Before the discussion takes over the Romance and Relationships thread, we should move our little idyll to its own thread.
We started with oxlin’s comment:
Bah. I’m sick of society. I want to go live in a shack somewhere with Teal and not pollute and eat mushrooms and herbs we gather and carrots we grow and draw and write and be happy.
Here is the rest of the conversation thus far:
69. Rebecca Lasley (Administrator) | August 8th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
(68) I know the feeling. My shack is further up the road, though far enough away that I won’t intrude on you and Teal. Some nice lettuces are coming in, and the rosemary is amazing.
70. oxlin | August 9th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
69- ooh, all of us could visit each other and share recipes and crops! Green and Purple (Teal’s sister) could visit too and live in some part of the area.
71. Rebecca Lasley (Administrator) | August 9th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
(70) Yes! A community of recluses! …with perhaps occasional bus excursions to the outside world for important things like contradances and musicals.
72. MissSwann | August 9th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Perhaps all of us Musers should just form a society far, far away from civilization. We all get along fairly well, so there would be no fighting. And a troop of us could stalk cautiously into civilization once a week to sell food from our gardens, and we could donate the excess money to charities… This sounds like great fun! And I could run my cat shelter within the community!
75. Purple Panda | August 9th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Ooh, sign me up!
And we should have a brick wall of some sort in the area, so the Big Bad Wolf doesn’t blow away everyone’s houses.
76. Midnight Fiddler (she of 2 spzdk and 500 PiePoints) | August 9th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
72~ Away from civilization?? Maybe we could create some civilization, it sure would beat what most of us are living in and around now……
I live in a small, thatched cottage towards the center of the Gardens. It only has three rooms (a bedroom, a eating area, and a socialization area) but it has a small loft over the top.
My cottage is surrounded by flowers of all sorts and colors, particularly daisies and lilies. There are also some sunflowers nearby, and they tower above the cottage and weave their stems through the roof.
whoa…? What’s this thread?
Oh well.
But if it’s a community, then none of us would be recluses in the traditional sense of the word (one who lives away from society).
(4) Exactly. Why should MuseBloggers restrict themselves to the traditional categories? I suspect our beach-front neighborhood would consist entirely of lighthouses.
4 – We’re a reclusive community. As in, the entire community is reclusive from everyone outside the community.
I think.
I live in a treehouse. The tree is a peach tree of course and the tree is surrounded by my lovely garden, in which I love. *sigh*
Ah, peace.
My small house is surrounded with wild flowers, especially Bearberry, Butterfly Weed, Canada Violets, Heal-All, and Timothy. A small part of the side yard is full of carnivorous plants like Bladderwort, Venus Flytraps, and various Pitcher Plants. All the way in the back of the back yard, there is a swamp garden and the pond for Floating Hearts and other aquatic plants. It is all surrounded by my favorites: Thyme-leaved Speedwell, Tigerlily, Eyebright, Flame Azalea, and Forget-Me-Not.
The perfect garden *sigh*
Oh yay, it’s raining!
(6) I have more of a sense that we’re talking about being reclusive within a community. It’s just much easier to associate with others who respect and understand the need to retreat into one’s own little burrow.
Muse Academy is very peaceful during the off-season, though it’s always pleasant when classes reconvene.
Ahh, it’s by the sea as well? How nice.
Yes, I think I’ll take care of the lighthouse by the cliff over looking the sea here…..and the small cottage near it will be my house. Hmm, yes, that will be nice for when I’m not sailing.
And perhaps I’ll get to work on building a barn for the horses…..anyone can come and ride once I get it finished, there’s a beautiful stretch of beach under the cliffs that would be easy to get to by that little hill over there, and we could ride along the waves. How delightful!
~~~~~~~~
Hmm, I can just see this place already…..if I had any skill in painting I would draw what I think it looks like, in watercolor. Alas, I can’t. I may try to make a rough sketch of how I see my new property though………..
(10) Well, naturally, we’re all within easy
commutingsailing distance.12~ Yes, how would like to join me on my tall ship? It’s not too big, only 20 tons, but we can pack a few on….
Would anyone care to help me build my barn?
I’ve been trying to find a place in the woods around here to hide where I won’t be nervous about trespassing. Most places are full of beer cans and cigarette packs because the bad kids have beat me to the reclusive hiding spots.
If I had a dream place it would be on a little island in a hidden part of a lake in a forest. I would have a canoe to get to the shore and take care of my plants. I would cook outside over a fire and go fishing in the lake.
My house would be a circular adobe building. On the bottom floor it would have the bathroom and kitchen and living room. The top would be a loft for my bedroom. There would be a window in the roof that opened so I could climb outside and watch the stars.
This reminds me of a song called Velvet Rabbit:
“If walls could talk they’d say I don’t wanna shack up, like the water I wanna keep rolling on.”–Kimya Dawson
my lovely Japanese house is in a japanese garden, located on a island conectet to the mainland by a bridge.
Fiddler- I’d love to join your crew! I’m a skilled skipper and experienced with rigging other nautical knowledge.
I’d love to be able to sail as my main method of transportation — that would be absolutely amazing.
13- I’ll help with the barn- I love to build!
This little place of mine is a product of ten years day dreaming and writing- it will be nice to share it.
In my little corner of the woods, there is an ancient willow tree by a clear spring, which overflows its sides and pours over a twenty foot tall cliff, forming a large clean pond, as well as a cheerful stream. Wild flowers grow were the trees do not, and a springy ground cover of moss grows under the pines and birches. Under the willow you will find a delicately woven yet strong hammock of vines that is my bed, a small fire pit, a few wooden utensils, a pot, and a thin silvery blanket. There is a small but productive garden that smells of mint and growing things hidden behind a mossy boulder. This is were I dwell, a place that few have seen, a fewer still have found unaided… *fades off into mystical silence*
What a great thread!
My gardens would be right here
Just expanded considerably. I’m just getting started! Considering there was nothing but grass, a few big trees, and a couple of shrubs when my parents came here, I think we’re doing well. I will be expanding the gardens considerably over time, and adding gardens.
Of course I wouldn’t mind a place out in the woods somewhere, with a few dozen, hundred, thousand, etc. acres, but I think advancing the gardens here is a more logical–and more likely to be fulfilled–dream. Of course, it will be a lot of work, but still.
Red-tailed HAWK
I hope you’ve got room for my girlfriend, she said she wants to live in a Victorian style house (but not a big one) in the middle of nowhere and just do whatever she wants. Which is mostly reading and drawing and listening to the old Panic! and My Chem. Not exactly my choice of living aragement, but I’ll visit.
I would open up the tea salon, called ‘Thé For Alle’ in the front parlor of my house, which has a rose garden out front and a goat herd in back. And a dog kenel. and two horses, and Icelandic Pony, and a spanish horse of some kind.
17- A mystical ‘my side of the mountain’, eh?
*tends garden* How loverly! Fresh tomatoes!
*turns around* Hello little bee! *watches in horror as bee is eaten by one of Beatlesrockr’s Venus Flytraps* 
Wowsers………
19- OMG, she reads my mind!!! That is EXACTLY what I want to do, along with having as many cats as I can afford, and two horses.
My house is a small cottage, Medieval style. It has a white picket fence and a non-treated, naturally green lawn. Flowers take up every space available, and a small flower/vegetable stand is next to the gate. Two herb gardens in splatter-painted flower boxes, containing borage, thyme, teragon, rosemary and lavender are on either side of the door. There is a white mailbox, nailed precariously and teetering dangerously, on the gate; on it, there is a picture of a swan, and on it’s belly it reads (in curly anf flourishing script) Swann Residence. The narrow walkway is lined with nicotianas and geraniums, making the night air smell absloutlely delicious. It is oaved with flat, round sea stones. The front door is wooden, with a knocker shaped like a swan.
I will explain the inside later, my brother wants the computer (and I have to let him have it; it is the poor boy’s birthday! Happy birthday Noah!)
I am living on a very-not-well-known mountain right by the sea.
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
That’s what I want.
Right now I’m still working on my garden back here, we’re trying to figure out what to put under our river-birches in the front because 1. They are very shady.
). The front walkway is looking pretty nice right now too because we just put in a lot of Forget-Me-Nots and red geraniums.
2. They need lot’s of room.
So I’m pretty sure we’re going to plant Hostas there. And then last year in out backyard we planted small Hydrangea Trees with bushes surrounding them, they just bloomed and they’re looking pretty nice. We had to move the a rose to our front yard because it was dying, and than some corral bells in the front were too far back in the shade, the corral bells are looking nice now, they have shocking pink flowers (don’t worry, they’re meant to be that way
Everything is looking very nice.
As for my Reclusive Garden, I’m thinking about putting in some Dianthus, Lilacs, Magnolia, Sweet Pea, and Cherry Blossom to make it smell better. Oh, and some Sweet Allysum. And some brighter trees, maybe Maple-Scarlet Sentinel and Weeping Higan Cherry.
24- Go Hobbits!
Sign me up for this guys, it sounds awesome!
My house would be a cottage, and it would be surrounded by flower gardens and orchards. Apples, peaches, nectarines, pears, plums… And I would have clematis growing all over my cottage.
I’d share my cottage with Teal (good friend, girl I like), Green (closest friend, I used to like her) and Purple (Teal’s twin sister, good friend). We’d have a little garden. Teal and Purple and I would probably all go on walks but separately. There may also be walks of differing groupings of people but I know Teal would want to walk alone at some point.
Our cottage would be somewhat tall or on a hill and have an attic with many little nooks. That’s where I’d sleep. Though it’d be tall, it’d be small and cozy with a wood burning stove. On the first floor there would be a room full of books. We’d have a studio room too, for everyone to have a desk/easel/whatever area for creation. On the roof there’d be a widow’s walk/porch thing and I’d sit up there. It’d be one and a half stories. We’d have a hammock and a treehouse in our yard. There’d be lots and lots of spaces for someone to be alone in, lots of places of refuge and outlook.
Oh I want to live somewhere like this so badly. Especially the idea of living with Green, Teal and Purple. They are all amazing people, whether I like them in a romantic sense or no, I’d still want to be near them.
I’ve taken up residence in a cave. The entrance is set in a woodland hillside so overgrown that you wouldn’t even notice my “door” through all the vines growing over it and weeds growing around it if I hadn’t put up a cheery, bright red metal mailbox out front. The mailbox has since gotten rather battered from sitting out in the elements all year; I should probably give it a fresh coat of paint soon. Anyway, inside the entryway, steps formed from the dark stone lead deeper underground to the cave itself. The cave is quite spacious: it’s not Mammoth Cave, but it’s certainly plenty tall and wide enough for me. It is furnished only with a big, old, comfy bed and plenty of blankets and pillows. The few other things I keep – utensils, knickknacks, towels, etc. – occupy cubbies carved at random intervals in the walls. Electricity is transmitted to the cave from a solar panel above-ground, but I normally only use it for the electric lanterns that light the passage down and the cave itself. The cave is cool in summer and warm in winter, making it an ideal spot for me to curl up and write year-round.
As for my contribution to the Reclusive community, I tend a few fruit trees and a small but highly productive patch of assorted herbs and vegetables in town. I am also happy to take care of odd jobs such as transporting mail from Gardens residents to non-Reclusive recipients, or vice versa.
Are there any books in the Reclusive Gardens, or have we given those up along with the rest of mainstream society?
29 – I couldn’t survive in reclusiveness without my books!
Speaking of which, I have an entire wall in my cottage filled with book shelves. I do without electricity or running water, instead using a wood stove and a rain barrel to catch the rain that occasionally falls.
I also enjoy trading books with others when I make rare visits to other peoples’ houses. There is no library near my cottage, unfortunately, but I make do. Besides, the best books can be read many times over, and I have plenty of great books in my cottage.
Reading these leaves me very dispirited, I’ll admit…No matter where you go you can never really find that place. pretending is so much fun once you get older and realize it’s never going to happen.
sigh.
I mean to say isn’t but it’s the same either way…oh blah, I don’t mean to rain on the collective parade, I’m just over here being a fuddy duddy. ignore it.
31- you just need a lot of money and time and effert.
29- *clutches heart* The thought! Giving up books??? I couldn’t survive!!!!!!!!
There should be a library, or a system of sorts, that allows us to obtain books we haven’t read. Like a borrowing system.
I am drawing a map of our community. It is going to ROCK.
34- nice.
I am designing my little stone cottage and it has a large library area with coumpter acess. I would be happy to have this become the libray of our villiage. I will be sending the floor plan to Rebbeca, if she does not mind posting it.
Can I be the librarian? My mom is our town librarian, so she can educate me sparing no expense…
*glances around*
Hello, new home.
*Drops suit case under nearby tree, climbs tree, and begins building small treehouse*
I am sick of my house right now. This place is a miracle.
Hmm, is this tree big enough to go two stories in?
It’s as big as you need it to be.
36- I’ll be happy do donate some books. I’ll need a few trucks to transport them over.
