Ye Olde Inn

This is a new mini-series of stories I'll be posting to my company's Twitter account (@questingheroes). It's just something I'm trying out...a different style of writing and storytelling...through a specific character. We'll see how it goes. I'm planning to post a new story every few days, but at least once a week. Again...we'll see how it goes.
Here is the first. I'll try to remember to post them here as I post them to twitter, but if you have a twitter account, you can see them there, for sure.

Enjoy.

Archibald Taylor, Grand Storyteller and Gossiper
Young Men Tracking In The Snow

Ah, well, I was in Roseran these last two weeks. Winter is here, of course. It's been snowing the last two weeks, and the ground is thick with cold, white, goodness. The young boys of Roseran, all of those who are becoming young men this year, they were all out practicing and honing their hunting skills. This is something very important for young boys to do, to learn to hunt and to be able to fend for themselves and for their families. So, they were out practicing and learning. And some of them were getting very excited and happy about how their practice was coming along, because they were finding the tracks of rabbits and squirrels. They would find the tracks in the snow and they were quite proud of themselves for doing so. They should be proud of themselves, of course. Even if they were finding tracks in the snow, that is still something to be proud of, and as we know, it is very important for the young boys to learn how to hunt and track down animals. They should be able to do that anytime, and winter is part of that anytime. So yes, they should be proud of themselves, and they were.

It was nice to see the young boys and young men get so excited about their tracking, but it was even more fun to watch and hear about the old men, because...because some of the older hunters were out the with the boys, teaching them and coaching them. And we all know that they were just playing along, of course, helping the boys and young men get excited about what they were learning and what they were practicing. But it was fun to watch the older hunters get excited about finding the tracks in the snow, as well.

Because, you see, the older hunters, to help the young men get excited about finding the tracks, would get excited about finding the tracks, as well, and they would hop up and down and hoot and holler, just like the young boys and young men. And it was fun to see them do that, jumping up and down and hollering like children, like they were.

It wasn't all fun, though, watching the old hunters jump up and down. One old hunter, Keelen Tarness, well, he was out there jumping up and down and hooting and hollering with his grandson and his grand-nephews, and he wasn't watching where he was jumping. Well, he happened to land on a small bit of ice under the snow and, well, down he went. Luckily, his daughter-in-law is a capable healer, and Keelen was rushed over to her house - his grand-nephews dragged him through the snow on a makeshift sled they threw together - and she was able to heal his broken arm. He'll be just fine, but the other old hunters will never let him forget about the day he fell down in the snow, acting like a child. Never mind that the rest of them were acting like children, too. They didn't fall down, though, and that's what matters, after all.

Archibald Taylor, Grand Storyteller and Gossiper
Grandpa Jarris' Funeral

While I was in Roseran, I happened to make it over to the Jarris Farmstead. They had a loss, you know, the week before I arrived in Roseran. Yes, Grandpa Jarris passed away...very sad. Well, the family...they weren’t real sure what to do, at first. Being winter time, it’s...well, it’s too cold to dig a hole in the ground big enough to bury someone. You certainly don’t want to bury someone in a small hole and have half the body sticking up out of the ground, so that the animals can get to it. No, that just wouldn’t do for Grandpa Jarris, it just wouldn’t do. And Grandpa Jarris, he wasn’t much for being buried anyhow. Everyone knew that. So, they all finally decided...they decided they would give him a nice, flashy send off. The family and friends, they all went down to the back part of the farm there. And you know the Jarris Farm, that’s the one that has the lake all the way in the back that is warm all the time, so it doesn’t freeze over in the winter. Even though it’s been so cold the last couple of weeks, and even though it’s been snowing, the lake is still warm and it hasn’t frozen up. So, they...they all go down there, with Grandpa Jarris and a small canoe in tow, and they wrapped Grandpa Jarris up nice and tight, and they placed him in the canoe, very gently, very reverently, and they gently pushed the canoe out in the lake.

The plan, of course, was to set Grandpa Jarris on fire, just like they used to do for the old kings, you know. Of course, Grandpa Jarris, he was the king of the Jarris Family, wasn’t he. They all looked up to him and respected him and respected his thoughts and his decisions. They would give him a send off just like a king should get, because that’s what he was...he was their king.

