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Chapter 1

The Cabin

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She quietly laid under the old gray Birch, it's skin peeling as hers did, and died. Alice, near one hundred years old, was surrounded by her fiends, human, birds, squirrels, butterflies and the souls of all the trees and flowers she planted. She wasn't normal and she wasn't quite human either.

Her mother, Osiz Zsan ancient Keltic soul, had lived with the nature spirits, and was raped by a wizard bear. A triple rainbow was seen in the salty island sky on the day Alice was born. Her mission in life was to unlock all the doors and hold them open for others. The frist day of her life was itself a door, the day the spring truns to summer.

Alice lived with Osiz, in a two room shotgun cabin on Woodbe Island. A small seasonal stream ran under the house. She often could hear the wizard bear catching fish.

The day Alice was born was the day the Ferry dock workers decided to strike. Osiz could not get to the nearest town and the bridge to Atell was not yet complete. She knew if she tried to walk across it, she would not make it. She went down to the dock and got a fireboat to take her across the Inland Ocean to Atell. They never made it, Alice was born on the fireboat. The gentle strong men of the fireboat took them back home and checked in on them the next day. It seemed that her guardian angle was a fireman.

Soon the winter the storms were heavy with the sounds of death. Trees were ripped out of the ground by their roots. Floods washed the roads and the stream under the house poured over the steps and porch. The winds brought the the smell of baby to the Evil Witch, who scraped her gray death wings across the windows. Osiz grabbed her out of the small crib and put her in the middle of her single bed. The thickly padded quilt and springy bed felt safe made Alice feel safe, with her fuzzy baby blankets surrounding her.

The Evil Witch saw the baby alone, while Osiz was boarding up a cracked window in the kitchen. The Evil Witch was excited by the thought of a fresh baby to play with. The baby's tiny fingers were twitching to the sound of the Witch's howling. The Witch dived for the baby, right through the window. Glass shards were sent everywhere.

Osiz heard the window break. The Evil Witch grabbed the babby, but could not get a grip on her. As Osiz came running into the room, Alice screamed and the Witch flew. Alice's mother could only see the twigs that she thought was part of the tree outside, not knowing that it was the Witch's hair that caught on the window. Much to her Mom's amazement Alice was not cut, even with the tiny shards of glass sticking to her tiny baby blanket. Oaiz got out fresh sheets and wrapped the baby in them, grabbed the suitcase she packed and headed for the the newly completed bridge as the storm last some of it's rage.

Chapter 2

The Gifts

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Alice moved with Osiz to the great city of Atell. Osiz needed to get away from the bear and the evil witch who wanted to take Alice.

For months the Wizard Bear would bang on their door in a drunken rage. This was during a time of terrible world war, and there was little help for a single woman. This war would go on all of Alice's life and was the true plague and hell of mankind. The City of Atell was a major port where war ships would go out every day.

One night a large toxic fire broke out in the shipyard. The firetrucks and water tankers rushed to the wharf, heedless of any traffic. An old streetcar was crowded as it took people home from the movies, especially designed to take people's mind off the effects of the war. The street car bounded around the corner and grazed a speeding firetruck Just at that moment the drunken Wizard Bear was crossing the street. He was caught between the two long ladder firetruck and the streetcar. As he died he said, "Alice, remember you have the strength of a bear, no matter how much your mother hides it from you, the mind of a wizard and the beauty of a fairy queen. Use these gifts wisely. Be quiet and you will hear them speaking to you." But Alice never heard him.

Alice, now a toddler, loved to play hide and seek. One sunny morning, while her Mother slept, she sat on the front poarch watching the boats. She thought it would be fun to hide in one. She ran in the house laughing, went to her Mother's bed. "Wake up, wake up", Alice said, "Let's play." Her mother just rolled over still asleep. Alice often heard voices of invisible people. Today they said, "Go ahead and play with the pretty boats."

