Two will enter, one will return

Yesterday, it was Rylan's turn to take Pepper out for a romp in the yard. He was excited for a walk and the force of his wagging tail made his whole body wiggle.

"Hold on, Pepper. Im still trying to get my shoes on and you dancing around my feet is not helping."

When they finally made it outside, Pepper bounded happily along the paving stones before scampering off to have a nice roll in the grass and pee on a bush or two.

"Are you a good boy, fur face? Yes, I think so. Fuzzy lumpkin. Puppy boy. Fuzz nugget."

"Urrrrrrrrrrooo." Said pepper, unimpressed by all the goofy names.

He wandered off to mark his presence on a few more bushes, so Rylan waited around looking at the trees, all of which she loved dearly.

Among these was a little willow across the grass from the house. It was an ant compared to the fir trees surrounding the yard, but being a doll she fit under it nicely, where she began inspecting the bark. Thin, white, papery. Perhaps she should start a bark collection.

Off in the distance, Pepper gave one sharp bark and bolted off.

"Huh?" Rylan said to the tree.

"Hold on. Pepper? Pepper! Get back here!"

But Pepper was already disappearing beneath the fir trees and undergrowth.

Rylan jogged a little apprehensively across the grass, which was quickly giving way to weeds and rocks. She wondered what he had seen. Maybe a deer?

But the mild apprehension grew to straight up uneasiness after countless calls of "Pepper, come!" fell on deaf ears (or no ears) as she moved deeper into the forest.

She was running now. Pepper almost always stayed in the yard, and almost always came when she called. And certainly he always came with this much fuss.

Long past the underbrush where she saw him disappear, she began shoving back ferns and peering around trees. But surely she would have seen him bounding through the tules if he was anywhere nearby.

"Pepper?" Rylan called one last time.

But she was alone.

*** ***
Tune in next week to see how Pepper is found, and what he found in the process.
May your doll's noses never get shine marks,
Gwen

Book Reviews with Andie- The Language of Spells

Good afternoon and happy... whatever day today is, everybody! It's Andie here and I am going to spill my thoughts to you about The Language of Spells by Garret Weyr.

My summary is this: a dragon named Grisha is born in a forest in Germany. He gets turned into a teapot by an evil magician, and then sold to an emperor, who dies and gives him to an antique shop, where a young man named Yakov finds him and brings him home. Yakov can see that he is a real dragon inside a teapot. He is sure to put the teapot in a window so Grisha can get some sun, and talks to him every day. Eventually, he finds a way to release him from the teapot, and tells him that all the other dragons have been called to Vienna. Little did they know that it was the evil magician Leopold who was doing the calling. More than half the dragons are put to sleep and hidden beneath the city. Grisha and the remaining dragons are left as museum and national landmark guides. They forget the terrible fate of their brothers and sisters.

Eventually, Grisha meets an eleven year old girl named Maggie. They become fast friends and on their adventures around the city of Vienna, Grisha remembers his early days there and that his friends are missing. He and Maggie embark on a quest to save the sleeping buried dragons, talking to enchanted cats about where they're hidden, and to Yakov's granddaughter about a potion to wake them up, going on excursions to London, Rome, and the Black Forest. Unfortunately, all magic demands a sacrifice, including the magic to reverse Leopold's spell. When they find the sleeping dragon's deep beneath Vienna's subway system, Maggie's sacrifice is to give up the thing she loves most- being able to see and talk to her friend Grisha. The spell works.

Now lemme tell you guys, I loved every page of this book! I love dragons and old cities, and children literature that reads like you could be telling a fantastical story to a child. There were beautiful illustrations and likable characters, the whole shebang. But the ending. Oh, how I loathe the ending. It's not a bad or poorly thought out ending, it just makes me sad. Imagine not being able to see, hear, or feel your best friend, even though he's right there. Imagine him knowing that and not being able to do anything. Maggie can't even see the dragons that she freed, nor can they tell her how grateful they are. Good Lord I Hate sad endings. If you are going to read this book, read all of it except the last chapter, and then make up your own ending.

Farewell form Andie, hater of bittersweet books.