Misaline's Garden

    Beyond the city, beyond the factories with their smoke stacks and the noise of the streets there is a place where the smog never reaches where the birds sing and the animals live in peace. This is a forest where they say unicorns live and magic birds sing songs that lull men to sleep who awaken to find themselves back to the outskirts of the forest. Officially the land is owned by a Marjaline O’Brota. No one ever sees her or knows if she even really exists. There are stories that deep in the forest there is a little cabin where a woman can be found living named Misaline.

 

     The forest isn’t really accessible by the city to its southwest; the road winds the long ways around it going to a small village on the east side of the forest. A farming community really; the hunters tell stories of not being able to go more than a few hundred feet into the forest before the sun no longer works right and the sky no longer matches that of the town. They say at night, about that far in the stars no longer match either and the forest comes alive, changing paths, causing the hunters to become lost only to somehow end up either on the opposite side of the forest or back in town, the former being impossible to do on foot in less than a day. Some in the town speak of the cabin, and its mysterious young woman; who once in a great while walks freely from the forest. A carefree young girl, a bosom beauty who makes all the men follow her with puppy dog eyes. Although some say she is much older than she looks and the elderly even speak of seeing her in their youth; they say she is a doctor, an alchemist, maybe even a witch who lives deep in the enchanted forest.

 

    Such things are not impossible in this world, where alchemy and sorcery are known; but of course strictly controlled by the Bureau of Magic. Despite the fact that this woman is only known to help people, the rumors were enough to launch an investigation. The officers reported the forest simply too dense to travel through effectively by foot; even though a path should exist; according to the elderly; although they say its Misaline’s road so only those who she wants visiting her can find it. One man even flew a plane over the forest; he lost track of the men on the ground who described a different scene than seen from above. The pilot did report that there were no clearings or houses of any sort anywhere in the forest. Despite this the girl has been seen in town. An officer tells a tale of how he questioned her, followed her home through the forest, and was invited in for tea and cakes. He was found the next day sleeping on a stone wall, whose ruins can be found about a hundred feet into the forest. He was unable to lead anyone back to the cabin; the official word is there may be something in the woods that causes hallucinations; the Alchemist Academy has tried to send in students and with out explanation listed the entire forest after a hundred feet in as off limits.

 

     These are just the kinds of stories that entice young men to do foolish things. Billy and Rufus, nothing special about them, no tragic back stories, special powers, or anything noteworthy; they are just two teenagers who happen to live in the small town next to the forest. Although Billy’s great grandfather would tell stories about visiting the woman in the woods as a little boy and occasionally about once a year or so he would leave into the woods on what he called a hunting trip; despite the fact no one hunted in those woods and he never took any weapons with him or ever returned with any meat. After being married he took his wife with him and they’d return with a basket of muffins on most trips. After his wife passed away from a very bad flu that had spread through the area a few years earlier he would often talk about wanting to go back to the woods to visit, but the flu had gotten to him too; his body was now too weak to even leave bed. In his twilight years he would ramble, mostly to a very young Billy as he was the only one who would listen to his great grandfather’s stories. His grandfather had even given him a medallion, he told Billy it would allow safe passage through the forest to the home of Misaline.

 

    As it happened a few months before now was when the Bureau launched its search of the forest, Billy and his friend Rufus saw this of course; nothing much else to do in a small town; and then the whole bit with the Alchemists’ Academy. It reminded Billy of the old stories from his great grandfather and he dug out from the depths of his knickknacks the old medallion he had pretty much forgotten about until now. Billy convinced Rufus, mostly as a lark to come with him and explore the forest. Now one might imagine this took some convincing; not really Rufus had been in the woods before with his dad, who had told him stories of once coming across a spring and seeing animals he’d never seen before in his life. Rufus wanted to see if this was real, or if his dad was just drunk; what ever the case it was something to do.

 

    A chance to do this took some time to come up, on a summer break from chores and school, and very early in the morning; no way they’d go into any forest at night.

