Two years ago, when I first arrived in the Creators Realm, I feared I would be the eternal loner. I didn’t know anyone, and the offers of matchmaking so generously offered, were even more emphatically turned down.
It didn’t take long for fate to take notice. I believe there are invisible lines that connect everyone, and, if you send out the right intention, the connections you need will find you.
My grandfather, Professor Zell, proved to be a vital link in this invisible web. He liked to visit the Patron Worlds outside the Celestial Domain of the Reds Family.
Professor Zell was a Creator, and though he married into the Red’s family, he didn’t like the formalities of the Patrons and their ways. He liked to walk the noisy streets of the Patron Worlds where those who weren’t Patrons or Creators lived.
I followed along with him as he went on these excursions. It allowed me to discover things I would not have discovered on my own.
The most noteworthy of these discoveries happened when we walked into the Shop of Wonders. It was there, a little over seven months ago, that I met Nori.
Nori captivated me. Her shop was filled with clocks of all kinds. These clocks were magical, beautiful, and Nori used them to bestow serendipity upon those in need of a little good luck.
Apparently, my grandfather was in need of such help the previous year, yet that night when I followed him into the Shop of Wonders for the first time, his luck had run out.
As we entered the shop that night, my grandfather greeted Nori with the name she used then, Stella Noir. I heard them talk about his broken timepiece as I perused the store. The bejeweled clocks reminded me of the clockwork that the Wanderlores created. The clockwork was haunting, beguiling, but none of it was for me.
As I joined my grandfather at the counter, I was stunned to realize how young Stella Noir looked up close. She mustn’t have been much older than me, though her mannerisms made her appear much older.
“There, that should fix it,” she said to him. “Sometimes the clockwork gets haunted. But, I fixed it, see?” Nori handed the timepiece back to my grandfather.
Then, she turned to me. “Your grandfather has told me much about you. You’re new here, and you need something to make you feel at home.”
Stella Noir reached into the cabinet behind her and handed me a tiny bejeweled house. The house fit in the palm of my hand. “This will lead you home. Its portal opens every hour. When the time is right, walk through the door.”
I looked at my grandfather then back to Nori. “How much is it?”
Nori thought about it. “I just finished it. Perhaps, if you come back tomorrow, I will tell you.”
I returned the following night and the night after that and the night after that. Over time I coined the name that she goes by now—Nori. Neither Stella, nor Noir, quite worked for me.
For my birthday she baked me a cake decorated with palm trees, seashells and a small sandcastle. One thing I’ve learned about Nori is that she’s not ashamed of dropping hints when she wants something.
A couple of weeks later, we were on the shore of a pristine beach. The beach was on Earth.
Nori liked Earth, and I indulged her desire to visit. The sand on this beach was perfect for creating sand sculptures. Nori built a lighthouse as shore birds flirted with the shore.
When she finished, I accented the lighthouse with small, magic-filled orbs. These would make the lighthouse real—if only for a night.
We admired our handiwork and wondered briefly what creatures our magical lighthouse would attract. Perhaps my sister’s beloved dragons would make a visit.
And, if they didn’t, that was okay too.
That night, a new door to my life began to open, and for the first time since I left the Icon Worlds, I was truly starting to feel at home.
—Jellybean Reds, Creator of Little Creatures
