Collaboration Nation: The Well of Good Intentions

Karen stood on her garden path looking at the smiling man in disbelief. In front of her, where her gate usually stood was a shimmering rectangle of blue sky.

"Taa daa!" said the smiling man with a theatrical swoosh of his hand.

"JD, what on earth is that?" she asked with a nervous tremor in her voice.

"It's a portal," he said as though it was the most ordinary thing in the world. "We can't get to Beyond without it, especially if we want to make it to The Well of Good Intentions with our resolutions by sunset.”

JD reached out his hand and she reluctantly took it. "Why does this feel like an episode of Doctor Who, with you as the Doctor and me as the hapless companion about to be deleted by an army of Cybermen?

JD laughed. "Allons-y," he yelled and unceremoniously pulled her through the portal.

Beyond was not how she had imagined it at all. They found themselves in a cobbled alley at the edge of a medieval town square and it appeared to be market day. Looking around, it seemed they were not the only visitors to Beyond. Several distinctly non-human beings were perusing the stalls in front of them.

They stopped at a stall laden with curious fruits, grapes that exploded into droplets of wine as they touched your tongue and sighing strawberries, so sweet it was impossible not to let out an exhalation of delight as you ate them. 

"As tempting as it is to linger, we have to locate the path to The Well", said JD looking at his watch. "It's a long walk and time is tickety ticking on". He approached an elderly lady selling loaves of crusty fresh bread. "Excuse me; we’re looking for the path to The Well Of Good Intentions".

The old lady looked at him with a horrified expression. "The Well? You don't want to be going there, dearie. Or is it that you don’t realise the path takes you through The Forest Of Lost Dreams?"

JD and Karen exchanged glances, "Is that a bad thing?” they asked in unison.

The old lady gestured them near with a gnarled finger and whispered...

"Beware gentle strangers

 the starless night is cruel

 the wraiths have souls to gather

 amid the darkling wood.

 Sorrow's voice will find you

 as it lulls your heart to sleep

 you'll be lost forever

 your dreams theirs' to keep".

The words had barely left the old crone’s mouth when the sound of a flipping coin caught their attention. Both Karen and JD looked in the direction of the noise and saw a large cat dressed in sailor clothes leaning against an alley wall. He had a peppermint candy cane in his mouth and a sailor’s accent to go with his clothes.

“Ye wanna see tha well, ye come with. Ye wanna have delicious bread, ye talk to ‘er.”

“And who might you be?” asked Karen taking a defensive posture quite unlike her kind vegan nature would lead one to believe she was capable of.

The cat meowed a giggle and gave his coin a toss and snatched it from the air and put it on the back of his paw. With another meow, the cat giggled as its skin seemed to melt and morph into a fox that spoke with a sexy female French accent. “Moi, Je suis Flip. And I am ze ideal guide to ‘elp you croz ze forezt.”

JD and Karen looked at each other, baffled at the Deus ex Machina moment though choosing to go with it. It’s not like they expected Beyond to be anything that could be described as familiar.

“And your fee?” asked Karen.

“Catnip and quail croquettes as sold by the lovely Madame Croquette over yonder.” Flip was pointing to the right and when they were finally able to look beyond the crowd, they saw the sign indicating the Madame’s booth. The crowd was as raucous as they could ever imagine making it clear that the croquettes were in high demand. Looking back at the now foxy Flip, the smile showed her intentions. “You do the line and I won’t even make you pay.”

Karen looked at JD. JD looked at Karen. Both looked at Flip and spoke simultaneously, “Deal!”

“Fantastic!” said the fox as she flipped her coin in a manner as graceful as her corset and dress would allow.

She made a beeline straight to a heavy brush next to the market and spoke to it. “Let me pass, I have business in the forest.”

The shrubbery hissed and shook and giggled too if such a thing can be done by plants. It then spoke in at least 4 voices of varying tone, volume, and tenor. “You know the rule. Say it.”

“Say what?” asked Flip a bit bored at their request.

“Say the thing,” said the shrubs in their whisper giggle.

“What thing?” asked the fox annoyed at their insistence.

“What did the fox say?” said a solitary voice before the other voices broke out in huge laughter.

“Seriously? You’re going to be that way?”

The laughing continued and at least two of the voices were able to speak while the other 3 or 4 couldn’t stop laughing. “Thems are the rules, Flippety Flip Flip.”

The fox continued to flip her coin though not pleased at all at the demands. “Fine. Ask the question again.”

The laughter had rendered 3 of the voices unable to say a thing. The two remaining voices spoke in tandem: “What did the fox say?”

“Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!”

Explosions of laughter scattered from the bushes as they finally parted to open the way to them. Flip snatched the coin from the air and put it on the back of her paw again. “Damn… still a fox. Shall we?”

JD and Karen looked at each other, shrugged and went into the forest with their Fox guide.

The forest path immediately plunged them into an eerie twilight world of rustling leaves, creaking branches and unidentifiable sounds. Karen peered cautiously around her while JD smiled broadly into the darkness.

"This is great!" he said. "I promised you an adventure and here we are!"

Flip let out a decidedly foxy yip of laughter. "Be careful what you wish for, JD."

No sooner had she spoken when a figure appeared on the path in front of them. A curious creature made of mist and shadows. It drifted towards them with silent determination and made a beeline for JD.

As they drew nearer they saw a beautiful woman, dark eyed and luscious lipped, but as Karen looked closer she realised there were two layers to the creature.  Below the perfect surface swam a gnarled, wizened apparition, cruel eyed and slack jawed.

Karen looked at Flip. "Is that what I think it is?"

Flip leaned against a tree and casually tossed her coin from paw to paw, her tail swishing in a lazy arc. She let out a smug sigh… "Yep"

Karen turned back to JD and was horrified to see him gazing adoringly into the wraith’s eyes.

"Do something!" she screamed.

Flip laughed, "he's your friend, you do something."

Karen glared at her furiously and made a grab for JD's arm. He pulled away with a frown.

"JD… wraith!" she yelled, tugging at him urgently. It was no use; he was completely under its spell. A curious pale blue light was slowly seeping out of his skin and drifting skyward.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and with a look of sheer determination Karen kicked JD in the shin as hard as she could.

"Owww… what the hell?"

Karen pointed at the now angry shadow creature and bellowed "WRAITH!"

JD windmilled backwards knocking Karen off her feet. Flip clapped her paws in delight and chuckled. With one swift motion she sent the coin in her paw sailing through the air, gracefully arcing through the wraith in a spinning motion. The wraith shimmered and the beautiful disguise slipped away. With a voiceless scream it made its escape.

Retrieving her coin from the ground Flip let out a throaty chuckle. "Forget the catnip quail croquettes, this trip's on me! I haven't laughed this much in years!"

JD and Karen glared at her, watching as the wraith disappeared into the trees, a faint glow of blue from JD's life energy still floating behind it. The two friends exchanged worried glances.

"Are you ok?" Karen whispered, her hand on JD's arm.

His answer froze on his lips, as out of the gloom came a low, rumbling growl.

Growls turned to barking, and if a voiceless scream had escaped the wraith before, some pain laced voiceless yelping was now coming from the bushes. From the same place the wraith had escaped into the bushes, it now came screaming and burning a trail on the ground but without the life energy following it.

All three of them had been left staring at the wraith running, a piece of its essence clearly missing from the rear side of its glowing tunic. Looking back into the bushes, two dark brown eyes peered back at them with that disarming kindness only one creature could possess.

“Bailey!” said JD and ran to meet the basset hound in the clearing.

“Ick!” said Flip at the sight of the caramel-eyed dog.

JD knelt and took the full brunt of the basset tackle that sent them both rolling to the ground. Tears of joy flowed freely and even hitting the perfect scratch spot that sent the dogs legs bicycling from here to forever, the dog known as Bailey still managed to gratuitously lick at his friend’s face. With each lick, strands of JD’s life essence coiled around the young man, binding to his skin and melting back into him. He felt warmth and joy return and could care less about the mess.

“That’s a good boy. Yes it is. Such a good boy.”

Having his fill of cuddling, JD got up, covered in dog hair and smiles.

“Are you done?” asked Flip a little disgusted at the young man.

“Yeah, I think so. You want a hug?” JD said cheekily.

Without losing a beat, Flip flared her coat and drew two pet hair rollers and before he could even mumble a complaint, was as clean and the two rollers looked like pet hair versions of candyfloss. Flip threw them behind her head and kept leading the way.

“I hope we don’t have to walk too much longer,” said Karen while kneeling down and scratching at the kind basset hound. “You did really good, Bailey.”

“As you can see, he’s a bit of a floozy and will go to any kind person willing to properly scratch and love him.”

Flip drew another pet hair roller, “Do I have to use another of these?”

JD knelt back down and met the dog’s piercing gaze. “Thank you, papa. Now you know where you have to go. I’ll meet you there in a bit. We have a daydream to share soon.”

As he’d done thousands of times before, Bailey gave a slow nod of his head and stamped his cold nose on JD’s cheek. Afterwards, he bounded back into the bushes.

