“In a dark realm far far away there stood a tall castle, sinister and forbidding. Lights rarely showed at the windows and the moat was filled with man-eating crocodiles while a huge black dragon guarded the entrance so no one dared cross the drawbridge unless they had a death wish. Bats and vultures flying around the castle turrets added to the sense this abode would never be on the cover of Home and Garden.
The castle’s interior was just as menacing as the exterior since the owner didn’t appreciate visitors. Actually, he did tolerate them, but only when the crocodiles needed to be fed.
Rats crawled among the rushes in search of tidbits and dogs with eyes of red and razor-sharp canines guarded the doors. With tapestries damp with mildew and stone walls splashed with dots of a reddish brown that had nothing to do with paint, no one wanted to linger long there.”
"Get to the point!" Puff rolled his eyes. "Sheesh! At this rate, you’ll turn this into some kind of saga.
"It is a saga." Fluff took a moment to munch on some licorice root before returning to relating his tale. "You don’t take short cuts with sagas.
"It’s a story on how we were saved from Dyfynnog, not War and Peace." Puff made a gagging noise. He slid across the floor and snatched the last of the licorice root right out from under Fluff’s nose. The bunny slipper growled, showing teeth that belonged in a wild animal rather than a benign piece of furry footwear. "Scary castle, hungry crocodiles, smelly everywhere because hellloooo! it’s 1506, yada yada." His ears wagged back and forth with a ‘get on with it’ motion.
Fluff eyed the licorice root, but judging by Puff’s expression, he wasn’t getting it back anytime soon.
"Fine. The castle smelled like something had died in it, which wasn’t far wrong. And while that was bad, going down into the dungeon and Dyfynnog’s laboratory, was much worse. Because what could be found down there was the work of a dark wizard. One who relished subjecting pain and suffering to his victims. He wasn’t happy unless they screamed in their agony." Fluff stopped and gulped as less than pleasant memories moved forward.
"He used us to help him with his experiments," Puff continued softly, his earlier grumpy manner now gone.
"Bad spells," Fluff agreed.
"And we hated Dyfynnog for what he made us do," Puff said.
"We wanted to be free, but he said we couldn’t be free because we were of his making," Fluff said.
The two bunny slippers retreated to the past recalling stone walls dripping with water and covered with lichen, splatters of blood and gore on the rocky floor and the air tainted with fear, death, and the residue from dark magick spells.
In one corner of the large room was a cage glowing with spells that kept its occupants captive until their jailer released them.
Fleas crawled through their off-white fur that was matted and filthy and the bits of food left in a corner of the cage were old and moldy. They were cold, hungry and frightened because they knew the wizard had plans for them that were so terrible they didn’t want to consider it.
"We need to escape here," Fluff whispered to Puff.
"Dyfynogg made sure we can’t," Puff muttered, going so far as to bump his head against the bars, but the wards strengthening the bars only left him with a major headache.
Fluff curled up in a corner of the cage and shivered from the damp cold. He could hear Dyfynogg moving around in a corner of the laboratory before the wizard climbed the stone steps leading to the castle’s main floor. The heavy wooden door slammed shut.
"He wants to kill all the surrounding crops," Fluff muttered. "He wants all the mortals here to die. And he’ll use us to focus those spells."
The tiniest of sounds set their whiskers twitching.
"Who’s there?" Puff called out.
"The only things alive down here is us and rats," Fluff muttered, staying in his puffy ball.
Puff ventured to the bars and stared at a small window set high in the walls. A glimmer of color appeared then disappeared then a flash of red caught his attention.
"There!" He used his ear like a finger to point toward the window.
Fluff moved toward him and they watched as hair the color of rich fiery copper appeared in the window then the face of what they could only describe as an angel. They watched a slender figure wiggle its way through the opening then drop to the floor. She cursed as she slid on the damp stones and fell on her bum.
"Damnation!" She wrinkled her nose as she inspected the back of her muslin gown. When she saw the slippers watching her, she pressed her finger to her lips and quietly made her way toward them. "What are your names?"
"I’m Doom," Fluff replied, knowing he was looking at a witch.
