The Nisse, the Cat, and the Apple Tree Part 3

A dream only gives hope but you must take the first step.

Christian sighed, looking past the house to the lone apple tree, a top of the hill wishing his old friend was still alive. She would have wisdom he so long for at the moment when something spectacular caught his eye. There sitting in the tree, looked to be a star trapped. The bright little star danced in the light wind blowing over the hill, you could watch the wind run up the hill like watching a deer stroll in the field, and then it winked at Christian. The tiny star winked at him and him alone, almost begging him to come and find it, but the Nisse was tried and was sure the sleepless night had been playing games on his mind.

                He went to bed, still thinking about the girl, wondering if the star was real or not, and like the prophets in the Good Book, Christian had a dream. He opened his eyes, unsure when he stepped into the dream, and yet, there he was back in the old house looking up at his old friend reading her holy book.

                The leather band of the Good Book creaked with ages, but the pages stayed true to themselves. They never broke or ripped in the soft hands of Mrs. Rimmer. “Hello, my tiny friend,” she said to him. Her voice was how he remembered it every night, sweet, dripping with wisdom and the south where she was born. “It has been too long since you come to visit me.”

                “I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at his feet. “It was hard to come back here with you gone.”

                “I’m not truly gone,” Mrs. Rimmer smiled.

                “Which I’m not sure if that makes it easier,” Christian told her.

                “Ah, yes, memories can be painful,” Mrs. Rimmer nodded from her chair, “but only if you let them.”

                “They don’t change,” he said,” and everything, since you have been gone, has changed so much.”

                “My dear friend,” she almost laughed, “you out of everything walking this world knows life is nothing but change.”

                “Sadly, I do.”

                “And yet, there are some things which never change,” She let the smile drop from her warm face, but the joy still lingers over her. “Like whom you are deep down and how much you care and loved people.”

                “It’s what a Nisse does,” he said softly.

                “No, no, it was you do,” she told him. “Like this new family and this sick child, you care for them already not because of the house they live in but because you have a good heart.”

                “I wish my good heart could save the girl,” he said.

                “Maybe it can,” Mrs. Rimmer said, closing the book and standing up. She waved for Christian to join her at the window and then pointed up to the tree. Beyond the window where the apple tree sat, the star from before grew in its brightness, and Mrs. Rimmer said, “Go get the light and bring it back to the girl if the magic works, then it shall save her life.”

                “That is it?” Christian asked, looking up at her.

                She laughed, “Yes, that is it, but you only have three days to get the light and bring back to her before the magic dies.”

                “Three days?” Christian asked, staring back at the window to the tall hill knowing the journey might be more then he hoped for. He wasn’t sure, not anymore, if he could reach the star in time, but it was better to try and failed then never to try at all. “Three days,” he said again, waking himself up with the first light of dawn.

                He jumped out of bed with a purpose he had lost a long time ago. Now, he knew what he had to do and remembered everything he had lived through was for this moment, but most of all, for this child. He gathered some food for the travel, garb his bow and arrows, and then stopped to stare at the sword over his fireplace. It was a short sword seeming dully normal, but it has even lost its edge. The sword was from a Dragon Hunter somewhere in his bloodline, born on this land long before the first humans walked it, the Dragon Hunter slew the monsters of this world with this blade and nothing more.

                Christian put the blade on his side and headed out into the world, keeping a close eye on where his boots when. He stopped near the fence, glancing back at the house, not knowing if he is going to come back to it, but he prayed he would see it once more before the end.

                He faced the apple tree with Persephone dropping down in front of him. “And where are you going?” She asked.

                “There is magic in the apple tree,” He said, “magic that can save her.”

                Persephone glanced over her shoulder, “Are you sure?”

                “With all my heart,” Christian said. “You should join me.”

                “I fear, I can’t,” Persephone said, looking back at him.

                “Why?”

                “I have to stay here for her,” Persephone said. “She will worry herself to a quicker grave if I’m gone.”

                “Then keep her alive until I get back,” Christian said, pushing his way into the field.

                “Good luck, my new friend.”

Author's Note

If you had made it this far, then I appreciate it, and before you start to tear my work apart (which doesn’t bother me too much), let me explain something. The most common critique I see is about my spelling and grammar. It is an understandable critique, and I do not blame you for pointing it out. After all, spelling and grammar are the tools in which we use to craft our work, like a paintbrush or a chisel. The artist must know how to use these tools well, but like an artist who has a tremble in their hand's somethings will never be perfect.
My tremble in my hand is caused by my dyslexia. It is something, no matter how much I learn, study, or works on, it will never go away. It is the reason you will find a good bit of spelling and grammar mistakes in my work. I ask you to keep this fact when you are about to write your critique.
Also, I feel the need to point this out, this website is like a journal for me. A messy journal I used to work out problems in my stories or to simply warm up before digging into my novels. I do not hire an editor for the work here. I do not spend hours and days pouring over these stories to make them perfect, that energy is saved for the project I plan on taking to market. Everything on this website is my world-building exercise or sketches for other projects.
I do hope you enjoy my work, but this website is not a publishing house for me, and it shouldn’t be for you either. Something to keep in mind as you write your critique.