This is the continuing story of my adventures in the tale: Save me a Story. If you wish to read the introduction to understand what is happening, click this link:
https://www.hdhstory.net/Storyblog/?p=3431
Otherwise, I’ve tried to summarize what happened at the beginning of most of the sections of this story.
Unity?
As the pied piper continued playing, more and more characters that had avoided being captured came out from the woods until the ground was covered in front of me with sleeping people, animals, and other story characters. All were mixed together so that no story faction was in only one area. The decision I had to make was what to do next.
I asked the piper if, in his playing, he could bring all the sleepers back to semi-consciousness so that they could hear me but not fully wake up.
He nodded yes, and the tune he played must have changed, for I began to see stirrings amongst the seated.
I began by telling my story. I told how in my world, their stories flourished. Tales were shared by our elders orally. Stories were shared through books, schools, parks, theaters, and homes. I spoke of how writers and storytellers transformed stories and adapted some of them for the times we live in. In some of these stories, points of view were changed so that a character with a bad reputation got to defend themself. I told them how characters were not limited to who they were; they could grow and change positively and sometimes even negatively. I explained that I was such a teller of tales.
I continued to recount to them how I was taken from my world to help them save and recover their identities and stories. I pointed out that though it might have been foretold that I was to do this, I couldn’t do it alone.
I ended with the fact that we needed to find the source of this thievery and return to all the kingdoms of all worlds what was our destiny. We needed to work together.
I asked the piper to stop playing, and we both waited as the crowd of story characters began to wake fully.
I had no idea what to expect. Would they wake up and continue the battle they had been starting before the piper played? Had they heard what I said, and would they be willing to work together? Could they put their egos aside and focus on the whole picture, not just their puzzle piece? For if they didn’t, I had nowhere else to go.
At first, there was just stunned silence as everyone looked around at each other warily. Some of the characters, like the little red hen, happened to be sitting next to an especially hungry wolf in sheep’s clothing, whereas the wolf from Red Riding Hood found himself sitting next to the tooth fairy.
Captain Hook, never the quiet one, stood up and shouted, “And which of our stories do you plan to save…only the good ones? We saw you chumming up with Pan.”
Red’s Granny responded rather loudly, “And why not? Why should we care what happens to you and your stories?”
Cinderella’s stepmother had an answer for that and screamed, “Because we’re always the ones that get the burnt end of the stick. We deserve some recognition too!”
I could see that things were about to get out of hand, and I turned to the piper and told him to put the flute to his lips but not play anything. 
Everybody saw that action, and there was an immediate silence.
I now raised my voice. “Do I need to make you all go back to sleep again with a magic flute? My task is to save ALL of the stories. How you deal with them after they are saved is up to you. We have friends and comrades that need our help. Our whole existence depends on their survival. So make your decision now. Will you all work together with me to accomplish this task? Time is being wasted here. We need to act now!”
There was some murmuring amongst them all. I turned toward the piper and shouted. “Can you play a tune that only those sitting can hear?” Whether he could or could not, he nodded yes.
I turned to the crowd and said, “All those willing to work with me and save our destiny, stand up. The rest of you stay seated.” I turned back toward the piper.
Before he could play a note, I heard a great rustling from the crowd. I turned back to see everyone standing.
Whether or not they were all being honest or just standing to avoid being put under a spell was yet to be determined. To my astonishment, all good and bad characters agreed to do the same thing for the first time in folklore history.
Continued in…Visions and Small Victories