Because of the war going on, many places in Atell required heavy security. Alice ran down to the wharf and wandered around the boats. She had crossed into the Navy base, but no one noticed her. Alice was happy as she climbed around the boats and didn't notice that the fog had rolled in. She played with the dials and finally fell asleep for a nap in the Captain bed. Meanwhile Osiz was searching for desperately for Alice.

Osiz knew it was going to be hard to find Alice. She wasn't worried yet, cause she knew Alice was a curious child and was most likely happily playing somewhere nearby. As the fog was getting thicker, she had to get out a lantern to see by and she got more worried. In her mind she saw Alice wondering around and falling in the water, never to be seen again. She had worked herself up so much that her fear had turned to paranoia. She found herself at the entrance to the Navy base. She had liked living here because she could see the very fireboats that had helped her before docked at the entrance to the Navy base.

She asked the guard if he had seen any tiny children. He said No, we do not let unescorted children inside the base. He sent out a call to get this destroy woman some help. Soon she was walking with a group of people all carrying lanterns. The lanterns could hardly even be seen in the thickening fog. They had to walk single file because they couldn't tell where the wharf ended, or see the boats until they were right next to them.

Alice woke up hungry. She could smell something good cooking. She walked around in the boat and found a small room where a few people with uniforms on, shinny medals sparkling, and colored strips reminded her of candy. They were surprised to see a tiny girl, with blazing red curls, pull out a chair and sit with them. She just helped herself to the roast and potatoes.

They had heard that a child was lost, as was the first team sent out to find her. Alice had found the Captain's table, and they called the guard station to tell them she was found. Finally the lost team found their way back to the guard station. Osiz was worried she would never see Alice again. It started to rain and the fog gave way to the sheets of water spilling around them, making the small walkways slippery. They went to the ship the captain was staying on and returned Alice to her Mom. They gave Alice and her Mom a complete tour. They tried to ask Alice how she got on the ship, but Alice wasn't telling.

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Chapter 3

Beachwood

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Alice's mother always had the feeling of calamity about to happen, so she kept on the move. They moved to Beachwood, about 2000k south of Atell. Osiz always seemed to move close to the water. The moved into a place just a block from the beach. Palm trees lined the street outside and sand was always being tracked in off the steps to the small porch. Osiz worked filing for the Navy office a few blocks, Alice spent her days playing on the beach. Everywhere you went, in this great war time there were always work to be found and a great variety of war toys.

The relatives of the Wizard Bear were searching for Alice. They wanted to raise her and punish her mother. They could not show themselves in public because the Navy men were sworn to arrest any non humans. The war was against magic. This war fooled so many people. They did not know how much of their very existance depended on the magic of the universe staying in balance. They fell for the corporate domination theory of money, because they felt so safe with large Army's surrounding them and plenty of money to buy things.

So the Wizard Bear's family sent the rats to steal into the night and capture Alice and her mom.

The rats lived in the palm trees outside the apartments. While everyone was sleeping they snuck into the apartment. They retrained their small rat brains and the Wizard family had a hard time exerting any control over them. The rats with their new combination of skills decided to play on the turntable in the living room. Being rats at heart they could not resist running themselves to death as the wheel spun round. Some of the rats found little pieces of cake in the corners. They decided that this was a good party indeed and ate until they fell over in blot and fell asleep. By morning they were all dead. The wizards had fled the rat bodies just in time.

One of the Navy men anticipated the invasion of the rats and had put out cake laced with poison. In the morning Alice got up and toddled into the living room. She wanted to play with her mom's record player. She pulled open the heavy drawer and saw two dead rats. She cried and was about to touch them and eat some of the cake when her mother awoke. She rushed in and shut the door and then grabbed Alice and stood on the couch. Her Navy protector came out and cleaned up the dead rats.

Alice didn't understand why a Navy person was now living with them. She didn't yet hear the calls of adult lust, and didn't understand her Mother's need for protection from life.

The Wizards did not again attempt to invade rat bodies. Still, they would wait until the right time to appear again and capture the mom and set free Alice, the child of a Wizard Bear.

Chapter 4

Sheshell Drive

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