LIZZY'S SECRET WORLD
The First Book in the "Behind the Veil" Trilogy By Brenda Hain
CHAPTER 1 to CHAPTER 4
Chapter 1 - Lizzy’s Eleventh Birthday
October was a cold and rainy month, but a little water
from above wasn’t going to stop Lizzy. She was going to be eleven on the 24th,
and she planned on having an indoor pool party.
Eleven is a special age on Hamilton Mountain where Lizzie lives with her three
year old baby sister Anna, her mother Shine and her stepfather Shain plus, of
course, the two dragons.
Let me tell you about the two dragons; Shadow is the wiser, older dragon. He has seen many battles; some with young Lizzy. He possesses much magic and the ground shakes when he roars. He is black and leathery, his muzzle shiny with well-dissevered graying scales. Here, in this earth plane, Shadow can materialize and disappear at will. That doesn’t work where he comes from, the Land of Ald, where all creatures can see him and he has to rely on his wings and his wits.
The other dragon is Shadow’s daughter TigerLily. She is a chubby youngster, her scales the colour of a ripe orange. Tiger is right now just a bit older than Lizzy's sister Anna, four years in human years. In dragon that makes her much older, almost an adolescent dragon. Dragons mature much faster than we humans do and they also live a lot longer.
You should know that dragons are born from a fire’s flame, and only a fire’s flame can take a dragon’s life force.
TigerLily’s mum, PeaceLily, was gravely injured in a battle against the Mudlocks. She had to leave her hatchling with Shadow to watch over and care for. As time has worn on PeaceLily is growing weaker from the poison in her wounds from the Mudlock’s Firesticks. The dragon healers have taken her up into the golden clouds to try to make her whole once again, but they are worried that they are losing the battle and are at a loss at what to do for her. They fear that she will slowly and painfully succumb to her wounds.
But! There is one thing that might cure her. For that she needs the unconditional loving help of a mortal volunteer.
PeaceLily has been gone two lonely earth winters, which in dragon time would be four long years. Shadow missed the company of his life mate and the conversations with an adult dragon and TigerLily feels abandoned. She doesn’t understand why her mother left her while she was barely out of the shell.
When Shadow isn’t watching over his special ward, Lizzie, he keeps busy teaching TigerLily magic spells; like how to disappear here and reappear there; and flying lessons done invisibly to avoid radar. Shadow’s age is 36 earth years young, which to me, your story teller, is still a hatchling considering my age would be 540 earth years. Nothing in the land of Ald where the dragons and I come from is as you see it; we do not die as you mortals do, as we know the secret of the phoenix and are reborn by a white hot fire.
I am one of many changelings in Ald. We can change into any creature that lives in our land. But I’ll let the story tell itself. We shall meet again, later in this book.
Shadow is also teaching Lizzy how to channel the magic talents that all children have at Lizzie’s age, but few learn to use and if they do they forget them by the time they become adults. To help her along he has given her an Elven spun bag to hold her magic dust.
All the children went swimming at Lizzy’s
party. Shine had invited all of Lizzy’s friends as well as some of Shine’s
helper friends and a few of Anna’s playmates.
You can’t change earth’s weather, therefore you join it! So, to the heated pool
the children arrived with swimsuits and thick warm towels in their tote bags.
All the children laughed as they splashed each other in the pool. When TigerLily
jumped into the pool with them, the children squealed with delight.
But TigerLily was not a happy dragon that day, because when she flapped her
wings, they made such huge waves in the water that many of the smaller children,
in the shallow end, were toppled over and ran to the comfort of their mothers.
It made TigerLily unhappy that she couldn’t run to her mother.
So Shadow plucked his little dragon from the water and held her close to him.
They both missed PeaceLily very much. You see Dragons have extra sensitive
feelings.
Shadow made a tent with his leathery wings and gave his sad little dragon a
steam bath.
When Shine took all the human children to dry off and change into their clothes,
Shadow gave his sad little Lily a special treat; a vision spell; a peek through
his minds eye at her mother PeaceLily, who was floating in a golden bubble as
the healer dragons sang healing songs around her.
