This online daydream started with a comment by oxlin:
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.
Where would you rather be right now?
Continued from Part One.
Thanks, GAPAs! So, we’re in the attic? Awesomeness.
Er….
Dang, writer’s block. I’ll come back later.
Soooo….
Can anyone join this thread?
What’s going on right now?
(2) Read the beginning of the original thread to get the underlying idea. From there, residents are free to find their own way as long as they respect their neighbors and keep to the spirit of the community’s roots.
Hmm. So I should create a house? OK then, my house has a giant library.
I have six cats and a giant fish tank with 47 fish in it (it’s in my bedroom). I have a huge garden with a waterfall in it and a gigantic fountain. An entire floor of my 3-story house is devoted to my extensive library. It looks exactly like the one in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, since I’ve wanted that library since I saw the movie. I have my own little mountain to climb whenever I want to (yes, all this stuff will be shared with everyone who wants to share it) and I have an awesome art studio and a whole bunch of other stuff. I’ll finish writing tomorrow. It’s dinner time (6:30, not 5:30, cause I’m on Eastern Time).
4- Whoawhoawhoa. Slow down. There is already a library and me and Leafygreen have the art studio. Do’t infringe on our territory!
(5) Zinc, almost everyone here has a library, and many of us have art studios. The more the merrier.
6- Oh.
Um, peoples, please post?
I would like to be on the beach with a nice book and sunshine.
I’d live in a giant chocolate statue of a penguin. ‘Cept it would get really hot and melt, and then I’d have a suspiciously sticky swimming pool.
“Hey, hun, want to come and play in my swimming pool?”
“It’s sort of brown…when was the last time you cleaned?”
“Not sure–the cleaning products make my chocolate taste bad.”
“Chocolate? You have a swimming pool made of CHOCOLATE?!”
9- And Leafy’d eat your house.
OK, so here’s my house. The first floor is entirely library, with twin spiral staircases going up to a balcony. The second floor has living room, dining room, art studio, etc. The third floor is actually a tower and it’s my bedroom.
I’d like to rent a room from someone. Or maybe just be roommates, seeing as there doesn’t seem to be much of a monetary system in place here. I can’t live all by myself with just a garden, my playlists, and my half-arsed writing/artwork for company. I’m pretty quiet, I don’t have much to bring, I’ll keep my music down, and I’ll be happy to do most of the cooking and general housekeeping. Anything to get away from the this Southern town that’s getting to big for its knickers.
Any offers?
Sure! There’s a spare bedroom on my second floor. You’re free to use my library, my mountain, my waterfall, my art studio, and my speaker system.
12- You can stay in my place by the shore. You can even use my scuba gear if you wash the seawater out when you’re done.
14- Uh oh. Two offers…
Which would you prefer, Gwen?
14- Well, seeing as I don’t know either of you that well, it’s difficult to choose. You both seem like nice people. But I’ve never been too fond of the shore (oh, the irony), and your place sounds big enough that I won’t really take up too much space. So I’ll be living at your house, I think. Thank you both for your kind offers. :]
Time to collect my things, I suppose.
16- Oh, good. This will be fun…
(I hope you’re not allergic to cats! I have six.)
5- the whole point of the thread is to dream about not being a part of society, not to fight and not to become our own society.
18-Thank you!
Gwen, do you want to start moving in? I’ll get my spare room ready.
I walk in my new front door, looking admiringly at the wonderful house. I still wasn’t used to this, and neither were my six cats: Moonbeam, Starlight, Cassandra, Julian, Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer. “We’re getting a roommate soon!” I tell them. “Her name is Gwendolyn of the Eastern Seas. She’s moving in as soon as she can get her things together.”
I walk up one of the staircases and open the door of the spare room. It has its own bathroom, but everything is somewhat disused. I clean for a while and was all the covers, towels and curtains. When I finish cleaning, the room is lovely. I hope Gwen likes pink, because the room has pale pink walls and pink gingham curtains. The bed is silvery and the sheets have little pink flowers. The comforter is pink, too, with silver polka dots.
((Gwen, if you don’t like the color scheme we can redecorate. It will be fun! Oh, and if you brought furniture you can put it wherever you like.))
Seven good-sized boxes and a bookcase and dresser precariously strapped to the car’s roof later, I’m ready to go. No need to look back; that house is frozen into my brain, the generic image of suburbia. Maybe by going here I can melt it away…
It’s a good four-hour drive to Lady Galadriel’s with traffic, and by the time I get there it’s late afternoon. There’s only a few houses anywhere near her place, and the nearest town is at least five miles away. I hope their Internet and power is good out here. I may want to get away, but I can’t be a Luddite. The instructions she gave me say to keep driving until I see a narrow dirt road on my right. Then it says to just drive up there a ways and I’ll find her house. Seeing the road, I take it. after maybe half a mile of twisting along that road, her house comes into view. She said she had just moved in recently herself, but it wasn’t a very new house. But it is definitely beautiful. Not too big, not too small, and very welcoming. There’s a short gravelled drive on the side of the house where another car is parked, so I decide to park there too.
I get out and walk around to the front of the house. Climbing up the porch steps, I see a feline face peeking out of one of the windows on the dorr’s side, and another crowding in. I knock, wondering whose face I’ll be seeing.
I kinda got lost while we were at the sleepover. So can someone tell me what happened?
I was sitting outside of my house staring at Nessa. She had chewed off all of the flowers from my Blue Dazes and Statices. “You are the craziest dog in the world Ness.” I sighed. She stared up at me with those huge brown eyes, some slobber falling from her mouth. “Time for dinner bad puppy. Lets go.” I shoved my hands into my pockets and started walking up the stone walkway towards my house, still thinking about that eventful sleepover.
For a lack of better words, this magazine is for babies.
Baby dragons, maybe. This thread, however, is not for comments about the magazine.
22- *gasp* How could you say that?! *dies*
So, the sleepover seems to be over. Let’s say we got out and went to sleep, and went back home in the morning. Sound good?
24- Okay.
Using surgical glue and great care, I attached satellite transmitters to all the jellyfish in my tank, then scooped them into jars.
I took the jars to the beach in my wheelbarrow and opened them one by one, leaving the jellyfish to go wherever the currents took them.
“Bye, guys. I’ll be watching you!”
I now live in a normal house. The studio is at the top.
I looked out one of the many studio windows and saw KaiYves looking out at the ocean. I grabbed a rope and opened the window. I attached it to the windowsill and climbed out. I braced my feet against the wall and walked down it, clenching the rope and whistling Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees. When I came to the bottom, I hopped down, leaving the rope hanging there, and walked over to Kai. “How’s it goin’, Kai?” I said. “My hair’s green today. You like?”
Ah. So good to be back at my treehouse, tending my garden and bussing with my bees. BUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
I hear a knock and open the door. I see someone who is obviously Gwendolyn of the Eastern Seas. ((Can you give me a basic description?))
“Very pretty, Zinc! I’m just setting my jellyfish free.”
Um… green eyes, about 5’2″, wavy dark brown hair, embarassingly pale, near 90 pounds?
A young woman shoos the cats away and opens the door.
(What this young woman looks like i don’t know. Your turn.)
Perhaps post 22 was by one of those two girls who wrote into Muse some time ago complaining that it was “uncool.”
Today, as I walked out to tend my garden, I was met with an unpleasant surprise! There was a goat in my garden, eating it!
You silly goat! Get out of my Mock ORange bushes! I tow the goat away from my garden and up to my treehouse. What in the world will I do with you?
“Jellyfish?” I said to Kai, a somewhat confused expression on my face. “Yes, jellyfish.” She explains. “I’m tracking the jellies so I know their migration patterns.” I looked out into the water. Yep, there were some jellyfishes with strange devices on them. “Cool!” I chirped, grinning again.
“Yeah, you gotta love satellites.”
((About 5’6, brownish blond hair, brown eyes. I basically match your description of me on the Physi-whatsit thread.
Well. It’s official. I like this goat. She’s so cute and……. *rubs goat’s ear* friendly. I just have to keep away from my garden……..
((P1 (real me/AvalonGirl): about 4’4. Perhaps shorter. Almost sholder-engh brown hair. 65 pounds. Slightly tanned, and will occaisanlly spazz/dance. Wears contacts.))
((P2: (blog me/fAiRyDrAgOn) About 5’8. Long, knee-length red hair with turqoise highlights. REALLY pale. One purple one silver eye. Around 77 pounds.))
We stare at each other awkwardly for a minute. Or rather, I stare awkwardly. Lady Galadriel puts a smile on her amiable face, like she knows exactly who I am, even though I never sent a picture because I couldn’t find one that wasn’t completely idiotic. I try to coax a friendly smile onto my face, but it probably looks more like I’m about to sneeze.
“Hey, I’m Gwendolyn of the Eastern Seas. But you can call me Gwen. Gwen’s better, because it sounds less self-important without the weird titles and honorifics and… yeah. I’m rambling. I have to try to stop that. You’re Lady Galadriel, right? This is a really nice house, and I’m so happy to be coming here. Seriously, you have no idea how wonderful this is of you. Crap. More rambling. I’m gonna shut up now.”
Lady Galadriel has scooped up one of the cats and is now scratching between it ears. I wait anxiously for her to say something.
“Yep, I do.” I say. “Did you know the Cassini spacecraft was launched when I was celebrating my second birthda-” Suddenly, a call from the distance cuts me off. “HEY! ZINC! IF YOU THINK I’M GOING TO DO ALL THE CHORES MYSELF, YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR MIND!” an unseen Leafygreen roars. I say a hasty good bye to Kai and go off to our house.
I smile at my goat, whose name is now Ruffinea. I know! I bring you up into my treehouse, I’ll make you your own room and everything! Then, I’ll get you some feed and you can help me out by eating the weeds from my garden and giving me milk for cheese and…… *hugs Ruffinea* BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! (Ruffinea)
I smile comfortingly at Gwen. “Don’t worry, I also tend to ramble,” I say.
SFTDP! I didn’t finish writing that, I hit send too soon.
…I say, as I scratch Rumpelteazer behind the ears. I hold the door wide. “Come in!” I say. “I hope you like pink, ’cause that’s the color of my guestroom. And I really hope you like cats.”
I smile, reassured. If this girl had been on MuseBlog, of course she was someone you wouldn’t mind living with.
“Sounds good, but I should probably unload my crap from the car. I don’t really need much help with anything but the bookcase and the dresser. I’d love it if you could help me carry those in,” I say.
We start out for the driveway. Lady Galadriel dumps the cat our of her arms. It still follows from a distance, however. After we walk about ten yards, I turn to her and ask, “do we have any neighbors? This place seems so removed from everywhere, and I like that. But it’s really great if we have some decent neighbors, too.”
