What on Earth was has been happening at Wildflower Hollow

🌸 What on Earth Has Been Happening at Wildflower Hollow?

If you have recently wandered into Wildflower Hollow and found yourself wondering where you are, who Donna is, why there is a crow supervising everything, and whether dragons are considered normal around here…

Welcome. You have found the right place. 😂🐦‍⬛

Wildflower Hollow began with an inheritance, a woman who desperately needed somewhere to disappear to, and a cottage that turned out to be anything but ordinary.

From a White City Apartment to Wildflower Hollow

Before there were wildflowers, marmalade disasters and suspicious creatures on the roof, Donna Ashcombe was a high-profile advocate living in the city.

Her world was polished, controlled and decidedly white.

White apartment. White kitchen. Clean lines. Very little clutter. Donna worked long hours, rarely cooked and certainly didn't have cupboards overflowing with preserves or teapots hanging among herbs.

Then came the case that changed everything.

Donna represented a mother in a bitter custody dispute. The child's father tried desperately to convince her that his little boy wasn't safe. Donna believed the evidence before her and did what she had always done — her job.

Three days later, the six-year-old boy was dead.

At the hospital, his devastated father called Donna “Executioner.”

It didn't matter that Donna hadn't hurt the child. It didn't matter that she couldn't have known what would happen.

Something inside her broke.

She walked away from her career and, not long afterwards, learned that her Aunt Margery had died and inexplicably left Wildflower Hollow to her.

Donna barely knew her aunt. Aunt Margery had been her father's sister, someone from the distant corners of Donna's childhood. Why would a woman Donna had hardly made time to visit leave everything to her?

Donna didn't know.

She packed her things and left the city anyway.

Perhaps Wildflower Hollow would give her somewhere quiet to hide.

It didn't. 😂

🐦‍⬛ Then She Met Beady Eyes

Waiting at Wildflower Hollow was a crow.

Not just any crow.

Lord Archibald Bartholomew Featherstone the Third, although everyone sensibly calls him Beady Eyes.

Beady Eyes appointed himself supervisor, adviser, kitchen inspector, pantry authority, computer scientist when necessary and general guardian of standards.

Donna has never actually agreed to any of these appointments.

This has made absolutely no difference.

According to Beady Eyes, all-white kitchens are unacceptable, tea solves most problems and Donna requires constant supervision to prevent catastrophe.

Unfortunately, events at Wildflower Hollow have repeatedly suggested that he may have a point.

🍊 There Was the Marmalade Disaster…

Donna decided to make marmalade.

It seemed harmless enough.

It wasn't.

There was smoke. There was panic. There was Beady Eyes. There was a pot that may never emotionally recover.

Eventually, however, Donna conquered the marmalade, the pantry began filling with jars, and Wildflower Hollow acquired another rule:

Nobody leaves without something from the pantry.

Jam. Cordial. Chutney. Preserves.

Resistance is apparently futile.

🐉 And Then Things Became Even Stranger

Because a bossy crow wasn't enough, Wildflower Hollow began collecting other inhabitants.

There is Basil, the small purple dragon whose understanding of appropriate behaviour remains questionable.

There is Bruno, Damien’s pit bull, who has apparently decided that going home with his actual owner is entirely optional. Bruno refuses to leave Donna — or Basil, the love of his life — and so Donna has somehow become the unofficial caretaker of Damien’s dog as well.

Damien may technically own Bruno.

Bruno appears to have other arrangements. (Want to know who Damien is – watch the video here:

There are curious creatures, unexpected visitors and things in the garden that may or may not have been invited.

And then there is Malachar.

Malachar is no little purple dragon.

He appeared one night as an enormous shadow over Wildflower Hollow, with glowing eyes beyond Donna's window and a connection to her that neither Donna nor anyone else fully understands.

Except perhaps Beady Eyes.

And Beady Eyes is not telling.

Donna has begun seeing fragments of another life. A castle. A prince. Blood. A woman called Gizelle.

And Malachar has been searching for someone for a very, very long time.

🖤 Then There Is Damien…

Donna's old friend Damien Blackwood, a filmmaker from the city, has followed her strange new life into Wildflower Hollow.

He isn't entirely convinced about dragons.

Or ancient princes.

Or mysterious men.

And he is becoming particularly unimpressed by the number of them who appear to have some inexplicable interest in Donna. 😂

The Masquerade Ball at Ravenskeep certainly didn't help matters.

But that is another chapter…

📖 And the Story Is Only Beginning

Wildflower Hollow is an ongoing story.

You can read it free on jsmarlowe.net under Enter the Story.

A new chapter will normally be added every week.

However…

If Donna isn't watering approximately one hundred stubborn tomatoes…

If Beady Eyes isn't preventing another catastrophe…

If Basil can be persuaded to behave…

If everyone can be kept out of the kitchen…

And, for reasons we probably shouldn't investigate too closely, out of the bath…

…there may sometimes be two or even three new chapters in a week. 😂🌸🐦‍⬛🐉

There is no sensible timetable at Wildflower Hollow.

We tried.

Beady Eyes rejected it.

👗 Something New: Get Donna's Look

Donna may have abandoned her immaculate white apartment, but she certainly hasn't abandoned beautiful things.

You can now visit Get Donna's Look from the Home Page at jsmarlowe.net.

There you'll discover finds inspired by Donna's ever-changing Wildflower Hollow world — from her clothes and accessories to the wonderfully excessive things finding their way into her kitchen and home.

Some finds may only be available for a limited time, so if something makes you think:

“Donna absolutely needs that.”

…she probably does.

Beady Eyes may disagree.

Nobody asked him.

🛍️ And Something Else Is Coming…

You may also notice The Shop beginning to appear around Wildflower Hollow.

Don't bang on the door yet. 😂

The Wildflower Hollow Shop is still being prepared and isn't open just yet.

We're filling shelves, moving things around, arguing with Beady Eyes about what constitutes a “necessary” object and trying to prevent Basil from interfering with stock control.

But the doors will open soon.

Unlike Get Donna's Look, where many finds may change as products come and go, The Shop will become home to more timeless Wildflower Hollow treasures.

More about that very soon. 🌸

🌸 So, Welcome to Wildflower Hollow

You don't have to buy anything.

You don't need a credit card to wander around.

Come for the free stories.

Read a chapter.

Explore the Hollow.

Visit Donna's kitchen.

Discover the pantry.

Get hopelessly lost and use the Index when you finally admit defeat. 😂

Download something for free.

Find something beautiful.

Or simply stay for a while and see what happens next.

Because Donna came to Wildflower Hollow believing she was running away from her old life.

She may eventually discover that she wasn't running away at all.

Perhaps she was finally coming home.

Welcome to Wildflower Hollow.

Where roses grow wild, imagination takes root…and absolutely nothing goes according to plan.

🌸🐦‍⬛🐉

Expect Magic.

J.S. Marlowe

https://www.jsmarlowe.net