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January 5, 2014

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The Dragon and the Phoenix

Yangshao never knew what woke him from his thousand year sleep under the frozen taiga. His muscular, golden legs and long limber back snapped and creaked. His lungs filled with crisp, clean air, as he emerged from deep under the ice. Brilliant lights at the far horizon drew his sharp dragon eyes south. The night sky filled with swirling reds, yellows and oranges, and these colors reminded him of his best friend, Xin-Yin, the Phoenix. Brilliant blue star shapes expanded, filling the sky as the other colors faded.

Yangshao’s back rippled side to side like a snake as he flew up and over the larch and birch forest, his vertebrae cracking like saplings in an ice storm. His golden claws clenched and released, easing their stiffness, then reached up to itch between his horns. His whiskers trembled in the cold wind, and he started to feel alive, his senses filling with the forest fragrance. He brushed the tips of snow-laden spruce trees for the joy the showering powder gave him. He felt his magic renewed from his long years of slumber.

His senses expanded over the lands searching for Xin-Yin. Where was she? Continue reading →

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Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

December 22, 2013

Posted under

Awards!

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56 Comments

Santa is Coming to Town

Ho ho ho! I’ve been to the North Pole, and when Santa heard that you’ve all been naughty and/or nice, he decided you needed some presents! You might prefer a rainbow loom, chocolates, plane tickets to Tahiti, diamonds or the new Beyonce CD, but I’m afraid all I can afford to fit through the internet wires are these little treats. Each and every one of you bloggers should take a present, if you want one, with my good wishes.

Continue reading →

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Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

November 11, 2013

Posted under

Fairy Tale for Boys, Tales for Kids of All Ages, Young Fairy Tale

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13 Comments

Published Fairy Tale, Part 2

On October 22, Friendly Fairy Tales announced the publication of a new, previously-unpublished story, The Day the Dragon Flew up the Chimney, on The Paperbook Collective October 2013 Issue 3.

Click to read Part 1. As promised, here is the Final Part:

Henry decided he’d better keep an eye on the dragon, so he followed it closely. The dragon was flitting from chair leg to chair leg. He would hop up onto chair arms or tables and eat the food right off people’s plates and drink the tea right out of people’s cups. Everyone was so busy talking that no one noticed a thing.

Then the miller’s wife reached for one of her cookies, only to find that it had disappeared. “That’s odd,” she said.

“Miss Miller, Ma’am,” said Henry. “A dragon has eaten your cookies.” Meanwhile the dragon had moved on to Phileas Farmer’s plate.

“Henry!” scolded his mother. “Stop telling fibs and don’t filch people’s cookies. Now for the last time, go and play. Honestly.”

“But Mama,” protested Henry. Sadly, his mother just shook her head at him and waggled her finger. If his mother wouldn’t believe him, who would? Henry watched as the tiny dragon plundered the room of its teacakes, its cookies, its biscuits and its tea with cream. A hum of conversation arose as more and more villagers were puzzled to discover empty plates and cups. Henry wondered how such a tiny dragon could eat so much.

Then the dragon had the temerity to steal from his father’s plate, and that was more than Henry could bear. “Daddy, Daddy,” cried Henry. “The dragon is stealing your biscuits!” The whole room stopped to stare at Henry. Henry’s father seemed very embarrassed.

“Henry, I told you not to fib!” cried his mother, standing up.

“But I’m not!” Henry replied.

“Then where is the dragon,” asked the mayor with one last laugh. Henry pointed at the hearth where the dragon perched, fickety-mickety finishing up the last chocolate from the plate of Mrs. Farmer. The fire had died down a little, but he was still clearly visible against the glow.

When the dragon noticed everyone staring at him, he gulped down the cookie and flew straight up the chimney.

Everyone gave a gasp, and the mayor and several aldermen raced over to try to look up the chimney. No one could see anything for the fire and the smoke.

Henry’s mother and father came and gave him hugs and apologized for doubting him. The villagers all patted his shoulders and told him how brave he had been. He was the village hero thereafter. And when Henry grew up, they elected him mayor. To this day they tell stories of the day the dragon flew up the chimney.

THE END

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Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

November 1, 2013

Posted under

Awards!, Holiday

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25 Comments

Tricks or Treats?!