Leafy and I live in a very… odd-looking house. It is cone shaped, with a stair case going around the outside going to doors. Its all rainbow tye dyed, and as the staircase does not go the ground and there is not a door on the ground, you need a ladder to get in. We are the artists of the gardens, and you can buy sculptures and paintings and artsy stuff from us with milk chocolate/ white chocolate/ dark chocolate covered strawberries! Or we give them to you for free. Whichever works. The very top of our house is completely window, so we can watch the world from the safety of our house. There are five floors, and the third floor is a studio where we can do paintball paintings! The first floor is a living room of some sorts, where we display our art and socialize. The second floor is our living space, and the fourth floor is an indoor garden/place for our pets to live. We have a lot of pets. We also have a big climbing tree in the front yard. Is this going to be a RPG?
40- Carts with donkeys and hemp tarp are more energy efficient!
*calls local rental* “Hello, could you send me some vehicles?”
“Um, what kind, MissSwann? We have limos, dump trucks, sedans, hummers…”
*gasp* “Hummers! Do you know that they get about 3 miles to the gallon??? No, I want carts. Carts pulled by humanely treated donkeys and a hemp tarp over the top. Do you think you can do that for me?”
“Uhhhhm, o…k… where am I sending these?”
“Oh, to a secluded civilization inhabited entirely by Musers. We need book donations for our library and have no other way of transporting them here. It’s about fifty miles away from all ‘normal’ civilization, so you’d better treat the donkeys well while you’re making your way to us.”
“Uh, you’re going to need a different dude for this.” *hangs up*
Sorry, Beatlesrockr, you’re going to have to bring them manually.
42- A dump trunk would be O.k.
Hey Leafy, come see! *Leafy rushes over* What’s up? Look at our loverly sign! It says Zinc the sorceress and Leafygreen- If you need something sculpted, painted, or sewn, come see us! Likee? Yep. When did you do it? Five minutes ago. How long did it take? Ummm… One minute. What did you do the rest of the minutes? Hurt myself.
I have a treehouse with two windows, in each window there is a flower box with Petunias (all colors) and marigolds . There is a rope ladder to climb up and a tire swing. At the stump of the tree there is an abundance of Mexican Petunias(purple).
The canopy of the tree acts as a roof. The treehouse frequently changes colors. Whenever you walk inside my treehouse you’ll find that instead of walking on the ground you’ll be walking on the ceiling. Even the furniure is on the ceiling. (to be continued)
I live in a small condo-like house filled with comfy, lumpy furniture, fluffy curtains, and a large porch for writing that leads onto a small secluded beach that I can walk to right from my house. The house itself is blue and has two levels, the second floor of which has a shaded balcony where I eat meals and listen to the sound of the water.I’m surrounded by trees and the sunshine filters through them like melting butter. The sound of waves rock me to sleep every night. I have a garden full of fresh vegetables, and a tiny orchard for growing fruit. All of my meals are entirely home grown so I don’t have to take time out of my day to go grocery store shopping. I adore walking on the beach and feeling completely at peace with the world as the soft waves curl gently around my feet. The water is never cold and free of litter from inconsiderates from the outside world, so I can swim and be happy whenever I please.
I have a flower bed filled with sunflowers and peonies and marigolds and all types of beautiful flowers, including five types of lilies. I usually take walks in my garden, and sometimes even sit there to read books and drink ice tea with a lemon wedge. I don’t even have to wear shoes, because novbody cares what you look like and the roads are all soft with not a lot of annoying sharp rocks to poke you and make your feet sore.
This place is paradise. Why can’t I live here all the time? *walks around and gives all of her blogger neighbors a bouquet of flowers and a basket of butternut squash, her favorite vegetable* I think I’ll go for a dip. Anyone care to join me?
We should all have jobs in order to keep the civilization going.
43- NO, dump turcks use precious resources to power their enormous engines, merely to spit them out their rears to pollute our planet. As one of our town laws, polluting is forbidden. A small army of electric cars may work, though…
47- a dump to for books tho?
47- I’ll write a newspaper every two weeks. I don’t have a printing press, but I’m sure with some work I could make an environmentally friendly one. I’ll use these juices for ink. *sets to work right away*
Note to GAPAS please tell me if I need to resend my house plan
37- You could be the liabrarian with me. As it is in my house I would be more available.
Well, the treehous is complete. Now I can live in it until I finish my designing/building dream Lighthouse, which will be located on a nice cliff by the coastline surounded by tidepools.
Time to go draw blueprints! (I mean this seriously. My homework is so dull, I need a better distraction than my sister’s gameboy and pokémon emerald XD)
Aggie- I’d love to help with the newspaper, if you’re looking for any!
I can teach everyone to sail Sunfish, which are great little boats for beginners and, with practice, you can sail them yourself, which will make them very useful if you need to go somewhere and Fiddler’s massive tallship is elsewhere, or without a crew.
As town courier, I would be glad to retrieve Beatlesrockr’s books! I’ll take my bicycle.
*packs, sets off to get books*
20- I’ve seen that book! I want to read it! But each time it slips away…
*Knocks on tree trunk* *small door swings open* *stack of books is revealed* I just brought these up… My precious Lord of the Rings books. I would gladly share, but could they live here, though, instead of the library? I couldn’t bare to part with them… Even if they were only a few hours of walking away.
I forgot my contribution! Hmm… *thinks* I could protect the fresh water supply. Make sure that the stream flows unspoiled through the gardens. Meh heh heh… RAWR, the mighty Water Guardian! Beware her terrible wrath!
* examines the cryptic diagram of an olden printing press* This seems do-able. I’ve got some fallen wood by my house, and if I carve some stones I could use them as nails. I can also use this strong old rag to make one of those ink-sack things. I’m going to go and try to find some paper to print on. I need a quiet place to build this printing press. *goes into a small cove in the forest and sets up a small print shop*
*Paints sign on peice of driftwood* On Tuesdays and Saturdays~ Come to Zinc’s and Leafy’s studio for free paintball painting! All day! *posts sign where everyone can see it* This is gonna be FUN! I know! I can’t wait for tommorow! I may not be able to go on tommorow, so feel free to paintball away! And I’d like it if you did’nt go into our living space. You can go up to the window room and indoor garden. The paintballs, the pins, and he darts are in the corner of the studio, and you can also sculpt. Please don’t wreck our house!
47 – What do we need jobs for? We can get almost everything from our gardens, and everything else we can get with money earned by selling surplus produce.
Sure, Panda! That’d be great. Here, I’m trying to put the printing press together, but the instructions are all smeary. Can you read this? I can’t beleive this stuff survived since the 1700’s.
I might have to get some sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning. *goes back to beach house and falls asleep on her cushy blue-blanketed bed while the waves crash outside her window*
Snap. When I typed that, I thought it was Monday. Now it’s open every other day!
Cool! I’m not much of a paintball person, but I’d love o make a sculpture! I’ve run out of sculptibng clay, you see… Zinc, may I trade you some peonies and cucumbers for a bit of clay later, when I come over?
Oh, yes, definitely! We don’t have any cucumbers or peonies in our garden, it seems. Please send them over with the roots still attached, please. And let’s hope the rabbits don’t eat them…
I’ll be a librarian too. I volunteer at my mother’s library often.
After I gathered some herbs from my garden I painted a sign “Random Kokopelli’s Infirmary”( Herbal and natural remedies only)
What a wonderfull day, oh I better go get some Bordok root I ‘m running out…
RK, I think the correct spelling is ‘Burdock’.
56- Paintball Painting? *confused*
64- Thanks
, I wasn’t really sure how it was spelled.
Oh dear, I planted to many tea plants! (I just love how anything and everything can grow in the gardens) What am I going to do with the extra? I drink a lot of tea, but not this much… I know! I’ll open a tea shop!
~Rawr’s Tea House~
Open everyday
Serving everything morning teas to sleepy teas
(Boxes of tea bags are also available)
There are now a few tables and chairs on a large platform in the trees by my willow- they can be reached by a staircase that circles the trunk of a large evergreen.
64- See, you fill baloons up with paints and pin them on a canvas wall, and then you throw darts at the balloons to make them op, and splater all over the canvas to make art. It’s in Princess Diaries the movie, and I think it would be fun!
I’ve made a printing press, and my print shop is right in the forest cove, not far from RAWR’s tea shop. Newspapers go on sale tomorrow! Come to the print shop for distributions at eight.
53- *looks at book demand list* Well, be prepared to make many, many trips on your bike; Alice’s copies of JS&MN and Luna the Lovely’s copies of Harry Potter alone weigh about 90 pounds.
Our studio is open tommorrow for paintball painting and sculpting! Feel free to paint with us! You can use Zinc and I any way you like.
Ok, well, I’ll jest use my handy dandy launcher! *sets up launcher* *put a giant landing pad near the library* SET, FIRE!!!!!! Oh, I have a few copies of JS&MN, *launches* there you go!
Let’s see, we’ve got Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Harry Potter, Twilight (whole series), Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Journals of Ven Polypheme, The Grey Griffins, East, and about 50 million other books. Where would you like me to place them?
On second thought, maybe I should stick with my feet for this one!
*runs around catching books fired at the library*
There’s a mountain here; you librarians certainly won’t get bored anytime soon! My books will be filling the shelves in my cave, but all are welcome to stop by and borrow them anytime. Most of what’s down there right now is Lovecraft, but there will be more soon.
*bikes off to retrieve the rest*
Am I allowed to check out a book yet? If so, I’d like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and maybe Eclipse as well. I can donate the entire Series of Unfortunate Events books, a couple interesting books on the history of art (with pictures!), and a collection of medieval poetry. *scampers back from the beach to gather her books*
My cottage will have a large old-fashioned style kitchen, but with many kitchen gadgets hiding behind those wooden cabinet doors. It will also have a living room with big overstuffed couches and a fireplace. The dining room will be…good for eating in. There will also be a lounge with a computer and movie screen (as I think that TV today is lousy) There will be many bedrooms, so that I can have guests if I want to, with quilts on the beds. There will also be a large game room in the basement, with a ping-pong table, at the very least.
I’m having fun creating my house.
I can donate a lot of “older” books, like 2001 A Space Odyssey if there is an interest.
71. Into the library if you could, first room on your left coming in the front door
74. All donations are welcome, as long as they aren’t falling to bits
*Looks at pile of books*
*Calls fellow libarians*
Checklist
1. divide nonfiction and fiction
2. Alphabatize fiction and cotorgorize nonfiction
3. Asign call # and barcodes to all books
4. Put above info in card catologe on main desk computer
5. Open and hand out library cards
75 – Okay. *carts in a gigantic pile of old paperbacks*
75- do we need cards?
Oh, and some Shel Silverstein poems too. *dumps a stack of books onto the launcher*
*Grabs up her pageboy bag and rushes to the print shop* La dee dah, making newspapers, making newspapers…
Hey everyone! Newspapers are for sale now! Today’s headline articles are all about the opening of the new buisnesses around here.
A library, cool. (puts a variety of books & magizines into wheel barrow) *goes to libray*
79- I’ll trade you some fresh cut mint and a box of home-made wellness tea for a newspaper.
81- That’s great! I’ve been needing some wellness tea. *hands newspaper*
68- I’ll bind things that you print into books
83-That would be cool. then we can have a record of all the things that have gone on in the gardens so far.
Oops.
I haven’t been here is a while. And there are a TON of posts to read. *is lazy* Maybe I’ll wait for those records of Arrrfishi’s……..
85- To sum it up, everyone’s getting jobs. We have a library, I own a print shop and am head journalist for the paper, RAWR has a tea shop, and Zinc and Leafy have an art abode where you can do paintball apintings and sculpt.
I think I’d like to be a – well, actually, I don’t know. What jobs does the reclusive community still need?
Maybe I’ll just be an eccentric poetauthor.
86- and I bookbind! both on my own and to repair library books. I’m also a librarian. I’m busy.
*donates a lot of her books to the library*
*wheels her book donations over to the library* Here you go! I’ve brought you The Series of Unfortunate Events, all the Twighlight books, all the Harry Potter books,The Great Gatsby, The Glass Castle, all the LOTR books and the DVD’s too (just in case you ever install a media wall), The House Where Nobody Lived, How to be President, and…(drumroll here!) EVERY issue of Muse, in mint condition! I have my copies of Muse at home, but I had another copy of the collection too. So I’m donating it to the library in case someone’s missing an issue.
79- I’ll trade you some Mexican Petunia seeds & and some Burdock root ( I have more than enough) for a newspaper
*works on Japenesse Garden*
90- Sounds good. Here’s your paper! *goes home to plant her petunias*
I think I’m going to add a tower to my house, and It’s going to have a light in it. Kind of like a lighthouse, only less bright at night so everyone can rest comfortably. *builds tower* This will be my personal library and reading room. It’s open to anyone, if you’d like, from nine am to six pm. I’m making cocoa and lemon squares from these lemons on my trees and some flour and sugarcane I grew. Anyone want to come over and have them with me?
82- Thank you! *hands mint and tea*
92-Mexican Petunias, they grow 3-6 feet tall.
(((Bunny apocalypse is my alter ego … pie!!!)))
77- I was going to have cards just so we can keep track of which books are where
People have Donated Books- Thank you
92 – Sign the library up for the newspaper, though I don’t know how I will pay you right now as my apple tree in the backyard hasn’t started producing apples yet.
Though we could trade things among ourselves it would be better to have some sort of standanard currency so we don’t argue over the value of this or that.
96- augh! currency! do we really need it?
96- why do we need to pay people? Coman market!
