*****
“Tree, I come to ask you what you have known all along.”
“Be not afraid, Princess Dazzle. Time is now on your side.”
“Will this plan work? Will I find someone that can end this nightmare?”
“The seeds of success are about to be sown. All that is left to do is harvest the fruit of your efforts.”
“And when I return with this person, will you restore me to my body?”
“I will.”
“Then do what you must.”
“It is already done.”
“I don’t understand. I feel no different.”
“Why would you? The essence of who you are has not changed. Only the vessel. Behold . . .”
She turned from the Tree and gasped. On the ground, cradled in the arms of her best friend, was her body.
And Storm was crying as no dragon had ever cried before.
“Oh, my dearest companion, I’m so sorry to cause you such pain” but he couldn’t hear her. She watched as he put the body – her body – in the glass coffin with exquisite loving care. Then he took the flying suit that now contained her essence, and with gentle reverence, wrapped it in his taloned hand.
And as he – as they – began to depart Sighing Whorl, the Princess vowed to no one . . . or perhaps to everyone . . .
“That cursed Crystal Egg is the cause of all our problems. All I know is that one day an Egg will set matters to rights.”
“Of that you may be certain,” said the Tree.
Book 1
Flying Girl
Book 1 of
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
© Copyright, 2016. Robert A. Iannone
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – That Awful Girl
Chapter 2 – Suits Me Fine
Chapter 3 – Up, Up and Away
Chapter 4 – The Cat in the Hat
Chapter 5 – Flying Girl
Chapter 1 – That Awful Girl
“It’s a funny thing about dragons. Some are so scary that when you meet them, your legs feel like wet noodles and it’s all you can do to keep from falling down from fright.
Others are sweet and gentle and you just want to hug them.
But there was one that was so stuck-up she made me want to scream. She actually thought that dragons were better than people.
Well, that was true at first. Then she and I, and my other five sisters, went on a quest to save an entire world. By the time it was all over, we had forgotten our silly little differences and learned what’s really important.
I know this sounds kind of farfetched, so let me start at the beginning.
Did you ever have a dream when you were a kid that was filled with creepy monsters and an ugly evil villain and a beautiful brave princess trying desperately to save her people? Then after it goes horribly wrong, she asks for your help and, of course, you rescue her entire planet from the bad guy and become the hero.
Truthfully, I never did. Up until last year, my dreams were pretty boring.
But I did get to be that hero.
I know what you’re thinking. Nine-year-old girls don’t get to save an entire world . . . especially when that world isn’t even earth. But you’d be wrong.
I admit that being only nine I did need lots of help from my sisters. Lucky for me, not just one, but two of them are dragons and two are sea serpents. The others are human; one’s my best friend who is way smarter than I am and the other is the prettiest shade of green and the most beautiful girl I ever met.
We were just seven ordinary girls that hardly knew each other. And like I said, in the beginning we didn’t all get along. But in the end, we learned what it meant to be part of a sisterhood, which was way harder than I ever thought it would be. It took some pretty scary creatures like the ones we found in the Colorless Wood and the Crystal Forest and the Maze of Forever to make us believe in one another. I guess it says a lot that each of us was willing to sacrifice ourselves for the others. Oh my gosh, I’m so proud of all of them.
Now I’m back home and I’m sad because as the months go by, it really does seem like it was just a dream. Thank goodness, I recorded everything in my diary otherwise; I would never remember all of the incredible stuff we went through. But whenever it begins to completely slip away, all I have to do is look up at the stars, find the constellation called the Seven Sisters and know I once had an adventure that was out of this world.
As strange as this story may seem, what’s really weird is that it all started in the attic of Grammy’s farm house on the day she gave me something so unbelievably unbelievable that at first I thought she had gone totally loopy . . .”
*****
A little over a year ago
Everyone called her Egg, even her mother and sister. It wasn’t because they expected her to grow up to be a chicken. They called her Egg because of her initials…Eloise Grace Graystone. She had been named after her mother’s mother.
Egg was nine years old. Well almost nine. And she was about to enter third grade at Wolf Creek Elementary School. Classes were only a week away and so was the end of her summer vacation. And oh what a summer it had been. There was the two-week stay with her grandmother. The elder Eloise (and her namesake) lived a few miles away at the edge of town in a very old farmhouse. Surrounded by fields and hills, it was everyone’s favorite place to visit.
Then there was a trip with the family to Hawaii where they went snorkeling and swimming and fed the fish with frozen peas. They even drove to the top of a volcano where it was so strange that it seemed to be a different planet.
And she had just returned from a week at camp. Her diary was crammed with page after page of carefully printed notes. She wrote something every day even if she really didn’t have anything to say. Her grandmother told her it was important to remember all the details of her life so that someday she could tell her children.
Grammy (as Egg always called her) was her very favorite person in the whole world. First, they had the same name (which was kind of fun), and second, she could really confide her inner most feelings and know that her grandmother wouldn’t laugh at her. In fact, she always had a story that described a similar event when she was growing up. They were like one person living in two bodies.
