The Wist Song Illustration
Illustration from the Meadowvalley books of Winnie and Millie
Winnie the Wist conducts Millie Moonbeam the firefly as she sings a song.
Throughout the course of the Meadowvalley series Winnie and Millie would grow to be close friends. When people demanded the continuation of the series with Winnie as a prominent role, Winfield would be forced to consider just what Winnie was to Millie and vice versa. According to the author, Winnie and Millie were like children from two different families flung together to be siblings (step-siblings), and that despite how scary and ferocious the world became the two of them would always keep in touch and stick it out by each other's side. With this in mind the Winnie of future novels was notably less bloodthirsty in relation to her new sibling; however her impish wist tendencies remained, something which often drove conflict between her and her sister. Often Winnie would try to eat or end the life of whatever new creature blocked their path with Millie having to sway her away from violence.
There are several tender and familial scenes of the two characters throughout the series. Most notably Winnie would teach Millie the Wist song which had no important properties to it besides being something that brought Winnie comfort when she felt alone. As such Millie kept it memorized so that whenever Winnie felt alone she might hug her close and sing to her.
The song went as follows.
“ Although there is nothing like me
And I am a wist in the wind
I will make my peace
And make my leaves
To a warm and flowery bed
I will fall on sweet flowers and vines I will
I will weave soft pollen and twine I will
Into a shape of a wist like me
And now there’s a thing like me”
It is amazing that Winfield could put this much tenderness and thought into a character he reportedly hated, and it makes one wonder, if he hadn’t lost the rights to Millie, if he would have eventually turned around his opinion of Winnie.