ADVENTURES WITH ERIC
THE TRICKSIES WITH MIXIES
Published by Ant World & Amarissa Amber Cale
Copyright 2012 Amarissa Amber Cale & Ant World
THE TRICKSIES WITH MIXIES
Chapter One
"Whoa! Golden Bear look over there," Eric shouted in excitement over the rushing wind. Eric and Golden Bear were off on another one of their afternoon adventures around the island. Actually, Eric was riding on the back of his dog, Golden Bear, and Golden Bear was flying high over the ground.
Eric was small for a six year old boy, and Golden Bear was big and strong for a Labrador Retriever. Eric rode his dog often, like other children could ride horses. Almost every day they rode, in fact. Each day when school was finished, Eric knew his dog would be waiting outside for him.
Eric would hurry to get his coat and rain boots on, so Golden Bear could walk home with him. As soon as they got home, they watched Eric's favourite show together. It was a show about trains, called Electric Train. Eric and Golden Bear never missed a single episode. When it was over, they would stuff their pockets with snacks, and be off on their ride.
Their rides did not really begin as adventures, but almost always finished that way. They were on a very important, top secret mission to find Eric's lost teddy bear. Eric's Nana had given him Brown Bear before Eric and his family moved to Hawaii. Brown Bear was very special to Eric because his Nana still lived in Canada, and he missed her very much. Eric took his teddy bear everywhere he went when he arrived in Hawaii. Even to school. It made him feel closer to his Nana.
One day, when Eric was in class, some mean kids took Brown Bear from Eric's knapsack. They ran off with Brown Bear and hid him somewhere on the island. Now Eric and Golden Bear were on a mission to find his special teddy bear. The young boy and his dog would never stop searching until Brown Bear was safe at home once again.
Eric and Golden Bear were flying over a very big hill when something strange caught Eric's eye. Below them, the hill had begun to lift off the ground, like a sparkling green lid coming off a very big jar. Eric could see some very brightly coloured mushrooms and dandelions peeking out under the crack where the hill was lifting.
Golden Bear swooped in to get a closer look, and with every breath Eric took, like magic, the mysterious hill grew larger and larger. By the time they reached the opening, the hill had grown enormously. It was so big that it seemed to be almost as big as the island itself. Golden Bear stopped near the opening and he and Eric crept quietly to peek between some grass blades. The grass was so big there that a single piece covered both of them.
On second look, Eric decided that they were the ones getting smaller. This happened once before when Eric and Golden Bear had flown to the other side of the island. They flew right into a hollow log, where they met some very big green worms and found an enormous robin's egg. But that is another story for another time. The same thing was happening again, Eric thought with an excited tingle.
He stretched his neck way up looked at the trees, which suddenly stood gigantic. The coconut tree that Eric and Golden Bear sometimes picked sweet ripe coconuts from seemed to reach the sky. That was the same tree that they liked to fly up and sit on top of, and sip the refreshing milk from the centre of the nut while the tree swayed in the mild island breeze.
Chapter Two
They watched in amazement as strange creatures danced before them. Some of them looked like pixies with sparkles floating all around them, making them twinkle in the sun. They danced and sang merry tunes beneath gigantic white mushrooms with red polka dots. There were buzzing bumblebees, dragonflies swishing and swooping, grasshoppers dancing a funny jig, and butterflies of all different colours fluttering in busy circles around the mushrooms. Everything was brightly coloured... and enormous!
The butterflies had very unusual colours on them. Pink, purple, and even blue with yellow on their wing tips. They were all very beautiful. By now, the grassy lid over this strange place was floating in the air above these creatures like a big green flying saucer.
Eric was so busy watching the merrymaking, he didn’t notice right away that the lid drifted higher and higher, and rain began to fall. At first, it was just a patter, but soon it turned into a rainstorm. It was going to be a while before they could leave, because Golden Bear found it very difficult to fly in the rain.