Happy Halloween, and to all my fabulous fellow fairy tale lovers, here are some treats (I’ll leave the tricks to the fae tonight):

Thanks to the blogs I visit, who have filled tonight’s cauldron with treats of many kinds. Some of my favorites, I got again and again! I love when that happens! 🙂

Thanks to Dear Kitty or Petrel41 for the Reader Appreciation Award!! Love her lore, wide-ranging from animals to current events to women’s issues. Hope you get a chance to visit her. 🙂

Thanks to lifebeinggirly for the Versatile Blogger Award. She is adorable, and I love that she is flying the girly flag high. We all need to love who we are, because we are pretty darn terrific!! Painttheworldwithwords then chimed in with another Versatile Blogger Award. Amreen is a poet, a designer and a talented blogger with a penchant for beauty. Here is a lovely poem by him:

The soul of my poems
define the tune of my life
singing my presence.
~~~
Amreen Shaikh

Thanks to In My Hands for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award! If you can’t get enough of black and white cat pictures and Chekhov, then you must check her out. Cats and great literature. Who can resist that? Then Bullying Prevention came in with another nomination for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award! He is doing god’s work, trying to make the world a better place for all. I’m delighted to see posts from both, they are always food for thought and very moving.

And a new and different icon for the Versatile Blogger Award from Chronicles of a Public Transit User. Oddly enough, we both almost died when we were four. We also both love Halloween. Kudos for a great award posting, too, worth a visit!!

I can’t tell you all how important all of you have become to me. I love to hear your comments, to see your likes, and to read your posts. I’m still here, spinning my stories, pairing photographs and verse, and trying to express my inner voice. Something crucial has changed, though. I feel more connected and less alone than I ever have in my life.

Together, through our words, I believe we can change the world forever. Make it a place where it’s okay to be yourself. I don’t have to look like Angelina Jolie (hey, I wouldn’t turn it down…) to write a good story. We don’t all have to be writing the same things. Viva la difference!! I cherish all of you, and I hope you all have fruitful, productive and glorious Novembers. Special hugs to those of you starting Nanowrimo, you go!!

I nominate these special trick or treaters to share my loot, please reach a hand in the cauldron and take any treats you like (or none if you don’t have a sweet tooth):

aCuriousGal
Tails from Paris
antilandcaper
Persecution of Mildred Dunlap
Dully Pepper

And some Halloween pictures to thank my readers and fairy tale lovers everywhere:

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 22, 2013

Posted under

Fairy Tale for Boys, Tales for Kids of All Ages, Young Fairy Tale

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45 Comments

New Fairy Tale Published!!

Friendly Fairy Tales is pleased to announce the publication of a new, previously-unpublished story, The Day the Dragon Flew up the Chimney, on The Paperbook Collective October 2013 Issue 3. Thanks to Jayde Ashe for publishing this story!!

Excerpt from The Day the Dragon Flew up the Chimney

One day, the sky was so dark that day seemed like night. No work could be done in the village of Miller’s Bend. All the villagers gathered in the great hall to tell stories and visit with each other.

Suddenly there was a loud knock at the door. Everyone looked around in wonder. Everyone in the village was already inside the great hall. Whoever was outside must be a stranger.

After another booming knock came, the mayor went to open the door. He looked left and he looked right, but there was no one there. He did not notice a tiny dragon no bigger than a teacup dart into the hall and hide behind a chair leg. Everyone else was looking up at the mayor’s shoulder, and they didn’t see the tiny dragon either. Everyone, that is, except a little boy named Henry who was no more than three.

Now Henry had been playing marbles near the door, and he was just the right height to see the dragon. He went at once to his mother’s knee, but she was talking to the miller’s wife. He pulled at her skirts, but she said, “Henry, I’m talking to Eliza, go and play.”

Henry tried his father next, but his father was talking to the mayor.

‘There was no one there,” said the mayor.

“Isn’t that odd?” responded Henry’s father. Henry tugged on his pant leg.

“Henry, go and play. You can see I’m busy.” Henry’s father did not listen.

Henry decided he’d better keep an eye on the dragon, so he followed it closely.

To find out what happens to Henry, adult readers can download the Paperbook Collective with work by many fabulous writers here or please check back on Friendly Fairy Tales for the rest of the story in a few days…

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 19, 2013

Posted under

Poetry

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A Dragon Named Paul

A wonderful, light-hearted rhyming poem about a dragon by PookyH. I hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend! Brenda

Pooky's Poems

In a faraway land where the sea meets the sky,
And the hills are marshmallows and the rocks are alive,
Live a colony of dragons – the regular sort –
With fire-breathing bellies, who eat children for sport.

They fill children with fear, and animals too
(When there’s no girls for dinner, a puppy will do).
Their breath is appalling, their manners atrocious,
Breeding fear and loathing is their only true focus.

Except for one dragon who’s not scary at all,
A mild-mannered dragon the others call Paul.
He’s not big nor ferocious, in fact he’s quite sweet
(Once you get used to the pong of his feet).

He doesn’t eat children for breakfast or lunch
He doesn’t like dinner with knee bones to crunch.
The others all think he is rather peculiar