“Cassini? That’s awesome!” I shouted, as Zinc hurried off. I considered asking if she and Leafy needed help, but then realized that my sign had blown down in the big storm and I still hadn’t put it back. I reattached it to the post out front and read the purple letters to myself:
“Photographs for sale here”.
((43- I’m not sure. Does anyone want to help figure out where they live in relation to me so I can have neighbors?))
I wave hello to Gwen and Lady Galadriel from my garden. “Hi guys!”, I say happily. “Care to take somefresh Gala apples? I’m havinga free picking this afternoon, and you can take as may as you can carry! They’re the mos succulent at thus time of year, I must ay.”
((I live by the coastline, as do a few others. Most people live inland or even near the mountains.))
This isn’t an RPG, peoples. No double parantheses.
KaiYves- Aggie and I are almost next door neighbors. We see each other a lot.
I wave back to Aggie. “Hello! Come over and meet your new neighbor! I know you already know me, since I’ve lived here a couple days, but Gwen is just moving in. She’s staying with me for a while. Gwen, would you like some apples? I know I would!”
Zinc’s head appears over Aggie’s garden gate. “Hey, who’s this?” she asks.
Ruffinea has settled in rather nicely. Of course, she was nervous about my treehouse’s height at first, but she’s OK now! *tends garden* Eep! Tis time to harvest some honey! *hurries away for beekeepers protection*
After much grumbling and a slappy fight, Leafy and finally finished feeding our pets, watering the garden, and shoving piles of junk into corners. “Cleaning,” we called it.
Leafy and I walked along the beach with our canvas bags, looking for empty, uninhabited seashells to glue onto our newest sculpture, Seashells. We decided to pop by Aggie’s to see what was happening. I got there first and popped my head over her gate, and was surprised to see two unfamilar people talking to Aggie under her apple tree. “Hey, who’s this?” I asked jovially. “I thought I met everyone here!” “I’m Gwen, and this is LadyGaladriel. We just arrived here.” One of the girls said. She had green eyes, was about 5′2″, and wavy dark brown hair. Gwen (was that her name?) gestured to the other girl, who was about 5′6, had brownish blond hair, and brown eyes. I think that was LadyGaladriel. “How d’you do?” I asked. “I’m Zinc, and this,” I gestured to the newly arrived Leafygreen, panting from trying to catch up to my high speed sprinting, “is Leafygreen.” She glared at me, and stuck her head over the fence. “Hiya, hiya hiya,” she said in a bad impression of Fozzie Bear, “Wow, what a crowd, what a-” She was stopped adruptly when I slapped some duct tape over her mouth. “I wonder what’s faster, my horse or your tongue?”
NOTES:
~Can you guess what movie that last line is from?
~I really wish Leafy and I had that same relationship now. Fifth grade- Best friends. Inseparable. Sixth grade- No classes together. Barely speaking or acknowledging each other. *sigh*
I laughed at Leafygreen’s terrible impression of Fozzie Bear. “Want to come in and see the house?” I asked. “You too, Aggie! Then we can get some apples. I can taste them already.”
Zinc, I’m so sorry about Leafy! I wish I could say I know how you feel, but not having any actual friends outside MB (well, except for a couple college students) I don’t. Oh well, at least you have a bunch of friends here who care about you.
“Sure,” I replied cheerfully to LadyG, “But let us dump these seashells first. They’re heavy!”
NOTES:
~No one’s answered my quote question yet!
~Aw, thanks, LadyG.
I looked over the map of the coastline around Reclusive Gardens. There were a few shipwrecks within easy sailing distance. It might be fun to arrange a sailing-and-scuba outing with one of the musers who owned a boat…
53- that’s because we don’t know, what is it?
Where’d Gwen go? She hasn’t posted here since Halloween.
55- The quote comes from the movie version of “Much Ado About Nothing,” spoken by Benedict to Beatrice.
Obviouslt, somewhere else.
56- Ohhhh, I knew it sounded familiar! I love that movie.
O all-knowing administrators, when was the last time Gwen posted?
Ooh! A new acronym for the GAPAs! The AKAs- all-knowing administrators!
((Gwendolyn last posted on November 1 on the random thread.))
57- Pwnsome!
Hey, where’d everyone go?
Zinc and Leafy set down their seashells near my doormat and walked in, with Aggie and Gwen close behind. “This is the library,” I said, my voice echoing in the large space. “I haven’t had a chance to move in all my books yet, but… what do you think?”
sorry for tense inconsistencies, I keep forgetting whether I’m in present or past
SFTDP
I pat my goat on the head and munch on a peach. What a loverly afternoon!
I think I’ll go fishing……. *goes fishing*
“Spacious….” I commented, slowly turning. In the spirit of randomness, I flopped down on an armchair and started pulling on the chain of a nearby lamp, turning it on and off.
NOTES:
Scary, isn’t it?
60- I don’t like DPing, unless the thread hasn’t been posted on by anyone for a month (See the first RRSSSS thread.).
~Please don’t talk about Leafy and her doing stuff anymore. She’s suddenly disappeared into the void of cyberspace.
63- I wasn’t sure. You mentioned Leafy in your last posts, so I thought… never mind.
“Don’t ruin the lamp!” I laughed. “Gwen, I can take your bags up to your room on the second floor.”
Gwen, where are you? I may have to PP you if you don’t get back soon…
“Geez louise, fine…” I muttered, but stopped messing with the lamp anyway.
MY goat and I are quitehappy. However, it is getting quite cold and I’m busy putting mittens on my plants. And scarves. And anythign else I can think of.
63- What happened to Leafy? Is she okay? Are you two still friends?
The lake has frozen over. Does anyone want to go ice skating with me and Lucy (my kitty) ?
67- Sure! But aren’t we in the tropics? We’re living in a geography terms map that includes a coral reef.
I gathered my ice skates and hurried to go skating with Lucy and Aggie.
67: We had our small separation, then we kinda made up, and today we had a big fight during break; so, not friends anymore. *sigh*
68: That map does have a lake in it, and it’s near a snowcapped mountain. Bear with us here.
My ears twitched as I heard Aggie shout, “Hey! Does anyone wanna come and ice skate?” I leapt up, said a quick good bye to Gwen and LadyG, and ran out the door, swiftly picking up my bag of seashells. I went back to my little house, ran into my bedroom. I ransacked my closet, throwing out skirts and boots in my search for- aha! Here they are! I picked up my ice skates and sprinted to the lake.
“You’re flying again, bird, your wings free, the air clear, and the grass green! The bird, the bird, the red breasted bird, the Robin! She flys across the fields, her feet barely grazing the blades of emerald! Oh, what a glorious day!”
*cough* This thread is still open…!
I reached the lake, and shouted a salutations to Aggie, who was gliding along, her cat perched in her hood. I sat down on the bank and strapped my skates on. Then I carefully came out onto the ice. “Whoa!” I said, wobbling. The skates pinched my toes a little, but I ignored it and gained my balance. I pushed off.
“Wheeeeeeeee!!!!”
69) Ah.
I’m sure it’ll work out somehow. It usually does with friends like that. If it doesn’t……. well, that happened to me twice before. And it really hurt. 
*shall now stop thinking about sad things because I am HAPPY that school will be out soon*
Gosh. I’m not all that good at iceskating. I’ve gone a few times, but it’s always taken me the whole time that I’ve been there to get to the point that I don’t have to hole onto the wall of my friends. Alas. I would like to go iceskating agin though…… I’ll give it a shot……. *steps out onto ice* *wobbles* *almost falls* *rights self* Whew! now that wasn’t too bad!
I stepped out onto the ice and tried to keep steady.
“Woah!”
“Woah!”
“Ouch!”
I failed.
I heard Aggie ask if anyone wanted to go skating. Zinc ran out of the room, and I grabbed my skates and followed. I’m a terrible skater… I thought.
72) Don’t give up! *helps up*
I run out to the lake and pull on my skates, noticing that Moonbeam has followed me. “Come on, Moonbeam, I bet you’re a better skater than I am!”
*wobbles* *skates forward* *slips* *falls on butt* *gets back up* *gludes around* Yay!
FUN!
I glided past kiwi and did a full circle around the perimeter of the pond. Then I sat down on the bank, and unlaced my skates. “What, giving up so soon?” Aggie said as she came past me. “Not just yet!” I said. I relaced my skates on my hands and went on a continious handstand around the lake.
“WHHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”
I glided along and did a pirouhette across the smooth icy lake. Lucy meowed as her small claws dug into my hat and my scalp in turn. I lifted her gently away from my beanie.
“I’m sorry, punkie,” I cooed, rubbing her pink nose. She purred contentedly and padded across the ice to plop down on the island,nearby to where everyone was skating. She promptly feel asleep among the leaves, her long fur keeping her warm. I continued skating, and giggled as Zinc did a handstand on the ice. It was a pleasantly cold day outside. Winter air nipped at my nose and cheeks the moment I stood idle, and so I joined her in a moving handstand. Unfortunately, my hands slipped on the ground and I took a tumble, landing THUMP on the think frozen water.
“Whoops-a-daisy!” I said, rubbing my head and sitting up. Zinc walked over on her hands and flipped back right-side up .
“Need a hand?” she offered.
“Thanks,” I said, accepting this offer. Then Kai, Kiwi, and Lady G skated over, and we joined hands and skated faster and faster in a circle until we all fell down, laughing.
*falls* *falls again* *spins in circle with others* Woah. Everything’s spinning. Ow! That’s cold! *leaps up* *slides backwards* *knocks Zinc over* “Oops, sorry!”
Suddenly, Moonbeam skids over, her little paws slipping on the ice. She looks so comical I have to laugh. “Come here, little one,” I say, picking her up. “I’ll hold you up while we skate.”
Ooof! Tis cold! *rubs arms*
80: No, on second thought, keep LadyG.
LadyG knocked into me, and my butt made contact with the ice. I laced my skates on the real way and continued skating, my brightly knitted, long, rainbow scarf and pom poms on the end of my hat flaps fluttering!
I skated past Kiwi, who seemed to be cold.
I glided past the island where Lucy sat sleeping.
I skated past LadyG, who was holding her cat.
I yelled to the heavens, “It’s the most won-der-ful tiiiime of the yeeaaar!!!”
Is this supposed to be basically how we’d like our lives to be? If so, can I join? I love ice skating.
Zinc started to sing, and I joined her, laughing.
Sorry for the double post, but this is my house:
Three stories tall, with an elevator. I have a huge fish tank like the ones at an aquarium, with seals and sea lions in it. I scuba dive with them when I’m bored. I have a library with all the books I like in it, plus some comfy reading chairs. I have five Oriental Shorthair cats. They are:
Rose (calico she-cat with amber eyes)
Rain (silver tabby tom with green eyes)
And their three newborn kittens, whose eyes are still closed :
Flame (ginger tabby tom, eyes will be green)
Night (black tom with white chest and paws, eyes will be amber)
Snow (white she-cat, eyes will be blue, smallest of the litter)
After Kikimuncher had helped me up, I tried again. I couldn’t expect to get it on my first try after going years without practice.
