Note: I have changed this trilogy to young adult/adult genre as it really should be this instead of a children's fantasy. I think if it got turned into a movie ever, it could possibly be for children. Not for really young ones, but for older children possibly. This will only be if I keep it tame. So far it's pretty tame, but evil approaches so it could get deeper which is truly meant for an older audience.
Chapter Fifteen: The Chosen One
Lara could feel the terrible throbbing in her head, and set down her coffee while going into the kitchen to grab her Advil. She fiddled with the cap and lined the arrows. It was one of the easy ones to pop open. She hated some of the kids medicines that seemed to also be adult proof. Yes, make it so they can’t get into it either and by the way, does it look like adults are pint sized miniatures?
She dumped a small handful of the brownish tablets in to the palm of her hand and while choosing three, she poured the rest back into the container, snapped the cap shut and placed it back where it belonged.
She reached into her other cabinet and grabbed her yellow Tupperware, filled it with filtered water and swallowed the pills while praying for the best.
Her migraine this morning seemed to be causing pain to her right temple and it was throbbing severely. She had been having the migraines off and on all week and couldn’t seem to shake them as they would sometimes last all day. She often liked to find a dark quiet place to lie down and will it away.
She used to get headaches but not quite like these. These ones were the metal anvils smashing against her head and it certainly wasn’t funny at all.
She was hoping today wouldn’t end up being a rerun. She never cared for them unless it was Gilligan’s Island.
She went into the living room and set her coffee what remained of it upon her mahogany end table. It had a carved pattern around the edges of the square top. Mahogany was her favorite kind of wood and she seemed to like decorating every room in the house with it.
She went to lie down and curled up and tried to will away the pounding, but once again the pain seemed to last. Sharp pains pierced the side of her temples and she tried to take her mind off it by listening to Rachel Ray talk about how to cook awesome hamburgers as she had recently come out with her new Hamburger cookbook and it was now in stores at every woman’s fingertips.
She figured she would lie down for a little bit, and when she was feeling up to the task she needed to call Mary at the hospital to see how she was doing. The doctors had gotten her right in yesterday to set her leg and Mary later told her he had suffered a compound fracture to her right leg which meant her bones in the lower calf had been broken in two place. The tibia to be exact.
They were now keeping her in the hospital for a short period of time for her recovery and then she would have a three month post operative. And all Mary was telling her was that the hospital food was mediocre and she could hardly wait for a quality apple fritter. One that note, Lara was deciding to surprise her with a luscious yummy breakfast treat.
Lara remembered hospital food when she gave birth to her girls. It really wasn’t that bad and she enjoyed filling out the menu for each meal.
She had to get rid of this headache so he could call to find a time that would be good to visit her.
She placed her hands upon her slowly growing stomach. She knew within a matter of two or three weeks she would be starting to experience her first signs of morning sickness would appear on top of her migraines.
And to add to her list of issues, her left breast was becoming quite painful. This was the thing causing her to really keep it bottled up and she knew for a fact she had to make the call and get herself seen as soon as possible. It really had to be sooner rather than later as if she left it untended to she could wind up being sorry instead of safe. It’s like if the smoke alarm suddenly starts acting up and you think it could be a false alarm and decide that later on it wasn’t but by that time you have been burned to death in a fire and it is too late.
And a few months ago when she examined her breasts one breast appeared lower than the other, and she felt a hard lump. It wasn’t extremely large that she knew but the simple fact was that it was present and it wasn’t going away any time soon. She had felt it one day in the shower and just felt like her thoughts just hit a new low. The other symptoms was the awful red rash that was now there and had been for a little while now and not to mention the dimpling effect as well. So, now it already had been possibly festering and maybe longer than she knew about.
She hadn’t wanted to tell Ellen about this let alone the pregnancy but she knew she had to tell her best friend something.
First of all she was so surprised by the news of her pregnancy as they really hadn’t planned on another child. A positive test and a doctor’s confirmation really settled the matter.
Her toughest fears of the possibility of having breast cancer was just impacting her decisions. She was wondering how it was going to result in effecting her pregnancy as she didn’t want it to hurt her unborn child.
As she was resting on the couch listening to Rachel Ray who was now discussing how to make a yummy rice risotto dish to compliment that scrumptious hamburger, she was wondering if she should make that phone call and then should she tell Patrick? She was thinking what if it was nothing, why worry him when it might be some small matter.
And if indeed it turned out to be breast cancer, would she be able to go through chemotherapy while with child? She had been reading that in the first three months of pregnancy a woman can’t undergo this process in fear of hurting the fetus.
