Blackberry Bun's Journal: Chapter 29

[Blackberry Bun]

Chapter 29: Hot Autumn


Summer was near its end. Signs of autumn coming such as leaves starting to change color were all over Strawberryland. However, the weather was still very hot despite all those signs. I wondered about it for a while to the point of considering to visit the Land of Seasons, but in the end I decided to wait a bit longer.

One day, in the midday, I was standing on the rooftop of my house looking at the scenery around. Indeed leaves have become yellow, and some of them had already started to fall down. However, the weather was still very hot. The temperature was so hot that it felt unnatural. While I was wondering about that, suddenly I heard a voice.

"Hey, long time no see, kid!" a voice greeted from above. I looked upward and saw that it was Summer, still in his flower shirt, brown trousers, and beach sandals. However, his crane wings were missing.

"Oh, hi, Summer," I greeted back as he landed next to me. "Where are your wings?"

"I felt silly having those wings, so I made them invisible with a little bit of magic," he replied. I then tried touching somewhere behind his back, and indeed the wings were actually still there.

"Yeah, I can feel your wings," I said. "What brings you here?"

"I suppose you notice something weird about the weather, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's so hot that it feels... unnatural," I said.

"It's actually natural if it's still in the middle of my season, but indeed this hot weather is unnatural at this time period," he said.

"Do you know what caused it?" I asked. "Oh, and I never used my weather controller anymore, even though I have repaired it."

"I knew that I could trust you," he said.

"Umm, you haven't answered my first question," I said.

"Know the cause you asked? Not only that. I'm the cause of all these," he said with a sigh, lowering his head.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, surprised.

"I suppose you know a few things about the season bringers, don't you?" he asked back.

"Yeah, a little bit. While one season bringer works, the others sleep," I replied. "Hey, but you..."

"Exactly. I'm supposed to at least start sleeping by now, but as you can see, I'm still awake," he said, sighing again.

"How come?" I asked.

"Well, that's because..." he replied, but there was an interruption.

"He can't sleep. That's why," a female voice said from above. I looked upwards and saw a lady who was around Sour Grapes' age. She wore a brown long dress with autumn leaves images on it. She had brown wavy hair and her shoes were brown high heels. Her wings seemed like they were made from three large dried leaves on each side. All in all, she had an elegant look which fit an autumn theme.

"Mom, couldn't you just let me finish my sentence by myself?" Summer said, which surprised me.

"You said... mom?" I asked.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Lady Autumn, the one who brings fall season," the lady said. "I'm not his mother, but all of us were so close to each other like a family."

"Yeah, for me Spring is like my sister, Lady Autumn is like my mother, and Old Man Winter is like my grandfather," Summer said.

"You said that Summer can't sleep? Why?" I asked.

"None of us know, dear. If we knew why we would come with a solution right now," Lady Autumn replied.

"Yeah, I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I felt so tired but I couldn't fall asleep. If I don't sleep soon, more problems will arise," Summer said with another sigh.

"Indeed. For now we have a hot fall season, and later the trees won't be able to decide between letting their leaves to fall or not. As the result many of them will wither and die," Lady Autumn said.

"What? We can't let that to happen!" I said, surprised.

"Of course we can't. That's why I came here," Summer said. "To meet you."

"Huh? Me? Why me? I'm just a kid," I asked, wondering.

"I have the same question too, dear," Lady Autumn said.

"You're a kid, but not an ordinary one. You can make a weather controller and that dimension door I saw," Summer said. "So maybe you can think of something."

"Well, it's so sudden for me. I can't think that fast," I said. "Give me a moment."

"As you wish, but don't take too long," he said.

I then started to think about Summer's problem. According to what he had said, his problem was similar to an insomniac. However, I hadn't made any sleep-inducing devices or such, and I didn't know if I could make something like that or not. While still thinking, suddenly I remembered something.

"Dream fairies," I said. "Maybe they can help."

"Dream fairies, huh? I don't know much about them because unlike berry fairies, they don't have any kind of cooperation with us," Summer said. "Not to mention that I have never seen a dream fairy by myself in my whole life."

