Once upon a time I was blessed to write for a wonderful website. Although my writing time was short lived I thank Twisted and Smutty for letting me contribute to the ongoing story. The world that had been built by Twisted and Smutty was largely paranormal. My small portion of the writing was built around young adult plant nymphs and vampires. I'm going to post the stories here that I wrote for that site. Only one of them ever saw the light of day, but my kids have stayed with me and I thought I'd post all that I had written. I'll start off with Moira.
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Moira
As Moira strolled her way along the path surrounding The Academy she breathed a deep sigh of relief. It had been a really long stretch of sitting in classes and concentrating on her lessons, but the minute she stepped from within the building to the outdoors she was transformed to the most light-hearted of moods. Fresh air always seemed to have that effect on her. The trees, shrubs, her fellow flowers and even the grass of the lawns encompassing the academy fed her soul. How anyone could live inside an enclosed space for the majority of the time was beyond her. Outside was where she belonged, where her heart could soar and she could dream.
Her mind wandered as it was oft to do on such a beautiful day. The sky was a gorgeous robin egg blue and the intermittent fluffy white cloud was nudged along the vast horizon by the kiss of a gentle breeze. She stopped and stood for a minute, tilting her head upward, taking the opportunity to let the sun shine upon her face. In her opinion this was what life was all about.
Moira knew going to school was essential, a necessary evil. Wasn’t momma always telling her that one could never learn too much? And it wasn’t like she was having any problems in that area; Moira was as smart as a whip, but attending the Academy just wasn’t how she wanted to spend her time.
On the upside, it was where all of her friends went and she guessed if she didn’t go to the academy, she wouldn’t see them and in turn would become sad and lonely. She shuddered at that thought, who would willingly do that to themselves? Not her. So Moira decided she’d do as she was told and go to school, not like she really had a choice in the matter anyway. If she didn’t, Pops would hit the roof of the small cabin they inhabited and then all hell would break loose. But it was nice to pretend otherwise. He wasn’t a violent man, but when her pops talked, or rather demanded, his offspring tended to take heed. Big Mac didn’t mess around when it came to raising his kids. Thoughts of displeasing her father succeeded in causing a frown to break out and cast a shadow on her cheerfulness.
As a florad, Moira’s hearing was fairly acute and she could discern all manner of noises above and beyond those of her fellow classmates who had been dismissed from school for the day. Walking along the path again, Moira heard the crickets excitedly chirping to one another and several squirrels chattering as they ran though the lawn playing keep away. She wasn’t sure, but by the racket one of them was making this wasn’t the friendly game it appeared at first glance. It seemed nuts had been pilfered and a furry four-legged creature was going to pay for the infraction.
Zeroing in on her auditory function, Moira listened as the dryads, the mighty tree nymphs who helped protect the forest encircling the academy, conversed in hushed murmurs. Theirs' was such a soothing deep tone that many nights their voices lulled her to sleep, secure in her world. By sheer size alone these magnificent trees demanded respect, but by their conduct with all who resided inside The Academy’s boundaries, it was earned.
The bubbling of words she heard next came by way of the naiads, the water nymphs. The lake was close by and Moira had an almost uncontrollable urge to stop by and visit. The lake’s beautiful banks were a lush, green explosion of various grasses and plants, and amongst her favored spots. It was where she would usually go whenever she just wanted to be left alone to think. It wasn’t a quiet place normally, but it had a calming effect on her all the same.
Changing her course, Moira headed into the woods, mindful of where she stepped as there was no set trail where she strode. Breathing deep, her senses filled with the scents of her environment. One of the things she enjoyed in life was the smell of the earth. Stopping, she bent down and reached out a hand and ran it over a small section of the forest floor. Scooping some dirt into her palm, she lifted it to her face and gently inhaled. It had rained that morning and the ground was still damp and the scent of the moistened earth made her toes curl.
Oh what she wouldn’t give to take her familiar form right now, a Columbine plant which bloomed beautiful red and yellow flowers, and soak her roots deep into the enriched comforting soil. But, first things first, she needed to get home. Splaying her fingers the contents sifted through her digits and she watched as dirt sprinkled to the ground, and then gave it a gentle pat.
“Playing in the mud again, I see,” teased a voice.
Jumping at the sound, Moira whipped her head around to look at the speaker, lost her balance in the process and landed on her butt. The “speaker”, her friend Ivy, chuckled and Moira reached for the helping hand that had been extended toward her.
“I was not playing,” Moira said, sounding more snappish than she had intended.
Seeming to take offense, Ivy loosened her hold and Moira plopped back down to the forest floor her, “Ouch,” exhaled on a squeak.
“Admit it. You were, I saw you,” Ivy said, hunching down to her friend’s level. Under Ivy’s gaze, Moira’s beautiful auburn hair changed to brown and then to blonde. A sure-fire indication of her embarrassment at being caught daydreaming
Moira sighed, “Okay. I was. Sorry I snapped at you, but you caught me off guard.”
Ivy straightened and reached again for her bestie’s hand, this time holding on tight and pulling Moira to her feet. “And I’m sorry I scared you.”
Moira peered at her friend who looked unrepentant, “No you’re not,” and then snorted as she said, “Jeez, you’re such a terrible liar.”
