Day 20 – April 20 – NaShoStoMo Challenge – The Golden Fleece

I think this may be another short piece showing a world which may have a few spin-off or two in the future. Lame pun not intended. 

Day 20 – April 20 – The Golden Fleece

Only a quarter of The Golden Fleece served as a wool shop. The shop windows showed various knitted and crochet jerseys, socks, blankets and a very bright orange bobble hat. It stocked your normal types of natural and synthetic yarn and thread for the most of the customers and kept the special threads, among other things, in the back. Maisie had grown up in the shop and knew all the customers by heart. She knew exactly which ones came to buy the ‘normal’ wools and which came for the ‘special stock’. She was also the one who arranged the special stock to be made and delivered (usually at night) and knew almost every specialty spinner in the country. Although the most costly of the yarn was the Straw-to-Gold™ made by the dwarfs of the Eastern Mountains which was mostly used by the tailors of the noble families, she was also the only (human) shop stocking thread for Faerie garments. Imported spider webs from across the world, took their place in the back of the shop in specially made boxes.

The only yarn The Golden Fleece refused to stock was the Invisi-yarn which had been developed by a alchemist some two centuries ago. Unfortunately you could only see the material if the light caught it just right. It was even more unfortunate that the king in those years decided to have a whole outfit made from it – and then go walking through the streets. She sniggered as she remembered the many tales which were told from generation to generation about the incident. She still had the faded certificate against the back wall proclaiming The Golden Fleece the only accredited retailer of the Real, Authentic Invisi-yarn.

Maisie sighed as she looked back at her knitting and continued with the pattern of knit and purl stitches. Her hands already knew the whole pattern for the mushroom cosies themselves and she could let her mind wander around. Every winter she helped the gnomes and fairies knit cosies for the flowers and other plants for when it became too cold outside for the half-fairy plants to live. Last winter she had even knitted a blanket for the unicorn in the woods. But this winter she felt very restless. She needed to get out of the city and away from the shop she had run single-handedly for thirty years. And she knew just what siren song it was that drew her away.

There was only one yarn which the shop had never stocked – Golden Fleece. Real Golden Fleece. It took a Quest to get the fleece and bring it back and now there were not enough heroes to go around; not after the wars with the dragons. The Lake Maidens had not been able to weave enough fabric for Anti-Dragon Armour and many knights and heroes perished in their inadequate metal armour.

Maisie finished the cosy and placed it on top of the pile next to her. A thought struck her. She had quite a bit of stock of the shimmering white yarn the Lake Maidens used in their creations. Easily enough for a dress. And she could trade some of the Straw-to-Gold™ for passage and board. And she could wield her steel knitting needles better than a knight his talking sword. A smile spread across her face. Why stay here this winter if she could head north to the summer and to adventure?

She got up from her rocking chair, locked the shop’s door and put a message stating “Closed for Winter.” Then she went to the back of the shop to get the yarn and start knitting.