So, they pushed him out into the lake, in the canoe, very gently, and the youngest son of the Jarris family, Victor, he picked up the bow and quiver of arrows. He’s the youngest son, only about 14 this year, I believe, but they all knew he was close with Grandpa Jarris...they spent so much time together and laughed so much together. Well, they all thought it would be the proper thing to do, to let Victor have the honor of giving Grandpa Jarris his royal send off. They all thought it might be good closure for the youngster and might help him deal with the loss a little better. Well, Victor took up the bow and quiver and walked to the edge of the lake, and he...he notched an arrow, slowly and reverently. Victor then said a few words, from what I was told, and he lifted the bow and took aim and, after his brother lit the arrow, he let the arrow fly toward the canoe.

And to everyone’s dismay, the arrow hit the water of the lake a few feet away from the canoe and just fizzled out. It just fizzled out, right there in the water, and it...it just sank. To young Victor’s credit, he didn’t let this bother him. He just pulled another arrow, notched it, and took aim. And after his brother lit the second arrow, Victor let the arrow fly toward the canoe. And to everyone’s dismay, again, the arrow dropped into the lake a few feet away from Grandpa Jarris.

At this point, of course, you can imagine, Victor looked around, a bit sheepishly. He was embarrassed, of course, and wasn’t exactly sure what to do now. His brother, standing beside him, though, prodded him on to give it another try. So, Victor pulled a third arrow, notched it and took aim, and his brother lit the third arrow, and that third arrow, well, you know, that third arrow just dropped right into the lake a few feet away from Grandpa Jarris and it just sank.

This time, after Victor missed a third time, some of the friends and family standing around were starting to whisper, and there were a few overly loud gasps and sighs. Victor’s brother, finally reaching his limit of patience, snatched the bow from Victor and gave him a stern look, and then he grabbed an arrow from the quiver and took aim himself. Victor’s brother waited a moment, then cleared his throat very loudly, prompting young Victor to light the arrow. Well, Victor redeemed himself just a little bit, because he lit the arrow with quickness and ease, as I understand it, and his brother let the arrow fly.

And for all his bluster and stern looks, and to the dismay of everyone standing around, well, you know Victor’s brother missed by just a few feet, too. I wasn't there, of course, but during my time in Roseran, I heard a few bits of gossip about the entire ordeal. Now, some figured that maybe, just maybe, Grandpa Jarris just was not quite ready to leave this world yet, and it was his doing that made the arrows fall short of the canoe and lighting him ablaze. And there were some who were absolutely certain that some fairy or sprite or something along those lines were having some fun at Grandpa Jarris' expense. We'll never know, of course, but I have my own theory about what happened: All the way up to the end, even after then end, Grandpa Jarris loved that Victor so much that he wanted to see him laugh just one last time. And, you can imagine, when his brother missed the arrow shot, as well, Victor couldn't help but grin and giggle just a little bit. Now, I heard it was more than just a little bit. I heard that the young boy had to be hauled back up onto his feet and reprimanded, because, well, you just don't roll around in the snow and laugh when you're at a funeral. It's just not something you do, unless, of course, you're Victor Jarris and you loved laughing with your grandpa very much.

**Introduction: It's nice when you can use real life to write, especially when it comes to writing fantasy.
My daughter is turning five at the end of February, and she just lost her first tooth today. I wrote this last
week, when she became worried and started crying about her tooth being loose. This was a fun story to write.

Archibald Taylor, Grand Storyteller and Gossiper
The Tooth Fairy

I just left Roseran a few days ago to come here Dellain, you know. On the way, I decided to stop and visit some friends of mine just a couple of miles away, the Tabbot family. Good friends of mine, the Tabbot family. They have three children, a son and two daughters, and they're all great kids. Now, the youngest girl, Isabella, she's just about five years old. Maybe she's already five, maybe five years and a week or so. I'm not sure exactly, but it's right around five years old.