“Nice pal you have there, JD,” said Karen smiling at the sight of the dog.

“He was the best,” said JD a look of longing clinging onto the last sight of his dog.

“Touching sentiments, now care to walk long enough to get to the Well of Good Intentions?” Flip said almost indignant at being ignored over a dog.

Karen looked at the fox and shook her head. “I will never grasp how someone can avoid being a dog person.”

“Right?” said JD with a look of confusion on his face.

“Well of Good Intentions? Ring a bell?” said Flip defensively.

“Let me guess, we still have to walk miles,” Karen said.

“Actually, it’s just around the corner… literally.”

The fox pointed and Karen and JD followed the finger to a little slope that went down a bit into a clearing where the edge of a building stood there, surrounded by a canal of glowing water.

“So it really IS just around the corner,” said Karen.

They walked down the slope and a happy hum came off the glowing water. Next to the canal, little plants grew with bulrushes made of little crisp looking cookies.

“What are those?” asked Karen.

“Those are wish wafers,” said Flip. “How else do you think you will make a wish at the well of good intentions?”

JD knelt down and picked one for him and one for Karen. “Milady,” he said handing her the wafer.

“Wow, I have no idea what to wish for…” she said.

Flip gave a smile at both of them. “That’s a good thing actually. Good intentions need not be specific, just good.”

Looking at JD, she gave a shrug nod accepting that such a thought made all the sense in the world. JD put his arm over his friend’s shoulder and smiled. “So what say you, Miss Ohren? Got any good vibrations to send into the Aether?”

Her smile was kind, sincere, and warm, as were her good intention. With those in mind and heart, they both took a bite out of the wish wafers and sent the soul of a warm smile into the Aether and onto the world.

Collaboration Nation: a Cause for Claus by Eric Syrdal and JD Estrada

A Cause for Claus

Tuesday night, at the local Bar

I never expected to find
Old St. Nick, The elf Himself
Sipping a bottle of wine

Now this was odd, unless I miss my guess
Christmas was days ago
But Here he sat, on a worn out stool
Instead of up North with the Ice and Snow

So I asked the Bartender, to get me a beer
and I took a seat next to “The Claus”
I had to find out, What this visit’s about
At least, could he tell me the cause?

The white beard is stained plum
While snow beetle eyes sparkle
A jolly man once, now so glum,
With a look on his face that gave you a startle.

With a beer in hand
And a question in mind
I ask: “What’s up man?”
And he replies with a sigh.

"Tis the season to be merry
Or at least that’s what they say
Yet the message ends up well and buried
And we’re short on good will to all men."

I offered a toast and I drank from my glass
I said very proudly I'd help him find said cheer
After all who's to say, that for help he can't ask
So I pledged My soul to his cause for next year.

Collaboration Nation: A Rainbow for a rainy day - by Maricel Jiménez and JD Estrada

JD crossed the cobbled street to reach the safety of a small balcony overhead. The downpour had begun without warning and in just a few seconds he was drenched. ‘Great!’ he thought. ‘Just what I needed.’

As he reached the small dry space, he huddled next to an old man who appeared to be whimpering.

"Are you all right, sir?" JD asked. The man was hunched over and weeping. It was one of the saddest scenes he had witnessed in a long time. Even sadder than the scenes he'd come up with in his own stories.

"No," said the man with a trembling voice. "I am not all right." He looked up at JD with a set of bright blue eyes that made JD shudder.

"Why, hello Mr. Sky," said a girl with red hair that had popped out of the door behind them. "What brings you here today? It's not like you to be seen out in this rain."

"Yes, I know, Mary; but I am irreparably sad today. It's no wonder there's a downpour."

"What's wrong sir?" JD asked. He felt the need to help this man.

The old man bore into JD with his piercing blue eyes and said: "I lost my Rainbow.”

Then he hunched over and leaned on Mary's shoulder and began to cry. JD had never seen an old man cry like a 3 year old before. It made him feel all wrong. Mr. Sky needed his Rainbow.

“Do you know this man?” asked JD, himself fighting tears as he heard the man weep. Every time his slender body shuddered on the shoulder of the girl with the red hair, the wind whipped up and a sheet of rain seemed to drop on cue.

“Yes, Mr. Sky is a very good friend of mine. One hot day as I ate an acerola bar, this gorgeous rainbow appeared. It was so bright in the sky that everyone was looking. That’s where I bumped into Mr. Sky the first time.”

