Mythofilia

Underneath The Tamarind Tree Lina ran to tap the tree but she was too late. Omeira got there first ‘Buut Lina!’, she called. As the first to have been found Lina would have to search next. Omeira shot off to look for the others. Lina hung back and moved away from the tree. The afternoon heat was losing its sting. The sky burnt red as the sun stood low on the horizon. Lina moved away from the tree a bit more. If mister Bakker had seen her, he probably would’ve laughed. Omeira’s Dutch father didn’t believe any of the island lore. But Lina couldn’t shake her grandmother’s lessons that easily. ‘Don’t pass beneath a Tamarind tree after dark’, had been drilled into her since she could walk. It didn’t matter that this particular one stood in Omeira’s backyard. It was still a dangerous thing. Perhaps she could get out of the next game by saying she needed to get home before it got dark. Lina looked around. Omeira still had to find Elena, Eugenia and Theodora. She was headed to...

Decisions Dorinda lay sick in bed. Her hour was near. For days she had been seeing them. The dark beast ready to devour her and the light angel ready to welcome her. It would be a battle but not now. They each sat on a side of the bed, patiently waiting. 'How do I do this?', Dorinda thought desperately. No one could prepare you for this. 'If I were to say anything to the nurses or volunteers they'd think I was being delirious.' She remembered her grandmother. She had been sick in the hospital but had often panicked, pulled out the IV, taken the tubes out of her nose and ran away. They'd find her hiding in a corner. It drove the nurses crazy. Eventually, they tied her to the bed. 'Was this what she was seeing?', Dorinda wondered. 'If we had known, could we have done anything different?'. She must have drifted off to sleep. When she awoke, her friend Tamara was there. "Hey, when did you get here?", Dorinda whispered. Her throat ...

Dimelda & Rita When Dimelda got her new assignment she was excited. Taking care of a godchild had long been her ambition. Like so many others she had imagined herself successfully mentoring the next Cinderella. Possibly with a little less bloodshed.  Provoking the stepsisters into cutting off their heels and toes had not gone down well with the board of Angels. Though she had improved Cinderella’s life, it had not brought that fairy the immediate promotion she had hoped for. Dimelda took her example as a warning. Angels and fairies did not see eye to eye on bloodshed and it was the Angels who decided on advancements. So it was that Dimelda set out full of hope and ideals to meet her god- daughter. Unfortunately she had been matched with Rita. Rita was no oppressed young lady. She, like Dimelda, was ambitious and argumentative. It annoyed Dimelda as she could just imagine the board laughing at their little joke. Well if this was how the Angels were going to pla...

Work in progress It was while Tisjaira was cutting the mushrooms that the song came on. The lyrics and the melody combined to form a blanket of sadness that covered her suddenly and completely. Tears streamed down her face. She sobbed so much she had to put down the knife. But a part of her stood aside and watched. Wondering 'why am I crying? I've heard this song a thousand times before. Why cry about it now?'. Still she couldn't stop. She cried until it ended. When the next song played she felt she could listen to it without breaking. Her watchful self relaxed a little. It was an all-round relief.  But the mournful mood remained. There were more songs that made her cry. Het watchful self thought it was all very strange. She wondered what it could be? The day had not been bad to start with, she was sure of that. In fact, it had been sunny this morning. Work had gone well and even the trains ran on time. It was only when she had to change platforms at the ...

Brigitta: part 3 New to this story? Read Brigitta: part I and part II . “Help me clear this up, Brigitta.”, mother said. They took the cups, plates and root brew pot back to the kitchen. “Well that was quite a commotion now wasn’t it?” Brigitta made a consenting sound. Her mother arranged the dishes in the sink, took out a small bowl and filled it with ice chips from the freezer. She sprinkled some of the chips over the dishes while muttering under her breath. Brigitta felt a tiny surge of magic as the dishes started cleaning themselves. She stared at them listlessly. A hand gently stroked her head. “What’s on your mind baby girl?”, mother said.  Brigitta answered without looking up, “I’m so useless here!”. “Brigitta! No one is ever useless, what a thing to say. Look at me, look at me now.” Reluctantly she turned to face her mum. “I will not have you thinking so little of yourself you hear me?” “But it’s true! I can’t do any snow magic, I can’t even hear the ice an...

Brigitta: part 2 New to this story?  Read Brigitta: part I Blaer came up to talk to her. “What kind of magic is it?”, he said. “I don’t know, I wasn’t doing it on purpose…”, Brigitta replied. “I bet your plants always look nice.”, Blaer said. “They do, she always got the prize for the nicest planter bed back when we were doing our Ice Baby training with master Högna.” Ylfa said. It startled Brigitta. She hadn’t seen her coming over. “But they didn’t grow any faster than the other kids’ plants…”, Brigitta said. “No, but they made good salves and ointments. I never needed to use as many plants to get strong medicine from your herbs.”, Ylfa said. “I’ve never heard of plant magic before though.”, Blaer said. “That’s because it’s known as Growing Magic and it is quite rare on our island. Since you’re all distracted anyway, clear up your stations. We will make some music and then you can go home when Brigitta’s parents get here.”, master Nýr said. “But what is Growing...