Well, Izzy - that's what they call her, you know, Izzy, which is short for Isabella - Izzy is right around five years old, and while I was there visiting with the family, she discovered that she had a loose tooth. She found that out while eating some bread. She took a bite and it hurt, so she reached right in there and tried wiggling the tooth and, sure enough, it wiggled just a little bit. It was just a little bit, but it did wiggle, and this was Izzy's first loose tooth and the wiggling shocked her just a little bit. Being the little girl of only five years old that she was, Isabella became worried about her tooth, which was now able to wiggle in her mouth, because, well, teeth are not supposed to wiggle in your mouth. They're supposed to stay still and chew your food so you can swallow it. But her tooth wiggled, and that bothered her, so much so that she had to go to her mother and father and tell them all about it. She told them that her tooth hurt and that it was wiggling in her mouth, and that teeth aren't supposed to wiggle, but her tooth was wiggling and the wiggling made it hurt, and she started crying just a little bit.

I heard what was taking place, so I went to her parents and asked if Isabella knew the story about the fairies who take the teeth from under childrens' pillows and leave them a present, a prize, maybe, or a treat, perhaps. They told me that she had heard the story, probably, when her brother and sister had lost teeth, but this was her first loose tooth, and she might not remember the story. I asked if they would mind if I was the one to tell her the story, and they said that would be just fine, that Izzy would probably love to hear the story from me.

So, I sat down in the large, very comfortable rocking chair the Tabbots have sitting by the fireplace, the one made by Mitchell Tabbot's grandfather that has been passed down to each youngest child in the family. Well, I sat down and I called Izzy over to me and pulled her up on my lap and we sat and listened to the fire snap and crackle for a just few moments, until she had calmed down and stopped crying. Then I said to her, “Do you know why we lose our teeth, Izzy?” Of course, we know why we lose our teeth. We lose our little teeth so we can get bigger teeth that are better for eating as we get bigger and, well, these bigger teeth are also better for biting our brothers and sisters when we fight with them. I figured Isabella wouldn’t know this, though, so I asked her and she shook her head no. So I said to her, “Well, we lose our little tiny teeth so we don’t look ridiculous when we grow up, because we would look horribly silly with this great big, grown-up head with tiny little teeth in our mouth”. And I made the face for her, hiding my teeth behind my lips a bit, so they looked tiny. That made her giggle a little bit, and I knew she was cheering up some now. So, then I said to her, “You know Izzy, you should be excited about losing your teeth. Yes, you should, because, see...”

Now, I was going to tell Isabella the story about the fairy. I thought it quite a benign story, something that a child would love to hear about. Her brother and sister had been told about the fairy when they lost teeth, and they were just fine with it. Maybe Isabella wasn’t ready for the story about the fairy, or maybe it was the way I went about telling her, I just don’t know. All I know is that I didn’t get very far into the story. I continued the story, “see, there is a special fairy that lives in the woods behind your house...”. I pointed toward the back of the house, toward the area where the woods are. I continued, “This fairy is very special, and it likes teeth. So, sometimes, at night, after teeth fall out, this fairy will come into the house...” Well, Isabella’s eyes got big at this point, and I should’ve have known to stop there, or change the way I was telling the story, but I didn’t. I thought, maybe, she was just getting excited and expectant about what was coming next. So, I continued, “This fairy will come into the house, and it takes children’s teeth...”

And that was the end of the story, for the time being, anyhow. Isabella shrieked and leapt off my lap and ran into the back part of the house, where the beds are. Her parents ran in after her and found her cowering under the covers of her bed, her hand clamped tightly over her mouth. Her brother and sister had been sitting at the dinner table listening, as well, and now they were roaring with laughter. I didn’t see what was so funny, and when I asked what had gone wrong, they laughed even harder.

See, Isabella wasn’t getting excited or expectant about what was coming next. Her eyes had gotten big because, well, the idea of a fairy that lived in the woods sneaking into her house at night frightened her. And when I got to the part about the fairy taking children’s teeth, well, that thought terrified her. I found out a little later that, apparently, she wasn’t thinking about the teeth that had fallen out. She was thinking about the teeth still in her mouth. She quickly imagined this fairly, sneaking into her house in the dark, coming into her room, pulling her mouth open while she slept, and yanking the teeth right out of her mouth.

It’s a good thing I’m such good friends with the Tabbot family. It’s not often that you get to terrify a little girl who’s around five years old and still get invited back to the home after that. But they did, they invited me to come back anytime, just as they always do when I leave after visiting. And I assured them I would come back when I was nearby, and the next time, I would try not to terrify anyone.