Over the sounds of laughter and merrymaking came the sound of several of the pixie-like creatures. They were saying something all together in a singsong kind of way. At first, Eric could not make out what they were saying because they were far away. As more pixies joined in, and moved closer to Eric and Golden Bear, the words became clearer.
In their sweet singsong voices, Eric and Golden Bear heard them clearly now, singing, "Welcome to our land. Our land welcomes you. Come in and join us, for a berry or two. Come in and join us, for a barrel of fun! Maybe you will find something interesting to do. Our land welcomes you, and we do too!"
Over and again, they sang the same song. Others joined in too. Frogs, with their deep throaty sounds joined the pixies and blended well. Dragonflies began to buzz about, making sounds like woodland flutes. Many different creatures, some big and some smaller, joined in the merrymaking.
One of the pixie-like creatures flew over to Eric and Golden Bear, swooping low like a hummingbird. Through the opening she flew, and hung in the air beside Eric. The pixie didn’t seem to mind the rain at all. She did not have a wand, like Eric thought she would, but a strand of red wool instead. The wool was very long for her small hand, and though it was rather ordinary looking, it was a strange thing to carry around.
"Hello. You must be Eric," the pixie said without moving her lips one tiny bit.
"Yes, I am Eric, and this is my friend, Golden Bear," Eric answered aloud.
"I knew you would come to visit one day. My name is Angelica. I am glad you came to visit the Town of the Singing Stream."
"Singing Stream?"
"Yes, that is the name of our Town. The Town got its name from the singing stream that runs through it. There is another Town named Dancing Tree that is very much like our Town, but named after their dancing trees."
"I've never heard such a thing," Eric exclaimed.
"Why don’t you come with me and get out of the rain," Angelica offered, fluttering her delicate white wings to shake them free of the rainwater.
Chapter Three
Angelica still had not moved her lips, Eric noticed and was amazed that he could hear her talking anyway.
"Thank you. That is very kind of you," Eric said, grateful to be getting out of the rain.
Eric and Golden Bear followed Angelica as she flew off under the magic floating lid and into Singing Stream. They left the rain behind to the pleasant, dry, and bright little Town. There was soft music all around, but Eric couldn’t tell where it was coming from. It seemed to be everywhere all at once.
"Oh!" Eric gasped in alarm, when, he turned and came face-to-belly with a very big frog. The frog lowered his head so that Eric could see his eyes.
"Hello. I'm Toby. I'm a Grog. What are you?" The giant frog asked Eric in a rumbly voice that made the ground shake under Eric's feet.
"I am a boy. My name is Eric, and this is Golden Bear. What exactly is a Grog, if you don’t mind my asking?"
"Why, it's a gigantic frog, of course," Toby chuckled.
"Do you live here with the dragonflies and pixies?" Eric asked Toby.
"Pixies? What are those?" Toby lifted his webbed foot and scratched his head.
"Isn’t Angelica a pixie?" Eric asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Ha ha, no, little Eric. She is a Mixie."
"A Mixie? I have never heard of those before. What does Mixie mean?" Eric was very
curious about Angelica. He was most curious because of the way she could speak without moving her mouth at all.
"I don’t rightfully know what Mixie means. We must remember to ask Angelica."
Just then, Angelica came around the corner with some hot cocoa for the wet guests.
"Did I hear my name just now?" Angelica handed a mug to Eric and Toby, and a bowl to Golden Bear.
Toby cleared the bubbles from his throat and was first to answer the delightful Angelica.
"Well, our young friend here was wondering exactly where Mixies came from and what the name Mixie means."
Angelica crossed her legs, and then she sat right in the middle of the air! Eric and Golden Bear's jaws popped open in amazement. Angelica noticed their surprise and giggled.
"I see you have never met a Mixie before, my young friends," Angelica told Eric and Golden Bear.
She leaned in closer, as if to whisper, "A Mixie is a 'merry mushroom pixie'. Since that is too long to say, we just call ourselves Mixies. It is easier to remember too."
"Do all Mixies talk like you do? And float too?" Eric asked in awe.
"What do you mean, talk like I do?" Angelica didn’t realise that Eric thought everyone moved their mouths when they spoke.
