Isi Dawndancer's Brand-Boo Students diary

Cover
Please don't waltz through my private thoughts.

Flower Moon, Day 12
The dust devils woke up early today and I went to dance with them. They yawn and stretch and they twist across the dry lands where the sun always lives and the rain only visits. It is hard to know how many will rise. Sometimes there will only be a single dust devil who dances briefly and disappears... sometimes there will be many dance partners to choose from... and sometimes, like today, they join hands and dance all together. Then I can only stand back and watch, for it is beyond even my skill to dance with them. Then, as quickly as it begins, it is over. But as fawntastic as it was, I remembered why I do not do this all the time. Dancing with the dust devils is hard on a pedicure.

Flower Moon, Day 20
I had the strangest dream last night. Actually, I am not even sure if it was a dream. I mean, it certainly wasn't like the dream I had about having two left hooves and no sense of rhythm. That one was so deereadful that I immediately jumped out of bed and danced across my room just to make sure I really had been dreaming. No, in this 'dream' I woke up because I heard the sound of distant music. I got out of bed and walked to my window to look out, but when I touched the curtain to pull it back, the wall of my room disappeared and a softly glowing path appeared under my hooves. The path was smooth and covered in some kind of soft, springy moss - perfect for dancing. So I did. After a while, the moss began to grow thin and uneven stones, which were definitely harder to dance on. Soon the stones replaced the moss and I had to stop and walk. Then the light on the path faded out as well, and I was surrounded by darkness. I am not afraid of the dark, but the stones had grown larger and several times I banged my shins, which really hurt. I could not see where I was going or where I had been. I sat down and tried to decide what to do next. The music was all around me now, but rather than being comforting it was confusing. I could not tell which direction I should go, and I began to cry. But then a slowly moving light appeared ahead of me, and the music now seemed to be only coming from that direction. I got to my feet and called out. The light stopped, and I carefully made my way towards it. The path seemed less rocky in the direction of the light, but it was still uneven, so I could not walk fast enough to catch up to my guide. Finally, I could feel the path even out and the moss return. I ran ahead, The light had stopped and I was almost to it when the light went out and I woke up in my own bed. Like I said... strange.

Flower Moon, Day 25
"Isi Dawndancer - please report to the Deadmaster's office." That wasn't exactly the way I wanted this morning to start. As I walked slowly to the office, I could not for the unlife of me figure out what I might have done wrong. Unless it was about the assembly yesterday when some monster's iCoffin went off and I started dancing to the ringtone. The Deadmaster wasn't exactly happy about it and called me out from the stage. It was embarrassing to say the least, but the tune was so catchy that I couldn't help myself. When I got to his office, it wasn't about that at all. It was about the monster exchange program with Monster High. I've been accepted, but I'm not sure I want to be that far away from my family. They are everything to me and I can't imagine not being able to see them every day. It is something I will have to think about and consider before I give my final answer.

Turning Moon, Day 3
There is a mesa behind our home that has the most perfectly smooth natural dance floor right next to a spring-fed poo. I like to go there before dawn and dance the sun into the sky. Climbing the trail to the top is also a great workout. This morning thought, I had the same feeling I did that day in class. Only this time I thought I saw a pair of eyes watching me from the tangle of a mesquite bush just off the trail above me. I ran toward them, but when I got there they were gone. I kept hoofing it up the trail, and when I got to the top someone was sitting in the middle of my dancefloor. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be that trickster, Coyote. "Ahh, Isi Dawndancer. What brings you up here on such a lovely morning?" Coyote is always up to something, and usually that something involves some kind of practical joke that only he things is funny. Like, one time at a school dance there was supposed to be a balloon drop at the end of the night, except Coyote replaced the regular balloons with water balloons. Another time he glued the casketball teams's shows to the floor of the locker room before a big game. I figured he must be the one who'd been watching me, but when I accused him of it, he just laughed. "It wasn't me. Not even I can imitate a true spirit guide, nit that I haven't tried mind you. But your grandmother would be particularly cross with me if I had tried that trick on you." That much was certainly true. My grandmother is very wise, and not even Coyote would want to get on her bad side. Still, I was getting ready to argue with hm, when from the corner of my eye, I saw something flash by. It looked like a doe, but she was glowing with a soft light like the one in my dream. She moved much quicker than any normal doe, and her hooves made no sound. I was going to give chase, but she disappeared over the edge of the mesa and was gone. Coyote stood up. "See," he said with a flourish. "Not me." I could see the first rays of the sun appearing over the horizon, but the only place I felt like hoofing was back home.

Turning Moon, Day 10
I had a very interesting meeting tonight with, of all things, (people?) a student from Monster High. Earlier in the evening, father had roasted sme fresh ears of corn over a masquite fire. They were deerlicious, and after dinner I went outside to sit next to the fire pit. There were still enough flames to cast flickering shadows across the courtyard, and as was staring into the embers, letting my mind wander, I heard something hit the ground with a thump. I looked up and thought I saw two eyes glowing in the shadows. I jumped to my hooves and said, "Wait, don't run!" The eyes blinked and then the thing that went 'thump' laughed and stepped out of the shadows. It was a ghoul not much older than me. "Whoa, I think I made a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Where am I?" I just stared at her like something caught in the headlights. "I'm sorry if I startled you," she said. "My name is Twyla." She held out her hand to shake. It was soft and warm, and definitely solid. She was no spirit. She told me that she was the daughter of the Boogeyman, and that she had been practising her shadow jumping. "I still have some kinks to work out on my long distance jumps though." She apologised for dropping in like she did, but it would have been rude for me to not be hospitable, so I invited her to sit for a bit before she jumped again. It actually turned out to be more than 'a bit' I don't know why, but I instantly felt I could trust Twyla. She told me about her unlife, and that she went to school at Monster High. My ears perked up at that, and it made me wonder if Twyla being here was some kind of omen. When I asked her if she knew anything about dreams, She just laughed and said, "A little bit." So I told her about how I was beginning to see one of mine when I was awake. She thought for a moment and said, "Not every vision is a dream, and not every dream is a vision." I told her she sounded like my Grandmother. "Well, the only way you'll know for sure is to chase it and see where it leads you." I thought about that for a bit, and then Twyla asked me to put more wood on the fire. "I'd better be getting back home, and if you wouldn't mind giving me a good jumping-off shadow, I would appreciate it" I stoked the fire and she gave me a big hug and thanked me for letting her fang out. I told her she was welcome to drop in any time. She said, "Count on it!" Then she stepped into the shadows and disappeared. Chase my dreams... hmmm.

Dancing Moon, Day 7
Tomorrow is my Grandmother's birthday. It will be a fawntastic celebration with food and games and music, and best of all, dancing. Many of my kin showed up today, and I volunteered to give up my room and camp under the goregeous full moon tonight. Maybe I will see my guide again and find out where I am supposed to follow her to, or maybe I'll just get a good night's sleep so I can be the first to dance and the last to leave.