I did a small glide to the other side of the pond.
“Hey, I’m getting it!”
I glide across the pond on my silver skates. “Hi, I’m Rainbowstar,” I introduce myself to everyone in general. I pick up speed, skating in circles. I decide to attempt a turn. I stop in the middle of the pond and push myself into a twirl with my foot. Having never done a turn before, I instead start to fall. I curl into a tight ball and land clumsily but safely.
Zinc and LadyG begin to sing and I join in happily as I glide across the sparkling ice. This is life! *sigh of content*
I get up and continue to skate, singing along with Zinc, LadyG, and kiwimuncher. We finish our song on a single long note. “We should have something special for Christmas in the community,” I suggest, doing a forward swizzle* across the pond. “Maybe a giant communal Christmas tree that we all help decorate. Or a gift exchange. Or maybe we could all go to the Muse Academy Holiday Ball.” I turn in my toes to come to a stop. Suddenly, I feel light things falling on my white knitted hat. I look up and see tiny, feathery, white things falling from the sky. “Look!” I shout. “It’s snowing!”
*A skating trick in which you turn your toes gently in and out as you skate.
((Sorry if my description of snow is inaccurate. Someone who’s actually seen snow can take over describing it.))
I agree! A Christmas tree sounds nice……
“A Christmas tree!” I said, fantisizing. There were a lot of big trees near us. maybe we could all travel to one and decorate it, leaving the tree in the ground. Maybe we–
“Look, it’s snowing!” Rainbowstar shouts. I look up, and stick my tongue out. “Ith all th thnowfthlakes were lemon drops and bonsbons, oh what a lith ith would be-E!” I yelled.
“Decorating a living tree is a good idea,” I tell Zinc. “Then we wouldn’t need to cut it down, and we could start decorating as far before Christmas as we like, because it wouldn’t rot. Let’s go find one!”
I skate over to the edge of the pond, where my winter boots* are stored under a tree. “I’m going home to get some ornaments,” I announce as I change into the boots. “I’ll be back with the ornaments in maybe fifteen minutes.” I pick up my skates and hurry home.
*Warm boots with wool on the inside. Like Ugg or BearClaw boots, but not a brand-name as this is a reclusive community.
“A Christmas tree!” I cried. “Oh, that sounds wonderful!” I laughed, and lost my footing, plopping down onto the ice. Then, I scrambed after he others to the bank of the pond, the now-awake Lucy skittering on the ice wit her little claws. I caught her in my mittened hands, giggling. “Awww, who’s a little pookie,” I cooed, cuddling her. Then, all of us walked into the forest to look for a big beautiful Christmas tree.
“Where should we put it when we find one?” asked Zinc.
“How about the town square, so that everyone can see it?” I suggested. Lucy mewed in agreement from atop my blue beanie.
((Oh, wait. We aren’t cutting it down. Scratch that last part.
))
I catch up to everyone, carrying a large box of ornaments. “I have a feeling this won’t be enough,” I comment, glancing at the eight-foot-tall pine trees that surround us. “I hope other people have ornaments – and someone has a ladder! But we need to find the tree first.”
Suddenly I hear small footsteps behind me. I turn around and see Rain, his sleek silver body, luminous green eyes, and elegant black stripes standing out against the snow. But why had he followed me? Usually he never left his mate and kittens, anxious to keep them safe. Then I notice a perfect silver orb hanging from his jaws like prey. “Thanks, Rain!” I laugh. I must have dropped that ornament in my hurry to find my friends. He sets it down at my feet, and I put it in the box. His mission completed, Rain turns around and starts walking home.
We keep walking. We see plenty of trees, but all of them are too small or too bare or too flimsy or dead. Then, we walk into a clearing. In the middle of it stands the perfect tree.
I hurried up to the others with a cardboard box.
“I know this guy who makes models of airplanes and things out of oaktag and he laminated a few as ornaments for our tree. Check it out, here’s an X-Wing from Star Wars!” I said, showing one of the ornaments.
Ah! Such a loverly tree!
*starts draping stringed popcorn and beads over the branches*
I pulled a few boxes of ornaments from my knapsack. “Look!” I say excitedly. “Here are some kittens, and some dogs, and some bunnies, and all nine Muses! And a star for the top of the tree!”
“Wait here!” I say to the others, “I’ve made dozens of ornaments!” I rush back to my cottage, and go up to my attic. I grab three canvas bags, and rush downstairs and out the door. I sprint into the woods, my footprints leaving tracks in the snow. I come back to the others, whom were helping kiwimuncher string popcorn chains andd ornaments along the trees branches. I dump the canvas bags’ contents on the ground gently. I take out a glass spiral sprinkled with glitter and hang it on a frond, then pull out another one, a glass ball with small bits of cut up aluminum, sand, and seashells inside.
I pull a long strand of glittery rainbow beads out of my box. I drape it over the tree, intertwining it in places with kiwimuncher’s popcorn. Then I start hanging ornaments. “By the way, a new Muser has moved to the community,” I say. “Her name is Hibiscus. She might be coming to help us decorate.”
((My house is three stories high with a huge bedroom and a big room for my pets, which are an African Peach-Faced Lovebird named Sunny, and a loving blue British Shorthair cat, named Fluffy. I also have a separate room, that is on the first story of the house. The room has some comfortable, squashy beanbag couches, and right in the center of the room, there is a glass bottom floor that shows a bright, sparkling river that runs below the house. There is migrating trout in the river! Awesome! Anyway, that is my house.))
I go up to the tree, and I get some small turquoise ornamens, stringing them around kiwimuncher and Rainbowstar’s string of beads and popcorn. (gotta add my favorite color!)
I run back to my house and return with lots of ornaments- tinsel icicles, crystal angels, and some that I cross-stitched myself. I even have some candles that we can use instead of regular lights, to use less energy.
Greeting Hibiscus!
This tree is utterly magnificent! It needs a star. Hmmm. What we really need is an abominable snow monster.
104- WAUGH! *hides*
104- I have a very great fear of Yetis, so I think we can do without one.
But….but…..who else will be able to reach the top of the tree to put the star on top?
“Good point,” I say to kiwimuncher. “But where are we going to find one? They’re kind of endangered, even around here.”
Suddenly, I hear movement in the trees behind me. Out lumbers a huge male yeti.
“?pleh deen snamuH” he asks, speaking Yeti. I turn to the other MuseBloggers and explain, “This is Cloud, or dluoC as he’s called in Yeti. He’s friendly.” Then I turn to Cloud and ask, “?eert fo pot no rats tup dluoC lliW”
“.ti od dluoC”, he replies. I give him the star, and he easily places it on top of the tree. “.uoy knahT” I tell him. He lumbers off into the woods.
“Well, we got that taken care of,” I say.
Oh, I just realized that Cloud’s name in Yeti should actually be duolC.
Somebody pulls out smelling salts and revives me.
“Sorry, I faint like that sometimes.”
“Sorry, everyone,” I say. “I was so stupid not to have remembered…”
I write YETI in the snow with a stick. “Those,” I say, pointing at the word, “turn up whenever anyone says…” I point at the word again. “‘Abominable snow monster’ is fine, but don’t say…” *point* “in the woods.”
((Is this thread dying? We should do something else now that we’ve decorated the tree.))
((We should. Anybody for a snowball fight?))
113: Gute idea!
While everyone else was listening to Rainbowstar’s thing with the Yeti, I slid my bag of ornaments under the tree and quietly picked it up and shaped it into a ball. I winded up and…
SPLAT!
“COLLISION!” I yelled, grinning evily as my snowball made contact with the back of Rainbowstar’s head!
SPLAT! “COLLISION!”
Something cold hits the back of my head, and I hear a triumphant shout. I turn around and see Zinc grinning evilly. I scoop up some snow and fling it at her.
((We should have two teams, maybe. Perhaps with snow forts.))
“Eckpth!” I said, as Rainbowstar’s snowball hit me right in the face! I quickly crawled over to a safe distance, and busily started packing snow into a fort, flinging a snowball every now and then.
I crawl a safe distance from Zinc’s snowballs and start making my own fort, throwing snowballs as I work. “If we’re having teams,” I yell, “anyone can be on mine!”
((Are we still in the forest? There really wouldn’t be much room for throwing with all the trees around. And there’s always the chance of hitting a hidden … creature.))
((Let’s say the forest was on a hill that we ran down and there’s a plain (with small hills for cover) at the bottom of the hill, like near my town’s rec center.))
I duck behind my fort, preparing several snowballs in preparation for an attack. I pop my head up to ask, “Does anyone want to be on my team?” I ask. “This fort’s getting awfully big for one person, and anyone can j – MPH! I am thrown backward as an errant snowball from kiwimuncher hits me in the face. I wipe snow out of my eyes and fling one back at kiwimuncher, who avoids it and ducks behind her fort.
I would like to join Rainbowstar’s team!!!
(formally tigerstar)
“I’ll be on your side!” I shouted, jumping behind the fort and lobbing a snowball at kiwimuncher.
I smiled mischievously. Every artist carries paints with them.
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! Rainbow colored snowballs were thrown at Kikimunchr’s fort!
How to make an almost-perfect snowball:
1: grab a handfull of snow.
2: let it heat up a little before bunching it up
3: press it together. Pretend that your hands are the two peices of ‘skin’ on a baseball and the snowball is the core.
4: turn the snowball to minimize high points.
5: repeat until the ball won’t get much rounder
6: rup off the remaining high points
7: roll the snowball in the snow.
8: pat the snow on. this is the ‘garnish’
These snowballs are awesome. They practicly explode on impact.
While Tessera Rose made her snowball, I used one in my stock and threw it at her. She accidentally threw the ball into her face!
ARG! *rainbow snowball splatters over my head* Retaliation time! *whirls super snowballs back*
“Hey, Zinc, can I borrow some paint?” I asked, holding up six snowballs that I thought would look better in purple.
I said while I ducked Kiwi’s super snowballs, “Sure! Here you go!” and tossed over some purple.
“Thanks!” I painted the snowballs purple and hurled them at Kiwi.
“It matches your eyes!” I shouted.
I join Rainbowstar’s team, and make about five snowballs that I paint by splashing random bits of paint on it. I hurl the snowballs at kiwimuncher and Zinc. It splats on some of their other teammates, but mostly hits them. “Yay! A perfect aim!”, I yell victoriously. (if that’s a word) Then I get hit by a big red snowball. I say to whoever threw that, “I’ll get you back!” I then go back to my house to wash off the paint. “Bye!”, I yell. “I’ll be back soon!”
I join Zinc and Kiwi; painted snowballs are too much for me to take in the face.