Except for his true dragon love, Jumpy Julia
(Who unlike her dragon friends, simply can’t fly,
She…

View original post 337 more words

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Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

October 14, 2013

Posted under

Tales for Kids of All Ages

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The Dragon’s Gift

A lovely magical poem from Scottishmomus, of the all-seeing eye. Here she beards a dragon in his lair. Happy long weekend! Brenda

scottishmomus

A fire burns

Within this cave

And sulphur

Fills the air.

Exploration,

Through the mire,

Finds

The dragon’s lair

Where slumber’s rest

Holds still

His breath, flame now

Quietly quenched.

Wait, survey,

A quiet snore,

Now the time

To wrench

One scale from tail

Of beast of lore

Bless’d magic,

Glitter’d gem

Holds promise of

Imagination.

To brave only,

It is given.

Sahm’s idea of a dragon paves the way.

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Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

September 26, 2013

Posted under

Tales for Kids of All Ages

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12 Comments

Dragon sky

Check out Lady Fi’s stunning Dragon Sky! Hurry before it disappears like the other dragons. 😉 Have a great Thursday, Brenda

Lady Fi

The autumn equinox rushed in

Like a ragged brow across the sky;

A dragon breathing fire clouds

Of orange and rain.

The strange light in the sky

Pulled us up the hill

To witness the sight of purple turmoil in the sky

In contrast to the calm surface of the lake.

(A few seconds later, the heavens opened

And a gale force wind started blowing

Making us dash for home in a whirlwind

Of laughter and leaves.)

For more amazing skies, please visit: Skywatch.

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Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

August 1, 2013

Posted under

Tales for Kids of All Ages

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30 Comments

New Adventurous Fairy Tale!!

I’ve added a new adventurous fairy tale: The Fire-Flower Dragon. In it, a young boy prays to his ancestor, a marathon monk, for guidance and wakens a fire-flower dragon.

Adventurous Fairy Tales are written for kids of all ages and middle year kids. Below is an excerpt. I’d be grateful if you follow the link if you’d like to finish reading. As usual, comments are greatly appreciated. Peace and Joy to all of you!

__________________________________________

The Fire-Flower Dragon

Osaka Castle

“Fireworks!” my mother, Akemi Shou, exclaimed, while I played my Sakuhachi, my traditional bamboo flute. I had learned to play it after hearing it at Osaka Castle.

I looked up, my fingers still moving automatically, my breathing deep and controlled. I looked right into the bright eye of a fire-flower dragon. Time stopped, but my heart continued to beat. I stopped playing for a moment in surprise, and I saw fireworks. I played my flute, and again I looked into the bright eye of the dragon. The dragon’s scales moved so fast, the air broke into colorful bursts that tricked human eyes into seeing fireworks, luminous ever-changing flashes of color in the twilight sky.

My father, Akio Shou, sighed with pleasure. “The fireworks must be part of the Kyoto Fire Festival that starts tomorrow. Funny, I never heard of fireworks here.”

I continued to play, looking at the dragon, who had risen from the rocks on the mountainside. My parents and I had been praying to Buddha and our ancestor, Isamu Hayato, for guidance on whether or not to leave Kyoto and move to America to join my father’s brother. I wanted to stay here in the land of my ancestors, with all my friends, but my father’s company wanted him to go to Boston. I asked them to go without me. We had hiked up the mountainside, a journey taking all day. We followed in the footsteps of my ancestor who had been a marathon monk hundreds of years before. He had run over fifty miles a day on these steep, rocky paths for almost one thousand days. Perhaps he had paused briefly at the same sacred spots to worship.

To continue reading, click here.

Posted by

Brenda Davis Harsham

Posted on

July 29, 2013

Posted under

Fairy Tale for Boys, Tales for Kids of All Ages, Young Fairy Tale

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33 Comments

The Birthday and the Troll

A Dance for Tomorrow by Alf Sukatmo

Satri knew that walking deep into the mangrove forest by himself was not allowed. Sometimes the noise of his six brothers grew too loud for him to hear his own thoughts. He was careful not to let Raksasa or Manu see him going. The twins were the eldest, and always acted as if they were the bosses of the other 5 brothers. All of them except Manu called the oldest Raksasa behind his back, because he was huge and tall, like a towering giant. He also had the quickest fists, so the brothers were careful to call him Jay to his face.

Satri slid away while Raksasa and Manu were fighting with Ragawan, the second youngest, who had taken out a trumpet and was blowing it as loudly and discordantly as he could. Widagdya and Lintang were beating drums. Wijah was laughing and dancing on his hands, a trick all the boys could do. Wijah, third youngest and three years older than him, was his best friend amongst the brothers, but today he really wanted to be alone.

Deep into the mangroves, Satri wove his way along narrow paths, leaving behind him the din of his older brothers. He stepped carefully over tree roots, skirting pools of water washed up from the Java Sea, never far away on this island. He ducked under low branches, moving softly in hopes of seeing a monitor lizard or a golden ring snake. The sun was shining, the light dappled under the trees, and the sea breeze blowing across the Thousand Islands cooled the air. The birds were silent. He saw nothing. That should have given him pause, warned him of what was to come. However, he was too grateful for the quiet to heed its warning.

Continue reading →