"You never dream in your sleep?" I asked.

"Of course we do. It's just that there's nothing special between us and the dream fairies," he replied.

"Oh, okay," I said.

"Okay, so how the dream fairies can help me?" he asked.

"They usually induce sleep powder to insomniacs. Maybe it will work on you as well," I said.

"I see. How can we go to their place, then?" he asked again.

"This," I answered, taking Time Remote Mark II from my pocket.

"Ah, your dimension door I see. Then, shall we go now?" he said.

"Right away if you want it," I said. "The Land of Dreams!" I spoke to the remote, and a dimension door appeared in front of us.

"I will stay here. I need to maintain the season," Lady Autumn said.

"Okay, see you later. Love you, mom," Summer said.

"Love you too, son. Good luck," Lady Autumn said, and the two of us entered the dimension door.

We ended up right in front of the Dream Fort. I then walked to PJ's building and Summer followed behind me. As we arrived in front of the building, the lady I knew opened the door and welcomed us with her usual pencil and notepad.

"Blackberry Bun and Summer. Welcome to PJ's. Please have your seats," she said.

"Is she a dream fairy? She looks different than the berry fairies," Summer whispered to me as we walked to a table.

"Of course not. She is PJ, the owner of this building. The real dream fairy will come soon," I whispered back.

We then had our seats and a glass of sundae immediately appeared in front of me.

"Thanks. It's really what I need after being in a hot weather," I said. "But why my friend didn't get one?"

"I don't eat anything, and it seems she knows it," Summer said.

"Indeed, my dears. And I know that you came because of a problem," PJ said. "She is on the way and will arrive soon."

"She? Who?" Summer said.

"That would be me. Diana Dusk, chief of the dream fairies. Daisy and Mary are still sleeping so for now I'm the one in charge," a voice said from the front door. It was indeed Diana who came.

"Ah, Diana! It's nice to meet you again," I said.

"Me too, actually. Although you have to remember that you were exiled from here, and once again you came bending our rules," Diana said, shaking her head.

"You were exiled...?" Summer asked.

"Well, it's a long story," I replied. "Anyway, I suppose you already know why I came, right?" I said to Diana.

"Of course. That's why Her Majesty made an exception to that rule. This is a very crucial problem for us as well," she replied.

"Really?" I asked.

"Unnatural weather will put negative minds into the heads of all people. Negative minds feed nightmares, and then nightmares will take over the whole Land of Dreams! This is serious business!" she shouted.

"Okay okay, now I understand. So, what are we going to do now?" I asked.

"If he was a normal people, I could just give him sleep powder or use my Tranquilizer spell all by myself," she said. "But he's a deity. All those I mentioned will be useless."

"I don't think I'm so great to be worth mentioned as deity, but whatever. So, what are you gonna do?" Summer asked.

"I said ``all by myself``, didn't I? Let's go outside for now," Diana said, flying towards the door. Summer and I followed her, and once we got outside we saw that the field had been swarmed by dream fairies. It seemed like the whole Dream Fairy Fields residents had been called to gather there.

"Why so many dream fairies?" Summer asked.

"All of us will try to gather our power into one big Tranquilizer spell. This is the only way we can think of, so if this fails we won't have any more idea," Diana said.

"I see. Let's try it then," Summer said.

"Okay, stay still and relax. We will begin the spell soon," Diana said, then she flew away to join the crowd of dream fairies. As instructed, Summer stood still near the crowd while closing his eyes, and I waited alongside PJ right in front of the door of her building. Soon, all dream fairies pointed their wand upwards and a blue ball of light started to appear above them. The light kept growing larger until its size ended up as large as Strawberry's house. Then the dream fairies pointed their wand towards Summer, who kept standing still with his eyes closed. The light then slowly moved towards him and stopped a few distances above his head.

"Ready, everyone?" Diana shouted.

"Ready!" the crowd answered.