I roll up snowballs and do some fancy Jackson Polluck-esque maneuvers with Zinc’s paints. “Thanks for the materials!” I say happily, flinging some beautiful splatted balls of snow over my shoulder at the other fort.
I’m PURPLE! *gasp* We’ll see about THAT!
*whirls glow in the dark snowballs* Mwahahaha!
“Ahh!” I was hit in the chest with a glow-in-the-dark snowball. I did the appropriate theatrics and returned fire with a purple one.
*ducks purple snowball, only to be hit in the head by a red one* Oh shEEshcabob! It’s in my hair! *jumps up and down, trying to get out of hair*
Hey! There’s someone glowing over there! *snowballs*
Where is everyone? *pauses mid-throw*
Francis Manor is an old mansion with big windows, explosions of green, and a sunny, droopy front porch. What portions of the exterior are not exesively muralized are in desparate need of repainting, and when the rain comes down Batta-Batta through the eves it is nice and warm downstairs with roaring fires and wool blankets on thin, rough strips of hardwood flooring and the clinking of hot coacoa mugs. And despite what shortcomings it has, the best thing about Francis Manor is that anyone can live here.
136) that sounds really nice.
In fact, it reminds me of my treehouse, and how I’d better get back to it and my goat. Farewell my friends! I shall see you again soon! 
Saay, Francis manor should have a goat!
“We should go do something else”, I say to the people who are getting bored with the snowball fight. “Possibly… a gingerbread house decorating contest. Christmas is already over, but decorating a gingerbread house would still be fun! I’ll set up a contest at my house if anyone would like to come. Tell me if you would like to do it or not. I’ll take a vote.” *walks over to snow shield wallish thing and kicks over, but rebuilds later*
139) OK. I’m a beast that artsy things!
What a beautiful new year! *pats goat*
Oh hello my beauties! *sees plants* *weeds*
139- Sure!
139: I’m in!
139- Sure thing, I love gingerbread houses!
I run home to start on my gingerbread house. But first, since I’m covered in paint, I take a quick shower and change into clean clothes. Putting an apron over them, I look around my kitchen for inspiration. My gaze falls on the graham cracker box, and I have a brilliant idea.
LATER
I place the miniature, edible house on the kitchen table. I take a moment to admire my work. I wonder if the others are done yet. Then I remember to feed my cats. I open two cans of tuna, which my cats love. “Feeding time!” I call. River and Rose trot into the kitchen. As they eat, I go over to their cat beds and see Flame, Night, and Snow wriggling out of Rose’s bed. I notice that their eyes are now open, the blue of all kitten eyes. Flame and Night start play fighting, as Snow chases one of River’s cat toys. Well, I think as I watch them play, I’d better get going now. I walk outside holding my creation, eager to see what other people have made.
I rush to my house to make a gingerbread house. I get out all of my ingredients, bake the house, and frost it. My house looks like:
A little cottage with frosting and colorful thinly cut, Starburst slices that coat the roof. On the pan, (the yard) there is chocolate frosting (for soil) with sweetened coconut sprinkles that are dyed green (for plants), and there is gummy bears in the garden, and also gummy worms! The house is brightly tiled with some more slices of Starburst!
I go outside, and see Rainbowstar waiting with her gingerbread house. I say to her, “Nice gingerbread house!”, and walk over to a table in which I had set up the contest, and laid my house there with Rainbowstar’s , which she had just put on. I put up a sign that read, GINGERBREAD HOUSE CONTEST! ENTER HERE! and stand behind the booth. I hope some more people enter…
I bake a little castle with turrets, like the miniature one I have in my dollhouse. I ponder on how I could make a drawbridge, and decide to use mandolined fruit leather as a hinge and lines of penuche as fragile but good enough strings. It doesn’t draw but looks flamablamulous. I have deccorated my castle with raisins and finely chopped almonds that give the impression of paving stones, and lengths of cinnamon sticks combined with clusters of buttercream flowers create the impression of blossoming trees. Strips of mandolined apple create the wooden planks of the drawbridge. Lastly, I sculpt small people and animals from marzipan. That is my favorite part. I clap my hands together, then put on my coat and gloves etc and take it to the contest table.
“I like both your houses,” I tell Hibiscus and Tessera Rose. I pat down a sticking-out roof tile on mine. Here is a description of it:
The house is smaller than the others, being made from graham crackers rather than gingerbread. (I didn’t have the right spices to make gingerbread.) The roof tiles are Smarties (like Mn’Ms but better), and the stained-glass windows are made from Jolly Ranchers, crushed and melted into sheets. A tiny snowman stands outside, made of mini marshmallows, with round and long sprinkles stuck in for features. There is snow covering the pan around the house, made of white icing. Finally, there is a pine tree outside, made of the pointed end of a sugar cone covered in green icing, decorated with mini Mn’Ms. Under it are Starburst presents.
Feeling inspired, I baked four even triangles and stuck them together with icing, then laid out a Starburst path. At the end of the path, I built an archway out of peanut brittle. I built a smaller pyramid out of taffy cubes next to the big one. Then I decorated the outside of the main pyramid with some Twizlers twisted to look like ankhs.
I carried the whole platter to the booth.
“This is the pyramid of King Ramses the Delicious.” I told Hibiscus.
Oh, this is so fun! *molds little building*
My building is made is a japanesey style. It’s sides curve delicately, with a kind of dome in the middle. Loverly! *decorates with colored gum drops and malted milk balls*
I used just about all the frosting I had to create a minauture gingerbread barnyard. I used marzipan for pigs, cookies and black licorice for cows, red licorice for the rooster, and all other types of candy for the other animals. The red of the barn was red licorice too, and the white parts were white chocolate. I hurried over with my creation to Hibiscus’s house, late as always. “Whoop!” I slipped on a patch of ice. “Oh no!” I said, trying to piece my barn back together as fast I could while hot tears of frustration came to my eyes as I picked up what was left and ran a bit more slowly over to my host’s house.
I carefully complete the little jelly evergreen trees planted decoratively around my little house. I hold my breathe as I paint white icing over the branches, appearing like a light layer of snow.
I walk out from my treehouse with great care and head over to Hibiscus’ house. Suddenly I stop, as I spot a small candied cow lying in the snow. Oh dear. Someone must have dropped their house! I look around and find a chicken and a small cat to accompany the cow. I guess I’ll just bring these with me!
*presents little house* Oh I found these! Are they yours? *hands animals to Zinc*
I delightedly notice the gingerbread house-making. I grab some materials and begin making my own. I cut the thick pieces of boardy bread and mold them with black and blue frosting. I adorn the sides of the tall building with sparkling pieces of blue raspberry rock candy. Along the bottom, I make a street out of black jelly beans. The people are small pink Mike and Ikes. Gummy trees and cars adorn the streetcorner, where smalled gingerbread buildings have little awnings made of toothpicks and Froot Roll-Ups. A large, pointy piece of red licorice is placed as a pinnacleon top.
“There!” I say, admiring my work. I rush to Hibiscus’ house and present my gingerbread creation.
“Here you go!” I say happily. “The Empire State Building!”
152: “Oh, yes, thank you!” I said to Kiwi. “I was wondering where the cat had disappeared to!”
I build a little gingerbread replica of my school. There’s even a sign outside that matches the one outside the real school (I can’t say what it says because it’s the name and address of the school, among other things). I carefully make a little main building, with a little lobby and Breezeway, a little Barn, a Farmhouse, a CEL (Center for Early Learning) complete with playground, and an Alumni Lodge. I make little gingerbread students–including myself–doing various things around campus. There are little candy cars with licorice wheels in the parking lot, which has yellow icing stripes on gingerbread that’s been food-colored black. I carry it to the competition.
155: Your school sounds nice.
I’ve noticed everyone wants gardens.
I’d like one too, only it would contain just the vegetables I needed to make my specialty Ratatouille.
My house would be in a clearing in the woods, with a bubbling stream nearby, salmon, and some wheat for bread…..
It would be a one-room house with honeysuckle vines frowing all over it and a nice verandah.
“Oooh, that must have taken a lot of work!” I said, looking at Aggie’s Empire State Building.
156- It is. I love my school. It’s so homey.
THREAD! I MAKE THEE… ALIVE!
*enters thread after being absent for several months*
Can someone explain what’s going on?
162: We’re having a gingerread house making contest! Join us!
THREAD! I COMMAND THEE TO LIIIVVVEEE!!!!!
163) I’ll consider that an invitation to gatecrash the thread and your house. I’ll write about my house later.
Awesome gingerbread house…
I’d display mine, but it is called: “A shack on a beach after a hurricane”.
Whats gatecrashing?
165) It means sneaking into a party uninvited (more or less).
I’m back! I totally forgot to come back. It didn’t come up on the DFTT thread.
164)
Hee hee. 
After admiring the loverly gingerbread houses, I say, “These ginger bread look fantastic and also scrumptious! Do we have permission to…… unbuild?”
“Once everybody’s shown theirs, yes.”
Yay!
*Does little dance*
Yeah, I’ve been a tad jumpy lately.
*eats gumm drop* YUM! *is in bliss* Oh! Could I have one of those malted milk balls?
“Sure,” I said, tossing my weather vane’s head at Kiwi. “Enjoy.”
Awesome!
I’ve never eaten a candy rooster before…….
((A bit of a boost.))
I idly glanced at the sea nearby. A dark shape was sticking up near the dock.
“Hey, what’s that? It looks like the tall part of a submarine!”
POST HERE
I stare after Kai. “Hmm, that’s odd. I wonder what it is?”
I frowned. “They shouldn’t be able to find us!” I said. “We’re recluses!”
So we all trooped out in our winter gear and went to the shore.
The ship reaches the shore. Suddenly, I recognize the logo on the side: Aquarium Of The Pacific. I wrote a letter to them a while ago.
A uniformed man comes out. “Which one of you is Rainbowstar?”
I step forward. “I’m ready to donate the seals and sea lions,” I say. “They’re in my house over there -” I point “- in the giant tank. Pretty hard to miss. By the way, their names are Milo, Harper, Otis, Parker, Shelbie, Ellie, and Troy.”
More men come out, equipped with tranquilizer darts and stretchers. They head in the direction of my house. To the others I explain, “They just got so hard to take care of, and once River and Rose had their kittens I didn’t have time to swim with them anymore. They-they’d die of neglect.” I cry a little as I tell the others this. “S-since we don’t use money here, the aquarium people said they’d repay me by spreading rumors that this area is infested with killer bees and should never be approached.”
The men go back into the ship, carrying my tranquiliized seals and sea lions on stretchers. “Goodbye!” I call after the ship as it chugs away. Well, now I don’t have my seals and sea lions anymore. But they’ll be happier in the long run.
The churned-up water behind the ship brings my attention to another dark shape in the water. It could be a boat, but so little of it is poking out of the water that it’s hard to tell. An escaped seal or sea lion? No. But what is it?
