Commander Annie and Other Adventures

Once there was a soul
Looking for an anchor to the world
Watching all the creatures
Deciding what shape to take

The mouse was small
Exploring places, dark and deep

The deer was strong
Running through the woods in bounds and leaps

The bird had wings
And could soar up through the sky

But then the soul saw someone
Who left them all behind

A little girl (little girl), reading a book (reading a book)
Deep in the stories (stories), her imagination soared
A little girl (little girl), reading a book (reading a book)
The curious soul (soul-oul-oul), never knew what was next in store

In the book (in the book), the girl could be (girl could be)
Small like the mouse
Strong like the deer
Flying high like the bird, (strong and free) free from fear
But also so much more (so, so much, so, so much more)

She was the most astounding creature
In all creation
And so the soul chose to know
The greatest life of all
Becoming a little girl
With a big imagination

In a cardboard rocket on a summer lawn,
She mapped the stars before the dawn.
Best friends once, two halves of a heart,
Now one half’s missing, and they're worlds apart.

An adventure made of packing tape and dreams,
But the distance in their friendship
Keeps growing wider, it seems

Fly, Commander Annie, through the purple night,
Past Zorpa’s seas and satellite light.
The world grew small, your friend looks at you like you're strange
But stars still call your name (still call your name)
Fly, Commander Annie, you’re brave enough to change.

She built her courage out of spare parts and tears,
Left Earth behind, outpaced her fears.
Through the blinking eyes of flowers, under alien skies,
Annie found her strength to her own surprise.

Annie and her captain, may have grown apart
One dances with the fairies (elves, and unicorns)
The other can barely start to admit that science (science) isn't all there is…
Maybe Annie has been changing, but she'll never forget (forget)
The girl beneath the wonder (wonder), the one no one else gets to see
The one on an adventure, made of packing tape and dreams
(Packing tape and dreams)

Annie thought she needed a captain to steer,
But she's really been the captain all these years.
Every wormhole, every star, every world both alien and bizarre
Led Commander Annie to who they really are

Annie and her captain, may have grown apart
One dances with the fairies (elves, and unicorns)
The other can barely start to admit that science (science) isn't all there is…
Maybe Annie has been changing, but she'll never forget (forget)
The girl beneath the wonder (wonder), the one no one else gets to see
The one on an adventure, made of packing tape and dreams
(Packing tape and dreams)

Fly, Commander Annie, through the unknown blue,
The universe still waits for you.
The stars remember your name,
And wonder’s still the same.
Fly, Commander Annie—
To worlds both alien and strange
Fly, Commander Annie—
Through every wormhole, past every star
You were always the captain
And you're gonna fly so far

I was a girl by the river’s bend,
Scrubbing rags till the daylight’s end.
A hundred geese in the field of mint,
And a stone that fit my hand like flint.
The witch would scold, her tongue like flame,
But I’d burned the bread, I bore the blame.
The smell of sugar filled my head—
I dreamed of flying and gingerbread.

Oh, I wished on a stone, and it answered me,
Gave me wings, set me free.
But freedom’s cold when the songs are gone,
And a goose’s beak can’t hum along.
So I flew and I fed, but I never was full–
Oh, I’d trade all the sky for a single mouthful
Of the witch's gingerbread.

The geese took flight when autumn came,
And I rose with them, wild and strange.
Over rivers, fields, and towns of gray,
We followed the sun till each day melted away.
No broom to wield, no chores, no pain,
But I longed for the witch's friendly voice through the falling rain.
No gold I found, no crown on my head—
Just fields and hunger and longing for a mouthful of gingerbread.

Oh, I wished on a stone, and it answered me,
Gave me wings, set me free.
But freedom’s cold when the songs are gone,
And a goose’s beak can’t hum along.
So I flew and I fed, but I never was full–
Oh, I’d trade all the sky for a single mouthful
Of the witch's gingerbread.

