Tag Archives: pagan fiction

The Holiday Must Go On

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The Holiday Must Go On

By Intricate Knot

“My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies;
Fairytales of yesterday will grow, but never die;
I can fly, my Friends.”.
~Queen

    Prologue

On their way to save or perhaps duel Crimson (last of the Winter Wizards) and definitely duel Diavix Clop (all-around-creepy-villain) Fiddler and Wilbur (esteemed members of the Great Holiday Making Tribe and our heroes) came to the aid of Vin Kaj (Autumn Pumpkin Wizard Extraordinaire). In truth, they had been seeking his aid, when it turned out their services were much needed by Vin Kaj who was having a most difficult (and strenuous) time putting Summer to rest. Well, he’d never had that much trouble killing off Summer before! That must have been the doing (or not doing) of Crimson, last of the Winter Wizards, yes?
Ah, have you not learned anything from these knotted tales, dear Reader? Nothing is ever, ever as straightforward, as we would like. Then again…things are often far simpler than we ever give them credit for…

Riding on Vin Kaj’s grand pumpkin back certainly made the journey to rescue Crimson much quicker! The strides he made on his long brawny, green vine legs were tremendous! Fiddler and Wilbur bounced and jostled atop the beautiful orange expanse of pumpkin, though it wasn’t terribly comfortable. The two dodged tree branches, while hanging onto Vin. The Forest became a blur of greens, golds, and browns as they whizzed past brush, bush, and tree.
Their thoughts picked at them all. None of them really knew what had become of Crimson. The speed, bouncing, and jostling were so great that conversation of any sort was quite impossible. Each kept their own counsel…

Sleek feline Fiddler nurtured a shimmering trust in his big kitty heart that his Magickal Mentor of by-gone-days continued to be as he has always known him to be: Of sound mind, body, and most importantly, Spirit.

Could the ill-famed Diavex Clop somehow have turned Crimson into a Waywardly Wicked Wizard? Wilbur’s logical and often cantankerous owly-raven brain asked. He worked and worked the question in his mind to nearly the point of exhaustion, wanting to make absolutely certain that he didn’t reject the notion simply for the sake of his good friend, Fiddler. And came up with the answer…a resounding “no,” Crimson has not been turned. This is irrefutably impossible.

And Vin Kaj? As a fellow wizard, he harbors not a whiff of doubt in his great pumpkin head or heart. His only thought was to get to Crimson as quickly as possible. Sooner even that…

Dear Reader, if we take our heroes hearts and minds into account (and how can we not?) it can only mean one thing…coercion. Is Diavex Clop somehow forcing Crimson to help him keep things hot, sticky, and humid in The Forest? Eeeeeeee yuck.

“Wait. Hold up, Vin Kaj,” Fiddler implored.

Once an Autumn Pumpkin Wizard Extraordinaire gets going, it is a herculean feat to get him to stop. Even for himself! Viney tendrils shot out from his toes, grasping passing trees, boulders, or brush, anything to slow them down. He swerved, swung, and skidded along pebbles, strewn leaves, and bits of twigs along the path nearly upending himself, along with Wilbur and Fiddler. Vin held onto Fiddler and Wilbur, Wilbur and Fiddler held onto each other, and everyone held on for dear life! Dear life? Yes, for straight in the middle of their path, the path they could not seem to stop themselves from hurtling along, stood a Grand Old Oak. Lovely, amazing, and awe-inspiring at any other time, mind you, but not when one is hurtling towards its sturdy trunk the width and height of a small mountain! If any of them were the sort to shriek in terror, this certainly would have been the time for it. Luckily, the time for shrieking-in-terror passed, as they finally came to a stop, a nose-breath’s distance from rough, brown bark of Grand Old Oak.

Copyright Twilight Faerie

Phew.

Fiddler and Wilbur tumbled off Vin Kaj’s back. They all heaved sighs of relief and worked on pulling themselves back together.

“So, what was that about, Fiddler?” Wilbur asked calmly.

“Um…I just wondered, where are we going?”

“To save Crimson, of course,” Vin interjected, though not quite as calmly as Wilbur.

“Yes, but where are we going?”

Wilbur opened his golden beak to speak, but then promptly closed it. Vin shook his head with a grin, then sat on a convenient boulder. A Thinking Boulder.

“Why don’t you tell us, Fiddler? I’m afraid that I really don’t know.”

“I don’t know, either,” and he leapt up onto the boulder, sitting next to Vin. They both looked expectantly at Wilbur.

“Mmm, I may have a theory.”

“Which is?” Boomed Vin.

“I believe we’re running in circles, which is just what Diavex would like us to be doing,” And with a flap of his black wings, he joined his companions and perched on top of the Thinking Boulder. He thought for a moment, then said with conviction “Well…this is the Most Magickal Time of the Year-”

“When goats are jingle belling-” Fiddler continued.