 

    ******

 

     “Holy moley” says Rufus as they climb over the familiar wall that all the times his dad took him hunting they’d never crossed before. Despite the fact one could clearly see over it just more bushes, as they climbed over everything was different; now there was a dirt road in front of them.

 

    “How’d those cops miss this?” asks Rufus.

 

   “Maybe it’s this thing,” says Billy holding up the medallion with a grin.

 

   “Yeah right,” says Rufus, “I bet that boobalicious babe who comes to town is like loaded and paid off those cops.”

 

   As they follow the path they are distracted by all sorts of weird things, oddly colored mushrooms, an abundance of toads which happen to be purple, and a spring running along the path at times that despite being clear and void of fish they occasionally see a fish breach the surface. After what was probably an hour or so they come to a clearing, and sitting on a small hill surrounded by flowers and small rabbits; bunnies really, and all white, is a cabin.

 

   “Uh,” says Rufus, “maybe we should leave man, I mean, aren’t we like trespassing?”

 

 

   “Dude,” says Billy, “This is it, this is where that babe lives remember. I bet she’s like a sorceress, or an alchemist or something.”

 

   “Man,” says Rufus, “She probably lives here with her parents and like…her scary lives all by themselves off the land huge, hairy, and dangerous father. No way anyone lives out here with out being a little scary.”

 

   “Or,” says Billy, “its empty and this was just my great grand-pa’s secret spot. I bet those cops got paid off in advance by who ever owns this forest to make up all that stuff to keep hunters out; or you know those Alchemists paid them off; I bet all those colorful mushrooms and stuff are like ultra rare alchemy ingredients and they don’t want us like poor peasant folk messing it up.”

 

   Rufus laughs, “yeah, I bet it’s like that dude, those ass holes are always doing shit like that. I heard from my uncle they took over some dude he knows farm for like five months because he found some rare fungus in the field.”

 

    They sneak up to the cabin and look through the windows, empty.

 

    “So,” says Rufus, “if this is just like your great grandpa’s make out spot,”

 

   “Gross man,” says Billy

 

   “I mean,” says Rufus, “yeah, its empty man, totally a mess. But I mean, where does the boobalicious babe come from?”

 

    Billy shrugs as he pushes open the creaking door. Inside is nothing but dust and cobwebs through out the tiny cabin; an old wooden table, some cabinets with some old dishes in them, and a bathroom.

 

    “Hey,” says Billy, “check this out, it’s a trap door.”

 

    On the floor hidden by a rotting rug is an old trap door.

 

    “Cabin’s have basements?” asks Rufus.

 

   “Yeah,” says Billy, “you know to store stuff and for like tornadoes and shit.”

 

   They open the door propping it open with an old broom, the steps are surprisingly not wood but stone, by the light coming in through the windows they slowly descend the steps.

 

    *Slam!* The door slams shut above them, smashing the broom to splinters. As they scream while trying to push open the surprisingly now heavy door a light comes one below them.

 

    “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” says Rufus, “some one’s down there.”

 

    “Naturally,” comes a deep man’s voice, “I don’t know where you are coming from stranger…strangers perhaps, but you wont be able to go back out the way you came.”

 

    Billy and Rufus look at each other wandering the same thing, “what other way out is there.”

 

    As they go down the steps, the stone steps give way to metal ones and the steps go down further than they should.

 

    “Uh Billy?, didn’t we see a dirt floor like ten feet down when we opened the trap door?”

 

    “Yeah I thought so…” says Billy as they finally come down to a ware house like room filled with barrels and crates, the light coming from two windows and a door leading out to a large space….

 

    “No….way…” says Billy, Rufus is just looking back and forth at the way they came, trying to remember the path there, the cabin, going down the steps, and now they are outside in what looks to be a zoo or a menagerie filled with animal enclosures and strange sounds fill the air.

 

   “Dude,” says Rufus, “look behind us,”

 

   “What?” says Billy as they back up, seeing a three story tall concrete barn connected to a massive mansion.

 

    “There is no way we came out of there.” says Billy.

