Коротко о себе: волшебная на всю голову-))
«I`m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds» (Mike Tyson) My whole life can be described with this wonderful quote. As for my personality – well, I`m a young specialist with lots of different hobbies. Сan`t imagine my life without coffee, books and a good movie every Friday evening. My favourite colour is deep turquoise and I`m really fond of esoterics: mystical signs and symbols, reincarnation, numerology etc. I always try to stay reasonable, though, and take this sort of thing as personal enrichment and source of inspiration.
Castles in the air
The filed they were walking through was full of beautiful but very strange flowers. Anny has never seen anything like this before. The colour of the grass changed from sandy to bright yellow and yet it wasn`t dry. It was fresh, juicy and very soft. As for the flowers…well, Granny had green fingers and her garden was always a great envy of all the neighbors. But these flowers were like wings of butterfly or miniature castles with sharp spines. Sometimes there were really strange flowers that looked like the whole doll sets on the stalks. Anny especially loved the one with a white pistil – a dining table and four growths around it shaped like small cozy chairs with curved armrests.
Such a pretty. Holly would squeal with delight if she saw it. But when Anny tried to pick up one of them, it faded before she could even bring it close to her face.
— This one you can drink, — Tiny pointed to the bright-red flower with long turned-up petals. Inside, like in a long red glass, there was some kind of liquid. Anny hesitated for a moment but she was really thirsty – it was almost afternoon and the sun was burning. But the liquid wasn`t bad at all. Warm and sparkling, it tasted like Fanta, or even better. Yellow flower left a pear-drop sweet taste, pink one had a light strawberry flavor. But when Anny reached for a green one, the dwarf caught her hand.
— Don`t! — he said. – That` s a soggy-froggy, it tastes awful and can make you vomit a bit. And you won`t feel alright anyway, unless you stop tasting everything you see.
— But it`s so unusual. I used to read about such things in fairy tales but I couldn`t even imagine…
The sooner you get used to our life, the better, — little dwarf sounded like a grumbling old man. And suddenly Anny imagine herself talking to her granddaughter in such a way. No wonder Holly always tried to escape such conversations.
— Where are we going, by the way?
— We need to find Pegasus.
— Who?
— A flying horse. He can take us to the capital, where we find most of your ingredients.
— And where does Pegasus live? In a forest or on a big farm?
— I don`t know, actually, — Tiny`s voice sounded a little confused – for a moment or two. But then he put on a bold front.
— Don`t worry! – he said. – My intuition has never once let me down! So I`ll take you right to the Tree of Poetry – that`s his favorite place!
It took them two more hours of wondering through the fields and meadows. Finally, they came to a long fence. So big, that it could even be longer than the Dog Fence in Australia. There was another filed outside the fence – a blue one with overflowing tide of herbage.
— Wow, it`s like the sea, — Anny thought to herself. The view was gorgeous. But the impression was spoiled by some creepy scarecrows. They were wearing ugly sun-bleached rags and wide-brimmed hats. And their grinned pumpkins faces would suit perfectly well on a blackjack of some pirates of this herbal sea.
— Hi, Bard! How are you? — the dwarf said to one of the scarecrows, which was actually a very thin man. He`s been sitting absolutely still, staring at a big oak tree. But when Tiny called him, the man turned his face with thin hooked nose and smiled.
— Tiny, what a surprise!
He awkwardly climbed down the fence, his long skinny legs almost criss-crossed into an intricate figure. Perhaps that man spent too much time sitting without any movement and now his legs were asleep. But he managed to make it look like a perfect curtsey.
— You`ve got a new companion?
— Yes. She`s a real fun to be with, — the dwarf gave Anny a meaningful look. – Anny, please, meet my friend – Bard, a Court Poet. Ex-poet, actually.
— My pleasure, — deep blue eyes of the poet glanced at Anny`s face, slid down to her scratched arms and ragged dress. — You look absolutely splendid, if I dare say so.
Look who`s talking, — Anny thought, trying to keep a straight face. Poet looked quite miserable in his dirty shirt and dusty velvet coat, which remained some embroidery on it. Once elegant buckled shoes were gaping and around his waist there was a straw rope tied in a bow. This silly costume was marvelously in keeping with the whole personality of a dismissed poet. His head swayed like a crow’s nest on his mastlike spin, thin knobbly knees stood out and crackled when he walked while the cheeks were sunken and colorless.
— I`m sorry, — Anny said, trying to sound polite, — but why are you jobless? Poetry is such a beautiful and inspiring job…
— That`s the answer, — Bard interrupted, with his finger raised. – Inspiration… How on earth can I get it in the royal palace full of rumours, gossips and intrigues? I felt as if I had no air to breathe, the luxury food stuck in my throat…No, I`d better stay here, close to nature, which feeds me with the most delicate ambrosia of brilliant ideas!
As if in response to his words, a few acorns flew from the oak tree right to the poet`s feet. With a bow he picked up «the gift of the nature» and put them into his pocket.
— Well, well, at least you were fed a real food in the palace, — Tiny shook his head. – But it`s up to you, anyway. Have you seen Pegasus?
— Of course. Go along the fence and you`ll come straight to him. And if you have any food, please, fatten up the poor horse, — Bard added. – I tried to help him but you know Pegasus – he`s such a food snob!
