.Once upon a time, in lands which were far away and so very close, there lived two Queens. Their hearts were close though their lands were far, so often they would stay in touch through their magic mirrors.
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They spoke of feathers and fabrics, walls and walkways, raspberries, jerboas and jelly. They laughed and laughed, for who had as much fun as they?
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One day, the shorter of the Queens said with a smile, "I am getting a dog."
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"So, I heard" replied her friend. "I suppose you could not resist."
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"No, I could not resist. How could I resist the hooves? Darling little hooves."
The Queen of Little Cow Harbor continued, "There is just one problem. Poodles need to be pink." .
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The Queen of Slantways chuckled. "That is not a problem at all. Just use magic."
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"Magic?" The Queen of Little Cow Harbor queried. "What sort of magic?"
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"Why you dye his fur of course !" the Queen of Slantways replied.
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The Queen of Little Cow Harbor considered this carefully. Then she said to her friend, "No. That simply will not do. Of course, it will do. But it will not do, as I cannot do it. I can do all sorts of magic. Magic is not a problem. But dye is wet. I do no wet magic at all."
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"I do it everyday ! It is great fun !" exclaimed the Queen of Slantways.
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"No." said the Queen of Little Cow Harbor "Unless there is simply no other way, I will not use wet magic. I have seen 'The Wizard of Oz' too many times. I will stick to fabric and gemstones and beads. Fine golden threads. Exotic miniature feathers. Wet magic is for others. Oh, dear. How shall my poodle ever get to be pink? It is simply the most terrible predicament. He needs to be exactly precisely, perfectly exactly, the most exactly precisely perfect shade of pink."
She sighed. "You know that color" said the Queen of Little Cow Harbor .
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"I do indeed" smiled the Queen of Slantways "Pink is my color."
Ever able to divine the mood of the Queens, the magic mirror shimmered and shivered in its anticipation.
"Send him to me ! " exclaimed the Queen of Slantways "I will turn him pink !"
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That is how I came to send my poodle across the borders of our fairylands with the instructions to my friend, who is both fellow Queen and groomer: Do not send him back to me unless he can dance for his treats. Do not send him back to me if he is not comfortable in twilight; it is almost always twilight here. Do not send him back to me unless he is precisely perfectly pink.
As the clock struck midnight last evening, the Queen of Slantways appeared in my magic mirror. "It is done !" she proclaimed. I said, "He is very beautiful. However, he is so beautiful, I am seeing no overt marks of beauty. Are his beauty marks hidden?"
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My friend chuckled. "Your birthday approaches. Before another fortnight passes, your poodle shall be home to celebrate. You shall see his shimmering violet toes and his beauty marks will be apparent."
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Ooooooooohhhhhhhh ! I cannot wait.
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You can reach the Queen of Slantways here: http://www.candygears.com/ . See more of the poodle and join us as we chat about him here: http://catcara.livejournal.com/ .
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