As far as she was concerned, it was a human life inside her, growing and waiting for that thankful day when he or she could graciously enter the world and be all that he or she could ever hope and dream to be.
Lara thought about all the women out there that chose abortion and she knew in her mind that she could never do that. But she never frowned upon the choices of other women. It’s their body and their right to do what they want with it. No society should ever take away that freedom for the woman to choose what is best for her life choices. You take away that, and you take away a woman’s rights and the women will revert back to being the domestic goddesses that men wish for them to go back to.
No woman wants to go back and wait hand in foot for the man of the sixties and seventies and before that. Lara knew that she was one of the modern women of today’s world whereas her mother was not. There were always the memories of having to take away her father’s plate while he watched his sports or picked up the newspaper.
Lara fell into slumber as Rachael Ray was ending the segment with a short fashion trend segment.
And then she went into her dreams and her past and remembered back to her day when she had paid a visit to Flavia. Lara had wandered down a path in the partly shaded part of her mother’s garden and was excited to see Flavia again.
Lara had been wearing a pretty black sundress with yellow sunflowers displayed throughout the fabric that covered. It had bow ties at the shoulder line. Lara’s mother, Bethana had sewn it for her and Lara as a young child grew up in the midst of seamstresses. There was always the running of sewing machines as her mother possessed about three of them in her yellow wallpapered sewing room. Upon the wallpaper were scattered images of irises, pretty bottles containing water and trailing green ivy.
Lara had memories of her aunts, Marylyn and Jill spending lots of time sewing, knitting and crocheting in there. Marylyn was always knitting these gorgeous Icelandic scarves and sweaters and Jill was crocheting the most exquisite hats with flowers on them.
Lara’s mother worked as a seamstress and her father was a salesman who traveled all the time. Lara always was surrounded by the most beautiful wedding gowns that Bethana meticulously sewed for her local clients. Money came hard to them, but neither parent was afraid of hard work.
On this early morning, Lara arrived at the partly shaded garden listening and waiting. She was about ten years old like her daughter, Sally now is. Flavia was indeed seeking her entrance. Flavia was visiting the peach leaved campanula fairy who had the most lovely bell shaped skirt. Lara sat in the white metal Victorian chair and began to talk with Flavia. Lara loved all the painted daisies on her face and felt that it was exactly the way she should be. “I’m bored,” said Lara.
“Why are you bored, Lara? You must be missing something Come play with Peachanella and me.”
“Mom is too busy sewing to even see that I am here and father is always gone and when he’s here, he’s not to be bothered as he is busy reading the newspaper. Why do they not see me, Flavia? Do they know they have a daughter?” Lara looked at Peachanella for a moment and had suddenly become fascinated with the design of her heart shaped face. Appearing across her face near the eyes, nose and cheeks were several peach, pink and lilac purple stripes to match her skirt. On the edges of her skirt were tiny rhinestones and purple feathers similar to that of a peacock’s feather only in purple hues. The stripes on her face had a glittery, magical effect.
“They see you, Lara all the time, yet you do not realize that she does everything for you. She’s laboring over that sewing machine working her fingers to the bone for you. And your father travels so that he can put the food on the table and the money to give you the things you so desire. Can you not see that they love you? We love you too, Lara. The world loves you so much, yet you don’t want to see that all around you would do absolutely anything for you.”
Peachanella looked at her sadly for a moment then explained, “Let us bring you somewhere special and wonderful and then maybe you will learn more about yourself and others.” Peachanella ran a finger through her long and straight lilac hair. Strands seemed to flow all the way down to the points of her skirt and at the tips hung little pieces of ivy leaves all the veins spreading out with love. Her wide eyes were a deep plum purple which seemed to have Lara captured in a trance of the mystical mind which was Peachanella.
“Where?”
“Hold our hands and we’ll bring you,” said Flavia. Lara timidly reached out and took hold of their delicate hands and suddenly she felt herself whirling through a vortex of swirling white feathers and blue, blue skies. She was like that of a weightless gem of the day tiny seashell resting upon a grain of sand.
Her heart soared and Lara could feel her pulse beating wildly while her skirt of the sundress flapped in the wind. Her unfathomable excitement crescendoed while her body twisted and spiraled through the millions of feathers. All she could see ahead of her was Flavia’s curly hair and Peachanella’s purple hair swishing as the feathers kept getting stuck in their hair. A few of the feathers got caught in Lara’s ponytails and a feather tickled her nose making her giggle in delight.
