Holiday Magick (33 page)

Since colors had to be freshly made for them to stick magically to the landscape, gathering them at the exact time was crucial.
This
was what was causing the current argument between her siblings, and what caused Zephyr's mounting frustration.

Among the four color fairies, Rain was eldest and gathered her colors first for the others to build on. She was in a muddle about whether to go ahead and gather deeper blue hues squeezed from plants in the woods, or remain with the lighter turquoise shades for a few more days. As for her garments, her wings were the exact blue of the summer sky, but changed to a deep midnight hue when winter finally decided to freeze the landscape.

Next in age came Terra. She fretted that, if Rain didn't gather the necessary plant material to start the required winter mixtures in time,
her
work would be doubled. She'd have to move much faster and there might not be enough time to mix her brown shades properly. Terra always donned a light-tan tunic and leggings, befitting the warm season. Her wings matched her outfit to a tee.

The third sister was Flame. She had to wait on the other two to gather their materials before she could turn the bright shades of summer from crimson to deep red and winter burgundy. Flame was dressed in a robust shade of cerise and her flittering appendages displayed a bright red shade that complemented her clothing perfectly.

Zephyr was the youngest. It was her job to follow the other three and blow their mixtures of color into the surrounding woodlands, meadows, and fields. As she listened to her three elder sisters' squabbling, she tapped her fingers on the tree stump that currently served as her stool.

This same scene played out toward the end of every winter and summer. It was always hectic and always caused the same argument, almost down to the very last syllable. Zephyr actually mimicked her siblings' speeches as they routinely blathered out what must take place and in the proper order. The din among them was enough to drive her crazy. She feared, if she didn't do something about it sooner or later, that's exactly what would happen.

Zephyr gazed down at her attire. Since she distributed the colors and didn't actually make them, she chose to wear a fluttery little dress of summer greens, tans, crimsons, and soft blues in honor of her sisters. As a result, her wings changed to each of those tints whenever the slightest breeze touched them. They altered tones almost every minute. But this inconsistency didn't bother her nearly as much as the almighty ruckus she endured every single change of season. It was enough to make a grown fairy cry.

Whether or not her sisters got their collective acts together and gathered materials to change the colors of the landscape wouldn't matter. Winter would come suddenly. The fairy people wouldn't suffer for it as their kind always found enough to eat. Tree bark, leaves, leftover nuts, and even the occasional worm could always be located and consumed. For human beings, the situation wasn't that simple.

In all fairness, her sisters' concern on humans' behalf
was
what caused the consternation. Humans had no idea when to do anything. Rain, as the eldest and first fairy to gather her color ingredients had to guess the season's change correctly, based upon the first whisper of cool air.

But why did it have to be so dramatic? It occurred to Zephyr that things could be greatly simplified. For the past two winters and summers, she'd tried to speak to her sisters concerning the matter, but they were just too worked up about their concerns to listen. They worried constantly over when the change would come and when to gather the colors for the
next
change. Warning the population was their sacred duty and obligation, they always said. She didn't fault their sincerity; indeed, it fairly poured out of them in pretentious blustering. It was their silliness in achieving the task that seemed so unprofessional. There was an answer to the problem but being youngest made it hard to get anyone to listen. Rain, Terra, and Flame assumed that, since
her
only job was to blow the colors around the scenery, she couldn't have a good idea in her entire body.

Once more, Zephyr broke her usual silence to offer her suggestion. She had to try. Her persistence was really the only thing she shared with her older siblings. They certainly did not have her brainpower.

She cleared her throat and blurted out her message. “I have an idea, if the three of you would only listen,” she loudly interjected.

“Hang on to that thought, sweetie,” Rain said as she held up her hand and stared at the scenery intently. “Was that a cool breeze I felt? Do you think it will snow tomorrow? Is it just me, or are the summers getting much shorter? If any of you see a snowflake, let me know. We must be ready.”

“What if it
does
snow?” Flame chimed in. “Terra and I don't have one drop of color between us. We can't do anything until
you
make up your mind to act, Rain.”

Not to be outdone in the complaint department, Terra crossed her arms over her chest in anger. “Who made up the rule that the oldest begins the color gathering, anyway? Rain always shoots into the woods and has a head start, leaving the rest of us to follow as fast as we can. My colors are particularly difficult to blend. Winter brown is very tricky! I have to mush oak bark and pine seeds in specific amounts or I don't get the right shade.”

“We know, dear. We know,” Rain gushed in her typical patronizing fashion. “You never cease telling us.”

Zephyr rolled her eyes in frustration. “If you three would just be quiet and quit complaining for five minutes, I have a suggestion!”

“Not now!” the three other sisters shouted in unison.

Zephyr clamped her mouth shut, pursed her lips, and stared up at the sky. As usual, when her ire was up, her wings flickered uncontrollably. Sunlight shone through them and caused the nearby landscape to glisten with the colors of a kaleidoscope. Her sisters failed to even notice. They were so intent on being right, that she
must
be wrong.

“What if we tried gathering all the colors at the same time, and a little earlier than we think we need to?” Terra asked in a tentative fashion. “Maybe we could get away with it.”

Flame gasped in shock. “How
dare
you even suggest such a thing! What utter nonsense! They won't store; they'll spoil if winter isn't on its way, and then what happens when all the humans don't see the landscape change? They'll freeze or starve and it'll be
your
fault.”