 

    “Of course not,” comes the deep man’s voice from their right, “I heard the click that tells me you came from…the place that smells like forest and dust. She comes from there sometimes, but you can’t go back out the door…you are not the first to venture here, no not back with out her blessing.”

 

    “Who are you?” asks Billy walking up to a fence and peering through bushes and trees trying to see who is talking to them, “holy shit!” yelps Billy as a lion with a red scorpion tail and red bat wings walks out from behind some bushes.

 

    “I am he, who is speaking,” says the creature.

 

    “What the hell is that?” asks Rufus.

 

   “Read the sign,” says the beast.

 

 

   A plaque is by the sidewalk behind the wooden pole fence they walked under and over to get close to the safety fence. It reads [Juhn Manticore: Unlike most Manticores those of the world of Juhn have normal lion bodies and heads yet can speak like men.]

 

    Billy and Rufus just look at each other and at the Manticore.

 

   “If you wish to escape this place,” says the Manticore, “then you must speak with Misaline the sorceress who runs this place; ha! The Misaline Gardens, her personal collection of pets. If she is here right now she’d be in the main office at the front of the park; where visitors can go; you are in the private collection area…where she keeps…creatures she doesn’t show the public…people tend to dislike the idea of keeping talking monsters in cages.”

 

    Billy and Rufus walk away confused, even more so as they pass by Harpies, Unicorns, Small colorful horses that can talk, bipedal multi-colored bears wearing clothes, and various other creatures before reaching the gate into the main park. It is not unlike the zoo Billy went to with his mother when they visited the city one summer; except here are creatures neither of these boys could begin to know how to describe to the folks back home with weird names like Demoni-Nibil, Silversaur, Rhadosh, Avidon, and more; some things they could describe like giant scorpions, giant spiders, and slimes.

 

    “I think they’re closed,” says Rufus breaking the silence.

 

    Billy just looks at him, “Man, I just want to get the hell out of here, where…”

 

    “Hello,” comes a soft whisper of a voice making them both jump.

 

   “It’s her,” says Rufus, “the boobalicious babe,”

 

   “Oh my,” says the woman, “you have Bob’s talisman…hmm…oh that must mean you’re a friend of Bob’s”

 

    “Bob,” whispers Rufus to Billy.

 

   “My Great Grandfather…I think,” says Billy.

 

   “He will be so happy to see you, come, come with me.”

 

   She smiles as they follow behind, one can practically hear birds chirping a song to accompany her steps.

 

   “Okay,” says Rufus, “this is kind of creepy, isn’t your great grandpa dead?”

 

   “Yeah,” says Billy, “maybe…” he takes out the talisman, “she’s mistaking us for someone else?”

 

   “Nope,” says the woman, “Oh dear!”

 

   “What?” says Billy.

 

   “Oh…” she says sadly, “I am so silly, I forgot about introductions.”

 

   She turns and does a cute little curtsey, “I am Misaline.”

 

   “Uh,” says Billy, “I’m Billy and this is Rufus…sorry to trespass ma’am,”

 

   She *giggles*

 

   “Uh yeah,” says Rufus, “we got lost in the woods and…somehow ended up here.”

 

   She just smiles at them in silence.

 

   “Dude,” whispers Rufus, “That’s creepy.”

 

   “She’s right in front of us,” scolds Billy.

 

   “Okay,” says Misaline turning, “lets go, Bob is with my other Forever Friends.”

 

   “Forever Friends?” whispers Billy.

 

    ******

 

    “Holy shit!” thinks both boys as they stand in front of a wall of stuffed animals and dolls with Misaline walking over and picking up a little nut cracker doll and a little Ballerina and setting them down on a table next to Billy and Rufus.

 

    “Pull up a chair,” says Misaline, “I’ll go get you some tea while you visit.”

 

    “chick is crazy.” says Rufus as Misaline walks down the hall smiling and humming.

 

    “She’s cute thought,” says Billy.

 

    “So cute she’s creepy,” comes a familiar voice from the nutcracker as it moves on its own.

 

    “Oh shit!” exclaims both boys as they jump up.

 

    “Dear, you scared them.” says the Ballerina.

