This story is contributed by Princess Angela ( aboyko@unb.ca). It tells how
Angela's CuddleCastle was built.
POOF! Princess Angela appears at the campfire and greets everybody with
*hugs*'. She takes a warm fuzzy blanket from Stu, pats Ami, and passes
around a huge thermos of hot chocolate (the kind that magically replenishes
itself so there's enough for everyone)!
Justice passes around his homemade cookies "Mmmmmmmm good!"
Princess Angela settles down, smiles, and begins the much-requested
story ...
This is a story from the very beginnings of Cuddle Land. Nobody knows
how Cuddle Land was created, but it is rumoured that certain magical
beings had a hand in its creation. For why else would we have cuddly
octopuses swimming in lakes, fuzzy animals living in the woods, and elves
coming and going as they please? Look around you at the majestic
mountains that keep away the cold pricklies. Breathe the clean air that
clears your head of worries. Think of the clear, sparkling water in the
lakes and ponds and rivers that wash away your cares. Try and deny that
there is no magic here.
One of the first groups of magical beings to live in Cuddle Land was
the elves. They loved Cuddle Land from the moment they arrived. They
explored the mountains, they swam in the lakes, they tended to the hurts
of the animals living in the forests. They enjoyed their life here very
much, and they still do.
One day, humans came to Cuddle Land. And there was much rejoicing!
The humans were kind creatures who took care of each other, and were very
nice to everyone. They could see how special Cuddle Land was, and took
great care not to harm their new home.
But they couldn't see the elves! They could hear them, when they
were sad. An elf would come up to a sad human and whisper nice
encouraging words in the human's ears. And the human would feel better.
But the elves would feel sad, because they wanted to talk to the humans
and learn new games and share their chocolate goodies.
So a group of elves gathered together, in the northeast part of
Cuddle Land, and had a meeting to try and find a way to alert the humans
to their presence.
They sent up a huge hot air balloon with the words "HUGGY ELVES
HERE!" - but the winds grabbed the balloon and took it over the mountains.
The Elf Marching Band put on their bestest and brightest uniforms,
and marched through Cuddle Land, playing happy songs as loud and as
happily as they could. (Their favourite is 'The Liberty Bell March',
which a lot of humans like too!). But the humans didn't hear their music.
They asked the fuzzy animals of the forest to help them. So the
fuzzy animals ran out to tell the humans about the elves - but the humans
said, "awww, look at the cute bunnies/bears/deer/etc." and didn't hear
what they were saying.
So the elves decided to create a pool of magic, hoping to draw the
attention of any humans that knew how to use magic.
In a very special ceremony, they created the pool of magic. They
disguised it as a goldfish pond so that any cold pricklies flying
overhead would not be attracted to it. Cold pricklies are allergic to
goldfish.
Beyond the mountains, there was a human exploring the strange worlds
that lay there. In her backpack she carried: Teddy, a Very Special
teddy bear; a warm and fuzzy quilt, which she'd made herself; and a Book
of Magic, given to her by an elf in a different world. She was
travelling around, when she felt a calling - a magic calling.
Following the call, the human crossed the mountain range and beheld
Cuddle Land. She saw all the humans being nice to each other and
smiled. What a wonderful place! "I think - I would like to be hugged
too!", said the human, who was rather lacking in hugs. So she came down
from the mountains and said, "Over here! I want some hugs! I'm right
here!" She wandered around the humans - but none of them could see or
hear her!
None of the elves saw her either, because they were all gathered
around the pool of magic, waiting for someone to approach.
Feeling sad and dejected, the human wandered into the forest. She
was feeling so sad that she didn't watch where she was going, and a
branch struck her in the head.
Now in terrible pain, the human crawled around the forest,
desperately seeking shelter. She came out into an open area, by Snuggle
Pond. She laid there for a while, gathering her strength. She took Teddy
out of her backpack for cuddling. She took out her quilt for warmth.
And she took out her Book of Magic. She consulted it, trying to find an
answer to her predicament. She could still hear the calling, but she
couldn't focus on its source through her pain.
Bonnie Elf was arriving late to the meeting. She'd been taking care
of a baby bunny that had gotten lost. Now that the bunny was safe with
it's mommy bunny, she was walking towards the meeting when she saw the hurt
human lying by
Snuggle Pond. She ran quickly to the human, hoping to help in any way
she could. She knew that the human wouldn't be able to see her, but she
thought that she could at least Be There for her.
To Bonnie's great surprise, the human lifted her head as best as she
could, and said, "Oh, an elf! Thank goodness! I've had an accident, and
I'm in terrible pain; could you help me?"
"Help you? Why of course!" Bonnie took out her Elftrumpet and
sounded the alarm. Quickly thousands of elves appeared and tenderly
carried the human to the pool of magic. There, they soothed her hurt and
made her a comfortable bed. Dippy Elf made sure that Teddy was with her
the whole time. They brought her warm tea and buttered toast to fill her
empty stomach.