We don’t need to pay people. Each person helps in some way. If a newspaper seller gives a farmer a newspaper, that farmer grows the food that the newpaper seller eats, so technically, it’s all fair. If a Librarian gets a, let’s say, bookcase from a woodcarver, the woodcarver gets books from the Librarian anyway.
Ok it was just an idea
We trade in our village. We don’t “buy.” What’s buying? No idea.
Buying? Whats that??
I thought the point of this was you were getting away from society! Why are you turning it into a society in itself?
Red-tailed HAWK
*signs library up for the paper*
103- It’s not a society. We’re just friends helping friends.
104-Whatever you call it. This started when people were sick of society and they just wanted to go live in the woods by themselves. And as usual, Musers could never let that be. They had to turn it into a whole land with libraries and a set currency, etc. Pretty soon it will be a whole land.
It isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it isn’t remotely CLOSE to what the founders had envisioned.
Red-tailed HAWK
105- Agrred. how ever, we can’t servive with out Books!
It’s an unspoiled, fresh start at civilization. And when everyone starts bowing everyone else up, we’ll be safe because they don’t even know we exist! Oh, everyone? Leafy is against money. She says it causes wars. Which it does.
(105) It’s an age-old pattern: First come the trailblazers, then the hermits, then the settlers, then the citizens. Then a few of the citizens start feeling hemmed-in and restless and strike out to become trailblazers or hermits somewhere else.
(It’s not surprising that MBers are surprisingly sociable even when they try to be hermits. The really hermitish hermits aren’t online.)
from me the library recieves: All of my de Lints (this is a lot.), various Datlow/Windling collections, Attack of the Smart Pies, Interfictions – Delia Sherman and Theodora Goss (editors)
Freedom and Necessity – Steven Brust and Emma Bull
Tiptree Award collections
Fire and Hemlock and other Diana Wynne Jones
The Privilege of the Sword -Ellen Kushner
The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet – ed. by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant
Fire Logic, Water Logic – Laurie J. Marks
Coraline – Neil Gaiman
War for the Oaks, other Emma Bull
All books by the above mentioned authors that I own.
Anyone want to check anything out?
108-Exactly, you said it perfectly.
Red-tailed HAWK
105- um. how would you know that? can you read my mind? It fits quite nicely into what I was thinking while being nicely different too.
*feels misinterpreted*
I guess that is a fact of life though.
I do quite like this community!
I should say, this isn’t terrible, but eventually we’ll have more stories than we can deal with. Have any of you thought of joining Museica or Zemtee? They both just got Constitutions and are looking for volunteers.
Red-tailed HAWK
112- I disagree. We have three “Active” lands:
Museverse
“Real World”
Bunny world.
And this is just a fourth.
Oh, and Muse Scouts. and WOP
(111) Yes, same here. When I said a “community of recluses,” I thought about a community in which any group participation is strictly voluntary. That when one required solitude, no explanations would be needed, nor would one have to worry that others would intrude. Libraries and gardens are themselves something of the sort, come to think of it.
113-How does that disagree?
The Museiverse is where Museica and Zemtee are. The “real world” is the real world, right? And “Bunny world” is something to do with “Bunny apocalypse”?
Red-tailed HAWK
116- you said we whould have to many story to keep track. I’m showing that no, we don’t.
The “Real World” is MA, H&H.
113- Bunny World? No no no, remember? I told you on the first BA thread, it’s the real world, but set in the future when pink bunnies took over.
This conversation is very un-relaxing. I think I’m going to go back to my house and swim. Please let’s not talk about this here. That’s not the point of this thread. We understand that it’s a place to be alone and relax, but it’s also a place to commune and talk to one another. We all live in our own little world here. *goes home and swims*
116- You should sign up for that. BA is fun! *walks up to Agrrrfishi by random chance* My hair is purple tody. Do you like it?
120- Why yes, it’s sweet looking. How did you get it that way? I want mine to be blue!
Speaking of hair, we should ask someone to be a hairdresser here! That way our heads don’t get too bushy. I’ve never done too welll with a bushy head. Hey Zinc/Leafy, would you like to go swimming with me? I just made this raft out of driftwood, and I want to explore around the sea a bit.
Easy, I mixed dyes. Blue, you say? Dark blue, midnight blue, sky blue, green blue,ummmm… periwinkle, pastel blue… Yeah, those too. Or just plain old crayola blue? The rafting trip?Oo, sounds fun! Are we using oars or a big stick?
Can I have my hair sky blue with dark blue streaks? Ooh, that would be cool! I carved oars, so we can use them, but I find sticks to be more fun. Whichever you prefer.
Okay, here’s the dye! Sit still while the most insane and hyper artists in their magic. *dyes hair* Looks lovely. It really suits you, Agrrrfishi! And we’re not being hairdressers. We only dye hair, and that’s all. Big sticks? *starts whittling* *makes boat tied to superstrongstring* *takes boat over to the beach* *stops in tracks* Big sticks? *goes back to get big sticks*
The boat’s a toy. I drag it along in the water. *writes message* *stuffs message in a bottle* *goes to beach* Okay, we’re ready! Let’s go! (Stupid shift key isn’t working.)
Thank you for the new hair, guys! Let’s get paddling! *gets onto the raft with Leafy and Znc* *pushes away from shore*
I’m gonna toss my message in a bottle. *pauses* Is that polluting?
Not if your bottle is made from all natural materials and if it isn’t found it’ll just naturally decompose without releasing any harmful chemicals and waste! What does ze message say?
It says, “Hi! If you’re reading this, consider taking up a career in art. It’s FUN!” And then a paint splotch. And yeah, it’s biodegradeble.
Well, I’m going for a swim! *jumps in* BRRR!! It’s awfully cold!
It sure is! *swims around a bit* Hey, look, a fishie! Wuh oh. That’s not just any fish, that’s a pike! AAAAUGH! *jumps back on the raft* Quick guys, hop on, pikes have big teeth!
Big teeth? Aw, I’m sure he’s just misunderstood. *continues playing in water*
Does any one know Where I can get carp for a pond I’m making on my island? (in the story)
You can build a bucket & a boat, go out into the ocean, and grab at fish every time you see one?
Such lovely water! However, I am not fooled by these pike infested waters!
So, we are making occupations? Well, I suppose I am an unofficial gardener/produce lady/bee keeper. How loverly.
*Leave for Japan*
*Comes back with carp*
*Builds island houses*
*Builds Garden*
*Trims Garden*
*Works on a computer that’s good for the evierment, and that can’t connect to the web*
135- Everyone grows stuff. Even we do, although we are the unoffcial artists of the place.
Zinc, should you keep on playing in there? I told you, Leafy, that pike is misunderstood! He won’t bother us if we don’t bother him!
137) Well, yes, everyone grows stuff, so they need someone to get the plants from. Right?
138- You mean the seeds?
Zinc, I’m going to let your boat to the mercy of the waves if you don’t come here RIGHT NOW and STAY HERE!!!! Okay, okay, geez! *mumbles incoherantly for a while*
Shall we row to that quaint little island out there? I brought stuffs for a picnic. It seems like a good way to spend the afternoon. Would you care to join us, kiwimuncher?
Sure we would! Oi! Kiwimuncher! Meet us at that island! We’re having a picnic!
Is this a RPG?
141- ((If it wasn’t. it is now!))
I hop on my boat, and boat to the island.
(141, 142) I’d say this has elements similar to an RPG, but it’s more like a daydream.
((142- Good. It’s now less confusing.)) While sitting on a cloth eating eating the picnic Agrrrfishi made, I saw a boat in the distance. “Ahoy, TMFA!” I shout.
((143- It’s less confusing as daydream.))
((I’d join, but I would probably add some kind of danger and harm myself in some fashion. So I won’t.
))
(145) Good. I think we have enough RPGs and not enough daydreams. But I’m curious, what was confusing?
147- The daydream. Can we make it half RPG, half daydream? Because I am SICK of doing actions in asterisks.
So, a daydream without asterisks? Ok.
I look at my garden. Someone yells “Bealtesrockr! I think it’s time you trimmed your garden! It looks like a jungle!” I look back at my garden, which is overgrown and almost does look like a separated jungle. I smile contentedly. It’s just the way I like it.
I sit outside, on my front porch lightly strumming my guitar. I try and find a song to sing. Finally I just start singing “I’m Looking Through You” with pauses in the middle to stare out at the beautiful yards people have.
I’ll be an author, so we don’t have to read the same books over and over again, even though the library has thousands, millions, umptillions, of books, a fresh one might be nice once in a while.
Everyone, MissSwann’s cat shelter is now open for business! If you would like to adopt a playful, cute and cuddly kitten, or a lovable old tomcat, please contact MissSwann at #625 Cornflower Way, Reclusive Gardens, Nowhere (ZIP code; 28669 (that’s BUNNY in text code!!!)) I also rent horses, so if you would like to take a relaxing trail ride through our bountiful forests disconnecting us from civilization, or a romantic carriage ride with a sweetheart, also contact me. Equine rentals are for a low low price of 3 Strawberry Pies! (I think pies should be our currency, btw).
Hey, TMFA! Mmm, this is really good caesar salad. *takes another bite* Anyone want some french bread?
MissSwann, I’d like to adopt a kitten when I get back, preferable a fluffy white one with big blue eyes if you have one. Thank you so very much!
Oh wow. Lots of action. I think… I’ll just move my lighthouse plans a bit further away… even for a comunity of hermits…
Jobs? Er… I will study the tide pools along the shore, and provide light for the musers sailing at night. I’m sure we have several sailers around.
I’ll set up a nice dock in this harbor I’m on, too. It’s big enough for three small boats (1-4 people in each, very small) that people can come and use. No charge but donations of vegetables/news would be apriciated.
Other than that, I plan to spend my time writing, wandering the forest/coastline, swimming, and reading. You may see me on days when I need to get food, or when I feel oddly social.
School starts tomorrow, I so wish I were here all day instead…
“I’d rather keep on eating the pasketti!” I said.
Leafy’d like a calico kitten, Miss Swann.
” The pasketti is good, also”, I replied, giggling at how spaghetti was being pronounced.
151- French Bread?
Is there going to be any excitement, or not? Well, I’m going to make a mild bit.
Suddenly, the tree that was on the island went crashing down and smushed most of our picnic. “I saved the strawberries!” Leafy laughed. I took one. “This is HEAVEN!” Aggie said, biting into hers.
156- No Excitement, or at least adventure.
I bit my strawberry and giggled. “This place rocks”, I commented as the waves crashed mildly onto the shore of the little island. Then I noticed… “HEY! The raft is floating away!” I dashed to catch it, but it had already floated out into the sea a ways. So I swam out to get it. “Ooh, the water’s pleasanter now!” I said, splashing a bit. “Cannonball!” cried Leafy, jumping after me. Zinc and TMFA followed suit. We all played in the water for a while, with not a pike in sight.
GAPAS, would you check your inbox? I sent a drawing of my condo.
157- Who said daydreams can’t have excitement? *sticks tongue out*
Sorry for the double post! I did’nt notice Aggie’s post1
“BELLYFLOP!!” I yelled, flinging myself into the water. “You’re right, is much pleasenter!”
159- I just don’t want to have the same sort of excitement as on the other threads.
“Look, a sea turtle!” I pointed at a cute little green turtle swimming around near the raft.
“Cute!” cried Zinc, who swam over to see it.
“Awww, look at him’s wittle feeties!” exclaimed Leafy, who petted the smiling little turtle on his shell. He nudged her finger with his head. “Can we keep him, Zinc? Can we?”
161- It’s MILD excitement, TMFA. Unless the daydreamer starts thinking about bunnies… then we’re in trouble.
“We can bring him back to our beach and make a big fence of vine net that he can swim in, and feed him. Sometimes we’ll take him out for swims!” I said to Leafy.
Adeia’s House Plan
The bushes in the front are butterfly bushes; on the side are regular bushes with a bleeding heart between them. In front of that are unspecified flowers. The brown circles are trees and beside the bench is Rabbit’s ear. (Click on the image for a better view.)
Agrrrifishi’s Condo:
164- Nice!
161- Violence, you mean?
Such as MA RPG or BA?
of the two, MA has had more gruesome violence on it than BA. Though of course there has been a few bloodbaths on BA too.
I look at everyone playing in the water and just before I run and hit the water I remember something and stop. I sulk in the forest and look at butterflies flutter by. I could hear a woofing in the distance and suddenly I get excited. “Nessa!” I call, “NOW!” a huge dog around 80 pounds comes running like mad and tackles me, waiting for a special treat like warm turkey, or chicken. I grab her collar and hug her for what seemed like forever. I let go of her collar and she runs off. “At least I know the reliable recall still works.” I mutter to myself. I wander around the forest for a bit, and come along a tree with something spilling out of it. Like a bright green sap. I finally realize why the trees were so tall and healthy. “Sap!” I cry, “Sap!”. A random person walking in the woods would think me crazy, if they saw me picking up the gooey sap and letting it fall through my fingers over and over again. But, it was no ordinary sap, anyone could see that. But if it had looked just like the sap most people were used to, it would still not be ordinary, it was different. In fact, it wasn’t even sap! She ran back excitedly to her small house and grabbed a container, yelling excitedly.
(Sorry for the double post!)
164- Wow. Nice!
166- I always forget I’m not writing in 3rd person!
What a loverly picnic!