As she looked closer at the one tickling her nose, she discovered that it had a tiny face smack in the center of it and the smallest little feet that she ever did see wearing tiny white ballet slippers. All the separate strands of feathers were the tickling arms.
“Hi, pretty Lara,” the feather whispered. Lara’s eyes widened with shock and extreme bewilderment. She was now wondering if she was just imagining this.
“Hello? How is it that you can speak? I’ve never, ever heard of a talking feather before.”
“What one does not see, one does not see, one is blind, because one does not see. I’ve always been here, just floating, drifting by and falling where I may. I am called destiny and what lies beyond here will be your ultimate dream. But what I must tell you is that our world needs your help. We need you and all that surround you and all that will come into your life.”
“Why do you need my help? Is it just you or is it the fairies too?”
“It’s our magical world that is in turmoil. It’s been this way for a very, very long time and we are going to be a big miracle to help save our world. Look at us, we’re not as pristine white as we used to be. The magical air that surrounds us is polluted and there’s a lurking evil that shrouds our world.”
“What evil would that be? Why is the magical air hurting you?”
“Our air used to be pure and now this ominous evil has tainted the air. Our strands are slowly wilting and we can no longer float like we once could. We’re landing into the lairs of the haunted thickets and we’re going to get caught and the evil will kill all things magical.”
“But, I’m just a little girl! How can I stop the evil? I don’t even know how to play the flute, much less help your magical world. Why me?”
“Our world is waiting for you and your kind to save us. We need you, Lara as you are truly the special chosen one.”
“Chosen one? How so?” Suddenly, the feathers were gone and the leaves began to show up and a greenish mystical light magically appeared.
Lara felt the earth beneath her feet once again and this time she was in a patch of green plants, ferns and flowering vines. She was in awe as she watched thousands and thousands of blue butterflies clinging to some nearby trees. A few of them fluttered by and one lingered in Peachanella’s hair and then landed on Flavia’s hand.
Flavia slowly brought the butterfly to her lips and quietly spoke to the butterfly. Lara leaned in a little closer to see if she could hear what just got said, but then the butterfly flew into the darkness of the woods behind them.
Next thing that really made Lara’s day was what she was going to remember forever. She knew that she would never forget it. Peachanella moved out of the way and there it was standing glorious with a vivid glow surrounding it.
A pristine white unicorn. Lara felt as if she had died and gone to heaven. She always loved unicorns and kind of settled for having some posters of wild horses on her walls. And one year Aunt Jill had given her a unicorn puzzle that consumed her time. But nothing, absolutely nothing seemed to compare to this moment.
“I didn’t know that unicorns really existed. She’s beautiful. Does she have a name?”
Peachanella smiled and said, “She is Garamond. She’s been waiting for you since time began. She’s your unicorn, Lara.”
“Mine? Really? Why?” Lara couldn’t seem to grasp the reality that this was hers.
“You are the one who asked for her therefore, she is yours. Remember that night that you prayed your soul to keep and you also silently asked for your unicorn? Your wish was granted.”
“Wow. Can I touch her?” Lara moved in closer to the beautiful beast she could finally call hers. Garamond turned her head and snorted and her black eyes glanced into the eyes of young Lara. Lara reached out her small hand and began to touch the soft fur. Oh so beautiful was this sweet horse which was beckoning her to love it to death.
“Are there others like her?”
“There is more of them, but they are lost and we can’t find them. Can you and Garamond help us find them?” asked Flavia.
“How can I do that? I don’t know your world. What if I become lost too? My Mom and Father would miss me very much I think.”
“Don’t worry, Garamond is the map of our world and you won’t get lost.”
“Don’t tell her that, Peachanella. Of course she could get lost, but we need her to save our world.” Flavia whispered to her.
“If I get lost, how will I ever marry my Prince Charming, Patrick?”
“Patrick? How do you know the man you are to marry?”
“I just know that I’m going to marry a man named Patrick. I dreamed of him once. He’s pure as the white fallen snow. I just know my fate will lie with him. He’s out there somewhere waiting for me.”
Lara didn’t really know much about love. All she knew were that little girls were supposed to dream of marrying a man like her father and that’s the way it was going to be.
Lara watched as the two fairies talked amongst themselves for a minute. She watched as their transparent wings flapped anxiously.
“Peachanella, she can’t marry him as he is supposed to be for me. I can’t let her do it. I love Patrick so much more than she ever will. What can we do to stop her from finding her fate?”
