I had fully planned to send this out to our fan yesterday morning, but things came up and got in the way. As promised, we are picking up our story with everyone ready to take a huge leap through one of Emily’s drawings and into Paris, “The City of Light.” We can hardly wait for you to get there with us!
Sometimes we wait for something to happen “at once” when in actuality, it is best for it to happen “at last.” It was like that with getting Gracie to Paris.
“Bonne nuit, mon amour,” I said to each of the chickens before giving them a bedtime kiss on the top of their heads.
I was sure we would hear much more of the French language once we had gone through the Garden Gate, but it was getting late and we all needed our rest, especially Gracie and Emily, the main actors in our departure which had been set for the next morning. We would all get a good night of sleep and hopefully wake up rested and refreshed for the great journey and adventure ahead of us.
You may wonder if I ever doubted that our plan would work and that we were be destined to hear not a single word of French or any other beautiful language once we had passed through Emily’s drawing of a French gate. I could not doubt—not even for a second because drawing lets us do things we would never be able to do any other way. On the other side, we would all look up and see the Eiffel Tour and we would know that we were in Paris, that most marvelous city where promises are kept and dreams come true.
In my mind, I pictured everyone lined up and ready.
Emily would have the honor of leading the way. Gracie would be next since we were doing all of this for her, and she would be accompanied by Bessie, The Robin, and Gracie’s wren. In the next group would come my own wren, the Laughing Gull, The Raven with Blue Eyes and especially the Barn Owl named David as he would have already seen Paris on the news reels shown at the theater. He would be our guide, and had the best chance of knowing and explaining what we were seeing.
We would let his father decide whether to come along or allow his son to have his first brave adventure on his own. That just seemed like the right thing to do.
Last of all would be Pearl and her pair of drawings followed by Amelia and myself with Teddy. By being last, we could ensure that everything went smoothly for those ahead of us. As a bonus, Amelia and I would learn the answer to our greatest question: Is there greater wonderment in being able to watch everyone ahead making the trip or in actually making the trip yourself?
In the morning, everyone woke early, and I cleared out the refrigerator of every fresh vegetable and the pantry of everything else. I emptied it all in the center of the play area and let the chickens come down for breakfast. Seeing the immense spread of food, they quickly called the songbirds and visitors to join them.
“Now, everyone eat up, and fill up! We are going to need strength and energy for our adventure,” said Bessie. “It will help us support my best friend, Gracie.”
And then seeing David and his Father picking through the pieces of lettuce and kale, she said to me, “Surely you have something for our other guests! We can’t send them off to Paris on an empty stomach!”
So I hurried inside and found the last chunks of Aunt Grace’s Sunday pot roast. They would have been enough for several generously sized sandwiches for me, but they would do nicely until the barn owls could hunt in Paris where I was sure there would be plenty of mice to keep them busy.
I was already planning on making the grocery store my first spot to visit once I had gotten back home, and things would be so much nicer without any moldy or sprouted vegetables to throw out. There really was no telling how long we would be away.
Then, before I joined the others who were already lined up at the gate and around our backyard stage, I went inside and scribbled a note to my Aunt Grace and Uncle Buddy to attach to my Sunday best clothes that I was to wear to the court that day. I was unsure what to write. The truth would have seemed impossible and made me look as if there really was something wrong with me, and a lie would have made me look irresponsible and undependable. Neither seemed like the best choice, so I wrote from my heart:
Dear Aunt Grace and Uncle Buddy,
The chickens and I have gone to Paris. We love you and appreciate all you have done for us.
Nate, Gracie, Bessie, Pearl (with Blanche), Emily, and Amelia
As I pinned the note to my jacket that Aunt Grace had made look so nice, the reality of my own words brought tears to my eyes: The chickens and I have gone to Paris. There was such finality in those words, but there was also hopeful joy. I imagined it would not be long before songbirds would watch as the ones they called The Mother and The Man with the Shadowy Face moved their things into the house. It was good that they wouldn’t find any spoiled food in the refrigerator and pantry.