"You do not move your mouth when you speak, but I can still hear you. How is that possible?"Eric asked
"Oh, that," Angelica smiled and waved her delicate hand, "You can hear me because you are listening. Just the same way you can hear Golden Bear and you used to hear Brown Bear."
Eric gasped. He and Golden Bear looked at each other curiously for a moment, and then Eric asked Angelica, "How do you know about Brown Bear?"
"I know many things, Eric. I may also be able to help you in your quest to find Brown Bear."
Angelica stood, and motioned to Eric and Golden Bear to follow her to a very large white mushroom with red polka dots. It was much bigger than all the others in Singing Stream.
"This is Singing Stream Town Hall," Angelica explained, as she flew atop the mushroom and held the door open.
The door to the Town Hall did not open like a regular door did. It had a big silver handle on the roof that looked like a large piece of shiny macaroni. The Town Hall mushroom opened on the top when you pulled the handle, and out popped a set of stairs that unfolded all the way to the ground.
Angelica was the only one in the entire Town who could open the door to the Town Hall that easily. All the others had to use a ladder to climb on top and pull the silver handle. Once they pulled it however, they had to leap out of the way of the stairs. It was very hard to do, so they just put Angelica in charge of the Town Hall door instead. Angelica did not have to leap out of the way of the stairs because she could just fly up, up, and out of the way.
"Move back now. The stairs need a lot of room to open," Angelica told Eric and Golden Bear.
Eric and Golden Bear watched carefully, as all the other creatures that lived in Singing Stream gathered around. The opening of the Town Hall was an exciting event here, Eric thought.
Then, swoosh, the stairs quickly tumbled out and reached the ground in a single quick pull of the shiny silver handle. The stairs sparkled as though billions of tiny stars had landed on them. Eric hadn’t noticed before, but the Hall had three windows. They were set one on top of the other, so that it almost looked like one very tall window.
Angelica swooped down to Eric and Golden Bear, and handed them each a bright green sunhat. She explained that the sun is always extra bright in the Town Hall, and they should protect their eyes from the sun. Eric thought this was strange, but he put the floppy green hat on anyway. Eric looked at Golden Bear and thought with a smile, that the colour suited his friend very well.
The hat flopped on a funny angle over Golden Bear's snout, and Eric had to laugh when the hat tickled Golden Bear's nose and made him sneeze. Then Angelica lead the way, floating silently above the stairs, while Eric and Golden Bear raced to the top of the mushroom. They were anxious to see what Singing Stream Town Hall looked like inside.
Chapter four
At the top, Eric found a beautifully rounded doorway. Like the stairs, it was covered in sparkles. Angelica slipped inside the door and called to Eric to follow.
"Don’t be afraid. It's quite pleasant inside."
Angelica disappeared as soon as she passed the entrance. Eric moved ahead slowly, followed by Golden Bear and Toby. The moment Eric stepped inside the Town Hall, the walls of the mushroom disappeared. The walls were replaced by brilliant blue sky and the floor of the Town Hall was a carpet of emerald green grass. There were wide walkways that looked like silver glass. All along the walkways were lovely flowers of every colour you could think of.
"Where are we?" Eric asked.
Eric was amazed that all of this fit into the big polka dot mushroom. Angelica smiled and spun in flittering circles around and above Eric before swooping down to the glass walkway to answer Eric's question.
"We are in the Singing Stream Town Hall, I assure you. It has been here for thousands of years. Long before I came here even. Our Town is not known among people, only those who live here. And now you know about it too. People cannot see our Town." Angelica smiled and twirled merrily.
"Why can Eric see it, if he is a person? I don’t understand," Golden Bear wondered aloud.
"Eric can see it because he believes in magic." Angelica waved them all ahead. "Come along, there is much more to see."
Eric and Golden Bear followed Angelica over pathways of silver glass, and through the flowers and trees. They could smell the colourful flowers. Some smelled like Nana's kitchen when she was baking cookies, and some like honey. All of the flowers seemed to turn in Eric's direction as they passed by. Eric thought this must have been his imagination.