And what a cute turtle! *eats fresh tomatoe* Such loverlyness! 
Cannonball! *jumps in water*
Note for 164- The rectangle in the top-left corner is my printing shop, the rectangle on top of the main house is the lighthouse, and that patch of green out in the top right is the island where Zinc, Leafy, TMFA and kiwimuncher are having a picnic(were having a picnic) and swimming.
GAPA’s ,I’m going to send in the actual blueprints for the interior of the house. Is that okay?
I fed some pond vegitation to the adorable turtle, who was smiling his little turtle smile and bumping into people’s shoulders. I was very excited that he would be living with Leafy and Zinc, because their beach was only a short swim from mine.
The raft was just a speck in the distance. “Um, Aggie,” I said, swimming over to her. “How are we going to get back?’
“Well, I guess we could swim back”, I said, shrugging.
“Sounds good”, said Kiwimuncher, who was marveling over the turtle with Leafy and TMFA.
So we all swam back to my beach for lemonade, where I promptly tied the raft to the dock I had been building.
“I’m getting some sugar!” I called and ran back to or house, got the ladder, and climbed up to the fourth floor, where our indoor garden was. I got some of the sugar I had gotten from our sugar cane, ran back down the staircase, and went back to the beach.
Agrrrfishi, do we live relatively close together? I say we’re next door neighbors, if there was such a thing here. You okay with that?
I gather some sap from the woods and run down to the beach where everyone else is having a picnic. “Guys look at this!” I yell. “This is a cure for all sicknesses, SAP!” I say in delight. “Sap!”
“What?!” I said. “Isn’t SAP romantic gush?”
Sap! How loverly! Sap rhymes with gap. And lap. and map. And bap. And slap. And cap, chap, nap, rap, wrap, tap, trap, yap, and zap!
Oh. I forgot crap.
174- That’s great! This way we can go swimming a lot!
“Ooh, sap!” I marveled, looking at the bucket of goop. “Can I trade you something for your sap?” I wave my hand over by the garden to show all of the items I have. “You can go look around in there if you’d like. Tell me if you see anything you want to trade for. But be careful, the gate sticks.”
“After that, you should join us for lemonade”, said Zinc, who had just returned with some sugar.
“Mmm, tasty!” said Kiwimuncher, taking a sip of her lemonade. “The sugar really does the trick, Zinc.”
Leafy was busy laying on the beach and playing with the turtle, who still didn’t have a name.
If this is a daydream, is it possible to be a being besides a human? Say, an Elf of the LOTR variety?
150- I would love a cat! Surprise me with the age and breed, please! Would a very large bundle of cat nip be a sufficient trade? It may come in handy at the shelter.
I polish a glass tea mug, and hold it up to the light. Having determined it being the very highest level of clean, I set it on the shelf with the others. I climb past the platform up to my favorite branch, and settle into a pocket of moss, sighing into my tea. What a lovely evening!
180- nooo,,,, we aren’t that day-dreamy….I don’t know. Ask someone else.
I sip my tea and open up the tea salon for business.
We should name the turtle! Any ideas? Perhaps Gus? Or Phiny? Or George? Or Philonius?
I’d vote for “Plautus,” after the tortoise in Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia, but that’s just me.
183- That’d be fine, although I’d probably call him Platey.
Another tortoise in the play is called “Lightning.” Maybe you’d like that better?
185- That’s great! That little turtle is pretty in the water.
181- Say, are you in any need of some tea leaves? I have all kinds, including some specials I invented- they aren’t magic- the bends of herbs and spices trigger certain hormones in the brain.
Sweet Dream tea- a special blend of herbs and spices that will send you off to sleep with dreams of your greatest desires.
Motivational tea- gives you a burst of motivation, allowing you to start that project you’ve been putting off.
Tear Drop tea- Sweet yet bitter, this tea is best with milk and sugar. It is a simple tea, but sometimes simple is best.
Sorry, I didn’t see your post about having a tea salon- from now on, I only carry tea leaves.
187-I would like some Sweet Dreams tea for my kitten and myself. I can trade you some fresh Gala apples from my orchard.
I petted my little silky white kitten. She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and meowed softly. “Thanks for the kitten, MissSwann! I think I’ll call her Lucy.”
I set the bucket of sap down, and pick up a lemonade. I take a sip, “It tastes great!” I grin in delight. I look at the bucket of sap for a while, and then picked up as much sap as I can get into my hands, and let some slowly drip into the cup. I wearily take a sip, and in seconds I fill with energy, “Wow! I feel great! I feel like I can run 50 laps around the neighborhood!”
Leafy’s calico kitten started playing with her hair. “What should we name her?” she asked me. “How about Artemis?” I asked. “That’d be great!” she giggled, as the cat got all tangled up in her long locks.
After 30 minutes, I sigh wearily. Beatlesrockr has started running circles around and around and around the whole community at an alarming speed. It is making me quite dizzy.
184- How about Archie, sort for Arhepelago, which is Greek for turtle?
I had a solitude daydream like the ones on this thread where I went back to Space Academy, climbed into the Saturn V model, blasted off, and landed near the Hadley Rille, which is a very deep valley on the moon surrounded by mountains. I checked out the nearest astronaut landing site and took lots of pictures and explored in the mountains with a moon buggy. Then, when I was ready, I got back in the capsule, headed back to Earth and splashed down.
This thread looks really fun, I’m going to try to think of what my house would be like.
Lucy hopped gracefully out of my arms to join Artemis in batting at Leafy’s hair with her little paws. Whenh she had fully exhausted herself, I got out a saucer of milk for both kittens, and put a bit of sap into each. The kittens lapped up the milk gratefully, then sprang to their feet and began wrestling playfully on the beach. “Aww”, I cooed, tickling Lucy’s tummy as she rolled past me. “I think we have a pair of new best friends.”
Beatlesrockr came panting back to the beach, still wearing an enormous grin on her sweaty face. “C-can I have some l-lemonade, plase?” she panted. I quickly poured her a glass, and she drank it all in one gulp. “Mmmm, that was great!” she exclaimed. “Well, off to do another ten!” And she sprinted off down the beach very quickly.
This is an RPG-daydream now, then? RPGs scare me off, but I’ll probably join later, when I can think of a suitable place to live.
Sap?
(194) Well, seeing as this is community of recluses, you can feel free to ignore the RPG elements if you wish. Just find your little corner, build your house, plant your garden or simply sleep under the stars, if that’s what suits your fancy. Visit your neighbors or find your solitude. It’s up to you.
188- Sure! *trades* For maximum potency, be sure to let it seep at least four minutes. Now, what kind of tea can I make with Gala apples…
196- Thanks very much! I would suggest taking the apples near the top of the tree, the ones furthest down are sparingly worm-eaten. *lends RAWR a stepladder*
Who would be interested in a game of badminton? I do love a good game of badminton!
Hmmm.
*wanders over to reclusive community*
My house is another treehouse, but it’s in a cherry tree. And the cherries are ripe. My garden is beneath, largely consisting of flowers and herbs. I also have a beehive in here somewhere…
198-I love badminton.
“Badminton?” I said. “Sorry, no. I can’t do a thing with my arms. Soccer, on the other hand…”
*discovers
threadreclusive community*Aaah. How lovely.
My house is inside the trunk of a huge, hollow oak tree. It has a skylight-type thing into the branches, and steps leading underground. My garden is on a platform in the branches, just to be different, and there is a small creek running by my tree.
((Why should this only exist here? We should make this a reality! It would be a sort of semipermanent, unsocial Kokon.))
Here is Zinc and Leafy’s house, described as follows:
This is the outside of our house on Reclusive Gardens. The stick thing on the ground is a ladder. The yellow thing spiraling the house is the staircase. The blue squares are windows.
Yayzers! My deepest thanks, Lady B!
” To be perfectly honest, I’ve never played badminton before, but if you’d teach me I’m sure I could give it a good try”, I said optomistically.
We’re going to need a new thread soon, at the rate we’re going!
204) Oh! I’d love to teach you! It’s not very hard. It’s actually quite semilar to tennis, but funner! *serves*
197- Okay! *selects apples* These are perfect. Enjoy your tea!
*Goes back to island*
The stars are really clear tonight, I think to my self as I swing in my hammock. What a perfect time for a walk… Bending over to protect the match from the breeze, I light my candle. Slipping silently out into the trees, I make for the sea.
(Wow, so many posts since I last checked!)
I awaken from a long nap and decide that now would be the perfect time to go for a leisurely stroll around town since pleasant evenings here aren’t plagued with ravenous mosquito hordes. As I leave my cave I don my messenger bag just in case anyone has a job for me. Reclusive Courier is printed on the front of the bag; that’s me. Got mail, or any other reasonably sized cargo? I’ll take care of it.
*puts away net and stuff* Well. That was fun!
I guess it’s getting time to come home though! Must tend to my plants, bees, etc. Bye! 
” ‘Bye, everyone!” , I exclaim happily, as people leave the beach. I realize that I had so much fun tonight that I like having parties, and I should hold another one. I rush to my print shop on the moonlit path and print the following invitations:
Aggie’s Beach Sleepover Party!
Everyone’s Invited to a night of sand and fun at my house on August 30th!
You can bring a treat or something to eat, or just come on over and enjoy the party! It’s a sleepover too, but don’t worry, I’m providing the sleeping bags. We’re going to have a campout right on my beach! Animals are also welcome to come with you.
Be sure to RSVP by August 29th. Thanks a lot! My adress is 2468 Seashell Drive, Reclusive Gardens, Museblog, The Internet. Zipcode 43770.
We’re going to have lots of fun!
*sends invitations to everyone* Whee! This is perfect! They should all receive them when they wake up!
*goes to bed*
SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP
*wakes up*
Mmm, good morning beach!
I heard a THUNK on the floor. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, and said groggily, “What was that?” I looked at the floor from my hammock on the ceiling. Leafy had fallen off of her circuler bed thing. She looked very surprised. I giggled, and jumped off the hamock to a rope, and slid down to the floor. I got dressed in my “The Mystery Owl Book Store- We Put the Whooooo in Who Done It?” and cut off jeans, pulled on my rainbow hearts jacket (which does look better than it sounds) and opened the door to feed the animals on the fourth floor. It was cloudy. I wondered if it would rain. While I was climbing up the staircase, I heard someone yell my name. “Oi! Zinc!” I looked down. Eta was waving with her messenger bag swaying in the wind. “Get down here!” she said, waving her hand. I turned, and raced down the stairs. I pulled the ladder I stored up here down to the ground. As I climbed down, Eta opened her bag. “You two have mail.” she told me. She handed me two letters in periwinkle blue paper. “I got one too!” she said, and skipped away. I ran back upstairs. “Leafy! We got mail!” I cried as I ran in to our bedroom. I threw her letter at her. “It’s an invitation to Aggie’s condo for a sleepover.” she read. “Should we go?” “It’s only polite and neighborly!” I said, making my voice all stuffy and giving myself an air of dignity I never wanted in myself again. “Actually, I think it would be fun!” I laughed, switching back to my normal voice. We went down to the studio, wrote out our RSVPs, made them into paper airplanes and sailed them over to Agrrrfishi’s house. “What if they lose fuel?” Leafy asked worriedly. “What did we install those jets for, for show?” I snarked.*
*Snarked- verb- Cross between snickering, saying, and snorting.
151- Ehmmm… What about Petey the Persian? (sends picture to GAPAs)
212- Oh, funnifullness! I shall bring some of my cats desperate for a home (hopefully some Musers will fall in love with one of them!!!)
Are we required to bring food (pizza bagels, pretzels, veggie plates, pie, etc?)
212) How loverly! I’d love to go!
I don’t think I’ll be doing anything then! 
212- I’d love to go! Do you think the kittens would mind my dog? She’s, a bit, well, hyper-active you could say, but very well behaved.
From MissSwann’s cat shelter, a Persian kitten for Agrrrifishi:
217 – Awwww. *melts*
Perhaps I shall make a Reclusive Garden. Although I’m too lazy to read the entire thread at this moment, I probably will eventually.
214- You’re not required to bring food, but if you want to it would be great. And feel free to bring as many kitties as you like. I’m sure everyone would love it!
216- That would be awesome. Kitties are usually fine with dogs.
217- AWWWWWWWW! CUTE! *swoons and melts over her kitty* How fluffy and loverly! *sends MissSwann a thank-you* Can I rename himmer Lucy, plz? *snuzzles Lucy*
Let’s see who has RSVP’d…*counts*
MissSwann, Zinc, Leafy,Beatlesrockr, kiwimuncher… This list is going well! I can’t wait for everyone else to get their invitations!
Carefully, I washed the seawater out of my dive gear and placed it back on the wooden shelves. The doorbell rang, and I hurried out of the equipment room, still in my purple-and-black wetsuit.
Eta was at the door with the mailbag.
“Trying to get in scuba dives before the weather gets bad?” she asked
“Yeah. The water’s so clear here.” I said, accepting the light blue paper.
After changing into leggings and a Star Wars t-shirt, I read the note, an invitation to a sleepover at Aggie’s condo.
“Sounds great!” I said, to nobody in particular.
217- It’s adorable!
For some reason, I wake up in my city apartment feeling like I should visit my little house. Ignoring the taxi driver’s look when I tell him the address (“But that’s a village of recluces, sir!”) I settle myself into the backseat and watch as the scenery becomes slowly less urban, and then the city abruptly vanishes as we enter the forest via a one lane paved road. The car stops.