“And even salmon go caroling-”

“And most everyone is wishing you Good Cheer,” Vin finished.

“Everyone except Diavex Clop,” Wilbur said sourly.
Hmm…they were all thinking again. Not a bad thing, for these three had quite a handle on their powerful minds.

“Diavex tried to stop Halloween,” Vin Kaj offered.
“Yep. And now he is trying to stop us all from celebrating Yule,” stated Wilbur.
A look passed between the two friends, dear good friends who had been end-to-end of this Universe and beyond together.

Fiddler shook his head decidedly,

“That cannot happen. If he stops Yule, he stops the New Year.”

“And if he stops the New Year?” Vin asked.

“He will stop the Great Holiday Making Tribe-” Wilbur explained.

“There won’t be any holidays,” finished Fiddler. “And what a sad, Diavex Clop world this would be.”

“Worlds, actually,” Wilbur reminded.

“Yes, worlds,” Fiddler agreed.

“So, what do we do?” Again, Vin posed the question.

The question that made their bellies sink.

It broke their hearts, but they all knew what they must do. Well, actually, they didn’t “know” they only felt what was right. Feelings can sometimes be confusing. Are feelings always right? Hmm…that is a very good question, dear Reader. I will go out on the proverbial precariously lengthy limb of the proverbial sturdy tree (sturdy as the Grand Old Oak) and say that yes, feeling are always right, even when they hurt a bit (or a lot) and in fact are especially true when they hurt a bit (or a lot).

Vin and Wilbur held back, wanting to give Fiddler time. Being a cat, Fiddler possessed both grace and speed in abundance. Wordlessly, he leapt from the boulder and nodded at his companions.

Abandon the rescue of Crimson. Unthinkable, but the right thing to do. Back to the Heart of the Forest the trio went. Deep in the center of The Forest lay, the Golden Heart of It. The Magick of Holidays beat here, stretching Its’ beams of light and beauty for all to see, even if they should choose not to partake.
The three had a great deal more work ahead of them…happy work though they grieved for their friend Crimson. The Party-of-the-Century, the Holiday-to-Begin-and-End-All-Holidays needed to be planned and prepared for and celebrated…Yule rules the day. A Merry Yule is sure to rid the Forest of Diavex Clop once-and-for-all. Besides, regardless of circumstance, the Holiday Must Go On.

To be continued…quite soon!


Illustration “Grand Old Oak” by Angelique Duncan. Appearance of Wilbur and Vin Kaj with permission of Intricate Knot.

Intricate Knot is proprietor of Art For A Gloomy Day.Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next season for more adventures of Fiddler the cat and his best pal Wilbur.

 

A Tale of Winter

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A Tale of Winter

By Intricate Knot

“Just as Spring needs the Faeries,
Winter must have her Wizard.
For who but a Wizard could make all those varied and wondrous snowflakes?
Keep up.”
~ Intricate Knot

Prologue
When last we left our heroes and esteemed members of the Great Holiday Making Tribe, Fiddler and Wilbur (after a bit of schooling by Fizzy) had made up with Glassy. In turn, Glassy led them to the Faeries, Aloysius, Artemis, bunny helpers and fall assistants, flowers and pumpkins! Everyone was (and still are) back where they belonged, everyone of course except the villainous Diavix Clop, who sadly is still hiding somewhere in the Forest. Not where he belongs at all…

Copyright Intricate Knot

Winter had come in its full Magickal and icy force. Yule also came and a merry time was had by all. But from there things went a bit doolally…

The New Year should have begun, but somehow didn’t. Storms of rain and snow should right now be drumming and thrumming, sprinkling and crinkling throughout the Forest. But that’s not what’s happening!

For as suddenly as winter had come, it left. More baffling, it had left without a seasonal bridge between it and summer. Begging the Shakespearean question,

“What fresh madness is this?”

Fiddler, our fine, sleek, musically inclined feline and Wilbur, our coal feathered, grumpy, Magickally disposed owly-raven pondered this and many other questions. For they now had not only one but two mysteries to solve in the Forest. How is it possible that winter left so quickly? Without a sign, hide, nor hair? Usually the snow began to melt, exposing the earth, dark brown and fertile. In turn the slumbering earth awoke letting her hair down…or up (so to speak) by sending out tiny green shoots sprouting upwards to reach for the sun. Bare limbed trees yawned and stretched, their branches tingling with fresh leaves. Leaves steadily growing by the hundreds and all to be gloriously full blown just in time to bring much needed shade for the coming heat of summer.