As kids go, Eloise was literally a good egg. She was polite, sincere and intelligent. But she was also fiercely competitive. Her one flaw, if you could call it that, was that she hated to lose. She took losing very personally, perhaps too much so. And because of this need to win, she was a lot more serious than she needed to be. Her grandmother would tell her it was better to find reasons to laugh more . . . but that seemed like a waste of energy. Maybe she’d find the time when she was older.
Grammy was always giving her advice on how to be a better person. Sometimes she found these lessons to be boring. And sometimes, she just didn’t understand. When she told her grandmother, the older Eloise would laugh. “Not to worry. When the time is right, my words will become important to you. But for now please remember two things. First, there might be a different way to look at life and second, never forget that you’re only eight and now’s the time to enjoy being young.” It still didn’t make much sense, but if Grammy said it, then she would at least try to remember it.
Anyway, now that she was back from camp she would have to go to the farmhouse so she could read her diary to her grandmother. No one else in the world was allowed to see it except her. And there was a lot to tell about this last week.
It had been an almost perfect summer until camp. That’s where she met Sylvia . . . an awful girl. Just thinking about her made Egg’s blood boil. She picked up her diary and turned the pages until she found August 19th . . . the first day of camp. She started to read her own words…
“August 19: Dear Diary. Today was the first day of camp. It is so beautiful here and I’m really glad I came. After lunch, we are going to the crafts tent to make something called a Dream Catcher
. Afterwards, we’ll play a game or two of dodge ball. It’s one of my favorite sports. Someday maybe they will have it in the Olympics.
5PM: I can’t believe what happened this afternoon. I’m so mad. There’s a girl named Sylvia and she is such a witch. She thinks she’s so much better than everyone else because she won both games of dodge ball. Afterwards she pretended that it was nothing special; that she just got lucky. Ha. Well, I guess it’s better to be lucky than good because I played really well and I should have won. At least I made the best dream catcher…everyone said so. Anyway, it’s time for dinner so I gotta go.”
“August 20: Dear Diary, I can’t believe she beat me again. We had canoe races and somehow she managed to come in first. She told everyone that she lived by a lake and that’s why she knew how to paddle fast. This was my first time, but I know I was very good. I concentrated very hard and did everything right.
At lunch, we took a bunch of pictures of all of us. Then SHE tried to get into my picture but I told her there was no room. If she was as nice as the other girls were…well then maybe. But she is always smiling as if there’s nothing wrong. I just don’t understand why the other girls like her so much.”
“August 21: Dear Diary, It was a very nice day today. After breakfast, we went horseback riding. It would have been more fun if we had a race, but the counselors said that was too dangerous…for the horses. Too bad, because I could definitely have beaten Sylvia. “
“August 22: Dear Diary: Today we did a nature walk. First, we walked about a mile through the woods and the counselors told us just to look at everything around us. When we reached the end, we sat in a big circle to talk about all the things we saw. I found the most – ten different types of birds, dozens of bugs and eleven different flowers. No one noticed as much as I did…not even Sylvia. She only spotted nine different flowers. I guess she’s just not as good as I am. Then she did the most outrageous thing. When we got up to walk back, she came over to me and said something like, ‘Wow, you’re really observant. I didn’t see half the things you did.’ I told her about Grammy’s farm and she said, ‘Oh that explains it.’ She was such a sore loser.”
“August 23: Dear Diary: Only one more day of camp. It would have been a really great time except for you know who. Today they asked us what we wanted to do. I raised my hand first and said I wanted to play dodge ball again. Then Sylvia said that canoeing was fun and convinced everyone else. So that’s what we did.
And SHE did it again. This time they put two of us in each canoe and Sylvia asked if she could go with me. How dare she? She obviously was just trying to make me feel bad that she beat me the last time. Well, I was about to say no way when the counselor said it was okay.
So we canoed and maybe she was pretty good. But I just know if we raced again, I’d win.
“August 24: Dear Diary: Today was the last day of camp. And we got to try something brand new – archery. It was a lot of fun because I didn’t lose to Sylvia this time. We tied. I feel so much better now.
Just before dinner, we took some more pictures. Sylvia insisted that I take one with her. I had to pretend to smile. She said she would send me a copy but I don’t really want it. If she sends it, I’m not sure I’ll keep it.
Anyway, camp was definitely a good time. And maybe Sylvia wasn’t so bad, but I would have had a much better time if she hadn’t come. Oh well. As Grammy would say, ‘You gotta take the good with the bad”. But I’m still not sure what that means. Why would anyone want to take the bad anything?”
Egg and Sylvia
*****
Putting down her diary, she took a deep breath. She really needed to go see Grammy and get her advice. Thinking about Sylvia just made her mad. How could any girl act that badly? Now if it was a boy, well she could understand that. Boys were just so . . . so . . . icky. And why girls get boyfriends was beyond her. ‘I will never have a boyfriend,’ she vowed to herself for the ten millionth time. ‘Never.’
“Hey, Egg.”
