“WHAT?” cried the now-awake girl.
“It’s me . . . and you were right.”
“Egg, what time is it?”
“Time to get up, get dressed and get over here. I’ll give you two minutes.”
“You’re an evil witch.”
“And you’re the best Feminion anyone ever had.”
*****
“Mom, Syl and I are going to visit Jenny and Molly.”
“So early? Are you sure?”
“Yup. We probably won’t be home till late so don’t be worried.”
“I guess you’re old enough to stay out of trouble.”
Sylvia snickered and Egg had to jab her in the side with her elbow. “Love you,” and she and her best friend ran out the front door.
About a half hour later, they were at the homeless shelter. As they went in the manager of the place stopped them. “Are you looking for Jenny and Molly?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry they aren’t here.”
“When will they be back?”
“Never?”
“What?”
“They moved out last night. I asked where they were going but Jenny said she wasn’t sure.”
“Oh my gosh.”
*****
“Why do you think they left?”
“I guess maybe Jenny wanted to show Molly some nice places before she died. You know, so that she would have some fond memories of her mom.”
“Oh, Syl . . . you’re going to make me cry.”
Sylvia blew her nose. “I beat you to it.”
“Where do you think they went?”
“I have no idea.”
“Come on, Syl . . . think.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. Remember I’m the dreamer and you’re the thinker.”
“I forgot. Okay, um . . . well we asked them where they would rather be if not here, and remember what they said?”
“Oh my gosh, they both wanted to see snow-covered mountains. Jenny said she wanted her daughter to have a White Christmas.”
“That’s got to be it. Come on.”
“Come on where?”
“You’re going to become Flying Girl and we’re going to the mountains.”
*****
Egg walked into the ladies room and said, “Ring, tend to my suit.” A white mist formed around her and in an instant, she was wearing her flying suit (it was part of the magic in the ring that she wore). She and Sylvia walked out of the shelter with people gawking at her costume. But they didn’t care who saw them; after an hour they wouldn’t remember anyway (that was part of the magic of the flying suit). So Egg took Sylvia’s hand and leaped skyward. They flew from town to town along the bus route until they came to a quaint little village nestled in a valley guarded by tall mountain peaks. Everything was covered in white . . . a veritable Wonderland of Snow.
“A perfect place to celebrate a White Christmas,” said Syl as she surveyed the scene.
“It’s not much different than the other places.”
“Silly, there’s a big difference.”
“And that would be…?”
“This town is named after the clouds.”
“What?”
“It’s called Cumulus.” (On Aerianna, Q’umulus was its capital city).
“OH MY GOSH”.
*****
Egg changed back into her regular clothes and the two girls started walking the streets.
“Egg . . . over there.”
“What?”
“The diner. Let’s check it out.”
It was like the diners that used to be found in every town back in the forties and fifties. It look like a big trailer and was made of aluminum. As they got closer, they could read the red neon sign above the place — “BESSON’S GOURMET” — except that all the letters weren’t lit. Only five of them still worked — S,S,O,N and G. Ss’ong was a princess and Queen Dazzle’s sister.
“Syl . . . that’s just too weird.”
“Yeah . . . it is a bit freaky. Anyway, I think we found them.”
They virtually ran the last fifty yards and rushed in. And, sure enough, there at the counter eating some kind of pie (and drinking hot chocolate) was Molly and her mother.
“Hi, guys.”
Mother and daughter turned around at the sound of the familiar voice and the little girl screamed, “EGG! SYLVIA!” so loud that every other patron turned to stare.
“What are you two doing here?” asked the little girl’s mother.
Egg and Sylvia walked up to their friends and exchanged hugs. Molly’s face was beaming with the widest smile while Jenny’s was clouded by the shock and confusion of this unexpected visit.
“We came to find you.”
“You did? Why? How?”
“That’s a long story. Do you have a room where we could have a little privacy?”
“Yes, over at the River’s Edge Inn,” and Egg gave Sylvia a knowing glance. That was the name of the town on Aerianna where they had started the Quest.
“When you finish your food, maybe we could go talk.”
*****
Jenny, Molly and Sylvia were sitting on the bed while Egg paced back and forth telling her story. The girl was trying hard to stay calm but the more she said, the more excited she became. Every once in a while, Sylvia had to ask her friend to slow down.
When she finally finished, she glanced at her Feminion to see if she had ‘done good’. Sylvia smiled back at her and nodded.
“So . . . what do you think? Egg finally asked Jenny.
The young mother had no idea what to make of the story she just heard. It was preposterous, silly and otherwise crazy. But she considered both these girls as friends, so she was willing to play along.
“Let me get this straight. You’re a super hero called Flying Girl and the leader of the Hameggattic Sisterhood.”
“She’s not a super hero,” interrupted Sylvia. “She only does super hero stuff.”
Jenny scrunched her face at the girl. “What?”
“She’s not like super-girl or anything. She just your ordinary Egg who does extraordinary things.”
Jenny giggled and said, “Wow.”
“Jenny, it’s my flying suit and jewelry that gives me weird abilities,” explained Egg. “It’s not like I personally have those gifts.”
