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"I told you that we should have left him alone this time," one Wysp told the others. "Now he is really mad!" Really mad was an understatement, Aralt was furious! His corolla was missing and after seeing so many Wysps around he finally figured out who had taken it. "Today is not the day for this to happen," growled Aralt as he wanted to have his magical crown when he and Siate' met the young Dragon named Dree. "My Emerald Dragon Stone will let me hear the mind-speaking of the Dragons, but without the corolla, I won't be able to nudge them to my desires." This is how Drat found him. "This will be easier than I thought," Drat realized as he watched both Aralt and the Wysps. Slowly stalking behind the arguing group of Wysps, Drat whispered from behind them that maybe they should head for the free food at the SPICE cave nearby where Allspice and Nutmegg were preparing food and drink for the meeting.
Aralt didn't hesitate to chase the Wysp holding his crown out of the cave and ended up following them towards the SPICE kitchen. Smiling, Drat waited a minute before slowly following them all so he could be there to watch the excitement when Dree and the others arrived. As the Wysps were being chased by Aralt, Nutmegg was setting up a small tent and some tables for the food that Allspice was bringing out from the kitchen in their cave. "They should be getting here soon," thought Nutmegg as he finished with the tables. As Nutmegg finished, Allspice stepped out of the cave with a box of food and said, "They should be here soon." Nutmegg just smiled at his boss and shook his head in amusement.
Soon it looked like it was going to be the biggest picnic that the Realm of Wymsy had ever seen. Just about everyone was there! Everyone but the Dragons... As the Wysps, being followed by Aralt, appeared so did a very smug looking Drat. It was then that the Dragon Queen, Siate', decided to make her grand entrance out of her cave too. As she left her cave, other Dragons started to appear behind her. Aralt decided that he needed to be there and vowed to get even with those irritating Wysps later as he went to stand by Siate's side as the Dragon Herald. As more and more Dragons appeared from the other caves in the area, the Wysmy townspeople grew quiet and stared. They had no idea that there were that many Dragons who had returned to the Realm. Soon many of the Wysps started to ignore the free food and began mumbling to each other as they pointed at each new Dragon as it appeared. It did not take long for Siate' to be standing at the head of the Dragons as if she was the queen of them all. In her mind she was their Queen as soon as she could take care of this young Dragon Dree. Hopefully today would be that day so the others would not challenge her authority over them since Dragons did not believe in royalty or governments for themselves. Dragons were pragmatic though as they did respect power and intelligence. Just as Siate's was becoming irritated, Aralt stepped up to her side. "Where is this young Dragon?" she asked him. Aralt looking around quickly and replied "He is not here". She had thought that Dree had already arrived when she had made herself known and now here she was waiting for him to appear. "I will make him pay for this," grumbled Siate' as she tapped her long talons on a rock while she waited for Dree to arrive. All of a sudden, a portal appeared in the middle of crowd and as everyone was moving away from it, out stepped Granny Flare, Meerher, Ellie, and Dree. Almost as fast as the portal appeared, it was gone. As Granny and the Luminary Council members headed towards where the Baron and Dowager stood, Dree turned and to face Siate' and her wrath.
"Why, I was of the Wish Dragon clan as I told you before," answered Dree as he knew that would irritate her even more. "I know that," she almost screamed. "What clan are you with now?" "Well," answered Dree, "I just recently found out there is one more member so I guess you could say it is a clan I suppose..." he paused watching Siate' getting madder at how he was making her look foolish, Dree continued. "I am of the Moon Dragon clan." Of all of the responses he could have said, this one made the entire Dragon community lift their heads and look at him now in a different way. Before they all saw a young Dragon being impertinent to an elder, now they saw only something that many of them had heard about in legends and a legend for a Dragon was a very, very, very long time ago. Now was the time for Dree to remove the threat of Siate' and Aralt. "Dragons! Townsfolk of Wymsy! Hear me! I am Drai’ochtluan but most of you know me as Dree. I am of the Moon Dragon clan and am here to show you the powers of my clan. Recently a new Realm has appeared in the cosmos. It is causing a disturbance in the balance and must be corrected before great and terrible events occur. There are many from various realms trapped there without a way home. This must be corrected and with this being the thinnest time of the year of the great veil that separates the realms, it must be done now." This is where Siate' realized she could establish her power and quickly interrupted Dree. "I have the power to make a portal to bring them over," she said making sure she spoke loud enough for all to hear. This was the moment that Dree had been waiting for! "As you cannot keep the portal open for very long, I thank you for your offer of assistance," spoke Dree, "but I intend to anchor this new realm called the World of Whispers to this realm so it can be now a part of the Realm of Wymsy." Dree's announcement caught Siate' off guard. "No Dragon can do that," she growled. Dree just smiled and thumbed the Brownie portal stone that he had been holding and started to open a portal.