Eloise looked up to see her older sister standing in the doorway. “ASHLEY” she exclaimed in total exasperation, “I’ve asked you a thousand times to PLEASE knock before you come into my room.”
“I’m not in your room. What’s the matter, writing something in your silly diary that I shouldn’t see?”
“Everything in my diary you shouldn’t see. It’s very private.”
“You let Grandma ‘E’ look at it.”
“That’s because she’s the only one who understands me.”
“No one understands you.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re only eight and you act like you’re twenty. You take everything way too seriously making everything into a competition. And then if you don’t win, you get upset. You gotta lighten up, girl.”
“Just because I think being first in everything I try is important doesn’t make me . . . strange. If you can’t win, why would you even try?”
“How you win and how you lose are just as important.”
“That makes no sense at all.”
“Someday it will. And another thing — look how neat your room is. It’s unnatural. Everybody needs a little chaos in their life.”
“Well I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. Besides, I would never take advice from anyone who has a boyfriend.”
“What’s wrong with boyfriends? What’s wrong with my Brad?”
“Oh my gosh. If you don’t know, I simply can’t explain it to you.”
Ashley laughed good-naturedly at her younger sister. They actually got along really well. “I give up Egg. Anyway, Mom says wash your hands, it’s time to eat.”
“Tell her I’ll be right there. I’m going to call Grammy first.”
“Give her my love. And don’t be long. I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving. Girls shouldn’t eat like . . . boys.”
*****
“Hi, Grammy.”
“Well, hello, Egg. How was camp?”
“Awful.”
“Really? What happened?”
“It’s not ‘what’ happened, Grammy. It’s ‘who’ happened. And the ‘who’ was Sylvia.”
“Oh, Sylvia. Let me guess . . . did she end up beating you in sports?”
“GRAMMY. You always understand. Yes, she did. And the way she acted afterwards was so . . . so . . . mean.”
“Oh, dear. Maybe you need to come over so we can talk about it. Will you bring your diary?”
“Absolutely, Grammy. I’ll have my mom drive me over tomorrow.”
“Wonderful. Pack an overnight bag. I think we’ll have a lot to discuss.”
“Grammy, you’re the best.”
“And you’re my very special granddaughter. I look forward to tomorrow. Now go wash up and have your dinner. And dream beautiful dreams.”
“Love you.”
“Me too, dear.”
Chapter 2 – Suits Me Fine
“Should I stay?”
“No dear, you run along. Your daughter and I have a lot to talk about.”
“Okay then. Bye Mom. Bye Eloise.”
Eloise gave her mom a big hug and waved as she drove away. After the car disappeared down the road, she turned to her namesake and asked “Grammy, was my mom like me when she was my age?”
“Like you in what way, sweetheart?”
“You know…always trying to be the best and come in first.”
“Oh no. I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone like you in that regard.”
“Really? Ashley says that makes me strange.”
“What else did your sister say?”
“She says how you win and how you lose is just as important as winning. I think she’s a little daffy in the head because she has a boyfriend.”
The older Eloise laughed. She and her granddaughter were sitting on an old fashion swing seat on the front porch. Egg’s feet were too short to reach to the ground but she loved to sit here and have her Grammy rock them both.
“Well, dear, your sister is very wise for someone so young.”
“She’s not young, Grammy, she’s seventeen.”
“Oh my, if seventeen is not young, then I must be ancient.”
“Silly, you’re not ancient. You’re just pleasantly mature.”
“Egg, you do have a way with words.”
“Speaking of words, would you like me to read to you from my diary? I want you to hear all about that awful girl.”
And for the next twenty minutes, Egg read from her diary stopping occasionally to add more details where the words failed to paint a picture of the truly horrible time she had to endure at the hands of Sylvia. When she was done, she closed the book on her lap and looked up at her grandmother.
“See what I mean. Why would her parents let her be so nasty?”
Instead of the enthusiastic response she expected to receive, the older woman said “Egg, let’s play a little game of pretend.”
“But Grammy, I want to hear what you think of that . . . that . . . Sylvia.” Even now, it was hard for her to say the name. “Remember that’s the reason I came over.”
“I know, dear, and we will. But first humor an old woman.”
This wasn’t how conversations with her grandmother usually went. “Well, okay if you want.”
“Thank you. Let’s pretend that you won both of those dodge ball games and Sylvia didn’t. What would you have done?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Sylvia told everyone that she won because she got lucky. What would you have said?”
“If I won I would tell everyone that it was because it was my favorite game and I like to play it really well. And maybe if it became their favorite game, they would win next time.”
“Okay. What about if you had won the canoe race?”
“I would tell everyone that I listened to the counselors and did everything they said and that I obviously wanted to win more than they did. Wanting to win so much gives me a better chance than the girls who just play to have fun.”
Eloise the elder took a deep breath. She knew her granddaughter so very well. And she knew that this conversation was long overdue. But she had hoped Egg would have outgrown her obsession to win. Since that wasn’t going to happen, then her Grammy was going to have to help her. And tonight was the night.
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 10