Sunday Scribbling prompt #177: Adult and One Word Destination

“Simon – run along and play, I’ve work to do,”  Mum brushed a damp strand of hair back from her forehead.  There were good smells coming from the pot on the fire and she was sweeping yesterdays dust out the door.

“Yes mum.” he called as he jumped over her broom laughing and ran out into the sunshine.  He waved at his Da out in the garden as he ran past and headed to the woods.  It was a warm day and the cool shade was beckoning.

He followed the path he had worn through the trees to the creek and tossed stones at turtles sunning on a log as boys will do.  He watched as they left their log and dove into the cool water. He found a great crooked stick and carried it with him, whacking trees and plants as he walked along.  He ventured farther than he usually did, lost in daydreams.

The sound of singing came to his ears and he changed direction to get closer and see where it was coming from.  As he climbed through bushes he saw a place where the sunlight slipped between the leaves and bathed a small clearing in golden light.  A girl sat with a hat of many colors on her head.  He slipped closer, hidden by trees and his eyes widened with wonder.  He started to make the sign to ward off evil but something told him there was no evil here.

What he first thought to be a hat was butterflies of all kinds, covering her hair and back which was turned to him.  Her arms were held out from her sides and sparrows and larks and robins flew in and landed and flew off again, fearless and singing.  Her melody seemed at one with the birds and the light fell all around her like a warm blanket.

He stood very still and silent, just watching.  The girl looked to be about his age, with long brown hair and a flower chain around her neck.  She stopped singing and turned smiling. “Come out boy.” she said.

Simon stepped out from behind his tree and stood staring.  “What is your name?” she asked him.  “I am Simon Brennan.  Who are you?”

“I am called Nuala” she said.  “Come and sit with me, Simon ‘of sorrow’ and the butterflies will cheer you.”

Simon quietly walked over and sat beside her, amazed that the butterflies didn’t leave.  They seemed to sense that she was a safe haven.  “Are those apples, you have in your tunic?” she asked.

Simon had found an apple tree in his ramblings and picked a few and tied them up in his tunic to eat later.  He nodded and took them out.  Polishing one on his britches, he held it out to her.  “Thank you.” she smiled at him again and he felt like her smile was warmer than the sun.  It seemed to light her from the inside and he felt as safe as the butterflies.  They sat and shared apples and told each other many things.

“Are you Sidth?” Simon asked her.  He had heard stories of Faeries but had never really believed in them,.  At least til now.  He would have believed anything of her.  “No,” she laughed. “I’m as human as you, Simon.”

“Then how do you call the creatures to you and they have no fear?”  He asked.  She told him that you have to be as quiet in your heart and let the magic of the world come through.  He didn’t really understand but it didn’t matter.  He would listen as long as she would speak.

Simon and Nuala met most days for the rest of that summer.  It was the last summer they would truly be children as trouble and adulthood would soon come to them in the valley.  For these days, at least, sunshine, apples, and the beginnings of true love carried them through the season.

As Simon woke from the dream, he felt again the fullness of heart that had been his as a young man.  No matter the destination and the sadness that eventually came to pass, he would never regret those days for they had brought him Nuala and the love that had lasted throughout his life, from that forest all the way to the moon and back.

Totally Optional Prompts offered color for inspiration and it had been sitting in the back of my mind for a couple of days and Sunday Scribblings prompt is New in honor of Laini who is anxiously awaiting the birth of her baby. One Word Prompt: Geese

Simon was slowly regaining his health.  Word had spread in the valley that he had returned and soon folks would “pass by” to get a glimpse.  As he got stronger he would take his staff and wander around his house in the afternoon sun.  He would rest when he was tired and as he sat on a bench in front of his house the children came and sat around him and begged for stories.

“Shh” he said with his finger to his lips and a twinkle in his eyes.  “If you get still I will tell you how our valley came to be so beautiful”.  The children scooted up closer and waited expectantly.

Once a beautiful lady lived in a house at the end of the lane.  She had magic that caused animals to be friendly and she loved this valley more than anything.  One day, he began…

“Tsk Tsk, this will never do.” she said as she stepped out on the porch.  The vista before her was all black and white and gun metal gray.  She picked up her box of supplies and walked into the scene.  On one side of her walked a lion and on the other a lamb.

She reached into the box and drew out her favorite brushes and began to paint.  She took blue and white and mixed the perfect shade of sky and  using wide strokes, applied light and air and wispy swirls of cloud. She took a tiny detail brush and with just a few flicks, birds wheeled and twirled.  “That’s better.” she thought.  Fine lines in the distance and suddenly geese flew in formation. The lion swished his tail and she nodded and smiled, “you’re right, we need to plan for morning and night.” and she added bright orange and deep rose in the west for the sunset to find and midnight blue so the night would have a place to hang the moon and stars. Lavender and pink blended in the east to invite the sun to rise.

The lamb nudged her with it’s nose and she nodded in agreement. She dipped her fan brush in the forest green and painted in towering pines, dabbing with black and gold for shadow and light, little brown pine cones to finish them off.  Now for some oaks and elms.  Bushes and shrubs and grasses to cover the earth and give the smaller animals something to nibble on.  She looked around at her work and was happy.

She took browns and golds and reds and gave the dreary houses clothing that warmed them and made yellow light to spill out of windows with blue curtains waving in the breeze.

“That’s so much better.” she told the lion and  lamb.  One last thing to be done.  She took her pen and drew loving and peaceful words over the first house and an angry argument ended.  Lullaby lyrics written into the next house and a fussy babe slept.  A poem from the street and the an artist sitting at his desk began to write.

She turned and as she wandered back to her home she sang softly and tree branches sighed in the wind, birds sang, and insects spoke of the changing seasons.  Her supply box was lighter and so was her step.  She reached her porch and set the box down and settled into her rocking chair.  Her friends curled on the porch at her feet, sleeping peacefully.  The gray was still there, but love had painted over it with beauty and the world was new with magic.

She grew sleepy and as she dozed, the shadows grew longer and night fell.  The darkness was so jealous of the colors she brought that it locked her in the moon and that’s where she lives to this day.

The children all clapped and didn’t notice the sadness in Simon’s eyes when he finished the tale.  “Go home children, your mothers will be calling you for supper.” he told them and stiffly got to his feet.  The children wandered home calling out goodbyes as they went.  They would look out their windows in wonder that night.  They would dream of a beautiful woman looking down on them smiling over her valley.