JD Looked on the old man and couldn’t help but feel a biting sadness over the sight. But still, how could anyone lose a rainbow? Moreover, how could anyone keep a rainbow? Just then, the old man turned to face JD with his impossibly blue eyes. He couldn’t help smile at how the bushy eyebrows looked like clouds looming over a kind blue sky.

“Don’t worry, mister. We’ll help you find your rainbow.”

At the mere sound of the young man’s words, the warmest smile broke through the cascade of tears. Next to the old man, the girl called Mary shone her own smile at the prospect of adventure. She motioned JD and Mr. Sky to follow her through the door and into a quaint little coffee and tea shop.

“Well, this is nice!” JD said. He’d never been to the Mad Hatter’s before, but Mr. Sky was a regular. Mary tended to him everyday just before sunrise.

“Would you like your regular coffee, Mr. Sky?” Mary asked as she took a position behind the counter. “How ‘bout you, JD? Coffee? Tea?”

“Some green tea with raspberry, please,” JD said. He was a sucker for some good ole tea. “So Mr. Sky, when was the last time you saw your rainbow?” he asked.

The old man looked out the window and up to the dark clouds overhead. “Yesterday,” he said in a shaky voice. It seemed the memory upset him because his eyes began to darken at the mention of the day. Then the lights in the coffee shop flickered several times. When they stabilized, the room looked different somehow. The wood seemed darker and had a navy blue hue. The lights were dimmer and the tint on the window glass looked bluish.

“What the…” said JD confused.

“Please, Mr. Sky; try not to be so blue,” Mary said. “We need to talk about Rainbow. Where did you two go yesterday?”

“We went to the beach,” said Sky.

“Which beach?” asked JD.

“Grey Beach,” said Mr. Sky somberly.

“Oh my,” Mary said out loud. “And Mrs. Grey was Ok with you visiting?”

The old man had a pained look on his face. “Well, it’d been so long since I’d seen Mrs. Grey, and she insisted she had some tea made by her grand uncle Earl. So we went. Last I remember, Rainbow was playing on the shore, counting sea shells and braiding her hair. I then got to talking with Mrs. Grey and telling her how lovely her beach was when I noticed I could only hear the waves splashing on the shore. When I looked back, there was no Rainbow. Only mist.”

JD looked on, quite worried at the prospects of where Rainbow could be. It was his nature to worry and if concern was a currency, he could pay off the national debt. Even so, he was at a loss for words. I mean, it’s not every day someone just vanishes while at the beach. Looking over at Mary for reassurance, he was surprised to see here smiling while sipping on her cup.

“I’m not so sure we should be smiling, Mary,” said JD.

She smiled back at him with bright eyes. “I think I’ll choose to agree to disagree.”

A bit confused, he had to ask. “Any particular reason why we shouldn’t be worried?”

“Plenty,” said Mary turning to the old man. “Mr. Sky, let me verify if I understand. You and Rainbow went down to Grey Beach, is that right?”

“Yes,” said the man gloomily.

“Aha… and you told me Rainbow was playing with seashells on the seashore?”

“Yes. She always enjoys playing with them.”

“I know she does, she always goes on about how much she loves seashells. But tell me, did you go to where she left her seashells?”

“Well, no. I sort of fell in a panic and me and Mrs. Grey split up to try to find her when I found myself checking her usual hangouts with no sign of her.”

Turning back to JD, she held her hands out as if presenting fool proof evidence of the obvious. “See? That’s why I don’t worry.”

JD’s brow creased so much he looked like a Shar-pei puppy. “I’m not following.”

“And neither did Mr. Sky,” she said matter of factly before turning back to the old man. “You said you saw her playing with seashells, right?”

“Why, yes. Yes I did.”

“But you didn’t see what she wrote with the seashells.”

A look of realization came over the old man’s face and a genuine smile came back to his face. A gust of wind blew into the Mad Hatter’s and any sense of blue that had tinged the walls was immediately blown away.

Mary smiled warmly and looked back to JD.

“So I guess we’re going back to the beach?” he asked.

“Wonderful deduction, my dear JD,” I’ll drive.

Mr. Sky, JD, and Mary hopped in Mary’s car and headed for Grey Beach. They parked next to Mrs. Grey’s dilapidated shack. The wood was so old it had lost all signs of varnish and just remained a dark, dull grey color with smudges of black humidity stains. As soon as they turned off the engine, Mrs. Grey’s silhouette appeared in the doorframe.

“Why’d you come and bring all these people here Sky?” she asked upset. The woman never liked company and was known to shoot at trespassers on occasion.

