Gabrielle’s Magical Notebook

(This is the story I told for the our annual Night of the Burning Plum.)
Once upon a time, not so long ago and not so far away, a plum fell from Heaven down to Earth. As he passed through our atmosphere he caught fire and then fell into the middle of a hard, cold road. [...]

The trees dropped their leaves onto me as I walked in the forest on a perfect autumn day. The sky was the shade of blue I dream in and the air was crisp like a fresh apple. I skipped through the fallen leaves listening to the woosh and swish and crinkle. The trees seemed [...]

Two creatures face each other across a field. The field is scarred and ruined from many battles and the creatures hold their weapons with ease and familiarity. They have been here before. They have fought this battle many times already. They plan to fight it many times again. The stakes are too high for either [...]

I found a flower on the sidewalk this morning. It was purple, gold and green and shaped like a champagne goblet with no stem. I looked around for the plant this flower had come from, but there was only green around me and no purple. I stared deep into the heart of the flower and [...]

I wasn’t me today. When I woke I looked in the mirror and decided to be someone else. I simply did not want to spend one more day as myself. It’s like wearing the same clothes again and again. So I went to my closet to find someone new to wear.
There was Peppy Girl hanging [...]

I spent a day under the sky last week. The sun would have burnt me and I would have wilted in the heat, but I hid myself in a stream and waited out the day. I let the current carry me under a bridge where I caught myself on a rock and basked in the [...]

Once upon a time there was a girl who chased butterflies and saw pictures in the clouds. The girl lived with her father far from other children and so she spent much of her time in the quiet under the sky. She wasn’t at all lonely. She had never known friends her own age and [...]

I’m standing in the courtyard preparing to go in to see the King of All. I’ve put on all my best clothes and brushed my hair til it shines. There are dozens of people in the courtyard with me, but I feel all alone in my nervousness. All alone but for the butterflies that have [...]

The stars were so pretty that night. Cloudless and cold, the sky hung above me and never noticed me watching it. It felt good to be invisible. The sky didn’t care how I looked or what I was thinking about. It wouldn’t ask my opinion or about my day. The sky was too big to [...]

I grew wings today and flew up into the sky. The sun kissed my face as I soared towards the few clouds dotting the great blueness. I laughed my delight to the stars and tasted wind on my tongue. I flew into the midst of a flock of geese and distracted them from their journey [...]