Hillock Characters Gradually Present Themselves!

Today was quite amazing! Francklin and Lacy, our Springers, romped in the rain with me down to The Hillock. As usual, I quietly strolled the CobbleStoneWay, keeping an eye out for any pieces of the unfolding mysteries of this magical place. Frogs, caterpillars, snakes, and a turtle or two here and there are a few from the past. Today I could hear a few feeble cricket sounds and a bird warble here and there, but nothing that struck me. Until…CastleofHeart:Snail 1CastleofHeart:Slug2CastleofHeart:Slug3  I came to The Castle of the Heart. One part of the castle had fallen, and I didn’t see the iron fairy girl anywhere. As I looked more closely, I saw her legs upside down between two cliffside rocks. I quickly rescued her, rebuilt the rock platform, and re established the fallen castle turrets. To my surprise, when I lifted one of the stones, there was a very large slug. I marveled at its grey colors and slimy skin, carefully avoiding touching or smushing it as I replaced the rock and fairy. What happened next, actually, is what surprised me…the large slug began to slime up the replaced turrets, and seemed either to be kissing the fairy or whispering into her ear! I actually got their interaction on camera! And I PROMISE, I am not making this up! Nor did I stage any of this! I just kept clicking my cellphone camera button as fast as I could so that I wouldn’t miss a thing!

2 Comments

  1. Barbara Ryan said,

    February 1, 2020 at 1:53 pm

    What happened next!! I’m intrigued!!

  2. Ann Gordon said,

    February 1, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Hi Barbara! After the slug ‘kissed’ the iron fairy, it bobbed its head on over to a nearby rock and climbed on! ….Looking back on this seven years later, I’m guessing this one moment was the snail’s interview in my subconscious for a character part in my story that was brewing. I didn’t realize there was such a sweet scene in the pages of my book til I reread this. When I was thinking of how to illustrate page 24, when Martha Julia Agnes Adele is encouraging Slug to let go of thinking he’s a snail and stop hunting for a shell, I had forgotten about this tender photo of the snail and the fairy, and somehow ended up painting Martha and Slug in a touching moment.

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