As the portal opened, those surrounding Dree could see the others trapped in the other realm. Soon a metal chain appeared to be floating and coming out of the portal and attached itself to a nearby boulder. When the connection was secure, slowly those trapped on the other side started coming through the portal. Quickly the Baron and Dowager greeted them and started to move them away from the opening. As more and more appeared from the portal, Dree turned to Siate' and said, "thank you for your offer to help, but the portal will now stay open on it's own and the other realm is now permanently attached to this one. The balance has been restored." As Siate' started to open her mouth to say something, she realized that she had been beat and quickly closed it. This young Dragon had beaten her and now she needed to figure out how best to salvage the situation. Siate' had always been a Dragon of opportunity and now she was trying to create a new one... but what would it be?
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"Now it's more work that adventure," thought the House Mother. For she knew that now with the greetings over that they had to get back to work. "Ahem... I would like to thank all of you for your courtesy and friendly greetings, but there is little time and we must be starting on our mission. Granny Flare has told us about a Moon Dragon. Is he close by?" Meerher asked. It was at that time Dree stepped through the doorway and into the room followed by a white rat. "How young he looks," thought Meerher. After Dree introduced himself and Drat, he asked the visitors why the were looking for him. It was Ellie who spoke first. "We need you to save some others on a realm that magically appeared and is throwing everything topsy-turvy," she told him speaking very fast. It took Dree a couple of seconds to make out what Ellie had said and before he could answer it was Meerher who continued. "Dree, we of the Luminary Council monitor the realms to help keep the balance in our universe. Recently a new realm appeared out of nowhere and is causing disruptions throughout the cosmos. It seems to be Fate that we have come to find you as a Moon Dragon will be needed to heal the rift and ours is not available."
Dree's greatest desire was to ask how he could meet the other Moon Dragon, but knew that he had another problem that had to be solved first. "We are having a small 'Dragon' problem here of our own. What is it that you are wanting from me?" Dree asked. "Why nothing yet. We are here to help you. According to Granny Flare, your problem also involves this new realm that she called the World of Whispers," Meerher replied. "We brought some tools that might help you in making contact to it. It needs to be grounded to this realm as size doesn't matter but numbers do matter in the balance. By connecting the new realm to this one, then we are back to an even number of realms and the balance is maintained," Meerher finished as she looked at those standing around her.
"Granny told us about the Roses' in the other realm and that you were trying to make a portal link to it," Meerher replied. "We hope these tools will help you make the link and connect the two realms together. It will take a lot of your magic to make it happen as a job of this magnitude could not be done by any other magical creature. Granny did mention something to us about your 'Dragon' problem and we may have an answer for that as well if you are interested," continued Meerher.
It was Drat's mission to make sure that Aralt was also there. Meanwhile the others were to start the planning for the hopeful return of all of the ones that were stuck in the World of Whispers as they would be disorientated. For once they arrived, they would realize that they were hungry since they had not eaten nor drank anything for a while in that strange white realm. Dree, Granny Flare, and the two Illuminarys had some practicing to do with Granny's portal stone and the gifts that Meerher and Ellie had brought with them from the Bag of Possibilities.
Granny knew that Drat was out doing his part and most of the others were busy doing other things, so more than likely she would find Dree in his cave. She was right. Dree was sitting on his several pillows now since he had grown and reading a book. "I hope it is telling him how to create what he wants," she thought as she made a slight noise so as not to surprise him. She needn't have bothered as Dree was actually waiting for her to show up. He knew what he was asking and also was waiting for her to bring a portal stone to him so he could examine it closer. "Greetings Granny. Thank you for coming to see me," Dree said as he turned his head towards her.