“This is as far as I’m allowed to take you, sir.”
I don’t mind, I’ve walked through the small forest (if you can really call it that, it’s just large enough to not be able to see the other side) every time I visit. I pay the driver and begin walking up the road which thins into a path. The paving ends the second you can see the village. The cone shaped colorful mass marks the entrance of the little settlement. A couple other houses (and trees that have obviously been converted into living space) are grouped around the cone. I see my cottage. It looks the least taken care of, but that’s probably because I rarely visit. A couple of rusty deck chairs sit one the front porch, most of them with holes through the bottom. There’s also a pan which looked like it once held water, but was now just filled with pine needles and sand.
I climb up the three steps to the porch, and enter through the always-open front door. Does the lamp in the kitchen still work? No. It’s not like I need it, there’s a window over the sink and a whole two walls dedicated to windows in the dining room/living room. Under the line of windows is a long window seat. A wooden table sits in the middle of the room. I notice a book on the faded blue window seat cushion. It looks like a Harry Potter.
Remembering my long absence, I go out to check the mailbox. It wont open. I throw a rock at it, and it crumbles. Two dusty evelopes lay in the rubble. I pick up one.
Ooh, a party invitation! So going.
The second turns out to be a picture of a cat. It’s really cute.
I think I might get my clothes unpacked, I’ll have to pick out something for the beach party. I might even go swimming.
The week is looking good.
220- Great! I hope you don’t mind her. She’s around 70 pounds, pretty large. But I’ll makes sure she smells good!
I run off to scrub my dog. “Nessa, come NOW!” She comes bounding over and tackles me. I hook her leash onto her collar, and take her to the river. She happily runs around in the cold water, and I squirt soap all over her. Soon, bubbles enveloped her whole body, so I rinsed her off with a bucket of warm water. “Your going to get another bath right before the party ok?” I tell her. She wags her tail happily. “Alright than.” I unleash her, and she runs off. After 5 minutes, I decide to call MissSwann to see if I could get a kitten. “Uh, yeah, hello?” I say uncertainly.
“Hi Beat! Would you like to adopt a kitty?”
“Yeah,”
“What kind?”
“Well, I was thinking maybe a Tabby cat, or like a ginger coloured one?”
I’ve been drawing my lighthouse in English to keep myself awake. His voice is so monotone… all the time… with elipses in… places they shouldn’t… be… all… the… time… x_x
I loved last years teacher, too : /
But yeah. I’ve been drawing it. It looks pretty cool in my opinion, but I’m currently messing up the clouds, so… oh well. I drew it really small though >.<
I’m coming Aggie!
Um, Beavo? The colorful cone is my house. I live by the sea. You might see it, but it’s not in the center.
After about two hours of painting, Leafy and I went outside to ride our homemade scooters. We waved at people passing by, and noticed Beavo was in. We parked our scooters, and went up to his porch. “Ugh, he really needs to do some spring cleaning.” Leafygreen said, flipping around her green and turgouise braid. I had to agree. The porch was a mess. We went up and knocked on his door.
216- I’d better not bring Lovely the tomcat and Missy the devon rex… other than that, my cats will be okay with a dog.
224- “Aha! Nelson the Ginger Tomcat would be perfect! He’s good with dogs, and he’s only 2 (you can still have the kitteny playfulness without the obsessive furniture destruction!) If you would like a picture, please ask me.
220- Name away; virtual kittens don’t have genders until you decide them officially.
217) *smothered by cuteness*
ah. My bees are content. MY plants are content. I am therefore content.
Now we have KaiYves, Beavo, and Adeia. Yay! Many peoples!
So guest list is…
MissSwann
Zinc
Leafy
Beatlesrockr
kiwimuncher
KaiYves
Adeia
Beavo
…Man, palnning a party is a lot of work. *goes inside to dust her nicknacks* Let’s see, I’ll pick some strawberries and apples and I imported some Ciderfruit from Blister Moon, and I have cucumber wedges and canteloupe and pears andhoneydew melon and watermelon and tomatoes and squash. The, I’ll have bowls of chips, pretzels and popcorn, and many different types of soda and sparkling water. Phew! *sneaks into the real world to go shopping*
Beavo didn’t to be answering, so we left a note and went back to riding. We stopped at Aggie’s house. She didn’t seem to be home. We looked out on the island. Not there. We went over to her printing house. Not there. “Do you think she’s…” Leafy said in a hushed voice, “Gone into the… real world?” We simultaneously gasped. We shivered, and left a note on her door too. Then we went back to the studio to be scared in peace.
I wake up on the beach, my candle a puddle of wax. “Ugg, how long have I been here?” I mutter to my self. I trudge back to my tree, only to find a letter on the table! “Oh, no, not provisions! I thought I was safe! I told her I’m fine! How did she find this place?!” *eyes dart suspiciously from side to side* “Oooh, never mind- it’s a party invitation! Hurray! I would love to come!” *scribbles RSVP* *ties to pigeon* “Fly, Devonar! Fly as fast as your little wings can take you!”
I dash home on foot, carrying my supplies and hope nobody sees me disappear. When I fnally get home, I sigh in relief. “Phew! That was terribly dangerous!” I cry. Then, I notice a note fromZinc and Leafy as Lucy ourrs and coils around my legs. I pick her up and give her a kiss on her fuzzy head, She meows ahppily. I set the groceries away and put on Lucy’s comfy collar. I pick her up and proceed to go over to Zinc and Leafy’s house to tell them that I am fine and to offer them some fresh tomatoes I picked. I notice a bird perched on my window, and take a note from his leg. “How lovely! It’s a by-air RSVP from RAWR!” I write RAWR onto my list of RSVP. “I think I’m going to move my party date uo a bit”, I say to Lucy. “How about Wednsday?” She meows in agreement. I quickly sent notes to eveyone telling them of the changed date, then walk over to Xinc and Leafy’s, with Lucy perched in a comfy basket with a soft blanket and little-kitten sized pillow.
I heard someone knock on the studio door. (You know where the ladder is, right?) I hastily brushed off my smock, which got my hands all painty, and opened the door. “AGGIE!” I cried, and hugged her. I heard something in my brain click, and I hastily withdrew from the hug. ”Um, Aggie…” I said, “I might have gotten your shirt a little, well… more colorful…”
I knocked lightly on the door. “Hello? Is anyone home?” I call. Then, the door swung open. “AGGIE!” cried Zinc, who hugged me. Then, she hastily backed away. “Oops”, she said. “I might have just gotten your shirt a little, well…more colorful.” I look down to see splotches of paint in many vibrant colors across my shoulders, and I grin. “You know, I like it better this way”, I say. “It adds a bit more spice to the design, don’t you agree?” Lucy meowed and nudged her nose against a splotch of wet paint. It turns her pink button nose a lime green. I giggle and wipe the paint off. “Silly kitty”, I laugh. “You’re just full of mischief, aren’t you?” Then, I hand Zinc a bag of tomatoes from my garden. “I thought you and Leafy might enjoy some of these”, I say.
Hello peoples!
Ah. My bees are very excited today! I don’t know why, but I’ll find out! *starts investigating*
232- I sit in my back garden on a chaise lounge recliner, cuddling many cats on my lap and painting the beautiful sky. Suddenly, Lilly and Lucifer (2 new additions to my shelter) start climbing my head, mewling and hissing, and upsetting my elaborate updo.
“Kitties! Whatever is the matter???” All of a sudden, a pidgeon swoops low, nearly missing Lilly’s flailing paws. As he swoops up again, cooing worriedly, I notice the pretty backdrop of the sky on a flying pidgeon. Inspiration striking, I begin to paint, this time sketching a birdlike sillouhette…
Yarg. Aggie, I’m going to my grandmother’s house Wed. night, and she doesn’t have a computer. so I’m going to miss your party, unless you role play Leafy and myself.
“Oh! Toemahtoes! Loverly!” I say. “We get to have ketchup on our vegetarian burgers tonight! It drowns out the taste of tofu!” I made a face. Leafy came up to the door. “Aggie, I do believe going to rain. would you like to make a mad dash back to your house, or hole up here?” she said.
I row over to zinc’s.
238- Eh, never mind. The 30th is just fine. I doesn’t want anyone to miss it!
PARTY DATE IS BACK TO THE 30TH!
I looked out at the gloomy grey sky. “I think I’ll stay here a moment till the rain clears up”, I said. “If you guys don’t mind.” Lily meowed a few times, crouching into her basket and burrowing under the blanket. She didn’t like the rain. “Thanks, guys!” I hurried inside just as the sky opened and rain began to pour down in buckets.
OK! Change of date! *marks calendar*
Ooch! Rain! At least my garden will be happy……..
We had all went down for some hot chocolate when I heard someone rapping away at my door. I went over, and there was TMFA. “Could I come in?” he asked. “It’s kinda wet out!” I ushered him in, and we scattered around on the couches. Aggie had set a fire in the fireplace, so it was quite cozy. “Would anyone like to play Apples to Apples?” Leafygreen asked, pulling out our much used card game.
After finishing my painting of the pidgeon and picking some burrs out of Niel Diamond’s coat, I saddle up my horse Jolly’s (my actual horse, btw) and prepare to take a little trot around town.
I ride over throught to woods to Karinn Tayy’s treehouse. I tie the lead to a convenient tree, then make my way up to the door. *knock, knock, knock* Karinn answers.
“Hey, MissSwann! What’s up?”
“Oh, I just baked some Snickedoodle cookies, and wondered if you would like some. I have enough for Aggie’s party, and then some left over; I’m trying to watch my waistline, so I thought you might be pleased to munch on some!”
Karinn *takes cookies* Thanks! I would be delighted.
*rides over to oxlin’s place; similar exchange*
I am standing by the edge of the Gardens- I would much rather be under my dry willow, but I had received a mysterious letter, which had me very worried. “This rain couldn’t have had better timing,” I whisper. Rain is a glorious thing, perfect for dancing in, but today there was something sad about it. A tear rolled down my cheek, followed by another, and another. I hugged my self as the shower turned into a downpour- I was about to give up waiting when an orange stripped tom cat came trotting out of the gray, a whitish shape in his jaws. He came up to me, stared at me with those piercing eyes, and dropped the bundle at me feet- it was starting to stir. I picked up the rabbit and we walked slowly back the forest.
Meh… My sister’s rabbit died this morning… mine is really depressed now… The orange striped cat had been hanging around my yard last night when my mom told me she thought Princess might die soon. All the while we sat outside, the cat stayed half hidden… I don’t think my mom saw it. I had seen the cat earlier that night sitting on the side of the road where a neighbor found my orange cat, Bud, dead. Kind of creepy, right? The looked only slightly similar, but that there is story material. *plot forms in head* I will go cry now…
Um, MissSwann, it’s raining.
The rain was coming down even harder. I had brought out some s’mores. “Where’s Artemis?!” Leafy screamed suddenly. “Oh, lord, is she outside?!” Before I could answer, she had donned her raincoat and was outside. I picked up my clear umbrella and followed her out. She was running around, trying to find her kitten. “Leafy! Artemis is in the top branches of the tree!” I yelled to her. She ran over to the tree and started climbing. Halfway up the tree, her hood fell off her head, but she didn’t seem to notice. “She’s HARDCORE!” Aggie said behind me. She had reached Artemis, and put her in her hood. Then she climbed down. As she climbed the ladder to the door, I could see Artemis’ bedraggled and very wet liitle head peeping over the rim. When Leafy finally got to the top, Aggie cheered. “Poor thing, you’re going to need a barrel of conditioner after that!” I said. “Put a sock in it.” she grumbled, heading inside. We followed suit.
The rain had hit while I was in my garden, taking close-up pictures of my sunflowers. The bright yellow petals against the gray sky had been a very nice contrast.
I ran back into the house as fast as I could, afraid of getting my camera wet.
Safely in the entrance room, I realized it was feeding time.
I climbed the ladder to the top of the aquarium and threw in the bits of food, watching them slowly sink to the bottom of the cylindrical tank.
It would take the jellyfish a while to find the bits, having no eyes or brains (or much else), but I took the opportunity to sit back and watch them swim, faintly glowing green.
228- I would love to see a picture of Nelson. He sounds great for me
. I think a kitty might be better for me though.
I was outside, when it started to drizzle, and got harder and harder. “Lovely, rain!” I sit outside under a large Weeping Willow, small raindrops lightly landing on my head.
244) Oh yes! I LOVE that game!
[Do you mean 242? –Admin.]
I ducked back under my tree- the rain hadn’t let up at all since yesterday, but gotten worse! I flicked my wet bangs out of my eyes and looked around. I could just make out the swollen spring from where I stood, as the rain was coming down so hard you couldn’t see anything more than seven feet in front of you. I quickly shoved every thing that could float or be ruined by the water in to the little cupboard in the willow trunk, save a change of cloths and some odds and ends. Those I packed into a leather satchel, which I hastily slung across my back. The wind was picking up, and a flash of lighting lit up the whipping branches eerily- the thunder roared. I won’t be safe here, that’s certain, I thought to my self as I fastened my cloak. I ran out into the day as dark as dusk, I glancing back mournfully at my garden. All ready it was half flooded. Another flash of lightning brought me back to my senses, and I sprinted off.