"On the count of three! One, two... three!" Diana shouted, and a thin laser beam came out from each dream fairy's wand towards the ball of light. It then shattered and showered blue sparkles on Summer. The shower lasted for a few minutes, and once it ended Diana approached Summer who was still standing with his eyes closed.

"Did it work?" Diana said, observing Summer's face.

"No, it didn't," Summer said, opening his eyes. "I didn't feel anything."

"Oh, we give up," Diana said, falling down to the ground.

"Why giving up so soon? There must be a way," Summer said.

"The spell we just did have used up all our energy. We can't do anything more," Diana said. "Sorry, we can't help at all."

"Oh... but thanks for trying. I will try to find another way, then," Summer said.

So, the two of us returned to Strawberryland without any result. After coming out from the dimension door which led us to my rooftop, Summer looked around with his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Everyone will be in trouble if I don't sleep. Why can't I sleep?" he asked himself. Then, Lady Autumn came flying to us.

"So, it didn't work, son?" she asked as she landed.

"No, mom. I have no idea why this happens," Summer said.

"Usually, people can't sleep because they have something in mind that prevents them from sleeping," I said. "Do you have something in mind? Something that feels like a burden?"

After I asked my question, Summer fell into a deep silence. Nobody said anything for the next few seconds.

"Son, is there something in your mind? Tell us, maybe it will ease your mind," Lady Autumn said.

"Well..." Summer said with a brief pause. "Truth to be told, there is one thing..."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I... I made Spring cry," he said, which surprised both me and Lady Autumn.

"What? What did you do, son? How could you do that?" Lady Autumn asked.

"When it was time for the season to change from spring to summer, I met her. We had a talk for a moment, and we ended up fighting over a small thing," Summer said.

"What small thing if I may ask?" I asked.

"Well..." he said timidly. "About whose season is more important."

"Son, you know very well that all seasons are equally important," Lady Autumn said.

"I know, mom. But she kept saying that her season was the most important of all. It seemed like someone has told her so, or something similar to that," Summer said.

"Oh, then what happened next?" I asked.

"She was so stubborn no matter how hard I tried to advise her. In the end..." he said, pausing for a moment. "I couldn't hold my emotion and scolded her..."

"Oh my. You know that Spring is sensitive and fragile when it comes to that, son..." Lady Autumn said.

"I know, but I just couldn't help myself. When I realized that, it was already too late when she left me crying," Summer said. "She shouted ``I hate you!`` before that."

"I think we find the cause of your insomnia," I said. "Your guilty feeling is the cause."

"You should have told us from the start, son. We could have saved some time if you have," Lady Autumn said.

"Sorry. I was... embarassed," Summer said.

"Okay, now that we know why, it's time to end it. Let's go to her and try to be in good terms again with her," I said.

"It's not as easy as it sounds, but let's go there anyway," he said.

"Land of Seasons," I said, and my Time Remote Mark II responded perfectly. All of us then jumped into the dimension door it had created, and ended up right in front of the entrance of Land of Seasons. We then walked into the Spring area until we arrived in a large field of flowers which was very beautiful with all the colorful flowers there.

"What a sight," I said.

"This flower field is where Spring usually sleeps," Summer said.

"Where can we find her?" I asked.

"Just a little bit more, dear," Lady Autumn said, and we walked again. Just a few minutes later, I saw a small mound which was covered by colorful flowers like the rest of the ground, and Spring was sleeping right on the mound, still in her green dress. We approached her and saw that there were tears on her cheeks.

"So, are you going to wake her up and apologize?" I asked.

"It's easier said than done. I can't wake her up," Summer said.

"And before you ask why, dear, waking her up can be dangerous," Lady Autumn said. "There must not be three season bringers awake at the same time. Even two is already dangerous if they are on the opposite side."

"But I saw Old Man Winter awake last summer and nothing bad happened," I said.

"He was still deep inside Gumball Bluff, that's why. Even though of that, if he had been awake longer something bad could have happened," Summer said.

"That means, you and Old Man Winter had never met with each other while awake?" I said.

"Exactly, dear. The same applies to me and Spring," Lady Autumn said. "We only can visit our counterpart while the other is sleeping."

