The Seven Tales of Reverie

By W. Edmund Hood

Let me introduce you to a new kind of fairy tale!
Discover the magic of the daydream world of Reverie. Meet the Princess Miriam, a
delightful, giggley little girl who might well be a kid in your own neighborhood. Go
with her and six of her friends as they pass effortlessly between our world and Reverie,
accompanied by the only cat ever to have been made a knight! Meet Mara, the greatest
sorceress alive and Miriams mentor in magic.
The King and the Kitten.
King Ormund has barely begun his reign when he must send his beloved queen and their baby
daughter into our world.
The Princess and the cat
Miriam learns that she is more than an ordinary child, as she fi nds her way back to Reverie,
and receives her fairy wings.
Sunshine Black and the Giant
Hannah (nicknamed Sunshine) is captured by a giant who tries to make her his pet child.
Starlight
Avery befriends a winged pony from Reverie. She and Starlight fl y to the ice-cream mountain.
The Island of Silly
Imagine an island populated entirely by clowns! Princess Miriam and her friend Shakti must
go there to enlist the aid of the clowns in defeating the invading army of mulligrumps.
The Treasure of the Mercaptan Kid
Molly discovers a map hidden many years before in her new home. Her neighbor, Miriam
recognizes it as a map of Reverie.
The search For Baby Violet
Abbie is utterly devastated when her baby cousin vanishes into thin air right before her eyes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479791187

W. Edmund Hood

Born in Boston MA 1937. Moved to New York State in 1969. Relocated to Everett WA in 2005, then to Tigard, OR in 2010 Hobbies include Amateur Radio, also Photography and Astronomy. Began writing technical articles for amateur-radio magazines, and miscellaneous articles for newspapers in the late 1960's. Worked as contract technical writer 1990 – 1992. Many feature articles published in the U.S. Some distributed internationally. Produced fiction work, The Prophecy in 1991, now titled The Millionth Moon. Produced The Seven Tales of Reverie in 2012.

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Copyright © 2013 by W. Edmund Hood.

ISBN:      Softcover   978-1-4797-9117-0

               Ebook         978-1-4797-9118-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The cover picture (used with permission) is modified from a copyrighted work of Mark H. Ferrari, titled, The Dragon King’s Daughter.

Mr. Ferrari reserves all rights to his original image.

This author modified the original by altering the vertical proportions, adding the image of the cat and title text

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

The First Tale The King and the Kitten

The Second Tale The Princess and the Cat

The Third Tale Sunshine Black and the Giant

The Fourth Tale Starlight

The Fifth Tale The Island of Silly

The Sixth Tale The Treasure of the Mercaptan Kid

The Seventh Tale The Search for Baby Violet

To six wonderful little girls

Hannah, Avery, Shakti, Abbie, Molly, and Violet

map.jpg

The First Tale

The King and the Kitten

S omewhere between the real world and fantasy there lies a special world known as Reverie. You ask where Reverie is? Perhaps you should ask what it is. A reverie is a dream—the sort of dream you can have, even while you’re awake. It’s a world where animals can speak, a world where anything can happen. It’s a world where fairies live—not the cute little things you see in pictures, but rather men, women, and children much like those in this world.

We must understand, first of all, that not all the fairy folk in the dream world of Reverie have wings. Only those fortunate enough to have a golden or silver wing belt, or even a bronze one, are so gifted.

Like anything in the real world, reveries can be good or bad, happy or sad. It depends on you. Beware the bad or sorrowful daydreams though; they can make the world of Reverie a far more dangerous place than the real world. Few of us are more aware of this than were the fairy king and queen of the Dream World of Reverie, especially when they were new to the job.

That’s the way it was with King Ormund. For three whole months, it had been one thing after the other. First there was his wedding with the princess Allyson, one of the happiest moments of his life. That was followed by the death of the great King Ancol, his father, one of the saddest moments of his life. That made it necessary that Prince Ormund and Princess Allyson be crowned the new king and queen; one of the scariest moments of his life. Now the ceremonies were over at last, and he had to get down to the serious business of being king.

A king does a lot more than simply sit on his throne and have a lot of people make a fuss over him. His royal desk was piled high with work—some of it unfinished business left over from his father’s reign, others new concerns that had arisen in the previous months. Every one of these had to be reviewed and receive his consent, or denial, whichever the case might be. He was hard at work, and never noticed the queen entering the room. Take a break, she said, and come down for a little breakfast.

The king set down the paper he had been reading and sat back in his chair. You’re right, he said. I suppose I was trying too hard.

I could do some of it, the queen replied. After all, I am queen.

The king smiled. You’re right as always, he remarked. I’ll have some breakfast. Then we can both get to work. It’ll be so much easier with both of us working on it. He paused for a moment, then took the queen’s hand into his. I’ll make this promise: that I’ll never try to undo anything you consent to.

And I’ll never try to undo any decision of yours, the queen replied.

So long as we keep our word to each other, the king said, Reverie will prosper.

There’s something else, the queen said gently. Soon there will be three of us.

You don’t mean…

Yes, I do mean, we’re going to have a child.