I squinted at the second dark shape. It was slowly moving toward shore and more of it was becoming visible. Whatever it was, it was painted black.
“It looks sort of familiar…” I muttered.
I stare at the dark shape. It doesn’t look familiar to me!
“What is it?” I ask Kai.
The dark thing broke the water now, and we looked at the mass of black steel beside the dock, nearly a hundred feet long. A hatch was not far from where we were standing.
“It’s a submarine. The Navy has a dry dock for them over by where my grandmother lives. We went inside a retired one at a museum there once.”
Somebody who felt particularly brave jumped over to the top and tried to open the hatch.
“Hey, the lights are on!”
A few others jumped over as well to verify this. On the inside of the hatch, there was an envelope with a note inside:
“To the people of Reclusive Gardens:
This good ship, the MUSE, is a gift. She carries no weapons. Use her to explore the seas in the spirit of The Nine. -A friend.”
Sweet! I run across the deck and back, then investigate downstairs.
“Hey guys! Whoever gave this to us left a giant globe and a rusty pushtruck! I wonder who it was…”
Wowsers! *looks at submarine* That’s awesome! *finds pretty sea shell* Oooooooooo! SHINY!
I climbed down the ladder after Tessera Rose. We both starred a giant globe with raised geography. A nearby door was open. I peeked in and saw a room full of display cases. The one nearest the door was full of exotic sea shells. Some others held models of sea creatures and what looked like artifacts from shipwrecks.
“It’s like a museum in here! An underwater museum!”
I find a pretty conk shell and hold it up to my ear, listening to the ocean sound.
183: CONK shell? *giggles* I believe that’s conch.
I would post more, but l have undone math homework. So I send you my attention!
Cool! A museum! *looks around*
Hey, sweet, I found a hidden door! *bangs on it* How do I open it?
Hey, kiwi! I think your conk shell is the key to this door!
” This submarine is awesome ! I can’t wait to explore the ocean.” I said enthusiastically.
I think I shall switch to astericks mode. It’s good for SSSS practice, and l haven’t done it in quite a while.
*grabs kiwi’s arm* Help us, kiwi! Don’t leave us in a lurch about this *kick* stupid *kick* DOOR! *kick*
I WAS KICKING THE DOOR, NOT KIWI.
Kiwi? *bursts into tears* Oh, Kiwimuncher.
((187- Asterisks.))
I looked over the door carefully, trying to see if there were any hinges or suspicious marks on the wood that would indicate how to open it.
“Guys, um… I personally don’t think it’s a good idea to go around kicking things on an atomic submarine. What if that’s the reactor?”
Oh. here’s the conch shell. (wowsers! I didn’t know how to spell it! Although, I don’t know how to spell a lot of things…… so….. anyways…..) The shell clicks into the door and it swings open. For some reason, this reminds me of tomb-raider. It’s like, I’m just waiting for some strange creature to come running out. *steps inside*
I followed Kiwimuncher into the secret room, which was mostly dark. Framed maps and charts, lit from behind, hung on the walls.
On the charts in several colors, dotted lines appeared.
“Are these voyages the sub made… or voyages that our mysterious benefactor wanted to make?”
“That’s funny,” I say as the green neon dotted lines start to pulse blue and pink. “Definitely not normal.”
“Wait”, says Kiwimuncher. “Did the sub just move?”
I felt a jolt.
“We ARE moving! But that means somebody must be in the steering room… to the steering room!”
I peek into the steering room and see……. *gasp* …….. an octopus! Looks like they were even more smarter then we all percieved!
Hello! *octopus doesn’t answer*
Um….. Hola? *octopus doesn’t answer*
Bonjour monsieur! *doesn’t answer*
ellohay! *octopus turns and waves all 8 tentacle at us*
Wowsers! The octopus speaks piglatin!
I faint dead away at the sight of the octopus.
I’d rather be in smilie land ex:
:gr 
in: 
:lol 
: 
“Ihay!” Exclaims the octopus. “Ellshay Armayniay Orpcay ashay ihayray emay otay aketay ouyay nay ourtay fay ethay icayitay fay Cayotayenayishayay!” (Shell Marine Corp. has hired me to to take you on a tour of the city of Octonesia. He is speaking the ‘ay every sylable’ dialect of PL’)
Ooooooooooooooooo. Fantastic! I would abso-baly-lutely love to tour Octonesia! Whereever that is. Let’s go! *buckles seat belt*
I begin to come to on the floor of the sub. I have an unfortunate and rare medical condition that causes me to faint at the sight of cephlopods…
*splashes some water on Kai and helps her up*
Omecay onway, everybodyway! Et’slay ogay onway away ourtay!
The octopus drives the sub under the lake, away from the island. We watch the pretty sights go by.
Ooh look, a fish! Oooh, look, aSCHOOL of fish! Oooh look, an alien! *giggles*
Its like being in a picture book. Flying saucers and exotic fish float by, content in the silence. The sub makes sharp turns and it feels like we’re driving on a road that cant be detected. Blue weeds wave in the saphire sea.
I peer up through the periscope, looking back at the island. I can see my house! Then something strange happens. My house starts to shrink and shift shape …
((My house is now a small cottage with a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a library. The cats still exist, but the seal tank is gone since I donated my seals to the aquarium. I have a big tree with lots of branches perfect for climbing, and a rose garden with roses in every color.
Sorry that was kind of abrupt and random, but I decided a three-story house with tons of stuff didn’t really fit the recluse theme. Maybe we can pretend that our houses can change to accommodate the way we want them.))
((SFTDP, but my yard is filled with dandelions, except in the rose garden and around the tree. I love dandelions!
And a wild goat who I have named Snickers likes to graze on the green grass under the dandelions. She’s not actually my pet, but she hangs around the community.))
Dandelions are nice. You can pick them once they become white and fluffy and blow all of the little seeds away, whilst watching them drift away on the wind.
“Owhay onglay avehay ouyay ivedlay erehay?” I asked the giant octopus, who was steering the wheel.
“Ootay onglay,” he sighed. “Utbay ankthay-ouyay againway orfay inallyfay omingcay ownday otay aketay away ourtay!”
TRANSLATED:
“How long have you lived down here?” I asked the giant octopus, who was steering the wheel.
“Too long,” he sighed. “But thank-you again for finally coming down to take a tour!”
I nodded and grinned, then walked back to the group. “I wonder where we’re going,” we mused.
I’m back!
202.1.1: I once came across a field of dandelions. The field was white. I picked a bouquet and twirled it in my hands. it was like an explosion.
I think en said something about “Cayotayenayishayay.” Wonder what that is.
*takes out sketch journal* *sketches fish*
My dream garden: pine forest stretches out as far as you can see. My house in in a tree which is in the middle of a clearing. In the centre of this clearing the huge California Coastal Fir Tree stretches up higher than you can imagine and up it are carved small footholds. About 20 feet up there are several long, horizontal branches and perched atop these is a picturesque tree house, quite small, and built only for one person. Inside there are two bookshelves simply stuffed with tomes and a small bed in a corner. There’s a desk in front of a window and a perch outside for birds. A calico cat is sleeping on a chair.
I look at th3e beauty of the water with a contented happiness coming over me. SUch an awesome place. Maybe I’ll start an aquarium.
The octopus waves one of his tentacles merrily and I gasp as the city of Octanesia comes into view.
Thanking Aggie for reviving me, I look out the window, enjoying the sights. A school of small, silvery fish swims by, moving like one unit.
Thec tiy of Octasia is very beautiful. It was sparkly purple lights that illuminate the intire city and octopuses are swimming around everywhere. I’ve never seen an octopus city before. very nice.
A cluster of octopi are gathered around a coral stage. On the stage is another octopus, who appears to be playing the violin, cello, viola, and bass all at once, two arms to each instrument.
The octopus says something, and kiwimuncher translates. “That octopus is a famous string quartetist. His name can only be pronounced if you have a beak.”
“You know, I think I’m actually doing okay. Just so long as I don’t look at the tentacles, I can manage.”
Ooh I don’t know.
I’d really like to be at a party… In the U.K.
Really? But octopuses have so much class! *danced with an eight armed octopus*
((You know, for a utopia, there are a lot of creatures in Reclusive Gardens that frighten me. First yetis and now octopi.))
You’re scared of octopi? Why?
What. the. heck. What is this thread? Sounds cool but strange. Why are you guys talking about octupi, and why is kiwimucnher dancing with one?
I shall (somewhat) join!
Suddenly the band of octopi changed their tone into a faster tone. A mariachi band of octopi then walked out and played some mexican songs. The sounds of each band were different, but in harmony. Of course I flew down to listen, and as my body morphed back into a human, my ears picked up the music. I danced, suddenly understanding Latin dancing.
((How was that???))
Umm, okay. I’ll join.
As the Mariachi band started to play, I began to dance. “For octupi, you’re pretty good instrumentalists,” I told them.
?????? I have no idea what is going on here.
I would live in a expansive cave system in the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean. A spring would be near the entrance, flowing through a channel, into a pool, and out the side of the entrance in a stunning waterfall. One of the rooms in the cave has a staircase going up, to the top of the cliff. It comes out in a garden, surrounded by forest. Statues, the mystical life-sized type, are scattered around, and the entire garden is wreathed in mist. Paths wind their way through the garden, and many flowers grow there. Lilies of the Valley come to mind, but there are many more. The forest is my perfect forest, that I have come to believe does not exist anywhere. I don’t know what kind of trees, but below them, a thick carpet of moss. No underbrush anywhere, but several streams, originating in springs, wind their way over small waterfalls and smooth rocks. All is quiet, and no sound of humanity is heard anywhere. The cave varies greatly, with cozy libraries, perfect for reading in, and rooms that are in their natural state. There are also passages at the back that go off further into the hillside, unexplored as of yet. As for my contribution, my gardens include many vegetables, herbs, and many, many, fruits. My sister, without asking her, will come join me and spin, and probably raise sheep too. Come to think of it, I have many small animals running about free, as pets. This all is in easy traveling distance from the rest of the community, of course.
I would live in an old, slightly Victorian style house on top of a hill, not too far from the rest of the community. There are three stories, and the rooms are on the smaller side, and cozy. The attic is a library, with a seat beneath a window for reading.
A cat shares this house with me; a dark grey tabby with green eyes. His name is Suo {soo-woh}.
There is a garden out back, with a hammock stretched between two apple trees. The house is old, and it has an air of secrets and history.
There are guest rooms on the second floor, and visitors are welcome, although I tend to keep to myself.
Both of your houses sound wonderful.
((not that anyone cares, but here’s my dream house/life))
I live in a very modern-looking house with several levels and expansions. Maybe the one in “Chasing Vermeer,” especially with the art-glass windows. There is only one, VERY LARGE, tv in the living room.
