Peter S. Beagle

was signing books at the Texas Renaissance Festival!

The Dollmaker brought her beloved old copy of The Last Unicorn

to be signed by the author. 

Yay! Okay, here's the Story....

Well....

One would have thought that it was the night before Christmas...

on the night before Peter S. Beagle's appearance....

Two of the most creative women the Dollmaker knows:

Joyce Hazelrig and Shandi Howard

(who was working at the Doll Shoppe)

 were bouncing like Jacks escaped from the Box...

springing and rebounding off the walls...

in giddy anticipation of meeting the celebrated author of

The Last Unicorn

Shandi, especially. Her childhood hero. Peter S. Beagle 

was The ONE who helped her,  through his writings, 

to believe in her deepest magical self.

So she was more ecstatic than a Senator at a Roman Bacchanal

to be meeting Peter S. Beagle in person.

While the Dollmaker watched,

Shandi opened up a fabric bag and gently lifted out

a beautiful white Unicorn which she had made. 

She was going to bring the Unicorn to show HIM.

The Dollmaker raised an eyebrow.

If sweetness were snow, it would be time to bring out the plow.

About an hour later, in the now near blinding blizzard of sweetness,

 partner Joyce showed up with another Unicorn-

 one that SHE had made to bring to the Great Author.

wow. Do you believe this?

The Dollmaker regretted at that moment that she had never been much of a

Unicorn maker...

but she wondered whether she might have some

gold, frankincense or myrrh she could bring along to the book signing....

Well, the next day (Saturday) dawned like no other ever had,

and the two of them: Shandi and Joyce, embarked upon a pilgrimage down the sidewalk

wrapped in scarves, criss-crossed by shoulder bags brimming with handmade Unicorns and rare drawings (of Unicorns),

and toting boxes of books to be signed, braving the chill winds,

like Heidi and Clara climbing the mountain to see Grandfather.

 Well, photographs were taken, books were signed, Unicorns were tearfully bestowed and graciously accepted,

friendships were forged, palms were read,

and History was made,

and the Ladies successfully navigated back to the Doll Shoppe

without their feet ever touching the ground.

Shandi stayed airborne throughout the day

and happily chirped greetings to doll customers from cloud nine.

tra la ... tra la

Geeze!

What was it about this guy?

So...  the next day...

on Sunday morning before any of the shoppes were open,

the Dollmaker grabbed her gloves and trotted on out the front door.

With Shandi grinning like the Cheshire Cat and hopping along beside her,

 the Dollmaker set off, down the sidewalk, to the Bookstore,

 with her faded and torn old copy of

 The Last Unicorn

tucked under her arm.

a few minutes later....

There he was, just standing in the doorway of the Bookstore. Himself.

 Peter S. Beagle.

In the harsh early morning light he looked like any other fellow needing a cup of coffee.

 Why, he was quite ordinary, really, in a suave sophisticated British agent black motorcycle jacket kind of way...

Even with his dashingly dark Inverness style cloak thrown on

 (like Sherlock Holmes, Sean Connery or Father Christmas would wear, with the attached shoulder cape),

 he was obviously still just a "regular guy".

The Dollmaker was delighted, but as she casually approached the famed author,

she became aware of an increasing number of Adoring Fans

swarming like flies at 8:15 in the morning.

Where were they coming from?

The Dollmaker who thought she was early...

was Obviously not early enough! Hey wait a minute!

As the rising tide of Peter Beagle's devoted and mostly female Readership

impinged upon the available space,

the Dollmaker actually began to feel somewhat competitive,

imagining herself playing a little ice hockey in there when

one of the Bookstore owners, who hadn't even had time to sweep the floor yet,

finally decided he had had enough, and used his broom effectively to disperse the yackety-yackety mob in the tiny Bookstore,

banishing the Adoring Fans to the book-signing tent...

and in the ensuing confusion, for one moment Peter S. Beagle roamed free...

And then, Yikes! Suddenly he was right there in front of the Dollmaker

and he turned to face her, and somebody- probably Shandi-

was carrying out the introductions and the Dollmaker was holding out her gloved hand

and the moment had come to say something

witty, intelligent, or at least relevant... to Peter S. Beagle...

 But to the Dollmaker's horror...

all that came out was a ridiculous girlish giggle...

 oh no!

and whatever else she was going to say was completely forgotten.

sigh.

at least she got the book signed

 Peter S. Beagle. What is it about him?

Shandi, Peter S. Beagle and the Lady Kandra

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kandra Niagra, Dollmaker

PO Box 326

Smithville, Texas 78957

Phone: 512-332-6680

Email: bigkandra@aol.com

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07/12