In Mariposa, on Fiery Jewel lane there lives a lively young girl named Lark.

Lark is thirteen and has long, glossy jet black hair, freckles, a wide mouth and very big blue eyes. She is very tall and skinny. Lark isn't very pretty but she has a lovely voice.

Lark's parents are Leam and Ashley O'Rielly. Lark has an older brother named Donovan and two younger sisters named Carlotta and Heather. She also has a baby brother named Tatton.

Lark has two best friends, Tibble and Hannah. Tibble is a fairy with blue-green eyes and black hair that she braids around her head. Tibble is a very talkative fairy.

Hannah, who is twelve, is very shy. She is also one of the prettiest girls in Mariposa. Hannah has soft, caramel-colored hair and dark brown eyes surrounded by long, dark eyelashes.

These three girls go everywhere together.

"Finally school is out for the summer", sighed Hannah.

"I know", yawned Lark,"I've been waiting forever for summer."

"I noticed Kevin Stewart staring at you,Hannah," teased Tibble.

Hannah blushed a deep red.

"Who cares about boys. They are always acting silly. Besides Hannah doesn't even care about boys,"said Lark ,who was trying to defend Hannah.

Tibble apologized to Hannah who,if she turned any redder, was about to become a tomato.

Then they continued on their walk to Larks house.

"Look!" shouted Tibble, as she pointed directly ahead of them,"Here comes your "Know it All" cousin,Beth."

"Ugh!" groaned Lark," I remember last time Beth came over she was telling us how to write properly when she doesn't even Know how to spell."

"I think..."started Hannah but just then Beth ,who is six,ran up to them and said teasingly,"Guess where I went last weekend?"

"Did you go to the dress store",asked Lark as she pretended to be interested.

"No silly!", exclaimed Beth "I went to The Emeraled Valley and guess what I saw."

"A unicorn?" guessed Lark.

"A fish?" said Tibble making a fish face.

"Umm, trees?"said Hannah who was still a little red.

"Well of course I saw all those things, but I also saw this," said Beth lifting up a picture.

"Wow its beautiful," gasped Hannah.

"Its marvelous!", said Lark.

"What is it?", asked Tibble.

"Why its Merd of course. Haven't you girls ever seen a Merd before," Beth, who was very proud of herself because she knew about something they didn't." "Well I realy have to go now ," she said as she put the picture back into her pocket. "Nice seeing you, bye!"

The girls decided to read more about these beautiful creatures. They found Merds where very rare creatures that where hardly ever seen because there were very few of them and they hardly ever traveld in pairs. A Merd has a deers head, a horses body with a mane and tail that looked and felt like human hair. The girls decided to go and look for a Merd. It would take about a day to get to the Emerald Valley and it would take a while to find one if they could even find a Merd.They got their parents permission to go and decided to fly half way to the Emerald Valley and stay at a friends house on Monarch Ave.

So they met early in the morning on Monday and packed their belongings onto the glamours [horses with rainbow colored butterfly wings] and flew into the sky. Lark,Hannah and Tibble didn't say much to eachother because they were tired from the previouse night packing. It took them until the afternoon to get to Monarch Ave. When they got there they were met by three smiling faces.

The smiles belonged to three boys. They introduced themselves as Kent, Taj and Blaise.

Kent was fourteen and had light brown hair and green eyes. He was very nice and outgoing.

Blaise was thirteen and had white blonde hair and light blue eyes.He was half fairy and half human. You would never have known he was half fairy if it hadn't been for his pointed ears and his ability to disappear and reappear whenever he wanted to.

Taj had dark brown hair and black eyes. He was a fairy. Taj was very shy and hardly talked to anybody.

The boys had some exciting news. They knew where a Merd had been living!

