Fantasy Faire

By Judy Lunsford

Collected short fantasy stories by Judy Lunsford, including: Airship Pilot Waffles; Autumn Fairy and ShadowTail; Moon Songs; The Moon and The Moths; Siren Bound; The Monster Bed; Again Upon a Time; The Rule of Three; Seeking Garille; My Fairy Godmother Wears Biker Boots

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judy Lunsford
• Release date: Aug 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393713272

Judy Lunsford

Born and raised in California, Judy now lives in Arizona with her husband and Giant Schnoodle. Judy writes with dyslexia and a chronic illness & is a breast cancer survivor. She writes mostly fantasy, but delves into suspense, horror, romance, and poetry. She has written books and short stories for all ages. You can find her books and short stories at your favorite online retailers.

Book preview

AIRSHIP PILOT WAFFLES

Once upon a time, there was a giraffe named Waffles. He was short and gangly and young, and all of the other giraffes his age would tease him because he wasn’t anywhere near as tall as they were. He would watch as the other giraffes could reach the leaves high up in the trees, where the sun made them sweeter and tastier. At least the other giraffes told him those leaves were more tasty. He himself had never been able to reach up that far to taste them for himself.

One day, Waffles looked up in the sky and saw what looked like a pirate ship with huge balloons and sails. It floated majestically overhead and he watched it as it went off on its merry way far into the distance.

What a view that must have! Waffles thought to himself.

Waffles went and asked his mother what the big ship in the sky was, and she had simply told him that it was an airship. Waffles concluded that she didn’t know any more about it than he did, but from that day forward, Waffles had a big dream.

Waffles’ big dream was to fly an airship.

When the other giraffes found out Waffles wanted to fly an airship, they laughed at him and mocked him even more.

His mother tried to console him, telling him not to worry, someday he would grow into a big and tall giraffe like his father and would have a herd of his own. It didn’t help. Everywhere Waffles went, there were whispers and the laughter of his fellow giraffes making fun of him.

So Waffles went to the edge of the savanna and into the thick trees of the forest. It was where he went to get away from the other giraffes. Waffles was short enough to go into the denser areas where the other giraffes were too tall to go.

As he wandered through the forest, he came to a clearing. Peering around a tree, he saw something in the middle of the clearing that amazed him.

It was an airship.

Waffles wandered closer to get a better look.

The ship was full of large birds that scurried around on the deck of the ship. As Waffles got closer, the ship seemed to get bigger and bigger. It towered high into the sky and when he was close enough, he couldn’t see the deck anymore.

Waffles wandered around to the far side of the ship, taking it all in. He could hear the birds up on the deck, calling back and forth to each other in an accent he had never heard before.

On the other side of the ship, a long wide plank came down from high up on the deck and was touching the ground, making a perfect ramp for Waffles to wander up to get a better look.

When Waffles got to the top of the ramp, he peered on to the deck and saw the gangly long legged and long necked birds trying to stack up wooden boxes next to a long pole.

G’day, mate. What’s your name? a thickly accented voice said.

Waffles was taken off guard and stammered back, Uh, uhm, I’m Waffles.

Waffles looked towards where the voice was coming from and one of the birds came towards him. He was wearing an eye-patch and had a short sword belted around his middle. Waffles, eh?

Ye-yes, sir, Waffles stammered back.

Well Waffles, the bird said. What are you doing on my ship?

I was just having a look, Waffles said timidly.

Behind the bird with the eyepatch, the other birds were trying to climb the stack of boxes.

I could help with that, Waffles said, indicating to the birds on the boxes.

You want to help now, do you? the eyepatched bird said. All right then, let’s see what you’ve got.

Waffles walked past the birds and stepped easily onto one of the boxes.

We’re trying to get that rope there, one of the birds said.

Waffles saw a rope dangling far out of the birds’ reach, but Waffles was easily able to reach up and grab it with his mouth. He pulled the rope down to the birds on the deck, who took the end from him in their beaks and all heaved together.

Waffles pulled on the rope with the birds and watched in amazement as a sail was hoisted higher and higher with every pull.

When the sail was pulled all the way to the top of the pole, the birds expertly tied the rope around a rail and knotted it into place.

Sweet! the birds called. Thank you.

The birds swarmed around Waffles, slapping him on the back with their heads and congratulating him.

Waffles was happy he had helped and he felt a smile slowly grow across his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he smiled.

The bird with the eyepatch stepped through the crowd and the other birds made room for him.

Good on you, Waffles, the bird said. You made short work of that.

You’re welcome, Waffles said.

You’re welcome to go with us for a ride this arvo, the bird said. Since you helped us to get off the ground again.

This arvo? Waffles said.