The green card was “magical” so I put out “creamed corn.”
I ran a round checking every garden I saw, but either no one was home or they were sleeping. Even the tea salon was closed, much to my disappointment. I was soaked through and very cold by this point, rather missing the company of a friendly face. Just keep looking, Rawr,” I comforted myself. “You haven’t checked everywhere yet!”
250- *confused*
248) Oh. yes. tHankyou!
Magical hmmmmmm? Cows. Definately cows!
Lah, lah lah! Clean, clean, clean! *makes her house clean for the party on Saturday*
Has everyone who’s coming to my party on Saturday RSVP’d? So far my guest list is:
MissSwann
Zinc
Leafy
Beatlesrockr
kiwimuncher
KaiYves
Adeia
Beavo
RAWR
If you’d like to come, please do not hesitate to say so!
Lah laaaah de dah dum dum dum dah dummm! La laaah de dah dumdumdum daaaah! *pets Lily, who is curling up by the fire*
254- Isn’t your cat Lucy?
245- Perhaps I LIKE the rain! And my horse! (she loves the rain, stands out in thunderstorms like the big dippy that she is…)
I pick up my guitar, sitting on the side of the road with an umbrella. As always, a cat or two hovers nearby, mewling about the rain. I pluck out the chords for Girl, the Beatles. My hat is out in front of me; a small sign says ‘A Penny for Real-World shopping?’ A dollar in quarters already sits in it.
255- Why,yes! Sorry, I was confused and tired.
Gosh! We’ve had a LOT of rain at my house. 2 days straight of pouring actually. Yes! I shall surely be here! I’m actually glad it isn’t Friday, my sister is coming home that night and we’re going out to celebrate.
Can I join you Musers here? What should I do?
Sleeping in the basil. Digging meerkat-like tunnels in unused garden space. Growing tall grass or corn to practice lionessing. Hands in the soil. Daffydowndillies. Watching robins. A beautiful, big tree to read in and climb. Tomatoes. Chewing peppermint and basil. Meditating in the zucchini. Making the world more beautiful.
(260) Sounds delillylightful.
Roses. Rain. Wind. A lovely lack of house. Blue skies. Clouds. Cottonwood. Hummingbirds. Countless stars. Clear oxygen, clean air. Harmless little creatures. Songbirds. Crocuses in the snow. Cabbages. Spring air. Adventures. Friendship.
Moonbeams and make-believe. Tarragon. Red peppers. Imagination. Every color dotted into a sea of green.
I apologize for the double (triple, really) post, but it’s hard to paint such a simple, wonderful picture in only one sitting.
Sometimes multiposting serves a purpose. It certainly suits the topic — and the thread — to build slowly, like adding colors in layers. It’s also a pleasure to watch the description unfold as each new comment appears in the queue.
Sparrows. Nests. The smell of soil. Fuzzy lamb’s ear. Bumblebees. Chickadees. Cherry trees. Rabbits after dusk.
Aw, man, I really should go to bed… eh, well, tonight has been one of my more rewarding MuseBlog experiences, and I bid the Blog good night.
Wicker rocking chairs… falling asleep to the sound of chirping.
*pies* Have 20 pie points, Syllabub.
~~~
Scattered raindrops started to fall as I delivered the evening mail. By the time I finished, the rain was coming down steadily, so I found shelter under a nearby tree before opening my letter. Once I finished reading the invitation, I tucked it safely into my water-resistant bag and ventured out into the downpour, dancing towards Aggie’s place. I was soaked but still grinning when I arrived. “Hi, Aggie!” I called cheerfully. “Just wanted to let you know I’d love to come to your party! There are some lovely edible flowers blooming around my cave; I can make a salad from them for the party if you like. Well, see you soon!” Waving, I skipped off into the rain again.
As I was heading back, I noticed the Apples to Apples players and changed my mind about going home immediately. “Hi! Mind if I join?” I asked as I approached.
~~~
I don’t know if I’ll be online on the 30th; if not, someone else can control Eta. Wonderful post series, by the way, THF!
266-Thanks!!!!
Yesterday’s spiderwebs covered in dew. Morning glories. The sound of the crocuses. Butter cups and daisies. The scent of dew on flowers. The waking silence of the morning.
Biting into a ripe tomato. A fish pond with water lilies. Squirrels scampering across branches. Lupine and heather. Little twisting vines. Crawling about the garden. Watching flowers bloom.
Yay! Eccentric’s coming!
Sorry, Apples to Apples people, I’ve got to go home to get ready for my party tomorrow. *runs home to clean*
Will someone please tell me how to join this thread?
“Nope!” I said cheerfully to Eta. “Join us! We’ve nothing to lose!”
270- Simple- just create a magnificent garden!
I keep on sloshing in my search for somewhere warm and dry, when I see a light! Zinc and Leafy are, in fact, home! I slosh down the path with renewed vigor, and knock on the door to the colorful cone. “May I join, too?”
I’m sorry, but doesn’t this seem a bit too much like “society”? You’re all having parties and playing games, when the base of the whole thead is on “bah. I’m sick of society.”. That just seems a bit weird to me.
270 – Syllabub, you really should read the HG2MB again. (That won’t give you the answer, RAWR already did, just read it)
273- Actually, I think we’re having a whole new fresh start on society with everyone being nice to each other and friends helping friends. And I like it this way.
“Oh, sure, c’mon in!” Leafy chirped, and RAWR came in. I announced to everyone that I was going to the studio, and everyone who wishes to join me may come too.
I think I may downsize my house a bit. It’s a bit too.. loud. It is now a tree with a painted trunk with little rooms scattered around the branches, and you still have to use a ladder. It isn’t very tall. There are two gardens: one on the ground, one supported by the top branches. Please, the cone is gone. It’s too… attention- seeking. You climb around the branches to get to the rooms, and the room we are currently in is the closest to the ground.
274 – But it’s still society. Utopia is impossible, and although complete avoidance of society is not my ideal life, I thought the idea of this thread was to get away from it all. Visit a friend, have some home-grown and home-brewed tea, and go back to your garden. It seems a bit to busy here, but that’s totally my opinion.
I was confused by how very much like society this was considering the founders were trying to get away from it. However, that isn’t to say this is bad in any way. I feel the only true way to quietly spend time in a garden is to do just that, quietly spend time in a garden. Wait, let me clarify that: I mean a real garden, if that wasn’t clear
Red-tailed HAWK
True. BUt it is hard to stay away from society when simply posting is taking part in society. Staying isolated would be quite difficult.
*green card is drawn*
SHINY.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Let’s see…….. Oooo! I know!
George W Bush! 
Refering to the top of his head that is……..
“Shiny? Hmm… Who’s the judge?” I review my deck.
275- I think the whole point of this place is so that we can spend some time to get away from the nagging and unappreciative views of society and to get to know one another better in a place where people truly accept us for who we are. And really, we are getting away from it all. We’re just doing it together. We can still look up at the stars and think about the world where there are people close by who care about you. Nobody can ever fully leave behind a society. We’re merely living together in a safer place. Society is demanding, harsh and structured. Here, we play by our own rules and we can do whatever we want to do without the limits of everyday life to hold us back. That, I believe, is the entire purpose of this thread. So, who wants cinnamon buns?
Cinnamon buns? Really? That’s my favorite smell………
hi!
i live in a smallish corrage made of mud bricks and thach. there is an ajoining barn of baout equal size nut is about 4 feet lower. it is all overflowing with cats and other animals . there is a well watered clearing in front of the house with plants not in rows but in blocks. i have tomatoes,beans,pumpkins,watemelon,strawberries rasberries,blueberries,cucumbers,zuchiini,corn,garlic,onions,etc,etc,…
there is also a patch thas has herbs and a little stream running thru it. it is right next to the house and there is a huge ginko tree (several hundred years old)that is excellent for climbing and provides shade for the house.
the surrounding woods are peppered with ancient fruit trees of many varietys. i am fairly self sufficient.
the stream in the herb garen widens about 2oo yards from my house to form a pool that is good for swimming and ice skating and catching salmon. (my main source of protein ,along with eggs and dairy products)
there is a herd of 16 cows that provies dairy for me and lots of wxtra to sell.
theres more but i have to go do some stuff in the real world.
I would rather like it if Leafy and I went to sleep. You all either went back home or slept on a couch. Oh yes, the living room looks a lot like the Gryffindor common room. Except it has art everywhere!
Yay, today is Aggie’s sleepover! I’m afraid that I only might be able to attend; sleeping over at a friend’s house tonight. But she has a computer in her room, so I may be able to pop in!!!!
I looked out the window. The stormed seemed to have finally passed. “I suppose I should go home and see what’s left of my tree. Good bye! Thanks for letting me play!” I scramble down the trunk, not trusting ladders. *waves at people above* I shrug my traveling cloak farther up my shoulders, and skip off through the mud.
On my way, I pass marfwarrior’s barn. “Say marfwarrior! I’ll trade you…” *searches pocket* “Some sweet dream tea leaves for a bottle of milk!” I call to the distant figure amongst the cows.
I groggily got up, after some violent shakings by Leafygreen. “Wow, you’re up early!” I yawned to her. “I usually have to do that to you! What gives?” I looked at her urgent facial expression, and jumped off. “Whatsa matter?” I ask her. “The high garden!” she said. “Come see!” We raced up a tree branch to the garden, and I was still in my pajamas. “Oh no…” I breathed. Garden had been turned to mud, and it was splattered all over the tree. It was dripping onto the roof of the studio, and my bare feet were coated in it. “What’ll we do?” Leafy asked me worriedly. “I don’t know.” I said. She sighed, and we climbed back down to our living space. I put on a green cargo skirt and my turqouise “Brains Not Bombs” shirt. Then I pulled on my boots, slung my bag over my shoulder, and went down the trunk. I landed with a thump on the dewy grass and called up to Leafy, “I’m going to take a walk! Be back soon!” She nodded and waved, and I started down the beach. I picked up odd pieces of driftwood for building purposes and any seashell I could find. I then saw something amber floating out on the waves. I pulled off my boots, hoisted my skirt up, and went to go get it. It was pretty far out, as the hem of my skirt got soaked, but I eventually got it and went back to shore. I pulled on my boots, and opened the bottle. There was a paper inside! I scrolled the paper eagerly, only to find an ad. I grumbled, and continued down the beach. I would turn around at Aggie’s house.
After making my house a tree, it only has three rooms. The living room, the studio, and our living space. The tree is not super tall; the rooms are all really close to each other. The studio is the highest, and the living room is the shortest.
The storm had finally passed, and I took the opportunity to check the rain gauge in my garden, while picking rasberries for the party.
6 inches. That’s a lot. I wrote the figure down in my notebook.
Hmmm… Aggie’s party is tonight. I thought. It will be very clear, and we’ll probably be able to see the stars very well. And it’s spawning season, so there’ll be lots of the glowy-but-nonstinging-jellyfish in the water!
With the rasberries and weather instruments taken care of,
I decided to go beachcombing. The storm might have washed up sea glass for my collection!
Picking up a purple bit, I saw Zinc and Leafygreen walking by and greeted them.
284- “ooh. i could use a cup of tea right now. let me get the milk out of the cellar.” i ran inside and picked up one of those old fasioned quart size glass milkbottles.i trotted back outside and handed it to RAWR,who passed me a small packet of leaves. i thanked en and went to finish the milking. i let the cows out to graze and went in to the woods and scrambled up a towering oak to see if there was anything going on in town today. i could barley see the square but there were a lot of people out. i loaded my cart with milk and fresh produce and hitvhed up my donkey,so we could go sell stuff.
Eh? Leafy’s in the studio!
Sorry, mistake.
The storm finally passed, and I come out from under the tree. “Nessa, time for another bath!” The enormous dog came, leaped onto me, and slobbered all over my face. She smelled like wet dog, but also like fresh rain, aaaaaand lots of flowers, especially Jasmine. She had been running through the garden. Again.”Never mind the bath.” I say while sighing. I go inside to bake a cake and scones for the sleepover, a delicious smell coming out from the window.
(later)
I leave the cake to sit. I run outside, and quickly take photos of my bearded irises and roses, which were sparkling with the diamond raindrops, and they looked beautiful. I prance happily over to my tree, the one that looked like a Weeping Willow, but almost triple the size. It had flowers like Silverbells trees, and smelled like Freesia. It had raindrops on the leaves, so in the sunlight, it was sparkling. I take a deep breath, perfect.
S’okay, Kai.
Kai had walked over and said hi. “Well, olleh to you too!” I said cheerfully. “Have you found anything?” she asked. “I’ve found seashells, driftwood, and a message in a bottle.” She seemed intruiged by the message at first, but when I showed it to her her face showed the disappointment I had felt. I offered her the bottle and she cheerfully excepted it, and I went back to the studio to help Leafy make the new clothes for Aggie’s party.
“Only an hour till the party starts!” I say to Lucy, who rubs up against my leg and purrs. I pick her up and put her in her basket on the back porch. She falls asleep, content to rest until the guests arrive. I proceed to run down the path and pick some fresh goods from my garden. I then go into my kitchen and put all the fresh fruits in a bowl and slice the vegetables for a salad. I dump a few bags of chips, popcorn, peanuts and other tasty treats into wooden bowls I made, then I scurry them outside onto the beach, where a long table lines with comfy cushioned chairs is set up for the party. I place these treats down the middle. Making sure that everything is nice outdoors and that no wind can blow over the bowls, I dash inside again. Lucy is oblivious to all the bustle around her, sleeping peacefull by the doorway.
