I woke to unexpected heat. The weather had decided to take a turn back to mid-summer and I had to dig out something cooler to wear to visit one of my forest neighbours as planned.
The unseasonal weather was not something she’d welcome. As a mushroom sprite, Amanita prefers the darker, cooler weather we’d been experiencing over the previous days.
I made sure to include some cold water from the chilling trough in my second larder when I packed the basket to take with me.
The basket’s one the mage up the mountain kindly created in return for a healing favour and it ensures anything put inside, remains in the state it was in at that time. Something that’s proved wonderfully useful when I’ve taken an unexpected tumble with a birthday cake in transit.
Packed and ready, I set out, up the mountain in the opposite direction to the road. My friend lived in a cave shared with two bears, twenty bats and a dragon in hiding, so my basket was a little heavy.
Reaching the mouth of the cave, I called through, alerting them. It’s not a good idea to surprise any of the residents and I waited until I was called inside before doing so.
Of course I had to pause a while once in as well, even a healer mage needs to let their eyes adjust to the dark.
When I could see, Amanita waved from her perch, at the very back of the cave. As expected, she was looked tired and a little droopy.
My gift of the water was very well received and we enjoyed a couple of hours of combined chat and serious conversation.
I left with a much lighter basket and a happy set of neighbours. Honey for the bears, honey-coated paper for the bats – it was a wonderful way to catch the insects they most enjoyed eating – and news from town for the dragon, along with a couple of crystals I’d picked up from a peddler who knew a bit more than he should.
All in all it was a quiet, pleasant day, although a return to cooler weather and a little more rain for the streams and garden would be welcome.
The DNA of Stories 