The Sims of the New
World
Sistergirl, storyteller

Prologue, Part III
The Island of JyM

      The next few weeks Robin, Marian, Jeffrey, Big John and the others began their lessons on how to be a child of JyM.  On the first morning, Marian woke to a light fresh breakfast that had been prepared by her assistant, Glan.  When she started to give him instructions for the day, she almost choked when she was told she had to learn to be a little more self-reliant.

      “What?  I have to learn how to cook my own meals, grow my own food and take care of myself?” She stammered.

.      Oh, didn’t I mention that Marian was spoiled?  She might be feisty and have a love for adventure, but a domestic engineer she was not.  Even on the long trip from Robin’s camp to Big John’s ship to the Land of JyM, the men were waiting on the Maid Marian hand and foot.  She’d sneeze and there would be fourteen grown men running over each other trying to find her a clean handkerchief so that she could wipe her pretty little nose.  So, on that first morning she was very annoyed when she had her first cooking lesson.  

    “Don’t worry.  Glan will help you until you feel comfortable doing things yourself,” Banta explained.  But Marian wasn’t going for it, and made sure everyone knew how she felt

     Around mid-morning that first day, while a cool breeze blew in from the sea, Jaedan took Robin, Marian and Big John on a tour of the area that would be their home.  The island was really beautiful, filled with wonderfully scented flowers and large leafy trees.  Nothing like anything in and around England.  Since the Children of JyM existence depended solely on eating what came from the Earth, there were groves of fruit and nut trees.  Edible green vegetables grew wild, but Jaedan explained that they would be shown how to cultivate the soil and grow a small garden near their living space so that they would not have to worry about which plant was intended for meals. 

     While walking through an apple orchard, Jaedan stopped to have Glan demonstrate how fruit should be picked.   Big John decided to take the opportunity to gently ask about his ship and the possibility of going home.

     “Uh, Jaedan, you know, your home is really beautiful and we really appreciate all your King has offered us.  But, certainly after things quiet down a bit back home,
my crew and I could sail back to England on the Lady Anne?  I mean, we aren’t the ones in real danger.  There’s no price on my head.  Robin’s the bad guy here. 
Not me.”

     Robin’s head quickly jerked.  “Thanks a lot, friend!”

  
  “Oh, sorry, Robin. You know  I’ll do anything for you, but let’s stick to the truth here.”

     Jaedan just sighed.  “I can not explain everything to you now, my friends.  Just know that you will not be allowed to leave. Please forget about sailing back to England.”

     “I’m not cleaning my own clothes,” Marian stated.

    As Jaedan continued the tour, and Marian continued to pout, our friends very quickly found out

 why the Children of JyM did not eat meat.  You see, the animals of the forest may be a little wild,

but unsophisticated they were not.  They were covered with fur from head to toe, had long tails

 and sharp claws as any creature in our local zoo,  but the comparison stopped there.

      In deed, the various species of animals that lived on the Island of JyM walked upright, talked and

were actual productive members of society.  At the least, a source of entertainment at a party.   In fact,

that was the typical employment of most of the forest creatures who decided they didn't want a blue

collar job.  

        Robin and the other men will have to satisfy their primal needs to eat flesh some other way.  To

slaughter these noble creatures, cook them over an open fire and cover the meat with tangy bar-b-q

sauce, although may sound tempting, is certainly uncivilized!

      Directly after the mid-day meal, Banta and Mysti took Robin and Marian to meet the cow sisters,

LooLoo and Matilda.  Banta explained that the milk of cow women was very special, more nutritious than

 fruit juice and will actually rejuvenate the skin and hair follicles.  Young folk and the elder especially

 needed this milk, however, you cannot force the precious drink from any cowgirl.  Any insult would result

in a very mad cow and no milk for you.

    Well, as the weeks went by, our friends began to adjust to life on the Island of JyM. The merry men learned how to grow vegetables and Marian reluctantly learned how to prepare the special non-meat recipes.   Matilda and LooLoo took a liking to the suave sea captain, Big John, and happily gave their milk to any of his crew.  Life was better than it had ever been in England and Robin soon lost any doubts about the good intentions of King Jordan.

     Although the Children of JyM continued to refer to all of our friends as a group, the newcomers, Robin lead the way in giving new names to their host and new friends. 

     Remembering the words his mother used to describe the characters in the stories she told Robin as a small child--pointy ears, thin, graceful beings--he began to refer to King Jordan and his folk as Elves.  And, although, they never saw any other beings such as the winged women
named Auburn who would visit now and then,  Robin recalled the fairies of his bedtime tales and called Auburn's kin Faer-ees.   Yet, Galan, though winged, was quite different from the Auburn in looks and manner, so Robin named his kind Pixies. 

     The Children didn’t mind these new titles.  The words, after all, were meaningless to their true nature.  Nevertheless,  soon they  also began to refer to themselves in this new manner during casual conversations. 

    Anyway, the weeks turned into months, and now life on the island had become a pleasant routine.

  But, our friends found that there was always time to relax and just enjoy being alive.  Big John had

 been sober longer than he'd ever remembered and he wasn't sorry about it.  Jeffrey found that he

 loved designing and sewing clothes.  And our hero?  Well,  Robin and Marian liked to take long walks on the beach at night or through the jungle during the day, just holding hands and looking into each other eyes.

.    Marian and Robin’s love grew in this beautifully serene environment.  Now that there was no fear of ever going to jail--or worse-- Robin thoughts turned to marriage.  He felt that he and Marian could raise a healthy brood of children in their new home.  Even the prospect of actually seeing his grandchildren was possible now that he didn't  have to worry about  going to an early grave.

     Sometimes all of the newcomers  would be invited to visit a member of the King’s family at

their home or the King Jordan himself would find time in his busy day to join them in an activity.  

 They'd play games, blow water bubbles, and enjoy the antics of JoJo and other talented animals.

     Of course, Robin wasn’t the only one whose thoughts had turned to love.  It was natural, since

the only female human was already spoken for, that the other men began to find a special female

of their own amongst the Children of JyM.  After all, there was another primal act  that was even

 more instinctive--and stronger--than eating animal flesh. 

     Soon, with permission of the Bae-nign who spoke for the Goddess JyM,  King Jordan gave his

blessing to these unions.   By and by, Robin’s men, the crew of the Lady Anne, and Big John himself

found their special mate.  All, that is, except Jeffrey, who oddly preferred the company of JoJo.

    What seemed like the passing of only a few years was actually five hundred years, and our friends will soon no longer be the only newcomers on the Island of JyM.