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 Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:05 pm
“I know she’s not perfect
But she tries so hard for me
And I thank God that she isn’t
Cause how boring would that be?
It’s the little imperfections
It’s the sudden change in plans
When she misreads the directions
And we’re lost but holding hands
Yeah I live for little moments like that”
- Little Moments, Brad Paisley
Prompt Four: The Nightingale
The first time he noticed was at breakfast. She was usually a little ball of energy, bouncing around the apartment, unable to sit still in her chair for more than a few moments. That morning, she’d been quiet, reserved, and nervous – he’d seen her twitching, barely touching her cereal and squirming about.
At first, Harriet had tried a few times to ask her if she was all right, but that had been met with stuttered evasions and faked smiles. This behavior was quite worrisome – Alice was anything if not sincere and happy the majority of the time. Her lack of the open-honesty that he’d become so accustomed to didn’t sit right with him, and he spent the rest of the morning attempting to discern what the problem was from her behavior.
When he hadn’t figured it out by lunchtime, the man decided to ask Bella. The bald-headed Myaar had become a close friend and companion to the Herald, serving the position of elder sister, mentor, and best friend. The Belune had been with them from the start and if anyone knew the child better than Hatty did, it was she.
And yet, the purply-white young woman hadn’t a clue either. She tried to talk to Alice a couple of times and was unnerved by the jumpy way her surrogate sister was acting. They were both positive that something was up but what could it be?
At about five pm, the blonde man found what had to be the cause of the distress. He had noticed one of the knickknacks he kept around seemed to have vanished. It was a small, delicately made wind-up nightingale that had been a gift from a friend of his a few years back. The item was considered priceless by most – an artistic beauty that’s gentle music piece was almost as gorgeous as it’s fragile little body. Harriet had been somewhat fond of the object, mostly because it had been the last gift from a dear friend before they’d lost touch.
Given the child’s tendency to bump into things whilst running about their home and not always looking where she was going, Harriet soon had the reason for her strange behavior and the object’s disappearance pieced together. Alice knew of her father’s liking for the object – she’d liked it as well, always wanting him to get it down and wind it up so she could hear the little song it played before bedtime. It was a soothing melody and the little bird reminded the child of a beautiful story that Bella had brought home for the little girl.
If she had ended up breaking it by accident, the child probably was going to be a bit nervous and awkward until she’d reasoned out if she could tell her father the truth of the matter. He made the final decision to let her come to him about what she’d done, rather than confront her about it – give her the chance to be honest before using his authority as her father. It was better for her character.
That evening, after dinner, the girl did exactly as expected. She found Hatty seated on the couch, reading a book and cleared her throat to announce her presence. Glancing up from his novel, he smiled inwardly noting her shy stance, the nervous blush on her cheeks. He knew his little girl all right.
“Um…D-daddy? Can I talk to you for a moment?” were the first words from her mouth, stuttered slightly.
“Sure, pumpkin. What’s the matter?” the candymaker asked, sitting up and closing his novel.
“I-I-I…”
“Go on.” He prompted softly, smiling lightly towards his little angel, focussing his attention on her..
“I’MREALLYSORRYBUTIBROKETHEWINDUPBIRDY!” she finally exclaimed, in one quick sentence before bursting into tears.
Quickly Harriet reached out and pulled Alice in for a hug. “Shhh, shh. It’s okay, honey. It’s okay. What happened?” he asked her softly, holding her close and rubbing her back gently.
“I-I was just trying to read the story and I w-w-wanted to hear the song while I was reading it s-so I reached up to get it off the shelf and it fell!” she explained tearfully, attempting to wipe her face off hurriedly with her hands.
“Oh, dear! You’re not hurt though, are you?” he asked suddenly, worried now that he knew the full story.
“N-No, I’m okay, but the bird’s all smashed. I tried to fix it – really I tried! But it wouldn’t go back together right!” Alice explained frantically, her little wings flapping as she did.
“Then don’t worry about it. You’re okay and that’s all that matters. We’ll get the pieces together and take it to a professional to get fixed, if need be. What matters is that you’re okay and that you were honest with me.” The man told her with a warm smile, tilting her face up so he could look into her eyes as he spoke.
“I’m really really sorry, Daddy…” she mumbled sadly, soft blue eyes raising from her feet tentatively.
“It’s all right, little one. Now come on, I’ll put you to bed, okay?”
With that, the man picked up his daughter and carried her back to her room. He tucked her in and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead and smiled.
“You did okay, Alice.”
