Hello, Invisible Friends!

Did you read about Gisele, our fabulous first featured creative woman?  You did?  Good.   Now we can get back to hot Irish men and enchanted forests full of strange creatures, yes?

To read the previous installments of The Gift, go to the Never Ending stories section on the top part of my site!

For those who don’t know, the Gift is the story of Samantha, a grad student who discovered a strange gift while staying with her friends at her parent’s vacation cabin over winter break.  After traveling to her old friend’s bar to try to determine the origin of the strange necklace she received, she suddenly found herself in the enchanted forests of Ireland being pursued by a secret admirer.  Can her friends and loser boyfriend Jeremy save her before she gets trapped in a real-life fairy tale?  Read on…

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“I don’t know why he insisted on coming,” Ashley grumbled to Rouge’s grandmother as they watched Jeremy stumble drunkenly through security.  “He’s such a loser.”

“I don’t know what Samantha sees in him,” Cleo agreed as Jeremy began to serenade a woman in clear plastic heels in a off-key wobbler tenor.  “He’s so….”

“Rude, gross, obnoxious…” Ashley finished with a sigh.  “I don’t blame Samantha for going to Ireland for some fairy prince.  There are no decent men here.  Even Rouge tried to wimp out on helping her.”  Her eyes went wide and she glanced at Rouge’s grandmother.  “I mean–uhh”–

Rouge’s grandmother gave a low chuckle.  “You didn’t offend me, darlin’,” she mummured, her Irish accent still thick after so many years in the States.  “But you most realize, Rouge wasn’t scared to go help Samantha.”

“But he pitched a fit and whined about taking care of his bar,” Cleo reminded his grandmother, her voice dissaproving.  “If Ashley was right and he’s crazy about her, why is he not doing anything about it?”

“You mean why is he not jumping on a white horse and charging off to fight the black dragon?” Rouge’s grandmother asked, her eyes crinkled at the edges.  “Because, girls, Rouge is crazy about her.  He’s crazy enough about her to know that if he returns to Ireland and…she decides not to return, it will break him.  Rouge knows exactly what powerful magic lies in the hidden parts of Ireland.  Any man who wasn’t worried about returning would be a fool.”   She nodded towards Jeremy, who was now barreling toward a cookie kiosk bellowing about Irish elves.  “Being brave doesn’t mean being scared or concerned.  It means doing the right thing regardless.”

As Cleo stepped through security, she turned to Ashley.  Pulling a folded square of tissue paper from her purse, she pressed it into Ashley’s hand.  “Tis a charm,” she informed the girl as she peered into the paper.  A silver chain with a crystal pendant twinkled up at her, shining in the airport’s fluorescent lights.  “It will protect you from harm.  There’s two in there.  It’s all I could do at this short notice.  Use them wisely, and well.”

“Next.”  The short squatty man with frog eyes blinked impatiently at Ashley.  She hugged Rouge’s grandmother and whispered, “Thanks.”

Rouge’s grandmother whispered something in Irish and smiled, stepping back to let Ashley go through security.  After she had passed through what seemed like millions of inspections, she turned to wave.  Rouge’s grandmother was gone.

Hurrying after the others, Ashley caught up to Rouge.  “Your grandmother gave me these,” she said, showing him the crystals.  “How about you take one, and I’ll take the other and share it with Cleo?”

“What about Jeremy?” Rouge wanted to know.

Ashley made a face.  “Who cares?” she asked.  “He’s just here because he’s bored.”  She looked over at Jeremy, who was studying a hot dog like a famouse piece of art, his eyes wide in delight.  “You know he gave Samantha workout DVDs for Christmas?”

A smile cracked Rouge’s face and he shook his head.  Ashley studied his solemn eyes.  “Why didn’t you want to come?” she asked.  “That’s not like you at all.  Jeremy, yes.  You?  Never.  I mean, in high school you once drove six hours just to get Samantha a cake from her favorite bakery for her birthday.  And now you don’t want to rescue her when she needs it?”

Rouge glanced at her sharply.  His blue eyes were full of anger and fear.  “You don’t understand, Ashley,” he whispered.  “When I went backto Ireland….some things happened.  I didn’t even tell my grandmother about them.  And I’ve been having these dreams.  Dreams of Samantha with this man….”  He shook his head.   “She’s wearing this delicate tiara, in a gown that makes her look like an angel.  But she’s a doll.  A toy to him.  He doesn’t care about her.  He’s using her.  Playing with her, like a spoiled child with a toy everyone else wants.  And I stand there, all red hair and gangly arms and legs, just to have them laugh.  And I know she needs me, and I know I need to help her.  But no matter how I try to reach her, she just floats further and further away.”  His voice trailed off and his eyes glazed over as he stared out at the airport around them.  “Every night, I see her.  And every night, I lose her again.”

“What happened in Ireland?” Ashley asked, her voice gentle.  Rouge opened his mouth, but a voice overhead drowned out his words.

“Boarding for the 2 a.m. Dublin flight,” the voice droned.  “Boarding for the 2 a.m. Dublin flight at gate 5E.  Gate 5E, 2 a.m. Dublin flight.”

Rouge stood, grabbing his backpack.  Sliding the crystal pendant over his head, he grabbed Ashley and Cleo’s bags.  “I can’t lose her again.”  Without another word, he took off toward the gate.

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“I want a hotel room.  I want cable.  I want a hot shower.  And I want something to eat.”

The man’s voice was calm, though Samantha could hear the weary sigh behind his words.  “I gave you something to eat.”

“You gave me some weird type of trail mix,” Samantha corrected him.  “I didn’t even recognize half the stuff in it.  It looked like bird puke.  I want something real.”  Stomping her foot, she crossed her arms and plopped down on a rock.  “Listen–what’s your name?”

“Call me Brogan,” the man said, his grey eyes twinkling.  Samantha leaned forward, peering closer at him.  “Wait a minute.  Your eyes were blue before.  I know they were.  But they’re grey now.”

The man blinked, and his eyes flashed a brilliant blue.  He blinked again, revealing a cool silver.  “Just one of our talents.  What were you saying about food, mistress?”

Scooting farther away on the rock, Samantha glared at him.  “Listen, Brogan, I’m cold and tired.  My feet are killing me.  My dress is ruined from running around in the woods all day.  I don’t care who the mysterious “Me” is, I’m tired of playing his game.  I want a room at the nicest hotel in town and all the room service I can eat.”

“But you haven’t found your next clue,” Brogan chided, his grey eyes suddenly cold.  “He won’t be happy if you don’t find it.”

“Clue?” Samantha snapped.  “Forget the clues.  I’m done playing games.”

“I’m afraid,” Brogan said, his voice soft, “that you’re far from done.”  His pale knuckles gripped the hilt of a long silver sword by his side.  Samantha looked at the silver blade flashing in the pale light.   She gulped.

“Ok.  We’ll play the game his way.”

To be continued….

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends! Tomorrow, I’ll have the details of all the fun we had with Ben’s parents during his birthday week!  Wednesday we have a brand new edition of Penelope’s Pie Shop from pie week and Thursday, a tasty new recipe!  Then Friday, we have a new Twirl!  And of course, the Rubber Chicken will be back with several new friends.  Stay tuned!