It
happened, as most wonderful and fantastic things do, in the smallest
and most insignificant of towns. Such was the case with the town of
Farrow, a lovely little place that finds itself nestled in the
heartland, where the hills roll on in endless green and the trees
tower above as sentinel towers, ever watchful. Where bluebells,
lilies, roses, nightshade, and a garden of other lovely colors dot
the land, filling it with that picturesque scenery only found in a
painters paintings or a poets poems. It was here, amongst all of this
strangely perfect beauty, that the fair people(who seem to be much
fairer than other folk) conduct their strange rituals of dancing
before odd colored fires in terrific masks, chanting their odd
chants.
The
fair townsfolk pull out the fulness of a feast prepared throughout
the day during these festivals, conducted only when the moon bares
its naked glory to the world. These feasts are filled with the most
wonderfully cooked pheasant, with purple plums and pickled delights
of all kinds. Rare fruits, brightly colored and possessing the
illusion of shifting shades of blue, green, and violet, known as
Stardust, populate every plate. Their sweet and intoxicating smell
waft through the village, wisps of wind carrying them along and
causing every person to salivate in anticipation for this slightly
hallucinogenic fruit.
This
scene of townsfolk of all shapes and sizes carrying out tray after
tray of beautifully prepared food was what Lisanna Limly returned to,
dressed in a fine white lace dress with an academic posture about
her. She had been gone for a solid five years to study far and abroad
and now, looking out at the strange ritual that she had spent the
majority of her life participating in, she felt nostalgia bloom
within her. They were, she thought with a lazy smile gracing her
lips, glued to their innocent superstitions and frivolous magics.
They would never know, as she did, the origin of their words and
their importance.
But,
she thought mildly, there is always a surreal comfort in finding a
place exactly as it was when you left it.
With
one long and confident step Lisanna walked out into the chaos and
called out to a man in black suit and a tall black hat, causing him
to drop the tray of food that he was carrying, sending fruit and meat
exploding through the air and skittering across the ground.
“Ma'
Lord, girl! Don't go scarin' a man like--wait a damned second...is
that you little 'Sanna?” asked the black hatted man, the anger
pouring out of his voice as quickly as it had come.
“Yes
it is, Mr. Rutter. It is nice to see you're still as quick to yell as
you are to smile,” she said, flashing him a full white smile.
Carlyle
Rutter gave her a broad, toothy grin and said, “Well, ya couldn't
have picked a better time to come home, could ya?”
Lisanna
shrugged, “I suppose so.”
“Now
don't go around actin' so indifferent! This is everyone's favorite
time-a year! Now why don't you head off an' go find little Neil? I
remember he was awfully found of you and he'll be jumpin' and
shoutin' when he sees you've come back all grown up and twice as
pretty.”
Lisanna's
smile grew wider and brighter, “I suppose he might. Where is he?”
“He
ought to be floatin' around and takin' care of gathering up all the
proper salts and dusts. He's apprenticing under the town alchemist,
if you can damn well believe that!” exclaimed Carlyle, shooing her
away.
Lisanna
strode in the direction of the apothecary, muscle memory taking her
where she needed to go. As she went she could hear Carlyle shouting
his head off and giving general hell to a couple of boys he had
managed to con into cleaning up the mess that he had made.
It
all made Lisanna gloriously exultant. She had missed the chaos that
this small town managed to get swept up in and the sweet aroma of the
Stardust fruit mixing with the bitter smells of brewed potions,
burning salts, and magic dusts of all kinds.
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