My Four Miraculous Treasures

The housekeeper shook his head. "All he's said is that, without his permission, you're not allowed to leave the backyard."

Willow was stunned by this.

There was nothing in the backyard besides a bunch of worthless antiques. Nothing to eat, nothing to drink, and nothing she could use to help ward off the cold.

If Jasper kept this up, she would die here, either from starvation or exposure. Fuming, Willow spun around on her heel and stormed off back into the gallery.

Before she knew it, it was already afternoon. It had been a long time since her last meal, or even her last sip of water.

Debilitating hunger had left her weak and dizzy, unsteady on her feet. When she took a single step forward, her vision swam with stars.

She'd been naive to presume that Jasper would fear for her life. She'd underestimated the ruthlessness of that tyrant. She saw now the truth of his cold, black heart-he didn't care if she lived or died!

Threatening him with suicide had been so stupid of her! Now, she was in very real danger of making good on that threat!

No, she couldn't die here! What would become of her children, then?!

Stumbling along on shaky legs of rubber, she wandered out of the gallery, towards the garden. The light of the setting sun was mild and mellow, and its touch did restore some small measure of her strength.

But she needed food, or else she would die! She wasn't a tree-she couldn't photosynthesize her own sustenance!

What was she to do...?

In her moment of desperation, she happened to notice some mushrooms growing on a nearby tree. They looked delicate and white.

They looked delicious.

Willow's mouth was suddenly flooded with drool. She swallowed it down and rushed over, plucking out one of the mushrooms and dusting it off, then popping it into her mouth and beginning to chew.

It was juicy and succulent... simply scrumptious!

Willow grabbed a whole handful, and devoured those too. Her tummy soon

started feeling better, now that there was something going in there at last.

However, she had to avoid finishing off the mushrooms entirely, or else there'd be nothing left for next time, and then that would truly be the end for her.

She didn't yet know how long she would have to survive in here, after all.

With that in mind, she left the rest of the mushrooms alone to continue growing upon that tree, until her next emergency.

Her gnawing hunger quelled for the moment, Willow returned to the gallery, and sat down on one of the chairs.

Moments passed... A strange weightless sensation came over her, and suddenly she was flying... flying through unfamiliar new vistas...

Previously, she was in a gallery of antique treasures; now, she was in a gallery of delicious mushrooms!

There could only be one possible explanation for this: she was the Man in the Moon-except that she was a woman!

While dancing the light fantastic

across whimsical clouds, she'd

chanced upon a whole field of

terrifically tender, tantalizingly tasty mushrooms!

Oho, a most mesmerizing melange of marvelous, magnificent, meal-worthy

mushrooms for the Man in the Moon-except that she was a woman!

With boundless joy, Willow bounded forth and plucked a mushroom for herself.....

Crunch! It was too hard. She tossed it aside.

She was vaguely aware of the sound of something smashing, shattering to pieces.

She put it from her mind, and tried another mushroom...

Crack! No good, either. Away with you.

Besides mushrooms, she noticed there were also various salads, growing out of the walls. It was a hanging garden!noveldrama

She tore down a sheet of the stuff, and ripped off a piece in her mouth...

Blech! It was like chewing old, dry paper! She couldn't eat this! But, perhaps the next one...

She tore up the next sheet into shreds, then put one in her mouth for a

enel

BW. This one was even

worse! Musty, mouldy, mildewy... it must have gone bad.

Meanwhile, Jasper had just returned from work, trailing dust and displeasure.

"How's she doing?" he asked.

"She's been quiet," Leon replied reverentially. "She's just kept to

herself in the backyard, and hal net

spoken a word to ask for food.

Everything's calm."

Two days without food or water, and still she was managing to keep calm...?

Jasper frowned. Unlocking the back door, he went out into the yard.

Even before he reached the gallery, he could hear the successive crash-and-tinkle

of expensive things being broken, one after another.

He started walking faster.