“Can you make yourself really small . . . you know, just to show Molly?”
“No. My bracelet and ring . . . that ring . . . no longer work. In fact, I just got my flying suit back.”
“Uh-huh. What about the necklace – the one that lets you speak and understand any language? How come you’re not wearing it?”
“I wear it when I wear my suit, but I don’t really need it anymore. I have a translation crystal in this ring,” and Egg showed it to her.
Not wanting to hurt their feelings, Jenny continued her questions. “So this sisterhood also has two dragons (this elicited an excited cheer from Molly), two sea serpents and a girl that’s green. Right?”
“Yup.”
“And one dragon has gas because she’s a vegetarian and when she burps it bursts into flames because she’s a F’yre Dragon?”
“That’s Bl’azzz.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s the name of the dragon that Molly drew.”
“You remembered.”
Since she and her daughter had nothing better to do, and this whole thing was actually amusing, Jenny continued with her questions. Besides, Egg and Sylvia had tracked them down for a reason and she was curious as to why.
“And they live on the planet Aeri . . . um?”
“Aerianna.”
“Right. Aerianna. And that’s somewhere in the constellation the Seven Sisters . . . about fifty gazillion miles away.”
“Give or take a mile.”
“And you want us to go there because in a dream a dead dragon told you that Princess Song can’t have children.”
“Actually, it’s Ss’ong. She’s very sweet and
she’s a terrific artist. She and Sassi are best friends now.”
“Right. And how exactly do we get there?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. That’s the easy part.”
“If you say so. Anyway this Princess will adopt Molly when I . . . uh . . .”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean Mommy . . . adopt?”
“It means that if anything ever happens to me, the Princess will take care of you. Would you like that?”
“But nothing is going to happen to you, Mommy. I’m going to take care of you forever.”
Jenny’s eyes misted over but she held back the tears. “I know you will, sweetheart.”
“So, what do you say?” prompted Egg.
“You know it sounds crazy, right?”
“Oh, sure,” answered Sylvia cheerfully.
“Egg, Syl . . . you two have been more than terrific. And Molly and I are very happy you found us. But . . . and I say this with great love and affection . . . you are madder than a hatter. Loopier than a loop. Oh, and nuttier than a fruit cake.”
“If I can prove to you that everything we said is true, would you go?”
Jenny turned to Molly and asked, “So do you want to go to a place that has floating cities, dragons, sea serpents, castles and a princess?”
“Oh, could we please?” asked Molly barely able to contain her enthusiasm.
“Okay, if you can prove what you said is real and not part of a wonderful dream, then my daughter and I are in.” Jenny did not for a moment believe anything was going to happen. She was more afraid that the girls were going to disappoint her daughter.
“How about this. Ring, tend to my suit”. Egg disappeared in a white fog then a moment later reappeared as Flying Girl.
Molly’s eyes flew open and she laughed and clapped.
Jenny’s eyes flew open . . . and they just stayed that way.
“Molly, Jenny . . . may I present Flying Girl, my best friend on three planets.”
Molly jumped up and literally flew into Egg’s arms.
Jenny just sat there staring.
“You should probably blink every once in a while,” teased Sylvia.
“How . . . how did you do that?”
“Just a little magic. So, are you ready to visit a city that floats above a planet in a galaxy far, far away?”
“Egg, don’t quote Star Wars. You sound dorky,” scolded Sylvia.
“Sorry.”
“Will it be dangerous?” Jenny was beginning to believe.
“The trip? No. Easy-peasy.”
“Do we need to pack?”
“Is there anything you absolutely, positively must have?”
“Just my daughter.”
Egg still held Molly, and Sylvia took Jenny’s hand.
“Okay,” said Flying Girl, “here we go.” The girls touched their rings at the same time . . . and in an instant, the world went blank.
*****
A moment later, they were somewhere else.
“Welcome to Aerianna.” It was Queen Rose’Alynnia. They were all standing in the great Throne Room on Q’umulus surrounded by all the pomp and circumstance you would expect in the presence of royalty. Storm had told his friend to expect the girls, so the Queen was ready to greet them.
Without a moment’s hesitation, both Egg and Sylvia ran up and gave their friend a warm embrace. The three of them had been through so much together that the bond between them was forever unbreakable.
“Where is his lordship and Meggy?” Egg asked. She was referring to Lord Z’kkk, Dazzle’s husband and M’egg-Alynnia, her daughter.
“Out and about on some Royal business. They send their regrets but they both hope to see you before you leave. Now, let us not be rude to our guests. Egg, would you do us the honor of making the introductions?” In truth, Dazzle of course knew the names of mother and daughter but as Queen of Aerianna, certain etiquette needed to be observed.
“Oh sure. Your Majesty, may I present our friends - Jenny and her daughter Molly.” Turning to the two earthlings, she said, “Jenny, Molly . . . may I present, Rose’Alynnia, Queen of Aerianna.”
Sylvia who was now standing behind the two nudged them forward and Jenny instinctively curtsied. Molly saw what her mother did and tried almost successfully to do the same thing.
“On behalf of the people of Aerianna, I welcome you both to our world.”