Angelica was right; the sun was very bright in Town Hall. There were only a few clouds in the clear blue sky. Every one of the clouds was in the shape of one of the friendly creatures Eric had first seen under the floating lid. There was even a cloud in the shape of Toby, with his big, round belly.
They had not walked far when Eric heard the sound of running water. It sounded like a trickle at first, and then it grew a little louder. As they came closer to the water, Eric could hear the most beautiful singing he had ever heard. Eric could not tell where the voice was coming from, but it was a sound that made you want to sing along with it.
"Are there others here?" Eric was sure there was someone else there with them.
"We are the only ones here. Come, and I will how you something that no other person has ever even before." Angelica continued to flutter and whirl about, ahead of Eric and Golden Bear.
"Where did Toby go?" Golden Bear asked, having just noticed he was no longer with them.
"Toby has gone to visit a very special friend that lives nearby. He will join us again soon enough."
Eric stopped suddenly when he reached the top of the next hill. What he saw before him was truly a wonder. Across from where they stood, there was a stream of water that flowed uphill! The water glittered in the sun like a billion brand new coins. It was so beautiful that Eric thought he was dreaming. It was very bright too. It was so bright that Eric's eyes took a minute to adjust to the flashing light that reflected off the water.
"Welcome to the Singing Stream. This stream has the purest water on earth. It is so pure that it can sing only beautiful songs, all day and all night. It never stops singing."
"Wow!" Eric and Golden Bear exclaimed together.
"It is beautiful," Eric said, staring at the stream.
"Do you know why I have brought you here?" Angelica flew across the stream and back, and landed beside Eric.
"No, I don’t know. Why did you bring us here?"
"A while back, I met a small bear. He was brown and had a neat little red scarf around his neck. This poor bear seemed very sad."
"What was his name? Where is he?" Eric asked anxiously.
Eric was sure that it was Brown Bear. He had never seen another b
ear with a red scarf before.
"I never did learn his name. I am sorry. He was here, at the Singing Stream. It was at the beginning of this spring, when the flowers were just about to bloom. After learning more about your Brown Bear, I am almost positive that this was your bear." Angelica was not happy to have to tell Eric that she did not know where his bear was now.
"Spring? That was so long ago now. How will I ever find him?" This was the closest that Eric had been to finding Brown Bear since he went missing from Eric's knapsack.
"All is not lost, Eric. This bear came here because he was looking for a boy. So you see, if this was your Brown Bear, he is searching for you also," Angelica pointed out to Eric.
"That's right, Eric!" Golden Bear piped up. "I am sure that it was Brown Bear. I have that feeling, and you know my feelings are usually right."
Chapter Five
Eric was still sad that he had been too late. At the same time, Eric was happy that Brown Bear was looking for him too. He wondered how Brown Bear came to find this place and asked Angelica where she found him.
"I will show you. Follow me," Angelica said with a flutter of her silky wings as she turned in the direction of the hill.
The stream was still singing its lovely tune as the three of them made their way up the hill. They walked to the top of the hill where there was a huge tree. It was a weeping willow. A weeping willow usually drooped and swayed almost to the ground, but not this one. This one grew upward in a happy sort of way.
"Hello there!" the tree said in a very deep voice.
"You talk too?" Eric asked, startled by the rumbling sound the tree made when he spoke.
Angelica introduced everyone. "This is Grandfather Willow. He has been here as long as Singing Stream. These are our friends Er..."
"Eric and Golden Bear. I know just who they are," Grandfather Willow finished.
"You know our names?" Golden Bear asked the tree in surprise.
"Of course I do."
"But how?" Eric asked.
"I told Grandfather Willow all about you!" Toby leaped out from behind the large tree, much to Eric and Golden Bear's delight.
"We didn’t think we would see you again before it was time to leave, but we are glad we did," Eric told Toby with a smile. Eric then turned back to Angelica. "You said that you would show me where you found Brown Bear."