Then spring returned to the field of mint,
And I saw her face, so wrinkled and her back so bent.
She fed me crumbs with a shaking hand,
Said, “I miss my girl, don’t understand where she went”
The witch called me daughter, and I felt her tears,
The wish I’d made rang in my ears.
A spark, a shimmer, a spell rescinded—
And I stood again in my own skin instead.

Oh, I wished on a stone, and it answered like a genie's trick
It gave me wings, but I wished them back
Now I stir the dough by the fire’s red,
And the witch teaches me how to make her gingerbread.
Oh, I’ve learned what the sky could never have said—
There’s magic in baking gingerbread.

A hundred geese in the field of mint,
Still wandering where my wishing stone went.

Splashing through the puddles
Smashing up the sky
A strange reflection catches me
A distorted vision in my eye

I've been dragged from planet to planet
Checking stained glass windows, altar mirrors
Every ancient abbey from back when the sky was clear
Before it crowded up with star-hoppers just like ours

But it's here I see her
The mother I lost so long ago
Reflected in the muddy mirror
The one beneath my boot-clad toes

The sky in the puddle is bluer than blue
Clearer than clear
It looks at once both far away and far too near
The puddle has become a portal
And I fear I might fall through

"You're a summer sprite," my mother tells me, a vision from beyond
"Like a fairy?" I ask, and the vision nods

The glamour clears and I finally see,
What every mirror's been hiding from me
–green hair, bird wings, and too many teeth
This is the me that was underneath
All the magic, all the misdirection
I stomp on the puddle, and watch ripples dispel the troubling reflection
But then the water clears…

The sky in the puddle is bluer than blue
Clearer than clear
It looks at once both far away and far too near
The puddle has become a portal
And I feel I might fall through

"Come to the summer realm," she calls
Where magic waits, and I can learn it all
Casting spells and how to fly
"You'll teach me?" I ask, and her smile is so coy

I'm standing on the edge now
Reflected and reborn
The puddle's just a mirror
But mirrors can be doors
I can see which way is up now
And which way to fall toward

The sky in the puddle is bluer than blue
Clearer than clear
It looks at once both far away and far too near
The puddle has become a portal
And I fall right through

Fall into a sky, bluer than blue
Bluer than blue, bluer than blue

Mom threw out my strawberries, said they'd gone all fuzzy
Baby brother's always crying, nothing's ever easy
I want summer in the middle of winter's rain
So I draw a circle with salt and say summer's name

Honey-colored bear with strawberry claws
Silver sunglasses and fire in his paws
He grows me berries but he grumbles when he does
Sometimes getting what you want isn't enough
Every berry that he grew was willing, wild, and free
Not stolen from a fridge but given just to me

I ate red berries until my fingers stained and my stomach hurt
Hid my elemental behind couches, kept him under bushes in the dirt
He made rainbows in the rain, dried me with summer air
Three perfect days with my reluctant honey bear

I asked him where he'd go when I released him home
If summoning had ruined him, left him all alone
He said "I'm not alive, just an aspect of the sun
"I exist, but I don't have a life to be undone"

But I saw him making fireballs, bored and waiting there
Heating up the house 'cause I wouldn't let him disappear
I was holding onto summer with a metal buckle tight
Afraid of what he'd do, afraid of saying goodbye

Honey-colored bear with strawberry claws
Silver sunglasses and fire in his paws
I kept him here but he was never really mine
You can't trap a season, can't bottle summertime

Aunt Molly came and summoned fall, candy corn and sunset leaves
The bear lit up like I'd never seen, finally looked at peace
She said "Summer loves autumn, they chase each other around the year
Always too late and too early, never quite together"

I put the buckle on the ground and whispered my honey bear away
He was too busy laughing to notice anyway
Sometimes love means letting go of what you're holding on to
And strawberries taste better when they're not binding you

Strawberries taste like summer, like everything before
Before the baby came and completely changed the score
I just wanted something sweet that was only mine
One taste of June in February's frozen time

The wheel keeps turning, the seasons come around
But I get three days at Aunt Molly's, where chanting spells are the only sound
You can't keep summer, but you can learn the spell
To call it back when winter's here and you need it for a while

