Amaryllis You got all the good stuff. That left all the bad for me. Fey Cursèd be she who betrays her family! Amaryllis Oh, yeah? What if I don't have a family no more! Fey "What if I haven't got a family any more . . . " Amaryllis What? Fey You used a double negative. Amaryllis How can you be so perfect and not get it! Fey What have I failed to grasp? Amaryllis How everything got messed up when you left! Mom took off. Dad's been a total zombie. The only time they're kinda with it is when they're standing in front of the mantelpiece looking at your urn. Fey You can't just steal my urn, a gesture most unwise! It won't undo the turn of my untimely demise. Amaryllis It's all I could come up with. Fey So, what is your plan for my ashes? Amaryllis I was just going to throw you off the end of the pier. Fey You wish to drown the dead? Amaryllis Well . . . maybe it's not the best idea. Fey It's absurd! Amaryllis You got a better one? Fey Yes! Seek assistance! Amaryllis Watch Miss Perfect fall apart. Fey I'd rather be perfect than wicked! Amaryllis I'd rather be wicked than dead! Fey Enough, please stop. You've gone too far. Think being dead is fun -- a lark? I didn't want to fade away, nor do I want to stay this way. Amaryllis So why are you here? Fey I'm hanging on by a thread. Once dead, my relieved soul fled, crossed over to the other side, where I met sad souls who tried so desperately to find a door. I found mine but could do no more, held back by a bit of ribbon. I traced it here, to its origin, my last earthly tie drawing me to the foot of the white tree. Narrator At the centre of the garden stands the Ribbon Tree. It is what is holding your sister back. Thousands of ribbons are tangled in its branches. One thread for each of the dead whose loved ones refuse to let go. Amaryllis Why didn't you untie yourself? Fey No solution availed. Whatever I tried, failed. Narrator Only the living can untie the knots. Amaryllis Well, if that's all, I'll go do it. Narrator You can't just enter the Land of the Dead like it's the mall. Fey I could be your guide, but promise to be good -- don't make me nag or chide. Swear to listen as you should! Amaryllis On one condition. Fey State your terms. Amaryllis No more rhymes. That's it. I'm fed up. Starting now, you talk like everybody else. Fey You demand too high a price for so great a sacrifice! Amaryllis Fine. Whatever. Fey Wait! Okay . . . I'll try. Amaryllis Deal! So, which way to the Land of the Dead? Fey To cross to the other side, simply swallow your pride, promise this hand to heed wherever it shall lead. Amaryllis I'm sorry, what was that? Fey Hold my hand. Amaryllis Now you're talking. Fey takes her sister's hand. Excerpted from Amaryllys and Little Witch by Pascal Brullemans All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