Well, when Anny saw Pegasus, he didn`t look like he needed to be «fatten up» at all. All snow-white with tiny blue and lilac flowers on his skin, Pegasus was really well-fed, so that the sticks of the fence bent under his massive bottom. His tail and mane were candy pink and the latter was braided and decorated with silver beads. Pegasus was now half-dozing, chewing a straw. He didn1t even glance at them when Tiny said hello.
— He`s sure hungry, – the dwarf whispered.
— Why do you think so?
— Just look at his wings.
Pegasus`s wings looked were a complete mess – nearly bare, with only few feathers left, they looked like tree branches that lost their leaves. Like soft snowflakes the feathers fell and already made a big puddle around him. But apparently Pegasus didn`t care a bit about that.
— See? He`s in desperate need of some extraordinary mondegreen. Or even an eggcorn.
— Sorry?
— Come on, let`s feed him and fly away! – Tiny pushed her toward the horse.
— But I don`t have any food…
— You have it in your head! Sing a song, tell him a compliment – just use your imagination!
Anny tried to remember anything from her school lessons, at least visualize some of the Holly`s books – they learnt some funny poems last week for a play… How was it: Mary, Mary, quite contrary…
— You are so white…white as a snow, — she said finally. Not a word or even a sigh from Pegasus.
— Go on, don`t stop, — Tiny encouraged her.
— Why me? Why don`t you help me? – Anny said angrily.
— Well, I`m just a guide, nothing more, — the dwarf spread his hands. – You have to do it yourself!
Anny looked again at Pegasus that started snoring now. What on earth can make him fly again?
— I`m sorry, would you like me to sing you a song? Or say a poem, maybe?
— Peach, — the horse murmured.
— You want a peach? – the girl cried, relieved.
— No. What do you think about a peach?
— Me? – Anny was really puzzled. — Well.. it`s round… and sweet… and…
Finally it came to her: she has to think up of something unusual. Some strange word combination to raise Pegasus`s interest.
— You know, peach is like a hairy sun. When it`s ripe and yellow, of course.
— Not bad, — the horse grinned, without even looking at her. — but trivial. Try again.
But Anny had already flown into a passion by now.
— You`re surely not in a vanilla mood today, — she said with studied lightness and turned round to join Tiny.
— Wait… hey, girl! – Pegasus called. He now seemed more excited and even his wings started to cover with new feathers.
— What do you mean by “vanilla mood”? What is it? No, don`t tell me – I want to try myself first. I guess it`s something like Christmas mood but the occasion is different. Like the first day of summer holidays… Or something else…
He tried some other explanations and got more and more enthusiastic.
— Listen… what`s your name, by the way?
— Anny.
— Listen, Anny, you gave me good food for thought. But that was an appetizer and what`s for the main course?
— How about this: violet ears are gaily fluttering in the wing…
— I caught them with my net and put them in a string! – the dwarf finished with a cunning look and laughed.
— Go on, I feel my inspiration coming back to me! – Pegasus neighed and went into a happy gallop. His wings looked okay now but still they were too weak to put him in the air.
— Come on, boy! – the dwarf was clapping his hands and tried his best to encourage the horse. There was no time to loose and they had to be in the capital by the sunset. – Fly high, do or die, dare to dream, cheer extreme!
— Get up! – Pegasus stopped for a moment to let them climb on his back, then whickered and dashed off. Tiny barely could grab Anny`s foot and now was dangling back and forth and screaming. The girl managed to pull him up and clutched his velvet coat.
— Now hold tight! – something inside gave a sudden shift when Pegasus finally rose in the air. Don`t look down, just don`t look down… — Anny kept telling herself. Up in the air — no safety belts, not even a saddle or a halter. How on earth could she bring herself to such a thing?
— How do you like the view? – Pegasus asked, turning his head to them. – Haven`t flown for quite a long, though. The clouds are marvelous! Especially that one – looks like a big castle, don`t you think?
He kept talking all the time, singing songs, muttering rhymes and admiring a patchwork guilt of fields and forests below. While Anny and her friend were too terrified to say another word and just clung to the thick plaited mane.
— It was really nice meeting you, — Pegasus said when they landed after almost an hour of going up and down, rolls and tail spins. His passengers made a few steps on rubbery legs and sat on the grass looking quite miserable.
— That was… tough…
— Well, it all comes with experience. We shall have another ride one day, — he offered. – Good luck now!
— Thank you! – mumbled Anny.
They had some rest and then headed to a big stone wall with massive gate. That was a capital of the magic kingdom. Silver spires were jutting the skyward like long thin fingers. Sunlight glanced off the bright roof tiles and even now Anny could hear melodic bubbling of city fountains.
Two guards were standing on each side of the gate, sleeping and snoring loudly. One of them was even sniffling in his sleep and mouthing a long white feather from the top of his helmet.
— Just look at them, — Anny whispered and Tiny nodded with a smile and gestured her to silence.
— Our Queen`s eyes and ears are everywhere, and a whole army of griffons is at her service so the guards are for only for form’s sake, — suddenly he stopped and gave her a serious look.
— Remember: don`t tell anyone that you came from a different world. Our Queen is terribly afraid of any strangers. And don`t look at the sky – that`s very important!
— But why?
— Just promise, you won`t, — he said as they stepped to a dark arch of the town gate.
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