Shine called out that it was ‘jumping and bouncing time’ for all the children in
the Big Bubble House, rented for the day and filled with sponge balls.
Lizzy was in her glory sliding down a circular slide into a blow up house filled
with bouncing balls. She laughed as all her friends slid down around her. Then
one child picked up an armful of balls and tossed them into the air, starting a
frenzy of children throwing balls.
The flying balls intrigued TigerLily, ‘I can do this too?’ She looked to Shine
for an answer.
Shine nodded her head and yelled, “Make room for a little dragon.”
Feeling better TigerLily leapt into the balls and threw them around with her
wings.
Lizzy laughed until tears ran down her face.
But the fun was just beginning!
Shine moved Lizzy and her friends into a smaller room, where earlier in the day
she’d hung a piņata.
Lizzy got to go first. She was blindfolded and then spun in a circle three
times. Shine handed her birthday girl a stick and jumped back as Lizzy started
swinging. Each child took a turn at cracking the piņata open. Finally candy and
small toys began to fall down around them from above.
Indeed, this was the best Birthday Party Lizzy had ever had.
Chapter 2 - Lizzy’s Magic Lessons
Learning through play comes easy to Lizzy. She learns
through her music. Lizzy has received a new stereo system for Christ’s Day. She
puts on a teaching disc and sings along with it.
“This is great!” Lizzy says to her mother while helping with the dishes.
“Did you learn anything interesting in history, Lizzy?”
Lizzy was putting away a stack of dishes. “That Columbus sailed the ocean blue,”
She sang loudly.
“Okay, what year did he find the Americas?” Shine’s eyes were dancing as she
quizzed her daughter.
Lizzy laughed at her dippy mum. “In 1492!”
“Lizzy, you’re just so smart!!” Shine said, giving her best girl a big, wet
kiss.
“Mum! Yuck,” Lizzy laughed, wiping her cheek with her sleeve.
“For heaven’s sakes! TigerLily can drool all over you but, I can’t give you a
sloppy little kiss?” Making a pouty lip Shine teased her little girl.
“Mum! Get with it! Lily has magic drool and she’s just a young dragon."
“Talking about magic, how are your magic lessons coming along?”
“Shadow is so strict when it comes to magic. Why is he like that, mum?”
“It is a long sad story that you may hear one day, magic if used wrong can be
very dangerous. What do you think?” Shine looked to Lizzy.
“I think you are right Mum. If I don’t learn it right and in the right order, I
could hurt someone without meaning to do it.” Lizzy became very serious for a
moment while contemplating her own wise words.
“Let me see what Shadow has taught you.” Shine finished wiping off the kitchen
counter and pulled out a chair at the table.
Lizzy ran out of the kitchen to get one of her mother's, half dead, potted
plants from the living room and her bag of spells from the bedside table in her
own room.
Back in the kitchen, she placed the plant on the table, reached into her bag of
spells and pulled out a pinch of magic dust. Lizzy blew the dust on the plant,
squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated really hard. “Bloom! Please.” She said.
Shine sat very still and watched her daughter with much love filling her heart.
Lizzy’s eyelids tightened as she concentrated very hard on her spell. Suddenly
all the leaves turned a lush green and five purple flower buds appeared.
Shadow materialized sticking his head and long neck in through the window in the
small kitchen. “You’re trying too hard Lizzy, let it flow from your mind as
water from a cloud,” Shadow said calm and purposefully.
“Where is the little one today?” Shine whispered to Shadow.
“Warming in the sun, but shhhhhhh! Let Lizzy finish the spell,” Shadow said in a
hushed tone.
They watched in silence as each of the five flower buds slowly opened under the
apprentice’s spell. Lizzy felt the magic tingle throughout her body while she
did as Shadow had told her.
She opened her eyes and looked at the green plant with purple flowers.
“Well done Lizzy!” Shadow roared making the house shake a little.
