Friday Fairy Tale: We All Connect

Since returning from my last con of the season, I've been having trouble with my internet connection. Nothing consistent, just random sudden failure of the connection. It's been baffling. We check every connection, looked at the satellite, ran through all the usual tech support attempts.

We might have gone on forever in frustration. We might have canceled our fast but undependable satellite service, and gone back to the grind of dialup. We might have, but we didn't.

Because one fine bright night, not long ago, a raccoon came scratching at the door. We have an Arrangement with the raccoons; we share food, they patrol the yard for intruders and don't invade our house to steal all our food and download Netflix. So I followed our security bandit out to the fence.

There, stretching in long chirping ladders, was half the frog population of our local pond. At the very top of the chain- at the very top of the transmitter-- was a small cadre of frogs, ribbiting desperately, passing having very frantic frog conversations that they passed down the chain of amphibians.

What, you ask, did frogs want with the internet? I certainly asked. The frogs felt this was rather rude; after all, what did I want with the internet?

They thought my answer was quite dull.


****

It's true that our transmitter has been blocked by frogs climbing all over it. I suspect this has more to do with the bugs that swarm in the area than some sort of amphibious plot to steal our bandwidth, but you just never know, do you?

Fairy Tale Friday: Winter Dragon Steals The Moon

Every year the Winter Dragon stole the Moon, and hid it away in the winter forest until springtime.

The village girl walked to the center of the winter forest, where the hills and the trees and the shining body of the Dragon were all the same thing. The Moon was shining above them, sitting so low in the sky she could almost touch it. She reached out to take the Moon and put it in her lantern, and carry it back to the village. The hills of the winter forest twisted and the trees cracked and waved, and the blue-white eyes of the Winter Dragon watched her with eternal amusement. The Dragon smiled, or snarled, and curled around the Moon, and said nothing.

But the girl asked, with a frozen tongue, "Why do you hide the Moon from us? Why keep it here, to light only your forest, instead of letting it light the sky for everyone?"

The Dragon answered, in a voice like cracking ice, "Because no one else ever notices the Moon, unless I take it sometimes; and beautiful things should not be ignored. But if care enough to come all this way, you may have some moonlight to take with you, and light your way home." And the Dragon put a bit of Moon in the girl's lantern, and sent her home, where she took her tiny bit of light and sent it into the dark sky.

The girl visited for almost a month; and at last the Dragon ran out of moonlight. But the Dragon kept its word as the last bit of silver light was tucked in the girl's lantern, and did not stop her. Instead the Dragon asked "Why do you take the Moon back to the sky for everyone, where it will be ignored?"

The girl answered, in a very plain voice, "Because nothing captive can be beautiful." And she left the winter forest for the last time.

***
Story and art by me, of course!

-Carapace

Blog Carnival: Summer Line

First off, if any commenters still want to join the Halloween PIF, there's room for ooooone more. Just leave a comment in the post under this.

Ahem.

I am in grief, because I missed the last Etsybloggers blog carnival. Alack, because it was about fairy tales, and if you like hearing me ramble (and if you don't, why on earth are you visiting my blog? Rambling and occasional sketches are all I offer here!), well, you are grieving too, because there is seriously a hundred years worth of prattling to be had off fairy tales.

But this carnival is, conveniently, about my New Stuff for the Summer * and my new stuff for the summer is apparently going to be heavy on the fairy tales! Yay! In fact, check out these early sketches:



Oh boy, doesn't that look promising! Hah, I kid. Early sketches always look like someone kicked muddy sticks on a page. Mine do, anyway. Maybe yours look like Degas layouts, I don't wanna know.

Anyway, can you guess who they are? I bet not, because that's a rough sketch, and it looks like mud! But in the stage it's at now, that's a really rather pleasing composition of Snow White and Rose Red.

I always liked Snow White and Rose Red a lot better than just the Snow White story. True, it's missing the wonderfully wicked Stepmother, and the disturbing fact of the dwarves, but it replaces them with an evil gnome, a talking bear, and sisterhood with axes. Better deal all around, and that's before we even get to the color contrast. The Grimms and their translators did some fantastic things with very basic language, and that's coming from someone whose favorite authors are mostly in the grand Dickensian tradition**.

Anyway, I seem to be on a kick illustrating the stories of my childhood. I don't expect I'll be doing a lot of the Disney-famed stories-- they aren't the interesting ones, anyhow. But The Girl With Golden Hands? Brave Little Tailor? Mother Hulde? Oh heck yeah. I'm getting itchy sketchin' fingers just thinking about them.***

There's also going to be a new set of clays in my shop, with a little more potential usefulness. Over on this blog, there's going to be, well, prattling about fairy tales, some con stories, and not a few photos, if all goes as planned. And sometime-- I'm not saying when-- a great big enormous summer sale! So stick around, this'll be the best summer ever at Caramakes!****

*Well, it was that or birthday stuff, and my birthday stories are kinda depressing.

**Tell me more about the bottle on the windowsill! Exactly what shade of green is it, and how does this reflect the nature of society, again?

***Dear Disney: Unless you're willing to have the mutilation scene in full glory, leave Golden Hands and Mother Hulde alone. Thank you.

*** Also the second summer ever. So it's an easy promise to keep.