Weeks went by, then months. King Ormund and Queen Allyson quickly proved themselves capable rulers, and were loved throughout all Reverie. Then came the day when the whole kingdom rejoiced. A child was born to the royal couple, a lovely little girl. The king held her in his arms and looked into her eyes. What shall we name her? he asked the queen.

I’ll call her Miriam, after my mother.

The king smiled in agreement. Miriam, he said, Miriam, my little girl.

And so the child came into the world of Reverie, bringing the king and queen the greatest happiness they had ever known. However, all things come to an end, and so it was for the king’s happiness. It began on a day quite like any other. A little rain had fallen in the morning, but then the sky had cleared and the sun came out. The king and queen had finished the day’s governmental work, and were relaxing in the castle’s patio. (In Reverie it was called the courtyard.) The baby was sleeping close by. Suddenly the queen raised her head. Did you hear that? she asked.

Hear what?

Sh-h-h. There it is again.

The king listened. At first he heard nothing. Then, from outside the castle gate he heard a soft, Me-ee-ew.

Sounds like some small animal in trouble, the king said. I’d better check. He rose from his seat and stepped outside the castle grounds. Then he heard it again, coming from the direction of a little stream that ran past the castle. Running over to the stream, he was just able to make out what appeared to be a ball of grey fur being washed along in the water. He stepped into the water and caught it just as it was sweeping by. He found himself holding a tiny, very wet kitten. Well, he said, you certainly got yourself into a fix, didn’t you?

A little fairy magic quickly dried off the kitten, (as well as getting the water out of the king’s shoes.) The king carried the kitten back into the courtyard to the queen. Look at what fell into the stream, he said.

The kitten reached up with his paw and gently touched the side of the king’s face. The queen stroked his fur, and he began to purr. Where do you come from? she asked him.

Now, in the world of Reverie, animals can speak. However, the kitten was very young. All he could say was, Mama all gone.

An orphan, the king said. Well, little one, if we cannot find your mother, you can live here with us.

But first, the queen remarked, you’ll have to get to know the rest of the family. She gently set the kitten down next to the sleeping princess. The kitten sniffed at the baby. Then he tread on the blanket for a moment, and turned around and around a couple of times. He then curled up and went to sleep next to the princess. Greyshanks, the queen said. We’ll call him Greyshanks.

As the king glanced proudly at the baby princess, he saw a shadow pass across the child. He looked upward and saw an old woman, circling above on a broomstick. The queen gasped, picked up the baby and held her close. A witch, was all she could say. They stood watching as the witch settled to the ground.

Much to the queen’s surprise, the king suddenly shouted with joy. That’s no witch, he cried. That’s Mara, the greatest sorceress alive! Our baby’s in no danger from her.

I’m not so sure, the queen replied. I’ve heard of a great many people who are dreadfully afraid of her.

Well, I’m not one of them, the king replied. She rescued me from a fiery mountain when I was just a small boy. Turning to the newcomer, he called, Mara, I didn’t know you were still around.

Oh, I’m still around all right, Mara chuckled. It’s not easy to get rid of me. She approached them and curtsied, as well as a very old woman can do. Glancing at the sleeping princess, she smiled a gentle, loving smile. His majesty has told you well, she said to the queen. Her little highness will never be in any danger from me. She paused and her expression changed. But the wisdom of the Water of Ages, she continued, has told me of a new evil that has come into being in this land, an evil beyond the reach of your magic or mine.

How, the king asked, can any evil be beyond the reach of your magic?

Magic is powerful, but it is not the only power. There are greater powers. Have you ever heard of The Kisnok? The king shook his head. Long ago, Mara explained, before I was born, Reverie was inhabited by the Dream Children.

Yes, the king replied, I’ve heard of them—the Reverites. Our world is named after them.

Ah, yes, Mara continued. They could pass from our world to the other, even see through the barrier that separates the two worlds. They could do so without using any magic at all. But you’ve not heard of the Neverites. They were the nightmare people, everything that the Dream Children were not. The Kisnok was their ruler.

What became of them? the queen asked.

There was a war—a terrible war. The Kisnok led the Neverites against the Dream Children. He wanted their power to pass between the worlds. I was a child, just learning magic, when the war finally ended. Since then there are no more Neverites. No more Dream Children either, at least none that I have seen.

What happened to the Kisnok?

I thought that he too was destroyed, but I have only now discovered that he went into hiding, awaiting the coming of another race that could pass between the worlds.

The queen gasped. Ormund, she said slowly, we have that power.

Yes, and the Kisnok knows this, Mara said. He has transformed himself into a monstrous thing that devours every living creature he can reach, hoping one of them will have that power. He has long, rope-like tentacles that can reach out with great force and pull whatever it grasps into his mouth.

The king glanced at the sleeping princess. My little Miriam is not safe here in Reverie, he said. Where can we possibly keep her safe?

How about the other world? the queen asked.

She would be safe there, Mara replied, but may I remind you that people in that world do not have wings?

Then I won’t either, the queen said. She unbuckled a silver belt from around her waist and her fairy wings vanished. You keep it, she told Mara, until it is safe for me to bring my baby home.

Take mine also, the king said. He unfastened the golden belt he was wearing and handed it to Mara. He looked at the sleeping princess and the kitten. And another thing, he continued, can you give this little animal the ability to pass through the barrier?

I can, and I do, Mara replied.