I'm a tabby with a talent, got magic in my whiskers
Ley lines run beneath the oak tree, make my brown stripes shimmer
I cast my mind into the bees and butterflies that fly
Never thought I'd catch something looking back at me with galaxy eyes

Ruby throat and emerald wings
Sapphire tail like a black hole's ring
It wasn't just a hummingbird at all
It was the universe come to call

Our minds collided, neutron stars
Suddenly I'm seeing purple-yellow worlds and blue dwarves from afar
"Your species shouldn't have telepathy," the alien said
"How are you doing this?" — I told him "Magic" in my head

It turned into a hawk, I hid beneath a bush
Then a frog that asked so kindly if I wanted to explore
Tingling all over, then I'm standing on a metal floor
Earth below me through the window, and I've never been off-world before

We flew past streaming starlight to a moon of sea-green grass
Where flowers sang and rodents gleamed like living colored glass
At the Stardust Cafe, sweet cream from the Cow World's milky river
The alien showed me wonders that would make any cat shiver

But then I felt it, sharp and clear
My little girl is frightened, needs me there
"That's impossible," the alien said, "we're galaxies away"
I said "I told you — I have magic" in my smug tabby way

Ruby throat and emerald wings
I've seen impossible things
But magic's stronger than technology
It's the bond between a little girl and me, her beloved tabby

I ran back through the sea-green grass
Across space and time and distance vast
Found her looking under the bed, right where I belong
The hummingbird's adventure was lovely
But home's where my heart's been all along

Three saplings by a sapphire lake
Shivering naked and bare, branch-arms raised
Spring sunshine kissed them into leaf
Sprouting emerald stars and peridot hearts
But mine came out sickly yellow-green
Common ovals, nothing like art

I'm the ugly sapling in the row
Dancing stiffly while the others bend and flow
Glowing brightly as the breezes blow
They wear their colors like a crown
I'm just trying not to drop my branches down

Summer came to them in silken blossoms
Pink as sunrise, violet as twilight
But my flowers bloom funeral black
Spiky and wrong in the garden's judging light
The other saplings' leaves were laughing
In every breeze that blew
I thought nothing could be worse than this
Then our first fruits sprouted and grew

Ruby apples, garnet cherries
The gardener fills her basket daily high
But my pale orbs are brittle, hollow
She glances at them scarcely and passes me by
I watch her eat the other trees' sweetness
And sour wells up inside my wooden heart
If I can't be a fruit tree like them
I don't want to play this second-fiddle part

So I shook my branches in the wind
Until my strange fruit fell
One by one they crack wide open
And I finally know myself

I'm not the ugly sapling anymore
I'm something they could never be
My fruits like eggs hatched into cygnets
Pearl-white swans swimming free
They roost beneath my branches
They glide across the lake at dawn
I'm not an apple tree or cherry tree
I'm a mother to the swans

Sometimes what makes you different
Is what makes you complete
Sometimes your strange, spiky fruit
Is exactly what the world needs

I'm QuestCrusher-Twenty, flying through the zones
Don't read the text, just follow where the dots have shown
Satyrcorn horns and mecha gears
I've been grinding through these quests for years
Well, months at least, but it feels the same
When you're ten years old and you just want to play a really good game

Speed questing! Don’t read, don’t rest—
Follow the markers, forget the text.
Speed questing! It’s all a blur,
I’m gonna be the biggest hero ever in this digital world

Gotta reach level 100, gotta make it to the top
Where my parents play the dungeons after bedtime when I'm supposed to stop
Watching from behind the credenza, wishing I was there
AngelDemon and ForeverQuester, names so old they don't have numbers jammed in there

I pick up a purple crystal at the cliff's edge
Auto-complete says throw it, so I do
It splashes down and turns the ocean purple
Then a silver head breaks through
A giant plesiosaur with camera-lens eyes
"Have you come to kill me?" it asks
And I realize I never read the quest
No, I never read the quest

Speed questing! Don’t read, don’t rest—
Follow the markers, forget the text.
Speed questing! It’s all a blur,
I’m gonna be the biggest hero ever in this digital world