Dree lowered his head as he blushed. "I just want to do my part to protect my family," he replied. After a few moments of silence, he lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. "Will you help me with the portal?" Shaking her head from side to side and rolling her eyes, she answered with a slight smile, "Why else would I be down here interrupting your reading?" she answered. Soon Granny was showing him her portal stone and making sure that he remembered how they worked from their classes he had received while growing up. "It was Lil' Boots story about how he helped that cat return to his home that gave me the idea," Dree told Granny. "That and something the Oracle said about Tun'Gul, the only other Moon Dragon. He was the discoverer of portals to other realms. If that is a power of a Moon Dragon, then I am hoping that I also possess it." "That's a big hope to base your entire plan on," Granny sternly told him. "What if its not?"
Brownies are very reluctant to part with their portals, but Granny knew how important this was. "I will be back in the morning to hear what you find out" she told him as she left. What Dree didn't tell her was that he thought he knew already how to make a portal without the stone -- but he did not want her in danger if it all went bad...
While they were starting the brew, Drat began his part of the plan - being captured by Aralt! As he stomped through the bushes around the cave that Siate' was in, he could not believe how hard getting captured was becoming. "Either Aralt is going deaf or a Dragon's hearing is not as good as rumored," he told himself as again he made sure that he was being as loud as he could be short of hollering their names. After a minute more, Drat finally did that. "Aralt, are you out there somewhere?" he yelled. Drat didn't know that Aralt was still in the caves by the Baron's Mansion looking for Dree, but Siate' heard the Troll King's minion. Quickly she stuck her head out of the cave and invited Drat in to wait for the missing herald. Drat trusted Dree and believed that the plan would work, but it still took a lot of courage for him to enter into a Dragon's cave by himself. "Hopefully she is a vegetarian and only eats leafy green things," he told himself as he sat down in front of the self proclaimed Queen of the Wish Dragon. "Aralt is on a quick errand for me and should return shortly," Siate' said to Drat. "While we are waiting, how about we pass the time in conversation?" "Sure," replied Drat. "What would you like to talk about?" "Ahh, there are so many changes here since I had left. Let's start with your friend, Drai’ochtluan formerly of the Wish Dragon Clan. Do you know what he means when he says 'formerly'?" Drat had been waiting for that question but did not expect it this quickly in the conversation (actually Drat thought of this meeting as an interrogation instead of a conversation), but answered as they had planned. "Oh, Dree, I mean Drai'ochtluan, was the only Dragon here in the realms before you returned. Since he was all alone, he did not think using the term 'clan' made any sense. Now that there are more Dragons, he might start saying he is from a clan, but since he doesn't know what clans have come back, I guess he will have to choose one when his is ready."
Drat sat and stared at the mighty She-Dragon looking as to be thinking before finally speaking. "So, if he is no longer a member of the Wish Dragon Clan, what would he be? Is there another clan that he would join or is there another option that has only one member?" This question made Siate' pause. "What if..." she thought. Finally she shook her head. "No, he could not be," she told herself. Looking down on Drat, she decided that this playing around must end as she was getting impatient to establish her leadership over the other Dragon's that had returned with her. "Can you have Dree and the other elders of the realm meet with me at sunrise in two days so that all of the Dragons can see this young Dragon and welcome him to his proper clan?" she smiled sweetly at Drat. A smiling Dragon can be scarier than an angry one, but Drat only smiled back and asked her where they were to meet.
Fiddlefaddle and Sneefle were busy serving everyone tea and treats when Griselda managed to get an unnoticed minute alone with Dree. "I see that you have decided on something haven't you?" she asked. Startled, Dree slightly blushed before looking directly into her eyes. "Yes, I think I know what to do. But am I ready for possibly the costs?" the Moon-Wish Dragon answered. His reply caused the Dowager some surprise! "What costs could he mean," she pondered as she watched Dree walk away to get his tea and a sweet.
Nodding her head, she silently agreed with Drat as they parted and each went to their chairs. Just like at every event and gathering, there is a moment when everything goes quiet or everyone is watching for someone else to re-start the conversation. It is at that moment the room takes control and almost always it either turns into someone saying, "Oh, it's later than I thought" or "It must be time to be leaving." It could even be "What did you think of that storm last night?" This is a natural law no matter where one lives. But this was not one one of those moment as something else happened. Dree stood up from his chair (and his favorite pillow), sat down his drink and unfinished cookie on the nearby table and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Not that he needed to make much of sound for anyone in a room with a growing Dragon in it usually has their eyes on the Dragon anyhow.