"I’m Destruction," Puff admitted.
She made a face. "That sounds like something Dyfynogg would come up with. We’ll come up with something better than that. Do you wish to be free?"
"Yes!" Fluff hopped up and down.
The young woman’s moss-green eyes studied the cage and the spells holding it together.
"Releasing you will take more time than I have, so I’ll have to take you up in the cage." She held her hands over the top. "Be ye small. Be ye like a doll. Tiny ye shall be for me to hold, because I say so!" She slapped her hands on the top of the cage, which shimmered in a rainbow of colors before shrinking to the size of a small box.
Fluff and Puff’s tiny voices squeaked as she picked up the cage and tucked it into a hidden pocket in her skirts.
They were so excited they almost fell out of her pocket as she climbed up to the window and slid her way out. They listened to the snap of the crocodiles’ jaws as they swam the moat hoping for a treat, but she managed to escape them also.
It wasn’t until hours later when she was closed up in a small room in an inn that the witch took the small cage from her pocket and enlarged the enclosure then worked a spell to free them. The two slippers slid over her face and shoulders, kissing her with the joy of being free.
"You both need to be clean!" she laughed. "You smell terrible."
"Who are you? Why would you save us?" Fluff asked.
The witch smiled brightly. "I am Griet of Ardglass and I saved you because Dyfynogg doesn’t deserve to have you."
"He’ll report you to the Wizards Council," Puff warned her.
She shook her head. "If he does, he’ll have to admit he’d enslaved you for the purpose of strengthening his dark magick. But to be on the safe side, we’ll leave here and head for a warmer climate. I understand that Italy is nice this time of the year."
Griet had her few pieces of clothing and the bunny slippers packed up in no time and they headed for the seaside to catch a boat for Italy.
From that day the slippers never left Griet’s, now known as Jazz, side and they were never forced to utilize the magick that was inside of them. Instead, they were kept clean, never went hungry and if they indulged in a bit of mischief now and then, it was expected. After all, who says bunny slippers are just footwear?
The castle’s interior was just as menacing as the exterior since the owner didn’t appreciate visitors. Actually, he did tolerate them, but only when the crocodiles needed to be fed.
Rats crawled among the rushes in search of tidbits and dogs with eyes of red and razor-sharp canines guarded the doors. With tapestries damp with mildew and stone walls splashed with dots of a reddish brown that had nothing to do with paint, no one wanted to linger long there.”
"Get to the point!" Puff rolled his eyes. "Sheesh! At this rate, you’ll turn this into some kind of saga.
"It is a saga." Fluff took a moment to munch on some licorice root before returning to relating his tale. "You don’t take short cuts with sagas.
"It’s a story on how we were saved from Dyfynnog, not War and Peace." Puff made a gagging noise. He slid across the floor and snatched the last of the licorice root right out from under Fluff’s nose. The bunny slipper growled, showing teeth that belonged in a wild animal rather than a benign piece of furry footwear. "Scary castle, hungry crocodiles, smelly everywhere because hellloooo! it’s 1506, yada yada." His ears wagged back and forth with a ‘get on with it’ motion.
Fluff eyed the licorice root, but judging by Puff’s expression, he wasn’t getting it back anytime soon.
"Fine. The castle smelled like something had died in it, which wasn’t far wrong. And while that was bad, going down into the dungeon and Dyfynnog’s laboratory, was much worse. Because what could be found down there was the work of a dark wizard. One who relished subjecting pain and suffering to his victims. He wasn’t happy unless they screamed in their agony." Fluff stopped and gulped as less than pleasant memories moved forward.
"He used us to help him with his experiments," Puff continued softly, his earlier grumpy manner now gone.
"Bad spells," Fluff agreed.
"And we hated Dyfynnog for what he made us do," Puff said.
"We wanted to be free, but he said we couldn’t be free because we were of his making," Fluff said.
The two bunny slippers retreated to the past recalling stone walls dripping with water and covered with lichen, splatters of blood and gore on the rocky floor and the air tainted with fear, death, and the residue from dark magick spells.