Timer's counting down above its head
I'm flipping through my log full of text I never read
Collect frost flowers and kill goblin mice, nothing makes sense
Then the presiosaur says "Jump into the ocean or face the consequence"

So I fling myself over the cliff's edge
Praying to every Worldscape god I know
That I'll hit the water before time runs out
Before the plesiosaur becomes my foe
The ocean splashes purple then green
"Quest completed!" flashes on my screen
Oh, "Quest completed!" flashes on my screen

I'm riding on a robot dinosaur's back
Swimming down to Roboquatica at last
The plesiosaur's telling me about rust demons and evil wizards
And maybe this time I'll listen
Maybe this time I'll hear the story that I've been missing
'Cause the good dungeons aren't just about the level cap
They're about the journey, and I'm finally reading the map

Speed questing! It’s all a blur,
I’m gonna be the biggest hero ever in this digital world

Every stitch is a nightmare, blood and tears on gold
My daughter got the lead role, and it came with volunteer requirements I'm told
I never learned to sew back in school
Now it's midnight and I'm crying like a fool

Then a greenish man appears in my doorway
Frog-like smile and a high-pitched laugh
Says "I'm quite good at sewing, dearie
But my help comes with a price, so do your math"

Rumpelstiltskin, I know your name
But you don't care about that game anymore
You just trade gold for firstborn children
My fourteen-year-old daughter, not some abstract baby I'm hoping for
I'm so tired, and the play's tomorrow
What's a dream worth when your life's a nightmare?
Do your worst — take her to your Fairy Land of endless summer
Just let me see her perform wearing this gold gown you'll repair first

I fell asleep watching his fingers work the thread
Woke up to squeals of joy, golden dress overhead
Clara danced it around the room, thanked me in a rush
Slammed the door on her way out, left me in the ominous hush

When she stepped onto that stage
The universe aligned at last
My daughter was a star up there
And I was orbiting her, holding fast
Every gesture perfect, every laugh on cue
I'd never been so proud or so in love
Then I saw him in the parking lot
And I knew what I had done

"Take me instead," I said, arm blocking her way
She looked at me confused: "Instead of who?"
"Instead of you," I whispered, memorizing her face
Then she said "But Mom, you're the one I promised to trade in pay"

"I made a deal too," she admitted, looking at her feet
"For the lead role in the play, I gave you to him
I'm just a freshman, they'd never pick me otherwise
And I was perfect for it, wasn't I?"

Rumpelstiltskin with his frog-like grin
Opened up a portal to the hills of green
Unicorns and dragons, windmills in the distance
Fairy Land of endless summer, everything we'd dreamed
We both made terrible bargains
Both too tired to know what's right
So we took each other's hands
And together walked into the otherworldly light

Rumpelstiltskin, I know your name
And I think, I was lucky enough to win your dangerous game

The universe is made of irony,
Not atoms, not strings, not light.
Every quark is a punchline,
Every photon’s a wink in the night.
Take an umbrella, it doesn’t rain —
Forget your coat, the storm remains.
Every law of thermodynamics
Is a cosmic inside joke that rhymes with your name.

But irony hides when you stare it down,
It flinches, laughs, and spins around.
So I learned to smile, to play along,
Pretend I’m clueless while I sing its song.

I studied time, but I hunted FTL-flight,
I joked about warp drives every night.
Said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if—”
And the stars leaned in to write the script.
I hid my plans in irony’s grin,
Tricked the trickster, drew it in.
And one fine morning, laughing loud,
It handed me the secret of folding clouds.

Mirror meets mirror — endless fall,
If I know the joke, is it one at all?
Infinity spins between my hands,
Till I stop laughing… and understand.

When the universe listens,
You can hear it breathe your rhyme.
Every question’s an echo,
Every answer’s out of time.
You build your ship of logic,
You sail into the divine.
When the universe listens —
You break across all the fragile lines.

Crash landing, sky on fire,
Watercolor lion, green and dire.
Pig-nosed laughter, eyes like rain,
Aliens dancing despite my pain.
They say, “You’re ready, or you’re not —
Either way, you’ve been caught.”
And I, who mocked the gods with words,
Finally listen, finally learn.