I finish cooking all of the dishes for dinner, and set my fresh pies on the long windowsill to cool. “Apple, blueberry, cherry, lemon merengue, pumpkin, and boysenberry”, I say to myself as I count them. I wasn’t worried. If the pies ran out, I had more in the pantry. These pies, however, were for eating and not throwing. I ran upstairs to the landing on the second floor and reach into the small space where the wall and the bedroom meet. I pick up the ten fluffy sleeping bags and place them by the front door, so that my guests can pick theirs out when they walk through the house at six o’ clock. I bustled back upstairs, tied my hair back in a loopy ponytail, and pull my blue cotton dress with the flowy skirt (which I made myself from cloth I weaved on my loom). Then, I sat there, waitng and reading my book. The sound of the waves calmed me. I was ready to relax.
Leafy and I had finished our clothes, and were pulling them on. Leafy had on a medium sleeved blue shirt and a white skirt with little purple flowers on the hem. She also had a flower in her hair. I, on the other hand, had on a lime green tank top over a white blouse and just some blue denim jeans. I had my hair in it’s normal color today, as did Leafy. Leafy’s eyes were a cheerful color of bright blue as we knocked on Aggie’s door. “Olleh, Aggie! We were wondering if you needed any help setting up!” I chirped when Aggie opened the door.
*arrives* Yay! Party time!
I think……. has it started yet? I don’t know what time it is where Agrrrfishi is……… Anyway! Yay! I brought pie! (for EATING) and fresh peaches! Yum!
“Yay!” I cired, opening the door to a smiling Zinc and Leafy. “The first guests of the eevning have arrived! I like your outfits!”
“Tahnks”, they replied in unison.
“Here, grab a sleeping bag and take a seat out at the table on the beach. I’ll be out in a mo’. Just got to greet the other guests!”
“Sounds great”, said Leafy, hoisting a lime colored sleeping back over her shoulder. “Do you need any help setting up?”
“Oh no, I’m all ready!” I said cheerfully.
“Great”, said Zinc, who walked out the screen door. She spotted Lucy looking up at her with big blue eyes. “Aww!” she exclaimed,reaching down to pet her.
Then, there was another knock. “Kiwimuncher!” I cried, opening the door.
“Hi Aggie!” she exclaimed. “Here, I brought pie and some peaches”, she said, handing them to me.
“Thanks!” I said happily, taking the goodies. “You can grab a sleeping bag and join Zinc and Leafy on the beach. I’ll be back in a second, just got to greet the others when they come!”
“Okay”, she said, skipping out the back door and onto the beach, where Zinc and Leafy were entertaining Lucy with a piece of yarn.
It’s finally time for the party! I take out the cake, scones, and a huge bag. After that I slip on a pale orange t-shirt with the words “Work never killed anyone, but why take a chance?” on the back in blue, and camo shorts. As I run out the door, I plop on a baseball cap, grab my duffel bag, and call Nessa. We walk to Aggie’s house and ring the doorbell.
Beatlesrockr arrived with a cake, some scones, and her dog Nessa, a large dog with just as big of a smile. I happily took the cake and scones from Beatlesrockr. “This will be great to have with dessert!” I exclaimed, admiring the fancy cake and buttercream icing. “My favorite! Blueberry scones,too!”
“And apple and banana and lust plain ones,too”, she added. Nessa gave a loud bark and wagged her tail. I sent them onto the beach with everyone else, who had changed into their bathing suits and were playing in the water and on the sand nearby.
I knocked on the door and greeted Aggie, showing her the rasberries I had brought.
“Thanks, these will be delicious!” she said.
“You’re welcome. Oooh, scones! I’ll have some of those after I swim!” I said, hurrying to the beach.
I rolled up my jeans and waded into the water. Splashing a little, I went over to a small sandbar. I rolled up my sleeves and climbed onto it. I sat down, looking at the setting sun and the brilliant orange and pink clouds. The fireflies would becoming out soon, and the lanterns would be lit. “What a great place…” I murmered to myself.
I scurried outside, carrying trays of food and setting out a buffet at another table nearby the one where everyone was soon to be seated. Then, I uncovered the trays. Veggie burgers,Caesar salad with homeade dressing,flatbread and Italian baguettes, pasta and Ciderfruits. I laid plates at everyone’s seats and then lit tiki torches all around the beach as the sun slowly set in the distance. Then, I rang a bell. “Come and get it!” I cried. (I’m just imposing that everyone else is already here.)
Doggie! *adores Nessa*
Ooooooooooo! fireflies! I have a wonderful idea! *gets glass jar* *starts catching fireflies* Wow! THey’re everywhere! I’ll have a hwol jar in no time!
300) Oooooooooo! How scrumptious! *munches on Ciderfruit*
I came back from the sandbar to partake in some deeeelishous shrimps and onion rings and strawberries. I got some cranberry juice and palanced it on my hands as I went over to a lantern. I started singing, quietly, to myself. Leafy came over and we took turns singing.
After the end of one of Zinc’s songs, I ask for someone to turn out the lanturns. I turn immediately to my jar of fireflies as the light go out, all except for the flickering insects. I deftly fling the top off of the jar. THe insects pour out the the jar in droves, filling the air around us with little flickering lights. How pretty!
I watch the fireflies happily, prodding one with a finger as they fill the dark area around us with bright flickering lights. Lucy bats her paws in the air and tries to catch one, then, when she discovers she can’t, she nuzzles up by Nessa who has already curled up asleep at Beatlesrockr’s feet. I munched shrimp, as they are my favorite seafood, and place some more scallops on my plate. They are also delicious.
“Can we start a bonfire?” Leafy chirped.
273-Why should I read it again? Am I doing something wrong
(Sorry for not really doing anything that has to do with this thread)
“Sure!” I replied, striking up one in the nearby fire pit.
I swam back to shore, dried off and headed over to the bonfire. I like looking at fire, for some weird reason.
“Aaaaaahhh…” I sighed, feeling the warmth of the fire envelope me. I jerked my head up. Something was wrong. I could feel the tension in the air.
Yep, that last bit was from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
“Hi, mind if I join the bonfire?”
RK walked up the beach and noticed our party. She walked over and asked if she could join. “Sure!” I grinned happily. “The more, the merrier!” I handed around a bag. “Who wants to roast marshmallows?” There were cheers of joy as people grabbed marshmallows from a bag and grabbed some roasting sticks.
Soon Tokyo joined us.
((( sorry couldn’t thnk of much is tired)))
Marshmellow time!
*roasts marshmellow*
Whee! I love marshmallows!
“Uh, mine caught on fire”, I say, trying to put out the flaming lump of molten mallow with a gust of breath. It extinguishes, and leaved a black bunpy crust over what had previously been a browning marshmallow.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get it next time”, said KaiYves, grinning and holding up her perfectly toasted marshmallow with lacy brown edges. Kiwimuncher did the same. They both munched on the marshmallows contentedly.
“Let’s sing campfire songs!” cried Zinc, who pulled a guitar out of nowhere in particular and began to strum it.
I sang, and strummed the guitar, “This is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, some people STARTED singing it, not knowing what it was, and now they are still singing it because because because this is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my-” “Zinc! Shut up!” Leafy said. “Campfire songs, Zinc, CAMPFIRE songs!” Aggie said. I rolled my eyes and started singing Green Trees. “Green trees surrond us, blue skies above, friends all around us, in a world filled with love, Taps sounding softly, hearts beating true, as we all sing, good night to you.” Then I began Taps. “Day is done, gone the sun, from the lakes, from the hills, from the skies, all is well, safely rest, God is nigh.” Then I finished with Canadian Taps. “Come we all, say goodnight, as the shadows still cling to the edge of night, with each burning dying ember there are friendships remember as we sing, one last goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.”
Those are Girl Scout songs, usually sung at the summer camp I go to. I can sing the camp song, but that features the camp name and I can’t spell the camp name, and probably too much per. info.
I smiled and hummed along as Zinc strummed the guitar. Lucy padded up and meowed, nudging my hand with her nose. Giggling, I patted her on the head, and she lay contentedly at my side. Then, I had another idea. I saw that the fire was dying into glowing embers, so I suggested, “Has anyone ever gone swimming at night?” Some people nodded, and others shook their heads. “We should”, I said. “The water is always warmer at night, and we can go all the way out to the island. The glowing harmless jellyfish will light the way there.”
Zinc and Leafy whooped, and ran to change into their bathing suits. The others followed after. I went and put on my own sensible blue bathing suits and went down to the water, where Zinc, Leafy, kiwimuncher, and MissSwann already stood ready to swim. We got in the water.
“Ooh, it’s like a jacuzzi!” said Leafy in delight, watching the jellyfish send water in little clods as they raced one another across the surface of the water. Nessa and Beatlesrockr came bustling down the beach. Nesa, the giant dog, leapt into the water and swam around in circles.
AH! I am so sorry… My friend invited me to a Bullwinkles, and then to spend the night, and me being forgetful, I accepted… Of course, with my bad timing, I remembered that I was supposed to be at another sleep over just as we were pulling into the parking lot… I would bang my head on the desk in self punishment, but it already hurts a lot from banging it on a light pole in self punishment.
287- “Thank you! I just love milk! It’s so delicious…”*skips off*
I started to return to the willow, when I remembered Agrrrifishi’s party. I rushed off as fast as I could, but I still got there a day late… everyone was sleeping. Feeling bad, I decided to clean the beach while I waited. Of course, with everyone loving the environment, the garbage was mostly marshmallows that had been accidentally dropped to their sandy ruin.
“Ya know, I once went in a jacuzzi that had rainbow lighting! It rocked!” I said before diving down, looking through my goggles at the ocean floor.
318- It’s not over yet. Join in, feel free! The fun’s still in full swing!
I folowed after Zinc, wearing my fins. I swam past a jellyfish and giggled as the purple mass flapped its many tentacles.
I spotted a wooden corner of… something sticking out of the ocean floor. I gestured to Aggie, and she looked down.
Zinc pointed to the wooden corner of something protruding from the sand at the bottom of the ocean. I looked down, and flapped my fins so that I could quickly reach the object. I pulled it from the sand and rose with a fervent flapping of my fins. Spuutering and gasping, I emerged from the water. I waded over to Zinc.
“What do you think it is?” she asked. I was holding a small box, about the size of a thick book, with intricate markings all over the top of it. I fingered it gently, then noticed a clasp.
“Hey! It oens!” I said, and, with a finger, I slip the clasp away and opened the box lid.
“It’s a journal!” I exclaimed.
“Wow!” I said. Kiwimucher and Leafy hurried over.
“What’s that?” asked kiwimuncher.
“It seems to be some sort of journal”, I replied, flipping through the pages. “But…I can’t read any of it! it’s in some sort of ancient dialect.”
“Can I see it?” asked Leafy. I handed her the journal. She stared at the pages, and then began to read. I was amazed and impressed.
“What does it say?”
324- I’ve got nothing, Aggie.
“Long ago, I lived here”, recited Leafy, her green eyes scamnning the page. “It was a beautiful hillside. The cherry blossoms bloomed like wild fire across the hills. I lived a solitary day, back to the age of Men. There was peace among us. The river Uman with this lake Shesti, provided us with the means of nourishment and cool pleasure when the sun grew into the house of Mya.”
I smiled. It was a beautiful story. “Keep going”, urged Zinc.
320- Yay! Thank you!
“Oh,” said I, who was standing next to everyone. “What a pretty image.” My eyes glazed over as the story wove a dream like sequence through my mind.
Standing with the others, I listened to the story.
Soon, Leafy’s story had caught me too. I stood still and listened.
Leafy read on as we watched and listened.
“Peace overwhelmed the valleys and hills, and prospered until the dawn of Moriar. Then, the attack fell upon our city.
Peace and harmony was overfallen by enemies who befell the territory, stealing from our wares and plundering our homes. This betral befell from the heart of Men, the twisted evil that overcame the many citizens of this great land.”
Leafy closed the book with a shudder. “Promise that never happens to our community!” she cried.
“I know”, I said. “That was not a happy ending.”
“I wonder why the writer left it here, of all places?” inquired RAWR.
330- Oh, how poetic!!!! Maybe the author had some sort of past here?
“Hmm… Maybe they left something else…” I dove down under water, gently sifting through the sand.
332- I pull a kitten out of my purse, then hold the paper up to her.
“Here, putten, find more artifacts!” She mewls adorably, then dives onto the ground, shooting sand into RAWR’s face as she digs.
How loverly! Archeological digs! *gets shovel*
“Ah! Sand!” I sputter, quickly ducking back under water.
Taking a cue from videos I had seen of divers working on shipwrecks, I took a deep breath and fanned my hand over the sand on the bottom, “blowing” a little away. Something began to appear…
Igasped as spomething emerged from the ground. “It’s a sword!” I cried. RAWR brought it back to the surface, and it gleamed in the torchlight.
“Look, there’s something engraved on it!” said Kai Yves. Words appeared on the sword’s surface as we looked on.
