As the conversation started to slow, Hewy finally asked the question that had been nagging at him since he received the Petal Post.  "Why after all of these years have you finally tried to reach me?" ​

Awena knew the conversation would eventually get to this question and had been waiting for it to be asked.  "Hewy, let me tell you of why I had to come here and what I found.  I felt a strong pull to the Sleeping Sisters and it was during my early training that I discovered a scroll in the library.  It was old even then when I first unearthed it those many years ago.  I was a young novice and so new to my studies but this scroll had a prophecy written on it.  It had a troll in it and each time I read it I was reminded of you."  Closing her eyes as if trying to remember what was written, she took a small breath, and began.

"The entire prophecy is very long and convoluted as if the writer was slightly crazed and wrote down the thoughts that came to his mind, but, in it there is a part that suggests you will help save all of the Realms or help destroy them."  Hewy jumped up from the floor where he had been sitting.  "What are you talking about?  You must be wrong!"

Without moving, Awena slowly continued speaking, "This is what is in the prophecy that you must know."  With her eyes still closed she repeated the words she had memorized those long years ago.

Hewy, standing before her, was trying to both understand and remember the prophecy.  As surprised as he was, he failed to notice the small tear at the corner of Awena's eye.  Had he but known the rest of the tale, he might have made a different decision that day.

"This meal is for you, our guests.  There will be no others there tonight," the Sister answered.

Dinner was quiet with only a few words said as each of the travelers ate. They tried to make small talk about some of the strange things that they were finding in their rooms but even Sprout was quiet as he ate his weight in food.  Shortly it was over and the Sister lead each of them back to their room asking if there was anything they needed.  Again they were each told the same thing that  "You will meet with Sister Awena in the morning.  Good Night."

As the Sister left Hewy, he had already decided that he was not going to wait that long.  One gift that every troll has is that they cannot get lost.  They instinctively can always find their way back from anywhere they have ever traveled. This made it easy for Hewy to return to the doors that he wanted to open and to see what was inside.  Call it inspiration or just a feeling, but he knew that he must see what was behind the doors.  

Upon arriving, Hewy discovered that the doors were already open as if waiting for him.  A moment of doubt entered his mind, but only a moment.  He came to see what the Petal Post message meant and if Awena had anything to do with it.  No time to turn around and leave now...

As they approached the door and before they could knock, it was opened from within by one of the Sisters.  "I have been told to greet you upon your arrival.  A room has been prepared for each of you and after you have had a chance to freshen up, a meal will be served," she told them.  "Can we eat first?  I am starving," Sprout eagerly replied almost before the Sister had finished.  He realized that he had said the wrong thing immediately when he looked at Parsley and got 'The Mother' stare...  "Sorry, thank you," he quickly told the Sister.

Of all of the intuitive abilities - the clear knowing is the strongest as Awena receives prophetic dreams and visions of future events.  She instantly knows which are true and which are not.  When she had met Hewy those many, many years ago, it had been a surprise to her as she had never had a vision of him before that day.  There were times afterwards, while she was serving as a novice in the Order, that she tried to see him in her visions but he was always cloudy and the dreams were never clear.  Only recently as she was trying a new higher order lesson to enhance her abilities did she start to understand why.

Awena had been thrilled back then to be asked to join the Order of the Sleeping Sisters because of her ability.  Her first task as a novice was working in the huge library so she could begin her studies of the Language of the Flowers.  She was surprised to also find that they not only had the Language of the Flowers but Sign Language, Ogham Letters, and the Ganome shorthand she had learned as a child. She soon learned that the flower language was slow (who knew that flowers didn't talk very fast), as compared to her Ganome shorthand. She started to explore the great library in her boredom.  It was during those explorations when she discovered the prophecy.  It was a very obscure reference to a time when a Wish Dragon would make a choice that could change the Realms and how a Troll would play a part in the balance.  Reading the prophecy reminded her of Hewy, so she read it again and again and again until she had memorized it.

​With the Outies finally sprucing up the yard and finishing some badly needed infrastructure, the garden was looking pretty good indeed.  And what better way to celebrate than with a Gnome Race.  The King and Queen had decided it could be done with the right timing to keep themselves hidden from the Outies and still have their fun too.

Of course everyone would need to be invited and the event would have to be carefully planned.  The Gnomes certainly didn't want to catch the Outies watching them.  So spreading out the activities and events would certainly be the answer. 

Soon preparations were all made and the day of the Race was here.

​It was the frog!  What a leap of faith he had taken by jumping that greenery - hoping it would put him out in front of the race!  Seeing that the rest of the racers were well behind him, the frog racer thought for sure he would now win this race.

Bearing down upon the frog rider the rabbit and the squirrel racers were soon neck to neck and coming up fast right behind him.  They were just making it around the first judge's turn --making it too soon to tell yet who could win.

There it was - the red arrow marking the second turn.  As the racers flew past the second judge, the goose racer let out a large "honk" as if signaling to pass.  This, of course, the made the squirrel go a little nuts.  Which gave the rabbit the lead just by a hare (oops... meant hair) as they were racing down the last leg of the race course.  

As they turned the final corner,  they were surprised to see the frog racer not hopping to it anymore.  He had wore himself out from his last great leap!  He was toad-a-ly exhausted.  Quickly the rabbit raced past him, followed closely by the squirrel and then the goose (being goosed by his rider), leaving him in the rear.  But wait!  Where is the racing turtle?

Knowing that he could not outrun the others, he had found a shortcut and was almost at the finish line when the rabbit crossed first.  The turtle wasn't there to win... he was there to have a good time and be a part of the shell-ebration!

So off to the shell-ebration they went.  And like all great events, hare (here) today and gone tomorrow, or at least for another year.  

Isn't it fun to imagine what might be happening in your back yard when you are not there?

I was asked last week what was my favorite part of dollmaking.  Was it the painting, the sculpting, the costuming?  I had to say no... it wasn't any of those.  My favorite part is the inspiration.

She shared clues about her name with me pretty early on in our "connection".  Though I love some of the more colorful suggestions, I felt there was the option of only two but I just couldn't decide as to which one.  It was then when she told me that I did not have to choose as she was both.  Her name is Awena Buttorfleoge.

​It was a difficult choice for her to make in joining the guild as at the time she thought she had just met the person (more like the troll) she was to be with. But the Fates had another path she was to walk.  It is these little twists of inspiration that make the characters come to life for me!

This is where I enjoy the dollmaking - at the beginning of the path.  When they first awaken a spark of magic within me.  I want to then capture them and bring them to life, helping them to tell their story.  So as I keep working through all of their stages of transformation (much like the metamorphosis of a butterfly), they reveal to me a little more about themselves  - feeding my inspiration ​each step of the way.