VIII

VIII

A Chapter by speakingcolors

Anna took of her shoes and socks, wringing the water out of them.  She squeezed her hair, too, letting the water fall down onto the floor.  “What a mess.”  After resting for a moment, Anna began to ascend the long, stone stairway.  Finally, she reached the top.  Light peeped in through the wooden door from the outside.  Anna opened the door and felt the warmth of the sun on her face.  It had stopped raining.

 

As Anna walked barefoot through the still damp grass, she called out to her Drigon friends.  “Crof.  Gleep.  Where are you?”

 

Gleep bounded out from behind one of the large boulders, grabbed Anna, rolled onto his back, and skidded to a stop, hugging her as she lay on his stomach.  “Anna, you are back!”  Putting Anna down, he jumped up into the air, doing a flip in the process.  Crof, Crof…Anna is back!”

 

Crof came walking down the stairs from atop the platform.  “It is wonderful to see you.  We are so happy that you have made it back safe.”  He put his head over her shoulder, hugging her with one of his large, stone paws.  “Did you meet any of The Marsh Folk?”

 

Anna thought back to the small, creepy creatures.  “Yes, I did.  You were right, I was tricked.  Somehow I forgot everything.  I couldn’t remember much about this world.  They tried to eat me.  They chased me through the marshes.  I almost did not make it out alive.”

 

“It does not matter who was right, only that you are safe again.”

 

“One of my friends…they were eaten.”  The two butterflies fluttered down onto Anna’s shoulder.

 

“It cannot be helped.  Do not blame yourself for the evil of The Marsh Folk.”

 

Gleep, who had been perched on the top of a rock, jumped down and walked to Anna.  “Did you find it?  Did you bring it back?”

 

“The flower.”  Anna reached down inside one of her shoes and pulled out a small red flower.

 

“The Rare Scarlet!”

 

“I came upon it by accident.  I was almost trapped by one of the Shadow Dwellers, but one of the fairies risked its life and killed it.  Then I saw this, right behind where The Shadow Dweller had been standing.  I picked it up because I knew it meant something.  Then everything came back to me, I remembered it all.  Unfortunately, that is just when The Marsh Folk found me and the chased me.  I found out that they prize this little flower and I faked crushing it.  It gave me just enough time and when the fairies blinded them, I grabbed it and ran.”

 

“Thank you Anna, for what you have done for us.”

 

“What do you do with it now, Crof?”

 

“Come, we must go to the river, in the calm just before the water falls over the cliff.”

 

Anna jumped on Gleep’s back.  As they flew across the plains, Gleep twisted and turned, flying low between the boulders.  Soon they arrived at the water’s edge.  She could her the thunder of the water falling over the cliff.  Oddly, though, as Crof had said, the water was calm.  Gleep put Anna down and they stood for a moment, the flower on the ground between them.  Crof spoke first.

 

“Now that we are here, we have what is necessary to lift this spell.  Anna, you must carefully pluck a petal from the flower, one for each my brother and I.  Then, with all your strength, you must squeeze the petal between your pointer and middle fingers and thumb.  A drop of water will fall from the petal.  It must land in between our eyes or it will not work.  After, we must dip ourselves into the water.  The spell with then be broken.”

 

Anna picked up the flower and, with the two giant Drigons kneeling before, plucked a scarlet petals.  She had not felt the petals before in the marshes.  They were the softest petals she had ever felt.  Slowly, Anna squeezed the petal above Crof’s head.  Just when she thought she could not hold on any longer, a single small drop fell from the petal onto Crof.  Picking another petal, she did the same for Gleep.  The two Drigons closed their eyes as the drop rolled down there face and onto their nose.  Finally, Gleep jumped into the air and plunged into the water, disappearing beneath its surface.  Crof just slowly walked into the river and ducked his head under the water, splashing himself over with water.  With another splash, Gleep emerged from the river and landed on the shore next to Anna.  His stone body and moss that grew on it were wet and shined in the sunlight.  Crof walked out of the water and stood beside his brother.

 

They stood, silent, waiting for the transformation to take place.  After a tense moment, Gleep began looking his brother over and at his own paws.

 

“We are not changing!”

 

Crof only bowed his head and sighed heavily.  Anna became nervous.

 

“Why is nothing happening?  Did I do something wrong?”

 

Crof raised his head and looked at Anna.

 

“You did nothing wrong, Anna.  It seems as though we have been under the spell for too long.  I am afraid…we cannot help you in your journey.”

 

Gleep let out a roar and stomped on the flower, crushing it beneath his stone paw.  He jumped into the air and flew away, smashing through some of the smaller stones.

 

With tears in her eyes, Anna watched him disappear and then turned back to Crof.  “I am sorry.  I wish there was something more I could do.”

 

“You have done enough.  Just meeting you has made my life better.”

 

Anna stiffed and wiped her eyes.  “How?”

 

“Before we were like this…I had a family.  They were what I loved most in this entire world.  I lived for them.  The day that the Shadow Dwellers came, I was not at home.  When I came back, I was too late.  I tried to stop them, but they overpowered me.  We they did not kill Gleep and I like the rest, I will never know, but I wish they had.  I had a daughter.  Even though we are different creatures, you remind me so much of my daughter.  My one regret in life is not being there to save her.  But as long I am stone, I cannot die and so I must live on with that pain.  The only way to relieve my suffering is to leave the plains.  That is the only thing that can kill me.  But I cannot leave my brother to live alone eternally.”

 

“You truly are a wonderful creature, Crof.  I am sorry for your loss.”

 

“Thank you, Anna.”

 

After another moment of silence, Crof spoke again.  “You must be on your way; you have a long journey ahead of you.”

 

“Will I ever see you again?”

 

“If ever you visit the plains again, just call our name, and we will be there.”

 

“Please tell Gleep I said goodbye.”

 

“I will.”

 

Anna put her arms around Crof’s giant neck, hugging him.  “I will miss you both.”

 

“And we will miss you.”

 

Anna let go of Crof and gathered her belongings with the butterflies fluttering around her.

 

“There is a stairway that goes down along the face of the cliff on the other side of the river.  It passes beyond the marshes so you do not have to again see The Marsh Folk.  I too am bounded by the river, so cannot take you across.  There, on the other side of that rock is a boat that was once used by travelers.  Take it across and follow the markings on the stones to the stairs.”

 

“Thank you.  Goodbye, Crof.”

 

“Goodbye, Anna.”

Anna walked over to the boat and pushed off across the water.  As shoe rowed, Crof stood on the shore, watching her safely across.  Once on the other side, Anna tied the boat off and looked over the water at the Drigon.  He stood a moment longer and then lifting into the air, flew away.

 

Anna turned her back to the plains and wiped a tear from her eye.  She followed the markings on the rocks to the stairs, just as Crof had said they would lead her.  As she looked out over the land below one last time from the top of the cliff, she sighed, wondering what lay ahead for her.  Another vast forest stretched for miles to the foot of snow capped mountains.

 

“I guess our journey is going to take us through this forest and over those mountains.”

 

The butterflies flew out ahead of Anna as she descended the long stairway to the ground below.



© 2008 speakingcolors


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Added on September 15, 2008
Last Updated on September 15, 2008


Author

speakingcolors
speakingcolors

somewhere outside looking in, PA



About
poet/songwriter/author sometimes I feel so much it hurts. i have all these thoughts running through my head, little segments of a whole that i can't see. most of them never get put down in writ.. more..

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