From: jlane@Ingres.COM (Judi Lane)
Subject: Part Three of Dryad
Keywords: Dryad
Reply-To: jlane@Ingres.COM (Judi Lane)
Organization: Ask Computer Systems Inc., Ingres Division, Alameda CA 94501
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:31:30 GMT



		"You bring him back!  He's mine!!"  Ferndance shouted from
	the low branch of her favorite sempervirens.  "What do you need him
	for anyway?  There're five of you... just one of me!"  Ferndance
	started to cry, thinking her tears might promote a tinge of sympathy
	in those running away with her new playtoy.
		"Save your tears for those foolish men who still let their
	hormones control their lives, you forest witch!  Kevin doesn't need
	your female poisonous ways... let him be the Spirit Warrior he was
	born to become!!"  And with that, the four other men raised the 
	naked, unconscious Kevin above their heads, chanting "Wild Man!
	Wild Man! Wild Man!" as they marched out of Ferndance's grove, and
	eventually out of sight.
		Ferndance let out a long, slow sigh.  "Hmph.  `Wild Man'
	indeed."  She pulled Kevin's backpack from a hollowed-out section 
	of the tree, and threw it on the ground below.  A book by Robert
	Bly tumbled into the duff of the forest floor.  "And their stupid
	drumming and chanting!  Ooooh, my head!!"  Ferndance pressed her 
	hands to her temples, then pounded the tree trunk with her fists and 
	let out a scream.  "`Forest witch?'  How dare they!!"  She pounded
	some more, and released a few more blood-curdling cries.  Five
	minutes later, she slumped into her exhaustion, with the trunk
	sturdily supporting her spine.  Slowly, she unsheathed a shiny
	blade from her tunic, and placed a small, one-inch notch in the
	bark of the branch beneath her.  With the tip of the knife, she
	counted the other marks recently etched by her hand.  "Oh, slug
	snot!  Fifteen men!  Fifteen!!  Dragged screaming out of my arms by
	these... these... overgrown castrated Boy Scouts!  I'm gonna dry
	up and whither away like a fallen fir tree!"
		"Oh, quit your whining.  It makes my ears ache.  No one
	likes to hear a dryad whine... it's bad for business."  Moongazer
	scurried up the tree and joined her sister on the branch above.
		"`Bad for business?'  What business!  Do you see any men
	around here, huh?"  Ferndance spread out her arms and gestured to
	the silent redwoods all around.  "The only guys who come into
	this place anymore bring all their buddies with `em to get `back
	in touch with Mother Earth' and pound on those stupid drums of
	theirs!  Ooooooooh..."  Ferndance covered her ears and made a face.
		Moongazer pulled Ferndance's hands away from her head.
	"Maybe you've lost your touch.  Maybe you're... getting old?"
		"Lost my touch?  Getting old!  Speak for yourself!"
	Ferndance jumped to her feet, glaring down at her older sister.
	"Why, my body is just as tight and firm as it was a hundred years
	ago!"  She turned to look behind her, pinching the fleshy part of
	her backside, peeking out from underneath the deep green tunic.
	"Make that two hundred."
		"Well, all I know is that you can't continue on this way
	anymore.  At least not around here."
		Ferndance plopped down next to her sister, letting down
	her braids, with a puzzled look on her face.  "What do you mean,
	`at least not around here'?"
		Moongazer brushed aside her sister's deep auburn hair,
	and started to cry.  "The forest will be gone soon.  The people
	who claim this forest is theirs want to cut the trees down.  And
	they want to do it now."
		"What!  They can't do that!!  This is our home!  What 
	gives them the right!!"  Ferndance leaped down to the forest floor
	and started jumping up and down, yelling.
		"Will you pleeeeeeeeeease stop that!  You look ridiculous."
	Moongazer dropped down to join her sister, who was still throwing
	her temper tantrum.  "I'm just as upset as you are about this.
	But dancing around like badger with his head stuck in a beehive
	won't help any!"
		Ferndance froze, staring down at the duff, and started to
	cry.  Moongazer put her arms around Ferndance's shoulders, while
	Ferndance buried her face in Moongazer's tunic, deeply sobbing.
	"What are we going to do?  We can't lose our home."
		Moongazer lifted her sister's chin, and wiped the tears
	from her cheeks.  "I don't know.  But we're not going to stand
	idly by and let them do this.  I think it's time for you and me,
	sister dear, to pay a visit to our Mother Queen."
		Ferndance pulled back from Moongazer, wided-eyed.  "Mom?
	Oh, no.  Anyone but Mom!!"  Ferndance started to back away from
	where Moongazer was standing.
		"What's this?  Hey, wait a ... you promised me you would
	apologize to her that!!  Besides, you shouldn't have lured him
	away from her forest in the first place!"
		"It wasn't my fault!  She wasn't due back for another
	week!  How was I supposed to know she'd return early?"  Ferndance
	broke out into a cold sweat.
		"Of all the stupid things to pull, Ferndance... this one
	cuts it!  Serves you right if she refuses to help save your woods."
		Ferndance's lower lip began to tremble.  "Waaaaaaaaaaaa..."
		"Stop that!"  Moongazer started to pace.  "We'll think of
	something.  Even if you have to crawl on your knees and beg for
	her forgiveness!  Don't worry... things are gonna be OK."
		And with that, the two of them walked out of Ferndance's
	grove, hand-in-hand, to go visit their royal mother.