Lily and The Fallen Cedar Pt.1

cosycottage · Post by **cosycottage** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:37 pm

Lily sighed wistfully as she stared out the window of the cottage.

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It had been raining on and off for the past few days. An occasional burst of warm sunlight, filtering though the forest, would get her hopes up… before a veritable deluge of spring showers would lower her spirits once more.

Today, however, held much more promise!
Of course, she had watched the usual parade of cloudy and wet sky, trailing its grey streaks across the sky.
However, the late afternoon had brought with it a small stream of lovely, warm sunlight flitting through the treetops…and even a few hopeful specks of sunshine had managed to reach the forest floor.

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“Quick! Quick!” Lily squeaked to herself and quickly jumped down from her spot at the kitchen window.

Perhaps she could make her way down to Moocow Meadow and pet the cows and pick up some fresh milk from the farmer’s stand at the gate.
Why yes, what an excellent idea!

And so, Lily went over to the sofa and grabbed her long coat: making sure she would be nice and snug and warm.

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She stuck her arms into her long coat greedily - thinking of that lovely glass of fresh milk waiting for her down in the fields beyond the forest!
And, before you could say lickety-split, she was out the door and heading down the path.

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Outside, the ground was bathed in a warm, damp glow, which filled her nostrils with a wonderfully musty smell.
She kicked her bare feet along the mossy path, feeling very happy indeed to finally be outside, after all those horrid, boring days cooped up inside the cosy cottage in the woods!

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Humming a happy tune, Lily followed the path deep into the forest…until the sun barely flickered through the thick clumps of trees, and the air became cool.
The ground soon became littered with brittle branches which crackled under her feet, and the long path down to the fields slowly, but surely, disappeared…

cosycottage · Post by **cosycottage** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:42 pm

Soon enough, and without even realising it, Lily had left the well-lit part of the forest and found herself trudging through moist, mossy undergrowth.

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The hem of her long skirt got more and more damp as she dragged her little legs through the rain-flecked undergrowth.

“Now then.” Lily chided herself, “Where oh where did that path to the meadow go to?”

“Hmmm…” Lily thought to herself, as she paused for breath next to the gnarly trunk of a fir.

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She could always turn back and rejoin the straight and easy route to Moocow Meadow, but the scent of the wonderful outdoors in her nostrils was making her feel quite adventurous.
And so she soldiered on, into a new and previously unexplored part of the surrounding forest…

Onwards she trudged, beyond the soft, damp moss, until she felt only dry sticks and broken branches digging into the bare, mud-crusted soles of her feet…

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As they jabbed and snapped beneath her, Lily wanted to cry, but she refused to let that happen - even though there was nobody around to see any tears form on her face.

As she approached a clearing, she saw that the ground started to tumble up and down… but mainly down! This was definitely the right direction!
A little further and she soon reached the foot of a steep bank.
“Hmm. Maybe I’ll catch sight of Moocow Meadow somewhere on the other side!” Lily pondered to herself brightly, in an attempt to keep her spirits up.
And so she huffed and puffed and climbed and clambered up the bank until - finally - she was peering over its mossy ridge…

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Unfortunately, there was no meadow on the other side.

However, there was something far more interesting!

A gigantic old cedar tree, fallen many years ago, its roots still sticking up like gnarled fingers, pointing towards the sky…

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What an exciting find!

...

cosycottage · Post by **cosycottage** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:46 pm

Lily walked around the fallen giant, its gnarled bark now coated with a thin scattering of moss.

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“Phew!” she gasped, thinking of all the fun she could have:
climbing up its soft bark,
running up and down its long, sturdy trunk,
pretending it was a humungous ocean-going ship and she was its captain,….
The possibilities were endless!

But just then, the sky clouded over, and drops of rain started to fall from the sky...

Lily hurried towards the fallen cedar, hoping to shelter from the impending rain shower.
As she approached, she saw a large hollow - as big as a cave - at the base of the tree.

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“Nice and dry and big as a house, too!” Lily squeaked, as she rushed towards the entrance...

Now, perhaps if Lily hadn’t been in such a hurry to get out of the rain,
or indeed made such a commotion while approaching the fallen cedar,
she might have seen that dark shape, lurking at the base of that hollow,
or heard the frantic scuffling sounds,
and been prepared for the sight of the tree’s long-time resident, clambering up out of the hole to meet her…!

“Well well,” hissed the dark-cloaked stranger, “what have we here?”

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...
...
to be continued....

Fenrisulfr · Post by **Fenrisulfr** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:53 pm

Excellent as always, great story and pics.

Looking forward to the next instalment

Post by **Ruby13** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:26 pm

Lily:
"Don't eat the apple, Don't eat
the apple!"

Don R-13

p.s. These little picture-book stories are
priceless...keep them coming.

Post by **netwit** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:18 pm

Wonderful. I'm hooked; what happens next?

BTW, some of the perspectives you captured here are
truly astounding. Are you sure she's not full sized and
you just have a really huge cottage?

Joe Bin · Post by **Joe Bin** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:23 pm

Great story! And awesome pictures!

I look foreword to the next chapter.

Christine · Post by **Christine** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:41 pm

EEEEKKKKKK!!! RUN LILY RUN!!!

ibella · Post by **ibella** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:09 pm

Adorably creative!
Is that jacket made of seeds? Or is it a bulky knit? Was just thinking it reminded me of a skirt made of birdseed that I saw on one of my sisters' fashion shows.

Axion · Post by **Axion** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 2:36 am

Great stuff! Your pictures really bring her to life and the back stories are fabulous!

kindly · Post by **kindly** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:01 pm

Lily is beautiful, the photos are as well, and a fascinating story line! I will also be waiting anxiously for the next installment, cosy.

kindly

cosycottage · Post by **cosycottage** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:20 pm

Thanks all for the kind comments - sorry I haven't done many recently... well behind on stuff... but do not fear, part 2 will be up this weekend.

Thought I'd build up some suspense for this particular story

cosycottage · Post by **cosycottage** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:28 pm

ibella wrote:Adorably creative!
Is that jacket made of seeds? Or is it a bulky knit? Was just thinking it reminded me of a skirt made of birdseed that I saw on one of my sisters' fashion shows.

Hi ibella - I made the jacket out of a wooly cap. (there is also a matching cap) Great material, yes it looks and feels fantastically bobbly :noel5:

*quickly digs out photo* here you go

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... still looking for the "perfect" buttons for the coat.... Ideally wooden toggle types, but difficult to find something in that size

HTH

ibella · Post by **ibella** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 8:56 pm

Quite inventive! Seems like it would be hard to work with a large knit on a small scale, but you did it very well!

Maybe consider creating the toggle buttons yourself? Like find some small wooden cylinders, like chop sticks and saw off a section. Maybe you have someone you could borrow a dremel tool from to drill a small hole or 2 in it depending on what form you want the button to take, then stain and/or varnish?

cosycottage · Post by **cosycottage** » Thu Jun 14, 2012 9:30 pm

ibella wrote:...creating the toggle buttons yourself? Like find some small wooden cylinders, like chop sticks and saw off a section. Maybe you have someone you could borrow a dremel tool from to drill a small hole or 2 in it depending on what form you want the button to take, then stain and/or varnish?

Great idea! Thanks! I can certainly stain and maybe create a groove around the centre to thread onto the coat (in true duffel coat style) rather than try to drill teensy holes...... will add that to the list of things to sort out!