Then it was time to put on the nightlight and turn out the big one, leaving the little girl to her now much less troubled dreams. Things would be okay, Harriet was sure of that. “Daddy’s hands
Were soft and kind when I was crying
Daddy’s hands
Were hard as steel when I’d done wrong
Daddy’s hands weren’t always gentle
But I’ve come to understand
There was always love in Daddy’s hands”
- Daddy’s Hands, Holly Dunn
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:08 pm
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:10 pm
Reserved
For Hatty's Second Date/Alice meets Wynni and Mana
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:11 pm
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:11 pm
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Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:16 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:13 am
Reserved
For TR Halloween Rp
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:14 am
From the Journal of Ismerauda - Hiccup “Love, devotion
Feeling, emotion
Don’t be afraid to be weak
Don’t be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart, my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence”
- Return to Innocence, Enigma
Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition Exipotic
The countryside was a decidedly pretty place to see in the Autumn. Lovely shades of orange, red, brown and gold flying all about. And animals still out in their pastures before they’d be brought in for winter – beautiful creatures visible in their colored blankets.
Harriet had promised Alice and Bellaluna that he’d take them out to see horses, since the Belune wanted to investigate the animals of this world in person and Alice just liked to pet critters – and a bigger but gentle critter would be nice for her to meet. Upon arrival, they had talked to the owner of the stables and gone out to see the animals, but there was one in particular that the small angel had been drawn to immediately.
Out in a wide pasture by the barn was a lone Clydesdale mare in a blue blanket. Her coat wasn’t as shiny as that of the other horses in the area and she seemed to just be sleepily wandering around. It was explained to them that that horse was retired because she was quite old and had been for some time. They had been hoping to sell her off to a family or something that could just love her and give her attention for her final years but so far no offers had come. Hatty had been considering it – particularly with how much his girls took to the old horse and how sorry they felt for it – but he had the issue of stabling to worry about as well.
It was while they were in the office with the proprietor talking over the sale of the horse that a commotion was heard. Rushing out, the three were struck with horror as they saw what looked like a VERY strange man running away, and where the mare had been, a large fire had been started. The man was young with long brown hair, and he was in a funky red robe and wide brimmed red hat his gold cross trailing behind him as he dashed off from the scene of the crime.
Immediately, Hatty and the owner rushed out to check on the mare but were shocked to find it no longer there. In place of the lovely old horse…was a little girl. Her hair was soft and brown like the animal’s silky soft fur, but the most obvious giveaway of what she was were her feet. From the knees down, the child had the long haired legs of a Clydesdale, and large hooves. With big, soulful brown eyes, the little girl looked up at the man and waved.
With a gentle smile, Harriet reached down, picking up the little girl and carrying her back with him. All the way, as they were walking, he and the owner were discussing if he really should pay her for the horse. The final agreement settled upon was that the little girl would go home with Hatty, and he’d just give the woman money so she could buy a nice new horse to help in the financing of her stables. This she considered quite generous of him, particularly since she’d been perfectly willing to give him the child for free, since – in her opinion – horses were easier to care for.
Bella was quite curious about this phenomena involving babies and horses and strange men exploding things. Alice was excited to have a sister and that the nice old mare would have a home, in a way. The little girls had already started to take to each other, and this was looking to be the start of a quite wonderful little life for the little horsey hiccup.
And for the record – Alice was the one who decided on Ismerauda as her name. She mispronounced Esmerelda (a character she’d heard the name of from Bella) and thought Ismerauda sounded better. So that was what they called Izzy – and it was all decided on the way home.
You and I
Touch the sky
The eagle and the dove
Nightengales
We keep our sails
Filled with love
And love it seems
Made flyin dreams
To bring you home to me
- Flying Dreams, Paul Williams
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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:03 am
From the Journal of Adele - Hiccup So Different, yet so the same
Two sisters only have their parents to blame
It’s rare that the two can get along
But when they do, they’re inseparable
Such a blessing comes to few, yeah
- Different People, No Doubt
Exi, Stop Blowing Up Fuzzy Critters In Front Of My Kids!
Being a big sister was FUN. Alice and Ismerauda had hit it off almost immediately. The Hiccup tired easily sometimes, having to rest after a bout of the two of them playing or dancing, but Alice understood. The Herald would sit down and wait with her sister, reassuring Issy that it wasn’t a horrid, dastardly crime to be tired a little easy. The toddler tended to get quite tearful when she couldn’t play with her big sister anymore, feeling useless and like she’d ruined Alice’s fun – but the Herald always had a hug and some comfort for the littler girl when that happened.
Harriet was more than happy to see his little ones getting along. Alice took to being a bigger sister as well as Bellaluna had. All three girls loved to laugh and play together, and because of it, they were growing, in a sense. Bella was starting to become more and more human, Alice was thriving as she always had, and Issy growing and learning to not be shy. And, without knowing it, the man was changing too – opening up more, learning to laugh without being afraid, becoming less of an underconfident, shy, shut-in. This was partly due to having a girlfriend now, so to speak (and a hot one at that), but mostly to having a family, people to care about who cared about him back. That was all Hatty could really ask for.