I pull RAWR up by the scruff of the neck, wiping his clothes with a small towel (again, from my purse).
“Oh, I’m so sorry! She can just be a wee bit rambunctious…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~back to the sword~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I lean closer to the appearing words, trying to make them out.
“It’s hard to read, it’s all flourished, like Paul’s signature…”
And it says………. *squints* Why can’t I see? Oh. Maybe it’s the sand in my eyes. *cleans lenses*
((Ehm, someone wanna decide what the sword says?))
Leafy read it. “Expect the Unexpected.” “‘Expect the Unexpected’?! What the heck?! I’ve known that saying since I was, like, THREE!” I said incredously.
338- I’m a girl
“Hmm… Well, we won’t know what it means if we think about it, I suppose. But, ahhg! This is going to torture me.”
“Don’t think too hard.” Leafy whispered to me. “You’ll hurt yourself.” I slugged her in the arm.
“expect the unexpected?” I think I got that on a fortune cookie at a Chinese restaurant once………….
Back to the sand.
I dove underwater, seeing if there was anything else. I saw something shiny poking out of the sand. Maybe a shield to go with the sword?
I came back up. “How’s that for unexpected?”
“I got the weirdest fortune cookie in the world once. It said “Man who goes to sleep with itchy butt, wakes up with dirty fingers.” I mean, GROSS!” I made a face. “Hey, can I see the sword? I could prolly tell when it was made. Lets see…” she took a long, hard look at it. “I’d say it’s a side-sword. From around 1450 – 1700. I wonder how it ended up here. It’s from Europe.”
Completely off the plot, but I think I now where we live. We live in a geography terms poster on my Core teacher’s wall. It has all these different stuff like plateau, waterfall, river, volcano, strait, wetland, mountain, glacier, ocean, jungle, plain, forest, coral reef, island, lake, and more stuff I can’t remember. I want to live there real bad.
347- I always wanted to live in one of those posters.
347- My teacher has the same exact poster. I always tried to imagine living in a place like that. Even now I still can’t.
342- Oh, really? Oh, now I’m mortified… I ALWAYS guess genders wrong!!!
Sorry!!!!!!!
347- 6th grade teacher had that poster. Is that some sort of an international teacher poster that all teachers must have???
Oooooooooooooooo! Purty shield! It’s a little rusty around the edges! *cleans*
“You know,” I said “I could go back to my house and get some scuba gear and dive lights if you want. Maybe there’s a whole wreck here.”
352- I clap my hands together excitedly.
“Yes! Twill be splendid, scuba-ing at this hour!”
“That’d be nice. A little adventure, no?” I grabbed a scone and stuff it into my mouth. While we wait for KaiYves to come back with the gear, we talk excitedly. “What do you think we’ll find?”
I think I’d better tend to my bees and garden before I go on an adventure!
*Runs to tend really quick*
I gathered equipment for the others.
“Let’s see, the water’s warm, we don’t need wetsuits. Just wearing the buoyancy vests over our swimsuits should be enough. Tanks… lights… masks… fins… regulators… cameras… slates…that looks like everything. Too bad I don’t have any of those hand-held metal detectors.”
“Okay, three very important rules of scuba diving:
Rule number one: never hold your breath. Air will be continuously flowing from your mouthpiece, so just keep breathing freely.
Rule number two: we’re near the reef, so don’t touch the coral or the fish. They’re sensitive.
Rule number three: if you feel pain in your ears, hold your nose and swallow, like you would on a plane.
Don’t try to talk underwater, sound doesn’t carry very well. You can use hand signals to communicate or write on your dive slate.
Got it? Good, let’s go!”
I waded in, and when the water got deep enough, I dived. I swam like I never did back home, before I came here. It was an odd, graceful water dance, with twirling horizontily and vertically and diving up and down. No one seemed to object, so I closed my eyes and swam away. WHAM! I hit my head a gainst a big stone wall.
357 – I first read that as “I waded in, and when the water got deep enough, I died.”
358- When first read that, I thought I had somehow mistyped.
359 – I like my way better.
I dove in after Zinc, flipping my fins despite my sore feet (curse you, swim practice!!!). I saw her hit her head on a stone wall. Rather, a stone tablet. I signaled to Kai Yves as if to say, ‘Come look at this!’ She swam over and brushed off the tablet. I helped. We saw an enormous slab of stone covered in the same writing as had been in the book and shield. Beyond it were more tablets, and what looked like….a pillar? I swam upwards, out of the deep water. KaiYves, Zinc, and kiwimuncher followed.
“What is that?” I asked, tring to stay afloat.
“It looks like some sort of wall!” exclaimed Zinc, rubbing her head.
“Maybe we’ve discovered a city or something”, I mused.
“Let’s go back and check it out”, said kiwimuncher. We swam back down to see RAWR examining a pillar. There were about ten more, all going left, as far as I could tell.
While everyone else was examining the walls, I swam up to see what was inside them. I reached the top of a wall, and swam over it.
The pillars weren’t Egyptian, or Classical, or any other style of architecture I was familiar with.
“Follow the collumns?” I wrote on my slate, and held it up.
I looked around. The water was surprisingly clear. I swam around, and decided to take a look inside. So I swam over the wall, and found a deep pit. wow I thought in my mind, how did that get here?
361) You have FINS?!
Like a fish?!
364) PIT?! Awesomely awesome!
I wonder how deep it is? Le’ts try it!
“just keep swimming. Just keep smwimming! Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…..”
365- You’re an alter ego. Kiwimuncher?
365- Swim fins. Non-divers call them flippers.
I nodded to kaiYves, giving a thumbs-up in her direction. We swam off, following the pillars. As we went, the water got deeper and deeper, and the pillars began to slant downwards. We swam further, and suddenly the pillars were gone. No more in front or in back of us. Instead, we were floating by a wall I pointed upwards. Kai nodded. We swam up and over the wall. I gasped, choking and sputtering and swallowing a mouthful of water as I did so.
‘Wow’, Kai wrote. I nodded.
In front of us was an underwater battleground, littered with small shrunken skeletons and swords, shields and bows and arrows.
350- That’s okay
I peeked up over the wall as well. My eyes widened in shock- “Amazing!” I scribbled.
365) What?! You try to guess me?! The hurt!
368)
Oh dear. I can’t be exposed to such graphic scenes. *covers eyes*
370- You aren’t an alter ego?
Are you a neophyte or has someone changed their name? *confused*
I was looking at some sort of golden temple, honoring a wise looking, beautiful goddess. She looks like Athena… I thought to myself. Maybe this is Atlantis…
((We can explore ruins, but let’s not have anything jump out at us. Remember the purpose of this RPG.))
The legendary Island of Atlas. I thought to myself. It wouldn’t be around here would it? I swam after Aggie, and my eyes widened. It looked like the Trojan War had taken place right there. I pick up an arrow and study it carefully. No. Not old enough to have been Atlantis, which would probably be around 9,000-10,000 BC. I took a long hard look at one of the skeletons. ‘WOW!’ I wrote on my slate, ‘It’s African!’ I pick up a sword. ‘Yup, definitely African.’ I had a puzzled look on my face. African skeletons, and an European sword. How odd.
That was odd. This stuff was ancient, from way before the global era, but here were European swords, African spears, Greek statues, and collumns that were from who knows where.
I checked my gauge. Still plenty of air. That was good.
“This is strange”, I wrote. “What’s with all of these mixed ruins? It’s as though there were many battles here, not just the ones we read about.”
“Yeah”, replied KaiYves. “Hey, look over there!” She pointed to an atrium-like entrance where Zinc was floating and looking at the statue of a tall woman. We swam over. I cringed at a dead skeleton that seemed to be beckoning toward me, and cringed. It was only a reminder that perfection could be broken in the strangest moments and places. but this was the past. My beautiful sanctuary was all the present now.
The statue held a sculpted scroll in one hand and a conch shell in the other. Her eyes had been carved without pupils, which looked very otherworldly.
Probably portraying a goddess. I thought.
372- This ain’t a wishy-washy RPG. This be a hardcore DAYDREAM!
I had been inclined toward archeology before I discovered the joy of art, so I swam toward the statue for a closer look. Look at the intricate details on the fold of the skirt, I thought to myself. This is were my two passions become one. And look at the accuracy of the eyes, and the tremendous care the sculptor took on the- is that a pulley? I swam over to the pulley, and followed it up. It led to the pupiless right eye. I pushed the iris, and it fell away.
371) Yes. I’m an alter ego. *sigh* ACtually, I was joking around on 370, but I forgot to put the smilie. Online conversation is quite different then real talking.
377)
Oh no! the eye is broken. 
*follows Zinc* OMG! There’s a dark nothingness behind the eye! 
Should we investigate?
378- You’re Kiwimuncher. Nobody but Kiwi formats their posts like that.
I gestured to the others. They swam up. I wrote on my slate, Anyone have a flashlight?
I handed my dive light to Zinc, who shone it into the space inside the statue.
The light shone in, and I saw a platform. It looked like it could carry all of us down to the feet. I wrote The whole statue’s hollow. There’s a platform that can carry us down. I clambered into the platform, and Leafy followed. Well, don’t be chickens! Climb in! she wrote.
I hesitated. Diving in places where you cannot directly reach the surface was a certification I’d never gotten, and for a reason. It wasn’t claustrophobia, as many people assumed. It was the nightmares I’d had ever since I was small of being trapped underwater without a way to reach the surface and running out of air.
“Go without me. I’ll join the group at the pit.” I wrote.
I dove into the statue, following Leafy.
379) OMG! Is that it? Is that why everyone n the alter Ego thread can always guess who I am?
Revelation!
Wowsers! This statue is awfully dark……. *turns on flashlight* Ah! There we go!
*gasp* Instantly, something appears out of the gloom………
384- You use a lot of smileys, and have a distinctively enthusiastic style with a great many exclamation points. That’s how I tell, generally.
(384, 385) Ecstatic references to cheese are often in evidence as well.
385) Really? I’d never noticed before……. I do like smilies…..
386) Yes! Oh yes! Cheese is the most wonderful of all foods, next to chocolate of course. That reminds me…… I’ve been trying too not eat as much chocolate because I’ve always eaten a lot of it and so I hadn’t eaten any for a LONG time until yesterday when I randomly ate a whole bag of M&Ms. And I got so hyper that I had to run circles around my Mom’s classroom. Definately an overdose of caffiene……
(Ooh! A hollow statue in my backyard lake! Could things get any cooler/weirder?)
“What’s that thing appearing out of the darkness?” I scribbled.
“Uh oh”, wrote RAWR.
But it was just a fish appearing out of the gloomy blackness. As we came to a rest at the bottom of whatever shaft we were going down, I saw that there were even more of these strange creatures. They were all very short, fat, and had glowing gren eyes and puffery lips. Their scales had a pinkish hue.
“I think we’ve discovered a new breed of fish!” I wrote happily.
“Cool!” said kiwimuncher.
“I’ll draw it”, offered Leafy. She made a rough sketch of the fish on the board she carried.
“We should look around some more”, i wrote, and gestured over my shoulder to continue into the gloomy blackness. The glowing eyes of the group of fish wandered after us as we swam by them. Zinc carried the light in front of us, and it glowed dimly around the cavernous space we inhabited.
There is no such thing as the weirdest. There is always something weirder.
I stepped on the platform, and some others followed. I had noticed the statues head had touched the ceiling, so I pulled up. When it couldn’t go up any higher, I looked up. It was just a ceiling. Or was it? I started feeling around.
Dead thread. Deeeeead thread.
390- nooooooooooooooooooooooo!
I do suppose I’m killing it. I’m sowwy.
Here I am to save the day!
I swam up next to Zinc, doing the same thing she was. I found a weak spot, and kicked it open. I ducked my head in, and was surprised to feel that this was an air pocket.
I’m sorry.
I haven’t been able to come on as much as I used to cause of school. But it’s like for all the threads. 
393) An air pocket?! Fascinating! Curious, I swim up and stick my head into the air pocket. I breathe deeply in the air. It’s kind of musty. Inclosed, you know? Like it hasn’t seen fresh air form a while. There is a small ledge in front of me and I hoist myself up. Hey, could someone bring a light? It’s awefully dark up here……
Zinc hoists the light up to me and I immediately see a light switch on the wall in front of me. Could it possibly still work?
I tentatively flip the switch and the room is instantly illuminated, revealing……. *gasp* A BOWLING ALLEY! 
How?! What?! This is amazing!
I move far, far away to near where Jadestone is (post 152). There is too much activity for me. All I want is my cottage with a few friends.
I think we have moved away from the quiet little cabin in the woods that this started as.
“Wow!” I write excitedly. A bowling alley in an underwater air pocket underneath a statue in a lost underwater city where there was a great battle and a journal in the lake behind my house! This was so amazing!
“Anyone want to play a few rounds?” I ask excitedly.
uh. I don’t think most of you are actually being reclusive anymore.
399- What do you mean by that…?
“Er, no.” I said to Aggie. “I can’t bowl.” I looked around the attic. There must be something in here besides the bowling alley. I glanced at the opposite wall, and gasped in astonishment. Blocks of granite, sealed jars of paint, and stretched canvas were piled as high as the ceiling. I moved forward, as if in a trance, to see if the bountiful mountain of art supplies was real. It was.
Hey, new thread… please…?
[With pleasure. –Admin.]