Jenny continued to stare dumfounded. An instant before she had been in a shabby motel room in a little mountain village; now she was in a grand and breathtaking palace on a different world. Her mind was finding it difficult to grasp the reality of it all.
Molly on the other hand was completely unfazed. She looked up at the beautiful Dazzle and asked, “Are you really and truly a queen?”
“Yes, little one.”
“And are there really and truly dragons and sea serpents here?”
“Of course.
“And this is a floating city? Really and truly?” (That was Molly’s new favorite phrase. Really and truly, I kid you not).
“Would you like to see?”
“Oh, yes. Please.”
“Then, with your mother’s permission . . .,” and she looked at Jenny.
“I think we would both like to see . . . if that’s okay with you, your Majesty?” (She almost giggled. Here she was talking to a Queen, in a floating city on a world a billion miles from Earth. That thought would make anybody giddy and giggly).
“Of course. Take my hand little one,” and she led the group of Earthlings out of the Throne Room and on to a balcony. Picking up Molly so the girl would have a better view, Dazzle announced proudly, “I give you Q’umulus.”
“Oooooooooooh,” exclaimed Molly breathlessly. “It’s . . . it’s . . . floating”.
“What do you think Jenny? Pretty cool?” asked Egg.
When she didn’t answer, Egg, Sylvia and the Queen looked at the young mother. They were surprised to see her crying.
“Jenny, are you not well?” asked Rose’Alynnia with real concern.
“Your Majesty . . . is all this real? I’m not dreaming, am I?”
Dazzle gave the young woman her warmest smile. “No, my dear, you are not dreaming. This really is Aerianna . . . and your new home.”
*****
It was Christmas Eve back on earth and Egg and Sylvia were exchanging gifts. Storm had visited Egg the night before and told her how things were progressing on Aerianna. Now she was retelling it to her friend.
“Just after we left, M’eggy introduced herself to Jenny and Molly. And the first thing Jenny asked her about was the Hameggattic Sisters (Egg couldn’t help herself as she smiled proudly). So Meg told her about the Quest and Zynn-Zaz’zia. She was pretty impressed but Molly apparently was so excited by the stories that she couldn’t sit still. She kept yelling, “They’re my friends, they’re my friends.”
“Sometime later they went to meet Ss’ong at her home in the mountains. The princess had put up a Christmas tree . . . the first ever on Aerianna. She had gifts for Jenny and Molly including a new dress. Sassi and Kiss’immee (her daughter) were there. The two kids are the same age and got along great. Apparently, Kissy inherited her mother’s artistic talents and they spent all night drawing pictures of um . . . Flying Girl and rest of the Sisters.
Then Bl’azzz and Soo’ made an appearance and apparently Molly went completely nuts seeing her first red dragon and a real live sea serpent.”
“Did Bl’azzz burp and burn?” asked Sylvia with a knowing grin.
“Naturally.”
“I wish we could have been there.”
“Me, too. Anyway just to make things perfect, that night it snowed.”
“How wonderful . . . a White Christmas.”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t sound too enthusiastic. Is it Jenny?”
“They had to take her to the hospital.”
“Oh no. How is she?”
“Not good.” Egg took a deep breath. “Act
ually, she’s in really bad shape.”
Syl wiped at her eyes. “Poor Molly . . . she’s too young to lose her mother.”
“Yeah. Anyway, Merry Christmas.”
“You, too,” but neither felt like smiling or celebrating.
*****
After Sylvia left, Egg rejoined her parents, sister and grandmother in the living room.
“Come on, Sis, we’re about to open gifts.”
“Sorry, Ashley . . . I really can’t do it now.”
“What is it, dear one?” asked Grammy. “Is it Jenny?”
“Yeah.”
“You never did tell us about their new home,” said her mother.
Despite how she was feeling, Egg’s eyes crinkled just a bit and she said “It’s . . . well . . . it’s really out of this world.”
“What does that mean?”
“Molly feels like she’s a princess living in a castle. And, I have it on good account that she’s seen her first red dragon.” Egg gave Grammy a wink. The elder Eloise was the only person on earth other than Sylvia that knew her granddaughter was Flying Girl since she had given Egg the flying suit in the first place. Grammy had even been to Aerianna.
“Isn’t it sweet how kids that age have such vivid imaginations?” asked Egg’s mom.
“Yeah.”
“And Jenny?”
“They had to take her to the hospital.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
“Anyway, why don’t you guys go ahead with the gifts? I’m going to bed.”
“Would you like to talk about it some more,” offered Grammy.
“No, thanks. I just need to sleep,” and she gave everyone a hug and a kiss.
*****
That night . . . the night before Christmas . . . Egg had another dream.
“Egg of Earth.”
“Is that really you? Never mind, that’s a silly question.”
“I have brought you a Christmas Gift.”
“You don’t celebrate Christmas, do you?”
“No. But you do.”
“And what would the Myst Tree at Sighing Whorl give a simple little earth girl like me?” she asked amused.
“You are anything but that. You are a rare person. You are selfless and brave and . . .”
Box Set #3: The Serenity Deception: [The 4 book 3rd Adventure of Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood] Page 12
