Hello, I’m the Easter Bunny.

I’ll be heading out of town soon to return to painting and stuffing eggs for next year, but I had to stop by the Pond first for a few things.

Such as the last Twirl.

And collecting some new Egg-Bins.

And visiting with the fabulous Whitney from The King and I, our creative woman of the week.

But right now, I’m going to settle in with some banana pudding pie and read the new Gift.

Care to join me?

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…

To read previous issues of The Gift, look under the Never Ending Stories Tab…

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

“What do you mean, he almost had me?” Samantha demanded, squinting up at the fairy sitting on her chest.  “That was a dream.  A weird, weird dream.”

The fairy’s green eyes flickered with irritation.  “That wasn’t a dream, love.  That was real.”

“But how?” Samantha protested.  She sat up so fast the fairy fell onto the log, scrambling on the moss.  “I mean, how can I dream of someone I never met?  I don’t even know who he really is.  I just know his name is”–

“Don’t say it!” the tree fairy cried, clapping her hand over Samantha’s mouth.  “His name has power.  Too much power to repeat.”  She removed her hand.  Samantha’s eyes were wide with fear.

“I almost took his gift,” Samantha murmured, looking at her hands.  “It was like I couldn’t stop.  My brain was screaming for me not to, but I just kept reaching out…”  She shivered.  “And he’s gorgeous.  So gorgeous.  I should be flattered.  Most women would want a man who went to such trouble, who was so rich and handsome.  But…”

“He is not who you love,” the fairy interrupted.

Samantha jumped.  “Who said anything about love?  I never said I was in love with anyone.  I mean, my boyfriend gave me workout DVDs for Christmas.  You know what I mean?  How can I love Jeremy when he doesn’t love me?”

“I never said you loved Jeremy,” the fairy replied.  “I never said who you loved.  Just that it wasn’t him.”

“Oh,” Samantha replied. She looked down at her hands, biting her lower lip.  She didn’t want to think about love.  In fact, she didn’t want to think about anything.  The encounter in the dream had shaken her.  Like most girls, she was adept at casting off suitors she wasn’t interested in.

She didn’t think she could cast off Arnan like a drunk at a party.  Even now, her fingers tingled from where he had touched her.  She was fascinated, yet terrified.  If only Rouge were here to advise her…

“Yet,” the fairy added.

“Yet?” Samantha exclaimed.  “What do you mean, yet?”

“You’ve seen his power,” the fairy repiled.  “You’ve only seen a tiny part of what he’s capable of.  You have no idea of the women that have dissapeared for years.  They’ve left husbands, lovers, children.  Once they took the gifts from the Fin Brehea, they were trapped into his spell.  They were now his.”

“What happens to them?” Samantha demanded.

The fairy shrugged.  “No one knows.  Some say they serve as his amusement, like dolls.  Others say he replaces them as they age, using their souls for evil magic.  Others say they live in his castle as eternal guests, watching their families grow and move on without them.  No one knows.  No one has ever been able to avoid his advances, nor return to tell of it.”

Samantha swallowed hard.  “Well, that won’t be me.”  Cocking her head, she gasped.  “Do you hear that?”

The fairy listened for a moment.  “What is it saying?”

“I think someone shouted my name!” Samantha said excitedly.

Trees rustled nearby.  The fairy whirled around.  “Brogan is coming.  Give me something of yours.”

Samantha slipped a ring off her finger and handed it to the fairy.  “What do you need this for?”

“The next clue is by the twin stones,” the fairy whispered, melting back into the leaves.  “Whatever you do, don’t drink or eat anything until after sunset.  And stay awake!  If not, he’ll come for you.”

“Where are you going?” Samantha hissed.  She peered into the leaves, looking for the fairy.

“To get help, of course!”  She heard the fairy whisper.  “I can’t do this on my own!”

“Who are you talking to?”  Samantha whirled around to see Brogan glaring at her.  He glanced at her ringless hand and his face went hard.

Samantha went white with fear.  “I wasn’t talking to anyone,” she whispered.

Brogan started toward her, his steps angry.  “You’ve been lying, lass,” he growled.  “He won’t be happy about that.  Not happy at all.”

She couldn’t help it.  She screamed.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

“SAMANTHA!” Rouge shouted, running through the forest.  “SAMANTHA!”

“SAM!” Jeremy howled, following Rouge like a puppy chasing is owner.  “SAM!”

“She hated that name,” Cleo snapped.  “SAMANTHA!  SAMANTHA!”

“SAMANTHA!” Ashley bellowed, taking up the rear as she leaped over rocks and stones.  “SAMANTHA!  Where are you?  Yell if you can hear us?”

Another scream tore through the forest.   Rouge stopped dead in his tracks.  “Samantha?”he yelled.  “Samantha!”

“Where do you think it’s coming from?”Ashley asked, glancing around.

“Probably hell,” Jeremy muttered.  “That’s where we are, anyway.  We’re trapped in hell with some weird Irish dude who has a thing for my girlfriend.”

“Why did you even come?” Cleo snapped.  “All you do is whine and complain.”

“Because as much as you girls think I hate Samantha, I don’t!” Jeremy snapped.  He pulled a box out of his pocket.  Even in the dim light, a ring sparkled in a bed of velvet.  “I’m going to ask her to marry me!”

The three stopped and stared at the glittering stone in the box. “What?” Rouge said, his voice strained.

“You said at the condo you didn’t want to marry her,” Ashley argued.  “You were shocked when she said she thought you’d propose.”

“That was before I knew some other guy was leaving my girlfriend gifts,” Jeremy snapped.  “Next thing I know, we’re going to this joker’s bar.  If anyone’s going to marry Samantha, it’ll be me.”

Cleo snatched the box out of Jeremy’s hand and turned it over.  She rolled her eyes.  “It’s a cheap ring from the airport,” she scoffed. “Gross.  He bought it when he was drunk.”

“That makes sense,” Ashley replied.  “That’s the kind of drunken thing he would do.”  Both women glared at Jeremy.

“What?” he snapped.

“You’re a jerk!” Ashley snapped.  “Playing with Samantha’s emotions like that.”

“Look, none of this matters,” Rouge interrupted.  “Samantha’s in trouble.  We’ve got to find her.”

“A very wise decision,” a voice agreed.  “And it doesn’t matter.  She’ll never marry Jeremy anyway.  She doesn’t love him.”

“What?” Jeremy snapped.  He swung around, looking for the mysterious voice.  “Who are you?”

“Please, good lady or sir, explain to us what you mean,” Rouge corrected, turning in a slow circle as he gazed as the trees and bushes.  “We need to save Samantha.”

“Oh, I know that….”  The trees rustled and a small form popped out. Rouge was the only one who didn’t gasp or step back.   “And sunset is fast approaching.”

To be continued…

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We have a week full of fun!  We have an ode to a tasty delight, a new Gift coming up, a new truly Texan recipe and a new Twirl!  Stay tuned!