In one corner of the large room was a cage glowing with spells that kept its occupants captive until their jailer released them.
Fleas crawled through their off-white fur that was matted and filthy and the bits of food left in a corner of the cage were old and moldy. They were cold, hungry and frightened because they knew the wizard had plans for them that were so terrible they didn’t want to consider it.
"We need to escape here," Fluff whispered to Puff.
"Dyfynogg made sure we can’t," Puff muttered, going so far as to bump his head against the bars, but the wards strengthening the bars only left him with a major headache.
Fluff curled up in a corner of the cage and shivered from the damp cold. He could hear Dyfynogg moving around in a corner of the laboratory before the wizard climbed the stone steps leading to the castle’s main floor. The heavy wooden door slammed shut.
"He wants to kill all the surrounding crops," Fluff muttered. "He wants all the mortals here to die. And he’ll use us to focus those spells."
The tiniest of sounds set their whiskers twitching.
"Who’s there?" Puff called out.
"The only things alive down here is us and rats," Fluff muttered, staying in his puffy ball.
Puff ventured to the bars and stared at a small window set high in the walls. A glimmer of color appeared then disappeared then a flash of red caught his attention.
"There!" He used his ear like a finger to point toward the window.
Fluff moved toward him and they watched as hair the color of rich fiery copper appeared in the window then the face of what they could only describe as an angel. They watched a slender figure wiggle its way through the opening then drop to the floor. She cursed as she slid on the damp stones and fell on her bum.
"Damnation!" She wrinkled her nose as she inspected the back of her muslin gown. When she saw the slippers watching her, she pressed her finger to her lips and quietly made her way toward them. "What are your names?"
"I’m Doom," Fluff replied, knowing he was looking at a witch.
"I’m Destruction," Puff admitted.
She made a face. "That sounds like something Dyfynogg would come up with. We’ll come up with something better than that. Do you wish to be free?"
"Yes!" Fluff hopped up and down.
The young woman’s moss-green eyes studied the cage and the spells holding it together.
"Releasing you will take more time than I have, so I’ll have to take you up in the cage." She held her hands over the top. "Be ye small. Be ye like a doll. Tiny ye shall be for me to hold, because I say so!" She slapped her hands on the top of the cage, which shimmered in a rainbow of colors before shrinking to the size of a small box.
Fluff and Puff’s tiny voices squeaked as she picked up the cage and tucked it into a hidden pocket in her skirts.
They were so excited they almost fell out of her pocket as she climbed up to the window and slid her way out. They listened to the snap of the crocodiles’ jaws as they swam the moat hoping for a treat, but she managed to escape them also.
It wasn’t until hours later when she was closed up in a small room in an inn that the witch took the small cage from her pocket and enlarged the enclosure then worked a spell to free them. The two slippers slid over her face and shoulders, kissing her with the joy of being free.
"You both need to be clean!" she laughed. "You smell terrible."
"Who are you? Why would you save us?" Fluff asked.
The witch smiled brightly. "I am Griet of Ardglass and I saved you because Dyfynogg doesn’t deserve to have you."
"He’ll report you to the Wizards Council," Puff warned her.
She shook her head. "If he does, he’ll have to admit he’d enslaved you for the purpose of strengthening his dark magick. But to be on the safe side, we’ll leave here and head for a warmer climate. I understand that Italy is nice this time of the year."
Griet had her few pieces of clothing and the bunny slippers packed up in no time and they headed for the seaside to catch a boat for Italy.
From that day the slippers never left Griet’s, now known as Jazz, side and they were never forced to utilize the magick that was inside of them. Instead, they were kept clean, never went hungry and if they indulged in a bit of mischief now and then, it was expected. After all, who says bunny slippers are just footwear?
copyright Linda Wisdom 2010
Thanks so much for that. I love Fluff and Puff and now know how bad it was for them prior to living with Jazz.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Andrea.
ReplyDeleteAnd understandable why they love to get into mischief.
I'm so glad I found this! I just read about Fluff and Puff vs. Cupid and I couldn't wait to find out more about the little guys!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimmi! All their stories are under flash fiction. And there will be more.
ReplyDelete