Outside where everyone had gathered, I lined them up in the order I had chosen the night before. I knew it was likely not the order that Amelia would have selected, but she needed to know that I was making the decisions and I do believe she smiled as I called out each name to show that she understood and accepted my decisions. If anything made me feel like a leader of this adventure, it was Amelia’s smile.
I turned on the record player and selected a romantic album of French accordion music, and as Emily took up her chalk and added her final touches of color to her drawing, Gracie began to dance.
We lined up with our partners for our leaps of faith into Emily’s drawing and whatever lay waiting for us on the other side.
I turned on the record player and guided the arm onto the record. We heard lovely romantic French accordion music, and Gracie began to dance. Emily took her last small piece of white pastel and began touching it here and there around the drawing I had hung up on the old metal gate. As she added these final highlights, the drawing began to shimmer and glow. As it began to throb like a heart beating to the sound of the Parisian music, I looked down at Emily’s gate and noticed the number 1888. Was it a street number for an address of the garden in Paris? I wondered.
When it all felt right to me, I called out, “Emily, Gracie, Bessie, and Gracie’s wren, it’s time to leap to Paris.”
The rest of us watched, and they leapt into and through the drawing without leaving any hole. The music on the record player ended, and we heard the same tune coming through the paper.
Not to cause a delay, I called out, “Friend Robin, my own Wren, Laughing Gull and Susanna, the Raven with the Blue Eyes, you are next.”
Those of us who were still left watched as they leapt through the drawing and again caused no hole in it. Lefty looked at it more closely and curiously, and then moved his feet restlessly until I gave him the word that all was clear. He nudged Tippity forward but she did not want to move until she heard Gracie’s voice calling to her, “It’s just a simple grande jeté, just like we saw you do yesterday, only this will be easier because it’s in one forward direction, not around in a circle.”
Then Tippity and Lefty ran and leapt together with David the Barn Owl flying above them to guide them safely.
David’s father turned to me and said, “That little Tippity could have no better guide than my son and no better guardian than her father.”
I nodded my agreement, and Pearl, who was next, and stretched out her neck as she waited for me to tell her the time was right. When she heard me saying, “Now is the time, Pearl,” she held the two drawings loosely in her beak and leapt just as everyone else had done.
As she leapt through the drawing, Amelia and I heard what sounded like a crackling of electricity. Then, Pearl was gone like the ones before her, but the chalk from the drawings she was holding crumbled from their paper and to the ground.
Instantly, Amelia leapt towards the drawing to rescue Pearl, thinking that some strange catastrophe had befallen her. Almost as quickly, I dropped Teddy and grabbed for Amelia and pulled her to me.
“Let me go!” she protested. “I have to help them!”
Until Next Time…
If you have any comments—good or bad—please share them on Substack or you can also reach me directly at John.Spiers@yahoo.com. We are looking forward to sharing with your exactly what happens when our cast of characters (made of chickens, songbirds, and their friends) journeys through Emily’s Parisian Garden Gate!
Our Best Advice for the Days Ahead: Much in life depends on who you are with: who supports you and who you support. Everyone can bring something unique to an adventure! And even someone has turned events into a catastrophe—like Pearl seems to have done—there is always hope (as you will learn in the next chapters!)
One final note: The full list of chickens, songbirds, and their friends is still undecided until we get further into the plot. There may be someone left out who is needed on the journey!
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Pearl (with Blanche), Emily, and Amelia
Again, I marvel at your work. The idea of travelling to Paris via an enchanted drawing is sheer genius (and much cheaper than traveling there by boat or plane from the eastern U.S. in the real world!).
The prolific children's book author Robert Munsch, based in Canada for much of his career, wrote a book many years ago called "David's Father", so mentioning that character brought the book back in memory. A lot of Munsch's work is broadly comic, almost cartoon like, but he's also done several more serious books that more closely resemble your work.