The Oddyssey of Lula Lyons

Introduction To
The Odyssey of Lula Geraldine Lyons



Lula Lyons woke up this morning and thought to herself. “Something is going to happen today.” She sat for a moment and thought this over when another, very familiar voice popped up in her head. “Are you going to be ready for it?” At this thought she leaped out of bed and threw on her clothes before binding a small knife to her ankle.
“Anna! Breakfast is ready!” Her father yelled from the kitchen. She greeted him with extra enthusiasm and a kiss on each cheek. Sitting at the table she dove into her food.
“What are you all excited about Anna?” he asked pouring her a glass of orange juice.
“Something’s going to happen today!”
“Something is going to happen today, how did you know? You’re going to live with your mother and twin sister. I sent them a letter about a week ago.” Anna sat there shocked stupid for a moment, before smiling big and then frowning deeply.
“I thought you and mother didn’t get along?” She was starting to get a feeling of impending doom but shoved it aside.
“No we don’t, but that doesn’t matter. I’m not going. I know she’ll be fond of you.” He didn’t really sound like he really knew. Her heart dropped into her stomach ticking like a time bomb just waiting to explode.
“I don’t want to go without you…”
“Sure you do. It’ll be wonderful fun having a twin. You can confuse the wits out of your mum. Now there’s no arguing Anna, go get your things.”
“I don’t even know the way!”
“You’ll figure it out Anna. The forest loves you like a daughter.” She doddled getting her things, trying to be angry and kicking things but without any real enthusiasm behind it. “Are you ready Anna?” How could she possibly be ready? The bomb exploded and tears came up in her eyes spilling down her porcelain cheeks. Tears welled in his eyes as well but he knew better than to let them fall. She hugged and kissed him goodbye and walked to the forest. She did not allow herself to look back at him until at the forests edge. Then she entered.
She walked until she could no longer see the little cottage, and kept walking. She walked until she could not smell the smoke from the fireplace, and kept walking. She walked until she could no longer hear the sound of the mill. And then she stopped. All that was here was the forest, the beautiful forest that had served as a mother when she had not had one and raised her with love and care. She waited now in front of a large oak, the voice of the forest. Finally a raspy voice rose seemingly out of the wind.
“Hello child. It was sunny but I fear that frown will likely bring clouds enough to wither the whole of me. What troubles you my dear?” Anna managed a small smile.
“Father is sending me away, to live with my mum and my sister, I need to ask the way.” Mother clucked in disapproval. You have friends in the trees my child, but my children will not all love you. I cannot help you when you are beyond my voice.”
“I know mother, but what can I do?” Lula pleaded and the forest inhaled and as if with a last grieving breath spoke.
“Nothing…” Mother sighed and then only the wind could be herd.
“Your fate seems a troubling one sister!” said a quick seargently voice from her left. She turned to see a fat brown rabbit known widely as mage because he was so old (for a brother rabbit in any case).
“Yes, Mage, yes it does.” She replied sadly but dryly. No good ever came from tears in any case right Lula? “Plenty of bad though.”
“What was that sister?”
“Nothing Mage.”
“All right then lets be off. I’ll take you only so far as my old muscles will it, which may not be very far, and then I trust you’ll let me sleep the dirt.” She nodded and he gave her a slight salute before beginning to slowly bound off on a new trail. One she had never noticed, perhaps because she never thought she would have to walk it. She wasn’t ready. “I wasn’t ready…”






Vines
Chapter One of
The Odyssey of Lula Geraldine Lyons



“Pum, pum, pum. Well getting to the city is much, much different than getting away from it…”
“Or perhaps it’s just your memory failing brother Mage. It happens to a lot of creatures when they age!” Lula laughed and mage fumed but chose to ignore it.
“They must have changed it, there wasn’t two paths before!”
“Things change with time Mage. Mother grows stronger and bigger everyday, imagine her so long ago in the beginning, before time.” For some reason he chose not to answer this but simply look a little depressed. “He always looks a little depressed.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing Mage”
“Pum, pum, pum. Pum, pum, pum. So sister, which path do you think we should take little sister and state your reasoning?” She looked at the two paths and laughed. One was filled with vines and thorns and the other was as clear as day.
“Well I would love to take the path on the right because it looks like it might not kill me along the way, but that’s not to say that I won’t end up further from where I want to be when I come out.”
“Little sister indeed.  So what will the path on the right give you? It has obviously been traveled on many times. Anything it had to give has likely been taken. If you take the path on the left however, you will grow, and prosper, like the vines. It may be a struggle to get passed them but what you will get from them will be worth the risk of death any day.”
“What could I possibly get besides rashes and scratches, the honor of being eaten by one of mothers misled children?” At this Mage dropped his old, magely attitude and laughed a little hoarsely.
“Experience my child, knowledge, strength, and if you survive you’ll likely live a bit longer too!” Ya Lula, ha! Take it from the rabbit who just keeps going and going and going…
“Alright then mage lets keep going.”
“That’s the spirit!” He bounced merrily through the vines as small as he was although plenty big for a rabbit. Lula had quite a bit of trouble though, and by the time they were ready to stop for the night she had more than enough bruises from tripping and countless scratches from thorns.
So as she lay down her head on the solid ground where she was to sleep, she pondered on many questions. Why did your father send you away Lula? “If only I knew…”
“Damned girl always talking to herself…”





