Visions of Sugar Plums Report
General Summary
It is a little more than a week since the motley met Nick Chambers, the lonely clurichaun boy. Life has kept rolling forward, and with it, the holiday season is slowly approaching. Jonathan T. Aspen Middle School is holding it's annual harvest fest! All of the students are expected to help pitch in with running the various stalls and attractions on one day throughout the weekend, and the motley (being in the same class) are all assigned the Friday night shift. However, as the school bell rings, the students have some time to go back to their homes and change into more appropriate clothing, eat some dinner, do some homework, and then come back out to the school. As Hilda and Frank leave the school, they can see the tents being raised in the football field and the tractors with bales of hay pulling into the sparse woods behind the assembly hall. Frank expresses his excitement for Halloween, which Hilda scoffs at. She attempts to explain the more dignified and long lasting traditions of the fae during Samhain, but Frank bowls right past her protests, completely over the moon about dressing up and getting candy. He even decides to take Hilda costume shopping, much to her chagrin. He drags her down to a thrift store anyway, and as they step inside begins to excitedly look through the old clothes and treasures. He pulls out a hat with a long plume of feathers and Hilda remarks dryly that he could be Zorro with that hat. Frank gasps excitedly. "A Mariachi Zorro!" He eventually finds his costume and Hilda drags him to her freehold. While there, the two sidhe get into an argument about Seelie vs. Unseelie, with Frank insisting that Unseelie are pretty much the villains and Hilda, affronted, insisting that they are not. Neither one is really convinced of the other's point, and Hilda finally, in an attempt to break the tension, suggests that they go exploring in the Dreaming. Stepping out into the Near Dreaming, the pair's breath is taken away by the landscape. Coming from Hilda's Norse-inspired freehold has steeped the familiar landscape in snow, and as they get closer to town it becomes clear that it has taken on the appearance of a quaint little town in the 1800s.
They decide to visit Aspen Middle School, and find it transformed into an old stone building - stately, refined, and cold. Through the windows, the chimera created by two hundred students' whimsy daydreams flit about, with Frank becoming very excited when he sees the stickman from the second floor boys' bathroom walking about. Hilda rolls her eyes as she leads them into the school to explore. They choose to explore the basement first, and find a deep, dark hallway leading down into pitch black. Hilda's phone light begins to go out as they ascend, the basement holding true to its nature as a place of damp darkness. Then suddenly the lights on a nearby candelabra whoosh to life, startling the two children. Frank calls out to whoever is there to show themselves, but a dopey voice whispers back, "there's nobody here!" Eventually Frank and Hilda discover that it is the candelabra itself talking, and attempt to get some directions or help from it. The most it can tell them is to stay away from Downtown, but that they can find the most interesting things in the City Hall Park. They thank him and continue on their way.
Entering into the park, Frank and Hilda come upon Angela, the angel statue in the center of the park. Only in the Dreaming, she has become the avatar for the city, knowing the children's names and accomplishments (though to Hilda's anger Angela calls her by her mortal name and not Skulde). She encourages both of them that even if Roseland is not the place they are meant to make their home permanently, she knows they will find a place that will be theirs, and although she will miss them, she knows it's for the best.
After a few more kind words, the two take their leave. As they walk back to the freehold, Frank comments that he is in agreement with Angela, and that he doesn't want to stay in Roseland, but to travel around the state or even the country with a food truck. Maybe even one from his [parents' restaurant ! Hilda warns that banality will soon take him if he does so, which Frank takes to heart - though he is still in good spirits as they exit the freehold, heading back to school.
Character(s) interacted with
- Angela
Notes
Quotes of the Session
Frank (breathing in deeply): "Ah, smell those savings!"
Hilda: "It smells like Josh after he goes to the bathroom."
Frank (to Hilda): "Well. I just learned something. You care about me."