"I have been to the Wishing Well and have retrieved the Nyte Shade's Heart and have heard the Wishing Well's tale of how the Nyte Shade Heart came to be in the Well. I have also learned how the returning Dragons' magic has been tainted by their long departure from this realm. This is what creates the mis-enchantments when a Wish Dragon grants a wish," Dree giving a nod to Allspice and Nutmegg, the SPICE agents. Before continuing, Dree looked also at the others in the room and realized that he had their full attention. They were waiting for him to continue. Looking at King Dulbbe with Drat sitting next to him, then glancing over to Queen Ffion and Arnie, Dree continued. "The Dragons need to stay in this realm if they are to heal the taint of their magic. This can only be done through the exposure to the Nyte Shade's Heart. This is the only way to cure the problem. Either that or the Heart has to leave the Realm to be wherever the Dragons live. It is my wish that if the Dragons stay, we must find a way for all to live together peacefully. Though it has become apparent to me that peacefulness is not what Siate' and Aralt are looking for. They are more interested in dominance." Dree paused to see what reaction his speech was having over the others. He noticed that everyone was either nodding in agreement to his observations or were waiting for him to finish. Even Snoop, the Baron, and the Dowager were waiting for him to say his piece. Taking in a long breath and slowly letting it out, Dree realized that these were his friends, they had become his family, and were with him. "Hopefully they will still wish to be my family after they hear my plan," the Moon-Wish Dragon mumbled to himself. "This is what I propose we do..." started Dree. When the Moon Dragon's plan was presented to the others, Dree stopped talking to see their reaction. It was Drat who broke the silence first. It took Dree a minute to realize that his friend was laughing hard and was trying to keep it bottled up inside. It didn't work. Soon more of the group were laughing and Dree started to get a little uncomfortable. Before Dree could ask what was wrong, Drat spoke. "I am just picturing the look on Siate and Aralt's faces if your plan works. I love it!"
"We have discovered that a Nyte Shade, one of Queen Ffion's ancestors, gave her magic to a dragon and that is how Dragon's became magical." Now it was Nutmegg and Allspice's turn to be surprised as this was not known to them. "That might explain why Siate' came back and why Aralt was here," Nutmegg murmured to Allspice.
"I am glad that you all are here," Griselda realized. "For it must mean something. We certainly would have never gone down this path without what Allspice and Nutmegg had told us. Apparently there is something in this realm that affects the Dragon's magic making it more stable. What that something may be is still an assumption. But if the stone in the cage was not taken by the Dragon's when they left, then that could be a good reason why some of their mis-enchantments happen elsewhere as anything else. What we have to do is figure a way to find out more about the mis-enchantment issue. It might just be the key to both why the Dragons have returned and how to stop Aralt and Siate' from whatever their plan could be."
When he was finished, Allspice turned to the rest of the group and started to relay about Lil' Boots overhearing a conversation and how he rushed over to warn everyone about what Aralt was told to do. Finding out that Aralt was planning on abducting someone and take them back to Siate' for questioning did not make the others very happy. "Thank you for the warning Lil' Boots and welcome back from the World of Whispers," King Dulbbe told him. "When this situation is over with the Dragons, we will do everything we can to help get you back to your home." Lil' Boots was so surprised that as he stood there blushing all he could say was "Ahhh, shucks. Twasn't nothing. Glad to help."
While as Lil' Boots walked this dirt path he had not traveled before, he saw two bobbing lights in the forest. "Someone out here?" he asked as the lights traveled closer. Hiding behind a large tree trunk, he waited to see who it might be. Soon two little fae could be seen carrying glowing lanterns and scanning the trail as if they were looking for something. Deciding they were probably not a threat, Lil' Boots moved out into the middle of the trail knowing that they should discover him soon. As the first lantern light touched him, the two fae stopped and the lights went instantly out leaving everyone in the dark. "Hello," said Lil' Boots. "I don't mean any harm. I am out looking for daisy petals for a friend. My name is Lil' Boots." As he heard some whispered conversation somewhere ahead of him, it wasn't long before the fae must have made a decision as the lanterns both came back on.