“My friends here are helping me to find Rainbow. You seen her?”

“No. That girl’s gone and disappeared. I spent all afternoon looking for her yesterday. Remember?”

“Did you check the spot where she was playing with the seashells?” asked Mary.

“Yes I did,” said the old lady. “Gotta hand it to that colorful little soul, she’s so cryptic.”

“Why do you say that?” asked JD. He got the impression the woman wanted to shoot at them right then and there. The shotgun in hand was part of the reason for that.

“Because,” she began, as she pulled some of her grey hairs away from her face, “she went and wrote a word with them shells and it made no sense; no sense at all.”

“What was it?” Mary asked.

“Bookmarks. That’s all it said: Bookmarks.” She raised her arms up in desperation like Rainbow’s clue was completely lost to her, but somehow Mr. Sky seemed to understand and he smiled, such a nice warm smile that even Mrs. Grey looked brighter.

“Bookmarks?” JD and Mary echoed in unison.

“That’s right,” said Mrs. Grey.

Mr. Sky looked at his two companions and smiled. “Follow me,” he said confidently. He led them to the back of Mrs. Grey’s house where there was an old tool shed that seemed to be falling apart. The door was closed shut, but there was no lock on it.

“You know I don’t like anyone going in there Sky,” Mrs. Grey complained.

“But isn’t this where you keep your collection?”

The old woman frowned so deep her wrinkles went exponential. “What are you thinking Mr. Sky?” she asked nervously.

Mr. Sky pushed open the door to the tiny shed. To Mary and JD’s surprise, the interior looked clean and well kept. The floors were hard wood and polished to a shine that would make a mirror jealous. There were rows and rows of bookshelves all lined up neatly with every single space filled. In front of the shelves there was a desk with a registration book and a glass case filled with a rather impressive collection of bookmarks.

“There,” said Mr. Sky pointing at the glass case.

The four of them rushed over to the case and looked inside. To Mrs. Grey’s surprise it had two brand new bookmarks in it. The bookmarks were her personal collection and each one belonged to one of the books in her library.

“Well, I’ve never seen those bookmarks before,” Mrs. Grey exclaimed. One of had an illustration of a girl with a purple shirt that appeared to be riding a strange boat. At the top, it said: “Pixie Piper”. The other had an eye of some sort and looked a bit mysterious and on the back the words: “Only Human”.

“Holy tea cups!” JD’s eyes opened wide and he almost lost his balance. “That’s my book!” he added incredulously.

Mary leaned in to take a better look and almost fell backwards herself. “The other one is my book,” she exclaimed.

“But those books are not in my library,” Mrs. Grey explained. “I’ve read every single book in here, and I can assure you, those are not here.”

JD smiled like a kid on Christmas morning. “Well I have a copy of mine in my bag,” he said triumphantly.

“And I have a copy of mine in the car,” Mary added.

They went back to the car, brought back their books, and handed them to Mrs. Grey. Her eyes lit up and she caressed the covers just like Mary had done when her book first arrived. “Impressive, my young padawans,” she said smiling. Then she opened the bookmark case and retrieved the two new ones, placing each inside the first page of its corresponding book.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew in from the beach. It had the distinct smell of salt water and sand. The breeze spun around the library, covering every corner and just as quickly as it came, it dissipated, leaving the library in silence. Then, out of the Fantasy section came a little girl. Her hair was aflame with all the colors of the rainbow and she smelled like flowers. Her smile was bright, illuminating the room. JD noticed how the shelves became more colorful as she walked past them. The spines of all the books took on a shimmer, like they had been re-printed brand new. “You figured it out,” she said smiling at Mr. Sky and the rest of them.

Mr. Sky rushed over to her and hugged her fiercely. He no longer looked old and frail, like he had that same morning. He was renewed, filled with energy and his eyes shined bluer than they had all day. “Where have you been? I’ve been so blue,” he told her.

“I found the bookmarks and was looking for the books here in the library, when the torrential rain began and I had to come here to stay dry. You know I don’t like it when it rains without sunshine. Makes me all dull and grey.

Mr. Sky just held her tight. “I thought I’d lost my rainbow.”

“Well,” said Mrs. Grey, almost shooing them. “Go on now. I have new books to read!” she added.

Since then Sky and Rainbow are often seen together. They visit the Mad Hatter’s and share a cup of tea with JD and Mary. Occasionally Mrs. Grey comes by. She’s been pushing for sequels from the writers. Every once in a while Rainbow goes missing in action on rainy day. But now Mr. Sky knows better. After all, what better way to spend a rainy day than with the company of a good book?