My fridge is filled with truffles(of the chocolate variety), Hershey bars, glazed carrots, shrimp parmigiana, chicken parmigiana hero, chicken pizza, pancakes, maple syrup, butter, fresh turkey slices, sliced tomatoes, tortillas, and many other foods that I cannot recall right now. Obviously a very large fridge. I teach at a nice school, not too fancy, but nice. I quietly write a book. In a very large room is a library with all the books that I have ever read and will ever want to read.
The backyard is a trampoline. A very big trampoline. And on the side there is a deck surrounding a pool.
Yeah, that’ll work.
221- We all care!
I don’t think I’d have much technology, except my I-pod, and a computer. Probably mundane stuff too. I would spend my time reading, and writing, working in my garden, and relaxing, plus visiting the rest of the communities.
Of course we care! Obviously awesome houses folks! What we are doing is hanging out in this vertual reality and we just happened to want to take an underwater tour and visit with the local octopi.
The mariachi band is very god by the way.
After the dance is over, we wave goodbye to out octopus friends and return to the shore. My garden needs tending and my bees need buzzing!
You meant “good,” right?
I sit in my sunroom- a room with walls and ceiling made of glass that is built off of the main building on the first floor. It is filled with plants, and has my desk and all my art materials. I’m working on a watercolor painting of the coast below. The paper keeps wrinkling and I give up, deciding to go out for a walk.
I stroll down the hill, hoping to meet someone and have a chat.
I return to my house by the sea and head to my darkroom to develop the photographs I took on the submarine.
I explore my new house, which randomly morphed into a little cottage while I was gone. The seal tank is gone now that I don’t have seals anymore, but my cats are still there. “Hi, Rose,” I say to the tortoiseshell she-cat, stroking her silky fur.
Outside, there’s a huge oak tree perfect for climbing, and a rose garden with roses in every color. But most of the yard is covered in dandelions, a gentle breeze blowing their seeds around like swirling snowflakes. A young goat grazes on the grass poking up between the dandelions. “I’ll call you Snickers,” I tell her. She nuzzles into the folds of my coat with her black-and-tan muzzle.
((What are we supposed to do here??))
We imagine our ideal house, our dream life. It is relaxing and peaceful.
I never really formalized what my house looked like, so here goes:
I’m not really sure as to the architectural style, but it’s on the coast near an area where there are a lot of big sea rocks one can climb on. There’s a nice little coastal forest around the house with trails that are great for a little cross-country practice. Sometimes, if you get lucky, you might find an arrowhead in the sandy soil of the forest.
The house has a little room that’s actually right over the water with an opening in the floor so I can just walk in, put on scuba gear, and get right out into the sea. Inside my house, I have a photography darkroom, a library, and a room with ping-pong and air hockey tables. My bedroom is on the top floor, and the roof is all glass, so I can look up from bed and see the stars.
Out front, I have a garden with a few sunflowers and some avocado plants. There’s a little sign by the mailbox that says “Photographs for Sale”.
My goat greets me excitably at my return and I tussle her floppy ears playfully. My garden is in good shape and I quickly tend to my tomatoes, whose first fruits are beginning to form. SEveral of my bees see me and buzz my head to remind me to visit them ASAP. “OK OK!” I laugh and hurry over to see my buggy friends.
I wander in and to my surprise, there’s a new house that says, SilverLeopard on it, and Maple is sitting on the porch. I find my way inside, and sit down at a computer on a table in the living room. I sit down and begin to type a story, Maple sitting on my lap, and the birds chirping outside.
The bees are very productive this week. I think, though I’m not sure, it may be due to the new wind-chimes that I made to place around the hives. The bees do love the tinkling chimes.
It makes everyone more cheerful.
Finally I can get away from normal people and go to my lovely home by the lake. My ducks play in the lake while Kelsey, my hummingbird friend, hovers overhead. My donkey dozes in the shade of her favorite tree.
I feel like finding some new subjects for my photography and put my camera and various lenses into my backpack before hopping on my bicycle to visit my friends.
I remember that these are ‘reclusive gardens’, and resign myself to taking a regular, chat-less walk.
Wandering into the woods behind my house, I find myself on a dirt path that I hadn’t noticed before. I keep following it until I reach… a huge tree house! I climb up the rope ladder happily.
River and Rain trot out the open door, the kittens stumbling along behind them. They start using my oak tree as a scratching post. A gentle breeze tousles their fur and clonks my wooden windchimes. Snickers gulps a last mouthful of grass and clops over to greet Kiwimuncher’s goat.
I would live in a large house ( not too big ). There would be a dance, art and recording studio. Two guest houses would be for the many friends I’ll have over at my house during the summer, since I have a gigantic swimming pool. I will have two rooms of my own: one is calm, with a yoga map and incense burning, while the other has a bunch of posters, a ginourmous closet, a cat climby-thingy for my 2 cats, and a water bed ( always wanted one). Oh and there’s a huge ballroom with a spiral staircase connected to the humungous library/study, and that is attatched to the den with a really big flat screen TV.
Is that good to start? *laughs wickedly to self*
I walk outside to fin a huge backyard (of course with the trampoline and all!). To the side is a very large hammock in which I lie in. I read my book until I spot Daisy*Chain climbing into a tree house, which makes me notice that I have one too!
I look over my shoulder from weeding my garden to see Snickers coming up to my treehouse. “Hey there!” I say and open the gate to let him in. “I guess you want to greet my goat huh?” My goat scampers over to us bleets excitably. Well, if I’m gonna have company, I might as well get them some chow. I run off to collect some hay.
((Can I be the official tailor of the community? I sew and knit comfortable, environmentally friendly clothing.))
((Also, can I write a weekly “Society Watch” column for Agrrrfishi’s newspaper? Unlike most of us, I have a computer connected to the interblag, so every week I research and write about what’s happening to the rest of the world. That’s our strongest connection to civilization. Is that okay?))
Awesome! It’s always nice to know what’s goiong on, even though you’re not a part of it intentionally.
A few cats slink toward me as I close the laptop. I pet them, and they purr. I decide to go take a walk. Maybe I’ll find someone to talk to.
I ride down the trail on my donkey. Then I see SilverLeopard walking toward me.
“Hi!” I greet Ducky. “I’m feeling rather excited today. Tomorrow I will help try to set a world record, believe it or not. In school.”
What kind of world record?
We made the largest nested Golden Rectangle (please search Golden Rectangle on the internet. I CAN”T explain it another time. (If you really don’t get it after that, I suppose you could ask me.)) in the least amount of time. It was 24 meters by 15 meters, and 72 5th and 6th graders built it in just under 11 minutes. (REALLY FAST!) I thought it would take a lot more than that.
I pick a fresh cucumber off of the vine. Excellent! I’m gonna go make some cucumber muffins! *goes up into treehouse*
Suo (the cat) is already making himself at home in the treehouse. He looks at me reproachfully, as if to say, “What took you so long?”
There are huge bean-bag chairs in the middle of the treehouse, as well as a thick, soft carpet, and my ipod is here as well. I plug my ipod into a set of speakers, and lie down on the carpet and enjoy the music.
I stretch my fingers and sit down at my small grande piano in the middle of my treehouse. At the sound of my music starting, the goats bleet and run around my chair and the bees buzz happily around my head.
I walk back down the road toward my house when the cats come to me again. “What should I name you?” I murmur. I decide that the two female and male tortoiseshell cats will be Gypsy and Oak. The sleek black she-cat would be Zinnia, the white and orange tabby would be Lynn, and the tan one would be Arabic. They follow me down the road as I wander back to my house.
I take my flute out of its case and begin playing. Some of my ducks waddle towards me as I play. ☺
I ride past Ducky, who is playing a flute, surrounded by ducks, and wave hello.
“What ho!” I shout to KaiYves as she rides by.
She brakes her bike, making a cloud of dust arise. “Why are there seashells in your hair?” she asks.
“New project. My glue is very sticky.”
“Ah.”
“Yup.” I nod. “It’s very hard to tye dye a rock. That’s what I’ve been working on this past week. That’s why my hair is more colors than usual.”
“You’re tye dying a rock and gluing seashells to it?” she guesses.
“That’s where I went on the octopi tour. Collecting seashells.”
“So what are you doing?”
“There are so many exquisite seashells down there, you know.”
“Please answer my question.”
“I’m gluing seashells to a tye died rock.”
I sit down on the screened-in porch and take out my clarinet. I play Anchors Aweigh, Marine’s Hymn, and Caissons Song. Those were the marches we (the two school bands) played in the Memorial Day Parade.
I jump p from playing piano and chase a few pesky crows away from my tomatoes. Goodness. I need a scarecrow. *goes off to find some material, leaving my bees to guard*
“A dye-died rock? Sounds cool! I’ll have to take some pictures when you’re done.”
What? A dye-died rock?
What’s that?
When I finish, I pour myself a glass of lemonade and sit down to read a book. I see Zinc and KaiYves talking.
“Hi!” I call, and walk down the path toward them.
“Hi!” I respond, talking to SilverLeopard. “It’s the perfect day for lemonade.”
I said tye died!!!
“Oh my, yes it is,” I said, whipping out a glass.
“Where did you get that?”
“My pocket, durr.”
“Why didn’t it spill?”
“Balanced walking.”
“Knowing you, Zinc,” Kai said with a sigh, “I’m surprised you can move slower than running.”
“When there is lemonade involved,” I remarked, “Walking is possible.”
I laugh.
“I like the tie-dyed rock idea,” I say. “Maybe I could try that.” I take a sip from my l o n g, curvy straw, and I hand Kai a glass of lemonade that Maple, my wung, had carried over to my feet. She now sat there, staring curiously at Zinc.
I walk in, curious, after I trapped myself (by accident!) in my own imagination. The warmth immediatly floods me, and I settle down on a very pretty tie-died rock next to SilverLeapord. I take out my French Horn (which magically appeared) and play some calming mood music. Aahhhhh…..
So, uh, what is this?
I sip the lemonade, and it is delicious.
“NONONODON’TTOUCHTHAT!!!!!” I scream, waving my arms around as people settle on top of my rock (since we were somehow transported inside my studio [???]). “IT’S NOT DRY YET AAAAHHHHYOU’RE SMUDGING THE PAIIINT!!!”
They all stare at me strangely.
“You’re ‘sposed to relax to french horn music, not completely bug out,” Enceladus remarked.
“YOU’RE SITTING ON MY WORK!!! THAT IS A REASON!!!”
Uh, can someone PLEASE explain this thread?!
Read the beginning of the original thread. That will give you the idea. Along the way some people have added their own little adventures.
((Back to Zinc)) I jump of the rock. Luckily, there’s very little paint on my clothes. I then realize how hilarious this picture looks. *snickers* Zinc is waving her arms around like a maniac, and everyone on the rock has got surprised/scared looks on their faces. Then, they scramble off the rock as fast as they can.
“Hey, maybe that helped a little,” I say with a smile on my face, “It does look tie dyed now.”
