poemtry and prose

They continued down the path. Cassie had fallen in love with the faerie world. The land was wild, untouched by humans and their destructive ways. It reminded her of what her world must have been like before mankind started forcing Nature to do their will. Strange animal sounds called and whistled from everywhere, even far off in the distance. Everything felt alive. Even the air, stirred, teeming with life. She knew that Hazel wanted to get back to Stonehaven as fast as he could. So that they could speak with the Elders and figure out how she could help heal his friends.

The path continued it's steep ascent up the side of a hill. Hazel made sure to pause every now and then to give Cassie time to stretch her legs and catch her breath and drink some of the water from the flask. Trees surrounded them, thick and dense and it was all she saw. Vines and ivy wrapped around the huge trunks. They grew straight up in the air, blocking her view of the sky and sun. But it was not cold and she was thankful for that.

An hour passed. The trees started to thin out, marking a pause in their ascension. "I'm looking forward to going downhill," she thought, adding, "That is, if we in fact do indeed go down this hill."

The sounds of water gurgled near. She listened to the water but kept her eyes trained She thought it was impossible that a river, or stream could be so near without snow to feed it.

Hazel stopped, "Did I mention that we will have to cross a waterfall?"

Her eyes widened. "A waterfall? But where and how." Cassie looked up from the ground. The path stopped going uphill. It flattened out and then dropped off from the other side. It appeared to be a dead end.

"Just on the other side of that flat area," Hazel pointed. "Do not worry, it is safe. We use it all the time."

She nodded. And climbed the last few feet to the flat part. There on the other side of the path was the most spectacular waterfall she had ever seen. She was standing just above it. Not even the waterfall at the bottom of the St. Helens Ape Caves could top this one. The water was blue, purple bubbles rose from where the bottom of the falls met river and ground. The river, carved a smooth tube from the land. A tree stump lay across the top. It was covered in yellow and green moss, the roots frozen straight out, gasping for air, displaying the battered remains from where it was lovingly torn from the soil it once called home. A hole appeared in the ground, marking where the tree had once stood proud and tall. She guessed that the tree died from natural causese, it's ghost of a shell making a natural bridge for the faeries, carrying them across the fifteen foot waterfall.

Cassie looked down to the bottom of the falls. The water roared as it hit the ground forming giant waves, foam spitting at the tops. Purple bubbles pushed outwards from the foam, the byproduct of the water hitting the ground with such force. She stared at the water, something moved beneath the surface. At first she thought it was the golden color of the sun's rays hitting the water just so. But as she squinted, the golden color took form.

Hundreds of tiny gold fish hopped in and out of the bubbles. Their fins wiggled and waved as they jumped from water to air, floating. Seconds later, they splashed back down into the water leaving no wake or ripples. The fish seemed to be interested in the purple bubbles. One would leap into the air, float near a bubble, pop it with their mouth and then fall back into the water. Then another one jumped and started the process all over again. Every now and then two fish leapt into the air at the same time, their bodies colliding. Their scales mingled in a friendly way, as if the fish were acknowledging one another, greeting them in a fishlike fashion. She could almost hear them laughing under the roar of the water. It was as if they were playing a game, using the bubbles as their balls.

"Hey, what are those fish doing?" she asked.

"Those are goldmuppies. They live at the bottom of the falls. They eat the bubbles, or whatever gets captured inside of them." he replied.

Cassie nodded in acknowledgement. It was the oddest thing she ever saw. She wished she had her sketchbook with her, or a camera, so she could take pictures of them to study for later.

"Cassie, come on," Hazel called to her. He was standing on the edge of the tree. "Are you going to need my help?"

Cassie scrambled over to him. And looked over the edge of the waterfall. It looked like a good ten to twenty feet drop down to the bottom.

"Uh, uh... yeah. Actually now that you mention it," she started. "I think i may want some help getting across this."

Hazel bent down on one knee and extended his arm out to her. She reached out with her hand and grabbed a hold of it. With a small jerk he pulled her up on the log. The log shifted a bit under their combined weight. But it held.

"I guess it is too late for me to tell you not to look down," he asked.

Cassie smiled and focused her attention on him. "Yeah, I guess so. I am fine as long as I focus on you. Just do us a favor, okay?"

"Anything. What?"

"Do not slip and do not fall," she said, ushering him to start walking.

Hazel carefully and slowly walked across the log, helping Cassie avoid the slippery moss and wet bark. He hopped off the log and then turned to pick Cassie up off it and onto the ground with both his arms.

She giggled as he did it, "You know, it has been a long time since anyone did that for me. Thanks." They watched the goldmuppies feed for a few more minutes before heading down the hill.

The trees were not as dense on this side of the hill as they were on the other. Cassie was thankful that they were going downhill. Childhood songs filled her head and she started skipping, playfully bumping into Hazel. The sun was almost directly above them and Cassie's stomach reminded her that it was nearing lunchtime.

Smoke rose off in the distance. It was too thick to be naturally made, so Cassie presumed they were getting close to their destination. The trees shrunk, to shrubs and bushes and then to grass. They walked out into the open. Hawk-like birds circled above them, reminding Cassie of the hawks dancing outside her window. And then she looked outwards. And gasped.

From where they stood she could see for miles. It was absolutely breathtaking. And while Cassie thought the last thing she saw was the most amazing thing the world had to offer, she was wrong. She turned around from where she stood. A mountain peak grew behind her. "So that is where we came out from," she said. "I wonder just how far into it we were."

Beyond it, grew more mountains. And yet more peaks grew towering upwards from the valley now appearing just below them. The mountains were rocky, and appeared grey. Huge slabs of stone sat jagged from their peaks. The valley appeared a patchwork color of greens, the occasional grey stone littering the countryside. Small buildings sat randomly in between the different patches of color. Farms, lots of faerie farms covered the valley. But that was not all that was down there.

It sat in the center of the patchwork land of farms. It was huge, and round and it grew straight out from the land. An obelisk. It was carved into a point and while it grew straight out of the ground, it was not grey like the other pieces of stone scattered about the land. It was black and its dark form rose high above the valley. Windows and shapes had been cut from it. Cassie had never seen anything like it in her life. It wasn't as tall as the skyscrapers in Portland but for being made completely out of a natural stone, it was impressive. A wall surrounded the entire city, dividing the city from the patchwork farm lands. Shorter buildings, some long and thin, other fat and wide surrounded the obelisk. Cassie thought that some of the buildings seemed to be placed and built out at odd angle taking up every available space inside the city walls. These smaller buildings also appeared to be made of the grey stone. Smoke drifted from the chimneys of the buildings that had fireplaces.

They had arrived at Stonehaven.

Hazel smiled at Cassie, "It should not be long now."

"About how long you think it will take us to get from here to there?"

Hazel looked at the sky once more. The sun was almost directly above them. "Not that much further, I would wager. Besides, it is all downhill from here. Come on, let's get going."