"Oh, thank you!" said the human. "I was feeling so sad and I was in
such pain - I thought I was all alone!"
"But how can you talk to us?" Don Elf asked. "We didn't think any
humans could!"
"Only humans who believe in elves can talk to them", said the human,
before she fell asleep.
"Of course!" cried the elves. "They have to believe in us! But -
how can we make them believe in us if they can't see us?"
"We'll ask the human when she wakes up", said Kathleen Elf, the
oldest elf of them all. "But she can't sleep out here - it's going to
rain later on and she can't get wet."
"We'll build her a hut to protect her!" cried the elves. And so they
did, being very quiet.
"She'll need a kitchen to make tea and cookies in", said Bonnie, who
was harbouring secret wishes inside.
"We'll build a kitchen!" And so they did.
Suddenly all the elves had ideas!
"You know, humans really like fireplaces and rooms big enough for
grand pianos ..."
"She looks like the type who would really like a greenhouse ... "
Dippy Elf picked up the Book of Magic to put it back in the
backpack. Out fluttered pieces of paper, with strange lines and drawings
on it.
Kathleen Elf looked at the pieces of paper and smiled. "This human
is a Dreamer as well as a Magic User - look, she's drawn her dream castle!"
"We'll build her a castle!" shouted the elves, and so they did,
again being very quiet.
The next morning, the human woke up, still cuddling Teddy. She
opened her eyes - and then opened them wider. Instead of waking up
outdoors, she was in a room in a castle!
"No elf has a house like this - where am I?"
Kathleen and Bonnie came into the room. Bonnie served the human a
good, hot breakfast while Kathleen sat down in a Comfy Chair.
"Welcome again. I see that you're feeling better. We are all very
happy to hear that!"
"Where am I?" the human repeated.
"Oh - er - ah". Kathleen looked a little embarrassed. "We were so
glad to see you last night and we wanted to protect you from the rain
that we - well, we built you your dream castle. We got a little carried
away."
"Obviously I got hit harder on the head than I thought!" the human
exclaimed, looking around the room. Everything was just as she'd dreamed.
"Doctor Elf says that you will be fine, in time," Kathleen said.
"But you're going to be needing neckrubs for quite a while! The other
humans in Cuddle Land will surely help you with that!"
"But they couldn't hear or see me!" the human said. "I was trying
to find out why in my Book of Magic when Bonnie found me."
Kathleen picked up the Book of Magic, which had been lying on the
night table. "Here it is, if you would like to continue searching for an
answer."
The human looked through various chapters "Knitting Mittens
... Swearing in Russian ... Chasing Cold Pricklies Away ... oh look!
Here's a little spell that I overlooked - " she quickly said the spell.
"Is there anything in there about how to help the humans believe in
elves?" Kathleen asked.
"I will introduce you to the humans - that is how we learn to believe
in elves. I learned from a friend, and she learned from a friend, and so
on ..."
Dixie Elf came running into the bedroom. "They're coming! The
humans are coming!"
"Goodness!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I'll have to go to the kitchen and
make up some more cookies!" And off she went, to the kitchen that she
was already thinking of as hers!
The human got into a motorized Comfy Chair with a padded headrest,
which had been thoughtfully left by the bed. She saw the humans coming
towards the castle, saying to each other, "I thought I heard someone in
pain ... did you hear it too?"
"They heard me!" The human smiled, a 1750 watt smile. "Let's go
downstairs and meet them!"
And so they went downstairs, where the human met the other humans,
who gave lots of *hugs* and *cuddles* and *neckrubs* and made her feel
lots and lots better.
"What is this place? I never saw it before", asked one of the
humans, sitting down at the grand piano to play a little classical music.
"It's - the Cuddle Castle!" the human said, and smiled a 2000 watt
smile, and *hugged* Kathleen again to say "thank you".
And the sun shone on the Cuddle Castle as it greeted its very first
day in Cuddle Land ...
---------:)--------------------[hugs here]-------------------------(:---------
Princess Angela smiles as she pokes at the embers of the campfire with a
stick. "So that's the story of my Cuddle Castle and how it came to be.
Some of you - well, most of you were not here in Cuddle Land when I first
arrived. I had been trying to post and nothing was working. Then I was
in a Real Life accident that left me with a concussion and neck pain, and
I figured out how to post - and everyone was indeed kind and welcoming
and friendly.
"The elves have stayed around the Cuddle Castle - Bonnie has declared
herself the Butlerette Elf and rules the kitchen!
"My neck is practically healed now - but it's still a little sore and
could use a massage, ah, thank you!"
Dippy Elf approaches the campfire, carrying a huge tray of chocolate chip
cookies. "Here, Bonnie sent these!"
And there was much hugging and cookie munching and cuddling - which is
the way life should be!
Angela Boyko ( aboyko@unb.ca). Used with
permission of the author.
Please see the copyright notice.
Last modified: November 05, 1998 by Locksley