I painted a rock one time. *random thought*
I sit down an enjoy a fresh piece of toast with fresh honey from my loverly bees. Yummylicious.
I jump off the rock as if it were red-hot.
“Sorry.”
I pantpantpantokaygoodfornow. “Thank you,” I pant.
“It does? huh. maybe you’re right. H’mm…”
“Can we help paint?” I say, “I’m pretty good with blending and mixing colors.”
Seeing that I don’t have a place to sit anymore, I float up into the air, still playing my French horn! Whee!
I wander over to the small crowd, where SilverLeopard is suggesting that we help paint. Sounds like a good idea.
“Ooh! Good idea!” I run inside and dump all my colors into a big sheet, after making sure they’re closed tightly. Then I drag the sheet outside.
The buzzing of my bees tell me that something exciting and fun is happening nearby and I go to investigate. I find a whole bunch of people sitting together and painting rocks. I immediately pick up a nearby rock and join them. How colorful! My bees would love it!
“Hey, Kiwi!” I shout.
“I think I’ll do one of those-work-in-progress things.” I said, pulling out my camera. “Then we can string all the pictures together like a flipbook and see the painting from start to finish.”
I run to my house (not far from Zinc’s), put on an apron, and run back to help paint the giant rock. On one side of it is a peaceful ocean scene, with metallic dolphins and colorful fish. I add a few otters, using a soft, feathery brush to make their fur fluffy.
Zinc hands me an apron, and I begin to paint. I paint what I think represents the wind, swirling colors with different objects on it. There are music notes, pieces of paper, and even stranger things, like balls of yarn and horses. (Those represent things that people talk and think about.) KaiYves takes a few pictures as we work.
“This is fun!” I say, “I really like painting!”
My stone is fairly light colored already, so I don’t find any harm in blotting it with an arrangement of oranges and reds. It’s beginning to look like a mini sun.
“Nice otters, Rainbow*Star. They remind me of one I saw with my brothers when I went kiyacking on Long Island.”
I join in on the rock painting. Mine is blue, and I’m trying to make it look like parts of the ocean; I’ve added some seagulls and two dolphins so far.
I keep painting the big rock, and add some leaves and a camera to one of my gusts of wind.
((bookgirl_me- I like your avatar. *laughs* “Austria, No Kangaroos”. (I just HAD to say something about that)))
I finish my mood music on the horn, find a flat area, and paint it using trompe-l’oi to make it look like Chad climbing out of some water.
I sit on a rock holding one of my ducks. I then notice that one of my ducks is missing.
Your duck is missing? OMG!
We should look for it! Does anyone hear quacking?
Gypsy (one of my cats) comes up to Zinc’s studio. She steps in some blue paint and leaps up to a pink, plainly painted part of the rock. (Don’t worry Zinc, that part’s dry.) She walks on it for a little, then leaps down.
“Gypsy is an artistic cat…” I say, smiling “I suppose she can be who she likes. It does look nice, doesn’t it.” Suddenly, a duck waddles into the room.
I grab the cat before there are causalities.
DUCK! There it is! *tackles duck* *gets pecked in the face* Ouch. Feisty little quacker!
“Gypsy, why don’t you go…” I say, as I take her from bookgirl. She slinks away down the stairs, and we all turn to kiwimuncher, who has Ducky’s struggling duck in her hands.
Gypsy… is… the… name… of… my… neighbors’… cats. What… is… your… other… cat… named? *hyperventilates*
Are you okay?
The others’ names are Oak, Zinnia, Lynn, and Arabic.
The duck twists free and flaps awkwardly back too Ducky. Hmph. Silly waterfowl. *resumes painting my sunny rock*
I photograph Gypsy’s footprint-making process.
“Dan!” I exclaim. “How do you keep escaping?” I thank Kiwimuncher and go to feed my ducks.
I look at my watch. “It’s one!” I exclaim. “Time to feed Lightning!”
“Lightning?” Encladeus asks.
“My turtle.” I explain. “Oh, you haven’t met him yet? Come along!” I grab the bucket of turtle food and go out into Lightning’s seaweed yard. “Who’s a cute little turtle? You are! You are!” I say, tickling the little guy under his little chin.
I have an excess of duck eggs. Who would like some?
I would! I would lurve a quacker!
I ran over with Zinc to feed her turtle. He was a nice little turtle. Suddenly, over on the left, I saw a ton of spare parts. I ran over, finding a note attached to it.
Build a Rube Goldberg machine, and I may come.
- C.Who could it be? I thought.
I watched Zinc feed Lightning. He ate in bites so big they were cute and smiled as he chewed.
“Hey, guys, I found something!” Enceladus called.
We all hurried over as he showed us the note.
“Who could it be from?” KaiYves asked me.
“I dunno. It says ‘C.’ It could be anyone whose name starts with C. Like Chad. Anyway, let’s get building!” We started working on a Rube Goldberg machine. To our surprise, if we put something just floating in the air, and we wanted it there, it stayed floating there. We divided it into a few sections, each starting and ending with a string pulling (Yeah! Go FAT Chain Reaction at MIT!). My section went like this:
1. String pulls block
2. A ball rolls down where the block was blocking
3. It hits a pendulum, causing it to swing
4. The pendulum knocks over domino
5. The domino knocks over another domino
6. The domino knocks over another domino
…
20. The domino knocks over a bit of wood
21. The bit of wood was blocking a mechanized pulley, which spins
22. The spinning pulley pulls string
Everyone rushed over to the parts. Lightning gave me a look, grabbed the rest of the luettuce, and dived under. “What… what the heck?!” I yelled after the turtle. “YOU just don’t DO that to people!”
“He just did,” someone called over.
I walked over to the slowly forming machine, muttering incoherently about turtles, lettuce, and I guy I once knew named Rube and how he might be controlling my turtle.
My sectiong went like this, leading from Encladeus’:
23. String pulls taut from pulley
24. Sinker on string falls off onto wood serving as a teeter totter.
25. Balls on teeter totter roll into a metal pipe
26. Balls fall into bucket
27. Bucket is carried by rope to clap of wood jutting out
28. Bucket is turned over, balls falling out
29. Balls bounce diagonalley from trampoline onto slide
30. Slide carries balls into tank full of water
31. Tank is turned over
32. Water goes a downhill slope to fire
33. Fire is put out
34. Steam rises into over turned bowl
35. Bowl is carried by string to hang over unconsicous squirrel
“How did you find an unconscious squirrel?” KaiYves asked, raising an eyebrow.
“It was in the pile,” I shrugged.
35. Makeshift cloud starts raining on squirrel.
36. Squirrel wakes up
37. Squirrel goes down passageway to get nut
38. Squirrel gets nut placed on balanced teeter totter
39. Block on teeter totter slides off
40. Block goes down ramp
41. Block goes into tank
This is less than what Encladeus did.
Unconscious squirrel…………… Interesting………..
POST HERE PLEASE!
I’d like an egg, Ducky. I walk over to to Zinc, Enceladus, and Kai, and their strange machines.
Here’s an egg. If you want it hard-boiled, cook it for 16 minuets. A duck egg is about equal to 1 1/2 chicken eggs.
I will be gone to camp from the 5th to the 11th. Who would care for my ducks while I am away?
We could all take turns.
That’s a good idea.
I would love to take care of them! *pets duck* *gets nipped* OUCH! You silly quacker!
I build my section, connected to Zinc’s.
41. Block falls into tank
42. Trained fish wakes up
43. Trained fish presses button
44. Button turns on light
45. Magnifying glass focuses light
45. Focused light burns through paper ribbon that is holding weight in place
“The trained fish is from my goldfish pond,” I explain. “His name is Buttons.”
I don’t get it. *chases my goat alway from my lettuces*
Where is everyone?
Here I am!
So what is this about? It looks fun! May I join?
“Buttons?” I said, squinting at the fish. “But… he has stripes.”
“I named him Buttons because he’s trained to press buttons,” I explain. “I thought of the idea so I wouldn’t forget to feed him – I built a machine that drops pellets into his pond. If he’s hungry, he just pushes the button with his head.”
309) Sure you can join! We’re all just hanging out here, in our perfect dream homes, away from opposing outsiders. So, just come and relax!
*tends garden* *pets goat who is no longer eating my lettuces*
I come back, and build more.
46. Weight falls down, on to a tube of toothpaste
47. Toothpaste squirts out on to lever.
48. Lever tips, spilling a can of diet coca-cola.
49. Coke funnels into jar containing mentos.
50. Eruption!!!!!
“Your fish can press buttons with his head? That’s cool!”
I replied, “Smart fi– KYAAA!!”
I found myself covered in Coke.
“WHAT THE HECK, ENCELADEUS?! I’M DRENCHED WITH COKE!”
“Diet Coke.”
I stare at the curious scene in front of me. “Diet Coke.” said a boy about my age, apparently replieing to what one of the girls had been screamng. I cracked up. “Uhh, is this the Reclusive Gardens of Musebloggers?”, I snort. “Or did I take a wrong turn? I’m not very good with maps.”, I laugh. The people painting the rocks turn around and stare at me. “Uhhh….” I mumble, feeling extremely self-conscious.
“Oh, yes,” I said, pumping the girl’s hand enthusicastically. “I’m Zinc.”
I turned around. “I’m going to take a shower. Being covered in artificial flavoring all day is not fun.” I went up to my living quarters (we’re still in my studio, I believe.).
After my shower, I washed the sticky, syrupy clothing and hung them out various windows. Then I changed into very bright tyedyed shirt and capris. I wrapped a beaded bandanna around my head and grabbed a bowl of cherries, and went back to the others.
The Coke Girl shook my hand vigorously, and got it sticky. Not that I cared, of course. Coke Girl (her names Zinc, I think she said) introduced herself and went to take a shower. I grinned at the rock-painting people. “Thats why Im a nature girl and eat organic! Think of what happens to your stomach if you eat Menthos and drink Coke at the same time!”, I chortle. They stare at me. “Nevermind.” I sit down and look at my new neighbors. (?)
Note: I am about average height for a twelve years old girl, but a bit skinny, and some of my features are distinctly Asian. My hair is often mistaken for black, but is brown. My skin color is about the same color as the” perfect suntan” even though I’m inside most of the time. My eyes are dark brown and I have oval glasses. Yay!
((I just stumbled upon this, and I’m not joining, but the description of your character sounds remarkably like me. Sorry. That was kinda random. I just thought I’d let you know.
))
Excuse me, but that wasn’t a character description, it’s what I look like.
((Okay, sorry. I’ll just leave now, since I have no business being here anyway. That other post I wrote was also kinda stupid. I apologize. *vanishes into the mist*))
f&h makes a good point. Our Reclusive Gardens isn’t about creating characters; it’s about being yourself, in ideal surroundings. The surroundings are what you create. And because they’re reclusive, you don’t have to interact with anyone else unless you feel like it.