 

   “Well,” says the nutcracker, “I was trying to think of a way to talk to Billy boy with out scaring the crap out his drawers but no matter how you pinch it I’m still a talking doll…er…nut cracker soldier.”

 

    “Pa Pa Pa!” exclaims Billy, “Its…what happened? How? Where?”

 

   “Billy Boy,” says the Nutcracker, “calm down okay, you and yer friend sit down, you don’t want Misaline thinking you’re being rude now.”

 

    “Okay,” says Billy, but…

 

   “Where’s the zoo?” asks Rufus looking out the window which over sees a town.

 

   “Zoo?” asks the Nutcracker, “so you boys came here that way, well every door is a door as she says, you can’t expect to turn up the same place twice unless you know which doors to use.”

 

    “Sorry,” says the Ballerina, “what my husband means is,”

 

   “Great grandma?” asks Billy.

 

   “Yes, it is good to finally meet you Billy,” she says, “but you two are in grave danger,”

 

   “Not really,” says the Nutcracker, “just, if you stick around become her friends she’ll come for you one day to be one of her…Forever Friends.”

 

     “What,” says Rufus, “you mean these other dolls can talk?”

 

    A blue teddy bear turns its head towards him and loudly whispers, “Run brat, run and don’t look back, if you make it to the town, a forest, anywhere but on her property, run and forget your old lives forget anything that will allow her to track you!”

 

    “I’m back,” says Misaline startling them as she brings in a tray with two normal sized cups and two tiny ones as well as cookies of both sizes.

 

   Rufus looks back and the Teddy Bear is back to just looking straight ahead. Rufus backs away slowly from the toy shelf realizing every toy, stuffed animal, action figure, anything on there might be alive, he remembers the rumor from the elderly about Misaline the reaper and her toy collection; a silly horror story the old folks would tell to keep kids out of the woods.

 

    “I have some buisiness to attend to,” she says sweetly, “I wont be back till after dark, sorry boys, I hope you don’t mind a sleep over. If you try to go home you’ll just get lost teehee…oh I’ll need a traveling companion or two.”

 

    Rufus turns stiff as she smiles and walks right towards him, and then past him.

 

   “You’ll do,” she says grabbing a Red Victorian looking doll from a desk. She stops and looks a moment at the blue teddy bear, “and you too.”

 

   She hugs both toys to her ample bosom and excuses herself again before leaving, and then suddenly a second later opening the door saying, “Oh, there is a bath down the hall, and a room you two can share when you are ready to go to bed. Just pull the bell rope on any wall and the maid will come help you so you don’t get lost.”

 

   With that she is gone.

 

   “Bell rope?” asks Rufus looking at the wall.

 

   “Don’t!” yells the Nutcracker, “Boy, unless you want to have nightmares for the rest of your life don’t call up ANY of the staff.”

 

   Rufus just looks at Billy and back at the nutcracker, “Dude…Billy’s great grandpa’s soul trapped in a Christmas decoration, his great grandma in a…doll, I just got a warning from a teddy bear, saw half the legions of hell in a zoo and a talking lion bat scorpion monster thing…dude I’m already going to have nightmares for the rest of my life.”

 

   “Dude,” says Rufus, “Billy, I say we get the hell out of here right now, I don’t want to be some creepy witch’s toy for all eternity.”

 

    “What,” says Billy, “I havn’t seen my Great Grandpa since I was six, and never met my great grandma. This is a golden opportunity, besides she’ll show us the way home tomarrow. Its not like we have a choice, every time we go through a door we end up someplace else.”

 

    “What ever,” says Rufus, “you can stick around then, I am…you know what never mind, I’ll just go find the kitchen okay. I’ll leave you and…” He looks at the two small toys, “your family to talk in private.”

 

    With out another word Rufus is out the door leaving Billy to speak to alone to the two toys housing the souls of his family members.

 

    “Fuck this shit,” says Rufus as he goes down the stairs they walked up on the way in,

 

“Billy, sorry dude, but this shit is too crazy for me. When a talking teddy bear is warning you to get the hell out, you get the hell out.”