It’s short for afternoon, one of the smaller birds whispered to him.

Oh, Waffles said. You mean I get to fly on the airship?

Oh, yes! the small bird said. Captain Ollie is always looking for good crewmen!

You mean to stay on the ship? Waffles asked.

If you can show you’re useful, yeah, the bird said. By the way, my name is Max.

I’m Waffles, Waffles said.

What are you? Max asked.

Why, I’m a giraffe, of course, Waffles said. What are you?

We’re emus, Max said proudly. We’re from Australia.

I’ve never seen an emu before, Waffles said.

Well, you can’t say that anymore, now can you? Max winked.

I guess not, Waffles said.

Waffles looked around the deck of the ship. There were barrels and wooden boxes scattered around the deck.

What can I do to help? Waffles asked.

You just stick with me, Max said. I’ll show you the ropes.

Waffles happily followed Max and helped him and the other emus to stack the boxes and swab the deck. When things were clean and ready, the crew waited on the deck for Captain Ollie to tell them what to do next.

G’day, mates! Captain Ollie said. We’re getting ready for our test run, and along the way, we’re going to make our delivery.

The emu crew all cheered loudly.

What are we delivering? Waffles whispered to Max.

I think it’s some of those water barrels, Max whispered back.

Where are we delivering them to? Waffles asked.

There’s an area south of here, Max whispered. They’ve been short on water. A drought, you know.

Waffles nodded. He knew of the drought. His own family’s watering hole had been drying up through the summer.

Let’s shove off, mates! Captain Ollie ordered.

The crew scattered and went to their stations.

You stay with me, Max said. I’ll show you what to do.

Waffles followed Max and helped him pull ropes to get the sails in place.

Hold on, Max said. Captain Ollie is at the wheel!

Waffles turned to see Captain Ollie at a large wooden wheel with handles sticking out all around it.

Captain Ollie used his strong beak to turn the wheel a bit and it jarred against his head as the wind hit the sails and the ship lifted off the ground.

Captain Ollie groaned against the weight of the wheel. The wind whipped around them and the ship veered sharply off to one side.

He can’t hold her! a crew emu shouted, bracing his legs where he could. The crew was sliding away from their posts.

Waffles ran towards the captain, slipping and sliding the whole way on the wooden deck that was now tipping dangerously steep. He looked down and saw that they were barely at the level of the treetops and were about to crash sideways into the ground. With his long legs, Waffles was able to use some of the wooden crates as leverage to propel himself to the captain.

Waffles slid his way over to the captain’s side and started pushing against the wheel with his front feet. He braced his back legs on the rail that surrounded the raised area where the captain was standing.

Waffles and the captain pushed against the wheel. Slowly, the ship started to straighten out. The captain asked, Can you hold it, mate?

Yes, Captain. I’ve got it, Waffles said.

Captain Ollie released the wheel and reached for a lever with his beak. He pulled the lever just in time to tilt the airship up and over the treetops.

Waffles held the wheel steady and he watched as the ship lifted up into the clouds.

Atta boy, mate! Captain Ollie shouted.

The emus all cheered as the sails filled and caught the wind and sailed them higher and higher.

You pilot this boat like a natural, Captain Ollie said.

Waffles was too amazed by the view to speak. He could see the tops of the trees over the rail and could see mountains and clouds in the distance.

This is amazing, Waffles finally said.

Max came running up to Waffles and the captain.

I trained him myself, Captain! Max said.

Well, Waffles, Captain Ollie said. How would you like to be our ship’s new pilot?

Really? Waffles asked.

Really, Captain Ollie said. For a probationary period, of course. To see how you do.

We lost our last pilot when we picked up our load,  Max said.

Lost? Waffles gulped.

Yep, Max said. Poor bloke had no sense of direction. Blind as a bat too.

When we picked up our last load, he just dug a hole and disappeared, Captain ollie said.

Dug a hole? Waffles was bewildered.

Yeah, Max said. Can’t trust a mole. They’ll ditch you the moment they find some soft dirt.

A mole was your last pilot? Waffles asked.

Yep, Captain Ollie said. We need a pilot that has a way to steer while keeping their beak freed up.

Or their nose, Max giggled.

You just might work out, Captain Ollie said. Those long legs and that long neck might be just what we need.

Waffles proudly held the wheel and imagined what it would be like to sail the skies with his new friends.

When they reached their destination, the Captain told Waffles how to go about hovering over the ground while the emu crew lowered water down to a herd of zebras.

They’re called a dazzle of zebras, Captain Ollie said, as he stood next to Waffles and watched his crew in action. Isn’t that sweet as?

Sweet as what? Waffles asked.

The captain just laughed and turned to Waffles, "So what do you think, my pilot