use the pictures." I say as I grab a few packages off the shelf. It is convenient to have a twenty-four hour market across the street, inconvenient that the only language I know how to read is not among the ones on the products. My roommate shrugs and pulls something off the shelf.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 11: 071 A Night to Remember January 30, 2013

A young boy with eyes still wide with wonder at the world chewed on his lip as he waited for his grandfather to finish laying an offering to the spirits at one of the many shrines that lined the road through the Western Lands. His gaze wandered, as did his attention, away from the prayer and to the stars that had remained unusually bright in the encroaching dawn.

His jaw dropped open as lights winked out and others shined brighter and the shape of the sky changed as the stars were bound together. A light brighter and bigger than the moon streaked across the horizon, a swirling boiling fog of light landed on the top of the ridge of the hill ahead of them. In the dim light he made out the shape of nine people before three disappeared. "Grandfather."

"I saw it." The grandfather said, "This is a night to remember, the whole world will remember this night."

The boy looked up at his grandfather and nodded, "We should go help them now."

The grandfather smiled and nodded before he picked up his walking stick and set off in the direction of those that had bound the stars together.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 11: 072 The Moon

"Why now? Why drag me a thousand years into the past?" John asked as he followed a bouncing Jubilee through the back alleys lined by the tall buildings of a city. She paused and pivoted and backtracked through alleyways, over chain-link fences and phased through wooden ones, climbing into open windows of abandoned buildings and jumping off cement walls, all with a look of determination.

"Will you tell me what you are looking for at least?" John asked as they reached the roof of one of the abandoned buildings to see a grey storm cloud filled sky that moved with a wind that only the heavens could feel.

She tapped her foot on the fake stone as she stared at a part of the sky that looked like one of the light crafts was hidden behind. "That." She said as she pointed to the dim lighter area.

He looked at it as the clouds moved to reveal a bright perfectly circular white light. "The moon?" He asked. It was pretty, he would admit to that, clearer and brighter and bigger than anything he had ever seen, but nothing he thought warranted a thousand year jump to see.

"Yes." Jubilee said with a smile, "The moon when the world still wondered what it was like and the stars still held the promise of a thousand worlds of adventure."  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 11: 073 Guidance February 1, 2013

Tilli stared up at the night sky and the stars that turned in their slow circle around a point far to the north as the fire behind her shot yellow sparks into the air that for a brief second looked like shooting stars.

"Did I ever tell you about the light in your compass?" Her mother asked as she lifted it and dangled it in front of her eyes.

"No." She said as she reached up and touched the compass, sending it spinning into a silver white sphere.

"When the Traders first left the void and the rest of the world settled and built their great cities we wandered." Her mother said and Tilli closed her eyes, the sound of her mother's voice held the rhythmic rocking of the waves. She drifted off to sleep to the tale of how when the first out of the void had been lost the souls of the dead had lit the night sky, and to keep the Traders together across the vast distances they had taken the starlight and placed it in their compasses so they would never be lost or separated.  

[whimsicaldreamer]

Week 11: 074 Dyed Flowers February 2, 2013

The window in the kitchen of my grandmother's house, old glass with imperfections that caught the light and made it look like fairy dust, white painted wood sill, tiny glass jars and bottles with water colored by the rainbow and in each flowers picked from the garden. Flowers as white as the clouds that with each visit became streaked with color, as if painted with the water colors I had so enjoyed.

I had not yet learned the complex words of science, the term and process of transpiration that had been the cause of the coloring, the pitting and prisms in the glass that had shown me fairy dust. I had seen beauty and believed in magic.