“Flavia, control yourself. Don’t do anything to jeopardize our world. Yes, Patrick loved you first, but it’s beyond your grasp and you have to crush your love for him now.”
“I’m going to have Garamond ride her as fast as she can and dump her down the Endless Cliff of Doom. That’s where she belongs. I hate her now.”
“Flavia!!! No!!! You can’t hurt her! Why must you show your wickedness!!! You’re becoming like your mother! Stop it now. You must never, ever have Patrick!”
“But I will. You will see. She doesn’t know it, but I can see her future and I will either hurt her or I will find a way to hurt someone that she is going to love with all of her heart. I will make a vow to do it and you know that I will.”
“Not if I can help it! I will stop you, Flavia. Just you wait and see.”
“You can’t stop me as you are a weakling who relies on the shade for your pitiful existence. I live in the sun whereas you cannot! Patrick has visited me often and has kissed me! He told me he loves me! He’ll never completely fall in love with her! I could not bear for him to do that to me! He just won’t as our love conquers all!”
“You’re just fooling yourself.”
Flavia pushed Peachanella down and walked over to Lara, but first she flew over to Garamond and put her lips ever so faintly to her ear and told her what she wanted her to do. And Garamond always minded Flavia as she was strong willed and could do something to Garamond that would make it so she never would find the other unicorns.
“Lara, Garamond wants to take you for a ride. Can you please, please search for the other unicorns?”
Peachanella was about to come closer but then Flavia waved her hand in a swiveling motion that triggered a force field so that Peachanella couldn’t get past. Lara watched Peachanella start to bounce against something, but she was really unaware of what had just happened.
“I’d love to, but I do have to get back within the hour as my Aunt Marylyn is coming for a visit and she wants me to try on a sweater she just made. But tell me. Why do the feathers talk? One of them talked to me and said that they want me to save them from an evil that is going to kill the magical world. Why? Why is it to be me to save the world?”
“I don’t know. You must have talked to FannyFair. Don’t listen to her. She’s been crying for help for years. There’s no evil that is going to hurt our world. That’s all hearsay. FannyFair suffers from a mental illness and you shouldn’t believe a word that she says. She thinks she hears the rocks she falls on talking to her about plucking all those little arms she has. She said one tried to grab her ballet slippers and wanted to crush her flat so she could never float anywhere else again. She is absolutely nuts! And all the rest of the feathers are trying to help her see that she has a serious problem. She just doesn’t want to admit that she does and it’s dragging her down. If you ask me, she needs to be in the center of the Earth for a serious wake up call. I’ll send her there myself if I could.”
“Oh, what is mental illness?”
“You will have to ask your Mom. She might get very angry with me if I told you.”
“No she wouldn’t. My Mom never gets angry.”
“You do not know your Mom the way I do. Your Mom was terrible to me and I hope she gets what she deserves someday. But will you and Garamond help to find the other unicorns? We need them and you to help us find something that we are missing.”
“What is it?”
“It’s not my place to tell you. But we need you to find it for us in order to go on. One of the fairies needs it or else she could die.”
“You?”
“No. I can’t tell you why we need you, but can you do this for me? I love you, Lara. I always have.”
Lara rushed up and hugged her tightly. “I love you too. I will go.” Flavia kissed her on the cheek while crossing her fingers behind her back, as she knew that she was ultimately getting what she wanted. Lara out of the picture, so that she could have Patrick to herself.
Flavia watched with a wicked smile as Lara hopped onto Garamond and they galloped away into the woods. Then, when Lara was no longer looking, Flavia dropped the force shield and smacked Peachanella about fifteen times with her forceful hand and Peachanella was out cold in the thickness of ferns that seemed to devour her.
And Lara was gone on a wild ride.
Suddenly, Lara woke up from her memories of that long ago day. That was how things kind of began to get out of control. Well, at least from Lara’s memories. What she didn’t know was that the magical world was crumbling long before Lara entered it and as she had begun her ride on Garamond that day, she wondered who her mother really was.
But now in the present day, Lara wasn’t prepared to dredge it all up. All she knew was that it was in terrible turmoil and now the discovery of Sally finding out about Flavia was setting her into an upsetting worry on top of everything else. A new pregnancy, a possible cancerous lump and her precious daughter falling prey to this magical world that was filled with all the vivid magic coming with an awful price. She would be determined to stop Flavia from hurting the ones she loved. But now, would she have the time to make sure that it didn’t happen?
She got up from the couch and grabbed the phone to call Mary. Right now, she had to go see her and then she had to call a doctor. Jennifer Jo Fay Copyrighted September 18, 2012