"We are Light Faeries," answered Hope. "It is what we do. We shine our lanterns to help shine out the light of hope." "Don't forget to mention the ray of Love too," butted in Graw. Looking at Lil' Boots, Graw continued, "Graw means love in the language of the faeries. I prefer to be called that instead of 'LOVE'," Graw nodded to Lil' Boots.
"Tell me more," replied Lil' Boots as it wasn't too long ago when he was in a place that he felt was without hope. Being held in the World of Whispers, he certainly could have use Hope's lantern then. It was then that Lil' Boots thought to share his tale with them. Several hours later (because time flies when faeries get together), and when the Light Faeries had heard Lil' Boots tale, Graw told him that he should follow his heart for this was that adventure that he had always wished for. "You will need a crystal to help light your way and to see the truth in what is before you," Graw told him as they gave Lil' Boots a crystal. It wasn't until Lil' Boots was almost back to the cave before he realized that he still had not picked the daisies that Allspice requested. "That's all right," he thought as he turned around to head back to the wild flower patch. "But this time I will use my compass to get me there and back faster so I can crawl into my cozy bed," he told himself. "From what the Light Fairies said, it sounds like this adventure has more to reveal and I'll be needing to get some sleep to be refreshed for it!" as he pulled the crystal from his satchel to light his way to the daisy patch.
"As a Borrower, I would never had been invited into such a grand place like this," she knew. "As a Finder, the others actually want me around." It was a good feeling but with that feeling came a responsibility. Now others relied on her and asked her opinions and thoughts. "That is better and I like this feeling of being needed," she finally decided as her attention returned to what the others were talking about. "... and then Nutmegg told us that he would try to bring his leader, named Allspice, here to meet with you," Dree finished telling the Dowager and Baron. "That would be very good," Griselda answered. "Hopefully King Dulbbe and Queen Ffion will arrive before they do." Nodding his head, the Baron agreed with his mother. "Maybe this will give us another advantage over the Dragons," he said. "With Dree's Oracle and the help from SPICE, we might just be able to outmaneuver Siate' and her herald."
The others were looking over the Oracle and discussing what questions to ask it and what more could they learn from the Moon Dragon who created it. "I feel that we don't have much time before Siate' and Aralt do whatever they are planning," Dree told the others, "So I think we need to decide what questions to ask the Oracle otherwise we might end wasting a lot of time. As much as I would like to know my kin's past, we need to focus on what is happening now." The others agreed and as they continued their discussion, Fiddlefaddle entered the tea room with King Dulbbe and Queen Ffion. Shortly they were brought up to date on what was found in the Gooblin King's treasures and the meeting with Nutmegg. As Fiddlefaddle was refreshing the tea, the other guests arrived and were shown into the tea room.
"I am not sure I understand what might cause mis-enchantments as we did not have that problem when the Wish Dragon's were here before. We just had to watch how literal they could be was our problem with the Wish Dragons," the Dowager said. "If someone asked for a gold mine, they might find themselves in the middle of a mountain somewhere surrounded by gold but not able to return with it. What is a mis-enchantment?" she asked. "That is a good question, madam. Let me see if I can explain," answered Allspice. "With a mis-enchantment, a wish granted by the Wish Dragon may be successful but sometimes others in the area of where the wish was granted just up and disappear. We just recently recovered one of these victims who described the place he was transported to as the World of Whispers. Apparently it is a white glistening world that time does not hold. As Lil' Boots was there for a long time and never had to sleep or eat. Those trapped there could be heard but only as a whisper on the wind. We don't know why there are mis-enchantments, but we have found a way to bring them back. Sometimes when they return they are changed in some way but after visiting one of our Fae healers, they usually return to how they were before."
After the silence that followed the explanation, it was Drat and Dree who started laughing first. Soon the laughter was infectious and everyone was snickering. "Imagine, a burping Dragon," laughed Drat. "Now I know what to get you to drink the next time you start those bad knock, knock jokes," the rat said to Dree. When the laughter was contained, Dree spoke. "I think it is time to ask the Oracle our questions and now I think I know what to ask it," he said as he started to open the bag that held the magical trinket.