“Are those cherries? Yum!”
I look up and grin at the new girl.
“I’m SilverLeopard,” I say.
Other people introduce themselves, and I learn the girl’s name is fireandhemlock1996.
I grin relievedly (sp?) at SilverLeopard. “I’m fireandhemlock1996, but I would prefer it if you called me fireh or at least f&h.” I lower my voice. “Are the inhabitants of this area easily offended? You see, I’m terribly fond of pranks..”, I ask her quietly. Then I go and look at the rock. “Very pretty, you guys! I like it! Who painted the dolphins?”, I exclaim. “And I can live wherever and however I want, huh? Awesome!” I hum happily. Then Zinc the Coke Girl comes along with some cherries, and my backpack starts squeaking. “Oh,Crumbs, you smell the food, don’t you. I guess I’d better let you out.” I carefully open the smallest pocket of my pack. Out rushes my hamster, Crumbs. She sqeaks and crawls up my arm to perch on my shoulder. I walk carefully over to SilverLeopard. “Meet my little hamster, Crumbs! I’ve also got a mouse, Squibbles, but she doesn’t do much during the day.”, I tell her.
“Yes. I have cherries. Worship me.” I got a few cherry pits spit at me. “Ick.”
I grin and spit a cherry pit at Coke Girl Zinc. It hits her square in the forehead. “Bulls-eye!” I yell triumphantly.
I go to knock on my new neighbor’s door, but find that it’s open. Opening the door a crack, I get hit in the head with a pit that bounced off another girl.
Someone yelled,”Bulls-eye!”
“Thanks a lot,” I replied.
Note: I had brown oval glasses, really pale skin (I don’t tan, I burn.), and brown, blonde highlighted, shoulder-length layered hair that flairs out at the bottom. I have some freckles, a bottom retainer (grr!), and greenish-gray eyes. I’m about 5’3″, and I wear little-to none makeup. Whew, that’s a lot.
The cherry pit bounced of Coke Girl’s forehead and hit another person coming in the door. “Whoops! You ok?”, I ask her. Crumbs squeaks. Oh dear. Better watch where my cherry pits go!, I think.
“Yeah, I’m fine – Peco! Get back here!”
My little part-Manx kitten slipped out of my backpack.
I hurriedly pick up my bag. Squibbles and Crumbs start going berserk. “Sheesh, guys, calm down! It’s only a kitten.”, I tell them. Great.
“You guys have cherry pit spitting skittles almost as amazing as mine.” I said. “So, you shall help me…” I ran to a wall, and pulled off the canvas veiling it. “…MAKE SOMETHING!”
“Balloons? Pinned to a wall? Really, Zinc?”
I sighed, exasperated. “You spit the cherry pits at the balloons, and the balloons pop.” Iexplained. “The balloons are filled with paint. So when the balloons pop, paint will fly everywhere!” I threw my arms up in the air. “It’ll be so coool!”
This is how I act in real life. Every motion and emotion are exaggerated.
“Awesome! Food and fun at the same time, as well as a MESS!!!”, I shout gleefully, and proceed to pop a balloon with a well-aimed cherry pit. Paint splatters. I whoop and do my cartwheel routine, the one that goes one cartwheel then two one handed cartwheels then slide into the splits. “Come on, guys!”, I tell the others.
Yes, that is how I act when hyper. Which I am at the moment.
“Oooh, dart-balloon painting? I always wanted to try that!”
I bit the flesh off a particularly squishy cherry and then spit the pit at an orange balloon.
I return to the rock-painting party from my garden to see people flinging food at each other. Oh my! *ducks a cherry pit*
(Come back!)
I spit a pit at a purple balloon, then realise that I am standing too close, and now have purple splatter all over me. “Whoo! Awesome! Purple rocks!”, I yell.
Orange paint hit the canvas as my cherry pit popped the balloon.
*is immensely curious* *throws cherry pit at green baloon* *misses and hits yellow one instead* *gets yellow on my nose* *enjoys talking in astericks*
*Rides over on my donkey* *Gets splattered with paint* *Gets off donkey and grabs a cherry* *Aims at red balloon* *Misses and hits blue balloon*
You have a donkey?
That’s a good point. I didn’t know that either. But donkey’s rule!
Only in my imagination.
*gets splattered with blue* Oh my! Now I’m blue!
“Kiwi, are you in need of choklit? Because I don’t like it when my friends are gloomy.”
*walks in cautiously* Um…hi. *is hit with a cherry pit by F&H*
OW! *rubs head*
I ran in the house and took a big red bowl out of the freezer and ran back outside.
It was melted, frozen choklit. And boy, it was good when doused in honey and choklit sauce.
(God, now I’m craving that…)
Dude. That sounds fantastic. *eats some* *offers some to H-D-C-L who is rubbing her head painfully*
“Yayness! Choklit!” I tried some. “It was delishus! Danke Zinc!”
“Fellow German? Pleasure.”
I stutter. “Er, well, you see, I’m just starting to learn German.” I explain hastily, remembering an embarrasing encounter with a person who thought I could speak German fluently…..
Really? I wish that would have happened to me in Paris this summer. I wanted to speak French so badly, but no one gave me a chance! They just looked at me, assumed I was American, and spoke English immediately.
I don’t speak any foreign languages fluently.
I try spitting a cherry pit at a balloon, but I miss. I throw the next one at it, and I get splattered turquoise. Oh! *has good idea* I kneel down near a puddle on the floor, and give myself orange dots.
I look at SilverLeopard, who is kneeling down on the floor and giving herself orange dots. “Hey, SilverLeopard, what’re you doing?” I ask cheerfully, spitting a cherry pit at her. It bounces off her head and hits Ducky’s donkey. “Oops!”, I say, laughing.
SFTDP, but I just got a great idea! I beckon Zinc over and whisper to her. “If you want to get revenge on Enceladus for the Coke, I know how to do it! I’ve got the perfect thing in my Pranksters Kit. It’s Menthos cookies and a bottle of Coke, and the Menthos are disguised as chocolate chips. So he thinks I’m just giving him Coke and chocolate chip cookies, and then it explodes in his stomach! What d’you think? Should I do it?” I giggle quietly. She considers it carefully. “Hmmm….”
Actually, Coke doesn’t cause an eruption after it’s poured. Sorry, even
I watched the others eat chocolate. I don’t personally like sugar, but it was nice to see them happy.
“Hmmm….”
Fireh looks at me eagerly, waiting for my answer.
“Nah.”
“What?! Why not?!”
“If his stomach wall explodes, it’ll be a pain to clean up. This is my house, you know.”
“It won’t. He’ll just fly up a foot into the air. I’ve done it before. It’d actually quite fun for the victim, as well.”, I assure Zinc eagerly. She considers me. “You really like playing pranks, don’t you. “
“If he crashes through the roof, he’ll go into my room, and if he smashes anything there, it will distrupt my mental balance I have worked so hard to maintain. Everything here is where it is for a reason.”
“But he won’t go throught the ceiling!”
“But he’ll hit the origami I have hanging down from the ceiling! It tooks me days , working nonstop with only chocolate for sustenence, to make all those!”
She looks up. Sure enough, paper stars and papers cranes were suspended from the ceiling, glittering and waving and rustling.
“Fine. I give up.”
“No, wait, I’ve got a better idea. I’ll do it outside! Hmm? Please?” I beg. “And the origami is very pretty, by the way. I like origami. I mainly make those balls that you blow into, though.”, I tell her. “But please, let me do it outside at least!”
I sighed. “Fine. Do as you wish. But this is totally your fault, and none of it is mine. Got it?”
I whoop. “You won’t regret this!”, I assure her dashing off to find Enceladus. “Hey, Enc, I want to show you something outside!”, I chirp. He follows me outside. “Hey, want a snack?” I toss him a cookie and a Coke. He gulps it down.
Enceladus, I will let you describe the experience.
Clicked the wrong button. Coke doesn’t explode after poured. Also, I can read what your planning. And, I don’t drink Coke.
*eats Chocolate chip cookie*
*DOESN’T drink coke*
*makes origami*
*eats mint gum*
*is in reclusive gardens*
*builds own section of reclusive gardens*
An actual garden, this time.
*sticks out tongue* that is SO like something my friend Nick would say.
I saw the others taking Coke and Mentos outside. Maybe they could make a cool fountain like the one on Mythbusters. And if we were going to do things requiring blast room outside anyway, maybe I could hurry back home and get some model rockets…
Hello fireandhemlock
I’m here again
a) it’s fireh. Ask Zinc. b) do you want to stay in my treehouse?
Oh my. All this talk of exploding one’s stomache. I suppose that is something not to try in the real world, Hmmm? *ponders* *eats cheery* *spits out pit* Hey! Why don’t we try a cherry pit spitting competition?
“If they don’t eventually get spit at me, I’m game.”
*immediately spits cherry pit at Zinc* haha!
*continues building treehouse*
“Can I help?”
“And can I?”
“And me?” *hits hand with hammer* “Nevermind that.”
“Cherry spitting sounds fun!”
This thread is semi-dead.
*wi[es paint off face* *chases afterdonkey, which is rapidly fleeing*
Yes it is. I apologize for not coming more often.
*spits cherrypit* *measures the distance* 2 yards!
“Ah, guys, better pack up,” I warned, sneaking a glance at the horizon. “It’s getting pretty late. I need sleep.”
“Yes,” Kai said. “Let us hit the hay.”
“With long sticks,” Kiwi added.
I bid goodbye to my friends and proceeded into my cottage. Then I scuttled down the stairs into the underground house. I took a nice long bubble bath, listening to Jim Dale read Silver Doe as I scrubbed the paint off. Then I took a plate of fudge to my bed, and gamboled around my computer for a few hours. Finally, at 2 AM, I went to sleep.
I’ll be drawing my house sometime. I might send it in, I might not.
G’night! ^^
Heh heh. That was good.
Long sticks…
That looks really odd on Recent Comments.
“Sure you can help!” I say. “We could build an enormous tree house, if all of you work!” I lay out the plans for the treehouse.
“It’s getting dark, though.” SilverLeopard said worriedly
“Which makes it all the more fun!” F&H yelled excitedly!
I grin at ‘Ladus. “Yay! I get to hit my hand with hammers and then drop the hammers on my foot!”, I say enthusiastically. SilverLeopard and Enceladus look at me oddly. “err.. Nevermind that, then.”. I say hastily. They continue to stare, until I scramble up a tree and promptly proceed to fall off. “Owww…”, I complain, as the others run over to see if I’m okay.
My bees buzz happily around my head as I return to my treehouse. Up in the branches, I hear my goat “ba-ing” foir his supper. I smile around my garden and climb up into my house’s branches. OK OK! I’ll get you some food! Geez!
((Oh gee… This thread is dead! Off to request a new one!))