by Hawkeye the Writer

One day an old Norn told a group of baby norns a story. The story went
something like this…
    "Once upon a time there were two young norns named Handsome and Gentle.
They lived happily with their mother and father. One spring afternoon the
mother went to gather their dinner. She was getting lemons when a large blue,
yellow and red mushroom caught her eye. She picked it up and took an
experimental bite. Suddenly, pain was shooting through all the veins in her
body. 'Ahhhhhh!' she screamed. Then her lifeless body dropped to the ground.
    A few minutes later her daughter came looking for her. When the daughter,
Gentle, saw her she yelled, 'Mama!' and ran to the mother's side. After about
a half hour Handsome and Gentle's father got mated again. But their step-mate
was ugly, mean and jealous of the father's love for his two children. So one
day she took them on a trip to the Desert Island.
    Once they were asleep she traveled back to her mate's side and said, '
Our children are lost and I searched for them but alas! I did not find them.'
Back at the Desert Island the young norns woke up and saw that their
step-mate was gone. Gentle started to cry but Handsome said, ' I dropped
lemons on our way here in case we got lost. All we have to do is follow the
lemons.' And so the two followed the lemon trail home and their father
rejoiced at the sight of them.
    Only a few minutes later, the step-mate had a child and the father became
very sick. The step-mate took Handsome, Gentle and ugly son Bob, on a search
for the plants that would heal the father. The young norns fell asleep
watching the fish swim near the Submarine Cave. The step-mate took her son
back to the father and said, 'Your two other children ran away but at least
we have our little Bob.'
    Handsome woke up to find that his step-mate had left them once more. He
woke up his sister and said, 'We got separated from step-mom again but I
dropped carrot seeds on the way here.'
    'So all we have to do is follow the carrot seeds!' Gentle exclaimed
surprised at how smart her brother was. They both looked around for the
carrot seed trail but it wasn't there. Then they remembered that if you drop
a carrot seed it disappears and reappears in the Garden. Gentle started to
cry because she thought all was lost. Handsome grabbed her and dragged his
delirious sister over to a lift. He hit the Up button and waited. Soon a
blast of hot desert air hit them full in the face. 'Wow!' they gasped. They
were looking at the Forbidden Desert Island!
    Suddenly a large green figure at the end of the dock started to move
toward them. 'Grendel eat norn.' The thing said. It walked up to Handsome and
gently smacked him. 'Ow!' yelled Handsome. He hit the Grendel as hard as he
could (which wasn't enough). The Grendel yelled in pain. It ran head long
into Handsome. Gentle's brother flew into a nearby tree and groaned in pain
and shock.
    'Noooo!' screamed Gentle. With a loud war cry she pushed the Grendel into
the water. Handsome stared at his strong sister in amazement. 'Sis, you have
to teach me to do that.' he sighed, kissing her paw. A large ferry came
across the sea and their father jumped out. They lived happily ever after.
The End"
    After the old norn finished his story all the little norns applauded and
cheered. "Sir," said a little norn, "is that a true story?"
    "Depends on what you think." answered the old norn with a wink.
"Handsome!" cried an old reedy voice, "Come eat your carrot stew!"
    "Coming Sis'" said the old norn.

Hawkeye the Writer
10/14/99

Author's Note: This story was written on my brother's birthday in his honor.
If you wish to e-mail me e-mail me at this address KEBalaska@aol.com
Coming soon, King Scarbut - A C1 Norn Tale