“Mage! Mage? Mage where are you? Oh dear I’m all alone… Where could he have-” As she looked to the ground, she saw the beginning of a very bad story, blood.
A very sad story indeed, and do you want to know what happens? Well I can assure you they do not live happily ever after. If you read a story, and they tell you that the princess and her hero lived happily ever after, they’re lying. It’s likely that the hero wrote the book and rapes the princess on a daily basis. Then again perhaps I am just a pessimist. “Just shut up so I can concentrate and find the bloody bunny!” Bloody bunny indeed, or I can be optimistic and tell you that he probably just stepped on a strawberry and went looking for a stream to wash his foot. I do love strawberries, what a waste…
Caught on a thorn was a chunk of hair. She walked over and began on a small trail. The leaves were all pressed, and broken, as if he’d been struggling, it looked like he’d been dragged. She followed the path franticly running. She ran and every once in a while stopped to check the trail and find a bit more rabbit fur, and then ran some more. She ran until she ran right smack into a cement wall. Then she sat for a moment to recover. Finally she recovered her wits, or most of them anyway, not enough to keep her from bolting upright just to get another surging headache so she had to sit back down and recover again. She stood up slowly and looked at the building so covered in vines that she hadn’t seen it at first. The trail ended at the stairs. She pulled out the knife and walked gingerly up the stairs. The place looked ancient, the stairs were literally crumbling under her feet although they had been in such perfect condition before. It was like nothing had touched them side from the sinuous vines that curled around her feet… “What-?” and then a nice long scream as Lula is dragged inside and loses consciousness when they coil around her throat as well.
“Oh dear… My head hurts… What’s this? Oh, Mage, it’s you… Mage! I found you! Where are we?” Lula talked quite hoarsely after being strangled and Mage talked hoarsely as well after being pierced in the lungs by a vine.
“This is a place that tells you we are headed in the correct direction. A place filled with the evil of the cities although there are no people here.”
“What?” he coughed but she couldn’t see the blood because it was too dark.
“I was born in the city Lula, just like your father. I was what they commonly call in the city, a pet, your father’s pet. A pet is a friend you own, who is only rarely a human. We left the city because it was polluted with so much evil, that if you looked at your paw resting on the ground in front of you, you could not be sure it was really there. It could be just your eyes lying to you. You were so small when we brought you here… Your father knew you would have to go back there one day… His last request of me was that I get you there in one piece, but I have to much fear to go back. They will devour your very soul there Lula. I do not want to go back to that place, I will not. Just let me sleep in the dirt, that’s where I wish to stay, so long as there are no people here…”
“Mage? Mage you can’t go to sleep yet! I cannot get there on my own! I do not know the way!” she sobbed, “Mother’s voice cannot guide me! Mage…”

The vines shaped themselves as humans when bringing in her food. You could see little glimpses of light from behind them where they didn’t quite fit together well. Lula had been allowed to bury Mage outside upon his death and since then had not seen the sun. It was strange the way the vines acted, with such heartless evil that they reminded her of angels. The angels have no choice or want to do anything but good, and these had no will for anything but evil. There was no purpose in any action they made except to spread the evil that ruled their emotionless souls. Even the food they brought her was brought only to prolong her suffering. They wanted her to live just as the angels, but not as a gift.
This was Lula’s first real glimpse at the battle between good and evil. She knew this was not how humans were even though the only humans she could ever recall seeing were herself and her father. These beings had no choice, but there were no pity for them either, because they had no will, and therefore no wish to be among the living or the dead.
One day the vines came unraveled simply as vines. They had brought a creature with them as well, a ferret. He was yelling at the top of his lungs cursing the vines and biting them. He put up much more of a fight than Lula but finally they got him to the room and plopped him onto the floor in a sad looking bloody heap. At first Lula didn’t know weather he was still alive but then he made a noise, something between a sigh and a sob. She crept over to him trying to be as silent as she could but at her first movement he screamed in terror and was flat up against the wall in three seconds.
“Human! Human! Human!!!!!!!! You won’t get a collar on my neck you! Stay away! Back! Off!” He screamed in the most hateful tone all the energy back in him from fear.
“I haven’t even touched you!” Lula yelled indignantly as he showed his teeth.
“Human!!!!!!!!! Human!!!!!!!” He wailed and went on wailing until finally even the energy from his fear was gone. Lula listened to him wale with her lower lip sticking out in a childish manner. When he’d finally through and plopped on the ground exhausted all over again she proceeded to sit by his side without making any effort to be cautious or quiet in any way.  He muttered curses with no real enthusiasm and squirmed as she bandaged him up. “Lay off… blundering human… eat you alive I will…” his words were slurred and eventually spilled into gentle snores