"Pity..." I said. "So, there's no way at all to apologize to her now?"

"I'm afraid no," Summer said with a sigh.

"Oh, there is a way of course. Believe in yourself," a voice suddenly said from behind us. We looked towards the source and saw that it was Sandman.

"Sandman! Long time no see!" I said.

"Who is he?" Summer asked.

"Summer, this is Sandman. The owner of the Dream Factory in the Land of Dreams," I said.

"I heard that you have a problem because you can't sleep, so I came to you to help," Sandman said.

"Not to doubt you, but if a whole army of dream fairies couldn't help me, how can you help?" Summer asked.

"I came here not to help you sleep. I came here to help you apologize to her," Sandman replied.

"What? How?" Summer asked.

"Kneel beside her and close your eyes," Sandman said, and Summer did as instructed. Sandman then put one hand on Summer's forehead and the other hand on Spring's. He then began concentrating and his hands started to shine.

"Spring..." Summer said, still with his eyes closed.

"Summer..." Spring muttered, still fast asleep.

"I see," Lady Autumn said. "He is connecting Summer to Spring's dream. That way they can talk without waking her up."

"Smart way. Let's just hope they can get along well," I said.

We waited for a moment while hoping for a happy end. However, we were too hopeful. They started arguing over the same thing again, and in the end Summer lost his mind again that he scolded Spring.

"I hate you!" Spring shouted, although still fast asleep. Then Sandman ended his connection.

"Son, you made the same mistake again..." Lady Autumn said.

"I can't help myself. She is too stubborn," Summer said, standing up.

"Now the situation isn't getting any better," Lady Autumn said.

"Well..." I said, thinking. "When brother and sister fight, the mother will become the middleman to solve it."

"So you are saying that I should talk to Spring now?" she asked.

"Yes, because you are like a mother to both of them, so maybe you can help," I replied. "Sandman, can you connect both Summer and Lady Autumn to Spring's dream?"

"Unfortunately, no. I only have two hands you see," Sandman said. "But don't worry. Help is on the way."

"Help? Who?" Summer asked.

"I'm already here," a voice said from behind. We looked towards the source and it was PJ.

"Very well. Let's start immediately, then," Lady Autumn said.

Soon, Summer and Lady Autumn kneeled on each of Spring's side. Sandman connected Summer while PJ connected Lady Autumn. This time, nobody said or muttered anything so I didn't know what happened over there. It lasted for quite a long time until I noticed all three of them smiling, and the connection ended.

"Thanks, mom. I couldn't have done it without you," Summer said.

"You're welcome, son," Lady Autumn said. "And I thank you as well. Because of your fighting we have a chance to meet each other."

"You're welcome, mom," Summer said. "And both of us thank you too, PJ and Sandman, for what you have just done."

"It was no problem at all, dear," PJ said.

"I think we will take our leave now. I have left my factory for too long," Sandman said. "Farewell for now."

"Farewell," Lady Autumn said as the two Land of Dreams residents flew away.

"So, all ended well?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm now in good terms with Spring again. Thanks," Summer said.

"Hey, I didn't do anything," I said.

"You figured out the cause of my problem, and you also figured out how to solve it. That's why I thank you," he said.

"Well... yeah, okay. You're welcome," I said, blushing a little.

"Now that it's all over, I'm getting sleepy," he said, yawning. "I will go to my place and sleep."

"I'd like to see your place for once," I said.

"It's not much different than this field. Just replace these flowers with green grass and some trees, and you got it," he said. "I sleep on a hammock attached between two coconut trees."

"I see. Then I wish you sweet dreams," I said.

"Thanks. See you on the next summer," he said, and he flew away.

"Now that he can sleep, the weather should go back to normal soon. You have my gratitude, dear," Lady Autumn said.

"Don't mention it," I said. "I guess I will take my leave as well. I wish you luck in bringing autumn season to everyone all over the world," I said.

"Thank you dear," she said. I then spoke out my district's name to my remote and jumped into the dimension door that appeared.

--End of Chapter 29--