1st 5 Pages January Workshop - Goren Rev 1

Jessica L. Goren

Middle Grade; fantasy

Pollin Pals: The Power of Flowers

AT THE BEGINNING

It started just like any other day. The night creatures tucked themselves away in cozy dens and warm nests. The birds stretched their wings and sang their songs. The daytime animals shook off their dreams as they came out of their snug burrows. The bees buzzed, the ants marched and the butterflies flitted. As the dew-covered flowers opened their petals to welcome the sun, every drop of dew was full of rainbows from the first rays of sunlight. All was as it should be on a beautiful summer’s day. Or so everyone thought. But just as the sun reached its highest point in the sky a sharp cold wind blew in dark clouds. The clouds flew across the sky until they hid the sun from the world below. Harsh crashes of thunder cracked overhead, lightning sizzled across the sky and the rain poured down. Water ran down the hills into the streams, and rivers overflowed into ponds. The flowers turned into tiny teacups as their petals filled with rain.  And then, just before the sun was supposed to be marching off to bed, she burst through the clouds splashing purples and pinks and blues across the sky, chasing away the clouds before she fell below the horizon making room for the moon to rise. 

Owl yawned blinking away the sleep from her large yellow eyes. It was the night creatures turn to rule the world and Owl had to get about her business. She popped her head out of the hole in the tree that connected her nest with the outside world and watched the moon come up, full and bright, bathing the world in a soft silvery light. She took out her feathers then launched herself into the cool night sky, her large feathers stippled in brown and white whispered quietly in the cool night air as she pumped her powerful wings. From up high in the sky Owl coasted down land in the gently hollow formed where the willow tree branch poked out of the tree. Owl took a good look around to see what had happened during the day. The leaves were heavy with rain and the pond was overflowing and everything was as it should be. But wait, what was that in the garden below? As the moonlight hit the rainwater in the tiny teacup of an iris Owl saw the water began to bubble. Not a big rolling boil, but just tiny little blips of bubbles here and there. The bubbles floated out of the iris turned teacup and swirled around collecting the moon’s light. Then the bubbles did the oddest thing. They disappeared with a distinct pop and in their place was a tiny creature, with the body of a human, the wings of a dragon fly and the beauty of the flower from which she came. At least Owl thought it was a she with such delicate high cheekbones, tiny nose and pointed ears. Her legs looked like long green stalks with woody vines growing up from the feet and winding around its eggplant purple legs and body. The long lean arms uncovered and a lighter shade of purple. Topping it all off was a shock of bright yellow hair. It is always so hard to tell the shes from the hes with creatures other than owls. 

Owl was so surprised a little ho-ho escaped. The creature flew a few inches back and hovered a moment. Then the creature slowly flew up to face Owl. 

“Hello.”

“Hello,” Owl said back.

“Who might you be?”

“I am Owl. And you are?”

“Erisa. But wait how did I know that?”

Owl patted the branch across from her with her long wing. “Sit child. You have been asleep for a very long time. I imagine you must feel all muddled.”

Erisa flew to the branch and sat down facing Owl. “How do you know how long I’ve been sleeping? Have you been watching me? Do we know each other and I just forgot?”

“No, child we do not know each other but I have heard of you.”

Erisa straightened up at that. “Am I famous? Is that how you know me?”

Owl hooted and it sounded like small chuckle. “I know you because when I was a tiny owlet, just out of the shell, my mother would tell me stories about the Pollin Pals as she tucked me in to the nest. To be honest I thought you were a myth. But here you are, so you must be real.”

“What’s a Pollin Pal?”

“You, child, are a Pollin Pal.”

“How do you know that?”

“Well, I heard the crashing of thunder today didn’t I? And from the soggy state the world is in, it is clear it was a very big storm. Then I saw you come from the iris below,” Owl huffed puffing out her feathers.  “Besides, you leave a trail of pollen behind you. You must be a Pollin Pal.”

Erisa looked skeptically behind herself. But there it was, a fading trail of yellow pollen marking the way she came. She looked back to Owl. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“There is always more to know but I suppose you want to know, specifically, about the Pollin Pals right now. Now where should I start?”

“You start at the beginning, of course,” Erisa said a bit testily.

“Which beginning? The world is full of beginnings. It is important to start at the right one. Very well. The Pollin Pals are born from flowers. They come only in times of great need.  ”

“What great need?”

“The Earth’s. You see, the Earth is our home but it is also a living being with needs of her own. Sometimes, when we are careless, we hurt our home without meaning to. When that happens, the Earth calls on the flowers to use their special magic to help heal the Earth. It has been a very long time. My mother only knew of Pollin Pals as stories. I suppose I am lucky to have met one myself. Although, if you are here I can hardly consider myself lucky. I knew there were problems, child, of course, but I didn’t realize…” Owl trailed off. “Well, it’s neither here nor there. The Earth is in need and you have been called,” Owl said, more to herself than Erisa.

“Wow,” Erisa said, slightly deflating as her wings sagged down her back. “That sounds like  a really big job! How would I even start?”

Owl reached out her wing, scooping up Erisa, so she sat under the dome of Owl’s wing. ”I cannot tell you what you must do. You must be of the world to know the world. Only then will you know what needs to be done.”

“But how will I figure anything out? I don’t even know where I am.”

Owl watched as Erisa stifled a yawn. “Ah, I had forgotten, Pollin Pals are born knowing what they need to survive but they must learn about the world each time they return. You are in the garden and there is a great big world out there to explore. But the world will still be there tomorrow and you need some rest.” 

With that, Owl shooed Erisa from under her wing. Erisa lazy floated in circles down to the iris from which she came. She climbed into the flower and pulled the petals around herself just in time to fall asleep.