The boys had some exciting news. They knew where a Merd had been living! The girls were so excited. They couldn't wait to start their search. They asked Kent, Taj and Blaise if they could take them to the place where the Merd had been living, tomorrow. The boys agreed to meet them at 7 0'clock in the morning. Lark, Hannah and Tibble could hardly sleep that night. At 7 0'clock sharp the girls were dressed and waiting on the doorstep. The boys arrived ten minutes later. Actually Blaise didn't rrive. arrive. He just appeared in front of them. Kent, Blaise and Taj were dressed in rugged looking jeans and a thing called a t-shirt. They each had a back pack with food in it. When the boys saw what the girls were wearing they were appalled. They were wearing their spider web silk dresses and dainty slippers. This would simply not do. The boys explained to the girls that they would be going theough brush that would rip their dresses and gravel that would tear up their slippers. They would have to wear pants, t-shirts and boots. Lark, Hannah and Tibble were mortified. They, wear pants, boots and these t-shirts things!!!!!? Girls ALWAYS wore spider web silk dresses and slippers. What if someone saw them dressed in that horrid stuff? They would be so humiliated. The boys stood firm through all their pleading. They simply would not take them if they didn't change their outfits. The girls gave in. Anyways whats the point of going on a trip to find something if your pride gets in the way? The result was very funny. The pants they got were a little to big. They had to be tied around the their waist with rope. The pant legs had to be rolled up just above their ankles. The t-shirt was a long sleeved shirt with it's sleeves cut off and the boots had to be stuffed with cloth so they would fit properly. They also had to put up their hair. Lark wore hers in a long braid that went past her waist. Hannah wore hers in a bun and Tibble had hers braided around her head. Now they were ready to go, but before they left Lark slipped her paper and pencils into Kent's back pack, just in case. By 8 o'clock they were flying high in the sky on their glamours. When they got to Emerald Valley it was 10 a.m. They flew as close to where the Merd lived, as possible. They had to walk the rest of the way because of all the trees and shrubs. Tibble and Taj walked a little behind the rest of the group.Tibble gabbed on and on about school, friends and family. Taj just listened and put in an occasional "yes", "no" and "I know what you mean." Lark, Hannah, Kent and Blaise didn't know how he could stand to stay there and listen to her. Finally they told Tibble to be quiet because they were coming close to where the Merd lived. Then suddenly they heard a sound that seemed very near. It sounded like bells tinkling in the wind. Lark was very glad she had slipped her drawing pad and pencils in Kent's backpack. Suddenly they came to an opening and there was not one Merd but three. Lark could hardly believe her eyes. One had a white coat with a dazzling auburn colored mane and tail. Another had a cream coat and chestnut brown hair for its mane and tail. The last one was tan with a curly mane and tail of a Whiteish blonde color. They were beautiful. Lark took her paper and pencils out and started drawing the Merds. The place where the Merds were was perfect for the background on the picture. There were tall dark green trees and the green, green grass was carpeted with deep purple violets. It was all so beautiful.The Merds even stayed long enough for her to draw two pictures.

This was truly a beautiful day!

After the merds had left they all started talking at once. They couldn't get over how beautiful the merds were. Lark was surprised about how well her drawings came out. After all the talk started to die down they realised how hungry they were. They decided to go eat by the creek that was on the other side of the clearing. As they walked across the opening a wonderful smell met their noses. It was the deep purple violets that they were walking across that smelt so heavenly. They decided to pick some of the violet petals to put into their salads. When they got to the other side they picked a spot on a large flat rock to eat their lunch on. For lunch they had cucumber cresent sandwiches,salads with a tangy orange dressing that Kent's mom had made and some candied rose petals for a desert. After their delicious lunch they waded ankle deep into the clear creek water and scooped it into their hands for a refreshing drink. They started on their way back to their glamours soon after lunch. It was pretty late in the afternoon when they reached their merds and they were tired. By the time they got back to their friend's house it was six o'clock. They all said aquick good night and a few minutes later were in a blissful sleep.

When it was time for them to leave Lark, Hannah,Tibble,Taj,Blaise and Kent all promised to keep in touch and see eachother soon. They all kept that promise.