All this change already, in such a short time. For it had barely been a week or two since the arrival of Ismerauda. Yet already she fit in to the welcoming family. And another small change was due to occur, though the family didn’t know it when they set out for the picnic that warm day at the end of October.
Alice had chosen the spot – a large, open area on a hill. At the top of the hill was a tree that had only lost a small portion of its leaves and was in full fall color, and that was where they had decided to set up their picnic. From that hill, the family could see houses on all sides – farms scattered about, with fields and animals milling about in them. It was a ways out into the country and they were all glad to be able to see the sights – particularly Alice and Issy.
Since meeting with Fiona, the purple winged angel had been determined to learn about painting. So, she and Bella had gotten a small essel and some paints – not the expensive good kind, for Alice was still too new to know if she enjoyed painting yet or not. Now, Alice was set up on the one hillside, playing around with the paints and trying to figure out how to use them right. She wanted to try and paint the town, but it was a huge task for such a new little painter. So, for the moment, Alice was just puttering around with paints.
Issy, on the other hand, was too tired out to really stand up and dance around for very long, so she was curled up on Harriet’s lap, listening to him as he read her some Fairy Tales from a book they owned. It amused him how different the two sisters were from each other, even in an instance like this. They differed not only in their energy levels, but also in appearances and personalities.
Alice was average height for a child, with shoulder-length white hair that she kept in a cute little ponytail. Meanwhile, Issy had soft brown hair that she left loose. Alice’s eyes were a bright blue – though seemed to be turning stormy gray with time – while Issy’s were soft and brown like the horse she had come from. Alice was totally human looking, save for her pretty purple wings, and her sister was except for her horse feet and tail. Even their style was different, despite their young age. The Herald was commonly found in the overalls and t-shirt sets that her father had put together for her – one set of which was currently getting lots of paint stains on it, but most of them would have those in time. The Hiccup, on the other hand, liked to look like a little princess, usually in soft light blue dresses and skirts. It all added up to Alice’s slight tomboyishness and Issy’s little-princess demeanor.
There were three things above all else that could be deemed as similar likes between the two girls – cuddles, stories, and small fuzzy animals. So when Alice – in her looking down at one of the farms below – spotted a small black kitten wandering up the hill, both girls immediately abandoned their previous activities to go and pet it. This caused Bella to get up from where she’d been napping, and Hatty to worriedly rush over to make sure nothing bad happened to his little ones when they went to see the kitten.
It was the man who spotted the other person running towards the kitten, a highly out-of-place woman with dark skin, dressed as a hula dancer and attempting to do something or another in the direction of the kitten. Alice and Ismerauda were too distracted to even see the woman towards the side, but Harriet was able to dive and grab both girls out of the way the second he realized what seemed to be happening. He didn’t know why or how he knew what was going on – he hadn’t seen how it happened before and the person had looked so different last time – but this woman gave him the same vibes the Spanish Inquisitor had a few weeks prior. He had a feeling that the kitten was about to not be there anymore, and there was going to be a fire so he had to hold down his little ones to make sure they weren’t burnt.
Alice and Ismerauda stared in horror as, where the little kitty had been, was suddenly engulfed in flames and explody action. Both struggled up worriedly, hopping on their toes – or hooves, in Issy’s case – hoping the poor thing was okay. Hatty, on the other hand, had already stood up and rushed over as the smoke cleared, intending to pick up the child left in the wake of the Hiccuping. Bella was the only one who bothered watching as Exipotic ran off – the others were more concerned with the child who arrived.
The toddler was a cheerful looking baby boy with soft curls, with even softer looking ears and tail – for those came from the kitten. Immediately, both of his sisters rushed over to see the baby and pet at the ears, and give him hugs. And the boy was more than happy to have those hugs and snuggles – he was an affectionate little creature.
Alice squeaked happily and rushed back up to the eldest of the children. “BEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLA! BEEEEEEEEELLA! What was that name we picked out the other day for if we got a little brother?” the child called, looking up at the Belune with glee. Alice loved having little siblings so much she had wanted more and even came up with names for some if they ever did get more. And as the Belune worked in a bookstore, Bella was the one who helped her.
“You liked Adele the best.” The purple female intoned softly as she walked down to poke at the little boy.
“Adele it is! Let’s go give him some food!” she cooed happily, rushing back up the hill, trailed by Issy and Bella, and finally by Harriet who carried the now officially named Adele.
We’ll go dancing, baby then you’ll see
How the magic’s in the music and the music’s in me
Do you believe in magic?
Believe in the magic of a young girl’s soul
Believe in the magic of Rock’n’roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
I’m talking about magic!
Do you believe in magic?
- Do You Believe In Magic, The Lovin’ Spoonful
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