“Your thoughts don’t shape the universe,” they said,
“But they can talk to it instead.”
So I spoke, and it replied —
In colors, in sound, in light that cried.

When the universe listens,
Irony melts away.
The story stops pretending,
And truth begins to play.
There’s no joke left between us,
No mask, no masquerade.
When the universe listens —
You hear what it meant to say.

Atoms hum, the punchline’s gone,
Irony folded into dawn.
And I laugh — not at the joke this time —
But because the universe listened…
and whispered back mine.

Black-barked pillars hold an autumn sky,
Orange embers drifting high.
I run the paths where memories lie,
My paws in the leaves, as winter sighs.
North went strength, east went pride,
South went the smallest by my side;
But I stayed where every shadow knows
The pups I raised, the paths they chose.

Wind like fingers in my fur,
A lonely song without answer—
Till a second voice, an octave higher,
Rings like bells through branch and briar.

(Sing me back, little light with the icicle crown,)
(Blue-winged bell, don’t let me drown.)
(If the soul of the forest is fading thin,)
(Sing me back, and I’ll sing you in.)
(Sing me back, through the leaf and the loam,)
(Till I find my way back home.)

I watch fair folk gather in a circle wide,
Mushroom lanterns, buttercups bright.
Vine-built ceiling, nectar tide—
Laughter spinning through the night.
But a sour breath in the quiet dark,
Whispers sweet with a rotting mark:
“I am the soul. You can stay…
If all the rest are turned away.”

Leaves go slick beneath my feet,
Salt-burn taste, a numbing heat;
Silver threads up through my veins—
Puppet-strings of mycelial chains.

(Sing me back, little light with the icicle crown,)
(Blue-winged bell, don’t let me drown.)
(If a voice in my blood calls itself king,)
(Sing me back to the older ring.)
(Sing me back, through the leaf and the loam,)
(Till I find my way home.)

“I can be everything—one will, one word,
Cool and quiet, never hurt.”
“Lie,” says the bell where the dawn begins,
“Love is many, never one skin.”

My fur falls loose; my heart beats done—
Still I walk, still it comes.
Step by step through the ripping pain,
Toward the circle, toward the rain
Of tiny hands and starlit song—
“Good wolf, you’ve come. You’ve come along.”

I fall but the chorus holds,
Mushrooms root and roses unfold.
Something breaks, and something mends—
What was a wolf begins to bend…

Sing me back, little light with the icicle crown,
Bells like rivers, pulling me down.
If the forest was empty where sorrow had been,
Sing me back so the green can begin.
Sing me back, through the leaf and the loam—
Now I am home.
I am the wind in the black-barked spires,
I am the dawn in the fern’s small fires,
Robins stitching morning’s seam—
I am the forest that learned to dream.

Pixies fade like sparks of rain,
Skunk and kits cross fern and grain.
Under flowers, my wolf-body lies still—
Feeding roots, my final will.
And every leaf that lifts the sun
Whispers my name that was

I was chasing unicorns in the ocean spray,
Barefoot, book in hand, on a cold, gold day.
The sea was a story, the sand was a spell,
And a black-and-white cat came to wish me well.

She said, “I’m looking for a witch.”
I said, “I think that’s me.”
That’s how you start the magic —
You just decide to be.

I’ve got the heart of an orca, the grace of a cat,
I’m half made of moonlight, did you know that?
Waves and whiskers, the world turns around
Wherever the tide goes — I’ll follow that down.
Heart of an orca, grace of a cat.

We bent space-time with a whispered word,
Made tiny doors we crept through while no one heard.
My parents slept, the stars swirled,
And every dream was possible in our shared world.

We traded ears, we traded names,
Grew wings on our tails for playing seaside games.
She complained that cats were already perfect, didn't need my ruffles and sequins
But she tolerated my games because she'd found her witch at last
I kept transforming us into something new
But something still felt missing when I stared past the waves
"What are you looking for?" my cat asked
"I don't know, maybe magic in the ocean"
I built new shapes with a ringing laugh —
Cats may be perfect, but I’m half-and-half.

