Amaryllis

You got all the good stuff. That left all the bad for me.

Fey

Cursèd be she

who betrays her family!

Amaryllis

Oh, yeah? What if I don’t have a family no more!

Fey

“What if I haven’t got a family anymore . . . ”

Amaryllis

What?

Fey

You used a double negative.

Amaryllis

How can you be so perfect and not get it!

Fey

What have I failed to grasp?

Amaryllis

How everything got messed up when you left! Mom took off. Dad’s been a total zombie. The only time they’re kinda with it is when they’re standing in front of the mantelpiece looking at your urn.

Fey

You can’t just steal my urn,

a gesture most unwise!

It won’t undo the turn

of my untimely demise.

Amaryllis

It’s all I could come up with.

Fey

So, what is your plan for my ashes?

Amaryllis

I was just going to throw you off the end of the pier.

Fey

You wish to drown the dead?

Amaryllis

Well . . . maybe it’s not the best idea.

Fey

It’s absurd!

Amaryllis

You got a better one?

Fey

Yes! Seek assistance!

Amaryllis

Watch Miss Perfect fall apart.

Fey

I’d rather be perfect

than wicked!

Amaryllis

I’d rather be wicked

than dead!

Fey

Enough, please stop.

You’ve gone too far.

Think being dead

is fun — a lark?

I didn’t want

to fade away,

nor do I want

to stay this way.

Amaryllis

So why are you here?

Fey

I’m hanging on by a thread.

Once dead, my relieved soul fled,

crossed over to the other side,

where I met sad souls who tried

so desperately to find a door.

I found mine but could do no more,

held back by a bit of ribbon.

I traced it here, to its origin,

my last earthly tie drawing me

to the foot of the white tree.

Narrator

At the centre of the garden stands the Ribbon Tree. It is what is holding your sister back. Thousands of ribbons are tangled in its branches. One thread for each of the dead whose loved ones refuse to let go.

Amaryllis

Why didn’t you untie yourself?

Fey

No solution availed.

Whatever I tried, failed.

Narrator

Only the living can untie the knots.

Amaryllis

Well, if that’s all, I’ll go do it.

Narrator

You can’t just enter the Land of the Dead like it’s the mall.

Fey

I could be your guide,

but promise to be good — 

don’t make me nag or chide.

Swear to listen as you should!

Amaryllis

On one condition.

Fey

State your terms.

Amaryllis

No more rhymes. That’s it. I’m fed up. Starting now, you talk like everybody else.

Fey

You demand too high a price

for so great a sacrifice!

Amaryllis

Fine. Whatever.

Fey

Wait! Okay . . . I’ll try.

Amaryllis

Deal! So, which way to the Land of the Dead?

Fey

To cross to the other side,

simply swallow your pride,

promise this hand to heed

wherever it shall lead.

Amaryllis

I’m sorry, what was that?

Fey

Hold my hand.

Amaryllis

Now you’re talking.

Fey takes her sister’s hand.