"If we don't get at least one mis-enchanted return, then we are going to have to find something with a little more kick that makes these Dragons belch," he continued. Thinking about what that might be just made Allspice smile. "What indeed could we feed a Dragon to make him really burp and yet keep down the flames?" he asked Nutmegg but knew that he would not really get a useful answer. It was one of those discussions that always became more fanciful the more they passed it back and forth. "I was thinking of something the 'Outies' call Rootbeer. Supposedly it gives you lots of gas but I can't ever seem to find anyone who knows what roots to use." "Let's see. After Aralt left, I decided to check out the area where Aralt said he first had met the Dragon named Dree. He had mentioned it was at the caves by the water. Since many of the caves here are by a stream or some small amount of water, that wasn't really helpful so I decided to choose what was the biggest body of water and start from there. Also my choice was a little bit based on if there were anyone else living nearby the caves. After meeting a couple of talkative Wysps who bragged about some of their 'good' deeds, I found that the Dragon was living in the caves near this small lake. These caves are also tucked back beneath a place they call the Baron's Mansion. I decided to check it out and spent a while searching through the caves. It is a good spot to hide as there are many tunnels leading to other locations and was hard to find where the young Dragon lived." Since Allspice did not ask any questions, Nutmegg continued. "Finally, I heard some talking and managed to follow the voices until I came across a large opening. There were a couple of privacy screens, a few piles of pillows, and a couple of large stacks of books. Sitting on the pillows was a large white rat and the Dragon I had been looking for. The Dragon and rat were talking about some meeting they needed to get back to. Apparently they were taking a break and now needed to go back to this Baron's Mansion to talk with some oracle." "That's terrific!" exclaimed Allspice. "Now we know where he is if needed before Aralt and Siate' find him. The question is, what do we do now?"
"Well boss, I kinda told them all about SPICE and the problems with Wish Dragons' wishes going bad. This seemed to bother the young Dragon a lot but I don't know why... Otherwise it seems they want to meet with you at the Baron's Mansion if you will come so they can talk with you. Whatcha think? Should we go?" asked Nutmegg. When Allspice told Nutmegg to do his detective work on the young Dragon, this was not what he had expected, but sometimes it is the unexpected that works out better than the plan... "Why not. Help me dampen the brewing fires and roll this barrel of Ambrosia over to the store room. Then you can take me to the Baron's Mansion and we will find out what they know. Maybe we will find the answer to how to take away a Wish Dragons ability to make wishes," Allspice answered as he started putting away his cooking utensils.
Faun decided to let the wind guide her to any nearby flower patch. So when the winds from the mountains brushed past her sensitive nose, she followed them to the Valley of the Caves. Normally the fauns did not travel to this valley as they don't really like being underground and can't see a reason to want to be. "Ugh - caves!" Faun thought as she traveled past the first of the caves in the mountain side. It was then that she caught a whiff of a daisy. "Theres one. Now to find it," she told herself. As she came around a group of large boulders and a few fallen trees, she spotted the daisy patch. Smiling to herself, she plucked a petal and slowly chewed on it before swallowing. "Just right," she thought as she pulled out her map of the valley and marked the spot for others to be able to find the patch.
"Ah... no. I thought they were wild and just need a few for something I am baking up for my friends. Is it okay if I have some?" Allspice asked the faun. The look that Allspice had as if he was a small child caught with his hand in the cookie jar made Faun laugh before she answered. "No, these are wild and are available to anyone. My name is Faun. Do you live near here?" Allspice smiled at the faun and also introduced himself. "I am Allspice and my kitchen is in that big cave over there," he told her as he pointed to one of the caves on the mountainside. Would you like to see my kitchen?" Faun just shuddered thinking of being underground so she politely declined. "Well, I must be getting back to my kitchen. It was a pleasure to meet you Faun," Allspice said as he started back to his cave while the faun watched him go. It was then that Faun noticed some other movement in the bushes near another cave. As she watched, there appeared a young Dragon! Now Faun had met Dree earlier and knew what the Dragon looked like. Then just as quickly she realized something. "That's not Dree!"
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GreetingsWelcome to my blog. This is where I will reveal the magic of my Fae and their stories and share with you some of the success and pitfalls through the journey of doll making, sculpting, and other crafts that all come back to my dolls in many ways. Archives
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