As we watched in delighted wonder the heated air began to lift the balloon off the ground and up into the sky, over the uprighted basket. "Get in quick, get in the basket!" yelled Thomas, and we, chosen for the first balloon, scrambled in, giggling and graceless with excitement. Thomas waved us off with a curious look, he was beginning to wake up from this madcap dream.

         I gave him a nod encouraging that he get the other balloons off the ground first and worry about the weird feelings later.

         The Trolls were still smirking and acting all macho like, but being in awe of Thomas's magical machines, they helped him launch the other balloons. When the last balloon was up they made a few bawdy farewell gestures and lumbered off into the mists. Early on, we had given them a goodly sized satchel of everlasting sweet berry tarts, some finely wrought silver jewelry and a few simple blessings for their help. Its always a good idea to show your gratitude to the Trolls.

         The Pixies had disappeared completely from sight but they'll be popping up all along our way, by some contrivance of their own..

         As for Thomas, our last view of him, as we quietly rose into the air was of the poor man standing in the middle of a new housing construction site, scratching his head and looking for his truck. I was sorry to have done it to the dear boy, but we couldn't be leaving him across the Border and getting himself in trouble, could we? I'll be sure to send him some truly grand inspiration in the very near future. Oh, and I've made myself a note to buy poor old Clive one of those little burner things, for his very own, when we return from our adventure..

Phee's Note:

         The Border in our story is not exactly like a border between two countries. At a border between countries there is a guard station and guards. Visitors are stopped and asked where they were born, some have to undergo inspections or need passports.

         The Country in our story is not for humans, for the Nature there is truly magical and wild and you must know the way to the Border for it shifts. Shifts so much that there are many doors, gates, portals, holes and every other descriptive word for an entry that might come to mind.

         The Thomas in our story feels something weird about the Border he is standing near but has not an inkling of why and is easily lured over by the sight of the Hot Air Balloons. Thomas, the Rhymer of old was lured by a beautiful woman, the elvin Queen. The Border she took him across was to Elfland. Thomas the Rhymer stayed in Elfland for seven years. While he was there he was not allowed to talk to anyone but the Queen and he could only eat food the Queen gave him.

         If you think about it, words and food both have an effect on who you are. Words have an effect on your thinking and beliefs and food an effect on the nature and health of your body so for Thomas to speak and eat of the Elvin way would have changed him so much he would have eventually lost his human identity.

         The Thomas in our story was mildly enchanted for just a short time and only suffered a few moments of dreamlike confusion. Well then, the part about finding himself suddenly in the middle of a construction site instead of a field? That's not so hard to figure out now, is it?

         When the Elvin Queen released Thomas the Rhymer to return to the human world she gave him a gift, 'a tongue that could never lie'. So, after his return he used that gift in poetry and prophesy since telling the truth in ordinary ways can sometimes be a touchy matter. In poetry and prophesy a person must participate by listening carefully and thinking creatively to grasp the truth.

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