Ivy chuckled, “You’re right, I’m not the least bit remorseful. You should have seen the look on your face,” she said with a grin. “Oh and I’ll have you know I’m working on becoming a better liar. My folks have caught me in way too many fibs lately.” Ivy punctuated her statement with a huge smile and a hip bump to Moira.
Stifling a chuckle, Moira exclaimed, “You are the only one I know that sees excellence in lying as a goal.” Returning the bumping, she accidentally sent her friend stumbling into a tree. “Oops,” she said embarrassed as her locks, which had been turning back to its natural dark color, lightened to a golden hue. “Keep working at it, babe, you need way more practice....you suck.”
Snorting, Ivy looked pointedly at Moira’s head and stated, “Ummm…you’re one to talk.”
Moira moved her palm over her hair, “Yeah. I know.”
Turning her attentions to the dryad she crashed into, Ivy, with an impish grin, apologized. “Sorry,” she said as she carefully stroked the spot on the bark where she’d made impact.
Pivoting to face Moira, she grabbed her friend’s hand and held it as they continued on their way. Ivy didn’t seem to take exception to what Moira had said, instead she joked, “Everything I learned about lying, I learned from you.”
The pair let out a giggle, realizing the silliness of Ivy’s statement. They both knew that Moira was one of the most straight up honest people, she had to be. Moira was cursed—of sorts. Whenever she got nervous, including but not limited to any attempt to tell an untruth or was in a state of embarrassment, Moira’s locks changed colors. That was the bane she bore by being a dual-colored flower. The affliction never seemed to befall her siblings, some of who were also bi-toned. Moira just figured she was the unlucky one out of the bunch. There had to be a black sheep in every family, right? Both girls knew that Moira prayed she would outgrow the particularly irritating trait.
Regaining Ivy’s attention, Moira said, “I’m just glad it was you. If Pops caught me daydreaming, here by myself in the woods there would have been hell to pay.”
Even though the forest surrounding The Academy was securely warded, as well as enhanced by Harmony’s power—which rendered it totally safe—her father still worried. It was his lot in life.
Generally, all of the beings that used the woods to live in or those that used the forested area to travel through the portals to their own realms were friendly. Yet her dad fretted that there was always a first time for everything and stressed that she “always needed to be aware of her surroundings.”
Although not the only girl in the family, she was the eldest of the female offspring; blessed with hazel eyes, flawless ivory skin and glorious locks, when unchanging, were the color of mahogany. The fact her tresses could and did change hue with the onslaught of an emotional shift was a quirk, one she hoped with all of her heart she would outgrow.
True to her flower form, the Aquilegia—the Columbine as it’s more commonly known—her species tended to be a little rounder through the posterior and then thinned out through the waist. She was a bit shorter than your average aquilegia and more compact than she would have liked to be, but the effect gave her a curvaceous derriere. As with her kind, she should have been left wanting in the bust department. However, the fates had been generous and had endowed Moira with a set of breasts unlike any of her sisters or any other females that were columbine. Moira was happy for the “anomaly” as her mother called it.
However, her body and face were the crux of Moira’s fathers’ problem with her being out by herself in the woods while in human form. Pops wouldn’t worry so much if one of Moira’s brothers was around to watch over her, but they weren’t.
It was a terribly sore subject with Moira: she wasn’t a baby, for crap-sakes she was eighteen years old. Dammit.
Moira’s best friend was also unlike her familiar; Ivy’s symbiotic form was the Poison Ivy. Her plant type should have made her tall and willowy. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon how one looked at it, Ivy was tall, but she was also well built. Her friend was no skinny weed. She had a beautiful olive complexion, dark sultry eyes and gorgeous brunette tresses. Sadly, in Moira’s opinion, Ivy hadn’t been cursed with ever changing hair. Double dammit. It would have been nice to have a comrade when it came to that particular nuisance.
However, most of their florad friends resembled their true forms. Her momma always said the fates do what they will and you have to learn to handle what you’ve been dealt —she hated that saying. But, if that meant being at peace for looking different than everyone else, she would suck it up.
Switching mental gears, Moira pondered her friends’ parents. They were totally freaking awesome and she wondered why her mom and dad couldn’t be more like Ivy’s: they never really paid much mind to their daughter’s comings and goings. Her bestie didn’t even have a curfew, nor was she prohibited from leaving the security of the warded areas. Oh to be free like that. Pops said that it was only a matter of time before that would land Ivy into trouble but Moira thought her friend could handle whatever came her way.
One of these days, she just might have to sneak away with Ivy— just for a little while. She knew her bestie was more than willing to take her off the grounds. She had asked several times and had even cajoled a time or two. But Moira being Moira was too afraid of leaving the secure woodland and getting caught. It just might be the straw that would break the camel’s back and her parents would no doubt forbid her from associating with Ivy. They were on the fence about her as it was, not agreeing to the way Ivy’s parents raised their children. Moira believed that being denied her best friend would be a fate worse than death. They were so close, alike on most levels but the differences that did separate them were big. Ivy was a bad girl, the kind that part of Moira longed to be. She wanted to try it out, just once.
At eighteen and fairly sheltered from the outside world she still believed that she, and not the fates were in total control of what happened to her. Her mother and father had tried to tell her that although she had a lot of say over herself and her future, Destiny would never be denied.
Moira loved her parents with all her heart, but she was pretty sure her folks were naive and wrong about the world beyond the warded areas.
One day she would prove it to them.
© Sami Mills 2011
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