Not so this year! One day there was snow on the ground with temperatures well below zero. The next day the ground was covered in tall, golden grass…summer grass. And not the summer of June, but the full-heated-swing, the tip most peak of summer: August. What of spring? And where did all the lovely fruit go? What’s summer without peaches and cherries? Apples and blueberries? A day feels far too long and hot in the summer without fruit pies to share with your friends!

Our heroes pondered while Fiddler dangled his smart red fishing pole and Wilbur dipped his very fine claws at one of their very favorite thinking spots, Thoughtful Pond. Every Forest should have one. If yours doesn’t, please go out and get one immediately.

Copyright Twilight Faerie

“It can’t be a coincidence,” Wilbur said firmly.

“Indeed, it cannot,” Fiddler agreed. “But how is it possible that Diavex has hidden from us for this long?”

“However and wherever he is, one thing is becoming clear.”

“Which is?”

“Diavex doesn’t like the cold.”

“Hmm…” Fiddler pondered. “Well that is something we can use to our advantage. Come on Wilbur, we have someone to see.” In the way of cats, Fiddler had leapt from his sitting position and was already halfway down the path before Wilbur had time to pull his claws from the pond. That was fine with Wilbur, though. Being such firm friends, he was quite accustomed to it.
Puffing a bit when he’d caught up with Fiddler,

“Who-who are we-e going to see?”

“The Winter Wizard, I think we need a bit more snow in our Forest, don’t you?”

“Absolutely! Good old Crimson, why we’ve not seen him in-”

“Years.”

“Since-”

“Yep. Since-”
Wilbur slowed his pace and fell silent. When Wilbur went silent it was palpable.

“What?” Fiddler shrugged. “Crimson has no reason to be upset with us.”
Wilbur merely grunted and then stopped in his tracks. Fiddler had breezed past five wise oaks before he realized that his pal was no longer beside him. Silkily, he turned and meandered his way back,

“Okay. You’re possibly right.”
At Wilbur’s look, Fiddler gave a great sigh,

“Yes, yes. It is possible, perhaps even probably that Crimson could be a tiny bit annoyed with us, but that’s not really the same as being upset.” Now, Fiddler didn’t exactly huff. Huffing isn’t something cats do, per se. Cats are very good at oozing frustration though, and Fiddler oozed with the best of them.

“Again with the ‘look,’ Wilbur? Please speak your mind.”
They knew one another well, these two. Right now Wilbur knew that Fiddler bordered on annoyed, which is very Un-Fiddler-Like. He knew he needed to tread lightly. Crimson was one of Fiddler’s most favorite of souls.

“I see three possibilities right now,” he began softly. “One, Diavex has somehow coerced Crimson into helping him. Two, Crimson is in league with Diavex Clop. Or three, something happened to the Forest’s Winter Wizard suddenly. So suddenly that there’s not been time to replace him.”
Fiddler sat back on his haunches.

“Any of which explains the lack of segue in our seasons.” It was Fiddler’s turn to fall silent.
Being a true friend through and through, Wilbur knew when to talk, when to jab, and when to be still. Stillness was called for here. So, he just sat right down next Fiddler to wait for him.

Wizards are of course revered in the Forest, and there are so very few left. If one were to fall, well, it is quite possible that there wouldn’t be a replacement. But to replace Crimson? Fiddler couldn’t conceive of it. Yes, Crimson was particularly special to Fiddler.

Everyone should already know this, but in case you’ve forgotten, every cat (and every owly-raven for that matter) must have a Magickal Mentor. Crimson had been Fiddler’s. And like a revered parent, one’s mentor will always claim a special place in one’s heart.

Crimson being gone, was not an option. Could he be in league with Diavex? From what Fiddler could recall…well hmm…actually, that wasn’t a lot to recall. Crimson had not been forthcoming on his relationship with the insidious Mr. Clop, but yes, Fiddler sensed there had been something there…a previous encounter. Though he knew nothing solid, he knew this, Crimson would not knowingly, willingly, or otherwise purposefully aid Diavex Clop. It would be against the Forest and Wizard code.

And with that Fiddler stood and nodded firmly,

“I am not prepared to believe that Crimson is gone from the Forest by design or cause. You could be right and it may be that he has been coerced into helping Diavex. But a fourth possibility occurs to me, perhaps he was taken by surprise and Diavex somehow imprisoned him.”
Wilbur stood up and dusted off his feathers,

“Either way then, he needs our help. Let’s go.”

To be continued next season!!


Illustration “Thoughtful Pond” by Angelique Duncan. Appearance of Wilbur with permission of Intricate Knot.
Illustration “Flourish” by Intricate Knot.

Intricate Knot is proprietor of Art For A Gloomy Day.Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next season for more adventures of Fiddler the cat and his best pal Wilbur.