Lizzy smiled from ear to ear and ran to Shadow throwing her arms around his neck
and hugging him. “I did it didn’t I?”
“Indeed you did!” Shine and Shadow said, at the same time.
CHAPTER 3 - Lizzy Stands Up For Tiger Lily
One evening Shain stayed home with Anna while Shine took Lizzy shopping for
new crayons for Anna and learning discs for Lizzy. TigerLily wanted to come
along for the ride. Shine hedged a little, but allowed it on the condition that
Tiger promised to pretend to be a big stuffed toy should anyone look at her in
the car. When they parked the van at the mall Tiger wanted to come in the store
with them. Shine consented with one more restriction, “Please Lizzy, ask Tiger
to turn invisible when we are in the store?”
“Ah mum! People must get used to seeing Lily. You don’t hide me or ask me to
turn invisible because my magic makes me different from other kids,” Lizzy
admonished her mother.
“NO, of course not! What’s with the dramatics Liz?” Shine asked, looking a bit
sad.
“Then why should I ask Lily to become invisible?” Lizzy asked, slamming the van
door.
“I’m sorry I said anything now,” Shine grumbled.” But,” she continued,
“Seriously Liz, please ask Lily to turn invisible for her own sake. Please? Look
at all the people in the store. She’ll never fit in between them in the aisles
without knocking everything off the shelves.”
“NO! It’s not fair to Lily,” Lizzy retorted. She looked at her chubby little
dragon friend and got an idea, “I’ll turn her into a human first.”
“You can do that?” Shine asked surprised.
“Well, I can try!” Lizzy whispered as she looked in her bag.
“Okay, Lily! I could use some help from you,” Lizzy said. She looked around to
make sure no one was watching them.
TigerLily closed her lizard eyes and concentrated hard while Lizzy opened her
bag. She took out a pinch of magic dust and blew it on Lily’s head and said,
“Hokus Pokus!”
POOF! Tiger Lily disappeared in a puff of pink smoke and out of the smoke walked
the cutest little girl child you ever did see.
The child looked up at Shine and cried, “Up Mommy!”
Shine bent down to pick the little girl up. “Thanks a bunch Liz! I need another
kid on my hip like I need another hole in the head.”
They did their shopping and hurried home. They wanted to show Shadow what magic
the two little girls had made together before the spell wore off.
CHAPTER 4 - Lizzy Battles a Mean Duckwort
One Friday morning in January Shine and Lizzy had a
meeting with a room full of old Duckworts. The Duckworts had caught wind of
Lizzy’s special powers and were not pleased. They wanted to talk to Shine about
it. This was not the first time Shine and Lizzie had had to deal with the
Duckworts, each time it was unpleasant. They weren’t looking forward to this
meeting.
Mother and daughter were ushered into a room where a bunch of Duckworts were
already sitting around a table. They were asked to take a seat. The Duckworts
ignored Lizzy completely. This made Shine and Lizzy both very annoyed and very
sad.
There was a new male Duckwort at this meeting. He had no patience for special
children. As these special children grew older, he wanted to lock them away in a
cold smelly cellar with other special children.
“I thought that was done in the Dark Ages,” Shine shouted across the table at
him.
“It was and still should be so,” he replied. “I believe that Lizzy belongs where
her magic can not and will not harm other children.”
“If you knew my gentle loving daughter and could see her day to day at home, you
wouldn’t be making such hurtful and idiotic remarks about her.” Shine argued,
growing angrier by the minute. “You haven’t a clue what that Lizzy is capable of
achieving. She is a wonderful loving child who deserves all the best that this
world can offer. I will not have her locked up because you people are too blind
to see and understand the beauty of her magical powers.”
Lizzy quietly opened her bag of spells under the table and took out two pinches
of magic dust. She drew a deep breath and blew the dust at the nasty old
Duckwort. While saying this in her mind, “Smack you on your snout, Thank you!”
All of a sudden the nasty old Duckwort began to sneeze uncontrollably.
The meeting ended with nothing resolved.