Twinkle Tales
or Alice in Winterland
a short story
for all the believers among us
( a Daily Post WordPress Prompt – Twinkle)
” Oh my!” thought Miss Alice Beamish, after having finished off the bottle that said Drink Me, “Rabbit has been busy!!”
The whole warren was filled with a rather erratic mess of Christmas lights that looked as though they had been caught and dragged by his foot as he hurried through on his eternal journey of non- punctuality.
On the other side, the first thing she saw in winterland was a unicorn. He tossed his mane and stamped his displeasure at being disturbed – especially by such a wide eyed, silly, and heavy footed creature, who crunched the pristine, holy silence of the snow path and chomped loudly on Eat Me cookies.
“Keep going,” he said impatiently, “Jack is somewhere at the end of the winter forest, but don’t fall onto the lake lest you slide off the edge of nowhere. ”
…..The north wind blew a deep bassoon between the trees and hanging icicles swayed and played a somewhat discordant percussion as Alice followed her way on the path fearlessly. Just before she reached the frozen, glass lake, she noticed a funny little gnome peering out from behind the frosty brambles just as Unicorn had said!…..
(PS: this little gnome just appeared while I was playing with the ice fractals)
“It’s right over there,” said Jack who pointed his frozen nose in the direction of the garden gate because he could not untangle his crystallized fingers from the lace of ice. “It might be a good idea to put on sun glasses before you go inside -and by the way, there is a toll booth of course. It’s the Queen’s Way after all.”
The King ( could be the Queen!) – Loreena Mckennitt- a traditional old English Christmas balladAnd so Miss Twinkle entered the dazzling wonderland of Butchart Gardens and went ice skating on the enchanted snail pond.
Hoping this cheers you as it does me! Thank you again Miss T, otherwise known as Pickles (sweet and sour), for being my sparkler and ever curiouser Alice!!
and more of Alice’s winter wonderland story here
The wonderful 12 Days of Christmas at Butchart Gardens will be open until Jan 6/15
and link to more christmas and music here
and still more Alice here
Some Information: the animations were done with Gimp, and Butchart Gardens are located in Victoria, BC, a colonial town named after the famous Queen of the old empire.
a few more magical scenes added
the runes of the gatekeeper's daughter- dedicated to Nick 
A delightful and magical story, so well told. The music is lovely and suits the theme well and your glittering and twinkling pictures are just simply beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
so glad it twinkled for you!! Thank you so much Millie!
LikeLike
I love this, Cybele. You’re so gifted 🙂 I’ve just sent the link to it to my daughter and grandchildren, as I know they adore magical things.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m very pleased you like it Sarah!! Thank you so much for walking through Winter Wonderland here on the island!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
A lovely Christmas page, very beautifully designed, and the Loreena McKennitt tune was wonderful. Merry Christmas.
LikeLike
Glad you enjoyed the little fairy tale David!! Merry Christmas to you friend!!
LikeLike
I adore your magical sparkling icicle tale. I’d love to be skating in wonderland. How do you make your sparkling artwork Cybele? They’re beautiful! 🙂
LikeLike
thank you so much moongirl!! I use gimp sometimes and make layers for animations and sometimes you can also get plugins you can edit as with the snow! Blessings!!
LikeLike
What a wonderful story, with absolutely enchanting artwork. When I thought it couldn’t get any better, you shared a really beautiful song with us. Thanks so much! Best wishes,
Naomi
LikeLike
So glad you enjoyed it Naomi!! Blessings to you too this season.
LikeLike
glittering and colorful 🙂
LikeLike
thanks Joshi!! Glad you came by!
LikeLike
Beautiful Cybele … And the feature is so dreamy! ⭐
Thanks for sharing. Sending you all my best wishes!. Aquileana 😀
LikeLike
you are a dear Aquileana!! Thank you! Many blessings of the season to you too!!
LikeLike
So much fun 🙂 Your animations are wonderful! The gardens are completely magical and I really love how you’ve captured the skaters 😀
LikeLike
Many thanks and season’s blessings Sarah!! I’m glad you enjoyed the little excursion!!
LikeLike
Oh, great, Cybele! As you know, I love your photography, and this post is great with the story woven around the images! 😀😀
LikeLike
thanks so much Sue- a bit of fun with storytelling that I love.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful story, music, and stunning photos! Thank you so much for this magnificent winter wonderland post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
thank you so much for the read and lovely comment Amy!!
LikeLike
I absolutely love this Christmas version of one of my favourite stories. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m absolutely thrilled that you like it!! Thanks so much Sylvia!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Magical! 🙂 Loved it, both text and photos. Big hugs, Cybele.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much Lizzie!! It brightened me up a little!!
LikeLike
Oh Cybele your work is so beautiful: evocative writing and magical photography! Chris
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks so much Chris for such a wonderful comment!!!
LikeLike
Love it,,,utterly magical !!
LikeLiked by 1 person
you brought a twinkling smile!!
LikeLike
Such a lovely story accompanied by such magnificent pictures. It’s such fun to fantasize about the snow and ice (as long as that’s all it is). And I saw him — I saw your little gnome! Oh my goodness! One of these days I should go back to trying to learn how to use gimp. I can be so lazy sometimes! 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Linda!! I’m glad you wandered through my twinkle world!! I use Photoshop mainly these days but used to use Gimp which is a very good freebie software.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just love your photography, and stories along with them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you came by Maria!! Thank you!
LikeLike
Love the Unicorn…..fantastical and festive!
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks so much Mark for dropping by my winter wonderland!
LikeLike
Hi Cybele, I love the overall presentation which is so festive looking and cheerful. The story is nice and I will take a look at the link to read more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks Michelle and yes do come back!! Season’s greetings to you!!
LikeLike
Thanks Cybele dear for fixing the link and for opening the gates to this magical world of the twinkling lights and to the Butchart Gardens with the sparkling stars!Loved the magical holy light in the frozen forest and the tangled iced branches!You caught me in your ice fractals,I feel entranced,the old English ballad is playing ♩♪♫♬… ,the North wind stopped blowing,all is so quiet and magical in the Winterland with Alice and the unicorn …
LikeLiked by 1 person
your magical replies are always enhance the story Doda!! A thousand thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
While I’m reading your stories I become one with the characters;also the light on your images exude elation and a magical power …Many thanks too for appreciating my efforts to show you how I feel!
LikeLike
Thank you so much Doda for all your support and encouragement.
LikeLiked by 1 person