 

   “Can I help you,” comes a woman’s voice startling him, he thought it just a statue.

 

   He just stands there startled, the thing in front of him is a woman, but her skin is clearly plastic, her body is proportioned funny like she was designed to be insanely sexy, her maid outfit adding to the effect. Her face is pointed, her lips barely move as she talks more like they are moving for effect rather than needed to speak, and her eyes are plastic…they make Rufus imagine they are like the eyes of a corpse. Her movements aren’t stiff but yet something about them is un-naturally, too light on her feet, no muscle movement, just something his young mind can’t put a finger one.

 

    “Young man,” says the human sized maid doll in a weirdly sultry voice, “can I…help you in anyway?” her dry lips form a smile, flexing rubber cheeks, her eyes however are still so expressionless.

 

   “No, no,” says Rufus inching towards the door, “I’m okay, just getting some fresh air.”

 

   “Okay,” says the maid doll, “If you need anything,” it strikes a stiff yet obviously attempting to be seductive pose, “come and see me okay…young virile man…virile young man…you are a man…yes young virile man…”

 

    “Uh sure,” says Rufus stepping out, as he starts to close the double doors the maid doll suddenly leaps into the air as though on strings or floating shouting, “No! Don’t close…”

 

    Her sudden movement spooks Rufus who slams the door shut expecting to hear a slam on the other side. He turns and…its not the city he saw through the window…instead it’s a small town, the houses looking for lack of a better word “whimsical” the people going about their business. As he walks away down a stone walkway he turns and his face turns pale, for in place of the mansion is now a small adobe brick house with wide double doors. He opens them to find the house empty…he backs away not daring to walk through them again.

 

    “She’s not home young man,” says an old man coming around the corner, “Missy Lane, the sorceress is away on business. Probably stored all her stuff in a sub-space crystal or something…those spell caster types sure are the paranoid types I can tell you. But I assure you neither her nor the authorities would look kindly on anyone just walking in there.”

 

    “Of course not sir,” says Rufus backing away, “I’m…I just…later!” he runs off, the old man shakes his head, “kids these days.”

 

 

    (Kids these days indeed)

 

    For you see Rufus and Billy were never to meet again. Billy indeed was taken back home, with out Rufus who the creepy doll maid reported had walked out the door to Heraphis. Billy couldn’t explain this to Rufus’ parents, he just said they got lost in the woods and separated; it was the best he could do. It did tear at his conscious when the town searched, and were ordered to stop by the Alchemists’ Academy who ended up giving Rufus’ family a fine which they had to sell their land and move to the city to pay off. Billy never saw them again. Billy grew up, became Bill, never married though saying he had a secret girl friend (indeed that night in Misaline’s home he lost his virginity to what was essentially an animated love doll Misaline had found on some Earth or another and in a moment of…no one can explain her motivation…brought to life as a golem and made into her maid.) He visited the home of Misaline just as much to see his elders, the kind and so cute she’s creepy Misaline, as to meet up with Marjaline O’Brota the maid doll. As one can imagine Billy asked that when he died eventually she make him into a doll that could be with Marjaline, his wish was granted on the spot that day as he was turned into an anatomically correct mannequin man and never returned to the village that come to see him as a creepy loner.

 

    Rufus on the other hand would be another story, Heraphis is a world of swords and sorcery; this young man on the streets was found by a sorcerer who detected the traces of the “Doors Between Worlds” spell on him and took him in; Rufus had little choice in the matter. Poor guy ended up being forced by circumstance to become the apprentice, servant, and eventually trained to become bodyguard to a sorcerer. Rufus grew up to be a well known, and well scarred up bodyguard, then mercenary; as Rufus turned out to be no good at magic but took to a sword like it was second nature. He became the captain of the guard of a city in his older days, his tale of encountering the witch Misaline, known here as Missy Lane turned a few ears; but his tale only deepened the local authorities to avoid her. Unfortunately for Rufus that one encounter would not be the last time he encountered Misaline; but that is a tale for another day.