Terra began to sniffle, then her head drooped. Her sobs eventually turned into full-scale, outrageous weeping. “I-I would n-never hurt anyone,” she stammered. “Flame, that's a t-terrible thing to suggest.”

“Oh for the love of toad turds,” Zephyr muttered. “I'm getting outta here. I can't take one more winter or summer of this caterwauling and arguing. The problem of when seasons change can be solved. It's as simple as breathing. Of course, what would I know? I just do all the huffing and puffing around here.”

“I've had just about enough out of you, little missy. Don't you leave your spot,” Rain commanded as she pointed to Zephyr's stump. “Once I make my move, Terra and Flame must follow. Then you go to work. You need to stay close so that, when the summer ends and winter begins, we can get our precious colors distributed.” She put one index finger under Zephyr's nose. “And none of that half-gusting crud you pulled last time. I want a full-on, hearty discharge, from the deepest part of your body. Understand?”

Zephyr leaned forward so that her nose almost touched Rain's. “Ohhhh, don't worry! If it's a deep discharge you want, I'll make sure you get it!”

Rain stepped back and arched one brow in disdain. “I don't think I like the sound of that. Is that sarcasm I hear? Are you being disrespectful?”

Terra shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Zephyr, honey, you shouldn't speak to Rain that way. She
is
the eldest, after all.”

“But it's okay for
you
to tell her where to get off?” Zephyr asked as she widened her eyes in shock. She threw up her hands in a gesture of defeat. “I am so gone. And I'm taking my
discharge
with me,” she angrily told them as she stood and spread her wings.

A moment later, she was soaring into the woods with her furious sisters shouting after her.

“I didn't want to do this,” she muttered to herself. “But they've given me no choice.” She picked up her flying speed and dodged tree trunks as she did so. “If you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I'm going straight to the source.”

Almost two hours later, Zephyr saw her target up ahead. There was no time to lose. Summer could be over any moment and winter would be upon them. She worried her sisters might miss any hint of cold with their bickering. But she had an idea that might solve the problem.

She slowed down as she approached the Major Oak in the middle of the enchanted forest. How old it actually was, no one knew. But it was the domicile of the Right Honorable Mother Nature, the overseer of all things having to do with seasons and their changes.

Slowing to a stop, she gazed at the knothole opening in the side of the great tree. Zephyr straightened her garments, took a deep breath, and did the unimaginable. She lifted her right hand, curled it into a fist, and rapped on the door with all her might.

Typically, if the fairies approached MN, as she was affectionately called, it would be the eldest among them who addressed her. But Rain was too preoccupied with missing her season-changing cues. Something had to be done quickly and Zephyr was the fairy to do it.

A moment after she knocked, the great lady governing all living things swung open her door.

“Come i-unnnn,” Mother Nature sang out.

Zephyr took a deep breath, licked her dry lips, and flew inside the enormous trunk where MN resided.

“Mother Nature, it's Zephyr Bottomplunkett, of the color-changing Bottomplunkett fairies,” she announced loudly.

Mother Nature wafted forward like a green, glittering leaf goddess. Zephyr could see her face and all its vine-like glory, but there wasn't much else to discern about her features. She could have been tall, short, thin, or athletic. It was a mystery and, more to the point, not apropos to the current situation. The woman was just a floating face and always had been. Every deed she did was completed with magic.

“Ohhhh, hello dear!” MN cheerfully greeted. “I'm so glad to see one of the Bottomplunkett fairies in my tree. What brings you here, my child?”

“Seasons,” Zephyr announced. “I know it's not my responsibility, but I really have to—”

“Indeed it is not!” MN insisted. “Where is Rain? Since she's eldest, she should be discussing this subject and not you, my girl. I don't mind a sociable chat,” she offered as she floated back and forth, “but honestly—discussing something so serious, and when the change is likely to occur at any moment!”

“But that's the very point of my visit,” Zephyr told her. “You can control the seasons, can you not?”

“I made them so the world would have a chance to renew itself. But once I conjured them into existence, there was no calling them back—
is
no calling them back,” MN corrected. “Even I, with my most glorious abundance of natural talent, power, and magnificent magic, can't stop a natural act once it's released into the world. I can only add to the scenery, so to speak.”

“What if…well it's just a suggestion, but what if you—”

“Get on with it, sweetie,” MN prompted. “Winter might be upon us at any moment. It makes up its own mind, and you need to be ready to blow those colors around.”

“What if the changing of the seasons wasn't so sudden?” Zephyr quickly blurted.

MN's eyes opened wide as she stopped floating and stabilized in front of Zephyr. “Whatever are you talking about?”

“I only came to say that my sisters are in such a dither at the end of every summer and winter. One of these years, they'll miss the signs entirely and there'll be no colors heralding a new season.”

“I see nothing we can do about it, if that's the case. Mankind will suffer for it terribly. That might be why your sisters are so flummoxed. Have you ever thought of that?”

“Of
course
I have. But what if there weren't just two seasons? What if there was some kind of transitional period between them?”

MN tilted her head in confusion. “I don't understand.”

“You made the seasons, Mother Nature. Can't you conjure two more?”

“Why, I've never heard of such a thing! Why in the world would I do that?”

“Well, I was thinking that if summer was followed by a very subtly-changing season and then winter was followed by one of the same restraint, the freezing and thawing wouldn't be so severe. There'd be time to usher in the harshest seasons gradually and the people would have a better chance to get ready for them.”