I’ve got the heart of an orca, the grace of a cat,
I’m half made of moonlight, did you know that?
Waves and whiskers, the world turns around
Wherever the tide goes — I’ll follow that down.
Heart of an orca, grace of a cat.

She meowed, “It’s cold.” I said, “It’s home.”
The ocean sang, “You’re not alone.”
Orca's are black and white like you
Like a witch's cat, they wear tuxedos too
Every missing puzzle piece
Was just another chance for more of our caprice.

I found the courage I thought I lacked,
When your small paws led me back.
Magic was never far or thin —
It lived inside our skin.

I’ve got the heart of an orca, the grace of a cat,
The world is wide, and I’m fine with that.
Silver fins and moonlit fur,
The tide hums low — I answer her.
Heart of an orca, grace of a cat,
I finally know where the magic’s at.

Tomorrow I’ll go where the grown-ups are,
But tonight, I’ll swim with my wishing star.
Heart of an orca, grace of a cat,
Wherever the sea goes…
I’ll follow that.

Long ago and far away, by legend and by lore,
The Noodlebeasts came from the north down to the rocky shore
Their baskets packed with noodle-seeds, fettucini to farfalle
They built their huts and planted pasta, spreading noodle-flowers throughout the valley

Vermicelli petals, crimson in the sun
Fettuccine blossoms, golden one by one
Angel hair stamens, silver-white and fine
Linguinie leaves on a spaghetti vine

Nawry was born where the foam meets the stone,
Grew up painting with all the colors he could see.
Every brushstroke, he tried to recall
A world half-remembered, a feeling of something that should be
Something missing, something more

Macaroni marigolds of saffron and of gold
Fusilli forget-me-nots in azure, brave and bold
Orzo orchids blooming pearl and grey
Tagliatelle tiger-lilies, orange as the day

Oh, the waves keep rolling, the stars keep turning,
The fires keep burning on the rocky shore.
But there’s a hole in the heart of the world that’s yearning—
For something missing, something more.

Nawry followed the forest to where autumn still clung,
Met a woman of warmth where the tangerine and peach blossoms hung,
Drank cider of sunlight, honey, and gold
He splashed fresh milk on the roots of a tree,
Where tiny kittens roamed, wandering free, feline-fruits instead of mere seeds

One silver kit-seed with a lion-sized pride
Took a liking to Nawry — decided to come along for the ride
Kassy the dreamer, fierce and small
Wanted to see more than the branches of her mother tree, wanted to see it all

Macaroni marigolds of saffron and of gold
Fusilli forget-me-nots in azure, brave and bold
Orzo orchids blooming pearl and grey
Tagliatelle tiger-lilies, orange as the day

But questions grow heavy as hearts grow brave,
So they swam through the silence to the deep blue caves,
Where the light turned to whispers and whispers to dreams,
And the god of the deep wove his sorrow in streams.

From the roots of the forest to the throne of the sea,
From the hand of a painter to eternity,
Nawry carried a promise in a flask of light,
To mend the dawn where it broke from night.

Oh, the waves keep rolling, the stars keep turning,
The fires keep burning on the rocky shore.
There’s a hole in the heart of the world that’s yearning—
For something missing, something more.

From autumn to ocean, from valley to peak
Nawry continued to wander and seek
He carried his burden up the barren slope
Until Kassie grew tired, ran out of hope

From autumn to ocean, from forest to mountain
Nawry kept searching until the missing piece, spouted up like a fountain
The gemstone colors of his world, each settled in their place
Led poor Nawry the Noodlebeast on a merry chase
Until he tied them together, the missing color found
And he rose into the sky to see the new young god crowned

Oh, the waves keep rolling, the stars keep turning,
The fires keep burning on the rocky shore.
There was a hole in the heart of the world, ever yearning—
But Nawry found what was missing — what he was looking for
And now he'll paint with every color
Of the whole rainbow
Forevermore